Pallet and three-dimensional support structure
AssigneeTessellated Group, LLC
InventorGregory W. Gale
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A three-dimensional support structure is provided and includes a single sheet of material that is folded into a repeating pattern of cells. Each of the cells is formed by first and second spaced-apart endwalls and first and second sloped sidewalls spanning between the endwalls. Each endwall comprises two plies of material while each sidewall comprises a single ply of material. The first and second sidewalls are adjoined at a folded edge. The cells are aligned such that the first endwall of one cell from the repeating pattern abuts the second endwall of an adjacent cell of the repeating pattern to form a four-ply wall of the material. A first liner may be attached to a first side of the folded material and a second liner may be attached to a second side of the folded material.
Claims27
A pallet comprising a single sheet of material folded into a structure having a repeating pattern of cells, each of the cells being formed by first and second spaced-apart endwalls and first and second sloped sidewalls spanning between the endwalls, each of the endwalls having two plies of the material and each of the sidewalls having a single ply of the material, the first and second sidewalls being adjoined at a folded edge, the cells being aligned such that the first endwall of one cell from the repeating pattern and the second endwall of an adjacent cell from the repeating pattern form a continuous four ply wall of the material for providing strength to the structure.
A pallet comprising a single sheet of material folded into a pattern of repeating cells and being provided with a plurality of columns of recesses formed from the plurality of cells, the single sheet of material forming a substantially-continuous four ply wall of material between each adjacent pair of columns of recesses.
A pallet comprising a sheet of material having a top surface, the sheet of material having a plurality of first crease paths extending parallel to each other and a plurality of second crease paths extending parallel to each other and intersecting the first crease paths, each first crease path being formed from a plurality of first path segments and each second crease path being formed from a repeating pattern consisting of first and second chevron legs and a straight line extending from a free end of one of the first and second chevron legs, each second crease path being foldable in an opposite direction from the adjacent second crease path so that the second crease paths form an alternating pattern of ridges and valleys as the sheet of material is being folded;
- each of the first crease paths being straight lines extending between the ridges and valleys of adjacent second crease paths to form a pattern of facets on the top surface of the sheet of material;
- the sheet of material being foldable along the first and second crease paths to form a three dimensional support structure extending in a plane characterized by a repeating pattern of normal walls formed by the facets between the chevron legs and inclined walls formed by the facets between the straight lines, the normal walls extending perpendicular to the plane and the inclined walls being inclined relative to the plane, each of the normal walls formed by the facets comprising a wall having four plies of the sheet of material when the sheet of material is folded into the support structure.
A structure comprising a single sheet of material folded into a repeating pattern of cells, each of the cells being formed by first and second spaced-apart endwalls and first and second sloped sidewalls spanning between the endwalls, each of the endwalls having two plies of the material and each of the sidewalls having a single ply of the material, the first and second sidewalls being adjoined at a folded edge, the cells being aligned such that the first endwall of one cell from the repeating pattern and the second endwall of an adjacent cell from the repeating pattern form a continuous four-ply wall of the material for providing strength to the structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.