A pallet jack, also called a pallet truck, is a material-handling device with two parallel forks that slide beneath a loaded pallet and are then raised by a hydraulic pump mechanism just enough to lift the pallet clear of the floor for moving. It emerged in the 1920s and 1930s alongside the standardized wooden shipping pallet itself, as warehouses and factories sought a simple, low-cost way to move palletized loads without a full forklift. The manual, hand-pumped hydraulic version remains in wide use today for short-distance moves, while battery-powered walk-behind and rider versions extend the same basic lifting mechanism to heavier loads and longer runs within a warehouse.
Facts
Partially Attested
YearYear derived from the headline's '75 years ago' and the 2014 dateline; the article's own patent sentence gives 7 November 1939. Patent or First-Use Date SignificanceThe simple hand-operated pallet truck design of George Raymond's 1939 patents has proved hard to replace even decades later. 1 FAQs
Who patented the pallet jack and when?
George G. Raymond received the patents on November 7, 1939.
The pallet truck is credited to George G. Raymond, who received United States patents numbered 2,176,647 and 2,176,648 on November 7, 1939. A North Country Public Radio report marking the 75th anniversary gives their titles as lift truck and pallet. Pallet trucks were already appearing in warehouses in the 1920s and 1930s, so 1939 marks these patents rather than the first use of the idea.
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Source Pallet jack (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. NCPR News: 75 years ago, the pallet truck was invented in New York
Headline
75 years ago, the pallet truck was invented in New York
Opening paragraph, sentence 1
On November 7, 1939, George G. Raymond received patents number 2,176,647 and 2,176,648.
Closing paragraphs
The simplicity of the two inventions will make them hard to replace, even 75 years later.
View the SourcePallet jack (Wikipedia)
In Field: Industrial Engineering, Introduction
Pallet jacks are the most basic form of a forklift and are intended to move palletized loads within warehouses, distribution centers, retail stores, and construction sites.
In Group: Warehouse and Material Handling Systems, Introduction
A pallet jack, also known as a pallet truck or pallet pump, is a tool used to lift and move pallets.
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