CA1171020A - Board feeder for lumber handling systems - Google Patents
Board feeder for lumber handling systemsInfo
- Publication number
- CA1171020A CA1171020A CA000384709A CA384709A CA1171020A CA 1171020 A CA1171020 A CA 1171020A CA 000384709 A CA000384709 A CA 000384709A CA 384709 A CA384709 A CA 384709A CA 1171020 A CA1171020 A CA 1171020A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- station
- clamp means
- delivery
- board
- feed
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 description 6
- 238000007792 addition Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000009286 beneficial effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000295 complement effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003319 supportive effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000002023 wood Substances 0.000 description 1
Landscapes
- Labeling Devices (AREA)
- Specific Conveyance Elements (AREA)
Abstract
Abstract of the Disclosure A board feeder (10) is described for loading boards (11) one at a time from a feed station (12) to a delivery sta-tion (13). The individual boards (11) are gripped on opposite horizontal surfaces, lifted over a stop (23), and deposited at the delivery station. Clamp members (24,25) are situated on opposite horizontal board sides for moving together to grip the board and for movement between the feed station (12) and the delivery station (13). A top clamp member (24) moves in an arc back and forth over the stations and stop. A bottom clamp member (25) moves in a closed curve matching the stroke of the top clamp arc. A top part of the closed path represents a de-livery stroke starting at the feed station and passing over the stop (23). The top part of the path ends at the delivery sta-tion. The remainder of the top clamp path is a return stroke situated below the stop (23) and stations.
Description
~ ~ 71~
TITLE: BOARD E`EEDER FOR LUMBER HANDLING SYSTEMS
The present invention relates to lumber handling ap-paratus in which boards are moved successively from a single feed station to a plurality spaced delivery station.
Handling of boards, especially small elongated boards or "stickers" that are used for spacing layers of lumber apart in a stack, is a difficult task. This is especially true where the "stickers" are warped or twisted. Some positive gripping action must be provided if the stickers are to be moved auto-matically from one location to anotherl as when successive stickers are to be moved from a feed conveyor in an orderly man~
ner onto a delivery conveyor.
U. S. patent Mo. 3~904/044~ granted to Sidney L. Lunden on September 9, 1975, discloses a lumber stacking apparatus that makes use of a sticker pla~ing mechanism where successive stick-ers are delivered from a feed conveyor to a delivery conveyor.
The stickers are lifted or moved by engagement of single side sur~aces. The sticker handling device operates well on straight stickers, but i9 not ef~ective with twisted or warped stickers.
The present invention operates well even with warped, twisted stickers by gripping the successive stickers along op-posed side surfaces as they move to shi~t the successive stick-ers from a feed station over a stationary stop to a delivey station. The stickers are gripped while on the feed conveyor and the grip isnlt released until the sticker has been moved to the delivery conveyor.
., ~
~ ~ 7~i20 Fig. 1 is a fragmented diagrammatic side ~iew illus-trating the present mechanism;
Fig. 2 is a pictorial vie~ of the linkage mechanism and associated members of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a sticker gripped between two clamp members of the present invention;
Figs. ~ through 7 are schematic representations of the operational sequence involved with the present invention;
and Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic representation of the paths followed by the sticker gripping members of the present invention.
A feeder embodying a preferred form of the present invention is indicated in the accompanying drawings by the reference numeral 10. The present feeder 10 is to be used in lumber handling systems for feeding a board 11 from a feed sta-tion 12 to a delivery station 13.
For purposes of this application, the term "board"
is to be taken broadly as meaning any elongated wood member hav-ing opposed elongated parallel side surfaces. The "boards" ll shown in the drawings (Figs. 1 and 3) include elongated top side surfaces 15 and parallel elongated bottom side surfaces 16.
A "sticker" is a small board that is used primarily in the lumber industry. Thus the term "sticker" will be used in this application interchangeably with "board" and referred to with the same reference number.
