Abstract:
A mobile wood/log processor used for the production and baling of Chunkwood to be used as hog fuel for the production of electrical power. The machine uses a plurality of guillotine type shear blades  27  to produce the Chunkwood. The Chunkwood is then compressed and fed into the baler assembly  34 . The completed bale is then discharged to the ground for pickup and transport to the power plant.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/590,589, filed 2004 Jul. 23 by the present inventors 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of Invention  
         [0003]     This invention relates to the production of biomass fuel using short chunks of wood as the fuel.  
         [0004]     2. Prior Art  
         [0005]     This invention relates to improvements in the AUTOMATIC WHOLE AND MULTIPLE TREE FIREWOOD/HOG FUEL PROCESSOR Described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,676. Issued Feb. 21, 1989 to one of the present inventors, Warren A. Aikins.  
         [0006]     The machine described in said patent was designed to produce either firewood or shorter chunks of wood (Chunkwood) to be used as hog fuel for the commercial production of electrical power.  
       BACKGROUND OF INVENTION—OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES  
       [0007]     After building a prototype machine as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,676, and producing some Chunkwood, it was found that these chunks lost moisture content at an accelerated rate compared to the longer length firewood pieces. Also, a study was presented at a meeting of the International Energy Agency held Dec. 6-7, 1988 at the University of Sweden in Uppsala, Sweden showing the following advantages of Chunkwood: 
        (a) Requires less energy to produce than chips.     (b) Bulk density is 13-20 percent higher than chips.     (c) Dries faster than chips when stored under ambient air drying conditions.     (d) More complete combustion and less particulate emission.        
 
         [0012]     The foregoing statements make Chunkwood the ultimate wood particle size for maximum heat recovery. Renewable energy resources are very much in demand. Sources of wood for the production of Chunkwood are plentiful. Some of the sources include logging slash, forest thinnings, burned over forest lands, diseased forests, etc. Biomass energy can be produced in volume at competitive costs with the “Mobile High-Speed Biomass Processor for Chunkwood with Integral Chunkwood Baler”.  
         [0013]     Another important use for Chunkwood is for the construction of low-volume, temporary roads, such as logging roads. The Chunkwood is used in place of conventional road building materials, such as, pit-run gravel and crushed aggregate. In many cases, these materials are not always abundantly available within an economical transport distance. Chunkwood effectively stabilizes unpaved roadways, and its light weight is a major advantage. This use for Chunkwood was also presented at the meeting of the IEA in Uppsala, Sweden by the USDA Forest Service.  
         [0014]     The invention will be better understood and additional features and advantages will become apparent from the preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Various changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts and certain features may be used without others.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0015]     In accordance with the present invention a machine is designed to produce Chunkwood fuel for commercial use in the production of electrical power. 
     
    
     DRAWINGS—Figures  
       [0016]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a machine embodying the invention  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a side elevation view of the multiple shear blade chunker carriage.  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a side elevation view of the Chunkwood baler assembly  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  is a side elevation of the Chunkwood tunnel in the clamped and extended position  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a side elevation of the Chunkwood Baler tunnel in the rotated dump position 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]     As seen in  FIG. 1  the mobile main frame  12  is composed of the following main components.  
         [0000]      22  Adjustable infeed to act as a ramp to guide logs and slash fed by knuckle boom  16  and grapple  17  (shear on grapple optional) into the throat of the machine at the proper elevation.  
         [0000]      18  &amp;  19  Hydraulically powered squeeze infeed rolls to help feed and compress input material.  
         [0000]      20  Top hydraulically powered squeeze roll to compress input material before entering  26  the Multiple shear blade chunker carriage.  
         [0000]      24  &amp;  25  Hydraulically powered side rolls used to guide material into chunker carriage.  
         [0000]      26  Multiple shear blade carriage  
         [0000]      27  Multiple shear blades for cutting the infeed material into Chunkwood  
         [0000]      14  Operators cab  
         [0000]      31  Chunkwood compression assembly  
         [0000]      34  Chunkwood baler apparatus  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  shows the details of the Chunkwood carriage assembly.  
