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US 6,354,784 B1Granted
Mechanically handling flowable material
OwnerKenneth Farrinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerKenneth Farrinventor
Estimating the term…
A rigid pallet base has a rigid frame provided with rigid supports within which frame there are pivoted rigid flaps also provided with rigid supports. The flaps are held closed during loading by contact between the ground and the supports on the flaps. The flaps are maintained closed during transport to a required location by an upward force exerted by conventional lift forks inserted between the inner and outer supports. By resting the supports on the frame upon suitably spaced-apart members at the required location and then removing the lift forks, the flaps are allowed to open without manual intervention for gravity discharge of the material. After discharge, replacing the lift forks and lifting the pallet base closes the flaps to return the base to its load-carrying condition also without manual intervention. Two flaps can be employed, or two co-operating pairs of flaps can be arranged to form a funnel-shaped discharge chute.
A method of mechanically handling flowable material comprising loading it onto a deck-spaced pallet base having a frame within which there are provided a pair of downwardly-openable flaps pivotally mounted on opposed side elements of the frame, outer ground-engaging rigid supports being fixed beneath said frame elements and inner ground-engaging supports being fixed beneath the ends of the flaps remote from their pivots, whereby the flaps are held closed during loading by contact between the ground and the supports on said flaps, transporting the loaded base to a required location by applying a lifting force beneath the flaps which acts to hold them closed during transport, resting the supports on the frame elements upon suitably spaced-apart members at said location, and removing said force to permit the flaps to open without any manual intervention for central gravity discharge of the material.
Apparatus for mechanically handling flowable material comprising a deck-spaced pallet base having a frame within which there are provided a pair of downwardly-openable flaps pivotally mounted on opposed side elements of the frame, outer ground-engaging rigid supports being fixed beneath said frame elements and inner ground-engaging supports being fixed beneath the ends of the flaps remote from their pivots.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.