MOLDED PULP PALLET FRAME

Abstract

The present invention provides a pallet frame of a unitary body of a molded pulp material having a first surface, a second surface opposed to the first surface, and a generally polygonal shaped peripheral wall. The peripheral wall has four corners, and a first pair of legs and a second pair of legs extending away from the first surface. The first pair of legs being positioned at two corners of the four corners, and the second pair of legs being positioned at another two corners of the four corners. The first pair of legs having a first end surface with a centrally disposed upstanding boss. The second pair of legs having a second end surface with a centrally disposed detent dimensioned to receive a boss when a pair of like pallet frames are in a deployed condition.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/116,462 filed Aug. 29, 2018, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/551,578 filed Aug. 29, 2017, the contents of both are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference and made a part hereof.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

N/A

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a low cost, light weight shelving display that is easily assembled from components that utilize recycled material and the display is ideal for light weight food products such as snack food in flexible bags.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Product displays are commonly used in retail locations to display items for sale. It is common for displays to be erected from paperboard blanks that have fold lines. The instructions can be somewhat complicated or time consuming, thus expensive to implement in large scale or high volume. Since such displays are commonly used for a short period of time and then disposed of, it is desirable to utilize recycled components that are themselves recyclable. It is also desirable for such product displays to be easily assembled so that staff members at the retail location can erect the displays without assistance from the product supplier. It is also desirable to minimize the costs of the displays in terms of materials used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a pallet frame of a unitary body of a molded pulp material having a first surface, a second surface opposed to the first surface, and a generally polygonal shaped peripheral wall. The peripheral wall has four corners—a first pair of legs and a second pair of legs extending away from the first surface. The first pair of legs being positioned at two corners of the four corners and the second pair of legs being positioned at another two corners of the four corners. The first pair of legs having a first end surface with a centrally disposed upstanding boss. The second pair of legs having a second end surface with a centrally disposed detent dimensioned to receive a boss when a pair of like pallet frames are in a deployed condition. The four legs being circular in cross sectional shape and having a central chamber dimensioned to receive a leg from a like pallet frame when in a stacked condition.

The present invention further provides a pallet chassis system of a first unitary body of a molded pulp material having a generally polygonal shaped peripheral wall. The peripheral wall has four corners, and a first pair of legs and a second pair of legs extending away from a first surface of the first unitary body. The first pair of legs being positioned at two corners of the four corners and the second pair of legs being positioned at another two corners of the four corners. The first pair of legs having a first end surface with a centrally disposed upstanding boss. The second pair of legs having a second end surface with a centrally disposed detent. Each of the four legs being circular in cross sectional shape and having a central, leg-receiving chamber. The pallet chassis system further has a second unitary body of a molded pulp material. The second unitary body has a generally polygonal shaped peripheral wall having four corners, and a third pair of legs and a fourth pair of legs extending away from a surface of the second unitary body. The third pair of legs being positioned at two corners of the four corners and the fourth pair of legs being positioned at another two corners of the four corners. The third pair of legs having a third end surface with a centrally disposed upstanding boss. The fourth pair of legs having a fourth end surface with a centrally disposed detent. The second unitary body being moveable into cooperative engagement with the first unitary body from a deployed condition to a nested condition. When in the deployed condition the upstanding bosses of the first pair of legs are positioned respectively in the detents of the fourth pair of legs. When in the nested position the first pair of legs are positioned respectively in the leg-receiving chambers of the third pair of legs.

The present invention further provides a pallet frame assembly of a unitary body and a shelf tray. The unitary body is of a molded pulp material having a first surface, a second surface opposed to the first surface, and a generally polygonal shaped peripheral wall. The peripheral wall has four corners, and a first pair of legs and a second pair of legs extending away from the first surface. The first pair of legs being positioned at two corners of the four corners and the second pair of legs being positioned at another two corners of the four corners. The first pair of legs having a first end surface with a centrally disposed upstanding boss. The second pair of legs having a second end surface with a centrally disposed detent dimensioned to receive a boss when a pair of like pallet frames are in a deployed condition. The four legs being circular in cross sectional shape and having a central chamber dimensioned to receive a leg from a like pallet frame when in a stacked condition. The shelf tray is positioned on top of the second surface and covers an entire surface area of the second surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To understand the present invention, it will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings and attachments in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a product display of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a nested stack of a plurality of unitary bodies, or skeletons, of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an assembly view of a system for forming a full pallet chassis of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is perspective view of the product display of FIG. 1 with products.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a skeleton for a half pallet chassis.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a half pallet chassis display with products.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a skeleton for a quarter pallet chassis.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a quarter pallet chassis display with products.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a skeleton.

