Reinforced plastic pallet
First Claim
1. A reinforced, thermoformed, plastic pallet for bearing a load, comprising a generally rectilinear body having an upper surface and a lower surface and at least one pair of opposing support sides;
- at least one reinforcing bar-receiving channel extending substantially longitudinally between said at least one pair of opposing support sides; and
reinforcing bar means received within said at least one reinforcing bar-receiving channel, said reinforcing bar means being of a thin-steel construction;
said rectilinear body having a plurality of opposed reinforcing bar positioning detents which extend into said bar-receiving channel, said positioning detents being laterally offset and longitudinally spaced to engage said reinforcing bar means such that said reinforcing bar is substantially prevented from moving laterally within said channel by contact with said detents.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A reinforced pallet (10) includes an upper surface (11) and a pair of opposing support sides (14, 15). The pallet (10) also includes at least one reinforcing bar channel (50) and a reinforcing bar (40) received within reinforcing bar channel (50). A twin-sheet pallet (10) is formed vacuum-forming a first plastic sheet (33a) to a first mold section (30) and a second plastic sheet (33b) to a second mold sheet (31), wherein a preselected portion of the second mold section (31) is sealed such that the second plastic sheet (33b) is not vacuum-formed. The mold sections (30, 31) are then moved together and the sheets (33a, 33b) are compressed together at preselected locations.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A reinforced, thermoformed, plastic pallet for bearing a load, comprising a generally rectilinear body having an upper surface and a lower surface and at least one pair of opposing support sides;
- at least one reinforcing bar-receiving channel extending substantially longitudinally between said at least one pair of opposing support sides; and
reinforcing bar means received within said at least one reinforcing bar-receiving channel, said reinforcing bar means being of a thin-steel construction;
said rectilinear body having a plurality of opposed reinforcing bar positioning detents which extend into said bar-receiving channel, said positioning detents being laterally offset and longitudinally spaced to engage said reinforcing bar means such that said reinforcing bar is substantially prevented from moving laterally within said channel by contact with said detents. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
- at least one reinforcing bar-receiving channel extending substantially longitudinally between said at least one pair of opposing support sides; and
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20. A method of forming a reinforced plastic pallet comprising the steps of thermoforming a first and a second plastic blank into the shape of the desired pallet;
- wherein said step of thermoforming includes fusing selected portions of said first and second blanks together, and forming selected open areas between said fused portions such that at least one of said open areas is formed in the shape of a channel;
forming a plurality of opposed, laterally offset positioning detents; and
locating a reinforcing bar within said channel such that said bar is positioned within the channel by each of said positioning detents. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
- wherein said step of thermoforming includes fusing selected portions of said first and second blanks together, and forming selected open areas between said fused portions such that at least one of said open areas is formed in the shape of a channel;
Specification