The modern pallet, as we now know it, got its start with the invention of the forklift, which was use extensively during the World War II, when the milita needed to move large amounts of materials over lon distances. To do this loads were made up into unitize segments placed on pallets, which were then loaded an unloaded to and from trucks with forklifts. This wa the start of modern day materials handling as we no know it.

Although pallets have been made from variou types of materials from the start, wood has been th most common material used because of the low cost availability of material, and the ease of building variety of sizes. These advantages in the pas outweighed the disadvantages, but in recent years woo pallets have become more costly as the lumber they ar made from becomes less available and the proper disposa of these pallets becomes harder. Society today is mor aware of the environment and is trying to find variou techniques that are not only beneficial to th environment but are cost effective.

The materials handling industry is no demanding more from pallets; this industry want economy, durability, uniformity, and increased safety A wood pallet cannot satisfy these requirements.

Several manufacturers have introduced pallet made from plastic materials. These have found use i various applications but have a number of disadvantage in that the plastic materials can crack or chip an these pieces can fall off and jam conveyors o palletizers. Most plastic pallets are not suitable fo unsupported or edge racking owing to insufficien

strength and extreme deflection. Plastic pallets also become brittle in cold temperatures and subject to breakage.

Metal pallets have come into use to some degree over the past number of years but in the past the drawbacks of metal pallets have outweighed the benefits. Typical prior art metal pallets were heavy, costly, and mainly intended to be used as in-house pallets. Major problems encountered with prior art pallets include the possibility of weld breakage under heavy prolonged use with the result being that the component parts of the pallet work loose and may escape from the pallet altogether with unfortunate results. Additionally, many pallet designs pose a safety hazard owing to the fact that certain raw edges are exposed and can cause injury to personnel. Certain designs also failed to offer true four-way entry for both pallet jacks and forklifts, i.e. the pallets were not accessible from both sides and both ends. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a pallet, particularly a metal pallet, which alleviates the several disadvantages of the prior art metal pallets discussed above. Thus, in accordance with the invention in one aspect there is provided a pallet including a plurality of parallel corrugated top members and a plurality of spaced parallel corrugated cross members extending transversely of and lying below said top members and fixed by any suitable securements, such as welds, to the undersides of said top members. The top members each have opposed end portions with said end portions of the respective top members being disposed along opposed sides of the pallet. Marginal side members extend along the opposed sides of the pallet and together with said top members and said cross members serve to form a

pallet deck. The marginal side members have flange means extending lengthwise thereof and engaging and covering up the opposed end portions of the respective top members. The corrugated top members include a pair of marginal top members each extending along a respective one of the opposed ends of the metal pallet. Each marginal top member has a web with an inturned flange means extending along its length and disposed below the top members and arranged such that the inturned flange means of the opposed marginal top members engage and secure opposing end portions of the corrugated cross members.

In several embodiments of the invention each of the opposed ends of the marginal top members is connected to a respective one of the opposed ends of said marginal side members such that together they circumscribe the remaining top members and, via said flange means thereon, act to further secure the top members and the cross members together and assist in preventing their separation in the event of breakage of the securements therebetween as well as covering up any raw end edges of the top members and cross members.

The pallet may include suitable support means thereon capable of supporting the pallet deck clear of a support surface thereby to allow a forklift or the like to enter below the deck.

In one preferred embodiment, the support means includes a multiplicity of spaced apart corrugated metal members of somewhat elongated generally U-shape configuration, each comprising an elongated central section, the opposing ends of which are joined to upright leg portions, with the upper ends of the latter being joined to the associated marginal side members. The dimensions of and spacing between the support members are selected so as to provide true four-way entry of forklifts and pallet jacks as noted previously.

The support system may also include a multiplicity of generally U or V-shaped struts extending between the mid-points of the central sections of the support means upwardly so as to bear against the underside of the pallet deck thereby to provide the desired degree of rigidity to the structure.

An alternative form of support for the pallet deck may be utilized when two-way entry only is required as is common for example in the brewing industry. In this situation the above-noted elongated U-shaped supports are not utilized but, rather, there are provided suitably shaped rigid supports which extend lengthwise of and downwardly from the opposed marginal sides of the pallet deck in spaced parallel relationship to one another. These elongated supports are shaped to engage upper portions of beer kegs to allow secure stacking of palletized kegs.

