Tree Trunk Positioning for Shorter Lumber Milling Infeed
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing lumber from tree trunks face inefficiencies due to varying trunk geometries and dimensions, leading to long infeed paths for milling tools and increased wood gaps, which hinder productivity and wood yield.
Innovation Solution
The method involves adjusting the tree trunk into a machining position by rotating or translating it relative to the feed direction, allowing milling tools to minimize infeed paths and reduce wood gaps by aligning the trunk's leading region with the tools before profiling, thereby optimizing the alignment and shape of the side product boards.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If milling tools are fed in along infeed axes to profile side product boards, then side product profiling is achieved, but long infeed paths are required due to varying trunk geometries, increasing wood gap and reducing productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The tree trunk is rotated around its longitudinal axis before the milling operation to pre-align the waney regions with the milling tools. This preliminary positioning action eliminates the need for long infeed paths during milling, as the tools are already in optimal position to engage the trunk surface, thereby reducing wood gap and increasing productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces dynamic adjustment by rotating the tree trunk during the feeding process. This dynamic repositioning allows the trunk to be optimally oriented for milling operations, enabling the milling tools to engage the surface at the correct angle and position without requiring excessive infeed travel, thus resolving the contradiction between profiling capability and productivity
2Adaptability or versatility
If milling tools travel long infeed paths to accommodate varying trunk geometries, then different trunk shapes can be processed, but the wood gap between tree trunks increases, reducing machining efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The tree trunk is rotated around its longitudinal axis before milling to pre-align the waney regions with the milling tools. This preliminary action ensures that regardless of the trunk's initial geometry or orientation, it is positioned optimally for milling, eliminating the need for long infeed paths and reducing the wood gap between successive trunks
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the orientation parameter of the tree trunk by rotating it around its longitudinal axis. This parameter change adapts the trunk's position to match the milling tools' requirements, allowing processing of various trunk geometries without requiring the tools to travel long infeed paths, thus reducing wood gap and time loss
3Productivity
If tree trunks are moved in feed direction with minimal spacing, then productivity is maximized, but varying trunk geometries require long infeed paths for milling tools, increasing the required wood gap
Solution Approach 1:
The tree trunk is rotated around its longitudinal axis before the milling operation to pre-align the waney regions with the milling tools. This preliminary positioning enables milling operations to proceed immediately with minimal infeed path, allowing tree trunks to be spaced closely together and maintaining high productivity while ensuring milling feasibility
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces dynamic rotation of the tree trunk during feeding to adapt to varying geometries. This dynamic adjustment ensures that milling operations can be performed on trunks with different shapes and sizes without requiring excessive wood gap, thereby maintaining both ease of operation and high productivity
Data Source
AI summary
A method for producing lumber from a tree trunk, where a machining surface is produced on the trunk by removing a slab region, and where, during a feed movement in a feed direction, the trunk moves toward at least two milling tools, which are each feedable along an infeed axis, whereby two waney regions adjacent to the machining surface are milled out and at least one side product board is profiled, and the side product board is separated from the trunk by a saw cut. During feeding and before profiling the side product board, the trunk is brought from a transport to a machining position by moving the trunk around and/or along an adjustment axis, which runs orthogonally to the feed direction, and, as a result, at least one leading region of the trunk is shifted transversely to the feed direction in the direction of at least one milling tool.