US3092158A - Pole incising mechanism - Google Patents

Description

June 4, 1963 c. E. ELLERMAN ETAL 3,092,158

POLE INCISING MECHANISM Filed April 1, 1959 s Sheets-Sheet 1 I M/A 5 Ziii kfiin 252552 cf MONA/MN r m 3 o m W. I 4 d m n M II 0 I Wm AW ATTOE/VEVJ' June 4, 1963 c. E. ELLERMAN ETAL POLE INCISING MECHANISM Filed April 1, 1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 J INVENTORS. 65442156 6 ElLPMA/V meme 6! MONA/IAN wwmwzw June 1963 c. E. ELLERMAN ETAL 3,09

POLE-INCISING MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 1, 1959 14670:? C. MON/4644 June 4, 1963 c. E. ELLERMAN ETAL 3,092,153

POLE INCISING MECHANISM Filed April 1, 1959 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 BY Mm A W A from/5V5 June 4, 1963 c. E. ELLERMAN ETAL 3,09

POLE INCISING MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed April 1, 1959 MN 5 mmw 5 mum H W N 6. e a M m [z r a A MW June 4, 1963 c. E. ELLERMAN ETAL 3,092,158

POLE INCISING MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet '7 Filed April 1, 1959 wmw NE INVENTOR-S'. 644E165 6 1 [AMA/v BY 10070,? a MONA/IAN A fTOE/Vlfi' mmw QM X.

Rv LO W 1 hi Q 3 3 a a w 3 Q MQ June 4, 1963 c. E. ELLERMAN ETAL 3,092,158

POLE INCISING MECHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed April 1, 1959 INVENTORS. 644E655 1-. [(ZAQMAA/ BY V/c'roe a MoA/A/MA/ United States Patent 3,092,158 POLE INCISING MECHANISM Charles E. Ellerman, Olympia, and Victor C. Monahan, Tacoma, Wasln, assignors to Cascade Pole Company, Tacoma, Wash, a corporation of Washington Filed Apr. 1, 1959, Ser. No. 803,488 16 Claims. (Cl. 144-2) This invention relates to wood product puncturing mechanisms, commonly known as incisors, and more particularly relates to puncturing mechanisms especially adapted to high speed incising of the peripheral surface of a wood product varying in diameter from end to end, such as poles, pilings and the like.

Wood product preservation to minimize susceptability of the wood product to attack by wood destroying organisms, decay, and/or damage by fire commercially involves incising all or part of the peripheral surface of the wood product, followed by placing the wood products in .treating solution in a large open tank or pressurized retort. Known treating agents comprise preservatives, such as creosote, creosote solutions, oil-borne, cuprous or cyanate preservatives, or other salt preservatives, and/ or fire retardant solutions.

Because of its porous structure, a wood product might be expected to be easy to treat by impregnant liquids but in commercial practice is found to often offer surprising resistance to penetration by liquids, depending upon the species of wood, the water content, whether a surface condition such as known in the trade as case hardening is encountered or whether the surface has been debarked. Deep penetration, and more particularly a substantially uniform degree of penetration at least through the so-called sap ring or soft outer layer of the wood, as found in Douglas Fir for example, is a proven necessity for good preservation. Often, also, a specified depth of impregnation requires penetration of the liquid into the inner heart wood of the wood product as well, and it becomes imperative that effective incising to substantially uniform depth and substantially uniform spacing of the wood product surface be accomplished prior to the impregnation treatment. Otherwise the harder winter wood rings will tend to block and prevent lateral flow of the liquid too near the Wood surface. Also, deep and uniform incising permits the water to be exhausted from the wood much more effectively.

Modern impregnation processes basically involve either an open tank treatment or a retorting treatment, with the liquid being urged into the wood by extended soaking, by the so-called hot and cold method, or by use of pressurization in a retort to force the preservative material into the wood.

Some species are very resistant to impregnation, notably Douglas Fir, even when subjected to the best of modern impregnation processes.

The present invention has as a primary object and advantage the provision of practical incising means and incising methods insuring deep, uniform incisions and consequent deep, uniform penetration of the preservative liquid in all woods at reduced cost and with improved product quality. Savings of from to 25% in impregnation time, as compared with the time normally necessary during the open tank or retort phase of the treatment, have been realized, without any adverse effect on the structural strength of the product.

Detailed specifications as to incision requirements and recommended preservative content and procedures are promulgated by the American Wood Preservers Association, and conformance therewith on a high-speed production basis is also a primary object of the present invention. By way of example in this regard, such Associa- Patented June 4, 1963 M CC tion requirements in the case of preservation by a creosote or oil-borne preservative call for a minimum net retention of preservative of from 4-16 lbs. of preservative per cubic foot of wood volume, depending upon the service to which the woo-d product is to be put. Practice has demonstrated that production standards of at least 16 lbs. of creosote solution per cubic foot of wood, with incision penetration of about Vs inch, and substantially uniformly spaced incisions (with an incision for each about 2 to 3 square inches of pole surface on the average) are readily maintained by the mechanism and method of the subject invention.

Prior incising mechanism-s almost universally and characteristically involve intermittent or progressive rotation of the pole during the incising operation, coupled with either vertically reciprocating punch bars such as shown in Rawson U.S. Patent No. 1,440,893, Lynch et a1. 1,468,484, Valentine 1,621,963 and Monson et a1. 1,894,049, or horizontally reciprocating incisor means such as in Nelson U.S. Patents Nos. 1,622,538 and 1,675,042, and Charland 2,351,401, or progressive rotation and advancement to give a spiral incision pattern with or without conjunctive peeling such as in Tinling U.S. Patent No. 2,563,758, Graham et a1. 2,684,089, and Pence 2,781,802. Incisors for sawn lumber, involving power driven incisor rollers, are also known, as shown by Edwards et al. U.S. Patent No. 1,646,955.

No previously available incisor mechanism offers a practical solution to the problem of generating an ade quate number of substantially uniformly spaced incisions in the surface of a wood product varying substantially in diameter from end to end because any incising mechanism which requires rotation of the wood product about its longitudinal axis has an inherently rather slow throughput rate, and because any incising mechanism of fixed lateral contour or dimension is not adaptable to wood products of varying diameter.

