Three-piece lightweight glueless pallet

Abstract

A three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels of essentially rectangular configuration, with a plurality of longitudinally disposed structural members created on the inner surface of each panel. During the creation of a basic pallet member, one of the panels is turned such that its structural members are disposed in an angular relationship to the structural members of the other of the panels. A spaced plurality of slots are formed in the structural members of each basic panel member, with such slots in the structural members of one panel positioned to coincide with the slots of the structural members of the other panel, so that when the two panels are aligned and pushed together, the slots of the structural members of one panel enter and interfit with respective slots of the other panel. The interfitted panels, upon thereafter being placed inside an encapsulating member constructed of lightweight material, form an integral, three-piece pallet unit of considerable strength. Preferably the plurality of longitudinally disposed structural members are made up of separate, longitudinally extending legs whose inner surfaces have been secured together either by adhesive means or by mechanical means. Generally rectangularly shaped apertures are provided in the basic pallet member that are intended to receive the forks of a fork lift truck, which apertures align with similar apertures in said encapsulating member at such time as latter member is installed around said basic pallet member.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels of essentially rectangular configuration, with each of said panels having ends and sides and with said ends residing in an essentially parallel relationship, 
 a plurality of parallel, longitudinally disposed structural members created on the inner surface of each panel,    during the creation of a basic pallet member by the use of said panels, one of said panels being turned such that its structural members are disposed in an angular relationship to the structural members of the other of said panels,    a plurality of slots formed at spaced locations in the structural members of each basic panel member, with such slots in the structural members of one panel positioned so as to coincide with the location of said structural members of the other panel, so that when the two panels are pushed together in an aligned relationship, the slots of the structural members of one panel enter and interfit with respective slots of the other panel,    said interfitted panels, upon thereafter being placed inside an encapsulating member constructed of lightweight material, forming an integral, three-piece pallet unit of considerable strength.    
     
     
         2 . A three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 1  in which each of said plurality of parallel, longitudinally disposed structural members is made up of separate, longitudinally extending legs whose inner surfaces have been secured together.  
     
     
         3 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 2  in which said inner surfaces of said longitudinally disposed structural members are secured together by adhesive means.  
     
     
         4 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 2  in which said inner surfaces of said longitudinally disposed structural members are secured together by mechanical means.  
     
     
         5 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 4  in which the mechanical means by which said inner surfaces of said longitudinally disposed structural members are secured together involves the use of interlocking tabs.  
     
     
         6 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 1  in which said plurality of slots formed at spaced locations in the structural members of one of said basic panel members are of approximately the same depth as the slots formed in the structural members of the other of said basic panel members.  
     
     
         7 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 1  in which said plurality of slots formed at spaced locations in the structural members of one of said basic panel members are of a somewhat different depth than the slots formed in the structural members of the other of said basic panel members.  
     
     
         8 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 1  in which at least one of said longitudinally disposed structural members is disposed on one side of a centerline location that is parallel to and substantially equidistant from the ends of each panel, and another of said longitudinally disposed structural members is disposed at a corresponding location on the other side of said centerline location.  
     
     
         9 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 1  in which a plurality of longitudinally disposed structural members are disposed on each side of said centerline location.  
     
     
         10 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 1  in which at least one of said longitudinally disposed structural members is disposed on one side of a centerline location that is parallel to and substantially equidistant from the ends of each panel, and a plurality of said longitudinally disposed structural members are disposed on the other side of said centerline location.  
     
     
         11 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 1  in which during the creation of a basic pallet member by the use of said panels, one of said panels is turned such that its structural members are disposed in an orthogonal relation to the structural members of the other of said panels.  
     
     
         12 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 1  in which said encapsulating member involves a central portion equipped with flaps, with two of said flaps being major flaps provided with locking tabs, and at least two tab-receiving slots provided in said basic pallet member for receiving said locking tabs at such time as said basic pallet member has been placed upon said central portion and said major flaps have been folded to enclose said basic pallet member.  
     
     
         13 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 12  in which said tab-receiving slots provided in said basic pallet member for receiving said locking tabs are located on the centerline of said basic pallet member.  
     
     
         14 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 1  in which each of said panels as well as said encapsulating member are made from corrugated paperboard.  
     
     
         15 . A three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels of essentially rectangular configuration, with each of said panels having ends and sides and with said ends residing in an essentially parallel relationship, 
 a plurality of parallel, longitudinally disposed structural members created on the inner surface of each panel,    a first of said longitudinally disposed structural members being disposed on one side of a centerline location parallel to and substantially equidistant from the ends of each panel,    a second of said longitudinally disposed structural members being disposed on the other side of said centerline location,    during the creation of a basic pallet member by the use of said panels, one of said panels being turned such that its structural members are disposed in an orthogonal relation to the structural members of the other of said panels,    a plurality of slots formed at spaced locations in the structural members of each basic panel member, with such slots of one panel positioned so as to coincide with the location of said structural members of the other panel, so that when the two panels are pushed together in an aligned relationship, the slots of the structural members of one panel enter and interfit with respective slots of the other panel,    said interfitted panels, upon thereafter being placed inside an encapsulating member constructed of lightweight material, forming an integral pallet unit of considerable strength.    
     
