FI20235807A1 - Method for processing wood in a wood processing device of a forest work machine and control system for controlling operation of the wood processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

Method for handling a tree (17) in a tree handling device (20) in a forestry machine (1) comprising movable feeders (22) pressed against the tree trunk to feed the tree (17) into the tree handling device (20) and movable delimbing devices (24a, 24b) pressed against the tree trunk to detach the branches from the tree trunk. The tree (17) is fed into the tree handling device (20) with said feeders (22) and during the feeding of the tree (17) branches are detached from the tree trunk with said delimbing devices (24a, 24b) while the tree (17) is supported in the tree handling device (20) with said feeders (22) and/or delimbing devices (24a, 24b). In the method, a substantially vertical support force (FS) is determined which is needed to support the tree (17) in the tree handling device (20) and at least one of the following is controlled in order to achieve the substantially vertical support force (FS): the compression force (PF22) of the feeder means (22) against the tree trunk or the compression force (PF24) of the delimbing means (24a, 24b) against the tree trunk. Furthermore, a control system (30) for controlling the function of the tree handling device (20) in the forestry machine (1).

Description

Method for processing wood in a wood processing device of a forestry machine and control system for controlling the operation of the wood processing device

Background of the invention

The invention relates to logging and in particular to a method for processing wood in a wood processing device of a forestry machine and to a control system for controlling the operation of the wood processing device of a forestry machine.

When harvesting wood with a forestry machine, the wood is processed, i.e. treated, in the wood processing device of the forestry machine. Said wood processing typically comprises — felling the tree, removing branches from the felled tree, i.e. pruning the tree, and cutting the trunk of the felled tree into pieces of the desired length. In order to remove the branches from the trunk of the tree, the felled wood is fed into the wood processing machine by means of feeding means pressed against the trunk of the tree, and at the same time, the pruning means used for removing the branches are pressed against the trunk of the tree being fed into the wood processing machine. After this, the portion of the trunk of the tree from which the branches have been removed or where there were no branches in the first place is cut into a piece of the desired length.

During the removal of branches, the wood to be processed in the wood processing device is supported by both the said feeding means and the said pruning means, while the wood to be processed is fed forward in the wood processing device by the said feeding means. If the pressing force of the said pruning means against the tree trunk is too small, the pruning result is poor, i.e. stumps or knots of branches remain on the surface of the tree trunk. In addition, the support of the tree against the bottom of the wood processing device is also weakened, whereby the tree may start to hang in the wood processing device. In this case, the height of the tree in the wood processing device changes and the measurement accuracy of the tree diameter is impaired. In addition, the pruning means may cut into the tree trunk or the tree may even fall completely out of the wood processing device. Since the surface of the tree trunk

N slides along the frame of the woodworking machine, the said pruning tools are too

S high compression force against the tree trunk increases resistance to wood feed

S in the processing device, i.e. the friction resisting the flow of wood in the wood processing device, increases.

E 30 This in turn increases the power and energy consumption required for wood processing.

N If the pressing force of the mentioned feeding means against the tree trunk is too low, the wood feed in the wood processing device will be weakened, which will slow down the wood processing.

Q sound and thus reduce productivity. If the compression of the mentioned feed means

The force against the tree trunk is too great, and an unnecessary amount of power is used to support, support and feed the tree trunk, which unnecessarily increases the energy consumption used for processing the tree. In addition, the aforementioned feeding means, especially when implemented with feed rollers, may damage the surface of the tree.

According to one solution in use, the pressing force of the feeding means of the wood processing device against the tree trunk and the pressing force of the delimbing means against the tree trunk are controlled on the basis of the measured diameter, i.e. the diameter, of the tree being processed. The measurement of the tree diameter is based on determining the size of the opening of the said feeding means and/or delimbing means. In this solution, as the wood is fed, the pressing force is reduced as the diameter of the tree decreases. In order to ensure that the tree is sufficiently supported by the wood processing device during the wood feeding, i.e. also at the end of the wood feeding, the pressing force of the feeding means and delimbing means used to support the tree against the tree trunk is often too high, which may cause the above-mentioned disadvantages during the wood processing.

Brief description of the invention

The aim of the invention is to provide a new type of method for handling wood in a wood handling device of a forestry machine and a new type of control system for controlling the operation of the wood handling device of a forestry machine.

The solution according to the invention is characterized by what is stated in the independent claims.

The invention is based on determining the essentially vertical support force required to support the tree in the wood processing device of a forestry machine for processing wood, and adjusting at least one of the following to produce said essentially vertical support force when processing the wood in the wood processing device: the pressing force of the feed means against the tree trunk or the pressing force of the delimbing means against the tree trunk.

The advantage of the solution is that when determining the essentially vertical support force required to support the tree in a wood processing & equipment, the pressing force of the feeding equipment against the tree trunk and/or the pressing force of the delimbing equipment

S against the tree trunk can be adjusted more optimally to support the tree in a real

S to produce the necessary support force in the process. This can avoid the previous

E 30 min wood for sufficient support typically used for safety reasons

N producing high compression forces and thus reducing the energy consumption used for wood processing. Although the main purpose of the solution is to avoid the need for

Q producing an extremely high compression force and thus typically reduces the operating

N applied pressing forces, the solution also allows the applied pressing forces to be increased if necessary, if the operating situation of the wood processing device requires it.

Thanks to the solution, the pressing force of the feeding means of the feeding device of the wood processing device and/or the pruning means of the pruning device against the tree trunk can be adjusted so that the pressing of the pruning means against the tree trunk is sufficient both to support the tree in the harvester head and to cut branches off the tree trunk without any branch stumps or knots remaining substantially on the surface of the tree trunk, but nevertheless so that the said pressing forces are not too great to cause a force resisting the wood feed in the wood processing device caused by too strong support of the tree to the harvester head.

Certain embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.

Brief description of the patterns

The invention will now be described in more detail in connection with preferred embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 schematically shows a forestry machine viewed from the side, Figure 2 schematically shows a wood processing device of a forestry machine viewed from an angle above, Figure 3 schematically shows a wood processing device of a forestry machine according to Figure 2 and a tree supported by it, Figure 4 schematically shows a control system for controlling the operation of the wood processing device of a forestry machine, Figure 5 schematically shows a method for controlling the operation of the wood processing device of a forestry machine, and Figures 6a and 6b schematically show some ways of supporting a tree in order to adjust the essentially vertical supporting force produced in the wood processing device. & Some embodiments of the invention are shown in the figures for the sake of clarity

N for simplification. Similar parts are marked with the same numbers in the figures.

With numbers.

S

I Detailed description of the invention q 30 Figure 1 shows schematically, from the side, a harvester 2 1, which is a forestry machine in which the solution according to the present invention can be applied. 2 The harvester 1 comprises a base 2, which forms at least part of the frame of the harvester 1

N structure and in connection with which movement means 3 are arranged, by means of which the harvester 1 can move relative to its working platform or working environment. The movement means 3 mentioned in Figure 1 are wheels, but generally the movement means mentioned may comprise at least one of the following: wheels fitted to an axle, wheels fitted to a bogie axle, a track or other means known per se to cause the movement of the forestry machine and possibly to change the direction of movement of the forestry machine relative to its working platform or working environment.

The harvester 1 further comprises a power source 4. The power source 4 may comprise, for example, an internal combustion engine, one or more electric motors and a battery and/or a generator, or various combinations thereof, to produce the necessary power to cause the harvester to move and increase its speed of movement, and to operate devices fitted to the harvester.

