Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Description
Pallet for transportation
Technical Field
The present invention relates to a pallet for
transportation which is light-weighted, excellent in
durability and capable of being assembled easily.
Background Art
According to a conventional pallet for transportation,
a pallet made of wood has frequently been used since the
material is easy to obtain and fabrication thereof is
facilitated. The pallet made of wood is liable to deform or
damage by repeatedly loading heavy weight articles and from
the view point of an environmental problem or the like, in
recent times, use of a pallet made of a metal such as a steel
plate has been spreading. Although such a pallet made of a
metal is provided with a strength, the pallet is heavy and
fabrication thereof is liable to be complicated.
Conventionally, various schemes have been carried out in view
of cost, weight and strength and there have been known
constitutions by technologies, for example, described below.
(i)According to a conventional pallet made of a metal,
as shown in Fig.7, a pallet 50 for transportation is constituted
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by arranging pluralities of longitudinal members 41 and cross
members 43 made of steel each having a section in a channel-like
shape into a shape of a frame
and fixedly welding portions of the longitudinal members 41
and the cross members 43 which are brought into contact each
other to thereby constitute a frame body 49.
(ii)According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open
No.157540/1999, there is described a pallet for transportation
in which a plurality of leg portions in each of which an upper
face side thereof constitutes a recessed portion opened
upwardly and a lower face side thereof is projected downwardly
to be able to be fitted to the recessed portion, are provided
to hang from a face plate integrally formed by polypropylene
or reproduced polypropylene having a square shape by an
injection molding process or a press-forming process, there
are formed fork inserting portions which are opened at both
end portions of the face plate in a direction of inserting and
retracting forks and downwardly between the leg portions on
the lower face side of the face plate, and which are laminated
to align in an up and down direction.
(iii)According to Japanese Utility Model No.3053964,
there is described a pallet having a face plate which is formed
in a shape of three projections and two recesses by an iron
plate and both side edges of which are folded to bend inwardly
into an L-like shape to constitute tight ends, and a square
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prism which is integrally formed to provide a notched port on
one side thereof and which is formed with recess fitting notched
ports both on upper and lower sides of a face thereof
corresponding to the notched port and by the recess fitting
notched port, two sheets of the face plates corresponding in
parallel are fitted to the square prism to combine and bonded
together by spot welding.
The above-described conventional pallets for
transportation pose following problems.
(1)The conventional pallet for transportation made of
a metal shown in Fig.7, poses a problem that the pallet is
deficient in strength despite its heavy weight, a number of
welded portions is large and enormous fabrication labor or a
large welding apparatus is needed.
( 2 ) The pallet far transportation described in Japanese
Patent Laid-Open No.157540/1999, poses a problem that the
pallet is devoid of durability, the
pallet comprises synthetic resin such as polypropylene and
generates poisonous gas in case of fire since the pallet is
flammable and a special. fire extinguishing apparatus is needed.
(3)The pallet described in Japanese Utility Model
No.3053964, poses a problem that since load applied between
the two sheets of face plates is supported by the square prism
having a complicated shape formed with the recess fitting
notched ports on the upper and lower sides, stress is liable
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to concentrate to the notched port portion or the like, the
pallet is devoid of durability and further, in fabricating the
square prism, a number of steps are needed, which is devoid
of economic performance.
The invention has been carried out in order to resolve
the above-described problems and it is an object thereof to
provide a pallet for transportation which is light-weighted
and having necessary durability, excellent in safety in
handling or in fire or the like and facilitated in fabrication
and assembling thereof.
Disclosure of the Invention
According to a pallet for transportation described in
Claim l, there is provided
A pallet for transportation characterized in a pallet
comprising:
(a) an upper face plate comprising a strip-like face plate
made of a metal formed by constituting a sectional shape
alternately arranged with (n+1) pieces of projected portions
and n pieces(n is a natural number)of recessed portions; and
(b)a support member a side face of which is formed
substantially in a square shape by being turned around to fold
to bend to an inner side at four portions thereof in a
longitudinal direction of the strip-like face plate and in
which a reinforcement member having a section in a channel-like
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shape is fitted to the projected portion between upper and lower
ones of the strip-like face plates at both end portions and
at least one portion of middle portions thereof in the
longitudinal direction:
(c)wherein a plurality of the upper face plates are
bonded orthogonally to upper portions or upper portions and
lower portions of a plurality of the support members.
