Thermoplastic pallet

Abstract

An improved load bearing pallet includes an upper deck formed from a sheet of thermoplastic material with a load engaging surface and an opposing, substantially parallel lift engaging surface. Ridges, channels, depressions, and legs, are formed in the sheet with corresponding features being necessarily defined by the sheet on the opposite side. The pallet preferably includes a peripheral channel formed around a periphery of the upper deck and nine legs positioned in three rows of three creating two gaps on each side of the pallet for the tines of a fork lift to enter to lift the pallet. A plurality of strengthening ridges and channels are formed in the load bearing surface of the upper deck, with corresponding channels and ridges necessarily formed in the lifting surface of the upper deck, to resist bending and folding of the pallet. A reinforcing member received within the peripheral channel includes a steel core encapsulated within a thermoplastic coating that is molecularly bonded or cross-linked to the molecular structure of the thermoplastic material of the pallet. A lower deck or other support structure may be coupled or molecularly bonded to the upper deck. The lower deck may also include ridges, channels, depressions, legs, and reinforcing members. The pallet includes runners coupled to the legs of the decks, a stack of decks with runners, and a method for stacking decks when the decks are not in use. The pallet further includes modular dual deck pallets to allow ease of transportation and storage.