US2849038A - Machine for producing fibrous wafers - Google Patents

Description

s- 26, 9 8 J. 'A. CLARK 2,849,038

MACHINE FOR PRODUCING FIBROUS WAFERS Filed June 16, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. %ame4 dmfiw ATTOR Y5.

Aug.26, 1958 J. D'A. CLARK MACHINE FOR PRODUCING FIBROUS WAFERS Filed June 16, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 B 477264 dwfihw,

% INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

J. D'A. CLARK MACHINE FOR PRODUCING FIBROUS WAFERS Aug 26, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 16, 1954 IN VEN TOR. fwd awa /w, Y I

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 7 2,849,038 MACHINE non PRODUCING FIBROUS WAFERS James dA. Clark, Longview, Wash., assignor to Changewood Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application June 16, 1954, Serial No. 437,265

10 Claims. (Cl. 144-472) This invention relates to apparatus for producing wafers of the type described and claimed in my copending applications Ser. No. 229,375, filed on June 1, 1951, now abandoned, and Ser. No. 344,089, filed on March 23, 1953, now Patent No. 2,777,789. It relates more particularly and it is an object of this invention to produce a new and improved apparatus for producing fibrous wafers of relatively small wood slabs or pieces of scrap wood or the like.

Waferizers of the type described in my copending applications rely in their operation on the use of slabs cut to predetermined dimension and shape in order to pro vide for their proper feeding into the cutting area for severing wafers or elements of the desired contour therefrom. Since wood slabs of a certain minimum length are required for use with such apparatus, a relatively large amount of wood may be wasted. In addition it has been found that much wood is available from the wood processing industry in the form of pieces of small dimension or irregular shape, unsuitable for conversion to wafers by means of machines of the type described, which are either discarded or else burned as fuel it need exists therefor in the vicinity. Thus a large amount of wood which could be transformed into desirable structural products is being wasted throughout the Wood working industry.

Therefore, it is another object of this invention to produce apparatus for the manufacture of wafers of the desired shape from pieces of wood that need not be of predetermined dimension nor of large dimension and thus permit the conversion of otherwise waste material into articles of manufacture for the fabrication of structural products of high strength and of excellent appearance.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter appear and for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings in which Figure l is 'a top plan view of a waferizer embodying features of this invention;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the waferizer shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional View taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is'a side elevational View partially in section of a modified form of waferizing machine embodying features of this invention;

Figure 6 is an end elevational view of .the waferizer shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of Figure 6, and

Figure 8 is a fragmentary elevational view of a disk type of waferizing machine embodying features of this invention.

Description will be made now of an apparatus embodying features of this invention for producing wafers cut across the grain of the wood with the cutting edge held parallel to the grain and the wood fed to the apparatus in relatively long slabs extending across the width of the apparatus. When wafers are cut from the underside of such slabs by rapidly moving knives extending across the length of the slab, it is desirable to be able to effect adjustments during operation to control the relative average thicknesses of the wafers severed at the extreme ends of the slabs so as to compensate for any non-uniformity of cutting or non-uniformity in the feed which might otherwise prevent severing the wafers substantially parallel to the grain or posibly jamming the apparatus. It has been found that if compensating means are not available, a small increase in the thickness of the wafers severed from one end of the slabs lying in the feed hopper will cumulatively result in the removal of a large amount from that end so that the slabs will thereupon become offset at such an angle in the hopper that the knives will no longer be cutting between the fibers of the wood to produce the wafers but instead will be cutting obliquely through the wood to produce wafers of inferior strength. Ultimately such non-uniformity with respect to the amounts cut from the underside ends of the slabs will cause the slabs to shift completely out of their horizontal position and jam against the side walls of the hopper through which they are fed. Thus, it is an additional object of this invention to provide in apparatus of the type described, means for elfecting adjustment of the cutting during operation to correct tilting of long slabs caused by their not having parallel faces or by the accumulated difference caused by variations in the thicknesses of wafers severed from the underside ends of the slabs.

