Usnr, LLC

Cae Electronics Ltd.

Cae Newnes Ltd.

Cae Electronics Ltd. Cae Electronique Ltee

Cae Inc.

Newnes Machine Ltd.

Coe Newnes/mcgehee Inc.

Usnr, Lc

James G Jackson

John Sergeant

Brian T Stroud

James Bruce Hannebauer

William R Newnes

Roland Davyduke

Joe B Kennedy

Thomas Congdon

Larry Petryshen

David Howes

Steven W Michell

Emeric Johnson

Embodiments provide an electric lug loader system. An electric lug loader may include a shaft assembly rotatably mounted to a frame that extends across a flow path. The shaft assembly may have shafts arranged radially around, and parallel to, the rotational axis of the shaft assembly, clamp members arranged along each of the shafts, support members arranged radially around the rotational axis and across the flow path, and electric drives coupled to the shafts. Conveyors may be coupled with the frame and spaced apart across the flow path upstream and/or downstream of the shaft assembly. Additional drives may be coupled with the shaft assembly and the conveyors. A controller may be configured to synchronize the drives to engage successive workpieces between the clamp members and the support members and deposit the workpieces onto a lugged conveyor. Other embodiments provide related methods and systems.

Lug loader

A method of position-based integrated motion controlled curve sawing includes the steps of: transporting a curved workpiece in a downstream direction on a transfer, and monitoring position of the workpiece on the transfer, scanning the workpiece through an upstream scanner to measure workpiece profiles in spaced apart array, along a surface of the workpiece and communicating the workpiece profiles to a digital processor, computing by the digital processor, a high order polynomial smoothing curve fitted to the array of workpiece profiles of the curved workpiece, and adjusting the smoothing curve for cutting machine constraints of downstream motion controlled cutting devices to generate an adjusted curve generating unique position cams unique to the workpiece from the adjusted curve for optimized cutting by the cutting devices along a tool path corresponding to the position cams, sequencing the transfer and the workpiece with the cutting devices, and sequencing the unique position cams corresponding to the workpiece to match the position of the workpiece feeding the workpiece, on the transfer, longitudinally into cutting engagement with the cutting devices, and actively relatively positioning the workpiece and the cutting devices relative to each other according to a time-based servo loop updated recalculation, based on said workpiece position, of cutting engagement target position as the workpiece is fed longitudinally so as to position the cutting engagement of the cutting devices along the tool path.

Position-based integrated motion controlled curve sawing

The board positioning device of the present invention is for optimally longitudinally positioning a board for trimming. The board is translated from an upstream position to a downstream position in a first direction towards the trimming saws. The board translates at a translation speed on a board translating device such as a lugged transfer chain. The board while translating in the first direction, is aligned longitudinally, that is, along its length, in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction so as to position the board relative to the saws. The board is urged by board ending means, such as ending rolls, in the second direction against a corresponding board positioning member, such as a shaft mounted paddle, on the board positioning device. In the preferred embodiment, the first and second directions lie in a generally horizontal plane. The selectively actuable first flexible guide member is rigidly mounted at an upstream end thereof to, or adjacent to, a downstream end of a rigid fence extending parallel to the first direction. The selectively actuable flexible guide member may be selectively actuated to form a curved guide. The curved path for following by the board positioning member is correspondingly curved to correspond to the curved form of the guide in the generally horizontal plane. The board positioning member translating means is a flexible rotatable member rotating in a generally vertical plane generally perpendicular to the generally horizontal plane and generally perpendicular to the second direction. The board positioning member is perpendicularly slideably mounted to the flexible rotatable member for selective sliding in the second direction. The flexible rotatable member rotates in the vertical plane so as to translate, in the first direction, the board positioning member substantially in the horizontal plane when cooperatively aligned with the board.

Circulating paddle positioning fence with flexible track

A method of position-based integrated motion controlled curve sawing includes the steps of: transporting a curved workpiece in a downstream direction on a transfer, and monitoring position of the workpiece on the transfer, scanning the workpiece through an upstream scanner to measure workpiece profiles in spaced apart array, along a surface of the workpiece and communicating the workpiece profiles to a digital processor, computing by the digital processor, a high order polynomial smoothing curve fitted to the array of workpiece profiles of the curved workpiece, and adjusting the smoothing curve for cutting machine constraints of downstream motion controlled cutting devices to generate an adjusted curve generating unique position cams unique to the workpiece from the adjusted curve for optimized cutting by the cutting devices along a tool path corresponding to the position cams, sequencing the transfer and the workpiece with the cutting devices, and sequencing the unique position cams corresponding to the workpiece to match the position of the workpiece feeding the workpiece, in the transfer, longitudinally into cutting engagement with the cutting devices, and actively relatively positioning the workpiece and the cutting devices relative to each other according to a time-based servo loop updated recalculation, based on said workpiece position, of cutting engagement target position as the workpiece is fed longitudinally so as to position the cutting engagement of the cutting devices along the tool path.