FIG. 10 is a side elevation view of a quarter pallet skeleton.

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of a ground engaging member.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of another example of a pallet chassis of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a top plan view of the pallet chassis of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a right-side elevation view of the pallet chassis of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is a left-end elevation view of the pallet chassis of FIG. 12.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a plurality of pallet frames in a stacked/nested condition.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a shelf display.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a shelf display.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a shelf display.

FIG. 20 is an assembly view in perspective of a shelf display system.

FIG. 21 is a top plan view of a shelf tray.

FIG. 22 is a side view in perspective of a shelf tray being mounted to a pallet frame to form a shelf or a top cap.

FIG. 23 is a top view in perspective of a shelf unit enhancer being attached to a leg of a pallet frame.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

FIG. 1 shows a product display assembly 10 having a stack of pallet chassis assemblies 12, a top cap 14, and a standard pallet 16. Each pallet chassis assembly 12 has a unitary body 20 and a shelf tray 22. The pallet chassis of FIGS. 1-3 is known as a full pallet chassis as it is dimensioned to cover a standard pallet of 48×40 inches. The pallet chassis shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 show a half pallet chassis and thus two half-pallet chassis assemblies are used per shelf 24 when used with a standard pallet 16. Similarly, the pallet chassis 12 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 show a quarter pallet chassis, and, thus, four quarter-pallet chassis assemblies are used per shelf 24 when used with a standard pallet 16. Otherwise, a half pallet 16′ (FIG. 6) can accommodate two quarter pallet chassis or a single half pallet chassis per shelf 24. Also, a quarter pallet 16″ (FIG. 8) can accommodate a single quarter pallet chassis per shelf 24.

FIG. 1 shows the display 10 using three full-sized pallet assemblies 12 forming 4 shelves 24. While three full-sized pallet assemblies 12 are shown, fewer or greater number of such could be provided without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, anywhere from one full-sized pallet assembly 12 to ten full-sized pallet assemblies 12 could be used to form a product display 10 on a single standard pallet 16. Thus, a display can have from one to ten shelves, for example.

The unitary body 20, which may sometimes be referred to as a skeleton, has a pair of elongate support beams 30 and a plurality of legs 32. The elongate support beams 30 have a length dimension greater than a width dimension and intersect one another at an intermediate portion 35 of their length at an angle α to form a generally x-shaped body. The angle α is about 79° shown in FIG. 3 but can be anywhere from 20° to 90°. For example, the angle α for the half pallet chassis of FIG. 5 is about 45°, and for the quarter pallet chassis of FIG. 7 is about 80°. The support beams 30 have a planar upper surface 34 to support the shelf tray 22 or top cap 14. The support beams 30 may also have a pair of channels 45 flanking the planar upper surface 34 to strengthen the unitary body 20. The channels 45 extend along a length dimension of the support beams 30. Other structures can be formed in the unitary body to strengthen the support beams 30, the legs or other parts of the display.

Each leg 32 of the plurality of legs 32 extends along a line generally perpendicular to the upper surface 34. Each leg 32 has a wall 50 enclosing a chamber 52 (FIG. 10) dimensioned to receive a leg from another similarly configured unitary body to define a nesting arrangement 53 (FIG. 2). Each leg 32 has an opening 54 into the chamber 52 at one end and a ground engaging structure 60 at the opposite end. The chamber has a polygonal shape in cross section and preferably is triangular or rectangular. FIG. 10 shows a portion of the wall 52 tapers 62 radially inwardly from the opening 40 to the ground engaging member 60. FIG. 11 shows the ground engaging member 60 closes an end of the chamber 52 and has an upstanding member 64 to strengthen the ground engaging member 60.