The harvester 1 further comprises a cab 5. The cab 5 may be arranged to be foldable and/or rotatable with respect to the chassis 2. The cab 5 comprises the necessary control means 6, by means of which the harvester operator can control the travel of the harvester and the devices fitted to the harvester. The said control means 6 are shown very schematically in Figure 1 and may comprise, for example, one or more manually controllable control means, such as a control lever, and/or one or more foot controllable control means, such as a pedal.

Said control means 6 may also comprise a work plan of the harvester pre-planned in the form of an executable program, which can be executed, for example, by one or more harvester control units 7, very schematically shown in Figure 1, for controlling the operation of the harvester and the devices fitted to it. Said control unit 7 may be, for example, a computer or other device or means, typically comprising a microprocessor or other microcontroller, which is obvious to a person skilled in the art.

The harvester 1 further comprises a boom 8. The boom 8 can be supported, for example, on a base 2 or a stand 9 connected to the base or on another part of the harvester.

N to the body of the vester or to a part connected to it. The boom 8 may be fitted to the base

N 2 in a folding and/or rotating manner. At the outermost end of the boom 8 is a harvester head 20 forming the wood processing device of the harvester blade 1. The outermost end of the boom 8 and the harvester head 20 fitted thereto form the tip of the boom 8.

S 30 The boom 8 of the harvester 1 according to Figure 1 comprises a lifting boom 10.

E The lifting boom 10 is moved by the lifting cylinder 11. The lifting boom 10 is still

N veled folding boom 12. Folding boom 12 is moved by folding cylinder 13. Folding boom 12 further has a telescopic extension 14 that can be moved by its own actuator,

N to the outer end of which the harvester head 20 is fitted via a pendant 16.

N 35 The structure of the boom 8 may also differ from that shown in Figure 1, for example in that the boom 8 does not include the aforementioned telescopic extension 14.

The harvester 1 shown in Figure 1 constitutes a mobile forestry machine equipped with a wood processing device, which is intended to perform felling of trees, removing branches from the felled tree and cutting the trunk of the felled tree into parts of the desired length. Alternatively, the mobile forestry machine equipped with a wood processing device 5 may also be a combination of a forwarder and a harvester, whereby the forestry machine in question also comprises a load space for taking the load, typically parts of the trunk of a tree 17 cut to a specified length, for transport by the forestry machine. Furthermore, the mobile forestry machine equipped with a wood processing device may also be some other mobile working machine suitable for felling trees and processing the felled tree, such as an excavator, the boom of which has a wood processing device attached to it.

Forestry machines such as those shown in Figure 1 are typically forestry machines that operate based on active control by the operator of the forestry machine.

However, the solution presented here can also be applied both in a semi-autonomous forestry machine, in which case the forestry machine can operate at least for some time without active control by the user, and in a substantially completely autonomous forestry machine, in which case the user does not actively participate in controlling the operation of the forestry machine without a specific reason. The control means used to control the forestry machine can also be located separately from the forestry machine, in which case the control of the forestry machine is implemented as remote control. If the control of the forestry machine can be implemented completely as remote control or automatically, the forestry machine does not necessarily include a cabin 5.

Figure 2 schematically shows a harvester head 20 viewed from above. When felled wood 17 is treated or processed in the harvester head to remove branches, the felled wood is typically fed into the harvester head in a

N in the direction of the tree and at the same time branches are removed from the tree trunk. After

N branches have been removed from a desired length of the tree trunk, the tree trunk e is cut off, separating the pruned part of the tree trunk from that part of the tree trunk from which the branches have not yet been removed. This is repeated until the top of the tree is reached.

S 30 The harvester head 20 shown in Figure 2 is suitable for felling trees, cutting branches

E and, if necessary, also removing the bark from the felled tree and the trunk of the felled tree

N gon into pieces of the desired length. However, the solution presented here is also suitable for use in a wood processing device that is only suitable for

For removing branches and possibly also bark from already felled trees and the

N 35 for cutting the tree trunk into parts and which wood processing devices are also called forest machine processing heads to distinguish them from forest machine harvester heads that are also suitable for felling trees.

The harvester head 20 shown in Figure 2 comprises a frame structure 20', in connection with which the pendant 16 is arranged. In addition, means for felling trees and handling felled trees, adapted to the harvester head 20, are arranged in connection with the frame structure 20'. The means for felling trees and handling felled trees typically comprise a feeder 21, a delimbing device 23 and a cutting device 25. The feeder 21 is used to support the tree during felling and to feed the tree into the harvester head 20 when the felled tree 17 is processed in the harvester head 20. The delimbing device 23 is used to support the tree during felling and to remove branches from the felled tree 17, i.e. to delimb the tree 17 fed into the harvester head 20 by the feeder 21. The cutting device 25 is used to cut the tree to be felled and to cut the tree 17 to be processed in the harvester head 20 into pieces of the desired length.

The wood 17 to be processed by the harvester head 20 is fed forward by a feeding device 21 from the direction of the front part 20a of the harvester head 20 towards the rear part 20b of the harvester head 20. If necessary, the wood 17 can also be fed backwards from the direction of the rear part 20b of the harvester head 20 towards the front part 20a of the harvester head 20. During the said feeding of the wood 17, branches are removed from the trunk of the tree 17 by a delimbing device 23.

In the harvester head 20 according to Figure 2, the delimbing device 23 is arranged in the front part 20a of the harvester head 20 for the front delimbing blades 24a, through which the processed wood 17 is fed forward in the harvester head 20, and in the rear delimbing blades 24b between the feeding device 21 and the cutting device 25. The part of the trunk of the tree 17 from which the branches have been removed, or in which part there were no branches in the first place, is cut into parts of the desired length by the cutting device 25, which is arranged in the rear part of the harvester head 20.

N 20b. The cutting device 25 is thus in the typical direction of travel of the tree 17 in the harvester.

N through or through the head 20 the latest device which, with respect to the harvester head 20, applies processing measures to the wood 17 to be processed in the harvester head 20. ? The feeder 21 of the harvester head 20 comprises feed means which are pressurized

S 30 is placed against the trunk of the tree 17 and to support the tree being felled during felling.

E hen that the harvester head 20 is used to feed the felled tree 17 to be processed into the harvester

N using the feed means mentioned in the blade head 20. In the harvester 3 blade head 20 shown in Figure 2, the feed means mentioned in the blade head 20 comprise movable feed rollers 22, which

N using one or more associated actuators to compress the wood 17

N 35 against the surface of the body and is rotated to feed the processed tree 17 in the harvester head 20. In the harvester head 20 shown in Figure 2, the feed rollers 22 mentioned are wheels with outwardly directed teeth. In addition, the harvester head 20 may have feed rollers fixedly supported on the body 20' of the harvester head 20. Instead of the feed rollers 22, endless feed belts or chains of the track chain type can also be used as feed means.

