Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~- C~2068704
This invention is directed toward an improved tree delimber
machine.
The invention is more particularly directed toward a tree
de:limber machine with improved tree feed means.
The invention is also directed toward a method of operating
the tree delimbing machine, particularly when tree feeding during
delimbing is interrupted.
Tree delimbers with a boom as~embly having a boom sliding
through a sleeve are known. Tree gripping means are mounted on the
front of the ~leeve and tree gripping and delimbing means are
mounted on the front of the boom. To delimb a tree, the boom
as~embly i8 operated to have the tree gripping and delimbing means
on the boom pick up the tree near its butt end and place the tree
via its butt end in the gripping means on the sleeve. The boom is
then extended to have its gripping and delimbing means delimb the
tree while it is held by the gripping means on the sleeve.
These known delimbers cannot however delimb very long trees
because of physical limitations on the length of the boom. It is
known to provide delimbers of above type having a passageway for the
tree directly behind the gripping means on the sleeve. With the
passageway, a long tree can be initially gripped by its butt end and
partly delimbed by a full stroke of the boom. The boom then grips
the tree at the end of its stroke, the tree gripping means on the
sleeve releases its hold, and the boom is returned moving the
delimbed portion of the tree through the passageway. The tree
gripping means on the sleeve then grips the tree about mid-center.
A second stroke of the boom now completes delimbing. The delimber
with a passageway is relatively slow however since the tree and the
delimber means must be repositioned between strokes.
It is also known to provide delimbers that have feeding
means to feed a tree rearwardly past fixed or stationary delimbing
t 2~6g70~
means to delimb it. To speed up delimbing, second delimbin~ means
can be provided on the front end of the boom and the boom can be
moved forwardly simultaneously while the tree is being moved
rearwardly to delimb both ends of the tree. An example of such a
machine is shown in Canadian Patent 986,821 by way of example. The
known machine is however quite complicated in construction having
the tree feeding means separated from the boom assembly. In
addition, the tree feeding means are relatively complicated
requiring two sets or pairs of feeding rolls.
It is the purpose of the present invention to provide a
tree delimber machine of the type that employs tree feeding means
wit:h the machine havin~ a simpler and more efficient construction
than known machines.
It is also a purpose of the present invention to provide a
tree delimber machine with improved and simplified tree feeding
means.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided
a tree delimber machine having a boom assembly mounted on top of a
boom support. The boom assembly employs a sleeve with a boom
slidably mounted with respect to the sleeve. Tree gripping means
are mounted on the outer end of the boom. Tree delimbing means are
mounted on the outer end of the sleeve. Tree feeding means are
mounted on the sleeve directly under the boom and directly behind
the delimbing means. The location oE the tree feeding means on the
boom assembly directly under the boom and directly behind the
delimbing means simplifies the delimbing machine and makes it easier
handling the trees.
Preferably a passageway extends through the boom support,
through which a tree being delimbed can pass. The tree delimbing
means and the tree feeding means are located on the sleeve directly
in Eront of the inlet to the passageway thereby further simplifying
tree handling during delimbin~.
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The novel tree feeding means employed comprise three feed
rollers with one of the rollers fixedly located on the bottom of the
sleeve and the other two rollers swingably mounted on the sleeve to
mo~e inwardly and upwardly toward the one top roller so as to grip
a tree between all three rollers. The two swingable rollers tightly
hold the tree against the top fixed roller. Rotation of all the
ro]lers feeds the tree past them. The three rollers, in feeding the
tree, are generally spaced apart about its periphery. The three
poi.nt contact on the tree provides more positive feeding than that
provided by a pair of rolls. Having a sin~le top fixed roll with
the~other two rolls biased up against it also simplifies the feeding
arrangement.
