US2146074A - Rotary slicer - Google Patents

Description

M. F. KELLEY Feb. 7, 1939.

ROTARY SLICER 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 5, 1936 INVENTQR. MHE'TIN Fl KELLEY.

ATTORNEY.

Feb. 7, 1939.

M. F. KELLEY 2,146,074

- ROTARY .SLICER Filed March 5, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 F 4' I 4 A\ 5 J2 f 0 I 56 55 67 5g 6/ 4h 58 48 i E- 5, I 41 5 mu A A INVENTOR. MHE'T'IN F. KELLEY.

ATTORNEY.

M. F. KELLEY IRO'IARY SLICER Feb. 7, 1939.

Filed March 5, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN-TOR. Maarm Ff KELLEY.

ATTORNEY.

M. F KELLEY 2,146,074

' ROTARY SLICER Filed March 5, 1936 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Y E u h o M HH I I I HHOH x m 9 T 9 R a a E 8 M .1 M, K w 7 k m m WHHHHHHHHIIMHFH x w M 7- 0 1. 7 A w Feb. 7, 1939.

IN VENTOR.

. ATTORNEY.

v l l unmwfi.

Patented Feb. 7, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

This invention relates generally to improvements in rotary slicers and in particularto the type in which knife blades are arranged on a rotating table in such a way as to slice boards or sheets in any pre-adjusted thickness from a block of material, and is a continuation in part of my application for United States Letters Patent filed June 28, 1932, Serial No. 619,666 for Rotary power plane.

An object of the invention is to provide in a rotary slicer having a cutting element, mechanism adapted to facilitate compression of the stock just prior to being sliced, to convey the stock to the cutting element, to prevent the splitting or tearing of the stock during the slicing operation, to steady the table during the slicing operation, and to aid in ejecting the sliced pieces.

A further object of the invention is to provide a slicer having a rotatabletable, a plurality of cutting elements mounted upon the table, a stationary hopper located'in the track of the cutting elements, the stationary hopper being adapted to receive the stock to be fed to the cutting elements mounted on the table for the slicing operation, an opening underneath the cutting elements, the opening or passage being preferably larger in area than that of the stock to be sliced, a plurality of rollers, rotatably mounted in the opening of the table, any or all of which rollers may be conical and mechanically driven.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rotary slicer with a rotatable table and a stationary hopper in the track of the cutting elements, the hopper having an adjustable side and also a friction lever to stop the feeding of the stock in the hopper to the cutting elements when desired.

Afurther object of this invention is to provide means in such a device for cutting wedged-shaped pieces.

A further object of this invention is to provide a rotary slicer having cutting elements and friction or driven rollers adjacent to the latter and being arranged underneaththe cutting elements and of sufiicient area to eliminate any contact of the sliced board during the cutting operation with any part of the machine except the cutting element and the rollers, thereby eliminating any possibility of distortion or breakage in the sliced pieces and preventing permanent curling, the cutting element being made to cover the opening and preferably as thin as practicable tofacilitate in the elimination of any curling action in the sliced piece.

These and other objects of this invention and the means for their attainment will be more apparent from the following described specification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating preferred embodiments by which this invention may be realized, and in which:

Fig. 1 represents a sectional top plan view, taken along line l-l of Figure 2.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the view shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the rotatable table showing the arrangement of the rollers and track.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through one half of the rotatable table along line 4-4 of Figure 1 and showing power driven roller.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of rotatable table along line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of rotatable table driven by means of a driving belt.

Fig. '7 is a front elevational view of Figure 6 showing also the angularity of the cutting elements when cutting wedged-shaped pieces, such as shingles.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of a block of material showing the respective location of the wedged-shaped pieces.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of rotatable table similar to Figure 5, but showing a simplified compression and roller arrangement.

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Figure 9, the knife being shown in operation, cutting a board.

Fig. 11 is a side elevational View of Figure 2.

