Fire resistant pallet

• US 20100251941A1
• Filed: 06/14/2010
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Scott A.W. Muirhead
• Original Assignee: Scott A.W. Muirhead
• Inventors: Muirhead, Scott A.W.
• Granted Patent: US 8,347,794 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 108/57.270
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/12 Articles with an irregular circumference when viewed in cross-section, e.g. window profiles
• CPC Class Codes: B29C 48/91 Heating, e.g. for cross linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/552 involving long-term monitoring or reporting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/554 involving event detection and direct action
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2135 Metering
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2137 Time limited access, e.g. to a computer or data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices

Abstract

An industrial platform for material handling, such as a plastic pallet, is constructed of three scuffed thermoplastic sheets, including exterior intumescent polymeric surfaces for resisting the spread of combustion flames and insulating the interior surfaces from the high temperature of fire. The pallet is reinforced with optional rigidifying structures without article modification. Pallet members are joined with snap together features providing an assembled article. The pallet includes handles for ergonomic manipulation by workers and is readily adapted to receive a number of unitization accessories for enhancing material handling operations.

Claims

1. A fire resistant pallet comprising:

a pallet assembly, and

a fire resistant layer formed upon an exterior of said pallet assembly.

2. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 1 which includes,

said pallet assembly being made of a polyolefin resin,

said fire resistant layer being made of an intumescent polyolefin material, and

said pallet assembly and said fire resistant layer being co-extruded.

3. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 2 which includes,

said intumescent polyolefin material being disposed only on an exterior of said pallet assembly.

4. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 1 which,

said fire resistant layer includes a moldable intumescent polyolefin composition resistant to fire, and

said intumescent polyolefin composition being co-extruded with a least a portion of said pallet assembly.

5. A fire resistant pallet comprising:

at least a first layer of moldable intumescent material,

a second layer of moldable polyolefin material, and

said first and second layers being co-extruded together prior to being molded into the fire resistant pallet.

6. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 5 which includes,

said moldable intumescent material of said first layer containing a polyolefin material.

7. A fire resistant pallet comprising:

a moldable mixture of intumescent materials including polyethylene resin.

8. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 7 in which,

said moldable mixture of intumescent materials formed in a sheet construction having a 4:

1 draw ratio to form a deep leg pocket.

9. A fire resistant pallet comprising:

a pallet assembly having a molded polyolefin interior structure for supporting a load thereon,

an outer layer surrounding said molded polyolefin interior structure forming an exterior surface, and

said exterior surface including fire resistant material having superior fire resistance relative to the molded polyolefin interior structure.

10. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 9 in which,

said fire resistant material includes intumescent material.

11. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 9, which includes,

a plurality of co-extruded polyolefin sheets forming said molded polyolefin interior structure and said outer layer.

12. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 11 in which,

said pallet assembly includes a pallet shell having a first shell half formed from a first member and a second shell half formed from a second member,

said outer layer surrounding said pallet shell,

said molded polyolefin interior structure forming a support structure disposed between and instantly fused to said first shell half and said second shell half to provide support for said pallet shell, and

said support structure extending across a length of the said pallet shell.

13. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 9 in which,

said outer layer includes a polyolefin material composition with intumescent material disposed thereon to from said exterior surface.

14. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 9 which includes,

said fire resistant material providing thermal insulating properties for said molded polyolefin interior structure.

15. A fire resistant pallet comprising:

a pallet assembly including at least one pallet member having an external surface, and

said pallet member having an inner layer with moldable polyolefin material and an outer layer with a mixture of moldable polyolefin material and intumescent material forming a fire resistant exterior surface thereon.

16. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 15 which includes,

said inner layer and said outer layer being co-extruded to form said pallet member.

17. A fire resistant pallet as set forth in claim 15 which includes,

said inner layer and said outer layer being formed from recyclable materials.

18. A pallet assembly comprising:

at least one pallet member having external surfaces,

a flame retardant material affixed to said at least one pallet member so as to substantially cover all of said external surfaces of said pallet member, and

said flame retardant material being composed of a composite including polyethylene and intumescent materials.

19. A pallet assembly comprising:

at least one pallet member having external surfaces,

a flame retardant material affixed to said at least one pallet member so as to substantially cover all of said external surfaces of said pallet member,

said flame retardant material being composed of a composite material including a polymer material integrated with one or more water-vapor generating intumescent materials, and

said intumescent materials comprising between about 0.0% and 25% weight of said composite.

20. A method of fire retarding a pallet assembly comprising the steps of:

providing a pallet assembly including at least one pallet member having external surfaces,

affixing a flame retardant liquid including an intumescent material to said at least one pallet member so as to substantially cover all of said external surfaces of said pallet member, and

liquifying the flame retardant for melt processing by extrusion over a sheet precursor of the pallet member.

23. A twin sheet pallet assembly as set forth in claim 20 in which,

said predetermined amount of intumescent materials being made entirely of non-halogenated substances.

21. A pallet assembly comprising:

at least one pallet member having external surfaces,

a flame retardant material affixed to said at least one pallet member so as to substantially cover all of said external surfaces of said pallet member,

said flame retardant material including a flame retardant liquid comprising an intumescent material,

said pallet member being molded from a sheet of plastic made of a first liquid melt stream containing fire retardants including intumescent materials and a second liquid melt stream substantially excluding fire retardant materials, and

said second liquid melt stream being 2 to 6 times thicker than said first liquid melt stream.

22. A twin sheet pallet assembly comprising:

a first co-extruded thermoplastic sheet heated to a heat deformable temperature and molded against a first tooling surface to form a load support component having first exterior and interior surfaces and a second co-extruded thermoplastic sheet heated to a heat deformable temperature and molded against a second tooling surface to form a structural component having second exterior and interior surfaces,

said first and second co-extruded thermoplastic sheets each including a first layer of polyethylene integrated with a predetermined amount of moldable intumescent compositions providing a degree of fire resistance to comply with industry standards and a second layer of polyethylene that is not, integrated with the predetermined amount of moldable intumescent composition,

said second layers of polyethylene being thicker in cross section than said first layers, and

said first layers of polyethylene being positioned against said tooling surfaces during molding to form said exterior surfaces so that upon exposure to a high heat indicative of a fire a predetermined amount of intumescent materials prevent said interior surfaces in said second layers from exceeding the industry standards for commodity and idle pallet storage.

24. A twin sheet pallet assembly as set forth in claim 22 in which,

said predetermined amount of intumescent materials first release at least one of water and gas vapor to lower the peak heat release temperature of said first layers and second to form a char barrier to insulate said interior surfaces so that said interior surfaces do not become a source of ignition exceeding the limits of industry standards.

25. A twin sheet pallet assembly as set forth in claim 22 in which,

said moldable intumescent compositions include polyethylene selected from the group consisting of HDPE and LDPE in the range between about 0.86 to 0.97 g/cc and said second layer of polyethylene being in the range between about 0.94 to 0.97 g/cc.