US3881620A - Bumper, cable and/or grapple type pulpwood handling machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A machine principally used for handling pulpwood. The machine includes the usual self-propelled trucklike main body having positioned at one end thereof a tiltable mast and bumper which may be used to bump into a pile of pulpwood pieces after placement on railcars or to rest pulpwood against while in slings to align the ends thereof. Usual arm structure is included which extends outwardly from the bumper and depending therefrom is cable structure for circumscribing and swingably supporting several pieces of pulpwood, i.e., for off-loading pulpwood from a truck and loading it onto a rail car. An improvement to the above machine is included which involves incorporating grapple structure therewith. The grapple is so constructed as to be easily attached and detached to/from the bumper. When attached, it may be rotatably driven about a vertical axis to better position the pulpwood pieces. Additionally, the grapple normally swings freely about a horizontal axis; however, brake structure is included to selectively stabilize the grapple and its load or prevent swinging movement thereof about the horizontal axis.

Description

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,881,620

Walker 1 May 6, 1975 [54] BUMPER, CABLE AND/OR GRAPPLE TYPE 195,761 5/1967 U.S.S.R 214/77 R PULPWOOD HANDLING MACHINE [75] Inventor: Evo Walker, Louisville, Miss.

[73] Assignee: Taylor Machine Works, Louisville,

Miss.

[22] Filed: July 12, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 271,627

[52] US. Cl. 214/620; 214/658; 294/106 [51] Int. Cl B66f 9/06 [58] Field of Search 214/620, 621, 652, 653, 214/654, 523, 85.5, 92, 651, 77 R, 147 R, 147 AS, 147 G, 650 R, 85.1, 658; 254/139]; 212/7; 294/106 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,386,759 10/1945 Ulm 214/620 2,745,559 5/1956 McIntyre 212/7 2,750,060 6/1956 Sherriff 214/620 3,281,119 10/1966 Westfall 254/1391 3,282,440 11/1966 Wirkkala 212/7 3,362,550 1/1968 Kappler 254/139.1 x 3,477,596 11/1969 Michaelson et a1 214/92 3,576,266 4/1971 Widley 214/523 X 3,669,280 6/1972 Garrett et al. 214/147 G 3,746,193 7/1973 Eaves 214/92 France 214/92 Primary ExaminerRobert J. Spar Assistant Examiner-Gary Auton Attorney, Agent, or Firm-John R. Walker, Ill

[57] ABSTRACT A machine principally used for handling pulpwood. The machine includes the usual self-propelled trucklike main body having positioned at one end thereof a tiltable mast and bumper which may be used to bump into a pile of pulpwood pieces after placement on railcars or to rest pulpwood against while in slings to align the ends thereof. Usual arm structure is included which extends outwardly from the bumper and depending therefrom is cable structure for circumscribing and swingably supporting several pieces of pulpwood, i.e., for off-loading pulpwood from a truck and loading it onto a rail car. An improvement to the above machine is included which involves incorporating grapple structure therewith. The grapple is so constructed as to be easily attached and detached to/from the bumper. When attached, it may be rotatably driven about a vertical axis to better position the pulpwood pieces. Additionally, the grapple normally swings freely about a horizontal axis; however, brake structure is included to selectively stabilize the grapple and its load or prevent swinging movement thereof about the horizontal axis.

9 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEUHAY ems 3'. 881 20 SHEET 20F 2 FIG. 3

FIG. 4 g 9. 89 9T 99 79 1 95\ 97 BUMPER, CABLE AND/OR GRAPPLE TYPE PULPWOOD HANDLING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to pulpwood handling machines and is particularly directed toward the bumper and cable type.

2. Description of the Prior Art Applicant has knowledged of the following U.S. Patents: Bailey U.S. Pat. No. 2,832,489; Garrett U.S. Pat. No. 2,894,653; Berquist et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,074; Meister U.S. Pat. No. 3,176,866; and Vik U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,523. None of the above patents have anything in common with the present invention, except typical lift structure associated with a self-propelled vehicle.

