Pivoting Elevator Buffer for Timber Feed Lines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing buffer arrangements for timber in sawmills are complex, bulky, and inefficient, with limited storage and transfer capacities, requiring significant space and being costly due to multiple transport tracks at different levels, which hinders continuous operation during production disruptions.
Innovation Solution
A buffer arrangement featuring an elevator with pivoting capacity that allows two-way timber flow, reducing the need for multiple transport tracks by using a single elevator to both fill and empty the buffer storage, enabling efficient storage and transfer of timber across a linear side track connected to a feed line.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple transport tracks at different levels are used to create buffer zones, then timber can be temporarily stored and fed to the feed line, but the arrangement becomes complicated, bulky, and occupies considerable space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the filling and emptying functions into a single transport track system. The side track serves dual purposes: receiving timber during filling operations and delivering timber during emptying operations, eliminating the need for separate tracks at different levels while maintaining buffer functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The single side track is designed to perform multiple functions: it acts as both an input track for filling the buffer and an output track for emptying the buffer. The track can operate in different modes (filling, emptying, idle) to serve various operational requirements, reducing overall system complexity
2Quantity of substance
If multiple transport tracks at different levels are used, then buffer storage can be formed, but the storage and transfer capacities are limited relative to the space occupied
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a multi-level vertical arrangement to a single-level linear arrangement. By utilizing the longitudinal dimension of the side track rather than creating vertical layers, the system achieves higher storage capacity within the same building footprint, effectively redistributing storage along the length of the track rather than stacking it vertically
3Productivity
If a single elevator with two-way flow is used, then space is optimized and transfer capacity increases, but the elevator must handle both filling and emptying operations
Solution Approach 1:
The elevator system is designed with dynamic operational modes that can switch between filling and emptying functions. The side track can be actively fed during filling mode and actively discharged during emptying mode, with the system adapting its operation based on buffer status and production requirements, maximizing transfer capacity through flexible mode switching
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 significantly increases storage and transfer capacities, optimizes space usage, and maintains continuous production by allowing the elevator to operate in both directions, enhancing the efficiency of timber handling and reducing operational disruptions.
Implementation Method 1
an elevator (2) for pieces of timber that are transported in a vertical direction
Implementation Method 2
the lower turning end of which can be pivoted up to a height level at which it forms a material chute
Data Source
Figure 1A~1C
Figure 2~3
AI summary
The invention concerns a buffer arrangement at a timber input at a feed line in order to form buffer storage, comprising an elevator (2) that has an upper and a lower turning end (5, 6) and intended to collect pieces of timber (A) from an elevator compartment (21 a), a storage transporter (13) that delivers via a plane (20a) pieces of timber to the elevator compartment (21 a), a transfer transporter (14) that transfers pieces of timber from the timber input to the elevator. For increased storage and transfer efficiency, the transfer transporter (14) is connected at the top to the elevator (2) and the transfer transporter (14) that can be driven in two opposing directions of transport (15A, 15B), the elevator can be pivoted in a vertical plane and can be set either into a first condition for the transport of pieces of timber (A) in a direction (15A) towards buffer storage or into a second condition for the transport of pieces of timber in a direction (15B) from the buffer storage, whereby a material chute (45) is formed in the first operating condition between the lower turning end (6) of the elevator (2), and that the pieces of timber are guided over the material chute and onwards down onto the storage transporter.