Patent Grant
9033009
The present invention relates to methods for mechanically (e.g., automated) scraping surfaces of flooring boards or other boards to impart random-looking scraped patterns therein and scraped board products made therewith. The present invention also relates to an apparatus for mechanically scraping flooring boards or other boards to form the scraped board products. The present invention further relates to boards made from these processes.
Flooring products have been marketed having a simulated “rustic” or “distressed” appearance of a time worn hardwood floor. Time worn wooden flooring can have surface impressions reflecting wear and use, such as random grooves and gouges. These markings create a rustic or distressed surface appearance that has market appeal. Manual labor and hand tools have been used to scrape the face surface of new wood flooring boards to impart a simulated rustic or distressed look. A manual scraping process is time consuming and uneconomical for large scale production.
A feature of the present invention is to provide a method for mechanically forming a simulated rustic or distressed look in boards (e.g., flooring boards).
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a method for mechanically forming a simulated rustic or distressed look in boards (e.g., flooring boards) which is comparable to a manual scraped look without the required manual labor.
An additional feature of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for mechanically forming a simulated rustic or distressed look in boards (e.g., flooring boards).
A further feature of the present invention is to provide boards (e.g., flooring boards) imparted with a simulated rustic or distressed look having or including a random-looking scraped appearance.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or can be learned by practice of the present invention. The objectives and other advantages of the present invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the description and appended claims.
To achieve these and other advantages, and in accordance with various purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention relates to a method for imparting a simulated rustic or distressed surface effect in a board (e.g., flooring board) which includes advancing boards on a table, wherein the table has a board supporting surface and a plurality of slot openings in the board supporting surface through which one or more different rotary cutter heads having one or more different cutting profiles protrude to be contactable with lower surfaces of the boards advanced thereover. During advancement of the boards on the table, opposite lateral sides of the boards are engaged with a pair of laterally movable fences, and lower surfaces of the board are engaged with liftable bed plates which define the slot openings in the table. A fence moving device(s) is provided for laterally moving the fences relative to the cutter heads and also a servo motor for driving the fence moving device(s) under control of a programmable controller. Also, cam action devices also are provided for lifting bed plates relative to the cutter heads and also associated servo motors for driving the cam action devices under control of a programmable controller. The programmable controller is used to control the servo motors of the cam action devices and fence driving device to control the depth of cut and lateral cut position on the lower surface of boards, wherein different at least partial overlapping patterns of scrapes are formed in the lower surface of the boards by the different cutter heads. Use of the multiple cutter heads along the table that have different profiles, cut to different depths, and/or come into the cut at different frequencies relative to each other can allow for multiple cut patterns to be imparted to the lower surface of the board to breakup previous imparted scraped patterns. The overall profiling effect is to impart a random-looking scraped appearance in the board that simulates a time worn hardwood flooring surface. The method can further comprise board edge bevel cutting tool at a slot opening along the table and a servo motor driving the board edge bevel cutting tool for beveling opposite edges of the boards. The bevel cutting tool can be used to impart different bevel cuts on the opposite sides of the board wherein laterally adjacent bed plate lifters are provided which define the slot opening and are independently lifted relative to opposite board edges.
The present invention further relates to an apparatus for mechanically forming a simulated rustic or distressed look in boards (e.g., flooring boards). The apparatus includes:
a table comprising a board supporting surface and a plurality of slot openings in the board supporting surface;
first and second laterally movable fences for engaging opposite lateral sides of boards on the table;
a plurality of rotary cutter heads having one or more different cutting profiles and the cutter heads are positioned at different slot openings, wherein each cutter head is fixedly mounted to a rotatable drive spindle and the cutter head protrudes into the slot opening to be contactable with a lower surface of the boards advancing thereover;
liftable bed plates forming portions of the table that define the slot openings;
cam action devices for lifting the bed plates relative to the cutter heads;
a fence moving device(s) for laterally moving the fences relative to the cutter heads;
servo motors for driving the cam action devices and fence moving device(s);
a programmable controller; and
feed rollers for advancing the boards down the table,
wherein the programmable controller is operable for controlling the servo motors operable that, different and at least partial, overlapping patterns of scrapes are formed in the lower surface of the boards by the different cutter heads. The above-described bevel edge cutting tool and control also can be included in the apparatus.