It is desirable for the leg to be taller than a product to be used with the display 10. In one preferred form of the invention, the leg will be substantially taller than a thickness of the cross beams. What is meant by “substantially” is from 2 to 50 times, more preferably 3 to 30 times, and most preferably 5 to 25 times. It is desirable that the display have viewing “windows” as large as possible for optimal display of products in the display. What is meant by “windows” are the rectangular-shaped openings formed between each set of legs forming end edges defining a vertical dimension of the windows and two adjacent shelf trays (or a shelf tray and a top cap) forming a top and bottom horizontal edges of the windows.

The unitary body 20 of the full pallet chassis has a peripheral wall 80 that connects all of the legs 32 and defines an inner space 82. The support beams 30 are positioned in the inner space 82 and connect to the peripheral wall at the four vertexes. The peripheral wall shown is generally rectangular but could be of other shapes such as polygons, circles and ovals. Suitable polygons will have from three sides to ten sides and preferably are regular polygons having sides of equal length and separated by equal angles. Suitable polygons include triangles, squares, rectangles, pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, octagons, nonagons and decagons. Most preferably, the polygon is a rectangle. The peripheral wall 82 has an upper planar surface 84 that is coplanar with the upper surface 34 of the support beams. The peripheral wall has segments 86 that correspond to edges of the polygon so a rectangular peripheral wall will have a first and a second segment extending along a first direction and spaced from one another along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The rectangular peripheral wall also has a third and a fourth segment extending along the second line with the third segment connecting a first end of the first and second segments. The fourth segment will connect the second end of the first and second segments.

The unitary body is shaped or molded from a pulp material and will be referred to as molded pulp. Molded pulp is a material of a recycled paperboard and newspaper and is formed into the desired shape using molds. Suitable techniques include slush molding, vacuum forming, transfer molding, take-off molding, and cure-in-the-mold technology to name a few. The molded pulp material can have additives such as: corn starch based biodegradable polymers (injection molded or vacuum/thermo formed); structural foam additives (injection molded); sustainable wood-plastic composites from bio-based polyamide 11, beech wood fiber or other similar mix; HIPS (high impact polystyrene); and MIPS (medium impact polystyrene). The molded pulp provides a rigid, light weight substrate for supporting shelves. The molded pulp displays are particularly suitable for supporting light weight products such as bags of snack chips, cereals, dried fruits, and other salty snacks, and particularly where the product is in a flexible bag 70 as shown in FIGS. 4,6,8.

In a preferred form of the invention, the molded pulp material will be capable of being recycled using standard paperboard recycling techniques as opposed to recycling techniques for polymeric materials. Also, the unitary body is “disposable” meaning that it can be rid of by placing in standard waste disposal streams and capable of being buried in landfills. It is also desirable the molded pulp material be a “sustainable packaging material”—made of recycled material and capable of being recycled.

The shelf tray 22 and the top cap 14 have the same construction and will be described with respect to the shelf tray 22. The shelf tray 22 has a web of material having an upper surface, a lower surface, and, in a preferred form, is dimensioned to be placed on top of and cover an entire surface area of the planar upper surface 34. The shelf tray 22 has an upstanding wall 90 disposed about the periphery of the web of material or sheet. The upstanding wall can have the same shape as the peripheral wall including polygonal, circular and oval. Preferably, the upstanding wall is in the shape of a rectangle or a square. The shelf tray 22 is fabricated from a material such as corrugated paperboard, corrugated plastic, plastic sheeting, paper sheeting, molded pulp, honeycomb constructed materials, fiber tubes, tri-laminate board, triple laminated board with a medium of varying geometrics, and the like. The upstanding wall is dimensioned to receive the legs of the unitary body in corners to prevent the unitary body from sliding or moving. The shelf tray has the upstanding wall extending upward and the top cap 14 has the upstanding wall extending downward. The shelf tray engages the ground engaging portion of the legs and the top cap covers the top of the chassis and covers over the holes 40 into the chambers.

The shelf tray is formed from a blank of material that can be die cut to size and have a fold line separating the upstanding wall from the planar sheet and the upstanding wall can be folded from the blank.

Erecting a display 10 from the individual parts is easy and can be accomplished without tools and with a modicum of mechanical skills by an untrained user. The necessary components include a plurality of unitary bodies such as in a nested stack 53, a plurality of shelf trays, and a top cap. A shelf tray is placed on top of the pallet and a skeleton is placed on top with the legs facing downwardly and received within the corners of the tray. A second shelf tray is placed on top of the first skeleton to form a second shelf. This process is repeated until the desired number of shelves is reached. The top cap can provide a shelf whose top is not covered. Product can then be loaded onto the shelves for display and sale.

FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of a pallet chassis or frame 100 that is unitary in construction, is light weight, is inexpensive, is nestable with other like pallet chasses 100, can be used to erect merchandising shelves without the use of tools and with little effort, contains recycled material and can be recycled in standard commercial streams. FIGS. 12-15 show a full-pallet chassis as it is dimensioned to cover a standard pallet of 48×40 inches. It is contemplated sizing the pallet chassis to cover fractional portions of the pallet such as a half-pallet chassis, a third-pallet chassis, a quarter-pallet chassis, a sixth-pallet chassis, an eighth-pallet chassis, for example. The pallet frame has a first surface 102, a second surface 104 opposed to the first surface, and a generally polygonal shaped peripheral wall 106. The peripheral wall 106 has four corners 108 and a leg 109 extending away from the first surface 102. The legs 109 include a first pair of legs 110 and a second pair of legs 112. The first pair of legs 110 is positioned respectively at two corners 108 of the four corners, and the second pair of legs 112 is positioned respectively at another two corners 108 of the four corners. The legs 109 also include a centrally disposed leg 113. Each leg of the first pair of legs 110 has a first end surface 114 with a centrally disposed upstanding boss 116. Each leg of the second pair of legs 112 has a second end surface 118 with a centrally disposed detent 120. The detent 120 is preferably dimensioned to receive a boss of an identical pallet when brought into cooperative engagement with one another in a deployed condition (FIG. 17).

In one preferred embodiment, the four legs 109 are circular in cross sectional shape and have a central chamber to receive a leg from a like pallet frame when in a stacked/nested condition (FIG. 16). Each of the four legs 109 has a first tapered surface 124 that extends radially inwardly from a proximal end (closest to the first surface 102) to a distal end. The first tapered surface 124 defines an angle with a line 126 (FIG. 14) drawn perpendicular to the first surface 102 of the pallet frame within a range of from 3° to 20°. A second tapered surface 130 on the upstanding boss 116 extends radially inwardly from the first end surface 114 to a distal end of the upstanding boss. The second tapered surface 130 defines an angle with a line 132 drawn perpendicular to the first end surface 114 within a range of from 3° to 20°. In a preferred form of the invention, the first tapered surface and the second tapered surface will have equal angles. However, it is contemplated that the first tapered surface and the second tapered surface can have different angles.

The pallet frame 100 has a plurality of ribs 136 deformed from the molded pulp material to strengthen the pallet frame 100. The ribs 136 are shown to have a C-shape cross section, but could be of other shapes without departing from the scope of the present invention. A first plurality of ribs 140 extend along the edges of the peripheral wall 106 and connect to adjacent legs. Along a length of each of the first plurality of ribs are two elbows 142 spaced from one another and extending perpendicularly, and outwardly from the rib 140 to the peripheral edge 106 to provide an opening 144 through the peripheral edge.

A second rib or a second plurality of ribs 150 are disposed in a central portion of the pallet frame and about the fifth leg 113. It should be understood that the second rib can include a series of connected segments or a single segment and will be referred to in the singular for convenience. In one preferred form of the invention, the second rib 150 is continuous, generally circular, and extends circumjacent the center leg 113. A third plurality of ribs 160 extend diagonally from each corner to the center leg 113 and extend across the second rib 150. A fourth plurality of ribs 170 extend inwardly from the first plurality of ribs to the second rib and are generally centrally disposed along a length of the first plurality of ribs and extends at a right angle thereto.

FIG. 16 shows a plurality of pallet frames 100 in a stacked or nested condition 180. The legs of one pallet frame 100 are inserted into the leg-receiving chambers of an adjacent pallet frame 100. In a preferred form of the invention, the first pair of legs of one pallet frame are inserted into the leg-receiving chamber of the first pair of legs of a second pallet frame and the second set of legs of one pallet frame are received within the leg receiving chambers of the second set of legs of the second pallet frame. The fifth leg of one pallet frame is inserted into the leg-receiving chamber of the fifth leg of a second pallet frame.

