US2825371A

US2825371A - Apparatus for producing and debarking wood chips

Info

Publication number: US2825371A
Application number: US508228A
Authority: US
Inventors: William O Forman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1955-05-13
Filing date: 1955-05-13
Publication date: 1958-03-04
Anticipated expiration: 1975-03-04

Description

March 4, 1958 w. a. FORMAN 2,825,371

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING AND DEBARKING WOOD CHIPS Filed May 13, 1955 INVENTOR WILLIAM O. FORMAN ATTORNEY United States Patent O APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING AND DEBARKING WOOD CHIPS William 0. Fol-man, Fitchburg, Mass.

Application May 13, 1955, Serial No. 508,228

8 Claims. (Cl. 14441) In lumber operations generally there is always a large amount of waste, it being estimated that about 40% of all trees cut as timber is waste material insofar as the lumber, paper pulp, and other forest products resulting are concerned. This is one of the factors that leads to depletion of forest reserves and consequent need, well recognized in the art, of reforestation, tree farming, etc.

For instance, the slabs and edgings produced in a saw mill are ordinarily completely wasted, and it is usually necessary to convey the same to some point where they may be destroyed by burning without any benefit derived therefrom. This is particularly true in warmer climates Where heat is not needed for any purpose, and in many northern mills it is not economical to obtain heat from waste. Saw mills are ordinarily run by electricity generated at a remote point or by gasoline power in the case of small portable mills, although steam power is of course still used in some instances.

In the production of paper pulp, trees are cut down and are topped at approximately five inches in diameter and these tops are completely wasted, as it is not economical to handle the same under prior art practices for the production of paper pulp. This type of waste forms fire hazards if not reduced to chips, or otherwise disposed of. In addition, in making most kinds of paper, it is necessary to remove the bark from the logs before they are converted into chips for making the pulp, and this I requires the use of expensive machinery and extensive handling of the legs, so that a great deal of labor is involved in the physical action of handling the logs and removing the bark prior to passing the logs through the machines for comminuting the same. Also it is usually a requirement in making pulp for most kinds of papers that the'wood chips going to make up the pulp be of uniform fiber length and correct desired size, having reference to the kind of wood and the type of paper to be made.

In general, it is the basic object of the present invention to provide bark-free wood chips of accurate size and fiber length, particularly for making paper pulp,

wherein not only the usual pulp logs may be quickly,-

easily and accurately processed without prior de-barking, but also wherein all kinds of mill waste may be utilized and the tops of the trees formerly wasted may be utilized at least down to approximately an inch tip; also at the same time the invention provides improved chips, i. e., completely de-barked and of correct size, with much less labor and expensive machinery being required to carry out the process.

Further objects of the invention include the provision of a pulp chipping machine and a method for producing debarked chips for the pulp industry including a cutter head, a cutting knife thereon, and a chip breaker associated with said knife and having such a construction and such a position relative to the cutting edge of the knife blade that all bark is completely separated from the chips being produced simply by reason of the action of "ice the chip breaker which not only breaks the cut Wooden piece into chips of substantially exact size as desired, but also due to the same action separates the bark therefrom; this action being achieved through abruptly changing the direction of the slice of wood being cut and at the same time supplying a blow thereto, the blow being delivered by the chip breaker itself, which engages the slice of wood being cut immediately after the cut, and pushing the slice away from the main workpiece quickly and abruptly, breaks the same into the required chips and knocks the bark therefrom at the same time. This invention provides that all kinds of wood, mill waste, etc. are quickly processed at high speed and the chips and the separated bark are discharged from the machine into any kind of container desired, whereafter automatic means may be provided for dividing the bark pieces from the debarked chips, as for instance by centrifugal action, airblast devices, etc., so that one man only may produce pulp chips in condition ready for the pulp mill to a degree formerly requiring the labor of at least nine men, who are necessary to operate the de-barking mill of the prior art as well as the machine for comminuting the de-barked logs, etc., with the additional benefit that pulp chips may be made from materials heretofore wasted and thus acting in a very considerable degree to aid in preservation of existing forest reserves.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will'appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional view through a cutter head illustrating the construction and operation of the present invention; I a a Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a modified type of cutter head;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a combined cutting blade and chip breaker;

Fig. 4 isa plan view of the chip breaker;

Fig. 5 is a view from the opposite side thereof;

Fig. 6 is an edge view thereof; a

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section on line 77 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a view in front elevation of a disc-type of cutter to which the present invention may be applied.

