Wood-chipping Machine

Abstract

A mobile device into which portions of a tree may be inserted to be rendered down into wood chips to be used for mulching, litter, and other uses. A hydraulic ram forces the tree portions into engagement with a cylindrical drum with knife edges attached thereto which renders the tree portion advancing thereon into chips.

Description

The production of wood chips, in the past, has been the by product of other items produced from trees. With the recognition of the value and varied uses of wood chips the demand for same has become very great thereby requiring specialized machinery to produce them. The great demand for wood chips has been brought about by the fact that their high calcium and potash content makes them good fertilizers, as well as their use as livestock bedding, mulch, and litter to name but a few.

The present invention relates to a device that will grind up the wooden parts of trees into chips suitable for the many uses to which wood chips are put. The device comprises a closed chamber with a ram traversing therealong to feed the wood therein into engagement with a rotating cylinder with chipping knives located on the cylindrical surface thereof. The device is mobile thereby containing its own power to drive the chipping apparatus, and can have its own self-propulsion, to facilitate the use of the chipping device at whatever site the wood can be located or wherever the chips might be needed. The device is relatively simple in construction and thereby durable and easy to maintain. The design of the chipping mechanism can produce a large amount of chips for sustained periods of time and the size of the chips can be varied by changing the chipping knives.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a wood chipping device that is simple but unique and can be transported to the site of the wood or to the site where the chips are needed.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a device to produce wood chips from large pieces of wood.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a device for chipping of wood that encloses the chipping mechanism and wood to be chipped and is, therefore, safe and simple to use.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a device for chipping wood that is efficient in operation and can handle large quantities of wood.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the mobile wood-chipping device.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 with some parts thereof in elevation.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a section of the chipping drum.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a self-propelled version of the wood-chipping device.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a wood-chipping drum modified to cut large chips.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along substantially the line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

Referring now to the drawing, numeral 10 generally indicates the mobile wood-chipping device, with the chassis of the device indicated at 12, the chipping mechanism indicated at 14, and the feeder device 16 for the chipping mechanism.

The chassis 12 of the mobile chipping device is comprised of two main longitudinal beams 18 which are connected at the front by a cross brace 20 and at the rear by a cross brace 22. There is an additional front cross brace 24 spaced to the rear of cross brace 20 and an additional rear brace 26 spaced forward to the rear cross brace 22. A pair of bearing blocks 28 are fixed to the rails 18 near the rear thereof to provide the mounting for the rear wheel assembly. A shaft 30 extending through the bearing blocks 28 provides the axis of rotation for the wheels 32 mounted thereon. This wheel installation is relatively simple and sturdy and merely illustrates one method of mounting the rear wheels of the chassis. Similarly, the front wheel assembly of the device may be mounted in any convenient manner with one such method being shown in the drawings. The mounting therein being accomplished by a pair of parallel spaced abutments 34 with aligned apertures 36 therethrough, mounted on each end of the front cross brace 20. A pair of wheel-mounting shafts 38 have a perpendicularly extending portion 40 which extends through the aligned apertures 36 and is fixed to the abutments 34. A horizontal portion 42 is attached to the lower end of the perpendicular portion 40 which in turn has a second perpendicular portion 44 attached thereto and a web portion 45 extending therebetween to insure rigidity. A wheel 46 and stub shaft 48 therefor are attached to the lower end of each of the second perpendicular portions 44 of the wheel-mounting shafts 38. To facilitate the moving about of the mobile-chipping device a tow bar 50 can be provided therefor which is mounted to the front cross member 20 by the pivot assembly 52. This then completes the basic chassis of the chipping device which has all the necessary features to mount the device thereon.

The chipping mechanism 14 is comprised of a chipping drum housing 54 with the chipping drum 56 journaled for rotation therein, which is driven by a motor assembly 58. The chipping mechanism 14 further has a log chamber 60 attached to the drum housing to hold the logs that are being fed thereinto. The chipping drum housing 54 has two spaced parallel side plates 62 which are connected across the top by a plate 64 and in front thereof by a sloping plate 66. The chipping drum housing has additional bracing members fastened to the side plates 62 which comprise inverted U-shaped members 68 with the base thereof extending parallel to the top surface of the housing and the legs thereof extending angularly downward which, in addition to further bracing, supports the drum for rotation therein. The housing is attached to the chassis with the lower edge of the side plates 62 fixed to the longitudinal beams 18 and the lower edge of the front sloping member 66 fixed to the cross member 24.

