Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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TITLE OF THE INVENTION
Improvements in Tree Residue Reduction Apparatus
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to apparatus for processing residue
or debris left behind after a tree processing or harvesting
operation The residue normally consists of branches, tree
10 tops and the like
BAC~GROUND`OF INVENTION
-
Collection and processing of logging residues or debris
15 into a more concentrated form can be accomplished using land
clearing equipment and mobile chippers Productivity, however,
is relatively low and costs are relatively high and thus
commercially uneconomical
There are a number of problems associated with processing
20 tree logging debris and residue, some of which include the size
of the material, damage to chipper knives by rocks and other
foreign material and a general under utilization of equipment
capacity It has been found that the collection of processing
recovery is affected by the size of the debris or residue
25 material; the proportion of original residue recovered in the
form of processed material being substantially lower for small
diameter material.
There have been a number of proposals for handling log-
gong residue including mobile chippers, stump splitters and
30 the like
A residue processor is disclosed in Canadian application
436,297 filed September 8, 1983 and which is an earlier imp
provement to that disclosed in Canadian application Serial No
396,223 filed February 12, OWE
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The apparatus disclosed in the aforementioned applications
is basically a mobile residue pickup and processing apparatus
where at the front of the vehicle there is located a housing
having a driven pickup assembly thereon for picking up
residue such as branches, tree tops and the like left on the
ground following a tree harvesting operation The pickup
apparatus operates in cooperation with cutting knives to cut
up the residue into smaller pieces and means have been pro-
voided in an attempt to ensure the smaller cut up pieces do
10 not accumulate and clog the passage through which they move
during operation of the machine In, one of the earlier
aforementioned applications there is an improvement where
accumulation prevention means is provided and in one instance
comprises impeller means for propelling the cut up debris
15 through the passage and in another instance comprises
additional cutting knives mounted at the base of a slot
through which the pick up arms pass While effective, these
proposals have not been completely successful
In cop ending Canadian Application Serial No J 436,297
20 filed September 8, 1984 in the name of Douglas Do Hamilton
et alp there is disclosed a vertically oriented apparatus
where material is inked to a hopper at the top and thereafter
by gravity passes downwardly through a first debris reduction
unit to a second debris unit and into a fan unit for pro-
25 polling the cutup residue into, for example, a residuecollectorO The units are stacked vertically one on top of
the other and from experience of operating prototypes it
has been found clogging will sometimes occur in the first
stage reduction unit and/or the intake to the fan discharge
30 unto
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide improve-
35 mints in the aforementioned apparatus to reduce the tendency of clogging during use of the apparatus
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A specific object of the present invention is to provide
an apparatus where there is a two stage reduction of residue
followed by a fan unit means for discharging the reduced
particles and means to facilitate the flow of material
through the apparatus and thereby overcome some of the clog-
gong problems encountered with similar known equipment
In accordance with the present invention there is provide
Ed apparatus for reducing residue such as branches, tree tops
or the like resulting from tree harvesting operations into
smaller particles comprising
(a) a first residue reduction unit having a plurality
of cutter knives radiating from a hub at positions spaced
circumferential there around and longitudinally thrilling,
(b) a second residue reduction unit downstream of said
first unit,
(c) a fan type residue discharged unit downstream of
said second residue reduction unit and
(d) means lo reduce the tendency of clogging of at
least one of said first residue reduction unit and said fan
type discharge unit.
The units of foregoing paragraphs a, b, and c are prefer-
rawly mounted vertically one on top of the other so that the
flow of material from one unit to the other is assisted by
gravity The clogging reducing means in one instance con-
sits of baffles or impeller blades mounted on at least some
- of the cutter knives of the first residue reduction unit
wherein such baffles extend in a direction parallel to the
axis of rotation of the cutter knives In another instance
the blades of the fan type residue discharge unit are cut back
adjacent the hub on which they are mounted so as to provide
effectively a conical indeed area extending along a portion
of the depth of the blades facilitating the indeed of debris
to the fan discharge unit The two different clogging reduce
in means may be used individually or in combination
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LIST`OF'DRAWINGS
The invention is illustrated by way of example with
reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a vertical side elevation Al view of a self-
propelled residue processor provided in accordance with one
aspect of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a partial sectional right-hand elevation Al
view of the processing assembly on the mobile vehicle
illustrated in Figure l;
Figure 3 is a right-hand elevation Al view of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a partial sectional vertical elevation Al
view of an upper portion of the debris first stage reducing
apparatus illustrated in Figure 4;
Figure 5 is an oblique view of the second stage of the
residue reduction apparatus; and
Figure 6 is a partial oblique view of a cutter knife of
the first stage reduction unit having a baffle mounted there-
on in accordance with the present invention,
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated in
Figure 1 a mobile self-propelled residue processor 100 towing
a trailer 200 for collecting the processed residue
The mobile processor 100 comprises a mobile self-propel',
led vehicle 101 having an extendible and retractable boom 102
mounted thereon with a grapple 103 at the free outer end
thereof. The extendible and retractable boom is attached to
an operator's cab unit 104, the controls for the machine
being located in the operator's cab and which is rotatable
; mounted to slew about a vertical axis so that the operator
is always located at a position appropriately to see what is
; being handled and grasped by the grapple. In broken line the
grapple is illustrated holding a load of debris 105 prior to
being dropped into the residue processing portion of the
apparatus.
