Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
12~i47~2
This invention relates to a bin sorter for use in a lumber mill,
wherein cut lumber or logs are collected.
Various types of bin sorters are known, some of which have inclined
walls and ~nost of which have sort bins with substantially horizontal bin
floors which are either se~ured in a horizontal disposition for up and down
movement parallel to the bin walls or are pivotally mounted such that they can
be held substantially horizontal throughout movement between the bin walls and
can be released to an inclined position for dumping lumber from the bottom of
the bin onto unloading chains which pass therebeneath.
In our U.S. Patent No. 4,281,953, there is tau~ht a sort bin provided
with vertical or near vertical bin walls and having an inclined bin floor
which is not pivotable but is rigidly secured to a support which is movable up
and down along most of the length of the bin walls. With such a structure,
the inclined bin floor can be raised very close to a conventional sorter
conveyor passinp overhead, thus minimizing the distancs that the boards drop
from the conveyor to the bin floor and hence reducing damage to the lumber by
bruising. The first few boards which drop into the bin land upon the inclined
bin floor and slide to the lowest part of the floor against the adjacent bin
wall, thus squaring the boards and so achieving a more manageable filling of
the sort bin than is possible with a horizontal floor bin. The bin walls are
supported between vertical columns along which the bin floors are raised and
lowered, and the bin walls have their bottom edges spaced from the ~nloading
chains extending beneath the bins, so that there is clearance for the boards
which have discharged from the bin onto the chains to pass beneath the bin
walls. Thus, each bin floor discharges its load by lowerin~ it beneath the
bottom edge of the adjac:ent bin wall, so that the boards spill out onto the
unloading chains.
The arrangement descrlbed above has two disadvantages which the
present invention seeXs to overcome. Firstly, the diseharge of the board~
tends to bo relatively ~mcontrollad onea tha bin floor hao elear~d tho bottom
ed~e of th~ ad~accnt wall and, ~oeondly, th~ bottom boards hav~ a dlstance to
fall whlch is at loa~t eclual to the cl0aranee betweon the bin walls and the
unloader chains, whlch gives rise to the risk of damage to the board~.
In the present invention, uncontrolled spillage of the boards is
preventod by means of gates which can be rotated from a substantially
PAT 14b2~
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horizontal orientation to extend downwardly from the bin walls over at least
the major portion of the clearance between such walls and the unloader
chains. In their downwardly extending positions, the ~ates permit the bin
floors to be lowered to just above the unloader chains, whilst the gstes
respectively function as backstop and frontstop to control splllage of the
lumber. The lumber may then be discharged by rotating the forward gate (in
the sense of the direction of travel of the unloader chains) into a horizontal
position and the boards are then free to fall upon the unloader chains, which
carry them away.
Whilst the invention is particularly advantageous for the handling of
cut lumber (i.e. boards) from the viewpoint of decreased damaBe to the boards,
it may equally well be adapted to the sorting of lo~s without substantial
modification to the construction and operation of the apparatus and without
departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Thus, according to the present invention, there is provided a sort
bin having substantially vertical or inclined first and second bin walls
located in mutually facing, spaced-apart relationship and supported at their
ends between vertical or inclined columns;
a bin floor movable along a path extending parallel to said bin
walls, said bin floor extending between said walls and mounted to incline
downwardly towards said second wall throughout movement of said floor;
means for raising and lowering said bin floor between a raised
position adjacent the upper edges of said bin walls and a lowermost position
at the region of an unloading conveyor whereby, as the bin is filled with
lumber in the form of logs or boards, the bin floor low,ers until the bin is
full, whereafter further lowering of the bin floor permits the lumber to slide
down the bin floor and below the bottom edge of said second wall;
a row of gate members pivotally mounted ad~acent the bottom of each
of said bin walls and means for rotating each sald row of gatn mombors in
tandem between substantlally horizontal po~ltlon~ and downwardly oxt~nalng
positions whoroin said ~ato mombor~ aro ~ubutantlally parallel to ~aid bln
walls, the Bate membors in each row when in their downwardly extending
positions functioning as backstops and frontstop6, re~pectively, for lumber
contained in said bin when sald bin floor 1~ below the bottom ed8e~ of uaid
bin walls, sald frontstops extending from said second wall and bein8 rotable
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from their downwardly extending to their substantially horizontal positions in
a direction away from said first wall to enable lumber to discharge from said
bin onto said unloading conveyor.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a bin sorter
comprises a plurality of sort bins as defined above, divided by said
substantially vertical or inclined bin walls, said first wall of a first of
said bins comprising said second wall of an immediately pracedin~ bin and said
second wall of said first bin comprising said first wall of sn immediately
succeeding bin, whereby said row of gate members extending from said first
wall of said first bin comprises a backstop for lumber contained within said
first bin and a frontstop for lumber contained within said immediately
preceding bin and said row of gates extending from said second wall of said
first bin comprises a frontstop for lumber contained within said first bin and
a backstop for lumber contained within said immediately succeeding bin.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the gate members in each
row are keyed (for example, by welding) to a cor~non shaft, by means of which
said ~ate members are rotatable in tandem between their horizontal and
vertical positions.
