Powered wood splitter with multiple work heads

This is a powered device primarily used for the splitting of wood, but also can be used as a boring tool, and as a device for performing any number of functions wherein tools can be placed on a plurality of output heads to perform a variety of accomplishments. This device can accept power from a variety of sources such as gasoline and electrically powered chain saws, flexible cable drives, and from any number of portable power sources such as drive wheels of automobiles, pneumatic motors and hydraulic motors. This mechanism is also characterized by being able to have the multiple output heads rotate in opposite or similar directions.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
This application is not related to any other patent application filed by 
me. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention is in the general field of wood splitting or hole boring 
devices, and is more particularly directed to a device for splitting both 
logs and rounds of cut timber into smaller parts and to do this in a 
manner which will allow the operator of this device to perform the 
splitting operation without any undue effort to compensate for the torque 
which is generally created by the use of a single output head. I have also 
directed the construction of this device to perform a number of variations 
in the output rotation speed as compared to the input rotation, and have 
provided a portable unit which can be taken to remote areas away from a 
general stationary power source and I have provided a simplified form for 
attaching and detaching input and output equipment. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Wood splitting devices have been known for great periods of time, and there 
have been many different models in the past. The number of such devices is 
far to great to list in the prior art, but, it is sufficient to point out 
that there are no known wood splitting devices utilizing the principal of 
having a plurality of output heads performing the splitting operation 
thereby neutralizing any torque that might be created. An example of an 
attempt to have made wood splitting easier is a cone-shaped tip which is 
fastened to a single output shaft and then pressed against a log. This 
cone-shaped member is provided with a screw type thread on the outer 
surface and when this is pressed against a log, it moves into the log as a 
screw driven by a screwdriver, but while this is taking place, the 
operator must go to great lengths to hold the log in this operation. 
Additionally, none of these devices have utilized a plurality of 
cone-shaped screws rotating in similar or opposite directions in order to 
compensate for the previously described torque. 
Furthermore, none of these devices have attempted to control the speed of a 
plurality of said wedge cones to make the splitting operation successful. 
In the sense of these unique features there is not prior art comparable to 
the present combination. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Wood splitting devices have been used for many years in the past and prior 
to the advent of gasoline engines and electrical motors, were primarily 
accomplished by driving wedges of a flat triangular shape and more 
recently in the form of a cone-shaped wedge. 
With shortages occurring, however, in petroleum products and the like, new 
efforts have been directed toward the use of wood as a supplementary fuel. 
This has led to many improvements in the art of wood splitting. 
One of the important features of the current improvements has been the 
conical-shaped wedge which has had a spiral thread formed on the outside 
similar to the woodscrew, and this wedge has been mounted onto rotating 
output shafts of a number of power devices. 
There have been other developments somewhat akin to this conical wedge and 
all of these are worthy. 
In all of the uses of these newly developed conical wedges, however, there 
are still some shortcomings, one of which is the inability to meet the 
problem of the tremendous torque created by the action of the wedge. 
In all of the wood splitters so developed recently, there is also no 
positive way of accomplishing the fracturing of the wood along a common 
flow of grain when such grain is interrupted and intertwined about a knot. 
Additionally, it is found that many of the power operated wood splitting 
units are difficult to transport and to set up at the site of the 
splitting operation. 
After a considerable period of study and development, I have now conceived 
and actually developed a wood splitter for performing a safe and accurate 
wood splitting operation which does not require opposition to the torque 
created, and at the same time, accomplishes in a rapid fashion, the 
splitting operation. 
Additionally, I have provided a wood splitter which is light weight in 
construction and is easily moved to the site of the tree itself. 
Further, I have studied the problem of adapting such a device to any common 
power source, such as chain saws, boring devices, and power outputs such 
as automobile wheel output shafts. 
As a last refinement, I have provided a device which can be easily 
converted into a multiple output head mechanism which can adapt to a 
number of work accomplishments. 
