Pallet with attachable upper and lower members

Claim 2

A pallet comprising: a lower member including a base, a plurality of protrusions extending upwardly from the base, and a plurality of holding fingers extending laterally from the protrusions, the base, protrusions and holding fingers comprising a single unitary piece; and an upper member configured for attachment to the lower member, the upper member including a deck and a plurality of legs extending down from the deck, each leg having at least one side wall and a notch in the side wall engageable with one of the laterally extending holding fingers of the lower member, the legs being sized and configured to space the deck of the upper member above the base of the lower member when the upper member is attached to the lower member to define tine-receiving channels between the deck and base for receiving the tines of a fork-lift truck, the deck and the legs comprising a single unitary piece; the upper and lower members being configured so that when the upper member is attached to the lower member, then the laterally extending holding fingers engage the notches in the leg side walls of the upper member to secure the upper member to the lower member.

Claim 3

A pallet as set forth in claim 1 wherein the upper and lower members are configured for snap engagement of the laterally extending holding fingers with the notches of the side walls.

Claim 4

A pallet as set forth in claim 1 wherein each notch defines an opening through its associated side wall.

Claim 5

A pallet as set forth in claim 1 wherein the legs are generally hollow and taper downwardly from the deck of the upper member so that the legs of the upper member are nestable with legs of another member identical to the upper member when the lower member is not connected to the upper member.

Claim 6

A pallet as set forth in claim 1 wherein the base of the lower member includes a plurality of sockets, each socket being configured for receiving a lower portion of at least one leg when the upper member is connected to the lower member.

Claim 7

A pallet as set forth in claim 1 wherein two of said holding fingers extend oppositely from each of the protrusions, and wherein the plurality of legs comprise a plurality of pairs of adjacent legs, the oppositely extending holding fingers associated with each protrusion being configured for engaging the notches of one of the pairs of adjacent legs when the upper member is connected to the lower member.

Claim 8

A pallet as set forth in claim 6 wherein the base of the lower member includes a plurality of sockets, each socket being configured for receiving a lower portion of at least one leg when the upper member is connected to the lower member.

Claim 9

A pallet as set forth in claim 7 wherein the holding fingers are generally wedge shaped for urging the legs outwardly relative to the holding fingers as the legs are inserted into the sockets, said holding fingers having shoulders engageable with the notches in the leg side walls to interfere with separation of the upper member from the lower member.

Claim 10

A pallet as set forth in claim 1 wherein said lower member constitutes a first lower member, said pallet further comprising: a second lower member, said second lower member including a second base, a second plurality of protrusions extending upwardly from the second base, and a second plurality of holding fingers extending laterally from said second plurality of protrusions; the upper member and said first and second lower members being configured so that when the upper member is attached to the lower members, then the laterally extending holding fingers of said first and second lower members engage the notches in the leg side walls of the upper member to limit vertical movement of the upper member relative to the first and second lower members.

Claim 11

A pallet comprising: a lower member including a base, a plurality of protrusions extending upwardly from the base, and a plurality of holding fingers, at least two of such holding fingers extending laterally from each protrusion in generally opposite directions; and an upper member configured for attachment to the lower member, the upper member including a deck and a plurality of legs extending down from the deck, each leg having at least one side wall and a notch in the side wall engageable with one of the holding fingers of the lower member, the legs being sized and configured to space the deck of the upper member above the base of the lower member when the upper member is attached to the lower member to define tine-receiving channels between the deck and base for receiving the tines of a fork-lift truck; the upper and lower members being configured so that when the upper member is attached to the lower member, then each protrusion is positioned between opposing side walls of a pair of said legs and the holding fingers associated with said each protrusion engage the notches in said opposing side walls to limit vertical movement of the upper member relative to the lower member.

Claim 12

A pallet comprising: a lower member including a base, a plurality of protrusions extending upwardly from the base, and a plurality of holding fingers, at least two of such holding fingers extending laterally from each protrusion in generally opposite directions; and an upper member configured for attachment to the lower member, the upper member including a deck and a plurality of legs extending down from the deck, each leg having at least one side wall and a notch in the side wall engageable with one of the holding fingers of the lower member, the legs being sized and configured to space the deck of the upper member above the base of the lower member when the upper member is attached to the lower member to define tine-receiving channels between the deck and base for receiving the tines of a fork-lift truck; the upper and lower members being configured so that when the upper member is attached to the lower member, then each protrusion is positioned between opposing side walls of a pair of said legs and the holding fingers associated with said each protrusion engage the notches in said opposing side walls to limit vertical movement of the upper member relative to the lower member.

