CA2353126A1 - Unitary tooth harvesting head disk saw - Google Patents

Unitary tooth harvesting head disk saw Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2353126A1
CA2353126A1 CA 2353126 CA2353126A CA2353126A1 CA 2353126 A1 CA2353126 A1 CA 2353126A1 CA 2353126 CA2353126 CA 2353126 CA 2353126 A CA2353126 A CA 2353126A CA 2353126 A1 CA2353126 A1 CA 2353126A1
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CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
disk
saw
tooth
face
hole
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
CA 2353126
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Jeffry A. Butler
Keith B. Hicks
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Caterpillar Inc
Original Assignee
Caterpillar Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Caterpillar Inc filed Critical Caterpillar Inc
Publication of CA2353126A1 publication Critical patent/CA2353126A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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Abstract

High speed disk saws are used in forestry applications as part of a harvesting head to fell trees. These saws have a saw disk which often becomes dull or damaged through use, so is commonly provided with replaceable teeth. The present invention provides a unitary tooth which is attached directly to a disk slot in the saw disk. The tooth of the present invention may also be reversible in its disk slot to provide for increased life.

Description

Description Unitary Tooth Harvesting Head Disk Saw Technical Field This invention relates generally to a disk saw for a forestry application and. more specifically to a unitary replaceable tooth for such a disk saw.
Background Art Logging operations commonly use a work machine, such as a feller-buncher, to harvest trees.
These work machines are generally equipped with a harvesting head containing a disk saw, which does the actual cutting of the tree. Due to the hostile operating environment in a forest, the teeth of the disk saw often become dull or break, necessitating sharpening or replacement. The teeth of the disk saw are commonly made to be replaceable and mount to a tooth holder (also separately replaceable) which is then mounted to the disk saw. An example of this type of tooth and holder arrangement is shown in U.S.
Patent No. 5,211,212, issued May 18, 1993 to Carlson et al. (hereafter referenced as '212).
'212 provides for a replaceable holder with two replaceable cutting teeth. The tooth and holder arrangement disclosed in '212 includes many different pieces. Since a forest work site is often in a remote location, the unavailability of one or more of these many pieces can cause undue downtime for a work machine and operator, which can be quite costly.
Several of the pieces of the '212 device are also relatively small, requiring the operator to exercise extra caution when replacing the tooth or holder so that the small places do not become misplaced in the debris on the forest floor. Additionally, the head of the bolt attaching the tooth the holder is located on the leading face of the assembly, which can cause contact damage or debris buildup when the tooth is cutting into a tree. Either of these conditions can cause time-consuming and frustrating difficulties when the bolt needs to be removed for tooth replacement.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.
Disclosure of the Invention In one aspect of the present invention, a disk saw is provided that has a rim and at least one disk slot. A unitary tooth is provided that has an upper portion and a lower portion. The unitary tooth is adapted to form a mating connection with the disk slot.
In another aspect of the present invention, a disk saw for use in a forestry application is provided. The disk saw comprises a saw disk having a rim, at least one disk hole positioned in a substantially radial direction, and at least one disk slot. Also provided is at least one reversible tooth having a bolt hole, an upper portion, and a lower portion having the same thickness as the rim. The tooth is adapted to form a mating connection with a disk slot. At least one fastener is adapted for insertion through at least one bolt hole and into at least one disk hole.
In another aspect of the: present invention, a method for detachably attaching a reversible tooth to a saw disk is provided. The meahod includes the steps of positioning the reversible tooth in a disk slot on an edge of the saw disk, contacting a contoured lower face of the rever~,ible tooth with a contoured disk slot face in a mating relationship, and inserting at least one fastener through a bolt hole in the reversible tooth and into a disk hole in the disk.
Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. ~_ is a view of a disk saw containing an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a view of a unitary tooth of an -embodiment of the present invention.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention A disk saw 100 for use in a forestry application is provided, as shown in Fig. 1. The disk saw 100 includes a saw disk 102 having a rim 104 and a center portion 106. The saw disk 102 is centered about an axis A. The disk saw 100 may be mounted to a harvesting head of a feller buncher (not shown) such that the disk saw 100 revolves about the axis A. The rim 104 may be thicker than the center portion 106 and may extend beyond the center portion 106 on one or both sides of the saw disk 102. T'he disk saw 100 also includes at least one tooth 108 anal preferably a plurality of teeth 108 for efficient and balanced cutting.