In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, each bin floor
comprises a plurality of spaced, downwardly inclined arms connected by a
horizontal beam extending therebetween.
The invention will now be described further by way of example only
and with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Figure l illustrates a bin sorter according to a preferred embodiment
of the invention;
Figures 2 and I respectively illustrate end and partial top views,
respectively, of the bin sorter of Figure l;
Figures 4 through 7 respectively illustrate the operation of the bin
sorter of Figure l by reference to a single sort bin, shown in side view; and
Figure 8 shows controls eor hydraulic maans for unloadlng tho bins.
Refarring now to tho drawin~ and partlcularly to ~lgur~u l, 2 and 3,
the bin sorter comprl~o~ sort bin~ lO, 20, 30, 40l whlch a~a constructed wlth
common walls between ad~acent bins, each wall havlng an uppor horlzontal beam
1, a lower horizontal beam 3, and vertical beams 15, 25, 35, 45, 55
respectively. These beams are all in the form of box or wide flange girders.
PAT 1442~ 3 -
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The bin walls are supported between spaced spart vertical columns 7 (only one
of which is shown in Figure 1). The columns and bin walls can be fabricated
either by welding, riveting or boltin~9 or by a combination of any of these.
Each bin has a vertically movable bin floor 110, 120, 1309 140,
respectively, and each bin floor consists of a horizontal beam 5 (again, in
the form of a box girder) upon which are secured by welding and brackets (not
shown) a number of contoured arms 9 which are spaced apart along the beam 5 at
a distance adequate to support ths boards without letting any fall between the
box members. Each arm 9 is formed with a concave bearing surface for the
lumber, and each arm is downwardly inclined to optimize filling of the bin and
to enable the boards to discharge therefrom onto the unloader conveyor 12.
As in the structure described in the aforesaid U.S. Patent No.
4,281,953, at each end of beam 5 there is attached a carriage in the form of a
flat plate 19, 21 by welding or the like, each plate having an upper roller 22
and a lower roller 23 which respectively are behind and in front of the inner
front flangQs 24 of columns 7. Therefore, the plates 19 and hence the bin
floors are movable vertically along the columns 7.
In order to control the movement of the bin floors, any type of
suitable hydraulic, compressed air, or electric mechanism can be utilized, one
type beins shown in Figures 1 and 3 for illustrative purposes. In the
operatin~ mechanism shown, a hydraulic or compressed air cylinder 26 is
mounted outside the web 31 of column 7 and between the outer flanges 27 and
29. The mounting of cylinder 26 can be through mounting lu~s on the ends of
the cylinder which can be secured by bolts (not shown) to web 31. The piston
rod is provided with a pulley 33 having twin grooves 3~ and 37 (see Figure 3),
and two cables 39 and 41 are secured to an attachment 43 on column 7, pass
around pulley 33, pass over a double groove pulley 46 secured above the head
of column 7, one cable then passing down the inside of column 7 to be secured
to plate 19 at 47 (E'igure 2) while the other cable passes above the top of the
bin wall, over a pulley ~not uhown) above column 7 and thon pa~Dou down tho
inside of the opposite column 7 to b~ ue~uL~od to plnt~ 21 nt 49. In~toad o~
rollers 22 and 23, plautlc guides uocured to plate~ 19 and 21 nn~ travolling
along flsnges 27 and 29 of the columns 7 may be used, a~ will be apparent to
those skilled in the art - the specific con~truction of the mountlng
arrangement for the beams 5 for movement along the column~ not forminK part of
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the present invention.
