METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SORTING AND STACKING TIMBER

Abstract: The timber (2) is sorted and stacked automatically with bed laths (15) between the layers of timber in a combined sorting, stacking and lath laying machine in which there are both individual lath laying devices (17-23) outside the sorting partitions (8) under the sorting table and also buffer stores (24) between adjacent partitions (e.g. 8a and 8b), and, to permit automatic laying of laths during the stacking of timber in the partition, the timber (2) that is to be laid off at a given partition (8a), instead of being directly laid in it, is laid in a buffer store (24) between the desired partition (8a) and the preceding partition (8b) in the feed direction of the timber, the timber (16b) being retained in the buffer store while laths are being laid in the desired partition (8a), after which the timber (16b) in fed out over the laid laths (15).

Description: Procedure and machine for sorting and stacking timber The procedure for sorting and stacking sawn timber in sorting partitions arranged under a sorting table or sorting plane is a known one. Insofar as machines for such sorting have been proposed, it has generally been thought sufficient to stack timber for packaging and despatch. It is thus a matter of dried and trimmed timber, the combined sorting and stacking machine thus constituting a final step in the handling process. It may sometimes be desirable, simultaneously with the stacking of the timber in the sorting partitions, also to lay bed laths between the various layers of timber. Such a desire arises, for example, at small sawmills where it is uneconomical to provide sorting, machines both before and after the drying plant. It is- there desired, instead, to trim and sort the newly sawn timber and at the same time stack it for drying in a subsequent dryer. But this necessitates that the timber is first sorted in a sorting machine and then stacked in a lath laying machine or that the laying of laths is done manually. After being dried the timber is passed over a one-piece feeder to a packaging machine. The object of the present invention is to attempt to accomplish sorting in partitions simultaneously with automatic lathing of the timber stacked during sorting. The attempt has been made to make use of the experience gained from stacking of timber in lath laying machines. The chief difficulty experienced in recent times is that, owing to the continuous operation of the machines used in the earlier part of the process, the feed of sawn timber. OMPI ,fa WIPO frj must proceed continuously, whereas, on grounds of time, the automatic feed of bed laths must take place batchwise. It has proved that the time between feeding of two sawn pieces of timber is too short to allow laying of the required number of bed laths between the various layers of timber. By way of exemple a common feed speed is 30 pieces of timber per minute, so that there is only two seconds available for the laying of laths between two layers of timber, which is too short in view of the mass of the lathing and the distance it must be advanced on mechanical grounds. -The present invention is characterized principally in that, outside each sorting partition in a sorting machine, there is arranged a lath laying device which, with the aid of two endless feed chains situated along the sides of the sorting partition, inserts transversely the required number of laths for laying in the partitions of the sor¬ ting machine. ^ At the same time, to allow for the operation of the lath laying device also without obstruction of stacking of tim¬ ber that is in progress between adjacent partitions, there is arranged a buffer store for the sawn timber where it can be laid up and retained during the time taken for the lath laying device to lay the required number of laths between one layer of timber and the next. The invention will be apparent from the subsequent claims. Through the invention, accordingly, there is provided a combination machine which, in simplicity and cheapness of price, far surpasses all known sorting and stacking machines. It therefore has its given application, as noted, for small sawmills, where it can be placed before the dryer in order to deliver to it lathed stacks and, after drying of the timber, to be used as sorting and -BΪJRE _ OMPI ? . W1PO packaging machine. Owing to its simplicity and labour- saving proper ties, and very low production cost, however, its use also for large-scale production and in large sawmills has the manifest advantage that a number of parallel-working combination units can be arranged, so that, in the event of a machine fault, there need be no risk of stoppage of the entire production, as is the case at a mill with a single large series of machines or a single large combination machine. The advantage of the invention accordingly is that, when planning new plant or modernizing old plant, the conditions can be created for a flexible and adaptable production flow that is less sensitive to the occurence of machine faults. The invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, on which Fig. 1 shows schematically in cross-section an embodi¬ ment of a sorting, stacking and lath laying machine according to the invention, viewed from the side, while Fig. IB shows, also schematically, the same embodiment of the invention viewed from above, Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of a detailed drawing of parts of two adjacent sorting partitions with, between them, a buffer store according to the invention, Fig. 3 shows the same detailed drawing, viewed from above, from which the placing of the feed chains of the lath laying device is more clearly apparent, and Fig. 4 shows schematically the lath