U.S. patent number 3,913,642 [Application Number 05/535,663] was granted by the patent office on 1975-10-21 for wood cutting apparatus.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Airko Manufacturing Company. Invention is credited to Donald C. Porter.
United States Patent |
3,913,642 |
Porter |
October 21, 1975 |
Wood cutting apparatus
Abstract
An apparatus for cutting patterns on a wooden surface to
simulate a hand-hewn surface such as might have been made with an
adz. The apparatus provides for feeding, aligning and holding an
elongated piece of wood for cutting a pattern on the surface and a
blower-suction arrangement for removing sawdust and wood chips. A
plurality of rotatable cutting blades are mounted in a rotatable
casing. Each rotatable blade is mounted to cut the surface of the
wood while the rotatable blade is being rotated in the rotating
casing to produce a random pattern on the surface of the wood.
Inventors: |
Porter; Donald C. (Clermont,
FL) |
Assignee: |
Airko Manufacturing Company
(Clermont, FL)
|
Family
ID: |
24135227 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/535,663 |
Filed: |
December 23, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
144/114.1;
144/218; 144/252.1; 144/117.1; 144/369 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B23Q
11/0042 (20130101); B23Q 11/006 (20130101); B27M
1/003 (20130101); B27C 1/005 (20130101); B27C
1/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B27C
1/00 (20060101); B27M 1/00 (20060101); B23Q
11/00 (20060101); B27C 001/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;144/114R,117R,134R,134A,137,145A,177,218,236,253R,253F,253J,252R,309 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Smith; Al Lawrence
Assistant Examiner: Watson; Robert C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Duckworth, Hobby & Allen
Claims
I claim:
1. An apparatus for cutting patterns into wood comprising in
combination:
a frame;
rotatable cutter casing means rotably supported by said frame;
a plurality of rotatable cutting blades rotably connected to said
rotable cutter casing means for cutting a piece of wood during
rotation of said rotatable cutter casing means to cut a varying
pattern in said wood surface;
feed means supported by said frame for feeding elongated wood
members past said plurality of rotatable cutting blades; and
means for holding said elongated wood members while cutting a
pattern therein whereby a rough hewn surface can be cut upon a
wooden surface.
2. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said rotatable
cutter casing means is rotatably mounted to a shaft and a second
shaft passes through the shaft holding said rotatable cutter casing
means, said second shaft being operatively connected to said
plurality of rotatable cutting blades for rotating said blades
inside said casing while said casing is rotating on said rotatable
cutter casing means shaft.
3. The apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which a wood member
feeding conveyor is mounted to said frame in juxtaposition to said
rotatable cutter casing means for feeding material to said
rotatable cutting blades.
4. The apparatus in accordance with claim 3 in which a second
conveyor is mounted to said frame in juxtaposition to said
rotatable cutter casing means to receive members passing said
cutting blades.
5. The apparatus in accordance with claim 4 in which said first and
second conveyor means are roller conveyors.
6. The apparatus in accordance with claim 4 in which an adjustable
support table is located beneath said rotatable cutter casing and
between said first and second conveyor means.
7. The apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which said rotatable
cutter casing means and said plurality of rotatable cutting blades
are driven simultaneously by a single power source.
8. The apparatus in accordance with claim 7 in which each rotatable
cutting blade rides on a blade holder.
9. The apparatus in accordance with claim 8 in which said rotatable
cutter casing means has four rotatable blade holders mounted
thereto.
10. The apparatus in accordance with claim 8 in which said
rotatable cutter casing means has protective blade holder covers
formed therein for mounting said cutter blade holders and cutter
blades therein.
11. The apparatus in accordance in claim 8 in which each rotating
blade holder is connected to said second shaft by means of a
bevelled gear connected to a geared sprocket connected in turn to a
sprocket attached to said second shaft by means of a sprocket
chain.
12. The apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which chip removal
means is mounted on one side of said rotatable cutter casing means
and a blower is mounted on the opposite side of said rotatable
cutter casing means for blowing trash through an exhaust pipe as
said wood chips are cut from a wood member.