Briefly described, apparatus embodying features of this invention comprises a suitable feed hopper through which the wooden pieces or slabs are gravitationally advanced in feeding relation against a moving surface having planing edges or cutting knives arranged substantially parallel to the grain of the wood for shaving oif thin slices across the entire length of the wood and, if the slabs are long, coupled with means for adjusting one or more of the knives to vary the thicknesses of the slices severed from ends of the wood pieces, the moving surface also embodying means for scoring the side of the wood pieces adjacent the knives prior to severing so as to determine the width of the wafers and the angular relation of the edges thereof. In place of the scoring means, alternate knives may be scalloped to cut wafers of the desired width and shape.

' In the drawings, 10 are hoppers preferably backwardly sloped, as shown, and supported by elements 11 to a framework 12 so as rigidly to position the hoppers over the upper surface of a revolving drum 13 and forwardly over its axis of its rotation 14. For purposes which will hereinafter be described, as shown in Figure 1, it is also desirable to angle the hoppers in a horizontal plane to provide for progressing engagement of the wooden slabs by the oncoming operating element. The trailing wall 16 of each hopper of which the edge adjacent the drum is preferably radial for a small distance, is spaced at its lower ends from the surface of the drum by an amount only sufficient to permit free passage of knives or planing edges 17 which are fixed in spaced apart relation about the periphery of the drum and extend substantially completely across the width thereof.

Each knife 17 is separately mounted in a notched portion 18 provided in the peripheral sections of the drum and it is rigidly held against the wall thereof by a clamping block 19 and screw bolt 20 to grip and lock the knife firmly in position. The distance that the cutting edge 21 of each knife member 17 extends from the periphery of the drum may be adjusted by loosening the screw bolt 20 and shifting the knife outwardly thereby to increase the thicknesses of the wafers cut from the underside of the wood slab 22 as the knife blade passes thereunder.

Additional means provided for adjustably mounting each knife, shown one one of the knives in Figure 3, comprise the block 30 fixed within the notched portion 31 of the drum provided with a slotted section 32 in the block 19. Positioned within the slot in a manner to prevent turning but in a manner to permit outward shifting movement is a threaded nut 33 that is operatively engaged by a threaded bolt 34. The lower edge of the cutting blade 17 rests on the upper surface of the nut member 33 so that, as the nut is caused to shift outwardly responsive to turning the bolt by its accessible head 35 after loosening the clamping screws 20, the knife member is caused to shift therewith in an outward direction. It will be understood that other related means may be used properly to mount the knife blade in position of use.

Immediately in advance of each cutting knife 17 is a gullet 37 into which wafers are introduced as they are cut by the knife blade from the slab. The gullets extend crosswise through the drum, and as shown in Figures and 6, one end is fitted to receive a nozzle 38 piped from a hole 39 in shaft 14 into which air under high pressure is introduced through a rotary joint to blow a constant stream of air from the inlet to the outlet of each gullet thereby to remove wafers as they are deposited therein. From the outlet end, the air streams with the wafers entrained therein may be led to a collector where the wafers are separated from the air streams and are caught and stored for subsequent use. It will be evident that the header as well as the distributing conduits rotate with the drum to blow a constant stream of air through each gullet to keep them cleared. This is facilitated by supplymg each gullet with a rotary sleeve, as will be later described.

Unless the main knives 17 are scalloped, as described in my copending application Ser. No. 344,089, it is preferred that a plurality of scoring knives 40 be mounted to extend from the surface of the drum in predetermined laterally spaced apart relation with the cutting edges oriented in the direction of travel of the drum. The function of the scoring knives is to slit or score the underside of the wooden slab by an amount at least as thick as the wafers cut by the oncoming knives so that the spaced relation between the scoring knives will determine the width of the wafers cut. When cutting wafers with a substantially vertical edge, the effective surface of the scoring member may be wedge-shaped so as to produce a V-shaped groove in the underside of the slab which forms the edges of the wafers when severed by the cutting knives. However, it is preferable to arrange the scoring member to project at an angle of say 30 to the axis of the drum, to provide corresponding angular slits in the underside of the slabs which define the angular taper of the end edges of the wafers severed.

