Glossary


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16) Compression molded pallet

Plastic material is placed in an open mold, which is then closed.  Pressure is applied as the mold halves come together (usually in a vertical configuration), forcing the plastic material to flow and fill the cavity.

17) Injection molded pallet

Plastic material is introduced in pellet form into a "hopper" positioned at the top of a machine and forcing it along a horizontal chamber or "barrel" of an extruder by means of the rotation of a screw.  The plastic material is heated as it moves through the barrel so when it reaches an open cavity, it is a molten mass ready to assume the configuration of the mold. The mold is closed and pressure is applied to form the pallet.  Once the pallet is cooled and taken from the mold, it can be further processed into secondary operations such as painting, trimming or fastening.

18) Rotational molded pallet

A predetermined amount of powdered, granulated or liquid plastic is introduced into a hollow, shell-like mold.  This is followed by the closing, heating and rotating of the mold in two planes perpendicular to each other in order to distribute and fuse or "sinter" the plastic material to the internal configuration of the mold. Once the plastic mold is fully cured and the part is fully formed, the mold is removed from the eat source, and it undergoes accelerated cooling using either a water mist or cold air.  The pallet is then removed from the mold.

19) Structural foam molded pallet

Structural foam molding is a variation of the injection molded process whereby a compounded plastic material is introduced into an extruder in pellet form, heated to a molten state, and then formed by means of a rotating screw into one or more mold cavities.  The material adopts the configuration of the mold, and once cooled, it is injected as a fully formed pallet. With structural foam molding, a blowing agent is introduced to and mixed thoroughly through the plastic prior to its injection into the mold cavities.  The heating process activates the blowing agent and creates a cellular structure within the molten material. This cellular structure not only saves on raw material requirement, but it produces a part with an elevated strength-to-weight ratio.

20) Thermoformed pallet

Thermoforming takes place when a thick plastic sheet is clamped onto a frame and heated, then this softened, pliable sheet is forced by either pressure or vacuum to adapt to the shape of a pallet tool.  Once the sheet has formed to the configuration of the tool and it has cooled down, it is removed from the frame.  The outer perimeter of the pallet is trimmed off to yield the finished part. Twin-sheet thermoforming is a variation of this process whereby two separate sheets of plastic are heated in two separate sets of tooling and then fused together under pressure to yield a pallet with a hollow section or sections.

21) Fixed-wall pallet container

Container that features an integrated pallet and has fixed side walls.

22) Four-way fork entry

Openings on all four sides of a pallet or the base of a pallet container, which allow fork truck handling.

23) Fork strap

Strap that links the fork openings on the base of a pallet container.  Fork straps can allow the use of a container on conveyors.

24) Auto-lock clips

Spring-loaded clips on collapsible pallet containers that automatically lock hinged sidewalls and optional doors.

25) Honeycombing

1. The practice of removing merchandise in pallet load quantities where the space is not exhausted in an orderly fashion. This results in inefficiencies due to the fact that the received merchandise may not be efficiently stored in the space which is created by the honey-combing. 2. The storing or withdrawal or supplies in a manner that results in vacant space that is not usable for storage of other items. 3.  Creation of unoccupied space resulting from withdrawal of unit loads.  This is one of the major hidden costs of warehousing.

26) Pop-up chain sorter

The change in conveying direction is limited to being perpendicular to the original flow. Such a system is not suited to high- speed sortation and is mainly used for a load transfer or simple directional changes. It is suited best to handling heavy loads such as full pallets.

27) Platform conveyor

Another form of the conventional poternoster (See definition for Poternoster) is the platform conveyor that consists of multiple, equally spaced battens which form rigid horizontal surfaces in one direction (up and down) but behave like the front of a roll top desk on the return. Platform conveyor is an effective means of moving a continuous flow of pallets or other unit loads between levels. Another variation of the posternoster concept, which permits both vertical and horizontal movement of load, consists of freely swinging platforms suspended between two parallel chains.

28) Pick and place industrial robot

The "pick and place" industrial robot is used to feed or disengage parts or tools to or from a machine, or to transfer parts from one machine to another. A variation of a "pick and place" robot is used to build and undo unit loads on a pallet.

29) Nets

A basic form of below-the-hook lifting attachment which is suspended from a hoist or other lifting mechanism and simply wraps around the object to be moved and lifts it totally. Mesh netting is also used for securing loads to pallets.

30) Euro-pallet

The standard pallet in Europe. It is 1200 mm by 800 mm in dimension and has a wood block design between the top and bottom permitting four-way or four-sided entrance by lifting forks. Although other sizes exist in Europe, they are not nearly as prominent as the Euro-pallet.