Pallet and method of manufacture and use

Abstract

A pallet has a top deck coupled with a bottom deck through a plurality of spacer members. The bottom deck is provided as a sub-assembly comprising at least two lead bottom deck boards and at least one intermediate bottom deck board, each bottom deck board coupled with at least one other bottom deck board by a bottom deck joint, and wherein each board of the bottom deck sub-assembly is further coupled with at least one of the plurality of spacer members to couple the bottom deck sub-assembly with the top deck. At least one of the bottom deck lead boards are made from a fiber filled thermoplastic or oriented plastic composite material.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A pallet having a top deck comprising a first top deck lead board at a first end of the top deck and a second top deck lead board at a second end of the top deck, opposite the first, at least one intermediate board positioned between the first and second top deck lead boards, and a plurality of spacer members coupled with the top deck, the pallet comprising:
 a bottom deck sub-assembly comprising:
 a first bottom deck lead board at a first end of the bottom deck sub-assembly and a second bottom deck lead board at a second end of the bottom deck sub-assembly, opposite the first; and 
 at least one intermediate board extending between the first and second bottom deck lead boards and fastened to an adjacent first and second bottom deck lead board to form a joint between the at least one intermediate board and the adjacent first and second bottom deck lead boards; 
 wherein the joint between the at least one intermediate board and the adjacent first and second bottom deck lead board has a joint strength in tension of 450 Newtons or greater; 
   wherein the bottom deck sub-assembly is coupled with the top deck through the plurality of spacer members to form the pallet; and   wherein the first bottom deck lead board or the second bottom deck lead board comprises an oriented plastic composite or fiber filled thermoplastic material.   
     
     
         2 . The pallet of  claim 1  wherein a constrained impact strength of the first bottom deck lead board, the second bottom deck lead board, or both is greater than 95 Joules. 
     
     
         3 . The pallet of  claim 2  wherein a constrained impact strength of the first bottom deck lead board, the second bottom deck lead board, or both is greater than 235 Joules. 
     
     
         4 . The pallet of  claim 1  wherein the pallet further comprises at least two longitudinally extending stringers coupled with at least a portion of the plurality of spacer members and wherein the top deck is coupled with the spacer members through the stringers. 
     
     
         5 . The pallet of  claim 1  wherein at least the first and second top deck lead boards of the top deck comprise an oriented plastic composite or fiber filled thermoplastic material. 
     
     
         6 . The pallet of  claim 1  wherein at least a portion of the top deck, plurality of spacer members, bottom deck sub-assembly, or combinations thereof comprise a natural wood material and a portion of the top deck, plurality of spacer members, bottom deck sub-assembly, or combinations thereof comprise an oriented plastic composite or fiber filled thermoplastic material. 
     
     
         7 . The pallet of  claim 1  wherein the joint between the at least one intermediate board and the adjacent first and second bottom deck lead boards has a joint strength in tension of at least 1200 Newtons. 
     
     
         8 . The pallet of  claim 7  wherein the joint between the at least one intermediate board and the adjacent first and second bottom deck lead boards has a joint strength in tension of at least 5000 Newtons. 
     
     
         9 . The pallet of  claim 1  wherein the at least one intermediate board is fastened to the adjacent first and second bottom deck lead boards by at least one mechanical fastener. 
     
     
         10 . The pallet of  claim 9  wherein the at least one mechanical fastener comprises a gang nail, a nail, a screw, a truss plate, a connector plate, a corrugated fastener, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         11 . The pallet of  claim 1  wherein the at least one intermediate board is fastened to the adjacent first and second bottom deck lead boards by at least one non-mechanical fastener. 
     
     
         12 . The pallet of  claim 11  wherein the at least one non-mechanical fastener comprises solvent welding, solvent based adhesives, thermal welding, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         13 . The pallet of  claim 1  wherein the joint between the at least one intermediate board and the adjacent first and second bottom deck lead boards comprises a shiplap joint. 
     
     
         14 . The pallet of  claim 13  wherein the joint further comprises at least one mechanical or non-mechanical fastener. 
     
     
         15 . The pallet of  claim 1  wherein the first bottom deck lead board, the second bottom deck lead board, or both have a flexural modulus of at least 2.75 GPa. 
     
     
         16 . The pallet of  claim 1  wherein the first bottom deck lead board and the second bottom deck lead board comprises an oriented plastic composite or fiber filled thermoplastic material. 
     
     
         17 . The pallet of  claim 16  wherein the at least one intermediate board also comprises an oriented plastic composite or fiber filled thermoplastic material.