Automated planer machine

An automated planer machine for planing a piece of lumber having top, side and bottom surfaces, comprising:

• a feed table adapted to slidably receive the bottom surface of the piece of lumber along a traveling course;
• at least one planing head extending on a side of the traveling course and adapted to plane one of the surfaces of the piece of lumber;
• a linebar projecting on a side of the feed table and adapted to slidably receive one of the side surfaces of the piece of lumber;
• feed rolls extending along the traveling course and adapted to move the piece of lumber along the traveling course;
• positioning means responsive to respective control signals for adjusting a height of the feed table and a planing level of said at least one planing head with respect to said one of the surfaces of the piece of lumber according to the control signals;
• and
• position encoders respectively coupled to the feed table and said at least one planing head, for producing positional signals indicative of the height of the feed table and the planing level of said at least one planing head
• further comprising roll positioning means responsive to control signals for adjusting heights of at least some of the feed rolls;
• wherein:
• said at least some of the feed rolls comprise the feed rolls which engage with the bottom surface of the piece of lumber;
• and
• the roll positioning means of each one of the feed rolls which engage with the bottom surface of the piece of lumber comprises an eccentric rolling bearing cage having an axle to which a corresponding one of the feed rolls is mounted, a jack, and an articulated lever arrangement extending between the jack and the eccentric rolling bearing cage and arranged so that operation of the jack moves the lever arrangement which rotates the eccentric rolling bearing cage, thereby vertically moving the axle.

An automated planer machine for planing a piece of lumber having top, side and bottom surfaces, comprising:

• a feed table adapted to slidably receive the bottom surface of the piece of lumber along a traveling course;
• at least one planing head extending on a side of the traveling course and adapted to plane one of the surfaces of the piece of lumber;
• a linebar projecting on a side of the feed table and adapted to slidably receive one of the side surfaces of the piece of lumber;
• feed rolls extending along the traveling course and adapted to move the piece of lumber along the traveling course;
• a main frame wherein the feed rolls, the planing heads and the feed table are mounted on the main frame in a cantilever arrangement;
• positioning means responsive to respective control signals for adjusting a height of the feed table and a planing level of said at least one planing head with respect to said one of the surfaces of the piece of lumber according to the control signals;
• and
• position encoders respectively coupled to the feed table and said at least one planing head, for producing positional signals indicative of the height of the feed table and the planing level of said at least one planing head;
• wherein said at least one planing head comprises upper, lower and side planing heads adapted to plane respectively the top, bottom and side surfaces of the piece of lumber along the traveling course;
• further comprising a controller having inputs connected to the position encoders, a user control input, and outputs connected to the positioning means, the output producing the control signals as a function of the positional signals and user settings received by the inputs.