The present feeder 10 has broad application to many areas of the lumber handling industry but finds particularly ~ ~10~
beneficial use in conjunction with lumber stacking machines for the purpose of delivering "stickers" ~rom a~hopper and feed con-veyor 17 (Fi~. 13 at the f~ed station 12 to a delivery conveyor 18 at the delivery sta.tion 13. Only a portion of the hopper and feed conveyor assembly 17 is shown, along with a portion o:E a delivery conveyor 18. Such mechanisms are shown i.n sub-stantially more detail by United States Patent 3,904,044.
The present feeder 10 may inclu~e a supportive frame-work 20 that may be separate from or integral with the adjacent framework of the remaining lumber handling system. The frame-work 20 defines the feed station 12 preferably along a horizontal plane, with the delivery station 13 (delivery conveyor 18) situated along a horizontal plane spaced ~rom the feed station by a stationary stop 23. The stop 23 may be provided as a simple upright dog ~ixed to the framework 20.- It is preferable also that the two stations be situated at the same or similar eleva-tions~
The stickers 11 are delivered in a direction trans-verse to their lengths across the feed conveyor 17 to the stop 23. The ~eed conveyor 17 may be operated constantly to con-tinuously urge t~e successive stickers forwardly against the stop. A single sticker will therefore always be present at the feed station so long as there remains any stickers on the feed conveyor 17.
The present feeder 10 includes a first clamp means 24 and a second clamp means 25 -that are operated in coordina-tion with each other to: (1) grip successive stickers at the '' '
TITLE: BOARD E`EEDER FOR LUMBER HANDLING SYSTEMS
The present invention relates to lumber handling ap-paratus in which boards are moved successively from a single feed station to a plurality spaced delivery station.
Handling of boards, especially small elongated boards or "stickers" that are used for spacing layers of lumber apart in a stack, is a difficult task. This is especially true where the "stickers" are warped or twisted. Some positive gripping action must be provided if the stickers are to be moved auto-matically from one location to anotherl as when successive stickers are to be moved from a feed conveyor in an orderly man~
ner onto a delivery conveyor.
U. S. patent Mo. 3~904/044~ granted to Sidney L. Lunden on September 9, 1975, discloses a lumber stacking apparatus that makes use of a sticker pla~ing mechanism where successive stick-ers are delivered from a feed conveyor to a delivery conveyor.
The stickers are lifted or moved by engagement of single side sur~aces. The sticker handling device operates well on straight stickers, but i9 not ef~ective with twisted or warped stickers.
The present invention operates well even with warped, twisted stickers by gripping the successive stickers along op-posed side surfaces as they move to shi~t the successive stick-ers from a feed station over a stationary stop to a delivey station. The stickers are gripped while on the feed conveyor and the grip isnlt released until the sticker has been moved to the delivery conveyor.
., ~
~ ~ 7~i20 Fig. 1 is a fragmented diagrammatic side ~iew illus-trating the present mechanism;
Fig. 2 is a pictorial vie~ of the linkage mechanism and associated members of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a sticker gripped between two clamp members of the present invention;
Figs. ~ through 7 are schematic representations of the operational sequence involved with the present invention;
and Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic representation of the paths followed by the sticker gripping members of the present invention.
A feeder embodying a preferred form of the present invention is indicated in the accompanying drawings by the reference numeral 10. The present feeder 10 is to be used in lumber handling systems for feeding a board 11 from a feed sta-tion 12 to a delivery station 13.
For purposes of this application, the term "board"
is to be taken broadly as meaning any elongated wood member hav-ing opposed elongated parallel side surfaces. The "boards" ll shown in the drawings (Figs. 1 and 3) include elongated top side surfaces 15 and parallel elongated bottom side surfaces 16.
A "sticker" is a small board that is used primarily in the lumber industry. Thus the term "sticker" will be used in this application interchangeably with "board" and referred to with the same reference number.
The present feeder 10 has broad application to many areas of the lumber handling industry but finds particularly ~ ~10~
beneficial use in conjunction with lumber stacking machines for the purpose of delivering "stickers" ~rom a~hopper and feed con-veyor 17 (Fi~. 13 at the f~ed station 12 to a delivery conveyor 18 at the delivery sta.tion 13. Only a portion of the hopper and feed conveyor assembly 17 is shown, along with a portion o:E a delivery conveyor 18. Such mechanisms are shown i.n sub-stantially more detail by United States Patent 3,904,044.
