Composite concrete pallet
First Claim
1. An article of manufacture, comprising:
- a pallet includinga top deck,a bottom deck,a spacer structure joining together the top deck and the bottom deck, wherein the spacer structure includes one or more blocks defining one or more fork openings between the top deck and the bottom deck;
wherein the top deck and the bottom deck each includes a casing made of metal, wherein each casing defines a cavity, andconcrete contained inside at least part of the cavity in each casing, wherein each casing forms a mold in which the concrete is contained, wherein the concrete includescement,reinforcement fibers embedded in the cement, andmicro spheres embedded in the cement,wherein the casing of the top deck includes a cross support with an outer peripheral member,wherein the cross support has a cross pattern shape that subdivides the top deck into a series of rectangular window openings, andwherein the cross support and the outer peripheral member of the casing of the top deck have edge walls extending around the window openings.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A composite pallet is made of concrete. The concrete material can include various concrete mixtures, such as Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC) or an Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC). It also can include microspheres. The concrete material can be cast in a mold or formed via an extrusion process and then cured. The pallet components can include a core material that can form various voids or cavities. The core material can include polystyrene foam, and the foam forms a honeycomb, which is then filled with the concrete material. The concrete material can also be dyed to create different colors to identify the pallets. The pallets can further include plastic and/or rubber bumpers on the corners and/or edges to prevent or minimize chipping. The resulting pallet can be cured using carbon dioxide (CO2) curing which reduces the cure time to about an hour or less.
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Citations
49 Claims
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1. An article of manufacture, comprising:
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a pallet including a top deck, a bottom deck, a spacer structure joining together the top deck and the bottom deck, wherein the spacer structure includes one or more blocks defining one or more fork openings between the top deck and the bottom deck; wherein the top deck and the bottom deck each includes a casing made of metal, wherein each casing defines a cavity, and concrete contained inside at least part of the cavity in each casing, wherein each casing forms a mold in which the concrete is contained, wherein the concrete includes cement, reinforcement fibers embedded in the cement, and micro spheres embedded in the cement, wherein the casing of the top deck includes a cross support with an outer peripheral member, wherein the cross support has a cross pattern shape that subdivides the top deck into a series of rectangular window openings, and wherein the cross support and the outer peripheral member of the casing of the top deck have edge walls extending around the window openings. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 48, 49)
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33. A method, comprising:
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mixing reinforcement fibers and microspheres into cement to create concrete; creating a first casing of a first deck that includes a cross support area with an outer peripheral member, wherein the cross support has a cross pattern shape that subdivides the first deck into a series of rectangular window openings, wherein the cross support and the outer peripheral member of the first casing have edge walls extending around the window openings, wherein the first casing is made of metal; creating a second casing of a second deck that defines jack openings, wherein the second casing is made of the metal; forming at least the first deck of a pallet by pouring the concrete into the first casing that contains to at least partially fill the cross support with the concrete, wherein the concrete is wet during the pouring of the concrete into the first casing; forming the second deck of the pallet by pouring the concrete in the second casing to at least partially fill the second casing with the concrete, wherein the concrete is wet during the pouring of the concrete into the second casing, curing the concrete in the first casing of the first deck, wherein the first casing remains with the concrete during the curing; curing the concrete in the second casing of the second deck, wherein the second casing remains with the concrete during the curing; and attaching the first deck to a second deck made of the concrete with a spacer structure in between to define one or more fork openings, wherein the first casing remains part of the first deck during said attaching, wherein the second casing remains part of the second deck during said attaching. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification