Air pallet having multiple entry integrated air inlet valves

Claim 1

An air pallet for the frictionless movement of a load supported by a generally rigid planar backing member over an underlying generally planar fixed support surface, said air pallet comprising top and bottom walls defining a plenum chamber, at least said bottom wall being formed of a thin flexible sheet material, said bottom wall including a portion defined by the footprint of the load having a plurality of closely spaced small diameter pin hole type perforations opening directly into the plenum chamber, air dispersion means for insuring air flow throughout the plenum chamber when the air pallet is under load at the time of air pressurization of the plenum chamber, means for controlling pillowing of the flexible sheet material to permit jacking of the backing member and the load sufficient to allow the air pallet to accommodate surface irregularities of the load support surface and the backing member while preventing ballooning of the thin flexible sheet material, air inlet means opening to the plenum chamber for permiting low pressure air flow pressurization of the plenum chamber for jacking the load and for subsequent discharge through the perforations to create an air film between the bottom wall and the fixed support surface, the improvement wherein: said air inlet means comprises a pair of thin flexible material strips extending internally of said top and bottom walls, being of a given length, each strip having one outer lateral edge sealed to a respective one of said top and bottom walls along said edge, and being free of said other wall at said edge at least along a portion thereof to form, at the non-sealed edge portion, an air inlet opening to the interior of said air pallet along a given periphery, and wherein the length of said strips are such that their inner ends, remote from the air inlet openings, intersectingly overlap each other, such that insertion of a wand bearing air under pressure into one of said inlet openings causes automatically, as a result of the air entry blast, the overlapped portion of one of said strips to press against a given one of said upper or lower walls to effectively and immediately close off the air inlet opening not receiving said wand, thus sealing off said non-used inlet opening prior to movement of the air into said plenum chamber, thereby facilitating air dispersion throughout the plenum chamber, jacking of the load and the creation of the thin film air bearing beneath the bottom wall sheet and the underlying generally rigid support surface.