Device for producing pallets

(42) Date of commencement of the patent: 15. 6.1994 (45) Date of issue: 25.11.1998 (56) Documentation:

OE 2250666A US 2665807A US 4487136A

US 3052397A

US 3266444A (73)

HELTE NORBERT

A-6890 LUSTENAU, VORARLBERG (AT).

CQ

6W VOV IV (54) PALLET MAKING DEVICE (57) The device is intended for the manufacture of pallets with a pallet deck and with pallet feet formed from nested pipe sections. Between the pipe sections rosette-like punched tabs are clamped from the pallet deck. Under a support device for the support of the pallet deck are positioning organs for the arrangement of the outer pipe pieces. An axially displaceably mounted Preßdom (1) can be brought into alignment with the positioning in alignment. The Preßdom (1) has a shaft (2) for receiving the inner, the Palettenfuß forming pipe section, wherein the diameter of the shaft (2) corresponds to the inner diameter of this pipe section and the length of this shaft (2) is greater than the axial length of this pipe. The tube piece which can be pushed onto the shaft (2) can be applied with its one end edge to a shoulder (6) provided on the shaft. On the front side (3) of the Preßdomes (1) several, in stem-like arrangement lying on the jacket of an imaginary cone cutting (4) are provided. The part of the Preßdomes (1) having these cutting edges (4) is located in front of the end face of this pushed inner pipe section.

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AT 404 449 B

The invention relates to a device for producing pallets with a pallet deck and with pallet feet formed from nested tube pieces with the features of the preamble of claim 1.

Pallets of this type are known (U.S. Patent 2,665,807, U.S. Patent 3,052,397, U.S. Patent 3,266,444, U.S. Patent 4,487,136). As a rule, the pallet deck consists of a cardboard board, in particular a corrugated board. Other plate-shaped materials are quite usable. At the point where a pallet base is to be arranged, a star-shaped incision is made and thereby triangular plates are formed. The pallet base is a piece of pipe whose inner diameter corresponds approximately to the diameter of the star-shaped incision. This piece of pipe is placed on the underside of the pallet deck, and then a second piece of pipe, whose outer diameter is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the surrounding pipe section, Pressed from above at the point of the star-shaped incision into the below the pallet deck pipe section, wherein the tabs formed by the star-shaped incisions are pressed down and then these tabs lie between the two pipe sections, whereby these pieces of pipe are connected to each other with a kind of clamping fit. At the pallet deck several such tubular feet are mounted in this way, depending on the rated loads for which these pallets are designed or designed.

In DE-OS 2 250 666 a device is described for producing such pallets. This device comprises a pressing device and a table with positioning members for guiding and aligning the parts forming the pallet. The pressing device is hinged in a vertical position and movable over the table. Trained as a pressing mandrel pressing beyond the deferred inner pipe section and its diameter is approximately equal to the clear diameter of this pipe section. This press mandrel is fully insertable into the outer pipe section of the Palettenfußes. Before the pallet deck of this device is supplied, the star-shaped incisions must be made to form rosette-like lobes, wherein in the center of the star-shaped incisions an opening is additionally punched, which serve to position the pallet deck in the device. This device is not useful because its handling is too complicated and too many individual manipulations are required to produce a pallet.

Based on this prior art, the invention aims to improve a device of this kind to the effect that not only the production of the star-shaped incision and the insertion of the inner tube piece in the outer tube piece can be accomplished so to speak in one operation, it should be by a further embodiment of the device according to the invention also all pallet feet associated with a pallet deck can be fixed simultaneously. According to the invention, the solution of this problem by those features that are the subject of the characterizing part of claim 1 succeeds. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are defined in the subclaims.

In order to illustrate the invention, an embodiment will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. Show it:

FIG. 1 a view of the press mandrel and Fig. 2 his front view; FIG. 3 the front view of the device and Fig. 4 a side view of the same - viewing direction arrow A in FIG. 3, but for the sake of clarity, the conveyors for providing the inner pipe pieces have been omitted; FIG. 5 is a plan view of the conveyor for providing the inner pipe pieces and FIG. 6 is a view of the device as Fig. 3, but during a comparison with FIG. 3 other working time, 'Fig. 7 a plan view of the machine table, partially cut - section line VII - VII in FIG. 3; FIG. 8th a detail section through a properly 'specified Palettenfuß with an outer and an inner piece of pipe.

