Modular nestable pallet

Claim 2

A pallet module molded from plastic material comprising: a generally rectangular upper panel; leg means formed integral with the upper panel and depending from the central portion of the panel; four flanges formed integral with the panel and respectively extending outwardly from the four edges of the panel supported in cantilever fashion; and means formed oN each of said flanges for overlapping and interlocking with flanges of similar modules such that a plurality of modules may be assembled to form a complete pallet, the distance between the outer edge of a flange and said leg means of said module being such that with two modules interconnected there is ample room between the leg means of adjacent modules for a tine of a forklift truck, said interlocking means permitting a complete pallet to be moved as a unit in any position, with or without a pallet load.

Claim 3

The pallet module of claim 1 wherein the upper surfaces of two adjacent flanges on the module are in generally the same plane as the upper surface of said panel, and the other two flanges are positioned in a plane below the upper surface of the panel by an amount approximately equal to the thickness of the upper flanges so that the upper flanges can overlap the lower flanges of an adjacent module when properly oriented and thus provide an upper pallet surface in approximately the same general plane.

Claim 4

The pallet module of claim 1 wherein said leg means includes one or more legs in the form of sockets which open upwardly and the walls of the legs taper slightly in a converging direction down from the upper panel so as to facilitate nesting of the modules during storage.

Claim 5

The pallet module of claim 3 wherein said leg means comprises four socket-like legs of generally rectangular crosssection with the legs being closely spaced and attached to the central portion of the upper panel, the depth of the legs being sufficient to readily accommodate the tines of the fork of a forklift truck in the space between the panel and a supporting surface beneath the legs.

Claim 6

The pallet module of claim 4 wherein the interlocking means formed on the flanges of a module are constructed so that the adjacent module can optionally be oriented with the longer side of its four legs extending generally parallel to the longer sides of the four legs of an adjacent module or perpendicular to the longer sides on the four legs of an adjacent module.

Claim 7

A pallet formed by a series of interconnected modules, each of said modules being molded from plastic material and having: a generally rectangular upper panel with flanges formed integral with the upper panel extending outwardly from the four edges of the panel supported in cantilever fashion; means formed on each of the flanges for interlocking with flanges of adjacent modules; and leg means formed integral with the upper panel on each module and depending from the central portion of the upper panel so that the assembled pallet has a plurality of spaced leg means, the spacing between the leg means of adjacent modules being sufficient to receive one tine of the fork of a forklift truck, the interlocking means permitting the pallet to be moved as a unit in any position, with or without a pallet load.

Claim 8

A pallet formed by a series of interconnected modules, each of said modules being molded from plastic material and having: a generally rectangular upper panel with flanges formed integral with the upper panel extending outwardly from the four edges of the panel supported in cantilever fashion; means formed on each of the flanges for interlocking with flanges of adjacent modules; and leg means formed integral with the upper panel on each module and depending from the central portion of the upper panel so that the assembled pallet has a plurality of spaced leg means, the spacing between the leg means of adjacent modules being sufficient to receive one tine of the fork of a forklift truck, the interlocking means permitting the pallet to be moved as a unit in any position, with or without a pallet load.

Claim 9

A pallet module molded from plastic material comprising an upper panel with outwardly extending flanges and means formed on the flanges for interlocking with flanges of similar adjacent modules, said interlocking means comprising one or more lugs depending from the lower surface of one of said flanges and one or more slots formed in an adjacent one of said flanges, said lugs being sized to be received into the slots in a flange of a similar adjacent module, said lug and slot include means for retaining the lug within the slot once the lug is received in the slot, said slot includes a tongue forming a wall of the slot and depending from the lower surface of its flange in cantilever fashion, with the tongue extending inwardly toward the center of the slot, said tongue being slightly flexible so that it may be forced aside by the lugs when the lug is inserted into the slot, said lug having a recess in one of its sidewalls spaced upwardly from the lower surface of the lug and positioned to receive the tongue of the slot after the lug means has been inserted into the slot, so as to retain the lug in the slot.

