As any warehouse worker can attest, unloading a pallet by hand can be a backbreaking task. Repeated squatting, bending and lifting can easily turn an eight-hour shift into a torture session.
In order to improve employee comfort — and, not coincidentally, increase productivity and reduce health care costs at the same time — many companies are searching for ways to make this routine warehouse task easier on employees and their backs.
Now a tiny company based in Portland, Maine, has developed a tool that reduces the stress and improves the ergonomics of unloading pallets. PalletPal — a line of manual palletizers built by Southworth Products Corp. — automatically raises pallets to heights that make it simple for workers to unload them.
Reducing Back Stress
The devices are simple: Pallets are raised to waist height so workers can build or break them down without breaking their backs. While the first models were introduced back in 1988, the company now offers a variety of PalletPal palletizers that offer a lot of different options.
The original PalletPal was powered by springs. While that model is still available, there also are versions that use air pneumatics or hydraulics to lift and lower pallets.
Then there are PalletPals that can fit onto electric walkie or rider pallet trucks to enable workers to load and unload pallets at waist height while mobile, as well as the Roll-E Level Loader, a manual palletizer that can be fed with a hand pallet truck.
There’s also PalletPals that can be used with lift trucks, versions that include built-in disc turntables, and models that can invert entire pallet loads and eliminate manual restacking.
Built-In Shock Absorbers
The automatic load levelers use a series of springs and shock absorbers to lower and raise loads so that workers can load and unload boxes and products without strain. Turntables allows nearside loading and unloading and on the spring loaded model, no power or air supply is required.
Loads of up to 4,500 pounds can be easily lifted and dropped without any damage to the pallets or products. The unit’s heavy-duty springs are calibrated to lift the pallet to the ideal height. And a linkage system keeps the pallet level even if it is loaded unevenly.
The PalletPal also includes a dampener to provide smooth, gradual raising and lowering.
Easy to Transport
The unit has fork pockets so that it can easily be picked up and moved with a forklift to wherever it is needed. There also are optional leveling feet that allow the PalletPal to be used on sloping or uneven floors.
There are no protrusions, projections or obstructions, so the PalletPal has no overreach zones. It can be used for a variety of operations, including the assembly, machine feeding, woodworking, metalworking, and the printing industries.