Site News  |   Monitor Keywords  |   Monitor Archive  |   Organizer  |   Account Info  |

Corrugated cardboard supports

Corrugated cardboard supports description/claims

The present invention relates to improvements in corrugated cardboard supports, particularly but not exclusively, corrugated cardboard pallets.

Pallets are in everyday use and are usually made from wood, polythene, plastic or metal. The pallets may be of a general size, such as those used in the retail and retail goods manufacturing industries, or they may be made for specific applications. Their chief purpose is to safely store goods or product in quantity and allow the goods or product to be mechanically handled within manufacturing units. The pallets also act as shipping units, often via vehicle transport, to the retail outlet. Again, at the retail outlet the pallets are mechanically handled and stored prior to transport to individual stores. The pallet may then be used to display the goods or product directly on the shop floor, as a form of merchandising unit.

Pallets are normally of a high initial cost and there are systems of pallet hire in place. Pallets may also be purchased second hand, but are again costly, and may be prone to contaminants. They are bulky and are normally of a standard height and size so that both the manufacturer and retailer storage systems are compatible. Wooden pallets are heavy to manhandle and add to the crush weight of stored and transported goods or product because often several pallets of goods or product are stored on top of one another. A standard wooden pallet typically weighs between 25 Kg and 50 Kg. This means that manhandling is difficult and the weight can damage the goods or product that the pallet rests upon. This type of pallet is also costly to transport because of its inherent weight.

A typical operation of a re-usable pallet may be as follows. Manufactured product such as boxed dry goods are collated and stacked on to a standard wooden pallet. A man may then place a pallet on top of this stacked pallet and proceed to collate and place more boxed product on top of this. Depending upon how many layers of product are used on each pallet, each single stack may contain several pallets. The stack is then normally enshrouded in stretch wrap to form a unit that is then mechanically handled by a manual pump truck or a mechanical fork lift truck and placed into storage. After a period of time, the product is ordered by a retailer and the unit is mechanically loaded onto a transport vehicle. At the retailer's depot, the unit is unloaded and stored for a further period. It is then loaded onto another vehicle and delivered into a retail shop, where it may be stored or placed direct for merchandising onto the shop floor.

The problem with the aforementioned operation is that the manufacturer does not get the pallet back. This is very costly to the manufacturer and, ultimately, the consumer. After the product or goods are used from the pallet, the retailer must then dispose of the wooden pallet, which is bulky and heavy. The disposal of the pallet requires expensive transport and is costly to the environment since most pallets end up in landfill. It is estimated that there are around 5 wooden pallets in existence for each person in the British Isles.

If a hire system is used, a pallet must be hired by a manufacturer. A system of tracking the pallets is required which is both labour intensive and costly. The pallet is then left with the retailer. The retailer may have a stock of empty pallets which he can give back to the manufacturer, requiring the loading of a vehicle to transport bulky, heavy and empty pallets back to the manufacturer at his own cost. A manufacturer also has to pay to de-hire a pallet and, if one is lost, will have to pay full cost for it. The returned pallets can be hired out again in a repeat cycle. Re-using pallets also leads to problems of cleanliness and repair. Wooden pallets are normally put together with nails which may become exposed and damage the goods or product placed upon them. Furthermore, wooden pallets may produce large or small splinters that can either damage the product or even enter and contaminate the product, especially food goods.

The standard height of most pallets, usually being about 160 mm, dictates how much product can be transported on a vehicle, such as a curtain slider. Wooden pallets are heavy and may double in weight when wet, making manual handling dangerous.

The Applicant's co-pending Application No.s WO 03/082685 and WO 03/082688 provide a solution to the above problems by the provision of a collapsible corrugated cardboard support and pallet. Whilst these are entirely satisfactory for their intended purpose, in some instances, the customer may not require the pallet to be collapsible. In such situations, it is desirable to provide a cheaper, less complex corrugated cardboard pallet. However, it is difficult to provide a cardboard pallet that has sufficient internal strength to withstand the weights that are applied to it and robust enough to withstand being mechanically handled and transported several times.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved corrugated cardboard support that aims to overcome, or at least alleviate the abovementioned drawbacks.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved corrugated cardboard pallet that aims to overcome, or at least alleviate, the abovementioned drawbacks.

Accordingly, a first aspect of the present invention provides a corrugated cardboard blank for the construction of a support, the blank comprising two main body forming panels, a middle panel between said body forming panels and two end panels, each main body forming panel, middle panel and at least one of the end panels having opposing end flaps.

The panels and flaps are separated from their adjoining panel or flap by means of fold lines.

It is to be appreciated that a support is assembled from the blank by folding the appropriate parts of the blank and securing them together using suitable means, most preferably an adhesive. Adjacent panels are folded substantially at right angles to each other such that one of the end panels abuts the edge of the main body panel to which it is not connected. Glue is then applied to the outer surface of this end panel and the opposing end panel is folded over this panel and secured thereto by suitable means. The end flaps of the panels making up the box are folded inwardly and secured to each other to form a closed box.

The end panels of the blank are preferably substantially identical in size. In this manner, in the assembled box, the opposing end panel overlaps substantially all of the underlying end panel.

It is preferable for fluting to be formed in the longitudinal direction of the blank, i.e. from one end panel to the other since this increases the strength of the box formed from the blank.

Preferably, both end panels are provided with opposing end flaps. Preferably, each end flap is 25% to 50% of the height of its corresponding panel, more preferably 40 to 50%.

The end flaps of the opposing end panel are preferably separated from the panel by reverse fold lines whereby, in the assembled box, the flaps may be folded outwardly and secured to the panel.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a corrugated cardboard support comprising two substantially parallel opposing main body panels and two pairs of opposing side walls wherein at least one side wall is at least double the thickness of the main body panels.

The provision of at least one side wall that is at least double the thickness of the main body panels provides a support with inherent strength. In this respect, the main body forming panels receive the load and are supported by the side walls.

Preferably, the at least one side wall is double the thickness by the provision of a double layer of material. More preferably still, the overlapping outer layer is provided with end flaps for folding over and securing to the layer to increase the strength and thickness of the wall still further. It is preferable for one pair of opposing side walls that do not have double thickness to be formed from end flaps extending from the other side walls and the main body forming panels.

It is to be appreciated that the blank according to the first aspect of the present invention is preferably used in forming a support according to the second aspect of the present invention. Additionally, the main panels and walls of the support may be any desired size.

A third aspect of the present invention provides a corrugated cardboard pallet, the pallet comprising a top sheet, a base sheet and at least one connecting member between said top and said base sheets, the connecting member being formed from a blank according to the first aspect of the present invention or a box according to the second aspect of the present invention.

In a preferred arrangement, nine supports are provided between said top and base sheet, optionally being of different sizes. Preferably, the supports are arranged at each corner of the sheets, with a support positioned centrally between the corner supports along each side thereof and a further support being provided in the centre between the sheets. Preferably, the support provided in the centre is the largest size of support and the supports provided at the corners are the smallest in size.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

• What Is a Patent?
• What Is a Trademark or Servicemark?
• What Is a Copyright?
• Patent Laws