IES20000279A2 - Improvements in and relating to cross-cut saws - Google Patents

Abstract

There is a need to be able to receive timber in bulk and to pass the timber into a cross cut saw in single pieces with a space between each single piece as it progresses across a substantially flat feed table in which the cross cut saws are mounted. The invention provides a cross cut saw assembly in-feed mechanism (1) mounting a cross cut saw (2) having a substantially flat in-feed table (3) the in-feed conveyor (4) is mounted beneath a hopper (5) which contains pieces of timber (7). The hopper (5) is fed by a further conveyor (6) the in-feed conveyor (4) comprises an inclined portion and a flat portion including a head drum (10) and a tail drum (11) and with idler rollers placed between the two drums, and has spaced apart chains each having a plurality of upstanding timber engaging pusher arms (14) there is also provided a plurality of height adjustable support bars which can be raised and lowered relative to the upstanding timber engaging pusher arm (14) and adjustable cam is mounted beneath the in-feed conveyor (4) and has a portion of which projects above and between the chains when more than one piece of timber gets caught between the timber engaging pusher arms (14) which is undesirable they are carried along until they reach the adjustable cam. The portion of timber of which projects above and between the chains raises the undesired piece of timber (7) over the piece of timber engaging the pusher arm (14) and it slides back into the Hopper (5) where it can be re-used. An intermediate conveyor (20) is mounted on a pivot point and secured to the in-feed table (3). If a piece of timber engaging the pusher arm (14) is undesirable or is of an inferior quality, the intermediate conveyor (20) movable about the pivot, rises up and the piece of timber drops into a reject conveyer (26) mounted beneath the flat in-feed table (3). <Figure 1>

Description

The present invention relates to an improvement in the invention first described in Irish Patent Specification No. 66,889.

One of the problems in using this invention that has been encountered over the years is the need to be able to receive timber in bulk and to pass the timber into the crosscut saw in single pieces with a space between each single piece as it progresses across the substantially flat feed table in which the cross-cut saws are mounted. Generally speaking this is carried out by moving the timber across the feed table by means of dogs on a saw chain.

—X To satisfactorily carry out the sawing operations on bulk timber, it is necessary that there be provided an in-feed mechanism which will receive timber in bulk from possibly other machines in the vicinity of the cross-cut saw, take one piece of timber at a time from what would probably be a pile of timber so as to offer the timber to the saw in the required manner. At the same time there must be provided some facility for operators to reject timber and remove it from the cross-cut saw assembly prior to being cut. td •43 It will be appreciated there could be many reasons for removal such as unsatisfactory processing in a previous operation, or simply the fact that there is a defect in the timber which may have only become visually apparent after previous operations have been performed thereon.

Statements of Invention According to the invention there is provided a cross-cut saw assembly in-feed mechanism for pieces of timber comprising: a substantially flat feed table for the saw assembly: an in-feed conveyor connected to the feed table and having an inclined portion; - 2 IE000279 a hopper associated with the inclined portion; and a plurality of side-by-side transverse timber supports to retain one piece of timber as the conveyor rises out of the hopper.

The advantage of this is that by having a support which will only retain one piece of timber as the conveyor rises out of the hopper, it is possible then to have the timber in spaced apart relationship before delivery to the feed table. Then on the feed table, the timber can be offered up to a cross-cut saw.

In a further embodiment of the invention in which there is provided between the infeed conveyor and the feed table an intermediate conveyor pivotal from a position in line with the in-feed conveyor and feed table to a position for discharge of the timber beneath the table and in which there is provided an end stop and lateral transfer means associated with the in-feed conveyor. The advantage of this isfhat timber can be rejected prior to being cut in the cross-cut saw assembly.

Further in one embodiment the in-feed conveyor comprises an inclined portion and a flat portion feeding the feed table and the inclined portion further includes spaced apart endless belts carrying upstanding timber engaging pusher arm and height adjustable bar intermediate the endless belts to raise or lower the timber relative to the belts. The advantage of this is that the height adjustable bars can be raised or lowered so that the pusher arms travel at a height above the adjustable bars which is slightly less than the thickness of the timber being conveyed. Thus, if two pieces of timber sitting one on top of the other, the top piece of timber will slide downwards to the hopper.

In this latter embodiment, preferably there is provided cam mounted beneath the inclined portion for engaging timber between the belts to discharge the timber down the conveyor, the cam being so mounted as to engage a second piece of timber lying against the piece of timber engaged by the pusher arm. The advantage of the cam is that should two pieces of timber lie side by side, the cam will engage the second piece of timber and push it upwards and backwards onto the other piece of IE000279 - 3 timber which lies against the pusher arms and it will then slide downwards into the hopper.

Preferably the cam is adjustable so that it will only engage a second piece of timber and thus will not engage the piece of timber in direct contact with the pusher arms.

Detailed Description of the Invention The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof, given by way of example only described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of a cross-cut saw assembly according to the invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of portion of the assembly, Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of another portion of the assembly, Fig. 4 is an enlarged side view of a central portion of the assembly, Fig. 5 is a side view similar to Fig. 4 showing the assembly in a different working position, Fig. 6 is a side enlarged view of portion of the assembly illustrated in Fig. 2, and Fig. 7 is a view in the direction of the arrow A of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, there is provided a cross-cut saw assembly in-feed mechanism indicated generally by the reference numeral 1 mounting a cross-cut saw 2 which is only shown in outline and does not form part of the invention. The in-feed mechanism 1 includes a flat in-feed table 3 for the cross-cut saw 2. There is provided an in-feed conveyor indicated generally by the reference numeral 4 mounted beneath a hopper 5 which is in turn fed by a further conveyor 6 with IE000279 - 4 pieces of timber identified by the reference numeral 7. The in-feed conveyor 4 comprises an inclined portion and flat portion including a head drum 10 and tail drum 11 and idler rollers 12 carrying a conveyor belt, in this case, a plurality of spaced-apart chains 13 each carrying a plurality of upstanding timber engaging pusher arms 14. Additional support is provided by a stationary table mounted between the chains 13 at the flat portion. The in-feed conveyor 4 has an inclined portion and a horizontal portion. Adjacent the head drum 10, there is mounted a plurality of transversely arranged driven rollers 15 between the chains 13. A side stop 16 is provided. Between the chains 13 on the inclined portion of the in-feed conveyor 4, there are mounted a plurality of height adjustable support bars 17 which can be raised or lowered relative to the upstanding timber engaging pusher arms 14. A cam 18 is mounted beneath the in-feed conveyor 4 and is longitudinally adjustable along the conveyor. The cam 18 has a portion 19 which can project above and between the chains 13.

An intermediate conveyor indicated generally by the reference numeral 20 is mounted by a mounting bracket 21 on a pivot 22 secured to the in-feed table 3. The mounting bracket 21 is movable about the pivot 22 by a ram 23. The intermediate conveyor 20 which is substantially similar in construction to the inclined portion of the in-feed conveyor 4 comprises a driven head drum 24 and a tail drum 25. Mounted beneath the intermediate conveyor 20 is a reject conveyor 26.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the in-feed table 3 extends beyond the cross-cut saw 2 to an inclined discharge chute 30 above a storage table 31.

In use, timber 7 is delivered from the conveyor 6 into the hopper 5 where a piece of timber 7 will be picked up by the pusher arms 14, The height of the bars 17 are so chosen that each piece of timber 7 projects slightly above the pusher arm 14. Thus, if there is an additional piece of timber such as illustrated by the reference numeral 7a, which rests on top of another piece of timber 7 and 7b as shown in Fig. 6, the timber will slide backwards down the in-feed 4 into the hopper 5. Similarly, if as illustrated, there are two pieces of timber 7 and 7b lying together, then the cam 18 will rotate such that its portion 19 engages beneath the second piece of timber IE000279 - 5 7b and as can be seen in the drawings will knock the piece of timber 7b down the in-feed conveyor 4. The in-feed conveyor 4 carries the timber up the inclined portion to the flat or horizontal portion where the timber 7 is carried over the driven rollers 15 which will then engage the timber 7 and push the timber 7 in the direction of the arrow A against the end stop 16. The timber 7 is then offered up to the cross-cut saw 2 in single pieces for cutting. The cut timber 7 is then delivered out to the table 31. If timber 7 is delivered on the in-feed conveyor 4 which the operator considers should be rejected, the ram 23 is operated from the horizontal position to pivot the intermediate conveyor 20 from the horizontal position shown in Fig. 4 to the inclined position as illustrated in Fig. 5. Then the timber 7 will fall onto the reject conveyor 26.

It is envisaged that the spacing between the timber supports 14 on the in-feed conveyor 4 and in-feed table 3 may be altered to accommodate different widths of timber and similarly the height of the support can be adjusted. In this way, it is ' 'X possible to ensure that only one piece of timber will be conveyed onto the in-feed table 3. Thus, the timber can be spaced apart and offered up correctly to the cross-cut saw.

In the specification the terms “comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising” or any variation thereof and the terms “include, includes, included and including” or any variation thereof are considered to be totally interchangeable and they should all be afforded the widest possible interpretation.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment hereinbefore described but may be varied in construction and detail within the scope of the claims.

Claims (5)

1. A cross-cut saw assembly in-feed mechanism for pieces of timber comprising: a substantially flat feed table for the saw assembly; ' X an in-feed conveyor connected to the feed table and having an inclined portion; a hopper associated with the inclined portion; and a plurality of side-by-side transverse timber supports to retain one piece of timber as the conveyor rises out of the hopper.

2. A cross-cut saw assembly in-feed mechanism for pieces of timber as claimed in claim 1 in which there is provided between the in-feed conveyor and the feed table an intermediate conveyor pivotal from a position in line with the infeed conveyor and feed table to a position for discharge of the timber beneath the table and in which there is provided an end stop and lateral transfer means associated with the in-feed conveyor.

3. A cross-cut saw assembly in-feed mechanism for pieces of timber as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the in-feed conveyor comprises an inclined portion and a flat portion feeding the feed table and the inclined portion further includes spaced apart endless belts carrying upstanding timber engaging pusher arm and height adjustable bar intermediate the endless belts to raise or lower the timber relative to the belts.

4. A cross-cut saw assembly in-feed mechanism as claimed in claim 3 in which a cam is mounted beneath the inclined portion for engaging timber between the belts to discharge the timber down the conveyor, the cam being so mounted as to engage a second piece of timber lying against the piece of timber engaged by the pusher arm. IE000279

5. A cross-cut saw assembly in-feed mechanism for pieces of timber substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.