Characteristic objects and advantages of the present invention include presentation of wood product incising mechanisms wherein wood products varying in diameter from end to end and from product to product can be incised along their entire peripheral surfaces during a single pass through the mechanisms without axial rotation; wherein the incising elements are mounted on a base member surrounding the wood product and characterized by a floating action with respect to the line of travel of the wood product, eliminating any necessity for substantial lateral movement of the wood product during the course of the incising operation; wherein such floating base member mounts a series of circumferentially arranged and independently radially movable incisor means, such as wheels, each lying in a plane substantially including the axial line of travel of the wood product; wherein each such incising means is mounted for free rotation and yieldable radial movement to closely follow any random or progressive surface variation or irregularity presented by the wood product surface portion facing such incising means; wherein various automatic and semi-automatic means are provided for facilitating the centering of the floating base member with respect to the disposition of the wood product passing therethrough, including utilization of roller type follower means, feeler element responsive hydraulic or pneumatic control means, or the like, or combinations thereof; wherein accommodation for wide variance in the diameter of the wood product is provided for by provision of a plurality of incising stages, each with a floating incisor carrying base member and with the incisor means on the base members arranged in a respectively staggered or offset pattern, considered circumferentially and laterally of the wood product, with the base members disposed substantially coaxially along the path of travel of the'wood product, i.e. in cascade;

wherein such mechanism involving a plurality of incising stages has each stage selectively operable, either manually or automatically, to present only one or both stages in incising contact with the wood product, depending upon or responsive to the diameter of the wood product being incised; wherein the series of incisor means disposed circumferentially about the wood product all act simultaneously and with substantially uniform pressure laterally around said wood product, with variation in diametric separation between the various incising means being established by the actual diametric dimension of the wood product between opposed incisor means at any given instant of operation, each incisor means being in floating, pressure contact with the surface area of the wood product facing same, with the degree of pressure exerted by each incising means substantially equaling the pressure eXerted by each of the other incising means regardless of the diameter of the wood product; wherein such floating incising means are selectively actuated or deactuated in concert from a common hydraulic or pneumatic power source; wherein each such incising means is either pivotally or reciprocably mounted on a common base member; wherein the various elements making up the incising mechanism are simple of fabrication and economical to operate and maintain, in large part involving multiple, interchangeable elements; wherein the incisor means and common base member mounting same at each incising stage or section of the mechanism automatically adapt to varying pole diameters and varying twists or eccentricities in the pole longitudinal dimension without interruption or impediment of the incising action; wherein the floating nature of the base member mounting carrying the incising means enables the mechanism to adapt itself substantially to the pole in its position in the pole feeding means associated with the equipment, eliminating any necessity for elaborate positioning devices in connection with the conventional conveyor system for such wood products; and wherein the motive force for movement of the wood product through the equipment during the incising operation is derived from the associated feeding means.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of various typical and therefore non-limitive embodiments thereof, as presented by the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric, somewhat fragmentary view of one form of equipment embodying the invention, taken from an upper aspect and viewing the infeed end of the mechanism;

FIG. 2 is a view in rear elevation, somewhat diagrammatic and fragmentary in character, taken from the out feed end of the mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a view in vertical cross section, taken substantially along the vertical center plane of the equipment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic view in front elevation of the floating base member and incisor means of the equipment, showing constructionally and schematically the nature of the feeler bar responsive, pneumatic centering system for automatically self-centering said base member with respect to the wood product;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, isometric view of a segment of the centering linkage forming a part of the centering system shown in FIG. 4;

, FIG. 6 is an enlarged detailed view in front elevation of a typical incisor wheel arm and associated assembly;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side view of one incisor wheel in incising contact with the wood product surface;

FIG. 8 is a view in side elevation on a reduced scale of an incising mechanism involving two incising sections arranged in series along the course of travel of the wood product, the left hand or first section being shown with the incising means thereof in wood product engaging position and the second or right hand section thereof being shown with the incising means in a retracted position;

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic view indicating the relatively staggered or offset disposition of the respective incising means of the incising sections of the mechanism shown in FIG. 8.

IG. 10 is a schematic presentation of a typical control circuit for automatically actuating or deactuating the right hand or second section of the incising mechanism shown in FIG. 8, responsive to the diametric dimension of the wood product presented at the first section of the mechanism;

FIG. 11 is a modified form of automatic control mechanism for centering the incising mechanism and floating base member of a given incising section, involving hydraulic rather than pneumatic control and actuation;

FIG. 12 is an isometric, fragmentary view similar to FIG. 1, but showing a modified form of centering means involving a plurality of reciprocable roller means;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary, isometric view from a rear aspect of a portion of a modified form of base member attached incising wheel mounting means, wherein the incising wheels reciprocate radially with respect to the base member and are each anchored thereto by an associated guideway and slide block;

FIG. 14 is a detailed side view of one of the incisor means and associated guiding and actuating equipment, as shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. -15 is an isometric view similar to FIGS. 1 and 12, showing yet another form of pole infeed and base member centering means, including V-shaped centering rolls; and

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary side view, partially in cross section, further showing the base member centering means illustrated in FIG. 15, and particularly the inter connection means between the roll mounting slide plates thereof.

Turning now -to a more specific consideration of the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-7, involving a single incising station, it will be understood that the heart of the mechanism is found in a floating base member 20, shown in the form of a plate, with the respective front and rear faces 22 and 24 thereof disposed transversely of the direction of travel of a pole P passing therethrough, such direction of travel being indicated at 26. Base member 20 has a centrally disposed opening 28 of sufiicient diameter to readily accommodate the largest diameter of pole P to be encountered. In a typical installation, the diameter of opening 28 was selected at twenty-eight inches.

The stationary framing of the equipment is preferably of channel beam construction, including stationary horizontal members 30 and 32 (FIGS. 2 and 3) providing a base, stationary vertical upright members 34 and 36 respectively at the right and left sides of floating base member 20, as viewed from the front thereof, and stationary upper horizontal framing including transverse top beams 38 and longitudinally extending top beams 40.

Vertically movable within the forward, vertically extending stationary frame members 34 and 36 is a subframe formed by respective upper and lower horizontal members 42 and 44 and vertical side members 46 and 48 respectively at the right and left sides of the subframe as viewed from the front. Vertical movement of the sub-frame with respect to the stationary frame, as indicated by arrows 50 (FIG. 2) is laterally restricted by means of vertically disposed rollers at the right and left sides of the sub-frame, riding in the inside channel or trackway provided by respective frame uprights 34 and 36, such rollers as are mounted on sub-frame upright 46 and ride in the inside trackways 52 and 54 inside of fixed upright 34 being shown in FIG. 2 at 56. It will be readily understood that, as viewed from the front of the machine, the left hand arrangement as between fixed uprights 36 and sub-frame upright 48 involves an identical arrange ment of inside trackway and guide rollers.

For ease of manipulation during operation of the equipment, the weight of the sub-frame and the equipment components it carries, including base member 20 and its associated elements, have the weight thereof preferably substantially entirely counterbalanced by a vertically acting counterweight system mounted on the stationary frame. Such counterweight means (noting also the plural arrangement thereof in FIG. 8) includes laterally spaced connector straps 60 (FIG. 2) and 62 (-FIG. 3), respectively connected to the right and left upper corners of the sub-frame by trunnion straps 64 and 66 connected at the upper ends thereof to counterweight arms 68 (FIG. 2) and 70 (FIG. 3). Each counterweight arm has a generally centrally located fulcrum point provided by a trunnion strap, the trunnion strap associated with counterweight arm 70 being indicated at 72 FIG. 3). Counterweight means 74 extends transversely of the equipment, spanning and respectively hung from counterweight arms 68 and 70 by pivoted straps 76. Counterweight means 74 can be of any particular form of appropriate weight desired to counterbalance the floating assembly of tht equipment. For example, a number of sections of railroad track contained in a box and hung from the counterweight arms 68 and 70 has been found satisfactory.

