Metriguard Inc.

Washington State University

The Coe Manufacturing Company, Inc.

Hpfm Drill Co., LLC

Watchdog, Inc.

James David Logan

James R Allen

Friend K Bechtel

Ryan D Baldwin

Harry E Moore

Peter A Siebold

Dean A Nelson

Timothy T Meekhof

Guy J Swanson

Thomas E Peters

David J Henckel

Daniel A Uskoski

John W Talbott

Wayne Lucas McProud

Ronnie K Byers

David E Abbott

Eugene R Bennett

Wayne P Waldher

Clarence L Dieter

Richard Wayne Lloyd

Ray L Fry

Michael G Strevy

Jean M Logan

Tony L Lee

Nathaniel D Darnall

The present invention is a wood grading apparatus including a robust 'push' solenoid as a hammer means for impacting a lumber specimen under test. A conventional solenoid coil with stationary magnetic iron pole pieces is combined with a bimetallic armature including a magnetic portion and a non-magnetic portion; said armature is of uniform cross section through the solenoid coil. A magnetic steel portion of said armature is fastened to a nonmagnetic steel portion thereof, whereby the magnetic field may act upon the magnetic portion of said armature and drive said nonmagnetic portion in an outward direction whereby impact or striking action is achieved. The present invention includes said solenoid in a wood grading apparatus whereby physical properties of wood are measured in a conveyor line setting and wood grading is affected by combining sonic velocity and density measurements to determine the modulus of elasticity of the wood object. Sonic velocity in the wood specimen is determined either by reverberation frequency or by rolling transducers that detect the leading edge of a stress wave initiated by said hammer means. A weight measurement means including a horizontal-axis roller lug conveyor chain and a leaf-spring suspension with a load cell means provides for improved accuracy in weight measurement for wood density calculation.

Sonic lumber tester

An apparatus for testing panel products in edgewise shear in which the shear stress is applied in a diagonal direction with a first rotational degree of freedom in a first grip means and a second rotational degree of freedom in a second grip means as a first loading configuration. A second loading configuration is provided in which the second rotational degree of freedom of the second grip means is locked in place and motion is prevented. A third preferred method of loading is available in which shear forces in a horizontal direction through a centerline of a specimen, with the centerline in the plane of the specimen and extending across a widest dimension of said specimen. Control and data collection are under computer control and operator safety is enhanced by a locking guard door which is electrically locked while the various parts of the machine are in motion.

Rail shear tester apparatus with multiple loading configurations

This invention provides a method and apparatus for determining the grain angle of a wood object which has a circular cross section of constant or varying radius along the object's length. This apparatus may be hand-held or fixed mounted as testing circumstances dictate. The resulting grain angle may be displayed in real time, as perceived by the user, or transmitted to a processing unit for data collection or interpretation.

Method and apparatus for measuring the grain angle of a round wood object

This improved apparatus for planting grain crops provides improved emergence, particularly under heavy soil conditions, promotes more vigorous growth, reduces tillering and improves the yield in wheat and barley crops. The improved apparatus receives seed at a more-or-less uniform rate, captures the flow of seed until a multiplicity of seed generally in the range of 20 to 30 seeds is gathered, then releases seed in concentrated groups spaced apart from one another and with blank or non-seeded portions therebetween into a furrow prepared by an angled disk.

Apparatus for hill plot farming of cereal grain crops

This improved method of calibrating wood testing machines includes improved test bars, shim and software to direct the operator through the steps of calibration, storing interim results and calculating new calibration factors based on values read when the test bars are placed in the wood testing machine. This method avoids a number of problems in previous methods and apparatus. It properly corrects for changes in deflection in the measurement apparatus and changes in straightness of the test bars. The result is a more stable and reliable calibration that is referenced to precise measurement of the EI product for the test bar.

Method and apparatus for calibrating wood testing machine

Improved apparatus is described for measuring bending stiffness of dimension lumber. Innovative details are introduced that make the measurement more accurate and repeatable as well as making the apparatus simpler, more robust and easier to maintain than the prior art.

Apparatus for testing lumber stiffness

Method and apparatus are described for using stress wave measurements in the estimation of quality of finger joints in wood and quality of lumber, where quality is typically defined as strength. Application and measurement of stress waves in the transverse direction of the material allows localized measurements to be made, and features developed from this information are used in the quality estimation. A feature is a quantifiable characteristic developed from stress wave signals which can be used either by itself or in combination with other features to estimate quality. Examples of features include the propagation velocity of a stress wave, the attenuation of a stress wave, the difference in stress wave propagation times measured at different locations along the lumber, and the effects on amplitude and phase of frequency components of a stress wave. Treating features together as a feature vector and as input to an estimator function, estimated quality can be evaluated. The ability of the method and apparatus can be improved in some cases by performing the stress wave measurements in the presence of externally applied bending, tensile or torsional stress.

