Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to a process o* quality
and/or length sorting of sawn timber. In particular7 the
present invention is an improvement in the proaess of my
copending Canadian applicatlon No. 266,689 filed November 26, 1976.
In said copending application there is disclosed
in the process of quality and/or length sor~ing of sawn timber
. in a sorting installation, wherein a plurality of consecutive
sorting compartments are provided in which a given timber batch
: is accumulated, which is transferred mainly by gravity as the
'~ lO compartments are filled, onto an underneath conveyor for further
.~ transport to an aPter-treatment section, and wherein in the
.- transferring to the underneath conveyor is e~fected through
openable compar~men-t bottoms which are upwardly elastically
yielding and turnable about a hinge on one side thereof, the
improvement in which the sorting installation includes for each
. different type of sawn timber a group o~ compartments comprising
: at least two consecutive sorting compar-tments, the opening of their
~`~ bottoms and emptying of the different compartments in each ~roup
. being e~fected with the same starting command in accordance with
. 20 a pre-set programme with such mutu~l timing that the compartment
adjacent to the after-treatment section of the group of compartments
begins to empty first and thereafter the next compartments in
succession.
... It is highly important in any kind of timber handlingg
especially in that of planed timber, that the corners of the pieces
of timber are not damaged. In this respect the process of the
copending application already affords.a notable improvement over
; processes and equipment of prior art, above all owing to the fact
that when using the copendins application one may use ~mall sorting
~ 30 compartments, and when these are opened and emptied under
programmed control the damage to the sawn timber pieces can be
caused to markedly decrease from what it has been heretofore~
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The present inVention is to provide a process in
which timber pieces are made to form a continuous organized mat
upon the lower conveyor so that special dispersing pockets are
no longer-needed following the lower conveyor, and the sawn
timber pieces may instead be conveyed directly from the lower
conveyor to the packaging apparatus.
According to the present invention there is provided
an apparatus for the quality and/or length sorting of sawn or
planed timber, comprising: an upper conveyor for transporting
the timber, a pluxality of consecutive sorting compartments
for receiving and accumulating the tirnber from the upper conveyor,
there being at least two consecutive sorting compartments for
each timber type, a lower conveyor for receiving timber from
said compartments mainly under the action of gravity, said sort-
ing compartments comprising inclined sliding planes adapted to
accumulate said timber in a single-layer timber mat and having
releasable strap means at their lower ends which, when released,
allow timber to slide off said sliding planes onto said lower
conveyor, means for releasing said strap means in each group of
compartments in accordance with a pre-set program; and guiding
flaps articulated to the lower ends of the inclined planes and
extending said inclined planes towards the lower conveyor and
along which said timber slides onto the lower conveyor in a
controlled manner, said ~laps being freely upwardly turnable
out of the way of timber already on said lower conveyor.
Thus in accordance with the present invention, the
sorting compartments include inclined sliding planes upon which
a single-layer timber mat is assembled.
The present invention will be further illustrated by
way of the accompanying drawinys in which,
Fig. 1 is, in schematic elevational view of a sorting
installation for use in the process according to one embodiment
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of the invention.
Fig, 2 shows, on a lar~er scale than Fig. 1, in more
specific detail the process of the invention.
Referring to Fig. 1, the timber sorting installation
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comprises an upper conveyor, 10, into the supporting members 11
of wich the -timber pieces d are fed from the conveyor 12. 8elow
the upper conveyor 10, there i5 a set o~ sorting compartments
formed by the sliding planes 14. When runnin~ in the direction
indicated by the arrow A, the upper conveyor delivers timber
pieces e into the set of sort~ng compartments. When an
individual piece of timber f has arrived in the vicinity of the
compartment consistent with its quality and/or length, the action
of a turning cylinder 15 raises the dropping means 13a in its
path, and the timber piece g (Fig. 2) passes over to the sliding
plane 14 and slides down this plane against the timber mat B3
residing thereon, if present~
In accordance with the ~nventive concept of the copending
applicationg the compartment sect~on of the s~rting installation
consisting of sliding planes 14 has been subdivided into groups
of compartments A, B, C and D, each one o~ them comprising, as
shown in Fig. 1~ three compartments in immediate succession for
each specific timber type. Further according to the inventive
idea of the copending appl;cation, the stopping means 16 of the
groups of compartments A to D have been arranged to be releasable
and the compartments o~ the group in question to be emptied by one
~tarting command in accordance with a pre-set programme so that
the compartments of the groups A to D open and eMpty with
appropriate mutual timing.