laying device viewed in cross-section. The embodiment of a sorting, stacking and lath laying machine shown in cross-section in Fig. 1 exhibits a sorting OMPI ^SNATlO^ plane or table with endless feed chains 6, each of which passes over turntables at the ends of the sorting .table. As appears from Fig. IB, the embodiment shown is imagined to have four such feed chains. At the feed chains 6 are transversely fastened bars 5 in which are suspended bearing hooks 4 for the timber. The timber 2 is fed in from a one- piece feeder 3 with shorter feed chains onto the central supervisory position 7. From these feed chains the timber 2 passes piece by piece into the bearing hooks 4 when the latter are carried by the lower members of the sorting table feed chains out over the sorting partitions 8 below the sorting plane. The direction of movement is that shown by the lower arrow in Fig. 1. In the various sorting parti¬ tions 8 there are hoists or the like 9 on which the timber will be stacked under stepwise lowering of the hoist plane 10. The sorting table rests on pillars Ig situated between the various partitions, and outside the partitions, as is seen from Fig. lb, there are lath laying devices 20-33 furnished with lath feed chains 17 situated along the sides of the partitions and passing round the pillars 19 between the par¬ titions and over horizontal turntables 18. These lath feed chains 17 have carriers attachments 21 which are brought forward under the ends of lath magazines 22, of which there is one in front of each partition. The attachments 21 are situated opposite one another on opposing feed chains 17 in each partition and, since the feed chains are driven synchronously by means of pinions 18b (Fig. 2) allotted to the partitions, the laths 15 can thus be carried forward over the hoist plane 10 in the partition transversely to the longitudinal direction of the laths 15. The construc¬ tion of the lath feed device is described further on in greater detail in connection with Figs. 3 and 4. Apart from the lath laying devices 20-23 outside the various partitions, the invention provides also between adjacent partitions 8, e.g. partitions 8a and 8b (Figs. 2 and 3) , buffer stores 24 for the sawn timber 2 to allow for the operation of the various lath laying devices 20-23 without obstruction of the ongoing timber stacking in the partition, e.g. 8a, to which a given buffer store 24 is alotted. The various buffer stores 24 are in each particular case situated between the partition concerned, e.g. 8a, and a partition (e.g. 8b) in .front of it viewed in the direction of the timber feed (lower arrow in Fig. 1) . Instead of depositing the timber from the feed conveyor 6 and the hooks.4 directly on the hoist plane 10 in the desired par- tition, e.g. 8a, however, the pieces of timber 2 are laid in the buffer store 24 in front of the desired partition 8a and adjoining the front edge of the buffer store 24, i.e. the edge adjoining the partition 8b ahead-of it, as marked by 16b in 'Fig. 2, while the lath laying device passes laths 15 out over the hoist plane 10 into the desired partition 8a. As appears from Fig. 2, there is on the bars 5, in which the bearing hooks 4 are suspended in the four feed chains 6 side by side, an attachment 26 (one for each hook) on a common shaft 26a perpendicular to these chains 6, the attachments being furnished with a spring-loaded catch designed to engage in the edge of the deposited pieces of timber 16b and carry them forward into buffer store 24 in the direction towards the desired partition 8a until they bear against a stop 27 which is in operating position while laying of laths is proceeding in the partition. As soon as the laying of laths has been completed, the stop 27 is released and layers of timber laid in the buffer store are drawn in over the laths 15 laid in partition 8a. If, as shown in Fig. 2, stacking is in progress also in the preceding partition 8b and if a layer of timber 16 is on a level with the buffer store of partition 8a, this does not prevent movement of the attachment 26, as its end is spring-loaded and the layer of timber is stopped ' by store 24. On the other hand the stop 27 has at that time been released, so that the layer of timber 16b can- be pushed out over hoist plane 10 of the sorting partition 8a. The stops 25, of which there is one for each of the hooks 4 of the four feed chains 6, are brought up into stop posi¬ tion -.under, for example, electric or hydraulic drive from the central supervisory position 7 in conjunction with classification of the various pieces of timber. As soon as the stops 25 have pushed off the piece of timber 16a, des-- tined for the desired sorting partition, e.g. 8a, from hook 4, the stops 25 are lowered again to unoperational position, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the laid-off piece of timber 16a can be brought by attachment 26 up against stop 27 on the buffer store 24. There are at least two stops 27 along the length of the buffer store 24. These stops 27 are also assumed to be mounted in round bars below the level of the buffer store 24, by means of which the stops 27 can be turned down side¬ ways to unoperational position. ' This is assumed to be done with an electrically controlled hydraulic device, not shown in the drawing, which comes into operation as soon as the last piece of timber 16 has been brought down onto the hoist plane 10, as the piece of timber 16 then actuates an electric contact, also not shown on the drawing. -The elec¬ tric contact also serves to start the lath laying device 20-23 so that laths 15 are carried out over the hoist plane 10 or an already laid layer of timber 16 by means of the lath feed chains 17. When the last lath 15 has passed out from the lath magazine 22 and reached