US2844174A - Apparatus for making paper-covered wood veneer - Google Patents

Description

R. N. WARE, JR, ETAL 2,844,174

July 22, 195s I APPARATUS FOR MAKING PAPER-COVERED WOOD VENEER 5 sheets-sheet 1 Filed J\I`11y 7, 1954 E, Je.

July 22, 1 958 RN. WARE, JR, ETAL' v APPARATUS Foa MAKING PAPER-COVERED woop VENEER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July '7, 1954 ./z/E 27 fr-f E. flaw/veo A. Me; rfe

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, July 22, 1958 RQ N. WARE, JR., EVAL APPARATUS FOR MAKING PAPER-COVERED woon VENEER Filed July 7, 1954 F VR L l l i l l "l1 s 'rr l l L l l 1 1 l l July 22, 1958 RN. WARE, JR., ETAI- 2,844,174

` APPARATUS FOR MAKING PAPER-COVERED woon VENEER Filed July 7, 1954 y 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 [271/5127 ZDF E Pfc/Meo!!! Mee, c/e. E56/AML o CANA/@N July 22, 1958 R. N. WARE, JR., ETAL '2,844,174

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PAPER-COVERED WOOD VENEER Filed July '7, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FZFETZZDFE .Blew/92D V. me@ Je,

E56/M440 14A/Iva# United States Patent if@ APPARATUS FOR MAKING PAPER-COVERED WOD VENEER Richard N. Ware, Jr., and Reginald Cannon, Tallulah, La., assignors to Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application July 7,v 1954, Serial No. 441,708

11 Claims. (Cl. 144-279) This invention relates to a machine adapted for the continuous production of paper-covered wood veneer, and includes apparatus for making the veneer at intermittent rates best suited for veneer production, together with apparatus for continuously paper covering the veneer thus produced without the necessity for uniting separate veneer pieces.

Specifically, this invention deals with a machine which will intermittently produce wet or green wood veneer at high speeds coupled with a laminator which will continuously unite the wet veneer thus produced with paper covers to hold the wood in its expanded wet condition even when dried, all under the control of an operator who can so regulate the feed of the veneer into the laminator as to butt togther separated pieces of veneer to produce a continuous paper-covered wood veneer product.

Heretofore, it was deemed necessary to unite veneer pieces as by stitching or stapling, in order to produce a continuous ribbon of veneer for feeding into a paper laminating machine. The machine of the present invention now avoids the heretofore troublesome and expensive requirement for uniting the veneer pieces, since it provides for the production and delivery 'of wet Veneer sheets at rates best suited for veneer production, and then uses these wet veneer sheets to produce paper-covered veneer at rates best suited for lamination of the veneer with the paper. A single operator at the feed end -of the laminating portion of the machine controls the movement of the veneer from the veneer-forming portion of the machine, so as to feed successive veneer`pieces in butted together end-to-end relation, without ever interfering with the production of the veneer pieces. The machine is arranged so that the motive power for feeding the constituent elements of the product is applied by pulling the assembled constituents to keep them taut l and stretched while applying pressure, thereby preventing separation of the butted together veneer pieces.

According to the invention wet green logs are preferably immersed for 24 to 36 hours in water heated to 14C-212 F. This treatment softens the wood and especially the knots to facilitate veneer peeling. The hot softened logs are peeled in a lathe to form veneer ribbons. Trim and other waste is separated from the ribbons and a tipple then feeds the sound ribbon pieces to the decks of a multi-deck conveyor storage unit. The hot ribbons will lose moisture in this unit due to surface evaporation but will not dry below 30% moisture so that the wood remains in its fully expanded condition. The ribbons are then successively discharged from the storage decks onto a feed conveyor which is operated lat variable controlled speeds to bring the veneer pieces into butted together relation. A laminator receives the resulting continuous veneer ribbon and applies continuous sheets of kraft paper to the opposite faces of the ribbon. The paper is moistened, stretched and coated with soya bean glue before being pressed onto the veneer. Pulling and pressure mechanism laminates the assembly Patented `luly 22, 1958 wood. The assembly is then cut into panel lengths, the

panels are stacked and pressed to atten out high spots. The press can be operated to exert pressures of about 50 pounds per square inch on the panels and the press time need only be long enough to increase the glue bond in the uneven wood areas so that these wood parts will not spring back to form an uneven panel. The panels are then dried to a moisture content of about 6 to 12% and the glue bonds with the paper will control shrinkageof the wood. The resulting wood core of the panel will have an even open network of cells and will be free froml gaps and splits caused by grainbundle shrinkage.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a machine adapted for the continuous production of laminated wood and paper products, while still utilizing a veneer lathe which only intermittently produces the veneer constituent of the lamina-ted product.