It should be pointed out that applicant has a U.S. Patent concerning a Logging Machine, U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,827, which incorporates a grapple. Applicant also has knowledge of the following prior art: Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,424; LaTendresse U.S. Pat. No. 2,788,143; Lull U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,879; ONeil U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,818; Larson et a]. U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,888; Nelson U.S. Pat. No. 3,417,887; Michaelson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,596; and Stone U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,998; Larson U.S. Pat. No. 3,165,215; Symons et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,167,147; Larson U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,908; Hamilton et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,289,865; Lull U.S. Pat. No. 3,305,118; Larson U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,357; Kappler U.S. Pat. No. 3,362,550; Crisp U.S. Pat. No. 3,422,975; Larson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,468,352; Lundquist U.S. Pat. No. 3,485,396; Whiting U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,035; Peterson U.S. Pat. no. 3,508,676; Chateauneuf U.S. Pat. No. 3,527,271; and Boyd et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,235. None of the heretofore mentioned patents show or suggest applicants device.

Prior pulpwood handling machines of the type disclosed herein usually included a mast and tiltable platlike bumper for engaging and aligning one of ends of several pieces of pulpwood and a cable or sling suitable attached to the bumper for circumscribing and swingable supporting a plurality of pieces of the wood, i.e., usually two disassociated tasks well known to those skilled in the art.

Several problems and/or disadvantages are encountered when using the above-described machine. The first of which is encountered when attempting to pick up long logs such as 60-70 feet long. Obviously, the sling must be positioned adjacent the center of gravity of the log which is not readily determined. In other words, tedious trail and error effort is expended in jockeying the machine around and making several pickup attempts before balancing the log.

The second problem is encountered after these long logs have been sawed into shorter or pulpwood lengths. A plurality'of these long 60-70 foot logs are usually placed in a steel rack and a giant saw is used to sever the entire group with one swath, i.e., cutting the long logs into 63 inches long pulpwood pieces. Placing the cable underneath the pulpwood pieces in order to pick them up from the steel rack and place them on a rail car or the like is particularly difficult, i.e., feeding a cable beneath a pile of heavy logs is not easily accomplished.

The next problem or aaggravation is experienced when attempting to transfer the treetop ends of the logs. In other words, the bunks having the treetop ends therein may only have two or three very small sticks, in them; therefore, the cable machine must go through the tediuos process of hooking them, then transferring them to another bunk, i.e., dumping them and then rehooking a full load which takes a considerable amount of time.

The next problem is encountered when it is ncessary to hold or stack pulpwood in the loading yard. In other words, the truck may constantly be moving the pulpwood pieces to the loading yard but for various reasons empty rail cars are not immediately available. Therefore, a standard expediency is implemented involving typing each load with a steel band to keep it in a bundle to facilitate rehandling with the cable machine. When this is done, it is necessary to leave room between the stacks for a man to work from when hooking the slings on the back side of the load, i.e., at the time in which rail cars are available and the pulpwood is loaded thereon. Therefore, the pulpwood wood can only be stacked approximately two bundles high or 68 feet without becoming unstable and falling. Obviously, considerable expense is involved in the time spent in banding this wood and also in unbanding it when it finally is placed on the rail car.

The sling machine offers certain advantages which are not readily achieved by grapple machines of other types. The first of these is the sling machine can store short wood in a neat pile very efficiently. In other words, the sling machine is perhaps the most efficient known when it comes to unloading cut up pieces of pulpwood from truckbeds. Accordingly, when the empty rail cars are readily available, the sling machine is most desirable in unloading the pulpwood directly from the truck and putting it on the rail car, then the bumper is used to even up the ends of the pulpwood pieces.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed towards overcoming the disadvantages and problems relative to previous pulpwood handling machines. The concept of the present invention is to provide a pulpwood machine having all the advantages peculiar to prior bumper and cable type pulpwood machines plus the versatility of the advantages peculiar to a grapple. Certain of the advantages peculiar to a grapple are: First, -70 foot long logs can be picked up readily without precisely determining the centers of gravity thereof.

