Measuring and testing – Volumetric content measuring
Patent
1991-06-03
1993-08-03
Raevis, Robert
Measuring and testing
Volumetric content measuring
G01F 1700
Patent
active
052318737
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the forest industry, the solid volume, not the weight, of the timber is used as a measure for determining the price of delivered timber, for example when logs are delivered to sawmills The measuring of the solid volume of such logs which are usually transported to the sawmill by vehicles on wheels, is, in actual practice, carried out by experienced tallymen who, with the aid of mechanical measuring tools and, possibly, arithmetical tables, estimate the solid biomass content of the load received at the sawmill. This estimate is, however, often rather uncertain and may differ by as much as 10-15% from the actual value. From the economic point of view, this is, of course, unsatisfactory to both suppliers and buyers, as the value of each load of timber may run to considerable amounts of money.
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims at providing simple and exact measuring of the solid volume of vehicle loads, such as loads of timber, by means of a method which comprises the steps of introducing the load into a compartment which is hermetically sealable against the ambient atmosphere and located in a housing into which is gradually introduced a fill-out means intended to reduce the volume, and thus increase the pressure, of the gas in said compartment; determining, after at least a certain excess pressure in said compartment has been established, the product of gas volume and gas pressure as a first reference value; and measuring the solid volume of the load as the difference between said first reference value and a second reference value of the product of gas volume and gas pressure, determined under identical conditions, but with no load in said compartment.
PRIOR ART TECHNIQUE
Measuring the solid volume of objects by the above-mentioned method, is previously known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,033, FR-A-1,480,470 and DE-B-1,923,683. The measuring methods and devices disclosed in these documents and based on Boyle's law are, however, suitable for laboratory or small-scale operations only, and cannot be used for measuring the solid volume of loads of timber. Thus, DE-B-1,923,683 relates to a method of measuring in which a laboratory sample is put into a can which, preparatory to measuring, is sealed by means of a lid. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,033, the object to be measured is a liquid which is pumped into a sealable tank, while in FR-A-1,480,470 the object to be measured is an injured foot which is put into a casing especially designed for this purpose.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims at applying the teaching of Boyle's law to the measuring of the solid volume of loads of timber and the like, thereby to obtain a far higher measuring accuracy. According to the distinctive features of the invention, this is achieved in that the load is introduced into the housing on a goods vehicle through a hermetically sealable gate of the housing, that the load is left on said vehicle while the first reference value is being determined, and that the vehicle is then removed from the housing through a hermetically sealable gate.
In addition to the method as such, the invention also relates to an apparatus for measuring the solid volume of loads of timber or the like, the distinctive features of the apparatus being defined in the appended claim 3.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment stated in claim 5, the housing is elongate and has, at two opposite ends, hermetically sealable gates. Thus, the vehicle carrying the load can be driven in through one gate and out through the other.
FURTHER ILLUSTRATION OF PRIOR ART TECHNIQUE
SU 1,137,315 intimates that gas pressure measuring could be used for measuring the volume of round timber, but does not explain how this is done in actual practice. The technique referred to in this document seems to be on a laboratory scale only in that no means of the type required in the present invention are disclosed. Furthermore, the method of SU 1,137,315 is not based on the concept of determining two different reference v
REFERENCES:
patent: 3769834 (1973-11-01), Fletcher et al.
patent: 4184371 (1980-01-01), Brachet
patent: 4192394 (1980-03-01), Simpson
patent: 4770033 (1988-09-01), Nicolai
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