Patent Publication Number: US-2005120840-A1

Title: Automated board processing apparatus

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/386,384 filed on Mar, 10, 2003 titled “AUTOMATED BOARD PROCESSING APPARATUS,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/417,556, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,830, both disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. This application further claims priority to U.S. provisional application No. 60/527,262 filed on Dec. 4, 2003, entitled “AUTOMATED BOARD PROCESSING APPARATUS HAVING AN AUTOMATED LOADING DEVICE,” and U.S. provisional application No. 60/614,325 filed on Sep. 29, 2004, entitled “AUTOMATED BOARD PROCESSING APPARATUS,” both disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      This invention relates to lumber processing equipment and methods, more particularly the invention relates to equipment for the automated measuring, material handling, and further processing of the lumber including sawing and marking of lumbers.  
      With rising labor costs and demands for more time and cost efficient construction, it has become desirable to construct building components and modules off-site at specialized fabrication facilities. In manufacturing wood frame walls, especially for prefabricated residential structures, there are great economies in providing automated equipment that can measure, cut, and mark the components utilized in wall frames. Where a particular wall design is repeated over and over, such automated equipment can decrease time of construction and lower costs. The economics are even greater for custom wall designs. For wood structures where the frames are constructed on site, precutting and marking of boards off-site can create a “kit” design minimizing necessary on site sawing and specialized labor.  
      Known board processing equipment that has any level of automation is mechanically complex and has limitations in capabilities. Moreover, such known equipment for marking and sawing boards requires stopping the board for each marking. Moreover, such equipment has a limited number of marking options. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,129 to Jureit, et. al. Said patent is hereby incorporated by reference. Furthermore, such known equipment still requires manual loading of pieces of lumber into lumber feeders, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,105 and U.S. patent application No. 2002/0127093 to Aylsworth. Both the patent and the patent application are incorporated herein by reference. Such manual loading and unloading greatly reduce the efficiency of the automated lumber processing equipment, particularly for equipments having a plurality of lumber feeders.  
      Known automated board processing systems have had limited material handling capabilities for feeding lumber to the system. Typically such system will operate off a single source of material that needs manual replenishment. A system is needed that has multiple sources of boards for feeding the automated board processing system for minimizing manual replenishment and for allowing selection of different sizes of standardized board sizes.  
      “Board” when used herein refers to elongate pieces of lumber without restriction to size including length. For example, various lengths of 1×1&#39;s, 2×2&#39;s, 2×4&#39;s, 2×10&#39;s, etc., all are included in boards. Any lumber pieces which could be used for studs, plates, headers, cripples, trimmers, and trusses are included as boards. Similarly, lengths of linear veneer laminate, oriented strand board, finger joint board, are included in the definition of the boards.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Disclosed herein is an automated board processing system and the corresponding processes that receives job orders comprising a needed set of specifically sized boards cut to specified lengths for assembly into components such as wall structures, roof trusses or other trusses. The system and processes expediently process a series of boards from individually selected magazines or other board sources to convey, measure, mark and/or saw same with optimal mechanical simplicity and efficiency thereby completing the job order. A control processor receives the job order and controls operation of the plurality of magazines or other board sources, the conveying, the measuring, the marking and the sawing.  
      Batches of boards may be sequentially cut for constructing building components and modules. For example, wood frame walls or trusses, especially for prefabricated residential structures, can be measured, cut, and marked and batched for assembly at the fabrication facility or on-site at the project location. Particular wall designs may be repeated over and over, creating numerous identical batches of cut and marked boards. Batches forming components of a complete building, such as a house or garage, cant can be assembled and shipped collectively as a to-be-assembled-on-site kit.  
      In preferred embodiments the invention includes a transverse board conveyor, a board extrusion portion, a marking station, a sawing portion, and a board feeding portion which may have a plurality of sources of boards, all or some of which are controlled by a process controller. Each source will preferably have a stack of the same size boards suitable for dispensing the boards. In such preferred embodiments, one or more sources of boards are serially fed onto the transverse board conveyor and are conveyed in a direction transverse to the length of the boards. The boards are individually deposited into an elongate receiver of a board extrusion portion to be conveyed longitudinally. A carriage in the receiver transports the boards past an end detection station, past a marking station, and to a sawing station. The carriage has a gripping portion comprising a moveable-clamping member which in one embodiment pinches the distal end of the board (with respect to the saw station) between a wall of the receiver and the clamping member. In another embodiment the end of the board is gripped by a pair of opposing fingers that may have serrations thereon. The carriage moves down the receiver with the board clamped thereto conveying the board in a longitudinal direction to position the board in a desired position for sawing the board. The sawing station is located at a proximal end (with respect to the saw station) of the receiver with proximity sensors, such as optical sensors comprising the end detection station also positioned at said end. A clamping station comprising a pair of gripping rollers secure the proximal end of the board adjacent the saw station for sawing. The marking station, also positioned at said end, prints desired indicia at selected positions on the board such as by an ink jet printer without physical contact of the printing mechanism with the board and while the board is moving.  
