Looking for breakthrough ideas for innovation challenges? Try Patsnap Eureka!

Tree harvester assembly

a technology for assembling and harvesting trees, which is applied in the direction of agricultural machines, manufacturing tools, tractors, etc., can solve the problems of damage to the chain or the chain bar, the remaining portion of the tree in front of the chain saw cannot and the chain is too large to support the entire weight of the tr

Inactive Publication Date: 2006-02-02
REPO PROPERTIES
View PDF14 Cites 7 Cited by
  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

A common problem while cutting trees occurs as a chain saw enters the final phase of cutting.
In particular, as a chain saw removes material to produce a groove within the tree, the saw advances through the tree and the remaining portion of the tree in front of the chain saw is incapable of supporting the entire weight of the tree.
It is fairly common for a chain saw to stall and, to overcome this hurdle, the chain saw may be oversized such that it has surplus power to continue operating even after the tree pinches the saw.
Some prior art arrangements adjust the tension of the chain when the chain is hot such that, upon cooling, the chain retracts at a greater rate than the chain bar, thereby putting excessive tension upon the chain which may cause damage to either the chain or the chain bar.
As a result, when it is necessary to release the tree, all the clamps must be simultaneously released which permits little or no flexibility in selecting the direction in which the tree trunk will far.

Method used

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
View more

Image

Smart Image Click on the blue labels to locate them in the text.
Viewing Examples
Smart Image
  • Tree harvester assembly
  • Tree harvester assembly
  • Tree harvester assembly

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

Embodiment Construction

[0045]FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a front, side and top view of the tree harvester in accordance with the subject invention. The subject invention will be described in the context of five aspects, which include: [0046] 1) a pivoting securing tower 10; [0047] 2) a pivoting chain saw guide 200 (FIG. 2); [0048] 3) an arrangement 400 to secure a tree trunk within the tower 10 (FIG. 3); [0049] 4) a chain saw pivoting / driving apparatus 600 (FIG. 8); and [0050] 5) a chain saw tensioning device 800 (FIG. 8).

[0051] As a brief overview, the tree harvester 5 is positioned, as illustrated in FIG. 1, such that the securing tower 10 is adjacent to the trunk 7 of a tree 8. Clamping arms 405, 410 pivot inwardly to embrace the trunk 7 against the securing tower 10. A chain saw 205 (FIG. 2) is pivoted across the path of the trunk 7, thereby severing the trunk 7 from the base 9 of the tree. The trunk 7 is then moved by the securing tower 10 and deposited at a location suitable for further processing.

[0052]...

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

PUM

No PUM Login to View More

Abstract

A tree harvester assembly (5) has a pivoting tower (10) which secures the trunk (7) of the tree (8) and may pivot to impart a bending moment upon the tree (8), thereby permitting easier cutting by a chain saw (205). The tree harvester (5) also has a pivot chain saw guide (200) which permits the harvester (5) to cut trees on a hillside at an orientation parallel to the terrain of the hillside at a low stump height. The tree harvester (5) also has clamping arms (405, 410) which may be selectively pivoted to secure a tree (8) against the tower (10) and to selectively release the tree (8) in one direction or another. A chain saw pivoting and drive apparatus (600) permits the chain saw (205) to be pivoted about a desired range and simultaneously driven to perform a cutting operation. Finally, the tree harvester assembly (5) includes a chain saw tensioning device (800) utilizing floating dovetails (810) urged apart by a spring element (805) which acts to urge the chain (612) of the chain saw (205) away from the drive sprocket (627), thereby tensioning the chain (612).

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] This invention is directed to an apparatus for harvesting trees whereby the trunk of a tree is grasped and a chain saw severs the trunk proximate to its base. [0003] 2. Description of Related Art [0004] Tree harvesting involves the removal of trees by cutting so that the tree may be processed for industrial or commercial applications. A common problem while cutting trees occurs as a chain saw enters the final phase of cutting. In particular, as a chain saw removes material to produce a groove within the tree, the saw advances through the tree and the remaining portion of the tree in front of the chain saw is incapable of supporting the entire weight of the tree. For that reason, the tree begins to tilt and to pinch the chain saw. It is fairly common for a chain saw to stall and, to overcome this hurdle, the chain saw may be oversized such that it has surplus power to continue operating even after the tree pinches th...

Claims

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

Application Information

Patent Timeline
no application Login to View More
Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): A01G23/08A01B59/06A01G23/091B62D49/02
CPCA01B59/06A01G23/08Y10T403/59B62D49/02Y10T403/76A01G23/091
Inventor GUROSIK, JOHN O.LARGEY, JOSEPH C.
Owner REPO PROPERTIES
Who we serve
  • R&D Engineer
  • R&D Manager
  • IP Professional
Why Patsnap Eureka
  • Industry Leading Data Capabilities
  • Powerful AI technology
  • Patent DNA Extraction
Social media
Patsnap Eureka Blog
Learn More
PatSnap group products

Browse by: Latest US Patents, China's latest patents, Technical Efficacy Thesaurus, Application Domain, Technology Topic, Popular Technical Reports.

© 2024 PatSnap. All rights reserved.Legal|Privacy policy|Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement|Sitemap|About US| Contact US: help@patsnap.com