Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CA 02850939 2014-05-05
LOG SPLITTING APPARATUS HAVING LOG SPLITTER FRAME
WITH STRIPPER PLATES
FIELD
The present invention relates to a wood or log splitting apparatus and, more
particularly, to a log splitter frame including stripper plates for dislodging
logs during a
return stroke of a splitting blade.
BACKGROUND
Continued popularity of wood as a source of heat has lead to increasing use of
powered apparatus for wood splitting purposes. Many different forms of
mechanical
wood splitters have been developed. The most common design involves a frame
mounted blade and platform arrangement wherein the blade, platform or both are
driven
toward and away from one another usually by a hydraulic cylinder. A wood block
is
placed between the blade and platform and the cylinder is activated to move
the platform
and blade together relative to one another thereby driving the blade through
the wood
block.
SUMMARY
Disclosed herein is an apparatus for splitting logs including an elongated
beam, a
mounting lug adjacent a first opposing end of the beam, a foot plate adjacent
a second
opposing end of the beam, and first and second stripper plates respectively
removably
mountable adjacent the first and second sides of the beam. In one arrangement,
first and
second mounting bracket assemblies may be secured or securable to the first
and second
sides of the beam, where the first and second stripper plates may be removably
securable
to the first and second mounting bracket assemblies to removably mount the
first and
second stripper plates adjacent the first and second sides of the beam. For
instance, first
and second bolt and nut assemblies may be used to removably secure the first
and second
stripper plates to the first and second mounting bracket assemblies, such as
by inserting
the bolts through aligned apertures through the stripper plates and mounting
bracket
assemblies and then threading the nuts onto the ends of the bolts.
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Any of the embodiments, arrangements, and the like discussed herein may be
used
(either alone or in combination with other embodiments, arrangement, and the
like) with any
of the disclosed aspects. Any feature disclosed herein that is intended to be
limited to a
"singular" context or the like will be clearly set forth herein by terms such
as "only," "single,"
"limited to," or the like. Merely introducing a feature in accordance with
commonly
accepted antecedent basis practice does not limit the corresponding feature.
Moreover, any
failure to use phrases such as "at least one" also does not limit the
corresponding feature to
the singular. Use of the phrase "generally," "at least generally,"
"substantially," "at least
substantially" or the like in relation to a particular feature encompasses the
corresponding
characteristic and insubstantial variations thereof. Finally, a reference of a
feature in
conjunction with the phrase "in one embodiment" or the like does not limit the
use of the
feature to a single embodiment.
Reference will now be made to the following drawings, which assist in
illustrating the
various pertinent features of the various novel aspects of the present
disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure la is a perspective view of a log splitting apparatus according to one
embodiment including a log splitter frame in a horizontal position.
Figure lb is a perspective view similar to Figure 1 but with the log splitter
frame in a
vertical position.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the log splitter frame of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a top view of the log splitter frame of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a bottom view of the log splitter frame of Figure 2.
Figure 5 is a right side view of the log splitter frame of Figure 2.
Figure 6 is a front view of the log splitter frame of Figure 2.
Figure 7 is a rear view of the log splitter frame of Figure 2.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Figure la is a perspective view of a log splitting apparatus 10 broadly
including a log
splitter frame 14 for splitting logs (not shown) placed thereon, where the log
splitting frame
14 is mountable onto a carriage 18 having a pair of wheels 22 for supporting
and facilitating
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transport of the frame 14. For instance, the log splitter frame 14 may be
pivotally connected
to the carriage 18 via pivot pin 26 for pivotal movement of the log splitter
frame 14 between
at least first and second positions, such as horizontal and vertical positions
as shown in
Figures la and lb.
