Maintainable Pallet With Modular Biomass Parts and Embedded Sensors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pallets are prone to structural damage due to collisions, overloading, and mechanical stresses during transportation, leading to material waste and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A maintainable pallet design featuring interchangeable composite parts made from biomass materials, equipped with sensors to monitor structural integrity and facilitate replacement of damaged components using releasable fasteners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If traditional pallets are used with fixed construction, then structural strength is maintained, but material waste increases due to inability to replace damaged parts
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet is divided into separate modular components including side supports, bottom supports, top supports, and end supports that can be independently replaced. This segmentation allows damaged parts to be swapped out without discarding the entire pallet structure, directly reducing material waste while managing complexity through standardized modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a system where damaged pallet components are removed and replaced with new or refurbished parts. The removed components can be recovered, refurbished, and reused in other pallets, creating a circular economy approach that minimizes material waste while maintaining structural integrity through continuous component renewal.
2Ease of repair
If releasable fasteners are used to enable part replacement, then ease of repair is improved, but structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The releasable fasteners are pre-engineered with specific thread designs and engagement mechanisms that provide sufficient structural strength during normal use while allowing controlled disengagement for repair. The fasteners are installed and tightened to specified torque values during assembly, ensuring optimal balance between ease of removal for repair and structural integrity during operation.
3Reliability
If sensors are embedded to monitor structural integrity, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Sensors are embedded within the pallet components to continuously monitor structural integrity, load distribution, and component condition. This feedback system provides real-time data on pallet health, enabling predictive maintenance and timely replacement of components before failure occurs, thereby improving reliability while managing complexity through intelligent monitoring.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a maintainable pallet is provided with interchangeable support structures and sensors for identifying any damage that the interchangeable support structures may experience. The maintainable pallet may include two side supports, two end supports coupled to the two side supports end-to-end to form a rectangle, a central support position between the two side supports, a plurality of top transverse support fastened onto the two side supports to form a top loading surface and the central support with two-part releasable fasteners, and two bottom transverse supports fastened to the ends of the two side supports to form a bottom surface with two-part releasable fasteners. Sensors, in some embodiments, may be embedded in the two side supports to measure, for example, acceleration, location, or other logistic information. When a damaged piece is identified, the maintainable pallet can be disassembled by unfastening the two-part releasable fasteners to remove the damaged piece; and a new interchangeable piece will replace the damaged piece.