Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
The p:resent invention ~elates -to a wood sortiny
apparatus of the kind which includes a plurality of compartments
arranged to receive wood from a conveyor located above the
compartments, each of the compartments being provided with an
openable receiving or bottom part which compri.ses at least two
flexible members, each of which members is arranged to co-act on
one side of a compartment with a drum for taking-up and paying-out
said members, and each of which members is passed over a guide arm
arranged on the same sîde as said drum. The respective free ends
of the members on the other side of the compartment are arranged
to co-act with a locking means, and the drum is arranged to co~act
with the guide arm in a manner such that the guide arm at the end
phase of a member take-up operation is imparted with an upward
swinging movement in a direction towards the locking means
arranged on the opposite side of the compartment, for releasable
co~action with the free end of a respective member.
One such apparatus is described and illustrated in
principle in the Swedish Published Specification 347,720, although
with the difference that the known apparatus is particularly
intended for use with forestry vehicles.
~ nother known apparatus incorporating -the principle
of flexible wood-receiving members is reflected in the Swedish
Published Specification 7703110-2. In both of these cases the
receiving members can be released from locking means, and
separate means are provided to enable the end parts of the
receiving members to be detachably connected to the locking means.
The Published Specification 7703110-~ describes
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positive means Eor causing thc end oE a Elexib:Le member to co-ac-t
with the locking means, namely an encl portion ~Ihich extends
displaceably across a compar-tment and which carries said flexible
member. Al-though such an arranyement func~ons well in practice,
it is expensive to provide, since various drive sources must be
used. The necessary transmission means also gives rise to sources
of dlsturbance.
Distinct from Swedish Specification 7703110 2, the
Swedish Published Specification 347,720 gives no definite
indication as to how the free end of the receiving member is
caused to co-act with the locking means, which in itself is not
clearly described. As will be ~mderstood, one of normal skill in
this art would find it difficult to construct a ~unctional
apparatus with the information obtained in this Publication.
` Starting wi~h the apparatus as described in the first
paragraph, the object of the present invention is to improve that
part of the wood sorting apparatus which concerns the co-action
between the free end of the receiving member and the locking
means. To this end it is proposed in accordance with the
invention that aj the free end of respective members in the
working phase when the guide arm moves upwardly is of such length
that it hangs freely outside the free end of the respective guide
arm, and that the free end of the respective members is provided
with at least two, mutually spaced stop means; b) the guide arm
is arranged, in an optimally, substantially horizontal position,
to abut its free end within a space defined by the locklng means;
and that said space is arranged to accommodate at least the distal
stop means and also exhibits means which form a clamp lock for
the free end of said member ln a wood-receiving position.
It has surprisingly been found that the aforedescribed
combination not only provides a less expensive apparatus which is
extremely reliable in operation, but that it can also be fully
automated.
A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be
described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a top plan view of a wood sorting
apparatus according to the invention;
Figure 2 is a side view of the apparatus taken on the
line II-II in Figure l;
Figure 2a is similar to the view of Figure 2/ but shows
the apparatus in a di~ferent working stage;
Figure 3 is an enlarged view of a locking means and
an end portion of a guide arm, and also shows the end of a
flexible receiving belt co-acting with said end portion.
The compartment for collecting wood from an overlying
conveyor (not shown) illustrated in Figure 1 comprises, in a
manner known per se, a plurality of vertical posts 10, which are
connected together by two mutually spaced support beams 11, 12.
The space between the support beams 11, 12 forms the wood-
collecting compartment. The compartment is provided with wood
receiving means in the form of flexible belts 13. The apparatus
should be provided with at least two such belts, although the
illustrated embodiment has four.
Arranged in mutually spaced relationship on the carrier
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beam 11 are beam-like bearing attachments 14, which ~arry a
similar number of bearing housings 15. Passing through the
bearing housings 15 is a rotatable shaft 17 driven by an electric
, motor 16. The belts 13 are arranged to be taken-up on and paid-
out from drums 18 fixedly connected to the shaft 17.
