US 2018/0290326 A1Published application

Precut processing of logs

AssigneeUsnr, LLC

InventorChristopher W. BLOMQUIST

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Abstract

A precut module with one or more profiling heads and/or circular saws may be provided upstream of a saw module. The precut module may be used to implement a portion of a cut that would otherwise be made by the saw module, thereby reducing the depth of cut required at the saw module. In some embodiments, profiling heads may be used to profile a block that is wider than a desired side board. The block may be cut from the workpiece and sent to the edger. This may provide the same or better wood volume recovery and/or throughput speed than profiling the side board or cutting the side board from a flitch. In some embodiments, cut patterns for the precut module and other machine centers may be calculated and/or selected based on a desired depth of cut at the saw module, desired throughput speed, wood volume recovery, and/or other parameters.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A system for cutting a desired cut product from a workpiece as the workpiece is conveyed lineally in a first direction along a flow axis, wherein the workpiece is a log or a cant and the desired cut product has a first face, an opposite second face, and longitudinal edges, the system comprising:

a presaw module disposed along the flow axis, wherein the presaw module includes a pair of first saw arbors oriented transverse to the flow axis and configured to accommodate one or more first circular saw blades;
a first saw module positioned along the flow axis downstream of the presaw module, wherein the first saw module includes one or more saws;
and
a profiler module with a plurality of profiling heads positioned along the flow axis downstream of the presaw module,
wherein the profiler module is selectively operable to form the longitudinal edges of the desired cut product as the workpiece is transported in the first direction along the flow axis,
wherein the presaw module and the first saw module are selectively operable to cut the workpiece longitudinally along a first portion and a second portion, respectively, of a desired through-cut through the workpiece to form the first face of the desired cut product as the workpiece is transported in the first direction along the flow axis.

3 more elements

A method of modifying a workpiece processing line for obtaining a desired cut product from a workpiece, wherein the workpiece is a log or a cant, the desired cut product has a first face and an opposite second face, and the workpiece processing line has a first saw module that is operable to make a desired through-cut through the workpiece as the workpiece is transported in a first direction along a flow axis that extends through the first saw module, the method comprising:

providing a presaw module upstream of the first saw module along the flow axis, wherein the presaw module includes a pair of first saw arbors oriented transverse to the flow axis, each of the first saw arbors configured to accommodate at least one first circular saw blade,
wherein the presaw module is selectively operable to cut the workpiece longitudinally along a first portion of the desired through-cut through the workpiece with at least one of the first circular saw blades as the workpiece is transported in the first direction along the flow axis such that the precut module forms a first portion of the first face of the desired cut product and the first saw module forms a second portion of said first face.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 16/003,977Filed 8 Jun 2018
Priority: 31 Mar 2015
Published: 11 Oct 2018
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification13 codes

B26D 5/005
Arrangements for operating and controlling machines or devices for cutting, cutting-out, stamping-out, punching, perforating, or severing by…
B26D 5/007
Arrangements for operating and controlling machines or devices for cutting, cutting-out, stamping-out, punching, perforating, or severing by…
B26D 11/00
Combinations of several similar cutting apparatus
B27B 1/00
Methods for subdividing trunks or logs essentially involving sawing

Family

Application62/141,062Us provisional application · filed 31 Mar 2015
Application15/087,056Continuation · filed 31 Mar 2016
Application16/003,977Continuation
US 11,135,735 B2Related patent
US 2016/0288354 A1Published application
US 9,993,933 B2Related patent
US 2018/0290326 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.