Each vertical beam 15 through 55 tarminates at its lower extremity
above the unloader chains 12 with sufficient clearance to permit the passage
of boards therebeneath in conventional fashion. Pivotally mounted -upon the
lower extremity of each vertical beam 15 through 5 is a gate 150, 250, 350,
450, 550, respectively. The gates are swingable between vertical and
horizontal positions and are actuated through a common shaft 75 and a piston
rod and cranX arranfiement 13, 14, (see Figure 4, from which the mechanism for
raising and lowering the bin floors has been omitted for the sake of clarity).
Turning now to Figures 4 through 7, there is shown the sequence of
operation of each bin floor by reference to the rotatable gates of the first
bin 10. Initially, the floor 110 i5 raised to its maximum height and receives
boards 51 from a conveyor 11 (Figure 4). As the bin fills, the bin floor is
lowered towards the bottom of the beams 15 and 25, as shown in Figure 5. The
gates 150 and 250 are both shown in hori~ontal position but they could be
horizontal or vertical, depending upon the condltion of the preceding and
succeeding bins, as will become apparent. When the operator dumps the bln,
both gates 150 and 250 swing downwardly into their vertical positions (if they
are not already vertical) so that as the floor is lowered further, (Figure 6),
the gate 150 acts as a backstop and the gate 250 acts as a frontstop, which
serve to confine the boards and prevent them from spilling out. Finally, to
discharge the boards onto the conveyor, the gate 250 is swung into its
horizontal position and ths boards are then free to discharge onto the
conveyor 12 (Figure 7). The bin floor is then raised back into the position
Qf Figura 4 to resume receiving lumber from the conveyor 11.
Figure 1 shows the orientation of the gates 150 through 550 relative
to th~ positlons of the bln floors 110 through 140 in the four bins 10 through
40~ Floor 110 is in its lowest position ready to discharge its lumber.
Consequently arms 150 and 250 extend downwardly to act as backstop and
frontstop to prevent spillage as described above. Floor 120 i~ ~n lta hl~ho~t
position and floor 130 i9 on itD way down.
Gato 350 oxtonds horlzontally, ~lnco it wa~ ~wun~ into thls position
to allow dumping of the bin 20 when the floor 120 was in its "dump" po~ltion,
prior to its return to the position shown in ~igure 1. Gate 350 will now be
~wung downwardly to act us backstop for boards in the floor 130 as the latter
PAT 1442-1 - 5 -
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continues its downward movement. Gate 450 is already vertical, acting asbackstop for boards being dumped from bin 40 and gate 450 simultaneously acts
as frontstop for bin 30. Gate 550 is horizontal to allow the dumping of
boards from bin 40 to proceed.
Control for the gates may be accomplished manually, semi-
automatically or fully automatically and may conveniently be integrated with
the manual or computerized controls for raising and lowering th~ bin floors -
such controls being entirely conventional and not forming part of this
invention. Thus, each hydraulic cylinder 13 may be fed from a hydraulic
supply through a solenoid ~alve 13a (see Figure 8), which is actuated to apply
hydraulic pressure to appropriate side of the piston within the cylinder 13 to
raise or lower the gate.
Under automatic control, a central controller for raisin~ and
lowering the bin floors applies appropriate signals to the solenoid valves
controlling the hydraulic cylinders for the frontstop and backstop gates.
When the bin floor is lowered and it is determined that the unloader chains
below the bin are clear, the controller signals the solenoid valves to cause
the gates to drop into their lowered positions. When the bin floor reaches
its lowermost position from which the lumber may be dumped, the controller
signals the frontstop to be raised and thus permit the lumber to discharge
onto the unloader chains. Once the bin has emptied, the bin floor is raised
either automatically or at the command of the operator and after a
pre-determined time count, the controller causes the frontstop to rotate back
into its vertical position.
Whilst the invention has been described specifically by reference to
vertical sort bins, lt will be apparent that the concept is equally applicable
to bins having inclined walls. Just as the gates in the embodiment described
above effecti.vely form extensions of the bin walls when the gates are in thoir
vertical positions - thus permittin~ t,ho bin floor~ to bo loworod wlthout
splllago o~ the lumbor - tho gato~ o~ a ~orSor ~av~n~ IncLlllo(i bln walls
effectivoly form oxtonslonD of tho wnlls ~lon tho ~ates aro in their lowered
positlons. Thus, in thls case, the ~ates do not swing lnto vortical
orientations but, rather, into posltions which are parallel to the bin walls
and thsrefore have similar lncllnatlons from vertical.
PAT 1442-1 - 6 -
