TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of automated crosscut saws. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an automated crosscut saw with a wood scanning system for wood usage. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to an automated crosscut saw utilizing a wood scanning system to optimize the cuts in a particular piece of wood to remove defects or flaws and a method of use therefor. The automated saw system further has the ability to scan and cut a piece of wood simultaneously or in rapid succession.

BACKGROUND

Background Information

Current automated crosscut saw systems generally utilize a wood scanner or wood optical scanner to detect flaws in a piece of lumber and an automatically controlled crosscut saw, or chop saw, to remove defects identified by the scanner from a specific piece of lumber. Current systems are large and unwieldly and take significant floor space in a wood processing facility as they typically utilize multiple wood queues wherein boards are queued prior to being put through the optical scanner and again after being scanned, but prior to being fed through the chop saw. Typically, these queues are managed and moved by automated feeder systems which can allow the boards to be loaded and then automatically fed through the scanner and to the next feeder. The second feeder may then manage the second queue and may proceed to pass the boards to the chop saw for cutting. Current systems utilize scanners and scanning method that require the entire board to be scanned before the board can be cut to remove defects and flaws therein. These scans are saved in a scan file or scan profile that is then communicated to the saw which must then keep accurate order of the scan files to ensure that the identified defects are removed from the correct board. Accordingly, the chop saw is typically operating multiple boards ahead of the scanner to allow sufficient time for the scanner to complete a total scan of each board.

In current systems, as wood travels through the scanner and enters the pre-saw queue it is common that a board may become displaced, dislodged, or may be disoriented in some way that is inconsistent with the scan file queue (such as flipped or turned, or the board may be in the pre-saw queue in the incorrect order), which may result in incorrect cuts being made, either by cutting the incorrect board or cutting a board in the incorrect place. Therefore, when a board is flipped, rotated, or otherwise disrupted in the queue, common practice is to halt the operation of the scanner and saw and clear the secondary queue, deleting all of the scan files and “flushing” the system. Each board is then removed from the secondary queue and must be placed back into the scanning queue to be rescanned prior to cutting. The process of clearing the queue and moving boards back into the scanning queue is time lost as the automated saw system is offline until the queue is cleared and the boards are replaced. Further, the boards have to be scanned a second time, again eating into valuable production time.

Wood is commonly moved through these current systems via the use of chains, paddles, continuous conveyor belts, or continuous belt-driven rollers. Specifically, the feeders typically use chains and/or conveyors to move the wood across the feeder to a belt or roller set that will move each individual board into the scanner or saw. The feeders must accommodate multiple boards that may vary in length, thus the feeders tend to be very large and take up significant space within current systems. Further, current scanners typically must scan the entire length of each section of board prior to cutting the defects therefrom and/or optimizing the board usage to meet a predetermined cut list. Thus, current systems require sufficient space between the scanner and the saw to allow even longer boards to pass through the scanner prior to cutting. Finally, although the feeders are large, and significant space is utilized between the scanners and the saws to accommodate longer boards, the size of the feeders used provide a length limitation on the boards that may be processed by current systems. For example, if the feeder is fourteen feet wide, the maximum board length that may be processed might be fourteen feet, and boards exceeding the maximum length must be cut prior to feeding them into a current system. This may increase the number of times each board must be handled, and may further require additional equipment to cut the boards. Alternatively, having a length limitation may dictate what products may be produced by an automated saw system, and may limit that system from flexibility in producing multiple types of goods.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure addresses these and other issues by providing an automated crosscut saw including a wood scanning system and chop saw that operate and communicate in real time to allow a board to be simultaneously scanned and cut and/or for a board being scanned to be the next board to encounter the saw to be cut. The present automated saw system may further allow for elimination of the secondary queue, thus saving significant space and cost, as well as reducing or eliminating the need to clear the queue and re-scan boards due to misalignment, misplacement, or disorientation of the boards in the secondary queue. Finally, the present saw system may allow for processing boards of indiscriminate length without the need for additional space or equipment.

According to one aspect, one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may provide an automated saw system comprising: a scanning unit having at least one optical scanner, the scanning unit operationally connected to a saw unit; a path defined through the scanning unit and the saw unit; at least one servo motor operationally connected to at least one roller set; and a saw blade within the cutting unit operable to cut a first portion of a piece of wood while a second portion of the piece of wood is simultaneously scanned by the at least one optical scanner.

According to another aspect, one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may provide an optimized wood cutting system comprising: a scanning unit having at least one optical scanner, the scanning unit operationally connected to a transition unit and a saw unit; a path defined through the scanning unit, transition unit, and the saw unit; a plurality of servo motors operationally connected to a plurality of roller sets, with each of the plurality of servo motors corresponding to one of the plurality of roller sets; a saw blade within the cutting unit operable to cut one of a first portion of a first piece of wood while a second portion of the first piece of wood is simultaneously scanned by the at least one optical scanner and the second portion of the first piece of wood while a first portion of a second piece of wood is simultaneously scanned by the at least one optical scanner.