FIGS. 17-20 show a plurality of pallet frames 100 in a deployed state to form a shelving unit 200 with multiple shelves 202. A pair of adjacent pallet frames are positioned with their legs facing one another and the upstanding bosses of one pallet frame are inserted within the detents of a second pallet frame. Also, the upstanding bosses of the second pallet frame are inserted into the detents of the first pallet frame to form a pallet frame assembly 204. An end surface of the fifth leg of one pallet frame will abut an end surface of a second pallet frame and the two fifth legs will be coaxially disposed. The second surface of one pallet frame will serve as a shelf for receiving products for display for sale. The shelving unit can have numerous pallet frames such as six as shown in FIG. 17 or as few as one pallet frame to as many as twenty pallet frames, for example. The shelving unit 200 has a shelf tray 202 of a corrugated sheet having an upper surface, a lower surface, and is positioned on top of the second surface of a pallet frame and is dimensioned to extend over an entire surface area of the second surface to act as a shelve. The shelf tray 202 has an upstanding wall 206 extending about a periphery of the sheet. The shelf tray 202 as discussed above, is the same as a top cap only it is inverted.

FIGS. 21 and 22 show the shelf tray 202 has a trapezoidal cutout 210 that is hingedly connected to the shelf tray and can be moved to a position roughly 90° to a surface of the shelf tray to form a tab 212 that is dimensioned to fit within a leg-receiving chamber of a pallet frame as shown in FIG. 19. This interlock between the shelf tray and pallet frame resists relative movement of the shelf tray 202 and pallet frame. The cutout 210 and tab 212 can be provided for from one to four corners and can also be provided in a central portion to form a tab to interlock with the leg-receiving chamber of the fifth leg 113. While a trapezoidal shaped cutout is shown, it should be understood the cutout could be of other shapes such as polygonal, circular, and oval.

FIGS. 19 and 23 show a product enhancer unit 220 for displaying printed text and decoration to enhance the sale of the displayed product. The product enhancer unit 220 is shown attached to two legs, is a generally rectangular prism shaped, and has two tabs 224 at each of a top and a bottom of the unit 220. The tabs 224 are generally triangular in shape and have a central hole 226. Each of the tab 224 are folded along a hinge 228 to place the hole 226 over the top of an upstanding boss to secure the product enhancer unit to the shelving display 200. Two tabs are shown with fold lines that are perpendicular to one another. One of the tabs 224 is folded over the upstanding boss and the second tab is folded over the upstanding boss and on top of the first tab 224. The same is done on the opposite end of the enhancer unit 220. A shelf unit can be placed on top of the upstanding bosses to hold the tabs 224 in place. The shelf tray as shown can be used as a shelf with its upstanding wall facing upward, or as a cap 230 with the upstanding wall facing downward. The shelf tray can be manufactured using the techniques described above.

The molded pulp material of pallet frame 100 is described above herein. While a molded pulp is preferred, it is also contemplated using other techniques such as injection molded solution, blow molded solution, rotationally molded solution, vacuum/thermal formed solution, fabricated plastic/sheet plastics, 3D printed plastic solution, and fiber glass tube solution. It is also contemplated using metalworking techniques of metal such as fabricated sheet metal solution, fabricated wire solution (or the mix of the two), and fabricated steel tube solution. It is also contemplated using wood products and woodworking techniques such as fabricated wood solution, fabricated particle board, MDF, and hard board solution.

Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be protected otherwise than as specifically described.

Claims

1. A pallet frame comprising:

a unitary body of a molded pulp material having a first surface, a second surface opposed to the first surface, a generally polygonal shaped peripheral wall having four corners, a first pair of legs and a second pair of legs extending away from the first surface, the first pair of legs being positioned at two corners of the four corners and the second pair of legs being positioned at another two corners of the four corners, the first pair of legs having a first end surface with a centrally disposed upstanding boss, the second pair of legs having a second end surface with a centrally disposed detent dimensioned to receive a boss when a pair of like pallet frames are in a deployed condition, and the four legs being circular in cross sectional shape and having a central chamber dimensioned to receive a leg from a like pallet frame when in a stacked condition.

2. The pallet frame of claim 1 further comprising a fifth leg extending away from the first surface and being centrally disposed within the peripheral wall.

3. The pallet frame of claim 2 wherein each of the four legs has a first tapered surface that extends radially inwardly from a proximal end to a distal end.