Referring now to Fig. 1, there is shown herein a cutter head generally indicated by the reference character 10. As illustrated, this cutter head is cylindrical in nature and rotates in the direction of the arcuate arrow, i. e. in a counter-clockwise direction. This cutter head may be constructed more or less in accordance with the disclosure of Patent No. 2,634,062 dated April 7, 1953, and is provided with a series of gullets 12 which extend longitudinally of the cutter head and open out at the periphery thereof forming arms 14 each having an inner face 16 against which the fiat longitudinal cutting blade generally indicated at 18 is applied. Each gullet is wedge-shaped and wedges 29 may be secured therein by any desired means such as the bolts 22, to hold and position and the cutter blade.- e I Wedges 2% have bolted thereto at corresponding sides thereof in adjusted relation, a chip breaker which is generally indicated at 24 and is more particularly illustrated in Figs. 3 to '7 inclusive. When. it is desired to grind the cutters 18, the wedges are loosened with the chip breakers 24, and when the cutters are replaced, the original setting of the chip breaker with relation thereto is thus easily obtained, and it has been found that although the cutters 18 are dulled with use and have to be Referring now more particularly to Figs. 3 to 7 in-:':

elusive, the chip breakers 24 are each seen to comprise Q Not FPYI RY I i t y ,securablepito thewedgesflas above stated by headedbolts 28 or the like; Each'chip breaker blade'or plate is provided withia beveled edge 30 andjh s s fo 'n ed yyith aseriesofrelativelY small equally spa ed Ship. breaking teeth, each oflwhich'iiszigenerally atea i nra ,cs .by.lie elina h dea g e e o the respective te th as 'ndicated atj38. [111e sharpened edges 35$ ar'e I w l inseam that harpen d ed flie sq w h; wa immihei main body; Q thei Workd a infl iq 'atw- Th sha p edg i a e f ;tbi th ;i inreyide with'a gnlsharnle g 4, d "the AQ IWEIdedgeIof,each1tooth' indicatediat 36 is also I 335 and 376 join fqmtiq zmim A z t ac ton hrand as seen nt g. 1 7' a h X1291 i em edirqm 1 1 c sharp cu ti g dge as ofthe settin blade, 4 81 h rear the eofand a h side a awe V a relfatiyiely tifia t lbiade rniplate provided with slots 26 Off from any chipto which? na u ally connectedr After the chips have been thus produced,1it is merely it necessary to divide the bark piebes'frorflfthe chips and r J tthis is conveniently done by centrifugal means'in automatic machinerytn-ot forming a part of theipresent in' ventiQn, butwithout'the attention of any' operator] 7 V a It has been foundthatiit'gtales nine men to handle,

de=bark and 'chip oflE prulpi logs in comparison tojthe amount 'of'chip's prodncedby {aflsingle machine of the present invention which requires btit a single than to feed the mateiial thereto asabove described;

'Alhough the invention has 'been'shown above as ap plied toa cylindrical cutter, it mayal'so be'applie'd to a *7 iiqi i 'sds 1 an a .shanred ,3 -is at ,jafilesser an 7 te t s an ula r lat n hip being with respect; th

T i a e 1 19 ivqs ts emerge w h b e e .o r t bn r 48 which are in a leading pgsition flithgrespect to the n P kets asithe enter rotates.

"Q'Ihrernay be T ork; sngporting table "or the like :1"

inibiii' 50:af1d the chips are ciit and delivere diat ahigh i f ratd'of speed as has been diagrammatically indicated in Fig, 1, ihese-chips being of correct fiber length and mixed 1 'with pieces f'df barkfbut inf cases the pieces tqf bark are contpletelyfseparated from the wooden chip's.

yersed withjrespectto the fflat'side ,of V

,The' g'rain or the wood is indicated in Fi 1 and this 7 is the mannerin which the usual pulp log Will be presmall poles derived from the tops of the" logs as abve described; As the individual'cutters 18 come. into contact withthe work"W,1theytend to slice'ofi 'a relatively thin section of the work, and this section is fclearly illustrated as coming in contact immediately after beingsevered The ch ip 'breakerbe'ing on 'theo blade :as respectsthe work W, the latterjis not only sliced,

flbut the slice is given a'blow', and'atthe same time the direction of flow ofthe 'gutslice'is abruptly and con-.

side rably changed i 'e., the slice issharply'bent overito the right in Fig. '1. This action is caused; by theehip' ehip's'brf 'strigs of equal thickness depending upbi the w weed -and the settings "of thebladest 'Howey'er; it I 'hasibeen'found-thatithese chips are imiform in" thickness tldefiberr length is held toa maximuni 'fle'gree of ssiby' reason of the adjusted 'rlatieh hip Ofbltflel" he critter heedffmdthe bedkni e ,A

actiontat rl 'ght angles to'the first split, and the blows men;

: tione d aboy e :are sufiicie'nt to continue theisplitting act tion so that the strips brehips are dii ided each "accordv 7 f'ing to'the spacing of the teeth "3: 2- Hence theehipsFare i of substantiallyexact sizeand .fiber'len gth and zat the L side bf the cutter V a 7 Q 51 '99? the es a dlll rd bi flli p l i iplf br kin 21 4 99 9 the. r n lt e ma but the e 1 ha pgd es gr me chip breakers s2 alsoinitiate. a splitting.