Vertical movement of the sub-frame assembly, in the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-7, is caused by a double-acting pneumatic cylinder 80 (FIG. 2), having the body thereof attached to the stationary frame and having its connecting rod 82 attached as by trunnion straps 84 to the lower member 44 of the sub-frame. Operation and control of pneumatic cylinder 80 is discussed more fully hereinafter. Having noted the constructional arrangement enabling vertical movability of the floating base member 20, consideration will now be given to the construction thereof enabling its horizontal movement transversely of the direction of travel of the pole P. Floating base member 20 has mounted on the rear surface 24 thereof a pair of vertical posts 90 and 92 joined at their tops by a cross member 94 in turn mounting a pair of rollers $6 riding in a trackway 97 provided along the under surface of sub-frame top cross member 42. Similarly, the bottom edge of floating base member 20 mounts a horizontally and laterally extend-ing beam 98 in turn having a trackway 100 riding on rollers .102 journalled in subframe bottom member 44. Horizontal movement of the sub-frame assembly is accomplished by energization of double-acting pneumatic cylinder 104 having the body thereof attached to the front surface 22 of base member 20 (see FIG. 1), with the connecting rod 106 thereof attached to vertical post 46 of the sub-frame (see FIGS. 1 and 3). Control and energization of pneumatic cylinder 104 is discussed more fully hereinafter.

Considered generally, floating base member 20 has self-centering control mechanism arranged on the front surface 22 thereof and mounts a seiies of circularly disposed incising means and associated elements on its rear surface 24. As will be apparent from a consideration of FIGS. l-3, for example, the frontwardly disposed self-centering control means and the rearwardly disposed incising means are arranged substantially concentrically about central opening 28 of said floating base member 20.

Considering in greater detail the nature of the particular self-centering control means shown in connection with the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1-5, and particularly noting the pneumatic control system layout presented by FIG. 4 and the control valve and associated linkage detail presented by FIG. 5, it will be seen that the self-centering control mechanism includes respective upper, lower, right side and left side feeler bars 110, 112, 114 and 116, each sensing the relative position of the surface of pole P facingit, and e'ach'in eflfect providing a measure of the distance of such pole surface from the central axis of opening 28 in base member 20. The edge of opening 28 is suitably notched, as indicated in one instance at 118, to accommodate movement of the feeler arm to relatively widespread positions, as will occur when the diameter of pole P is only slightly less than the diameter of opening 28.

One important problem concerning the self-centering control means stems from the fact that the diametric dimension of a given pole P will in practically all instances vary considerably from one end of the pole to the other. If the variation is progressive and symmetrical, then even though all of the feeler bars will progressively diverge or converge, as the case may be, there is no necessity for change in position of the floating base member 20 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the pole P. When variations in the diametric dimensions of the pole P are nonsymmetrical, however, the control system should compare the relative position of the opposed pairs of feeler bars to detect such condition of non-symmetry and compensate therefore by controlling movement of the floating base member 20. Consistent with these considerations, the self-centering control means first shown interconnects opposed pairs of feeler bars and compensating control linkage to actuate the control valving regulating air delivery to vertically-acting cylinder and horizontallyacting cylinder 104.

Except for the displacement therebetween, the specific linkage for the vertically acting pair of feeler bars 110 and 112 is identical with the linkage and control mechanism actuated by the opposed pair of horizontally acting feeler bars 114 and 116. For this reason, the detailed nature and manner of operation of only one opposed pair of feeler bars will be specifically described, horizontally acting feeler bars 114 and 116 being selected by way of example.

Each of the feeler bars 114 and 116 connects to a respective shaft 120 and 122 in turn journalled in respective trunnion plates 124 and 126 mounted on front surface 22 of floating base member 26. Shaft 126 has keyed thereto at its lower end a crank arm 128 and shaft 122 is likewise keyed at its lower end to a crank arm 139. The two shafts 120 and 122 are interconnected by tensioned spring means 132 functioning to maintain feeler bars 114 and 116 in a relatively converged position when there is no pole P presented in opening 23 of floating base member 20. "Respective crank arms 128 and are in turn joined by respective connecting rods 134 and 136 to a common equalizing bar 138 pivotally joined at its center to a compensating arm 140.

It is to be noted in connection with the linkage mechanism discussed in the preceding paragraph that if a change in horizontal diametric dimension of the pole P occurs which is symmetrical with respect to its longitudinal axis, then the relative movement of feeler arm 114 equals the relative movement of feeler .arm 116, in which event the equalizer bar 138 is moved rotatively an appropriate amount about its pivotal connection 142 but no movement of compensating arm will result becausev there has been no movement of said pivotal connection 142. In this manner, symmetrical changes in dimension of pole P are equalized or washed out and have no control effect on compensating arm 140. However, should a change in dimension of pole P between feeler bars 114 and 116 occur which is non-symmetrical, then the differencein degree of movement as between the feeler bars will generate movement of the compensating arm 140 slightly to the right or left .as viewed in FIG. 1, as the case may be. Such movement of compensating arm 140 is utilized to regulate the control valving in the following manner.

Particularly noting FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, the compensating control valving and linkage is mounted on an extension plate 144 at the bottom of floating base member 20 and includes a fixed pivot post 146 pivotally anchoring one end of compensating arm 140 as well as two control valves 148 and 150. Control valves 148 and 150 are of a type conventional per se which exhausts to the atmosphere and have control rods (not shown) contacted by respective adjustment screws 152 and 154 adjustably threaded in the ends of U-shaped brackets 156 and 158, also pivotally mounted on pivot post 146, Which brackets 156 and 158 are interconnected by tension spring 160 (see FIG. and are separated by a spacer-stop 162 extending from compensating arm 140. Operation of the valve actuating mechanism upon movement of compensating arm 140 involves movement of brackets 156 and 158, with responsive partial opening of one and partial closing of the other of valves 148 and 150. Thus, should cornpensating arm 140 move in the direction indicated at 164 in FiGS. 4 and 5, spacer-stop 162 moves in the same direction and relieves the position of bracket 156, in turn permitting slight movement of said bracket 156 about pivot post 146 and causing screw 152 to raise the actuating rod of control valve 143, whereupon air from the incoming supply line 166 passes through check valve 163, line 170, said valve 148 and line 172 into the left hand end of cylinder 104 as viewed in FIG. 4, the relative movement of the control rod of valve 150 occasioned by the slight retraction of adjustment screw 154 arising from the corresponding relative movement of bracket 158 in turn connecting line 174 from the right hand end of cylinder 104 to exhaust port 176 of control valve 151), resulting in piston 178 of cylinder 104 moving relatively toward the right hand end of said cylinder 104, whereupon floating base member 20 is moved in the direction indicated at 180- until floating base member opening 23 becomes equispaced about the horizontally facing surfaces of pole P. Conversely, when compensating arm 140 moves off-center in the direction indicated at 182, movement of brackets 156 and 158 cause the supply line 166 to be placed in communication through check valve 184 and valve 150' with line 174 and cause line 172 to be connected with exhaust orifice 186 of valve 150, causing piston 178 to move relatively to the left within cylinder 104, in turn causing movement of floating base member 20 in the direction indicated at 188 until compensating arm 140 again assumes a centered or balanced position.