Secondly, picking up the cut up logs, i.e., 63 inches long pulpwood pieces, out of the pulpwood bunks is very simple. This involves placing the open jaws onto the pile of pulpwood pieces and then closing the jaws which is effective in loading them. This feature also simplifies the problem involving the treetop ends where only two or three small sticks remain in the bunker. In other words, the grapple simply picks up the pieces and drops them on an adjacent pile so that the grapple may be fully loaded therefrom.

Perhaps the greatest advantages offered by the grapple in handling pulpwood is when empty rail cars are not available at the holding yard, resulting in the problem of stacking the logs on the holding yard, as above described. A grapple can unload the pulpwood from the trucks or from the bundle bunks and store it in stacks on the yard without the use of banding. Also, the stacks do not have to have aisles or space in between them as before. Therefore, the wood can be stacked so the ends of each length of wood are abutting one another. Accordingly, heights of 14-15 feet are entirely practical for storing pulpwood on the yard without having to band it or resort to any other retaining means other than the nature repose of the wood itself. Finally, the grapple can readily retrieve the pulpwood stacked in this manner, and load it onto the rail car when the rail cars become available.

The machine of the present invention includes the usual self-propelled trucklike main body having positioned at one end thereof a tiltable mast and bumper which may be used to bump into a pile of pulpwood pieces to align the ends thereof. Also included is the usual arm structure which extends outwardly from the bumper and depending therefrom is cable structure for circumscribing and swingable supporting several pieces of pulpwood, i.e., for off-loading from a truck and loading onto a rail car, etc.

The instant machine also includes grapple strucure which is so constructed as to be easily attached and detached to/from the bumper. When attached, it may be rotatably driven about a vertical axis to better position the pulpwood pieces. Additionally, the grapple normally swings freely about a horizontal axis; however, brake structure is included to selectively stabilize the grapple and its load or prevent swinging movement thereof about the horizontal axis.

In other words, when using the grapple to transfer the short pulpwood pieces from the pulpwood bunks to the rail car, the machine approaches the bunk so that the longitudinal axis of the machine is perpendicular to the several pieces of pulpwood. The open jaws are placed on top of the load and clamping action is commenced which causes the jaws to feed down into the pile of pulpwood pieces to load itself. The bumper is raised which lifts the grapple up from the pulpwood bunk at which time the operator tilts the bumper and grapple back to shift the center of gravity. The operator then throws a lever which actuates the brake to keep the grapple from swinging about the horizontal axis.

The machine is then driven to the rail car and the grapple is rotated approximately 90 which aligns the longitudinal axes of the logs with the longitudinal axis of the machine. When the grapple is directly over the intended spot, the operator releases the brake, tilts the bumper and grapple forward, and releases the jaws which allows the pulpwood pieces to fall onto the rail car.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the bumper, cable and/or grapple type pulpwood handling machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken as on the line IIII of FIG. 1, showing the brake structure.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the machine as depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken as on the line IV-IV of FIG. 1, showing certain removable structure thereof attached to the machine and locking structure engaged and safetied to prevent inadvertent disengagement of the removable structure.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 except the removable structure is phantomized and the locking structure is shown safetied in a disengaged position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The bumper, cable and/or grapple type pulpwood handling machine of the present invention is depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings and is character referenced by the numeral 11. The machine 11 principally is used for handling pulpwood or the like and includes the usual self-propelled truckline main body 13 supported by a plurality of wheels 15. A mast 17 is positioned at the front end of the vehicle body 13 and is tiltably attached thereto in the usual manner, i.e., the mast 17 pivots about a horizontal axis as it is actuated whereby the upper portion thereof moves towards or away from the vehicle body 13. A typical platelike bumper 19 is slidably attached to the mast 17 and is power-actuated up and down substantially along the length of the mast 17 in a well known manner.