A further object of this invention is to provide a machine for producing paper-covered wood veneer without requiring the wood constituent thereof to be stitched or stapled together for forming a continuous ribbon.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a high-speed machine fory forming paper-covered wood, which is controlled by a single operator to feed wood veneer ribbons in butted together end-to-end relation been assembled, whereby discontinuous wood pieces can be used in a continuously operating machine.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a machine which discards waste constituents before they are assembled into a laminated product.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the annexed sheets of drawings which, by way of a preferred example only, illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.

On the drawings:

Figures l, 2, and 3, are diagrammatic side elevational views of successive portions of the machine of this invention.

Figure 4 is a wiring diagram of the drive control for the various sections of the machine.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view illustrating the manner in which successive veneer ribbons are aligned in butted together relation, as they are fed into the laminating section of the machine.

Figure 6 is a broken fragmentary plan view of the drive or pull roll section of the laminator.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the control of the waste material from the lathe in the feed of the wood veneer material to the deck tray portion of the machine.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary elevational view of the drive Figure l1 is a view similar to Figure l0.but showing,

the press platform in elevated position.

Figure l2 is a fragmentary plan view of the unloading. end of the machine showing a platform truck or wagon under a stack of panels produced by the machine.

Figure 13 is a fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view along the line XIII-XIII of Figure 3.

Figure 14 is a horizontal cross-sectional view along the line XIV- XIV of Figure 13.

As shown on the drawings:

The machine ^of Figures 1 to 3 includes a veneer forming section 11, a veneer delivery section 12, a veneer storage section 13, a veneer trimming and feeding section 14, a laminating section 1S, a main drive section 16, a panel forming section 17, a delivery section 18, and i" a press section 19.

The veneer forming section 11 includes a peeler lathe 20, With a log driving spindle 21, driven from an electric motor 22 through belts, such as 23. The conventional knife 24 peels the log L carried by the spindle 21 to 4form the veneer ribbon R. While the length of the ribbon R is inherently limited by its thickness and by the diam eter of the log L, the length is more commonly and frequently limited by the inherently poor cross-grain tensile properties of the thin veneer ribbon. Thus the ribbon R peeled from a single log typically fractures across the width of the ribbon and with the grain of the wood so as to produce a plurality of consecutive ribbons from each individual log. Thus the lathe naturally breaks the ribbon into a series of ribbons. Of course, the hand may also be used to part the continuously produced ribbon into a plurality of sections by a slight blow. Accordingly, no provision is necessary for cutting the ribbon into sections. The ribbon R is deposited on conveyor belts 25 to be fed to a tipple 26.. provided between the conveyor 25 and the tipple 26. A trash discharge trough 28 is provided beneath the gap 27 and a discharge conveyor 29 is provided in the trough 28 to remove the waste material. The bark and other waste from the conveyor 25 is allowed to drop through the gap 27 into the trough 28. When the lathe 20 delivers a good veneer ribbon, the lathe attendant trips a bridge 30 to span the gap 27 and cause the conveyor 25 to deliver the ribbon to the tipple 26. The bridge 30, as best shown in Figure 7, is only wide enough to support the main body of the veneer ribbon so that the trim waste T. W. from the conveyor 25 will be deposited in the trough 28 beyond the edges of the bridge. As is conventional, the lathe 20 has the trim knives (not shown) which separate the trim waste from the main veneer sheet.

The tipple 26 is pivoted about its lower end so that its upper end will selectively feed any one of the superimposed conveyors 31, 32, 33, or 34 in the veneer storage section 13. It will be appreciated that any suitable number of superimposed conveyors can be provided. Each conveyor has a trip switch 35 associated therewith, near the discharge end thereof. This switch is adapted to be depressed whenever veneer ribbon R is passed thereover on the conveyor, for' a purpose to be hereinafter more fully described.

One of the conveyors such as the bottom conveyor 31 preferably has a clipper 36 associated therewith at about the middle section thereof. This clipper is controlled by an operator to remove imperfect sections from veneer pieces fed to the conveyor 31 by the tipple 26, so that these pieces will have good side 'edges adapted to be closely butted together. The conveyor 31 is generally utilized to receive only very short veneer ribbons which have to be separately handled from the longer ribbons.