The delimbing device 23 of the harvester head 20 comprises movable delimbing means which are pressed against the trunk of the tree 17 both to support the tree to be felled during felling and to remove branches from the felled tree 17 being processed by the harvester head 20 when the felled tree 17 is fed by a feeder 21 into the harvester head 20. In the harvester head 20 shown in Figure 2, the said delimbing means comprise both front delimbing blades 24a arranged in the direction of the front part 20a of the harvester head 20 relative to the feed rollers 22, i.e. delimbing blades 24a arranged in front of the feed rollers 22 when viewed in the typical feed direction of the tree 17, and rear delimbing blades 24b arranged in the direction of the rear part 20b of the harvester head 20 relative to the feed rollers 22, i.e. — located behind the feed rollers 22 in a typical feed direction — are the delimbing blades 24b. The delimbing blades 24a, 24b are pressed against the surface of the tree trunk 17 using one or more actuators associated with them to cut branches from the tree 17 being processed in the harvester head 20. Alternatively, the harvester head 20 may sometimes comprise only the front delimbing blades 24a. In addition to the aforementioned movable delimbing blades 24a, 24b, the harvester head may also have fixed delimbing blades, either as separate blades attached to the frame structure of the harvester head or shaped blades, or delimbing blades that can flex to some extent due to the force applied to them, either due to their attachment or their own structure. An example of such blades is the top delimbing blade 24c schematically shown in Figure 2.

The cutting device 25 of the harvester head 20 comprises one or more cutting

The cutting tool used to fell the tree and cut it to the desired length

N that is cut into pieces of the desired length when the felled tree 17 is processed in the harvester head 20. In the harvester head 20 shown in Figure 2, the cutting means ? is formed by a chainsaw-type cutting saw 26, which is connected to one or more

S 30 is used both for cutting down trees to be felled and for

E for cutting the felled tree 17 into pieces of the desired length. The cutting saw can be used

N also works as a circular saw or circular saw type cutting saw. Instead of a cutting saw 26 3, one or two moving saws can also be used as cutting tools, for example.

N cutting blades. Figure 3 shows schematically the side view of Figure 2.

N 35 harvester head 20 and the tree 17 supported by it.

Typically, the harvester head 20 and the feeding device 21, the delimbing device 23 and the cutting device 25 located therein are hydraulically operated devices, comprising essentially all actuators operating via an incompressible liquid pressure medium for controlling the operation of the feeding means of the feeding device 21, the delimbing means of the delimbing device 23 and the cutting means of the cutting device 25 by influencing the pressure and/or volume flow and/or flow direction of the pressure medium supplied to said actuators in a manner known per se to a person skilled in the art. As the electrical operation of working machines increases, at least some of the said devices or all of the said devices can also be implemented as electric or electro-hydraulic operated devices, whereby their operation can be controlled, for example, by controlling the electrical power supplied to them or their actuators.

Figure 4 schematically shows a control system 30 for controlling the operation of a wood processing device of a forestry machine. The example of the control system 30 shown in Figure 4 is configured to control the operation of harvester heads 20 of the type shown in Figures 2 and 3 in particular, but can naturally be configured to control other types of harvester heads or processing heads as well.

The control system 30 shown in Figure 4 comprises a control unit 31, which is arranged or configured in accordance with the present description to control in particular the operation of the feeding device 21 and/or the delimbing device 23, but it can also control, for example, the operation of the cutting device 25. The control unit 31 may be implemented as part of the control unit 7 of the harvester 1, or it may be a control unit physically separate from the control unit 7 of the harvester 1, but functionally arranged to operate together with the control unit 7 of the harvester 1.

The control system 30 is arranged to control the feed means of the feed device 21 of the harvester head 20 to support and feed the wood 17 to be processed.

N in the harvester head 20 with the aforementioned feeding devices pressed against the trunk of the tree 17

N with the feeding means 21 and/or to control the delimbing means 23 of the harvester head 20 for pressing said delimbing means in the harvester head 20 against the trunk of the tree 17 to be fed in order to remove the branches from the trunk of the tree 17

S 30 and to support the trunk of the tree 17 against the base of the harvester head 20. Said car-

The tools can also be used to remove the bark from the trunk of a tree 17.

N. In the harvester head 20 according to the example shown in Figures 2 and 3, the said 3 feeding means are therefore feeding rollers 22 and the said debarking means are debarking rollers.

N blades 24a, 24b.

N 35 According to the solution, the control system 30 is arranged to determine the essentially vertical upward support force FS required to support the tree 17 in the harvester head 20, which is essentially perpendicular to the bottom of the harvester head 20, and further to adjust, when the tree 17 is being processed in the harvester head 20, at least one of the following to produce said essentially vertical support force FS: the pressing force PF22 of the feed means of the feed device 21 of the harvester head 20 against the trunk of the tree 17 or the pressing force PF24 of the delimbing means of the delimbing device 23 against the trunk of the tree 17. If the harvester head 20 comprises both front delimbing blades 24a and rear delimbing blades 24b, the front delimbing blades 24a and rear delimbing blades 24b can be pressed against the trunk of the tree 17 with a force that differs from each other.

The control system 30 is thus arranged to implement a method in which, in order to process a tree 17 in a wood processing device of a forestry machine, the tree 17 is fed into the wood processing device by the feeding means of the feeding device 21, branches are removed from the trunk of the tree 17 during the feeding of the tree 17 by the pruning means of the pruning device 23, the substantially vertical upward support force FS required to support the tree 17 in the wood processing device is determined, and at least one of the following is adjusted to produce the said substantially vertical support force FS when processing the tree 17 in the wood processing device: the pressing force PF24 of the feeding means of the feeding device 21 against the trunk of the tree 17 or the pressing force PF24 of the pruning means of the pruning device 23 against the trunk of the tree 17. Figure 5 schematically shows a method according to the solution in question for controlling the operation of the wood processing device of a forestry machine.

When the substantially vertical support force FS required to support the tree 17 in the harvester head 20 is determined and the pressing force PF22 of the feeding means of the feeding device 21 against the trunk of the tree 17 and/or the pressing force of the delimbing means of the delimbing device 23 is adjusted based on the determined support force FS

N PF24 against the trunk of the tree 17, can be used with the feeding device 21 and/or the delimbing device 23

The operation of the N is adjusted so that the compression of the pruning means against the trunk of the tree 17 is sufficient both to support the tree in the harvester head 20 and to cut the branches off the trunk of the tree 17 without leaving any substantial residue on the surface of the trunk of the tree 17.

S 30 stumps or knots of branches so that the mentioned compressive forces PF22, PF24 do not

Not too large to cause excessive tree support to the harvester head

N 20 the force resisting the feed of the tree 17 in the harvester head 20. At the same time, the force required to produce the desired effect of the delimbing means 3

The compressive force PF24 of N against the tree trunk 17 can be taken into account by adjusting

N 35 when adjusting the pressing force PF22 of the feeding means against the trunk of the tree 17, whereby the pressing force PF22 of the feeding means against the trunk of the tree 17 can be adjusted to be sufficient to feed the tree efficiently into the harvester head 20, but not too great to form an unnecessarily strong support for the tree being processed in addition to what the delimbing means already provide to support the tree 17 against the bottom of the harvester head 20 or the rollers or other sliding surface therein.

Thanks to the solution, a good result can thus be achieved for removing branches from the trunk of a tree 17 without a significant amount of stumps or knots remaining on the surface of the trunk and without using an unnecessarily large force to support and support the trunk of the tree 17, whereby the energy consumption used for processing the tree does not increase unnecessarily. In addition, when the tree 17 processed in the harvester head 20 is sufficiently supported on the bottom of the harvester head 20, the measurement accuracy of the diameter, i.e. thickness or diameter, of the tree 17 is also improved. In this case, the accuracy of the calculation of the tree volume based on the measurement of the diameter of the tree 17 or the accuracy of the determination of the tree volume prediction is also improved, which facilitates the control of the cut of the tree 17 so that the tree 17 can be utilized more efficiently for uses that produce greater economic added value.

