Abstract: A hydraulic system may include a reservoir of hydraulic fluid, a hydraulic pump, a directional control valve, a hydraulic work loop, a bypass valve, and a hydraulic motor, as well as a plurality of hydraulic conduits interconnecting such components. When excessive hydraulic backpressures are encountered, the system may employ one or more bypass valves and one or more bypass conduits to automatically, and in an on-demand manner, return some or all of the hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic motor to the hydraulic reservoir without the hydraulic fluid passing through flow constrictions causing the excessive hydraulic backpressures.

Abstract: A wood chipper having a rotatable disc that contains a series of slots that pass through the disc. A primary chipper knife is located at the entrance of each slot which separates slices from a work piece and directs the slices through the slot. A counter knife unit is mounted within each slot for engaging the slices leaving the primary chipper knife to reduce the size of the chips as they move through the slot. The counter knife unit contains a first series of spaced apart chip contact elements that have a first height to contact the slices as they leave the primary chipper knife to reduce the size of the slices. The counter knife further contains a second series of chip contact elements that have a second height that is less than that of the chip contact element in the first series. Each contact element in the second series is arranged to contact chips leaving the contact elements in the first series to further reducing the size of the chips.

Abstract: Apparatuses, methods, and systems for producing wood chips are disclosed. The disclosure in one embodiment produces smooth wood chips of generally uniform size and shape, suited for use in making paper, cardboard, and other recyclable materials. In one embodiment, an apparatus is disclosed for collecting, aligning and guiding wood scraps through an array of spaced-apart saw blades using a feeder assembly operating on a continual basis. The feeder assembly in one embodiment includes one or more paddle assemblies shaped to align and guide the wood scraps along a feeder path toward the saw blades. A system for controlling an apparatus is also disclosed. A method for reducing wood scraps into cut chips is also disclosed.

Abstract: Apparatuses, methods, and systems for producing wood chips are disclosed. The invention in one embodiment produces smooth wood chips of generally uniform size and shape, suited for use in making paper, cardboard, and other recyclable materials. An apparatus is disclosed for collecting, aligning and guiding wood scraps through an array of spaced-apart saw blades using a feeder assembly operating on a continual basis. The feeder assembly may include one or more paddle assemblies shaped to align and guide the wood scraps along a feeder path toward the saw blades. A system for controlling the inventive apparatus is also disclosed. A method for reducing wood scraps into cut chips is also disclosed.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for cutting oversized wood chips smoothly and uniformly, such that the resulting chips are of optimum size and shape for use in making paper, cardboard, and other recyclable materials. A method is provided for aligning and guiding oversized wood chips through an array of spaced-apart saw blades using a reciprocating plunger controlled to continuously align and sweep the wood chips completely through the saw blades. The method and apparatus can be adapted to produce a variety of desired wood chip sizes.

Abstract: An improved wood pulverizer is provided with a rotating disc studded with a plurality of curved tapered hammers. One or more anvils is secured to the pulverizer with the anvil having teeth and slots located adjacent the surface of the disc. The hammers of the rotating disc pass through the slots of the anvils as the disc rotates to tear and shard wood into bits and pieces for subsequent use or processing. The anvils of the present invention are formed with two or more useable surfaces so that the anvils can be removed, rotated, and replaced to present fresh cutting surfaces to the disc. Further, the anvils are formed by a series of bolted together anvil segments to allow replacement of only single segments in the event of damage. Improved chip sizing grates are also provided with the grates having replaceable reversible gullet liners and grate rings formed by ring segments that together define a grate liner. Rotor rings are provided in some embodiments.

Abstract: A chip slicer has pivotably mounted chip-forming knives located so that the knife edges are in a plane which passes through the axis of rotation of the knives, as well as through the axis of pivoting. Another improvement is to employ a knife which has a blade which is bent at an obtuse angle to form a first and a second leg. The first leg has a cutting edge and an upper surface which defines a chip path. The second leg is bent with respect to the first leg in the direction of rotation of the knife ring. The knives are mounted to the ring by clamping wedges which are bolted to the knife ring so that they overlie the second leg and so clamp the knife blade by the second leg to thereby substantially remove obstructions from the chip path. A further improvement has chip depth gauges which are positioned in front of the knife edges. The depth gauges have trailing edges in the direction of rotation which extend substantially parallel to the upper surface of the blades.

