ARRANGEMENT IN GUIDE BARS

Abstract: The invention relates to a colour marking arrangement in a guide bar (11) for sawing through or cross-cutting tree stems or logs. Two or more mutually separated nozzles or holes (14', 14'') open in at least one side of the guide bar and communicate through associated channels (13', 13'') within the guide bar with at least one container (17', 17'') with paint. The channels are individually openable to allow selectible spraying of paint from each of the nozzles (14', 14'') while the guide bar is cross-cutting a stem or log, whereby the end surfaces of cross-cut stem or log parts in an assortment of different stem or log parts can be marked with different combinations of colour impressions.

Description: ARRANGEMENT IN GUIDE BARS Technical field of the invention This invention generally relates to guide bars for sawing through or cross-cutting tree stems or logs, and especially to such guide bars as are included in so-called grapple or single-grapple harvester units of the type which comprises, in addition to a guide bar, grapple means for seizing a tree stem, feeding means for longitudinal feed of the stem relative to a frame included in the har¬ vester unit, and means for limbing the stem during said longitudinal feed. State of the art In mechanised forestry, colour marking or marking of timber has been used for a long time. Thus, processors (i.e. machines processing felled trees) as well as har¬ vesters (i.e. machines both felling and processing the trees) have long been provided with equipment for colour marking. These machines are of the so-called twin-grapple "ty * 2 , i.e. the grapple unit or the combined cutting and grapple unit lifts the tree into a special processing unit generally mounted on a relatively high level, and the pro¬ cessed log or piece of timber is allowed to drop down a certain distance after processing is completed. The knovm equipment for colour marking of such logs comprises spray nozzles mounted on the frame of the processing unit in such a manner that paint can be sprayed onto the end of a log falling down from the processing unit. This can be done since the machines now described have a relatively large size to provide ample space for mounting the colour marking equipment in a protected fashion. In recent years, so-called grapple harvesters or single-grapple harvesters comprising a single-grapple har- vester unit mounted on a vehicle-borne boom have been em¬ ployed to an ever increasing extent in forestry. Such single-grapple harvester units include all the required functions, i.e. grapple, cutting and limbing functions in one and the same tool. Such single-grapple harvesters do not offer the possibility of mounting the colour marking equipment on the tool frame in the same manner as in the machines previously mentioned. Summary of the invention The present invention aims at providing colour coding or marking of log or stem ends deriving from cross- cutting of stems by means of guide bars, and especially guide bars included in so-called single-grapple harvester units. According to the invention, these and other objects are achieved in that two or more mutually separated nozzles or holes open in at least one side of the guide bar and communicate via associated channels within the guide bar with at least one container with paint, and in that the channels are individually openable to allow selectible spraying of paint from each of the nozzles while the guide bar is sawing through a stem or log, whereby the end surfaces of cross-cut stem or log parts in an assortment of different stem or log parts can be marked with different combinations of colour impressions. Additional prior art From SE Patent Application 7604765-6 it is previously known to provide a guide bar with holes for dispensing a liquid. In this case, however, the guide bar is intended for cleaning thickets, bushes or young trees, and the liquid dispensed is a poisonous liquid serving to kill the stump remaining after a cleaning operation, the different holes in the guide bar communicating through a single channel with a single common container with poison. In practice, such a guide bar therefore is useless for timber marking purposes since - even if, hypotehetically, the liquid poision in the container were exchanged for liquid paint - it would not allow adjustable spraying of the liquid from the different holes. Thus, logs of different assortment ranges cannot be marked with different dis¬ tinctive coding combinations. Brief description of the accompanying drawings In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side view of a forest machine equipped with a single-grapple harvester unit while felling a tree, Fig. 2 is a side view of a separate single-grapple harvester unit in a tree-felling position, Fig. 3 is a side view of an individual single-grapple harvester unit in a tree-processing position, Fig. 4 is a schematic side view showing the grapple arms and the guide bar of a single-grapple harvester unit in a starting or resting position, Fig. 5 is a similar side view showing the guide bar in Fig. 4 cross-cutting a tree stem while simul- taneously performing a colour marking operation through conduits and valves from supply con¬ tainers schematically illustrated, and Fig. 6 is a similar side view showing the guide bar after completed cross-cutting and colour marking of the tree stem. Detailed description of an embodiment of the present invention Fig. 1 shows a forest machine 1 of conventional de¬ sign having a crane 2 with a single-grapple harvester unit 3 mounted at the end of the crane. Fig. 2 shows such a harvester unit in a position for felling a tree 4, and Fig. 3 shows the unit in a position for processing the tree. The harvester unit is fixed by the intermediary of a rotator 5 at the boom end and generally comprises a frame 6 and a processor 7 pivotable in relation thereto. The processor has two pairs of grapple arms 8, a feeding de¬ vice in the form of a driving belt or driving wheel 9, and a cutting device 10 having, as shown in Figs 4-6, a guide bar 11 which is pivotable relative to the frame and around the circumference of which a saw chain is rotatable at a high speed. The grapple arms fullfil two functions. First, they serve to seize the stem, both in the felling position shown in Fig. 2 when the guide bar is pivoted in the horizontal plane for cutting through the tree, and in the position shown in Fig. 3 when the