The control unit 31 of the control system 30 shown in Figure 4 is adapted to control the operation of the feeding device 21 via the control connection CO-21, such as, for example, the pressing force PF22 of the feeding means against the trunk of the tree 17, and the operation of the delimbing device 23 via the control connection CO-23, such as, for example, the pressing force PF24 of the delimbing means against the trunk of the tree 17. In addition, the control unit 21 may be adapted to control the operation of the cutting device 25 via the control connection CO-25. Data describing the operation of the feeding device 21, the delimbing device 23 and the cutting device 25, or measurements made in each of them, can be transferred to the control unit 31 via the corresponding data transfer connections MI-21, MI-23 and MI-25. Other data describing the operation of the harvester head 20 or the harvester

Measurements made at the N end can be transferred to the control unit 31 via a data transfer connection.

N via the MI-20. e The control unit 31 may be, for example, a computer or other device typically comprising a microprocessor or other microcontroller, as will be apparent to a person skilled in the art.

S 30 a device or instrument that is adapted, i.e. configured, to perform a control unit

E via a program stored in the control unit 31, the measurements received by the control unit 31

Based on the background data and/or data further determined on the basis thereof, 3 the operation of the feeding device 21, the operation of the trimming device 23 and/or the cutting device

N 25 control measures affecting the operation. In practice, the control unit 31

The said control operations performed by N 35 bring about the necessary change in the operation of the feeder 21 in a manner known per se to a person skilled in the art,

in the operation of the pruning device 23 and/or the operation of the cutting device 25 in response to a change, for example, in the pressure and/or volume flow and/or flow direction and/or electrical power of the pressure medium supplied to one or more actuators associated with each of them.

In addition to the control unit 31, the control system 30 may include, as will be described in more detail later in connection with different embodiments, various sensors or other means by means of which the essentially vertical support force FS required to support the tree 17 in the harvester head 20 can be determined. The control system 30 may also include a database 32 for storing the support force FS used in the processing of the tree 17 to be processed and the data used for its determination or other data. In addition, data describing the operation of the harvester head 20 or devices connected to it can be stored in the database 32. Furthermore, data describing control measures applied to the feed device 21, the delimbing device 23 and possibly also the cutting device 25 corresponding to the above-mentioned stored data can be stored in the database 32. The data describing control measures applied to the feed device 21 and the delimbing device 23 can be, for example, the pressing force of the delimbing means used to process the tree 17

PF24 against the trunk of the tree 17 and/or the pressing force of the feeding means PF22 used for processing the tree 17 against the trunk of the tree 17. The database 32 may comprise tree species-specific data sets and may thus comprise, for example, stored tree species-specific historical data on the control measures applied to the feeding device 21, the delimbing device 23 and possibly also the cutting device 25 related to the processed trees, which can be further utilized in subsequent felling targets for the corresponding tree species for controlling the operation of the feeding device 21, the delimbing device 23 and possibly also the cutting device 25. Furthermore, the database 32 may comprise

This provides tree-specific information about different tree species, such as the characteristics of different tree species.

N weights and trunk curve data. The trunk curve of a tree 17 can be, for example, a mathematical model for the diameter of the tree ? formed as a function of the length or height of the tree, such as an equation that has been statistically fitted to a large set of time-

S 30 more collected measurement data, which includes at least the information previously processed

E of the diameter of trees of the same tree species, or an equation that represents the

N more accurately a curve fitted to the collected measurement data. 3 According to one embodiment, when the wood is in a wood processing device

In N support, determine at least one of the following that is essentially

N 35 —vertical load: wood processing equipment, feeding equipment or delimbing equipment, and the essentially vertical support force required to support the wood in the wood processing equipment is determined based on at least one essentially vertical load specified.

Referring for example to the examples of Figures 2 and 3, in this embodiment, the load applied to the harvester head 20 and/or to the feed rollers 22 of the feed device 21 and/or to the delimbing blades 24a, 24b of the delimbing device 23 on the harvester head 20 is determined, and based on said one or more loads, the substantially vertical upward support force FS required to support the tree on the harvester head 20 is determined.

According to one embodiment, information describing the mass of the tree or part thereof is determined, a substantially vertical load applied to at least one of the following is determined based on the information describing the mass of the tree or part thereof: the wood processing device, the feeding means or the delimbing means, and the substantially vertical support force required to support the tree in the wood processing device is determined based on at least one determined substantially vertical load.

The information describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 or its part is an alternative to informing the wood processing device and/or the feeding means and/or the pruning means of the essentially vertical downward load LD caused by the tree 17 or its part when the tree 17 or its part is supported by the wood processing device. The mass M17 of the tree 17 or its part is affected by the size of the tree. In addition to the size of the tree 17 or its part, the mass M17 of the tree 17 or its part is affected by the specific gravity of the tree species. The number and size of the branches of the tree 17 affect the mass M17 of the tree 17 or its part to some extent, but the weight of the branches of the tree 17 or its part is typically not a significant factor compared to the weight of the trunk of the tree 17.

The data describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 or part thereof can be determined in advance.

N for the sign by measuring the mass of the tree 17 or part of it with the M17 wood processing device

N with a weighing device arranged, whereby for example with reference to Figure 4 the harvester head s 20 may comprise a weighing device 20M arranged in connection with the pendant 16 for determining the information describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 < or a part thereof. The said information describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 or a part thereof © 30 may thus, for example, be directly weighed

The weight of a tree or part of a tree measured in kilograms.

N Another option is to indicate to the wood processing device and/or the feeding means and/or the pruning means the essential impact caused by the wood 17 or a part thereof.

N ssly vertical load LD, when the tree 17 or part thereof is treated with wood

N 35 in the support of the harvesting device, is to determine the essentially vertical downward force effect caused by the tree 17 or a part thereof on the wood processing device and/or the feeding means and/or the delimbing means. Said essentially vertical downward force effect can be determined, for example, by at least one force or load sensor arranged in connection with the wood processing device and/or the feeding means and/or the delimbing means, which in Figure 4 is schematically represented in connection with the harvester head 20 by the reference designation 20FD, in connection with the feeding device 21 by the reference designation 21FD and in connection with the delimbing device 23 by the reference designation 23FD. The at least one force or load sensor 20FD mentioned in the harvester head 20 can be arranged, for example, in connection with the pendant 16, and the force or load sensors 21FD, 23FD used in connection with the feeding device 21 and the delimbing device 23 can be placed, for example, in connection with the suspension of the feeding and delimbing means.

At least one force or load sensor 20FD arranged on the harvester head 20 produces a measurement signal FD20 describing the load LD applied to the harvester head 20. The force or load sensors 21FD, 23FD arranged in connection with the feeding device 21 and the delimbing device 23 produce measurement signals FD21, FD23 describing the load applied to the feeding means of the feeding device 21 and the delimbing means of the delimbing device 23, respectively, whereby the said measurement signals FD21,

FD23 should, if all the sensors in question are available, together produce a result substantially corresponding to the measurement signal FD20 insofar as the load LD applied from the tree 17 or a part thereof to the harvester head 20 is considered. Said substantially vertical downward load LD thus depends at least partly on the mass M17 of the tree 17 or a part thereof and is thus also, to some extent, information describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 or a part thereof. Correspondingly, the information describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 or a part thereof can directly or indirectly describe the load LD applied by the part of the tree 17 to the harvester head 20 or the feed

N is aligned with the feeding means of the device 21 and/or the debarking means of the debarking device 23.

