Abstract:
A wood indexing or sorting device for use with an automated cutoff saw. The indexing rack has a number of chambers for sorting pieces of wood for later assembly into cabinet and door components. A swing out assembly of chamber walls is rotatable into position between fixed chamber walls, to divide the sorting chambers into more slots of smaller width. Pieces of wood from the cutoff saw are sorted in sorting chambers, with each sorting chamber corresponding to a part number of a work order.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention generally relates to sorting devices associated with saws, and more particularly to sorting systems for automated push cut saws. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Wooden doors for cabinets are made out of smaller pieces of wood that are glued together. A typical construction for a cabinet door might include 3 or 4 pieces of wood for the center panel, with each piece being for instance, 1 inch thick and 3 inches wide. These would be glued and clamped edge-to-edge to form a center panel, and that center panel would be trimmed to the chosen size and shape of the center panel for the door. The center panel would be surrounded on four sides by pieces of wood which would form the frame of the door and which would secure and enclose the panel. Thus, a single panel cabinet door might be made of seven or eight pieces of wood of different sizes. A cabinet builder might place an order for a complete set of kitchen cabinet doors for a certain project, in which he might specify 20 or more doors of a certain style, with some of those doors being different sizes. Thus, a single order for one cabinet project might require cutting 100 or more pieces of wood of different sizes, and fitting them together to form  20  or  30  cabinet doors of different sizes. 
         [0003]    The pieces of wood are cut to size with a push cut saw. Traditionally, these have been manual push cut saws, which an operator uses to cut wood to various lengths. A new type of saw which is available to makers of cabinet doors is an automated push cut saw. With an automated push cut saw, a worker marks the piece of wood with a marking pen, to indicate sections of wood which contain defects such as cracks or knot holes which should be cut out. A device in the automated push cut saw scans the piece of lumber and takes note of the sections which are to be cut out as flawed sections. The automated push cut saw also has a list of doors that are to be made, stored in its memory. Also stored in its memory is a parts list of all of the door pieces which will be required to create the doors that are in the order list. After scanning the length of wood and taking note of where cuts have to be made to eliminate knot holes or the defects, the automated push cut saw then calculates the most efficient way to cut up a piece of wood in order to fulfill the requirements of the wood pieces that are needed to fulfill one or more orders. 
         [0004]    After the pieces are cut by the automated push cut saw they are moved by a belt and dropped onto a working table from which workers typically carry them in a bin or wheelbarrow to another part of the operation where they are sorted into different sizes. Each of the pieces of wood is imprinted with a coded number as it goes through the push cut saw. The coded number indicates which project it is for and which piece of which door that piece of wood is for. The number is placed on the wood for identification purposes later in the process. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The invention is an indexing or sorting device which allows workers making a run of cabinet doors to sort the wood pieces that have been cut by an automated push cut saw. The indexing sorter can be used by almost any one using a push cut saw. As the pieces exit the saw and are ejected onto a sorting table, which is part of the invention, workers can look at the coded number and determine which part number each piece of wood is for. Above the sorting table is a series of chambers which have walls separating one chamber from another and which have an open front. Each chamber is labeled to identify which piece of wood should go into it. The workers sort the wood pieces on the sorting table, by placing them into the chambers on a rack above the sorting table. The chambers of the sorting table would typically be 6 inches wide and the indexing rack and the sorting table could be about 30 feet long. The indexing rack and the sorting table are built together in one frame. 
         [0006]    The output of the push cut saw is so sufficient that more than one indexing system could be arranged in order to handle the output of one automated push cut saw. Thus, when a sufficient quantity of wood has been delivered to one sorting table, the output of the automated push cut saw could then be routed to the next indexing and sorting table. While the workers at the first indexing and sorting table are sorting though the wood on that table, the next indexing and sorting table along the line would be filling up with pieces of wood. A third or even more indexing and sorting tables would also be possible. Without sufficient indexing and sorting tables, the automated push cut saw has to be run intermittently so that its output of wood can be sorted before more wood is cut. Thus, to fully utilize the capacity of an automated push cut saw, a number of indexing and sorting racks and tables are needed. Having them directly on the output line of the push cut saw also allows efficient processing of the wood, since they do not have to be carried to another place for sorting. 
         [0007]    If the sorting chambers are about 6 inches wide, a handy size for the sorting rack is about 12 to 15 feet, although indexing racks could be made to any desired length. An indexing rack 12 feet long would provide 24 sorting chambers, if the chambers were 6 inches wide. 6 inches wide is convenient for many types of doors. 