Waste from the clipper 36 is discharged to a trough 37. Veneer ribbons from the section 13 are discharged over skids 38 into section 14 of the machine, to be deposited on top of a conveyor 39, which feeds the ribbon to a clipper 40, for finishing the leading and trailing ends of the ribbons to provide edges that can be closely butted together. Trim waste from this clipper 40 is deposited in a discharge trough 41, and the trimmed ribbons are Vthen fed from the clipper 4t) to a conveyor 42, which moves them into the inlet feed to the laminator section 15. It will be appreciated that previously trimmed short A gap designated at 27 is.

4 veneer ribbons from the clipper 36 need not be further trimmed at the clipper 4) and these trimmed pieces will be fed from the conveyor 39 to the conveyor 42 without operation of the clipper 40.

The laminator 15 includes a pair of superimposed unreeling stands 43 and 44respectively supporting rolls of paper P1 and P2 to deliver the bottom and top covers of paper to the laminator section 15.

Paper webs P1 and P2 from the unreeling stands are fed to tension roll assemblies 45, each consisting of a large diameter center tension roll 46 and a pair of adjacent small diameter rolls 47. The paper is fedunder one of the rolls 47, thence around the top of the iarge diameter roll 46 and thence under the other roll 47. The large diameter roll 46 is equipped with a brake 48, which will hold the paper fed from the assembly under the desired tension. The rolls 47 provide proper contact of the paper with the braked. roll 46.

The paper web P1 is discharged upwardly from the second roll 47 to a guide roll 49 to pass thereover en route to a reversing roll 50. The rolls 49 and 50 are separated a considerable distance 'to provide a straight paper run, which will smooth out wrinkles in the paper. The paper web P1 is reversed in direction around roll 50 and passes under a guide roll 51 to the top of a coater roll 52 operating in a pan 53. The pan is supplied with an aqueous solution or emulsion to moisten the web and cause it to expand. The coating material can include suitable disinfectants, mold preventives, surface finishing materials, or the like. The coating roll 52 is preferably knurled to deposit the coating material in desired quantities on the paper web. After passage over the roll 52, the moistened coated paper travels around a large diameter return roll 54, which will smooth out any wrinkles developed by the expansion of the paper from the moistening operation. The paper is then fed from the underside of the large diameter roll 54 over a small guide roll 55 and thence over an adhesive applying roll 56 of an adhesive applicator 57. The applicator 57 includes a pan 58 supplied with heated adhesive such as soya bean glue. The amount of adhesive fed to the paper web P1 is controlled by a doctor roll 59 on the ascending side of the applicator roll 56. The roll 56 is preferably driven at a speed faster than the speed of travel of the web P1, but does not have any effect in driving the web, since the web is held under tension and slippage between the roll and the web is developed to better coat the paper 'and smooth out the coating material.

A guide roll 60 acts on the top of the coated web after it leaves the applicator roll 56 to hold the paper down on the roll. The paper then passes around a reversing roll 61, to emerge over the top thereof and present its coated face along an upper run receiving the veneer ribbon from the conveyor 42.

The paper web P2 from the top tension roll assembly 45, like the web P1, is moistened by a knurled coating roll 62 operating in the pan 63 to apply the same coating material as the roll 52 and thereby moistening the paper. A guide roll 64 receives the paper web P2 thereunder to guide it to the coating .roll 62. A roller 65 mounted on pivoted arms to gravity oat on the web P2, receives the paper web thereunder after it has been moistened by the roll 62.V This roller 65 is supported by the paper to have a loading eiect thereon for ironing 'out wrinkles that might have developed due to the moistening of the paper. Roll 65 thus acts as a tension roll.

The paper from roll 65 has an elongated run to a supporting roll 66 and then passes under a guide roll 67 enroute to the applicator' roll 68 of a second adhesive coater 69. The roll 68 has a pan 70 along the descending side thereof to supply heated adhesive to the web P2 in the same manner it is supplied from the pan 58 to the coater 57. However, a doctor roll 71 beneath the pan 71) is driven in a clockwise direction opposite to the directionof the applicator roll 68. The doctor roll therefore wipes the coating on the applicator roll in an` upward direction so as not to pull down excess coating material from the pan 70. loll 68 like roll 56is driven at a faster speed than the speed of the paper web P2, so as to produce a better and smootherk adhesive coating. on the top face of the web.

Heated coating material to both coaters 57 and 69 is supplied from an overhead tank 72. The glue formula is prepared from a hot mixture and if necessary, either or both of the coating pans 58 and 70 can be equipped with heating coils to maintain the desired temperature for the glue.