The tree delimber of the present invention has means for
selectively positioning the delimbing means on the sleeve between
one of: an open position to receive a tree to be delimbed; a clamp
position to tightly grip a tree; and a float position to loosely
hold a tree. The gripping means on the boom can also be selectively
positioned between one of: an open position to receive a tree to be
delimbed; a clamp position to tightly grip a tree; and a float
position to loosely hold a tree. During normal delimbing, when the
tree feeding means i5 operating, the delimbing means are in a float
position to delimb the tree as it is fed past the delimbing means.
At this time, the gripping means, about fifteen, twenty feet in
front of the delimbing means, are in an open position. The limbs of
the tree normally pass by the open gripping means during delimbing
by the delimbing means. However, a large limb may not pass by the
gripping means, stopping movement of the tree even though the
feeling means are still operating. If this occurs, the delimber
operator can stop the feeding means, move the delimbing means to a
clamp position to ti0htly grip the tree and move the gripping means
to a float position to loosely hold the tree. The gripping means
can now be moved away from the delimbin~ means by moving the boom so
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... .
as to remove the large limb with the gripping means. After removing
the large limb, delimbin~ continues as before with the delimbing
means.
Preferably, in accordance with the present invention, means
are provided for monitoring tree movement during delimbing. When
tree stoppage is detected such as when a large limb does not pass by
the gripping means, by the monitoring means, means are provided for
automatically stopping the tree feeding means, gripping the tree
wit.h delimbing means, moving the gripping means to a float position,
and moving the boom a predetermined short distance to remove the
large limb with the gripping means. After the gripping means has
moved the predetermined distance the delimber automatically reverts
to normal delimbing.
The tree movement monitoring means can comprise a wheel
adapted to rest on the tree and to be rotated by tree movement. The
rate of movement of the wheel is compared with the rate of movement
of the tree feeding means. If the wheel stops rotating while the
tree feeding means continues to operate then a comparison of the
movement rates will indicate that the tree is stopped. This
comparison preferably is used to automatically trigger delimbing
with the gripping means.
The invention is particularly directed toward a tree
delimber machine having a boom support and a boom assembly mounted
on the boom support. The boom assembly has a sleeve and a boom
slidably mounted through the sleeve. Tree gripping means are on the
front end of the boom and tree delimbing means are on the front end
of the sleeve. Tree feed means are also on the sleeve behind the
tree delimbing means.
The invention is also particularly directed toward a tree
delimber machine having delimbing means and feeding means for moving
a tree past the delimbing means. The feeding means comprises three
feed rollers and means for rotating each feed roller. The first
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feed roller i6 fixed in position on the machine. Means move the
second and third feed rollers between a tree feeding position where
the three rollers contact a tree about its periphery at spaced-apart
locations and a tree loading and unloading position where the second
and third rollers are spaced farther away from each other and from
the first feed roller than in the feeding position.
The invention is further particularly directed toward a
method of delimbing a tree with a delimbing machine having tree
gripping means, tree delimbing means, and tree feeding means. The
method comprises the steps of loading the tree to be delimbed in the
feeding means with the gripping means; releasing the gripping means;
feeding the tree past the delimbing means with the tree feeding
means to delimb it; monitoring tree movement while the tree feeding
means are operatin~ during delimbing with the delimbing means; and,
on sensing stopping of tree movement, initiating gripping of the
tree with the delimbing means and delimbing of the tree with the
gripping means.
The invention will now be described in detail having
reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is a side view of the tree delimber machine;
Fig. 2 is a detail front view of the boom;
Fig. 3 is a detail cross-section view taken along line 3-3
of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a detail cross-section view taken along line 4-4
of Fig. l;
Fig. 5 is a side view of the tree feeding means shown in
Fig. 4;
Fig. 6 i5 a schematic view of the hydraulic system; and
Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fi~. 4 showing an alternative
construction.
~0~870~
The tree delimber machine 1 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 has
a koom assembly 3 mounted on a boom support 5. The boom support 5
in turn is pivotally mounted on a vehicle 7 by means of a pivot 9.