Fig. 12 is a sectional perspective view of a cutting element employed in the invention.

Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic view of a modified form of rollers.

Fig. 14 is a plan view of table showing tilting anvil located on the hopper in operable position.

Fig. 15 is a similar view to Figure 16 with the tilting anvil in opposite position after table 32 has made one half a revolution.

Fig. 16 is a view along lines I 6-[6 of Figure 14.

Fig. 17 illustrates a modified tilting anvil arrangement.

Fig. 18 is a similar view to Figure 17 with the tilting anvil in its opposite position.

Fig. 19 is a top plan view illustrating a rotary table and diagrammatically indicating the hopper with tilting anvil arrangement according to Figures 17 and 18.

In the drawings there is disclosed a frame construction 25, having a belt driven pulley 26, connected by means of clutch 21 to a drive shaft 28. Pinion 29 fastened to the horizontal shaft 28 is in engagement with gear 30, thereby driving vertical shaft 3| with the rotatable table 32 mounted thereon. The clutch 21 may be operated by means of a lever 33. A thrust bearing 34 supports the weight of the shaft 3| and table 32. The table is provided with shoulders or ribs 55 against which the cutting elements 40 abut.

A feeder or hopper I-I may be suitably mounted to the frame 25 by means of braces B and a bracket 35 is provided to steady table 32 during cutting operation. This hopper H is of such construction as to facilitate the insertion of the material M, to be sliced. To obtain this facilitation in loading, the upper ends of the hopper I-I may be slanted downwardly as shown at 36, and the front of the hopper H may be cut out as shown at 31.

The hopper H may be provided with an adjustable side 38 so as to make the hopper H adjustable to any width stock to be sliced. For this purpose any suitable wedging device (not shown) may be inserted between the stationary side 63 of hopper H and the horizontally movable or adjustable side 38 to move the latter forwardly against the stock. The hopper H is further provided with a friction device 39 to hold the stock M from moving downward, if desired, as for example, when desiring to stop further operation of the machine. For

this purpose the friction device 39 may comprise a plate X which is hinged to a lever Y, the latter being pivoted to hopper H. By pushing lever Y down, plate X will press against the stock to prevent the latter from continuing downward, the lever X being held in this position by means of a notched bracket Z. The hopper H is made deep enough so that sufficient weight of the stock M in the hopper H will facilitate the feeding thereof and also offer resistance to the impact and shock resulting from the stock coming in contact with the cutting element 40 and the roller bar 4! hereinafter described.

To steady the rotatable table 32, guide members may be provided above and below the table. These guide members may be of the friction or of the anti-friction type. As for example, and as indicated in the drawings, there may be provided a guide member 35 over table 32 and a guide member 42 under table 32. .There may also be provided a guide member as indicated in Figure 2. Although member 4| is indicated as being an anti-friction guide and 42 and 35 as friction guides, nevertheless either .typemay be used. Table 32 is provided with a plurality of openings or passages 43 over which cutting elements or blades 40 secured to table 32 by bolts 65' project. The cutting element 43 substantially covers the opening 43.

Rotatably mounted in table 32 at the entrance to the openings or passages 43with reference to the direction of rotation of table 32, is a roller bar 4'! which may comprise a series of alined rollers mounted on a shaft 41 and which are similar to but preferably smaller in diameter than the alined rollers 44' of roller element hereinafter described. Roller bar 41 is located with respect to a respective cutting element 40 in such manner that the cutting edge 66 of the latter is substantially in vertical alinement with the longitudinal axis of the former. Each series of rollers of roller bar 41 projects slightly above the surface of table 32, and act as anti-friction devices and also as compression members. On account of roller bar 41 projecting slightly above the surface of table 32 and being partially in. advance of the adjacent cutting element 40, the stock just prior to its being sliced by the cutting edge 66 ofthe cutting element will-becompressed. The