The scoring knives may be adjusted to extend a greater or lesser amount from the periphery of the drum by means of individual clamping screws 44. Screws 41 secure the assembled knife block 42 in a slotted or recessed portion 43 of the drum. The clamping screws engage threaded openings provided in the drum for securing the block in the desired position. The depth of the score is adjusted to be slightly greater than the sum of the thicknesses of the slices taken from the block before the next scoring knife is shifted into scoring position.

An important feature of this invention is that one or more of-the gullets has a separate forward portion 50 shiftable radially in the direction toward or away from the peripheral surface of the drum so as to'position a tip 51 in cooperative relation with the cutting edge of its associated knife blade 17 to function as a fine adjustment for the depth of cut taken by one side of the cutting knife, determined by the vertically spaced relation between the surface of the tip and the edge of the blade. The adjustable portion 50 is fixed at one of its ends to the face of the drum by bolts 52 having a thin spacer plate 53 therebetween. The opposite end of the adjustable portion 50 is fixed by bolt members 54 t0 the outer end of a flexible springy metal strap 55. The inner end of the strap is in turn secured by screw members 56 to a plate 57 rigid with the outer wall of the drum 13. The curvilinear portion of the adjustable member 50 is adapted to define a part of the gullet which is preferably provided with a liner in the form of a slotted cylindrical steel tube 57, whose function will be later discussed.

Intermediate the ends of strap 55 there is provided an opening 53 through which a stud 60 extends and is secured at its inner end to the side wall of the drum 13. Threadably engaging a portion of the stud outwardly of the strap 55 is a nut member 61 that is operatively engaged by a star wheel 68 which through friction disk 62 is able to turn the nut in one direction or the other.

It will be apparent that operation of the pin wheel to turn the nut in the direction to flex the strap 55 inwardly, in Figure 4, will cause radial adjustment of the portion 50 inwardly toward the center of the wheel to increase the depth of cut of the associated cutting knife. Operation of the pin wheel to cause turning movement of the nut 61 in the opposite direction will cause the ends of the strap 55 to extend and shift the movable piece 50 in the outward direction to decrease the depth of cut taken by the associated knife in the end section. Thus there is provided a micrometer adjustment for shifting one end of the nose piece 51 in cooperative relation with the knife blade to determine the vertical spaced relation therebetween for governing the thickness of the slice taken by the knife from the underside of the slab at that end.

While it is possible to embody means for adjustment of the type described with every knife, it is sufficient to provide the adjustment for only a single knife in the manner described since, for example, if the drum 13 rotates at say R. P. M., the adjustment of only .005 inch on one side higher or lower will cause that side to cut /2 inch more or less on that side during the period of 1 minute.

Means are provided for effecting turning movement of the pin wheel during operation of the machine whereby adjustments to secure and maintain balance can be made as the occasion demands without stopping the machine. For such purposes, there is provided a clutch assembly 63 mounted for free rotational movement about the stud 60. Located between the clutch member and nut 61 is a friction plate 64 whereby turning movement of the pin wheel is transmitted to the nut unless the nut is located in one or the other of its limit positions. The plate 64 is urged in the direction of the friction disk 62 by a coil spring 65 seated at one end in a recess 66 formed between a groove in the upper end portion of the clutch plate 63 and the stud while the other end of the spring bears against the underside of a nut 67 threaded into the end of the stud in spaced relation with'the clutch plate.

The clutch plate is provided with star wheel 68 the lugs of which are adapted to be engaged by one or the other of the pins 70 and 71 extending inwardly from a T lever 72 pivotally mounted for rocking movement in arm '73 upon actuation in one direction or the other by handle 74. Shifting movement of the handle 74 in one direction will position one of the pins in operative engagement with the lugs of the wheel to cause turning movement thereof transmitted to the clutch plate in one direction during each revolution of the drum and rocking the handle in the opposite direction will cause an opposite turning movement of the clutch plate. The friction plate causes conjoint movement of the nut so long as the strap is between one of its limiting positions of adjustment.

