WO1985003900A1

WO1985003900A1 - Board press feeder

Info

Publication number: WO1985003900A1
Application number: PCT/FI1984/000024
Authority: WO
Inventors: Johan Jorma Kullervo Hotma
Original assignee: Rauma-Repola Oy
Priority date: 1984-03-07
Filing date: 1984-03-07
Publication date: 1985-09-12

Abstract

A board press feeder device by means of which a board-like blank that is to be handled may be moved to a filler rack (3) and in which the moving operation takes place by means of roller and/or conveyor belt structures (11, 12) which are known in and of themselves. Known solutions have drawbacks, for the avoidance of which the invention incorporates the characteristic feature that the conveyor elements (11, 12) at least partially form a part of the level of the tray (13) of the filler rack that is at each feeder position, the level being provided with holes or grooves for this purpose.

Description

BOARD PRESS FEEDER

The object of this invention is a board press feeder by means of which the board-like blank to be treated is moved to a filler rack, the moving operation being performed by means of roller and/or conveyor belt structures which in and of themselves are known.

In the manufacture of plywood within the forest products industry, the veneer sheets are stacked manually one on top of the other with their layers of glue. The veneer sheets are pushed up against two fixed corner stops in such a way that an even, "hard" edge is formed between them. The opposite edge is variable and "soft" because the veneers differ somewhat in length, the differences in length being a maximum of 5 cm. Such a composition or blank may be prepressed, after which it is moved to the board press.

In the board press, the first phase is to move the blanks from the composition stack to the filler device, placing them in different-levelled trays of the rack. This generally takes place by means of a separate feeder device. Most such feeder devices are already known. One method is to use flying rollers which accelerate the blank in such a way that it slides across the surface of the tray coming up against the stop. Thereafter the next tray drops down to the feeder level and the operation is repeated. Since the blank is always centered by its "hard" edge, the blank is fed into the filler device with the "soft" edge frontwards. This method consequently has the drawback that when the "soft" edge hits the stop of the different-levelled trays at high speed, the layers of veneer easily break and crack. If a crack is long enough, it causes the entire board to be rejected. Fragments of veneer also come loose from the cracked edge, some of them flying on top of the blank and increasing the number of rejected boards.

A second solution is to use the kind of feeder device trays which incorporate conveyors, "belt trays." In general a conveyor belt-type tray level starts up when it reaches the feeding level and stops when the composition blank that has been fed is seated in place. When all the "trays" are full, they are introduced into the press, thereby pushing the completed boards out of the press and into an emptying rack. When the trays are retracting, the belts are revolving at pull out speed, with the effect that the blanks remain in the press. This arrangement requires n conveyor belts and roller tables for a rack having n trays. The solution thus turns out to be cumbersome and expensive. Maintenance is also expensive and troublesome since n "belt trays" have to be kept in operating condition.

The object of this invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks. A device according to the invention in which the filling rack can be raised in such a way that the conveyor elements are located at the height of the surface of each tray is characterized by the fact that the conveyor elements at least partially form a part of the tray level of each filler rack that is in feeding position, the level having holes or grooves for this purpose.

In addition, the invention is characterized by the fact that between the feeder rack and the hot press there is a protective curtain that functions as a heat insulator. This makes it possible to avoid premature hardening of the glue layers between the plywood boards while the feeder rack is in the filling phase.

The invention is explained in the following by means of an example, references being made to the accompanying drawing in which

Fig.1 shows the board press in its entirety.

FIg.2 shows a feeder device according to the invention, viewed from the side.

Fig.3 shows a removal device according to the invention, viewed from the top. The board press comprises of a feeder platform 1, a feeder device 2, a filler rack 3, a hot press 4, an emptying rack 5, an emptying device 6, as well as a stacking platform 7 (fig.1). In addition, it incorporates a protective curtain 8, which protects the upward rising composition blanks in filler rack 3 from premature hardening owing to the heat radiating from press 4, the required machinery and hydraulic cylinders for performing individual functions, a heating system for the press as well as a pit for the 9 racks. The press operates as follows: the stack of composition blanks 10 is pushed on to the feeder platform 1 so that it comes up against a stop. The upper surface of the stack is regulated by means of a foot-operated switch so that it comes to the proper height for feeding the composition blanks 10 by means of the feeder conveyor 2 to the filler device 3. Roller 11 in feeder device 2 conveys the composition blank being pushed on top of it from feeder platform 1 to the multibelt conveyor 12, which conveys the composition blank to tray 13 of the filler device 3, which is at the feeding height. The filler device is composed of a rack that moves vertically by means of hydraulic cylinders and is equipped with trays at different levels. When the device is being filled, each tray 13 rises in turn to the filling height, at which the composition blank moves from feeder device 2 on to the trays. When all the trays are full, they are introduced into press 4. These thereby push out the completed boards into emptying rack 5. When the trays, 13, start to retract, the composition blank holder drops down and guides the composition blanks into the desired position.

When the pressing has been effected, the completed boards go to the rack of emptying device 5, whence they are collected on to emptying conveyor 6. The emptying device is composed of a rack that moves up and down. The rack drops down one interval at a time and the emptying conveyor, 6, takes the boards off the shelves 14. Emptying conveyor 6 is a multibelt conveyor which moves the boards forward from the emptying device and transports the plywood boards to stacking platform 7.

It is clear to one skilled in the art that the invention is not limited solely to the example given above but that its different applications may vary within the framework of the patent claims presented below. Thus the drive machinery of the belt conveyors, the number and length of the belts as well as the extent which the belts occupy in the trays and shelves can vary. The feeder device is not bound to any specific product, either, this invention being adaptable to the moving of any even-bottomed bodies.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. A board press feeder device by means of which the board-like material to be handled is capable of being transferred to trays (13) in a filler rack (3) and in which the moving takes place by means of roller and/or conveyor belt structures (11, 12) which are known in and of themselves, and in which the filler rack (3) may be raised in such a way that the conveying elements (11, 12) are situated, essentially, at the height of the top surface of the tray at any given level (13), characterized by the fact that the conveying elements (11, 12) at least partially form a part of the level of the tray (13) of the filler rack (3) that is in each feeding position, the level having holes and grooves for this purpose.

2. A feeder device according to patent claim 1 , characterized by the fact that a protective curtain (8) acting as a heat insulator is situated between the feeder rack (3) and the hot press (4).