The press mandrel 1 consists of a first cylindrical portion 2, whose diameter is approximately equal to the inner diameter of the inner pipe section 26 of the Palettenfußes 32 (Fig. 8) corresponds and whose conical end face 3 carries a plurality of star-shaped arranged cutting edges 4, which lie on an imaginary cone sheath. The axial length of the cylindrical portion 2 corresponds approximately to the height of the inner pipe section 26, it is expediently slightly longer than this. At this cylindrical portion 2 closes up to another section 5, whose diameter is greater than that of the section 2, so that thereby a contact shoulder 6 is formed for the male section 26 of the section 2.

The device has a stationary machine table 7, in the middle region of which a circumferentially closed, vertically standing frame 8 is fixed, whose upper horizontal leg 9 carries a piston-cylinder unit 10, to whose piston a horizontally lying support frame 11 is fastened with vertical guide rails 12 which are slidably mounted in corresponding bearings in the leg 9 of the frame 8. At the bottom of the height-adjustable with the piston-cylinder unit 10 support frame eleventh

AT 404 449 Β now several mandrels 1 are attached, their distribution and number of distribution and number of

Pallet feet 32 ​​corresponds to be set on a pallet deck 19.

At the machine table 7 here two mutually parallel, lying in a horizontal plane guide rails 13 are fixed to which a support means 14 for a pallet deck in the horizontal direction is displaceable, by this shift this support means 14 in or outside the stroke range of the support frame 11 with the Preßdomen 1 can be brought.

This support means 14 has a horizontal plate 15 on which cup-like positioning members 16 are set, which serve to receive the outer pipe sections 17 of the pallet feet 32. At this plate 15 and upwardly directed uprights 18 are attached, which serve as stops for the aufgetbaren on the front side of the pipe sections 17 pallet deck 19. These stops lie in a horizontal plane, in which the upper end sides of the outer pipe sections 17 are located, which are inserted into the pot-like positioning members 16. Instead of cup-like positioning members 16 and disk-like positioning elements could be provided, or even pin-like, so all those components and components that are suitable to hold the male pipe piece 17 in position.

The plate 15, it could also be a frame provided here, with the positioning members 16 is supported by a carriage 20 mounted on the guide rails 13 and elastically supported relative to this carriage 20 in the vertical direction by means of springs 21.

In the middle region of the machine table 7, and at the edge, a plurality of block-like abutment 22 are arranged in a vertical orientation, the height measured from the machine table 7 is slightly less than the distance of the underside of the plate 15 from the machine table 7.

It is assumed that the pallet to be produced here carries a pallet base in each of its corner areas and, furthermore, a further pallet foot is provided in the middle of the pallet deck, in the sum therefore five pieces of pallet feet must be set.

In the vertical center plane of the machine table (Fig. 7) block-like abutment 23 are also arranged in a vertical orientation, however, have a lower height than the abutment provided at the edge 22. Among the centrally positioned positioning members 16 on the plate 15 are now also block-like abutment 24th arranged, wherein the sum of the heights of these abutments 23 and 24 corresponds to that of the height of the abutment 22.

Transverse to the displacement direction of the support means 14 and above it and below the located in its lower working position support frame 11 (Fig. 6) are on both sides of this frame stationary, substantially horizontally extending conveyor, conveniently arranged conveyor belts 25, which in the illustrations of FIGS. 3 and 6 each extend at right angles to the plane of the drawing. At one end face of these conveyor belts 25, loading devices not shown here are attached, via which the inner pipe sections 26 for the pallet feet 32, the conveyor belts 25 are deliverable. At those points of the two conveyor belts 25, from which the delivery frames 1 arranged on the support frame 11 are to be delivered, singulation devices in the form of stops 27 and in the form of piston-cylinder units 28 are provided, and in each case a delivery slide 29. Further, on the side of the conveyor belts 25 and the frame carrying these conveyor belts, which face the support frame 11, easily detachably fasten feeders 30 which have different axle lengths. These feeders 30 each consist of a pair of horizontally arranged and spaced apart, between the inner pipe sections 26 receiving guide rails 31, the conveyor belt 25 opposite ends in a horizontal plane are like a pair of pliers against each other. The tong-like mutually displaceable ends of the guide rails 31 are in the displacement of the press mandrels. 1

As far as the structural design of the device, which is now operated as follows, it being assumed that the components forming the device, which were described above, are in the apparent from Fig. 3 relative position to each other.