Rigid, extendable link means 11, pivotally connected between the
boom support 5 and the vehicle 7, maintain the boom support 5, and
the attached boom assembly 3 in a desired position. The boom
support 5 has a generally horizontal, through passageway 13 (shown
in dotted lines) in its upper portion, just beneath the boom
assembly 3, through which a tree being delimbed can pass.
The boom assembly 3 has a tubular sleeve 17 mounted on top
of the boom support 5. An elongated boom 19 is slidably moved back
and forth through the sleeve 17 by suitable moving means such as a
hydraulic motor 20 operating a gear and chain drive ~not shown).
Tree gripping means 21 are provided at the front end of the boom 19.
The gripping means 21 include a pair of gripping arms 23, 25 that
are pivotally mounted to a head frame 27 on the front end of the
boom 19. The arms 23, 25 are longitudinally offset so that they can
cross in a closed position to grab and hold a tree between them and
the head frame 27. Cutting edges 29, 31 provided on the sides of
the arms 23, 25, and a cutting edge 32 provided on a flange 33 on
the front of the head frame 27 are used by the gripping means to
delimb a tree. Hydraulic cylinders 34, 34' move the arms 23, 25
respectively between an "open" position to receive or release a
tree; a tightly closed "clamp" position to tightly grip a tree; or
a lightly closed "float" position to loosely hold a tree.
Tree delimbing means 35 are provided on the front end of
the sleeve 17 of the boom assembly 3 as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.
These delimbing means 35 comprise a pair of curved arms 37, 39
pivotally mounted in brackets on each side 41, 43 of the sleeve 17
and longitudinally offset so that they can cross in a closed
position to grip a tree between them. Cutting edges 45, 47 are
CA~ 0~1
provided on the sides of the arms 37, 39 for use in delimbing a tree
as will be described.
In more detail, arm 37 is pivotally mounted to a bracket 49
by a pivot 51 just beneath and to one side of the sleeve 17.
Bracket 49 is mounted on the side 41 of the sleeve 17. The pivot 51
is near the inner end 53 of the arm 37. A rigid, extendable link 55
is pivotally mounted at one end, via pivot 57, to the bracket 49,
just above and to the side of sleeve 17. The other end of the link
55 is pivotally mounted via pivot 59 to the inner end 53 of the arm
37. Extension of link 55 will pivot the arm 37 about pivot 51 to a
closed position beneath the sleeve 17, where it crosses with arm 39
when arm 39 is also in a closed position. Arm 39 is mounted in a
similar manner with similar elements (designated with a prime~ on
the other side 43 of the sleeve 17. The exten- dable links 55, 55'
preferably are hydraulic actuators. The arms 37, 39 are moved by
the links 55, 55' between an "open" position to receive or release
a tree; a tightly closed "clamp" position to tightly grip a tree;
and a lightly closed "float" position to loosely hold a tree.
Tree feeding means 61 are also provided on the boom
assembly 3. The tree feeding means 61 as shown in Fig. 1 are
preferably located at the front of the sleeve 17, between the tree
delimbing means 35 and the boom support 5. The tree feeding means
61 are mounted on the sleeve 17 but are located beneath it and are
generally longitudinally aligned with the passageway 13 in the
support 5. The tree feeding means 61 comprise three cylindrical
fee~ rollers 63, 65, 67 as shown in Fig. 4. Each feed roller has
projecting teeth 69, 71, 73 on its cylindrical surface to help the
roller grip a tree.
A first of the feed rollers 63 is rotatably mounted
adj~cent the bottom 75 of the sleeve 17, in a ~ixed position, with
its longitudinal axis horizontal and transverse to the longitudinal
axis of the passageway 13. This first or top feed roller 63 is
-
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. .
mounted between brackets 77, 79 extending downwardly and outwardly
from the sides 41, 43 of the sleeve 17. The top feed roller 63 is
located just below the top of the passageway 13 and is rotated by a
hy~raulic motor 81 mounted between one of the brackets 77, 79.
