Method and apparatus for fabricating arcuate wooden structures
OwnerLeonard F. Postemainventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for fabricating arched wooden structures such as headers for window and door jambs, said apparatus comprising a mandrel table having a planar bed from which a plurality of rigid arms upwardly extend. Each of the arms is movable on the bed so that the arms can be positioned to define and form in conjunction with each other an arcuate shaped mandrel about which wooden planks are to be bent into arched structures. A clamp secures a long work piece at its center to the mandrel intermediate the ends of the mandrel and a flexible steel band is wrapped tightly and progressively about the mandrel on either side of the clamp to bend each end section of the work piece about and conform it to the shape of the mandrel.
Claims18
An apparatus for producing arcuate structural members comprising:
- a frame;
- a substantially planar bed secured to said frame;
- means on said bed for forming a mandrel having an arcuate shape corresponding to the shape of arcuate structural members to be produced;
- means for clamping the intermediate portion of an elongated work piece to said mandrel at a position intermediate the ends of the mandrel;
- first means for applying and holding pressure on said work piece progressively from the clamped portion of the work piece toward one end of said arcuate shaped mandrel to bend a first section of the work piece about and hold it firmly against the mandrel;
- and
- second means for applying and holding pressure on said work piece progressively from the clamped portion of the work piece toward the other end of said arcuate shaped mandrel to bend a second section of the work piece about and hold it firmly against the mandrel.
A method of forming an elongated work piece into an arcuate shape with said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) forming a mandrel having an arcuate shape corresponding to the desired finished shape of the work piece, said arcuate shape defining ends and an intermediate portion of the mandrel;
- (b) clamping an intermediate portion of the work piece to the mandrel at a position intermediate the ends of the mandrel;
- (c) applying and holding pressure on the work piece progressively from the clamped portion of the work piece toward one end of said arcuate shaped mandrel to bend a first section of the work piece progressively about and hold it firmly against the mandrel;
- (d) applying and holding pressure on the work piece progressively from the clamped portion of the work piece toward the other end of said arcuate shaped mandrel to bend a second section of the work piece progressively about and hold it firmly against the mandrel;
- and
- (e) securing the work piece for a predetermined time in position about the mandrel.
A method of fabricating an arched laminated structure comprising the steps of:
- (a) applying adhesive to the surfaces of a plurality of planks or the like;
- (b) gathering the planks together in a stacked configuration with the adhesive between adjacent planks of the stack to form an elongated work piece having ends;
- (c) clamping the work piece intermediate its ends to a substantially rigid arched form;
- (d) progressively applying and holding pressure to the work piece from the clamped portion of the work piece toward one end thereof to gather one section of the work piece progressively toward and hold it against the form;
- (e) progressively applying and holding pressure to the work piece from the clamped portion of the work piece toward the other end thereof to gather the other section of the work piece progressively toward and hold it against the form;
- and
- (f) maintaining the work piece in position about the form for a time sufficient to cure the adhesive, whereby the work piece is progressively conformed to the arched shape of the form and retains the arched shape of the form when removed therefrom.
A mandrel table usable in the fabrication of arched wooden structures, said mandrel table comprising a plurality of elongated spaced parallel ribs mutually aligned to define a substantially planar bed, a plurality of elongated rigid arms extending outwardly from said bed, each of said arms having a first end and a second end and being slidably mounted at its first end between a corresponding pair of spaced parallel ribs for selective movement of the arm along the lengths of its corresponding ribs, and means for locking each of said arms to said corresponding pair of spaced parallel ribs at a selected position along the length thereof, said arms and said ribs, when mutually locked together, forming a rigid interlocking monolithic structure, whereby the arms can be moved to selected positions on the bed together to define and form an arched mandrel extending outwardly from the bed about which lengths of wood and the like can be bent to form arched structures.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.