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of this invention will 
become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing 
description of a preferred embodiment in conjunction with a review of the 
appended drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
I have shown in FIG. 1 a perspective view of the wood splitter of my 
invention, indicated by the reference numeral 10, poised over a round of a 
tree which is to be split into segments, and a conventional chain saw 
power unit 50 with the power output assembly 52 exposed and ready for 
adaptation to the unit 10. To those familiar in the art the power unit 50 
has an output pinion 54 and a pair of mounting bolts 56 and 58 which 
normally support a guide bar 60 as indicated in phantom lines in FIG. 1. A 
conventional woodcutting chain 62 would normally be mounted about the 
guide bar 60. 
The wood splitting unit 10 is constructed with a housing 12 having a cover 
plate 14 and a bracket assembly 16 which supports a mounting projection 18 
having an alignment opening 20 along with a threaded nut arrangement 22, 
similar to a camera attachment means, in order to secure the chain saw 
drive assembly 52 to the wood splitting assembly. The housing 16 also 
provides a means for supporting an input shaft 24 having a sprocket 
receiving opening 26 in order to mate with the drive sprocket 54. The 
shaft 24 is attached to a drive pinion 28 mounted in bearing 30 and having 
a key connection to a reduced portion 32 of shaft 24. 
It can be readily seen in FIG. 6 and the cross sectional view of FIG. 7 
that the drive pinion 28 is meshed with an intermediate drive gear 34 
mounted on shaft 36 by means of a key arrangement 38 and this gear, in 
turn, may be moved arcuately from meshing with a larger gear 40 to a 
position indicated by phantom lines 34' in FIG. 6 to mesh with a second 
gear 42. In so doing, drive can be administered either to gear 40 or gear 
42 in order to reverse direction of these gears. 
An indexing unit 44, comprising an arm 46 pivotally mounted to shaft 36 and 
having an upwardly extended portion 48 which supports an index pin 70, is 
provided. This pin can be withdrawn from a recess 72 in the wall of 
housing 12 and pulling out an enlarged knob portion 74 against the action, 
an enclosed spring 76 confined within a housing 78 which is mounted onto 
upwardly projecting portion 48. 
The movement of the arm 46, then can be accomplished to a neutral position 
at the point of a second opening 80 or further movement to an opening 82, 
will place the gear 36 into its second drive position. The gears 40 and 42 
are fixedly mounted to a pair of elongated shafts 84 and 86, respectively. 
These shafts are then mounted in a manner to be described hereinafter to 
the wood splitting cones. Each of the shafts 84 and 86 and their 
respective cone assemblies are similar to one another so description will 
be focused to one assembly only. 
As can be readily seen in the enlarged cross sectional view of FIG. 7, 
shaft 84 is mounted in upper and lower bearing assemblies 88 and 90, and 
is affixed to gear 40 by means of a key 92 securely fastened into keyways 
94 of shaft 84 and 96 of hub portion 98 of gear 40, by means of a set 
screw 100. 
The coverplate 14 is fastened to the main housing 12 by means of a series 
of screws or bolts 102 and said cover having central hub portions 104 and 
having radiating reinforcing ribs 106 and a carrying handle 108. The hub 
portions 104 provide a reinforced flat area which can be tapped with a 
tool such as a hammer or mallet in order to start the conical splitting 
screws into a log or a round of wood as indicated in FIG. 1, to facilitate 
an easier start to the splitting operation. The boss portion 104 provide a 
cylindrical bore 108 for bearings 88. 
I have provided enlarged downwardly projecting housing portions 110 having 
bearing race 112, reinforcing ribs 114 and a reduced extension 116 with a 
bearing bore 118 to accommodate bearing 90. The housing 12 and cover plate 
14, as should be familiar to those in the art, may be constructed of a 
strong magnesium or aluminum alloy. 