The present invention also relates to boards (e.g., flooring boards) having a random-looking scraped appearance that includes overlapping multiple scrape patterns. The present invention further relates to boards (e.g., flooring boards) having a simulated rustic or distressed surface effect made by the above described methods.
For purposes herein, the terms “boards” and “planks” are used interchangeably.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are intended to provide a further explanation of the present invention, as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate some of the embodiments of the present invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present invention. Similar features are labeled with similar identifying numbers.
The present invention relates to reproducing the look of a time worn or hand scraped surface on the face of boards, such as flooring boards or boards using a mechanical apparatus operable under automated control. While floor boards are the preferred use, it is to be understood that the present invention, in all embodiments, can make boards in general, and can make boards for use in other applications, like wall boards, ceiling boards, building boards, and the like.
To impart a time worn or simulated hand scraped look to surfaces of boards, for instance, for flooring, a profiling method and apparatus are provided having machining stations arranged in a configuration that engages profiled knife planer heads with a surface of workpiece boards to carve ridges and valleys having a random-looking appearance into a face of the workpiece boards. The scraped surface usually is the face ply of the board, i.e., the surface of the board intended to be the upper visible surface of the board when installed, although not required. Use of only a straight line planning approach results in simply a non-realistic series of parallel ridges and valleys, running parallel to the edge of the board. Such straight line planing does not simulate the randomness found in boards worn normally over time, nor would it come close to simulating the hand scraped look. A hand scraped look that simulates time worn board appearance, for example, can have overlap from one scrape to the next as it goes down the board length. To provide such a scrape characteristic, a surface profiling configuration is provided in the present invention operable to have cutting tools go in and out of the cut and to have some lateral side-to-side movement of the boards in controlled, synchronized manners, so as to avoid a straight line (“parallel”) look in the scrapes.
It has been found that by using more than one profile (cutter) head for creating the ridges and valleys in a surface of a flooring board that random-looking scraped surface appearances can be provided. By having multiple (e.g., two or more) cutter heads with one or more different profiles, cutting to one or more different depths and coming into the cut at one or more different frequencies, a random overlap look can be simulated. For example, a second cutter head contacting a board surface for scraping can have fewer ridges and valleys than a previous first cutter head which scraped the same board surface at a previous station on the profiling machine. This approach assists in breaking up any parallel tracks imparted into the board surface by the first cutter head. Although use of two different cutter heads is illustrated herein, additional different profiled cutter heads (e.g., one, two, three, four, five, or more) can be used on the same machine to impart more randomness in the overall appearance of the scraped board surface.
The present invention relates in part to a method for imparting a simulated rustic or distressed surface effect in a board. The method includes advancing boards on a table, wherein the table includes a board supporting surface and one or two or more slot openings in the board supporting surface through which different rotary cutter heads having different cutting profiles protrude to be contactable with lower surfaces of the boards advancing thereover;
engaging opposite lateral sides of the boards with first and second laterally movable fences concurrent with the advancing of the boards on the table;
laterally moving the fences relative to the cutter heads;
engaging lower surfaces of the board with liftable bed plates defining the slot openings in the table as the boards are advanced on the table; and
controlling the liftable bed plates and movable fences with one or more programmable controllers to control the depth of cut and/or lateral cut position on the lower surface of boards, wherein different and at least partial, overlapping patterns of scrapes are formed in the lower surface of the boards by the different cutter heads.
The present invention further relates to an apparatus for imparting a simulated rustic or distressed surface effect in a board. The apparatus includes a table that includes a board supporting surface and a plurality of slot openings in the board supporting surface;
first and second laterally movable fences for engaging opposite lateral sides of boards on the table;
a plurality of rotary cutter heads having different cutting profiles and the cutter heads are positioned at different slot openings, wherein each cutter head is fixedly mounted to a rotatable drive spindle, and the cutter head protrudes into the slot opening to be contactable with a lower surface of boards advancing thereover;
liftable bed plates forming portions of the table that define the slot openings;
a fence moving device for laterally moving the fences relative to the cutter heads;
a programmable controller; and
feed rollers for advancing the boards down the table,
wherein the programmable controller operable for controlling the liftable bed plates and laterally moving fences such that different and at least partial, overlapping patterns of scrapes are formed in the lower surface of the boards by the different cutter heads.