After passage under the roll 68, the paper web P2 is guided over the top of roll 73 which causes the paper web P2 to lap a considerable portion of the roll 63. From the roll 73, the paper web P2 travels around a reversing roll 74 to positionits coated face in spaced relation above the top coated face of paper web P1. It will be noted that the roll 74 is offset from the roll 61 so that the paper web P1 will have a run uncovered by the web P2 in advance of the roll 74. This uncovered run permitsthe operator to inspect the end-to-end abutment and the linear alignment of successive veneer ribbons R deposited on the web P1 from the conveyor 42,. As indicated inl Figure 5 the conveyor 42 driven by motor 132 can be operated at a desired speed and guides 42a on the sides of the conveyor hold the veneer pieces in linear align-ment.

The coated paper Webs from their respective reversing rolls 61 and 74, together with the veneer ribbon there? between are next passed between a pair of rubber-covered pressure rolls 75. These rolls are rigid metal rolls covered with a coating of a medium soft rubber. The coating is preferably about an inch thick so that the twol rolls can cooperate in forming a rm yet yieldable nip which will tightly press the paper web against the interposed veneer ribbon, thereby ejecting all air from between paper sheets and the veneer. At the same time, the rubber will yield so 4as to force the paper down into cavities and imperfections in the wood veneer. These rolls insure the lamination of the paper and the wood.

The laminated assembly after passage. between the rolls 75 is fed between two pairs of threading rolls 7-6 and 77. ln normal operation of the machine, theseV rolls are spaced apart so as to merely serve as guide, rolls for the assembly. These rolls, however, are used to thread new lengths of paper into the machine when first starting the machine.

The assembly of paper and wood then passes over a. large number of small diameter support rolls 78,A so as to provide a horizontal run of appreciable length between` the press rolls 75 and the first set of driving rolls or pulling rolls 79, preferably including three sets in closely spaced relation in the section 16 of the machine. These driving rolls 79 are rigid metal rollers providing horizontal pres. sure nips which tightly gripthe assembly. The toprollers of each pair are spring loaded to create a desiredpressure nip sufficient to prevent slippage between the rolls and assembly. The top and bottom rolls of each pair of rolls 79 are geared together by meshing gears 80, so as to rotate in uni-son without a slippage therebetween.

As shown in Figures 2 and 6, one of the bottom rolls is driven from a motor driven variable speed drive gear box 81 through a sprocket chain 82 and a second sprocket on this roll in turn drives a second chain 83 which drives the next adjacent bottom roll. A third chain 84 connects sprockets on the middle set of rolls with lthe rst roll assembly to drive the bottom roll of this first assembly. In this manner all three sets of driven rolls are driven in unison.

After passage through the last set of pull rolls 79 the assembly is fed through a flying shears type of clipper 85 and then between a pair of rigid metal tension rolls 86, which are geared together by a set of gears 87 and are driven through a sprocket chain 8S from the third set of pull rolls 79. The driving ratio is such that the tension rolls 86 are driven at a speed in excess ofthe rolls 79 to thereby hold the assembly being clipped in a tensioned or taut condition. The rolls 86 will slip on the paper covers of the assembly.

A high-speed conveyor S9 follows the tension rolls 86 to receive the assembly therefrom. This yconveyor 89 is driven at a higher speed than the rate of travel of the assembly by means of a motor 90 (Figure 3) driving a chain 91, which in turn, drives a sprocket shaft 92, having the belts of the conveyor 89 trained therearound. The conveyor 89 has a trip switch 93 suspended thereabove to be actuated by the leading edge of the paper and wood ribbon. The switch will actuate thek clipper S5 to separate a panel board P. B. of desired length from the leading end of the ribbon assembly. The cut-olic panel board will be moved away from the new leading edge of the ribbon assembly by the high-speed conveyor 89, which will thus open up a gap between the trailing end of the cut-off panel board and the new leading edge of the ribbon assembly, permitting the switch 93 to return to its normal position whereby it can be tripped by the new leading edge of the ribbon assembly to again actuate the clipper.

A tipple 94 driven from the sprocket shaft 92 receives the panel boards from the conveyor 89 and is equipped with a stop or holding mechanism 95 adjacent to its delivery end. This stop mechanism is composed of a rock shaft 96 extending across the width of the table and equipped with a row of fingers 97 extending between the belts of the tipple. A handle 98 on the end of the rock shaft is adapted to be swung to position the fingers for forming stops holding the panel boards on the tipple as illustrated in solid lines. When it is desired to discharge the panel boards off the assembly the fingers are retracted below at the upper run of the conveyor belts of the tipple as shown in dotted lines.

A pair of laterally spaced chain racesy or tracks 99 eX- tend under the tipple 94 and forwardly therefrom a considerable distance to support endless conveyor chains 100 therearound as shown in the detail of Figure 9. Loading boards or pallets 101 are supported on the chains 100 to span the tracks and receive the panel boards P. B. from the tipple 94.

