Wood gathering and compaction vehicle

#The present invention relates to wood gathering vehicles, and more particularly to a wood gathering a compaction vehicle.

#Known wood gathering vehicle assemblies are of the type having a powered tractor unit pulling a trailer provided with a storage bin. The bin is opened at its top portion. Tree limbs are picked up from the ground with a suitable clamping device provided on a powered articulated arm which is attached to the vehicle. The tree limbs are thus simply stacked in the trailer storage bin, to be conveyed to a suitable remote location. A problem with this conventional wood gathering method is that it is not space-efficient, in that the wood stacked in the storage bin occupies an important volume for a limited effective wood quantity.

#An alternate known way of gathering wood in a more space-efficient manner is to use a shredder in which the tree limbs are fed. The shredder shreds the tree limbs into wood chips which are stored in a storage bin. This is of course highly space-efficient since little volume is wasted with the very small wood chips. However, a problem with this method of gathering wood is that all the tree components are shredded into wood chips, notwithstanding their nature. Thus, it is not possible afterwards to recuperate separately the tree trunks which can be used to make wood planks, the tree bark, leaves and pine cones which can be recuperated for their essences, and so on. Moreover, wood from trees of different types is used for different purposes according to each tree's particular characteristics, as is know in the art. Thus, recuperating wood from all tree types and shredding it into a same storage bin often obliges one to use these wood chips solely for burning, whereas tree limbs which would be recuperated in a way that allows the tree limbs to be used separately would advantageously yield different uses for the different tree types and tree portions.

#In the annexed drawings:

#FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the wood gathering and compaction vehicle according to the present invention;

#FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C are enlarged side elevations of the clamping device of FIG. 1, sequentially showing the clamping device jaws in an opened condition and spacedly over a tree limb shown in end view in FIG. 2A; in a closed, clamping condition in FIG. 2B wherein the tree limb is grasped by the clamping device jaws; and in a closed and cutting condition in FIG. 2C wherein the knife blade is partly engaged into the grasped tree limb to cut it;

#FIG. 1 shows a wood gathering and compaction vehicle 10 comprising a tractor unit 12 having a tractor unit frame 14 movable over ground by means of a set of tractor wheels 16.

#Tractor unit frame 14 conventionally encloses a driver's cab 18 and a motor (not shown), and further comprises an articulated arm 20 supported on top of tractor unit frame 14.

#More particularly, articulated arm 20 comprises a rotary base portion 22 which allows a full 360° rotation of arm 20, a boom 24 pivotally attached to rotary base portion 22 and controlled in its pivotal displacement by means of a boom cylinder 26, a clamp arm 28 pivotally attached to boom 24 and controlled in its pivotal displacement by means of a clamp arm cylinder 30, and a clamping device 32 carried at the outer free end of clamp arm 28.