      Automation is provided by a process controller, such as a personal computer. The board feeding portion, the board-conveying portion, the extruding portion, the sawing portion, and the marking portion are all controlled by the process controller. The process controller handles the necessary computation for determining saw locations, printing locations, printing data, and operation of the various equipment portions. Data regarding sawing locations on boards, board-printing locations, printing indicia are all input into, calculated by, downloaded into and/or stored by the process controller. Such data may be input manually at the counsel.  
      As the board is conveyed down the receiver, under control of the process controller the optical sensors convey to the process controller the point at which the proximal end passes the optical sensors. An encoder or other position indicating sensor connected to the carriage drive provides the location of the carriage as the optical sensors are triggered at the end of each particular board. The process controller can then calculate the length of the board and board locations for printing or sawing. Pairs or multiple optical sensors can similarly identify the angle of the preexisting cut on the end of the board as well as the dimensions of the board. The process controller determines and controls the timing and actuation of the movement of the carriage, the gripping function, the marking station and sawing portion as the board is advanced.  
      In preferred embodiments the plurality of sources of boards in the board feeding portion are controlled by the control processor or may be available for easily moving into effective dispensing position by means separate from the control processor. The invention includes such a replenishment portion for replenishing non-manually stacks to the board sources. Each individual source may have a multiplicity of the same sized board.  
      A feature and advantage of particular embodiments of the invention is that the clamping, conveying, marking and sawing is accomplished with a mechanically simple configuration with a minimal number of moving parts and a minimal number of actuators and powered components. For example, the clamping of the carriage at the distal end of the board and the clamping of the distal end of the board to the receiver may be accomplished by a single actuator operating a pivoting clamping member.  
      Thus an advantage and feature of particular embodiments of the invention is that the gripping portion including the clamping mechanism for the distal end of the board to be sawed is mechanically simple while still reliably securing the board.  
      A further feature and advantage of particular embodiments of the invention is the clamping station has minimal moving parts with a first roller freely rotatable and fixed in position and a second roller freely rotatably and laterally moveable and biased toward the first roller to clamp the board to be sawn therebetween. One or both of said rollers can be tilted slightly in the direction of the board travel to assure the board is properly seated at the saw station.  
      A further feature and advantage of particular embodiments of the invention is that the board at the sawing station is reliably and securely held down and clamped without active or powered mechanisms.  
      A further feature and advantage of preferred embodiments of the invention is that the board is actively clamped only at the moveable carriage. Moreover, the clamping mechanisms do not need to extend above the board being processed, rather they only engage the sides of the board. This keeps the mechanism very simple and does not require any adaptation of the clamping mechanisms for different sizes of the boards. Moreover, in preferred embodiments, the delay in gripping the distal end of the board until after the proximal end has passed the end detection station assures the distal end is properly against the carriage. Moreover, the gripped distal end of the board provides optimal control over the movement of the board in both forward and backward directions.  
      An advantage and feature of particular embodiments of the invention is that the overall system has an optimally small footprint to minimize the floor space needed for the system.  
      A further advantage and feature of particular embodiments of the invention is that the length of boards may be determined or verified before the board is cut or marked.  
      A further advantage and feature of particular embodiments of the invention is that marking of lumber for future operations is accomplished reliably and accurately without stopping, slowing, or otherwise interfering with the travel of the board.  
      Moreover, the gripped distal end provides optimal control over the movement of the board in both forward and a backward directions.  
      A further advantage and feature of particular embodiments of the invention is that board markings can be infinitely varied in size, positioning and in the particular Marking put on the board.  
      A further advantage and feature of particular embodiments of the invention is that there is no direct contact between the marking mechanism and the board and thus no interference with the travel of the board and no wear or other stress on the marking mechanism.  
      A further advantage and feature of particular embodiments of the invention is that marking and sawing of the boards is accomplished in essentially the same operation minimizing the time and equipment needed for these operations if performed on distinct pieces of equipment.  
      A further advantage and feature of particular embodiments of the invention is that all the cut and marked boards necessary for a particular item of construction, such as a wall or a truss, can be sequentially manufactured and collected in a batch for ready assembly either at a manufacturing facility, or at a remote assembly location, such as the project location. The batch can include the cut and marked boards for a complete structure such as a house. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the automated sawing and marking system components.  
       FIG. 2  is a partially exploded perspective view of the board extrusion portion and sawing portion of the invention.  
