Abstract:
A lumber turning device for use with a conveyer having spaced apart lumber moving therealong whereby the lumber may be turned through 180° so that all faces of the lumber may be visually inspected. A first arrangement has a four lobed member whereby a first one of the lobes will extend upwardly above the conveyer with a front surface facing a first lumber piece such that when the locked first lumber piece contacts the front surface of the first one of the lobes, the member will rotate and a rear face of an adjacent lobe will lift the lumber piece to rotate the same through 180°. Other embodiments illustrate members which may turn alternate pieces of lumber.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an apparatus for turning lumber and more particularly, to automated lumber turning devices for use with a conveyer. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In a typical lumber mill, boards are cut from a log and then transferred to further processing such as edging. The processed boards or lumber may then be transferred for further processing. One of the final steps of producing dimensional lumber of a required side is that of a classification of the wood. This is performed on a visual basis by classification inspectors. 
     In the processing of the lumber, conveyers are widely used for transporting the lumber from one location to another. Lugged transfer decks are often used to singulate boards for sorting and grading. A lugged transfer deck usually comprises a series of parallel longitudinally oriented chains which all move at the same speed. Lugs or fingers project upwardly at spaced intervals along the chains. The lugs on the chains are lined in transfers rows across the transfer deck. The lumber lies transversely on top of the chains and as they move, the rows of lugs push the boards or lumber along the transfer deck. 
     For inspection purposes, all four sides of the dimensioned lumber must be visually inspected. In order to do so, it has been known in the art to use inspectors who stand alongside the lugged transfer deck or conveyer. As the board approaches the inspector, the inspector is able to visually access two faces of the board. The inspector will then turn the board through  180 ° to inspect the remaining two faces. The operation of turning the lumber pieces is a repetitious one and must be done at a relatively high speed. As a result, many inspectors suffer from repetitive stress injuries as well as other types of injuries which can occur to the fingers. 
     It has been proposed in the art to use systems which turn the lumber pieces automatically. However, such systems have generally tended to be very complex and use a number of different mechanical pieces integrated together. Furthermore, they do not always guarantee that the inspector will have visual access to all four surfaces of the lumber. Thus, known systems have been operative to turn the pieces by means of acceleration belts which are utilized to push the piece forwardly and turn the board forwardly. However, as aforementioned, this does not permit the inspector to have visual access to all four faces of the lumber. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a lumber turning device for use with a conveyer having spaced apart lumber moving therealong and which device permits an inspector to see all four sides of a piece of lumber. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lumber turning device which is capable of turning lumber moving along a conveyer and which device does not require synchronization with the conveyer. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lumber turning device which can be adapted to turn alternating pieces of lumber moving along a conveyer. 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lumber turning device for use with a conveyer having spaced apart lumber moving therealong, the device comprising a shaft, a member rotatably mounted on the shaft, the member having a plurality of lobes extending radially outwardly with respect to the shaft, indexing means to prevent free rotation of the member and to stop rotation thereof when the lobes are in desired position, each of the lobes having a front surface and a rear surface, the arrangement being such that when the device is mounted alongside the conveyer, a first one of the lobes will extend upwardly above the conveyer with a front surface facing a first lumber piece whereby when the first lumber piece contacts the front surface of a first one of the lobes, the member will rotate and a rear face of a adjacent lobe will lift the first lumber piece to rotate the first lumber piece through 180° and redeposit the first lumber piece on the conveyer. 
     According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lumber turning device for use with a conveyer having spaced apart lumber moving therealong, the device comprising a shaft, a first member mounted on the shaft, means for rotating the shaft, the means for rotating being synchronized with the conveyer speed, the first member having an arm extending radially outwardly therefrom, the arm having a wood abutment surface and a wood turning surface, the wood abutment surface and the wood turning surface being angled with respect to each other, the arrangement being such that in a first position, the arm has the wood abutment surface positioned to contact the first side surface of a first piece of lumber moving along the conveyer and the wood turning surface being arranged to contact the bottom surface of the one piece of lumber and raise and turn the one piece of lumber through greater than 90° rotation such that the one piece of lumber is placed on the conveyer with the top and bottom surfaces being reversed. 
     In a further aspect of the present invention, there are provided singulating devices which may be used either in conjunction with the wood turning device of the present invention or alone in other applications. 
     In a first embodiment of the invention, there is provided a rotatable member mounted on a shaft and which member does not require a separate drive means, but rather is powered by the movement of the wood or lumber itself. In this respect, the lumber will contact one face of the lobe and cause the member to turn. 