The bumper may be used for engaging and aligning one of the ends of several pieces of the pulpwood.

The machine 11 includes arm means 21 extending outwardly from the upper portion of the bumper 19 and is fixedly attached thereto as by welding or the like. Cable means 23 is included and depends from the arm means 21 for swingable supporting a plurality of the pulpwood pieces. More specifically, the cable means 23 circumscribes the pulpwood or a bight is formed by intermediate portions thereof to support the pulpwood. Further, tilting the mast l7 rearwardly permits the pulpwood to rest against the bumper 19 for transport purposes.

Machine 11 also includes means such as a hydraulic cylinder 25 for controllably raising and lowering the bumper 19 whereby the cable means 23 is effective in picking up and setting down the pulpwood pieces.

An improvement to the above-described machine is herewith disclosed and includes a detachable grapple 27. In other words, the grapple 27 includes means 29 for facilitating attachment and detachment of the grapple 27 to/from the bumper 19 in a preferred manner yet to be disclosed.

The grapple 27 includes coacting jaws 31, 33 for engaging the pulpwood. The grapple 27 includes means such as a hydraulic cylinder 35 for operatively opening and closing the jaws 31, 33. Accordingly, the grapple 27 may selectively be used in lieu of the cable means 23 for alternately taking hold of and supporting the plurality of pieces of pulpwood.

The grapple 27 includes means as hydraulic cylinder 37 for rotatably driving the grapple 27 about a vertical axis whereby the jaws 31, 33 may selectively be positioned at various angular positions with respect to the bumper 19 or the machine 11. More specifically, the hydraulic cylinder 37 drives a sprocket 39 which is free to pivot about a vertical pivot pin 41. The sprocket 39 drives a sprocket 43 through an endless chain 45. The sprocket 43 is fixedly attached to a vertical shaft 47 which is journalled to a suitable support structure 49 by a sleeve member 51. From the above disclosure, it can readily be seen that extending or retracting the cylinder 37 is effective to cause turning movement'of the sprocket 39 which turns the sprocket 43 through the endless chain 45. Turning of the sprocket 43 is effective to drive the vertical shaft 47 which turns the grapple or more specifically, the jaws 31, 33 thereof about a vertical axis.

The grapple 27 includes a rigid frame 53 which has the support structure 49 pivotally attached thereto by horizontal pivot pins 55, 57. In other words, the grapple or, more specifically, the jaws 31, 33 thereof normally swing freely about the pivot pin 55, 57 or towards and away from the vehicle body 13.

The grapple 27 also includes brake means 59 as depicted in FIG. 2 of the drawings. The function of the brake means 59 is for selectively preventing swinging movement of the jaws 31, 33, e. g., when transporting a load of pulpwood from one location to another.

The brake means 59 is very similar to well known pneumatic brake structure for the wheels of trucks or the like. More specifically, the brake means 59 includes an axle stub 61 having one end thereof journalled to suitable support structure 63. A brake drum 65 is fixedly attached to the other end of the axle stub 61. A platelike member 67 is fixedly attached to the brake drum 65 in any well known manner, as with the usual bolts (not shown) which normally support a wheel. Expandable brake shoes 69 are included for selectively frictionally engaging the brake drum 65 in the usual manner. A pneumatic actuated cylinder 71 is also included for expanding the brake shoes 69 in the usual manner. It should be understood that certain typical structure, e.g., actuating rods between the cylinder 71 and springs for returning the brake shoes, are included but not shown in the drawings. A bifurcated pittman rod 73 is included and has one end thereof pivotally attached to the platelike member 67 by a pivot pin 75 and the other end thereof pivotally attached to the support structure 49 by a pair of pivot pins 77. Accordingly, actuating the cylinder 71 expands the brake shoes 69 against the brake drum 65 which prevents rotation of the platelike member 67. Therefore, the pittman rod 73 is immobilized which in turn stabilizes or prevents swinging movement of the jaws 31, 33 about the horizontal pivot pins 55, 57.