A profiling apparatus can be configured to vertically lift and laterally move the boards being scraped, instead of lifting or moving the tooling. A cam action device can be used for vertically lifting boards being scraped at the cutter head to control the depth of cut or prevent cut. Bearings can be mounted in a steel bar or other rigid bar installed under the bed plates of the apparatus such that as the bar moves back and forth, bed plate pins riding on the bearings can raise and lower the bed plates. The pins can be guided by bushings in a bar mounted just under the bed plates. The steel bar housing the bearings has an internal thread cut into an end. A threaded rod is inserted into the bar threads. Then, by turning the threaded rod, the steel bar can move laterally back and forth. By controlling the lateral movement of the bar, and by having pins of a certain length positioned over the line of travel of the bearings in the bar, the pins ride up and down on the bearings. The pins are positioned under the bed plates so as to lift the plates a specific amount as the bearings work as cams and lift the pins. This provides a configuration for making the cutting tools come in and out of the cut on a board. The bed plate defines a slot. The slot is an opening or through-hole defined in a liftable bed plate through which a cutting tool (e.g., a cutter head) can protrude above the bed plate and come into contact with the boards. The bed plates can be modified to minimize the slot width in the surface. Minimizing the slot opening can reduce the risk of snipe on the leading or trailing end of the boards as they pass over the cutting tool.
A fence driving device is provided to make the board move laterally side to side. This can help to disguise any straight parallel lines of the cuts. To accomplish the lateral movement, inboard and outboard fences are provided. These two fences are connected to each other using steel bars or other rigid brackets that have sufficient standoff in the intervening portion to arch over the path of the boards in the machine while connected to fences that straddle the path of travel of boards on the profiling machine. Two connecting bars can be attached to the inboard fence and to two jack screw devices. The jack screws can be right angle driven by worm gears and the gears can be driven by shafts connected to a gear box.
A board edge bevel cutting device or means can be provided on the profiling apparatus for beveling opposite edges of the boards. The bevel cutting device can be used to impart different bevel cuts on the opposite sides of the board wherein laterally adjacent bed plate lifters are provided which are independently lifted relative to opposite board edges.
In order to make the movements as random as possible, a system using servos and controller(s) can be used. Servo motors are attached to all the movement devices for controlling respective vertical or lateral movement of boards during cutting at the cutter heads. In one example, where board edge beveling is included with surface profiling operations, servo motors can be attached to four movement devices. In this illustration, one servo can drive each of three bars of three cam action devices so that the back and forth movement of the bars can be precisely controlled and varied, and thus provide up and down movement of bed plates. This translates into precise up and down positioning of the bed plates for edge beveling and surface profiling. A fourth servo motor can be used to drive a gear box, which is connected to the shafts driving the jack screws. This mechanism drives the fences back and forth at a controllable, variable rate such that board surface can move or shift laterally across the cutter heads during profiling.
The mechanisms described above are effective at creating the desired random-looking scraped surface, even if there is still some degree of parallelism to the patterns produced on the boards. Some “parallelism” can occur due to the use of two profiled cutter heads. As indicated, more than two different cutter heads can be used to further diminish any parallelism. Each cutter head generates a different pattern and the overlapping of different patterns can assist in breaking up other patterns to mask parallelism.
On the control side of the present methods and apparatus, an automated controller and programming for the control system can be provided. A programmable controller, for example, can be used to implement a control program to drive the servo motors (axes). Each axis has three parameters to attain the proper movements of the moulder elements. These parameters are the “position” to which the element travels; the “speed” at which it travels to reach the “position” and the “dwell,” or time it stays at a particular position before moving to the next position. These parameters can be manipulated independently to develop a “recipe” to produce a specific look. Via an HMI (touch screen), up to five values each for position, speed and dwell can be set. These values are essentially the number of encoder pulses generated to produce a specific number of revolutions of the servo motors.
Different operating modes can be used. For example, one mode can be using a random number generator to allow the random selection of a value for each parameter for each movement of an element. Another mode of the operation is referred to herein as “configuration” mode. When the configuration mode is activated, the three parameters are treated as a group. That is, a particular position has a specific speed and specific dwell assigned to it. So even though the position is chosen randomly, once it is, the speed and dwell are automatically chosen.