It will be readily understood that suitable means for conveying the pole P in line endwise, such as upper and lower power driven concave rolls (designated 26' in FIG- URE 3), are known per se and are used to deliver the poles P into the opening 28. In this connection, however, it is to be noted as an important feature of the present invention that, throughout a substantially infeed area, the particular lateral position of a given pole with respect to opening 28 is not critical, in that the self-centering mechanism will sense whatever lateral pole position is presented and coaxially center the floating base member 20 with respect to the actual dimension and axial line of movement of the pole P, thus obviating any necessity for bodily displacing the pole transversely or even maintaining the pole in any particular position of exact end-to-end alignment with the other poles being run through the mechanism. However, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, over-riding manual control means can be optionally employed to pre-position the floating base member 20 and the self-centering control mechanism, if desired.

It is within the purview of the present invention and particularly a self-centering control means such as that discussed above, that such is operable to center the incising means about the oncoming poles whether such are fed tip first or butt first, or in a random arrangement of end feed sequence. It is considered generally preferable, however, to feed the poles P through the mechanism in a tip first manner since the normal or at rest position of feeler bars 110-116 is with such bars at a relatively converging disposition and since tip first feeding of the poles P results in a minimal displacement of the feeler mechanism initially, with a progressive and gradual divergence of both the feeler mechanism and the associated incising means during the course of treatment.

With respect to the particular self-centering control mechanism presented in connection with the first form of the invention illustrated, it is to be also noted that in certain installations it can be considered permissible to utilize only a horizontally disposed pair of feeler means, dispensing with the vertically disposed pair, should the nature of the poles being processed be essentially staright. This is because the bed level of the associated pole feed means serves to establish reasonably well the level of feed through the mechanism so that the vertical position of the floating base member 20 can be set or manually monitored to enable all pole diameters presented to pass through opening 28, vertically considered, leaving the only automatic compensation necessary being that for maintaining the horizontal disposition of floating member 20 substantially centered laterally about the pole.

Specific consideration will now be given to the detailed nature of the particular form of incising means used in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. l-7. Considering the over-all arrangement thereof, and particularly noting the views presented by FIGS. 2 and 3, the incisor means involves a circularly arranged series of freely rotatable incising wheels 200, each journalled in the free end of a wheel arm 202, in turn pivotally movable about a pivot post 204 mounted on trunnion block 206 attached to the rear surface 24 of floating base member 20 (see FIG. 6, for example). For clarity of illustration, only a few of the circularly disposed series of incising wheels are shown in the views of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the upper, lower and side wheels in constructional detail and FIG. 2 showing the relative angular disposition of the other wheel assemblies by broken line indicating the various planes of movement of the various wheels thereof. The illustration of FIG. 3, being crosssectional in nature, serves to show the relative position of several such incising wheels 200 when in pole engaging position, and also somewhat diagrammatically indicates by broken lines designated 200' the relative position of the upper and lower incising wheel assemblies when retracted.

Each wheel arm 202 has connected generally centrally thereof the connecting rod 208 of a double-acting pneumatic cylinder 210, the body of which is pivotally anchored to a bracket 212 standing out from the rear surface 24 of floating base member 20, such pivotal connection being indicated at 214 (FIG. 3). A circular bracing ring 216 interconnects the ends of brackets 212, which brackets 212 also have attached thereto two manifold rings 218 and 220 to which the various respective engaging air delivery lines 222 (each to the anchored end of a cylinder 210) and retracting air delivery lines 224 (each to the rod end of a cylinder 210) are connected in parallel, providing that engagement or retraction of all of the incising wheels 200 occurs simultaneously and responsively from actuation of a single control means. Thus, particularly noting FIG. 2, a four-way valve 226, conventional per se and having the control rod 228 thereof manually controlled by suitable linkage 230, also conventional per se, functions to deliver incoming air from supply line 232 through line 234 to manifold ring 220 and to simultaneously communicate manifold ring 218 through line 236 with exhaust port 238 of valve 226 (exhausting to atmosphere) when establishing the incising wheels 200 in a retracted position, the direction of flow of the control air being indicated in such event by arrows 240. As will be readily understood by those skilled in the art, opening of control means 230 reverses the flow of air through valve 226, lines 234 and 236, manifold rings 218 and 220, and lines 222 and 224, causing each rod 208 to extend in its cylinder 210.

Also to be observed with respect to the particular wheel assembly design presented by FIGS. 2 and 3, a pressure ratio reduction of 2:1 is accomplished by placement of the connection of connecting rods 208 generally centrally of wheel arms 202. This design detail is of course subject to wide variation in practice. To illustrate a practical form of arrangement in this embodiment of the invention, however, an existing installation utilizes a set of twenty doubleacting pistons 210, each having an efiective piston area of four square inches, together with an air supply of 100 p.s.i., resulting in an engagement pressure of incising wheels 200 against the surface areas of pole P of about 200 pounds.

With respect to the detail of the incising wheels, particular reference is invited to FIGS. 6 and 7. As will be noted, each wheel 2% mounts a multiplicity of substantially alined incisingv blades or teeth 250', each such incising blade having the cutting edge 252 thereof lying in the plane of rotation so as to penetrate the surface of pole P without substantial cutting of the wood fibers. Said blades 25s are shaped to be anchored into recesses in spacer plate 254 and rigidly held in proper position by side plates 255 and 258 (FIG. 6), fastened together by bolts, certain of which are indicated at 260.

As will be readily understood, the particular number of incising wheels 2W and the particular wheel diameter and number of incising teeth and spacing between incising teeth on each wheel can be subjected to wide variation in particular installations, the primary consideration in this respect including and being determined by the maximum and minimum pole diameters to be incised by a particular set of incising wheels, the tolerable variation in number of incisions per given area of pole surface, and the dimensional limitations placed on the wheels by the associated structure and degree of manipulation of the wheels which is desired. Also of considerable importance is the particular species and type of wood product since the ease with which a preservative will penetrate a given species of lumber affects the number of incisions necessary in a given surface area to meet prescribed preservative standards.

To illustrate a typical installation in these respects, specifically designed for incising Douglas fir poles, the equipment has a floating base member opening 28 which is twenty-eight inches in diameter, to handle a maximum pole dimension of about twenty-six inches, has incisor wheels which are ten and one-half inches in diameter and twenty in number, the layout and design of the incising wheel assemblies accommodating a minimum pole diameter of about six inches, with the depth of incision by each incising blade 250 being seven-eighths inch, the spacing between blades 250 circumferentially about each incising wheel being about two and one-half inches, and the spacing between longitudinal rows of incisions on the surface of pole P varying from a minimum spacing of about one inch when the pole diameter was about six inches to a maximum spacing of about four inches when the pole diameter was about twenty-six inches and a single incising section is used, the maximum spacing being about two inches when two incising sections are used, as will be more fully discussed hereinafter in connection with FIG. 3.