       FIG. 3  is a plan view of the sawing portion and the adjacent end of the extrusion portion of the invention.  
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the end of a receiver and carriage track of the board extrusion portion.  
       FIG. 5  is a plan view of the carriage and gripper in the receiver and track of the board extrusion portion.  
       FIG. 6  is a side elevational view of the carriage as shown in  FIG. 5 .  
       FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view taken at line  7 - 7  of  FIG. 5 .  
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of an upright rail of the sawing portion of the invention.  
       FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view taken at line  9 - 9  of  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view taken at line  10 - 10  of  FIG. 3  without the board.  
       FIG. 11  shows a board with an exemplary ink jet indicia thereon.  
       FIG. 12  shows an elevational view with sections broken away of the board-feeding portion of the invention.  
       FIG. 13  is a perspective view of an alternative multiple magazine feeder.  
       FIG. 14  is a side elevational view of a processing system utilizing a multiple magazine feeder such as shown in  FIG. 13 .  
       FIG. 15  is a side elevational view of a single rack of a magazine feeder such as shown in  FIGS. 13 and 14 .  
       FIG. 16  is a side elevational view of a board processing system with an alternate multiple magazine feeder.  
       FIG. 17  is a block diagram showing the connections between the process controller and the major components of the system.  
       FIG. 18  is a block diagram showing an exemplary System Interconnection.  
       FIG. 19  is an exemplary Program Flow Chart for the system.  
       FIG. 20  is a plan view of a lumber processing system having a gantry.  
       FIG. 21  is side elevational view of the lumber processing system as shown in  FIG. 20 .  
       FIG. 22  is a plan view of a lumber processing system having a plurality of movable bunk feeders.  
       FIG. 23  is side elevational view of the lumber processing system as shown in  FIG. 22 .  
       FIG. 24   a  is a view of a lumber processing system having a carousel.  
       FIG. 24   b  is a plan view of a lumber processing system having a carousel.  
       FIG. 25  is a plan view of a lumber processing system having a dump cart and a plurality of movable bunk feeders, positioned colinearly along one side of the dump cart.  
       FIG. 26  is a plan view of a lumber processing system having a dump cart and a plurality of stationary bunk feeders, positioned colinearly along one side of the dump cart&#39;s path of travel.  
       FIG. 27  is a plan view of a lumber processing system having a dump cart and a plurality of movable bunk feeders, positioned colinearly along one side of the dump cart.  
       FIG. 28  is a plan view of a lumber processing system having a dump cart and a plurality of stationary bunk feeders, positioned colinearly along two opposite sides of the dump cart. 
    
    
     DETAILED SPECIFICATION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 a  preferred embodiment of an automated processing system suitable for measuring, sawing, and marking is illustrated and is generally designated with the numeral  20 . The preferred embodiment of the invention is principally comprised of a board extrusion portion  22 , a sawing portion  24 , a board feeding portion  26 , a transverse board conveyor  28  and a process controller  20 . 1 . The dashed lines of  FIG. 1  also illustrate that an additional board feeding means such as bunk feeders  30  may also be utilized to feed boards onto the transverse board conveyor in conjunction with or as an alternative to the other board feeding portion  26 . Said board feeding portion  26  is shown configured as a multiple magazine board feeder.  
      The various portions individually and collectively have support structure  32  preferably formed of steel tubing. In the embodiment illustrated the individual portions support structures are suitably coupled together to form the overall support structure.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , positioned on the extrusion portion  22  or the sawing portion  24  are marking station  3   1 . 1 , a board clamping station  31 . 3 , and a sawing station  31 . 4 .  
      Referring to  FIGS. 2, 3 ,  4 , and  7 , the board extrusion portion  22  is a longitudinal conveyor with a track  33  which includes a rail  34 , spacer pieces  39 , and floor pieces  40  generally configured as a square section of tubing with an open slit  36  at its top side  38 . The spacer section  39  may be flat bar stock bar as shown in  FIG. 4  or angled pieces as shown in  FIG. 7 . The floor pieces are shown as bar shaped. The assembled pieces form the track with a belt recess  41  extending lengthwise therethrough.  
      Above the track is positioned a receiver  42  defined by a first upright vertical wall  44  at a first side  46  and an opposing retention member  48  at the second side  50  and the bottom wall  41 . A ramped guide portion  51  is at a proximal end  52  (with respect to the sawing station) of the board extruding portion to position and guide the proximal end  53  of the board B being processed with respect to, the clamping station  31 . 3 , the marking station  31 . 1  and the sawing station  31 . 4 . A drive assembly  54  includes an electric motor  56 , suitable right reduction angle gearing  58  connecting to a drive pulley  60 , a driven pulley  62  which is attached to the main belt drive pulley, not shown, connected to the drive pulley  62 . A main belt  66  extends from the main belt drive pulley to the idler pulley  70  at the opposite end of the rail or track  34 . The idler pulley  70  is attached to an encoder  72  for providing position data relative to the belt  66  and an attached carriage  73  which is discussed in more detail below.  