According to a pallet for transportation described in
Claim 2, there is provided:
a pallet for transportation characterized in a pallet
comprising:
(a) an upper face plate comprising a strip-like face plate
made of a metal formed by constituting a sectional shape
alternately arranged with (n+1) pieces of projected portions
and n pieces(n is a natural number)of recessed portions; and
(b)a support member in which a reinforcement member
having a section in a channel-like shape is fitted to the
projected portion between upper and lower strip-like face
plates at both end portions and at least one portion of middle
portions thereof in a longitudinal direction at each of the
strip-like face plates arranged to be opposed to each other
on upper and lower sides thereof:
(c)wherein a plurality of the upper face plates are
bonded orthogonally to upper portions or upper portion and
lower portions of a plurality of the support members.
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By the above-described constitution, following
operation is achieved.
(1) The strip-like face plate is provided with a section
in a zigzag shape alternately arranged with a plurality (n+1 (n
is a natural number_))of the projected portions and a
plurality(n)of the recessed portions and therefore, a
resistance force against folding to bend the strip-like face
plate formed by the projected portions and recessed portions
in the longitudinal direction, is increased and a rigidity by
which the pallet is prevented from being flexed even when the
pallet is loaded with a heavy weight article, is provided and
safety in pallet transportation can be promoted.
(2) Since the section in the zigzag shape is provided,
the pallet can be light-weighted in comparison with a volume
of the total and when a vacant pallet is moved, disassembling
or the like of the pallet is facilitated and the pallet is
excellent in handling performance.
(3)The strip-like face plates constituting the upper
face plate and the support member are formed by metal plates
and therefore, poisonous gas is not generated in fire or the
like and the pallet is excellent in safety.
(4)The strip-like face plate can be formed integrally
from a metal plate by press-forming, roll forming or the like
and therefore, fabrication and assembling thereof can easily
be carried out and the pallet for transportation can be
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fabricated inexpensively.
( 5 ) Since there is constructed the constitution in which
the reinforcement members are fitted to combine respectively
with a pair of the proj ected portions at both ends of the support
member in a plurality of the projected portions constituted
by being formed in parallel with the upper and lower strip-like
face plates opposed to each other of the support member and
therefore, the both end sides of the reinforcement members may
only be fitted to the projected portions of the strip-like face
plates constituting the support member and the pallet can be
assembled and disassembled extremely easily.
(6)The support member reinforced by the reinforcement
member can also be attached to the upper face plate for
constituting a pallet mounting face by welding and therefore,
assembling of the pallet can easily be carried out.
(7)When the support member is fixedly arranged
orthogonally to lower portions of the plurality of upper face
plates by welding or the like, strength of the pallet for
transportation can be increased, heavy weight articles can
safely be transported and service life of the pallet can be
prolonged.
( 8 ) According to the pallet of Glaim 1, there can be
constituted the solid pallet reducing the reinforcement
members to be fitted by using the formed support member
constituted by folding to bend the strip-like face plate at
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the four portions in the longitudinal direction and assembling
of the members is facilitated. Further, since a cut face is
not exposed at an end portion thereof in the longitudinal
direction, the pallet is excellent in safety.
A plate material made of a metal integrally formed into
the strip-like face plate, may be formed by using a plated steel
plate coated with zinc plating or the like, a stainless steel
plate or the like when corrosion resistance is requested other
than a steel plate or the like. Further, an aluminum alloy
such as duralumin or the like may be used when it is necessary
to be light-weighted.
The reinforcement member is formed by folding to bend,
for example, a metal plate in a strip-like shape into a
channel-like shape and a pair of upper and lower strip-like
face plates are arranged in parallel at a predetermined
interval therebetween via the reinforcement member to support
to couple, thereby, the support member can be reinforced
without being crushed.
In bonding the upper face plate, the support member, the
reinforcement member and the like, described above, these can
be bonded by publicly-known means of welding, bolt fastening,
rivetting or the like.
According to the pallet for transportation described in
Claim 3, L-like portions provided at both ends in a width
direction of the strip-like face plate are formed by being
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folded back to an inner side, thereby, a sharpened end portion
is prevented from being projected to an outer side to thereby
promote safety and a resistance force against external force
in a direction of folding to bend the strip-like face plate
can be promoted.
According to the pallet for transportation described in
Claim 4, there is provided:
the pallet for transportation according to any one of
Claims 1 to 3, in which an end portion in the longitudinal
direction of the upper face plate includes a protection portion
bent to crush downwardly in an L-like shape.
By the above-described constitution, other than
operation of Claims 1 to 3, following operation is achieved.