The log splitter frame 14 may broadly include a support beam 30 such as an I-
beam
or the like, such as including first and second opposite ends 102, 103, first
and second
opposite sides 106, 108, and top and bottom opposite platforms 110, 113). For
instance, the
top platform 110 may include opposite top and bottom surfaces 111, 112 and the
bottom
platform 113 may include opposite top and bottom surfaces 115, 117. The log
splitter frame
14 may also include cradle members 34 (e.g., a pair of cradle members 34, such
as first and
second cradle members 341, 342) appropriately secured or securable to the beam
30 and
collectively forming a cradle for supporting at least one log (not shown)
placed thereon or
therebetween, a foot plate 38 secured or securable generally adjacent a first
end of the cradle
members 34 for providing an opposing force against a log placed on the cradle
members 34
and being pushed against the foot plate 38 by a blade member (discussed blow),
and stripper
plates 42 (e.g., a pair of stripper plates 42, such as first and second
stripper plates 421, 422)
secured (e.g., via welding) or removably securable (e.g., via bolt and nut
assemblies)
generally adjacent an opposing second end of the cradle members 34 and/or beam
30 for
stripping split logs from the blade member as the same is retracted (e.g., due
to twisted grain
and/or other inconsistencies in the logs). The stripper plates 42 will be
discussed in more
detail later on in this disclosure.
The log splitter frame 14 may also include an anchoring member such as an
attachment lug 46 (e.g., part of the beam 30) to which a hydraulic cylinder 50
may be
removably secured (e.g., via pin 58). A drive assembly 54 (e.g., including an
engine
assembly, a hydraulic reservoir, etc.) may be fluidly interconnected to the
hydraulic cylinder
50 via hydraulic lines (not labeled) for purposes of advancing and retracting
a piston (not
shown) within the hydraulic cylinder 50 to split logs placed on the cradle
members 34. A
blade member 62 (e.g., including a single wedge =for splitting a log in two,
two wedges
substantially perpendicular to each other for splitting a log in four, etc.)
may be appropriately
secured or securable to the piston and designed to split a log placed on the
cradle members
34. More specifically, advancement of the piston from a first position
substantially within
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the hydraulic cylinder 50 (as in Figures 1a-1b) to a second position that is
closer to the foot
plate 38 causes the blade member 62 to urge the log against the foot plate 38
and then
eventually split the log as the blade member 62 continues to advance towards
the foot plate
38.
With specific reference now to Figure 2, the first and second stripper plates
421, 422
may be secured or securable to opposing sides of the frame 14 so that the
piston and blade
member 62 can be passed therebetween, such as to the first and second opposing
sides 106,
108 of the beam 30 (as shown in Figure 2), to the opposing first and second
cradle members
341, 342, and/or the like. Each stripper plate 42 may generally include a body
portion 66 and
a contact portion 70, where the body portion 66 generally provides stability
to the contact
portion as a log is being urged against the contact portion 70 during a return
stroke of the
piston (i.e., in a direction towards the lug 46) so as to strip the log from
the blade member 62.
For instance, each body portion 66 may generally extend perpendicularly from
the top
surface 111.
The body portion 66 of the first stripper plate 42i may extend along the first
side 106
of the beam 30 and include an inner surface 114, an opposite outer surface
116, a first side
portion 118, an opposite second side portion 120, a top edge 122, and an
opposite bottom
edge 124. Similarly, the body portion 66 of the second stripper plate 422 may
extend along
the second side 108 of the beam 30 and include an inner surface 114, an
opposite outer
surface 116, a first side portion 118, an opposite second side portion 120, a
top edge 122, and
an opposite bottom edge 124. In one arrangement, the top edges 122 of the body
portions 66
of the first and second stripper plates 421, 422 may be positioned above the
top surface 111 of
the top platform 110 of the beam 30 and the bottom edges 120 of the body
portions 66 of the
first and second stripper plates 421, 422 may be positioned below the top
surface 111. See
Figure 5. In one embodiment, the top edge 122 may taper downwardly from the
second side
portion 120 to the first side portion 118.
