Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED U.S. APPLICATIONS 
   Not applicable. 
   STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
   Not applicable. 
   NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
   Not applicable. 
   REFERENCE TO AN APPENDIX SUBMITTED ON COMPACT DISC 
   Not applicable. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates generally to an automatic wood planer, and more particularly to an wood planer which enables the lift assembly of the cutter shaft to be implemented by adapting two front columns with two rotary supports. 
   2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98. 
   An automatic wood planer is a woodworking machine used for automatically guiding, planing and leveling timber. 
   A typical automatic wood planer is formed in such a manner that the cutter shaft mechanism is assembled onto a preset location of a lifting footstock on the machine. The lifting footstock is supported by four columns at four corners, enabling it to slide along four columns when adjusting the planing height. However, it is found from actual application that the footstock of the automatic wood planer expands upward, thus bringing about a bulky and cumbersome structure. Moreover, higher fabrication costs and sales price impair its market competitiveness. From the perspective of mechanical operation of the typical automatic wood planer with four columns, screwing clearance exists between the columns and lifting rootstock, resulting in an obvious error during height adjustment of the lifting footstock. 
   Thus, to overcome the aforementioned problems of the prior art, it would be an advancement in the art to provide an improved structure that can significantly improve efficacy. 
   Therefore, the inventor has provided the present invention of practicability after deliberate design and evaluation based on years of experience in the production, development and design of related products. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present structure of two front columns and two rotary supports reduces the number of components and reduces the volume and fabrication costs, having improved economic efficiency and applicability. 
   With the improved structure, the screwing portion for adjustment of the cutter shaft will be reduced, resulting in little error and improved adjustment accuracy. 
   Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows an assembled perspective view of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  shows a partially enlarged perspective view of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  shows a side elevation view of the planing operation of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  shows another side elevation view of the planing operation of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  shows a side elevation view of the height adjustment of a cutter shaft of the present invention. 
       FIG. 6  shows an exploded perspective view of the reinforced rod of the present invention. 
       FIG. 7  shows an assembled sectional view of reinforced rod of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The features and the advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood upon a thoughtful deliberation of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     FIGS. 1-3  depict preferred embodiments of an automatic wood planer of the present invention. The embodiments are provided only for explanatory purposes with respect to the patent claims. 
   The automatic wood planer A comprises a main body  10 , including a supporting portion  11  and feed table  12 . The feed table  12  is provided with an input end  121  and an output end  122 . 
   There are two front columns  20 , arranged separately at both sides of input end  121  of the feed table  12  of the main body  10 . The bottom of two front columns  20  is screwed with the feed table  12  for a swinging state, and the top of two front columns  20  is connected via a cross bracket  21 . 
   A lifting seat  30  transversely bridges between two front columns  20  in a sliding state. 
   A brake unit  40  controls the sliding state of the lifting seat  30 . 
   Two rotary supports  50  are obliquely assembled between the lifting seat  30  and the output end  122  of the feed table  12 . The rotary support  50  is available with pin joint end  51 , which could be screwed at both sides of the output end  122  of the feed table  12 , or screwed on the protruding framework of the feed table  12 . The other end of the rotary support  50  is a swinging end  52  connected at both sides of the lifting seat  30 . The rotary support  50  is also of a prefabricated structure. 
   A cutter shaft  60  is assembled at a central section between pin joint end  51  and swinging end  52  of two rotary supports  50 , so that the bottom of the cutter shaft  60  is placed opposite to the feed table  12 . 
   A brake unit  70  of the cutter shaft  60  is used to drive the cutter shaft  60  for rotation. 
   A feed unit  80  includes at least a front roller  81  and a rear roller  82 , which are separately assembled at the bottom of the rotary support  50 . The rollers  81 ,  82  are transversely positioned at intervals with the cutter shaft  60 . 
   The brake unit  40  comprises a screw  41  and a rotary table  42  fixed onto top of the screw  41 . Then, the cross bracket  21  at the tops of two front columns  20  is provided with a screw hole  22  (shown in  FIG. 3 ) for the screw  41 . The bottom of the screw  41  is rotatably connected to the lifting seat  30 , so the rotary table  42  could be operated to drive the forward and reverse rotation of the screw  41 , thus enabling the sliding of the lifting seat  30 . 
