Pallet for supporting and stacking rolls of material

Abstract

A pallet comprising a primary body having an upper deck, a lower deck, and a set of lift channels. The upper deck includes horizontally extending upper surfaces and downwardly sloping walls extending from the upper surfaces. The horizontally extending upper surfaces are configured to receive flat objects. The downwardly sloping walls form upper support cradles for receiving horizontally-oriented curved objects thereon. The lower deck includes horizontally extending lower surfaces and upwardly sloping walls extending from the lower surfaces. The horizontally extending lower surfaces are configured to be positioned on flat objects. The upwardly sloping walls form lower support cradles for positioning the pallet on horizontally extending curved objects. The lift channels are vertically spaced from the upper support cradles and the lower support cradles such that the curved objects positioned above and below the pallet will not interfere with lifting forks being inserted into the lift channels.

Having thus described various embodiments of the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the following: 
     
         1 . A pallet comprising:
 an upper deck including a number of horizontally extending upper surfaces and a number of downwardly sloping walls forming upper support cradles for supporting curved objects thereon, the upper support cradles having lowermost apices;   a lower deck opposite the upper deck;   a front wall extending vertically between front edges of the upper deck and the lower deck;   a rear wall extending vertically between rear edges of the upper deck and the lower deck opposite the front wall;   a first side wall extending vertically between first side edges of the upper deck and the lower deck;   a second side wall extending vertically between second side edges of the upper deck and the lower deck opposite the first side wall; and   a first set of lift channels extending through the pallet for lifting the pallet via lifting forks, the first set of lift channels having upper walls positioned below the lowermost apices of the upper support cradles such that the curved objects positioned in the upper support cradles do not interfere with lifting forks being inserted into the first set of lift channels.   
     
     
         2 . The pallet of  claim 1 , wherein the upper support cradles include three upper support cradles spaced from and extending parallel to each other. 
     
     
         3 . The pallet of  claim 2 , wherein the three upper support cradles are configured to receive either two large curved objects side-by-side or three relatively smaller curved objects side-by-side. 
     
     
         4 . The pallet of  claim 1 , wherein the lower deck includes a number of horizontally extending lower surfaces and a number of upwardly sloping walls forming lower support cradles for positioning the pallet on curved objects, the lower support cradles having uppermost apices, the first set of lift channels further having lower walls positioned above the uppermost apices of the lower support cradles such that the curved objects positioned in the lower support cradles do not interfere with lifting forks being inserted into the first set of lift channels. 
     
     
         5 . The pallet of  claim 4 , wherein the upper support cradles and lower support cradles are symmetric about a longitudinal axis of the pallet such that weight is evenly distributed to the first set of lift channels when the upper support cradles and lower support cradles are loaded evenly. 
     
     
         6 . The pallet of  claim 4 , wherein the lower support cradles include three lower support cradles spaced from and extending parallel to each other. 
     
     
         7 . The pallet of  claim 4 , wherein the lower support cradles are vertically aligned with the upper support cradles. 
     
     
         8 . The pallet of  claim 4 , wherein the horizontally extending lower surfaces include a number of notches for aligning the pallet on flat objects. 
     
     
         9 . The pallet of  claim 1 , wherein the horizontally extending upper surfaces include a number of notches for aligning flat objects on the upper deck. 
     
     
         10 . The pallet of  claim 1 , further comprising a second set of lift channels extending through the pallet perpendicular to the first set of lift channels. 
     
     
         11 . The pallet of  claim 10 , wherein the first set of lift channels and the second set of lift channels intersect each other. 
     
     
         12 . A pallet comprising:
 an upper deck including a number of horizontally extending upper surfaces and a number of downwardly sloping walls forming upper support cradles for receiving curved objects thereon;   a lower deck opposite the upper deck, the lower deck including a number of horizontally extending lower surfaces and a number of upwardly sloping walls forming lower support cradles for stacking the pallet on another pallet supporting curved objects, the lower support cradles being vertically aligned with the upper support cradles such that the pallet can support the curved objects while being stacked on another pallet supporting curved objects;   a front wall extending vertically between front edges of the upper deck and the lower deck;   a rear wall extending vertically between rear edges of the upper deck and the lower deck opposite the front wall;   a first side wall extending vertically between first side edges of the upper deck and the lower deck;   a second side wall extending vertically between second side edges of the upper deck and the lower deck opposite the first side wall; and   a first set of lift channels for lifting the pallet.   
     
     
         13 . The pallet of  claim 12 , wherein the upper support cradles are vertically aligned with the lower support cradles. 
     
     
         14 . The pallet of  claim 12 , wherein the upper support cradles have lowermost apices and the first set of lift channels have upper walls positioned below the lowermost apices of the upper support cradles such that the curved objects positioned in the upper support cradles do not interfere with lifting forks being inserted into the first set of lift channels. 
     
     
         15 . The pallet of  claim 14 , wherein the lower support cradles have uppermost apices and the first set of lift channels have lower walls positioned above the uppermost apices of the lower support cradles such that the curved objects positioned in the lower support cradles do not interfere with lifting forks being inserted into the first set of lift channels. 
     
     
         16 . The pallet of  claim 15 , wherein the three upper support cradles are configured to receive either two large curved objects side-by-side or three relatively smaller curved objects side-by-side. 
     
     
         17 . The pallet of  claim 15 , wherein the three lower support cradles are configured to engage either two large curved objects side-by-side or three relatively smaller curved objects side-by-side. 
     
     
         18 . The pallet of  claim 12 , wherein the upper support cradles and the lower support cradles are symmetrically positioned about a longitudinally extending axis of the pallet such that weight is evenly distributed to the first set of lift channels when the upper support cradles and lower support cradles are loaded evenly. 
     
     
         19 . The pallet of  claim 12 , wherein the upper support cradles include three upper support cradles spaced from and extending parallel to each other and the lower support cradles include three lower support cradles spaced from and extending parallel to each other. 
     
     
         20 . A pallet comprising:
 an upper deck including a number of horizontally extending upper surfaces and a number of downwardly sloping walls forming upper support cradles for receiving curved objects thereon, the upper support cradles having lowermost apices;   a lower deck opposite the upper deck, the lower deck including a number of horizontally extending lower surfaces and a number of upwardly sloping walls forming lower support cradles for stacking the pallet on another pallet supporting curved objects, the lower support cradles having uppermost apices, the lower support cradles being vertically aligned with the upper support cradles such that the pallet can support the curved objects while being stacked on another pallet supporting curved objects;   a front wall extending vertically between front edges of the upper deck and the lower deck;   a rear wall extending vertically between rear edges of the upper deck and the lower deck opposite the front wall;   a first side wall extending vertically between first side edges of the upper deck and the lower deck;   a second side wall extending vertically between second side edges of the upper deck and the lower deck opposite the first side wall;   a first set of lift channels extending from the front wall to the rear wall for lifting the pallet via lifting forks from a first direction, the first set of lift channels having upper walls and lower walls opposite the upper walls;   a second set of lift channels extending from the first side wall to the second side wall for lifting the pallet via lifting forks from a second direction, the upper walls of the first set of lift channels and the second set of lift channels positioned below the lowermost apices of the upper support cradles such that the curved objects positioned in the upper support cradles do not interfere with lifting forks being inserted into the first set of lift channels or the second set of lift channels, the lower walls of the first set of lift channels and the second set of lift channels positioned above the uppermost apices of the lower support cradles such that curved objects positioned in the lower support cradles do not interfere with lifting forks being inserted into the first set of lifting channels or the second set of lifting channels.