Pallet sheet with upwardly angled edge portions with oppositely oriented cleats for enhanced gripping

Abstract

A pallet sheet has a substantially planar, centrally located base region, and a pair of upwardly angled edge portions. The upper surface portion of the pallet sheet is provided with a plurality of upwardly oriented collapsible cleats for enhancing cushioning and frictional characteristics, and in addition, upwardly and downwardly oriented cleats are also disposed upon the upper and lower surface portions of the upwardly angled edge portions so as to provide enhanced gripping characteristics for the pallet sheet by a gripper bar mechanism of a motorized transport vehicle. Still further, a support system is provided for supporting a plurality of pallet sheets thereon wherein the oppositely disposed edge portions of the pallet sheets can be maintained at their desired predetermined angle.

1 . A pallet sheet structure, comprising:
 a pallet sheet comprising a substantially planar region having upper and lower surface portions, and having a substantially rectangular configuration comprising a longitudinal axis, a pair of relatively long sides disposed substantially parallel to said longitudinal axis, and a pair of relatively short ends disposed substantially transversely to said longitudinal axis;   a first set of cleats projecting outwardly only from said upper surface portion of said substantially planar region of said pallet sheet so as to respectively extend upwardly with respect to said substantially planar region of said pallet sheet in order to provide said pallet sheet with enhanced cushioning and frictional characteristics;   a pair of tab members integrally formed upon said pair of oppositely disposed transversely oriented relatively short ends of said pallet sheet so as to extend upwardly at a predetermined angle with respect to said upper surface portion of said pallet sheet; and   a second set of cleats projecting outwardly from both upper and lower surface portions of each one of said pair of tab members so as to effectively provide said pair of tab members with increased thickness dimensions in order to facilitate the gripping thereof by a gripper bar mechanism of a motorized transport vehicle.   
   
   
       2 . The pallet sheet structure as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein:
 said predetermined angle, at which said pair of tab members extend upwardly with respect to said upper surface portion of said pallet sheet, is within the range of 5°-15°.   
   
   
       3 . The pallet sheet structure as set forth in  claim 2 , wherein:
 said predetermined angle, at which said pair of tab members extend upwardly with respect to said upper surface portion of said pallet sheet, is preferably 10°.   
   
   
       4 . The pallet sheet structure as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein:
 said first set of cleats disposed upon said upper surface portion of said pallet sheet is disposed within a plurality of rows which are disposed at a predetermined angle with respect to said longitudinal axis of said pallet sheet.   
   
   
       5 . The pallet sheet structure as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein:
 said first set of cleats, disposed upon said upper surface portion of said pallet sheet, are disposed within a plurality of rows and columns with respect to said longitudinal axis of said pallet sheet.   
   
   
       6 . The pallet sheet structure as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein:
 said first set of cleats, disposed upon said upper surface portion of said pallet sheet, are disposed within a random pattern.   
   
   
       7 . The pallet sheet structure as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein:
 said pallet sheet has a thickness dimension which is within the range of fifteen thousandths of an inch to one hundred twenty thousandths of an inch (0.015-0.120″); and   said first and second sets of cleats, disposed upon said upper surface portion of said pallet sheet, and upon said upper and lower surface portions of said tab members, have a thickness dimension which is within the range of fifteen to twenty-five thousandths of an inch (0.015-0.025″).   
   
   
       8 . The pallet sheet structure as set forth in  claim 7 , wherein:
 said second set of said cleats disposed upon said lower surface portions of said tab members are offset with respect to said second set of said cleats disposed upon said upper surface portions of said tab members.