Appeal No. 98-1031
Application 08/674,667
of the posts are deformed as at 26a to lock the upper and
lower sections together.
French patent document 2,101,346 to Metallwerke pertains
to a plastic pallet comprising a hollow blow molded platform 4
and a plurality of plastic tubular support elements 1 secured
therein, and in particular to the provision of an enhanced
connection between the platform and the support elements
(translation, paragraph spanning pages 4 and 5). As is made
clear from a reading of the translation as a whole, the
support elements 1 are embedded in the platform 4 during the
step of blow molding the platform. See, for example, the
Metallwerke translation at page 4, lines 10-13, page 9, lines
7-11, and page 12, lines 12-26. The thrust of Metallwerke is
to improve or enhance the connection between the support
elements and the platform by providing the support elements 1
with a variety of protrusions (e.g., radial ribs 3,
longitudinal ribs 5 and/or circumferential rib 11).
The protrusions, which can be in the form of knobs,
ribs crossing each other in the center of the base,
etc..., penetrate into the still plastic substance
of the synthetic material plate when the mold is
closed, and thus ensure the flow and modeling of the
plate’s material. . . .[T]he protrusions ensure
additional anchoring of the support element in the
-4-
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