The drum 13 is mounted for rotational movement on a shaft 81 journalled at each end in bearings 82. The shaft is adapted to be rotated at Variable speed by suitable driving means actuated from a power source (not shown).

In operation, the knives 17 are initially adjusted for severing wafers of a desired thickness and the scoring blades 40 are set to produce slits in the underside of the wood calculated for a depth a trifle greater than the thickness of the wafers to be cut before the next scoring member engages the wood and positioned at an angle to provide the desired taper in the edges of the sliced wafers. Generally the adjustable portion which controls the tip 51 in cooperative relation with the knives 17 for varying the thickness of the Wafer is positioned substantially flush with the remainder of the drum surface. The drum is rotated at a peripheral speed of upward of 1500 feet per minute and wooden slabs are fed into the hopper with the grain of the wood lying substantially parallel to the axis of the drum. The wood is gravitationally urged into contact with the surface of the drum aided by the slope at which the hoppers are attached and whereby the underside of the wood is successively engaged by the scoring members and by the knife blades to sever wafers therefrom. At this point, it is important to note that if the feed hoppers were in radial alignment with the drum, the knife blades would have no effect in assisting gravity in the feed of the wood 'towards the drum. If, on the other hand, the feed hopper is positioned forwardly of the radius of the drum, as described, a wedge will be formed in' the edge of the slab between the forward wall of the hopper and the surface of the moving drum. Also, the knives, engaging the wood piece in a plane substantially normal to the drum will serve to urge the wooden slab in the downward direction and wedge it against the forward wall of the hopper and the face of the drum thereby to steady the piece incident to the cutting operations. The lower end of the forward wall of the hopper is preferably made radial to limit the wedging action of the slabs when they are reduced to thin slivers.

As they are severed, the wafers enter the gullet immediately in advance thereof and are blown endwise through the drum to a suitable collecting hopper. It is desirable to skew the hoppers at a slight angle to the axis of the drum, as shown in Figure 1, so that wafers fall into the gullet first at the end of the gullet remote from the air nozzles, which are not shown but are presumed to be positioned on the left hand side of Figure 1.

During operation of the machine, in the event that the Wooden pieces being cut acquire an undesirable angular relation in the hopper either by reason of the knives collectively cutting slightly deeper at one side than the other or because inserted wood pieces themselves had a tapered face, the depth of cut of one or t more knife members at one edge portion as compared to the other may be increased or decreased while the machine is operating by actuation of lever 74 for a short period of time to engage either pin 71 or 7th with the star wheel 63 to cause turning movement of the clutch plate and nut. This will adjust the tip 51 inwardly or outwardly, as occasion demands, to increase or decrease respectively the depth of cut of the cooperating knife blade in the corresponding end portion. If not compensated, the unbalance in the wooden slab may become increasingly greater to the end that an undesirable product will be secured and the hopper will ultimately become jammed.

It is practically essential to make the adjustment while the machine is running rather than by stopping the machine to readjust the knife blades because in the former an adjustment can be made until the balanced cutting is achieved. If the machine is stopped to adjust the knife blades, unbalance in one direction may be compensated by overadjustment in the opposite direction and into cutting relation with the knives.

require further shutting down of the machine. Such frequent stops to adjust knife blades can be avoided by making the adjustment during operation as described.

In a modified and preferred form of the invention, greater utilization is made of the cutting area available over the surface of the drum limited chiefly by the utilization of gravitational sired feed by providing a plurality of hoppers 100, as shown in Figure 5. As a further modification, the hoppers 100 may be subdivided transversely across their Width into compartments 1@@6l-d, as shown in Figure 6, so that better utilization is made of odd-shaped and shorter pieces of wood usually wasted in the furniture trade.

In this modification, one or more of a plurality of feed hoppers are subdivided into several sections transvcrsely preferably with the sections differentially divided so as to receive short Wooden pieces of various lengths. Such sections may be secured by subdividing a single large hopper with longitudinal and transverse wall sections but it is preferred to provide a number of separate hoppers in order to arrange the angular relation of each section with respect to the cutting surface of the drum for maximum efficiency, as will hereinafter be described.