The second and third feed rollers 65, 67 are rotatably
mounted on arms which in turn are pivotally mounted to the brackets
77, 79. Since both rollers 65, 67 are similarly mountedr the
molmting of one only will be described in detail. Second roller 65,
as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, is rotatably mounted at the lower end of
an arm 87 with its longitudinal axis transverse to the longitudinal
ax.:s of the passageway 13. The arm 87 comprises a pair of
sideplates 89, 91 with a pair of spaced-apart cross plates 93, 95 at
the lower ends of the sideplates 89, 91 joining them together. The
ro].ler 65 is rotatably mounted between crossplates 93 r 95 with its
axi.s generally parallel to the sideplates 89 r 91. The arm 87 is
pivotally mounted to the lower end of bracket 77 by a pivot 97
passing through the sideplates 89, 91 near their upper ends 99, 101.
The sideplates 89, 91 adjacent their upper ends 99, 101 are
pivotally mounted via a pivot 103 to a rigid, extendable link 105.
The link 105 is pivotally mounted at its other end to the side 41 of
the sleeve 17. Third roller 67 is mounted in a similar manner with
similar elements (designated with a prime) to the bracket 79 on the
other side 43 of the sleeve 17 and is aligned with second roller 65
and also first roller 63. The links 105, 105' are preferably
hydraulic actuators. The second and third rollers 65, 67 are
rotated by hydraulic motors 107, 109 mounted on the arms 87, 87'.
The hydraulic system 115 for operating the delimber is
shown in Fig. 6. The system 115 includes a main feed conduit 117
leading from the main hydraulic fluid reservoir 119 of the hydraulic
system of the delimber. There is a pump 121 in the feed conduit
117. A main return conduit 123 leads back to the reservoir 119. A
bypass line 124 connects the feed conduit 117 to the return conduit
CA 2068704
12:3 via a pressure relief valve 125. Branch ~eed conduits connect
the main feed conduit 117, through feed roller motor control valves
12'3A, 129B and 129C to one side of the hydraulic motors 81, 107, 109
whi.ch operate the feed rollers 63, 65, 67 respectively. Branch
ret:urn conduits from the motors 81, 107, 109 connect to the main
ret:urn conduit 123 through the control valves 129~, 129B, 129C. The
control valves 129A, 129B, 129C can be selectively operated in
unison through an electronic controller 131, controlled by the
de].imber operator, to cause the hydraulic motors 81, 107, 10~ to
rot.ate the feed rollers 63, 65, 67 in one direction or the other, or
to allow them to rotate freely.
The hydraulic system 115 includes a feed roller arm control
valve 133 for operating the hydraulic cylinders 105, 105' that
respectively move the arms 87, 87' that control the position of
feed rollers 65, 67. Branch feed and branch return conduits connect
the main feed conduit 117 and the main return conduit 123 to the
hydraulic cylinders 105, 105' via the control valve 133. The
control valve 133 can be selectively operated through the controller
131 by the delimber operator to move the rollers 65, 67 inwardly and
upwardly toward the fixed feed roller 63 to tightly grip a tree
between all three rollers, or to move the rollers 65, 67 downwardly
and outwardly from roller 63 to release a tree or to be in a
position to receive a tree.
A gripping means control valve 135 is provided in the
hydraulic system 115 for operating the hydraulic cylinders 34, 34'
that move the gripping arms 23, 25. The control valve 135 can be
selectively operated through the controller 131 to move the gripping
arms 23, 25 between an "open" position to receive or release a tree,
and a "clamp" position to tightly grip a tree. A gripping means
"soft clamp" arrangement 137 i5 provided between the control valve
135 and the hydraulic cylinders 34, 34'. The "soft clamp"
arrangement 137 when operated by the controller 131 reduces the
~2368704
pressure applied to the cylinders 34, 34'. A pressure reducing
va:Lve 139 in the "soft clamp" arran~ement reduces the pressure. The
reduced pressure applied is selected to allow the gripping arms 23,
25 to "float" on a tree loosely holding it.