Abstract: A disc hog for reducing timbers to wood chips and shards of a predetermined maximum size comprises a housing defining a disc-shaped interior cavity and a heavy metal disc disposed in the cavity and mounted for rapid rotation about its central axis. A feeder opening is formed in the housing and a chute is positioned to facilitate the feeding of timbers through the opening for presentation to the front surface of the rotating disc. Both the front surface and the rear surface of the rotating disc is studded with hammer blocks that protrude outwardly from the surface. The hammer blocks on the front surface are sized and configured to impact, tear apart, and shred a timber fed to the disc into wood chips and shards. The hammer blocks on the rear surface of the disc are sized and configured to reduce wood shards and chips to shards of smaller size.

Abstract: There is disclosed a wood shaving device which utilizes a rotating cutting member that supports a plurality of cutting blades which move past a stationary doctor bar. The cutting blades are arranged in a spaced-apart array on the shaving device, lying along non-radial paths so that the predominant action is a successive impact of individual cutting blades, rather than a simultaneous impact of two or more blades against the wood scrap. The cutting blades are preferably supported on a rotating cutting wheel which has a plurality of through apertures, with one each of the cutting blades removably mounted immediately adjacent each through aperture. The cutting blades are rotated past the doctor bar which restricts movement of the wood, resulting in a shaving action on the wood. The wood shavings pass through the through apertures of the cutting wheel and are removed.

Abstract: A cutter blade projects tangentially from the peripheral surface of a solid cylindrical rotor for travel along an arcuate path in converging relation to a support surface of an anvil aligned with a horizontal travel path along which scrap lumber is continuously fed by an infeed roller into a cutting zone formed between the anvil support surface and the peripheral surface of the rotor. Oversized solids emerging from the cutting zone below the rotor are separated from a wood chip product of desired size and recirculated to the infeed roller.

Abstract: A method and mechanism for slicing oversize wood chips including a housing, a cylindrical drum rotatable within the housing, an anvil rotor rotatable within the drum and having a plurality of arms with a blade mounted on each of the arms to move chips along the inner surface of the wall of the drum, said drums having slots therein with knives adjacent the slot so that chips are cut as they are moved along the wall past a slot, and the knives and blades at a relative angle to each other with either one or both of them being at an angle to the axis of the drum and rotating the drum within its housing and rotating the anvil rotor at a slower speed so that the chips are pushed against the inner wall of the drum by centrifugal force and are cut by the scissor action between the blade and knife.

Abstract: A sheet breaking apparatus for breaking or cutting waste sheet materials according to the invention comprising a pair of endless band-like rotating body, one of which is driven downwardly or in a feeding direction of the sheet materials at a faster speed than that of the other rotating body driven upwardly in a direction opposite to the feeding direction, and cutting blades respectively fixedly arranged on the rotating bodies such that the cutting blades fixed to the downwardly driven rotating body are spaced apart with equal intervals respectively in longitudinal and transverse directions and the cutting blades fixed to the upwardly driven rotating body at least adjacent in the moving direction are not aligned with each other. With the arrangement, fibrous or soft synthetic resin sheets or the like difficult to be mechanically broken are easily and effectively cut or broken into small pieces to make easy next processes for burning, reclaiming or regenerating the waste materials.

Abstract: An improved wood chipping installation of reduced overall height has conveyor means for feeding wood pieces to a chipping machine. The conveyor means includes a conveyor type screening device for separating proper size chips from oversize chips. Means are provided for transferring material chipped by the chipping machine back to the infeed end of the screening device so that oversize chips are fed by the conveyor, along with other wood pieces, back into the chipping machine while proper size chips and fines are separated out.

Abstract: A disk type wood chipper having cutter knives disposed non-radially on a chipper disk to cut a slab of wood from a log and having guide means with ridges over which such slab is caused to slide so that the slab disintegrates into wood chips of substantially uniform size.

Abstract: A chipping apparatus for producing chips from entire trees, branches, shrubs, and the like comprises a rotatable cylindrical drum having a plurality of finger-like blades projecting from the surface. An axially parallel cylindrical counter-blade, having recesses on its surface which match the projecting blades on the first drum, coacts with the latter and is arranged to rotate in the same direction. The finger-like blades are adjustable as to how far they project from the surface of the cylinder and can be arranged on the latter in two arrow-shaped staggered rows or in axially disposed parallel rows.

Abstract: Wood chipping apparatus including a removable wood chipping cartridge in the form of a hollow drum having axial extending wood chipping knives positioned adjacent to wood chip receiving apertures in the drum. The drum is removably connected, at one end, to the end of a drive shaft, whereby the drum is supported in a cantilever fashion. For knife sharpening, the entire cartridge is removed and replaced with a cartridge having sharpened knives.