Claim 13

A pallet as set forth in claim 10 wherein the base of the lower member includes a plurality of sockets, each socket being configured for receiving a lower portion of at least one of the legs of the upper member when the upper member is connected to the lower member, said sockets being engageable with the legs of the upper member to limit lateral movement of the upper member relative to the lower member.

Claim 14

A pallet as set forth in claim 11 wherein said notches define openings through the leg side walls, said holding fingers being configured so that portions thereof extend into said openings when the upper member is attached to the lower member.

Claim 15

A pallet as set forth in claim 12 wherein the holding fingers are generally wedge shaped for urging said opposing side walls of said pair of legs laterally outwardly relative to the protrusions as the legs are inserted into the sockets, said holding fingers having shoulders engageable with the notches in the leg side walls to interfere with separation of the upper member from the lower member when the holding fingers are in alignment with said openings.

Claim 16

A pallet as set forth in claim 13 wherein said legs and holding fingers are configured for a snap engagement of the holding fingers with the notches in the leg side walls.

Claim 17

A pallet as set forth in claim 10 wherein the legs are generally hollow and taper downwardly from the deck of the upper member so that the legs of the upper member are nestable with legs of another member identical to the upper member when the lower member is not connected to the upper member.

Claim 18

A pallet as set forth in claim 10 wherein the protrusions are generally hollow and taper upwardly from the base of the lower member so that the protrusions of the lower member are nestable with protrusions of another member identical to the lower member when the lower member is not connected to the upper member.

Claim 19

A pallet as set forth in claim 10 wherein the base, protrusions and fingers comprise a first single unitary piece, and wherein the deck and the legs comprise a second single unitary piece.

Claim 20

A pallet as set forth in claim 10 wherein the lower member has a width and length approximately equal to the width and length of the upper member.

Claim 21

A pallet comprising: a lower member including a base, a plurality of protrusions extending upwardly from the base, a plurality of holding fingers, and a plurality of leg-receiving sockets, at least one of such holding fingers extending laterally from each protrusion; and an upper member configured for attachment to the lower member, the upper member including a deck and a plurality of legs extending down from the deck, each leg having at least one side wall and a notch in the side wall engageable with one of the holding fingers of the lower member, the legs being sized and configured to space the deck of the upper member above the base of the lower member when the upper member is attached to the lower member to define tine-receiving channels between the deck and base for receiving the tines of a fork-lift truck; the upper and lower members being configured so that when the upper member is attached to the lower member, then the laterally extending holding fingers engage the notches in the leg side walls of the upper member to limit vertical movement of the upper member relative to the lower member and portions of the legs are received in the sockets, said sockets being engageable with the legs in a manner for limiting lateral movement of the upper member relative to the lower member when the legs are received in the sockets.

Claim 22

A pallet comprising: a lower member including a base, a plurality of protrusions extending upwardly from the base, a plurality of holding fingers, and a plurality of leg-receiving sockets, at least one of such holding fingers extending laterally from each protrusion; and an upper member configured for attachment to the lower member, the upper member including a deck and a plurality of legs extending down from the deck, each leg having at least one side wall and a notch in the side wall engageable with one of the holding fingers of the lower member, the legs being sized and configured to space the deck of the upper member above the base of the lower member when the upper member is attached to the lower member to define tine-receiving channels between the deck and base for receiving the tines of a fork-lift truck; the upper and lower members being configured so that when the upper member is attached to the lower member, then the laterally extending holding fingers engage the notches in the leg side walls of the upper member to limit vertical movement of the upper member relative to the lower member and portions of the legs are received in the sockets, said sockets being engageable with the legs in a manner for limiting lateral movement of the upper member relative to the lower member when the legs are received in the sockets.

Claim 23

A pallet as set forth in claim 19 wherein said notches define openings through the leg side walls, said holding fingers being configured so that portions thereof extend into said openings when the upper member is attached to the lower member.

Claim 24

A pallet as set forth in claim 19 wherein said legs and holding fingers are configured for a snap engagement of the holding fingers with the notches in the leg side walls.

Claim 25

A pallet as set forth in claim 19 wherein the base, protrusions and fingers comprise a first single unitary piece, and wherein the deck and the legs comprise a second single unitary piece.

Claim 26

A pallet as set forth in claim 19 wherein the legs are generally hollow and taper downwardly from the deck of the upper member so that the legs of the upper member are nestable with legs of another member identical to the upper member when the lower member is not connected to the upper member.