The attachment means 29 alluded to above includes a plurality of grapple support members 79 which protrude laterally outwardly from the bumper 19 and are fixedly attached thereto in any well known manner as by welding or the like. Each of the support members 79 preferably includes a reinforcement gusset plate 81 fixedly attached between the support member 79 and the bumper 19in a typical manner, as by welding or the like. The attachment means 29 also includes a plurality of downwardly directed hook means 83 which are fixedly attached to the frame 53. The hooks 83 may constitute an integral part of the frame 53 as shown or may be formed by other well known techniques.

The hooks 83 are suitable positioned on the grapple 27 for respective engagement with the support members 79 whereby raising and lowering the bumper 19 in the usual manner is effective to raise and lower the grapple 27. From the above disclosure, it should be apparent that the lowering the bumper 19 after the jaws 31, 33 meet with resistance, e.g., a supporting surface as the ground S, will disengage the support member 79 from the hook 83, thus providing a simple and efficient method of detaching the grapple 27 from the bumper 19. Obviously, well known quick disconnect means (not shown) is included for breaking the connection between the vehicle body 13 and the cylinders 35, 37 and the pneumatic brake means 59.

The machine 11 includes operable lock means 87 for selectively preventing the hooks 83 from becoming disengaged from the support members 79. The preferred structure for the lock means 87 includes at least one horizontally disposed slide pin means 89 which is positioned superjacent at least one of the hook means 83. At least one sleeve means 91 is fixedly attached to the bumper 19 adjacent the respective support members 79. The sleeve means 91 slidably receives the respective slide pin means 89 whereby manual sliding movement outward of the slide pin means 89 obstructs or prevents upward movement of the hook means 83 and inward sliding movement of the slide pin means 89 allows upward movement of the hook means 83.

Also included is safety means as transverse pin means 95 for selective engagement with the slide pin means 89 to prevent inadvertent sliding movement of the slide pin means 89. More specifically, in referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 of the drawings, the slide pin means 89 is provided with a pair of transverse apertures 97 and the sleeve means 91 is provided with a transverse apertures 99. Manual sliding movement outwardly of the slide pin means 89 (FIG. 4) is effective to align the first of the transverse apertures 97 with the transverse aperture 99 in the sleeve means 91. Accordingly, the transverse pin means 95 is received in the aligned apertures 97, 99 to prevent the inadverdent movement of the slide pine means 89. Conversely, manual movement of the slide pin means 89 inwardly (FIG. 5) is effective to align the second of the apertures 97 with the aperture 99. Accordingly, placing the pin means 95 in the apertures 97,99 is now effective to allow upward movement of the hook means 83.

From FIG. 3 of the drawings, it may be seen that in the preferred embodiment a pair of the just-described lock means 87 is included, i. e., a left lock means 87 and a right lock means 87.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that it is not so limited since changes and modifications may be made therein which are within the full intended scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. An improvement in a bumper and cable type pulpwood handling machine having a platelike bumper for engaging and aligning one of the ends of several pieces of pulpwood, and cable means attached to said bumper for circumscribing and slingably supporting s plurality of pieces of the pulpwood; wherein said improvement comprises a grapple which may selectively be used in lieu of said cable for alternately taking hold of and supporting the plurality of pieces of pulpwood said grapple including jaws for engaging the pulpwood, means for operatively opening and closing said jaws; and means for facilitating rapid attachment and detachment of said grapple to and from said bumper including a plurality of grapple support members protruding outwardly from said bumper and being fixedly attached thereto, and a plurality of downwardly directed hook means fixedly attached to said grapple, said hook means being positioned on said grapple for respective cooperation with said grapple support members.

