This invention pertains to sawmill edgers and more particularly, it relates to a board edger having tandem saw boxes therein controlled by a scanner and a computer to increase efficiency in the edging of wood cants.
In the present specification, the words “wood piece”, “wood cant”, “wood board” are used interchangeably to designate a lengthwise strip of wood cut from a tree trunk. The word “edging” means sawing irregular edges along both longitudinal sides of a wood cant to obtain a piece of lumber with parallel sides and edges. The word “edger” designates a machine for edging.
Wood cants have irregular and non-parallel sides which make them difficult to physically align along the longitudinal axis of a conveyor for example. In lieu of mechanical positioning devices, modern sawmill equipment use lineal scanners and computers to precisely determine the position, and to measure the dimensions, of a wood cant moving on a conveyor. These scanners and computers generate three-dimensional images of the cant relative to the longitudinal axis of the edger, and calculate a sawing solution that represents the highest value combination of products which can be obtained from the cant.
Coincidently, sawmill edgers have been developed to operate with lineal scanners and computers. These edgers each have a saw box that is adjustable about a vertical axis and saw blades that are movable sideways along the arbor. The positions of the saw blades are continuously guided to track the realtime position and alignment of a wood board being fed there through and to follow an optimized cutting profile defined by the computer.
Examples of optimized edgers and related sawmill machinery available in the prior art are disclosed in the following documents; U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,072 issued Dec. 16, 1980 to H. Meriläinen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,878 issued Dec. 20, 1994 to J. D. Walker; U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,474 issued Mar. 3, 1998 to C. Raybon et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,302 issued Oct. 6, 1998 to W. R. Newnes; U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,682 issued Mar. 23, 1999 to J. B. Kennedy et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,995 issued Sep. 7, 1999 to S. W. Michell et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,858 issued Jan. 30, 2001 to M. P. Knerr et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,526 issued Mar. 20, 2001 to M. Dockter et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,259 issued Oct. 23, 2001 to R. Whitworth et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,956 issued May 28, 2002 to S. Blum et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,164 issued Nov. 11, 2003 to B. T. Stroud; U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,043 issued Aug. 16, 2005 to J. D. Woodford et al.;
It will be appreciated that in a continuous wood edging process, the cants to be trimmed must be spaced apart lengthwise through the edger such that the saw blades can track the optimized cut lines in one cant and reposition quickly to track the optimized cut lines in a next cant.
In one example of a board edger of the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,043, also identified hereinafter as the Woodford edger, describes an optimized board edger wherein the spacing and alignment of the saw blades follow optimized cut lines on a virtual entity of the wood board to be trimmed. The virtual entity is superimposed over the actual wood board and is moved with the wood board. The virtual entity is longer than the wood board such that any milling and aftercut on the leading and trailing edges of the wood board are eliminated.
In this method of the prior art, the spacing between cants and the speed of the upstream conveyor are limited by the response time of the computer to calculate a sawing solution and by the response time of the actuators to reposition the saw box between cants. Because of the variations in optimized profiles and positioning from one wood cant to the next, and because of the inertia of high-production saw boxes, the sawmill industry is at a stand still in regards to the processing speed of edgers. As such, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for an improved method and machinery to operate a board edger with more efficiency.
In the present invention, however, there is provided an optimized board edger with tandem saw boxes. The two saw boxes alternate to cut the odd and even boards being fed to the edger. The pre-setting of one saw box is effected while the other saw box is sawing. Because of this arrangement, a reduction is spacing between boards and an increased processing speed are obtained.
In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of edging wood boards in series comprising; sequentially moving first and second wood boards lengthwise along and into a longitudinal horizontal board path; moving a first pair of saw blades into the board path and edging the first wood board; moving the first pair of saw blades away from the board path and moving a second pair of saw blades into the board path and edging the second wood board.
In another aspect of the present invention, the method further includes the steps of scanning the first and second wood boards and the step of edging comprises the step of edging the first and second wood boards along optimized profiles of the first and second wood boards.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a board edger having a longitudinal horizontal board path therein. The edger has first and second saw boxes disposed in a tandem mode adjacent the board path. Each of the saw boxes has at least a pair of saw blades mounted therein. The saw blades have a cutting direction that is aligned generally along the longitudinal board path. A controller is provided for coordinately moving the pair of saw blades in the first saw box into the board path and the pair of saw blades in the second saw box out of the board path, when the pair of saw blades in the first saw box is moved into the board path.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an installation for edging wood boards. This installation has a conveyor system for transporting wood boards thereon and a scanner and computer associated with the conveyor system for scanning and optimizing saw cuts on wood boards transported on the conveyor system. This installation also has a board edger associated with the conveyor system. The edger has a longitudinal horizontal board path therein and first and second saw boxes disposed adjacent the board path. Each of the saw boxes has at least one pair of saw blades mounted therein. The saw blades have a cutting direction that is aligned generally along the longitudinal board path. This installation further has a controller for cooperatively moving the pair of saw blades in the first saw box into the board path and the pair of saw blades in the second saw box out of the board path when the pair of saw blades in the first saw box is moved into the board path, and for cooperatively moving the pair of saw blades in the first saw box out of the board path and the pair of saw blades in the second saw box into the board path when the pair of saw blades in the first saw box is moved out of the board path. There is also provided means for guiding the saw blades along optimized profiles defined by the scanner and the computer.
