US2935283A - Materials handling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

May 3, 1960 M. E. BERRY MATERIALS HANDLING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 22, 1957 FIG.

INVENTOR M. E. BERRY 8y [5124M 25 92 A TTORNEY 1960 M. E. BERRY 2,935,283

MATERIALS HANDLING APPARATUS Filed April 22, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR M. E. BE RR) ATTORNE Y MATERIALS HANDLING APPARATUS Moses Ellison Berry, Jackson Heights, N.Y., assignor to Pallet Adapter Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Application April 22, 1957, Serial No. 654,160

8 Claims. (Cl. 248-120) nitecl States Patent However, short lengths of pipe, cylinders, rolls of linotion is to simplify and improve apparatus for handling and storing elongated objects.

It has been proposed to use special pallets with integral side walls for the storage of elongated materials. While this method is satisfactory for some purposes, the storage space required for these special pallets is an expensive luxury when the space is needed for storing standard materials. The use of various types of brackets which require interfitting with or locking onto the pallets have also been proposed. Some of these arrangements have the disadvantage of requiring special fittings secured to the pallets. This is expensive and impractical, because it involves putting brackets on all pallets, or delaying storage activities while fittings are secured to the pallets.

Accordingly, a specific object of the invention is to eliminate the necessity for complex mechanical interlocking of brackets and pallets when elongated materials are palletized.

In accordance with the invention, pipe, cylinders, and the like may be readily palletized through the use of freestanding, open, U-shaped brackets. placed on each pallet, with the brackets on opposite ends of the pallet. The elongated objects are placed in the alined U-shaped brackets, and another pallet is then placed directly on supporting flanges at the upper ends of the upwardly extending arms of the brackets.

The U-shaped brackets in combination with standard pallets have many advantages as compared with prior art arrangements. One important advantage is the simplicity of mounting brackets on pallets. Because the brackets Two brackets are are free-standing, no time is wasted in securing the Making the brackets from standard metal sheet or angle stock has the advantage of inexpensive construction. In addition, the resulting brackets are sufii'ciently rugged to stand up under the normal rough treatment on the waterfront. Furthermore, the upwardly extending armsare sufficiently strong to hold elongated objects and the load of extra pallets without additional bridging members iriterconnecting the arms.

It may also be noted that the weight of the elongated objects rests principally on the transverse base member near the bottom of the U-shaped bracket. This means that adequate lateral stability of the brackets is maintained even with relatively short lateral feet extensions on each end of the brackets.

The U-shaped brackets in accordance with the present invention have the further advantage of holding the elongated material above the floor of the pallet, thus allowing a rope or wire sling to be passed under the material for hoisting it into a ships hold, for example.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention may be readily apprehended from a consideration of the following detailed description, the appended claims, and the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows an arrangement for palletizing elongated objects in accordance with the invention; and

Fig. 2 shows one of the brackets employed in the materials handling arrangement of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows, by way of example, elongated material stored in a palletizing arrangement in accordance with the invention. In Fig. 1 three standard stevedoring pallets 11, 12 and 13 are stacked on top of each other. As indicated with reference to the pallet 11, each of the pallets has an upper floor 25, a lower floor 26, and three transverse spacing members 27, 28 and 29. It may be noted in passing that the standard four foot by four foot warehousing pallets have transverse members at each end of the floors. The four foot by six foot standard stevedoring pallets, however, have three transverse members spaced in the middle and slightly back from each end, as clearly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. Two U-shaped brackets 14 and 15 are located between the pallets 11 and 12. Two more brackets 16 and 17 are located between pallets 12 and 13, and a third pair of brackets is mounted on pallet 13.

In Fig. 1 the elongated material 21 is stored in the rack formed by the brackets 14 and 15 and the pallet 11. Similarly the elongated material 22 is stored in the alined U-shaped openings in the brackets 16 and 17, and the material 23 in the brackets 18 and 19. The material 21, 22, and 23 which is being stored is shown in dash-dot lines in Fig. 1 to distinguish it from the bracket and pallet structure.

The details of the brackets 14 through 19 of Fig. 1 are clearly shown in Fig. 2. The bracket is preferably made of sheet steel, strip or angle stock. It has been found that inch thick stock is satisfactory for this purpose. The bracket is generally U-shaped, and includes the base member 31 and the two upright arms 32 and 33. For use with pallets which are four feet wide, the brackets may be 45 inches long, and the arms may be 32 inches high. Laterally-extending foot elements 34 and 35 are provided atopposite ends of the bracket so that the brackets stand erect freely when they are placed'on pallets. Accordingly, no additional fittings are required to hold the brackets in place.

The bracket as shown in Fig. 2 is also provided with a flange 36 against which the elongated material bears. When elongated material is loaded into a pair of the brackets, most of the weight is applied to the portion of the fiange36 forming part of the base member 31. With a considerable amount of weight being applied downwith respect to the pallet.

' mas wardly to the base members of the brackets, they are held rigidly in place, once they are loaded.

In Fig. 2, the flanges or supporting elements 37 and 38 are mounted at the top of the arms 32 and 33, respectively. They provide supporting areas for mounting additional pallets on top of the brackets. The supporting elements 37 and 38 are preferably flush with the flange 36 to insure freedom in the removal of material stored in the bracket. Although the elements 37 and 38 are shown flush with the outer sides of the arms 32 and 33, they may extend outwardly to provide additional supporting area for the pallet. Reference may now be had to Fig. 1 in which the pallet '12 is shown mounted on the flanges at the upper ends of the arms of brackets 14 and 15.