2. An improvement in a bumper and cable type pulpwood handling machine having a platelike bumper for engaging and aligning one of the ends of several pieces of pulpwood, and cable means attached to said bumper for circumscribing and slingably supporting a plurality of pieces of the pulpwood; wherein said improvement comprises a grapple which may selectively be used in lieu of said cable for alternately taking hold of and supporting the plurality of pieces of pulpwood, said grapple including jaws for engaging the pulpwood, means for operatively opening and closing said jaws, means for facilitating rapid attachment and detachment of said grapple to and from said bumper, means for rotatably driving said grapple about a verticle axis whereby said jaws mayselectively be positioned at various angular positions with respect to said handling machine, horizontally disposed pivot means for allowing said jaws to swing freely towards and away from said handling machine, and friction brake means for selectively holding said jaws in any one of infinite angular positions thus preventing swinging movement of said jaws about said horizontal pivot means irrespectively of their angular position thereabout.

3. An improvement in a bumper and cable type pulpwood handling machine having a substantially vertically disposed platelike bumper for engaging and aligning one of the ends of several pieces of the pulpwood, arm means extending outwardly from the upper portion of said bumper and being fixedly attached thereto, cable means depending from said arm means for slingably supporting a plurality of the pulpwood pieces, and means for controllably raising and lowering said bumper whereby said cable means is effective in picking up and setting down the pulpwood pieces; wherein said improvement comprises a grapple which may selectively be used in lieu of said cable for alternately taking hold and supporting the plurality of pulpwood pieces, said grapple including jaws for engaging the pulpwood pieces, means for operatively opening and closing said jaws, means for rotatably driving said grapple about a vertical axis, pivot means for allowing said jaws to swing freely about a horizontal axis, brake means for selectivley preventing movement of said jaws about said horizontal pivot means, a plurality of grapple support members protruding outwardly from said bumper and being fixedly attached thereto, and a plurality of downwardly directed hook means fixedly attached to said grapple, said hook means being positioned on said grapple for respective engagement with said plurality of support members whereby raising and lowering said bumper is effective to raise and lower said grapple.

4. The combination of claim 3 in which is included operable lock means for selectively preventing said hooks from becoming disengaged from said grapple support members.

5. An improvement in a bumper and cable type pulpwood handling machine having a substantially vertically disposed platelike bumper for engaging and aligning one of the ends of several pieces of the pulpwood, arm means extending outwardly from the upper portion of said bumper and being fixedly attached thereto, cable means depending from said arm means for slingably supporting a plurality of the pulpwood pieces, and means for controllably raising and lowering said bumper whereby said cable means is effective in picking up and setting down the pulpwood pieces; wherein said improvement comprises a grapple which may selectively be used in lieu of said cable for alternately taking.

hold and supporting the plurality of pulpwood pieces, said grapple including jaws for engaging the pulpwood pieces, means for operatively opening and closing said jaws, means for rotatably driving said grapple about a verticle axis, pivot means for allowing said (1 jaws to swing freely about a horizontal axis, brake means for selectively preventing movement of said jaws about said horizontal pivot means, a plurality of grapple support members protruding outwardly from said bumper and being fixedly attached thereto, a plurality of downwardly directed hook means fixedly attached to said grapple, said hook means being positioned on said grapple for respective engagement with said plurality of support members whereby raising and lowering said bumper is effective to raise and lower said grapple, and operable lock means for selectively preventing said hooks from becoming disengaged from said grapple support members; said lock means including at least one horizontally disposed slide pin means positioned superjacent at least one said hook means, at least one sleeve means fixedly attached to said bumper adjacent said respective grapple support members, said sleeve means slidable receiving said respective slide pin means whereby manual sliding movement outwardly of said pin means prevents upward movement of said hook means and inward sliding movement of said slide pin means allows upward movement of said hook means, and means for selective engagement with siad horizontally disposed slide pin means to prevent inadvertent sliding movement of said slide pin.