(1)The upper face plate for constituting the pallet
mounting face, is provided with the protection portion formed
by bending to crush the end portion of the strip-like face plate
in the L-like shape and therefore, even when a person or a
mounted article is brought into contact with the pallet for
transportation, the damage can be restricted to a minimum limit
and safety in handling or in transporting the pallet can be
ensured.
(2)The protection portion can simply be formed only by
bending to crush the end portion of the strip-like face plate
to the inner side in the L-like shape and therefore, the pallet
for transportation can be fabricated extremely easily, which
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is excellent in economic performance.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Fig.l is a perspective view of a pallet for
transportation according to Embodiment 1 of the invention.
Fig.2 is a perspective view of a strip-like face plate in the
pallet for transportation according to Embodiment 1. Fig.3
is a perspective view of a support member in the pallet for
transportation according to Embodiment 1. Fig.4 is a
perspective view of a reinforcement member in the pallet for
transportation according to Embodiment 1. Fig.5 is a
perspective view of an essential portion of a pallet for
transportation according to Embodiment 2. Fig.6 is an outline
view showing a structure of a support member according to
Embodiment 2. Fig.7 is a perspective view of a pallet for
transportation according to a conventional example.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
(Embodiment 1)
A detailed explanation will be given of a first
embodiment constituting a mode for carrying out the invention
in reference to the drawings as follows.
Fig.l is a perspective view of a pallet for
transportation according to Embodiment 1.
In Fig.l, numeral 10 designates the pallet for
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transportation according to Embodiment 1, numeral 11
designates an upper face plate comprising a strip-like face
plate having a section in a zigzag shape alternately arranged
with projected portions 11a and recessed portion 11b, numeral
12 designates L-like portions formed by bending end portions
of the projected portions lla on both sides of the strip-like
face plate to inner sides, numeral 13 designates a support
member which is arranged by welding an upper face side thereof
to a predetermined portion on a rear face side of the recessed
portion llb and in which a total thereof comprising faces 13a
to 13e constituted by turning around a strip-like face plate
to an inner side at four portions thereof in the longitudinal
direction, is formed in a flame-like shape(state in which a
side face thereof is formed substantially in a square shape) and
numeral 14 designates a reinforcement member arranged between
the two faces 13a and 13c or between the faces 13e and 13c of
the support member 13 opposed to each other in an up and down
direction.
The pallet 10 for transportation is constructed by a
constitution in which a plurality of pieces(three pieces in
this case)of the support members 13 are arranged to align in
parallel, a plurality of pieces(five pieces in this case)of
the upper face plates 11 are mounted on upper portions of the
support members 13, 13, 13 to ride over and respective contact
points are fixedly bonded. In the fixed bonding,
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publicly-known means of spot or seam welding, bolt fastening,
rivetting or the like can be used.
As shown in Fig.2, in each of the strip-like face plates
constituting the upper face plate 11 and the support member
13, a plurality(n+1, three pieces in the drawing)of the
projected portions lla and a plurality(n, two pieces in the
drawing) of the recessed portions llb are alternately aligned,
there are further provided the L-like portions 12 formed by
bending the end portions on outer sides of the proj ected portion
lla at both ends in the width direction to the inner side in
an L-like shape and a total thereof is formed integrally from
a metal sheet in a strip-like shape or the like.
By constituting such a structure having the strip-like
face plates having the section in the zigzag shape and the
support members 13 reinforced by the reinforcement members 14,
there is achieved a rigidity which is not bent even when heavy
weight articles are loaded on the pallet 10 for transportation.
Further, the above-described natural number n can be set in
a range of 2 to 10.
As shown in Fig.3, the support member 13 is formed with
the faces 13a to 13e by folding to bend the strip-like face
plate to the inner side at the four portions in the longitudinal
direction and formed in a rectangular frame shape having the
side face in the square shape surrounded by these. The folding
operation can easily be carried out by bending to crush folding
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line portions thereof by using a press brake or the like.
Further, as shown in Fig.3(b), there may be constructed a
constitution in which there are notched portions of recessed
portions 17 of the support member, side face portions 16a of
the support member and end portions 18 of the support member
for constituting a side portion of the support member in the
folding operation, and projected portions 16 of the support
member for constituting bottom portions of the support member
are folded to bend along a folding line A to thereby fold to
bend the support member without providing crushed portions.
As shown in Fig.4(a), a sectional shape of the
reinforcement member 14 may be formed in a channel-like shape
surrounded by faces 14a to 14c or may be constituted by a square
shape. The reinforcement member 14 is formed by being folded
to bend to provide the above-described sectional structure.
