Plywood lay-up system

A plywood lay-up system, comprising:

• means for assembling veneer plies;
• means for supplying unitary core veneer plies;
• a rotary carousel, comprising a rotor, said rotor having means for clamping arranged about a periphery of said rotor, said rotary carousel being able to transfer unitary core veneer plies from said supplying means to said assembling means by clamping an edge of a unitary core veneer ply supplied by said supplying means in said clamps, rotating said rotor and bearing said unitary core veneer ply to said assembling means, then releasing said clamping of said unitary core veneer ply at said assembling means;
• and
• control means for controlling said rotary carousel to transfer unitary core veneer plies from said supplying means to said assembling means according to a selected pattern of ply assembly.

A plywood lay-up system, comprising:

• a conveyor, able to convey ply assemblies;
• first means for accumulating veneer plies, said first accumulating means being able to accept transferred veneer plies and to accumulate a plurality of veneer plies into a first ply assembly, and subsequently to release said first ply assembly to said conveyor;
• first means for supplying unitary core veneer plies;
• and
• a first rotary carousel, comprising a rotor, said rotor having means for clamping arranged about a periphery of said rotor, said first rotary carousel being able to transfer unitary core veneer plies from said first supplying means to said first accumulating means by clamping an edge of a unitary core veneer ply supplied by said first supplying means in said clamps, rotating said rotor and bearing said unitary core veneer ply to said first accumulating means, then releasing said clamping of said unitary core veneer ply at said first accumulating means;
• second means for accumulating veneer plies, said second accumulating means being able to accept transferred veneer plies and to accumulate a plurality of veneer plies into a second ply assembly, and subsequently to release said second ply assembly to said conveyor;
• second means for supplying unitary core veneer plies;
• and
• a second rotary carousel, comprising a rotor, said rotor having means for clamping arranged about a periphery of said rotor, said second rotary carousel being able to transfer unitary core veneer plies from said second supplying means to said second accumulating means by clamping an edge of a unitary core veneer ply supplied by said second supplying means in said clamps, rotating said rotor and bearing said unitary core veneer ply to said second accumulating means, then releasing said clamping of said unitary core veneer ply at said second accumulating means;
• wherein each of said first and second accumulating means is able to release said corresponding ply assembly to said conveyor on top of a stack of plies conveyed by said conveyor.

A rotary carousel lay-up station for plywood lay-up, said rotary carousel lay-up station comprising:

• a rotor;
• a plurality of sets of clamps arranged about a periphery of said rotor for transferring unitary core veneer plies, each set of said sets of clamps comprising a plurality of clamps arranged in a line parallel to a rotating axis of said rotor, and each of said sets of said clamps being rotatable relative to said rotor, wherein a relative angle between each of said sets of said clamps and said rotor is defined as an obtuse angle between a) a direction of extension of a core veneer ply held in said set of said clamps and b) an imaginary line between an axis of rotation of said rotor and said axis of rotation of said set of said clamps, and wherein said rotary carousel is able to transfer unitary core veneer plies by clamping an edge of a unitary core veneer ply, rotating said rotor and transferring said unitary core veneer ply, then releasing said clamping of said unitary core veneer ply;
• and
• an angle control system for controlling said relative angles between each of said sets of said clamps and said rotor, said angle control system being able to control said relative angles between said sets of said clamps and said rotor such that along said rotation of said rotor, after said clamping of said unitary core veneer ply and before said releasing of said unitary core veneer ply, each said relative angle increases for a first portion of said rotation, then decreases for subsequent second portion of said rotation, and then increases for a subsequent third portion of said rotation.