Preservation skid
This invention is a skid or pallet that arrives at a “using location” with a pre-installed hermetically integrated base sheet, produced from a flexible packaging material. It is built, such that one of several methods of securing any given asset to the skid can be utilized in a fashion that eliminates the possibility of compromising the integrity, or air-tightness, of the base sheet. An asset(s) can be secured to the invention rapidly with minimal labor expenditures without worrying about, precision registration of machine feet with skid bolts or the dangers associated with manual guidance of equipment over protruding bolts. This invention can reduce the amount of time spent in the preparation of an asset for export shipment or placement into long-term storage multi-fold; due to the elimination of measuring, punching, drilling, calking and alignment operations all of which will save money and enhance employee safety protection.
This specification is now being filed (during the pending period) of the earlier filed Provisional Application having a filing date of Dec. 30, 2004 and which was assigned Application No. 60/640,007 with Confirmation Number 3626 and Filing Receipt #OC000000015019597. It is my intention to take benefit from said earlier filing.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot Applicable
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIXNot Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe field of endeavor to which this invention pertains is the prevention of rust, corrosion or oxidation from occurring on the metal parts of an asset while said asset is in storage or during transport. Manufacturers of assets, that include but are not limited to, industrial machinery, computers and components thereof, aircraft and component parts, commercial equipment etc. etc., go to great lengths to protect these assets from corrosion during export shipment and/or long-term preservation. The traditional method(s) of preventing corrosion on assets involves costly labor intensive and sometimes dangerous procedures. These procedures are typically completed at the very end of the manufacturing cycle (or right after a sale has been made in the case of a “previously owned” asset) which usually creates a sense of urgency; as often the packing crews race to beat a deadline for transport vessel departure. The traditional and most typical packaging method utilized by these crews is as follows. A skid, with overall dimensions and a load capacity that is coincident with the asset to be packed, is built from wood, manufactured wood products, metal, etc. The assets typically have flanges or “feet” with holes in them through which bolts can be passed. The “bolt-hole-pattern” of the asset is determined and transferred to the deck of the skid. Holes are then drilled through the skid deck and bolts are inserted through the deck from the underside of the skid. A base sheet (of flexible packaging material) is then cut to size (often heat-seal fabricated to make it large enough to fit under the entire asset). The same bolt-hole-pattern is transferred onto the flexible base sheet and holes are punched in the sheet accordingly. Then gaskets made from a resilient material such as rubber or cork, etc. are placed over the bolts protruding up through the skid deck. Silastic calk is applied to the gasket surface fully encircling the bolt. The flexible base sheet is then fitted over the bolts and pressed into the silastic. An additional application of silastic is then done on the upward facing surface of the base sheet, again encircling the bolts. Additional resilient gaskets are then placed over each bolt and pressed into the silastic calk to effect the hermetic sealing of each bolt hole. Next; the asset (often weighing several thousand pounds or more) must be placed in perfect alignment with the bolts and lowered into place by overhead crane or other appropriate lifting device. This action requires multiple personnel (with hands and fingers at risk) to carefully guide the asset “feet” down over the protruding bolts, without causing damage to the base sheet or injuring themselves. This operation is time consuming, and if the base sheet becomes torn or otherwise damaged it must be replaced with a new one. Once the asset is seated on the skid, nuts are tightened onto the bolts to fasten the asset to the skid. The next step is to “condition” the asset through various methods including but not limited to, oiling or greasing of metal parts, introduction of desiccant packs or VCI emitters or oxygen scavengers etc. within the assets structure. Next a flexible cover is fabricated from the same material (typically, but not limited to, a flexible packaging material that is compliant with MIL-PRF-131J) as the flexible base sheet. Said cover is lowered over the asset and aligned with the base sheet such that when the cover is heat-sealed to the base sheet the asset becomes fully enveloped within a hermetically sealed “package”.