      Referring specifically to  FIGS. 1, 2 ,  4 , and  7 , the board-extruding portion is attached to the transverse board conveyor  28  by suitable connecting members  74  as part of the support structure  32 . Transfer of the boards from the transverse board conveyor to the receiver  42  of the extrusion portion is accomplished by a suitable transfer means  76  which is shown configured as a shaft  80  extending substantially the length of the receiver with square tubing  82  extending along said shaft and fixed thereto and with a plurality of flip arms  86  attached to the square tubing. The shaft suitably rides upon ultra high molecular weight polyethylene bearings  90  suitably attached to the support structure  32 . A pneumatic cylinder  94  anchored to the support structure  32  is attached to a bell crank  96  fixed to the shaft  80 . Actuation of the pneumatic cylinder which is attached to the distal end  98  of bell crank  96  rotates the bell crank and the shaft  80  with the square tubing approximately 90 degrees. With said rotation the flip arms  86  rotate from the horizontal position as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  to an upright position transferring any boards in the transfer position  120  thereon from the transverse board conveyor  28  into the receiver  42  of the board extrusion portion  22 . The flip arms may also include additional curved stop members  102  which function to prevent any boards from being conveyed into the unload position on the transverse conveyor before the flip arms return to their horizontal position.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2 , and  7 , the transverse board conveyor  28 , also termed a “live deck” comprises a generally horizontal conveyance means  108  configured as a plurality of linked roller chain link loops  110  suitably driven by a plurality of sprockets (not shown) positioned in the chain housings  112  and a drive motor  113 . Upright stops  116  attached to the support structure  32  and positioned on the ends of the chain housings defining a transfer position  120  as indicated by the dashed lines of  FIG. 7 . A proximity sensor  124  such as optical, capacitive, mechanical sensor or other sensing means is placed adjacent to the transfer position to detect the presence of a board in the transfer position. Such sensing means may be located at several positions on the support structure adjacent the transfer position to provide information to the process controller as to the length of the board in said position in addition to the presence of such board.  
      Prior to transfer of the board from the board transfer position, to the distal end  125  of the receiver and distal end  126  of the board extruding portion, the carriage  73  is conveyed longitudinally down the receiver to be out of the way of the board prior to transfer. Referring to  FIGS. 5, 6 , and  7 , details of the carriage are illustrated. The carriage principally comprises a guide portion  130  to secure the carriage in the track and a gripping or clamping portion  132  to clamp a board being processed. The carriage functions to transfer the board being processed longitudinally along the receiver to move the board past the printing station and to appropriately position particular selected points on the board at the sawing station. The guide portion  130  is suitably formed from appropriately stacked metal components and ultra high-density polyethylene. The polyethylene is suitably used for low friction bearing members. The configuration as illustrated includes a lower polyethylene bearing member  138 , an adjacent guide member  140  formed of aluminum with a plurality of polyethylene inserts  142  for contact with the rail  34 , a pair of opposing spacers  150 ,  152 , which clamp onto the belt  66 , another aluminum spacer member  158  with additional polyethylene bearing inserts  162  extends up to the carriage base  164  onto the base is mounted a pneumatic cylinder  170  connecting to a clamping member  172  configured as a finger with an engagement portion  174 . Actuation of the pneumatic cylinder  170  rotates the clamping finger from the open position  176  as shown by the dashed lines of  FIG. 5  to the engagement position as shown by the solid lines. Significantly, when in the open position, the clamping finger is under the retention member  48 .  