The face 14a having a width of the folded portion is made to
constitute a width of the projected portion 11a and when the
reinforcement member 14 is fitted to the projected portions
lla at the both end portions, the width of the face 14a is made
to constitute a width narrowed further by an amount of a width
of an end portion thereof.
Further, there can be constructed a constitution in which
the reinforcement member 14 is arranged such that a direction
of the channel-like shape is directed in a direction different
from that in the drawing by 90 degrees (refer to Fig. 4 (b) ) , or
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there can also be constructed a constitution in which the
reinforcement member 14 is provided with a section in a C-
like shape constituted by folding to bend end portions thereof
to an inner side(refer to Fig.4(c)). According to the
invention, all of the channel-like shape, the square shape and
the C-like shape, are referred to as channel-like shape.
As shown in Fig.l, at both end portions and at least one
portion of middle portions of the support member 13, the
reinforcement member 14 is arranged between two upper and lower
faces of the strip-like face plates of the support member 13
opposed to each other. Further, there can also be constructed
a constitution in which an end portion of the strip-like face
plate of the upper face plate 11 is folded to bend and welded
to the support member 13 or fastened thereto by screws or a
reinforcement plate of a metal piece or the like in an L-like
shape is attached thereto and welded thereto or fastened
thereto by screws to combine to thereby reinforce a total
thereof as necessary.
The pallet 10 for transportation according to Embodiment
1 is constituted as described above and therefore, following
excellent operation is achieved.
(1)Each of the strip-like face plates for constituting
the upper face plate 11 and the support member 13, is provided
with the section alternately aligned with the projected
portions and the recessed portions and therefore, a resistance
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force against bending in a direction of extending the section
is increased and durability and stability can be maintained.
(2)The pallet 10 for transportation can be light-
weighted in comparison with a volume of a total thereof and
handling of the pallet 10 for transportation in disassembling
and assembling in moving a vacant pallet or the like can be
facilitated.
(3)The pallet 10 for transportation is formed by a metal
plate material and therefore, poisonous gas is not generated
in the case of fire or the like and the pallet 10 for
transportation is excellent in safety.
(4)The upper face plate 11, the support member 13 and
the reinforcement member 14 can integrally be formed from a
metal plate by press-forming, roll forming or the like and
therefore, fabrication and assembling thereof can be
facilitated and the pallet 10 for transportation can be
fabricated inexpensively.
(5)When the L-like portions 12 formed by bending end
portions in the width direction of the strip-like face plate,
are formed, even in case in which a sharp end portion thereof
is brought into contact with a person or other mounted article,
the damage can be alleviated.
(6)The light-weighted support member 13 reinforced by
the reinforcement member 14 is attached to the rear face side
of the strip-like face plate and therefore, assembling and
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disassembling of the pallet can easily be carried out.
( 7 ) When the support member 13 is arranged to the lower
portion of the upper face plate 11 by welding or fastening
by bolts, thereby, a strength of the pallet 10 for
transportation can be increased, heavy weighted articles can
stably be transported and the service life of the pallet can
be prolonged.
(8) The support member 13 formed by folding to turn around
the strip-like face plate, is reinforced by the reinforcement
member 14 and therefore, light-weighted formation can be
achieved while maintaining structural strength necessary for
the support member 13.
( 9) The reinforcement member 14 having the section in the
channel-like shape can easily be fabricated and inexpensive
since the shape is not complicated and a pallet in accordance
with weight of a mounted article can be constituted by arranging
or removing a pertinent number of pieces of the reinforcement
members 14.
(Embodiment 2)
An explanation will be given of a pallet for
transportation according to Embodiment 2 of the invention.
Fig.5 is a perspective view enlarging an essential
portion of a pallet for transportation according to Embodiment
2.
In Fig.5, numeral 20 designates a pallet for
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transportation according to Embodiment 2, notations 21 and 21a
designate an upper and lower pair of an upper support plate
and a lower support p:Late each comprising a strip-like face
plate constituted by reverting a surface and a rear face of
the section in the zigzag shape alternately arranged with the
projected portions lla and the recessed portions llb (refer to
Fig. 2 ) , numeral 22 designates L-like portions formed by bending
end portions of the projected portions lla on both end sides
of the upper support plate 21 and lower support plate 21a
respectively to inner sides, numeral 23 designates a
reinforcement member having a section in a channel-like shape,
upper and lower base end portions of which are respectively
fitted to rear face sides of the respective projected portions
lla of the upper support plate 21 and the lower support plate
21a and fixed thereto by spot welding or the like, numeral 24
designates a support member comprising the upper support plate
21, the lower support plate 21a and the reinforcement member
23, numeral 25 designates an upper face plate fixedly arranged
above the upper support plate 21 by welding or the like for
constituting a pallet mounting face and numeral 26 designates
a protection portion formed by bending to crush an end portion
in the longitudinal direction of a strip-like face plate of
the upper face plate 25 downwardly in an L-like shape.