Another alternative may be described as a "reversing" pallet. This design employs two spaced parallel decks as described above secured together in back to back relation by way of rigid marginal web portions which are preferably integrally formed with the previously noted marginal side members. This double- decked reversible design offers significant advantages in numerous areas of use.

Another embodiment of the invention provides a "nestable" pallet construction. In this arrangement, the pallet deck structure is essentially as described above. However, portions of several of the corrugated top members are bent or deformed away from the plane of the deck defined by the top members generally to provide truncated V or U-shaped support legs to elevate the deck above the floor and allow easy handling, including entry of the tines of a fork-lift. Another embodiment may be termed a horizontal keg pallet, so-named because of its ability to carry and

allow stacking of horizontal keys. In this structure, opposed spaced apart decks are provided, secured by intermediate members extending between and welded to the opposing cross-members of the respective decks. The deck top members are arranged to provide a spaced parallel pair of wide gaps running side-to-side of the pallet decks to allow the horizontal kegs to nest within them. Further details will be provided later in this disclosure. Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, reference being had to the appended drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE VIEWS OF DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a metal pallet in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the metal pallet showing the pallet deck raised above the support structure;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the metal pallet; Fig. 4 is an end elevation view of the metal pallet;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation view of the metal pallet;

Fig. 6 is a partial section view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 7 is a partial sectional view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a partial sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 9 is a partial sectional view taken along line 9-9 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of another embodiment, i.e. a double decked reversible pallet;

Fig. 11 is a section view along line 11-11 of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a section view along line 12-12 of

Fig. 10;

Fig. 13 is a section view along line 13-13 of Fig. 10.

Fig. 14 is a plan view of a modified pallet specially adapted for use in the brewing industry;

Figs. 15 and 16 are end and side elevation views respectively of the pallet of Fig. 14;

Figs. 17, 18 and 19 are partial section views along lines 17-17, 18-18 and 19-19 respectively of Fig. 14;

Fig. 20 is an end elevation view showing multiple tiers of palletized beer kegs, the pallets being in accordance with Figs. 14-19;

Fig. 21 is an end elevation view showing pallets according to Figs. 14-19 in stacked storage positions;

Figs. 22 and 23 are end elevation views of further modified marginal side members.

Fig. 24 is a perspective view of a modified pallet capable of being stored in "nested" relation with other pallets;

Fig. 25 is a perspective view of a further embodiment, namely, a horizontal keg pallet;

Fig. 26 is a cross-section view along line 26- 26 of Fig. 25;

Fig. 27 is a cross-section view along line 27- 27 of Fig. 25. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to Figs. 1-9 of the drawings there is shown a metal pallet 10 of welded construction made in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The pallet includes a multiplicity of parallel spaced apart corrugated top members 12 lying essentially in a single plane. A spaced parallel pair of corrugated cross-members 14 .extends transversely of and lies below the plane of the top members 12. The

cross-members 14 are firmly secured to the undersides of the top members by welds, to be further noted hereafter. The top members 12 each have opposed end portions 16 with these end portions of the respective top members being disposed along the opposed sides of the pallet. The pallet is also provided with a pair of marginal side members 18, each of which extends along a respective one of the opposed sides of the pallet and, together with the previously noted top members 12 and cross-members 14 forming the deck of the pallet.

As best seen in Figs. 6 and 7, each marginal side member 18 is roll formed from relatively heavy gauge steel so as to provide a spaced apart pair of parallel flanges 20 and 22 extending longitudinally thereof. These spaced apart flanges are separated by an intermediate web portion 24 and lower lip portion 26 extends downwardly below the lowermost flange 22. The flanges 20 and 22 are spaced apart just sufficiently as to receive therebetween the end portions 16 of the respective top members 12. Suitable welds are provided so as to firmly secure the opposing ends of the top members to the marginal side members 18 between the upper and lower flanges 20, 22 thereof.

