Wood planing machine with a carriage locking mechanism

A wood planing machine comprising:

• a machine base having opposite mounting sides spaced apart from each other in a transverse direction, and feed-in and take-out sides disposed apart from each other in a longitudinal direction;
• left and right pairs of upstanding posts extending upward from said machine base at said mounting sides;
• a cutter carriage disposed above said machine base, and having opposite end portions mounted movably on said upstanding posts for sliding movement of said cutter carriage along said upstanding posts;
• moving means for moving said cutter carriage along said upstanding posts and for adjusting a height of said cutter carriage relative to said machine base;
• and
• a carriage locking mechanism for locking said cutter carriage at a desired height relative to said machine base, said carriage locking mechanism including
• left and right post bracing members disposed above said cutter carriage, each having an elongate plate portion that extends in the longitudinal direction at one side of a respective one of said left and right pairs of upstanding posts, and two substantially U-shaped post embracing units that are connected to opposite ends of said elongate plate portion for embracing said upstanding posts of said one of said left and right pairs, each of said left and right post bracing members being mounted on said cutter carriage,
• a right regulator plate disposed above said carriage to extend in said transverse direction, and having a first end portion pivotally connected to said elongate plate portion of said right post bracing member, and a second end portion with an annular wheel accommodating slot formed therein,
• a left regulator plate disposed above said carriage to extend in said transverse direction, and having a first end portion fixed to said elongate plate portion of said left post bracing member, and a second end portion overlapping said second end portion of said right regulator plate, said second end portion of said left regulator plate defining an annular shaft mounting hole therethrough in communication with said wheel accommodating slot and having an axis offset from an axis of said wheel accommodating slot, and
• a coupling shaft unit disposed rotatably through said shaft mounting hole in said left regulator plate, and having an eccentric wheel fixed eccentrically thereto and being confined rotatably within said wheel accommodating slot in said right regulator plate so as to interconnect said left and right regulator plates in said transverse direction, said eccentric wheel having an outer periphery in sliding contact with an inner periphery defining said wheel accommodating slot such that rotation of said coupling shaft unit in clockwise and counterclockwise directions results in synchronous rotation of said eccentric wheel within said wheel accommodating slot, thereby consequently causing movement of said left and right post bracing members toward each other or away from each other so as to cause said embracing units to clamp said posts or to release said posts.