Metal working – Means to assemble or disassemble – With means to regulate operation by use of templet – tape,...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-04
2001-04-24
Hughes, Tom (Department: 3726)
Metal working
Means to assemble or disassemble
With means to regulate operation by use of templet, tape,...
C269S091000, C029S809000, C029S897310, C029S798000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06219904
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automated device for maintaining wooden elements on a pressing table for assembling them.
The device is adapted for manufacturing different types of assemblies, such as frame elements, and particularly prefabricated trusses of restricted dimensions known as “gable trusses,” and widely used in traditional construction for supporting sloping roofs.
2. Description of Background and Relevant Information
The gable trusses are made by the triangular assembly, on a pressing table, of two principal rafters and a tie beam reinforced by judiciously arranged triangulation parts. The components of the gable trusses are arranged on the pressing table and are generally maintained by mobile abutments sliding in the metal plate grooves of the table and blocked by screws. “Connectors,” constituted of metal plates with claws, are then embedded at the junction points by means of mobile jacks borne by a gantry sliding longitudinally above the table.
Most often, the adjustment and setting of the gable trusses, as well as the control of the pressing by the jacks, is done manually. The logs are positioned on the table and maintained by abutments that are positioned manually. The connectors are then pre-embedded by means of a hammer, then the operator positions the jacks above the connectors and activates a lever that allows pressing by the descent of the jacks. The drawback is that, since the adjustment operations are manual, the time required is substantial, causing high labor costs, and the equipment used (mobile abutments, rails) is quickly damaged.
French patent No. 2 693 148, filed by Mr. DEBANNE and Mr. PORTALIER, discloses a device allowing the automatic positioning of the maintaining abutments in the metal plate grooves of the table due to a motoring unit operated by a computer assembly which also controls the movements of the mobile gantry and the pressing jacks.
This equipment has the drawback of requiring a table of a predetermined type, equipped with grooves machined into the plate, which raises its manufacturing costs. Furthermore, the longitudinal displacement of an abutment must be done in three steps, first of all, go to the end of the transverse groove in which it is initially located, then, pass along a longitudinal groove located along the edge of the table, then finally get into a new transverse groove. In cases of maladjustment, the deterioration risks incurred by the abutments, the grooves or the mandrill are substantial.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,707,546, filed on behalf of Mr. Christian DEBANNE, discloses a device allowing the use of any type of table authorizing unlimited displacements of the maintaining elements over the entire surface of the plate and minimizing the consequences of possible malfunctions of the mandrill or of the computer system. This device uses, for maintaining the parts to be assembled, saw logs constituted of cylindrical blocks equipped at the lower portion with tips that get embedded in a wooden plate covering the pressing table, these saw logs being positioned by means of a hollow mobile mandrill equipped on its inner surface with lugs that can slide into the “L”-shaped grooves provided at the periphery of the saw logs and arranged such that the saw logs can be released or made integral with the mandrill by making the latter rotate a fraction of a revolution in one direction or the other.
Not only do the combination of the rotational and translational movements run the risk of decreasing the reliability of the system, but the positioning of the mandrill above a saw log requires great precision which can only be obtained by substantially slowing down the horizontal movements of the mandrill. Above all, the displacement of a series of saw logs to achieve a new configuration requires numerous movements of the motoring unit and the gantry due to the fact that each saw log must be brought to its new location before the system can go back to find the next saw log.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The device according to the present invention overcomes these drawbacks. In addition to the use of any type of table, it allows the very quick displacement of a series of saw logs and has substantial reliability due to the elimination of the rotational movements of the system for grabbing the saw logs.
The invention provides for of a pressing table with a wooden plate and a mobile gantry comprising a magazine for storing saw logs utilizing vertical spindles mounted under a rail fixed laterally on the gantry and on which can be strung the saw logs which comprise a vertical bore with spring balls maintaining them due to grooves provided on the spindles, a motoring unit sliding along the rail, adapted for placing, removing and storing the saw logs, being equipped with a vertically mobile clamp comprising a lateral U-shaped opening capable of being inserted in ring-shaped grooves provided at the periphery of the saw logs.
The invention therefore provides for an automated device for maintaining wooden elements on a pressing table for assembling them, adapted to the manufacture of different types of assemblies, such as frame elements, particularly prefabricated trusses of restricted dimensions known as “gable trusses,” comprising a longitudinally mobile gantry bearing at least one pressing jack as well as a rail on which slides a motoring unit whose role is to position and displace the saw logs for maintaining the parts to be assembled. The movements of the mobile gantry, the motoring unit and the jack(s) are motor-driven and operated by a computer system. The maintaining saw logs comprise a vertical bore allowing them to be strung by the bottom onto vertical spindles arranged under the rail, and constituting a magazine for storing said saw logs. The motoring unit comprises a single or double rod, vertically mobile and equipped at its lower portion with a clamp, formed of a horizontal plate having a U-shaped lateral opening capable of being inserted in ring-shaped grooves provided at the periphery of the saw logs, each of these being equipped with an inner spring ball ensuring their immobilization on the spindles.
The invention also provides for a device characterized in that each of the spindles comprises a series of circular grooves distributed over their height and in which the spring balls of the saw logs can penetrate so as to immobilize the latter at a predetermined height. Each of the spindles may comprise a shoulder arranged at their base and arranged such that when the saw log located at the lowest point is removed, the saw logs located above descend by their own weight and are retained by the spring ball of the lower saw log pressing on said shoulder. When a saw log is inserted at the base of a spindle, the saw logs that are already present are pushed upwards. The spindles may be parallel with respect to one another and fixed along the length of the rail, at its lower portion. The spindles may be mounted on a rotating spring barrel, fixed under the rail and whose rotation allows bringing the spindle on which the selected saw log is located in front of the clamp. The U-shaped lateral opening of the clamp may comprise an elastic element, such as a spring ball, that is predetermined for maintaining a saw log in the clamp while allowing its insertion or its extraction by exerting a slight force. The motoring unit may be arranged such that the clamp can be positioned facing any saw log present on a spindle and be inserted in the ring-shaped groove, by using only the movements allowing the saw logs to be fixed on the plate, or allowing them to be removed, namely the horizontal movement of the unit along the length of the rail and the vertical movement of the clamp. The movements of the mobile gantry and the motoring unit may be operated by an electronic assembly, the data relative to the positions of the saw logs for a predetermined configuration being prepared on a standard computer, due to an ad hoc software, and sent by an appropriate device to the electronic system. The position of each saw
Blount Steve
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
Hughes Tom
LandOfFree
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