Claim 10

A pallet module molded from plastic material comprising an upper panel with outwardly extending flanges and means formed on the flanges for interlocking with flanges of similar adjacent modules, said interlocking means comprising one or more lugs depending from the lower surface of one of said flanges and one or more slots formed in an adjacent one of said flanges, said lugs being sized to be received into the slots in a flange of a similar adjacent module, said lug and slot include means for retaining the lug within the slot once the lug is received in the slot, said slot includes a tongue forming a wall of the slot and depending from the lower surface of its flange in cantilever fashion, with the tongue extending inwardly toward the center of the slot, said tongue being slightly flexible so that it may be forced aside by the lugs when the lug is inserted into the slot, said lug having a recess in one of its sidewalls spaced upwardly from the lower surface of the lug and positioned to receive the tongue of the slot after the lug means has been inserted into the slot, so as to retain the lug in the slot.

Claim 11

A pAllet module molded from plastic material comprising an upper panel with outwardly extending flanges and means formed on the flanges for interlocking with flanges of similar adjacent modules, said interlocking means comprising one or more lugs depending from the lower surface of one of said flanges and one or more slots formed in an adjacent one of said flanges, said lugs being sized to be received into the slots in a flange of a similar adjacent module, said lug has an elongated shape extending generally parallel to the outer edge of the flange.

Claim 12

A pAllet module molded from plastic material comprising an upper panel with outwardly extending flanges and means formed on the flanges for interlocking with flanges of similar adjacent modules, said interlocking means comprising one or more lugs depending from the lower surface of one of said flanges and one or more slots formed in an adjacent one of said flanges, said lugs being sized to be received into the slots in a flange of a similar adjacent module, said lug has an elongated shape extending generally parallel to the outer edge of the flange.

Claim 13

The module of claim 8 wherein said lugs include three elongated lugs extending in a row generally parallel to the outer edge of the flange on which the lugs are formed, each of the lugs having an elongated recess formed in one wall of the lug and spaced upwardly from the lower edge of the lug, said slots including three elongated slots extending in a row generally parallel to the outer end of the flange in which the slots are formed, each of the slots including a tongue forming an edge of the slot and extending below the lower surface of its flange, the tongue being oriented at an acute angle with the flange and extending inwardly towards the center of its slots, the tongue and the recess being sized and positioned such that when the lugs on the flange of one module are inserted into the slots on the flange of an adjacent module the tongues are snapped into the recesses in the lugs to attach the modules together.

Claim 14

The module of claim 9 wherein the middle lug of said three lugs has its recess located on the wall if its lug which is opposite to the location of the recesses in the two outer lugs, and the middle tongue extends along the edge of its slot which is opposite to that of the tongues for the two outer slots.

Claim 15

The module of claim 9 wherein a second row of lugs is formed adjacent the first mentioned row of lugs and a second row of slots is formed adjacent the first mentioned row of slots, said slots and lugs being so positioned that when adjacent modules are to be attached to each other a single row of lugs and slots may be interlocked or both rows of lugs and slots may be interlocked thus providing a lateral adjustment.

Claim 16

A pallet module molded from plastic material comprising an upper panel with outwardly extending flanges and means formed on the flanges for interlocking with flanges of similar adjacent modules, said interlocking means comprising one or more lugs depending from the lower surface of one of said flanges and one or more slots formed in an adjacent one of said flanges, said lugs being sized to be received into the slots in a flange of a similar adjacent module, the flanges having said slots are formed with a plurality of buttons depending from the flange lower surfaces a distance such that the lower surfaces of the buttons are below the lower surfaces of the lugs of an adjacent module when the lugs are positioned in the slots so that when the forks of a forklift truck extend between the adjacent modules the fork will engage the buttons rather than the interlocking slots and lugs.

Claim 17

A pallet module molded from plastic material comprising an upper panel with outwardly extending flanges and means formed on the flanges for interlocking with flanges of similar adjacent modules, said interlocking means comprising one or more lugs depending from the lower surface of one of said flanges and one or more slots formed in an adjacent one of said flanges, said lugs being sized to be received into the slots in a flange of a similar adjacent module, the flanges having said slots are formed with a plurality of buttons depending from the flange lower surfaces a distance such that the lower surfaces of the buttons are below the lower surfaces of the lugs of an adjacent module when the lugs are positioned in the slots so that when the forks of a forklift truck extend between the adjacent modules the fork will engage the buttons rather than the interlocking slots and lugs.