      The pneumatic cylinder  170  is connected by hoses  176  to connectors  180  on a mounting plate  184 . The connectors are suitably connected to a pneumatic source  190  remotely located from the carriage such as in the sawing portion  24  as shown in  FIG. 1  or with the control processor or separated totally from the equipment. The pneumatic hoses may be suitably suspended from above the extrusion portion to provide for the travel of the carriage or may alternatively be coiled upon a guide shaft  194  as shown in  FIG. 1  to facilitate the travel of said carriage in the receiver.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2 , and  8 , details of the sawing portion of the invention are shown. The saw station includes a structural frame work  210  generally comprised of steel tubing, a pair of upright guide rails  212 ,  214 , and a pair of glide blocks. Attached to the support plate  218  is a saw motor  220  with the attached saw blade  222 . The support plate  218  and attached saw motor and saw blade are movable vertically by attachment to the glide blocks  216  slidably engaged in the rails  212 ,  214 . Fluid powered, pneumatic, or hydraulic cylinders  215 ,  217  or other actuators controlled by the control processor operate to raise and lower the saw. Suitable shielding  230  is provided to the saw station for protection of operators and other personnel. Appropriate limit switches and sensors  236  are suitably attached to the sawing station for providing data to the process controller relative to the monitoring and control of said sawing station. Although the saw station is shown configured as a chop saw for providing  90  degree cuts relative to the lengths of the boards, the saw could be adjustable, as is known in the art, with respect to the angles of cuts. Such adjustability could be controlled by the process controller and such would be particularly useful for cutting roof trusses components, for example. Wall sections having headers, plates, and studs can usually be formed with 90 degree cuts. After the various boards needed to form a building component, such as the wall or truss have been cut and marked, they may be bunched together and shipped to a job site for assembly.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 3, 9 , and  10 , various aspects of the extruding portion and sawing portion that cooperate are illustrated. Mounted to the support structure of the invention, such as the sawing portion structural framework  210 , and forming the clamping station, are a pair of gripping roller clamps  250 ,  252 . Said roller clamps have a textured surface  256  which may be a knurled or other machined surface which provides a high friction engagement with boards. One roller assembly  260  is suitably fixed to put the surface  256  of said roller in substantially coplanar alignment with the vertical wall  44  of the extrusion portion. The other roller assembly  264  is moveable inwardly to an interference positioned  270  as indicated by the dashed lines. Said roller is biased by a spring  272  or other suitable means, such as a pneumatic cylinder, inwardly. Thus, when a board is conveyed into engagement with the roller clamps the high friction engagement between the board and rollers allow only a longitudinal movement of the board with respect to the receiver. The axis A of one or both rollers may be slightly inclined toward the sawing station such as to urge the board engaged with said rollers downwardly to maintain board contact with the floor of the sawing station. Slightly less effectiveness can be had using the inwardly biased roller assembly against the vertical wall. The use of such rollers in conjunction with the clamping member  172  provide a minimal number of clamping components and a minimal number of powered clamping components while still efficiently and securely providing a longitudinal controlled and vertically restricted movement of the board past the printing station and to the sawing station. The dashed lines in  FIG. 3  enumerated  273  represents the path of travel of the boards. In other embodiments, the roller can be movable to handle significantly warped boards and the printer station can be linked to the roller to maintain appropriate spacing with the board.  
      One of the rollers can be connected to an encoder or the like to provide an alternative or additional registration means for the positioning of the board being conveyed. Moreover, such rollers can be powered to provide alternate conveyance means for the boards other than the carriage. This could be particularly applicable where extremely long boards utilized in association with particular aspects of the invention, i.e., the marking station without the carriage.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 10 , also located adjacent to the sawing station is the marking station  31 . 1 . The marking station projects an indicia forming media onto the surface of the board. An indicia generator is configured as an ink jet marking system such as an ink jet printer  310  suitably attached to the support structure. In the configuration as shown the ink jets  312  are positioned at a window  314  in the vertical wall  44 . A suitable ink jet printer is-found-to be the Mathews JET A MARK Marks 2002 printer which has multiple linearly aligned ink jets. The indicia generator may also be configured as other ink jet marking systems (e.g., the inkjet marking systems by JanTech Marking Equipment, White City, Oreg.; and inkjet coding systems by Trend Marking Systems, Castle Hill, NSW, Australia). In some embodiments, the indicia generator may be configured as other non-contact marking systems such as laser marking systems (e.g., CLM series laser marking systems by TDK Corporation, Tokyo, Japan; MicroLase laser marking system by Schmidt Marking Systems, Inc., Niles, Ill.; and ML laser markers by Keyence Corporation, Osaka, Japan), spray marking systems (e.g., “Jet Shots” spray marking systems by Carco Inc., Detroit, Mich.).  
      The aligned ink jets are positioned transverse to the length of the board. The individual jets intermittently discharge ink as the board is passing by to create a two-dimensional image on the board. This provides a high level of flexibility with respect to the length of the image on the board while utilizing minimal space and components for the print apparatus. Moreover, the printing is controlled by the control processor to be coordinated with the movement of the boards and thus does not control or restrict the flow of lumber through the system as is the case with conventional systems.  
      The print head may be controlled by a print controller card which is part of the process controller. The print controller is suitably located in the sawing portion or other suitable location. The ink jet printer does not need to be positioned in a window in the vertical wall, and as such, can be on the opposite side of the board. Similarly, more than one ink jet print head can be utilized on one side of the receiver for more definition in the indicia, several ink jet print heads can be used on opposite sides of the receiver or above the receiver.  FIG. 11  represents a sample indicia which can provide the location position for a stud indicated by the S. In addition to stud locations, other indicia such as part number or description of the particular piece of lumber to be cut, truss component locations, and the like can also be provided by the marking station. The ink jet printers can also provide indicia that provides a cut line for an angled cut if the saw portion is not configured to provide such. An alternate indicia generator could be a laser to score the board surface. Either such print head may be mounted to pivot as the board travels by to momentarily follow the board such that the indicia forming media can be adequately disposed on the board surface.  
