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US 4,052,084 AGranted
Material handling apparatus
AssigneeHerman Miller, Inc.
InventorRobert L. Propst
Life of this patent
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AssigneeHerman Miller, Inc.
InventorRobert L. Propst
Estimating the term…
A pallet supporting a plurality of containers in which small workpieces can be stored. The pallet consists of a base having supporting legs and an upright container supporting wall. Horizontally extending rails are arranged on the wall in vertically spaced pairs and the containers are slidably suspended on the rails so that they can readily be unloaded from the pallet. A security cover is provided which can be mounted on the pallet so as to enclose the containers supported thereon. The pallet of this invention is incorporated into a material handling system which includes a plurality of transport carts adapted to be hitched together for movement of a plurality of pallets between locations. Each transport cart is provided with spaced apart leg wells on which the pallet is placed and an access space is thereby provided beneath the base of the pallet to facilitate the placement and removal of the pallet on the transport cart.
A pallet comprising a generally rectangular base having a plurality of spaced apart support legs extending downwardly from the corners thereof and an additional pair of support legs at the ends of the base intermediate the corner legs, an upwardly extending frame mounted on said base at a position in substantially vertical alignment with said pair of support legs, and means on horizontally opposite sides of said frame for detachably hanging a plurality of containers thereon, said hanging means comprising a plurality of generally horizontally extending vertically spaced support rails, each of said rails projecting transversely of said frame so as to provide a support on which a plurality on containers can be hung, and plurality of load carrying containers having side walls and open upper ends mounted on said rails on opposite sides of said upwardly extending frame, each of said containers having an outwardly and thence downwardly extending flange at said upper end thereof, each of said containers being supported on said rails by having the flange thereon hooked over and slidably supported on one of said rails with one side wall of said container engaging the rail immediately below said one rail to enable sliding movement of said containers on said rails.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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With bodies formed by uniting or interconnecting two or more components: made wholly or mainly of plastics material
Accessories or details specially adapted for hand carts: hand moving equipment, e.g. handle bars
Details or accessories: elements or devices for locating articles on platforms
Indexing codes relating to type or characteristics of transported articles: boxes, Crates
Term ended 4 Oct 1994 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
This invention relates generally to material handling apparatus and more specifically to a pallet adapted to transport a plurality of containers for small workpieces. In the past, material handling needs have been met by combining many unrelated products and components into systems. The results have usually been unsatisfactory, with many resulting problems.
For example, past systems have had an inadequate interface between containers, storage facilities, and transport apparatus resulting in inefficiency and poor handling characteristics. This has required excessive transfer actions and movement from one handling mode to another. Furthermore, prior art systems have lacked human factor considerations and have involved too many manual handling characteristics. Also, past systems have usually had inadequate security characteristics.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide improved material handling apparatus consisting of a special pallet and containers constructed particularly for removable support on the pallet to thus enable efficient and convenient storage and transporting of various small parts in a modular fashion.
Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawing, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the pallet of this invention;
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the pallet showing its inner frame structure;