Dual Pallet Separators — Deep-Lane Pressure Relief for Pallet Flow

Deep-lane pallet flow is a space-saving and economical warehousing solution for high-throughput inventory. Designing a deep-lane system takes careful attention to detail… it can be a lot of pressure, and even more than you may be thinking.

A deep-lane pallet flow system, as with any gravity-fed system, is designed precisely to allow a free flow of pallets from the charge side to the discharge side of the lane. It may seem counterintuitive; therefore, to suggest that stopping the pallets in the lane is the best and safest way to design your system. However, as you can see in the animated video above, that is exactly what we are suggesting.

Advantages  

• Relieves the back pressure on the lift truck
• Prevents product damage
• Allows the pallets to safely index forward
• Prevents restart issues
• Easier and faster for the lift truck operator

Lane designs typically include speed controllers to ensure smooth, consistent flow as well as safe tracking down the lane, but Mallard deep-lane systems can also be equipped with dual pallet separators. As you can see from the 3D animated video above, the dual pallet separators are strategically placed in the pallet flow lane… one separates the front discharge aisle pallet from the rear pallets, while another is placed further back in the lane to separate to provide a break between groups of pallets.

The function of the dual pallet separators in deep-lane systems is to provide relief from the back pressure of the rear pallets. The front pallet, without pallet separators, would be subject to tremendous pressure from the weight of up to 19 rear pallets bearing down. Let’s look at an example:

 Example:

• 5-deep system/2,500 lb. pallet loads — .06 x 2,500 lbs. x 4 pallets = 600 lbs. additional weight
• 20-deep system/2,500 lb. pallet loads — .06 x 2,500 lbs. x 19 pallets = 2,850 lbs. additional weight

As you can see from the example above, the calculation for back pressure is:

.06 x (pallet load weight) x # of pallets

Hundreds to thousands of pressurized weights on the front pallet can cause serious forklift retrieval safety concerns, particularly at higher elevations where the forklift mast capacity is reduced. Mallard dual pallet separators remove that risk.

The Mallard dual pallet separators are designed to be trouble-free. They work in tandem in deep-lane and extra-deep-lane pallet flow systems and automatically engage/disengage, as can be seen in the animated video. Once the front pallet position is clear, the separators trigger the release of the rear pallets to advance down the lane and fill the empty pallet position. Then the pallet separators reengage to hold and lock rear pallets to provide a 6″- 12″ break between pallets. Securing a pressure-free pallet retrieval and improving warehouse safety immeasurably.

Note- There are several design specifications to consider when designing a deep-lane pallet flow system to include dual pallet separators:

Specifications

• Requires an additional 24” to overall depth of the system
• Must use a full-surface donor pallet
• 30,000 lbs. max per lane
• Full pallet in/out – no case picking
• Can be used with Magnum wheel or industry equivalent (IE) wheel

The Mallard gravity flow specialists are on hand to help! Just give us a call and let our team remove some of your pressure.