Delimbing control valve 151 in the hydr~ulic system 115
operates the hydraulic cylinders 55, 55' that control the delimbing
arms 37, 39. Operation of the control valve 151 by the controller
131 will move the arms 37, 39 between an "open" position to receive
or release a tree and a "clamp" position to tightly grip the tree.
A "soft clamp" arrangement 155 is provided between the control valve
151 and the hydraulic cylinders 55, 55'. The "soft clamp"
arrangement 155 is similar to the "soft clamp" arrangement 137 and
has a selectively operable pressure reducing valve 159 that can
reduce the pressure applied by the cylinders 55, 55'. Operation of
the valve 159 by the controller 131 reduces the pressure applied by
the cylinders 55, 55' on the delimbing arms 37, 39 to allow the
delimbing arms to " float" to loosely hold a tree.
A boom motor control valve 163 controls the operation of
the hydraulic motor 20 moving the boom 19. Operation of the control
valve 163 by the controller 131 will allow the motor 20 to rotate in
one direction or the other movin~ the boom 19 in one direction or
the other relative to the sleeve 17.
Tree movement monitoring means are provided on the
delimber. These movement monitorin~ means include a freely
rotatable wheel 165 mounted on the end of an arm 167. The arm 167
is pivotally mounted at its other end to the bottom of the sleeve 17
as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 just behind the tree feeding means 61 and
just in front of the passageway 13 in the boom support. Suitable
resilient means 168 bias the arm 167 downwardly against a tree as it
i5 held by the feed rollers 63, 65, 67 to have the wheel 165 bear
against the top of the tree. Sensor~ 169 are provided on the
delimber as shown in Fig. 6 to detect the speed o~ rotation of the
i-- CA~()68704
hydraulic motors 81, 107, 109 which operate the feed rollers 63, 65,
67. A sensor 171 is also provided on the delimber to detect the
speed of rotation of the wheel 165. A further sensor 173 is
provided to detect the rotation of the boom motor 20. The sensors
16'3, 171 and 173 are connected to the controller 131.
In operation of the delimber, the boom 19 is extended from
the sleeve 17 by the operator operating the hydraulic motor 20
through the controller 131 and the boom motor control valve 163.
The boom 19 is also lowered by retraction of the link means 11. The
gripping arms 23, 25 are moved to a "clamp" position to tightly grip
a ielled tree to be delimbed near its butt end. At this time the
delimbing arms 37, 39 are in an "open" position and the bottom feed
ro]lers 65, 67 are also in an open position to receive the tree.
The boom 19 is now withdrawn and raised, if needed, to position the
but:t end of the tree within the rollers 65, 67 and within the open
de]imbing arms 37, 39. The roller arms 87, 87' are now moved by
the operator through the controller 131 and control valve 133 to
move the rollers 65, 67 inwardly and upwardly toward the fixed
rol,ler 63 so as to tightly grip the tree between the three rollers.
The operator then starts the hydraulic motors 81, 107, 109 through
control valves 129A, 129B, 129C to rotate the feed rollers 63, 65,
67 to feed the tree past the delimbing arms 37,39 and through the
passageway 13. In starting the motors 81, 107, 109, the controller
131, through control valve 151 and soft clamp 155 simultaneously
moves the delimbing arms 37,39 to a "float" position, loose about
the tree so that the arms 37, 39 delimb the tree as it is fed past.
The controller 131 also simultaneously opens the gripping arms 23,
25 which are located about fifteen to twenty feet in front of the
delimbing arms 37, 39. As the tree is fed by the feed rollers past
the delimbing arms, the cutting edges 45, ~7 on the delimbing arms
delimb the tree.
