Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The invention relates to a spacer for loading pallets,
comprising a tubular member, which has, at least at one end
thereof, a number of securing tabs extending generally in
axial direction and adapted to penetrate into and connect the
tubular member to a deck-forming member of the loading pallet,
and a number of support members extending at an angle to the
securing tabs and being formed, like the securing tabs, in one
piece with the tubular member, which, in cross section, has a
polygonal shape formed by axially extending bending zones
located in ~he border area between tabs and support members.
Such spacers, which e.g. are known by the US patent
3,641,948 (Figs. 1 and 12), should be so strong that they a.o.
may resist the stresses occurring due to strokes or bumps
from the forks being introduced between the dec~ members on
lifting and lowering of the loading pallet. The spacers
according to said patent do not, however, seem to be able to
fulfill these requirements without use of very thick sheet
material therein; this being due to the fact that the bending
zones, i.e. the zones located on opposite sides of a single
planar tube ~all portion, onl~ as an exception contribute to
the po].ygonal tubular shape of the spacer, namely at a corner
portion ormed e.g. at every third or every second securing
tab. This means that the planar sheet metal portion extending
between two bending zones truly contributing to the polygonal
2S tubular shape becomes comparatively large and thus, rather
easily deformable on strokes and impacts from a fork.
This invention aims at removing this disadvantage and
obtain a more rigid and economical spacer.
More particularly, this invention provides a spacer
for loading pallets, comprising a tubular member, which has,
at least at one end thereof, a number of securing tabs
extending generally in axial direction and adapted to
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penetra-te into and connect the tubular member to a deck-
forming member of the loading pallet, and a number of
support members extending at an angle to the securing
tabs and being formed, like the securing tabs, in one
piece with the tubular member, which has been given a
polygonal shape in cross section by means of axially ex-
tending bending edges, said bending edges being of two
kinds, namely first bending edges located in the border
area between each securing tab and suppor-t member and
second bending edges spaced from the first bending edges
and extending from the points of the securing tabs
generally parallel to th~ first bending edges, each tube
wall portion located between two adjacent first bending
edges and ass~ciated to a supporting member being inclined
relative to two other similar tube wall portions located
adjacent the first-mentioned tube wall portion at opposite
sides thereof, each of said securing tabs having portlons
located more close to a longitudinal center line of the
spacer than all first bending edges between securing tabs
2Q and support members, said securing tabs as well as said
support members having the character of generally triangular
teeth, evexy second of which, namely those forming support
members, being bent at an angle to the adjacent teeth so
a.~ to point in a direction to the center of the tubular
~S member, said teeth forming the securing tabs and the
support members being, as viewed on a flat sheet metal
blank intended for production of the spacer, generally alike,
thus having generally equally wide bases adjoining to a web
portion for forming said tubular member of the spacer, said
spacer having four or more generally planar tube wall
portions, each located between two adjacent first bending
edges.
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With reference to the appended drawings, a more
specific disclosure of an embodiment according to the invention
will follow hereinafter.
In the drawings:
Fi~. l is a partially cut perspective view of a spacer
according to the invention;
Fig. 2 is a plan view of a sheet portion, which is
intended for the production of the spacer in Fig. l and in
which a number of teeth have been stamped;
Fig. 3 is a similar plan view illustrating every
second tooth bent while forming support members;
Fig. 4 is an end view of the spacer according to the
invention bent to final shapei
Fig. 5 is a cut end portion of a spacer accordinc~ to
a variation of the invention; and
Fig. 6 is a side view illustrating a loading pallet
including a spacer according to the inventionO
The preparation of the spacer according to the inven-
tion includes three working steps, namely punching, bending
and welding. In Fig. 2, it is illustrated that a sheet metal
portion l by punching has been provided with two sets of simi-
lar teeth 2, 2' being triangular or pointed. More specifically,
each o~ these sets 2, 2' includes ten teeth 3, 3a, 3,
3a....etc. At one end of the sheet metal portion l, a part 4
is left which at its opposite ends lacks teeth or tooth-~orming
portions. More specifically, this part 4 is at the top and at
the bottom defined by straight border edges 5, the distance
between said border edges being generally equal to the
distance between the valleys 6 between adjacent teeth 3, 3a.