The present feeder 10 may inclu~e a supportive frame-work 20 that may be separate from or integral with the adjacent framework of the remaining lumber handling system. The frame-work 20 defines the feed station 12 preferably along a horizontal plane, with the delivery station 13 (delivery conveyor 18) situated along a horizontal plane spaced ~rom the feed station by a stationary stop 23. The stop 23 may be provided as a simple upright dog ~ixed to the framework 20.- It is preferable also that the two stations be situated at the same or similar eleva-tions~
The stickers 11 are delivered in a direction trans-verse to their lengths across the feed conveyor 17 to the stop 23. The ~eed conveyor 17 may be operated constantly to con-tinuously urge t~e successive stickers forwardly against the stop. A single sticker will therefore always be present at the feed station so long as there remains any stickers on the feed conveyor 17.
The present feeder 10 includes a first clamp means 24 and a second clamp means 25 -that are operated in coordina-tion with each other to: (1) grip successive stickers at the '' '
2 ~
feed station; (2) move them over the stop to the delivery sta-tion; and subsequently ~3) release the stickers at the delivery station. The first clamp means engages the top side surfaces 15 and reciprocates in an arcuate path 57 (Fig. 8) ~etween the delivery and feed stations. The second clamp means 25 engages the bottom side surfaces 16 of the boards and moves in a closed arcuate path 58 from one station to the other. A linkage means 27 is provided to move the clamps in unison between the stations while a drive means 28 (Fi~. 1) operates the linkage means to cause movement of the two clamp means.
The first clamp means 24 is shown in substantial de-tail by ~igs. 2 and 3. The first clamp means includes an elon-gated cross bar 30 that is positioned above the hopper feed con-veyor 17 and delivery conveyor 18. It extends longitudinally with respect to the stickers on the conveyors and projects be-yond opposite ends t~ereof. The cross bar 30 is mounted to a pair of rocker arms 31 that extend between opposed ends of the cross bar and the framework 20.
A pivot shaft 32 extends between rocker arms 31 and framework 20 to define a fixed horizontal pivot axis for the first clamp means 24 that is preferably parallel to the stickers on the feed conveyor 17. The pivot axis defined by shaft 32 is preferably sit~ated directly below the stop 23 so the arcuate path 57 defined by the cross bar 30 will assume the configura-tion shown in Fig. 8. Specifically, the opposite ends of the reciprocating path are situated closely adjacent to the top sur~
faces of the stickers at the two s-tations. The path 57 extends above the stop 23 between the two stations 12, 13.
Connecting links 34 are provided -to join the first clamp means 24 to the second clamp means 25. The links 34 are mounted by pins 35 -to upper ends of the rocker arms 31. Oppo-site ends of the connecting links 34 are connected to a shaft 36 that mounts the links to the second clamp means 25. The pins 35 and shaft 36 define horizontal pivot axes that are parallel to the axis of shaft 32. Links 34 are included as part of the linkage means 27 in that they transmi~ motion from the second clamp means 25, directly to the first clamp means 24. In addi-tion, the links 34 serve to control the angular orientation of the arcuate reciprocating path of the first clamp means with respect to the function of the first clamp means. The links 34 also guarantee simultaneous motion of the two clamp means 24, 25.
A sprin~ means 37 (Fig. 3) is provided on the cross ~ar 30 for yieldably engaging the top surfaces 15 of succes-sive stickers. The spring means 37, it may be noted, can be provided on either or ~oth of the clamp means 24 or 25 for use generally in ~iasing an engaged sticker against the opposite clamp means. The spring means 37 is preferably a form of "leaf"
spring having a free end for resiliently engaging the top sur~
face of the s~icker to firmly grip the sticker.
The second clamp means 25 is provided for the purpose of: (1) engaging the bottom surfaces 16 of the individual stick-er; (2) lifting the sticker against the first clamp means; (3) together with clamp means 24~ moving the stickers over the stop 23; and t4) releasing the sticker onto the delivery conveyor.
