US2876811A - Wood wafer cutting machine - Google Patents

Description

March 10, 1959 'w. RQMATI'HEWS W001;v WAFER mum; MACHINE Original Filed.June 25, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 w 4, m 2 v0M March 10, 1959' w. R. MATTHEWS 2,876,81 1

WOOD WAFER CUTTING MACHINE Original Filed June 25. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N V EN TOR. M/filam A? Mar/firms 2,876,811- WOOD WAFER CUTTING MACHINE William R. Matthews, Spokane, Wash.

Original application June 25, 1953, Serial No. 364,078. ivided and this application March 12, 1956, Serial No. 571,105

6 Claims. ('Cl. 144-162) The present invention relates to improvements in a wood wafer cutting machine. This application is a division of my prior and co-pending application Serial No. 364,078, filed June 25, 1953, for Process and Apparatus for Molding Board in a Continuous Strip.

In constructing molded wood fiber board, it is desirable to use wood chips or wafers which are so cut that the wood fibers therein extend parallel to the longest dimension of the wafer and which remain intact for the fulllength of the wafer.

It is the principal purpose of this invention to provide a machine which will reduce wood scraps, blocks, boards; etc. to thin wafers of wood fiber wherein the fibers are intact for substantially the length of the wafer.

A further purpose of the invention is to provide such a machine having a multiplicity of aligned cutters adapted to move past a cutting station and means to present wood blocks, etc. to the'cutting station in such a position that the grain of the wood lies perpendicular to the direction of motion of the cutters, the cutters having transversely spaced scoring ribs thereon whereby to score the blocks across the grain and having transversely extending slicing bars between the scoring blades whereby to slice wafers from the wood.

The machine comprises a main framework having a pair of vertically spaced drums rotatably mounted there'- in and having the lower drum driven. A plurality of endless chains extend side by side around the drums. The endless chains carry the cutters which slice wafers from wooden blocks held thereagainst. A conveyor extends into close juxtaposition with the downwardly extending flights of chains between the upper and lower cylinders, and is adapted to present wood blocks to the cutters. A feed conveyor positioned above the first named conveyor, moves the wood against the cutters and holds it firmly in place.

The nature and advantages of my invention will ap pear more fully from the following description and the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred form of the invention is shown. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and description are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the invention except insofar as it is limited by the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a view in side elevation of the wafer cutting machine;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on the" line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of the cutter.

and chains looking in the direction of the arrows 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of one of the cut ters; and

Figure 6 is a longitudinal center sectional view of the cutter shown in Figure 5.

Referring. now tothe drawings and to Figure 1 in. par:

' atent C 2,876,811 Patented Mar. 1o, 1959 ti'cular, the'machine is shown as comprising a base frame 10 having upstanding, frame portions 11 thereon. A lower rotatable shaft 12 is rotatably mounted on the base frame 10 and supports thereon a drum or cylinder An upper shaft 14 is rotata'bly'mounted at the upper ends of the upstanding frames 11 and carries a second drum or cylinder 15. The upper shaft 14 is rotatably mounted in bearing blocks 16 which are mounted for vertical movement in the upstanding frame members 11. The bearing blocks 16 are urged up" wardly by springs 17. The upward movement is limited by adjustable screws 18. With this construction, the upper drum 15 is' mounted for limited adjustment to ward and away from the lower drum 13. A plurality of endless chains, generally indicated by the numeral 19, are trained around the drums 13 and 15' in a side by'sid'e relation.

The chains 19, best shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, each comprise alternate cutter carrying links 20 and roller carrying links 21. The roller carrying links 21 are comprised of two spaced apart bars 21a and 21b the ends of which are positioned against and pivotally secured to the ends of the cutter carrying links 211 by pins 22. As shown best in Figure 4, the bars 21a and 21b are spread intermediate their ends, and a roller 23 is positioned therebetween. The rollers 23 are rotatably mounted on shafts 24 which are secured between the bars 21a and 21b of the links 21. It will be noted that the rollers 23 are considerably larger in diameter than the links 21 and protrude from the opposite sides thereof.

The drums 13 and 15' are provided with axially extending semi-cylindrical flutes or groves 24 on the" surface to receive the rollers 23 and to provide for driving engagement between the chains 19 and the drums 13 and 15. With this construction rotational power applied to the shaft 12 will cause the drum 13 to rotate, driving the chains 19 through engagement of the grooves 24 with the rollers 23. The direction of rotation of the drum 13 is indicated in Figure l.