When multiple feed chutes of smaller dimension are desired, it is possible to make use of so much of the peripheral surface of the drum as will enable the utilization of gravitational force to advance the pieces of wood Thus without resorting to the use of a powered feed in the hoppers it is possible to position the feed hoppers over the entire upper surface of the drum from a point rearward of the axis of rotation to a point forward which includes a circumferential portion greater than 90 degrees.

As mentioned, it has been found, especially where gravitational feed of the wood pieces is used, that a desirable wedging action, which eliminates chatter or bounce of the feed and promotes greater efiiciency in the cutting and scoring operations may be achieved when the individual hoppers are positioned at a forward angle of between 30 and 45 degrees tangent to the movement of the blade at the time of cutting.

In practice, hoppers having about a 2 inch width are used to produce wafers of substantially corresponding Width (as measured across their grain) unless the pieces of wood fed into them are thinner. As in Figure 5, the hoppers 1% are preferably positioned about the periphery of the drum starting on the vertical axis and ending at a point about 90 degrees away. The hoppers are each positioned at an angle of about 30 to 45 degrees or more with the radious of the drum where located.

Referring especially to Figure 7, while the fixed type of gullet shown in Figures 13 works fairly well at low speeds of rotation of the drum 13, say up to 50 R. P. M., at higher rotational speeds, difficulties are encountered because of increased centrifugal force on the wafers produced. The force tends to push them back through slot 83 entering the gullet 37. One of the Wafers may become wedged sideways in the slot and then serve as a focal point for others to pile up upon and thus block free lateral passage through the gullet. To overcome this difficulty it is desirable to close this slot intermittently after the wafers enter. This may be accomplished in a number of ways, such as by a flat member situated beneath and across the slot adapted to slide backwards and forwards to open and close the slot at each revolution, and actuated by any conventional means. As shown in the drawing, a rotary liner 84, preferably of hardened steel, is provided for each gullet, the liners having slots 85 extending around their circumference for about corresponding with the are occupied by the feed hoppers. The liners are rotated once per revolution of the drum 13, for example by means of a train of gears such as are shown in Figure 5, the rotation of the liners being in a direction opposite force for maintaining the deto that of the drum. There gear 86 is held stationary onthe shaft 14 of the drum while the others, journalled on the side of the drum, rotate with it. This rotates gear 87 anticlockwise which meshes with a double gear 88 which accordingly turns clockwise and rotates liner 84 and another gear 89 with it. Gear 89 transmits the same rotary motion to the adjacent gullet liners.

The setting of the gears is so adjusted that the slot 85 in a liner uncovers slot 83 during passage of the gullet beneath the hoppers and closes immediately thereafter. If there is any stoppage in slot 33 by a wafer, the sharp leading edge 90 of the steel liner cuts off the Wafer against a cooperating steel edge 91 of an anvil 92 which is inserted beneath each main knife 17 and may be clamped in position by the screw Ztl which holds the knife. The inside of the liner 34 is made smooth and polished so as to facilitate removal of the wafers therethrough by the jet of air from nozzle 38, positioned at the axis of each.

It is desirable to position the cutting knives 17 at an angle of about 30 to the direction of cut so as to keep the wafers as flat as possible, and to minimize the power required, which however is relatively very small-about l horsepower day per ton of wafers.

While no special preparation is required of the wooden slabs or pieces previous to waferizing, considerable advantage has been found to result from the pretreatment of the wood if is is dry to introduce moisture to provide for a moisture content of between 20 and 30 percent. At this concentration, the Wood piece appears to have optimum characteristics for waferizing and the wafers with about 15 percent of moisture appear to have very desirable properties for use in the manufacture of composite molded structures.

