Issue link: http://palletcentral.uberflip.com/i/612297
Santa Sleigh T he Santa sleigh pallet was designed with the Pallet Design System™ by Kris Kringle & Elves, Inc. for the purpose of transporting the sleigh when not being pulled by his trusty reindeers. Thankfully, the engineers at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) were given special permission to get a closer look at Santa's sleigh and have provided additional specifications needed to design the pallet (www.businessinsider.com/norad-technical- data-for-santa-claus-sleigh-2014-12). From their report, we were able to estimate the dimensions of Santa's sleigh to be 187 in. long and 94 in. wide, weighing a maximum of 5000 lbs. when it returns from a night of delivering presents. The pallet was designed by using two rigid line loads instead of a flexible uniformly distributed load. The line loads are positioned close enough to the stringers so they are well supported and capable of carrying a heavy load. The key aspect to this design is the sling support, which the Elves use to transport the sleigh when it's not being pulled by reindeer. Specs: • Footprint: 187x108 in. • Classification: Stringer- class, 2-way, reusable, new manufacture Lumber: • Top deck: 12 boards, 5.5 in. wide and 1/2 in. thick • Bottom deck: 6 boards, 5.5 in. wide and 1/2 in. thick • Stringers: Three stringers, 3.5 in. high, 1.5 in. thick • Species: Spruce pine fir (SPF Class 13), utility and better lumber grade Design aspects: • 5 in. wing design to increase strength • Bottom deckboards for increased pallet stability and lateral collapse resistance. Load Information: • Two line loads, with symmetrical load points 7 in. from the pallet sides • Max load carrying capacity for floor stacking: 20345 lbs. • Sling support (60 in. fork tines): 5044 lbs. PC palletcentral.com PalletCentral • November-December 2015 43 iStockPhoto.com/Kichigin