The corrugated top members 12 intermediate the opposing ends of the pallet have the cross-sectional configuration as best illustrated in Fig. 8. However, it will be noted that the top members include a pair of marginal top members 12' each extending along a respective one of the opposed ends of the pallet. Each of these marginal top members 12' differs from the remaining top members 12 in that they are each provided, along the outer longitudinal edge thereof, with a downwardly extending web 30, at the lower end of which is disposed an inwardly turned flange 32. The web 30 and flange 32 are dimensioned such that when the marginal top members 12' are in their correct positions

adjacent the opposing ends of the metal pallet, the inturned flanges are firmly engaged beneath opposing end portions 34 of the respective corrugated cross-members 14. This is all clearly illustrated in Fig. 8. 5 Each of the opposed ends 36 of the marginal top members 12 is irmly connected to a respective one of the opposed ends 38 of the marginal side members 18 such that together these members 12' and 18 circumscribe the remaining top members 12 and, by way of the above 0 described flanges 20, 22 and 32 thereon, cooperate together to secure the top members 12 and the cross- members 14 together. This serves to assist in preventing their separation from the pallet deck in the event that any of the welds normally securing them 5 together should break in the course of extended rough usage. Another important advantage provided by the aforementioned structures is that the raw edges defined by the opposing ends of the top members 12 and the cross-members 14 are effectively completely covered up 0 thus reducing greatly the chances that personnel will be injured in the course of using the pallet.

As previously noted, the pallet 10 includes a support means joined to the pallet deck and extending downwardly therefrom to support the pallet deck clear of 5 a support surface (floor or the like) on which the pallet is resting to allow a forklift or the like to enter below the pallet deck for transportation purposes.

The support structure 40 comprises a plurality, in this case three, of spaced apart 0 corrugated metal supports 42, each being of an elongated or very stretched out U-shape configuration. Each support 42 includes an elongated central section 44 extending from side to side of the pallet with the opposing ends of the central section 42 each being Ξ integrally joined to an upright leg portion 46. The upper end portions of the upright leg portion 46 in turn

are joined by suitable welds to the downwardly extending lips 26 forming part of the previously described marginal side members 18 (see Fig. 6).

The widths of the several support members 42 may be varied depending upon circumstances thereby to accommodate differing modes of use.

The support structure further includes a multiplicity of generally V or U-shaped struts 48 extending upwardly between the mid-points of the central sections 44 with the upper end portions of these struts 48 being welded to and bearing against the underside of the pallet deck. The struts 48 serve to support the deck against deflection when heavy loadings are applied thereto. In order to further stabilize the several support members 42 there additionally are provided lengthwise extending corrugated metal sections 50 which span between the support members and are firmly welded thereto thereby to provide the necessary structural strength and rigidity.

The several components of the pallet structure as described above are typically made from sheet steel of a thickness selected to provide the desired degree of strength and rigidity while at the same time avoiding excessive weight. The metal components are roll formed to provide the desired shapes as illustrated and the metal surfaces are galvanized or otherwise coated with a suitable rust inhibiting material.

The various components, e.g. the top members 12, cross-members 14, marginal side members 18 and all of the other remaining components are welded together using known techniques, such as spot welds. A number of these spot welds are illustrated in Fig. 3 toward the lower left corner (other welds being omitted for simplicity's sake). Obviously, any well known connecting techniques (including riveting) may be used

as considered suitable by those skilled in the art under the circumstances.

Reference will now be had briefly to the double-decked reversible pallet embodiment of Figs. 10- 13. Similar parts have been given the same reference numbers increased by 100.

The reversible pallet 110 has a pair of spaced parallel back to back decks, each having outwardly facing top members 112 and inwardly facing cross members 114 as described before. The marginal side members 118 vary from those described previously in that they each provide two pairs of spaced parallel flanges 120, 122 which receive therebetween and are welded to the opposing end portions 116 of the top members 112 of both decks. A rigid web 123 secures the two sets of flanges together and rigidly maintains the desired spacing between the decks. Optional elongated slots 125 permit side entry of fork lifts as desired.

As best seen in Fig. 12, the marginal top members 112' include flanges 130 and inturned flanges 132 which firmly engage the opposing end portions 134 of the respective cross members 114. Opposed ends of marginal top members 112' are welded to respective opposing ends of the marginal side members 118 thereby achieving the several benefits described with the first embodiment in terms of structural integrity, safety and the like.

With reference now to Figs. 14-19, there is shown a modified pallet arrangement suitable for use in the brewing industry although its use is not thus limited. Parts similar to those of the Fig. 1-9 embodiment have been given the same reference number, increased by 200.

Thus, the pallet 210 includes parallel corrugated deck top members 212, 212' lying in a single plane and welded to a spaced pair of corrugated cross

members 214 as described previously. The top member 212 and cross members 214 are locked firmly together vi the previously described action of the circumscribin marginal top members 212' and their flanges 232 togethe with the marginal side members 218 and their flanges 22 and 222.

