US2893451A

US2893451A - Chain-type flails having bark-cutting bosses on the outer links thereof

Info

Publication number: US2893451A
Application number: US675657A
Authority: US
Inventors: Raymond L Dickerson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1957-08-01
Filing date: 1957-08-01
Publication date: 1959-07-07
Anticipated expiration: 1976-07-07

Description

y 7, 1959 R. L. DICKERSON 2,893,451

CHAIN-TYPE FLAILS HAVING BARK-CUTTING BOSSES ON THE OUTER LINKS THEREOF Filed Aug. 1, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

INVEN TOR. 2 RAYMOND L. DIOKERSON y 7, 1959 R. L. DICKERSON 2,893,451

CHAIN-TYPE FLAILS HAVING BARK-CUTTING BOSSES EREOF O N THE OUTER LINKS TH 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 1, 1957 INVENTOR. RAYMOND L DICKERSON -BY United States Patent 2,893,451 Patented July 7, 1959 Fire CHAIN-TYPE FLAILS HAVING BA'RK-CU'ITING BOSSES ON THE OUTER LINKS THEREOF Raymond L. Dickerson, Spokane, Wash. Application August 1, 19 57, Serial No. 675,657

2 Claims. (Cl'. 144-208) This invention is a device for removing the bark from logs, and employing the principle of flailing or revolving chain's.

Under the high competition of todays lumber market and because of the depletion of' our natural resources reducing toa large extent the number of top-grade trees, it is becoming more and more necessary for the sawmill operator to exercise great care in sawing logs so that he may produce from any given log the greatest amount of top-grade lumber contained therein. To do so, it is necessary to cut the lumber so that the grain is positionedin the finished lumber in the desired manner, and also it is desirable: to avoid as many knots as can conveniently be avoided.

Obviously to accomplish this purpose, it is desirable that one have'a clear view of the log unhindered by bark which conceals the grain. It therefore is becoming more and more customary to-remove the bark from logs prior to the sawmill operation.

Under present day practice, it is conventional to support a-log in aframeon spindles somewhat like one positions apiece ofwood for turning in a lathe, and then a debarking headis disposed to cut and scrape the bark from the log. Toa'certaindegree, this has proven satisfactory. However, it has been found that this leaves a log quite smooth and slippery and therefore makes it difiicult to' handle and: hold during the sawing operations, even though the grain-doesbecome visible.

In view of this I have devised the present debarking device which is specifically designed to overcome the aforementioned undesirable features, and in addition, to provide a debarking headofthe revolving chain type which materially increases the speed at which one may remove the bark from logs and which mutilates to a slight degree the wood under the bark so that the log is not slippery and therefore is much more easily handled.

I have disclosed". in the accompanying drawings one physical embodiment of my present. invention, but it is to. be;.understood that the drawings are illustrative only and are not. presented for the purpose of limitation, it being desired to secure the invention broadly as defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, like numerals are, employed to'designate like parts, and

Figure l is a view in elevation showing the debarking device on a vertical plane laterally of the trackway for the log carriage;

Figure 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical cross section taken through the head laterally of the axis of the arbor;

Figure 3 is a still-further enlarged, fragmentary cross section taken on a vertical plane longitudinally of the axis of the arbor;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross section taken on the plane indicated at line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a view partially in cross section and partially in elevation taken on the planes indicated by lines 5--5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a vertical cross section taken on the plane indicated by line 6-6 of Figure 3;

Figure 7 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary detail of the swivel mount for the chains; and

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the endmost links of one chain flail.

Referring now with a greater degree of particularity to the drawing, I have shown a trackwayformed by spaced parallel rails 10. A carriage 11 having wheels'13' which roll upon the tracks 10 has power means (not shown) for imparting mobilizing movement to the carriage for rectilinear movementover the trackway. There are numerous means for moving carriages of this type, and therefore the details are omitted from the present drawing. The carriage supports a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending shafts 14 which support two wheels 15 forming a cradle or log support, and it will be seen that rotation of the shafts 14 and therefore the wheels 15 simultaneously in one direction will effect rotati'onof-the log L on the carriage. Movement of the carriage '11 along the trackway 10 willeflect axial movement of the log.

Fixed adjacent to the trackway 10 is a supporting frame 16 which is stationary and which pivotally supports at 17 a vertically tiltable boom 18 which is comprised of spaced channel bars 19-49 (Figure 3) which have their outer ends secured together by' additional channel members 20-20 (Figure 2). A hydraulic cylinder 21 is mounted upon the top beam 22 of the support frame 16, and its piston rod 23 extends downwardly and is pivotally secured at 24 to the boom 18. A conventional valved source of fluid under pressure (not shown) is communicated with the hydraulic cylinder 21 through a conduit such as 25, so that through conventional means an operator may raise and lower the boom by controlling the valve which controls the hydraulic fluid to and from the cylinder 21.

Mounted upon the outer end of the boom in covering relation between the side bars 19 and the channel members 29 is a protective cover 26 and therebelow midway between the channel members 20, side bars 19 carry bearings 27 on their lower flanges.

Supported in the bearings 27 is a rotatable arbor 23 which it will be seen has reduced end portions 29 disposed in the bearings and an enlarged midsection 3i At its extreme ends, the arbor has the reduced end portions 3% to accommodate the nuts and lock nuts 31 which at one end secure a belt pulley 32 preferably of' the V- belt type and preferably one which is adapted to engage two or more V belts B to provide suflicient frictional drive to the arbor from the motor M.