         [0008]    An additional feature of the invention is that additional chambers can be added by rotating a separate rack containing mid-spaced chamber walls into position in the first rack of indexing chambers. The rack of additional chamber walls is attached to a rod which is able to rotate. On the rod are attached a number of chamber walls which can rotate into place forming smaller chambers when they are placed between the first row of chamber walls. When rotated into place to form additional and smaller chambers, the additional chambers would be 3 inches wide instead of the original 6 inches wide. This would provide the option of having more sorting chambers into which to sort wood pieces, and smaller chambers which might be more appropriate for certain jobs. The second group of sorting chamber walls is rotated in and out of place by rotating the rod to which they are attached until the chambers are out of the way of the original chambers. The rod can be rotated 90 degrees for instance, or 180 degrees if that is necessary. A full set of secondary chamber walls can be utilized, or they can be in banks of one or more secondary walls. For instance, a bank ¼ the length of the first bank of indexing chambers could be swung into place, or banks dividing ½, or ¾ of the first bank, or individually secondary chambers walls can be used. 
         [0009]    The second group of indexing chamber walls can be rotated in various ways. One way to rotate the rod to which the secondary chamber walls are attached, is to attach a lever to the rod to which the secondary chamber walls are attached, is to attach a lever to the rod to one or both ends of the rod, and simply lift the rod with a full length bank of secondary chamber walls up and out of the way be mechanical force. Other methods of rotating the rod are also possible, including by hydraulics, by gears which are driven by various power sources, or by other conventional methods of rotating the rod. 
         [0010]    One option for sorting of the wooden pieces is to combine the indexing rack described above with an automated manipulation or sorting system. Since each of the pieces of wood are coded after being sawn to identify which project they are for, which door they are for, and which piece of the door they are made for. A second scanner can be utilized to read the code on each piece of wood, pick up the piece of wood, and place it in the appropriate sorting chamber. Alternatively a sorting system can be utilized in which diverter gates open and close to divert a piece of wood from the output belt and into an indexing chamber. The selection would be made based on the code imprinted on the piece of wood, and the selected indexing chamber would correspond to the type of piece of wood indicated in the code. An incrementing stacker would be an option, so that the piece of wood does not fall into a pile, but it is placed on a stack which drops the thickness of one piece of wood as each new piece of wood is added. 
         [0011]    The purpose of the foregoing Abstract is to enable the public, and especially the scientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection, the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The Abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way. 
         [0012]    Still other features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description describing preferred embodiments of the invention, simply by way of illustration of the best mode contemplated by carrying out my invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of modification in various obvious respects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description of the preferred embodiments are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive in nature. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the indexing rack of the invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a side view of a robotic arm for use with the indexing rack. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the indexing rack of the invention with the secondary indexing set in a raised position. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a plan view of the indexing rack of the invention with an automatic sorter. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0017]    In the following description and in the figures, like elements are identified with like reference numerals. The use of “or” indicates a non-exclusive alternative without limitation unless otherwise noted. The use of “including” means “including, but not limited to,” unless otherwise noted. 
         [0018]    The  FIGS. 1-4  show the preferred embodiment of the invention.  FIG. 1  shows the indexing rack  10  of the invention, which is located adjacent to an automated push cut saw  22 . The automated push cut saw  22  includes a feed table  38  on which long pieces of wood are placed before they enter the saw  22 . One specific type of cutoff saw this device could be used for is a OptiCut 100 or Grecon Dimter push cut saw, but any saw of this type may be benefited by the use of the indexing rack. Attached to the indexing rack  10  is a sorting table  14 , which is located adjacent to the output of the wood of the automated push cut saw  22 . As material from the saw is processed and cut into smaller pieces of wood, the wood pieces  20  are deposited onto the sorting table  14 . 
         [0019]    An identification number is placed on each wood piece  20 , which identifies the particular part which that piece is going to be utilized for. Each part of a production run will be associated with an indexing chamber  16 . In order to sort the wood pieces, a wood piece is placed according to its number in the corresponding indexing chamber. For instance one indexing chamber may be for center panels of a certain size of door. The next indexing chamber may be for the left side walls of that size of door. Thus, one particular door to be made might have 5 indexing chambers associated with it and any production run might be for a number of different sizes of doors. 