The second clamp means 25 includes a pair of clamp supports 40 provided as integral parts of substantially hori-zontal clamp arms 41. The clamp supports 40 and clamp arms 41 are mounted to the frame by the linkage means 27 to move in a closed arcuate path 58 as shown by Fig. 8 The clamp supports 40 move upwardly at the feed station to engage the bottom sur-face of a sticker that is positioned against the stop 23. The supports 40 then continue on upwardly, lifting the sticker into engagement with the 9pring means 37 on the cross bar 30. The sticker is therefore positively gripped while being moved from the feed station to the delivery station.
The linkage means 27 has already been described to a limited extent. It includes the connecting links 34 and rock-er arms 31. In addition, the linkage means includes a pair of crank arms 45 that are pivotably joined to forward ends of the clamp arms 41 by pivot pins 47. The crank arms 45, in turn, are rotatably mounted on a crank shaft 48 below the feed and delivery station. The sha-ft 48 is rotated by the drive means 28 to rotate the crank arms 3~0 about the crank shaft axis.
The crank shaft axis, as well as the axis of the pins 47 are parallel to the rocker arm pivot axis.
Rearward ends of the clamp arms ~1 are connected to the frame 20 by rocker links 51. The links 51 are attached by pivot pins 52 to the clamp arms 41. Opposite ends of the rocker links 51 are connected at pivots ~3 to the framework defining a fixed horizontal axis. The distance between the pivots 53 `\
~ ~71~0 and pins 52 represents a radius about which the rearward end of the clamp arms 41 are free to travel about the fixed hori-zontal axis of pivots 53.
Rotation o~ the crank arms ~5 about the shaft axis will cause rocking motion of the links 51. The combined motion (the rocking motion of the rearward end of clamp arms ~1 about the fixed horizontal axis along with the circular motion of the forward clamp arm ends) produce the substantially eliptical path 58 made by the clamp supports 40 (Fig. 8). Such path 58 is so arranged that approximately one half of the path (o-f the clamp brackets) is situated above the working surfaces of the feed and delivery conveyors. The bottom half of the arcuate path is situated below the conveyors and in a direction returning to a Eeed station.
Drive means 28 includes a chain linkage 50 connecting the crank shaft ~8 to a drive mechanism 54. This mechanism may be operated independently or dependen-tly upon drive m~chan~sms for the associated machinery. It may also be operated intermit-tently by appropriate controls to ~acilitate spacing of successive stickers along the delivery conveyor 18. Such spacing control can be manually or automatically controlled. Two alternate methods showing sticker spacing may be found in the above referenced patent.
Prior to operation, a load of stickers is delivered to the feed station 12. The feed conveyor 17 may operate con-tinuously, sliding under the stickers when they come into engage-ment and halt the stickers against the stop 23. ThereEore, when 02~
one sticker is lifted from engagement with the stop, -the re-maining stickers will index forwardly with the succeeding skicker moving into engagement with the stop.
A sticker at the feed station is situated elevational-ly between the two clamp means 2~ and 25. Upon actuation of the drive means, the clamp means 24, 25 will be moved together simultaneously clamping -the sticker and lifting it up and over the stop 23. The sticker 11 is then lowered onto the delivery conveyor where it is released. The two clamp means 24, 25 then separate from one another and move back to their original posi-tion at the f eed station.
The first and second clamp means move simultaneously, with the top or first clamp means 24 moving in the reciprocating, arcuate path 57 in Fig. 8. The bottom or second clamp means 25 moves through the closed curve 58. An upper portion 59 of the curve 58 is at an elevation higher than the surfaces of the conveyors 17 and 18. Furthermore, the peak elevation is higher than the stop 23 so t~e sticker can be lifted upwardl~ off the feed conveyor, over the stop, and deposited onto the delivery conveyor.