13. The apparatus in accordance with claim 12 in which a brush
member is attached over the second conveyor means for brushing
wooden members following cutting the surface thereof for brushing
the surface of said wooden members.
14. The apparatus in accordance with claim 13 in which an exhaust
pipe is mounted adjacent said brush member for directing additional
wood chips and loosened material from said wooden member.
15. The apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which said feed
means includes a powered roller for feeding an elongated wood
member to said cutting blades and a pinch roller for applying
pressure to a wood member between said powered roller and pinch
roller to feed and hold an elongated wood member being fed to said
cutting blades.
16. The apparatus in accordance with claim 15 in which a second
power driven roller is located on the opposite side of said
rotatable cutter casing means from said one power roller for
receiving and moving an elongated wood member passing under said
rotatable cutter casing means and having a top pinch roller for
applying pressure to an elongated wood member between said pinch
roller and power driven roller.
17. The apparatus in accordance with claim 16 in which an
adjustable lateral guide member is located to direct wood members
being fed from said conveyor towards said plurality of rotatable
cutting blades and to support said elongated wood member on one
side.
18. The apparatus in accordance with claim 17 in which a second
guide and support member is located to engage the opposite side of
an elongated wood member.
19. The apparatus in accordance with claim 18 in which said second
guide support member is spring biased to allow the second guide
member to apply pressure against one edge of an elongated wood
member being fed into said rotatable cutting blades.
20. The apparatus in accordance with claim 19 in which both guide
and support members have arcuate ends for directing an elongated
wood member towards said plurality of rotatable cutting blades.
21. The apparatus in accordance with claim 6 in which said frame
includes means for adjusting the height of said support table and
conveyors relative to the rotable cutter casing means for adjusting
for different sized elongated wood members.
22. The apparatus in accordance with claim 4 in which said frame
means has an upper and lower frame portion adjustable relative to
each other for adjusting the angle of one frame portion relative to
the other.
23. The apparatus in accordance with claim 22 in which said
rotatable cutter casing means is filled with lubricants.
24. The apparatus in accordance with claim 16 in which both said
first and second power feeding rollers are driven simultaneously by
a single drive motor.
25. The apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which a separate
control panel provides individual controls and disabling means for
said apparatus.
26. The apparatus in accordance with claim 8 in which each
rotatable cutting blade holder has one cutting blade and a
counter-balanced weight riding on a shaft between the walls of each
blade cover in said rotatable cutter casing means.
27. The apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which a wood
planing means is attached to said frame means on the feed side of
said rotatable cutter casing means to plane wooden members prior to
cutting with said rotatable cutting blades.
28. The apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which a single
drive motor powers a first shaft having geared connections to both
said rotatable cutter casing means shaft and to said shaft for
driving a plurality of rotatable cutting blades for driving each of
said shafts simultaneously from a single power source.
29. The apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which said frame
includes leveling means for leveling said apparatus.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a machine for cutting a pattern in
the surface of wooden members and especially for cutting the
surface to resemble a hand-hewn surface.
In the past, various hand tools were used for converting trees into
shaped lumber included saws, axes and adzes. These hand tools are
of course still used but the production of lumber from logs has
been taken over by machinery, such as electrical saws and planing
devices for giving various finished surfaces to lumber. However, it
has become popular to produce beams resembling those used in
colonial and earlier times which were hand-hewn from logs having a
very rough chipped-like surface. These beams have been simulated
with molded, foam plastic having a wood-like surface coating but
such beams typically are recognized as not being real wood.
New hybrid pine trees have been developed which grow to a usable
size much more rapidly than in the past and has resulted in silva
culture operations which can turn over a tree crop in fewer years
and thereby increase the value of the land. Fast growing hybrid
trees are especially valuable in the pulp industry for making
paper, paperboard and the like but many of the fast growing hybrid
trees have a larger number of knots reducing the grade of the
lumber that can be produced therefrom and thereby the value of the
trees.