Fig.6 is a schematic sectional view showing a state of
coupling the upper support plate 21 and the lower support plate
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21a with the reinforcement member 23 in the support member 24.
As shown in Fig.6, the support member 24 according to
Embodiment 2 is constituted by the upper support plate 21 and
the lower support plate 21a comprising the strip-like face
plates and the reinforcement member 23 for connecting these.
Further, as shown in Fi.g.6(a), upper and lower end portions
of the reinforcement member 23 are fitted to rear sides of the
central projected portions lla of the upper support plate 21
and the lower support plate 21a to thereby constitute to connect
the upper support plate 21 and the lower support plate 21a.
Further, as shown in Fig.6(b), the upper and lower end
portions of the reinforcement member 23 can also be fitted to
twos of the projected portions lla at both ends in the width
directions of the upper support plate 21 and the lower support
plate 21a to thereby connect to combine these. A number of
pieces of the reinforcement members 23 can pertinently be
determined in accordance with weight of a mounted article,
thereby, a pallet for transportation which is difficult to
deform can be constituted.
In this way, the pallet 20 for transportation according
to Embodiment 2 is formed by arranging in parallel, a plurality
of pieces of the support members 24 each constituted to connect
to combine the upper support plate 21 and lower support plate
21a respectively comprising the strip-like face plates by the
reinforcement member 23, mounting a plurality of pieces of the
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upper face plates 25 on the support members 24 to laminate in
orthogonal directions and welding by spot welding or fastening
by screws, upper faces of the upper support plates 21 and the
lower faces of the upper face plate 25 at respective contact
points.
In this case, the protection portion 26 can be formed
by bending to crush the end portion side of the upper plate
25 arranged above the upper support plate 21 for constituting
a pallet mounting face and exposed with a sharp cut portion
downwardly in an L-like shape. By forming the protection
portion 26, a cut end face of the upper face plate 25 comprising
the strip-like face plate can be prevented from being exposed
and the body or clothing of an operator can be avoided from
being impaired. Further, when a fabrication method of folding
to bend the strip-like face plate to the inner side described
in Embodiment l, is applied to a fabrication method of folding
to bend the strip-like face plate, the fabrication of folding
to bend the strip-like face plate in the L-like shape is
facilitated.
Since the pallet 20 for transportation according to
Embodiment 2 is constituted as described above, following
excellent operation is achieved.
( 1 ) The upper face plates 25 are laminated on the support
members 24 constituted by coupling the upper support plates
21 and the lower support plates 21a comprising pluralities of
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pieces of the strip-like face plates to each other by the
reinforcement members 23 and therefore, strength and rigidity
of a total of the structure can be increased.
(2)The respective strip-like face plates of the support
members 24 and the upper face plates 25 are arranged by shifting
directions of the sections in the zigzag shape alternately by
90 degrees, thereby, a resistance force against a direction
of twisting the face of the pallet 20 for transportation can
be increased and safety in transporting the pallet 20 for
transportation can be improved.
(3)By fitting the upper and lower end portions of the
reinforcement members 23 respectively to the rear face sides
of the projected portions lla of the upper support plates 21
and the lower support plates 21a, the upper support plates 21
and the lower support plates 21a are laminated to connect and
assembling and disassembling thereof can easily be carried out,
which is excellent in the operability.
(4)By forming the protection portion 26, even when a
person, a mounted article or the like is brought into contact
with the pallet 20 for transportation, the damage can be
restricted to a minimum limit and safety in handling the pallet
or in transportation can be ensured.
(5) The protection portion 26 can simply be formed by only
bending to crush the end portion of the strip-like face plate
of the upper face plate 25 for constituting the pallet mounting
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face to the inner side in the L-like shape and therefore, the
pallet 20 for transportation having high safety can be
fabricated extremely easily, which is excellent also in
economic performance.
Industrial Applicability
According to the pallet for transportation of the
invention, the upper face plate and the support member
comprising the strip-like face plates made of a metal of a steel
plate or the like integrally formed to provide the sectional
shape alternately aligned with pluralities of the projected
portions and the recessed portions, are connected to combine
to reinforce by being fitted to the projected portions via the
reinforcement member or the like made of a steel plate and
having the shape easy to fabricate and therefore, the pallet
can easily be assembled and disassembled and can be made
light-weighted and solid.