The upper curved portion 59 is complementary to the arc 57. The curved portion 59 is more sharply arcuate at its ends than the arcuate path 57 of the first clamp means. The second clamp means 25 will move sharply upward at the beginning of its forward stroke, lifting the sticker into engagement with the first clamp means beore it moves over the stop (Fig. 5).
Similarly, the second clamp means will descend sharply at the ~ ~7~
end of its forward stroke to release the gripping force against the sticker and lower the sticker on-to the delivery conveyor (Fig. 6~. A lower curved portion 60 of curve 58 is provided in the return path of the clamp means 25 and is below the stations to clear the stickers and frame as it returns.
The positive gripping of successive stickers between the two clamp means assures that even badly warped or twisted stickers can be moved from one station to the other. Other varia~
tions such as minor size differential among stickers is accomo-dated by the above described device.
The above description and attached drawings are given by way of example to set forth a preferred form of the present invention. Additional forms may fall within the scope of the following claims, which more precisely define my invention.
_g_ , .
"; , '
feed station; (2) move them over the stop to the delivery sta-tion; and subsequently ~3) release the stickers at the delivery station. The first clamp means engages the top side surfaces 15 and reciprocates in an arcuate path 57 (Fig. 8) ~etween the delivery and feed stations. The second clamp means 25 engages the bottom side surfaces 16 of the boards and moves in a closed arcuate path 58 from one station to the other. A linkage means 27 is provided to move the clamps in unison between the stations while a drive means 28 (Fi~. 1) operates the linkage means to cause movement of the two clamp means.
The first clamp means 24 is shown in substantial de-tail by ~igs. 2 and 3. The first clamp means includes an elon-gated cross bar 30 that is positioned above the hopper feed con-veyor 17 and delivery conveyor 18. It extends longitudinally with respect to the stickers on the conveyors and projects be-yond opposite ends t~ereof. The cross bar 30 is mounted to a pair of rocker arms 31 that extend between opposed ends of the cross bar and the framework 20.
A pivot shaft 32 extends between rocker arms 31 and framework 20 to define a fixed horizontal pivot axis for the first clamp means 24 that is preferably parallel to the stickers on the feed conveyor 17. The pivot axis defined by shaft 32 is preferably sit~ated directly below the stop 23 so the arcuate path 57 defined by the cross bar 30 will assume the configura-tion shown in Fig. 8. Specifically, the opposite ends of the reciprocating path are situated closely adjacent to the top sur~
faces of the stickers at the two s-tations. The path 57 extends above the stop 23 between the two stations 12, 13.
Connecting links 34 are provided -to join the first clamp means 24 to the second clamp means 25. The links 34 are mounted by pins 35 -to upper ends of the rocker arms 31. Oppo-site ends of the connecting links 34 are connected to a shaft 36 that mounts the links to the second clamp means 25. The pins 35 and shaft 36 define horizontal pivot axes that are parallel to the axis of shaft 32. Links 34 are included as part of the linkage means 27 in that they transmi~ motion from the second clamp means 25, directly to the first clamp means 24. In addi-tion, the links 34 serve to control the angular orientation of the arcuate reciprocating path of the first clamp means with respect to the function of the first clamp means. The links 34 also guarantee simultaneous motion of the two clamp means 24, 25.
A sprin~ means 37 (Fig. 3) is provided on the cross ~ar 30 for yieldably engaging the top surfaces 15 of succes-sive stickers. The spring means 37, it may be noted, can be provided on either or ~oth of the clamp means 24 or 25 for use generally in ~iasing an engaged sticker against the opposite clamp means. The spring means 37 is preferably a form of "leaf"
spring having a free end for resiliently engaging the top sur~
face of the s~icker to firmly grip the sticker.
The second clamp means 25 is provided for the purpose of: (1) engaging the bottom surfaces 16 of the individual stick-er; (2) lifting the sticker against the first clamp means; (3) together with clamp means 24~ moving the stickers over the stop 23; and t4) releasing the sticker onto the delivery conveyor.
