Comments on: Pallets https://www.isegoria.net/2012/09/pallets/ From the ancient Greek for equality in freedom of speech; an eclectic mix of thoughts, large and small Mon, 20 Apr 2026 16:05:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: Steve Maas https://www.isegoria.net/2012/09/pallets/comment-page-1/#comment-989676 Steve Maas Wed, 09 Oct 2013 12:11:12 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=29998#comment-989676 Bill,

I’m working on a book on the man who invented the 4-way pallet, Norman Cahners. Do you know more about his World War II innovations?

Steve

]]> By: Bill https://www.isegoria.net/2012/09/pallets/comment-page-1/#comment-589666 Bill Sun, 16 Sep 2012 01:59:06 +0000 http://www.isegoria.net/?p=29998#comment-589666 Looks like pallets are the equivalent of barrels for shipping. Barrels were used to ship everything that would fit in them, not just liquid. The beauty of the barrel is that it combined the container with the forklift, since a man could easily roll heavy cargo into and out of ships.

I was interested in the key innovation that allowed pallets to be loaded from any direction. The purpose of the bulge in the barrel design is to allow the barrel’s direction of roll to be changed effortlessly and frictionlessly.

I put myself through college as a Stockkeeper at a university hospital, and so I became very handy with the hand version of forklifts.

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