U.S. Natural Resources, Inc.

Edward W Ritola

Petri Saastamo

Lloyd R Booth

A sticker placement apparatus of a lumber stacking machine for placing stickers in the pans of stacking forks without the need of stopping movement of the forks. A transfer mechanism elevates a sticker off a sticker conveyor as the forks are moving a tier of lumber pieces outwardly onto a lumber stack. The transfer mechanism has cradles that elevate the stickers to a position strategic to the forks as the forks are elevated to engage the next tier of lumber pieces. The stickers are transferred to the pans without stopping movement of the forks.

Sticker placement apparatus

A conveyor system incorporating conveyors operating in conjunction for conveying, arranging, positioning and placing boards for feeding boards in an end to end arrangement to a processing station. The system includes a descrambler for feeding boards sequentially in a crosswise orientation onto a lug type conveyor. The lugs of the lug type conveyor conveys the boards through a scanner where the boards are scanned and the data input to a computer. A speed up conveyor cooperates with the lug conveyor to advance the board against a preceding lug of the lug conveyor which restrains the board. A board turner is provided to turn the board over if required. The speed up conveyor conveys the board onto a positioning conveyor and advances the board against a lug which retains the board in a determined position. Positioning pins advance the board onto a longitudinal conveyor which conveys the boards along their longitudinal length. The conveyors are cooperatively arranged to minimize the spacing between boards placed on the longitudinal conveyor.

Infeed conveyor system

An apparatus for aligning the ends of lumber pieces on a common register during conveyance of the lumber pieces. A lug type chain conveyor has wheel sets positioned between adjacent chains. The wheel sets have multiple freely rotating idler wheels positioned at an angle to the direction of conveyance of the conveyor. The periphery of the wheels extend above the chains a nominal distance. The lumber pieces, as they are being conveyed on the conveyor, engage the idler wheels of the wheel sets causing the idler wheels to rotate. The rotation of the idler wheels urge the lumber piece to move transverse to the travel direction of the conveyor to position the end of the lumber pieces in abutment with a register at the side of the conveyor.

Apparatus for even ending lumber

A dual independent hoist arrangement for a breakdown station is shown. The breakdown station includes an input conveyor depositing loads on an L-shaped tilting frame. The tilting frame pivots the load into a transport path whereat one of the two independently operable lifting hoists accepts the load directly from the tilting frame and moves the load along a transport path to a fixed discharge point. Load engaging forks of each lifting hoist move into and out of the load transport path for coordinated use and sequencing of the tilting frame and lifting hoists.

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LaCenter, WA, United States of America

Edward W Ritola