Supported onto this housing 110 is a frusto-conical externally threaded 
member 120. This member is retained in position by means of a pointed tip 
member 130, also externally threaded in the same manner as 120, and having 
a threaded stud 132 which can be screwed into a threaded opening 134 in 
the lower end of shaft 84. The frusto-conical member 120 can be fabricated 
from a magnesium composition, anodyzed and Teflon coated, while the tip 
portion 130 can be of heat treated steel and Niboron plated. The threads 
136 on both members 120 and 130 can be of any cross section desired such 
as can conventionally be formed by those familiar in the art of machining, 
and can be approximately four threads to the inch. 
In FIG. 9 it can be seen that an additional method of attachment can be 
provided wherein the tip portion 150 having a recess 152 and provided with 
a hole 154 can be placed onto a reduced diameter portion 156 projecting 
downwardly from a modified cone portion 120a having an opening 158. When 
openings 154 and 158 are in alignment with one another, a steel roll pin 
160 can be inserted in order to complete attachment. In the tip portion of 
FIG. 8, a wrench opening 162 can be provided in order to effect the 
screwing on of tip 130 into opening 134. 
Additionally, a steel insert 164 can be pressed into housing 120 and 
splined at 166 to match splines 168 on shaft 84 to ensure positive 
engagement of the relative parts in the enlarged section of FIG. 7. 
FIG. 10 illustrates a modified form of the wood splitting unit and is 
indicated by the reference numeral 200. The pair of handles 202 replace 
the single handle 108 of the assembly of FIG. 1. 
A further modification of the wood splitting mechanism is shown in FIG. 11. 
In this enlarged cross section the input shaft 220 having a drive pinion 
222 fixedly mounted thereon and incorporating a rubber cup 224 mounted in 
a receiving opening 226. This rubber insert allows for a certain amount of 
misalignment between an input drive means such as a sprocket 54 or the 
like, when it is inserted into the sprocket receiving member 228 for 
dampening of vibration. 
In the construction of FIG. 11, I have also provided for a further gear 
reduction by means of a two step pinion 230 having a larger pitch diameter 
gear 232 and a smaller pitch diameter gear 234. As can be seen in the 
drawing, power is transmitted from pinion 222 through gear 232 and then 
through 234 onto large diameter gear 236. This gear 236 is equivalent to 
gears 40 and 42 mentioned in a previous embodiment. Cover plate 238 
fixedly mounted to housing 240 is provided with an opening 242 to allow 
the pinion assembly to project outwardly therefrom. Bearing 244 supporting 
shaft 220 is mounted in a recess 246 of the housing and a second bearing 
250 mounted in a shifting arm 252 similar to the arm 46 provide retainment 
of the input shaft assembly into the present embodiment. The arm 252 is 
pivotally mounted onto shaft 254 of the gear 230. 
The embodiment of FIG. 11 is shown to have a feature of mounting the 
frusto-conical threaded member 270 onto an elongated hollow shaft 272 by 
means of moulding it to the shaft in the following manner. A body of 
rubber 274 is bonded to the inside cavity 276 of the conical member 270 
and also to inner and outer surfaces of the hollow sleeve 272. By means of 
a bolt 278 passing through a clamping plate 280 and threadedly engaging 
the sleeve 272 into a groove 282 by means of tightening up on a plate 284 
welded to the inside of the hollow sleeve. The gripping plate 280 by means 
of bolts 286 passing through openings 288 in gear 236 and then threadedly 
attached to a clamping ring 290 fasten the cone supporting assembly to the 
gear 236. A downwardly projecting sleeve housing 292 passing through an 
opening 294 in the bottom wall of the housing 240 and welded thereto at 
296 provides a stable support for sleeve 272. Sleeve bearings 298 and 300 
bearing against washer 302 and ring 304, the latter of which is welded to 
sleeve 272, complete the rotational assembly between the sleeve 292 and 
sleeve 272. 
