US2986179A - Spur disk log turner for sawmills - Google Patents

Description

' May 30, 1961 Filed June 17, 1959 H. c. GREENE 2,986,179

SPUR DISK LOG TURNER FOR SAWMILLS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 K. S 0 k 1 k Q Q n a E Herbert 6."6reene INVENTORJ y 1961 H. c. GREENE 2,986,179

SPUR DISK LOG TURNER FOR SAWMILLS Filed June 17, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Herbert G. Greene INVENTOR.

non Fwy 5M y 1961 H. c. GREENE 2,986,179

SPUH DISK LOG TURNER FOR SAWMILLS Filed June 17, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig. 4 I2 I i 38 e0 74 ,/32 58 62 Fig. 5 64 Herbert G. Greene 1 N VE N TOR.

United States Patent 2,986,179 SPUR DISK LOG TURNER FOR SAWMILLS Herbert C. Greene, Fleetwo'od, N.C. Filed June 17,1959, Ser. No. 821,020

4 Claims. 01. 143-102 The present invention generally relates to sawmill equipmentand more particularly to a device for turning logson a savifrnillcarriage'.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a log turner for sawmills which is completely foot operated thus leaving the hands free for other purposes such as fastening down the log to the carriage after the log turner has turned the log to the desired position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide alog turner that is disposed completely in an out-of-theway position below the skid poles when not in use thus preventing any possible inteference with movement of the log onto the carriage.

A further important object of the present invention is toprovide a log turner which will turn all size logs with a minimum of damage to the log and which operates directly from the sawmill power supply with a minimum of connections.

,Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide a log turner which will hold the log in position until it canbe secured to the carriage after the log has been turned and which also turns the log smoothly and continuously until it reaches the desired position.

Still'another important object of the present invention is to provide a log turner which is simple in operation, easy to use, durable, well adapted for its particular purposes and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

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 apart hereof, wherein like numerals ref er to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a perspectiveview of the log turner of the present invention illustrating its association with the loading ramp or skid poles, the carriage and other components fas w r H Figure'2 is a plan view of the log turner illustrating the structural details thereof; 7 I

Figure- 3 is an end view taken substantially upon a plane passing along reference line 33 of Figure 2 illustrating further oriehtatiofi'reatare's of the invention;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 illustrating the log turner in operative position;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 5-5 of Figure 2 illustrating the mechanism for driving the log turner in both directions; and

Figure 6 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 6-6 of Figure 2 illustrating the construction of the bearing for the power shaft.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the log turner of the present invention for turning a log 12 mounted on a carriage 14 which is rollingly supported on a carriage track 16 for movement of the carriage 14 and log 12 towards and away from the saw 18 by a suitable power device which ice is well known and not disclosed here since it forms no a part of the invention. The carriage 14 includes transverse support members 20 which receive the log and up-. standing knees 22 which are laterally adjustable on the support members 20 for receiving various sizes of logs. There is also provided means for securing the log in position which is not shown. Disposed in alignment with the support members 20 is a pair of built in skid poles 24 which are actually channel shaped in construction and having depending support members 26 integral therewith. The outer ends of the built in skid poles 24 are provided with extensions 28 supported in a conventional manner for guiding the logs onto the carriage "14 and the logs are usually rolled down the skid poles by using a manual cant hook or the like.

The log turner 10 includes a generally rectangular frame 30 having depending support legs 32 (Figures 4 and 5). The frame 30 is provided with laterally extending brackets 34 (Figure 2) having bearings 36 on the outer ends thereof for journaling a power shaft 38. The outer end of the power shaft 38 is provided with a pulley 48 which receives power from a belt 42 from the sawmill power source whereby the belt and pulley 40 will be rotated. The end of the shaft 38 remote from the bearing 36 is received on a bearing 44 carried by an elongated foot pedal member 46 which has the inner end thereof pivotally attached to the frame by virture of-the. hinge pin 48 (Figure 5).

The hinge pin 48 is connected to one of the depending is disposed betwen the foot pedal 46 and the lower end of the L-shaped-member 52 and a coil spring 56 is disposed above the foot'pedal 46 and the undersurface of the bracket 54 thus urging the pedal 46 to a neutral position.

The shaft 38 is provided with a friction pulley 58 thereon which is movable with the foot pedal 46 for frictional driving'engagement with abelt 60 encircling the same and which belt also encircles an enlarged pulley 62 supported b'y'shaft 64 carried by hearing blocks 66 on laterally extending brackets 68. The inner end of the shaft 64 isprovide'd with a bevel gear 70 (Figures 1 and 2) thereon. The bearing 36 is ofthe soft alignment type as illustrated; in Figure '6 which construction enables the end of the shaft 38'atta'ched to the foot pedal 46 to swing generally in a vertical plane.

The gear 70 is in meshing engagement with a bevel gear 72 carried by an elongated driven shaft 74 which has a drive pinion 76 thereon in meshingengagement with an enlarged pinion gear78 journaled between the legs of the U-shap'edframe 80 which is pivoted for swinging movement about'theshaft ofth'e axle 74. The shaft 74 is journaled in bearings 82 and the gear 78 is journaled about its own axis 84 which is rotatably mounted in the legs of the U-shaped frame 80. The gear 78 is connected with a spur gear 86 for engagement with the log and also a brake drum 88 for engagement by an adjustabl-e brake shoe 90 (Figures 3 and 4) forced apart by a spring device 92 which will cause the spur gear 86 and drum 88 to rotate when the axle or shaft 74 causes rotation of the gear 78.

