Plastic Pallet Runner System for Nesting and Load Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pallets, especially wooden ones, are not durable enough to support heavy loads and often damage lower loads when stacked, and they do not efficiently nest for storage, leading to space inefficiencies and durability issues.
Innovation Solution
A plastic pallet design featuring a runner system with a 'V' or 'U' profiled structure, made from thermo plastic polymers, which is lighter, stronger, and antimicrobial, allowing for nesting and improved load distribution, and includes features like notches for forklift insertion and cross runners for added strength and flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional wooden pallets are used, then they are easy to manufacture and obtain, but they lack durability and damage lower loads when stacked
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet is constructed from multiple plastic components (deck boards, stringers, blocks, notches) that are molded together to form an integrated structure. This composite approach combines the strength of plastic materials with a multi-component design to achieve superior load-bearing capacity while maintaining ease of manufacture through injection molding processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The pallet is divided into distinct functional components including deck boards for load support, stringers for structural framework, and notches for forklift engagement. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while being manufactured as an integrated unit, resolving the contradiction between strength and manufacturing ease.
2Productivity
If wooden pallets are stacked to store multiple loads, then storage capacity increases, but the pallets damage lower loads and are not durable
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet design incorporates built-in protective features such as reinforced corners, distributed load blocks, and a rigid integrated structure that prevents deformation during stacking. These features are designed beforehand to cushion and distribute loads, preventing damage to lower pallets while enabling efficient vertical storage stacking.
Solution Approach 2:
The use of plastic composite construction provides inherent durability and resistance to moisture, rot, and insect damage that plagues wooden pallets. This material choice enables reliable repeated stacking and storage while maintaining structural integrity, directly addressing the durability concern.
3Strength
If plastic pallets with runner systems are designed, then strength-to-weight ratio improves and nesting efficiency increases, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The runner system integrates multiple functions into a single structural element: the runners provide structural support, create nesting cavities through their profiled design, and enable forklift engagement through integrated notches. This merging reduces the number of separate components needed, lowering manufacturing complexity while maintaining strength and nesting capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The runner structure serves multiple purposes simultaneously: it provides the pallet's structural framework, creates the nesting geometry through its profiled shape, and incorporates notches for material handling equipment. This multi-functionality achieves superior strength-to-weight ratio without proportionally increasing complexity.
4Volume of moving object
If traditional pallet designs are used, then manufacturing is simple, but nesting for storage is inefficient and space is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The pallet incorporates an integrated nesting system where recesses in one pallet receive the runners of another pallet, enabling tight vertical stacking. This nesting capability is built into the basic runner profile design, allowing efficient space utilization in storage without requiring additional external nesting devices or complex assembly procedures.
Data Source
AI summary
A pallet includes an integral single unitary body that may include first and second outer runners continuously extending along first and second outer sides of the pallet from a third side of the pallet to a fourth opposite side of the pallet. Each of the first and second outer runners may include an elongate upwardly facing channel, a bottom wall having an upper surface forming a floor of the channel, sidewalls upwardly extending from the bottom wall and diverging from one another, side wall lips outwardly extending from the sidewalls, end walls upwardly extending from the bottom wall and diverging from one another, end wall lips outwardly extending from the end walls and end wall skirts extending downwardly from and hanging from the end wall lips. At least one deck portion is between the first and second outer runners.