Double arbor vertical shape saw

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10647018-B2
Application number	US-201715671130-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 7, 2017
Priority date	Feb 22, 2013
Publication date	May 12, 2020
Grant date	May 12, 2020

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems, methods, and apparatuses for shape sawing wood. Specifically, embodiments include an infeed with laterally displaceable positioning rolls and a longitudinal axis between the positioning rolls. The embodiments further include a saw box with a frame and a plurality of saws coupled with a plurality of vertical arbors within the frame. In certain embodiments, the frame is operable to move laterally or rotationally with respect to a horizontal axis of rotation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for cutting wood, comprising:
a support with a first portion and a second portion;
a first pivot member coupled to the first portion;
a second pivot member coupled to the second portion, wherein the pivot members are aligned along a first axis that passes through the pivot members and said portions of the support;
a saw box with a top, a bottom, and opposite first and second sides, wherein each of the sides has a respective opening and a respective bushing coupled to the opening, the first pivot member extends at least partially through the bushing of the first side and the second pivot member extends at least partially through the bushing of the second side, such that the saw box is pivotable about the first axis and laterally movable along the first axis relative to the support,
wherein the saw box is configured to retain one or more saw arbors between the sides in an orientation that is generally parallel to the sides.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the support is part of an outfeed, and the first and second portions of the support are portions of an upstream end of the outfeed.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an infeed disposed upstream of the saw box, wherein the infeed includes a first pair of positioning rolls that are rotatable around corresponding vertical axes of rotation, the infeed further comprising a pivot member defining a pivot axis, a first lever coupled to a first one of said positioning rolls, and a second lever coupled to a second one of said positioning rolls, the first and second levers connected by the pivot member, wherein the first and second levers are pivotable around the pivot axis to thereby laterally displace the positioning rolls.

4. The system of claim 3 , the infeed further comprising a lateral support member, a first carriage member pivotably coupled to the first lever, and a second carriage member pivotably coupled to the second lever, the first and second carriage members slideably coupled to the lateral support member, wherein the first one of the positioning rolls is mounted to the first carriage member and the second one of the positioning rolls is mounted to the second carriage member.

5. The system of claim 4 , the infeed further comprising a second actuator coupled to the first lever, the second actuator operable to pivot the first lever around the pivot axis to thereby move the first carriage member along the lateral support member.

6. The system of claim 4 , further comprising a first drive coupled to the first one of the positioning rolls by a first shaft with one or more universal joints, wherein the first drive is operable to rotate the first one of the positioning rolls while the first carriage member is moved along the lateral support member.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more saw arbors is two saw arbors that are offset from one another along the first axis and along a feed axis that extends between the sides of the frame and between the sides of the saw box.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the support is a frame of an outfeed unit, the system further comprising a pivot assembly coupled with the saw box and the outfeed unit, the pivot assembly comprising:
a linear actuator with a first end and a second end, the first end coupled with the outfeed unit;
a carriage coupled with the second end of the linear actuator; and
a hinge member coupled to the saw box and the carriage,
wherein the linear actuator is selectively actuable to tilt the saw box about the first axis, and the carriage assembly is configured to moveably engage the hinge member to thereby allow the saw box to move laterally along the first axis while tilting about the first axis.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein the hinge member is disposed above the first axis on an output end of the saw box.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising an infeed unit with at least one pair of profiling heads disposed upstream of the saw box.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the infeed unit further comprises an upper chip head and a lower chip head disposed upstream of the profiling heads, wherein the upper chip head and the lower chip head are configured to chip flat faces along the upper and lower surfaces, respectively, of the log.

12. A method of sawing boards from a curved log, the method comprising:
orienting the log such that the curved faces of the log substantially overlie one another along a flow direction;
conveying the log through a saw box with a plurality of saws arrayed on one or more saw arbors disposed between, and oriented generally parallel with, opposite first and second sides of the saw box, wherein the saw box is movably coupled to a support by a pair of pivot members, and each of the pivot members is coupled to a respective portion of the support and extends through a respective one of the sides of the saw box, and wherein the pivot members are aligned along a first axis that extends through the saw box and the portions of the support; and
while conveying the log through the saw box, tilting the saw box about the first axis and moving the saw box laterally along the first axis to thereby cause the saws to follow the curvature of the log.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising conveying the log through an infeed unit upstream of the saw box.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the infeed unit includes an upper chip head and a lower chip head, and wherein conveying the log through the infeed unit includes chipping flat faces along the upper and lower surfaces of the log with the upper and lower chip heads, respectively.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the infeed unit includes profiling chip heads downstream of the upper and lower chip heads, and wherein conveying the log through the infeed unit further includes profiling the log with the profiling chip heads.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the infeed unit includes profiling chip heads, and wherein conveying the log through the infeed unit further includes profiling the log with the profiling chip heads.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the support is part of a frame of an outfeed, and tilting the saw box about the first axis includes using a first linear actuator to apply force against a first portion of the saw box, and wherein moving the saw box laterally along the first axis includes using a second linear actuator to apply force against the saw box in a second direction that is transverse to the first direction.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the first portion of the saw box is located along an output end of the saw box and above the first axis.

Assignees

• Usnr Llc

Inventors

• Bullion Conrad

Classifications

• Y10T83/778

  And means to rotate tool · CPC title

• B27B3/28

  Components · CPC title

• B27B7/04 Primary

  by making use of a plurality of circular saws mounted on a single spindle; Arrangements for adjusting the mutual distances {(equipment for adjusting the mutual distance of circular wood saws in general B27B5/34)} · CPC title

• B27G13/02

  in the shape of long arbors, i.e. cylinder cutting blocks (B27G13/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B27B7/02

  by making use of circular saws mounted substantially at right angles, e.g. vertically and horizontally · CPC title