The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 09, 2004
Filed:
Mar. 20, 2002
Paul David Harris, Wellington, NZ;
Michael Kenneth Andrews, Wellington, NZ;
Carter Holt Harvey Limited, Auckland, NZ;
Abstract
Apparatus (preferably portable) enabling a felled tree stem or log to have its stiffness characterized. The analysis is performed with best fit recognition procedure or one that emphasizes high harmonics to determine a fundamental frequency related to acoustic speed, which is indicative the stiffness characteristics of the tree stem or log. The apparatus uses a compliantly mounted accelerometer pressed against one end of the tree stem to defect reflections from the other end after impacting the first end. Also disclosed is a method of cutting a stem into logs by establishing a function that represents the nature of speed variation with distance along the stem characteristic for a species and locality. The average speed along a stem and the speed function are used to compute the likely speed at points along the stem, and then the stems are routed for cutting according to their speed.