The thickness of the board path in the edger according to the present invention is relatively small. The distance travelled by the saw blades in each saw box between a cutting position into the board path and a pre-setting position out of the board path, is also relatively small. Because of this relatively short distance across the board path, the longitudinal spacing between wood board being fed to the edger is only dependent on the time that it takes to move saw blades in and out of the board path. The spacing between wood board is no longer dependent on the time that it takes to calculate a cutting solution or the time that it takes for the controller to adjust the saw spacing and orientation. A substantial increase in production is thereby achieved.
The person skilled in the art will also understand that when the wood boards that are fed to the edger according to the present invention are skewed on the infeed conveyor, the edger can accept boards where the leading end of one board lays to the side of the trailing end of the previous board.
Other advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment.
In order to facilitate the description of the present invention without the need of having recourse to other document, several drawings are provided herein to describe an optimized board edger of the prior art. Then, four embodiments of the present invention are illustrated. In the drawings;
A) Brief Description of Wood Edging in the Prior Art
Several drawings are included herein to describe the Woodford edger as a typical example of machines of the prior art. These drawings and the following description are provided herein to facilitate the understanding of the present invention without having to refer to other document incorporated by reference.
Referring firstly to
In this board edging installation of the prior art, a computer system is provided between the lineal scanner 22 and the board edger 26. This computer system comprises a personal computer (PC) 32 containing an optimizing software, a programmable logic controller (PLC) 34 communicating with the PC 32 and with one or more servo modules 36 and one or more servo drive translators 38 to control the tracking functions of the board edger 26. A two-way ethernet connection 40 is provided between the PC 32 and the PLC 34.
The length of the transport conveyor 24 is determined according to the desired travel speed of wood cants on this transport conveyor and the processing time for each sawing solution.
The board edger 26 of the prior art has one active saw box 42 which is movable about a vertical axis and in which the saw blades are movable along the arbor. In order to reduce the inertia of the saw box 42, the arbor is driven by an electric motor 44 through sheaves and belts under the guard 46 and a flexible drive shaft under the guard 48.
In use, an untrimmed wood board 50 is scanned while in motion through the scanner 22. The longitudinal axis 52 of the board relative to the longitudinal axis 54 of the board edger, as well as the optimized cut lines 56 are determined while the wood board 50 is moving toward the board edger 26.
The saw blades are set apart a same distance A as the spacing between the optimized cut lines 56. The saw box 42 is rotated to align the saw blades 60 parallel with the longitudinal axis 52 of the wood board, and the saw blades are set in motion along the arbor 62. The saw blades 60 are spaced and guided to follow the optimized cut lines 56 as the wood board 50 travels through the board edger 26.
When the longitudinal axis 52 of a wood board 50 to be trimmed is skewed a few degrees from the feeding direction 54, it will be appreciated that an initial adjustment to a proper spacing and alignment of the saw blades 60 must be made before the saw blades enter the wood piece. As the saw blades 60 enter the wood piece 50, the saw blades 60 must be guided to move in unison along the arbor 62 to follow the optimized cut lines 56.
In the method of operating the board edger 26 of the prior art, the PC 32 is configured to construct a virtual entity 80 of each wood board 50. This virtual entity 80 has all the dimensions of the physical wood board 50. This virtual entity 80 is superimposed in space and time over the physical wood board 50.
Depending upon the operating speed and the length of the transport conveyor 24, the virtual entity 80 is assigned excess length L ahead of the leading edge 70 of the wood board 50, and excess length T following the trailing edge 72 of the wood board 50. The optimized cut lines 56 are projected along both excess lengths L, T.
In the method of operation, the angle of the saw blades 60 relative to the longitudinal axis 52 of the wood board 50 and the spacing A of the saw blades 60 are adjusted, and the displacement of the saw blades in unison along the arbour 32 is set in motion by the PC 32 according to the position, alignment and travelling speed of the virtual entity 80. The target set points between which precise tracking of the saw blades 60 is maintained are set at the forward edge 70′ and the rear edge 72′ of the virtual entity 80. By aiming the saw blades 60 at the forward edge 70′ of the virtual entity 80, the inherent oscillation of the saw blades 60 during positioning occurs along the excess length L, such that uniform side edges are obtained from the leading edge 70 of the actual wood board 50. Similarly, the tracking of the optimized cut lines are maintained up to the rear edge 72′ of the virtual entity 80 to ensure that the saw blades are out of the wood board 50 when tracking stops.