If a disk type of machine for cutting wafers is employed, the height or level of the wood pieces in one end of the hopper may be adjusted by a modified mechanism of which a fragmentary view is given in Figure 8. This modification may also be used to advantage with the drum form of waferizer when multiple hoppers are used since with it, the depth of cut taken by the end of one or more of the knives while passing beneath a hopper may be individually adjusted for that hopper. In the example shown, one end of the adjustable surface Stl projects out from the edge of the disk or the rim of the drum 13 and while it passes beneath a hopper it is borne upon an adjustable support 93 which may take the form of a roller, rotating on shaft and bearings 9 mounted at one end of a lever arm 95 pivoted at the other end on a bracket secured as by bolts onto the framework of the apparatus. The roller end of the arm is supported so that it may be adjusted towards or away from the surface Stl such as by means of a screw 97 passing through a threaded hole in a fixed supporting member 98. Thus, if say the slope of the wood in the hopper 10 becomes undesirably great, the wood at the front end being too high, while the machine is operating screw 98 is lowered sli htly which lowers the adjustable surface 50 as it passes beneath the hopper which results in a thicker cut being taken by knife 17* at the front end of the hopper so that the level of the wood in that hopper becomes restored.

It is clear that, as shown in Figure 8, in place of mounting the knives and hoppers around the upper portion of a drum, the operative surface may take the form of a disk or turntable with knives and hoppers radially located. Such a construction calls for a large and rather massively constructed machine which occupies more floor space. However, it has the advantage that wafers may pass through slots in the turntable to be collected beneath it, and not required to be blown out of gullets as when a drum as described is employed.

It will be understood that numerous changes may be made in the details of construction, operation and that conventional devices may be subarrangement and stituted for one or the other elements herein described without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for cutting slices from a body of wood, the combination comprising a rotatable supporting member, abutment means on said supporting member defining an abutment surface thereon, means adjacent said supporting member for guiding a wood body toward said abutment surface in a predetermined plane downwardly inclined toward the direction of rotation of the rotatable supporting member whereby the wood body i caused to be fed down the plane by the movement of the supporting surface in combination with gravity, 2. cutting blade mounted on said supporting member for movement therewith along a circular path, said blade having a cutting edge spaced in front of said abutment surface and extending substantially perpendicularly to said path and said predetermined direction for cutting slices from the wood body, adjusting means on said rotatable supporting member for varying the relative spacing between said cutting edge and said abutment surface at the opposite ends of said cutting blade and thereby regulating the relative thicknesses of the slices at the opposite ends thereof, a manually movable control member at a stationary point adjacent said rotatable supporting member, and clutch means responsive to movement of said control member and operatively connected to said adjusting means for operating said adjusting means during rotation of the supporting member.

2. In a machine for cutting slices from a body of wood,

the combination comprising a rotatable supporting member, abutment means on said supporting member defining an abutment surface thereon, means adjacent said supporting membenfor guiding a Wood body toward said abutment surface in a predetermined plane downwardly inclined toward the direction of rotation of the rotatable supporting member whereby the wood body is caused to be fed down the plane by the movement of the supporting surface in combination with gravity, a cutting blade mounted on said supporting member for movement therewith along a circular path, said blade having a cutting edge spaced in front of said abutment surface and extending substantially perpendicularly to said path and to said predetermined direction for cutting slices from the wood body, an adjusting mechanism mounted on said supporting member for etfecting relative movement between said blade and said abutment means to adjust the spacing between said cutting edge and said abutment surface and thereby regulate the thickness of the slices, a star wheel rotatably mounted on said supporting member and connected to said mechanism for operating said mechanism, and manually operable control means mounted at a stationary point adjacent said supporting member and movable selectively into the path of said star wheel' for rotating said star wheel step-by-step in response to rotation of said supporting member and thereby adjusting the thickness of the slices with said supporting member in rotation.

