Sawmill
OwnerCharles R. Collierinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sawmill for sawing a log segment in two through the core thereof and a method of sawing a log in half through the core thereof. The sawmill includes a log feed conveyor configured for feeding logs to a band saw and a log positioning rig, the band saw being disposed on a movable carriage of a fixed frame, the band saw being configured for sawing a log from a first end of the log to a distal end of the log. The log positioning rig has a reciprocating cradle having a plurality of spaced-apart cradle segments. The reciprocating cradle is pivotally attached to the fixed frame, and is configured for raising or lowering the first end of the log to align the central core of the log along the length of the log with a blade of the band saw.
Claims14
A sawmill for sawing a log segment in two through a central core thereof, comprising:
- a band saw and a log positioning rig;
- a log feed conveyor configured for feeding logs to the band saw and the log positioning rig, the band saw being disposed on a movable carriage of a fixed frame, the band saw being configured for sawing a log from a first end of the log to a distal end of the log, wherein the log positioning rig comprises a reciprocating cradle having a plurality of spaced-apart cradle segments, the reciprocating cradle being pivotally attached to the fixed frame, and being configured for raising or lowering the first end of the log to align the central core of the log along the length of the log with a blade of the saw;
- and
- wherein the fixed frame further comprises a plurality of spaced-apart log lifting arms disposed within the plurality of spaced-apart cradle segments.
A method for sawing a log segment in half, the method comprising:
- providing a sawmill for sawing a log segment in two through a central core thereof, the sawmill comprising:
- a log feed conveyor configured for feeding logs to a band saw and log positioning rig, the band saw being disposed on a movable carriage of a fixed frame, wherein the log positioning rig comprises a reciprocating cradle having a plurality of spaced-apart cradle segments, the reciprocating cradle being pivotally attached to the fixed frame, and being configured for raising or lowering a first end of the log to align the central core of the log along the length of the log with a blade of the band saw;
- feeding a log segment to the reciprocating cradle from the log feed conveyor;
- pivoting the reciprocating cradle to align the band saw to a center of a heart of the log from the first end of the log to a distal end of the log;
- sawing the log segment in half from the first end of the log to a distal end of the log thereof by moving the band saw on the fixed frame from the first end of the log to the distal end of the log;
- and
- lifting and moving log halves from the reciprocating cradle to a receiving conveyor for further processing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.