         [0023]     Shear blades  27  are shown mounted in floating blade guides  44  to accommodate blade movement caused by the displacement of the wood while shearing. Shear cylinders or cylinder  36  are shown mounted in carriage frame assembly  26 . Hydraulic cylinder  46  has two major functions;  
         [0024]     One, to move the carriage forward and at the same time compress the chunks just sheared in the previous cycle in the compression chamber  51 , shown in  FIG. 3  with pusher plate  50  which is an integral part of the shear blade carriage, and two, to return the shear blade carriage to the starting position.  
         [0000]     Operation of Chunkwood Processor  
         [0025]     The knuckle boom grapple  17  feeds logs, slash, brush etc. into the throat of the machine to the feed rolls  18 ,  19 ,  20 ,  24  and  25  as seen in  FIG. 1 . The operation and function of these components are defined in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,676 issued to Warren Aikins, Feb. 21, 1989. The patent shows only one shear blade in the shear blade carriage  26 . The present patent has a plurality of shear blades to increase the Chunkwood production. The wood chunks produced will be fed to the Chunkwood baler assembly.  
         [0000]      FIGS. 3, 4  and  5  show details of the baler assembly  
         [0000]     Operation of Chunkwood Baler  
         [0026]     Chunks produced by the Multi-shear blades  27  are pushed into opening  48  of the compression chamber  51  by the wood/logs in the processor when the carriage  26  is moved toward the infeed by carriage by cylinder  46  during the processing cycle. When the carriage moves toward the outfeed during the processing cycle, the pusher plate assembly  50 , which is an integral part of the carriage assembly  26 , pushes the chunks in the compression chamber  51  into the chunkwood pressure control plate  70  which is connected to pivot shaft  72 . Lever arm  74  is connected to pivot shaft  72 . Chunkwood pressure control cylinder  76  is connected to lever arm  74 . The pressure control plate  70  remains in the closed position until the desired compression pressure on the chunkwood is reached. The cylinder  76  then stars to retract allowing the pressure plate  70  to start opening. As more chunks are added during each processing cycle, the pressure control plate  70  is pushed further open until the 45 degree transition  28  is full of compressed chunks. The chunks are then forced into the square to round transition  30 . The square to round transition  30  reduces the area approximately 22.5 percent, increasing the compression force on the chunks. The tapered cone  32  is attached to transition  30 . Spring steel flat bars  33  are bolted to tapered cone  32  forming a cone shape. Compressed chunks force the spring steel flat bars open to the approximate diameter of the transition  30 . Bio-degradable mesh roll  53  is wrapped around the spring steel flat bars  33  to encase the compressed chunks. The mesh roll  53  is mounted on shaft  54  which is connected to rotating ring assembly  78  which rotates on stationary ring assembly  79 . The rotational speed of the rotating ring assembly  78  is powered and controlled by mesh roll drive hydraulic motor  80 . During each compression cycle, the amount of rotation of the mesh roll  53  is set to give an approximate 30 percent overlap of mesh. As the encased spiral wrapped chunks of wood moves toward the outfeed, they are fed into the bale tunnel assembly  34 . The infeed guide cone  52  directs the Chunkwood bale into the tunnel assembly  34 . The mesh wrapped bale progresses through the bale tunnel until it actuates sensor  82 . The sensor actuates the clamp cylinder  60 , which is connected to pivot arm  62 , causing bottom half of tunnel cover  56  to raise, clamping the bale against the top half  55  of the bale tunnel. After the bale is clamped, tunnel cylinder  58  is actuated, moving the whole bale tunnel assembly toward the outfeed. When tunnel cylinder  58  is actuated, the mesh roll hydraulic drive motor  80  increases speed so the mesh has an overlap of approximately 80 percent of the width of the mesh. When the bale tunnel is fully extended, two nylon tie straps are manually installed and the mesh is manually cut in half between the straps. After the mesh is cut, the clamp cylinder  60  is actuated and releases the bale The dump cylinder  64  is connected to the bale tunnel lower half pivot arm  66  which is connected to pivot shaft  67 . The pivot shaft  67  is connected to the tunnel lower half  56  when the dump cylinder  64  is actuated, it rotates the lower tunnel half  56  rotates 90 degrees in the clockwise direction. The completed sausage shaped bale  84  slides to the ground. The lower half then returns to the operating position and the tunnel cylinder  58  returns the tunnel assembly  34  to the operating position. This completes the baling cycle.