Particularly as a result of the incised poles of a species of timber tending to be somewhat irregular as to surface and graining, there is occasionally a tendency for the various incising wheels 2% to progressively weave or wander from a true, straight line, equi-spaced between adjacent lines. While there are advantages in pivotal mountings of the incisor wheel arms, as has been done in the form of the invention illustrated in FIGS, 1-3, for example, this tendency to weave or Wander fro-1n the intended radial plane of contact of a given wheel with the facing surface of a pole is generated because of the pivotal nature of the wheel mounting. To minimize this tendency to weave, and as particularly notable in FIGS. 3 and 6, the form of the invention there presented incorporates what may be termed a fixed or anchoring ring 27%, supported at the ends of fixed brackets 272 standing out from the rear surface 24 of floating base member 20. Various incisor wheel arms 202, and particularlythe arms 262 carrying the incising wheels 29s having a predominantly horizontal component of movement, have spring means 274 under tension between anchoring ring 270 and/or brackets 2 72, and a stiiiening bar 276 (see FIG. 6) on the pivot post mounting of the Wheel arm 202, functioning to limit and yiel-d'ably restrain the tendency of the wheel arm to sag. As will be readily understood, the tendency of the side disposed wheel arm assemblies to deviate, will be predominately a sagging action, downwardly, so that the spring means 274 and stifiening bar 276 in each instance Will be placed to eliminate or at least reduce such tendency of the wheel arms to sag, thereby maintaining the overall incising pattern within tolerable limits. Another form of the invention, as illustrated at FIGS. 13 and 14 and discussed in detail below, involves sliding support means for the incising wheel assemblies, obviating this problem in another manner.

As has been previously indicated, the form of the invention first illustrated and discussed in detail involves a single incising stage or section, incorporating a single floating base member 20, forwardly directed self-centering means, and rearwardly directed, radially acting incising means, through which the pole P passes in the incising treatment characteristic of the present invention. As also previously discussed, one of the important features of the invention is the self-adaptability of the mechanism to treatment of wood product forms, such as poles, wherein the diametric dimension of the wood product varies substantially from end to end.

A more refined embodiment of the invention involves utilization of a series of pole incising stages or sections in sequence, i.e. in cascade, with the pole passing successively therethrough. For purpose of illustration, FIG. 8 presents in a somewhat simplified form and in reduced scale a typical application of this facet of the invention. Accompanying FIG. 9 diagrammatically shows an appropriate relative positioning of the various incising wheels of the two incising stages.

FIG. 8 shows but two incising stages in sequence, it being readily understood that further additional stages can be employed as desired. Each of the incising stages, indicated generally at 280 and 282 is preferably identical with the other, each having a respective floating base member 284 and 286 identical with floating base member 20 shown in FIG. 1, each having self-centering means 28% and 29h, comparable to the self-centering means lid-4S8 earlier considered, and each having an incising assembly 25 2 and 2554, comparable to earlier considered means 20t)-2'76, the incising wheels 296 of incising assembly 292 being shown in engagement with pole P, and the incising wheels 2598 of incising assembly 294 being shown in a retracted position. As shown at FIG. 9, the relative position of the various incising wheels 2% of the first incising assembly 292 are alternately equi-space=d (as diagrammatically shown by solid arrow), with respect to various incising wheels 2% of incising assembly 294 (as diagrammatically shown by broken arrows).

in operation, an equipment involving plural incising stages, such as that presented by FIGS. 8 and 9, will utilize only a single stage, usually the first encountered by the pole P, for pole diameters up to a given size, say twelve inches, for example, and then use the subsequent stage or stages for pole segments having larger diameters, say in excess of twelve inches, for example. In essence, it is a characteristic of a form of the invention involving plural incising stages that the variation in spacing between incisions made by one incising wheel and incisions made by the adjacently acting incising wheel is substantially reduced. Thus, again considering the case where two incising stages 292 and 294 are employed, for example, and assuming a pole diameter varying from tip to butt from about six inches to about twenty-two inches, only incising stage 292 will be used first, assuming the pole P is fed tip first which is preferable in forms of the equipment involving compound incising stages, the single incising treatment continuing until the pole diameter increases to about twelve inches. Then, by suitable actuation discussed in more detail below, the second incising stage 294 is brought into operation, and both stages 292 and 294 continue to operate on the pole P until the butt of the pole P passes through the equipment. As will be apparent, by operating the assembly shown in FIG. 8 in this manner, there will be about twice as many rows of incisions on the pole P at its twelve inch diameter point as there are at its six inch diameter point, and there will also be twice as many incisions at its twenty-two inch diameter point as at its eleven inch diameter point. Further, it will be apparent that, even though the diameter of pole P almost quadruples the variation in spacing between adjacent longitudinally extending rows of incisions will not vary more than by a ratio of about 2: 1.

From the foregoing, various modes of bringing a subsequent incising stage or stages into operation upon the diameter of pole P reaching a certain size will be apparent. Thus, such actuation of the second incising stage can result from manually monitoring the size of the diameter of pole P, and can be controlled manually by the incising wheel assembly actuation means for the second incising stage, duplicating the control elements 226230 shown at FIG. 2, for example. Also, the second incising stage (again noting 294 in FIG. 8) can be designed to have a predetermined minimum opening between the incising wheels 298, such as a twelve inch minimum setting. With such minimum setting, the second incising stage 294 can remain energized at all times, and will contact the surface of pole P only when pole P diameters exceed such predetermined minimum setting. Yet another control alternative for operation of a second subsequent incising stage can incorporate positive and automatic pole diameter measuring components to initiate control of the second stage incising means actuation, such as by an automatically operating control mechanism as presented by FIG. 10.

The control mechanism presented in FIG. 10 for automatic actuation of a subsequent incising stage utilizes means for detecting the relative movement between equalizing bar 138 and compensating arm 140 of the selfcentering mechanism earlier discussed in detail in connection with FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. As will be recalled, equalizing bar 138 moves, as indicated at 300 in FIG. 10, responsively to the horizontal diametric dimension of pole P between feeler bars 114 and 116, while compensating arm 140 moves responsively to deviations in symmetry of the surfaces of pole P with respect to the center of opening 28 floating base member 20. In connection with the control movement of compensating arm 140, it is to be observed that the control effected thereby is of a continuing nature so its extent of movement in actual operation is not great. Thus, for practical purposes, the compensating arm 141) can be assumed to be a fixed base for purposes of measuring relative movement of equalizing bar 138 and developing a measure of the diametric dimension of pole P entering the incising stage.

Specifically, as seen in FIG. 10, a typical automatic control mechanism involving pole size detection at a first incising stage and responsive actuation of the incising assembly of a subsequent incising stage has a switch plate 302, mounted as by welding on compensating arm 140, and in turn pivotally mounting a switch arm 304, which can pivot about pivot pin 306 and is normally urged against an adjustable stop 308 under action of spring means 310, said switch arm 304 presenting a normally open contact switch 312 in a position to be contacted by the upper end of equalizing bar 138 when the latter is moved an amount related to the pole diameter at which actuation of the second incising stage is desired. Said switch 312 is in the energization circuit of a delayedopen, delayed-closed time delay relay 314 which upon energization in turn energizes solenoid 316 of solenoid actuated air control valve 226, said valve 226' being interiorly identical and connected like control valve 226, as shown in (FIG. 2) the incising means actuation system of the subsequent incising stage. Time delay 314 preferably is of the type having about a three second time delay upon energization and upon deenergization, the delayed energization being advantageous in order to render ineffective any momentary or accidental closure of switch 312 such as might occur from a transient movement of compensating arm 140 and in order to time the arrival of the incising wheels on the subsequent incising stage at the surface of a pole P at substantially the same time that the detected pole diameter reaches the second incising stage. Delayed de-energization of the second stage incising means, as occasioned by a corresponding delay in de-energization of time delay relay 314 is advantageous in order to insure that the incising wheels of the subsequent stage remain energized substantially until the butt end of the pole passes therethrough.