its intended position it actuates an electric contact, not shown in Fig. 2, which under the action of said hydraulic device, returns the stop 27 to operational position. When the last lath actuates the electric contact, the drive for the lath laying device "BU EA OMPI 20-23 is also stopped. The construction of the lath laying device will be seen from Figs, lb, 2, 3 and 4. In front of each partition 8 there is a lath magazine 22 and, associated with each lath magazine, there are two screw feeders 22a (Figs. 3 and 4) , to which laths 15 are fed from a lath magazine 15a common to the entire sorting machine. The screw feeders 22a con¬ tinuously fill up the various lath magazines 22 with laths 15. As earlier noted, there is on each side of every par¬ tition 8 a lath feed chain 17 the feeding part of which is on the inner side of the partition, e.g. 8a, while the return- art passes back over turntable 18 on the rear side of the pillars 19. Both parts slide preferentially on one or more stay plates 20, the stay plate 20 under the feeding part having either hatches 23 at the points where the lath is to be brought down to the hoist plane or earlier laid timber plane, or folding hatches 23a. It is also conceiv¬ able to arrange solely folding supports at the aforesaid depositing points. As appears especially from Figs. 3 and 4, the lath feed chains 17 have attachments 21 which, when the feeding parts -of the feed chains 17 pass under the lath magazine 22, take up the ends of the lowermost lath 15 and move it out, transversely to its longitudinal direktion over the hoist plane 10 in the stacking partition. • By, in this way, alternatively laying out laths 15 and pieces of timber 16b over the hoist plane 10 and stepwise lowering this plane, the timber can be gradually stacked so that, in sorting partition 8a, one obtains a stack 13 as partly shown in partition 8b. When the hoist plane 10, which in partition 8a is shown in the form of- a roll 10, which can be raised and lowered by means of a ' vertical hoist device 9 actuated by a screw, has been brought down to its lowest position, the stack in partition 8a has also been completed. ijυREA r- 0MP1 _ S ^ ATl C g> In partition 8b the hoist plane is shown in the form of an endless chain 12 carried by a beam, the chain being raisable and lowerable by means of a hoist device ' 9 in the form of a nut which can be moved up and down by a vertical screw. A hoist plane of this kind is suitable when it is desired to feed out the final stacks in the longitudinal direction of the sorting machine in order to obtain a num¬ ber of stacks 13a outside the end of the machine, as shown in Figs. 1 and lb. Alternatively the stacks of timber 13 can be brought out sideways if the hoist plane is made in the form of endless chains moving perpendicular to the direction of movement of the timber feed chains 6. The stacks of timber 13b fed out at the side of the sorting machine can then obtain positions as shown in Fig. lb. The drive for the lath feed chains 17 is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. With a pinion 18b one of the leading wheels 18 can be driven over a gear-wheel 18a, so driving each of the chains 17 along the side of each partition 8. When the laths 15 have been brought by the attachments 21 up to the positions shown in Fig. 3, hatches 23a under the ends, of the laths can be lowered. By means of a link sys¬ tem 23b it can also be ensured that this takes place simul taneously. Although the invention has been described with reference t one of its embodiments, it can nevertheless be arbitrarily varied within the scope of the following claims. -BΪTREA _ OMPI . W1P0

Claims: C L A I S 1. Procedure for sorting and stacking from a sorting plane in a sorting and stacking machine sawn timber with bed laths between each two layers of timber in a number of sorting partitions situated under the plane, the tim¬ ber (2) , after passing a central supervisory position (7) and there being classified (possibly by individual electric marking) according to class, dimension, grade or the like for sorting into a given partition, being transported hori¬ zontally, transversely to the feed direction in said plane, out over the sorting partitions (9) and, consequent on said individual classification, being laid off adjacent to the desired partition, characterized in that the timber (2) , in order to allow for automatic laying of laths during ' the stacking in the partition (8) , is laid off in a buffer store (24) situated between the desired partition (8a) and the preceding- partition (8b) in the direction of feed of the timber, the timber (16a) being retained in the buffer store while laths are being laid in the sorting partition (8a) , thereafter being directly fed out over the laid laths (15) . 2. Procedure according to claim 1, characterized in that the pieces of timber (2) from the buffer store (24) are carried out by timber carriers attachments (26) , driven by- timber feed chains (6) , sideways over a hoist or the like (9) in the desired partition (8a) until a layer of timber (16) has been formed, whereupon, during continued laying off of sorted pieces of timber (2) in the buffer store (24) the laths (15) are carried out into position over the al¬ ready laid layer of timber (16) , possibly lowered with the hoist plane (9) , and finally the pieces of timber (16b) laid and retained in the buffer store (24) during the lay¬ ing of laths are thereafter carried by the attachments (26) possibly one by one, out over the laid laths (15) to form a OMPI . -- W W 1 1 P P 0 0 l^ new layer of timber, which is then lowered to make space for -renewed laying of laths and formation of the next layer of timber (16) as described above. 