The contact portions 70 of the first and second stripper plates 421, 422 may
be
respectively attached to and extend away from the body portions 66 of the
first and second
stripper plates 421, 427. For instance, the contact portion 70 of the first
stripper plate 421 may
be attached to the second side portion 120 of the body portion 66 between the
top and bottom
edges 122, 124 of the body portion 66, and the contact portion 70 of the
second stripper plate
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422 may be attached to the second side portion 120 of the body portion 66
between the top
and bottom edges 122, 124 of the body portion 66. As another example, the
contact portion
70 of the first stripper plate 421 may extend away from the body portion 66 of
the first
stripper plate 421 towards the contact portion 70 of the second stripper plate
422, and the
contact portion 70 of the second stripper plate 422 may extend away from the
body portion 70
of the second stripper plate 422 towards the contact portion 70 of the first
stripper plate 421.
In one arrangement, and as shown, the body portions 66 of each of the first
and
second stripper plates 421, 427 may be a first plate, and the contact portions
70 may be a
second plate (e.g., perpendicular to the first plate), where each of the first
and second stripper
plates 421, 422 is a single piece of material that is bent to form the first
and second plates.
While the contact portions 70 of the stripper plates 62 have been shown as
being bent
inwardly towards each other (e.g., and forming perpendicular angles to their
respective body
portions 66) so as to provide a substantially flat surface against which logs
may be urged
during the return stroke of the piston, it is to be understood that other
shapes and forms of the
contact portions 70 are also envisioned and encompassed within the scope of
the present
disclosure.
In one arrangement, each stripper plate 42 may be removably secured or
attached to
opposing sides of the frame 14. As an example, each of the first and second
stripper plates
421, 427 may be attached to the beam 30 with respective first and second
mounting bracket
assemblies or arrangements 741, 747 that are respectively connected to the top
surface 111 of
the beam 30 and the body portions 66 of the first and second stripper plates
421, 422. In one
embodiment, the first and second mounting bracket arrangements 741, 747 may be
respectively connected to the first and second stripper plates 421, 427 and
may extend
towards each other. Furthermore, the first and second mounting bracket
arrangements 741,
742 may be spaced by a gap 130 over the top surface 111 of the beam 30 along
at least a
portion of the length of the beam 30 (e.g., such as for positioning of a
cylinder, piston, blade,
etc., see Figure la). For instance, an entirety of the first mounting bracket
arrangement 741
may be spaced from an entirety of the second mounting bracket arrangement 747
by the gap
130. In one arrangement, the first stripper plate 421 and first mounting
bracket arrangement
741 may be a first stripper plate unit and the second stripper plate 427 and
second mounting
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bracket arrangement 742 may be a second stripper plate unit, where the first
and second
stripper plate units are spaced by the gap 130.
In one embodiment, each of the first and second mounting bracket arrangements
741,
742 may be respectively secured to (e.g., via welding) or securable to the
first and second
opposite sides 106, 108 of the beam 30. Also, each of the first and second
mounting bracket
arrangements 741, 742 may include one or more apertures therethrough (not
shown) that are
configured to align with respective apertures (not shown) through the body
portions 66 of the
stripper plates 42 for receipt of respective bolts 78 to secure the stripper
plates 42 to the beam
30.
In one arrangement, each of the first and second mounting bracket arrangements
741,
742 may include at least a first bracket 82 including a mounting portion 86
that may be
secured to the beam 30 (e.g., via welding the mounting portion 86 to the top
of the beam 30
or to a flange 104 of the beam 30) or removably securable to the beam 14
(e.g., via aligned
apertures and bolts, not shown), and an attachment portion 90 through which
the apertures
are disposed and to which the stripper plate 42 may be removably secured to
(via a bolt 78
and respective nut 94). As shown, the mounting portion 86 may be disposed over
the top
surface 111 of the beam 30 while the attachment portion 90 may be disposed
over and
secured to the inner surface 114 of the body portion 66 (and may, like the
body portion 66,
extend generally perpendicularly relative to the top surface 111). For
instance, the mounting
and attachment portions 86, 90 may be perpendicular to each other as shown. As
another
example, the mounting portion 86 may be perpendicular to the body portion 66.