fibres of the stock are thus pressed closer together which brings about a smooth out and eliminates possible tearing or fracturing of the material. The projecting rollers 41 also prevent wear of table 32 at its edge bordering opening or pas- I in passage 43 of table 32 i This provision is a eration. Directly under roller element 44 is 10- cated a driven conically-shaped roller 48. Roller 43 may be driven as illustrated in Figure 3 by driving portion 49 contacting with the underside of a track 50 mounted on frame 25. The preferable construction, however, is illustrated in Figure 4 in which the conical roller 48 is mounted on adjustable bearings 5| and 52 by means of shaft 53. Shaft 53 terminates in a universal joint 54 and thereby connects with a horizontal shaft 55'.

This horizontal shaft 55 is mounted in bearings 55 and 51. free end of shaft 55. Bevelled gear 58 is in mesh with a fixed circular rack 50 mounted or made integral with the thrust bearing housing 59. The rotating table 32 when in motion will thereby propel the conical roller 48 in a fixed ratio to its speed.

A bevelled gear 58 is mounted on the The cutting elements are preferably made in two pieces, namely, the cover piece 43a and the cutting edge section 40b. Holes 64 are provided in these two sections 4011 and 4012 so as to secure same to table 32. To aid in absorbing the shock at the moment of impact, the cutting element is made to abut against the rib 65. The bolt 65' secures the cutting element 40 to the rotatable table 32.

The roller element 44 and roller bar 4! may become shaped in lieu of being made up of a series of rollers as hereinabove indicated; Fig;

13 diagrammatically shows these cone-shaped rollers as being 44" and 41", respectively.

' Rollers 44 and 48 when cone-shaped and mechanically driven, can be smaller in diameterand more uniform in size, with relation'to each other, thus providing both traction and straightening characteristics for the cut board.

By having the longitudinal axis of roller 4'! in vertical alinement with the cutting edge of element 40, as the machine is being operated, an upward pressure is exerted against the stock M to be sliced thus compressing it, thereby preventing tearing or ripping of the material. The stock is being pressed at all times against the cutting edge of the blade 40.

A function of roller 48 or 48' is to deliver or eject the sliced piece after the cutting operation shall have been completed. Roller 41 or 41 reduces friction of the forwardly moving sliced material. The space 68 formed between cutting edge 56 of the cutter 40 and roller 41 i'slof the thickness of the sliced board or veneer. Hence, the thickness of the cut or sliced boards or veneer may be varied by using a blade or cutting element of predetermined thickness or by shimming the openings or passages 43. It is evident that table 32 should be heavy enough to facilitate the cutting of the stock through the blades by the momentum of the table, the latter absorbing the shocks incident to contact between the blade and the stock.

In the following description of the operation of the device special reference is made to Figures 4, 5,9and 10.-

A proper sized block of material or stock M is inserted in the hopper. This block is held in a suspended position slightly above the cutting element 48 by means of clamp 38. During the operation of the device new material or stock is constantly fed into thehopper, as desired.

The rotatable table 32 is put in motion and when its rotation has reached its maximum speed the clamp 39is released permitting the block of material M to rest on the table 32 within the path of'the cutting elements 48. This procedure is necessary as it takes a certain momentum of table 32 to overcome the sudden shock of impact of the contact between element 48 and the block of material M. A gravity feed within the hopper H is shown in this particular embodiment of the invention; it is understood, however, that a feed by force such'as weight, spring, etc., may be substituted.

Compression roller 41 is located slightly in advance of the cutting edge 66. Roller 41 is located such that it will form a passage 68 into opening 43 of table 32. The roller 41 is also located so as to project slightly above the top surface 68 of the table 32. As clearly illustrated in Figure 9 this arrangement of roller 41 will slightly compress by the impact, the block of material M before it is cut. This compression keeps the fibres of the material M in a compact condition thereby preventing ripping or tearing of the fibres at the time of cutting. This compression will be also especially beneficial in case the block of material M being used consists of wood which has undergone a processing such as steaming or the like.

