Woodworking – Veneer lathe – Log loading or centering
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-05
2001-10-23
Bray, W. Donald (Department: 3725)
Woodworking
Veneer lathe
Log loading or centering
C144S209100, C144S357000, C144S365000, C082S124000, C250S559250, C700S167000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305448
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, that is, a lathe charger, for automatically supplying raw wood to a veneer lathe such that the cutting center of the raw wood is determined so that the cutting center of the raw wood and the axis of a spindle of the veneer lathe coincide with each other.
2. Related Background Art
Hitherto, a method and an apparatus for centering raw wood have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-60001. The method of centering raw wood comprises the steps of: rotating raw wood about a temporary center by a holding claw disposed at a limit of rearward movement of the raw wood to wait for raw wood; detecting the profiles of cross sections of a plurality of portions in the lengthwise direction of the raw wood so that the coordinates of the axis of the overall body of the raw wood are obtained; forwards moving the holding claw in accordance with the coordinates so that the position of the raw wood in the direction of the X axis is corrected; downwards moving a conveying claw so that the position of the raw wood in the direction of the Y axis is corrected; and changing the claw for holding the raw wood from the holding claw to the conveying claw. The apparatus for centering raw wood comprises: an X-axis correction unit which permits a pair of bearing boxes to move horizontally between frames which are stood erect; spindles each having a holding claw at an end thereof and a rotational-angle sensor and slidably inserted into the pair of the bearing boxes; a mobile unit made to be movable such that the mobile unit is guided by a horizontal beam; conveying claws permitted to be moved upwards/downwards by a Y-axis correction unit and suspended from two sides of the mobile unit: and a displacement-amount sensor provided for the base end of each of a plurality of swingable arms disposed at arbitrary intervals in a lengthwise direction of the raw wood and connected by a pin, wherein an output of an amount of correction of the forward movement of the bearing box is produced to the X-axis correction unit and an output of an amount of correction of the downward movement of the conveying claw is produced to the Y-axis correction unit in accordance with the coordinates of the total axis obtained from data of each of the rotational-angle sensor and the displacement-amount sensor.
The above-mentioned conventional technology, however, suffers from the following problem: the X-axis correction unit must have the structure that both of the pair of the bearing boxes are made to be movable individually in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the manufacturing cost of the apparatus cannot be reduced and the structure becomes too complicated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a lathe charger which is capable of correcting positions in the directions of X and Y axes with a simple structure and having an automated centering process using a centering spindle and holding and conveying processes using a holding arm.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lathe charger comprising: a pair of centering spindles for holding end surfaces of raw wood; centering means for automatically calculating cutting centers of the two end surfaces of the raw wood held by the pair of the centering spindles; a pair of holding arms for holding the raw wood in place of the pair of the spindles; and means for moving the holding arms in such a manner as to move the pair of holding arms between the centering spindles and spindles of a veneer lathe for an arbitrary distance, wherein the pair of the holding arms can be extended/contracted and one of the pair of the centering spindles is structured to be capable of moving in a direction which intersects a direction in which the pair of the holding arms are extended/contracted, and a control mechanism is provided with which when one of the end surfaces is viewed in parallel with the axis of the centering spindles in a state in which the raw wood having cutting centers of the two end surfaces which have been calculated is held, one of the centering spindles structured to be capable of moving is moved until an imaginary straight line passing through the two coincident cutting centers is made to be in parallel with the direction in which the holding arms are extended/contracted at the position at which the holding arms hold the raw wood, members for holding the raw wood are changed from the centering spindles to the holding arms at the position to which the centering spindle has been moved, and the holding arms are extended/contracted and the holding arms are moved to the spindles of the veneer lathe by the means for moving the holding arms so that the two cutting centers and the axes of the spindles of the veneer lathe are made coincide with each other.
The imaginary straight line passing through the two coincident cutting centers when one of the end surfaces is viewed in parallel with the axis of the centering spindles will now be described. When one of the end surfaces is viewed at an angle in parallel with the axis of the centering spindles, the imaginary straight line is a straight line obtained by connecting a visible cutting center and a hidden and opposite cutting center to each other, the connection being performed on a plane perpendicular to the axis of the centering spindles. The cutting centers are obtained by calculations performed by the mechanism for centering the cutting centers. The above-mentioned definition of the imaginary straight line is applied hereinafter.
Either of the operation for extending/contracting the holding arms or the moving operation performed by the moving means may be performed first or the two operations may be performed simultaneously. Coincidence of the two cutting centers and the axis of the spindles of the veneer lathe with each other is required finally.
The lathe charger according to the present invention may have a structure that the means for moving the holding arms is a rotating mechanism arranged to be rotated about a rotational shaft thereof, and the imaginary straight line passes through the axis of the rotational shaft.
The lathe charger according to the present invention may have a structure that the means for moving the holding arms is a moving mechanism comprising rails for movement, and the imaginary straight line passes through the axis of the holding arms.
According to the present invention, correction of displacements of the cutting centers of the two end surfaces of raw wood automatically calculated by the centering means in two directions on a plane perpendicular to the axis of the spindles of the veneer lathe can be performed. The correction can be performed by moving one of the centering spindles which are holding the raw wood and by performing the extending/contracting operation of the holding arms for holding the raw wood in place of the centering spindles. Therefore, the structure of the apparatus can be simplified, the manufacturing cost can be reduced and satisfactory workability can be obtained.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments described in conjunction with the attached drawings.
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patent: 460001 (1992-08-01), None
Nakamura Tsuyoshi
Ota Takashi
Bray W. Donald
Meinan Machinery Works Inc.
Pearson & Pearson LLP
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