Sockets 102 (Figures 3 tnd 13) are carried on chains 103 trained around sprockets 104 on the inner faces of the rails 99. These sockets 102 removably support upright stacking guide arms 105 against which the panel boards P. B. are abutted in stacked relation on the pallets 101. The chains 103 are operated by a hand wheel 106 so as to position the sockets 102 in the desired spaced relation from the delivery end of the tipple 94 to accom-V modate panel boards of different sizes.

When a stack of panel boards is being formed against the guides 105 while supported on the pallets or boards 101, the fingers 97 on the tipple will, of course, be in their depressed position. During this stacking operation a new set of boards or pallets can be mounted on the chains 100 under the tipple for delivery when needed. When a stack of the desired height or weight is delivered against the guide arms 105, the fingers 97v are moved to form the abutment stops and hold the group of panels on the tipple. The guide arms 105 are then removed from their sockets 102 and the chains 100 are driven from a motor 107 through a chain 108 engaging a sprocket 109 on a sprocket shaft engaging the chains.

The stack of panel boards P. B. is transferred to a second set of chains 110 having an upper run in the tracks or races 99 near the ends thereof and through channels 111 of the press assembly 19. At the same time the newly deposited boards or pallets 101 on the chains 100 are moved adjacent the sockets 102. The guide arms 105 are then replaced in the sockets to form stops for the boards. The rock shaft 96 is thereupon actuated to depress the fingers 97 and allow the accumulated panel boards P. B. to be delivered from the tipple 94 for forming a new stack. The completed stack on the chains 110 is advanced, by driving the chains from a motor 112, into a press 113, having a fixed top platen 114 and a movable bottom platen 115. The movable platen 115 is actuated by a hydraulic ram 116. The chains 110 are held taut by a weight 110a which accommodates movement of the upper runs to the dotted line position when the press is closed.

The platen 115 has a pair of grooves 117 extending longitudinally from the receiving to the discharge ends of the platen and these grooves carry the channels 111. The upper runs of the chains 110 ride in the channels 111 in the same manner as in the rails 99. As shown, in Figures 3, 10 and ll, the channels 111 project beyond the inlet and outlet ends of the platen 115 and when the platen 4is lowered, the projectingends of the channels will rest on blocks 118 to raise chains 110 slightly about the top face of the platen 115, whereupon the chains will support the load on the platen. When the platen is raised by the rarn 116, the channels 111 will drop into'the bottoms of the platen grooves 117 to space the chains beneath the top face of the platen whereby the platen will carry the load free of the chains.

The stack of nished panel boards P. B. is compressed between the platens 115 and 114 to insure a perfect bond between the paper and the wood by tightly squeezing the assemblies together. The press eliminates any high spots caused by knots or the like in the panels and the stack of panels is held in the press for a suticient length of time, such as 3 to 5 minutes, for setting the adhesive sufciently to bond the paper to the wood so that uneven wood parts cannot spring back to form an irregular panel.

After the pressing operation, the ram 116 is lowered to allow the platen 115 to be moved downwardly to the level of the rails 99 on both sides of the press, whereupon channels 111 in the platen will be raised by the blocks 118 to transfer the load of the stack to the chains 110. The motor 112 is then actuated to drive the chains removing the stack onto the discharge side of the press where stationary tracks or rails 119 similarto the tracks 99 receive the upper runs of the chains. Since the tracks 119 at this discharge side of the press are open-ended, a conveyor truck T can be moved between the tracks and under the press boards 101 or pallets to receive the stack from the chains as shown in Figure 12. The truck T has a table t on hydraulic jacks l. When the jacks are lowered the table t is below the levels of .the tracks 119 to t freely under the boards 101. When the jacks raise the table, the boards 101 and the stacks of panels P. B. thereon will be lifted above the tracks and olic of the chains 110. The truck then moves the stack to another location for feeding the panel boards into a dryer.

From the above description it will be seen that laminator section 15 of the machine can be operated continuously. However, since the veneer forming section 11 and the press section 19 must be intermittently operated due to the necessity for supplying logs in succession to the lathe or peeler 20 and batch pressing operation in the press 19, this invention provides a drive control for the continuous and intermittently operating portions of the machine, which will insure continuous operation of the laminating section of the machine.