The second clamp means 25 includes a pair of clamp supports 40 provided as integral parts of substantially hori-zontal clamp arms 41. The clamp supports 40 and clamp arms 41 are mounted to the frame by the linkage means 27 to move in a closed arcuate path 58 as shown by Fig. 8 The clamp supports 40 move upwardly at the feed station to engage the bottom sur-face of a sticker that is positioned against the stop 23. The supports 40 then continue on upwardly, lifting the sticker into engagement with the 9pring means 37 on the cross bar 30. The sticker is therefore positively gripped while being moved from the feed station to the delivery station.
The linkage means 27 has already been described to a limited extent. It includes the connecting links 34 and rock-er arms 31. In addition, the linkage means includes a pair of crank arms 45 that are pivotably joined to forward ends of the clamp arms 41 by pivot pins 47. The crank arms 45, in turn, are rotatably mounted on a crank shaft 48 below the feed and delivery station. The sha-ft 48 is rotated by the drive means 28 to rotate the crank arms 3~0 about the crank shaft axis.
The crank shaft axis, as well as the axis of the pins 47 are parallel to the rocker arm pivot axis.
Rearward ends of the clamp arms ~1 are connected to the frame 20 by rocker links 51. The links 51 are attached by pivot pins 52 to the clamp arms 41. Opposite ends of the rocker links 51 are connected at pivots ~3 to the framework defining a fixed horizontal axis. The distance between the pivots 53 `\
~ ~71~0 and pins 52 represents a radius about which the rearward end of the clamp arms 41 are free to travel about the fixed hori-zontal axis of pivots 53.
Rotation o~ the crank arms ~5 about the shaft axis will cause rocking motion of the links 51. The combined motion (the rocking motion of the rearward end of clamp arms ~1 about the fixed horizontal axis along with the circular motion of the forward clamp arm ends) produce the substantially eliptical path 58 made by the clamp supports 40 (Fig. 8). Such path 58 is so arranged that approximately one half of the path (o-f the clamp brackets) is situated above the working surfaces of the feed and delivery conveyors. The bottom half of the arcuate path is situated below the conveyors and in a direction returning to a Eeed station.
Drive means 28 includes a chain linkage 50 connecting the crank shaft ~8 to a drive mechanism 54. This mechanism may be operated independently or dependen-tly upon drive m~chan~sms for the associated machinery. It may also be operated intermit-tently by appropriate controls to ~acilitate spacing of successive stickers along the delivery conveyor 18. Such spacing control can be manually or automatically controlled. Two alternate methods showing sticker spacing may be found in the above referenced patent.
Prior to operation, a load of stickers is delivered to the feed station 12. The feed conveyor 17 may operate con-tinuously, sliding under the stickers when they come into engage-ment and halt the stickers against the stop 23. ThereEore, when 02~
one sticker is lifted from engagement with the stop, -the re-maining stickers will index forwardly with the succeeding skicker moving into engagement with the stop.
A sticker at the feed station is situated elevational-ly between the two clamp means 2~ and 25. Upon actuation of the drive means, the clamp means 24, 25 will be moved together simultaneously clamping -the sticker and lifting it up and over the stop 23. The sticker 11 is then lowered onto the delivery conveyor where it is released. The two clamp means 24, 25 then separate from one another and move back to their original posi-tion at the f eed station.
The first and second clamp means move simultaneously, with the top or first clamp means 24 moving in the reciprocating, arcuate path 57 in Fig. 8. The bottom or second clamp means 25 moves through the closed curve 58. An upper portion 59 of the curve 58 is at an elevation higher than the surfaces of the conveyors 17 and 18. Furthermore, the peak elevation is higher than the stop 23 so t~e sticker can be lifted upwardl~ off the feed conveyor, over the stop, and deposited onto the delivery conveyor.
The upper curved portion 59 is complementary to the arc 57. The curved portion 59 is more sharply arcuate at its ends than the arcuate path 57 of the first clamp means. The second clamp means 25 will move sharply upward at the beginning of its forward stroke, lifting the sticker into engagement with the first clamp means beore it moves over the stop (Fig. 5).
Similarly, the second clamp means will descend sharply at the ~ ~7~
end of its forward stroke to release the gripping force against the sticker and lower the sticker on-to the delivery conveyor (Fig. 6~. A lower curved portion 60 of curve 58 is provided in the return path of the clamp means 25 and is below the stations to clear the stickers and frame as it returns.