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The residue processing apparatus comprises a first nest-
due reduction unit 106 located vertically above a second nest-
due reduction unit 107 and which discharges into a fan blower
unit 108 that conveys the mutilated or broken up residue to
the container on the trailer 200 by way of a conduit 109.
The first residue reduction unit 106 (shown in partial
sectional view in Figure 1) has a hopper lo on the upper end
thereof for receiving residue to be processed, the residue
being dropped whereinto by the grapple 1030 The residue is
10 broken up by a plurality of arms 111 or cutter knives mounted
on a shaft or hub 112 driven for rotation by one or more
hydraulic motors 1130 The arms ill are spaced apart from one
another circumferential around the shaft or hub 112 and
spaced longitudinally thrilling and cooperate with fixed cut-
15 ton knives 114, (see Figure 4) on the housing, during rotation to break the residue into smaller pieces
It is intended that the apparatus 106 be designed such as
to effectively meter the residue being fed to the second
reduction unit 107 and this can be accomplished by various
20 means One consideration is that the hub 112 can be rotated
at various different speeds At slower rates of rotation of
the hub the peripheral spacing between the arms 111 effectively
provides a wider gate or door for receiving material to be
processed, while at higher speeds the amount of material grasp-
25 Ed by the arms would be substantially less and thereby reduce the amount of residue being processed and fed into the second
stage processing unto The spacing of the arms 111 from one
another peripherally around the shaft can be varied by any
convenient means, for example, by mounting such arms on a
30 collar attached to the hub and which can be variously position-
Ed thereby adjusting the gap between adjacent arms in the same
plane. Also, longitudinally along the shaft the arms can be
variously positioned, one relative to another, at different
peripheral locations and/or aligned with one another depending
35 upon the material and residue being processed. Some export-
mentation will be required as to the type of residue being
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processed relative.to-the:positioning of the knives or
cutter arms 111 to accomplish the desired results.
The first residue reduction unit 106 is of the type disk
closed in applicants aforementioned applications and further
details of the same is believed unnecessary at this time.
reference to such applications may be had for further details
of the same and the subject matter thereof is incorporated
herein by reference thereto
The second residue reduction unit 107 is a conventional
hammer mill illustrated in Figure 5 and which is a Type A
hammer mill identified as a Jeffrey hammer mill by Dresser,
or any other type The hammer mill 107 has a housing 120
in which there is located a rotary cutter unit 121 driven by
a hydraulic motor 122 through a gear reduction unit 1230 The
rotor 121 is relatively massive and thus there is substantial
inertia or momentum for receiving and leveling out energy
requirements in handling a fluctuation in the flow from the
first residue reduction unit 106. This inertia energy can be
utilized effectively to control the flow of material from the
first reduction unit 106 to the second reduction unit 107.
: For example, the inertia affect can be utilized in handling
overloads by cutting off power requirements to motor 122 and
diverting hydraulic fluid flow to the motors 113 of the first
reduction unit so as to speed up the same and thereby cut
down the amount of residue being processed by the same or at
a greater speed cutting it up into finer material, thereby
reducing the load on the second reduction unit 107.
The hammer mill 120 illustrated in the drawings is a
hammer type wherein the hammer units are pivotal mounted on
a disk rotatable on a shaft and operating in conjunction with
a fixed screen. Alternative to this fixed cutter type units
can be mounted on the rotor and cooperate in a conventional
manner with other fixed cutters in the housing unit.
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Discharge from the second residue processor 107 is direct-
lye into a power driven fan unit 108 that brows the broken up
residue through conduit 109 into the collector 200.