     In other embodiments of the invention, various combinations of wood turning devices may be employed. Thus, for example, the wood turning device may turn every piece of wood, every alternate piece of wood, or any other combination desired. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Having thus generally described the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, illustrating embodiments thereof, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a conveyer carrying pieces of lumber and illustrating a first embodiment of a lumber turning device according to the present invention; 
     FIGS. 2 to  4  are views similar to FIG. 1 illustrating the sequence of operation of the lumber turning device; 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a conveyer carrying pieces of lumber and illustrating a second embodiment of a lumber turning device according to the present invention; 
     FIGS. 6 and 7 are side elevational views similar to FIG. 5 illustrating the sequence of operation of the lumber turning device thereof; 
     FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of a conveyer carrying pieces of lumber and illustrating a third embodiment of a lumber turning device according to the present invention; 
     FIGS. 9 and 10 are side elevational views similar to FIG. 8 illustrating the sequence of operation of the lumber turning device thereof; 
     FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of a conveyer carrying pieces of lumber and illustrating a further embodiment of a lumber turning device according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 12 is a side view similar to FIG. 11 illustrating a further embodiment of a lumber turning device; 
     FIGS. 13 to  16  illustrate a singulating device for a conveyer; 
     FIGS. 17 to  20  are side elevational views illustrating the operation of a different type of singulating device; 
     FIGS. 21 to  23  illustrate a further singulating device used in an embodiment of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 24 is a perspective view illustrating a conveyer having a lumber turning device on both sides thereof. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to the drawings in greater detail and by reference characters thereto, there is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to  4  a first embodiment of a lumber turning device and which lumber turning device is generally designated by reference numeral  20 . 
     Lumber turning device is designed to be used with a conventional conveyer  10  as utilized in the lumber industry. Conveyer  10  includes a side rail  12  and a chain  14  upon which the wood used to be transported. Fingers or lugs  18  project upwardly from chain  14  and carry pieces of lumber  16 ,  116 ,  216  therealong. The above arrangement is a conventional one well known in the lumber industry—it will be understood that a plurality of synchronized chains are normally employed. 
     Lumber turning device  20  includes a base member  22  having a pair of apertures  24  formed therein. Bolts  26  pass through aperture  24  to secure base  22  to side rail  12 . 
     Extending from base  22  is a rotatable shaft  28 . Mounted on shaft  28  is a four lobe member generally designated by reference numeral  32 . Member  32  has four identical lobes  30 ,  130 ,  230  and  330 . Similar reference numerals in the appropriate hundreds series are used for similar parts as each lobe is substantially identical. 
     Lobe  30 , as may be best seen in FIG. 4, has a planer front surface  34  and an arcuate rear surface  36 . 
     In operation, the conveyer moves along in the direction indicated by arrow  38 . Initially, lumber  16  will contact a front surface  134  of lobe  130 . This will cause member  32  to start to rotate. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotation will cause rear surface  36  of lobe  30  to raise lumber  16 . Continued rotation, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, will cause lumber  16  to rotate through 180°. 
     With this arrangement, a wood inspector and classifier is initially able to see the front and upper surfaces of lumber  16 . Upon turning of the lumber through 180°, the inspector is then able to see what were the rear and bottom surfaces of the wood. 
     Appropriate means for indexing the member  32  to the four operative positions may be provided; such indexing systems are well known in the art. 
     Turning to the embodiment of FIGS. 5 to  7 , similar reference numerals are employed for similar components. Thus, in this embodiment, there is again provided a conventional conveyer  10  having a side rail  16 , chain  14  and lugs or fingers  18  mounted thereon. 
     The lumber turning device is designated by reference numeral  44  and includes a first lumber turning member  46  and a second lumber turning member  48  mounted in a spaced apart relationship. Each are substantially identical and reference numerals in the 100s are used for second member  48 . 
     First lumber turning member  46  is mounted on a shaft  28  and includes a first arm or lobe  50  and a second arm or lobe  56  which is diametrically opposed thereto. First arm  50  has a wood abutment surface  52  and a wood turning surface  54 . Second arm  56  likewise includes a wood abutment surface  58  and a wood turning surface  60 . 
     In this embodiment, member  46  is rotatably driven through a drive shaft  62  which is connected to a central drive  64 . Any suitable type of drive may be employed. 
     In operation, as shown in FIG. 5, when lumber  16  contacts wood abutment surface  52 , rotation of member  46  will cause wood turning surface to contact the underside or bottom face of lumber  16  and raise the same as illustrated in FIG.  6 . Continued rotation, as shown in FIG. 7, will cause lumber  16  to be rotated through 180° and with the former upper surface now becoming the bottom surface. In a manner similar to that described with respect to FIGS. 1 to  4 , all four faces now can be visually inspected. 
