US1951834A - Veneer cutting machine - Google Patents

Description

March 20, 1934. 1 F, MCCARROLL l 1,951,834 1 VENEER CUTTING MACHINE Filed June 2. 195?. 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 31E'. ZIO (Jaw-026.

BY Mro.

ATTORNEYS.

March 20, 1934. J. F. MocARRoLL VENEER CUTTING MACHINE Filed June 2. 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. JEM@ @www BY Mq@ ATTORNEYS.

March 20, 1934. J. F. MccARRoLL Y v Y V1,951,834

VENEER CUTTING MACHINE Filed June 2. 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 n l` M y yq INVENTOR. Gym. .W0 Mmmm@ Y TTRNEYS.

Patented Mar. 20, 1934 VENEER. CUTTING MACHINE James F. McCarroll, Baton Rouge, La.

Application June 2, 1932, Serial No. 614,995

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in veneer cutting machines, and its objects are as follows:

First, to avoid `the use of chucks of any type i for the gripping and rotaticn of the block, thereby eliminating the excessive waste of Wood represented by the large-diametered core which is left as the result of currently gripping the block between inordinately large chucks.

Second,` to provide a plurality of radially movable feed rollers for supporting and rotating the block, said rollers enabling the reduction of the block until they virtually come together in the center.

Third, to regulate the thickness of the veneer by adjusting the metering or check roller with reference to the adjusting knife so as to vary the discharge space.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is an elevation of the improved veneer cutting machine viewing it from the loading end, the feed rollers being shown diametrically in order to avoid obscuring the core.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the loading opening, showing how the feed roller brackets ultimately come together in the center, these brackets having been omitted in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the machine, showing the parts as though viewed in the direction of the arrow a in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a cross section taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a detail section taken substantially on the line 5 5 of Figure 3, particularly illustrating the adjustment of the metering or check roller.

Figure 6 is a detail view of' a spindle used in connection with the foregoing roller adjustment.

Figure 'lV is a detail cross section taken on the line '7 7 of Figure 4.,

Figure 8 is a detail cross section taken on the line 8 8 of Figure 4.

Figure 9 is a detail cross section taken on the line 9 9 of Figure 4.

Figure 10 is an elevation of the drive end of the machine, this being the end opposite to the loading end shown in Figure 1.

Figure 11 is a detail elevation of one of the socalled clamping shafts.

Figure 12 is a detail elevation of one of the driving shafts.

Figure 13 is a detail elevation of one of the feed rollers.

(Cl. l44 209) The instant invention is concerned with the making of rotary cut Veneers. Machines currently used for this purpose are built withY axially opposed chucks or centers between which a section of log, commonly called a block, is gripped. Considerable power is required to turn the block against the resistance of the cutting knife. This makes it necessary to use inordinately large chucks, and although the size of the chucks depends somewhat upon the diameter of the block, it is not unusual for a chuck 10 in diameter to be used, and it is seldom that chucks less than 6 in diameter are employed.

inasmuch as the cutting or slicing operation must be stopped before the periphery of the chuck is reached it follows that a core anywhere from '7 to lll in diameter must be discarded. Such a large diametered core represents an eX- cessive waste of wood for veneer purposes and, as previously stated, one of the objects of the invention is to eliminate much of this Waste by eliminating the chucks. Briefly stated, chucks as currently used are substituted by a plurality of radially movable feed rollers which are so arranged that they will continue rotating the block until they virtually come together at the center. The resulting core is approximately 4 in diameter regardless of the original size of the block.

Reference is made to the drawings. The main features of the veneer cutting machine comprise 85 a fixed framework l of a suitable type. According to the instant showing the framework consists of a front support 2 (Fig. l) a rear support 3 (Fig. 10) and spacing means 4 (Fig. 4) of a proper type and in sufficient numbers to hold the two supports firmly in spaced relationship.

An opening 5 (Fig. l) enables loading the machine with blocks from which the veneer 6 (Fig.

4) is cut by means of a knife 7. Normally the block 8 (Fig. 4) is supposed to be of a large size, 95 virtually as large as the loading opening 5. By

the time the cutting operation is completed it will have been reduced to a much smaller core 9 as shown in Figure 1. The block is supported and rotated by a plurality of feed rollers 10 (Fig. 4). 100 These are mounted for radial movement with respect to the axis of rotation of the block. After the block 8 (Fig. 4) is reduced to the core 9 (Fig. 1), the mounts of the feed rollers are separated by radially outward movements, thus permitting the core 9 to drop between the lowermost rollers to any point of disposal.

