Wood planing machine

There is described a light, portable thicknessing machine for wood, which comprises a base part including a bed (1) over which wood to be thicknessed passes, and an upper housing (9) in which are mounted a cutter and feed rollers to advance the wood, the upper housing being slidingly supported on a number of pillars (4) extending upwardly from the base part (2). At least two oppositely disposed pillars (4) have mounted coaxially therein threaded shafts which engage with lugs fixed to upper housing (9), the lugs passing through longitudinal slots in the pillars (4). The threaded shafts are interconnected so that they rotate together, by means of sprockets at their lower ends engaging an endless chain (6) rotation of the shafts thus effecting vertical movement of the upper housing (9) to adjust the height of the cutter above the bed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention concerns a thicknessing machine for wood, and particularly a 
compact but durable machine which, although portable, will still serve for 
heavy duty work. 
Hitherto, thicknessing machines or planers have been large, cumbersome 
machines which, once installed, remain in a single location for the 
duration of their working life. The disadvantages of cutting material to 
size and subsequently transporting it to the site where it will be used 
are apparent. With a machine actually on the site, the material can be 
produced as it is required, thus eliminating waste, and small adjustments 
to the required size can be simply and quickly effected. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a compact, light and portable planer which 
may easily be located at a succession of work sites. 
According to the present invention, a thicknessing machine or planar for 
wood comprises a bed, on which wood to be shaped is slidable, feed rollers 
to advance the wood at a predetermined rate, a cutter positioned to 
contact the wood and a motor connected to the cutter and to the feed 
rollers by a speed reduction means, characterized in that the bed of the 
machine is fixed and the cutter and feed rollers and their connections to 
the motor are mounted on a housing which is movably supported above the 
bed, the housing being capable of movement towards and away from the bed.

The thicknessing machine or planer of the present invention comprises a bed 
1, over which wood to be shaped is passed. The bed 1 is on the upper 
surface of a base part 2 of the machine and is bordered on two sides by 
raised portions 3. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Extending upwardly from the raised portions 3 are four pillars 4, which are 
hollow and each contain a threaded shaft accessible via a longitudinal 
slot in the pillar. The upper ends of three of the pillars are closed by 
end caps, and the upper end of the fourth pillar carries an adjusting 
handle 7 connected to the threaded shaft 7 in that pillar. 
Below the bed 1 of the machine, each threaded shaft is provided with a 
sprocket (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d seen in FIG. 4), and an endless chain 6 is passed 
over each of the sprockets so that rotation of the adjusting handle 7 
causes its shaft to rotate, which rotates sprocket 5a and thus by means of 
chain 6 and sprockets 5b, 5c, 5d all the threaded shafts rotate equally in 
the same direction. In an upper housing 9 the holes through which the 
threaded shafts 7' extend there are internally threaded lugs 16 which upon 
rotation of shafts 7' cause vertical movement of housing 9 as shown in 
FIG. 7. 
A chain adjuster 8 is provided to maintain alignment of the threaded 
shafts. 
Slidably mounted on the pillars 4 is an upper housing 9, above which is 
situated a motor 10. Within the housing 9 is mounted a cylindrical cutter 
20 on an axis parallel and transverse to the bed 1 of the machine. The 
cutter is driven by motor 10 via a single or multiple vee-belt drive 21 
housed in the drive casing 11 as shown in FIG. 5. 
Also mounted in upper housing 9 are a number, preferably two, of feed 
rollers. These rollers 22 (see FIG. 4) are driven via a reduction gear 
system, shown in FIG. 6, from the cutter drive 21, the reduction gear 
being housed in the reduction box 12. More specifically, the gear 25 on 
the end of the cutter shaft opposite the vee-belts 21 drives gears 26, 27, 
28 and 29, the last gear 29 being engaged with the gear 30 that drives 
feed rolls 22. The feed rollers are mounted on axes parallel and 
transverse to the bed 1. 
The reduction gear 30 for driving the feed rollers is equipped with a 
disengagement mechanism operated by interrupter lever 13 which can isolate 
the feed rollers from the motor. 
The upper housing 9 is slidably mounted on the four vertical pillars 4 by 
receiving the pillars closely in bores penetrating the housing. Within the 
bores, there are formed lugs which each extend through the slot in their 
respective pillar and threadedly engage the threaded shaft therein. 
The lugs are fixed to the upper housing 9, and thus, when the threaded 
shafts are rotated, the upper housing is raised or lowered depending on 
the direction of rotation of the shafts. 
In this way, the height of the cutter and feed rollers above the bed is 
varied and the size of the finished product adjusted. 
In order to fix the upper housing at any particular height, pinch screws 14 
may be provided on one or more pillars to clamp the housing to that or 
those pillars. 
The bed 1 may have idler rolls set into it to reduce the friction of the 
wood as it passes over the bed.