N ground load, whereby the essentially vertical support force FS required to support the tree in the wood processing device can be determined directly also on the basis of the information describing the mass M17 of the tree ? 17 or its part without the above-described

S 30 one or more load-describing measurement signals FD20, FD21, FD23

E determination.

N The above-mentioned information describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 or part thereof or the wood processing device and/or the feeding means and/or the delimbing means of the tree 3 17 or part thereof

The essentially vertical downward force exerted on the N lines

The N 35 dimension constitutes a minimum target value for the essentially vertical support force FS required to support the tree in the wood processing device, which minimum target value of said essentially vertical support force FS must be achieved so that the tree 17 or a part thereof does not fall out of the support of the wood processing device. In practice, however, said support force FS must be somewhat greater so that the tree 17 is supported sufficiently strongly in the wood processing device, for example to effectively remove branches from the tree 17.

In different operating situations of the wood processing device, the supporting force FS required to support the tree 17 in the wood processing device can also be influenced, either by raising or lowering it, by the position and movement of the wood processing device. Thus, according to one embodiment, the position and movement of the wood processing device are determined and, in addition to the information describing the mass of the tree or part thereof, the at least substantially vertical load applied to at least one of the following is determined based on the position and movement of the wood processing device: the wood processing device, the feeding means or the delimbing means.

During the processing of the tree 17, the essentially horizontal position of the wood processing device, as schematically shown, for example, in Figure 3, may indicate that the tree 17 being processed is entirely supported by the wood processing device. During the processing of the tree 17, a position that deviates from the essentially horizontal position and the vertical position, i.e. an inclined position, as schematically shown, for example, in Figure 1, may in turn indicate that the tree 17 being processed is not entirely supported by the wood processing device but is to some extent supported by the working platform of the forestry machine. In this case, the information describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 or a part thereof, or the information describing the essentially vertical downward load LD caused by the tree 17 or a part thereof, does not describe the actual mass of the tree 17 or a part thereof, or the essentially vertical load caused by the actual mass of the tree 17 or a part thereof.

N the transverse load LD but only part of it. In this case, the tree 17 is handled

As the process progresses, the mass of the wood 17 or part thereof, or the substantially vertical downward load LD caused by the wood 17 or part thereof, can be detected as the remaining part of the wood 17 to be processed is completely displaced by the wood processing device.

S 30 even grows to support despite the fact that the felled tree has already been removed

E parts. This possibility should also be taken into account when adjusting the feed devices.

N and/or the pressing force of the pruning tools against the tree 17 trunk. The position of the wood processing device 3 can be determined, for example, in connection with the wood processing device by

With at least one position sensor, which, in the example shown in Figure 4,

N 35 — is shown with reference to 20PO and produces a measurement signal PO20 describing the position of the harvester head 20.

As mentioned above, in the embodiment in question, in addition to the position of the wood processing device, the state of motion of the wood processing device is also determined. The state of motion of the wood processing device determines whether the wood processing device is in motion or substantially stationary when the wood 17 is being processed in the wood processing device. The motion of the wood processing device typically increases the need to increase the support force FS used to support the wood 17, especially during decelerations and/or accelerations of the movements of the wood processing device, whereby the wood 17 is also subjected to variable forces resulting from said decelerations and/or accelerations of the movements of the wood processing device, which can be taken into account when determining the support force FS needed to support the wood 17.

The movement of the wood processing device typically occurs as a result of changes in the position of the wood processing device or as a result of the movement of the boom 8 of the forestry machine. The movement of the wood processing device as a result of changes in the position of the wood processing device can be determined, for example, on the basis of the measurement signal PO20 produced by at least one position sensor 20PO arranged in the wood processing device mentioned above. The movement of the wood processing device as a result of the movement of the boom 8 can be determined, for example, by means of the sensing of the boom 8, which describes the movement states of the boom 8, schematically shown in Figure 4 and indicated by the reference symbol 8MS, which sensing produces at least one measurement signal MS8 describing the movement state of the boom 8, which can be transferred to the control unit 31 via the data transmission connection MI-8. The said sensing can comprise, for example, sensors measuring data describing the speed, acceleration or position of the parts of the boom 8.

According to one embodiment, when wood is processed in a wood processing device, in order to determine information describing the mass of the wood or a part thereof, the wood is measured.

N body diameter and length, determine the measured diameter and diameter measurement

Based on the length of the part of the tree trunk related to N, at least one of the following information: the volume information of the part of the tree trunk whose diameter has been measured, or the volume estimate of the part of the tree trunk in which the diameter of the tree trunk has been measured

S 30 mat, and the information describing the mass of the tree or part of it is determined by the tree species characteristics.

Based on the weight of the tree and at least one of the following information: the volume of that part of the tree

Volume data for which the diameter has been measured, or a volume estimate for that part of the tree trunk where the diameter of the tree trunk has not been measured.

N In this embodiment shown as part of Figure 4, the control system

N 35 30 comprises means for measuring the diameter D17 and the length L17 of the trunk of the tree 17 and the control system 30 is arranged to determine the data describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 or a part thereof when the tree is processed in the wood processing device, to measure the diameter D17 and the length L17 of the trunk of the tree 17, to determine the measured diameter

D17 and the length of the part of the tree trunk related to the diameter measurement, at least one of the following data: the volume data VI of the part of the tree 17 whose diameter has been measured, or the volume estimate VE of the part of the tree 17 whose diameter has not been measured, and to determine the mass of the tree 17 or its part

M17 descriptive data based on the specific gravity of the tree species and at least one of the following data: volume data VI of the part of the tree 17 whose diameter D17 has been measured, or volume estimate TE of the part of the tree trunk 17 in which the trunk diameter of the tree 17 has not been measured. The specific gravity TSW of the tree species 17 can be retrieved, for example, from the database 32, where it has been stored, for example, before the start of the felling site.

The diameter D17 of the trunk of the tree 17, i.e. the thickness or cross-section of the trunk of the tree 17, can be determined according to one embodiment by measuring the diameter D17 of the trunk of the tree 17 when feeding the tree 17 into the tree processing device. Referring to the examples shown in Figures 1-4, in which the tree processing device is a harvester head 20, the diameter D17 of the trunk of the tree 17 can be measured by a position sensor 23P arranged in the delimbing device 23, which is arranged to determine the position of the delimbing blades 24a, 24b of the delimbing device 23 when the delimbing blades 24a, 24b are pressed against the trunk of the tree 17. According to another embodiment, the diameter of the trunk of the tree 17

D17 can be measured by a position sensor 21P arranged in the feeder 21, which is arranged to determine the position of the feed rollers 22 of the feeder 21 when the feed rollers 22 are pressed against the trunk of the tree 17. According to another embodiment, the diameter D17 of the trunk of the tree 17 can be determined by measuring the time used to saw a part of the trunk of the tree 17, whereby the cutting device 25 comprises

N position sensor 25P to indicate the cutting motion of the cutting saw 26 position

N at the beginning and end, whereby the time taken by the crosscut saw 26 to turn from its position at the beginning of the sawing movement to its position at the end of the sawing movement represents the diameter D17 of the trunk of the tree 17. According to yet another embodiment, the trunk of the tree 17

S 30 For measuring the diameter D17 of the gon, the control system 30 may comprise an imaging system.