At the opposed ends of enlarged midsection 30, the arbor 28 is also threaded as seen at 33-. It will also be noted that the enlarged midsection 39 of the arbor 28 is provided with a keyway 34 in which is disposed a conventional elongated key 35-. Carried by the arbor on the enlarged midsection 30 is a drum indicated in its entirety by thenumeral 36 but which is made up of a plurality of pieces, each of which encircles in coaxial relationship the arbor 28. As best seen in Figure 3 of the drawing, the drum is comprised of a plurality of intermediate discs 37 and alternate circumferentially reduced spacing wheels 38 keyed to the arbor by key 35. At the extreme ends, the end discs 39 are provided with enlarged apertures 40 at their centers, and these apertures are designed to receive a washer 41, the purpose of which will be subsequently seen. Each of the

discs

37 and 39 and the reduced spacing wheels 38 is provided with a number of apertures 42 here shown as being 4 in number, and communicating with each other, so that tie bars 43 may extend therethrough and be releasably secured by means of the nut and set-nut combinations 44 on the ends thereof externally of the end discs 39. This provides a unitary structure for the drum 36. To hold the drum to the arbor 28, I provide nuts 45 which cooperate with the threaded portions 33.

i In addition to the apertures 42, each of the discs in its marginal edge portions, that is, that portion extending beyond the peripheral face of the spacing wheels, is provided with a plurality of anchor rod receiving apertures 46 circumferentially spaced equidistant and each series being axially aligned to receive anchor rods 47 therethrough. In the present drawing, the anchor rods are shown to be 12 in number. However, it will be understood that there may be more or less as found desirable, depending upon the size of the debarking head desired.

It will be noted that the end discs 39 are each provided with an annular ring 52 which covers the apertures 42 and therefore provides sockets to receive the extreme end tors 48 which are disposed spirally about the head 36.

That is, a swivel connector will be disposed on an anchor rod 47 between the end disc and the next subsequent disc, and then the next swivel connector will be disposed upon the next successive circumferential anchor rod between the second and the third discs, and so on about the head to dispose the swivel connectors 48 in a spiral arrangement about the head. Each of the swivel connectors supports a chain flail 50. In viewing the end views as seen in Figures 1 and 2, it appears that there are 12 chain flails, but actually since there are 15 spaces formed by the reduced spacing wheels 38, there are 15 chain fiails, some of the anchor rods 47 having two swivels 48 secured thereon but spaced 12 spaces apart.

Although to some extent, bare revolving chains will remove bark from the logs L, it is more efficient and leaves a roughened and more acceptable log for handling when the end links of the chains 50 are provided with striking claws or bosses as seen at 51 in Figure 8. These bosses are not seen in Figures 1 and 2, only because of the scale of the drawing, and not because they are to be omitted from the chains. It is contemplated that they shall be on the end three links of each chain disposed substantially as shown in Figure 8, that is, with bosses midway the length of the two links next adjacent to the end link and on the side faces thereof as indicated at 51a, and on both sides of the link bosses adjacent to the upper bent or annular portion as seen at 5115, and extending in the plane of the chain link. Other bosses are provided on the lower are at 510 in the plane of the chain link and angularly disposed with relationship to each other. While the endmost link is provided with the bosses 51b and 51c, the bosses 51a are omitted and bosses 51d are substituted at a point adjacent to the upper arc of the link and on opposed sides thereof, and in addition, on both sides midway the length of the lower are I provide bosses 51e.

As seen in Figure 1 of the drawing, the head 36 is lowered to the point where the lowermost three chain links strike the bark of the log L, and these links are the ones provided with the plural bosses. The bosses penetrate into the bark and the momentum of the chains 50 and power of the head 36 etfect tearing of the bark from the log L, and thus quickly and easily remove the bark and simultaneously the bosses 51b fracture the surface grain of the wood sufficiently to roughen it so that it is convenient to handle the log.

It will be understood that the speed of rotation of the head is such so that the chains do not flail the log sufiiciently hard to tear the wood, but only to remove the relatively soft bark from the harder wood. This speed, of course, will vary with logs having different physical characteristics.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a log-debarking device, a revolving-chain debarking head comprising an arbor adapted to be rotatably supported in a frame and having reduced end portions and an enlarged central portion; said central portion being threaded on its opposed marginal end portions; said central portion having a keyway; a key in said keyway; alternate discs and circumferentially reduced spacing wheels encircling said central portion intermediate said threaded ends and being keyed to said central portion by said key, the end ones of said discs each having an enlarged central aperture, washers encircling said central portion and dis' posed within the apertures of said end discs, clamping nuts associated with the threads of said central portion and clamping said discs, spacing wheels, and washers together into a unitary structure; a number of tie bars extending through said discs and spacing wheels and secured thereto; circumferentially spaced anchor rods extending through the several discs in their marginal edge portions and outwardly spaced from said spacing wheels; said end discs having sockets to receive the ends of said anchor rods and said intermediate discs having aligned apertures through which said rods extend; swivel connectors carried by said anchor rods intermediate said discs and spirally arranged circumferentially of said drum; debarking chains carried by said connectors; and said chains having bark-cutting bosses on the links at the free ends thereof.

2. In a log-debarking device of the plural beating chain type the improvement comprising protruding bosses carried by a number of links at the free ends of each of said chains.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,436,555 Daniell Feb. 24, 1948 2,601,261 Carpenter June 24, 1952 2,795,320 Dillingham June 11, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 135,165 Sweden Apr. 8, 1952