A pallet-dolly device convertible between a pallet and a dolly has a deck to which a set of dolly wheels are attached at a fixed height below the deck. A set of movable pallet skids are mechanically interlinked with the deck by a bistable skid displacement mechanism which assumes a first state biasi
A pallet-dolly device convertible between a pallet and a dolly has a deck to which a set of dolly wheels are attached at a fixed height below the deck. A set of movable pallet skids are mechanically interlinked with the deck by a bistable skid displacement mechanism which assumes a first state biasing the pallet skids upwards towards a skid raised position and a second state in which the bistable skid displacement mechanism biases the pallet skids downwards towards a skid lowered position. Also described are embodiments allowing conversion from dolly to pallet by directly pressing downwards on a skid, and provision of a braked-dolly state through downward pressure of the skid against the ground and/or a skid-actuated wheel brake.
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1. A pallet-dolly device convertible between a pallet and a dolly, the device comprising: a deck having a load supporting surface;a set of dolly wheels, attached at a fixed height below an underside of the deck so as to define a wheel contact plane;a set of movable pallet skids, each pallet skid hav
1. A pallet-dolly device convertible between a pallet and a dolly, the device comprising: a deck having a load supporting surface;a set of dolly wheels, attached at a fixed height below an underside of the deck so as to define a wheel contact plane;a set of movable pallet skids, each pallet skid having a ground contacting surface; anda bi-stable skid displacement mechanism mechanically interlinking the deck and the pallet skids,said bi-stable skid displacement mechanism being configured to assume a first state biasing the pallet skids upwards towards a skid raised position in which the skid ground contacting surface is raised above the wheel contact plane to provide a dolly state of the pallet-dolly device, andsaid bi-stable skid displacement mechanism being further configured to assume a second state in which said bi-stable skid displacement mechanism biases the pallet skids downwards towards a skid lowered position in which the skid ground contacting surface is lowered below the wheel contact plane to provide a pallet state of the pallet-dolly device,and wherein downward force applied directly to one of the pallet skids is effective to switch said bi-stable skid displacement mechanism from said first state to said second state. 2. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one pedal mechanically linked to the bi-stable skid displacement mechanism in such a manner that downward force applied to said pedal switches said bi-stable skid displacement mechanism from said second state to said first state. 3. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 1, wherein said bi-stable skid displacement mechanism is mechanically linked to said pallet skids such that switching between said first and second states occurs as said pallet skids pass through a threshold position. 4. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 1, wherein the bi-stable skid displacement mechanism is configured such that when the mechanism is switched from the first state to the second state while a load is supported on said deck, said skid ground contacting surface descends to be level with said wheel contact plane, andsaid second state generates a downward contact force of said skid ground contacting surface against an underlying surface, thereby acting as a brake. 5. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 4, wherein the bi-stable skid displacement mechanism is configured such that when the load is taken off the wheels, said downward contact force of said second state moves said pallet skids to the skid lowered position wherein the pallet-dolly device is in the pallet state. 6. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 1, wherein the bi-stable skid displacement mechanism is configured such that the downward bias applied to the skids in the second state when said ground contacting surface is level with said wheel contact plane is greater than the upward bias applied to the skids in the first state. 7. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 1, wherein the bi-stable skid displacement mechanism includes a biasing element configured to provide the downward bias to the skids in the second state and the upward bias to the skids in the first state. 8. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 7, wherein the biasing element comprises a spring attached to opposing rotating elements in such a manner that a bias is applied to the rotating elements urging the rotating elements to rotate in one of a first and a second direction. 9. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 1, wherein the bi-stable skid displacement mechanism includes at least one rotating element urged towards a terminal point of an arc of rotation of the rotating element. 10. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 9, wherein each rotating element is urged towards a terminal point of an arc of rotation of the rotating element, andwherein the arc of rotation of each rotating element contains a threshold position, and wherein rotation of each rotating element from one side of the threshold position to the other side of the threshold position changes the bias applied by the spring from a bias to rotate in one of the first and second directions to a bias to rotate in the other of the first and second directions. 11. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 10, further including a pair of sliding actuators mechanically linked to the rotating elements, such that rotation of the rotating elements causes linear movement of the sliding actuators. 12. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 11, wherein the bi-stable displacement mechanism is configured so that each sliding actuator moves the same distance and in an opposite direction from the other sliding actuator. 13. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 1, wherein the bi-stable displacement mechanism includes at least one sliding actuator displaceable parallel to said deck, and at least two vertical actuators deployed to translate linear movement of said sliding actuator into vertical movement of the skids. 14. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 13, wherein the vertical actuators comprise a set of pins slidable within a corresponding set of inclined displacement slots, wherein the pins are fixedly attached to one of the group consisting of the pallet skids and the at least one sliding actuator, and the displacement slots are integrated with the other one of the group consisting of the pallet skids and the at least one sliding actuator. 15. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 14, wherein each displacement slot contains an inclined slot having an upper end and a lower end, and a pallet position slot horizontally oriented and connected to one of said ends of the inclined slot. 16. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one wheel brake engageable with an associated wheel of the set of dolly wheels, said wheel brake being configured to assume a released state in which the wheel is free to turn and an engaged state in which said wheel brake prevents rotation of the wheel, wherein said wheel brake is mechanically associated with a corresponding one of said pallet skids such that displacement of the pallet skids downwards results in transfer of said wheel brake from said released state to said engaged state so as to prevent rotation of the associated wheel. 