When the conical splitting member 272 is augered into a log of wood, it can 
be seen that as the screw progresses into the grain that the member 270 
can follow the grain should it begin to divert into a different plane. 
Referring to FIG. 4, the phantom line position 271' and the dotted line 
position 271" indicate this movement. 
FIG. 12 illustrates an additional means of supporting a modified sleeve 
272a to the gear 236a. This is accomplished by splining the upper end of 
sleeve 272a at 310 and providing an internally splined opening 312 in gear 
236a. A split retaining ring 314 fitting into groove 316 of shaft 272a 
completes the assembly. In this figure, sleeve bearing 298, steel spacer 
washer 302, sleeve 292 and housing walls 240 are identical to those in 
FIG. 11. 
FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 13 are schematic illustrations showing the manner in 
which the multiple head splitting actions are accomplished. In FIG. 2 the 
splitting heads rotating in opposite directions are shown progressing down 
into a round of wood indicated by the reference numeral 400 and along a 
split 402 dividing it into smaller portions. It is understood that by 
reversing the rotation of these heads by the methods described earlier in 
this application, one can withdraw the conical heads should it be 
necessary because of a jamming of binding during the splitting operation. 
In FIG. 3 I have shown a log 500 and the conical heads proceeding to form a 
split 502. 
FIG. 4 presents a very special problem in log splitting where a log 600 
having split line 602 being acted upon by a conical splitting head 610 and 
a second splitting line 604 being acted upon by head 612 in two different 
planes in order to bypass a knot 606. This is a unique feature of my 
invention which is accomplished especially by the form illustrated in FIG. 
11, wherein the heads 610 and 612 can follow the plane of the grain in 
their respective grooves and self-align because of their rubber mounting. 
In FIG. 13, I have shown a log 700 being split along a line 702 by a pair 
of conical splitting heads 710 and 712, but in this case the heads are 
rotating in the same direction. This rotation can easily be accomplished 
by those familiar in the art by means of a chain drive or gearing 
presented in such a manner so as to accomplish this direction. 
I have shown in FIG. 14, an alternate embodiment of shaft construction, 
similar to that of FIG. 11, but with a provision for the shaft to pass 
through the housing cover. The reference numeral 800 designates generally 
the shaft assembly. The shaft 802 having an extending portion 804 passing 
through the cover 806 through an opening 808 is provided with an opening 
810. This opening provides for a plug which can be inserted for a purpose 
which is to be described hereinafter. The plug 812 has a reduced diameter 
portion 814 and an enlarged flanged portion 816 and is constructed of a 
material which will take a high impact stroke from a hammer, or the like. 
The shaft 802 is provided with a groove 818 into which a snap ring 820 is 
fitted. A Belleveille-type spring washer 822 is then inserted between the 
snap ring 820 and the drive gear 824. The drive gear is fixedly mounted to 
shaft 802 at 826. A similar shock absorbing washer assembly 830 is 
provided at a second location along the shaft 802. Hitting the cap 812 for 
the purpose of starting the splitting operation can be absorbed along the 
shaft and its mounting within the housing without serious damage to the 
shaft assembly. 
FIG. 15 shows a cone 900 which can be attached to the wood splitting 
apparatus. This cone is constructed in a parabolically-shaped curve 
configuration in order to better penetrate the wood being split. 
FIG. 16 is a view showing how my invention can be utilized for drilling 
holes. The boring tools 1000 can be constructed in a variety of designs to 
those familiar in the art of digging holes. 
FIG. 17 is a schematic showing of a multiple output tool similar in design 
to my wood splitting apparatus described earlier in this application. In 
this case, tools such as screw drivers 1100, can be inserted into proper 
collets and made to screw in both left-handed and right-handed screws, 
simultaneously. 
While the embodiments of this invention, shown and described, are fully 
capable of achieving the objects and advantages desired, it is to be 
understood that these embodiments are for the purposes of illustration, 
and not for purposes of limitation.