In one arrangement, a first flange 1041 may be positioned between the first
mounting
bracket 741 and the beam 30 and a second flange 1041 may be positioned between
the second
mounting bracket 742 and the beam 30. For instance, the first flange 1041 may
include a first
portion 126 positioned between the mounting portion 86 of the first mounting
bracket 741
and the beam 30, and a second portion 128 positioned between the inner surface
114 of the
body portion 66 of the first stripper plate 421 and the beam 30. Also, the
second flange 1042
may include a first portion 126 positioned between the mounting portion 86 of
the second
mounting bracket 742 and the beam 30, and a second portion 128 positioned
between the
inner surface 114 of the body portion 66 of the second stripper plate 422 and
the beam 30.
The first and second portions 126, 128 may be perpendicular to each other.
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The attachment portion 90 may include an outer surface (not labeled) against
which
the inner surface 114 of the body portion 66 of a stripper plate 42 may be
stably urged and
mounted against as a nut 94 is threaded onto a respective bolt 78
(collectively, a nut and bolt
assembly) and tightened against an opposing inner surface of the attachment
portion 90. In
another arrangement, each stripper plate 42 may be substantially directly
removably secured
to the beam 14 or cradle member 34 (e.g., via inserting a bolt 78 through
aligned apertures in
the stripper plate 42 and beam 14 and/or cradle member 34 and threading a nut
94 onto the
bolt 78). While a few manners of removably securing the stripper plates 42 to
the beam 30
or cradle members 34 has been disclosed, other manners of doing so are
envisioned and
encompassed herein.
Removability of the stripper plates 42 (e.g., via loosening the nuts 94 and
removing
the bolts 78 from the aligned apertures of the stripper plates 42 and mounting
bracket
arrangements 74 and/or in other manners) provides numerous advantages. In one
regard,
removability of the stripper plates 42 allows for efficient replacement of
damaged stripper
plates 42, replacement of the stripper plates 42 with different
sized/configured stripper plates
42, and/or the like. In another regard, removability of the stripper plates 42
allows for
replacement of the stripper plates 42 with other components (e.g., via
inserting the bolts 78
through aligned apertures through the mounting bracket arrangements 74 and
such other
components). In one arrangement, the stripper plates 42 could be removed and
replaced with
any appropriate stroke reducing/limiting devices designed to dislodge shorter
logs. For
instance, the stroke reducing devices may essentially be in the form of
stripper plates whose
contact portions are disposed closer to the foot plate 38 than are the contact
portions 70 of
stripper plates 42 shown in Figure 2. In one variation, the stroke reducing
devices may be
appropriately removably secured to the stripper plates 42 without removing the
stripper
plates 42 from the frame 14.
In a further regard, removability of the stripper plates 42 may allow for
installation
and use of any appropriate multi-way (e.g., 4-way) wedge system. For instance,
in the case
where the blade member 62 includes both vertical and horizontal wedges
("vertical" and
"horizontal" being in relation to the orientation of the log splitter frame 14
in Figure la), the
horizontal wedge may not be able to fit through the space between the contact
portions 70 of
the stripper plates 42. In this regard, the stripper plates 42 may be
appropriately removed
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from the frame 14 before the piston and blade member 62 are advanced. In one
variation, the
stipper plates 42 may be removed and replaced with stripper plates 42
sized/configured to
allow for passage of a multi-wedge blade member 62 therebetween.
The foregoing description has been presented for purposes of illustration and
description. Furthermore, the description is not intended to limit the
invention to the form
disclosed herein. Consequently, variations and modifications commensurate with
the above
teachings, and skill and knowledge of the relevant art, are within the scope
of the disclosure
herein. The embodiments described hereinabove are further intended to explain
best modes
known of practicing the invention and to enable others skilled in the art to
utilize the
invention in such, or other embodiments and with various modifications
required by the
particular application(s) or use(s) of the invention. It is intended that the
appended claims be
construed to include alternative embodiments to the extent permitted by the
prior art.
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