CA2068704
During delimbing, the wheel 165 is rotated by the tree and
it;3 speed of rotation is sensed by the sensor 171. The speed of
rotation of the hydraulic motors 81, 107, 109 driving the feed
roLlers 63, 65, 67 is also sensed by sensors 169. The controller
13L compares the sensed speeds. When the speed of rotation of the
wheel 165 is generally the same as the speed of rotation of the
mo~ors 81, 107, 109, delimbing by the delimber arms 37, 39 proceeds
until a predetermined length of tree has been delimbed, or until a
preselected minimum tree diameter is reached A cutting tool (not
shown) on the delimber then cuts the undelimbed portion of the tree
off, the feed rollers are reversed, and the delimbed tree is removed
from the delimber by the gripping arms as the delimber arms and feed
ro]lers are opened.
During delimbing, a large limb may hit the open gripping
arn~s 23, 25 and not pass by them halting movement of the tree. The
wheel 165 stops rotating while the feed rollers 63, 65, 67 continue
to rotate, spinning in place on the stopped tree. The controller
131 senses the difference in speeds and when the speed of the feed
rollers has exceeded the speed of the sensing wheel by a
predetermined amount or for a predetermined time, the controller
automatically operates the delimber to cut off the large limb that
has interfered with the tree movement. First, the controller,
through control valve 151 and deactuation of soft clamp 155 moves
the delimbing arms from the "~loating" position to a "clamp"
position on the tree. The feed motors 81, 107, 109 are placed in a
free wheeling position by control valves 129A, 129B, 129C. When the
delimbing arms 37, 3g reach a predetermined clamping pressure, the
controller 131, through control valve 135 and "soft clamp" 137 moves
the gripping arms 23, 25 from the open position to a float position
where they loosely hold the tree adjacent the large limb. The
controller 131 simultaneously causes the boom 19, through control
valve 163 and motor 20, to move forward a predetermined distance,
206870~
su~h as about six feet by way of example. This causes the grapple
arms 23, 25 and the head frame 27, through delimbi;.g edges 29, 31,
33, to delimb the lar~e limb from the tree. After the boom 19 has
moved forwardly the predetermined distance, as sensed by sensor 173,
the controller automatically reverses motor 20 for the same
distance, moves the delimbing arms 37, 39 to a "float" position from
the "clamp" position, moves the gripping arms 23, 25 to an open
position, and starts the feed rollers 63, 65, 67 to continue
delimbing as before. Moving the boom forwardly a predetermined
distance during reverse delimbing provides a long enough length of
de]imbed tree in front of the gripping arms 23,
25 to allow the feed rollers 63, 65, 67 to build up feeding speed
before normal delimbing recommences.
In one delimbing mode as described above, the tree is moved
rearwardly by the feed means 61, past the delimbiny means 35, which
are in a "float" position, to delimb it. To speed up the delimbing
operation, a second delimbing mode can be employed whereby the boom
19 is simultaneously moved forwardly to delimb the top part of the
tree, with the delimbing means on the gripping means 21 which are in
a "float" position, while the tree is being moved rearwardly by the
feed means 61 and its lower part is being delimbed by the delimber
means 35 also in a "float" position.
In another embodiment of the invention, the arms holding
the rollers 65, 67 could be actuated by a single, ri~id, extendable
link. As shown in Fig. 7, the arms 287, 287' holding the rollers
265, 267 are mounted on brackets 277, 279 by pivots 297, 297'. A
single, rigid, extendable link 305 is pivotally connected between
the end of arm 287 and the side 241 of the sleeve 217. A rigid,
fixed-length link 307 is pivotally connected between arm 287, below
pivot 297, and to the free end of the other arm 287' above its pivot
297'. As extendable link 305 extends to move roller 265 inwardly
and upwardly, fixed-length link 307 simultaneously moves roller 267
2068701
i~wardly and upwardly through its connection between arms 287 and
2æ7'.
f~