The present invention is adapted to taking a lower grade lumber and
producing a finished, saleable product which will increase the
value of the lumber by the sale of a finished product which
resembles a wooden hand-hewn beam surface by the cutting of a
pattern in the surface of the wood and staining and assembling the
wood into beams. In accordance with the present invention, lumber
has first been graded and had its knot surfaces cut down or lowered
approximately 3/32 of an inch to reduce the force required to trim
the knot and to prevent the present apparatus from bursting or
otherwise knocking the knots out of the lumber. The lumber so
prepared is fed into the wood cutting machine where it is first
planed and then a hewn-type surface is cut into the surface of the
lumber which may then be stained and packaged for sale through
building supply outlets and lumber yards. It will of course be
clear that associated machinery is utilized for trimming knots,
bevelling surfaces and staining if desired for use with the
accompanying apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for cutting patterns
into the surface of lumber, or the like, and has a frame with a
conveyor feeding system for feeding a piece of lumber, or the like,
past cutting blades. Means are provided for aligning the lumber
being fed and gripping and feeding the lumber past a planer and
then past the cutting blades. The cutting blades rotate on shafts
riding in a casing which also rotates to produce the cutting
pattern on the surface of the board. Blowers and vacuum attachments
are used for removing wood chips which have been trimmed from the
boards. A vertically adjustable table located beneath the cutting
blades allows adjustments to the depth of the cutting by the planer
and machine cutting blades.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention
will be apparent from the written description and the drawings in
which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a cutaway perspective view of the lumber feeding
mechanism and guides;
FIG. 7 is a cutaway perspective view of a transmission and drive
for the rotable casing and cutting blades;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 8--8 of FIG. 4;
FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line 9--9 of FIG. 8;
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a cutting head and blades;
FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line 11--11 of FIG.
9;
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the cutting
head; and
FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along the line 13--13 of FIG.
12.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings, and especially to FIGS. 1 through 4, the
overall operation of the apparatus 10 is illustrated having a
separate console or panel 11. Control panel 11 provides a series of
controls 12 in a casing 13 for remotely controlling the operation
of the separate portions of the machine, as well as including a
master disabling switch in the event the machine becomes jammed or
broken. The switches may be standard open and close type switches
and may have variable voltage controls if desired. The master
switch may be an interlocking relay, with a circuit using low
voltage coils and may include a reversing action on the drive. The
machine 10 has a base 14 having a pair of legs 15 mounted on a
floor 16. The base 14 includes an outer casing enclosing the
machine for safety, and has conveyors 17 and 18 mounted thereon,
each conveyor having a plurality of rollers 20 with a pair of
roller mountings stringers 21 for feeding lumber, or the like, into
and out of the machine. Conveyor 17 has a pair of bracing members
22 for supporting the conveyor to the base 14 while the conveyor 18
has a pair of adjustable bracing members 22 and 23 for additional
support from the base 14. Base 14 includes an upper casing 24 which
shields the transmission, cutting blades and cutting blade casing.
A cutting blade casing 25 rotates inside of the casing 24 during
the operation of the machine. Gripping roller 27 is power driven
and roughened for engaging the board being fed into the cutters
under the cutting casing 25 for feeding the board past the cutters,
as well as for holding the board in position during cutting. Roller
26 is a smooth-pressure roller, supported by bell crank at each
end. In addition, a pair of guides 28 and 30 are adjustable for
guiding boards of different widths and holding them in a lateral
direction. A similar pair of gripping rollers 31 and 32 are located
on the opposite side of the upper casing 24 for gripping the board
on the opposite side as it passes under the cutter blade casing 25.
A board guide 33 is located on this side of the upper casing 24.
Rollers 27 are mounted in bearings 34 to the side casing wall 35
and roller 26 is mounted in bearing 36 which is pinned at 37 to the
side walls 35 and is spring loaded by spring 38 to maintain a
spring pressure forcing the roller bearing 36 by means of bell
crank 40 rotating on pin 37 to maintain constant pressure on the
roller 26 to compress against the board passing between the rollers
26 and 27. Bell crank 40 is threaded from the top to accomodate an
adjustable vertical protrusion 42 and can be fixed by a lock nut.