     
         16 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels utilized in combination with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 15  in which each of said plurality of parallel, longitudinally disposed structural members are made up of separate, longitudinally extending legs whose inner surfaces have been secured together.  
     
     
         17 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels utilized in combination with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 16  in which said inner surfaces of said longitudinally disposed structural members are secured together by adhesive means.  
     
     
         18 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels utilized in combination with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 16  in which said inner surfaces of said longitudinally disposed structural members are secured together by mechanical means.  
     
     
         19 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels utilized in combination with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 18  in which the mechanical means by which said inner surfaces of said longitudinally disposed structural members are secured together involves the use of interlocking tabs.  
     
     
         20 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels utilized in combination with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 15  in which said first longitudinally disposed member and said second longitudinally disposed member are disposed on opposite sides of said centerline location at approximately the same distance from said centerline location.  
     
     
         21 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels utilized in combination with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 15  wherein a plurality of longitudinally disposed structural members are disposed on each side of said centerline location.  
     
     
         22 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels utilized in combination with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 15  wherein a different number of longitudinally disposed structural members are disposed on one side of said centerline location, than are disposed on the other side of said centerline location.  
     
     
         23 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels utilized in combination with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 15  in which said encapsulating member involves a central portion equipped with flaps, with two of said flaps being major flaps provided with locking tabs, and at least two tab-receiving slots provided in said basic pallet member for receiving said locking tabs at such time as said basic pallet member has been placed upon said central portion and said major flaps have been folded to enclose said basic pallet member.  
     
     
         24 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels utilized in combination with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 23  in which said tab-receiving slots are disposed on the centerline of said basic pallet member.  
     
     
         25 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels utilized in combination with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 15  in which each of said panels as well as said encapsulating member are made from corrugated paperboard.  
     
     
         26 . A three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in combination with an encapsulating member, said basic pallet member being constructed from a pair of generally flat, die cut panels of essentially rectangular configuration, with each of said panels having ends and sides and with said ends residing in a parallel relationship, 
 a plurality of scoring lines defined in spaced, parallel locations on each of said panels, with such scoring lines being arranged in closely spaced groups, and with such scoring lines defining positions at which folding can take place when the distance between the ends of each panel is caused to decrease,    a first closely spaced group of such scoring lines being disposed on one side of a centerline location parallel to and substantially equidistant from the ends of each panel, and a second closely spaced group of such scoring lines being disposed at a corresponding location on the other side of said centerline location, with each of said panels being susceptible to a folding procedure taking place at each position at which a closely spaced group of scoring lines are located,    said panels, upon the distance between said ends being caused to decrease so as to bring about folding at the locations of each closely spaced group of scoring lines, forming on one surface of each panel, a plurality of parallel, longitudinally disposed structural members whose inner surfaces are able to be secured together to resist bending,    during the creation of a basic pallet member by the use of said panels, one of said panels being turned such that its structural members are disposed in an angular relation to the structural members of the other of said panels,    a plurality of slots formed at spaced locations in the structural members of each panel, with such slots positioned so as to coincide with the location of said structural members of the other panel, so that when the two panels are pushed together in an aligned relationship, the slots of the structural members of one panel enter and interfit with respective slots of the other panel, with the interfitted panels, upon being joined together, forming a basic pallet member of considerable strength,    said basic pallet member being utilized in combination with an encapsulating member of lightweight material designed to readily receive the basic pallet member.    
     
     
         27 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 26  in which said inner surfaces of said longitudinally disposed structural members are secured together by adhesive means.  
     
     
         28 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 26  in which said inner surfaces of said longitudinally disposed structural members are secured together by mechanical means.  
     
     
         29 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 28  in which said mechanical means by which the inner surfaces of said longitudinally disposed structural members are secured together is by the use of interlocking tabs.  
     
     
         30 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 26  in which said longitudinally disposed structural members of one panel are disposed in an orthogonal relationship to the structure members of the other panel.  
     
     
         31 . Three two-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 26  in which said encapsulating member involves a central portion equipped with flaps, with two of said flaps being major flaps provided with locking tabs, and at least two tab-receiving slots provided in said basic pallet member for receiving said locking tabs at such time as said basic pallet member has been placed upon said central portion and said major flaps have been folded to enclose said basic pallet member.  
     
     
         32 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 31  in which said tab-receiving slots are disposed on the centerline of said basic pallet member.  
     
     
         33 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in conjunction with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 26  in which each of said panels as well as said encapsulating member are made from corrugated paperboard.  
     
     
         34 . The three-piece lightweight pallet involving the use of a basic pallet member utilized in combination with an encapsulating member as recited in  claim 26  in which generally rectangularly shaped apertures are provided in said basic pallet member that are intended to receive the forks of a fork lift truck, which apertures substantially align with similar apertures in said encapsulating member at such time as said encapsulating member is installed around said basic pallet member.