US472586A

US472586A - Band-saw mill

Info

Publication number: US472586A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1892-04-12
Anticipated expiration: 1909-04-12

Description

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

'DE WITT 0. PRESCOTT. BAND SAW MILL.

N0. 472,586. Patented Apr. 12, 1892.

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DE WITT c. PRESCOTT.

BAND SAW MILL.

No. 472,586. atente'd Apr. 12, 1892.

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DE WITT G. PRESCOTT.

BAND SAW MILL.

No. 472,586; Patente d.Apr. 12, 1892.

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BAND SAW MILL.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DE \VITT CLINTON PRESCOTT, OF MARINETTE, WISCONSIN.

BAN D-SAW MILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 472,586, dated April 12, 1892.

I Application filed June 6, 1890. Serial No. 354,481. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DE WITT CLINTON Pans- COTT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marinette, in the county of Marinette and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Band-Saw Mills, which are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents an end elevation of a band-saw mill embodying my invention, looking toward the front of the saw; Fig. 2, a front side elevation of the same with portions of the mechanism broken away; Fig. 3,'a plan section of the same, taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4C, a detail elevation of the lever and wheel for operating the regular setting mechanism Fig. 5, a detail plan section similar to Fig. 3, but with the carriage removed; Fig. 6, a detail side elevation of a section of one of the carriage-tracks; Fig.7, a plan view of the same; Fig. 8, a detail side elevation of the regulating-roller and its setting mechanism; and Fig. 9, a detail edge elevation of' the same looking toward the saw and the upper portion broken away. Figs. 1 to 5 of the drawings areupon the same scale. The remaining figures are also upon one scale, but considerably enlarged from that of the former.

My invention relates to band-saw mills, but more particularly to a mill of small size designed for resawing lumber or the sawing up of small logs, whereby it is adapted forcuse in large mills in connection with the larger saws, and being arranged so as to occupy less space than with the usual organization of these machines is further adapted for use where great economy of room'is necessary.

I will proceed to describe in detail the construction'and operation of a mill in which I have embodied my invention in one practical form, and will then point out more definitely in claims the improvements which I believe to be new and wish to secure by Letters Patent.

The mainfeatures of the mill may be of any known construction and will not be particularly described in the present instance.

In the drawings I have shown for the purposes of illustration aband-saw mill in all its general features substantially like that shown and described in Letters Patent No. 416,012,

granted to me November 26, 1889, to which reference is made for particulars; but this is simply for illustration, as the improvements which constitute the subject-matter of my present invention are applicable to band-saw mills of any construction.

In the drawings, Arepresents the base of the saw-tram e, upon which is mounted an upright hollow column B, consisting of two parts a lower section b, fixed upon the base, and an upper section b, telescoped upon the former. The upper band-wheel O is mounted on this upper movable section b of the column, as described and shown in my said prior patent, the arrangement being such that its shaft 0 somewhat overhangs the column. Thelower band-wheel D is mounted by supporting its shaft d in depending brackets a a, as in said patent, and is provided with the driving bandpulley d. The thin band-saw E is arranged upon these band-Wheels in the usual manner.

Heretofore in mills of this description the log-carriage has been arranged outside of the saw; but in my present invention one of the principal features of the improvement is the arrangement of the carriage-track within the saw, so that the carriage travels back and forth between the saw and the supportingcolumn. The carriage-tracks F F are of any ordinary construction, but are arranged so that they run between the saw E and the column B on the operative side of the mill. The carriage G is in all general features of usual construction, its trucks g being fitted to the tracks F, as usual. The carriage-track must of course be of narrow gage as compared with the tracks of ordinary mills and the carriage must be correspondingly narrow, as the space between the saw and column within which the carriage travels is limited; but this space issufficient to accommodate a carriage wide enough for the purposes of this mill, so that a cant of ordinary thickness or a smallsized log can be worked up Without any difficulty. Preferably the carriage is capable of lateral movement upon its truck-axles, and, as shown in the drawings, is provided with an offsetting mechanism H, such as is shown and described in my prior Letters Patent, No.- 378,717, dated February 28, 1888.

In resawing it is often desired to make very thin stuff, and so it becomes necessary to support the cant firmly at the back so that there can be no springing out near the cut ting-line. In order to provide this rigid support I fix a strong supporting-back I to the knees i of the carriage, which are of usual construction, and are mounted on the carriage in the usual way. This support runs the entire length of that portion of the carriage which is to be occupied by the cant or log and is composed of thick heavy plank extending from knee to knee and fastened to the latter in any suitable way. In order to provide for resawing cants of extraordinary width I make this supporting-back in sections i i which are connected together at will by means of dovetail joints i so that. the upper section a? may be detached from the knees and from the lower section whenever desired, but may be quickly applied when there is occasion for resawing very wide cants. The mechanism for reciprocating this carriage may be any known feed mechanism suitable for this purpose; but I prefer the well-known steam-feed, a portion J of which I have shown in the drawings.