         [0020]    An inventory parts list is maintained in the automated push cut saw to know what pieces are required to complete the one or more orders, and to know what pieces have already been cut to fulfill that order. As wood is cut, the computing means of the push cut saw calculate what pieces need to be filled for the order, and what pieces have already been cut for the order. When all of the pieces for the order are cut, the automated push cut saw will cease cutting wood. The push cut saw can store the information for more than one order in its memory, and will cut wood until all of the pieces for that order are complete. 
         [0021]    The sorting table is a generally rectangular table with a smooth surface in which the wood pieces can be accumulated as they are cut and from which they can be moved into the indexing chamber  16  as they are sorted. The sorting chambers are formed by a number of chamber walls  18 . For some projects it will advantageous to have indexing chamber  16  be a certain width. For other projects a larger or smaller width may be more desirable. To provide the indexing rack  10  with more indexing chambers  16  of which each are smaller width, a secondary indexing set  26  is utilized, this is shown in  FIG. 3 . The secondary indexing set is a group of chamber walls  18  which are mounted on a rotating rod  30 . The rotating rod  30  has a hinge point  40 . The secondary indexing set can be rotated into position between the existing chamber walls  18 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . They can also be rotated out of position, as shown in  FIG. 3 , to provide fewer indexing chambers of a greater width.  FIG. 1  shows the secondary indexing set  26  with the capability of being rotated with a hydraulic ram  38  or a lever  32 .  FIG. 3  shows the indexing rack  10  of the invention with the secondary indexing set rotated out of position to create fewer indexing chamber  16  of a larger width. The secondary indexing set may be as long as the indexing rack, or maybe divided into a number of secondary indexing sets such that two three or more sets of secondary indexing sets with their chamber walls can be moved in or out of position as needed.  FIG. 3  shows the secondary indexing set  26  moved into the open position by the use of a motor  42  and gears  44 . The motor  42  can be an electric motor. The indexing rack  10  and sorting table  14  can be of any size, depending on the sized needed for a particular application, and on the number of pieces need to be sorted and segregated. In one application, it is advantageous for the indexing rack to be about 15 feet long, with indexing chambers 6 inches wide when the secondary set of chamber walls are moved into place. This unit would have 30 indexing chambers, or  15  when the secondary set of chamber walls are rotated out of position. For some projects of operations, a sorting table  30  feet long or longer would be advantageous. A metal table top is advantageous, such as steel or aluminum. The sorting chamber walls are advantageously made of steel ⅛ in thick, and are plates approximately 18″ by 15″. 
         [0022]      FIG. 4  shows a version of the indexing rack  10  as seen from above. This version includes an outlet belt  24  from the automated push cut saw  22 . Located along the outlet belt are indexing chambers  16 . The indexing chamber  16  is formed by chamber walls  18 . A portion of the chamber wall  18  extends out over the output belt  24  in the form of diverter gates  36 . The diverter gates  36  are normally in a position which does not obstruct the output belt  24 . A code reader  46  is located after the push cut saw  22  and before the indexing chamber  16 . The code reader  46  reads the product code that is imprinted in each wood piece  20 . When an identification code off of a wood piece  20  is read, the diverter gate  36  for the appropriate indexing chamber  16  opens, and the wood piece is fed into that indexing chamber. After the wood piece enters the indexing chamber, the diverter gate closes to allow passage of other pieces of wood. This particular configuration of sort includes indexing chambers at the end of the belt, which are close to being parallel with the belt so that longer pieces of wood may be routed to them so that the longer pieces of wood won&#39;t jam in the indexing chambers that diverts to the side. Obviously the indexing chambers could be designed to be built on both sides of the output belt. The indexing chamber can be bin like devices in which pieces of wood drop into a storage container, which has the capacity to hold a number of pieces of wood. The floor of the indexing chamber can also be spring loaded, to lower as each piece of wood is entered into it, so that each piece of wood doesn&#39;t drop onto other pieces of wood, but that the whole stack is gradually lowered as it fills. A feed table  38  is shown for the automated push cut saw  20  and a piece of wood  48  with dotted lines indicating where it may be cut into smaller pieces by the automated push cut saw  22 . 
         [0023]    While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but, on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims. 
         [0024]    The exemplary embodiments shown in the figures and described above illustrate but do not limit the invention. It should be understood that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed; rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims. While there is shown and described the present preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that this invention is not limited thereto, but may be variously embodied to practice within the scope of the following claims. From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.