6. An improvement in a bumper and cable type pulpwood handling machine having a platelike bumper for engaging and aligning one of the ends of several pieces of pulpwood, and cable means attached to said bumper for circumscribing and slingable supporting a plurality of pieces of the pulpwood; wherein said improvement comprises a grapple which may selectively be used in lieu of said cable for alternately taking hold of and supporting the plurality of pieces of pulpwood; said grapple including jaws for engaging the pulpwood, means for operatively opening and closing said jaws, means for facilitating rapid attachment and detachment of said grapple to and from said bumper, and operable lock means for selectively preventing said grapple from becoming disengaged form said bumper; said lock means including at least one slide pin means disposed superjacent said means for facilitating rapid attachment and detachment of said grapple to and from said bumper, at least one sleeve means fixedly attached to said bumper adjacent said means for facilitating rapid attachment and detachment of said grapple to and from said bumper, said sleeve means slidable receiving said respective slide pin means whereby manual sliding movement of said slide pin means in one direction prevents removal of said grapple from said bumper and manual sliding movement of said slide pin means in the other direction allows removal of said grapple from said bumper, and means for selective engagement with said slide pin means to prevent inadvertent sliding movement of said slide pin means.

7. The combination of cliam l in which said grapple includes means for rotatably driving said grapple about a vertical axis whereby said jaws may selectively be positioned at various angular positions with respect to said handling machine.

8. The combination of claim 7 in which said grapple includes horizontally disposed pivot means for allowing said jaws to swing freely towards and away from said handling machine.

9. The combination of claim 8 in which said grapple includes brake means for selectively preventing swing-v ing movement of said jaws about said horizontal pivotv means.

Claims (9)

1. An improvement in a bumper and cable type pulpwood handling machine having a platelike bumper for engaging and aligning one of the ends of several pieces of pulpwood, and cable means attached to said bumper for circumscribing and slingably supporting s plurality of pieces of the pulpwood; wherein said improvement comprises a grapple which may selectively be used in lieu of said cable for alternately taking hold of and supporting the plurality of pieces of pulpwood said grapple including jaws for engaging the pulpwood, means for operatively opening and closing said jaws; and means for facilitating rapid attachment and detachment of said grapple to and from said bumper including a plurality of grapple support members protruding outwardly from said bumper and being fixedly attached thereto, and a plurality of downwardly directed hook means fixedly attached to said grapple, said hook means being positioned on said grapple for respective cooperation with said grapple support members.

2. An improvement in a bumper and cable type pulpwood handling machine having a platelike bumper for engaging and aligning one of the ends of several pieces of pulpwood, and cable means attached to said bumper for circumscribing and slingably supporting a plurality of pieces of the pulpwood; wherein said improvement comprises a grapple which may selectively be used in lieu of said cable for alternately taking hold of and supporting the plurality of pieces of pulpwood, said grapple including jaws for engaging the pulpwood, means for operatively opening and closing said jaws, means for facilitating rapid attachment and detachment of said grapple to and from said bumper, means for rotatably driving said grapple about a verticle axis whereby said jaws may selectively be positioned at various angular positions with respect to said handling machine, horizontally disposed pivot means for allowing said jaws to swing freely towards and away from said handling machine, and friction brake means for selectively holding said jaws in any one of infinite angular positions thus preventing swinging movement of said jaws about said horizontal pivot means irrespectively of their angular position thereabout.

3. An improvement in a bumper and cable type pulpwood handling machine having a substantially vertically disposed platelike bumper for engaging and aligning one of the ends of several pieces of the pulpwood, arm means extending outwardly from the upper portion of said bumper and being fixedly attached thereto, cable means depending from said arm means for slingably supporting a plurality of the pulpwood pieces, and means for controllably raising and lowering said bumper whereby said cable means is effective in picking up and setting down the pulpwood pieces; wherein said improvement comprises a grapple which may selectively be used in lieu of said cable for alternately taking hold and supporting the plurality of pulpwood pieces, said grapple including jaws for engaging the pulpwood pieces, means for operatively opening and closing said jaws, means for rotatably driving said grapple about a vertical axis, pivot means for allowing said jaws to swing freely about a horizontal axis, brake means for selectivley preventing movement of said jaws about said horizontal pivot means, a plurality of grapple support members protruding outwardly from said bumper and being fixedly attached thereto, and a plurality of downwardly directed hook means fixedly attached to said grapple, said hook means being positioned on said grapple for respective engagement with said plurality of support members whereby raising and lowering said bumper is effective to raise and lower said grapple.

