Woodworking – Special-work machine – Combined
Patent
1991-02-21
1992-01-28
Bray, W. Donald
Woodworking
Special-work machine
Combined
144 34R, 144336, A01G 2308
Patent
active
050835955
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an arrangement in tree-harvesting apparatus of the kind which include gripping arms and a cutting tool.
Various different kinds of vehicle-carried tree harvesting apparatus are known to the art, these apparatus normally being carried by a crane mounted on the vehicle. Such tree harvesters will include a cutting device, which is either operative to saw or to shear the tree, and gripping arms which hold the tree to the harvester, until the tree is deposited in the place desired. Tree harvesters are also known which pull trees from the ground, together with their roots, before cutting of the tree commences.
The object of the present invention is to provide a highly effective arrangement which can be used in conjunction with various types of tree harvesters. This object is fulfilled with the inventive arrangement having the characteristic features set forth in the following claims.
The inventive arrangement improves the efficiency of the tree harvester, in that the number of working steps required to effect a tree-harvesting operation is far fewer than was previously the case.
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to an exemplifying embodiment thereof and also with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an exemplifying embodiment of the inventive arrangement,
FIG. 2 illustrates the arrangement in side view and
FIG. 3 illustrates the arrangement from above.
The tree harvester 1 illustrated schematically in the figures of the drawings includes a stand or like device 2 which carries, inter alia, a cutting tool 3 operative to shear or to saw the tree, and gripping arms 4, 5 which function to hold the tree on the harvester until the tree is deposited at some appropriate site. The gripping arms 4 and 5 are operated by means of hydraulic piston-cylinder devices 6 and 7, and are shown in FIG. 1 in their closed positions and in FIGS. 2 and 3 in their open positions.
The harvester 1 is normally carried by an off-road transport vehicle (not shown) provided with a crane arm 8, to which the harvester is connected, said harvester being moved between the trees with the aid of the crane arm and said vehicle.
Conventional tree harvesters are known to the person skilled in this art, and will therefore not be described in detail here.
The inventive arrangement includes a primary treeholding device 10 which is mounted essentially immediately above the gripping arms 4 and 5 of the harvester 1. The holding device 10 includes an abutment means or counter-support 11 which is mounted on an outer tube 12 of square cross-section. An inner tube 13 of square cross-section forms means for guiding the outer tube 12.
The primary holding device 10 also includes a tree-holding member 15 which is pivotally connected to the abutment means 11, by means of a pivot pin 16. A hydraulic piston-cylinder device 17 acts between the abutment means 11 and the holding member 15 and is operative to swing the holding member 15 between a closed position shown in full lines in FIG. 3 and an open position, shown in chain lines in the same figure.
The holding member 15 can be extended telescopically, by virtue of an arm 18 which can be displaced axially between an inwardly retracted position and an outwardly extending position, said arm 18, for instance, comprising the piston rod of a hydraulic piston-cylinder device 19. The arm 18 is shown in its extended position in FIGS. 2 and 3.
The lower end of the inner tube 13 of square cross section is connected to a plate 20 which can be rotated through approximately one half of a revolution about a vertical axis 22, by means of a hydraulic turning motor 21. During this rotational movement of the plate, the primary holding device 10 can be swung so that the abutment means 11 and the holding member 15 will be located on one side of the tree harvester 1, as indicated in chain lines to the left of FIG. 3. The rotational axis 22 is located on the stand 2 of the harvester.
Acting between the tubes 12 and 13 is a hydraul
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patent: 3875983 (1975-04-01), Kurelek
patent: 3910326 (1975-10-01), Tucek
patent: 3911981 (1975-10-01), Tucek
patent: 4153087 (1979-05-01), Stoychoff
patent: 4243258 (1981-01-01), Dauwalder
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