EP1775085A1

EP1775085A1 - Wood splitter

Info

Publication number: EP1775085A1
Application number: EP06075372A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Elio c/o Bell S.r.l. Magnani
Original assignee: Bell Srl
Current assignee: Bell Srl
Priority date: 2005-10-17
Filing date: 2006-02-16
Publication date: 2007-04-18
Also published as: NO20064464L; ITRE20050028U1; CN1951650A

Abstract

A woodcutter comprising a support frame (2) that provides an upper work plane (4) suitable for having a piece of wood to be cut rested on it, a fixed cutting blade (6) that rises vertically from said work plane (4), and a mobile thrusting slider (7) suitable for pushing the piece of wood against said cutting blade (6), said thrusting slider (7) being actuated by a motor means (13) through sliding drawing means (10) arranged outside the support frame (2); said drawing means being slidably received, at least partially, in a corresponding recess (15) formed in the outer shape of said support frame (2).

Description

The present finding refers to a woodcutter, i.e. to a machine commonly used to reduce the blocks generally deriving from the cutting or chopping down of trees into small-sized pieces.
Known woodcutters usually comprise a support frame that provides an upper work plane suitable for having a piece of wood to be cut rested on it, a fixed cutting blade that rises vertically from said work plane, and a mobile thrusting slider suitable for pushing the piece of wood against said cutting blade making it slide on the work plane.
Usually, the support frame is an elongated body, preferably made from a hollow profile with substantially rectangular section, and is supported in horizontal position by suitable pedestals so that its upper side defines said work plane.
The thrusting slider is arranged on top of the work plane, and is fixed to the end of two parallel sliding draw shafts that extend longitudinally on opposite sides of the support frame, individually facing a respective lateral side of the latter.
Said draw shafts go beyond the edge of the support frame, and their free ends are connected to a common rigid cross member.
Such a cross member is centrally fixed to the piston of a pneumatic jack housed longitudinally inside the cavity of the support frame, so that the movement of such a piston induces an alternating movement of the thrusting slider.
The described woodcutters are effective, versatile and easy to use, but nevertheless the presence of the sliding draw shafts at the sides of their support frame has proven a solution not without drawbacks.
A first drawback lies in the fact that the position of the shafts significantly increases the overall transversal bulk of the woodcutter, actually decreasing its transportability and its manoeuvrability.
A second drawback lies in the fact that, concerning mechanical members in movement arranged in an easily accessible position, such draw shafts create non-negligible safety problems for operators.
The purpose of the present finding is to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks in the context of a simple, rational and cost-effective solution.
This purpose is accomplished through a woodcutter comprising a support frame, a cutting blade, and a mobile thrusting slider that is actuated by a motor means through drawing means arranged outside of said support frame, where said drawing means are slidably received, at least partially, in a corresponding recess formed in the outer shape of the support frame.
Thanks to this solution the space occupied by the support frame is in part recovered and exploited to also house the drawing means, with the consequent advantage of making a woodcutter that is more compact and manoeuvrable compared to the prior art.
Moreover, the aforementioned recess also has the advantageous feature of hiding and partially protecting the drawing means, which are therefore safer for operators.
According to a preferred embodiment of the finding, the drawing means comprise at least two parallel draw shafts, positioned at opposite sides of the support frame, at least one of which is received in the recess with longitudinal extension formed in the lateral side of the support frame adjacent to it.
Thanks to this solution, the aforementioned draw shafts are closer together compared to the prior art, with the consequent advantage of subjecting the rigid cross member that connects them to a smaller bending moment during the cutting step, and therefore of increasing the reliability of the woodcutter.
Preferably, each individual draw shaft is received in a respective recess with longitudinal extension formed in the lateral side of the support frame adjacent to it.
Further characteristics and advantages of the finding shall become clear from reading the following description, provided as a non-limiting example, with the help of the figures illustrated in the attached tables, in which:

figure 1 is a perspective view of a woodcutter according to the finding;
figure 2 is a plan view of the woodcutter of figure 1;
figure 3 is the section along the line III-III indicated in figure 1, in increased scale.