processor has been pi¬ voted in relation to the frame for placing the tree on the ground. Second, the grapple arms should limb the stem as this is longitudinally fed by the feeding device through the harvester unit. For this reason, the grapple arms have sharp longitudinal cutting edges for cutting off the limbs. When a desired length of the stem has been fed, feeding is interrupted and the guide bar cross-cuts a limbed and finished log, which is done by starting the saw chain and causing the guide bar to pivot downwards from an inoperative starting position shown in Fig. 4. The finally cut logs will then drop down into a heap 12 for subsequent removal. Figs 4-6 are simplified side views of the harvester unit, which clearly illustrate the inventive principle. Fig. 4 shows the guide bar in an inoperative starting position. Fig. 5 shows the guide bar in the process of cross-cutting a tree stem, and Fig. 6 shows the guide bar after completed cutting. In the Figures, 8' and 8" desig¬ nate two grapple arms seizing a stem 4 from opposite sides. The dashed lines represent two channels 13', 13" in accordance with the present invention which are provided in the guide bar and open into holes or nozzles 14', 14" in the side faces of the guide bar. As shown in Fig. 5, the channels are each connected to a conduit 15', 15" provided outside the guide bar and connecting the channels to valves 16', 16" and supply containers 17', 17". These containers are suitably filled with liquid paint which, when the valves are open, is supplied by means of pump (not shown) or by the hydraulic pressure of the machine through the conduits 15', 15" and the channels 13', 13" and sprayed through the nozzles 14', 14". In Fig. 4, the guide bar is shown in its inoperative starting position in which the stem can be longitudinally fed through the har¬ vester unit. When the stem has been fed a suitable distance, feeding is interrupted and cutting initiated by rotating the saw chain and causing the guide bar to pivot downwards, as shown in Fig. 5. By means of e.g. adjustable limit switches, the valves 16', 16" can be caused to open at a predetermined, suitable position of the guide bar, such that paint will flow from the containers and be sprayed through the nozzles onto at least one of the two end surfaces 18 thus formed. As shown in Fig. 6, the re¬ sult in this case is a log surface exhibiting two stripes of paint 19. In this manner, different timber assortments can be marked to facilitate subsequent sorting and hand¬ ling. As a rule, it is of interest in this case to mark only one log end surface with paint, viz. the end surface of the finally limbed and cross-cut log. It is however also conceivable to mark the logs with paint only with a view to preventing unauthorised removal of the timber when placed on a storage site along a road pending further con¬ veyance to an industrial processing plant. In such a case, colour coding or marking may optionally be effected on both log end surfaces. With the arrangement described above having two different paint supply channels in the guide bar, it is possible to carry out different markings for different timber assortments. Thus, if the two con¬ tainers are filled with different paints different timber assortments can be marked with one of the paints or with both paints simultaneously. Also, completely unmarked logs may constitute a timber assortment. The invention may be modified in many different ways within the scope of the accompanying claims. Thus, the number of channels and the position of the nozzles may be varied. It is also possible to dispense with the valves 16', 16", e.g. by starting the pumping of paint at the same time as the saw chain is started. Although the illustrated embodiment of the arrangement according to the invention is mounted on a single-grapple harvester unit, it is of course quite possible to use the invention on all existing devices equipped with a guide bar, i.e. also on processors and twin-grapple harvesters as well as simple power saws. Although it is preferred to use different paints in the case where two or more paint containers are used, it is conceivable per se to use one and the same paint, the different marking combinations being obtained only by suitable actuation of one or more valves. In this case, it is even conceivable to use only one paint con¬ tainer to which two or more conduits with associated shut- off valves are connected. Here, it should also be pointed out that the paint need not necessarily be a liquid. Thus, it may instead consist of a powder, paste or the like.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Arrangement in a guide bar for sawing through tree stems or logs, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that two or more mutually separated nozzles or holes (14', 15") open in at least one side of the guide bar (11) and communicate via associated channels (13', 13") within the guide bar with at least one container (17', 17") with paint, and that said channels are individually openable to allow se¬ lectible spraying of paint from each of said nozzles (14' , 14") while the guide bar is sawing through a stem or log, whereby the end surfaces of cross-cut stem or log parts in an assortment of different stem or log parts can be marked with different combinations of colour impressions. 2. Arrangement as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i s e d in that the different channels (13', 13") communicate with separate paint containers (17', 17") with different paints. 3. Arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or 2, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i s e d in that the channels (13', 13") in the guide bar communicate with said containers (17', 17") through conduits (15', 15") including individually open- able valves (16', 16") by means of which the supply of paint to the separate spray nozzles can be adjusted. 4. Arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the guide bar (11) is part of a conventional single-grapple harvester unit of the type which comprises, in addition to the guide bar, grapple means (8) for seizing a tree stem, feeding means (9) for longitudinal feed of the stem relative to a frame included in said harvester unit, and means for limbing the stem during said longitudinal feed.

Inventors: KELLER LEIF, KELLER, LEIF
Applicants: TECHNOSWED AB
Application year: 1990
Main classification: A01G23
IPC codes: A01G23, B27B17