4. The combination of claim 3 in which is included operable lock means for selectively preventing said hooks from becoming disengaged from said grapple support members.

5. An improvement in a bumper and cable type pulpwood handling machine having a substantially vertically disposed platelike bumper for engaging and aligning one of the ends of several pieces of the pulpwood, arm means extending outwardly from the upper portion of said bumper and being fixedly attached thereto, cable means depending from said arm means for slingably supporting a plurality of the pulpwood pieces, and means for controllably raising and lowering said bumper whereby said cable means is effective in picking up and setting down the pulpwood pieces; wherein said improvement comprises a grapple which may selectively be used in lieu of said cable for alternately taking hold and supporting the plurality of pulpwood pieces, said grapple including jaws for engaging the pulpwood pieces, means for operatively opening and closing said jaws, means for rotatably driving said grapple about a verticle axis, pivot means for allowing said d jaws to swing freely about a horizontal axis, brake means for selectively preventing movement of said jaws about said horizontal pivot means, a plurality of grapple support members protruding outwardly from said bumper and being fixedly attached thereto, a plurality of downwardly directed hook means fixedly attached to said grapple, said hook means being positioned on said grapple for respective engagement with said plurality of support members whereby raising and lowering said bumper is effective to raise and lower said grapple, and operable lock means for selectively preventing said hooks from becoming disengaged from said grapple support members; said lock means including at least one horizontally disposed slide pin means positioned superjacent at least one said hook means, at least one sleeve means fixedly attached to said bumper adjacent said respective grapple support members, said sleeve means slidable receiving said respective slide pin means whereby manual sliding movement outwardly of said pin means prevents upward movement of said hook means and inward sliding movement of said slide pin means allows upward movement of said hook means, and means for selective engagement with siad horizontally disposed slide pin means to prevent inadvertent sliding movement of said slide pin.

6. An improvement in a bumper and cable type pulpwood handling machine having a platelike bumper for engaging and aligning one of the ends of several pieces of pulpwood, and cable means attached to said bumper for circumscribing and slingable supporting a plurality of pieces of the pulpwood; wherein said improvement comprises a grapple which may selectively be used in lieu of said cable for alternately taking hold of and supporting the plurality of pieces of pulpwood; said grapple including jaws for engaging the pulpwood, means for operatively opening and closing said jaws, means for facilitating rapid attachment and detachment of said grapple to and from said bumper, and operable lock means for selectively preventing said grapple from becoming disengaged form saiD bumper; said lock means including at least one slide pin means disposed superjacent said means for facilitating rapid attachment and detachment of said grapple to and from said bumper, at least one sleeve means fixedly attached to said bumper adjacent said means for facilitating rapid attachment and detachment of said grapple to and from said bumper, said sleeve means slidable receiving said respective slide pin means whereby manual sliding movement of said slide pin means in one direction prevents removal of said grapple from said bumper and manual sliding movement of said slide pin means in the other direction allows removal of said grapple from said bumper, and means for selective engagement with said slide pin means to prevent inadvertent sliding movement of said slide pin means.

7. The combination of cliam 1 in which said grapple includes means for rotatably driving said grapple about a vertical axis whereby said jaws may selectively be positioned at various angular positions with respect to said handling machine.

8. The combination of claim 7 in which said grapple includes horizontally disposed pivot means for allowing said jaws to swing freely towards and away from said handling machine.

9. The combination of claim 8 in which said grapple includes brake means for selectively preventing swinging movement of said jaws about said horizontal pivot means.

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