Abstract: A log feeding apparatus for feeding a log to first and second cutting spindles is provided, in which a log is fed to a second receiving position when centering spindles have reached a second delivery position that is away from the second receiving position downstream in the direction of log transport by a distance equal to or greater than an assumed maximum diameter of the log. That is, a new log is transported to the second receiving position by placing sections when the log held between the centering spindles reaches a position that will avoid contact with the new log. As a result, the time can be reduced for transporting the log to the cutting spindles.

Abstract: In a veneer dewatering apparatus, a clutch 30 is arranged on a power transmission path between upper and lower rolls 4, 6 and rotating shafts 20. When a veneer portion without a part such as a knot having extremely high compressive strength compared to the other parts passes between the upper roll 4 and the lower roll 6, or when a veneer passes between the upper roll 4 and the lower roll 6 with no foreign matter such as dust interposed between the upper and lower rolls 4, 6 and the veneer, the clutch 30 connects the upper and lower rolls 4, 6 to the rotating shafts 20. When a veneer passes between the upper and lower rolls 4, 6 with a knot and other foreign matters intervening, the connection between the upper and lower rolls 4, 6 and the rotating shafts 20 by the clutch 30 is released.

Abstract: Scarf faces 92a, 92b are machined at a heeling angle ?2 on a veneer 90 by adjusting the heeling angle ?2 for a desired camber h using the following Equation (1): h = R 2 · sin ? ? 2 - sin 2 ? ? 2 · R 2 - t 2 ( 1 + i 2 ) 4 ( 1 ) With the configuration, double cutting of the veneer 90 by a circular saw 20 can be effectively prevented. Since the camber h is set desirably, the risk can be reduced that the scarf faces 92a, 92b only partially join each other, and a space can be secured to retain an adhesive Ad between arc concavities 91, 91. Thus, when the veneers 90 are joined together at the scarf faces 92a, 92b, the adhesive Ad is unlikely to seep out onto the surfaces of the veneers 90. As a result, the scarf faces 92a, 92b can be properly joined together.

Abstract: When the absolute value (|Tt?Tc|) of the difference between the turning time Tt of a log PW and the transport time Tc of the log PW is longer than a reference measurement time Ts, the turning-axis center line measurement time Tm is set to the absolute value (|Tt?Tc|) (Step S120), the rotation speed W of centering spindles 24a and 24b is set to a speed (Ws×Ts/Tm) lower than a reference rotation speed Ws, and also the measurement rotation angle ? is set to an angle (?s×Ts/Tm) smaller than a reference measurement rotation angle as (Step S122). When the absolute value (|Tt?Tc|) is equal to or less than the reference measurement time Ts, the turning-axis center line measurement time Tm is set to the reference measurement time Ts (Step S116), the rotation speed W of the centering spindles 24a and 24b is set to the reference rotation speed Ws, and also the measurement rotation angle ? is set to the reference measurement rotation angle ?s (Step S118).

Abstract: A veneer cutting and sorting apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a revolvable knife blade having a cutting edge and a revolvable knife edge receiver having a cutting edge receiving surface. The knife blade cuts a veneer sheet as peeled from a peeler block by a veneer lathe at a previously detected boundary between defective veneer portion and product veneer sheet on the cutting edge receiving surface then revolving at the same peripheral speed as the cutting edge of the knife blade. Cut-off defective portion is allowed to drop off by its own weight.

Abstract: A light 2 for reflected light that emits visible light for reflected light onto a front side of a veneer 6, a light 32 for invisible light that emits near-infrared light for transmitted light onto a back side of the veneer 6, and an image processing device 1 that detects defects of the veneer 6 by analyzing a captured image generated by a line sensor camera 4 are provided. Defects of the veneer 6 are discriminated on the basis of a set of shading and shapes in an infrared-transmitted-light image based on the transmitted light, and colors in a visible-light image based on the reflected light. Consequently, even if a defect has a small color difference from a normal part in the visible-light image, difference of shading between the defective part and the normal part appears in the infrared-transmitted-light image, and a defect that is difficult to detect by seeing only a color difference in a visible-light image can be relatively easily detected.

