Tiltable carriage assembly and sawmill incorporating same
AssigneeWoodland Mills Inc.
InventorsNeil K. Bramley, Joshua J. Malcolm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sawmill assembly comprising a bed, a carriage and a tilting device. The bed has a pair of substantially parallel rails that define a first plane, a first axis perpendicular to the first plane, and a second plane perpendicular to both the first plane and a longitudinal axis of the rails. The carriage is movably supported along the rails. The tilting device allows a user to adjust a tilt angle of the carriage in the second plane, relative to the first axis. Also disclosed are methods of adjusting a blade angle of the sawmill assembly, and methods of cutting a tapered piece from a workpiece material.
Claims28
A sawmill assembly comprising:
- a bed, said bed comprising:
- a pair of substantially parallel rails, said rails defining a first plane, a first axis perpendicular to said first plane, and a second plane perpendicular to both said first plane and a longitudinal axis of said rails;
- a carriage movably supported along said rails, said carriage comprising:
- a tilting device for adjusting a tilt angle of said carriage in said second plane, relative to said first axis;
- at least one wheel attached to each of two sides of said carriage for movably supporting said carriage along said respective rails;
- and
- a saw head;
- wherein said tilting device is configured to change a length of one of said sides of said carriage, independently of said other side of said carriage;
- and
- wherein said tilting device is configured to change said length of said one side of said carriage by extending or retracting said at least one wheel on said one side of said carriage.
A method of cutting a tapered piece from a workpiece material, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a sawmill comprising:
- a bed, said bed comprising
- a pair of substantially parallel rails, said rails defining a first plane, a first axis perpendicular to said first plane, and a second plane perpendicular to both said first plane and a longitudinal axis of said rails;
- a carriage movably supported along said rails;
- at least one wheel attached to each of two sides of said carriage for movably supporting said carriage along said respective rails;
- and
- a saw head attached to said carriage, said saw head comprising a band saw having a blade defining a cutting edge oriented perpendicular to a vertical axis of said carriage and parallel to said second plane;
- supporting said workpiece material on said bed;
- tilting said carriage in said second plane, at an angle to said first axis by extending or retracting said at least one wheel on one of said sides of said carriage to change a length of said one side of said carriage independently of said other side of said carriage;
- and
- moving said tilted carriage along said rails in one direction as said blade cuts through said workpiece material thereby cutting said tapered piece from said workpiece material.
A method of cutting a tapered piece from a workpiece material, said method comprising the steps of:
- supporting said workpiece material on a bed of a sawmill between a pair of substantially parallel rails of said bed, said rails defining a first plane, a first axis perpendicular to said first plane, and a second plane perpendicular to both said first plane and a longitudinal axis of said rails;
- tilting a carriage of said sawmill in said second plane, at an angle to said first axis, said carriage comprising a band saw having a blade defining a cutting edge oriented perpendicular to a vertical axis of said carriage and parallel to said second plane;
- and
- moving said tilted carriage along said rails in one direction as said blade saws through said workpiece material thereby cutting said tapered piece from said workpiece material;
- wherein said carriage comprises at least one wheel attached to each of two sides of said carriage for movably supporting said carriage along said respective rails;
- and
- wherein said step of tilting said carriage comprises extending or retracting said at least one wheel on one of said sides of said carriage to change a length of said one side of said carriage independently of said other side of said carriage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.