Flail assembly with vanes
AssigneeAstec Industries, Inc.
InventorsArnold Neil Peterson, Jason Duke Tift
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A flail assembly for use in debarking logs moving in a processing direction includes a debarking assembly having a shaft that is mounted for rotation above the logs moving in the processing direction. A flail having a fixed end is attached to the shaft. The flail has a length that defines an arc of rotation of the free end of the flail as the shaft is rotated. A housing is positioned adjacent the flail. The housing has a center line that is generally aligned with the processing direction, and a deflector vane which extends inwardly towards the arc of rotation of the free end of the flail. The deflector vane serves to direct bark chips that are cast upwardly by the flail away from the center line of the housing.
Claims13
A flail assembly comprising a debarking assembly for use in debarking logs moving in a processing direction, which debarking assembly includes:
- (a) a shaft that is mounted for rotation above the logs moving in the processing direction, said shaft having an axis of rotation that is perpendicular to the processing direction;
- (b) a flail having a fixed end that is attached to the shaft and a free end, said flail having a length that defines an arc of rotation of the free end of the flail as the shaft is rotated;
- (c) a housing that is positioned adjacent the flail, said housing having:
- (i) a center line that is generally aligned with the processing direction and is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the shaft;
- (ii) a deflector vane which extends inwardly towards the arc of rotation of the free end of the flail, said vane having a configuration that serves to direct bark chips that are cast upwardly by the flail away from the center line of the housing.
A combination flail assembly and chipping machine comprising:
- (a) a frame;
- (b) a plurality of feed rolls that are mounted for rotation on the frame so as to carry a log through the machine in a log processing direction;
- (c) a flail assembly comprising at least one upper debarking assembly and at least one lower debarking assembly, wherein each debarking assembly includes:
- (i) a shaft that is mounted for rotation adjacent to the logs moving in the processing direction, said shaft having an axis of rotation that is perpendicular to the processing direction;
- (ii) a flail having a fixed end that is attached to the shaft and a free end, said flail having a length that defines an arc of rotation of the free end of the flail as the shaft is rotated;
- (d) a housing that is positioned adjacent the flail of the upper debarking assembly, said housing having:
- (i) a center line that is generally aligned with the processing direction and is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the shaft;
- (ii) a deflector vane which extends inwardly towards the arc of rotation of the free end of the flail, said vane having a configuration that serves to direct bark chips that are cast upwardly by the flail away from the center line of the housing;
- (e) a chipper disk which is adapted to reduce the flailed log to chips.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.