The foregoing radial movement ascribed to the feed rollers 10 also applies to the knife 7. The knife 'l and its coacting set of feed rollers move 110 (Fig.

together in radial directions, whether inward or outward. The construction of the knife 7 and its accessories together with the means for regulating the thickness of the veneer 6 is as follows: A carriage l1 (Figs. 3, 4 and 5) includes grooved end members 12 which ride upon ribs 13, cast or otherwise affixed to the inner and confronting faces of the front and rear supports 2, 3. The carriage 11 thus comprises a cross plate which has the members l2 at its ends, these members being additionally connected by a tie bar 14 which serves as a brace.

A stud 15 (Fig. 4), fixed in and projecting from the outer end of each end member 12, has an adjustable connection 16 with the apron 17 of a rack 18 which is mounted on the respective member 12 by a rib and groove connection generally denoted 19. The purpose of the connection 16 is to enable the making of some necessary initial adjustment of the members l2 with reference to the racks 18, This produces an initial adjustment of the knife 7 with reference to the block 8. The rack must be regarded as fixed when its driving gear is stationary, thus the adjustments of the connections 16 will cause movement of the members 12. After this adjustment is once arrived at it ordinarily stays set, having nothing to do with the subsequent regulation of the thickness of the veneer as presently brought out.

A bevelled side 20 (Fig. 5) of the carriage 11 comprises a rest against which the knife 7 is firmly held by a clamp plate 21 and its clamp screws 22, The clamp plate bears against several abutments 23 in addition to bearing against the knife 7, and it is these abutments which carry adjusting bolts 24 by means of which the knife 7 is set with respect to the carriage l1 and with respect to a metering or check roller 25. The adjustment kof the knife is made by loosening the clamp screws 22, turning the bolts 24 up or down and then again tightening the screws 22.

There is a slight distance between the edge of the knife 7 and the metering roller 25, this distance being denominated the discharge space 26 It is through this space that the veneer 6 emerges as cut by the knife 7 (Fig. 4). The thickness of the veneer is regulated by adjusting the metering roller with respect to the knife edge, and the means and mode of making this adjustment are as follows:-

Trunnions 27 on the ends of the metering roller 25 have bearing in identical journals 28 on the end members 12. A rib 29 on each journal rides in a groove 30 of the respective end member for true guidance in radial directions. A slot 31 in each journal accommodates a spindle 32 (Fig. 6) which has threaded ends 33, 34. One of these is permanently screwed into the respective end member 12. The other takes a nut 35 which is intended to be screwed down on a washer 36 and so clamp the journal 28 down.

A threaded hole in each spindle 32 receives an adjusting bolt 37 (Fig. 5). Each bolt is swivelled in the front solid end 33 of the respective journal 28. Upon loosening the nut 35 the journal 23 can be shifted in or out by turning the bolt 37. When the space 26 has been regulated as desired the nut 35 is again screwed home. The adjusting operation is performed at each end so that the space 26 will be uniform throughout.

The metering roller 25 rides the periphery of the block 8 (Fig. 4) as do the feed rollers 10. All of the rollers are pressed hard against the block. The roller 25 has the additional purpose of preventing the veneer from chipping or splitting during the act of cutting, and it is not a power driven roller. The other rollers 10 are power driven, and the means and mode by which they are driven are as follows:-

A main shaft 39 (Figs. 3 and l0) is driven by a belt 40 (Fig. 10) which is applied to a pulley 4l on the shaft 39. The shaft carries a master sprocket 42 which drives all of the minor sprockets 43 simultaneously, uniformly and in same direction by means of a chain 44 which is applied in such a manner as to accomplish the purpose. The chain connection is illustrated in Figure 10, and the connection includes an idler sprocket 45 which is yieldably mounted to accommodate the chain 44 to the radial movements of the feed rollers 10 which it ultimately drives.

The yieldable mounting of the idler 45 comprises an arm 46 which is pivoted outside of the rear support 3 (Fig. 10) and has an adjustable connection with a spring 47 which, being anchored upon the rear support or elsewhere, exercises a constant force on the arm 46 so that the tightness of the chain 44 is maintained. The arm 46 swings outwardly tov take up the slack in the chain as the feed rollers 10 (Fig. 4) advance toward the core of the block 8, and swings inwardly to let out more chain, so to speak, when the rollers 10 are radially separated preparatory to inserting a fresh block through the loading opening 5.

Each of the minor sprockets 43 is carried by a driving shaft 48. There is one driving shaft for each feed roller l0, and inasmuch as each feed roller unit is identical the description is temporarily confined to one unit, similar reference characters designating corresponding parts of the remaining four units. The uppermost feed roller unit (Fig. 4) is used for illustration.

This unit includes a roller 10 and driving shaft 48 as already brought out. The driving shaft 48 is shown in Figure l2 while the feed roller l() is shown in Figure 13. The shaft and rollers have intermeshing gears 49, 50 by which the driving power of the shaft is transmitted to the roller.

The purpose of the intermeshiner gears is to appropriately space the sprocket 43 from the axial center of the block 8. It would be possible to drive the roller l() direct, but in that case the various sprockets 43 (Fig. l0) would interfere with each other before the rollers 10 came as closely together at the center as desired.

Trunnions 51 (Fig. 13) on the remote ends of the assemblage 10, 50 have bearing in brackets 52 adjacent to the front and rear supports 2, 3. There is a pair of brackets, and the allied structure of each bracket is the same in each instance.

The front bracket (as well as its companions) is shown in Figure 2, and it works in and out with respect to the axial center of the block 8 (as well as its companions) immediately behind the loading opening 5. The rear bracket (as well as its companions) is shown in Figure 4 and it works in the identical manner immediately to the inside of a radial slot 53. l

The purpose of the radial slot 53 is to let the driving shaft 48 (Fig. l2) through. By matching Figure 12 with Figure 3 it will be seen that the shaft 48 extends beyond the gear 49 to the left of the rear support 3. Consequently the sprocket 43 is at the rear of the machine, in other words at the drive end as shown in Figure 10. A portion of the shaft 48 immediately at the left of the gear 49 has bearing in the rear bracket 52 as does also the adjacent trunnion 51 of the feed roller 10 (Fig. 9). At the other end of the veneer cutting machine the front end of the shaft 48 and the adjacent trunnion 5l (Figs. 12 and 13) simply have bearing in the front bracket 52 (Fig. 2).

Each bracket 52 is scoured to an end member 54 (Figs. 2, 7 and 8). The end members 54 are similar to the end members 12 of the carriage 11, and being so, they are grooved to ride upon ribs 55 which are either cast or otherwise secured to the insides of the front and rear supports. The end members 54 are held against the ribs 55 largely by tie bars 56 which extend between the pairs at the opposite ends of the machine. Appropriate rib and groove connections 57 (Fig. 8) serve to mount a rack 58 upon the respective end member 54. There is a limited yielding between the rack 58 and the respective end member 54.

This yielding is provided by a spring 59 which stands between an apron 60 on the end member 54 and an adjustable nut 61 on a stud 62 projecting from the rack 58 and through the apron 60. A lock nut 63 behind the apron 65 limits the movement of the rack 58 under the influence of the spring. The purpose of the spring is to compensate for any slight unevenness that may be encountered in the surface of the block 8. Should the unevenness be a high place, the permissible outward movement of the end members 54 of the unit would be taken up by the springs 59, leaving the racks 58 stationary.

Consideration is now given to the entire assemblage of feed roller units (Fig. 4) together with the knife carriage or unit 11. It will be understood from what has been said that these various units work in radial directions with reference to the axial center of the block 8. To state the condition more accurately, it is the feed rollers 10 and the cutting edge of the knife 7 which are movable inwardly and outwardly in radial directions. The ribs 13 and 55 are in a tangential relationship to the block 8. This is so because the ribs are necessarily oifset from the radial plane which the centers of the feed rollers 10 and the cutting edge of the knife 7 traverse. Having the structure in mind, attention is now directed to the means and mode by which the feed roller and like units are moved simultaneously A series of clamping shafts 64 (Figs. 1, 4 and 1.1) is so distributed that the carried gears 65 engage the racks 18 and 58, respectively of the knife unit and the feed roller units for turning operations in one or the other of two directions. Each clamping shaft 64 has two of the gears 65 (Fig. 11) these gears coming next to the front and rear supports 2, 8 so as to line up with the various racks 18, 58 which, it will be reinembered, are provided in pairs.

Each of the clamping shafts 64 also has a sprocket 66 (Figs. 1 and 11). These sprockets are at the loading end of the cutter (Fig. 1). They might be arranged at the drive end (Fig. 1.0), but they are shown at the loading end to avoid any possible confustion. All of the sprockets 66 are connected by an endless chain 67 (Fig. 1)

One of the sprockets will be used as a master sprocket, for example that sprocket a little behind a gear 68 on the clamping shaft 64 at the extreme right of Figure 1. This particular shaft 64 is made a little longer than the others so that its carried gear 68 may reach and mesh with a rack 69 which is connected with a piston 70 in a pressure fluid cylinder 71.

This cylinder has pipes 72, 73 for the admission and exhaust of the pressure fluid. In practice these 'pipes must be controlled by an appropriate valve device. The admission of pressure huid below the piston 70 by way of the pipe 73 will tend to turn all of the clamping elements 64 in the counter-clockwise direction (arrows b, Fig. l). This same tendency traced to 'Figure 4 (arrows c) illustrates how all of the units are driven inwardly so that the various rollers 10, 25 are made to press against the surface of the block 8. At the saine time the pipe 72 must be opened so as to exhaust any fluid in the upper end of the cylinder.

The admission of pressure fluid into the upper end of the cylinder 71 (Fig. 1) by way of the pipe 72 will have the reverse eifect. All of the shafts 64 will be turned clockwise, and by tracing the movement of Figure 4 it will be understood that all of the units are simultaneously moved outwardly from the wood (then the core 9, Fig. l) so as to let the core drop out and to make room for a fresh block.

The operation is readily understood. The first act of the workman will be to expand the roller assemblage lll, 25 (Fig. 1), in other words, openl a valve in the pipe 72 for the admission of pressure fluid to the upper end of the cylinder 71 so i' of the opening can be inserted. Having inserted 1 the new block a reverse operation of the piston 7i) (Fig. 1) will drive the various feed roller and knife units inwardly (Fig. 4) to support and clamp the block. This reverse operation of the piston is accomplished by letting pressure fluid a into the lower end ofthe cylinder 71. The action of the pressure uid when admitted beneath the piston 70 must be visualized. It exercises a constant pressure on the roller and knife units (Fig.

4) so that these tend to constantly go in toward the center.

The action is best explained as that of keeping the various units under a constant tension. The rollers 10 (Fig. 4) are not intended to exercise a progressively greater pressure on the block 8, but merely maintain a constant pressure so that the block is rrnly held and supported throughout Jthe reduction of its size by the constant peeling or slicing off of the veneer 6. The sprockets 66 (Fig. 1) will turn very slowly, the turning being almost imperceptible. But they will turn as long as the veneer 6 is being sliced off, thereby keeping the feed roller and knife units down to the work.

Simultaneously with the clamping function of the feed rollers 19 and the feeding action of the knife 7 rotary motion is imparted to the feed rollers by the apparatus at the drive end of the cutter (Fig. lil). This apparatus includes the driven pulley 41 and its chain connection 44 with the assemblage of minor sprockets 43 on the ends of the driving shafts 48 from which the feed rollers are driven by the intermeshing gears 49, 50.

The veneer cutting operation is continuous until all of the feed roller brackets 52 come tohad lil.)

lio'

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gether at the center (Fig. 2) and consequently can go no farther. By cutting off parts of the brackets the concentrating movement may progress until the feed rollers touch. rlhis condition is suggested by the diagrammatic showing in Figure l. The result of this arrangement is that the cutting operation may go on until the block. 8 (Fig. 4) is reduced to a relatively small core 9 (Fig. l). The core per.- itted to drop out by reversing the piston '20, thereby expanding the feed roller and knife units (Fig. 4).

It will be understood that the metering or check roller 25 bears against the block 8 with a force equal to that of the feed rollers l0. The metering roller is adjustable by the arrangement shown in Figure 5, and it is the adjustment of this roller which regulates the thickness of the veneer.

I claim:-

l. .A veneer cutting machine comprising a framework including a support with radial slots, a knife, a plurality of feed rollers for supporting a block in cutting relationship with the knife, means for revolving the rollers including driving shafts having ends projecting through the slots, carrying means for the rollers and shafts, means on the framework to support the carrying means for radial movement of the rollers and shafts with respect to the slots, pressure operated means keeping the carrying means under pressure to urge the rollers against the block and means to drive said shafts including a master sprocket, minor sprockets on the projecting ends of the shafts, a chain commonly applied to all of the sprockets, and an adjustable idler for taking up slack in the chain as said rollers are moved inwardly.

2. In a veneer cutting machine, a knife, a circular series of feed rollers for supporting and revolving the block against the knife, carrying means for the feed rollers including grooved end members, fixed ribs on which he end members are slidable, an apron on each end member, a rack for each end member and means for moving the rack thereby moving the end member, each rack having a slidable connection with the respective end member, a stud on each rack projecting through the respective apron, and a spring disposed between each apron and stud, said springs transmitting the sliding motion to the end members but enabling yielding of the end members with respect to the racks when the feed rollers ride over uneven places.

3, A veneer cutting machine comprising a knife carriage having a knife, a metering roller mounted on the carriage and coacting with the knife, xed ribs on which the carriage is slidably supported with reference to a block, a gear by which the carriage is slid, a rack interposed between the gear and carriage, a slidable connection between the rack and carriage, and means for making an initial adjustment between the carriage and rack while the gear is stationary, thereby making an initial adjustment of the knife and metering roller with respect to the block.

JAMES F. MCCARROLL.

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