Claim 18

A pallet module molded as an integral structure from plastic material comprising: a generally rectangular upper panel; four legs extending downwardly from the central portion of the upper panel, the height of the legs being greater than the vertical thickness of the fork of a typical forklift truck, said legs having a generally rectangular cross-section formed by walls which taper inwardly in a downwardly direction so that the upper ends of the legs are larger than the lower ends of the legs so as to facilitate nesting of the modules during storage; four flanges extending outwardly from the upper panel respectively from the four edges of the panel, two adjacent flanges having their upper surfaces being spaced downwardly from the upper surface of the panel in an amount equal to the individual thickness of the other two flanges so that when the upper flanges are positioned over the lower fLanges of an adjacent module they are flush with the upper panel of the adjacent module; and means formed on said flanges for interlocking with flanges of adjacent modules to create a pallet formed of a series of modules, said interlocking means including two rows of three slots formed in the lower flanges and extending generally parallel to the outer edges of their respective flange, the upper flanges of said module each having two rows of three elongated lugs which depend from their flanges, with the rows extending generally parallel to the outer edges of their flanges, said lugs being slightly shorter in length than said slots and said lugs being slightly smaller in width than the upper width of said slots, said lugs being spaced similar to said slots such that the lugs of one flange are transversely aligned with the slots of the flange on the opposite side of the module.

Claim 19

A pallet module molded as an integral structure from plastic material comprising: a generally rectangular upper panel; four legs extending downwardly from the central portion of the upper panel, the height of the legs being greater than the vertical thickness of the fork of a typical forklift truck, said legs having a generally rectangular cross-section formed by walls which taper inwardly in a downwardly direction so that the upper ends of the legs are larger than the lower ends of the legs so as to facilitate nesting of the modules during storage; four flanges extending outwardly from the upper panel respectively from the four edges of the panel, two adjacent flanges having their upper surfaces being spaced downwardly from the upper surface of the panel in an amount equal to the individual thickness of the other two flanges so that when the upper flanges are positioned over the lower fLanges of an adjacent module they are flush with the upper panel of the adjacent module; and means formed on said flanges for interlocking with flanges of adjacent modules to create a pallet formed of a series of modules, said interlocking means including two rows of three slots formed in the lower flanges and extending generally parallel to the outer edges of their respective flange, the upper flanges of said module each having two rows of three elongated lugs which depend from their flanges, with the rows extending generally parallel to the outer edges of their flanges, said lugs being slightly shorter in length than said slots and said lugs being slightly smaller in width than the upper width of said slots, said lugs being spaced similar to said slots such that the lugs of one flange are transversely aligned with the slots of the flange on the opposite side of the module.

Claim 20

The module of claim 13 wherein said lugs each have an elongated recess formed on one of the longer walls of the lug and spaced upwardly from the lower edge of the lug, and each of said slots has one of its longer sides defined by a wall depending from the flange and having its opposite side defined by an elongated tongue which depends from the flange at an angle towards the center of its slot.

Claim 21

The module of claim 14 wherein the middle slots in each of said rows of slots have the orientation of their walls and tongues reversed from that of the end slots of said rows of slots, and the recesses in the middle lugs in each of said rows of lugs are oriented opposite to that of the recesses of the end lugs of said rows of lugs.

Claim 22

The module of claim 15 wherein the tongues of the end slots in each of said rows of slots extend inwardly toward the module legs, and the recesses in the end lugs of each of said rows of lugs open inwardly toward the module legs.

Claim 23

The module of claim 16 wherein the recesses on said lugs open to the upper surface of their respective flanges thus forming two rows of slits in the upper surface of their respective flanges.

Claim 24

The module of claim 14 including means depending from the lower surface of the lower flanges below the lower edges of the tongues so as to protect the tongues from damage by the fork of a forklift truck.