System for affixing tags to lumber

Details System for affixing tags to lumber System for affixing tags to lumber

2000-06-08

2003-03-04

Picard, Leo (Department: 2125)

Data processing: generic control systems or specific application

Specific application, apparatus or process

Article handling

C700S115000, C700S124000, C209S004000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06529799

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for tagging lumber. In particular, the present invention relates to a system that includes an automated apparatus and method for affixing labels (“tags”) that carry identifying indicia onto the ends of individual boards in a pack of lumber.
2. Discussion of Background
Lumber is usually labeled (“tagged”) to identify the manufacturer, the species of wood or the type of product, the grade, and various other data useful to consumers (wholesalers and retailers, homeowners, handymen, carpenters, builders, etc.). Identifying labels are sometimes applied by the manufacturer, for example, by stamping individual boards with an inked design, by embossing, or by attaching a paper or plastic tag to the boards. However, most lumber is not sold directly to the end user. Rather, it is bundled and shipped from a primary manufacturer (such as a sawmill) to a secondary manufacturer (a kiln or surfacing yard), then to a wholesaler, and finally to a retailer. At each stage in this process, the lumber may be unpacked, graded (or regraded), sorted (by size, grade, and composition), and repacked. The bundled units (“packs” or “stacks”) that are ultimately shipped to a retail outlet may each contain boards of the same or different length, width, grade, and composition. Each pack in a shipment may differ from the others; each layer (“course”) of a pack may differ from the other layers. Even in shipments of woods such as Southern Yellow Pine (“SYP”) where the packs tend to be quite similar, the dimensions of boards in different layers of a pack may vary.
With the growing popularity of bar code scanners at retail checkout counters, many wholesalers and retail distribution centers label each board individually with a label that can be read by these types of scanners. Labels can be applied by hand, for example, with devices such as those disclosed by Vanderwiel (U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,048), Reitmeier, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,896), and Hurd (U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,302). Vanderwiel's semiautomatic lumber tag stapler includes a conventional pneumatic staple gun, a holder for a roll of tags, a rotatable pivot indexing arm that moves a tag into position for stapling, a cylinder for rotating the indexing arm, and an index stop pin for limiting pivoting of the arm.
Reitmeier, et al. disclose a trigger-operated pneumatic staple gun which both staples and cuts labels. This device includes a guide which directs the labels through a cutter and underneath the staple gun head, and a pair of pneumatic cylinders with a common spool valve. One of the cylinders is connected to a label advance head which brings labels into position; the other is connected to a cutter which cuts the just-stapled label from the remainder of the roll.
Hurd's portable stapler is used for attaching wallboard to a supporting framework. The device includes an attachment with a reel of wire, a slidable shoe, and a staple guide that, when mounted to a conventional stapler, acts as a mechanism for regulating the driving force and thereby minimizing damage to the wallboard.
No matter what hand tool is selected, hand-labeling lumber is slow, labor-intensive, and expensive, and has a high potential for error due to the variability of the boards in atypical wholesaler's or retailer's pack. Individual boards are difficult to distinguish from other boards of similar species, grade, thickness, width, and length.
Automated and semi-automated apparatus for tagging lumber is also available. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,497, Lippincott discloses a lumber stamper for embossing the ends of a plurality of stacked pieces. The apparatus includes an embossing plate, a press plate with a plurality of movable segments, a lumber support for holding stacked, parallel lumber pieces between the plates, a drive mechanism for moving the press plate segments between their retracted and extended positions so as to emboss the ends of a clamped stack of lumber, and a controller. The embossing and press plates are mounted on movable carriers, allowing the operator to adjust the distance between these plates to accommodate lumber of different lengths.
Aman, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,294) use a focused beam or a movable scanner which collects topological information about a stack of lumber, with a processor which translates this information into the “tally count” or “end tally,” defined as the number of pieces of lumber with each particular combination of width, thickness, and length. This information can be used to determine the exact location of individual boards within as tack, generating unique labels for each board, and applying the labels (U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,335).
Walker, Jr.'s automated tagging apparatus (U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,962) is used for stapling tags to the ends of individual boards passing along a conveyor belt. The apparatus includes a conveyer operating at approximately one foot/second, a labeling system with a roll of tags and a conventional stapler, a sensor that activates the labeling system when a board passes over the sensor, and a roller that lifts the boards to release the sensor. Before reaching the sensor, the boards are fed through a chute that aligns the ends.
Prim, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,204) provide a computer-controlled umber marking system that includes a trimming system with a chain/lug conveyer, a pulse generator that produces a pulse for each increment of conveyor movement, a console where an operator views the boards and inputs grade data, a “curtain” of optical detectors which determine the maximum available length of each board, and a second set of optical detectors that determine the width of each board based on the number of pulses during the period that a light beam is broken by each board. This grade, length, and width data is collated and output to an embossing mechanism that marks the ends of the boards on a piece-by-piece basis.
Moore's wood handling machine (U.S. Pat. No. 4,324,519) includes a rectangular support bed that holds a stack of precut boards in layers, a wheeled carriage that holds a vertical support frame and a hydraulic piston-and-cylinder assembly, a pneumatic clamping device to clamp the stack and hold it in alignment, a pushing device for pushing one layer at a time of the stacked boards in order to expose the surface of the next layer for marking, and a stop bar to prevent movement of the next adjacent layer of boards during operation of the pushing device. The operation of the apparatus is described in the paragraph starting on line 51, Col. 5 (note that the apparatus is manually controlled).
While automated or semi-automated tagging apparatus is faster than hand-labeling, some presently available apparatus requires that the individual boards be placed onto a conveyer and moved past a stapler, embosser, or other marking device. Other such apparatus requires a determination of the number of boards in a pack (and the dimensions of the individual boards) before the tags can be applied. There remains a need for a simple, rugged, cost-effective system for tagging the ends of boards in a pack.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to its major aspects and broadly stated, the present invention is an automated apparatus and method for labeling (“tagging”) individual boards in a pack of lumber. The apparatus includes a support frame, a jump chain conveyor, a lift, a back stop or bump plate, a detector for determining the position of a leading board within the pack, a labeling assembly, a positioning assembly for moving the labeling assembly in three dimensions, and a computer system with a PLC (i.e., programmable logic controller) and an HMI (i.e., a human-machine interface such as a keyboard, keypad, touchpad or touch screen, voice input, or other suitable interface).
In operation, a pack of lumber is placed onto the jump chains, lifted, and conveyed by the moving chains until it abuts the back stop, where it is lowered onto the support frame. The operator inputs identifying information about the pack into

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