In Fig. 2, the block C indicates schematically those
programming and control means by which the action of the stopping
means 16 and of the turning cylinder 17 is controlled. This
same unit C may also include means governing the action of the
turning cylinder 15 operatin~ the dropping means 13. In this
connection no detailed explanation has been glven o~ this apparatus
as there may be conventional electronic and/or pneumatic
equipment.
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As shown in Fig. 2, ~he dropping meana 13a h~s turned in
to the path of the timber piece f 7 and as the upper conveyor 10
moves forward in the direction of the arrow A, the piece of
sawn timber f moves onto the sliding plane 14C. Subsequently,
t~e stopping means turns into the position indicated by 13b,
by means of the turning cylinder 15. As shown in Fig. 2, the
timber piece g is proceeding downwardly along the sliding plane
14B3. The timber piece g slides along the sliding plane 14B
until it encounters the -timber mat B~ re~iding on the sliding
plane 14B3, which mat is kept stationary by the stopping.means 16a.
When the stopping means 16a is turned into the posîtion indicated
by 16b, by action of the turning cylinder 17, the timber mat
becomes free to move down onto the lo~er conveyor 20. This is
illustr~ted in Fig. 2 by the timber mat Cl, wherèof the part h
has slipped down to form a uniform and organized mat upon the
lower conveyor 20, which simultaneously moves in the direction
of the arrow B.
As shown in ~ig. 1, the sliding planes 14Al and 14A2
of the first group of compartments are still empty and the sliding
plane l~A3 is in the process of being filled with the timber
mat A3. In the group of compartments B the sliding planes 14Bl
and 14B2 are 3.already filled to capacity and the sliding plane 14B3
is in the process of filling with the tîmber mat B3. The group
of compartments C has been previously~illed and it is in the
process of discharging in that from the ~irst sliding plane 14
of the group of compartments C the timber mat Cl is discharging
on~o the lower conveyor 20. When the emptying of the sliding
plane 14Cl has reached an appropriate stage, the stopping means
; 16 of the next sliding plane 14C2 i8 relea~ed with a timing e.g.
such that the first timber piece o~ the timber mat C2 will li.e
immediately after the last timber piece in the timber ma~ Cl,
on the lower conveyor 20. In equivalent manner the stopping means
16 of the sliding plane 14C3 i5 released as soon as the dlscharging
of the sliding plane 14C2 has progressed to the proper stage.
As shown in Fig. 1, the sliding planes 14Dl, 14D2 and 14D3 of
the group of compartments D are in the process of being filled.
As shown in The Figures, to the lower end of the sliding
planes 14 there is pîvoted, at the point 19, freely upwardly
turnable guiding flaps 18, along which, when these flaps are
in the lowered position 18b, the timb~r pieces slide in controlled
fashion down onto the lower conveyor 20. Since the guiding flaps
18 are freely turnable in an upward direction, the timber mat h
is enabled to pass ~orwardly under them as the conveyor 20 is in
motion. The upper position of the guiding flaps is indicat~d
by the reference numeral 18a,
The sliding planes 14 are composed of two or more arms,
the top side of these arms being coated, mo~t appropriately
with a slippyry plastic material so that the friction is reduced
to be as low as poss~ble. The angle of inclination ~ of the
sliding planes may then be made rather small.
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