      Also illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 10 , is a first board end sensing station  31 . 2  comprised of at least one presence sensing sensor  332  and ideally a plurality of such sensors. In a preferred embodiment, such presence sensing sensors will be optical sensors ideally utilizing a light beam(s) from the light beam generator(s)  336  positioned opposite the receiver from the sensors thus producing a horizontal sensing region. Alternatively, the optical sensors can be of the type with the light generating means adjacent to the light sensor. Other presence sensing sensors could include inductive sensors, capacitive sensors, and mechanical sensors such as micro switches. Such sensors are connected to the control processor and are utilized to detect when the first end or proximal end of the board passes by the sensors. Utilization of the vertically aligned plurality of sensors allows for sequential activation of the sensors for detecting angled cuts on the proximal board end based upon the timing of the sequential activations and the distanced traveled by the carriage and the board as provided by the encoder. Moreover, the actual height of the board can be determined to an accuracy dependent upon the vertical spacing of the sensors. Similarly, sensors facing upward or downward and having a vertical sensing region and spaced transverse to the path-of-travel can be utilized to detect angled cuts as seen from the plan view.  
      In an embodiment incorporating certain aspects of the invention without the carriage engaging the distal ends of the boards, additional presence sensing sensors, i.e. optos can be utilized along the receiver to form a second board end sensing station. Thus, the control processor can determine the length of a board being conveyed down the receiver by registering the activations of the first and second board end sensors as well as calculating the travel of the board.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 12 , a board-feeding portion  26  of the invention configured as a magazine feeder is illustrated. Details of the mechanism are illustrated in  FIG. 12 . This board-feeding portion has a plurality of magazines  362 ,  363 ,  364  which may be manually or automatically loaded. Such magazines may be utilized for different sizes, grades, lengths or kinds of lumber. As illustrated one magazine may be utilized for 2×6&#39;s and another magazine may be utilized for 2×4&#39;s or one magazine may hold 8-foot board lengths while another magazine holds 12-foot lengths. The stacks of wood are constrained by pairs of guide portions  365  defining slots  366 . The board feeding portion deposits in a serial manner on the live deck boards from selected magazines. The boards in each magazine are retained therein by a powered dual retention mechanism  370 . Said mechanism utilizes a lever arm  372  with first and second engagement portions  374 ,  376  on opposite sides of a pivot point  380 . The lever arm is shifted between a first position as shown in the second magazine  363  by the actuation and extension of the powered member  382  which is part of a pneumatic cylinder  384  to a second position as illustrated in the third magazine  364 . In the first position the first engagement portion is in an obstructing position with the lower most board  386  and the second engagement portion is in a release or non-clamping position. In the second position the first engagement portion is pivoted out of the obstructing position to release the lowermost board and the second engagement portion is pivoted into a clamping position with the adjacent board  387  next in position in the magazine. After the board in the first magazine position is deposited onto the transverse board conveyor  28  the pneumatic actuation is reversed and the clamping portion is removed from the next board, the first engagement portion is moved to the interference position and the adjacent board and stack falls to engage and stop at the first engagement portion thereby stopping the further discharge of boards from that particular magazine. Actuation of a pneumatic cylinder for each magazine is controlled by the process controller. The dashed lines illustrate the path of travel.  
      Referring to  FIGS. 13, 14 ,  15  and  16  alternative embodiments for the multiple board magazines  500  which feed onto the board conveyor or live deck  28  for conveyance into the board extrusion portion  22  are shown. As illustrated in  FIGS. 13 and 16  the different magazines will suitably be utilized for different sizes of lumber, for example different lengths of lumber as illustrated. Thus the control processor can control the sequence of boards released for a specific job. Moreover, these particular magazines can be utilized for recycling odd size lumber or previously cut or scrap lumber as illustrated in  FIG. 16  in the first and second magazines  510 ,  511 . Sensors and indicators such as light bulbs  516  can be provided to indicate when a particular magazine is below a particular level.  
      The magazines as illustrated in  FIGS. 13, 14  and  15  each have a plurality of board racks  519  which utilize a plurality of individual vertical carriages  520  which slide upon a rail  522  and which are upwardly biased by springs  524 . An actuator  528  operates to lower the vertical carriages or magazine  520  down where the lowermost board  532  is engaged by the horizontal board conveyor  28 . Note in  FIG. 14 a  portion of the conveyor is broken away for clarity of illustration. A retention member  536  can be adjustable to allow the various magazines to accommodate different sizes of boards and, in particular, different thicknesses. As shown in  FIG. 15  the retention member  536  will assure that the board adjacent to the lower most board  532  is not pulled out of the magazine when the lower most board is moved out laterally. The actuator  528  operates to lower the carriage and is controlled by the control processor.  