This invention was produced in response to the inventor's desire to significantly speed up and simultaneously reduce the risk of injury during the “hermetic cover installation process” described above; as it relates to the preparation of assets for export shipment and/or long-term preservation. In 2002 a study conducted by NACE International estimated that Businesses in the United States alone incur costs, reaching nearly 3.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP)—a staggering $340 billion, in the prevention and/or remediation of damages caused by corrosion. This invention is intended to minimize the costs of installation labor and wasted materials as well as to help create a safer work environment with significantly reduced employee injuries and subsequent compensation claims and costs.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of this invention is to provide a skid and cover system that reduces the amount of time and personnel required to pack an asset for export shipment or long-term preservation, and also reduce the risk of injury to installation personnel. To accomplish those goals it was determined that the necessity of installing bolts, over which an asset would be lowered and then fastened to a skid must be eliminated. Installation of a flexible base sheet as an integral part of a skid is the first step towards accomplishing the goals. Hermetic “factory mounting” of an upper tier, to a skid (on top of the base sheet), provides a surface onto which an asset may be bolted without “field-penetrating” the flexible base sheet and without needing to have the bolts protruding from up under the deck. The asset can simply be placed upon the deck of the upper tier, drilling can be done right through the asset's feet and upper deck and then bolts can be installed with a much higher degree of speed and safety (see
This invention is comprised of a skid which has a sheet of flexible packaging material “sandwiched” between two layers of rigid material in a hermetic or air-tight fashion, and that extends out beyond the edges of the rigid materials (see
This invention can be configured in numerous ways. One example or style is a two tiered skid; where the lower tier is a skid that sandwiches a sheet of flexible barrier packaging material between it and an upper tier which is another skid of smaller dimensions (see
A second example or style is a single tier skid that sandwiches the flexible base sheet between “lower deck boards” and upper rigid decking material (see
The feature of the invention which renders it truly innovative and unique is the flexible barrier base sheet that is hermetically integrated by the manufacturer between skid components (regardless of how the skid is configured or of what materials it is made). The base sheet is a heat-sealable flexible packaging material that extends beyond the edges of the upper tier on all four sides. Its position, below the upper deck where any bolt-hole drilling or other asset fastening occurs, allows the end user to easily secure the asset to the upper deck without first having to penetrate a base sheet in order to complete the asset fastening operation. This feature negates the end users need to take precautionary steps to assure that the penetrations in the base sheet are done in an “air-tight” fashion and vastly speeds-up the packaging operation at the end users site. Prior to installation, the base sheet has a bolt-hole pattern (identical to that of the skid members) laid-out and punched at the invention manufacturing site. A pair of gaskets made from resilient material, whose diameters are at least five times the diameter of the bolt hole, is secured to the base sheet concentrically to each bolt-hole, both on top of and on the under-side of the base sheet. A paste or gel type material such as GE Silastic that cures to an airtight yet still flexible condition, is spread across the surfaces of the gaskets that make contact with the base sheet and then the gaskets are pressed against the base sheet material in concentric alignment with the holes in the base sheet and set aside and allowed to cure (see
Except for the flexible base sheet, nuts, bolts, washers and gaskets made from resilient material (such as rubber, urethane, etc.) all components of the invention shall be constructed from a strong and rigid material such as, but not limited to; hardwood, softwood, composite wood products, other composite materials, laminated materials, plastics, plastic lumber, metals, etc. or any combination thereof.
The overall dimensions of the invention are dictated by the size of the asset to be packaged. The only constraints upon size would be the available sizes of stringer and or decking materials. Typically; the invention will be sized such that after the asset has been fastened to the upper deck and sealed within the flexible barrier cover, the full assembly will fit inside of a sea going cargo container. However; the invention could also be made larger than that with the intent that the load would be placed on the deck of a ship instead of into a cargo container or the ships hold. Regardless of size; the inventions configuration remains the same: an upper and lower tier sandwiching a flexible barrier base sheet between them.
DRAWINGSThere are ten pages of drawings included herewith with views described above.
SEQUENCE LISTINGNot applicable.
Claims
1. A skid or pallet that provides a method of securing any asset to it, through any securing method feasible, without violating the integrity of a hermetically integrated sheet of flexible packaging material that provides a means of sealing the asset inside of a flexible cover by any sealing method necessary while eliminating various costs associated with previously used onsite labor intensive traditional barrier packaging methods for export and preservation packaging needs.
2. The invention with its inherent qualities referenced in claim 1 eliminates these following traditional packaging practices for export and preservation packaging applications;
- obtaining exact asset dimensions and bolt-hole locations and subsequently drilling bolt-holes and installing bolts onsite,
- locating and cutting bolt holes in a cover or sheet of packaging material on-site,
- aligning the bolt-holes in the cover or packaging material over the bolt-holes in the skid or pallet onsite,
- making the interface between the skid or pallet, the bolts and the cover or sheet of packaging material air-tight on-site,
- lifting an asset and lowering it over protruding bolts where misalignment could cause worker injury and product damage,
- and time spent struggling to manipulate into alignment, the flexible cover material with that of a non-precision field-installed base sheet.
3. This invention; with its inherent qualities, as referenced in claims 1 and 2, facilitates the following new methods and concepts with regards to packaging for export shipment and long term preservation applications;
- allows an asset packaging crew to randomly locate an asset on the top deck of the invention without aligning it with protruding bolts, thereby reducing job time and increasing job safety,
- provides a large, readily accessible, and flat base surface for sealing an air-tight cover to the hermetically integrated sheet of packaging material by any means necessary such as but not limited to heat sealing, adhering, taping, etc,
- and reduces the number of steps required to package an asset at a job site by introducing the concept of a manufactured pallet or skid with a hermetically integrated sheet of flexible packaging material that does not require large amounts of onsite manipulation, assembly, or fabrication for complete asset preservation and subsequent shipment or storage.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 4, 2006
Publication Date: Jul 5, 2007
Inventors: Russell Smith (Fairport, NY), William Smith (Fairport, NY)
Application Number: 11/324,524
International Classification: B65D 19/00 (20060101);