For the purpose of gaging the thickness of the stuff to be cut and also firmly holdingthe cant or log just in front of the saw, so that there can be no lateral springing in eitherdirection, I provide an upright roller K, preferably of steel, which is mounted loosely in bearings at the inner edge or side of an upright frame /.t, which is arranged at right angles to the travel of the log-carriage, and is itself adjustable back and forth with reference to the carriage and saw. The rollerframe is shaped, substantially as shown in Figs. I and 8 of the drawings, so as to provide a pivotal bearing for both the lower and upper end of the roller at the inside of the frame nearest to the saw. The outer portion of the frame consists of two arcshaped arms 7; with a narrow space between them, and having on their outer or upper edges accurately-graduated notches the graduation being comparatively line-at least to the sixtyfourth of an inch. The bottom of this frame is provided with a dovetailed feet 7.1, as seen in Fig. 9 of the drawings. A base-piecc L is set at one side of the carriage and alittle outside of the plane of the saw, as seen in Figs. 1 and This base stands at right angles to the travel of the carriage and a few inches in front of the line of the cutting-teeth of the saw and is firmly bolted to the flooring of the mill. Itis constructed with a dovetail groove or guideway Z in its upper face, as seen in Figs. 2 and of the drawings, which is adapted to receive the dovetail foot of the frame 70, so that the latter maybe slipped into this guideway and slide freely back and forth therein. Below this guideway this base-piece L is hollow, as seen in Fig. 2. The base L is located A settin glever M is pivoted by means of a pivotal belt at to the lower portion of the frame k, as seen in Figs. 1 and 8, from which point it projects upward between the two circular or sector arms 7;. The lower end of the lever extends down slightly beyond its pivot, and has connected to it one end of a link m, the other end of which ispivoted to the base L, as seen in said Figs. 1 and 8. It is obvious that as this lever is vibrated the roller-frame and the roller which it carries will be set in and out with reference to the plane of the saw. The lever is provided with an ordinary spring hand latch or pawl m which is arranged to slide on the leverand engage with the notches c in a well-known way, and the graduation of the latter is such with reference to the lever and its connections that the setting of the pawl from one notch to another will vary the position of the roller acertain fractional part of an inchsay one sixty-fourth. These parts and this graduation must be very carefully and accurately constructed, so that the setting of the roller can be obtained withperfeet accuracy and with great nicety. This enables me to set the roller with perfect accuracy in relation to the plane of the saw, so that there will be a nicely-determined distance between the bearing-line of the roller and the plane of the saw, whetherof an inch or half an inch, more or less, as may be desired, and the setting-lever being firmly secured in place by the pawl engaged with the proper notches the roller is held firmly in the position to which it has been set. Now it is evident that after the roller has been set at the required point, as described above, if the cant or log is set upon the carriage against the roller and there secured it will be firmly held just in front of the saw between two unyielding surfacesnamely, the roller on one side and the stiff back I on the other sideso that there can be no lateral spring in either direction, and the usual travel being given to the carriage a board or strip will be cut olffrom the outside of the cant by the action of the saw of even uniform thickness throughout, however thin this piece maybe, its thickness being determined, as already explained, by the set of the roller. The setting up of the cant against the roller mentioned above is of course effected by the usual setting of the knees on the carriage, and any ordinary setting mechanism may be employed for this purpose. In the drawings I have shown the usual set-shaft N, which is provided at its front end with the usual notched settingwheel a. The devices by means of which the rotation of this shaft sets the knees back and forth laterally of the carriage are perfectly well known and need not be shown and described here. The shaft is revolved by means of a setting-lever O, which is mounted loosely on a pivotal support coincident with the setting-shaft, or may be the shaft itself. This lever at its lower end embraces the setting-wheel n and is provided with a IIO pawl 0, arranged to engage with the notches in said wheel, as seen in Figs. 2 and at, so that the vibration of thelever will revolve the shaft in the well-known way to move up the knees on the carriage and so properly set the log or cant to the saw,in this instance this set being always firmly against the bearing-roller K. It will be understood,of course, that it is desirable to bring the two setting-levers M and 0 within easy control of a single attendant, and

