Pallets

Project: Pallets

Tools:	Wrenches
Parts:	Frames, End caps, Bolts, Nuts, Plates
Techniques:	Shelf joints, Tri joints

Introduction

A pallet (also called a skid) is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, front loader, or crane. A pallet is the structural foundation of a unit load which allows handling and storage efficiencies. Goods or shipping containers are often placed on a pallet secured with strapping, stretch wrap or shrink wrap and shipped. Since its invention in the twentieth century, its use has dramatically supplanted older forms of crating like the wooden box and the wooden barrel, as it works well with modern packaging like corrugated boxes and intermodal containers commonly used for bulk shipping.

Challenges

Horizontal surfaces often need to move. Sometimes with their contents intact. Locations and methods for installing horizontal surfaces should facilitate interchangeability.

Approaches

Build pallets from standard Replimat components.

• 

  Ken Isaacs pallet

• 

  EUR pallet

• 

  Pallet w/ barrels

References

• EUR pallet standard
• Wikipedia: Pallet
• Wikipedia: Containerization
• A field guide to shipping containers