Devices 40, such as a camera 41, a video camera 42 and/or a laser scanner 43,

N which is/are arranged to non-contact image the trunk of the tree 17 when the tree 3 17 is fed into the wood processing device and the control unit 31 is configured to determine

N to determine the diameter D17 of the trunk of the tree 17 from the information produced by said imaging

N 35 of the format. The said imaging means 40, which are schematically shown in Figure 4, can be arranged, for example, in a wood processing device or in the boom 8 of a forestry machine.

The length L17 of the trunk of the tree 17 can be measured, for example, by a sensor 20L arranged in the wood processing device, which is arranged when the tree 17 is fed into the wood processing device to measure the length of the trunk of the tree or its part fed in the feeding step in question, thus describing the length of the part of the tree trunk related to the measurement of the tree diameter performed in the same feeding step. Said sensor measuring the length of the trunk of the tree can be, for example, an impeller arranged at the bottom of the harvester head 20. Alternatively, said trunk length can be measured, for example, by means of image information produced by the aforementioned camera 41 or video camera 42.

Based on the measured diameter D17 of the tree trunk 17 and the length L17 of the tree trunk 17 related to the measurement of the diameter D17, at least one of the following data can be determined in the control unit 31 of the control system 30: volume data VI of the part of the tree trunk 17 whose diameter D17 has been measured, or a volume estimate VE of the part of the tree trunk 17 in which the diameter D17 of the tree trunk 17 has not been measured. Based on the volume data VI of the part of the tree 17 whose diameter D17 has been measured, and/or the volume prediction VE of the part of the tree trunk 17 in which the diameter of the tree trunk 17 has not been measured, it is further possible to determine data describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 or its part, on the basis of which, either directly or on the basis of the load LD caused by the tree 17 or its part, and possibly together on the basis of data describing the position and movement state of the wood processing device, the support force FS required to support the tree 17 in the wood processing device can be determined and, if necessary, the pressing force PF22 of the feeding means against the tree trunk 17 and/or the pressing force PF24 of the delimbing means against the tree trunk can be adjusted.

N The above-mentioned volume information VI of the tree 17 thus produces information about the tree concept

N the load caused by the part of the wood processing device that has already been processed in the processing device but has not yet been removed from the wood to be processed 17 and the volume estimate VE of the wood 17 provides information already at least partially in the support of the wood processing device

S 30 and the part that may still be supported by the wood processing equipment

About the load caused by E see, which data can be used in real time

N to adjust the pressing force of the feeding means PF22 against the tree trunk 17 and/or 3 the pressing force of the delimbing means PF24 against the tree trunk 17 to support the tree

N to produce the required support force FS in the wood processing device.

N 35 According to one embodiment, a mass estimate is determined for the part of the tree trunk in which the diameter of the tree trunk has not been measured based on at least one of the following information: said volume information or said volume prediction, the substantially vertical load applied to the wood processing device by the part of the tree corresponding to the mass estimate is determined based on the mass estimate, the substantially vertical support force required to support the part of the tree corresponding to the mass estimate in the wood processing device is determined based on the substantially vertical load applied to the wood processing device by the part of the tree corresponding to the mass estimate, the part of the tree not related to said mass estimate is cut off from the tree, and at least one of the following is adjusted to produce a substantially vertical support force corresponding to the mass estimate: the pressing force of the feeding means against the tree trunk or the pressing force of the pruning means against the tree trunk.

In this embodiment shown as part of Figure 4, the control system 30 is arranged, via a correspondingly configured control unit 31, to determine, for the part of the tree 17 trunk where the diameter of the tree 17 trunk has not been measured, a mass estimate ME17 based on the specific weight TSW of the tree species and at least one of the following data: said volume data VI or said volume prediction VE. Furthermore, the control system 30 is arranged to determine, based on the mass estimate ME17, the substantially vertical load exerted by the part of the tree 17 corresponding to the mass estimate ME17 on the wood processing device.

LDmei7, to determine said substantially vertical load

Based on LDmr17, the essentially vertical support force required in a wood processing device to support 17 parts of wood corresponding to the mass estimate ME17

FSmr17, to control the cutting device 25 to cut off from the tree 17 a part of the tree unrelated to said mass estimate ME17 and to adjust the pressing force of the feed means to produce said substantially vertical support force FSmz17

N PF22 against the tree 17 trunk and/or the compressive force of the pruning tools PF24 against the tree

N 17 against the trunk. e In this embodiment, a mass estimate ME17 is determined for the part of the trunk of the tree 17, ? in which the diameter of the trunk of the tree 17 is not measured, and

S 30 on the basis of which the support required to support the part of the trunk of said tree 17 is further

E kivoima FSmr17. After the said part of the trunk of the tree 17 has been removed from the tree

N 17, based on the support force FMei7 required to support the tree 17 trunk section 3 corresponding to the said mass estimate ME17, the pressing force of the feeding means PF24

N against the trunk of the tree 17 and/or the compressive force of the pruning tools PF24 against the trunk of the tree 17

N 35 against the koa can be dropped in steps to a level that is sufficient to firmly support the part of the wood 17 that has not yet been processed in the wood processing device in the wood processing device. In this case, the processing of said wood 17 in the wood processing device can be continued with clearly lower pressing forces, which can be adjusted to even lower degrees based on the diameter D17 of the trunk of the wood 17 to be determined during further processing of the wood.

According to one embodiment, when determining the information describing the mass M17 of a tree 17 or a part thereof to be processed in a wood processing device, the tree or a part thereof is imaged before said tree is felled, and a mass estimate ME17 describing the mass of the tree 17 or a part thereof is determined based on the specific gravity TSW of the wood species of the tree 17 and the imaging of the tree 17 or a part thereof, such as, for example, the diameter D17 of the trunk or part thereof of the tree 17 determined based on the imaging. The tree 17 or a part thereof can be imaged, for example, by photographing the tree 17 or a part thereof, by video recording the tree 17 or a part thereof, and/or by laser scanning the tree 17 or a part thereof. The above-mentioned imaging means 40, such as a camera 41, a video camera 42 and/or a laser scanning device 43, can be used to image the tree 17, for example.

According to one embodiment, the control system 30 comprises, for determining the information describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 or part thereof to be processed, at least one of the following: at least one means for determining the position of the lifting boom 10 of the boom 8 of the forestry machine, at least one sensor for determining the pressure of the lifting cylinder 11 of the lifting boom 10 of the boom 8 of the forestry machine, or at least one sensor for determining the pressure prevailing in the working ports of the directional valves of the wood processing device. In this case, the control system 30 can be arranged to determine the information describing the mass M17 of the tree 17 or part thereof to be processed in the wood processing device based on at least one of the following information: the position of the lifting boom 10 of the boom 8 of the forestry machine, the lifting boom 10 of the boom 8 of the forestry machine

N pressure in the lifting cylinder 11 or in the working ports of the directional valves of the wood handling device

N prevailing pressure. In general, in this embodiment, the kinematics of the boom, mass and inertia, the motion space and the force/moment caused by the actuators can be utilized together. In this embodiment, even

S 30 information determined solely on the basis of the operation of the boom 8 on the support of the tree 17

First, the essentially vertical support required in the wood processing device

N to determine the force FS. If one or more devices used to operate the boom and/or the wood handling device are electrically or electro-hydraulic operated, then

N to support the wood 17 in the wood processing device, essentially vertically

To determine the N 35 direction support force FS, information on the electrical power used to operate the aforementioned devices can also be utilized.