evidently the convenient standpoint for this attendant is near the saw at the side of the lever M; but the space between the roller and teeth of the saw is so small that if the log-set should be arranged in front of the saw there would be great danger of accident to the sawyer when reaching in at the front of the saw to operate this lever. Hence I make the log-carriage considerably longer than would otherwise be necessary by extending it outin front much farther than usual, so that when it is in position ready for forward movement toward the saw the carriage will extend very considerably beyond or back of the latter, as seen in Fig. 3. This is to provide for a similar extension of the set-shaft N, so as to bring the setting-lever 0 back of the saw instead of in front thereof, whereby itmay be reached and manipulated easily and without danger by the sawyer standing near the saw, as suggested above. In order to bring the lever 0 within this easy reach of the sawyer a hori-' zontal handle 0' is attached to the upper end and extended outward toward the sawyer within his easy grasp; but it is desirable to provide also for lifting the pawl 0 from engagement with the setting-wheel when the cant is cut up and the knees are to be pushed back totheir outer position. To provide for this I pivot a small bell-crank lever P to the handle 0' near its inner end and connect one end by an upright link-rod p to the pawl, this connection being made by a short piece of chain 19' at the lower end of the rod. A sliding rod 10 is connected at one end to the other arm of this lever and is extended outward alongside the handle 0, passing through a keeper on said handle and having a coiled spring arranged upon it inside the keeper, which operates normally to thrust the rod inward toward the bell-crank lever. It will be seen that when this handle-rod p is pulled outward the pawl 0 will be lifted from engagement with the setting-wheel, and of course the knees and back-support attached thereto may then be moved back, as usual, to their outer position ready to receive a new cant.

It is obvious that the carriage-track being arrtnged within the saw, some special provision must be made to permit the removal of the latter, which is often desired for one purpose or another. If the track within the saw is entire, as usual, the saw cannot be removed from the mill. In order to provide for this, the carriage-tracks are constructed with a short-hinged section in each,arranged a little Way in front of the saw. This construction is shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7. Each track F has a short piece cut out therefrom a little way in front of the saw, and the space thus left is filled with a short section of track f, which is hinged atone end to the regular track by suitable hinges f. The other end of each section drops down upon one of the cross-ties for the track, whereby it is firmly supported, and at the same time completely closes the gap in the track, as seen in Figs. 5 and 6. Now whenever it is desired to remove the saw these hinged sectionsare turned back, when, of course, the saw taken from the bandwheels may he slipped out through the open spaces in the track and by the same means replaced when desired.

The operation will be readily understood from the description which has been given above in connection with the mechanical construction of the several new features belonging to this mill. The importance of these i1nprovements, however, can hardly be overestimated. In many large lumber-mills it is very desirable to have a band-saw for resawing on the same floor or in the immediate vicinity of the main saws, and it is also very desirable that this resawing-mill should beadapted to cut up the cant which it is desired to resaw into very thin stuff, at least as thin as half an inch sometimes; and it is also very desirable that themill should be adapted not only to the production of this thin stuff, but also to its production of great width, for in some parts of the country, particularly on the Pacific slope, where the logs are of extraordinary size, it is often desired to resaw a cant of very great width and sometimes to make from this cant very thin stud. Now this re sawing band-mill, with my improvements described above, is adapted to secure all these advantages and provides a mill filling all the requirements of a resawing-mill in any 10- cality, and will resaw to any required thick ness or thinness with perfect uniformity and certainty.

The arrangement of the carriage within the saw is very convenient for any location; but this improvement is especially intended to save room, so that this mill may be set up in mills already in operation where there is not room to erect a mill under the ordinary arrangement of the carriage.

The particular use for which this mill is intended is to resaw cants into lumber of any thickness and also to resaw lumber which has been once cut to any desired thickness into thin stuff, such as box-boards, &c.; but my invention is not intended to be restricted to this particular use or to mills of smaller size designed for this purpose.

I wish to be understood as claiming the invention applied to any-sized mill and for any purpose whatever, such as the sawing of logs of a convenient size for this mill or any other work which the mill is adapted to perform. It will be understood, of course, that the parts herein referred to as old are no part of my present invention and are not here claimed. It is also evident that changes may be made in some of the mechanical details of those parts of the mill which are herein described and shown as novelties, and I do not Wish to be understood as limiting myself to all the specific details of construction and arrangement of these parts as shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a band-saw mill, the band-saw, in combination with the log-carriage tracks a rran god within the saw and provided with short independent sections removable from their normal position in the tracks, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. In a band-saw mill, the band-saw E, in

combination with the carriage-tracks F, arranged Within the saw and provided with short hinged sections f, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In a band-saW mill, aband-saw E, in combination with the carriage-tracks F, arranged Within the saw, a carriage G, mounted on said tracks and extended at its front endconsiderably beyond the log or cant support. the setting-lever 0, arranged on the said front extension of the carriage and at the rear of the saw, and the upright bearing-roller K and its setting-lever M, arranged a little in front and outside of the saw, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

DE \VITT OLIN"ON PRESCOTT.

Vitnesses:

C. E. NIorIoLs, .T. l FAIRCHILD.