4. The pallet frame of claim 3 wherein the first tapered surface defines an angle with a line drawn perpendicular to the first surface within a range of from 3° to 20°.

5. The pallet frame of claim 4 further comprising a second tapered surface on the upstanding boss, the second tapered surface extending radially inwardly from the first end surface to a distal end of the upstanding boss.

6. The pallet frame of claim 5 wherein the second tapered surface defines an angle with a line drawn perpendicular to the first end surface within a range of from 3° to 20°.

7. The pallet frame of claim 6 wherein the fifth leg has a third tapered surface that defines an angle with a line drawn perpendicular to the first surface within a range of from 3° to 20°.

8. The pallet frame of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of ribs deformed from the molded pulp material, the plurality of ribs connecting one leg of the four legs to another leg of the four legs.

9. The pallet frame of claim 1 wherein the second surface is planar.

10. A pallet chassis system comprising:

a first unitary body of a molded pulp material having a generally polygonal shaped peripheral wall having four corners, a first pair of legs and a second pair of legs extending away from a first surface of the first unitary body, the first pair of legs being positioned at two corners of the four corners and the second pair of legs being positioned at another two corners of the four corners, the first pair of legs having a first end surface with a centrally disposed upstanding boss, the second pair of legs having a second end surface with a centrally disposed detent, each of the four legs being circular in cross sectional shape and having a central, leg-receiving chamber; and

a second unitary body of a molded pulp material having a generally polygonal shaped peripheral wall having four corners, a third pair of legs and a fourth pair of legs extending away from a surface of the second unitary body, the third pair of legs being positioned at two corners of the four corners and the fourth pair of legs being positioned at another two corners of the four corners, the third pair of legs having a third end surface with a centrally disposed upstanding boss, the fourth pair of legs having a fourth end surface with a centrally disposed detent, the second unitary body being moveable into cooperative engagement with the first unitary body from a deployed condition to a nested condition, when in the deployed condition the upstanding bosses of the first pair of legs are positioned respectively in the detents of the fourth pair of legs, and when in the nested position the first pair of legs are positioned respectively in the leg-receiving chambers of the third pair of legs.

11. The pallet chassis system of claim 10 further comprising a shelf tray of a corrugated sheet having an upper surface, a lower surface, and dimensioned to be placed on top of and cover a second surface of the first unitary body opposed to the first surface.

12. The pallet chassis system of claim 11 wherein the shelf tray has an upstanding wall extending about a periphery of the sheet.

13. The pallet chassis system of claim 11 wherein each of the four legs has a first tapered surface that extends radially inwardly from a proximal end to a distal end.

14. The pallet chassis system of claim 13 wherein the first tapered surface defines an angle with a line drawn perpendicular to the first surface within a range of from 3° to 20°.

15. The pallet chassis system of claim 14 further comprising a second tapered surface on the upstanding boss, the second tapered surface extending radially inwardly from the first end surface to a distal end of the upstanding boss.

16. The pallet chassis system frame of claim 15 wherein the second tapered surface defines an angle with a line drawn perpendicular to the first end surface within a range of from 3° to 20°.

17. A pallet chassis assembly comprising:

18. A pallet frame comprising:

a unitary body of a molded pulp material having a first surface, a second surface opposed to the first surface, a generally polygonal shaped peripheral wall having four corners, a first pair of legs and a second pair of legs extending away from the first surface, the first pair of legs being positioned at two corners of the four corners and the second pair of legs being positioned at another two corners of the four corners, the first pair of legs having a first end surface with a centrally disposed upstanding boss, the second pair of legs having a second end surface with a centrally disposed detent dimensioned to receive a boss when a pair of like pallet frames are in a deployed condition, and the four legs being circular in cross sectional shape and having a central chamber dimensioned to receive a leg from a like pallet frame when in a stacked condition; and

a shelf tray of a corrugated sheet having an upper surface, a lower surface, and positioned on top of the second surface and to extend over an entire surface area of the second surface.

19. The pallet chassis assembly of claim 18 wherein the shelf tray has an upstanding wall extending about a periphery of the sheet.

20. The pallet chassis assembly of claim 18 wherein each of the four legs has a first tapered surface that extends radially inwardly from a proximal end to a distal end.