FIG. 11 presents a modified form of automatic control mechanism for centering the floating base member of a given incising section, such modified form involving a hydraulic system, rather than a pneumatic system of the type earlier discussed in connection with FIG. 4. The control system presented by FIG. 11 is basically the same as the one presented in FIG. 4 except that a closed, recycling system is provided for the hydraulic transfer fluid. The hydraulic system presented in FIG. 11 incorporates horizontal and vertical, four-way hydraulic control valves 320 and 322, respectively actuated through linkage 324 and 326 by horizontal compensating arm 328 and vertical compensating arm 330, each controlled and connected in an identical manner with equalizing bars 138', in turn identical with and actuated like equalizing arm 138 shown in FIG. 4, as well as its vertical counterpart, also shown in FIG. 4. Four- way valves 320 and 322 are of a type, known per se, each connecting a respective inlet line 332 and 334, to alternate lines 336 and 338 to horizontally acting control cylinder 104' on the one hand, or to alternate lines 340 and 342 to the vertically acting hydraulic cylinder on the other hand, the exhaust return lines 344 and 346 of said valves 330 and 332 leading to hydraulic fluid reservoir 348. Pump 350 generates an appropriate hydraulic fluid pressure, such as 200 lbs. p.s.i. for example, and overpressure bypass valve 352 functions in a manner conventional per se to maintain the desired supply line pressure.

To illustrate another type of means for centering the floating base member, FIG. 12 presents a modified form of centering means wherein a plurality of four centering rolls arranged in two facing pairs are employed, and wherein the actuation for lateral movement of the various rolls is entirely mechanical, as distinguished from a servo type actuation such as used in the first form of the invention illustrated and discussed.

Specifically, the modified form of self-centering means shown in FIG. 12 involves the floating base member 20 having a front surface 22 and a rear surface 24, said floating base member 20' being laterally movable of the pole P in a subframe identical with that earlier shown and including a top cross member 42 and a bottom member 44. As will also be understood, the rear surface 24' of floating base member 20' mounts whatever form of incising assembly is desired, the particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 12 having an incising assembly identical with that earlier shown and discussed, including vertical posts and 92, cross member 94, rollers 96, brackets 212 and bracing ring 216, the remainder of the incising assembly being omitted from the view of FIG. 12, for simplicity.

The specific self-centering means shown by FIG. 12, as viewed from the front, includes respective upper, lower, right side and left side rolls 360, 362, 364 and 366, each respectively journalled in a roll mounting frame 368, 370, 372 and 374, each in turn slidable radially of pole P in respective guideways 376, 373, 380 and 382 standing 13 out from front surface 22' of floating base member 20.

Actuation of the various centering rolls 360-366 to retract or engage same with an oncoming pole P is accomplished by an actuation mechanism common to all said rolls, comprising a double-acting pneumatic cylinder 384 controlled manually by means of control valve 386 operable to deliver air from air supply line 338 to either line 393 (for roll engagement) or line 392 (for roll retraction). Rod 394 of cylinder 384 is connected by crank arm 3% to shaft 333. The bottom roller frame 370 is moved by linkage 40d and crank arm 462 directly on shaft 393. Right hand roller frame 372 is likewise moved by linkage 404 and crank 406, the latter being keyed to shaft 408, in turn driven by shaft 398 through bevel gears 410. Roller frame 374 is driven from shaft 338 by linkage 412 crank arm 414, shaft 416 and bevel gears 418 in a similar manner, and roller frame 368 is likewise interconnected with shaft 398 through means of linkage 42f crank arm 422, shaft 424 and bevel gears 426 driven from shaft 416. As will be apparent, the pivotal connections involved are such that rolls 360-366 engage the pole P or retract in concert and maintain relative positions substantially concentric with opening 28 in floating base member 20. In operation, the self-centering mechanism illustrated in FIG. 12 is kept normally retracted until the lead end of an advancing pole P reaches the assembly. Just as the pole P moves into position between the retracted rolls 360-366, manually controlled valve 336 is reversed, shifting all of rolls 360-366 into pressure engagement with the pole P and causing floating base member 29' to move laterally to center the opening 28 thereof about the pole P, whereupon the associated incising means are energized and the incising treatment proceeds until such time as the pole P has passed through the equipment, the operation being monitored by the op erator so that he can again reverse control valve 386 at such time as the lagging end of pole P is about to leave rolls 366-366, the complete cycle of operation also of course involving timely retraction of the incising means just as the lagging end of pole P passes therethrough. The equipment then remains in an at rest condition, with both the self-centering means and the incising means retracted, until such time as the next oncoming pole P arrives with its leading end between rolls 360-366.

FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate another form of incising means which is in certain respects comparable to and in other respects more advantageous than the form of incising means earlier illustrated and discussed, in that it is basically quite simple and functions to maintain the various incising wheels in relatively equi-spaced and in substantial radial alignment with the center of a pole passing therethrough in an especially advantageous manner when a pole is comparatively crooked axially.

As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, this modified form of incising means includes a floating base member formed by spaced, front and rear plates 43% and 432 providing a quite stiff base member and presenting a centrally disposed opening or channel 434 to receive the pole P. A series of incising wheels 436-, each identical per se with incising wheels 2% of the previously discussed form of the invention, are circumferentially disposed concentrically about opening 434 in the floating base member.

Each incising whee'l 436 is journalled in a fork 438 in turn bolted to a fork post 439 journalled at its forward end to slide block 449 (see FIG. 14). Pork post 439 is provided with a groove or notch at its outer end, as indicated at 441 (FIG. 14), with the line of recess thereof lying in the plane of rotation of incising Wheel 436 and yielda bly retained by spring loaded pin 442, conically shaped at its fork post engaging end 443. The specific construction of the fork post mounting, is such that the incising wheel can move slightly about a pivot axis parallel to the direction of movement of slide block 446 in guide rails 445, i.e. about the journal bearing post 444 at the end of slide block 444 and is self-restoring to a position of exact alignment of the plane of rotation of the wheel 436' with the axial center of a pole P being treated, constituting a quite advantageous operational feature of this form of the invention because such yieldable mounting of the incising wheel 436 permits the wheel assembly to caster a slight degree about the bearing post 444 in the event a pole P is comparatively crooked axially or quite non-symmetrical, or in the event the pole P should be off-centered for a time with respect to the base member opening 434, for whatever reason. Said bearing post 444 relieves any possibility of binding of a wheel 436 yet nevertheless provides a fixed axis for such limited movement, so that the point of engagement of the wheel 436 with the facing surface of the pole P remains substantially in radial alignment with the pole center even though the pole surface contour requires a degree of castering to maintain incision symmetry.