The roller 41 may be drivenby pulley 49 and track 58 as illustrated in Figure 3 instead of in the manner shown in Fig. 4. Roller 4'! is a compression and accelerating device and rollers 44, 48, straightening and traction devices. As shown in Figure 5, the board 46 will have a tendency to curl as indicated at C and is made to enter a space between rollers 44 and 48. As the roller 48 is a power driven roller it will also assist in the pick up and delivery of the board 46.

When the block of material M is reduced by the slicing operation, if the thickness of the last remnant of the block is insufficientto cut one complete board, this remnant will drop down into space .T (Fig. 10) formed between the bottom of hopper H and top of table 32 after the cutting element shall have passed. The traction on the surface of the rotating. table 32 will pull this remnant from underneath hopper H and the centrifugal force of the rotating table 32 will throw same off table 32.

The boards, cut from the material H will drop into space 43 below table 32. It is understood suitable conveyor means of well known construction may be employed to continuously remove the boards.

By tilting successive cutting elements 48 at opposite angles with respect to table 32 as shown in Fig. 7 wedge-shaped boards or shingles may be produced.

The hopper H when used for cutting wedgeshaped pieces or shingles, is provided with a tilting anvil operated by the table when in motion as shown in Figs. 15-18, inclusive.

Rotating table 32 has mounted thereon cutting elements 16 and 1'! (similar to elements 48) which are mounted at an angle with respect to the horizontal plane of the rotating table 32. Mounted on table 32 is an eccentric track I8 preferably made of angle section material.

The distance of track 18 from the shaft 3| is greater at position 19 than at position 88, for reasons later explained. The hopper H is supported from a frame member (not shown) of the machine by means of bracket 35, and is provided with a member 82, slidably mounted within supports 83 and 83'. An extension 84 connects with an extension 85 of the tilting anvil 88 by means of a fulcrum pin 87. The tilting anvil 86 is connected to hopper H by means of fulcrum pin 88. The circular eccentric track 18 slides in groove 89 of extension 98 of sliding member 82. The cam shape of this rotatable track 18 (by reason of its cam shape) will press against wall 9| of slot 98, thereby forcing the sliding member 82 inwardly'and tilting the anvil 86 as shown in Figure 15. Figure 16 shows the portion 88 of the cam-shaped track 18 engaging side 82 of slot 89 thereby forcing the sliding member 82 into the opposite position and tilting the anvil 86 into the position illustrated in Figure 15.

To provide support at all times for the material to be sliced into Wedge-shape pieces as illustrated in Figure 8 the side members 93 and 94 of hopper H are made to slide up and down respectively as illustrated in Figures 15 and 16. This is accomplished by means of extensions or arms 95, 96 alternately riding on top of wedge-shaped lugs 91, 98.

Instead of circular cam-shaped track I8, two separate track members I88, I8I may be employed as shown in Fig. 19. In this case tilting anvil I82 (Fig. 18) is pivotally secured to the end member I82 of hopper H at fulcrum I84, extensions or arms I85, I83 being provided on the tilting anvil I82. The rotating table 32 will alternately bring circular track I88 in position under extension I85 thereby raising the tilting anvil I82 on that side as clearly illustrated in Fig. 17. With the other half turn of thetable 32 the track member I8I will engage portion I88 of tilting anvil I82 thereby raising the tilting anvil on that side.

To raise the slides I01, I88 of hopper H similarly to raising the side members 93, 84, fulcrum. pins I89, II8 are provided in the side members I81, I88 respectively which engage in corresponding holes in the tilting anvil I82. Opposite outside walls of hopper H are provided with slots III and H2 through which the extension arms I85, I86 project, thereby permitting the tilting anvil I82 to be mounted within the walls of the hopper.