The vertical protrusion 42 contacts stationery stop 42 in order to
space rollers 26 and 27 slightly less than the thickness of the
board to be inserted, and of sufficient height to clear guides 28
and 30. After the protrusion 42 separates from stop 42, the full
adjusted pressure of compression spring 38 is applied, but still
allows easy access of a board. As shown in FIG. 2, roller 31 is
mounted in the same manner as roller 27 and roller 32 is mounted in
the same manner as roller 26 to provide an additional holding of
the boards on the opposite side of the upper casing 24. Rollers 27
and 31 are driven simultaneously by the same power source at an
identical speed which speed is variable as will be described in
more detail in connection with FIG. 4 hereinafter. The cutter blade
casing 25 rotates while the cutter blades are rotating therein by
the power from a motor 43 through a transmission including a chain
drive 44 connected to sprocket gear 45 riding on a shaft 46 mounted
in the housing 24, which rotates shaft 46 and thereby rotates
sprocket 47 which operates sprocket 48 through a chain drive,
driving hollow shaft 50. Shaft 50 is mounted in the casing 24 and
is connected to the cutter blade casing 25 having a plurality of
rotating cutter heads 51 riding on a plurality of shafts 52 located
in cutter blade mounting openings 53 of the casing 25. The casing
25 includes an upper casing portion 54 splined to a lower casing
portion 55 with the upper casing portion connected to a hollow
shaft 56. A housing 57 encircles a portion of the cutter blade
casing 25 and includes exhaust pipe 58 which may have a suction
applied thereto to remove chips and sawdust following the cutting
from the wood by the cutter blades 175. A three-blade planer head
60 may be mounted upon a shaft 61 and driven by a motor 62 through
a V-belt 63 for maintining cutting depth of cutters 175 in relation
to thickness of the board and acts as an aid in throwing chips from
the cutter blade up into the housing 57 and pipe 58 for removing
chips and sawduct. This system is enhanced by one or more blowers
64 driven by an electric motor 65 blowing air into the directional
outputs 66 on the opposite side of the casing 25 to force chips
being generated by the cutter blades 175 from the wood passing
therethrough towards the housing 57 and pipe 58 to maintain the
area under the cutter blade casing 25 relatively clean of
accumulated chipped wood and sawdust. An additional cleaning system
67 is mounted on arms 68 connected to the base 14 and extending
over the conveyor 18 and having a housing 70 with an exhaust pipe
71 along with an electric motor 72 mounted to the housing 70
driving a belt 73 and a pulley 74 which drives a series of brushes
75 exceeding the width of maximum board width which rides over
boards 76 passing from the cutting portion of the apparatus 10 to
direct the chips and partially cut fibers, through the exhaust pipe
71 leaving a finished face. Rollers or casters 77 may be mounted by
brackets 78 to the housing 70 or to the arms 68 if desired to
maintain the height of brush 74 in relation to the board surface
76. The legs 15 of the base 14 may be mounted with bolts 81 to the
concrete floor 16 if desired and may be adjusted for levelling the
apparatus. However, the legs 15 and the base 14 have additional
bolts 82 passing through threaded supporting mounts 83 and into
supporting mounts 84. A rigid-surfaced vertically adjustable table
79 located beneath the cutter heads 51 is adjustable with bolts 82
to adjust the cutting depth of the blades 175 of cutter heads 51.
In addition, the upper casing 24 is separated from the lower casing
14 by an arcuate edge 85 and has an angular slot 86 with a bolt 87
passing therethrough along with a threaded support 88 movably
pinned at 90 to the casing 24 wall 91. Wall 91 is hinged to rotate
on pin 89. The threaded support 88 passes through an opening in
support bracket 92 and is adjusted with nuts 93 on either side of
bracket 92, which may be readily adjusted to vary the angle of the
entire upper casing 24 and locked in position by nuts 93 and nuts
87 along with the rotatable blade casing 25 to align the casing 25
relative to lumber passing through the machine.