Slide block 440 has a T-shaped baseform 444 slidably movable between guide rails 445 welded to said plate 432. In each instance, movement of the mounting block 446 and wheel 436 radially of opening 434 is by means of double-acting cylinder 446 and its cylinder rod 448, said cylinder rod 443 having its outer end attached to a braced upright 443 or wheel mounting block 44%, and said cylinder 446 being bolted to a common bracing ring 450 encircling the various cylinders 446 and held in fixed position rearwardly of plate 432 by a series of spaced brackets 452 (FIG. 14), the arrangement of bracing ring 450 and brackets 452 being comparable to the arrangement of ring 216 and brackets 212 in the form of incising means earlier discussed. Engaging air to the various cylinders 446 is delivered through manifold ring 454 and the respective parallel connected air lines 456, while retracting air is delivered through manifold ring 458 and the associated air lines 466, said manifold rings 454 and 458 being mounted on a series of circumferentia-lly disposed mounting brackets 462 (FIG. 14) extending rearwardly from said plate 432. Air control to simultaneously transfer the incising wheels 436 to a pole engaging or retracted position, as desired, and as shown by arrow 464, is accomplished by a manually operated four-way air control valve (not shown), which can be identical in construction and manner of connection with control valve 226 of the form of incising means first presented.

It is also an advantage of the modified form of incising means shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 that the pressure exerted on the facing surface of the pole P by any given incising wheel 436 is a direct function of the pressure generated in its cylinder 446 without the leverage reduction which was the case with the pivoted arm wheel mounting means employed in the first form of the invention discussed. Thus, and assuming control air is supplied at lbs. psi, and that each cylinder 446 has an effective piston area of four square inches, the pressure exerted by each incising Wheel 436 is about 400 lbs., as compared with the about 200 lbs. pressure generated by the pivoted arm incising wheel mountings shown in FIGS. 1-3.

FIGS. 15 and 16 serve to illustrate yet another form of self-centering means mounted on the front or infeed end of a floating base member. In this form of self-centering means, such is again mounted on the subframe assembly comprising top cross member 42 and bottom member 44, uprights 9t} and 92 and rollers 96, the form of the floating base member being that of spaced front and rear plates 43% and 4-32 and a central opening or channel 434 such as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. The particular centering assembly shown at FIGS. 15 and 16 is constituted by an upper pair of rolls 470 relatively disposed with their axes of rotation in the form of a shallow, inverted V, and a pair of lower rolls 472, likewise having their axes of rotation. disposed in the form of a shallow, upright V. Each of the pairs of rolls 470' and 472 is journalled in a respective mounting block 474 and 476, preferably with the center journal posts being in a slightly forward position (see FIG. 16) so that operationally the pairs of rolls 470 and 472 tend to feed a pole P toward each other and toward the center of the roll assembly. Each mounting block 474 and 476 is constructionally identical with the other, with upper mounting block 474 inverted, both said mounting blocks 474 and 476 being slidable on trackways presented by side channels 478 and 480, the laterally disposed ends of said mounting blocks 474 and 476 facing said chan- : nels 478 and 480 having forwardly and rearwardly disposed lips spanning said channels 478 and 480.

Each of the upper and lower sets of rolls and mounting blocks is moved vertically by a double-acting air cylinder, the upper air cylinder being indicated at 482 and the lower air cylinder being indicated at 484, the said air cylinders being connected in parallel to engaging air line 486 and retracting air line 488 so that actuation of said cylinders 482 and 484 to cause engagement of rolls 470 and 472 with a pole P, or retraction of said rolls, as the case may be, is controllable by a single manually operated air control valve such as shown at 386 at FIG. 12. As evident, by this arrangement the pairs of rolls 470 and 472 will either both engage or both retract at the same time. In addition, means are provided in the arrangement illustrated at FIGS. 15 and 16 to positively maintain the relative position of rolls 470 and rolls 472 substantially centered about the center of opening 434 of the floating base member. Such centering means include an upper pair of chains 490 and 492 passing over respective sprockets 494 and 496 on shaft 498, in turn mounted in bearings 500 on plate 430, one end of chain 490 being connected by bolt block 502 to lower roll mounting block 476 and the other end of chain 490 being connected to bolt block 504 on upper roll mounting block 474. Similarly, chain 492 connects to bolt block 586 on roll mounting block 476, and its other end connects to bolt block 508 on roll mounting block 474. Two bottom chains 510 and 512 similarly pass over sprockets 514 and 516 and are respectively connected to bolt blocks 518, 520, 522 and 524 (FIG. 16). Interconnecting chains 490, 492, 510, and 512 function to interlink the upper and lower centering roll assemblies, insuring that movement of one roll assembly is accompanied by substantially equal movement of the other .roll assembly, maintaining the facing rolls centered with respect to the base member opening 434, irrespective of the separation between rolls 470 and 472. Obviously, such interlinkage permits use of a single actuating cylinder 482 or 484, rather than two such cylinders, if desired.

As will be apparent from the foregoing consideration of the mechanism shown at FIGS. 15 and 16, as the lead end of a pole P is supportably conveyed between the sets of rollers 470 and 472, actuation of cylinders 482 and 484 causes said rollers 470 and 472 to close around said pole P. With this action, the relatively heavy weight of pole P results in translation of the reactive force generated by cylinders 482 and 484 into movement of the counterweighted floating base member, to center the same around pole P.

From the foregoing, various further modifications and arrangements of equipments and equipment components will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, by way of further typical and non-limitive example, it is evident that any one of the various types of self-centering means disclosed can be utilized in conjunction with any one of the various types of the incising means disclosed, that any incising stage regardless of its component detail can be employed either singly or in plural stages of two or more to accomplish any incising pattern or degree of uniformity desired, and that actuation of the self-centering assembly and/or the incising means assembly of any one or more stages can be manually or automatically controlled, as desired. In view of the various typical forms and types of equipment arrangements and modes of operation disclosed, as well as the many various modifications and variations thereof within the skill of the art to which applicants invention is addressed, it is to be expressly understood that such various further modifications and arrangements of equipments and/or equipment components and/or modes of operation are within the scope of the present invention, as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An incising machine adapted to incising the curved, peripheral surface of a wood product varying substantially in diameter from end to end, comprising; in combination with means for axially and non-rotatively conveying the wood product at a predetermined level, a stationary base frame, laterally floating means on said base frame having an opening through which the wood product passes, individually acting wood product incising means on said floating means, having a series of freely rotatable, individually casterable, and individually radially movable incising elements standing rearwardly of said floating means and arranged circumferentially about said wood product, and fluid actuated means associated with and acting individually and radially on each of said incising elements, whereby substantially all of the curved, peripheral surface of said wood product is incised to a substantially uniform depth during a single pass of the wood product through said floating means.

2. An incising machine according to claim 1, further comprising floating means centering mechanism engaging the wood product surfaces passing through said floating means and causing responsive movement of said floating means laterally of said wood product.

3. An incising machine according to claim 2, wherein said mechanism is of the fluid actuated, servo type.

4. An incising machine according to claim 3, wherein said mechanism comprises a plurality of pivotally mounted feeler bars disposed about the axial line of travel of the wood product, control linkage and valving responsive to non-symmetrical relative movement between said feeler bars, and fluid actuated means controlled by said valving and moving said floating means laterally of the axis of said wood product to compensate for such non-symmetrical relative movement of said feeler bars.