Only the modifications and attachments t marginal side members 218 need be described further Again, these members 218 are of roll formed heavy gaug sheet steel. Starting with upper flange 220 which lie flat on and is fixed by welds to the end portions 216 o the top members 212, 212', there is provided an inverte U-shaped top channel portion 213 which rises above th top surface of the pallet deck. The outer wall o channel 213 extends downwardly across the ends of th top members and the metal sheet then is folded to for the lower flange 222 which underlies and is secured t the undersides of the above-noted end portions 216. Th metal sheet then extends downwardly a short distance a at 215, thence sloping downwardly and inwardly as at 21 at about a 45° angle to the deck, thence turnin horizontally outwardly a short distance parallel to th pallet deck at 219 and thence downwardly and outwardl as at 221 at approximately 60° to the pallet deck unti the foot or base portion 223 is reached, which portio is parallel to the pallet deck. The metal sheet thenc turns upwardly at right angles to the pallet deck an proceeds upwardly at 225 to join and be affixed by weld to portion 215 and the outer wall of the top channe 213, thus forming box-beam like supports 227 fixed t and effectively forming part of the marginal sid members 218 and extending the full lengths of th opposing sides of the pallet 210.

A modified marginal side member 318 is show in Fig. 22 (parts similar to those described wit reference to Fig. 17 having the same reference numbers

increased by 100). As will be readily seen, the only difference is that metal sheet portion 317, instead of being angled outwardly, extends at right angles to the deck and has a lip portion 317' which is welded to the underside of the deck. This affords greater strength and stability to the supports 327 as a whole and makes the pallet more suitable for heavier loading application.

The opposing supports 227,327 are useful in that they are shaped to engage to engage upper portions of standard beer kegs when multiple tiers of palletized kegs are stacked upon one another as shown in Fig. 20 while at the same time permitting end entry of a fork lift. Furthermore, the top channels 213 assist in providing stable stacking in that they help to ensure that the kegs are fully positioned on the pallet deck.

Other advantageous features of these elements 213 and

227 will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art. A still further modification of the marginal side members is shown in Fig. 23 designated 418, parts similar to those of the Fig. 22 embodiment having the same reference characters increased by 100. This particular profile is useful for a plain deck-type pallet for general purpose use where two-way entry of fork lifts and pallet jacks is acceptable. The configuration will be readily understood by those skilled in this art from a reading of the previous descriptions so a further discussion of this particular configuration is considered unnecessary.

Also as shown in Figs. 14-17 and 21 and 22, the channels 213 are each provided with a spaced pair of steel pegs 229 firmly welded thereto. Pegs 229 are adapted to mate with and enter into corresponding apertures (not shown) in base portions 223 of the supports 227 when the pallets 210 are being stored in a

stacked array, reference being had to Fig. 21. This assures the stability of the stack, avoiding safety hazards etc.

Referring to Fig. 24 there is shown a "nestable" pallet modification. A number of these pallets can be stacked together in nested array thus taking up minimal storage space. The pallet deck structure is essentially as described previously with corrugated top members 512, cross-members 514, marginal side members 518 etc. The only difference is that three of the top members (shown as 512') are bent or deformed to provide truncated V-shaped legs 542 which extend below the plane defined by the top and cross members. These legs 542 support the pallet deck above floor level to facilitate use and entry of fork lift tines etc.

With reference to Figs. 25-27 there is shown a horizontal keg pallet 610 for carrying and stacking of horizontally disposed kegs. The structure provides double-opposed decks each defined by corrugated top members 512, corrugated cross-members 514, and marginal side members 518a, b and c all provided with spaced flanges which embrace the end portions of the top members 512. The marginal top members 512' are provided with the inturned flanges 532 which engage and conceal the opposed ends of the cross-members 514 as previously described. The marginal top members 512' are well spaced from the central top member 512 to provide spaced parallel wide gaps running side-to-side of the pallet to allow horizontal kegs to nest within them and to allow several pallets with nested kegs to be stacked.

The double-opposed decks of the pallet are secured together in spaced apart parallel relation by a series of short cylindrical tubes 519. These tubes are welded between opposed facing cross-members 514 of the respective pallet decks.

Although reference herein has been had to

"welded" constructions, it will be appreciated that other forms of securements may be used, (such as rivets and certain structural adhesives) depending on the strength required for the particular application at hand.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described by way of example, those skilled in this art will readily appreciate that various changes and modifications may be made to the structures disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For definitions of the invention, reference is to be had to the appended claims.