     The arrangement is FIGS. 5 to  7  is such that each of devices  46  and  48  turn each piece of lumber. 
     In the embodiment of FIGS. 8 to  10 , it will be noted that the fingers  18  are spaced closer together. As a result, in this embodiment, first member  46  will only turn alternate pieces of lumber as will second member  48 . In particular, first member  46 , in the illustrated embodiment, will turn pieces of lumber  16 ,  216 ,  416  while second member  48  will turn pieces  116 ,  316  and  516 . 
     In the embodiment of FIG. 11, there are provided first and second lumber turning members  46 ′ and  48 ′, each of which only have a single arm  50 ′ and  150 ′ respectively. Naturally, any number of such lumber turning members may be provided to turn a desired number of boards at a specified interval. 
     In the embodiment of FIG. 12, lumber turning devices  46 ″ and  48 ″ each have four arms or lobes for turning each piece of lumber on the conveyer. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 13 to  16 , there is illustrated a singulating device which may be employed to singulate boards from a first conveyer to a second conveyer, the latter being of the type used for the inspection of lumber. As shown in FIG. 13, there is provided a conveyer C of the type having a chain  14  with fingers  18  extending upwardly therefrom. The lumber is moved from a first conveyer  66  to a transfer conveyer  68 . 
     At the output end of conveyer  66 , there is provided an upper clamping jaw  70  and a lower clamping jaw  72 , each clamping jaw  70 ,  72  being suitably verti cally driven in a conventional fashion. A singulating arm  76  mounted on shaft  78  is moveable between a first retaining position shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 and a second position illustrated in FIG.  15 . The motion of singulating arm  76  is tied into the operation ofjaws  70 ,  72  and the speed of conveyer  68  and conveyer C. 
     Thus, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the clamping ofjaws  70  and  72  retains the lumber  16  from passing singulating arm  76 . At the desired point in time, singulating arm  76  is moved to the position shown in FIG. 15 and a single board is permit ted to pass with upper clamping jaw  70  and lower clamping jaw  72  retaining the subsequent piece of lumber. The sequence is then repeated. 
     In the embodiment of FIGS. 17 to  20 , there is illustrated a further embodiment of a singulating device. 
     In this embodiment, there is provided a first conveyer  66  upon which the lumber is traveling and conveyer C similar to that of the previously described embodiment. Situated above conveyer  66  at the output end thereof, there is provided an upper clamping plate  86 . 
     An arm  78  is pivotably connected to a suitable frame portion at pivot point  79 . In turn, there is provided a lifting member  88  which is pivotably connected at pivot point  81 . A first end  82  of lifting member  80  is operatively connected to a piston arm  83  of a hydraulic cylinder  84 . 
     Second end  85  of lifting member  80  is in an abutting relationship to a lower surface of arm  78 . 
     At the output end of conveyer  66 , there is also provided a transfer plate  87  and a singulating member  88  mounted on shaft  89 . 
     In operation, as may be seen in FIGS. 17 to  20 , lumber  16  is retained at the output end of conveyer  66  by singulating member  88 . When it is desired to allow one board to proceed, hydraulic cylinder  84  is operated to drive piston arm  83  and thus push first end  82  of lifting member  80  to cause an upper pressure to be exerted on second end  85  which in turn contacts the underside of arm  78 . This clamps the boards between upper plate  86  and arm  78 . 
     Singulating member  88  is then moved to permit a first piece of lumber to move and the process is repeated. 
     In the embodiment of FIGS. 21 to  23 , there is provided a singulating device for a conveyer C. The singulating device comprises a singulating member  91  pivotably mounted at pivot point  92  to a suitable frame portion of the conveyer. The upper surface of singulating member  91  includes a flat surface  93  which terminates at a forward end in a stop member  94 . Rearwardly of flat surface  93 , there is provided an inwardly extending arcuate recess  95  while at the rear end, there is provided a pusher element  96 . Mounted above singulating member  91  is a upper plate  90  which may be resiliently biased. 
     In operation, as shown in FIG. 21, singulating member  91  acts to retain boards on conveyer C by means of abutting with stop element  94 . Upon pivotal movement of singulating member  91 , as shown in FIG. 22, a first piece of lumber is free to move while pusher element  96  raises the next piece of lumber against upper plate  90 . Upon the return movement of singulating member  91 , the second piece of lumber will abut stop member  94 . The process can then be repeated. 
     As shown in FIG. 24, there are conventionally provided two members  32  and  32 ′, one being situated on each side of the conveyer which includes a first chain  14  and a second chain  14 ′. A similar arrangement is provided in all instances of the lumber turning members. 
     It will be understood that the above described embodiments are for purposes of illustration only and that changes or modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.