Referring now to
The rotation of the saw box 42 to the right or the left of the longitudinal axis 54 is effected by a DC servo drive actuator controlled by the PC 32. This DC servo drive actuator and its mounting have not been illustrated herein for being known to those skilled in the art.
The setworks 98 also comprises two DC servo drive motors 104 respectively linked to a linear slide 106, and also being controlled by the PC 32. Each linear slide 106 encloses a ball screw and a ball nut connected to a yoke plate 108. Each DC servo drive motor 104 drives the yoke plate 108 along the linear slide 106 with precision. A shifting arm 110 is affixed to the yoke plate 108 and extends to a respective saw collar assembly 112 for moving one of the saw blades 60 along the arbor 62. Both saw blades 60 are movable independently of each other along the arbor 62 for board width adjustment, and in unison with each other during the edging of a wood board.
The arbor 62 has splines thereon as it is customary with board edgers. Each saw blade 60 is supported in a collar assembly 112, which is adapted to engage with, and to slide along these splines. This collar assembly 112 is better illustrated in
Next to the flange 120, there is an inner bearing seat 128 on the outside surface of the hub, and an adjoining threaded portion 130. A bearing 132 is held to the inner bearing seat 128 of the hub by a lock nut 134 engaged over the threaded portion 130. This bearing 132 affords a frictionless rotation of the hub 114 relative to the shifting arm 110.
The outer race of the bearing 132 is clamped into an outer bearing seat 136 inside an opening 138 in the lower end of the shifting arm 110. The outer race of the bearing 132 is held to the outer bearing seat 136 by means of an outer lock ring 140 having bolt holes 142 and machine screws through these holes. Where possible, the components of the saw collar assembly 112 are made of aluminum to ensure a minimum weight and inertia.
B) Preferred Embodiments of the Present Invention
While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will be described in details herein four preferred embodiments of the board edger with tandem saw boxes according to the present invention, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an example of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated and described.
In the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the saw blades, the saw arbors, the shifting arms and the setworks, drive motors and the drive shafts are the same as or similar to those described in the Woodford edger. Similarly, the scanner, the upstream and downstream conveyors, the saw box controllers are basically the same as those used in the Woodford edger. Furthermore, the skewing of saw boxes, the tracking of optimized cut lines, the spacing and guiding of the saw blades may be done in same or similar ways as described in the Woodford edger.
Referring to
A scanner 212 is mounted between the feed table 210 and the edger 200, preferably over the transport conveyor 206. The scanner 212 generates an image of each wood cant passing there under. These images contain data related to the orientation and profile of each cant. These images are fed to a computer 214 which determine the longitudinal axis 216 of each cant relative to the longitudinal axis 218 of the board edger 200.
The data related to the profile of each board, label 222 in
The computer 214 generates instructions to the saw controller 220 to set the orientation of one of the saw boxes and the spacing of the saw blades in that saw box to cut that wood cant along optimum cutting lines 224 for example, to obtain a maximum amount of lumber from the wood cant.
Referring back to
The arrow 234 in the drawings indicate a direction of movement of the wood cants toward the board edger 200 during operation of the board edger 200.
The longitudinal axis 218 of the board edger 200 indicates, generally, a direction of cutting of the saw blades in the saw boxes in all preferred embodiments, with slight angular variations from the axis 218 to track optimum cut lines on wood boards.
Trimmed board are carried away from the board edger 200 on a downstream conveyor 236.
Referring now to
It will be appreciated that when one saw box is cutting one wood board, the saw blades 260 of the other saw box 204 are out of the board path 270. It will also be appreciated that any pre-positioning of the saw blades 240, 260 and the orientation of the saw boxes 202, 204 are effected when the saw blades of that particular saw box are out of the board path 270.
For clarity, the vertical spacing in which wood cants are moving through the edger 200, or the vertical gap of the edger between the guide rolls 262 of the edger 200, and a horizontal projection of this gap is referred to herein as the board path 270. The saw blades in each saw box move vertically in and out of this board path 270 for edging wood cants.
In the second preferred embodiment 280 of the present invention, as illustrated in
A third preferred embodiment 300 is illustrated in
The fourth preferred embodiment 320 of the present invention is shown in
There is also provided vertical actuators (not shown)on the arms 326, 328 to move the saw blades in and out of their cutting positions in the board path 270.
For the various embodiments taught therein above, it is also contemplated that different saw blades sizes may be used and that the machine geometry may be adjusted to accommodate these different saw blades sizes and different wood pieces to be sawn. Similarly, the elements shown in one embodiment may be combined to the elements in another embodiment according to the choice of the designer.
Therefore, the above description and the illustrations should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.
This is a Continuation-In-Part application of application Ser. No. 11/688,428 filed Mar. 20, 2007.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11688428 | Mar 2007 | US |
Child | 12926756 | US |