Referring to
As shown in
Referring to
As shown in
As indicated, liftable bed plates 1210 and 1211 at rotary cutting tool 17 are used to impart beveled edges on the board. Plates 1210 and 1211 are separate adjacent right hand side and left hand side liftable bed plates, which have respective bed plate portions 1212 and 1213 on the downstream side of slot opening 16, such as shown in
Referring to
As shown in
As indicated, a programmable controller, for example, can be used to implement a control program to drive the servo motors (axes) or other movement controlling devices. Each axis has three parameters to attain the proper movements of the moulder elements. As shown in
As indicated, different operating modes can be used. For example, there are at least two different operating modes that can be applied. One mode can be using a random number generator to allow the random selection of a value for each parameter for each movement of an element. In this mode, for example, any one of the position values is chosen without regard to sequence. Then, any one of the speed values is similarly chosen. And, finally, in a similar way, any one of the dwell values is chosen. Once the three values have been randomly selected, the movement is implemented. All of this selection process can occur at very high processing speed. Once the movement has been completed, the process is repeated for the next position. Referring to
Other variations on the described profiling machine and modes of operation can be used. For example, programming changes that allow proportional ramping up and down of the various movement devices as the throughput speed of the moulder is increased or decreased, may be used. This may involve strengthening the various mechanical devices to allow for high travel speeds and for fast acceleration and deceleration. This variation may allow higher processing rates without losing the random look of the product. Other possible methods to accomplish a similar look product may include developing the ability to oscillate the cutter heads, perhaps inclusive of moving the entire drive mechanism, back and forth while keeping the boards traveling in a straight line. Similarly, it could be possible to move the cutter heads up and down to take them in and out of the cut, leaving the bed plates stationary. The use of more than two cutter heads can be incorporated to create a certain look. Tools other than a profiled (or milled to pattern type), multi-knife cutter head may be used.
The board workpieces that can be surface profiled by the present invention can be any material that can be formed in plank, board or sheet form, having a surface region that can be mechanically scraped in accordance with the present invention. The material can be, for example, laminate(s), natural wood, veneer layer(s), or molded resin-lignocellulosic composite planks (e.g., particle board, oriented strand board), or molded polymeric planks, or engineered planks (e.g., plywood). The material can be flooring material from the material mentioned herein. The boards can be rectangular (long boards, square shaped, etc.) or any other shapes having at least two generally parallel opposite sides that can be fenced on the present apparatus. The tongue/groove mechanical click laminate planks can be used. Essentially, any material that has a surface(s) that can be scraped can be used in the present invention. Put another way, any material having one or more scrapable surfaces can be used. The material or boards can be any size, and can be cut to desired length prior to the process, during the process, or after the process of the present invention. Thus, a 4′×8′ sheet or larger can be processed in the present invention and then cut to desired lengths, as an option. Or, pre-cut planks of finished size can be processed.
The boards and precursors panel forms of the boards to be scraped can be subjected to additional processing before the mechanical scraping.
The present invention includes the following aspects/embodiments/features in any order and/or in any combination:
1. The present invention relates to a method for imparting a simulated rustic or distressed surface effect in a flooring board comprising:
advancing flooring boards on a table, wherein the table comprises a board supporting surface and a plurality of slot openings in the board supporting surface through which different rotary cutter heads having different cutting profiles protrude to be contactable with lower surfaces of the boards advancing thereover;
engaging opposite lateral sides of the boards with first and second laterally movable fences concurrent with the advancing of the boards on the table;
laterally moving the fences relative to the cutter heads;
engaging lower surfaces of the board with liftable bed plates defining the slot openings in the table as the boards are advanced on the table;
controlling said laterally moving and said liftable bed plates with at least one programmable controller to control the depth of cut and/or lateral cut position on the lower surface of boards, wherein different and at least partial, overlapping patterns of scrapes are formed in the lower surface of the boards by the different cutter heads.
2. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, further comprising utilizing cam action devices for lifting bed plates relative to the cutter heads and servo motors for driving the cam action devices under control of said programmable controller.
3. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, further comprising utilizing a servo motor for driving the fence moving under control of said programmable controller
4. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the cutter heads comprise different cutting profiles, cutting to different depths, and/or coming into the cut at different frequencies relative to each other to impart a random-looking scraped surface appearance in the lower surface of the board.
5. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein bearings are mounted in a steel bar and the steel bar is installed under a bed plate wherein the steel bar moves laterally back and forth, wherein the steel bars has an internal thread cut into an end and a threaded rod inserted into the bar threads, and with turning of the threaded rod, the steel bar moves laterally back and forth, wherein pins riding on the bearings raise and lower the bed plate in cam action to lift the plates a predetermined amount relative to the adjacent cutter head.
6. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein a servo motor drives the steel bar installed under the bed plate used for moving the bed plate vertically up and down at a controllable, variable rate.
7. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the fences are bracketed together for joint lateral movement, and first and second connecting bars are both attached to one of the first and second fences and also to first and second jack screw devices, respectively, wherein the first and second jack screws are right angle driven by first and second worm gears, respectively, and the worm gears are driven by shafts connected to a common gear box.
8. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein a servo motor drives the gear box connected to the shafts driving the jack screws, whereby the fences can be driven laterally back and forth at a controllable, variable rate.
9. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the programmable controller uses programming to drive each servo motor axis comprising three parameters to attain the proper movements of the respective moulder elements, comprising the position to which the element travels, the speed at which the element travels to reach the position, and the dwell comprising the time which an element stays at a particular position before moving to the next position.
10. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, where the three parameters are manipulated independently to set values for position, speed and dwell, wherein the values essentially correspond to a number of encoder pulses generated to produce a specific number of revolutions of the respective servo motors.
11. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the programmable controller comprises a random number generator to allow the random selection of a value for each parameter for each movement of an element, wherein any one of the position values is chosen without regard to sequence, and then any one of the speed values is similarly chosen, and finally, in a similar way any one of the dwell values is chosen, and wherein once the three values have been randomly selected, the movement is implemented.
12. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the programmable controller comprises a configuration mode wherein the three parameters are treated as a group, wherein each particular position has a specific speed and specific dwell assigned to it, wherein the position is chosen randomly, and once the position is chosen, the speed and dwell are automatically chosen.
13. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, further comprising board edge bevel cutting means at a slot opening along the table and a servo motor driving the board edge bevel cutting means for beveling opposite edges of the boards.
14. The method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the bevel cutting means imparts different bevel cuts on the opposite sides of the board wherein laterally adjacent bed plate lifters are provided which define the slot opening and are independently lifted relative to the opposite board edges.
15. An apparatus for imparting a simulated rustic or distressed surface effect in a flooring board comprising:
a table comprising a board supporting surface and a plurality of slot openings in the board supporting surface;
first and second laterally movable fences for engaging opposite lateral sides of boards on the table;
a plurality of rotary cutter heads having different cutting profiles and the cutter heads are positioned at different slot openings, wherein each cutter head is fixedly mounted to a rotatable drive spindle, and the cutter head protrudes into the slot opening to be contactable with a lower surface of boards advancing thereover;
liftable bed plates forming portions of the table that define the slot openings;
cam action devices for lifting the bed plates relative to the cutter heads;
a fence moving device for laterally moving the fences relative to the cutter heads;
servo motors for driving the cam action devices and fence moving means;
a programmable controller; and
feed rollers for advancing the boards down the table,
wherein the programmable controller operable for controlling the servo motors operable that, different and at least partial, overlapping patterns of scrapes are formed in the lower surface of the boards by the different cutter heads.
16. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the cutter heads comprise different cutting profiles, cut to different depths, and/or come into the cut at different frequencies relative to each other to impart a random-looking scraped surface appearance in the lower surface of the board.
17. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein bearings are mounted in a steel bar and the steel bar is installed under a bed plate wherein the steel bar moves laterally back and forth, wherein the steel bars has an internal thread cut into an end and a threaded rod inserted into the bar threads, and by turning the threaded rod the steel bar moves laterally back and forth, wherein pins riding on the bearings raise and lower the bed plate in cam action to lift the plates a predetermined amount relative to the adjacent cutter head.
18. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein a servo motor drives the steel bar installed under the bed plate used for moving the bed plate vertically up and down at a controllable, variable rate.
19. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the fences are bracketed together for joint lateral movement, and first and second connecting bars are both attached to one of the first and second fences and also to first and second jack screw devices, respectively, wherein the first and second jack screws are right angle driven by first and second worm gears, respectively, and the worm gears are driven by shafts connected to a common gear box.
20. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein a servo motor drives the gear box connected to the shafts driving the jack screws, wherein the fences can be driven laterally back and forth at a controllable, variable rate.
21. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the programmable controller uses programming to drive each servo motor axis comprising three parameters to attain the proper movements of the respective moulder elements, comprising the position to which the element travels, the speed at which the element travels to reach the position, and the dwell comprising the time which an element stays at a particular position before moving to the next position.
22. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, where the three parameters are manipulated independently to set values for position, speed and dwell, wherein the values essentially correspond to a number of encoder pulses generated to produce a specific number of revolutions of the respective servo motors.
23. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the programmable controller comprises a random number generator to allow the random selection of a value for each parameter for each movement of an element, wherein any one of the position values is chosen without regard to sequence, and then any one of the speed values is similarly chosen, and finally, in a similar way any one of the dwell values is chosen, and wherein once the three values have been randomly selected, the movement is implemented.
24. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the programmable controller comprises a configuration mode wherein the three parameters are treated as a group, wherein each particular position has a specific speed and specific dwell assigned to it, wherein the position is chosen randomly, and once the position is chosen, the speed and dwell are automatically chosen.
25. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, further comprising board edge bevel cutting means at a slot opening along the table and a servo motor for driving the board edge bevel cutting means for beveling opposite edges of the boards.
26. The apparatus of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect, wherein the bevel cutting means imparts different bevel cuts on the opposite sides of the board wherein laterally adjacent bed plate lifters are provided which define the slot opening and are independently lifted relative to opposite board edges.
27. A method for imparting a simulated rustic or distressed surface effect in a board comprising:
advancing boards on a table, wherein the table comprises a board supporting surface and a two or more slot openings in the board supporting surface through which different rotary cutter heads having different cutting profiles protrude to be contactable with lower surfaces of the boards advancing thereover;
engaging opposite lateral sides of the boards with first and second laterally movable fences concurrent with the advancing of the boards on the table;
laterally moving the fences relative to the cutter heads;
engaging lower surfaces of the board with liftable bed plates defining the slot openings in the table as the boards are advanced on the table;
controlling the liftable bed plates and movable fences with one or more programmable controllers to control the depth of cut and/or lateral cut position on the lower surface of boards,
wherein different and at least partial, overlapping patterns of scrapes are formed in the lower surface of the boards by the different cutter heads.
28. An apparatus for imparting a simulated rustic or distressed surface effect in a board comprising:
a table comprising a board supporting surface and a plurality of slot openings in the board supporting surface;
first and second laterally movable fences for engaging opposite lateral sides of boards on the table;
a plurality of rotary cutter heads having different cutting profiles and the cutter heads are positioned at different slot openings, wherein each cutter head is fixedly mounted to a rotatable drive spindle, and the cutter head protrudes into the slot opening to be contactable with a lower surface of boards advancing thereover;
liftable bed plates forming portions of the table that define the slot openings;
a fence moving device for laterally moving the fences relative to the cutter heads;
a programmable controller; and
feed rollers for advancing the boards down the table,
wherein one or more programmable controllers control the liftable bed plates and the laterally moving fences such that different and at least partial, overlapping patterns of scrapes are formed in the lower surface of the boards by the different cutter heads.
29. A board product of the method of any preceding or following embodiment/feature/aspect.
30. A flooring board comprising a random-looking scraped appearance comprising overlapping multiple scrape patterns.
The present invention can include any combination of these various features or embodiments above and/or below as set forth in sentences and/or paragraphs. Any combination of disclosed features herein is considered part of the present invention and no limitation is intended with respect to combinable features.
Applicants specifically incorporate the entire contents of all cited references in this disclosure. Further, when an amount, concentration, or other value or parameter is given as either a range, preferred range, or a list of upper preferable values and lower preferable values, this is to be understood as specifically disclosing all ranges formed from any pair of any upper range limit or preferred value and any lower range limit or preferred value, regardless of whether ranges are separately disclosed. Where a range of numerical values is recited herein, unless otherwise stated, the range is intended to include the endpoints thereof, and all integers and fractions within the range. It is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited to the specific values recited when defining a range.
Other embodiments of the present teachings will be apparent to those skilled in the art, from consideration of the specification and practice of the present teachings disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the present invention being indicated by the following claims and equivalents thereof.
This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/299,740 filed Jan. 29, 2010, and is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.
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