Abstract: Cleaning water CW is supplied to the outer surface of a draining roll 10 from a pipe 70 arranged above the draining roll 10 that is in pressure contact with a contact roll 8 via a polishing belt PB. Accordingly, the cleaning water CW adheres evenly to the outer surface of the draining roll 10 in the longitudinal direction along with the rotation of the draining roll 10. Then, the cleaning water CW sufficiently adhering to the outer peripheral surface of the draining roll 10 is carried to a contact portion 90 between the draining roll 10 and the polishing belt PB, and cleans the abrasive surface of the polishing belt PB. As a result, it is possible to well reduce the occurrence of uneven cleaning on the abrasive surface, and to further improve the polishing effects of a polishing apparatus 1.

Abstract: When a veneer conveyed out by a discharging conveyor is a product veneer, a sorting apparatus is rotationally driven to pierce the product veneer with needle-like bodies by a guide member and a push-up member (a rolling bearing). When the veneer conveyed out by the discharging conveyor is a trash veneer, the sorting apparatus is rotationally driven so that the trash veneer is not pierced by the needle-like body. With this configuration, the progress of the abrasion of the needle-like bodies can be delayed as compared with the configuration in which the product veneer and the trash veneer are both pierced by the needle-like body. As a result, the time to replace the needle-like bodies can be extended, whereby the running cost can be reduced.

Abstract: A layered-up veneer board is formed by layering veneers up to a predetermined height such that the fiber directions of the respective veneers are alternately perpendicular to one another, and the layered-up veneer board is compressed by a compression device, to remove moisture contained in the veneers. Wood is a material in which the tensile strength in the fiber direction of the wood is higher than the tensile strength in the direction perpendicular to the fiber direction. With this layering scheme, even when stress is applied to the veneers and causes elongational deformation of these veneers as a result of compressing the layered-up veneer boards in the layering direction, elongational deformation of the veneers in the directions perpendicular to the fiber directions thereof can be reduced.

Abstract: An apparatus for moving veneer includes a leaf spring having at lower tip end thereof sharpened edges and configured to move a veneer sheet toward its preceding stationary veneer sheet. Further lowering the leaf spring with the tip end already stuck in the veneer sheet causes the leaf spring to be resiliently deformed, which creates a force due to restoring force of the leaf spring that acts on the veneer sheet to move toward the preceding veneer sheet thereby to reduce or eliminate a gap between the two veneer sheets. Additional leaf spring movable with the above leaf spring and configured to hold the preceding veneer sheet during the movement may be provided.

Abstract: A knife assembly for use in a veneer cutting machine such as a rotary veneer lathe and a veneer slicer includes a knife blade, a knife blade holder and a knife adjusting bolt with a lock nut. The knife blade holder includes a holder block having formed therethrough a threaded hole through which the knife adjusting bolt is adjustably inserted. The holder block has a first support surface that is in supporting contact with a part of one surface of the knife blade on the side thereof where a bevel face of the knife blade is formed and a second support surface that is in supporting contact with a part of a base end surface located opposite from and extending parallel to a cutting edge of the knife blade.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for dehydration of veneer sheet having therein a knot are disclosed. Veneer dehydration apparatus includes a first stationary single dehydrating roller and a plurality of second movable sectional dehydrating rollers, which rollers are disposed one above the other so that a nip through which a veneer sheet for dehydration is moved is formed between the first and second rollers. A stop device determines the initial position of each second roller relative to the first roller where a predetermined spaced distance is formed between the first and the second rollers. An urging device yieldably urges each second roller to the initial position. The second roller is movable away from the initial position against the urging force of the urging device independently of the other second rollers by a knot present in the veneer sheet and just moving through the nip between the second roller and the first roller.

Abstract: A method of cutting a wood block and a veneer lathe are disclosed. Two groups of first plural contact members and second plural contact members disposed around the wood block for supporting the wood block from the periphery thereof and each having a contact portion contactable with periphery of the wood block. The first and the second contact members are spaced away from each other along the spin axis of the wood block so as to form a space between any two adjacent contact members, respectively, and arranged in such a way that a part of the contact member of one group is insertable into the space between any two adjacent contact members of the other group when the wood block is cut to a predetermined reduced diameter so that the wood block is continued to be supported further.