       FIG. 16  illustrates an alternative embodiment in which the magazines  500  each comprise racks  519  with vertical supports  540  to form a magazine with a forward exit slot  541  to and have an injection plunger  546  to discharge the lower most board out of the stack of boards in the magazine. Typically there would be a plunger for each separate rack relative to each magazine.  
      The magazines designated for recycling are used in conjunction with the capabilities of preferred embodiments of the system which measure the length of the board. The control processor can be suitably configured to optimize and select particular sized boards to be cut from each measured board. Moreover, the angles of cuts on the ends of the lumber being recycled can be determined as described above.  
      In addition to the magazine board feeders, manually laying the boards on the transverse board conveyor may be utilized. Furthermore, the board feeding portion may include other board feeding arrangement such as stationary or movable bunk feeders. An example of a bunk feeder is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,105 to Aylsworth. Said patent is incorporated herein by reference.  
      In some embodiments, the board feeding portion includes one or more stationary bunk feeders. Referring to  FIGS. 20 and 21 , an automated processing system having a board feeding portion including one or more stationary bunk feeders suitable for loading, measuring, sawing, and marking is illustrated and is generally designated with the numeral  410 . The preferred embodiment of an automated processing system includes a board extrusion portion  414 , a sawing portion  412 , a transverse board conveyor  418 , a gantry  430 , and a board feeding portion including stationary bunk feeders  440 ,  441 , and  442 . In some embodiments, the board feeding portion includes one or two stationary bunk feeders. In other embodiments, the board feeding portion includes more than three stationary bunk feeders. The board feeding portion can comprise vertical magazines as in  FIG. 16  and movable and/or stationary bunk feeders. The gantry comprises a frame structure  432  raised on side frames  437  and  438  and so as to span over the board feeding portion. The gantry may further comprise a pair of lifting arms  434  and  435  for loading stacks of boards  431  onto the stationary bunk feeders  440 ,  441 , and  442 . The bottom of side frames  437  and  438  may attach to gantry wheels  433  that run on parallel tracks  436 .  
      In other embodiments, the board feeding portion includes one or more movable bunk feeders. Referring to  FIG. 22  and  FIG. 23 , an automated processing system having a board feeding portion including one or more movable bunk feeders suitable for loading, measuring, sawing, and marking is illustrated and is generally designated with the numeral  420 . The automated processing system includes a board extrusion portion  412 , a sawing portion  414 , a transverse board conveyor  418 , and a board feeding portion including movable bunk feeders  443 ,  444 , and  445 . In some embodiments, the board feeding portion includes one or two movable bunk feeders. In other embodiments, the board feeding portion includes more than three movable bunk feeders. In further embodiments, the movable bunk feeders may include a horizontal framework  460  having a first end and a second end, a first substantially vertical frame support  455  mounted to the bottom surface of the platform  460  near the first end, a first end stop  453  mounted to the top surface of platform  460  near the first end, a second end stop  454  mounted to the top surface of the platform  460  near the second end, a first pair of bunk feeder wheels  451  pivotally mounted to the bottom end of the platform support  455 , and a second pair of bunk feeder wheels  452  pivotally mounted to the platform  460  near the second end. In some embodiments, each of the movable bunk feeders may include a pair of elevated tracks  453  spanning over the transverse board conveyor  418 . Each of the movable bunk feeders may move laterally on the elevated track  453  in a direction transverse to the board conveyor  418 , as indicated by the arrows in  FIGS. 22 and 23 . In other embodiments, each of the movable bunk feeders may include a second substantially vertical platform support mounted to the other end of the platform  460  and opposite to the first substantially vertical platform support  455 . In some embodiments, the span of the horizontal platform having two substantially vertical platform supports may be 1 to 4 times the width of the transverse board conveyor  418 .  
      In further embodiments, the board feeding portion includes a dump cart and one or more movable or stationary bunk feeders on a carrousel. Referring to  FIGS. 24   a  and  24   b,  the board feeding portion of an automated processing system suitable for loading boards is illustrated and is generally designated with the numeral  470 . The board feeding portion includes a dump cart  473 , a bank of bunk feeders configured as a carousel  482  having a plurality of divisions, and individual bunk feeders  474 - 481 , each independently positioned in one of the divisions. The dump cart  473  transports boards from the bunk feeders in the carrousel  482  to the transverse board conveyors  469  and  472 . The dump cart  473  may run on wheels with or without a pair of parallel tracks  456  and  457 . Optionally, a loading device  446 , such as a debunker or conveyor, may be used to facilitate the loading of boards from the back of bunk feeders to the dump cart  473 .  
