FELLING AND CUTTING DEVICE

OUTIL D'ABATTAGE ET DE COUPE DU BOIS

English Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE


A device for cutting or felling trees comprising a
rotating blade of uniformly increasing width in the shape of a
partial, truncated cone mounted on the edge of a base disk.
The blade does not extend completely around the base disk.
Cutting is performed by attacking the tree at an angle and
rotating the blade in the direction of increasing width.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive
property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A device for cutting or felling a tree comprising:
(a) a rotatable base disk, and
(b) a curved cutting blade of increasing width in the
shape of a partial truncated cone mounted along a
portion of the periphery of the base disk, said
disk constituting the truncating plane, the
increasing width of said blade causing the cutting
edge thereof to be located progressively farther
from the truncating plane, the widest portion of
the blade having an edge constituting a rear edge
extending abruptly downward to the surface of the
base disk.


2. The device of Claim 1, wherein the width of the cutting
blade increases continuously.


3. The device of Claim 1, wherein the width of the cutting
blade increases in a stepwise manner.


4. The device of Claim 1, wherein the cutting edge of
the blade is toothed.


5. The device of Claim 1, wherein the rear edge is shar-
pened to provide a cutting edge.



6. The device of Claim 1 further comprising:
(a) a framework for rotatably mounting the base disk;
(b) holding means connected to said framework for
attaching said device in cutting relation to a
tree; and
(c) means connected to said base disk for rotating
said disk and cutting blade.

Description

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This inven-tion is concerned with the cutting portion
of the felling or cutting device.
Known devices, as a rule, operate either on the sawing
principle or on the guillotine principle. A drawback of these
devices is then complicated and expensive construction. Sensi-
tivity to disturbances is a weak point of a saw device, because
the rapidly moving saw chain ox saw blade is damaged badly when
under practical conditions, it comes into contact with a foreign
object such as a stone or equivalent. This results in the
blade of the device having to be put in repair. Frequent
interruptions of this nature result in reduced output. Further- ~
more, use of the devices requires great care and precision from ~ ~ ;
the operator.
The guillotine-type cutting devices are more reliable
in operation but due to their mode of operation, they cause
mechanical damage to the wood. For this reason, according to
current opinion, they are not suitable for felling or cutting
trunks intended for lumber. In accordance with the present ;~
.~ .
invention there is provided a slower operating device having a
curved cutting track which slashes the wood fibers instead of -~
tearing them.
By means of the device of the present invention, it
` has been possible to combine:
(a) the reliability of operation of the guillotine- -
type devices, because the device has no blade that
moves fast and soon becomes dull; and
(b) the undamaged products of the saw-type devices
because of the curved cutting track and the
cutting of the wood fibers by slashing.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the `~
present invention, there is provided a device for cutting or
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felling a tree comprising~
(a) a rotata~le base disk, and
(b) a curved cuttiny blade of increasing width in the
, shape of a partial truncated cone mounted along a
, portion o~ the periphery of the base disk, said
disk constituting the truncating plane, the
; . ~ .
' increasing width of said blade causing the cutting
; .
edge thereof to be located progressively farther
from the truncating plane, the widest portion of
the blade having an edge constituting a rear edge .. :
extending abruptly downward to the surface of the
~i base disk.
:j The construction of one embodiment of the felling and
. cutting device in accordance with the invention i5 shown in
. the accompanying drawings, wherein:
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FIGURE 1 shows a front view of the cutting portion,
and
FIGURE 2 shows a side view of the cutting portion
as well as the tree to be felled, the holding
means, and the motor rotating the cutting por-
tion fastened to the frame of the device~
The cutting portion shown in Figure 1 consists of two
; components. a circular base disk 2 and a cutting blade 3, having
a cutting edge 9 fastened to the disk~ e.g. at an angle of 120.
10 The cutting blade 3 is fastened to the edge of the base disk 2
so that part of the edge of the base disk 2 remains free of the
blade, for example 1/6 of the edge. The width of the blade 3
becomes uniformly wider, e.g. from 0 cm to 60 cm, depending on
the desired dimensioning. The shape of the blade 3 in relation ;
to the base disk 2 can be characterized as a partial truncated ~ -~
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cone in which the base disk 2 is the cut-off section of the cone
and the blade 3 is a part of the side of the truncated zone.
The cone is characterized as "partial" because, as shown in
Figures 1 and 2, the blade does not extend completely around the
circumference of disk 2.
The cutting portion is mounted to the frame 6 of the ;
device so that, after grasping of the tree 8, the ~lade 3 is at
the bottom edge of the cutting portion, perpendicular to the tree.
The device is provided with a motor for rotating the cutting por~
tion and with holding means 5. ~;;
Operation of the device in accordance with the inven~
tion is as follows: The cutting portion is rotated by the motor `
4 into such a position that the blade-free section at the edge ~;
of the base disk 2 is facing down, i.e. is positioned on the `
same straigXt line with the holding means 5. The tree is

grasped f1rmly by the holding means 5, the blade-~ree edge o~


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the base disk 2 being at the desired cutting point. By means
of the motor 4, the cutting portion is ro~ated in the direc~ion
in which the blade 3 becomes wider. Then, when rotating and
uniformly becoming wider, the cutting edge 9 of the blade 3
cuts the tree by slashing until the width of the blade is larger ~ -
than the diameter of the tree.




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