The woodcutter 1 object of the present finding comprises a support frame 2 of elongated shape, which in the example shown consists of a hollow steel profile having generally rectangular constant section.
As illustrated in figure 1, said support frame 2 is raised from the floor through two pedestals 3 that arrange it according to a substantial horizontal orientation, so that its upper side provides a work plane 4 suitable for longitudinally receiving a piece of wood to be cut on it.
In particular, the work plane 4 has a cradle-shaped configuration that allows the piece of wood to be laterally held (see also fig. 3), and is flanked by two inclined lateral wings 5, to receive pieces of wood even of large size.
In the front part of the support frame 2, the woodcutter 1 comprises a fixed cutting blade 6 that rises, according to a generally vertical extension, from the work plane 4. Said cutting blade 6 consists of a plate bent substantially in a V, the cutting point of which faces towards a rear thrusting slider 7, mobile with alternating motion towards or away from it.
In particular, the thrusting slider 7 comprises two advancing brackets 8, each of which faces a respective lateral side of the support frame 2, and slides inside a guide slot defined by a relative projecting profile 9, which also acts as a limit switch and as a support for the aforementioned lateral wings 5.
The advancing brackets 8 are integrally fixed to the ends of two draw shafts 10 that extend parallel to the sides of the support frame 2 going beyond the front edge thereof, and that have the opposite ends connected to a common rigid cross member 11 (see fig. 2).
Said rigid cross member 11 is fixed centrally to the sliding piston 12 of a hydraulic jack 13 housed longitudinally inside the support frame 2, so that the alternating motion of said piston 12 induces, through the draw shafts 10, a simultaneous alternating movement of the thrusting slider 7 towards/away from the cutting blade 6.
In this way, during an approach stroke, the thrusting slider 7 pushes the piece of wood to slide on the work plane 4 against the fixed blade 6 so as to carry out the cutting, whereas during the subsequent separation stroke the thrusting slider 7 goes back into the initial configuration to process a new piece of wood.
In particular, the hydraulic jack 13 is actuated by an actuation group 14 arranged below the support frame 2 in its rear part, which is generally formed from a reservoir of operating fluid and from a close-coupled pump suitable for pushing such a fluid into the compression chamber of the jack 13.
As far as the finding is concerned it should be specified that each lateral side of the support frame 2 has at least one recess 15, which extends longitudinally for the entire length of the support frame 2 itself, and which slidably receives the draw shaft 10 adjacent to it (see fig. 3).
In this way, the draw shafts 10 are closer together than conventional woodcutters, with the dual advantage of allowing a compact machine having low transversal bulk to be made, and of subjecting the rigid cross member 11 to lower bending stresses during the cutting step.
Moreover, the aforementioned recesses 15 also have the function of partially hiding the draw shafts 10, which are therefore protected and safer for operators.
As shown in figure 3, the recesses 15 have a shape matching that of the draw shafts 10 that receive them, in the sense that the shape of the profile of their cross section matches the shape of the cross section of the draw shafts 10.
In particular, in the example shown the draw shafts 10 are cylindrical, and the recesses are correspondingly convex.
Obviously, numerous practical-applicational modifications can be made to the finding in object, without for this reason departing from the context of the inventive idea as claimed below.

Claims

Woodcutter comprising a support frame (2) that provides an upper work plane (4) suitable for having a piece of wood to be cut rested on it, a fixed cutting blade (6) that rises vertically from said work plane (4), and a mobile thrusting slider (7) suitable for pushing the piece of wood against said cutting blade (6), said thrusting slider (7) being actuated by a motor means (13) through sliding drawing means (10) arranged outside the support frame (2), characterised in that said drawing means are slidably received, at least partially, in a corresponding recess (15) formed in the outer shape of said support frame (2).
Woodcutter according to claim 1, characterised in that said drawing means comprise at least two parallel draw shafts (10), positioned at opposite sides of the support frame (2), at least one of which is received in a recess (15) with longitudinal extension formed in the lateral side of the support frame (2) adjacent to it.
Woodcutter according to claim 2, characterised in that each draw shaft is received in a respective recess (15) with longitudinal extension formed in the lateral side of the support frame (2) adjacent to it.
Woodcutter according to claim 2, characterised in that said recess (15) extends for the entire length of the support frame (2).
Woodcutter according to claim 2, characterised in that said recess (15) has a shape matching the shape of the draw shaft (10) that receives it.
Woodcutter according to claim 2, characterised in that said recess (15) has a convex-shaped profile.