As changes of construction could be made within the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. A rotary power slicer comprising a horizontally rotatable table, a stationary frame, a hopper fixed to said frame and arranged over said table, said hopper being adapted to receive a plurality of pieces of stock to be fed downward upon said table for the slicing operation, a stationary guide member in proximity to said hopper for engagement with said table, said table being provided with an opening larger in area than that of the stock to be sliced, a knife secured to said table and projecting over said opening,said knife substantially covering said opening, said hopper being located in the path of said knife and said opening, a conical roller device rotatably mounted in said opening in such manner that its longitudinal axis is in vertical alinement with the cutting edge of said knife, said roller projecting partially above the surface of said table.

2. A rotary power slicer comprising a horizontally rotatable table, a stationary hopper arranged adjacent said table, said hopper for receiving the stock to be fed to said table for the slicing operation, said table being provided with a passage larger in area than that of the stock to be sliced, a knife secured to said table and substantially covering said passage, said hopper being located in the track of said knife, a roller device rotatably mounted in said passage in such manner that its longitudinal axis is in substantial alinement with the cutting edge of said knife, and a second roller device having varying concentric diameters rotatably mounted under said knife and at the rear of said first roller.

3. A power slicer comprising a rotatable table, a stationary hopper adjacent said table, said hopper being adapted to receive the stock to be fed to said table forthe slicing operation, said table being provided with a passage, a knife secured to saidtable and arranged over said passage, said hopper being located in the track of said knife, a roller rotatably mounted in said passage in such manner that its longitudinal axis is in substantial alinement with the cutting edge of said knife, and a second roller device having varying concentric diameters rotatably mounted under said knife and at the rear of said first roller.

4. A power slicer comprising a horizontally rotatable table, a stationary hopper adjacent said table, said hopper being adaptedto receive the stock to be fed to said table for the slicing operation, said table being provided with a passage larger in area than that of the stock to be sliced,

a knife on said table and substantially covering said passage, said hopper being located in the track of said knife, a roller device rotatably mounted in said passage, and. a second roller device rotatably mounted under said knife and at therear of said first roller, at least one of said devices being conical.

5. A rotary power slicer'comprising' a horizontally rotatable table, a stationary hopper arranged adjacent said table, said hopper for receiving the stock to be fed to said table for the slicing operation, said table being provided with a passage larger in area than that of the stock to be sliced, a knife secured to said table and substantially covering said passage, said hopper being located in the track of said knife, a roller device rotatably mounted in said passage in such -manner that its longitudinal axis is in substantial alinement with the cutting edge of said knife, and a second roller device rotatably mounted under said knife and at the rear of said first roller, and a third roller below said second roller and spaced therefrom for the passage of a piece while it is being sliced from the stock, and

means to rotate said last-mentioned roller in a direction opposite to the direction of'motion of the table.

6. A power slicer comprising a horizontally rolarger in areathan that of the stock to be sliced,

a knife on said table and substantially covering said passage, a member in said passage adjacent the cutting edge of said knife, said member to strike the stock and compress it in advance of the knife, a second member below said knife, and a roller device below said second member, said second member and said device being spaced for passage of a piece during the slicing operation and means to drive said device in adirection opposite to the direction of rotation of the table.

7. A power slicer comprising a horizontally rotatable table, a stationary hopper adjacent said table, said hopper being adapted to receive the stock to be fed to said table for the slicing operation, said table being provided with a passage larger in area than that, of the stock to be sliced,

a knife on said table and substantially covering saidpassage, a member in said passage adjacent the cutting edge of said knife, said'member to strike the stock and compress it in advance of the knife, a second member below said knife,

and a roller device below said second member,'said member and said device being spaced for pasknife on said table and substantially covering said passage, a member in said passage adjacent the cutting edge of said knife, said member to I strike the stock and compress it in advance of the knife, a rotatable device below said knife, a second rotatable device below said first device and cooperating therewith for straighteningand urging forward therebetween a piece during the slicing operation, at least one of said devices comprising a plurality of alined rollers mounted on a common shaft. I

MARTIN F. KELLEY,

Images