A tooth 108 is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and includes an upper portion 200 and a lower portion 202.
The lower portion 202 has the same thickness as the rim 104. The upper portion can have the same or greater thickness than the rim 104. The tooth 108 is unitary, that is, whether it is fabricated from one piece or multiple pieces, there is only the one tooth 108 which attaches directly to the saw disk 102 without an intervening holder from which the tooth is removable. The tooth 108 includes at least one of a lower face 204, a side face 206, a tooth face 208, a top face 210, and a bolt hole 212. The lower face 204 is contoured in a predefined profile.
The saw disk 102 includes one or more disk holes 110. The disk holes 110 penetrate partially into the rim 104 and are associated with one or more disk slots 112. The disk holes 110 may be in a substantially radial direction to the axis A, as shown, or may be tilted relative to the rim 104. Each disk hole 110 can be located equidistant from the sides of the rim 104 so that it is centered on the rim 104.
The disk slots 112 are contoured to form a void of a predefined shape in the :rim 104 of the saw disk 102. Each disk slot 112 is contoured, to accept, in a nesting or mating relationship, the lower face 204 of a tooth 108. The disk slot 112 may have one of a number of different configurations. An example of a possible configuration is the three-sided disk slot 112 with filleted corners shown in Fig. 1. The parallel sides c:an be perpendicular to the bottom side or one or both sides can be canted to allow for greater stress distribution from t:he tooth 108. Many disk slot 112 configurations not mentioned could also have advantages, as is obvious to one skilled in the art, and are not excluded by the present invention..
The halt hole 212 has a decreased radius forming a bolt hole shoulder 214 at a predetermined distance from the top face 210 of 'the tooth 108. A
fastener 216, described here as, beat not limited to, a bolt has a bolt head 218. When the lower face 204 of the tooth 108 is placed into a mating relationship with the disk slot 112, a bolt hole 212 meets up with a disk hole 110. There may be morf~ than one bolt hole 212 a.nd disk hole 110 pair per tooth 108. A fastener 216 is then inserted into the bolt hole 212 from tree top face 210 of the tooth 108 and c=ngages the disk hole 110. One way that this engagement can be accomplished is that the fastener :?16 and one or both of the bolt hole 212 and the disk hole 110 is threaded and the fastener 216 threadably engages with the threaded bolt hole 212 and/or disk hole 110 in a known manner. When the fastener 216 is tightened to a predetermined torque, the bolt head 218 contacts the bolt hole shoulder 214. The distance of the bolt hole shoulder 214 from the top face 210 of the tooth 108 is predetermined to allow the fastener 216 to be fully recessed into the bolt hole 212 when the fastener 216 is tightened. It can also be easily seen that another embodiment of the present invention could use a partial bolt hole (not shown) which does not extend fully through the tooth 108 to accept a dowel (not shown) extending from a disk hole 110 in a known manner, in combination with at least one fastener arrangement as described above.
In order to save weight and to avoid dragging the top face 210 and/or side face 206 of the tooth 108, one or both could be contoured to provide a concave aspect to the profile of the tooth 108. A
concave aspect means that the area of a cross-section of the tooth 108 decreases as the cross-section is taken further from the tooth face or faces 208 of the tooth 108.
The tooth 108 may be made reversible by having a tooth face 208 on each end of the upper portion 200, as is shown in Fig. 2. When the leading tooth face 208 wears or is broken during use, the tooth 108 can be removed and reinstalled reversed end-to-end so that the formerly following tooth face 208 becomes the new leading tooth face 208.
Industrial Applicability In operation, a disk saw 100 has a tooth 108 attached firmly to each disk slot :L12 of the saw disk 102. The disk saw 100 rotates rapidly within, for _7_ example, a harvesting head carried by a work machine and directed by an operator. As a tooth 108 wears or breaks during use, the operator will stop the machine and turn the disk saw 100 so that the worn or broken tooth 108 is in an accessible location. The operator then removes the debris, if any, that has accumulated in the bolt hole 212 above the fastener 216 with a simple hand tool such as an awl. 'The operator then removes the fastener 216 and turns the tooth 108 to an unused side. If the tooth 108 does not include an unused side, the operator instead :places a new tooth 108 in the disk slot 112. The operator then inserts the fastener 216 through the bolt :hole 212 and into the disk hole 11Ø The operator next tightens the fastener 216 until the bolt head 218 contacts the bolt hole shoulder 214 at the predetermined torque and the fastener 216 is wholly inside the bolt hole 212.
After the fastener 216 is tightened properly, the disk saw 100 may be placed back into service.
As the disk saw 100 rotates, a leading tooth face 208 of the tooth 108 cuts into the tree being felled. The top face 210 may drag through the cut made by the leading tooth face 208, which would slow the disk saw 100 and require greater energy to fell the tree. In the case of a dragging top face 210, it would be advantageous to have a di:ak slot 112 shaped such that the top face 210 is tiltesd relative to the rim 104 to keep the top face 210 from contacting the cut previously made by the tooth face 208.