A method of position-based integrated motion controlled curve sawing includes the steps of: transporting a curved workpiece in a downstream direction on a transfer, and monitoring position of the workpiece on the transfer, scanning the workpiece through an upstream scanner to measure workpiece profiles in spaced apart array, along a surface of the workpiece and communicating the workpiece profiles to a digital processor, computing by the digital processor, a high order polynomial smoothing curve fitted to the array of workpiece profiles of the curved workpiece, and adjusting the smoothing curve for cutting machine constraints of downstream motion controlled cutting devices to generate an adjusted curve generating unique position cams unique to the workpiece from the adjusted curve for optimized cutting by the cutting devices along a tool path corresponding to the position cams, sequencing the transfer and the workpiece with the cutting devices, and sequencing the unique position cams corresponding to the workpiece to match the position of the workpiece feeding the workpiece, on the transfer, longitudinally into cutting engagement with the cutting devices, and actively relatively positioning the workpiece and the cutting devices relative to each other according to a time-based servo loop updated recalculation, based on said workpiece position of cutting engagement target position as the workpiece is fed longitudinally so as to position the cutting engagement of the cutting devices along the tool path.

A workpiece positioning device for translating elongate workpieces conveyed on a first workpiece conveyor in a conveyance direction and for positioning the elongate workpieces on an adjacent second workpiece conveyor, wherein the elongate workpieces are generally laterally aligned across the first workpiece conveyor, generally perpendicular to the conveyance direction, has a selectively actuable rotatable member extending between the first and second workpiece conveyors, rotatable so as to translate workpiece engaging means, coordinated by coordinating means, into engagement with an elongate workpiece at a workpiece engaging position on the first workpiece conveyor generally at an end of the first workpiece conveyor adjacent the second workpiece conveyor, and to translate the workpiece engaging means and the elongate workpiece so engaged from the first workpiece conveyor to the second workpiece conveyor so as to position the elongate workpiece on the second workpiece conveyor.

Method and apparatus for positioning flitches or cants for a board edger

An edging and curve-sawing saw has a selectively skewable sawbox, skewable to a workpiece infeed path so as to receive workpieces translated longitudinally along the infeed path and into the sawbox. The sawbox rotatably supports a saw arbor. A plurality of saw blades are slidingly mounted on the saw arbor in a parallel laterally spaced array. The saw blade array spacing is selectively adjustable device mounted to the sawbox. The array is slide on the arbor relative to the sawbox according to an optimized profile.

Method and apparatus for curve sawing or traverse edging with an active

A first collar is releasably slidably journalled onto a selectively rotatable shaft so as to lie in a first plane generally perpendicular to the shaft. The first collar has a first helically inclined cam surface extending between a thin portion of the first collar and a thick portion of the first collar. A second collar is releasably mountable onto the shaft into fixed relation relative to the shaft, so as to lie in a second plane generally parallel to the first plane. The second collar has a cam follower surface such as a second helical inclined cam surface for sliding engagement over the first helically inclined cam surface between the thick portion and the thick portion of the first collar upon selective rotation of the shaft. First and second sawguides are slidably mounted on the shaft for longitudinal sliding thereon on opposed sides of the first and second collars. The first sawguide has the first collar rigidly mountable thereto, the first collar being adjacent the second collar. The second sawguide is adjacent the second collar. A press is provided for urging the first and second sawguides slidably towards each other along the shaft against the first and second collars respectively. The longitudinal translation of the second collar along the shaft relative to the first collar causes relative longitudinal translation between the first and second sawguides on the shaft.

Incline disc variable target size sawguides for circular gang saws

In a board positioning device for longitudinally positioning a board translating in a first direction at a translation speed on a board translating device, wherein the board translating in the first direction is aligned along its length in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the board is urged by board ending rolls in the second direction against a board positioning member on the board positioning device, wherein the first and second directions lie in a generally horizontal plane, the board positioning device includes (a) a selectively actuable guide member cooperating with the board positioning member for selectively actuably guiding and positioning in the second direction the board positioning member, and (b) a board positioning member translating apparatus for translating the board positioning member in the first direction at the translation speed in cooperative alignment with the board, wherein the board is urged against the board positioning member by the board ending rolls and the board positioning member selectively positioned at a board optimizing position to thereby selectively position the board in the second direction at an optimized board position predetermined by an optimizer cooperating with the selectively actuable guide member.

Circulating paddle board positioning apparatus

The board positioning device of the present invention selectively positions in a lateral direction in a generally horizontal plane a board translating in a longitudinal direction in the horizontal plane, wherein the board is aligned along its length in the lateral direction, and the device includes a flexible fence lying in the generally horizontal plane, a fence positioner for selectively positioning the flexible fence in the lateral direction in the generally horizontal plane along a transition path as determined by an optimizer whereby the board may be laterally selectively positioned optimally relative to trimmer saws located downstream from the flexible fence in the longitudinal direction when the board is urged laterally against the flexible fence by lateral ending rolls.

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Salmon Arm, Canada

James G Jackson