Abstract: Method for manufacturing diagonal plywood is disclosed. The method uses a rectangular-shaped plywood board or a joined plywood board made of a plurality of plywood boards having the same thickness and joined together into a rectangular shape is prepared. The rectangular-shaped board or joined board is cut diagonally with respect to any pair of parallel sides of the board along diagonal parallel lines spaced at a predetermined interval into a plurality of cut boards having a shape of parallelogram or trapezoid. Subsequently, the cut boards are joined together side-to-side into a joined elongated board in such a way that the opposite parallel sides thereof form the elongated sides of the resulting joined elongated board. The joined elongated board is cut across the elongated sides thereof into a plurality of rectangular-shaped boards of any desired dimension.

Abstract: A method for forming a bevel cut at an end of a wood member is disclosed. A wood member is placed on a support table and a plurality of cutters mounted on and spaced along a shaft extending in parallel to the end of the wood member on the table is moved relative to the table in a direction inclined with respect to the wood member thereby to make a first cutting to form a plurality of bevel cuts. The support table is shifted in the direction parallel to the end of the wood member and a second cutting is made by the relative movement between the cutters and the table. During the first and second cutting, the wood member is pressed against the support table by a pressing member at a position adjacent to the end of the wood member and between any two adjacent cutters.

Abstract: A method of cutting a wood block and a veneer lathe are disclosed. Two groups of first plural contact members and second plural contact members disposed around the wood block for supporting the wood block from the periphery thereof and each having a contact portion contactable with periphery of the wood block. The first and the second contact members are spaced away from each other along the spin axis of the wood block so as to form a space between any two adjacent contact members, respectively, and arranged in such a way that a part of the contact member of one group is insertable into the space between any two adjacent contact members of the other group when the wood block is cut to a predetermined reduced diameter so that the wood block is continued to be supported further.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for dehydration of veneer sheet having therein a knot are disclosed. Veneer dehydration apparatus includes a first stationary single dehydrating roller and a plurality of second movable sectional dehydrating rollers, which rollers are disposed one above the other so that a nip through which a veneer sheet for dehydration is moved is formed between the first and second rollers. A stop device determines the initial position of each second roller relative to the first roller where a predetermined spaced distance is formed between the first and the second rollers. An urging device yieldably urges each second roller to the initial position. The second roller is movable away from the initial position against the urging force of the urging device independently of the other second rollers by a knot present in the veneer sheet and just moving through the nip between the second roller and the first roller.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for measuring three-dimensional shape of a wood block are disclosed. A planar light beam is projected by a light emitting device against a wood block rotatably supported on its tentative spin axis in such a way that two continuous lines extending parallel to the tentative spin axis for the entire block length are illuminated on the outer peripheral surface of the block. The block with the illuminated lines is photographed at a plurality of its angular positions by a imaging device. Based on data of the photographed line images, distances between the tentative spin axis and each of the illuminated lines on the outer peripheral surface of the block are computed at a plurality of cross-sections of the block along the tentative spin axis. Distances from the tentative spin axis to the outer peripheral surface of the block, including shapes of various irregularities on the surface of the block, are measured.

Abstract: An apparatus and a method for determining the annual ring center of a wood block are disclosed. A plurality of lines of path is figured out and generated. Each line of path is composed of a plurality of lines each extending normal to a line that is tangential to an annual ring in an image of the wood block end. The normal line may be figured out, for example, by calculating the variance of values of pixels lying on each of a plurality of straight lines of a filter and the sum of the variances for the plurality of straight lines at a plurality of different angular positions of the filter. The annual ring center in the image of the wood block end is determined through calculation based on the points of intersection of the generated lines of path.

Abstract: Method for manufacturing diagonal plywood is disclosed. The method uses a rectangular-shaped plywood board or a joined plywood board made of a plurality of plywood boards having the same thickness and joined together into a rectangular shape is prepared. The rectangular-shaped board or joined board is cut diagonally with respect to any pair of parallel sides of the board along diagonal parallel lines spaced at a predetermined interval into a plurality of cut boards having a shape of parallelogram or trapezoid. Subsequently, the cut boards are joined together side-to-side into a joined elongated board in such a way that the opposite parallel sides thereof form the elongated sides of the resulting joined elongated board. The joined elongated board is cut across the elongated sides thereof into a plurality of rectangular-shaped boards of any desired dimension.