3. Procedure according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the pieces of timber (2, 16b) are laid off in the buffer store (24) adjoining the edge furthest from the de¬ sired partition (8a) and are gradually brought by the attachments (26) up against a stop (27) , operative during laying of laths, at an. edge adjoining the desired partition (8a). 4. Procedure according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the pieces of timber (2) , during their transport in the sorting plane, are transported in the known manner in hooks (4)- suspended in timber feed chains (6) , from which hooks the pieces of timber are laid down in the buffer store "(24) allotted to the partition (8a) selected through the individual marking. 5. Sorting and stacking machine for implementation of the procedure according to one or more of claims 1-4, contai¬ ning a sorting plane in which.the pieces of timber (2) are fed piece by piece, transversely to the direction of move¬ ment of timber feed chains (6) situated in the sorting plane, for sorting and stacking in a number of sorting par¬ titions (8) placed under the sorting plane, and a central supervisory position (7) for individual classification (e.g. electrically) of the pieces of timber (2) according to class, dimension, grade or the like, characterized in that the partitions (8) of the machine, in order to allow for laying of laths during stacking in a particular machine * partition ( 8a) , apart from having a vertically adjustable hoist plane (10) in the known manner, also have a buffer store ( 24 ) for the sorted pieces of timber ( 16a) destined to the desired partition ( 8a) , the buffer store lying bet¬ ween the desired partition ( 8a) and the preceding partition ( 8b) -BUREA OMPI fa 1P0 4 l in the direction of feed of the timber, in the which store (24) the pieces of timber (2, 16a) are brought to bear against a stop (27) so as to be retained in the. store (24) while laths are being laid over the hoist plane by a lath laying device associated with each partition to prepare for the reception of a layer of timber (16) . 6. Sorting and stacking machine according to claim 5, char¬ acterized in that, after laying of laths, the pieces of timber (16b) collected in the buffer store (24) are moved out by lath feed chains (17) with lath attachments (21) in the lath laying device (17-23) , after release of the stop (27) , sideways over the laths (15) laid out in the hoist plane (10) . 7. Sorting and stacking machine according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the timber feed device (4, 6) of the sorting plane is so arranged or controlled in relation to the buffer store (24) that the pieces of timber (2) are laid off in the buffer store (24) , first adjoining its edge furthest from the desired partition (8a) , and are gradually brought by the attachments (26) up to the stop (27) , which is operational during the laying of laths, at the edge adjoining the desired partition (8a) . 8. Sorting and stacking machine according to claims 4-7, characterized in that the feed chains (6) of the sorting plane are provided with hanging hooks (4) on which the timber (2) is transported from the supervisory position (7) and laid down in the buffer store (24) allotted to the par¬ tition (8a) selected through the individual marking, e.g. by controlled removal of the pieces of timber (2) by means of a stop (25) from the respective hooks (4) . 9. Sorting and stacking machine according to claims 4-8, characterized in that, on release of the stop . (27) , the pieces of timber (16a) laid in the buffer store (24) are fed forward to the hoist olane (9) of the desired sor irrøTF". OMPI 12 partition (8a) by timber attachments (26) , preferably elastic, placed on the timber feed chains (6) . 10. Sorting and stacking machine according to claim 9, . characterized in that corresponding timber attachments (26) on mutually parallel timber feed chains are placed o a common shaft (26a) so as to feed the pieces of timber (16a) forward in parallel with one another. 11. Sorting and-stacking machine according to claims 4-10, characterized in that the lath laying device (17-23) driv forward the laths (15) with suitable distribution, trans¬ versely to their longitudinal direction and with the ends resting in lath attachments (21) on the feed members (17) out over the hoist plane by means of two endless chains (17) moving synchronously with one another, the feed mem¬ bers of which, essentially on a level with the buffer sto (24) , run horizontally along the sides of each sorting partition (8) . 12. Sorting and' stacking machine according to claim 10, characterized in that the lath attachments (21) interact with hatches (23) or retracting ' means (23a) , one or more, through which the ends of the laths (15) can be released for vertical movement downwards. 13. Sorting and stacking machine according to claim 12, characterized in that the lath feed chains (17) interact with their lath magazines (22) situated outside the sorti partitions (8) , in the which magazines the laths (15) are placed in a vertical stack one on the other, the lath ' attachments (21) of the feed chains (17) , on passage unde the ends of the magazine (22) , being able through contino lowering of laths (15) , to take up the lowermost lath (15 in order to move it out over the hoist plane (10) . . 14. Sorting and stacking machine according to claims 10- characterized in that the stop (27) of the buffer store is automatically released as soon as the last piece of timber in a layer (16) has been laid in position and is reactiva¬ ted when the last lath attachments (21) on the lath chains (17) have left the lath store and all laths (15) have come into position.

Inventors: WICKMAN E
Applicants: WICKMAN E
Application year: 1978
Main classification: B07C5
IPC codes: B07C5, B65G57