For this purpose, as shown in Figure 1, the spindle shaft 21 of the lathe 20 drives a chain 120 which in turn drives an input shaft 121 of a speed changer gear box 122. This gear box 122 then drives the conveyor 25 and the tipple 26. In addition, the gear box drives an elongated chain 123 extending to the offgoingrend of the veneer storage section 13. At this end, the chain 123 is trained over guide sprockets 124 and thence around sprockets 125 on each of the conveyor belt assemblies 31 to 34. An electrically operated clutch is interposed between each sprocket 125 and the sprocket shaft driven thereby, so that the conveyor belts are selectively driven only when the clutches are engaged.

The opposite ends of the sprocket shafts of each of the conveyor assemblies 31 to 34 are equipped with additional drive sprockets 126 as shown in Figure 8. A second endless chain 127 is trained around these sprockets 126 and around idler sprockets 128. A second gear box 129 has the input shaft thereto driven by an electric motor 130 and the output 131 of the gear box drives the chain 127. Electric clutches are also interposed betweerr each of the sprockets 126 vand respective sprocket shafts.

The conveyors 39 and 42 on opposite sides of the clipper 40 are driven from an electric motor 132 through sprockets chains 133 and 134 respectively.

The conveyor 39 preferably has a plurality of air nozzles 39A dispersed above the upper run thereof to direct streams of air across the face of the veneer being fed for removing loose trash therefrom.

As best shown in Figure 4, a control panel 135 at the operators station on the inlet end of the laminator section 15 of the machine contains a number of pushbuttons which not only regulate the speed of operation of the laminator, but also control the feed of the veneer to the laminator from the superimposed conveyor section 13. This panel 135 has a high-speed control button 136, a lowspeed control button 137, and a stop button 138, for the motor 81 which drives the pull rolls 79 to control the operation of the laminator.

The motor 132 which controls the feed of the veneer into the laminator on the conveyor 42, also has a highspeed control button 139, a slow-speed control button 140, and a stop button 141 on the panel 135.

The out-feed motor 130 for the conveyor stack 13 likewise is controlled from the panel 135 through high-speed button 142, a slow-speed button 143, and a stop button 144. l

The panel 135 has a separate button to control each of the conveyors 31 to 34 in the section 13 of the machine. These buttons have been identified as numbers 1 to 4 inclusive, with the number 1 button to control the bottom conveyor and the number 4 to control the top conveyor. As indicated, these buttons are in circuit with an interlocked relay, including relays 145 and 146. Relay 145 is in circuit with the four clutches 126 controlling the selective motor drive from the motor 130 to respective conveyors, while relay 146 is in circuit with the clutches 125 controlling the drive from the chain 123 to the conveyors.

The relays are interlocked so that when a clutch 125 for a conveyor is engaged, the corresponding clutch 126 for that clutch is disengaged and vice versa. The coils in relays 145 and 146 are energized by 110 volts A. C. and the contacts are at 6 volts D. C. for operation of the D. C. clutches 125 and 126.

The tipple 26, as best shown in Figure 4, is counterbalanced by a weight 147 on a chain 148 trained around two pulleys 149 in spaced horizontal relation to define a horizontal run of the chain therebetween. A dog 150 is mounted on this horizontal run of the chain to successively engage switches 31a, 32a, 33a, and 34a for the superimposed conveyors 3'1 to 34 respectively. One of the sprockets 149 is driven through a reversing drive from a motor 151 to raise and lower the tipple. When the dog 150 engages a switch 31A to 34A, the engaged switch closes the circuit through the relay to energize the corresponding clutch 125 for driving the conveyor from the chain 123. At the same time, a light 152 on the panel 135 will be lit opposite the'switch l to 4 to indicate that the particular conveyor is receiving veneer from the tipple. The veneer will advance on the conveyor until it depresses the heretofore identified trip switch 35, whereupon a circuit will be closed to light a warning light 153 on a panel adjacent to the operators station for the tipple 26 to thereby indicate to the operator that the particular conveyor is completely loaded, whereupon the tipple will be shifted to feed the veneer ribbon to an unloaded conveyor.

When a control button 1 to 4 on the panel 135 is operated to energize a clutch 126 for feeding veneer out of the conveyor stack an indicating lgi'ht 154 is also lit on the tipple operators panel to show that the particular conveyor is being unloaded. This prevents re-loading of a conveyor until it is completely unloaded.

It will thus be understood that the machine can be completely controlled from the laminator operators station 135 and that the veneer forming portion of the machine can be run to load the storage section 13 under intermittent operation at speeds best suited for veneer making.

In operation, when the laminator operator must bring ribbons of veneer together in abutted relation, he need only speed up the motor 132 to drive the conveyor 42 at a higher rate for-closing the gap between the successive veneer ribbons. Ordinarily this conveyor will pull the ribbon out of the conveyor stack at the high rate of speed without speeding up the particular conveyor which is feeding the ribbon. However, if it is necessary to bring the succeeding ribbon out of the conveyor stack at a high rate, the operator need then only depress the high-speed button 142 for speeding up the outfeed motor 130.

