US2867316A

US2867316A - Log-handling device

Info

Publication number: US2867316A
Application number: US682371A
Authority: US
Inventors: John J Uhlenkott
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1957-09-06
Filing date: 1957-09-06
Publication date: 1959-01-06
Anticipated expiration: 1976-01-06

Description

Jan. 6, 1959 J. J. UHLENKOTT LOG-HANDLING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 6, 1957 INVENTOR. John J. Uhl enkofl Jan. 6, 1959 J. J. UHLENKOTT LOG-HANDLING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 6, 1957 2 Ev Om wt g INVENTOR. John J. Uhlenkofl 2,867,316 liatented Jan. 6, 1959 United States Patent Ofiice LOG-HANDLING DEVICE John J. Uhlenkott, Keuterville, Idaho Application September 6, 1957, Serial No. 682,371

3 Claims. (Cl. 203-75 I My present invention is a log-debarking device, and more particularly relates to an improved log-handling device for supporting a log relative to a debarking head.

It. is customary today in, many mill operations to remove the bark from logs, prior to sawing or otherwise working upon the logs, for the purpose of more accurately determining the grain of the wood so that each log may be sawn to the best advantage to produce as much top grade lumber as possible. It is desirable therefore to remove the bark from logs very rapidly and cleanly without undue mutilation of the wood. The most prevalent debarking device which has proven satisfactory in the field is a type having a removable and interchangeable blade supported on an articulate arm which will'flreadily accommodate logs having irregularities in peripheral size and shape and radially extending knots or branch stubs. One such debarking head is disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 607,720, filed September 4, 1956, now Patent No. 2,830,630, granted April 15, 1958, in which I show that it is customary to support logs'to be debarked in a large frame similar to supporting'a piece of wood in a lathe for turning. This of course requires considerable time and labor to accurately support the log and mount it in the head and tail stocks for',turning.

The present invention is particularly designed to minimize the amount of time and adjustment necessary to accurately support a log for removal of the bark by the debarking head. It is therefore one object of this invention to provide a log-handling device which may very readily receive and support logs, having. various circumferences and irregularities, with respect to a debarking head.

A further object of the invention lies in the provision of a log-handling device which supports. the logwith a minimum amount of adjustment, therefore one which may position a log for operation of the debarking head with a minimal expenditure of time.

A further object of the invention lies in the provision of a log-handling device which will support a log for operation thereupon without limitation to the length of the log which may be supported. I

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a log-handling device which will rotate a log at a desired speed and axially advance a log by the same means at variable speeds according to manual selection.

The accompanying drawings disclose one physical embodiment of the proposed invention constructed in accordance with the best mode I have thus far devised, but it is to be understood that the drawings are supplied for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention beyond that defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is an end elevation showing the log-handling device and a debarking head associated therewith;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the log-handling device and having portions broken away for convenience of illustration; and

rail 12, here shown to be I beams in cross section. A I

suitable bracket 21 braced at 22 supports a debarking head indicated in its entirety by the numeral 15. The de tails of the debarking head are. disclosed in my patent above referred to and will not be greatly defined herein with the exception of stating that a removable bark removing blade 16 is carried on the end of an articulate arm 17 and disposed to remove the bark portion B of a log L.

Inaddition to a guide 18 by means of which the head is supported ona way 19 extending parallel to the log L, the head 15 will be provided with means (not shown) for lateral adjustment to facilitate proper positioning of the head which position may vary relative to the log diameter.

The front and rear rails 11 and 12 are tied together with laterally extending beams 13 which may be bolted or riveted as seen at 14 to form an extremely rigid and strong frame which of course is required when supporting and handling logs that weigh a considerable amount.

On the inner or rear rail 12 I provide a plurality of vertically disposed upstanding spindles .20 which are dis posed in a series parallel to the front rail 11 and spaced from each otherlongitudinally of the frame 10. Each spindle has at its lower end an encircling thrust bearing 23. Upwardly spaced therefrom a collar 24is releasably secured by means of set bolts 25 or otherwise. The collar also supports a thrust bearing 26. j I

Supported upon these thrust bearings% and 23 of each spindle 2 3 are upper and

lower journal sleeves

27 and 28 which encircle the spindle 29. The sleeve ljournals are each Weldedto or otherwise support a base portion 29 of a log cradle indicated in its entirety by'numeral 30.