The cutter carrying links 20 of the chains 19 each receive and support a cutter 25 the description of which will appear later herein. The cutters 25 are adapted to cut wafers of wood from blocks held against the movingchains 19. As shown in Figure l, a roller conveyor 26 extends into close juxtaposition with the downwardly moving flights of the chains 19. This conveyor 26 is: adapted to carry wood blocks such as indicated at 27 to the chains 19 to be reduced to wafers. Mounted abovethe conveyor 26 is a feed conveyor 28 which cooperates with the conveyor 26 to deliver and hold the blocks 27 for cutting. The feed conveyor 28 comprises a flexible belt 29 trained around three supporting rollers 30,31 and 32'. The outer surface of the belt 29 is ribbed or toothed as shown at 29a to grip the blocks 27, and is driven so that its lower flight moves toward the chains 19 as indicated by the arrows in--Figure 1. Wooden blocks 27 on the conveyor 26 are engaged by the moving belt 29 and advanced into engagement with the chains 19- for cutting. As the blocks 27 are cut into wafers by the cutters 25, the belt 29 of the conveyor feeds and holds the blocks 27 in position.

In order to insure that the cutters 25 do engage" and- This means 33 positioned between the moving flights of chains- 19' to keep them from becoming slack. As shown best in Figures 1 and 2 the rollers 23 engage and roll down the surface of the plate 33 as ithe chains 19 travel. Raised lips 33a. at the side edges of the .plate 33 prevent transversemovement of the chains 19.

The cutters 25, best illustrated in Figures and 6, comprise a base portion 35 from which two transversely spaced scoring ribs 36 and 37 extend. The scoring ribs 36 and 37 have their leading edges 38 sharpened tocut score lines or grooves in the blocks 27 as they are traversed. At the upper end of the base portion 35 an outwardly extending and downwardly curved slicing rib 39 is positioned. The slicing rib 39 has its downwardly facing edge 40 sharpened to slice through the block traversed and cut a thin wafer therefrom between the score lines. It will be noted that the inside face 41 of the slicing rib 39 follows a smooth curve upwardly and inwardly toward the base 35, so that the wafer cut from the block 27 may follow this surface and curl around gently as it is cut. The cutters 25, as hereinbefore mentioned are received and supported by the cutter carrying links 20 of the chains 19. Each of the links 20 has a cutter connecting plate 42 formed thereon having a longitudinal T-shaped channel 43 therein commencing at one end and continuing nearly the full distance of the plate 42. Each of the cutters 25 has a T- haped flange 44 thereon which is received in the channel to secure the cutter 25 to the link 20. It will be noted in Figure 4 that both the connecting plate 42 and the flange 44 are slightly wedge shaped, the side edges thereof converging toward the end of the cutter 25 having the slicing rib 39 thereon. With this construction the force exerted against the cutter 25 by the blocks 27 is in a direction to keep the cutter 25 wedged firmly in place on the link 20.

When it is desired to produce thin wood wafers, blocks of wood such as those indicated at 27 are placed on the conveyor 26 in such a position that the grain of each block extends at right angles to the direction of travel of the chains U. The blocks are engaged and moved against the chains by the conveyor 28. As each cutter 25 travels along the block 27 the scoring ribs 36 and 37 cut grooves in the wood across the grain, thereby cutting the wood fibers into lengths equal to the distance between the scoring ribs 36 and 37. Immediately after the wood is scored, the slicing rib 39 engages the block 27 and slices a wafer therefrom between the score lines or grooves. The slicing rib 39 slices parallel to the grain and does not sever the fibers, but merely separates the fibers between the score lines from the remainder of the block. It will be seen from examination of Figures 2 and 3 that the thickness of the slice and of the resulting wafers is controlled by the rollers 23. The teeth in each chain are spaced apart far enough that a tooth completes its cut through the wood before the following tooth engages the wood. For thicker wood alternate teeth in a chain may be removed. in order to vary the thickness of the wafers, it is necessary to replace either the rollers 23 or the cutters 25.

In operation, my improved wafer cutting machine is very simple. Afterthe drum 13 and the conveyors 26 and 28 are set in motion, all that remains to be done is to place blocks 27 on the conveyor 26 and remove the wafers below the drum 13. As wafers are cut they are deflected by a guide 45 to a tray or conveyor 46 below thedrum 13. The cutters 25 are removable for easy repairs or replacement. The operation of the device results in production of volumes of wafers of controlled length and thickness and containing longitudinally extending wood fibers which are intact for the entire length of the wafer.

It is believed that the nature and advantages of the invention appear clearly from the foregoing description.

, Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A device for reducing wood blocks to thin wafers comprising .a pluralityvof cutters each having laterally and having a slicing extending sharpened ribs thereon bar thereon extending laterally of said ribs, cutter mounting ineans supporting said cutter, rollers mounted on said cutter mounting means, said cutters and roller being aligned in spaced apart longitudinal rows on said mounting means, said rows comprising alternate cutters and rollers, the cutters extending outwardly from the mounting means a greater distance than the rollers, block holding means supported adjacent said cutter mounting means and operable to hold a wooden block against the cutter, and power means connected to said cutter mounting means operable to move the cutter mounting means with respect to the block holding means.

2. A device for reducing wood blocks to thin wafers comprising a plurality of cutters each having laterally spaced longitudinally extending sharpened ribs thereon and having a slicing bar thereon extending laterally of said ribs, cutter mounting means supporting said cutter, rollers mounted on said cutter mounting means, said cutters and roller being aligned in spaced apart longitudinal rows on said mounting means, said rows comprising alternate cutters and rollers, adjacent rows being staggered whereby each cutter has a roller of the next adjacent row beside it, the cutters extending outwardly from the mounting means a greater distance than the rollers, block holding means supported adjacent said cutter mounting means and operable to hold a wooden block against the cutter, and power means connected to said cutter mounting means operable to move the cutter mounting means with respect to the block holding means. 7 3. A device for reducing wood blocks to thin wafers comprising a plurality of chains positioned in a side by side relation, each of said chains having alternate cutter carrying links and roller carrying links, cutters supported on said cutter carrying links, and rollers supported on said roller carrying links, said cutters each having laterally spaced longitudinally extending sharpened ribs thereon and having a slicing bar thereon extending laterally of said ribs, said ribs and said bar of each cutter extending outwardly from the chain a greater distance than the rollers, adjacent chains being staggered whereby each cutter has a roller of the next adjacent chain beside it, block holding means positioned adjacent the chains and operable to hold a woo-den block against the cutters, and chain driving means connected to the chains whereby to move them with respect to the block holding means.

4. A device for reducing wood blocks to thin wafers comprising a main frame, a pair of vertically spaced, laterally extending shafts rotatably mounted on said frame, sprocket means fixed on each of said shafts, a plurality of chains trained around said sprockets and having vertically extending front and rear flights extending between said sprocket means, drive means connected to one of said shafts to drive said chains in a direction to move the front flight downwardly, said chains comprising alternate cutter carrying links and roller carrying links, rollers journalled in said roller carrying links, cutters supported on said cutter carrying links, said cutters having outwardly extending laterally spaced ribs thereon, said ribs having sharpened edges facing in the direction of travel of the chains, slicing bars on said cutters extending laterally of the chains at the ends of the ribs opposite the sharpened edges, wood holding means on the frame adjacent the front flights of chains and operable to hold wood blocks against the cutters, and a backing plate on the frame adjacent the front flights of chains on the opposite side of the chains from the wood holding means, said backing plate having a vertical face adjacent the chains to engage the rollers and hold the chains against the wood block being traversed by the cutters.

5. In an apparatus for the production of board from particles of wood fiber, a cutter for reducing wood blocks to the desired particle size, said cutter comprising a plurality of chains side by side, each chain having cutter teeth mounted thereon, and drive rollers alterspaced longitudinally nating with the teeth, the teeth being staggered in adjacent chains whereby each tooth has the roller of the adjacent chain alongside it, the teeth comprising two spaced apart sharpened ribs extending lengthwise of the chain and a slicing bar spaced rearwardly from the ribs but rigid there- 5 with, the space between said ribs and the slicing bar being open.

6. In a cutter device for reducing wood blocks to wafers, a chain, a backing plate for the chain, alternate links of the chain having rollers riding on said backing plate and cutters carried thereon, each cutter having a base portion removably secured on the chain and a pair of laterally spaced ribs projecting from the base portion and extending longitudinally of the chain and having their forward edges sharpened, each cutter also having a slicing bar mounted on said base portion and provided with a forwardly extended slicing edge spaced rearwardly from the rib edges and outwardly from the base portion, the slicing bar and ribs projecting from the chain farther than the rollers to slice wood pieces held away from the backing plate by the rollers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,207,055 Keogh Dec. 5, 1916 1,473,545 Collier Nov. 6, 1923 1,538,066 Street May 19, 1925 1,665,131 Ferrari Apr. 3, 1928 2,080,557 Bravi May 18, 1937 2,652,077 Alexander Sept. 15, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,042,871 France June 10, 1953

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