Referring more specifically to the sectional view of FIG. 3, the
overall operation of the apparatus 10 may be more clearly seen by
board 94 being fed upon conveyor 17 rollers 20 where it will pass
between the rollers 26 and 27 and be supported therebetween as well
as laterally supported between guides 28 and 30 and pass under the
planer 61 and into the face of the cutters 175 of cutter heads 51.
In this embodiment, there are four cutter heads 51 mounted in the
cutter casing 25 which are rotating simultaneously with one or more
blades spaced thereupon while being turned with casing 25. This
spacing on each rotating blade combined with the rotation of a
plurality of blades being simultaneously rotated produces a random
pattern of cuts and chips from the surface of the wood being fed
through the machine at variable controlled speeds thereby varying
the pattern being cut by blades 175. This action is controlled by
adjustment of varidrive motor 95 of FIG. 4. The board 94 will enter
under the rotating case 25 and be captured by the rotating blades
175 cutting in the direction of the board travel and as the board
passes the center of the rotating case, the blades again contact
the surface of the board to the same depth against the direction of
travel. This eliminates the possibility of the appearance of a
mechanically cut surface. The combination of these actions
eliminate the appearance of a circular cutting pattern, due to the
rotation of the case, as the cutting arcs appear not to be on a
concentric axis. The board is then engaged by the pinch rollers 31
and 32 on the opposite end of the cutter casing 25. The board is
then fed under the sweeping brush 75 which is an independent unit,
exhausting to suction unit through pipe 71. The blower 64 directs
air under the casing 25 to the opposite side and enters housing 57
which is connected to suction unit by pipe 58 and aided by
clockwise rotation of knives on the planer head 61. The random
surface chipped board provides a surface very similar to hand-hewn
boards or beams as might have been hand worked with an adz.
In FIG. 4 a variable speed electric motor 95 drives dual sprockets
98, which in turn drives chain 97, which in turn drives the
sprocket mounted on shaft roller 27 also driving chain 96, which in
turn drives the sprocket mounted on the shaft of roller 31. This
view also illustrates additional features of the transmission which
includes shaft 46 passing through transmission wall 100 into a top
transmission casing 101 and being connected to a gear 102 therein
which is operatively connected to a gear 103 attached to a shaft
104 for driving one shaft 104. Shaft 104 passes through the wall
100 through a hollow shaft 56. Shaft 46 is supported by bearings
105 and 106 and is driven by motor 43 through chain 44 driving
sprocket 45. This in turn drives gear 102, 103 and shaft 104. Shaft
104 passes through shaft 56 into the chain casing 25 where it
drives the plurality of cutter blades 51. Shaft 46 also rotates the
sprocket 47 which in turn drives the sprocket 48 and shaft 56 which
is connected directly to the chain cutter housing 25 which rotates
the housing 25. Motor 43, accordingly, rotates the cutter head 51
and the chain and cutter housing 25 simultaneously. Shaft 56 is
supported by bearing 17 in the bottom plate 108 and is prevented
from sliding through by the collar 110 attached to bearing 17, and
similar assembly 19 under plate 108. Bearing 17 and 19 assure
vertical alignment of shaft 56. Shaft 104 is supported by the
bearing 112 attached to the floor member 100. The upper chamber 113
holding the gears 102 and 103 may be filled with oil, grease or the
like as illustrated in FIG. 4.
Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, a better understanding of the
lumber supports and guides are illustrated having a fixed but
adjustable guide support member 30 having a pair of bolts 114 and
115 for locking the guide 30 in place passing through slots 116 and
117 allowing for various adjustments of the guide and support 30. A
notched surface 118 prevents interference with the sprocket and
chain 97. Guide 30 fits over the roller 27 and over a base plate
120 but does not extend over the rear roller 31 and the rear chain
96. The guide member and support 28 has a pair of arcuate ends and
is movably mounted by means of a pair of parallel arms 121 and 122
bolted to the base 120 and rotably attached to the arm 128 by
members 123 and 124. As the guide member 28 swings on the arms 121
and 122 it is spring biased inwards by spring 125 locked between a
bracket 126 and a nut and washer 127 threadedly attached to an
elongated shaft 128 on which the spring rides, thereby pulling the
shaft 128 against the nut 127 and pushing against the bracket 126
attached to the side wall of the frame. A stop nut 129 is adjusted
to contact bracket 126 to adjust the spacing between members 28 and
30 slightly less than the width of the board used. Shaft 128 is
threaded on one end and is movably attached at the other end to a
bracket 130 fixedly attached to the guide and support 28. This
system allows a piece of lumber being passed under the cutting
surfaces to be supported on rollers 27 and 31 and table 120 and
pushed down with rollers 26 and 32 (FIG. 2), while being held
laterally by the fixed guide 30 and being spring loaded on the
opposite side with the guide 28 as it passes through the cutting
portion of the apparatus 10. Roller 26 and equivalent roller 32
ride on a bearing 36 attached to a rotatable arm 40 pinned at 37
with the roller shaft passing through a slot 131 in the side wall.
A threaded shaft 132 is held to the bracket 41 by flanged head 133,
passes through the bracket 41 and through an opening 134 of the arm
40 and has a spring 38 attached on the opposite side of the arm 40
by means of a nut 141 threaded onto the threaded shaft 132. A
threaded adjustment member 42 allows adjustment of the fixed
stopping position for the roller 26. The bottom roller 27 is the
driving roller and is attached by members of bearings 34 to the
side walls as shown in FIG. 3 and clears through an opening in side
wall 14, as shown in FIG. 1, but of course can be adjusted for
alignment of the roller 27 as desired. This system advantageously
holds the roller from the top and bottom on both sides of the
cutting blades and supports it laterally from each edge. The system
is both adjustable and is spring loaded to provide for slight
variations in lumber sizes and loose tolerances in the cutting
operation.
Turning now to FIGS. 7 through 13, the operation of the cutting
blades, transmission and rotating housing is illustrated in which a
motor 43 drives a sprocket 142 driving a chain 44 to drive a
toothed sprocket 45 to rotate a shaft 46 to drive both the housing
25 and the cutting heads 51. Shaft 46 drives an upper gear 102
operatively engaging a gear 103 attached to a shaft 104. Shaft 104
passes through a shaft 56 to the interior portion of the casing 25.
A geared sprocket 47 is attached to shaft 46 and engages a sprocket
48 attached to a hollow shaft 56 which is fixedly attached to the
upper chain housing 54. Thus, by the actuation of a motor 43, both
shafts 104 and 56 are driven simultaneously but at different speeds
of rotation, one passing through the other. Due to the reversing
action of 102 and 103, shaft 104 revolves in the opposite direction
from hollow shaft 56. Shaft 56 rotates the housing 25 having an
upper casing 54 and a lower casing 55 while shaft 104 passes
through shaft 56 and through the top casing 54 and has toothed
sprockets 143 and 144 attached thereto. Sprocket 143 is held by
thrust bearing 169 against its hub mounting and is operatively
connected by a chain 145 to a pair of sprockets 146 and 147
attached to shafts 148 and 150. These shafts are supported by fixed
collars 151 and 152 and supported by insert bearings 181 in each
case. Two sprockets 146 and 147 and sprocket 143 are all connected
by the chain 145 which has an adjustable idler gear 154 applying
pressure thereagainst for taking up slack that might be in the
chain 145. Sprocket 144 is similarly connected to geared sprockets
155 and 156 by means of a chain 157 having an idler gear 158 to
take up slack therein whereby the sprocket 144 driven by the shaft
104 will drive the gear sprockets 155 and 156. The geared sprockets
146, 147, 155 and 156 are all identical and run at the same RPM by
a pair of Delta chain drives. The typical bearing is shown in FIG.
