Veneer sheet conveying apparatus and method of controlling the same

A veneer sheet conveying apparatus comprising:

• a cutter disposed along a direction of veneer conveyance;
• a discharging unit having a mounting surface for mounting a product veneer and a trash veneer cut from a veneer by the cutter, the discharging unit disposed downstream of the cutter in the direction of veneer conveyance so as to be capable of discharging the product veneer and the trash veneer downstream in the direction of veneer conveyance;
• a piercing-conveying unit having a plurality of needle-like bodies disposed above the discharging unit so that the needle-like bodies are opposed to the mounting surface of the discharging unit so as to be capable of conveying the product veneer toward a subsequent process;
• and
• a veneer sheet sorting apparatus configured to guide the product veneer toward the piercing-conveying unit so that the product veneer is pierced by the needle-like bodies, and configured to guide the trash veneer downstream in the direction of veneer conveyance so that the trash veneer is not pierced by the needle-like bodies, the veneer sheet sorting apparatus including
• an action section that acts directly on the product veneer to guide the product veneer toward the piercing-conveying unit, the action section being switchable between a guiding state where a distance between at least a portion of the action section and the needle-like bodies is smaller than a thickness of the veneer and a non-guiding state where the distance is greater than the thickness of the veneer, and the action section enters the guiding state when the veneer is the product veneer and enters the non-guiding state when the veneer is the trash veneer,
• a rotary shaft, and
• a rotary member, as the action section, integrally mounted to the rotary shaft, the rotary member being switchable between the guiding state and the non-guiding state by rotation of the rotary shaft,
• a push-up section capable of pushing up at least a part of the mounting surface in a direction approaching the needle-like bodies, the push-up section configured to push up at least a part of the mounting surface to guide the product veneer toward the piercing-conveying unit, the push-up section having a second rotary member integrally and eccentrically located on the rotary shaft, the second rotary member configured to abut the mounting surface from under the mounting surface, by rotation of the rotary shaft, to push up the mounting surface.