Orientation of cant for translatory feed through edging cutters

A method of orienting a cant having substantially flat and parallel top and bottom surfaces and untrimmed lengthwise extending wane surfaces, to so dispose the cant for substantially lengthwise translatory motion through a pair of spaced apart edging cutters that the cant is thereby converted into a finished piece of optimum size as determined by calculations made on the basis of a scanning of the top surface of the cant at a scanning station, and in which method the cant is carried to the scanning station and beyond the same to a location at which the cant is oriented as aforesaid by means of a plurality of endless conveyors having elongated, parallel and laterally spaced apart upper stretches that lie in a common horizontal plane and are driven in unison in a forward direction, said method comprising:

• A. placing a cant, top surface uppermost, onto said upper stretches near the rear ends thereof, with the cant lengthwise substantially transverse to the lengths of said stretches;
• B. at a scanning station located spaced from both ends of the belt conveyors, engaging the leading edge of the cant, at a pair of spaced apart points thereon, to confine the cant against forward movement with said upper stretches and establish a reference line on the cant which extends through said pair of points and to which data obtained during scanning can be related;
• C. while the cant is stationary at the scanning station, scanning it to obtain data concerning the relationship of the longitudinal edges of its top surface to said reference lines;
• D. on the basis of said data, adjusting a pair of orienting stops, one for each scanning stop and each aligned in said direction with its scanning stop and spaced in said direction therefrom, to bring the orienting stops to positions such that they cooperate to define a line corresponding to the optimum orientation of said reference line for translation of the cant through edging cutters in a direction transverse to said direction of motion of said stretches;
• E. vertically disengaging the scanning stops from the cant and, after scanning, causing the cant to resume motion with said stretches of the belt conveyors so that it is carried by them into engagement with both orienting stops;
• F. effecting relative vertical motion between said stretches of the endless conveyors and a set of conveyor means arranged to carry a cant in horizontal translatory motion in a direction transverse to said stretches of the endless conveyors, to transfer the cant from the belt conveyors to said conveyor means and cause the cant to be supported by said conveyor means, out of engagement with said stretches;
• G. moving the orienting stops in the direction away from the scanning stops to disengage them from the cant;
• and
• H. driving said conveyor means to translate the cant substantially lengthwise in said direction transverse to the lengths of said stretches and towards the edging cutters.

A method by which a cant having substantially flat and parallel to top and bottom surfaces and unfinished lengthwise extending wane surfaces can be established in an orientation determined to be optimum for substantially lengthwise translation of the cant along a defined straight horizontal path through a pair of edging cutters, said orientation being determined in accordance with calculations based on data obtained from scanning the top surface of the cant at a scanning station, and said translation of the cant being effected by conveyor means, said method being characterized by:

• A. drivingly supporting the cant, top surface uppermost, for motion transversely to its length and in a forward horizontal direction transverse to said path and towards said path;
• B. substantially before the cant arrives at said path, arresting forward motion of the cant at a scanning station by engaging the cant at a pair of points on it that are spaaced along its leading edge,
• 1said points of engagement being on a fixed datum line which is parallel to said path, and
• 2 said points defining a reference line on the cant which coincides with said datum line while the cant is arrested at the scanning station;
• C. after scanning of the top surface of the cant, releasing the cant to permit it to resume motion in said forward direction away from the scanning station and towards said path;
• D. adjusting a pair of orienting stops which are near said path and which are aligned in said forward direction with said points on the cant, to position said stops at distances from the datum line such that their engagement by the cant establishes it in an orientation in which said reference line thereon is at an optimum angle to said path according to calculations made on the basis of data obtained by scanning;
• E. with the cant so oriented, and by a vertical relative translation of it, engaging the cant with said conveyor means for translation of the cant along said path;
• and
• F. before effecting translation of the cant along the path, moving said orienting stops to inoperative positions at substantially greater forward distances from the datum line so that they do not disturb such orientation of the cant as it is being translated along said path.