Pallets made of wood or plastic are most often used for transporting goods. As a carrier or products, the pallet is a regular presence within the logistics sector.
Skids and pallets were slowly introduced throughout the early 20th century; wooden boxes, crates, barrels and kegs were much more commonly used to unitize, protect, store and transport goods. The predecessor of the modern wooden pallet was a simple skid that consisted only of stringers fastened to a top deck. It first appeared in U.S. factories in conjunction with the low-lift truck. A crude low-lift hand truck was invented in 1887 and a more durable, all-steel low-lift truck design was introduced in 1909.
The high-lift fork truck first appeared in 1915. With further modification in 1919, the truck could lift loads several feet high while other improvements included cantilever design and forks. The emergence of forks during the same period enabled lift trucks to handle a much greater range of materials.
Another development was the new capability of the mast of the forklift to tilt both forward and backward, independent of the lifting mechanism. These developments, along with the emergence of the double-faced pallet during the same time period, allowed for tiering of unit loads. As early as 1926, the essence of the modern lift truck had been developed. Now, pallets were no longer simply a means of moving materials within the plant. High-lift trucks made possible the vertical stacking of unit loads and a resulting dramatic improvement of warehouse and plant storage efficiencies.
The pallet was developed in stages. Spacers were used between loads to allow fork entry, progressing to the placement of boards atop stringers to make skids. Eventually boards were fastened to the bottom to create the pallet. The addition of bottom boards on the skid, which appeared by 1925, resulted in the modern form of the pallet. With the bottom deck, several problems common to the single-faced skid were addressed. For example, the bottom boards provided better weight distribution and reduced product damage; they also provided better stacking strength and rigidity. Lift truck manufacturers promoted the idea of using more vertical area of a plant for stock storage.
In size, skids started out narrow in order to pass through ordinary doors. As facilities were rebuilt, many organizations optimized their buildings for larger pallets in order to reduce labor costs.
The earliest referenced U.S. patent for a skid is Howard T. Hallowell's 1924 "Lift Truck Platform." (For more on Hallowell's impact on the industry, see Hex key.) In 1939, Carl Clark patented a recognizably modern pallet, although with steel stringers. During World War II, palleted material handling was rapidly perfected in order to transfer Allied war materials. Patent activity picked up again after the war, as inventors claimed items they improvised for the war effort. The first four-direction pallet was claimed in 1945 by Robert Braun. At the end of 1948, Sullivan Stemple claimed the basic idea of a pallet designed to be used with a forklift; the pallet was to be stamped from steel. During World War II, to reduce the resupply time of warships, the first modern disposable four-way block pallet was developed and patented in early 1949 by Norman Cahners, a U.S. Navy Supply Officer at the ordnance depot in Hingham, Massachusetts. The first completely modern two-way stringer pallet was described in 1949 by Darling Graeme.
Source: Wikipedia - Pallet
Palletless handling
One of the first patents for a push-pull was applied for on June 23, 1970. A push-pull attachment is a hydraulic attachment for a forklift truck that makes pallets superfluous. The principle is based on a gripping mechanism that can be moved forwards and backwards by means of a scissor system or a pantograph system. The grip moves directly over a thin platform with a bit of leeway. If the gripping mechanism is in its forward most position and is open, then it can grip a so-called slipsheet.
The cargo is placed on this slipsheet and the slipsheet with the cargo is locked on and is pulled backwards across the platform by means of the scissor mechanism. If the cargo needs to be unloaded, a large vertical plate – under which the gripping mechanism is fastened – pushes the cargo onto another carrier such as a pallet or plank. The gripping mechanism, scissor, push-pull plate and platform are all components of a whole, the push-pull.
Slipsheets
The introduction of the slipsheet as we know it today is unknown. Slipsheets are currently made of solid cardboard or recycled or new plastic and are available in various sizes and thicknesses.
RollerForks
As an alternative to a push-pull, RollerForks can be used with the following advantages:
- Lower investment costs for sender and receiver.
- Improves operating speed.
- RollerForks weigh little more than ordinary forks, allowing a smaller lift truck to be used.
- No hydraulic connection needed.
- Applicable to light-weight electric stackers.
- No loss of visibility.
- Little maintenance is needed because no hydraulics or lubrication points are applied.
- Takes less energy because the handling movements are reduced compared to push-pull.
- RollerForks can also be used for lifting standard pallets.
MSE-Forks
MSE-Forks is an independent, innovative company that develops and manufactures unique logistics products such as telescopic forks and mechanical forklift truck equipment for palletless handling using the so-called RollerForks. All of our products are aimed at increasing ease of use and application of logistics and transportation resources, such as forklift trucks and their variants.
We aim to add value to our customers’ and end-users’ logistics supply chains. We sell our products via our own international network of importers and directly to forklift truck manufacturers. It is intrinsically understood that the products we supply are of the highest quality and reliability.