Stress wave method and apparatus for estimating the structural quality

Apparatus for the manufacture of oriented chopped glass fiber mats from non-conductive fiber feed stock is disclosed. Apparatus includes means for increasing the conductance of the feed stock, electrically insulative transfer surface; means for establishing and maintaining a directional electric field to orient the chopped fibers, and a mat receiving surface to receive the oriented mat. The non-woven mat comprises a plurality of cut or chopped fibers having their longitudinal axes predominately disposed approximately parallel to a predetermined orientation axis lying in the plane of the mat. A preferred embodiment includes the incorporation of a glass fiber mat into a composite by applying a matrix resin to the mat in sufficient quantity to ensure the integrity of the composite. The process for manufacturing said non-woven oriented mats is also disclosed.

Oriented chopped fiber mats and method and apparatus for making same

Wood grain angle information is detected electronically by use of a sensor having a common electrode and a plurality of electrodes spaced from the common electrode and arranged angularly about a sensor axis. The common electrode can serve as a sense electrode or as a drive electrode for the remaining angularly spaced electrodes. By modulating applied drive signals and demodulating the sensed signals that result from capacitive coupling of an adjacent wood specimen, values that are a function of wood grain angle are identified.

Apparatus and method for measuring wood grain angle

A device for testing sheet material, such as wood veneer, includes a rolling transducer for introducing ultrasonic signals into the veneer so as to cause travel of the signals generally in the plane of the veneer. Coupling oil filling this transducer facilitates the transmission of the signals into the veneer. Another similar rolling transducer is provided to detect the travelling ultrasonic signals. Each rolling transducer includes a special rim with an annular focusing ring for directing the ultrasonic signals to and from the veneer. A timer circuit produces a signal representing the travel time taken for an ultrasonic signal to pass between the transducers. An averaging circuit obtains an average of such travel times for each sheet and a grading circuit causes the sheet to be marked with a grade corresponding to the average travel time. A signal threshold detector prevents travel times for detected signals of a magnitude less than a preselected minimum level from being included in the average. Travel times for detected signals of a magnitude exceeding a noise level are blocked by a noise discriminator from being averaged. A variable noise level circuit adjusts the magnitude of the noise level at certain times following the transmission of an ultrasonic signal into the veneer. Detected signals having a travel time which is not between a preselected minimum and maximum time established by a time window circuit are disregarded. A calibration signal generator provides a signal of a known and adjustable time length for use in adjusting the grade corresponding to travel times.

Ultrasonic sheet material testing apparatus

A shaft speed and hot bearing indicating apparatus is described having a transducer actuating means mounted on the shaft immediately adjacent the supporting bearing for actuating an electrical transducer to produce an electrical pulse as the transducer actuating means is rotated during each revolution of the shaft. The transducer pulse is processed by an electronic mechanism for multiplying the transducer pulse by sixty by a phase-locked loop network and then counting the number of multiplied pulses occurring during each one second of time interval in a BCD counting mechanism. The total count is displayed each second on a decimal digital display. The apparatus also has means for activating an alarm when the sensed speed falls below a preset speed. The transducer activating means is responsive to the temperature of the bearing and is rendered ineffective when a preset temperature is reached.

Shaft speed and hot bearing indicating apparatus

The description describes a process for forming a composite mat of directionally oriented lignocellulosic material in which elongated small pieces of the material are caused to descend individually as separate and discrete objects through an electric field orienting zone. A horizontal mat-support surface is moved immediately below the orienting zone to receive the descending pieces thereon with the elongated pieces overlapping each other to form a composite mat. An electric current is passed through the mat to produce a directional electric field immediately above the mat in which the electric field is directed in the direction of movement of the mat and parallel with the mat to exert forces on the elongated small pieces to cause the pieces to orient their long dimensions in the direction of the electric field as the pieces descend through the orienting zone in the formation of the composite mat. The electric current is produced within the mat by contacting the mat with electrodes and applying a voltage difference between the electrodes to cause electric current to flow through the mat between the electrodes in the direction of mat travel.

Growing community of inventors

Pullman, WA, United States of America

James David Logan