Wood and plastic pallet

• US 5,351,628 A
• Filed: 03/26/1993
• Issued: 10/04/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Wilbert Incorporated (Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: TriEnda Corporation (Newell Brands Inc.)
• Inventors: Wolfe, Michael J., Breezer, Harlon W., Pintar, Thomas M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Peter R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Anderson, Gerald A.
• Application Number:
  US08/038,711
• Time in Patent Office: 557 Days
• Field of Search: 108/51.1, 108/56.1, 108/56.3, 108/52.1
• US Class Current: 108/56.1
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 19/0022 forming a continuous plane contact surface
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 19/0091 forming a continuous plane contact surface
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00029 Wood
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00034 Plastic
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00064 Wood
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00104 Plastic
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00273 made of more than one piece
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00293 made of more than one piece
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00298 skeleton type
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00323 made of more than one piece
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00333 contact surface having a stringer-like shape
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00373 whereby at least one spacer is made of one piece
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00417 on the non-integral separating spacer
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00432 Non-integral, e.g. inserts B65D2519/00462 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2519/00572 with separate auxiliary element, e.g. screws, nails, bayonets

Abstract

A wooden upper deck is connected by two types of plastic spacer blocks to a wooden lower deck. The upper deck may be a conventional deck composed of stringers and slats or it may be a twin sheet thermoformed plastic deck. The lower deck is composed of stringers which underlie the plastic spacers and tie boards which abut the ends of the stringers. Connector spacer blocks serve both to join the upper deck to the lower deck and to connect the stringer boards to the tie boards. The stringers and tie boards are held in fixed relation by bolts which join the upper and lower decks passing through sockets in the spacer blocks. The stringers and the tie boards are bolted to the spacer blocks and are thus joined. The joint between the stringers and the tie boards may be strengthened by means of a metal link overlying the stringers and tie boards and linking the bolts together.

Claims

1. A pallet comprising:

a) an upper load supporting deck;

b) a lower deck comprised of a plurality of laterally extending members and a plurality of longitudinally extending members;

c) a plurality of plastic blocks positioned between the upper deck and the lower deck, and engaged with the upper deck and the lower deck to space the upper deck a desired distance from the lower deck, wherein at least one of said plurality of blocks has portions defining at least two vertically extending sockets, wherein said at least one block is positioned above a joint formed between a laterally extending member and a longitudinally extending member of the lower deck; and

d) a plurality of vertically extending fasteners which extend through the block sockets and are engaged with the upper deck and the lower deck members to join the lower deck laterally extending members to the lower deck longitudinally extending members and to join the lower deck to the upper deck.

2. The pallet of claim 1 wherein each block has a plurality of exterior walls and a plurality of reinforcing webs extend between the exterior walls and the sockets.

3. The pallet of claim 1 wherein at least one block has a base which engages against the lower deck, and portions of said block define a recess which is spaced above the lower deck, and further comprising a link disposed within the block recess, the link crossing the joint between a laterally extending and a longitudinally extending member of the lower deck, wherein a plurality of bolts extend through the link to restrict the separation of the lower deck members.

4. A pallet comprising:

a) a twin sheet thermoformed upper deck, having a first thermoplastic sheet fused to a second thermoplastic sheet at a plurality of pinch points;

b) a wooden lower deck comprised of laterally extending stringer boards and longitudinally extending tie boards which abut one another at a plurality of joints;

c) a plurality of plastic connector blocks engaged between the upper deck and the lower deck, wherein a connector block extends across each joint;

d) fasteners which extend through the upper deck, the connector blocks, and the lower deck boards, wherein at least two fasteners extend through each connector block, such that a fastener extends through each board adjacent a lower deck joint to fasten the stringer boards and the tie boards into a deck.

5. The pallet of claim 4 wherein the tie boards have portions defining at least one cutout into which at least one stringer board is inset.

6. The pallet of claim 4 further comprising at least one mid-span plastic spacer block extending between the upper deck and the lower deck and positioned to overlie a stringer board, wherein a plurality of fasteners extend through the upper deck, the spacer block and the lower deck stringer board.

7. A pallet comprising:

a) an upper wooden deck;

b) a lower wooden deck;

c) a plurality of plastic spacer blocks positioned between the upper deck and the lower deck, and engaged with the upper deck and the lower deck to space the upper deck a desired distance from the lower deck, wherein at least one of said plurality of blocks has portions defining at least two vertically extending sockets; and

d) a plurality of bolts which pass through the sockets to join the plastic spacer blocks to the upper and lower decks, wherein the upper deck is comprised of wooden stringers which overlie the sockets in the plastic spacer and wooden slats running approximately perpendicular to the stringers, wherein at least one slat overlies sockets in the plastic spacer blocks, the upper deck slats and stringers having portions defining holes which correspond to the sockets in the spacer blocks, the bolts passing through the holes in the slats and stringers and the sockets in the spacer blocks thereby joining the upper deck to the spacer blocks, and wherein the bottom deck is comprised of bottom stringers and tie boards and wherein the bottom stringers and the tie boards underlie portions of the spacer blocks, the bottom stringers and tie boards having portions defining bolt holes, said portions being aligned with sockets in the plastic spacer blocks, and wherein the bottom stringers and the tie boards are joined to the plastic spacer blocks by the bolts passing through the bolt holes such that the bottom stringer bolt holes do not overlap the bottom tie board bolt holes.

8. The pallet of claim 7 wherein the tie boards have portions defining at least one cutout into which at least one stringer board is inset.

9. The pallet of claim 7 further comprising a means for reinforcing the connection of the stringer boards and tie boards.

10. A pallet comprising:

a) an upper load-supporting deck;

b) a lower wooden deck having bottom non-overlapping stringer boards and tie boards which abut one another;

c) a plurality of plastic blocks positioned between the upper deck and the lower deck, and engaged with the upper deck and the lower deck to space the upper deck a desired distance from the lower deck, wherein a plurality of blocks have portions defining at least two vertically extending sockets, wherein a block is positioned above a joint formed between a lower deck stringer board and tie board; and

d) a plurality of fasteners which extend through the block sockets and join the upper deck with the lower deck and position the plastic spacers therebetween, wherein the fasteners mechanically connect the lower deck stringer boards and tie boards to form the lower deck, the fasteners joining the stringer boards and tie boards to the plastic blocks and thus joining the boards to each other.

11. The pallet of claim 10, further comprising a means for reinforcing the connection of the stringer boards and tie boards.

12. The pallet of claim 10, wherein the fasteners which join the upper and lower decks and connect the bottom stringer boards and tie boards are joined by a link which overlies the stringers and tie boards and reinforces the plastic spacer in joining the stringer boards and tie boards.

13. The pallet of claim 10, wherein the plastic spacers are of a substantially constant cross section, thereby facilitating their cost-effective manufacture by extrusion or injection molding.

14. A pallet comprising:

a) an upper load-supporting deck;

b) a lower wooden deck having bottom stringer boards and tie boards;

c) a plurality of plastic spacer blocks joining the upper deck and the lower deck in spaced relation, wherein the plastic spacer blocks have portions forming two or more bolt holes in a substantially vertical web; and

d) a plurality of fasteners which join the upper deck with the lower deck and position the plastic spacers therebetween, wherein the fasteners mechanically connect the lower deck stringer boards and tie boards to form the lower deck, the fasteners joining the stringer boards and tie boards to the plastic spacers and thus joining the boards to each other, and wherein the fasteners are bolts which join the upper and lower decks and pass through the bolt holes and are thus held in fixed relation by the joining web, mechanically locking the lower deck stringers and tie members in fixed relation.