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US 7,487,809 B2Granted
Tree pruning apparatus
AssigneeAust Pacific Forest Management Pty Ltd
InventorColin Uebergang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pruning assembly (10) including an elongate supporting body (not shown), right (11) and left (12) jaw members hinged together and movable along the supporting body and each having three sets of blade members (31) mounted on actuator means (16) and alternatively displaced above and below a plane to form two staggered rows of three bores each, the actuator means (16) adapted to maintain the clearance between the trunk and each set of blade members (31).
Claims23
A tree pruning apparatus including:
- an elongate supporting body locatable along the trunk of a tree to be pruned;
- a pruning assembly mounted on and drivable along said supporting body and comprising a plurality of pruning jaws movable between an open position and a closed position substantially encircling the trunk;
- and
- a plurality of blade assemblies mounted on said jaws, each of said blade assemblies having a blade member with a cutting edge, an actuator adapted to move said blade member, and a sensor operably connected to said actuator to cause said actuator to move said blade member to dynamically maintain a selected clearance between the trunk and said cutting edge.
1 more element
A tree pruning method including:
- locating an elongate supporting body alongside the trunk of a tree to be pruned;
- closing pruning jaws of a pruning assembly mounted on and drivable along said supporting body to substantially encircle the trunk, said jaws mounting a plurality of blade members having cutting edges;
- driving said pruning assembly along said elongate supporting body to prune said tree;
- and
- independently moving two adjacent blade members relative to one another as the pruning assembly is driven along the elongate supporting body.
2 more elements
A tree pruning apparatus including:
- an elongate supporting body locatable alongside the trunk of a tree to be pruned;
- a pruning assembly mounted on and drivable along said supporting body and comprising a plurality of pruning jaws movable between an open position and a closed position substantially encircling the trunk;
- a plurality of blade members mounted on said jaws, said blade members each having cutting edges;
- a plurality of actuators operably connected to said blade members;
- and
- a plurality of electronic sensors, said sensors being adapted to signal said actuators to move said blade members to dynamically maintain a selected clearance between the trunk and each said cutting edges.
3 more elements
A tree pruning method including the steps of:
- locating an elongate supporting body alongside the trunk of a tree to be pruned;
- closing pruning jaws of a pruning assembly mounted on and drivable along said supporting body to substantially encircle the trunk, said jaws mounting a plurality of blade members having cutting edges;
- driving said pruning assembly along said elongate supporting body;
- electronically sensing the trunk of the tree as the pruning assembly is driven along the elongate supporting body;
- and
- individually moving one or more of said blade members in response to a signal from the electronic sensing.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.