5. An incising machine according to claim 2, wherein said mechanism is of the mechanically actuated type.

6. An incising machine according to claim 5, wherein said mechanism comprises an opposed pair of laterally movable roll means, and movement interlinking means acting between said pair of roll means to maintain the latter substantially radially equi-spaced from the axial center of the opening in said floating means.

7. An incising machine according to claim 6, wherein said mechanism comprises two opposed pairs of rollers, one pair being movable substantially vertically and the other pair being movable substantially horizontally.

8. An incising machine according to claim 6, wherein said mechanism comprises an opposed pair of interlinked, substantially vertically movable roll means, the upper roll means having rolls disposed in the form of an inverted V and the lower roll means having rolls disposed in the form of an upright V.

9. An incising machine according to claim 2, wherein said mechanism comprises a plurality of centering rolls disposed about said wood product and actuated in concert to engage said wood product and cause centering of said floating means therearound.

10. Apparatus for incising a wood product having curved peripheral surfaces and a varying cross-sectional dimension comprising, in combination with means nonrotatively conveying said wood product in the direction of its longitudinal axis, a first incising stage comprising a series of casterable incising means arranged circumferentially about the path of travel of said wood product, and a second incising stage comprising a second series of casterable incising means arranged circumferentially about another point in the path of travel of said wood product and simultaneously engageable therewith during a single pass of the wood product through the apparatus, each such incising stage further comprising mounting means rearwardly offsetting the said incising means with respect to a floating base member movable laterally of the direction of travel of said wood product and maintaining the said series of incising means substantially concentric with the longitudinal axis of the wood product portion engaged by the series of incising means mounted thereon.

11. In an incising machine for incising the curved, peripheral surface of a natural wood product varying substantially in diameter from end to end, comprising; in combination with means for non-rotatively and axially conveying the wood product, a centrally open, floatably mounted base member, a fixed ring mounted on said base member, a series of individually casterable incising wheels standing rearwardly of and arranged circumferentially around said base member, and a series of doubleacting, fluid actuated cylinder assemblies disposed radially of said opening, the outer end of each such cylinder assembly being anchored to said fixed ring, and the inwardly directed cylinder rod of each such cylinder assembly being connected with and radially moving an associated incising wheel, and control means selectively connecting all.

said cylinders in parallel to a source of pressurized fluid in a manner causing simultaneous extension or retraction of each said incising wheel with respect to the axis of said opening and relatively equal pressure on each said incising wheel when such Wheels are in engagement with the wood product.

12. In an incising machine adapted to incise substantially all of the curved, peripheral surface of a Wood prod uct of varying diameter fed non-rotatively therethrough; the improvement comprising: a stationary base frame, a laterally floating sub-frame on said base frame having an opening through which the WOOd product passes, and individually acting wood product incising means on said floating subframe arranged circumferentially of the opening thereof, each such incising means including an incisor Wheel and means mounting said incisor Wheel on said floating subframe so as to be positioned substantially rearwardly thereof and be reciprocably, rotatably and pivotally movable with respect to said subframe, such reciprocable movement being in a direction substantially lateral of the longitudinal axis of the wood product and enabling the incisor wheel to be selectively engaged with and retracted from the surface of the wood product, such rotatable movement of each incisor wheel being about an axis extending substantially parallel to a tangent at the surface of the wood product, and such pivotal movement of each incisor wheel occurring about an axis substantially radial of said wood product and forward of the point of contact of the incisor wheel with the Wood product to enable the wheel assembly to caster with respect to said floating subframe and said wood product to accommodate off-center or laterally non-symmetrical wood product configurations Without the incisor Wheel binding.

13. The combination set forth in claim 12, wherein each such incisor wheel mounting means comprises guide means arranged radially of the opening of said floating subframe, a slide block radially movable in said guide means, trunnion means on said slide block, and incisor wheel journalling means extending rearwardly of and pivotally movable on said trunnion means.

14. The combination set forth in claim 13, wherein each such incisor wheel mounting means further comprises fluid pressure actuated means interconnected between said subframe and said slide block for engaging and retracting the incisor wheel laterally with respect to the surface of a wood product passing through the subframe opening.

15. The combination set forth in claim 14, further comprising fluid supply means including manifold means of annular configuration mounted on said subframe, and parallel connection means from said manifold means to all of said fluid pressure actuated means delivering fluid to all of the latter at the same pressure.

16. In an incising machine adapted to incise substantially all of the curved, peripheral surface of a wood product of varying diameter fed non-rotatively therethrough; the improvement comprising: a frame having an opening through which the wood product passes, and individually acting wood product incising means on said frame arranged oircumferentially of the opening thereof, each such incising means including an incisor wheel and means mounting said incisor wheel on said frame so as to be positioned substantially rearwardly thereof and be reciprocably, rotatably and pivotally movable with respect to said frame, such reciprocable movement being in a direction substantially lateral of the longitudinal axis of the wood product and enabling the incisor wheel to be selectively engaged with and retracted from the surface of the wood product, such rotatable movement of each incisor wheel being about an axis extending substantially parallel to a tangent at the surface of the wood product, and such pivotal movement of each incisor wheel occurring about an axis substantially radial of said wood product and forward of the point of contact of the incisor wheel with the wood product to enable the wheel assembly to caster with respect to said floating subframe and said wood product to accommodate off-center or laterally non-symmetrical wood product configurations without the incisor wheel binding.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,622,538. Nelson Mar. 29, 19-27 1,646,188 Colman Oct. 18, 1927 1,665,764 York Apr. 10, 1928 1,943,649 White Jan. 16, 1934 2,473,461 White June 14, 1949 2,477,922 Emery Aug. 2, 1949 2,563,758 Tinling Aug. 7, 1951 2,591,751 Whitlock Apr. 8, 1952 2,623,558 Andersson Dec. 30, 1952 2,675,255 Bloedel Apr. 13, 1954 2,684,670 Prentice June 22, 1954 2,691,395 Yeadon et a1. Oct. 12, 1954 2,794,466 Leffler June 4, 1957 2,843,168 Lunn July 15, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 728,158 France Apr. 11, 1932 1,091,890 France Nov. 3, 1954 145,439 Sweden May 25, 1954

Claims (1)

1. AN INCISING MACHINE ADAPTED TO INCISING THE CURVED, PERIPHERAL SURFACE OF A WOOD PRODUCT VARYING SUBSTANTIALLY IN DIAMETER FROM END TO END, COMPRISING; IN COMBINATION WITH MEANS FOR AXIALLY AND NON-ROTATIVELY CONVEYING THE WOOD PRODUCT AT A PREDETERMINED LEVEL, A STATIONARY BASE FRAME, LATERALLY FLOATING MEANS ON SAID BASE FRAME HAVING AN OPENING THROUGH WHICH THE WOOD PRODUCT PASSES, INDIVIDUALLY ACTING WOOD PRODUCT INCISING MEANS ON SAID FLOATING MEANS, HAVING A SERIES OF FREELY ROTABLE, INDIVIDUALLY CASTERABLE, AND INDIVIDUALLY RADIALLY MOVABLE INCISING ELEMENTS STANDING REARWARDLY OF SAID FLOATING MEANS AND ARRANGED CIRCUMFERENTIALLY ABOUT SAID WOOD PRODUCT, AND FLUID ACTUATED MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH

Images