_8_ The simple unitary tooth 108 requiring only the fastener 216 reduces the spare parts inventory needed, which is an important consideration in a forestry environment. The present invention also does not include multiple small parts, which can be easily misplaced in a debris-filled forest environment. The fastener 216 of the present invention is in a protected location. Even if debris should enter the bolt hole 212 atop the fastener 216, it will not pack in tightly. This debris can be easily brushed out by hand or with a hand tool. Damage to the fastener 216 caused by contact with the tree being felled is also avoided with the present invention.
Other aspects, objects, and advantages of this invention can be obtained from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.

Claims (15)

1. A disk saw comprising:
a saw disk having a rim and at least one disk slot; and a unitary tooth having an upper portion and a lower portion having the same thickness as the rim, the unitary tooth being adapted to form a mating connection with the disk slot.
2. The disk saw of Claim 1, wherein the saw disk has a center portion, and the rim is thicker than the center portion of the saw disk and extends outwardly from at least one side of the saw disk.
3. The disk saw of Claim l, wherein the unitary tooth further includes a bolt hole, a tooth face, a lower face, a side face, and a top face, and the disk slot further comprises a disk slot face, and the lower face of the unitary tooth and the disk slot face are each contoured to nest together in a mating relationship.
4. The disk saw of Claim 3, wherein the bolt hole has a decreased radius forming a bolt hole shoulder at a predetermined distance from the top face of the unitary tooth.
5. The disk saw of Claim 5, wherein the saw disk has an axis A extending through the center of the saw disk in a perpendicular orientation to the rim and at least one disk hole positioned in a substantially radial direction to the axis A.
6. The disk saw of Claim 6, further including a fastener-adapted for insertion through the bolt hole and into the disk hole.
7. The disk saw of Claim 7, wherein at least one of the bolt hole and the disk hole is threaded and the fastener comprises a bolt having a bolt head, the bolt threadably engaging with at least one of the bolt hole and the disk hole and, when the fastener is tightened, the bolt head contacts the bolt hole shoulder and is recessed into the bolt hole.
8. The disk saw of Claim 3, wherein at least one of the side face and the top face of the unitary tooth is contoured to provide a concave aspect.
9. The disk saw of Claim 6, wherein the bolt hole and disk hole are each located equidistant from each side of the rim.
10. A disk saw for use in a forestry application, comprising:
a saw disk having a rim, an axis A extending through the center of the saw disk in a perpendicular orientation to the rim, at least one disk hole positioned in the rim and penetrating toward a center portion of the saw disk, and at least one disk slot;
at least one reversible tooth having a bolt hole, an upper portion, and a lower portion having the same thickness as the rim, and being adapted to form a mating connection with the disk slot; and at least one fastener adapted for insertion through the bolt hole and into the disk hole.
11. The disk saw of Claim 11, wherein said disk saw is adapted for mounting to a harvesting head attached to a feller-buncher.
12. A tooth for use in a forestry saw disk, the tooth having one or more bolt holes and at least one of a tooth face, a lower face, a side face, and a top face, and the tooth being adapted for direct mounting to the forestry saw disk.
13. The tooth of Claim 13, wherein at least one of the top face and the side face is contoured to provide a concave aspect.
14. The tooth of Claim 13, wherein the tooth may be mounted to the forestry saw disk in either of two cutting orientations.
15. A method for detachably attaching a reversible tooth to a saw disk, comprising the steps of:

positioning the reversible tooth in a disk slot on an edge of the saw disk;
contacting a contoured lower face of the reversible tooth with a contoured disk slot face in a mating relationship; and inserting at least one fastener through a bolt hole in the reversible tooth and into a disk hole in the disk.
CA 2353126 2000-08-30 2001-07-16 Unitary tooth harvesting head disk saw Abandoned CA2353126A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US65137500A 2000-08-30 2000-08-30
US09/651,375 2000-08-30

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2353126A1 true CA2353126A1 (en) 2002-02-28

Family

ID=24612631

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA 2353126 Abandoned CA2353126A1 (en) 2000-08-30 2001-07-16 Unitary tooth harvesting head disk saw

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA2353126A1 (en)

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