Method and apparatus for cutting a cant into boards
OwnerChristopher Raybon, Levi A. Pollard, V +3inventors
InventorsChristopher Raybon, Levi A. Pollard, V, Ronald W. McGehee, Russell R. Kennedy, Patrick M. Conry
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Abstract
Apparatus for detecting dimensional information of a workpiece such as a canted log is used to control a gang saw mounted on a pivot axis to cut the log into substantially even thickness boards while moving the log past the cutting device and pivoting the gang saw to accommodate curvature in the log.
Claims17
An apparatus for cutting a workpiece into parts of desired dimensions where the workpiece has non-uniform original dimensions comprising:
- a transport conveyor for moving the workpiece along a path through a plurality of stations;
- said plurality of stations including a workpiece scanning station including sensing means for sensing the dimensions of the workpiece and processing means associated with said sensing means for analyzing the sensed dimensions provided by said sensing means and providing an apparatus control instruction;
- a cutting station including a cutting tool mounted on a carriage, said carriage being pivotally movable relative to said transport conveyor to vary the position of said cutting tool relative to a workpiece being carried by said transport conveyor past said cutting tool and along said path;
- means for moving said carriage relative to said path with said processing means controlling actuation of said means for moving said carriage in accordance with said apparatus control instruction.
An apparatus for cutting a workpiece into parts of desired dimensions where the workpiece has non-uniform original dimensions comprising:
- a transport conveyor for moving the workpiece along a path through a plurality of stations;
- said plurality of stations including a workplace scanning station including sensing means for sensing the dimensions of the workpiece and processing means associated with said sensing means for analyzing the sensed dimensions provided by said sensing means and providing an apparatus control instruction;
- a curing station including a cutting tool mounted on a carriage, said carriage being movable relative to said transport conveyor to vary the position of said cutting tool relative to a workpiece being carried by said transport conveyor past said cutting tool and along said path;
- means for moving said carriage relative to said path with said processing means controlling actuation of said means for moving said carriage in accordance with said apparatus control instruction,
- said carriage being mounted on a platform and said platform being pivotally mounted on a base so as to be rotationally movable about a pivot axis relative to said base.
A method of forming a workpiece into sectioned parts using a cutting device of the type having a plurality of rotatable cutting members mounted for rotation on a common axis which is movable and including workpiece transport means for moving the workpiece from a starting position to a final position along a path which extends past the cutting device, comprising the steps of:
- (a) passing the workpiece from the starting position through a scanning position;
- (b) scanning the workpiece with a detection device to determine dimensional information of the workpiece;
- (c) sending the dimensional information to a computing device which analyzes the dimensional information and calculates a cutting solution for the scanned workpiece;
- (d) passing the workpiece from the scanning position toward the cutting device while orienting the workpiece for movement through the cutting device substantially along a linear axis of movement;
- (e) engaging the workpiece with the cutting device by passing the workpiece past the cutting device while controlling the rotational position about the common axis of the cutting device in accordance with the cutting solution;
- and
- (f) transporting the workpiece and sectioned parts from the cutting device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.