3. In a machine for cutting slices from bodies of wood, the combination comprising a rotatable drum having a peripheral stop surface thereon, hopper means adjacent said drum for feeding wood bodies against said stop surface, a cutting blade mounted on said drum for movement therewith, said blade having a cutting edge projecting outwardly beyond said stop surface and extending generally longitudinally of said drum for cutting slices from the wood bodies, said drum having a gullet therein in the form of a longitudinally extending passage underlying said blade, said gullet having an entrance slot underlying said cutting edge and extending through said peripheral surface into said gullet for admitting the slices thereto, said gullet having open ends but being substantially closed except for said open ends and said entrance slot, means for directing an air stream into one end of said gullet for blowing the slices outthe opposite end thereof, a liner sleeve rotatably received in said gullet and having a longitudinal entrance slot, driving means for rotating said liner sleeve in accordance with rotation of said drum but in the opposite direction of rotation, said driving means being timed to register said entrance slot in said sleeve with said entrance slot in said gullet so that said gullet will be open as said blade passes said hopper means, said sleeve being effective to close said entrance slot in said gullet after said blade has passed said feeding means, said sleeve having a sharp-cutting edge extending along the leading edge of said entrance slot therein for moving across the entrance slot in said gullet and thereby severing any wood slices in the path of said sleeve.

4. In a machine for cutting slices from bodies of wood, the combination comprising a rotatable drum having a peripheral stop surface thereon, feeding means adjacent said drum for feeding wood bodies against said stop surface, a cutting blade mounted on said drum for movement therewith, said blade having a cutting edge projecting outwardly beyond said cylindrical surface and extending generally longitudinally of said drum for cutting slices from the wood bodies, said drum having a gullet therein in the form of a longitudinally extending passage underlying said blade, said gullet having an entrance slot underlying said cutting edge and extending through said cylindrical surface into said gullet for admitting the slices thereto, said gullet having open ends but being substantially closed except for said open ends and said entrance slot, means for directing an air stream into one end of said gullet for blowing the slices out the opposite end thereof, a liner sleeve rotatably received in said gullet and having a longitudinal entrance slot, driving means for rotating said liner sleeve in accordance with rotation of said drum, said driving means being timed to register said entrance slot in said sleeve with said entrance slot in said gullet so that said gullet will be open as said blade passes said feeding means, said sleeve being eifective to close said entrance slot in said gullet after said blade has passed said feeding means.

5. In a machine for cutting slices from bodies of wood, the combination comprising a rotatable supporting member having a stop surface thereon, feeding means adjacent said member for feeding wood bodies against said stop surface, a cutting blade mounted on said member for movement therewith along a circular path, said blade having a cutting edge projecting outwardly beyond said stop surface and extending transversely of said slot for cutting slices from the wood bodies, said drum having a gullet therein in the form of a passage underlying said blade, said gullet having an entrance slot underlying said cutting edge and extending through said stop surface into said gullet for admitting the slices thereto, said gullet having open ends but being substantially closed except for said open ends and said entrance slot, means for directing an air stream into one end of said gullet for blowing the slices out the opposite end thereof, a liner sleeve rotatably received in said gullet and having a longitudinal entrance slot, driving means for rotating said liner sleeve in accordance with rotation of said supporting member, said driving means being timed to register said entrance slot in said sleeve with said entrance slot in said gullet so that said gullet will 'be open as said blade passes said feeding means, said sleeve being effective to close said entrance slot in said gullet after said blade has passed said feeding means.

6. In a machine for cutting slices from bodies of wood,

the combination comprising a rotatable drum having a peripheral stop surface thereon, feeding means adjacent said drum for feeding wood bodies against said stop surface, a cutting blade mounted on said drum for movement therewith, said blade having a cutting edge projecting outwardly beyond said stop surface and extending generally longitudinally of said drum for cutting slices from the '10 -wood bodies, ,said drum having a gullet therein in the form of va longitudinally extending passage underlying said blade, said gullet having an entrance slot underlying said cutting edge and extending through said cylindrical surface into said gullet for admitting the slices thereto, said gullet having open ends but being substantially closed except for said open ends and said entrance slot, and means for directing an air stream into one end of said gullet for blowing the slices out the opposite ends thereof.

7. In a machine for cutting slices from bodies of wood, the combination comprising a rotatable supporting member having a stop surface movable therewith, means adjacent said supporting member for feeding wood bodies against said stop surface, a cutting blade mounted on said supporting member for movement therewith along a circular path in trailing relation to said stop surface, said blade having a cutting edge disposed in outwardly spaced relation to said stop surface and extending transversely to said path of said blade for cutting slices from the wood bodies, said supporting member having means defining a gullet therein in the form of a passage underlying said blade and extending generally parallel to said cutting edge, said supporting member having an entrance slot therein underlying said cutting edge and communicating with said gullet for admitting the slices thereto, said gullet having open ends but being closed except for said open ends and said entrance slot, and means for directing an air stream into one end of said gullet for blowing said slices out the opposite end of said gullet and thereby clearing said gullet of the slices.