,~ Each drum 18 is embraced by one end of a guide arm
19, which is freely rotatable on the shaft 17 and which, in the
vicinity of its other end, is provided with two mutually opposed
shoulders 20, 21, (see Figure 3) between which the belt 13 is
arranged to be guided. The ~orward end of ~he guide arm has a
rounded shoulder 22, over which the belt 13 is passed. Arranged
in spaced relationship on the free end of each belt 13 are two
stop means 23, 24. The inner of these stop means is arranged to
, abut the shoulders 20, 21, as described in more detail herein-
`~ after.
The opposite support beam 12 carries a plurality of
~, locking means 25, the structural design of which can best be
seen from Figure 3, the locking means being arranged to co-act
with the guide arms 19. A locking means 25 presents a space
which is open towards a drum 18 and which is defined by a rear
abutment surface 26, an upper abutment surface 27, and two side
walls 28. Arranged in the side walls is a bore 29, which is
oriented at a distance from the outer edges of the side walls.
The rear edges of the locking means 25 have a shape
which is complimentary to that of the, beam 12 (Figure 2). The
beam 12 is provided with supports 30 for a longitudinally
extending axle 31, which can be moved in the horizontal plane by
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means of a pneumatic cylinder 32.
The axle 31 has fixedly arranged attachment means 33,
the free ends of which are fixedly connected to locking shafts
34 which extend parallel with the axle 31. The locking shafts 34
are arranged to co-act with the bores 29 in the walls 2~ of the
locking means 25.
Figure 2a illustrates the apparatus when the belt 13
is released from -the locking means 25. When the drum 18 rotates
clockwise, the belt 13 is taken-up, until the inner stop means 24
of the stop means of the belt 13 is brought into abutment with
the shoulders 20, 21 of the guide arms 19. The guide arm 19,
freely rotatable on the shaft 17, is then caused to move upwardly
towards the locking means 25. In the optimally extended position
of the belt 13, the free end of the belt and the outermost stop
means 23 lie outside the free end of the guide arm 19. The free
end of the guide arm 19 and the locking means 25 are so arranged
re]ative to one another that upward pivo-ting of the guide arm is
restricted by the upper surface 27 of ~he locking means 25. At
the moment when contact is made, the free end of the belt is
guided into abutment with the rear movement limiting surface 27,
and the stop means 23 of the belt will be located downwardly of
and inwardly of the bore 29 (Figure 3). When the axle 31
connected to the air cylinder 32 is displaced forwardly, the
locking shaft 3~, co-acting with axle 31, is mo~ed through the
bores 29 in the walls 28 of the locking means 25. The rear
movement-limiting surface 26 of the locking means 25, and the
shaft 34 form a clamp lock for the stop means 23, and therewith
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the belt 13. By reversing the motox 16, the belt 13 is unwound
from the drum 18, therewith returning the guide arm to a
substantially vertical position When the compartment is filled
with wood, the shaft 34 is activated and relcases the free end
of the belt 13 from the locking means 25. The belt 13 is then
again taken-up on the drum 18, whereafter the said end of the
belt is again brought into contact with the locking means 25, in
the aforedescribed manner.
It has been found an advantage -to make the free end
portion of the belt 13 more rigid than the remainder of the belt.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, this free end portion
of the belt can be given double-belt thickness, for example by
folding the belt back onto itself, and the stop means, which have
a length equal to that of the width of the belt, can be anchored
between two such portions of the belt sewn together. Because of
its stiffer construction, the free end of the belt will strive to
take a horizontal position as the guide arm moves upwardly,
facilitating abutment of said belt end against the rear abutment
surface 26 of the locking means 25.
As will be understood, the free end of the belt can
also be stiffened by fixing simple, flexible metal elements
thereto, such as springs.
It would seem essential, however, that the outmost
end of the guide arm l9 at the moment of engagement with the
upper restricting surface 27 of the locking means 25 is located
as close to the periphery of the bore 29 as possible, i.e. in
each case so that the shaft 34 can be freely guided into the
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bores 29, and that the freely hanying belt end is of sufficient
length.
The horizontal locking shaft 34 is advantageous from
the aspect of safety, because the forces acting vertically when
the belt 13 is loaded are taken-up by the loc]cing means 25~ By
providing the upper abutment surface 27 of the locking means 25
with sensing means r it is possible to automate forward movement
oE the locklng shaft 34.
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