Plastic Pallet with Inverted Channels for FIBC Stacking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pallets are expensive and fail to achieve a balance between being lightweight, cost-effective, and providing sufficient strength to prevent collapse or distortion when used with flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs), especially when stacked, as they are difficult to lift with forklift tines due to their design.
Innovation Solution
A plastic pallet design featuring a planar central panel with parallel inverted open channels forming tunnels, reinforced with raised hump portions and buttresses that provide structural support while allowing forklift access, enabling efficient lifting and stacking without excessive weight or cost, and allowing for nested stacking to maintain structural integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional pallets are used to support FIBCs, then they provide sufficient strength and stability, but they are expensive and difficult to lift with forklift tines due to their design
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet is segmented into functional zones: open channels for forklift access, reinforced panels for load bearing, and integrated features for stacking. This segmentation allows each zone to optimize its specific function while working together as a unified structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The pallet design integrates multiple functions into a single structure: the open channels serve both as forklift access points and as structural elements; the reinforced panels provide both load-bearing capacity and stacking surfaces; the overall design enables both lifting and stable stacking operations.
2Strength
If lightweight plastic pallets are designed to reduce cost, then they become more cost-effective, but they lack sufficient strength to prevent collapse or distortion under load
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet employs local quality by concentrating material and structural reinforcement only where needed: the reinforced panels are positioned under expected load zones, the open channels are strategically placed for both access and structural support, and the overall geometry optimizes material distribution to provide maximum strength with minimum material usage.
3Productivity
If FIBCs are stacked directly one on top of another, then storage space is optimized, but it is difficult to slip forklift tines under the upper FIBC
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet design preliminarily prepares the stacking interface by incorporating open channels and reinforced panels that create stable, accessible surfaces. This preliminary structuring ensures that when FIBCs are stacked on the pallet, the forklift can easily access the upper units without needing to maneuver around obstacles or risk destabilizing the stack.
Data Source
AI summary
A pallet moulded from plastics material for supporting a flexible intermediate bulk container. It has a generally planar central panel portion, a pair of parallel inverted open channels extending across the pallet to form a respective pair of open-ended tunnels each tunnel having an upper wall and two side walls, and a pair of edge panel portions generally co-planar with the central panel. An array of raised elongate hump portions bulges upwards from the upper walls of the tunnels, each hump portion extending laterally across an upper wall. The two ends of the hump portions abut respective buttresses which extend up the side walls.