      The dump cart  473  preferably has a bed  473 . 2  that pivots to a dump position when positioned at the unloading position  473 . 3  adjacent a transverse board conveyor  469 ,  479 . The actuation to dump the cart may be by pneumatic means located on the cart or adjacent the cart at the unloading portions  473 . 3 . The shuttling of the cart can be driven by a cable  473 . 6  or other suitable means. The shuttling and dumping is automatically controlled by the process controller  20 . 1   
      In additional embodiments, the board feeding portion includes a dump cart and one or more movable bunk feeders by one side of the dump cart. Referring to  FIG. 25 , the board feeding portion of an automated processing system suitable for loading is illustrated and is generally designated with the numeral  600 . The board feeding portion includes a dump cart  473 , and a train of movable bunk feeders  488 - 491  of different lengths varying from 4 to 30 feet, preferably sized or sizeable for standard lumber lengths. The movable bunk feeders  488 - 491  may run on a pair of parallel tracks  458  and  459 . The dump cart  473  transports boards from the movable bunk feeders to the transverse board conveyors  469  and  472 . The dump cart  473  may run on wheels with or without a pair of parallel tracks  456  and  457 . Optionally, a loading device  446 , such as a debunker, may be used to facilitate the loading of boards from the movable bunk feeders to the dump cart  473 .  
      In some embodiments, the board feeding portion includes a dump cart and one or more stationary bunk feeders by one side of the dump cart. Referring to  FIG. 26 , the board feeding portion of an automated processing system suitable for loading is illustrated and is generally designated with the numeral  601 . The board feeding portion includes a dump cart  473  that moves along a path of travel  474  and stationary bunk feeders  497 - 500 . The dump cart  473  transports boards from the stationary bunk feeders to the transverse board conveyors  469  and  472 . The dump cart  473  may run on wheels with or without a pair of parallel tracks  456  and  457 . Optionally, a loading device  446 , such as a debunker, a forklift for example, may be used to facilitate the loading of boards from the stationary bunk feeders to the dump cart  473 .  
      In other embodiments, the board feeding portion includes a dump cart and one or more movable or stationary bunk feeders by one side of the dump cart. Referring to  FIG. 27 , the board feeding portion of an automated processing system suitable for loading is illustrated and is generally designated with the numeral  602 . The board feeding portion includes a dump cart  473 , and bunk feeders  505 - 508  of different standard lumber lengths varying from 4 to 30 feet. Each of the bunk feeders  505 - 508  may run on wheels. The dump cart  473  transports boards from the bunk feeders to the transverse board conveyors  469  and  472 . The dump cart  473  may run on wheels with or without a pair of parallel tracks  456  and  457 . Optionally, a loading device, such as a debunker, may be used to facilitate the loading of boards from the bunk feeders to the dump cart  473 .  
      In further embodiments, the board feeding portion includes a dump cart and one or more stationary bunk feeders by both sides of the dump cart. Referring to  FIG. 28 , an automated processing system suitable for loading, measuring, sawing, and marking is illustrated and is generally designated with the numeral  603 . The automated processing system includes a board extrusion portion  412 , a sawing portion  414 , a transverse board conveyor  418 , and a board feeding portion including a dump cart  473  and stationary bunk feeders  514 - 517 . The dump cart  473  transports boards from the stationary bunk feeders to the transverse board conveyor  418 . The dump cart  473  may run on wheels with or without a pair of parallel tracks  456  and  457 .  
      Referring to  FIG. 17 a  block diagram showing the interconnection of the process controller to the various portions and components of the equipment embodying the invention. The process controller can be a single computer or several interconnected computers and as such can include a local area network. When used herein, “process controller” includes all of the above and also can include individual control cards for the specific portions of the equipment, i.e. the print head. Each of the separate portions will typically have sensors such as a proximity sensors, and actuators. When used herein, actuator includes fluid operated cylinders, either hydraulic or pneumatic, electric motors, including linear motors, servo motors, solenoids and any other powered mechanism. Moreover, any of these sensors illustrated as being positioned on one of the portions could often be arranged on a different portion or component of the apparatus with similar performance and without being beyond the boundaries of the invention claimed herein. For example, the clamping rollers could be placed either on the board-extruding portion as portrayed or on the sawing portion.  
      Referring to  FIG. 18 , a more detailed Systems Interconnection Block diagram is shown that is suitable for equipment embodying the invention. The data transfer process, programming of the process controller, and control of the various actuators is by conventional means familiar to those knowledgeable in such art.  
      Referring to  FIG. 19 , a suitable flow chart for the process controller is illustrated.  
      The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.