Lightweight Rigid Pallet Space Frame Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wooden pallets are heavy, cumbersome, prone to breakage, and susceptible to bacterial growth and weather-related damage, making them inefficient for shipping and storage.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight and rigid pallet design featuring a space frame structure with removably connected decks and pillars, incorporating dimples and fastening apertures for easy assembly and disassembly, allowing for compact shipping and versatile configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If wooden pallets are used for shipping, then they provide sufficient strength to support loads, but they become heavy and cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet is divided into separate modular components including decks, pillars, and stringers that can be independently manufactured and assembled. This segmentation allows optimization of each component's material usage and weight while maintaining overall structural strength through the assembled configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes composite construction combining different materials strategically - aluminum alloy for pillars and stringers to reduce weight while maintaining strength, and wood or composite materials for decks. This composite approach optimizes the strength-to-weight ratio of the overall pallet structure.
2Ease of manufacture
If wooden pallets are used, then they are easy to manufacture, but they are susceptible to breakage and weather-related damage
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the pallet into separate components, the design allows selective use of weather-resistant materials for structural elements (aluminum pillars and stringers) while keeping deck materials flexible. This segmentation protects critical structural components from weather-related degradation and breakage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameters of structural components from traditional wood to aluminum alloy, fundamentally altering the durability and weather resistance characteristics while maintaining manufacturability through standard fabrication processes.
3Strength
If wooden pallets are used, then they provide adequate structural integrity, but they are cumbersome and difficult to handle
Solution Approach 1:
The modular segmented design allows the pallet to be disassembled into lighter individual components when handling difficulty arises. The pillars, decks, and stringers can be separated to reduce the effective weight and complexity during loading, unloading, and storage operations while maintaining full structural integrity during use.
4Productivity
If pallets are shipped in assembled configuration, then they are ready for immediate use, but they occupy excessive storage and shipping space
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet is designed as separable modular components that can be shipped in a disassembled state, occupying minimal storage and shipping volume. The components can be quickly assembled at the destination to provide immediate readiness for use, effectively decoupling the shipping volume from the operational volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The pallet components are pre-manufactured and pre-treated (such as anodizing aluminum components for corrosion resistance) before shipping, so that no additional preparation is needed at the destination. This preliminary action ensures immediate readiness upon assembly while allowing compact shipping configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure includes a shipping pallet including an upper deck, a lower deck, and a plurality of pillars. The upper deck includes an upper exterior surface and an upper interior surface. The lower deck defines a lower exterior surface and a lower interior surface. The pillars are connected between the upper deck and the lower and the combination of the pillars, the upper deck, and the lower deck defines a space frame structure. Various components, such as the pillars, upper deck, and lower deck may be webbed-formed structures for enhanced rigidity.