9 as 160. It should be noted, however, that variable speed cutter
heads can be used for further changing the pattern by using
sprockets 146, 147, 155 and 156 of varying pitch diameters without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Shaft 156 is
attached to shaft 162 and is attached to a bearing similar to
bearing 160. Shaft 161 is attached at the bottom to a bearing 163
in the same manner as bearing 151 and 152. These shafts all pass
through the top portion 153 of the bottom casing 55. The bottom
casing 55 is held to the top casing 54 by means of a plurality of
bolts 164. The bottom casing 55 in this embodiment has four
generally rectangular sections 53 which partially enclose the
cutter heads 51. Shaft 104 is attached to the sprockets 143 and
144. To assist in assembly and repair a nut 170 and the nuts on
bolts 164 allow the lower cutter housing 55 to be removed from the
machine without disturbing the drive. This allows the complete
chain assembly to drop out from the upper bearings of the four
corner shafts, along with 143 and 144. This avoids having to remove
the complete upper assembly in order to replace cutter heads,
bearings, chains and sprockets. The flanged portions of the
bearings are attached to the bottom casing 55 with nuts 167 and is
attached at an opening 168 in the bottom of the casing 55. Each of
the geared sprockets 155, 156, 146 and 147 pass through their
respective bottom bearings through the top 153 of the bottom casing
55 as is illustrated in FIG. 9 and each has a bevelled gear 171
attached to the opposite end of the shaft which engages a second
bevelled gear 172 attached to shafts 52 so that the rotation of the
bevelled gears 171 will rotate the bevelled gears 172 and shafts 52
and cutting heads 51. Rotating cutting heads 51 actually include a
blade support portion 173 anchored to the shaft 52 by key 174 and
has a single blade 175 and a counterbalanced weight 176 mounted on
the opposite side which can be replaced with a second blade for
counterbalancing. FIG. 10 shows an alternate embodiment with two
cutting blades. The blades will cut in sequence as they come around
in accordance with the rotation and positioning of the housing 25
as well as the spacing of each blade 175 during its rotation on
shaft 52 and the location and speed of travel of the board. The
inside cavity 177 is sealed and is filled with proper lubricant for
chain drives. Grease fittings 178 are attached to cover plate on
four separate housings encompassing shafts of the type of 148 and
top bearings. These four cavities act as reservoirs for top
bearings only. Shaft 52 pass from one cavity 180 to the other
cavity 180 having bearings 182 on one side, and bearings 183 on the
opposite sides thereof with a shaft locking end member 184 to hold
the shaft on one side and a shaft locking member 185 to hold the
shaft 52 on the opposite side next to the bevelled gear 172. Shaft
52 could also be held in position by sleeves located between
cutting head 51 and casing walls 53. FIG. 10 has a second
embodiment of the cutting head 51 having a pair of cutting blades
175 attached to the blade holding portion 51 attached to shaft 52
and having a key 174 to prevent rotation of the section 51 and the
shaft 52. Blades 175 are held in the cutting head 51 by Allen head
set screws, clamping blades 175 to sides of slots in the cutting
head 51. Allen set screws are also threaded in the bottom of blade
175 in order to adjust the distance between the bottom of the slot
in the cutter head 51 to correct the radius of the cutting edge,
after regrinding to assure accurate depth of the cut.
It should be clear at this point that a wood working machine has
been provided in which lumber of different sizes may be cut to give
unusual and random surfaces, such as might be accomplished by a
hand adz, in a rapid manner for the manufacture of beams for use in
the building industry. The lumber being fed into the present
apparatus would normally be treated by having each knot section cut
down by a fraction of an inch so that the blades in the present
apparatus will not burst knots or knock them out of the wood. The
wood may also be bevelled with cuts 187 as illustrated in the board
94 of FIG. 7 so that upon completion of the surfacing of the board
94 in the present apparatus it will divide into three bevelled
sections which may then be assembled into a square post on three
sides to resemble a larger beam. The present apparatus also is
readily adaptable for various adjustments for changing the size and
surface produced on the wood without departing from the spirit and
scope of the invention. For instance, the shape of the blades 175
could be changed to produce a different surfacing characteristic to
the lumber being treated. Accordingly, the present invention is not
to be construed as limited to the particular forms disclosed herein
since these are to be regarded as illustrative rather than
restrictive.
* * * * *