According to one embodiment, in response to a part of the wood being cut off from the wood being processed in the wood processing device, the substantially vertical support force required to support the wood in the wood processing device is reduced in steps by adjusting at least one of the following: the pressing force of the feed means against the tree trunk or the pressing force of the delimbing means against the tree trunk. According to another embodiment, wood is fed into the wood processing device by said feeding means and as the wood is fed into the wood processing device, said at least substantially vertical support force is maintained substantially constant or increased by adjusting at least one of the following: the pressing force of the feed means against the tree trunk or the pressing force of the delimbing means against the tree trunk.

Figures 6a and 6b schematically show methods according to this embodiment for supporting the tree 17 in the wood processing device for adjusting the substantially vertical support force FS produced. The upper parts of Figures 6a and 6b schematically show the trunk of the tree 17 being processed in the wood processing device and the reduction in its diameter from the base part of the tree 17 on the left towards the top part of the tree 17 on the right. In its lengthwise direction, the tree 17 is divided into parts, which correspond to the parts of the tree 17 shown with the markings 1-1, 1-2 and 1-3. Furthermore, Figures 6a and 6b show the support force FS used in the wood processing device to support the tree 17 below the tree 17 as the processing of the tree 17 progresses in the wood processing device.

In the examples of Figures 6a and 6b, the diameter of the tree 17 at its base is indicated by the reference symbol D-1. When starting the processing of the tree 17, the support force FS required to support the tree 17 in the wood processing device is set to the value FSp.1 by adjusting the pressing force of the feeding means and/or the delimbing means on the trunk of the tree 17.

N against. The stated value of the support force FSp.1 can be determined by the diameter of the base of the tree 17

Based on N tan D-1, using, for example, the specific gravity of the wood species and the trunk curve characteristic of the wood species in question, on the basis of which, for example, a mass estimate can be determined for the wood being processed 17 and further determined for the wood 17

The support force required to support S 30 in a wood processing device is FSp.1. The mass barrier mentioned

E timate for the wood to be processed 17 and further for supporting the wood 17 in the wood processing equipment

The required support force FSp.1 at N can be determined, for example, in the manner described above.

N When the processing of wood 17 in the wood processing device begins, the wood 17 is fed

N 35 is applied in the wood processing device until the feed of the wood 17 is interrupted when the part of the tree 17 body corresponding to the length 1-1 of the tree 17 can be removed from the tree 17. After the part of the tree 17 body corresponding to the length 1-1 of the tree 17 has been removed from the tree 17, but before the feed of the tree 17 in the wood processing device is continued, the support force FSp.; required to support the part of the tree 17 that has not yet been processed in the wood processing device is set on the basis of the initial diameter D-2 of the length 1-2 of the tree. Alternatively, for determining said support force FSp.2, for example, volume data of the length 1-1 of the tree 17 body or a mass estimate related to the part of the tree 17 that has not yet been processed, as described above.

When the processing of the tree 17 in the wood processing device is continued, the tree 17 is further fed into the wood processing device until the feeding of the tree 17 is interrupted when the part of the tree 17 body corresponding to the length part-2 of the tree 17 can be detached from the tree 17. After the part of the tree 17 body corresponding to the length part 1-2 of the tree 17 has been detached from the tree 17, the support force FSp.3 required to support the part of the tree 17 that is still unprocessed in the wood processing device is set based on the initial diameter D-3 of the length part 1-3 of the tree, or on the volume data of the length part 1-2 of the tree 17 body or on the mass estimate related to the part of the tree 17 that is still unprocessed. The processing of the tree 17 is continued in a similar manner until the parts that can be processed in the wood processing device have been processed.

In the embodiments of Figures 6a and 6b, the support force required to support the tree 17 in the wood processing device is determined in each case. When the part of the tree 17 that has already been processed in the wood processing device can be removed, the support force required to support the part of the still remaining untreated tree 17 can be reduced in steps to correspond to the calculated support force required to support the still remaining tree by adjusting the pressing force of the pressing means against the tree trunk and/or the pressing force of the delimbing means against the tree trunk.

The embodiments of Figures 6a and 6b differ from each other in the way the tree 17 is fed.

N for the adjustment of the support force FS during the operation. In the embodiment of Figure 6a, the tree 17

As the feed progresses, the support force is increased substantially linearly until the treated length of the tree 17 has been cut off from the part of the tree 17 that has not yet been treated in the wood processing device, after which the support force is reduced in a stepwise manner.

S 30 essentially corresponds to the wood that has not yet been processed in the wood processing device

E is the supporting force required to support the 17 parts of the tree. With the increase in the said supporting force,

This ensures that the wood 17 is sufficiently supported in the wood processing device in every 3 operating situation, i.e. also in an operating situation where the wood is not yet processed.

N part of the tree 17 comes in its entirety, even surprisingly, from the wood processing machine

N 35 to the support, or where the volume information or mass estimate of the tree cannot be determined very precisely. In the embodiment of Figure 6b, as the tree 17 is fed, the support force is kept essentially constant until the processed length of the tree 17 has been cut off from the part of the tree 17 that has not yet been processed in the tree processing device, after which the support force is reduced in steps to essentially correspond to the support force required to support the part of the tree 17 that has not yet been processed in the tree processing device. By keeping the support force essentially constant, the force required to support the tree 17 during tree processing can be reduced, but the volume information or mass estimate of the tree or other necessary information required to determine the support force required to support the tree must be more precisely determined than in the embodiment of Figure 6a.

With the presented solution and its various embodiments, the pressing force of the feeding means of the feeder against the tree trunk and/or the pressing force of the delimbing means of the delimbing device against the tree trunk can be adjusted according to the needs of the wood processing device in the current working or operating situation, which increases the efficiency of wood processing by avoiding the previously conventional use of pressing forces that are too high in relation to the actual need. At the same time, excessive mechanical stresses on the wood processing device are reduced, which reduces the need for maintenance or replacement of the wood processing device or its components and increases the efficiency of work by reducing the unproductive periods of the forest work machine for the wood processing device.

It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that as technology develops, the basic idea of the invention can be implemented in many different ways. The invention and its embodiments are therefore not limited to the examples described above, but may vary within the scope of the claims.

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Claims (18)