In practice, the sheet metal portion l may be manufactured
from galvanized sheet metal having a thickness of about l mm.
In Fig. 3 it is illustrated that every second tooth
in each of the tooth sets 2, 2' has been bent at an angle,
namely a right angle, to the web o~ the sheet portion 1. More
specifically, the teeth 3 have been bent relative to the
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sheet web while forming support members, the intermediate
teeth 3a having been retained uneffected while forming secu-
ring -tabs suitable to be driven into wood or similar material.
In Figs. 1 and ~ it is illustrated that the sheet
metal portion according to Fig. 3 has been given a polygonal
tubular shape in cross section by means of axially extending
bending zones of two kinds, namely on one hand first bending
zones 7 located in the border area between the securing tabs
3a and support members 3 and on the other hand second bending
zones ~ extending from the points of the securing tabs gener-
ally parallel to the first bending zones 7. During this bend-
ing, the teeth 3 forming the support members are directed
towards the center of the tubular member and the portions of
the sheet metal web associated to the securing tab teeth 3a
are likewise directed inwardly towards the center of the
tubular member so that said second bending zones 8 are disposed
more closely to the center of the tubular member than the
first bending zones 7. After bending the sheet portion in
accordance with Fig. 4, the end part 4 is welded to the
opposite end part by one or more welds 9 of suitable kind.
In the embodiment illustrated, the number of teeth 3,
3a ill each set is ten, which means that the number of gene-
rally planar tube wall portions 12 defined by two first bend-
ing zones 7 is five and hence it follows that the sheet portion
or tubular member is given a pentagonal shape. This cross
sectional shape, as well as other cross sectional shapes of
higher order, i.e. with even more teeth and bending zones
respectively, is preferable since the number of reinforc~ng,
bended tube wall portions is great irrespective of where a
fork hits the spacer. Each portion 12 is inclined relative to
two adjacent portions 12 on opposite sides thereof. The bend-
ing zones 7 and 8 are comparatively sharp. This means that
the tabs 3a have a generally triangular shape as viewed from
above.
In Fig. 5, an alternative embodiment is illustrated
in which a plurality, more specifically three, of second
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bending zones ~a, 8b and 8c is associated to each pair of
securing tabs 3a. The two first-mentioned of these bending
zones or edges point inwardly towards the center of the spacer
while the lat-ter, which extends from the point of the tab, is
directed outwardly.
Finally, it is illustrated in Fig. 6 that a number of
spacers (preferably four located at the corners) generally
denoted 10 have been provided to interconnect two deck-forming
members or sheets 11 and hold these spaced from each other for
the purpose of enabling introduction of the fork of a fork-
lift truck between the members.
The advantages of the spacer according to the inven-
tion are numerous. By the polygonal tubular shape in cross
section, the spacer may, as mentioned above, be prepared from
comparatively very thin and non-expensive sheet metal while
maintaining or even improving the resistance properties of
the spacer with regard to the load from the goods on the load-
ing pallet as well as with regaxd to stxoke or impact stresses
~rom a truck fork. Since the tube wall portions associated to
the teeth 3a forming the securing tabs are bent not only
cllon~ the web of the tubular member but also along the areas
æ~mlng th~ tabs while forming continuous bending zones be-
~ween opposite tooth points, the teeth or securing tabs obtain
6In cxtremely good rigidity so that they despite low sheet
~hl~kn~ss may safely be pressed into the sheet members 11
wl~h rlo tendency to deflect. Another important advantage is
~hat the support members 3 are bent in a direction inwardly
~owards the center of the spacer, for what reason their normal-
ly sharp Pdges are bent inwardly of the wall of the spacer
where the edges cannotinjure e.g. hands or clothes of the
personnel having to handle the loading pallets.
The invention is obviousl~ not limited only to the
embodiment described and disclosed in the drawings. Thus, it
is for instance possible to design a spacer having only one
set of teeth, the spacer being connected to a sheet or deck
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member only at one end thereof, while the other end of the
spacer is designed so that it is adapted to support directly
against the ground in question. Furthermore, the number of
teeth in each set may, as has been indicated, be greater than
ten as illustrated in the drawings.
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