Adjustable Wood Chipper Blades with Bevelled Inserts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wood chipper blades require frequent replacement due to wear, leading to unnecessary disposal and increased operational costs over time.
Innovation Solution
The development of adjustable blades with beveled insert seats and screws, allowing for metal compensation during sharpening, and an alternative embodiment using babitt metal poured into insert seats to extend the blade edge, enabling repeated sharpening and re-fitting without significant material loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If conventional blades are used in wood chippers, then the initial cutting performance is good, but the blades require frequent replacement due to wear and metal loss during sharpening
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical state and position of compensating material (from solid inserts or babitt metal) to restore blade length after sharpening. The adjusting screws or poured metal compensate for the metal removed during sharpening, effectively resetting the blade's cutting edge position without requiring replacement of the entire blade.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention recovers the blade's functional length after sharpening by adding compensating material (inserts or babitt metal) that makes up for the metal removed during the sharpening process. This allows the blade to be reused multiple times rather than discarded after a single sharpening cycle.
2Ease of repair
If conventional blades are repeatedly sharpened, then the cutting edge can be restored, but the blade length decreases with each sharpening cycle requiring eventual replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The compensating inserts or babitt metal are prepared in advance and positioned in the rear portion of the blade. When sharpening removes metal from the cutting edge, the pre-positioned compensating material is already in place to make up for the lost length, eliminating the need to measure and adjust after each sharpening cycle.
3Ease of operation
If multiple conventional blades are disposed of over time, then operational simplicity is maintained, but operational costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The blade performs its own length compensation through the adjusting screws or babitt metal system. Instead of requiring complete blade replacement when length is lost, the blade system self-corrects by adding material to restore the cutting edge position, reducing the frequency of blade replacements and associated costs.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution extends the lifespan of wood chipper blades, reducing disposal costs and enabling economical operation by allowing for easy sharpening and re-securing of blades, facilitating prolonged use with minimal material loss.
Implementation Method 1
An insert mount screw is threaded through each insert, along with a pair of adjusting screws, such that the insert mount screw can be tightened against the blade base in each insert seat, thus stabilizing the insert in place. The adjusting screws can then be loosened and extended or reverse-manipulated a selected distance from the plane of the insert and the rear edge of the blade to compensate for metal lost along the cutting edge of the blade due to re-sharpening.
Implementation Method 2
In another embodiment of the invention the blades are placed in a mold of selected size and melted babitt metal is poured into the insert seats and extends rearwardly of the rear edge of each blade a selected distance which is determined by the mold dimensions, to compensate for the metal removed along the blade cutting edge during the blade-sharpening process.
Data Source
AI summary
Adjustable blades for wood chippers and cutters include one or more blades of selected length, thickness and width, fitted with one or more bevelled blade seats in the rear blade edge, which blade seats, in a first embodiment, receive corresponding bevelled inserts having threaded openings fitted with an insert mount screw and a pair of adjusting screws. The mount screws serve to seat the inserts firmly in the blade seats and reverse-manipulation of the adjusting screws in the inserts provides adjustment of the fit of the adjustable blades in a cutting or chipping head, to compensate for re-sharpening of the blades. A method for adjusting the fit of wood cutter and chipper blades in a cutting or chipping head, which includes the steps of providing one or more bevelled insert seats in the rear edge of the blades opposite the cutting edge; placing a correspondingly-shaped bevelled insert in the insert seat or seats; threading an insert mount screw and a pair of adjusting screws through the insert; tightening the insert mount screw against the blade in the insert seat or seats and reverse-manipulating the adjusting screws to extend the adjusting screws from the insert to fit the blades in a chipping or cutting head. In a second embodiment heated babitt metal is poured into a mold receiving the adjustable blades and fills the bevelled blade seat or seats. The liquified babitt metal flows rearwardly of the blade in the mold to solidify and define a babitt extension of selected width that compensates for metal lost in the blade-sharpening operation.