Patent claims 1. A method for processing wood in a wood processing device of a forestry machine, comprising movable feed means pressed against the tree trunk for feeding wood in the wood processing device and movable pruning means pressed against the tree trunk for removing branches from the tree trunk, and in which the method involves feeding wood into the wood processing device with said feed means, removing branches from the tree trunk during the wood feeding with said pruning means and supporting the wood in the wood processing device with said feed means and/or pruning means, characterized in that the substantially vertical support force required to support the wood in the wood processing device is determined and at least one of the following is adjusted to produce said substantially vertical support force when processing wood in the wood processing device: the pressing force of the feed means against the tree trunk or the pressing force of the pruning means against the tree trunk. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the tree is supported by the wood processing device, a substantially vertical load is determined on at least one of the following: the wood processing device, the feeding means or the delimbing means, and the substantially vertical support force required to support the tree in the wood processing device is determined based on at least one determined substantially vertical load. e 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that S and K determine information describing the mass of the tree or part thereof, I determine, based on information describing the mass of the tree or part thereof, an essentially vertical load directed at at least one of the following: E wood processing device, feeding means or pruning means, and > determine the essentially vertical support force required to support the tree in the wood processing device based on at least one determined essentially N vertical load. N 35 4. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that the position and state of motion of the wood processing device are determined and, in addition to information describing the mass of the tree or part thereof, a substantially vertical load directed at at least one of the following is determined based on the position and state of motion of the wood processing device: the wood processing device, the feeding means or the delimbing means. 5. A method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that when processing wood in a wood processing device, in order to determine the information describing the mass of the wood or a part thereof, the diameter and length of the tree trunk are measured, at least one of the following information is determined based on the measured diameter and the length of the tree trunk part related to the diameter measurement: the volume information of the part of the tree trunk whose diameter has been measured, or the volume estimate of the part of the tree trunk in which the diameter of the tree trunk has not been measured, and the information describing the mass of the tree or its part is determined based on the specific gravity of the wood species of the tree and at least one of the following information: the volume information of the part of the tree trunk whose diameter has been measured, or the volume estimate of the part of the tree trunk in which the diameter of the tree trunk has not been measured. 6. A method according to claim 5, characterized in that the wood processing device comprises a cutting device and that a mass estimate is determined for the part of the tree trunk in which the diameter of the tree trunk has not been measured, based on at least one of the following information: said volume information or said volume prediction, determining the essentially vertical load applied to the wood processing device by the part of the tree corresponding to the mass estimate on the basis of the mass estimate, determining the essentially vertical support force required in the wood processing device to support the part of the tree corresponding to the mass estimate on the basis of the essentially vertical load applied to the wood processing device by the part of the tree corresponding to the mass estimate, cutting off the part of the tree S 30 — not related to the said mass estimate from the tree, and adjusting E to produce the essentially vertical support force corresponding to the mass estimate at least one of the following: the pressing force of the feeding means against the tree trunk or the pressing force of the pruning means against the tree trunk ten. 7. A method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that when determining information describing the mass of a tree or part thereof to be processed in a wood processing device, the tree or part thereof is imaged before said tree is felled, and a mass estimate describing the mass of the tree or part thereof is determined based on the specific gravity of the tree species and the imaging of the tree or part thereof. 8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the tree or a part thereof is imaged in at least one of the following ways: by photographing the tree or a part thereof, by videotaping the tree or a part thereof, or by laser scanning the tree or a part thereof. 9. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the wood processing device comprises a cutting device and that in response to the cutting of a part of the tree trunk from the tree being processed in the wood processing device, the substantially vertical support force required to support the tree in the wood processing device is reduced in steps by adjusting at least one of the following: the pressing force of the feeding means against the tree trunk or the pressing force of the delimbing means against the tree trunk, wood is fed into the wood processing device by said feeding means and as the wood is fed into the wood processing device, said substantially vertical support force is maintained substantially constant or is increased by adjusting at least one of the following: the pressing force of the feeding means against the tree trunk or the pressing force of the delimbing means against the tree trunk. 10. A control system for controlling the operation of a wood processing device of a forestry machine, which wood processing device comprises movable feed means pressed against the tree trunk N for feeding wood into the wood processing device and movable pruning means pressed against the tree trunk N for removing branches e from the tree trunk and which control system is arranged to control ? feeding the wood into the wood processing device with said feeding means, S 30 removing branches from the tree trunk during the feeding of the wood with said pruning means and N supporting the wood in the wood processing device with said feeding means 3 and/or pruning means, N characterized in that the N 35 control system is further arranged to determine the substantially vertical support force required to support the wood in the wood processing device and to adjust at least one of the following when processing the wood in the wood processing device to produce said substantially vertical support force: the pressing force of the feeding means against the tree trunk or the pressing force of the pruning means against the tree trunk. 11. A control system according to claim 10, characterized in that the control system is arranged to determine, when the tree is supported by the wood processing device, a substantially vertical load applied to at least one of the following: the wood processing device, the feeding means or the delimbing means, and to determine the substantially vertical support force required to support the tree in the wood processing device based on at least one determined substantially vertical load. 12. A control system according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the control system comprises means for determining information describing the mass of the tree or part thereof and that the control system is arranged to determine information describing the mass of the tree or part thereof, to determine, on the basis of the information describing the mass of the tree or part thereof, an essentially vertical load applied to at least one of the following: the wood processing device, the feeding means or the pruning means, and to determine the essentially vertical support force required to support the tree in the wood processing device on the basis of at least one determined essentially vertical load. N 13. A control system according to claim 12, characterized in that the control system comprises means for determining the position and state of motion of the wood processing device and that the control system is arranged to determine, in addition to information describing the mass of the tree or part thereof, the position and state of motion of the wood processing device and to determine, in addition to information describing the mass of the tree or part thereof, an essentially vertical load directed at at least one of the following: the wood processing device, the feeding means or the delimbing means. 14. A control system according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the control system comprises means for measuring the diameter and length of a tree trunk and that the control system is arranged to determine information describing the mass of the tree or a part thereof when processing wood in a wood processing device, to measure the diameter and length of the tree trunk, to determine at least one of the following information based on the measured diameter and the length of the tree trunk part related to the diameter measurement: volume information of the part of the tree whose diameter has been measured, or a volume estimate of the part of the tree trunk in which the diameter of the tree trunk has not been measured, and to determine information describing the mass of the tree or a part thereof based on at least one of the following information: volume information of the part of the tree whose diameter has been measured, or a volume estimate of the part of the tree trunk in which the diameter of the tree trunk has not been measured. 15. A control system according to claim 14, characterized in that the wood processing device comprises a cutting device and that the control system is arranged to determine a mass estimate for the part of the tree trunk in which the diameter of the tree trunk has not been measured, based on at least one of the following information: said volume information or said volume prediction, to determine, based on the mass estimate, the substantially vertical load applied to the wood processing device by the part of the tree corresponding to the mass estimate, to determine, based on the substantially vertical load applied to the wood processing device by the part of the tree corresponding to the mass estimate, the substantially vertical support force required to support the part of the tree corresponding to the mass estimate in the wood processing device N, to control the cutting device to cut off the part of the tree not connected to said mass object, and ? to adjust at least one of the following to produce a substantially vertical support force corresponding to the mass estimate: the pressing force of the feeding means against the tree trunk or the pressing force of the delimbing means against the tree trunk. 3 16. A control system according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that the control system comprises means for determining information describing the mass of a tree or part thereof to be processed in a wood processing device, and that the control system is arranged to image the tree or part thereof before felling said tree, and to determine a mass estimate describing the mass of the tree or part thereof based on the specific gravity of the tree species and the imaging of the tree or part thereof. 17. A control system according to claim 16, characterized in that the control system comprises at least one of the following means for imaging the tree or a part thereof: a camera, a video camera or a laser scanning device. 18. A control system according to any one of claims 10-17, characterized in that the wood processing device comprises a cutting device and that in response to the cutting of a tree trunk section from the tree being processed in the wood processing device, the control system is arranged to stepwise decrease the substantially vertical support force required to support the tree in the wood processing device by adjusting at least one of the following: the pressing force of the feeding means against the tree trunk or the pressing force of the delimbing means against the tree trunk, to feed the wood in the wood processing device with said feeding means and, as the wood is fed in the wood processing device, to keep said substantially vertical support force essentially constant or to increase it by adjusting at least one of the following: the pressing force of the feeding means the pressing force of the tree trunk augers or the delimbing means against the tree trunk. O N O N N I N O I a a N O es, LO ™ N O N