At the discharge tipple 94 for the panel boards P. B., the holding device 95 permits continuous operation of the laminator section 15 while the completed stack is moved out of the way for the batch pressing operation.

From the above descriptions, it should be understood that the machine of this invention is adapted to continually produce a continuous laminated paper and wood product and to successively deliver size panels of this product at a pre-scheduled rate while receiving the wood portion of the product from an intermittentlyoperating section of the machine which produces the veneer at a desired rate. Simplified controls eliminate the heretofore required stitching or stapling together of the wood veneer by bringing successive veneer ribbons into buttedrelation to be held in position by the paper covers for producing the continuous ribbon of the finished product.

As used in the claims, the terms continual and continually refer to operation and movement without interruption during a substantially infinite time-period of operation; the terms continuous and continuously refer to the longitudinal dimension of the material as being unbroken for substantially an infinite distance.

It will be understood that variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of this invention.

We claim as our invention:

l. In a machine for producing paper-covered wood veneer panels, the improvement of a press for pressing the panels when directly superimposed on each other as a single stack, said press having a pair of laterally spaced grooved tracks extending therethrough; a conveyor chain in each ofthe track grooves of said tracks and supported thereby, and adapted to support a stack of panels; and said press having a bottom platen grooved in alignment with the grooves of the tracks, channels in said grooves of the bottom platen extending beyond the ends of the platen, supports for the extending ends of said channels to raise the channels when the platen is in open position, said channels receiving said chains therethrough to be carried at levels below the active face of the platen when the press is closed and to be carried at levels above the face of the platen when the press is open, and chain tensioning mechanism accommodating movement of the press between open and closed positions while holding the upper runsof the chains in a taut condition in said grooves.

2. In a machine for continually producing paper-covered wood veneer, a multiple deck veneer storage unit having a plurality of superimposed conveyors, shafts at adjacent ends of the conveyors for driving the conveyors, clutches at both ends of each of said shafts, means drivin g the clutches at one end of the shafts for intermittently loading each of the conveyors, a first motor independent of said means, said motor drivingly connected to the clutches at the other ends of the shafts for intermittently unloading each of the conveyors, a feed conveyor for receiving veneer ribbons from the storage unit conveyors, a second motor for driving said feed conveyor, and control means for operating the clutches and the feed conveyor motor to control the discharge of veneer ribbons from the storage unit onto the feed conveyor and to regulate the positions of successive veneer ribbons on the feed conveyor 3. In a machine for continually producing paper-covered wood veneer, the improvement which comprises a multiple deck veneer conveyor storage unit, a tipple for supplying individual veneer ribbons to the conveyor decks of the storage unit, a feed conveyor for transferring veneer ribbons from the storage unit, mechanism for raising and lowering said tipple, mechanism controlled by said raising and lowering mechanism to selectively actuate a conveyor level with the discharge end of the tipple to move veneer ribbon into the storage unit, cutoff switches actuated by the leading ends of veneer ribbons in the storage unit for stopping the respective storage unit conveyors, control mechanism for discharging veneer ribbons from the conveyor decks of the storage unit onto the feed conveyor and for regulating the speed of the feed conveyor for feeding from the feed conveyor, and indicating mechanism at the tipple for designating the decks of the storage unit being unloaded to preclude feeding of veneer ribbons thereto.

4. In a machine for continually producing paper-covered wood veneer from veneer ribbons, glue and webs of paper, the improvement which comprises a multiple deck veneer ribbon storage unit having superimposed conveyors, trip switches associated with each conveyor for stopping the conveyor when engaged by the veneer ribbon, a tipple for feeding individual veneer ribbons to the various superimposed conveyors in the storage unit, mechanism controlled by said tipple for driving the conveyor level with the discharge end of the tipple, a feedV mechanism for transferring individual veneer ribbons from the storage unit, and means Operating the feed mechanism to discharge Veneer ribbons from the storage unit.

5. In a machine for continually producing paper-covered wood veneer, a conveyor for transferring veneer ribbons from a source thereof, a tipple in spaced veneer receiving relation from said conveyor, the discharge end of said conveyor and the inlet end of said tipple cooperating to define a gap therebetween, a trough beneath said gap, a trash discharge conveyor in said trough, a rock shaft extending across said gap and having fingers at spaced intervals thereon adapted to span the gap, means for rotating said rock shaft to move the lingers for opening the gap whereby veneer from the conveyor will drop into the trough, and said fingers lying within the width of the veneer ribbon to accommodate continuous discharge of trimmed wood veneer edges into the trough regardless of the position of the fingers.