For the time being, the prepared outer tube pieces 17 are placed manually in the cup-like positioning members 16 which are fixed on the plate 15 or introduced, in the present example to be mentioned case five pieces, and then the pallet deck 19 is applied to the end faces of these pipe sections 17, said pallet deck 19 is unequivocally aligned by the associated with the stoppers 18 attacks against these pipe sections 17. On the conveyor belts 25 are now at the separating stations pipe pieces 26 received, and of the feeders 29 (Fig. 5) are pushed to the forceps-like ends of Füh 'rungsschienen 31 of the feeders 30 tube pieces 26, which are now in the displacement of the Preßdorne 1 of the support frame 11. Now the carriage 20 (Fig. 3) pushed to the left or driven until it is below the support frame 11 (Fig. 6), whereupon this support frame 11 is lowered by means of the piston-cylinder unit 10. Go through it

AT 404 449 Pre the Preßdome 1 provided by the feeders 30 pipe pieces 26, which are now pending on the abutment shoulders 6 of Preßdorne 1, whereupon in the further course, the cutting edges 4 cut the pallet deck 19 locally star-like and retract the Preßdorne 1 far into the pipe sections 17 until the end faces of the thus supplied two pipe sections 17 and 26 are substantially flush with each other (Fig. 8th). The individual tabs formed by the star-shaped incisions are clamped between the two pipe sections 17 and 26. By the pressure exerted by the Preßdornen 1 the plate 15 is slightly compressed against the force of the springs 21, after which the plate 15 and the positioning members 16 create on the abutments 22,23 and 24 or These abutments cooperate, so that the carriage 20 and his guides are virtually unloaded from the pressure and only have to absorb pressure which is exerted by the springs 21. This pressure is not much greater than the weight of the plate 15 with the positioning members 16, the stanchions 18 and the pallet deck 19 are cut through in the manner described and the two pipe sections 17 and 26 are pushed together, whereby thereby the tabs formed by the incisions are clamped between the two pipe sections 17 and 26, so then the support frame 11 with the Preßdornen 1 in the starting position (Fig. 3) retracted and raised and the carriage 20 is again in its starting days (Fig. 3) reset, the finished pallet is removed from the support device 14. In the meantime, the feed slides 29 each have pushed new tube pieces 26 into the tong-like end region of the guide rails 31 of the feed device 30, and new tube pieces 17 and a new pallet cover 19 are now placed on the support device 14, the procedure described above is repeated.

The positioning members 16 and the Preßdorne 1 are arranged adjustable on their respective carriers in horizontal planes, so that pallets can be made with different arrangement and different numbers of tubular pallet feet. For this reason, feeders 30 of different axis lengths are provided, and these individual feeders 30 are easily detachably attached to the longitudinal sides of the conveyor belts 25. The pliers-like end of the guide rails of these feeders must indeed each lie in the displacement of a press mandrel, so that the press mandrel can take a piece of pipe 26 when driving down. As a result, the feeders 30 can be adapted to the respective arrangement of the press mandrels 1 on the support frame 11.

Fig. 7 shows a plan view of the machine table 7 with the abutments 22 and 23. At present, two pallets of certain standard sizes are manufactured and used and the here from this illustration of FIG. 7 removable arrangement of the abutment 22 and 23 is selected so that With this arrangement, two standard sizes can be taken into account, however, any other distributions of the plate feet are conceivable and possible.

Of the Preßdornen 1 has been said in connection with the described embodiment that they are cylindrical. It is possible to provide for these mandrels and for the plate feet also other cross-sectional shapes, such as polygonal or oval. It is also mentioned above that the outer pipe sections 17 are manually inserted into the device, so the insertion of these outer pipe sections 17 may also be provided with an automatically operating mechanism.

In order to prevent the inserted Paiettendeck 19 bulges when driving down the Preßdorne 1 or lifted off the rest of the subsequent retraction of the mandrels from its circulation, a presser can be provided for the pallet deck. Such a presser is expediently plate-shaped. This plate-shaped presser is as large as the pallet deck and has a plurality of through openings for the press mandrels. 1

Such a plate-shaped presser is raised and lowered stored in the central region of the device. In its starting position, it is located in the space between the Preßdornen 1 and below the conveyor belts 5 and above the applied pallet deck 19 (Figure 4). If the carriage 20 retracted with the applied pallet deck 19 in its working position, then this plate-shaped Andrükker is lowered onto the pallet deck 19 and held here where he remains so long until the mandrels are returned to their upper starting position. For the sake of clarity, however, the plate-shaped presser is not shown in the accompanying figures, which illustrate an embodiment of the invention.

It would be conceivable to rotate the device as a whole by 90 *, so that the Preßdorne 1 are moved in the horizontal direction, in which case the pallet deck 19 is then retracted standing in the device.

AT 404 449 Β