LUMBER EDGER

Abstract

Provided is an improved lumber edger having a cross cut saw to cross cut flitch into two or more separate pieces of flitch to increase the available amount or value of boards.

Claims

1. In a lumber edger comprising: a conveyor for conveying flitch; a scanner for scanning dimensions of the flitch; a computer in communication with the scanner, the computer system is configured to determine edge cut positions on the flitch; edger saws constructed to edge the flitch at the edge cut positions; and skew structure to laterally position and skew the flitch in relation to the edger saws, wherein the improvement comprises: a cross cut saw configured to cross cut the flitch prior to the flitch being edge cut by the edger saws; and the computer system is configured to determine at least one cross cut position on the flitch so that the computer system can determine edge cut positions for each piece of the flitch separated by the at least one cross cut position.

2. The lumber edger according to claim 1, wherein the computer system is configured to determine the at least one cross-cut position and edge cut positions to provide the largest size of boards that can be cut from the flitch, taking into account that the flitch can be cross cut into smaller pieces of flitch.

3. The lumber edger according to claim 1, wherein the computer system is configured to determine different widths between edge cut lines for each piece of the flitch separated by the at least one cross cut position.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] FIG. 1 shows an elevation view of the described Edger Cross Cut System.

[0030] FIG. 2 shows the plan view of the cross cut edger system with the same elements as FIG. 1.

[0031] FIG. 3 shows a scanned plan view of a flitch having theoretical edge positions.

[0032] FIG. 4 shows the scanned plan view of one board of the cross cut solution having theoretical edge positions.

[0033] FIG. 5 shows the scanned plan view of one board of the cross cut solution having theoretical edge positions.

[0034] FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B show the cross cut saw.

[0035] FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B shows the board positioning system.

[0036] FIG. 8 shows the edger saws.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] The invention will be explained with reference to the attached non-limiting drawings.

[0038] FIGS. 1 and 2 show an elevation view of an improved edger cross cut system having a conveyor 1 for conveying the lumber (flitch) which comprises of a plurality of lugged chains. The system includes a scanner 2 for scanning dimensions of the lumber, which can comprise laser range finders that measure the differential thickness of the board as it passes through. The scanner 2 is connected to a computer system 40, which calculates at least one theoretical cross cut position and theoretical edge positions. The cross cut separates the lumber into separate pieces. The edge positions for each separate lumber piece are calculated independently of each piece of lumber to increase the amount of cut lumber and reduce lumber waste compared to non-cross cut lumber. A computer system 40 constructed to calculate the theoretical edge position and to calculate the theoretical edges for each piece of lumber independently has not been known previously.

[0039] The system further includes a cross cut saw 3 constructed to cross cut the lumber downstream of the optimizer at the theoretical cross cut position, which can comprise at least one or more moveable saw blades located in either fixed or shifting positions. A single saw 3 is selected and moved into position to saw a cross cut in the lumber as it passes through.

[0040] The system additionally includes a positioning system 4 constructed to position the lumber in relation to the edger saws 6. The positioning system 4 can comprise a plurality of computer controlled moveable board positioning pins that slide on ways that tilt. The properly selected pins position both cross cut boards simultaneously in both the transverse direction and skewed direction relative to the edger saws 6. The individual boards are then conveyed through the edger saws sawing the desired boards. The lumber flows in direction 5.

[0041] Lumber edger systems are now well known in the art. Examples of lumber edgers and scanning structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,308,756; 4,803,371; 4,676,130; and 4,462,443, the complete disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Conventional lumber edger systems are capable of scanning the dimensions of a single piece of lumber and cutting the edges 20 of the piece of lumber as shown in FIG. 3. These conventional lumber edger systems can now be modified according to the present invention by incorporating a cross cut saw 3 and modified computer system 40 as described herein.

[0042] The non-edged lumber (also referred to as flitch) shown in FIG. 3 has a theoretical edge cuts 20 to provide board 8, which conventional edges are capable of cutting. However, FIG. 3 also shows the additional theoretical cross cut 7, which conventional lumber edger systems are not capable of calculating and cross-cutting.

[0043] The improved edger system according to the present invention calculates a theoretical cross cut 7, shown in FIGS. 3-5, to optimize the size of the theoretical board 8 having theoretical edges 20. The theoretical edge cuts 20 are calculated by the computer system 40 for each theoretical piece of lumber so that the width of the board 8 can vary among the different cross cut pieces of lumber.

[0044] FIG. 3 shows a FIG. 3 shows a computer screen shot of a scanned plan view of a typical lumber (flitch). FIG. 3 shows the normal non-cross cut solution which is a 216-0 board 8 when cut at edges 20 and not cross-cut at 7. This board 8 yields 10.67 board feet of lumber. Thus, a conventional lumber edger would only be able to produce a board of the dimension shown in FIG. 3

[0045] FIGS. 4 and 5 show the scanned plan view of the same flitch as FIG. 3, but with increased cross-cut solution according to the present invention, i.e. the board is cross-cut at 7 to provide two pieces of lumber shown at 9 and 10. FIG. 4 shows one board 9 of the cross cut solution which is 26 8-0 when cut at edges 20. This board 9 yields 8.0 board feet of lumber. FIG. 5 shows the remaining board 10 of the cross cut solution which yields 248-0 when cut at edges 20. This board 10 yields 5.33 board feet of lumber. The two cross cut lumber pieces of FIGS. 4 and 5 together yield 13.33 board feet of lumber. Compared to the non-cross cut result shown in FIG. 3, this is a 2.66 additional board feet of lumber. In this example, the cross-cut addition according to the present invention provided a 25% increase in board and 25% less lumber waste.

[0046] FIGS. 6A and 6B show the cross cut saw 3. This particular embodiment has three individual saws, individually actuated. More or less saws can be used to achieve the desired cuts. Additionally, this embodiment incorporated shifting saw positions to match the orientation of the board. This may not be desirable in each application.

[0047] FIGS. 7A and 7B shows an example of a board positioning system. The positioning system includes positioning pins 11 to propel the flitch into position (translation and skew). Positioning pins 11 slide on a round way 15 moved by an actuator 16. The round way 15 is lowered by an actuator 17 to allow an incoming flitch to pass and raised to enable the positioning pin 11, to engage and pull the flitch into the desired position calculated by the computer system 40. Lumber parking ramps 18, raised by an actuator 19 allow the positioning pins 11 to pull the flitch across the conveyor feeding flitches through the saw 12. Once the flitch is in position the press rolls 13 are lowered by pivot arms 20 with actuators 21 stabilizing the flitch while the positioning pins 11 are retracted and parking ramps 18 are lowered releasing the flitch to be conveyed to the edger saws 6. The press rolls 13 push the flitch down so that the chain moves the flitch. The actuators can be controlled by the computer system 40.

[0048] FIG. 8 shows the edger saws 6 driven by motor 14.

[0049] A preferred method is to pull each portion of the cross cut lumber into position simultaneously, independently laterally position, and skew, then release each piece of lumber separately in a timed interval if the edger saw set is different or together if it is the same. Another iteration is a preliminary scanner to decide the need for cross cutting, then cross cutting, then sending each lumber portion through a separate linear scanner and to a moveable edger saw section.

[0050] The cross cut saw according to the present invention can be incorporated into existing edgers. The present positioning systems and programming can be altered to account for the cross cut saw.

[0051] If desired, the cross cut saw can be constructed to be moveable closer and away from an index line of the lumber to cross cut at a predetermined optimal length. The index line is usually the end of the lumber.

[0052] While the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this invention, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.