The first residue reduction unit 106, the second residue
reduction unit 107 and the fan 108 can all be driven by
hydraulic motors and the circuitry thereof may be interrelated
one relative to another so as to maximize the utilization of
power and divide power requirements from one unit to the
other to provide an efficient system for handling varying size
and quantities of residue being processed. The power sources
for the various units may be independent of one another or
interrelated Preferably the drive for unit 107 is a direct
drive with an interrelated or integrated drive therefrom for
unit 1080
It is primarily intended the first indeed reduction unit
should be automatic self-feeding by rotation of arms Lowe
However, should indeed to such reduction unit be hampered by
the type of material being fed thereto, additional propelling
means may be utilized, for example, a plurality of arms
radiating from shafts which are rotatable about axes parallel
to the shaft on which arms 111 are mounted but spaced laterally
therefrom so as to direct the debris to be processed into the
processing area
In the foregoing, there has been described briefly, means
for automatic feed from the first processing or debris reduce
lion unit to the second reduction unit, the latter of which
may be referred to as a common hog unto The motor driving
the hog unit may be co-related to the drive of the first
debris reduction unit so that the speed on the hog motor
increases or decreases relative to the speed of the first
reduction unit, depending upon the requirements to ensure
there is a constant feed from one to the other of the two
units
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From experience gained in operation of a prototype of the
apparatus disclosed in the aforementioned Canadian Application
Serial No 436,297, clogging has been found to occur sometimes
in the first reduction unit 106 and/or fan discharge unit 1080
Clogging occurs in the first reduction unit when the cutup
debris therein fails to flow there through and into the second
reduction unit It has been found the clogging of such unit
can be substantially reduced by adding baffles to the cutter
knives 111= Referring to Figure there is illustrated one
cutter knife 111 with a curved baffle Lola projecting laterally
therefrom The baffle Lola projecting laterally therefrom.
The baffle Lowe extends from the hub lllb and is curved in the
same direction as the cutter knife 111 generally following
the contour thereof terminating in an outer end lllc sub
staunchly behind the tip hid of the cutter knife in reference
to the direction of rotation of the cutter knife While the
baffle Lola is illustrated as being curved and connected to
the hub it could alternatively be a straight baffle extending
only along a portion of the length of the cutter knife.
Experimentation will be required for the most effective length
and shape of the baffle for propelling of different types of
material to be processed The baffle serves as a positive
means for propelling the material through the reduction unit
but, dependent upon the speed of rotation, may also be effect-
ivy as an air moving means facilitating propelling the cutup
; debris through the reduction unit into the second stage
reduction unit.
With respect to air flow through the systems, and which facilitates the flow of material through the various units, in
Figure 2 it will be noted the second stage reduction unit 107
has baffle units or deflector plates aye From Figure 3 it
will be noted these baffle plates slope outwardly and downward-
lye providing an inflow air path designated by the arrow A.
These deflector plates can, if desired, be hingedly (or slid-
ably mounted) to selectively vary the intake area of the airflow path and thereby selectively adjust the amount of air
flow
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The cutup residue from the second reduction unit 107 is
directed by way of walls 107b into the fan unit 1080 The fan
unit has a plurality of blades aye (preerrably flat) secured
to and radiating outwardly from a hub 108b on a shaft journal-
led by suitable bearing means for rotation about a vertical axis and driven by a hydraulic motor kiwi It has been found
clogging of the fan unit can be substantially reduced by
cutting back the blades generally along a line designated 108d.
; The line 108d is illustrated generally in alignment with the
wall 107b defining the discharge from the second reduction
unit. Effectively the cutback in the blades leaves an open
conical indeed area designated D (see Figure 3) that extends
along a portion of the depth of the blades the depth being
measured parallel to the axis of rotation of the hub 108b.
The debris from the fan unit 108 discharges from an outlet
eye into the discharge conduit loo
The second reduction unit 107 is driven by an internal
combustion engine Ml connected by a drive shaft DO by way of
an overriding clutch C to the drive transfer unit 123~ The
drive transfer unit 123 also drives the hydraulic motor 122
which supplies fluid pressure by way of line aye to the motors
1130 Motor Ml also drives a hydraulic pump My providing
fluid pressure by way of line Ma to the hydraulic motor 108c
which by way of a belt drive 108f drives the shaft 108b of the
fan unit. The hydraulic motor 108c additionally is connected
to a drive shaft 108h which by way of an angle gear box 108j
is connected to the shaft 108k of the hammer mill 1070 As
previously mentioned there is considerable momentum energy in
the hammer mill and this energy can be utilized to drive motor
108c when the rotational speed of the fan is reduced by over-
loading of the fan with debris material The drive system from
the hammer mill shaft aye to the motor 108c is through a
torque limiting device The purpose of the arrangement is to
use the kinetic energy of the hammer mill to drive the blower
when there is an overload on the latter and thereby reduce the
tendency of clogging
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In summary of the foregoing there axe three different
propositions for reducing clogging one being the addition of
baffles in the first stage reduction unit, the other being a
modification to the shape of the blades in the fan discharge
unit and the third being utilization of the momentum of the
rotor in the second reduction unit to provide additional
power input to the drive of the fan unit. These different
proposals may be used individually in combination or in
sub combinations thereof
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