17. A pallet-dolly device convertible between a pallet and a dolly, the device comprising: a deck having a load supporting surface;a set of dolly wheels, attached at a fixed height below an underside of the deck so as to define a wheel contact plane;a set of movable pallet skids, each pallet skid having a ground contacting surface; anda skid displacement mechanism mechanically interlinking the deck and the pallet skids,said skid displacement mechanism being configured to assume a first state biasing the pallet skids upwards towards a skid raised position in which the skid ground contacting surface is raised above the wheel contact plane to provide a dolly state of the pallet-dolly device,and wherein downward force applied directly to one of the pallet skids is effective to displace the pallet skids downwards towards a skid lowered position in which the skid ground contacting surface is lowered below the wheel contact plane to provide a pallet state of the pallet-dolly device. 18. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 17, wherein said skid displacement mechanism is a bi-stable mechanism configured to assume a second state in which said skid displacement mechanism biases said pallet skids downwards towards said skid lowered position. 19. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 18, wherein the skid displacement mechanism is further configured such that, when a load is supported on said deck and said ground contacting surface is brought level with said wheel contact plane, said second state generates a downward contact force of said ground contacting surfaces against an underlying surface, thereby acting as a brake. 20. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 17, further comprising at least one wheel brake engageable with an associated wheel of the set of dolly wheels, said wheel brake being configured to assume a released state in which the wheel is free to turn and an engaged state in which said wheel brake prevents rotation of the wheel, wherein said wheel brake is mechanically associated with a corresponding one of said pallet skids such that displacement of the pallet skids downwards results in transfer of said wheel brake from said released state to said engaged state so as to prevent rotation of the associated wheel. 21. A pallet-dolly device convertible between a pallet and a dolly, the device comprising: a deck having a load supporting surface;a set of dolly wheels, attached at a fixed height below an underside of the deck so as to define a wheel contact plane;a set of movable pallet skids, each pallet skid having a ground contacting surface; anda skid displacement mechanism mechanically interlinking the deck and the pallet skids,said skid displacement mechanism being configured to assume a first state in which the pallet skids are retained in a skid raised position in which the skid ground contacting surface is raised above the wheel contact plane to provide a dolly state of the pallet-dolly device,said skid displacement mechanism being further configured to assume a second state in which said skid displacement mechanism biases the pallet skids downwards towards a skid lowered position in which the ground contacting surface is lowered below the wheel contact plane to provide a pallet state of the pallet-dolly device,wherein the skid displacement mechanism is further configured such that, when a load is supported on said deck and said ground contacting surface is brought level with said wheel contact plane, said second state generates a downward contact force of said ground contacting surfaces against an underlying surface, thereby acting as a brake,wherein said skid displacement mechanism is a bi-stable mechanism configured such that, in said first state, said skid displacement mechanism biases said pallet skids upwards towards said skid raised position,and wherein a downward force applied directly to one of the pallet skids while in said skid raised position is effective to displace the pallet skids downwards towards said skid lowered position. 22. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 21, further comprising at least one wheel brake engageable with an associated wheel of the set of dolly wheels, said wheel brake being configured to assume a released state in which the wheel is free to turn and an engaged state in which said wheel brake prevents rotation of the wheel, wherein said wheel brake is mechanically associated with a corresponding one of said pallet skids such that displacement of the pallet skids downwards results in transfer of said wheel brake from said released state to said engaged state so as to prevent rotation of the associated wheel. 23. A method of moving a load of goods using a pallet-dolly device, the method comprising: providing the pallet-dolly device of claim 17,configuring the pallet-dolly device as a pallet;loading the goods onto a deck of the pallet-dolly device;transporting the loaded pallet-dolly device from a source location to a target location;pressing a pedal on the pallet-dolly device to convert the pallet-dolly device to a dolly at the target location;unloading the goods from the pallet-dolly device at the target location; andpressing a skid on the pallet-dolly device to convert the pallet-dolly device to a state selected from the group consisting of a pallet; and a braked dolly in which the skid is biased downwards against an underlying surface to act as a brake. 24. A pallet-dolly device convertible between a pallet and a dolly, the device comprising: a deck having a load supporting surface;a set of dolly wheels, attached at a fixed height below an underside of the deck so as to define a wheel contact plane;a set of movable pallet skids, each pallet skid having a ground contacting surface, the pallet skids between displaceable between a skid raised position in which the skid ground contacting surface is raised above the wheel contact plane to provide a dolly state of the pallet-dolly device and a skid lowered position in which the skid ground contacting surface is lowered below the wheel contact plane to provide a pallet state of the pallet-dolly device; andat least one wheel brake engageable with an associated wheel of the set of dolly wheels, said wheel brake being configured to assume a released state in which the wheel is free to turn and an engaged state in which said wheel brake prevents rotation of the wheel,wherein said wheel brake is mechanically associated with a corresponding one of said pallet skids such that displacement of the pallet skids downwards results in transfer of said wheel brake from said released state to said engaged state so as to prevent rotation of the associated wheel. 25. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 24, wherein the wheel brake comprises a brake pin selectively deployable between a disengaged state corresponding to the released state of the wheel brake and a positively engaged state in which said brake pin engages a corresponding recess formed on an engagement surface of the wheel to define the engaged state of the wheel brake. 26. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 25, wherein said brake pin is resiliently biased to said disengaged state, and wherein said wheel brake is mechanically associated with said pallet skid such that downward displacement of said pallet skid displaces said brake pin towards said positively engaged state. 27. The pallet-dolly device according to claim 25, wherein said brake pin is resiliently biased to said positively engaged state, and wherein said wheel brake is mechanically associated with said pallet skid such that upward displacement of said pallet skid displaces said brake pin towards said disengaged state.
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