The positive gripping of successive stickers between the two clamp means assures that even badly warped or twisted stickers can be moved from one station to the other. Other varia~
tions such as minor size differential among stickers is accomo-dated by the above described device.
The above description and attached drawings are given by way of example to set forth a preferred form of the present invention. Additional forms may fall within the scope of the following claims, which more precisely define my invention.
_g_ , .
"; , '
Claims (6)
1. A board feeder assembly for lumber handling systems for successively feeding elongated boards having opposed top and bottom side surfaces from a feed station over a stop to a delivery station; comprising:
a framework;
a first clamp means on the framework for gripping the top surface of a board at the feed station and for releasing the board at the delivery station;
second clamp means on the framework for gripping the bottom surface of a board at the feed station and for releasing the board at the delivery station;
linkage means interconnecting the first and second clamp means for reciprocating the first and second clamp means in unison between the feed station and delivery station;
drive means connecting the frame and linkage means for selectively operating the linkage means to reciprocate the first and second clamp means between the feed and delivery sta-tions; and wherein the second clamp means is moved through a closed curve with an upper portion of the curve situated above the feed station and delivery station and a lower portion of the curve situated below the feed station and delivery station.
a framework;
a first clamp means on the framework for gripping the top surface of a board at the feed station and for releasing the board at the delivery station;
second clamp means on the framework for gripping the bottom surface of a board at the feed station and for releasing the board at the delivery station;
linkage means interconnecting the first and second clamp means for reciprocating the first and second clamp means in unison between the feed station and delivery station;
drive means connecting the frame and linkage means for selectively operating the linkage means to reciprocate the first and second clamp means between the feed and delivery sta-tions; and wherein the second clamp means is moved through a closed curve with an upper portion of the curve situated above the feed station and delivery station and a lower portion of the curve situated below the feed station and delivery station.
2. The feeder as set out by claim 1 for feeding boards in a direction transverse to their lengths wherein the first clamp means is pivoted about an axis parallel to the board lengths, said axis being located below the feed station.
3. The feeder as set out by claim 2 wherein the axis is fixed relative to the framework and is situated substantially directly below the stop.
4. The feeder as set out by claim 1 for feeding boards transverse to their lengths over a stop from the feed station at one elevation to the delivery station at a second elevation, wherein the drive means includes:
a crank mounted to one end to the framework for rotat-tion about a crank axis below the elevations of the feed station and delivery station and having remaining end mounted to the linkage means; and means operatively connected to the crank for selec-tively rotating the crank about the crank axis.
a crank mounted to one end to the framework for rotat-tion about a crank axis below the elevations of the feed station and delivery station and having remaining end mounted to the linkage means; and means operatively connected to the crank for selec-tively rotating the crank about the crank axis.
5. The feeder as set out by claim 6 wherein the first clamp means is connected by the linkage means to the framework for pivotal movement thereon about an axis that is situated be-low the elevations of the feed station and delivery station.
6. The feeder as defined by claim 1 wherein one of the clamp means includes a board engaging spring means for yieldably engaging and pressing a board against the opposed clamp means while moving with the clamp means from the feed station to the delivery station.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000384709A CA1171020A (en) | 1981-08-27 | 1981-08-27 | Board feeder for lumber handling systems |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000384709A CA1171020A (en) | 1981-08-27 | 1981-08-27 | Board feeder for lumber handling systems |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1171020A true CA1171020A (en) | 1984-07-17 |
Family
ID=4120813
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000384709A Expired CA1171020A (en) | 1981-08-27 | 1981-08-27 | Board feeder for lumber handling systems |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1171020A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US8104604B2 (en) | 2009-04-01 | 2012-01-31 | Carbotech International | Lumber transfer system |
-
1981
- 1981-08-27 CA CA000384709A patent/CA1171020A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US8104604B2 (en) | 2009-04-01 | 2012-01-31 | Carbotech International | Lumber transfer system |
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