The outer end of the U-shap'ed frame 80 has a chain 94 attached thereto and attached to the frame 30 for limiting the upward movement of the gear 78, spur wheel 86 and brake drum 88.

As illustrated in Figure 6, the bearing 36 includes the Patented May 30, 1961 usual bearing cap 96 having a grease fitting 98 and a partial spherical member 100 receiving the input shaft 38.

The operation of the invention is effected by upward and downward movement of the foot pedal 46. After a log 12 has been positioned on the carriage 14 in any convenient manner, the foot pedal 46 is depressed. Inasmuch as the shaft 38 is rotating due to power from the sawmill power source, the pulley 48 thereon will frictionally engage and drive the belt 60 thus driving the pulley 62 and shaft 64. The shaft 64 drives the shaft 74 by the gearing 70 and 72. Inasmuch as the spur gear 76 is rigid with the shaft 74, the spur gear 76 will rotate with the shaft 74. Inasmuch as the enlarged spur gear 78 is in meshing engagement with the spur gear 76, the spur gear 78 will be rotated thus causing positive rotation of the enlarged spur gear 78.

The spur gear 78 and spur disk 86 and the drum 88 are connected together with the brake mechanism preventing the gear 78, spur disk 86 and drum 88 from rotating due to the brake shoes which are secured with the shaft journalling these components. Thus, the spur gear 78 and the frame will rotate about the axis defined by the shaft 74 until the spur disk 86 engages the log as illustrated in Fig. 4. Further rotation of the shaft 74 will cause the log 12 to be rotated substantially about its longitudinal axis.

As the log 12 is rotated to the desired position, pressure on the foot pedal 46 may be released thus permitting the brake to just barely rotate in relation to the slip sutficient so that pressure is exerted against the log at all times until the log is secured in position. When the foot pedal is in a neutral position, the shaft 74 and the log turning mechanism will not be operative since the drive pulley 58 will slip in relation to the belt 60:

When it is desired to reverse the log turning mechanism so that it will be disengaged from the log after the log has been secured, it is only necessary to lift upwardly on the foot pedal 46 thus causing the pulley 58 to directly engage the pulley 62 thus driving the shaft 64 in the reverse direction and causing the spur disk to pivot downwardly away from the log.

It is pointed out that the foot pedal is positioned in a convenient place for the sawer to operate the device while leaving the hands free for permitting the sewer to dog the log after it has been turned to the desired position on the carriage. Inasmuch as the log turning mechanism is completely out of the way when not being used, it will not interfere with normal loading of the carriage with logs and the log turner may be used somewhat to facilitate the pushing of logs onto the carriage.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A log turning device for turning logs positioned on a sawmill carriage comprising a frame, a rigid elongated bracket having one end pivotally connected with the frame, a spur disk rotatable on said bracket for engagement with the surface of a log, means mounted on the frame in continuous driving connection with the spur disk for moving the spur disk into engagement with the log and then rotating the log about its longitudinal axis with the rotating means being rendered eifective only after the log has been pushed into position on a sawmill carriage, said means for driving the spur disk includes a gear fixed to the disk and a brake drum fixed to the disk, :1 fixed shaft journaling the disk on the bracket, brake shoe means fixed to said shaft and frictionally engaging the brake drum whereby to render the spur disk non-rotative until the frictional resistance between the brake shoe and brake drum has been overcome, and a drive spur gear in engagement with the spur gear fixed to the spur disk whereby the bracket, drum and spur disk will rotate with the drive spur gear as long as the frictional engagement between the brake shoe and drum is greater than the resistance of rotational movement of the spur disk about the axis of the drive spur gear.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said drive spur gear is mounted on a power shaft, a clutch mechanism for selectively connecting the power shaft to a power supply.

3. The structure as defined in claim 2 wherein said clutch mechanism includes a belt drive assembly including a pair of spaced pulleys with a belt encircling the pulleys, said pulleys being mounted on spaced shafts with one of the pulleys and shaft being movable and the other shaft forming the power shaft, a foot pedal connected to the movable shaft for moving the shaft for bringing the pulley thereon into frictional engagement with the belt for selectively driving the other pulley.

4. The structure as defined in claim 3 wherein said movable pulley has a friction producing peripheral surface whereby movement of the movable pulley in the direction opposite from engagement with the belt will cause the movable pulley to engage the other pulley for rotating the other pulley in the reverse direction in relation to the rotational direction when the other pulley is driven from the belt thereby causing the spur disk to rotate in a reverse direction and cause the spur disk and bracket to move away from the log.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 141,028 Berndt July 22, 1873 151,130 Hunter May 19, 1874 209,881 Gatts Nov. 12, 1878 424,385 Wardell Mar. 25, 1890 543,757 Stoner July 30, 1895 812,823 Clay Feb. 20, 1906 1,320,197 Broomhall Oct. 28, 1919 1,679,445 Peaver Aug. 7, 1923 2,100,115 Ward Nov. 23, 1937 2,676,626 Rumsey Apr. 27, 1954

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