6. In a machine for producing paper-covered wood veneer, a veneer storage unit, a plurality of superimposed veneer ribbon supporting conveyors in said unit, first control means at the inlet end of said lunit for regulating the feed of veneer ribbon into the unit, selectively onto any one of said conveyors, second control means independent of said first control means and disposed `at the discharge end of the unit for selectively regulating any single one of said conveyors to discharge veneer ribbon therefrom, and mechanism preventing operation of both said control means with respect to the same conveyor at the same time.

' 7. In a machine for continually producing paper-covered wood veneer, the improvement comprising: a multiconveyor wood veneer storage unit, a feed conveyor eX- tending from the conveyors of the storage unit, a first motor arranged to intermittently drive the storage unit conveyors one at a time to discharge veneer into said feed conveyor, a second-motor for driving the feed conveyor at a variable speed, and control means manually operable from a position adjacent said feed Iconveyor for operating said second motor at selected variable speeds so that successive veneer ribbons from the storage unit are brought together in abutted end-to-end relation for feeding a single continuous veneer ribbon from the feed conveyor.

8. In a machine for continually making paper-covered wood veneer, the improvement comprising a multi-conveyor veneer storage unit; a feeding conveyor operatively extending from said unit; a separate electric motor for driving the conveyors of the storage unit, and the feeding conveyor; and control means manually operable from a position at the outlet end of the feeding conveyor, said means including speed regulating controls for each of said motors such that an operator observing the outlet end of the feeding conveyor can regulate the two motors to discharge from the feeding conveyor continually while feeding individual successive wood veneer ribbons from individual conveyors of the storage unit.

9. In a machine for continually making paper-covered wood veneer, the improvement of means for supplying veneer ribbons in a continuous manner to a laminator, said means comprising in combination: a motor-driven veneer source of individual veneer ribbons; `a storage unit having a multiplicity of superimposed conveyors for storing ribbons flatwise individually; each conveyor of said unit having a drive shaft with a pair of individually selectably engageable clutches associated therewith; a conveyor tipple intermediate said source and said storage unit; means drivably connecting said source to said tipple and to the driving side of one of each of said pairs of storage unit clutches for effecting receiving and storing of individual veneer ribbons from said source; an additional independent source of power, operable at selectable variable speeds, drivably connected to the driving side of the other of said storage unit clutches for effecting unloading of individual veneer ribbons from the storage unit conveyors at the rate needed by the laminator for continual operation; and means preventing simultaneous actuation of said pair of clutches ou any single drive shaft.

10. In a machine for continually making paper-covered wood veneer, the improvement of a storage unit, said unit having a multiplicity of superimposed conveyors for storing Veneer ribbons llatwise individually; each conveyor of said unit having a drive shaft with a pair of individually selectably engageable clutches associated therewith; means drivably connected to the driving side of one of each of said pairs of clutches for effecting receiving and storing of individual veneer ribbons; additional means, independent of said rst named means, drivably connected to the driving side of the other of said clutches for effecting unloading of individual veneer ribbons from the conveyors; and means preventing simultaneous actuation of any pair of said clutches.

11. In :a machine for making paper-covered wood veneer panels, the improvement of a Adischarge tipple conveyor, a rock shaft mounted on said conveyor, lingers on said rock shaft adapted 'to selectively extend above the conveyor for providing abutment stops for panels on the conveyor and to be depressed below the `conveyor for accommodating passage of panels thereover, and a conveyor mechanism under the tipple for receiving panels in stacked relation from the tipple when said shaft is rocked.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 679,698 Johnson July 30, 1901 1,362,849 Christensen Dec. 2l, 1920 1,473,545 Collier Nov. 6, 1923 1,646,645 Frederickson Oct. 25, 1927 1,670,657 Friede May 22, 1928 1,900,252 Morgan Mar. 7, 1933 2,084,980 Sweeney June 22, 1937 2,191,070 Cove Feb. 20, 1940 2,269,816 Gustin Jan. 13, 1942 2,290,762 Miller July 21, 1942 2,291,650 Robinson Aug. 4, 1942 2,306,178 Meany Dec. 22, 1942 2,401,648 Kahn June'4, 1946 2,425,660 Ware Aug. 12, 1947 2,442,115 Byers May 25, 1948 2,459,524v Hanson Jan. 18, 1949 2,627,334 Koppel Feb. 3, 1953 2,637,394 Fey May 5, 1953

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