High-speed stacker
DCFirst Claim
1. A material stacker, comprising:
- a frame;
a first plurality of stacking arms arranged along the frame;
a second plurality of stacking arms arranged along the frame;
one or more first electrically-controlled positioners configured to position the first plurality of stacking arms in a horizontal relationship with respect to the frame;
one or more second electrically-controlled positioners configured to position the second plurality of stacking arms in a horizontal relationship with respect to the frame; and
an electronic control system configured to independently control the operation of the first and second electrically-controlled positioners to operate the stacker,wherein the electronic control system is configured to control the speed, position, and acceleration of the stacking arms by sending separate signals to the first and second electrically-controlled positioners.
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Abstract
A high-speed stacker preferably includes dual stacking arms configured to operate complementary to one another. Most preferably, an electronic control system is provided to enable precise control over the speed and positioning of the stacker arms in both horizontal and vertical orientations. Linear motion devices (such as hydraulic cylinders, screw drive linear actuators, or other devices) can be used to position the arms horizontally and vertically in response to instructions from the electronic control system. In operation, the electronic control system preferably controls the speed and ramping of the stacker arms to repeatedly move courses of material from a feed system to a stacking area at a rapid rate with little maintenance. The high-speed stacker can also be configured to operate fewer than all of the stacker arms to facilitate faster stacking of smaller courses of material.
22 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A material stacker, comprising:
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a frame; a first plurality of stacking arms arranged along the frame; a second plurality of stacking arms arranged along the frame; one or more first electrically-controlled positioners configured to position the first plurality of stacking arms in a horizontal relationship with respect to the frame; one or more second electrically-controlled positioners configured to position the second plurality of stacking arms in a horizontal relationship with respect to the frame; and an electronic control system configured to independently control the operation of the first and second electrically-controlled positioners to operate the stacker, wherein the electronic control system is configured to control the speed, position, and acceleration of the stacking arms by sending separate signals to the first and second electrically-controlled positioners. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A lumber stacker, comprising:
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a plurality of stacker arms configured to be operated to stack lumber into packages; a plurality of electrically-controlled horizontal positioners configured to control the movement and positioning of the plurality of stacker arms; and a disengagement system configured to readily disengage unneeded stacker arms by disabling horizontal positioners for the unneeded stacker arms. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. An electronically-controlled material stacker, comprising:
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a first electronically-controlled horizontal positioning device configured to control horizontal movement of first set of stacking arms; a second electronically-controlled horizontal positioning device configured to control horizontal movement of a second set of stacking arms; and an electronic control system arranged in electrical communication with the first and second horizontal positioning devices and configured to independently operate the first and second horizontal positioning devices to provide complementary movement of the first and second sets of stacking arms, wherein during operation of the stacker, the electronic control system controls the speed, ramping, and positioning of the positioning devices based on a position of the stacker arms. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of stacking material in a stacking device, comprising:
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electronically controlling the speed and positioning of one or more first linear positioning devices to control the horizontal movement of a first set of stacking arms; electronically controlling the speed and positioning of one or more second linear positioning devices to control the horizontal movement of a second set of stacking arms; electronically controlling the speed and positioning of one or more linear positioning devices to control the vertical movement of the stacking arms; and controlling the vertical movement of each of the stacking arms based on a horizontal position of that stacking arm. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification