US2639738A - Power operated push bar log turner - Google Patents

Description

' Snnentor r1000 Daabe/ Gttomeg I 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 26, 1953 J. DAUBEL POWER OPERATED PUSH BAR LOG TU NER Flled Aug 15 1949 J. DAUBEL POWER OPERATED PUSH BAR LOG TURNER May 26, 1953 Filed Au 15, 1949 ZSnventor 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (Ittomeg Patented May 26, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE POWER OPERATED PUSH BAR LOG TURNER John Daubel, Chattaroy, Wash.

Application August 15, 1949, Serial No. 110,347

The present invention relates to the general class of wood sawing including sawmill carriages, and more specifically to an improved power operated push bar log turner which while well adapted for various purposes and uses, is especially designed for coaction with a sawmill carriage, and by means of which a log on the carriage is successively turned as the reciprocating carriage feeds the log longitudinally to the saw and then retracts the log for another turn on its longitudinal axis. The log turning mechanism, which is disposed. at opposite sides of and transversely with relation to the longitudinal axis of the carriage and log, includes a manually set, power operated, and resiliently retracted push bar, ram, or boom, for impingement against the upper portion of one side of the log, that coacts with an opposed tripping slide-carrier for the log located at the opposite side of the carriage and initially adapted to engage the lower portion of the log for tripping it. The operating mechanism for the push bar and the tripping slide-carrier involves a system of motor operated cables, under manual control, by means of which the log is turned and rolled from the carriage to the carrier and deposited by the carrier in its new position onto the carriage.

For this purpose the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as will hereinafter be described and more particularly set forth in the appended claims. In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a complete example of a physical embodiment of my invention in which the parts are combined and arranged in accord with one mode I have devised for the practical application of the principles of my invention.

It will however be understood that changes and alterations are contemplated and may be made in these exemplifying drawings and mechanical structures, within the scope of my claims, without departing from the principles of the invention.

Figure l is a plan view showing a sawmill carriage and the related log turning mechanism in which my invention is embodied.

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation of the structures in Fig. 1; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal sectional view of the slide carrier and its supporting frame.

In order that the general arrangement and utility of parts may readily be understood I have shown a portion of a sawmill including a trestle 7 Claims. (Cl. 14398) I that supports the track girders 2 and 3, and the girders are equipped with a flat rail 4 and an inverted T-rail 5 for the reciprocating carriage 6 which is towed to and from the sawmill, or saw, by cables 1 and 8 in usual manner. The carriage is provided with a pair of flat wheels 9, and grooved wheels II] that prevent lateral displacement of the carriage; and four stanchions or upright posts II are braced at [2, to hold the log L against lateral displacement on the carriage.

As indicated in Fig. 2 a longitudinally extending slab has previously been sawed from the log in the sawmill and the carriage has been returned to the turning mechanism with the log in position to be turned clockwise so that its flat face will rest upon the carriage as the log is returned for another cut.

An attendant or operator stands upon a suitable platform for ready access to the manual controls, which include an overhead cable I3 and handle I4, and the cable is passed around three guide pulleys or sheaves l5, and attached at IE to the underside of the push bar I! the free end of which is provided with a sharp claw or spike l8. By means of the handle and the pull cable the push bar is pulled down from full line position to dotted position in Fig. 2 so that the push bar is set in operative position with its pointed claw impinging against the upper portion of one side of the log.

The push bar is supported in floating position and it is fulcrumed at l9 upon the upper end of an upright oscillatable post or rocking beam 20, the lower end of which is pivoted at 2| upon a base board or plate 22. For lifting upwardly the spike-end of the push bar an extension or lever arm 23 of the bar is connected by spring 24 and eyebolt 25 to the stationary base 22, and the push bar is resiliently retracted to upper inoperative position after each of its working strokes.

After manually setting the push bar against the log, motor-operated means located at the opposite side of the sawmill carriage and the log are actuated to swing the oscillating or rocking post 2!! upon its pivot 2! to activate the push bar, and after the working stroke the push bar and the post are retracted rearwardly by means of a spring 26 that connects the post 20 with a fixed anchoring post 21 spaced from the oscillating post.

Power for the working stroke of the push bar is supplied from a motor 28, which rotates a drum or winch 29 upon which a cable 30. is

wound and unwound, and the outer end of this cable is attached at 3! to a floating lever 32 that is connected by a second cable 33, and eyebolt 34, to the oscillating post 20 at 35. Under manual control, as cable 30 is wound upon the drum, the floating lever 32 is swung to dotted line position in Fig. 2, and the consequent pull on cable 33 activates the push bar.

After the working stroke of the push bar the rotation of the drum is reversed so that the cable may unwind as the push bar is retracted under tension of springs 24 and 2B, and the motor and the winch are manually controlled by an operator Or a member of the crew stationed at the power plant.

Th swinging movement of the floating lever 32 to the right on the working stroke of the push bar is limited by a safety chain 36 that is coupled between eyebolt 34 and another eyebolt 3! mounted upon a fixed support, as the trestle I, and this floating lever is suspended at its upper end from a horizontal sliding-carrier by a goose-neck yoke or arm 38 of the lever which is pivoted at 3% in a bearing bracket 40. This bracket fit is rigidly mounted upon one side of the horizontal cross bar 4| of the carrier, and the cross bar unites a pair of parallel laterally spaced horizontal and metallic side bars or arms 42, 42 of the slide carrier which is axially alined with the push bar and disposed at the side of the carriage opposite to the push bar.

At their rear ends these flat arms 32 are bent to form attaching flanges bolted to the cross bar 4!, and each arm is fashioned with an intermediate upset bend 43 that provides vertically spaced sections of the arms, and the front ends of the arms terminate in sharp claws or spikes M, initially located in the path of the lower portion of the log to provide means for tripping the log as it is turned by the push bar and rolled over on the carrier, after which turning movement of the log it is deposited by the carrier upon the carriage.

In the turning or tripping of the log on its longitudinal axis, the spike-end it of the push bar I1 and the claws id of the laterally spaced arms 42 of the slide carrier, operate in different vertical planes above and below, respectively, the turning axis of the log.

. The somewhat U-shaped slide carrier is braced by diagonal braces as 35, and the carrier is adapted to reciprocate in a plane perpendicular to the carriage while supported in a hinged and depressible frame the outer end of which is pivoted on a tubular cross bar 46 that is mounted in horizontal position in the upper ends of two spaced posts s? mounted adjacent the motor and its rotary cable drum 29.

This rectangular frame includes two side bars 48, the outer ends of which are pivoted on the cross bar t6, and their inner ends are united by a cross bar :28 located adjacent to and parallel with the deck of the carriage and above the trestle. The inner end of the depressible or tiltable supporting frame is adiustably supported for vertical movement from the trestle by means of two spaced sets of upright toggle links 50, il,"one set pivoted to and depending from each side of the supporting frame, and the lower ends of the lower links of the toggles are rigidly mounted upon a horizontal rock shaft 5i journaled in bearings 52 mounted on the trestle.

' The shaft 5i may be rocked by a hand lever 52' rigid with the shaft to elevate and lower the inner end of: the tiltable frame, and a pair of spaced upright arms 53 are mounted on the inner end of the frame to depend in the path of movement of the two sets of toggles and thereby limit the off-center movement of the toggle links as the frame is tilted.

For supporting, confining, and guiding the slide carrier in its reciprocating movements in the depressible or tiltable frame, the latter is equipped with a pair of laterally spaced bottom bearing plates 53, 54, mounted on the under sides of the side bars or beams 48, and the slide carrier reciprocates on these bearing plates. For confining the carrier against upward displacement and retaining it in correct horizontal position a pair of spaced grooved rollers 55 having ball bearings 56 on axles 5'! that are mounted in brackets 58 fastened to the opposite sides of the tilting frame are employed. These retaining rollers, supported near the inner ends of the bottom plates, permit the side bars or rails of the slide-carrier to slide on the plates as the grooved rollers guide the rails, and the rollers hold-down the slide carrier in operative position as it reciprocates.

For supporting and guiding the elevated front or inner ends of the slide carrier, the rails glide over a pair of grooved wheels as 59, each having a ball bearing as Ed on an axle 6i rigidly mounted in brackets 62 fixed on the inner sides of the adjoining frame bars 48; and the cross beam ll of the slide frame is resiliently connected to the floating lever 32 by means of a retracting spring 63, which forms a flexible and resilient coupling between the power transfer lever and the carrier.

As the operating cable 30 pulls on the floating lever 32 the two pivot points 34 and 39 of the floating lever form fulcrums and the carrier is projected to dotted position in Fig. 2 to perform the function of tripping the log as it is turned by the push bar and then rolled upon the carrier to rest with its flat face on the elevated sections of the rails 42. Then for transferring the log from the carrier back to the carriage, the carrier continues its motion with the elevated sections of rails 42 conveying the log over the carriage until it contacts the upright posts II. The hand lever 53 is then manipulated to break the off-center toggle joints 50 as shaft 5| is rocked and the unsupported inner end of the carrier is lowered allowing the log to lower for deposit on the carriage with the flat face down.

The slide frame is retracted by means of a spring 55s that is anchored to a post 65 located adjacent the power plant, and a cable 66, which passes around a sheave 6! carried at one end of the spring, is anchored at one end to a bracket 68 rigidly mounted on the carrier, while the other end of the cable is anchored to a fixed support, as the trestle, at 69. The tilted frame is restored to horizontal position by manipulation of the hand lever 53.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a power operated log turner for use with sawmill carriage, the combination with a floating push bar for engaging the upper portion of one side of the log on. the carriage, an alined and reciprocable carrier located at the opposite side of the log and adapted to engage the lower portion of the log when shifted toward said log and to receive the log from the carriage, and a power operated cable system adapted to impart a working stroke to the push bar, whereby the log is rolled from the carriage onto the cartier, of a power-translating lever actuated by the cable system for reciprocating the carrier and thereby returning the log to the carriage, and separate resilient means for retracting the push bar and the carrier to their initial positions.

2. In a power operated log-turner for use with a saw mill carriage, the combination with a fixed base and an upright oscillatable post pivoted thereon, a power-operated pull cable attached to the front side of the post, and a retracting spring having a fixed support attached to the rear side of the post, of a push bar pivotally mounted on the post and retracting spring attached to the push bar for raising the free end thereof, and a manually operated setting cable having suitable guide sheaves for pulling down the push bar to operative position with relation to a log on the carriage.

3. In a power-operated log turner for use with a sawmill carriage, the combination with a fixed support and a spaced pair of posts having an elevated cross bar, a tiltable frame pivoted at one end on the cross bar and flexibly supported at its other end on the support, and manually operated means for tilting the frame, of a power operated slide carrier reciprocable on the frame, a power-translating lever pivoted on the carrier for projecting the carrier toward a log on the carriage and resiliently connected to the lever,

a power-operated cable for swinging the lever to actuate the carrier, and resilient means for retracting the carrier from a log on the carriage.

4. In a power operated log turner, the combination with a horizontally disposed frame having a pivotal support at one end and a foldable support at its opposite end, and manually operated means associated with said foldable support for tilting the frame, of a slidable power operated carrier reciprocable on the frame and means for guiding the carrier, power operated means for projecting the carrier in a direction away from said pivotal support, and resilient means for retracting the carrier toward said pivotal support.

5. In a power operated log turner, the combination with a horizontally disposed frame having a pivotal support at one end, a foldable support at its opposite end, and manually operated means associated with said foldable support for tilting the frame, of a slide carrier including spaced side rails reciprocable on the frame, a pair of hold-down rollers journaled on the frame 6 for the rails and a spaced pair of supporting rollers for the rails journaled on the frame, power-operated means for projecting the carrier in a direction away from said pivotal support, and resilient means for retracting the carrier toward said pivotal support.

6. In a power operated log-turning mechanism for turning a log on a. sawmill carriage, the combination with a transversely disposed reciprocable carrier initially located at one side of the log on the carriage and in position to engage the lower portion of said log when projected toward the log, a pivotally supported and depressible frame in which the carrier is movably supported, and manually operated means for raising and lowering the frame, of a push bar alined with the carrier and located at the opposite side of the log on the carriage and adapted to engage the upper portion of said log, an oscillatable rocking beam pivotally supporting said push bar, a power translating lever depending from said carrier, a powered cable system connected to said power translating lever and said osoillatable rocking beam, whereby the carrier and the push bar are shifted toward each other and resilient means for retracting said carrier and rocking beam to their initial positions.

7. In a, power operated log turner the combination with a horizontally pivoted frame having a vertically movable forward end and means for tilting the frame, of a slide carrier reciprocable on the frame and guiding means therefor, power operated means for projecting the carrier toward the forward end of said frame, and retracting means secured to said carrier and adapted to return said carrier.

JOHN DAUBEL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 63,080 Newton Mar. 19, 1867 141,969 Van Vleck Aug. 19, 1873 149,649 Gilbert Apr. 14, 1874 209,201 Tripp et a1. Oct. 2 1878 342,536 Perkins May 25, 1886 788,243 Brown Apr. 25, 1905 932,217 Wilkinson Aug. 24, 1909 973,423 Grabs Oct. 18, 1910 1,721,835 Schnell July 23, 1929 1,924,440 Klatt Aug. 29, 1933

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