Cutting – Operation controlled by detector means responsive to work – With plural work-sensing means
Patent
1991-07-11
1993-04-27
Yost, Frank T.
Cutting
Operation controlled by detector means responsive to work
With plural work-sensing means
83365, 83368, 83452, 83477001, 83488, 83676, 83943, 144 3R, 144357, 144367, 29426004, B26D 118, B27B 502
Patent
active
052051978
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention is concerned with a pallet cutting machine for use in removing pieces from a load-bearing pallet so that such pieces can be replaced in repairing a pallet.
A typical load-bearing pallet comprises a load-supporting deck made of planks arranged parallel to one another and joined by cross planks, blocks secured to the underside of the load-supporting deck and allowing access beneath the deck for the forks of fork-lift trucks, and a lower ground-engaging deck comprising planks secured to the blocks. Such a pallet gives four-way access for a fork- lift truck and may comprise nine blocks and seventeen planks nailed together. It is found that such a pallet is frequently damaged in use by the breakage or splitting of one or more of the planks and blocks. When such damage is only to one or to a small number of the planks or blocks, it is common practice to repair the pallet by removing the damaged piece or pieces and replacing them. At present, this is normally carried out using hand tools by levering the joints of the damaged piece apart and cutting the nails involved with a hacksaw. This essentially manual operation is physically demanding, time consuming and may result in further damage to the pallet.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a machine for use in removing pieces of load-bearing pallets by which the pieces can be removed by cutting operations.
The invention provides a machine for use in removing pieces from a load-bearing pallet, the machine comprising support means arranged to support a pallet during a cutting operation thereon, holding means operable to hold a pallet against movement relative to the support means during a cutting operation on the pallet, a guideway extending parallel to the support means, drive means for a cutter mounted on the guideway for movement along the guideway, the drive means being arranged to support and drive a cutter having a cutting edge extending parallel to the support means and drivable to cut through wood and/or nails of the pallet during movement of the drive means, and adjusting means operable to adjust the spacing from the support means at which the drive means supports the cutter.
In a machine according to the last preceding paragraph, the cutter can be set level with a joint between a sound piece of the pallet and a damaged piece thereof and the drive means can be moved along the guideway to cut through the joint. Alternatively, the cut can be performed within the damaged piece but adjacent said joint so that a thin piece of the damaged piece remains attached to the sound piece, the thin piece being readily removable. In either case, the damaged part can be removed by cutting operations without substantial risk of damage to other parts of the pallet. Although the machine is described in relation to a four-way entry pallet, it can readily be adapted to the two-way pallets favored in some countries.
Conveniently, the support means may comprise a horizontally-extending table across which the pallet may be slid into position beneath the guideway which extends horizontally above the table and the cutting edge also extends horizontally.
The holding means may comprise a plurality of holding members arranged to engage planks of a deck of the pallet and clamp the pallet either against opposed holding members or a fixed stop. The holding members may be movable between an operative position thereof in which they project through openings in a support surface of said support means to engage the pallet and an out-of-the-way position in which the holding members are located beneath said support surface. In this way, the holding members do not impede the movement of the pallet into position beneath the guideway.
The adjusting means may comprise jack means, for example screw jacks, supporting opposite ends of said guideway and operable together to adjust said opposite ends. Alternatively, the drive means may be mounted on a carriage which is movable along said guideway and the adjusting means may comprise jack means operable to adjust the cutter re
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GKN Chep Limited
Woods Raymond D.
Yost Frank T.
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