The chipping drum assembly 56 comprises a cylindrical member 70 with end plates 72 closing the open ends thereof and of a size to fit within the housing 54 for rotation therewithin. The cylindrical member 70 of the drum assembly has a series of parallel rings 74 attached around the circumference thereof in parallel spaced relation. The rings 74 have a series of threaded openings 76 around the circumference thereof to receive the teeth 78 held thereon by bolts 80 received in the openings 76. The teeth 78 comprise a base portion 82 with an angularly upward and outwardly extending chisel point 84. The base portion 82 has a hole 86 therethrough to receive the bolt 80 to attach it to the ring 74 as set forth hereinabove. The drum assembly 56 has a shaft 88 received through the center of each of the end plates 72 to provide the axis of rotation therefor. The shaft 88 is received at each end thereof in a bearing block 90 which blocks are fixed to the horizontal base of the inverted U-shaped members 68. One end of the shaft 88 extends outwardly beyond the bearing block 90 at 92 and has mounted thereon a V-belt pulley 94 to be driven thereby. The motor assembly 58 has a base plate 96 attached between the front cross braces 20 and 24 to support the motor thereon. The motor 98 may be any suitable and convenient source of power which might be an internal combustion engine, or, if electrical power is near at hand, an electrical motor. The motor 98 is enclosed by a housing 100 with the drive shaft 102 thereof extending out one end thereof as at 104, and journaled in a bearing block 106 mounted on the longitudinal side rail 18. The end 104 of the drive shaft has a V-belt pulley 108 mounted thereon, which is similar to the V-belt pulley 94 with a suitable number of belts 110 extending therearound to transmit the driving force from the motor to the chipping drum assembly. As can be seen from the mounting of the chipping drum assembly and the motor assembly 58 the two main components thereof are mounted on the chassis, thereby preventing loads generated by the chipping of the wood to be transmitted to the housing and other assemblies not sufficiently strong to absorb such loads. This is accomplished by the journaling of the chipping drum in the bearing blocks 90 which are mounted on the members 68 from the side rails of the chassis, as well as the mounting of the motor to the chassis by the plate 96 and the bearing block therefor 106.

The log chamber is attached to the rear of the chipping drum housing 54 and has a pair of sidewalls 112 which extend longitudinally of the chassis and are coplanar with the side plates 62 of the drum housing. The sidewalls 112 are fixed to the top surface of the longitudinal beams 18 and are held in parallel spaced relation by their connections therewith and to the housing 54. The sidewalls 112 have a door 114 extending therebetween at the top edge of and hinged to one of the sidewalls 112 by hinge members 116. The chamber 60 has a series of rollers 118 journaled for rotation at the upper edge of the longitudinal beams 18 so that when logs are placed in the chamber through the door 114 they can be easily rolled therealong into engagement with the chipping drum assembly. A chip chute assembly 120 is fastened between the longitudinal beams 18 and the side plates 62 of the chipping drum housing. The chip chute has two side plates 122 attached to the inner vertical surfaces of the longitudinal beams 18 and a front plate 124 attached between the side plates and extending along the aforementioned inner vertical surface of the beam 118 up into the housing adjacent the circumference of the chipping drum assembly. A rear plate 126 of the chip chute is attached between the side plates 122 of the chute and extends upwardly to a point adjacent the rollers 118 and the circumference of the chipping drum assembly. Thereby, when the chipping drum rotates in a clockwise direction thereby shaving the chips in a downward direction they are collected by the aforementioned chute and funneled into a relatively small discharge stream 128.

The feeding mechanism 16 for the chipping device is mounted on a base 130 which has a horizontal surface 132 connected to the rear cross beams 22 and 26 by two vertically downward extending legs 134. A hydraulic ram assembly 136 is attached to the center of the horizontal surface 132 in a longitudinal direction aligned with the center of the log chamber 60. The hydraulic ram assembly has suitable connections 138 to provide for extension and retraction of the piston rod 140 thereof. The piston rod 140 of the hydraulic ram assembly has a plate 142 attached at one end thereof. The plate 142 is approximately the same cross-sectional area as the log chamber 60 and acts as the piston therefor to drive a log placed therein into engagement with the chipping drum assembly.