It will be seen that each of. the cradles is. substantially L-shaped with its base 29 disposed vertically parallel to the spindle 20 and an arm 31 extending laterally of the frame ill to and over the front rail 11.. As seen in Figure 3, each cradle is fabricated from a pair of

channel members

32, 32 which are spaced by means of a number of sleeves 33 disposed therebetween. Bolts 34 extend through'apertures in the webs of the channel members 32 and sleeves 33 and nuts .35 clamp the channel members 32 to the sleeves 33. A loose roller sleeve 36 surrounds the sleeve 33 so that it may rotate as an idler as will be subsequently seen. 7

At the free ends of each of the base members 29 and the arms 31 I provide

sprockets

37 and 44. The sprocket 44 is carried by a shaft 51 journaled in the end of the arm 31 of the cradle 30 on a horizontal axis. The sprocket 37 is carried by ashaft 38 which is disposed on a horizontal axis parallel to the shaft 51 and is also vertically shiftable in recesses or bifurcations 39 formed in the ends of the base members 29. Hydraulic cylinders 40, one at each side of the base members 29, have piston rods 41 which are associated with bearing sleeves 42 encircling the ends of the shaft 33. When the cylinders are energized, the ends of the shaft 38 are raised or lowered according to manual selection, and thus the sprockets 37 may also act as chain-tensioning devices.

- Each cradle 36 has an idler sprocket 43 journaled axially parallel to the

sprockets

37 and 44, and mounted at the juncture of the arm 31 and the base 29. Chains 45 are trained about the several sprockets in a vertical path and have a log-supporting flight 46 extending. between the

sprockets

37 and 54.

At its outer end, each arm 31 has a bracket 47 which supports an electric motor 48 connected to drive a chain 49 trained about a sprocket 50 rigidly fixed to a shaft 51 of the sprocket 44 so that the motor drives the sprocket 44 in the direction shown by the arrow 52. It will thus be seen that as the log L is supported upon the log-supporting flights 46 and the chains are driven by the sprockets 44 in thedirection of the arrow 52, the log L will be caused to rotate in the direction of the broken arrow 53 sothat the bark B may be removed by the blade 16 of the debarking head 15. l

s Although the way 19, as seen in Figure 2, is elongated so that the head 15 may be moved longitudinally of the log to remove the bark therefrom, it is not necessary to do so, since I have designed this log-handling device to advance the log relative to the head. To accomplish this function, it will be seen that I have provided rollers 54 to support the free ends of the cradles 30, and these rollers rest and roll upon the outer or front rail 11, to permit movement of the laterally extending arms 31 from a position at right angles to the rails 11 and 12 to an angular position as seen by dotted lines of Figure 2. This is accomplished by means of a hydraulic cylinder 55 which has its piston rod 56 connected to move one of the arms 31 and since all of the arms are interconnected by means of links 57 pivotally connected at each end to successive arms, they move inunison and in parallelism.

It will thus be seen that with the chain traveling in the direction of the arrow 52 and the log rotating in the direction of arrow 53 and as seen in Figure 2, with the arms disposed at the dotted position of 31, the log will be caused not only to rotate but to advance axially parallel to the rails 11 and 12 to be operated upon by the debarking head 15. The speed of advance, of course, is variable with respect to the amount of angling of the arms 31, and may be adjusted to advance in accordance with the requirement of each bark-removing job. i The rollers 36 surrounding the sleeves 33 are prominimum the wear thereon. I Havingthus described my invention, I claim as new and desire totsecure by Letters Patent of the United States the following:

1. A log-handling device comprising a support frame including a front rail; vertical spindles carried by said frame in a series parallel to and laterally spaced from said rail; each said spindle pivotally supporting a cradle porately and selectively pivoting said cradles in parallelism to angular positions, whereby to axially advance a log supported thereon by said power-driven chains at varying speeds according to manual selection.

2. A log-handling device comprising a support frame including a front rail; vertical spindles carried by said frame in a series parallel to and laterally spaced from said rail; cradle members each'having a vertical base member pivotally supported on one said spindle and a laterally extending curved arm movably supported on said front rail for swinging movement of said cradle members about their respective spindles; said base and arm being substantially right angularly disposed with respect to each other; each said cradle-carrying sprockets at the free end of each arm and base and at the meeting angle of said arm and base; the sprockets of each cradle containing a common plane; a log-supporting chain trained about said sprockets on each cradle and having a log-.

supporting flight extending between the sprockets on the ends of said arm and base; power means for driving one of said sprockets on each cradle; and other power means operable to pivot said cradles corporately about I their respective spindles.

3. A log-handling device comprising a frame including a front rail and a rear railsecurely anchored with respect to each other; a plurality of vertical spindles supported by said rear rail in spaced relationship to each other;

5 laterally extending cradles journaled for rotation about tvided to act as idlers for the chain to reduce to a the axes of said spindles and having their outer ends movably supported on said front rail; said cradles being substantially L-shaped with a base member parallel to its respective spindle and the arm extending laterally to the front rail; sprockets carried at the free ends of said base member and said arm and at the juncture of said base member and said arm; an endless chain trained about said sprockets; power-drive means for driving said sprocket on theend of said arm; a chain-tension-adjusting mechanism operably associated to shift said sprocket on the end of said base member laterally of its axis; and

manually operable power means for corporately pivoting said cradles about the axes of said spindles to shift said chains in parallelism.

References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENT St 2,596,187 Watts et al. May 13, 1952 2,793,320 Dillingham June 11, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS a 92,338 Sweden May 17, 1938 148,033 Germany Feb. 5, 1904