Plastic pallet with two decks
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A pallet comprising:
- a) a sealed twin-sheet thermoformed top deck having an upper thermoplastic sheet and a lower thermoplastic sheet wherein portions of the lower thermoplastic sheet are fused to the upper sheet at a plurality of pinch points, and a plurality of bolt holes are formed at top deck pinch points;
b) a metal reinforcing substrate located between the top deck upper sheet and lower sheet, wherein the fused portions are spaced from the substrate;
c) a sealed twin-sheet thermoformed bottom deck having an upper thermoplastic sheet fused to a lower thermoplastic sheet at a plurality of pinch points, wherein portions of the pinch points define bolt holes extending through the bottom deck;
d) a plurality of plastic posts extending between the top deck and the bottom deck, wherein each post has portions which underlie the metal reinforcing substrate; and
e) fasteners which extend through the posts and through the bolt holes in the top deck and the bottom deck to connect the top deck to the bottom deck.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A plastic pallet has a twin sheet thermoformed upper deck reinforced with a tubular metal substrate. Injection molded plastic octagonal posts have support member walls which are positioned beneath reinforced portions of the top deck. The posts also have a sleeve with a central bolt hole which is parallel to the support member walls. A twin sheet thermoformed lower deck is spaced from the upper deck by the posts and receives the posts in recessed pockets. Plastic bolts are inserted through the top deck, each post, and the bottom deck and are held in place by plastic T-nuts. A sawtooth parting line in the twin-sheet thermoforming molds provide accurate alignment and molding of the pallet parts.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. A pallet comprising:
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a) a sealed twin-sheet thermoformed top deck having an upper thermoplastic sheet and a lower thermoplastic sheet wherein portions of the lower thermoplastic sheet are fused to the upper sheet at a plurality of pinch points, and a plurality of bolt holes are formed at top deck pinch points; b) a metal reinforcing substrate located between the top deck upper sheet and lower sheet, wherein the fused portions are spaced from the substrate; c) a sealed twin-sheet thermoformed bottom deck having an upper thermoplastic sheet fused to a lower thermoplastic sheet at a plurality of pinch points, wherein portions of the pinch points define bolt holes extending through the bottom deck; d) a plurality of plastic posts extending between the top deck and the bottom deck, wherein each post has portions which underlie the metal reinforcing substrate; and e) fasteners which extend through the posts and through the bolt holes in the top deck and the bottom deck to connect the top deck to the bottom deck. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A pallet comprising:
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a) a twin sheet thermoformed top deck; b) a twin sheet thermoformed bottom deck having an upper thermoplastic sheet and a lower thermoplastic sheet fused to the upper thermoplastic sheet at a plurality of pinch points, wherein portions of the pinch points define bolt holes extending through the bottom deck; and c) a reinforcing metal substrate located between the bottom deck upper sheet and lower sheet and sealed therein; d) a plurality of plastic posts which extend between the top deck and the bottom deck, wherein each post has a base which engages with the bottom deck upper sheet at a location which overlies the metal substrate, and wherein each post has at least one protrusion which extends downwardly and engages within a depression in the bottom deck spaced from the substrate, the depression located above a pinch point; and e) a fastener which extends through each post to connect the upper deck to the bottom deck.
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8. A pallet comprising:
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a) a sealed twin-sheet thermoformed top deck having an upper thermoplastic sheet and a lower thermoplastic sheet fused to the upper sheet at a plurality of pinch points; b) a plurality of bolt holes extending through the top deck upper sheet and lower sheet; c) a sealed twin-sheet thermoformed bottom deck spaced beneath the top deck and having an upper thermoplastic sheet and a lower thermoplastic sheet fused to the upper sheet at a plurality of pinch points; d) a plurality of bolt holes extending through the bottom deck upper sheet and lower sheet, each bottom deck bolt hole being aligned with a top deck bolt hole; e) a plurality of plastic posts extending between the top deck and the bottom deck, wherein each post has a support member engaged against the lower sheet of the top deck in load-beating relation and a sleeve portion is integrally formed with the support member, wherein the sleeve portion extends upwardly within the top deck and has portions defining a bolt hole which is aligned with a top deck bolt hole and a bottom deck bolt hole, and wherein the sleeve portion is offset from the center of the post, such that the sleeve portion aligns the post for a desired orientation with respect to the top and bottom decks; and a plurality of fasteners, wherein each fastener extends through a top deck bolt hole, a bottom deck bolt hole, and a post bolt hole to connect the upper and lower decks.
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Specification