8. In a machine for cutting slices from bodies of wood, the combination comprising a rotatable drum having stop means thereon defining a peripheral stop surface, hopper means adjacent said drum for feeding wood bodies against said stop surface, a cutting blade mounted on said drum for movement therewith, said blade having a cutting edge projecting outwardly beyond said stop surface and extending generally longitudinally of said drum for cutting slices from the wood bodies, adjusting means on said drum for effecting relative movement between one end of said blade and the corresponding end of said stop means, manually operable means at a fixed point adjacent said drum for selectively operating said adjusting means and thereby varying the spacing between one end of said cutting edge and the corresponding end of said stop surface to vary the relative thicknesses of the opposite ends of the slices with said drum in rotation, said drum having a gullet therein in the form of a longitudinally extending passage underlying said blade, said gullet having an entrance slot underlying said cutting edge and extending through said peripheral surface into said gullet for admitting the slices thereto, said gullet having open ends but being substantially closed except for said open ends and said entrance slot, means for directing an air stream into one end of said gullet for blow ing the slices out the opposite end thereof, a liner sleeve rotatably received in said gullet and having a longitudinal entrance slot, driving means for rotating said liner sleeve in accordance with rotation of said drum but in the opposite direction of rotation, said driving means being timed to register said entrance slot in said sleeve with said entrance slot in said gullet so that said gullet will be open as said blade passes said hopper means, said sleeve being effective to close said entrance slot in said gullet after said blade has passed said feeding means, said sleeve having a sharp cutting edge extending along the leading edge of said entrance slot therein for moving across the entrance slot in said gullet and thereby severing any wood slices in the path of said sleeve.

9. In a machine for cutting slices and wafers from a body of wood, the combination comprising a cylindrical drum mounted for rotational movement about a horizontal axis, a feed chute adjacent the top surface of the drum for gravity feed of the wood through the chute into engagement with the periphery of the drum and in which the feed chute extends angularly to the perpendicular of the tangent at the point of contact with the drum to provide a leading wall in the chute which cooperates with the drum to provide a camming action in combination with gravitational force urging the wood firmly against the surface of the drum, a cutting blade extending crosswise from the periphery of the drum for cutting slices from the body of wood during movement into engagement therewith, and means for adjusting the cutting blade in the direction toward and away from the periphery of the drum to decrease and increase respectively the distance the cutting edge extends from the periphery of the drum thereby to regulate the relative thickness of the slices cut from the body of wood.

10. In a machine for cutting slices and waters from a body of Wood, the combination comprising a cylindrical drum mounted for rotational movement about a horizontal axis, a feed chute adjacent the top surface of the drum for gravity feed of the wood through the chute into engagement with the periphery of the drum and in which the feed chute extends angularly to the perpendicular of the tangent at the point of contact with the drum to provide a leading wall in the chute which cooperates with the drum to provide a camming action in combination with gravitational force urging the wood firmly against the surface of the drum, a cutting blade mounted to extend crosswise of the drum with its cutting edge extending outwardly from the periphery thereof, means for adjusting the cutting blade at opposite edge portions in the direction toward and away from the periphery of the drum to decrease and increase respectively the distances that the cutting edge extends from the periphery of the drum thereby to regulate the thickness of the slices cut from the body of wood, and manually operable means for selectively operating said adjusting means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 475,881 Merrill -5 May 31, 1892 1,743,435 Dalen Jan. 14, 1930 1,799,814 Hommel Apr. 7, 1931 2,130,457 Pickett Sept. 20, 1938 2,462,022 Hedman Feb. 15, 1949 2,626,757 Shaw M Jan. 27, 1953 2,739,627 Vohringer Mar. 27, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 511,111 Belgium May 31, 1952

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