t a t prising a lc'utter head, an edged cutting blade thereon, a "semed K? h c tter as'well as the edgings; slabs, andth disc-type of cutter-tas vlillnstrated,inefilfs 'VPatentQNO s 2,130,457 dated September 20,: 193,8;a1id this constrnc i tion "has been shown in Figs. 2 and 8,-wherein the Work 'supportis illustrated at R and the disc is indicated by the reference numeral -52. This diso is pro ided-with slots 54 and aseries of inclined knife-receivingedges's. The

fcuttingknife 18 and-thechip breaker ztare substan ally the same a s above described andthe action of th se is .v {the same also. l-lc zwele r ,iititis mere convenient "i V particular'construction bolt the two blades in r a i ti vely adjusted position to the cutter head through sur face 56 as illurs t rated by the bolt 5$; sincefthistytie of gutter does not utilize the wedges 29. r

- Itwillbeseenthat th finy'entlo n providesa metho andv apparatus for. producing tie-barked chips rep the weed 'pplp industry and 'tPIQVidiHgffQiZ the'ntilizi ng df t'waste pieces; the saying inj woodt'amountin gtd thonsands of acres oi; timber a year, so great; is presentl-day paper V riroductio'n. Not only'is vi ood'sayedand bettertupulp; chips produced, but v also the labor involved isrednced' 1 ton minimum as well;as the necessity forjcostly capital 7 equipment insofar as :derbarkingimachineslare concerned; I Haivih'g thus described my inventipn and the advantages I thereoflI do not wish rto be limitjed toi'the details herfe'in 1 l disclosed, othertuliseth an as is eti'fqrth in the -claims,"

what I claim is a i baIk-fre'e ood 7 1. Apparatus for chin breaker means holdingithe chip-breaker to the blade} V in points sgacedfirenrthefcutting bladet a aking'bark-free Wood 'chrpsjcom i i a 9 w? lh???' a l l t t' l t "Mimi;a Ph b ake msa ts. old f hi im e gla eg 7 said chipgbreaker"comprisinga bladehaying a Tser eso'r spaced teeth therepn s'aid-teeth extending'awaytfrom the? a is'il nsia Quit -r ea r ae ip-b e ke me t i 'te atipn 'theifirs a a 'l i Point spaced pm the tt n bl de:

7 s i in Blade i ti ae r i t e s a ndf e n 7 l at d nwa l -9i. H

the-work substant ally tp'the cntttng act onpf'theicuttng edge of cutter blade to engag e blade,"isaid teeth each having a sharp edge normal elat vefie e ge Q utfln s; n 3 aid-s ame 1 sta le steam ldin' "4.*Aicuttefheadifqi' makiligbu f rtf ee woed ehiiis o prising a body, a recesslthejrein; a Wobdebutflrigble cnred in the recess in positionto expose the cutting dge 'might be sri ma'nyaad r the cutting blade, said chip breaker being at the side of the blade facing away from the main part of the work to be chipped, said chip breaker comprising a plate having an edge and a series of spaced teeth on the chip breaker blade, said teeth facing away from the cutting blade, said chip breaker blade teeth each having an edge portion located at an incline with respect to the cutting blade and another edge on an incline with respect to the cutting blade and the first-named tooth edge.

5. A cutter head for making bark-free wood chips comprising a body, a recess therein, a wood-cutting blade secured in the recess in position to expose the cutting edge thereof, and a chip breaker on the body and held against the cutting blade, said chip breaker being at the side of the blade facing away from the main part of the work to be chipped, said chip breaker comprising a plate having an edge located inwardly of the edge of the cutting blade and a series of spaced teeth on the chip breaker blade, said teeth facing away from the cutting blade and being located inwardly of the edge of the latter, said chip breaker blade teeth each having an edge portion located at an incline with respect to the cutting blade, each tooth having a sharpened edge at an angle relative to the first edge portion, said tooth edges joining to form a point.

6. A cutter head for making bark-free wood chips comprising a body, a recess therein, a wood-cutting blade secured in the recess in position to expose the cutting edge thereof, and a chip breaker on the body and held against the cutting blade, said chip breaker being at the side of the blade facing away from the main part of the work to be chipped, said chip breaker comprising a plate having an edge located inwardly of the edge of the cutting blade and a series of spaced teeth on the chip breaker blade, said teeth facing away from the cutting blade and being located inwardly of the edge of the latter, said chip breaker blade having an edge portion located at an incline with respect to the cutting blade, the teeth being located on the inclined portion and each tooth having a sharpened edge generally parallel to said inclined portion, and another sharpened edge substantially normal to the inclined portion.

, 7. The cutter head of claim 6 wherein the sharpened edges of each tooth join and form a point located in position to strike the severed piece cut by the edge of the cutting blade.

8. The cutter head of claim 6 wherein the sharpened edges of each tooth join and form a point located in position to strike the severed piece cut by the edge of the cutting blade, the sharpened edges engaging the wood and splitting the same.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 321,445 Norris July 7, 1885 2,130,457 Fickett Sept. 20, 1938 2,442,492 Hassler June 1, 1948 2,689,092 Clark et al. Sept. 14, 1954 2,710,635 Alexander June 14, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 8,422 Great Britain May 30, 1890 1,042,871 France June 10, 1953