   The cutter shaft&#39;s brake unit  70  comprises a motor  71 , drive unit  72  (belt and belt wheel, or chain and chain wheel) and a gearbox  73 . The motor  71  is assembled at the top of two rotary supports  50  adjacent to the pin joint end  51 . The drive unit  72  is placed laterally onto the rotary support  50 , and then connected with the motor  71 , cutter shaft  60  and front and rear rollers  81 ,  82 , so the motor  71  simultaneously drives the cutter shaft  60  and front/rear rollers  81 ,  82 . The feedstock could be shifted with forward drive of the front and rear rollers  81 ,  82 . Moreover, said feed unit  80  comprises a conveyor belt  83 , which is assembled onto the feed table  12  for recycling operations. The conveyor belt  83  could also be driven by the cutter shaft&#39;s brake unit  70 . Additionally, the feed unit  80  drives the feedstock forward via the conveyor belt  83 . In such a case, the front and rear rollers  81 ,  82  just press the feedstock without being driven by the cutter shaft&#39;s brake unit  70 . (Note: this view shows that the front and rear rollers  81 ,  82  and conveyor belt  83  are driven by the cutter shaft&#39;s brake unit  70  simultaneously). 
   A swinging rack  91  and traction frame  92  are arranged between the swinging end  52  of two rotary supports  50  and the feed table  12 . The swinging rack  91  is provided with front and rear extensions  911 ,  912 , which are available with stoppers  913 ,  914 . Both ends of the traction frame  92  are separately connected to the front extension  911  of the swinging rack  91  and the feed table  12 , so that the front and rear rollers  81 ,  82  are separately adapted with the rotary support  50  and swinging rack  91  via front and rear cantilever  811 ,  821 . The front and rear cantilevers  811 ,  821  are separately supported on the stopper  913 ,  914  of the front and rear extension  911 ,  912  of the swinging rack  91 . Furthermore, an elastic member  93  (a spring) is arranged between the front and rear extensions  911 ,  912  and front and rear cantilevers  811 ,  821 . 
   A plurality of reinforced rods  53  is arranged between two rotary supports  50 . Referring to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the reinforced rod  53  comprises the first and second rods  531 ,  532 , where stud  533  and screw hole  534  are arranged at the coupling end of the first and second rods  531 ,  532 . The stud  533  is provided with nut  535 , while the stud  536  is placed externally onto the first and second rods  531 ,  532 , and located via the nut onto two rotary supports  50 ; the reinforced rod  53  is used to make up the spacing error between two rotary supports  50  since the coupling portion allows for slight adjustment of the length, helping to realize optimum connection and reinforcement. 
   Based upon above-specified structures, the present invention operates as follows: 
   Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , when it is intended to adjust the height of said cutter shaft  60 , the rotary table  42  of the brake unit  40  rotates forward or backward. The rotation of the rotary table  42  will drive the screw  41  to pass through the screw hole  22  of the cross bracket  21 , so the motion of screw  41  will lead to a vertical shift, and then will drive the lifting seat  30  to slide along two front columns  20  (shown by arrow L 1 ). With the slide of the lifting seat  30 , the swinging end  52  of two rotary supports  50  will be driven for vertical swinging. The cutter shaft  60  between pin joint end  51  and swinging end  52  of two rotary supports  50  flexibly lifts for adjusting the planing depth. Moreover, when the lifting seat  30  is activated to drive the rotary support  50  for oblique swinging, the swinging end  52  will generate lateral displacement. Correspondingly, a swinging structure may be designed between the bottom of two front columns  20  and the feed table  12 , allowing for smooth motion of the lifting seat  30 . 
   On the other hand, the traction frame  92  and swinging rack  91  are arranged to make the front and rear rollers  81 ,  82  press horizontally against the feedstock during oblique swinging of two rotary supports  50 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , when the swinging end  52  of the rotary support  50  is driven by the lifting seat  30  to shift upward, both ends of the traction frame  92  are separately connected to the front extension  911  of the swinging rack  91  and the feed table  12 . The front and rear rollers  81 ,  82  press horizontally against the feedstock without being affected by the oblique swinging of the rotary support  50  (since the front and rear cantilevers  811 ,  821  of front and rear rollers  81 ,  82  are supported by the front and rear extensions  911 ,  912  of the swinging rack  91 , and the front and rear extensions  911 ,  912  are connected to the front and rear cantilevers  811 ,  821  via an elastic member  93 ). 
   Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , feedstock B is fed from the input end  121  of the feed table  12 , then guided and rolled through the conveyor belt  83  and front roller  81  of the feed unit  80 , enabling the smooth planning of the cutter shaft  60 . Then, the feedstock B will be rolled by the rear roller  82  and output via the conveyor belt  83  outside of the feed table  12 .

Technology Category: b