Thus, the operation of the chipping device is relatively simple in that when it is desired to produce chips, a log is simply placed into the log chamber 60 through the door 114 thereof and the door closed thereon to prevent any danger from the movement of parts therein. The hydraulic ram is then extended to drive the tree section placed therein into engagement with the clockwise rotating chipping drum assembly. As the log advances into contact with the chipping drum the teeth 78 thereon rip out chips of wood and by centrifugal force discharge them downwardly where they are collected by the chute 120 and discharged in a stream 128 therefrom. To facilitate a possible packaging of the chips, if desired, a conveyor assembly 144 could be positioned under the discharge stream 128 to carry the chips to an appropriate packaging unit.

The device shown in FIG. 6 of the drawing is essentially the same as the previous embodiment in FIGS. 1-5 except that the device pictured therein is self-propelled. To accomplish the self-propulsion of the chassis assembly 12 it is necessary only to provide the front of the vehicle with a pair of dirigible wheels 146 in place of the previous disclosed fixed front wheels 46. Similarly, the motor 98 could be increased in power to provide propulsion to these front wheels and thereby drive the entire device. With the rest of the details being essentially the same further discussion of the self-propelled embodiment of FIG. 6 is not deemed necessary.

The drum assembly shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is a modification of the basic drum assembly to provide relatively large chips. The drum assembly 148 comprises a cylindrical surface 150 of the same extent as the drum surface 70 of the previous embodiment, and is closed by end plates 152 thereon. Similarly the axis of rotation is provided by a shaft 154 extending through the end plates 152 of the drum assembly 148 to be journaled in the bearing blocks 90 on the vehicle. The teeth 156 of this embodiment differ from the teeth 78 of the previous embodiment in size and also the base members 158 of these teeth have a number of screws 160 holding the tooth member 156 thereon. The additional number of screws are required to compensate for the additional load placed thereon by the larger tooth members. The chisel point or blade 162 of the teeth generally flares upward and outwardly to dislodge a larger chunk of wood than the narrower teeth 78 of the previous embodiment. Also, the teeth 156 are placed in groups 164 around the circumference of the drum assembly 148. The teeth of the group 164 are attached to the cylindrical surface 150 of the drum assembly by the screws 160 being received in threaded holes in the circumference of the drum. It is apparent from the construction of the drum assembly 56 and 148 that the two methods of attaching the teeth thereon are suitable to both installations, for example, the teeth of the drum assembly 148 could be held thereon by the same rings 74 as used on the previous embodiment 56 as well as the teeth of the previous embodiment could be attached directly to the surface of the drum thereof by their bolts being received in threaded openings.

The device as set forth hereinabove can be seen to be an unique and efficient device in that it provides for a wood chipping device that can be transported to the site of the wood to be chipped or to the place where the chips are to be used. The device is relatively safe in that all of the moving or dangerous components are enclosed, and the wood is power fed into the chipping assembly. The device lends itself to being self-propelled or towed, which further adds to the convenience thereof.

Claims

I claim:

1. In combination, an elongated mobile chassis including opposite ends and elongated opposite sides longitudinal frame members interconnected at their opposite ends by front and rear pairs of longitudinally spaced transverse frame members, a rearwardly and downwardly opening chipping drum housing supported from said longitudinal frame members rearwardly of said front pair of transverse frame members and opening rearwardly along a path whose center is spaced above said longitudinal frame members, support means carried by said chassis for supporting a log in lengthwise disposition on said chassis behind said housing and longitudinal forward advancement along said chassis with its center generally coinciding with the center of said path, extendable motor means supported from the rear transverse members of said chassis for engaging the rear end of a log disposed on said support means and forcing said log forwardly into the open rear end of said housing, said housing having a driven transverse rotary chipping drum journaled therein having its axis of rotation generally intersecting with the center of said path, and an upstanding chip discharge chute supported between said longitudinal members below said drum with its upper inlet end positioned to receive chips of wood cut from said log by said drum and its lower discharge end opening downwardly for downward discharge of chips therefrom.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said mobile chassis includes motor means supported from said front pair of transverse frame members and drivingly connected to said chipping drum.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said extendable motor means comprises a fluid motor including a cylinder portion and a piston rod portion extendable relative to said cylinder portion, said cylinder portion being supported from said rear pair of transverse members and generally coinciding with said center of said path, piston rod portion being disposed for engagement with the central portion of the rear face of the log disposed on said support means.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said support means comprises a plurality of longitudinally space generally horizontal and transversely extending rollers journaled from and extending between said longitudinal frame members.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said mobile chassis includes front and rear ground-engaging support wheel means for ready rolling transport from one location to another.