Returning to Fig. 1, the many advantages of the present palletizing arrangement are obvious from a consideration of the example portrayed in this figure of the drawings. was customary to store material, such as the pipe indicated at 21, 22 and 23 in Fig. 1, directly on the dock or i on the floor of the warehouse.

Through the use of the brackets and standard pallets, however, the pipe can be unloaded directly into the brackets; and the palletized pipe can immediately be stored and moved by a fork lift truck in a simple manner. The storage space saved by vertical stacking of the palletized material is another advantage of the present invention. It is again noted that the key to every day use of the present materials handling technique lies in the fact that the brackets are freely mountable on any standard pallet. 'As employed in the present specification and claims, the term freely mountable. means that the bracket may be mounted on the pallet by a direct translational movement of the bracket This factor of easy'mounting, in combination with the relatively small-storage space required, for the brackets, has greatly increased the efiiciency of general materials handling locations where they have been employed.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements and the specific dimensions of the brackets are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention. Variations of the palletizing arrangements maybe devised by those skilled in the art without departing from' the spirit and scope of'the invention.

7 What is. claimed is: 1. In a palletized rack for storingelongated objects,

a plurality of 'U-shaped brackets, a plurality of standard pallets mounted on top of each other, each pallet being spaced from the adjacent pallets by a pair of said u-shaped brackets, each of said brackets being freely mountable 'on the pallet below it, said brackets extend ing substantially across the Width of said pallets and having the openings of said U-shaped bracket alined with the longer dimension of said pallets, and means for holding each bracketerect and means for at least partially supporting an overlying pallet included in the structure of each bracket.

2. In combination, two standard pallets, two U-shaped metal brackets located on one of said pallets at opposite ends thereof and supporting the other of said pallets, each of said brackets being freely mountable on the pallet below it, and means for holding each bracket erect, and means for at leastpartially supporting an overlying pallet included in the structure of each-bracket.

3. In a bracket for spacing 'stackedpallets and .concurrently'holding elongated material, a single transverse member consisting only of a combined base and support beam member-having a length approximately equal to the width of said pallets, laterally extending feet secured to said transverse member for holding said-bracket-erect, upwardly extending arms secured to eachend of said Prior to the advent of the present apparatus, it

4 end of a pallet above said bracket, the total width of said bracket being significantly less than one-half the length of said bracket.

4. A bracket as defined in claim 3 wherein said transverse member has a length of approximately four feet.

5. An arrangement for palletizing elongated material comprising a first pallet, two U-shaped brackets resting on said pallet and including a base member and two upwardly extending arms located entirely above the upper surface of said first pallet, means for holding said pallet erect secured to said base member, and means for supporting an overlying pallet associated with the upper ends of each of said upwardly extending arms, and asecond pallet resting on the upper ends of said arms.

6; In an arrangement for palletizin-g elongated objects, a piurality of U-shaped brackets, and a plurality of standard pallets mounted on top of each other, each pallet being spaced from the adjacent pallet by a pair of said U-shaped brackets; each of said brackets including a base member having a length approximately. equal to the width of said pallets, laterally extending feet secured to said base member for holding said bracket erect, upwardly extending arms secured to .each end of said base vmember for retaining said elongated objects, and in dividual spaced supporting elements mounted on the upper ends of each of said arms for holding a pallet above said bracket.

7.In an arrangement for palletizing elongated-material, a plurality of U-shaped brackets, and a plurality of standard pallets including spaced upper and lower hours, said pallets being spaced from each other by pairs of said U-shaped brackets; each of said brackets including a base member extending substantially across the width of one of said pallets, laterally extending feetsecured to said .base member for holding said bracket erect, and upwardly extending arms secured to each end of said base member for retaining said elongated material; the base memberand arms of each of said brackets being located wholly above the upper floor of the pallet upon which it stands, and each of saidbrackets being freely mountable on the pallet on which it stands.

8. In an arrangement for pa'lletizing elongated material, a plurality of U-shaped brackets, and a plurality of standard pallets including spaced upper and lower floors, said pallets'being'spaced from each other by pairs of 1 said U-shaped brackets; eachof said bracketsincluding a base member extending substantiallyacross the widthof one .of. said pallets, foot elements extending lateraliy from'sa'idbase :member forholding saidbracket erect, upwardly extending arms :secured tocach end of said .base'member for retaining said elongatedmaterial, and individual spaced pallet-supporting elements mounted on the upper ends of each of said arms;-the arms and base -men1ber of each ofsaid brackets being located wholly above the upper floor .of the pallet upon which it stands; and each of said base members including a lower portion resting with said'foot elements on the upper floor of one of saidpallets and an upperfload bearing surface .spacedsignificantly from said upper floor to, permit the passage of ropes or similar materials handling gear between the elongated material andthe pallet.

References-Cited in thefile of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS base transverse member for retaining said elongated mate- V rial, and individual spaced supporting elements mounted on the upper ends of each of said'arms for holding one Bonnier: PATENTS 708,924 Great Britain May ;.12,.i1954

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