An apparatus for receiving logs and timbers to collect and compact several into a bundle for subsequent transport as a unit.

Current U.S. Class:	414/137.7 ; 100/2; 100/7; 100/8; 414/639
Current International Class:	B63B 25/00 (20060101); B63B 25/28 (20060101); B63B 35/00 (20060101); B63B 27/10 (20060101); B63B 35/30 (20060101); B63B 27/00 (20060101); B63B 27/16 (20060101); B63b 027/16 ()
Field of Search:	212/(Inquired) 214/12,15 56/8,9 100/7,8 114/27--38

Ford E. Smith

---

Parent Case Text

---

CROSS REFERENCE

This application is a substitute of application Ser. No. 652,073, filed July 10, 1967, now abandoned.

---

Claims

---

1. Log-bundling apparatus, comprising: A. a vessel; B. a pair of spaced-apart cradles at a side of a vessel located adjacent the water line to receive logs deposited therein; C. each said cradle including: vertical guideways secured to the side of the vessel; an upwardly biased member guidedly movable in said guideways and including outstanding rigid arm means forming an inboard portion of the cradle; and a second arcuate arm intermediately pivoted to the outer portion of said rigid arm means, said second arm being so disposed that its outer portion forms an outboard upstanding log-cradling portion of the cradle spaced from the vessel; and D. means associated inboard with said second arm for engaging and pivotally moving the same to dislodge upward and dump outward logs accumulated and

2. Log-bundling apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the rigid arm means includes a pair of spaced-apart, outstanding arcuate arms, and the second arcuate arm is outwardly pivoted between said pair of arms intermediate its ends so that the inboard portion is normally disposed between said pair of rigid arcuate arms and forms part of the cradle

3. Log-bundling apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which the inner end of the second arcuate arm includes a bail engageable by hoisting means for exerting force upward on the inner end of the second arcuate arm to

4. Log-bundling apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the vertically guided member is biased upward toward the surface of water at the side of the vessel by biasing means mounted on the deck of the vessel and a flexible draft member connects between said guided member of said

5. The structure according to claim 1 in which there is mounted in the vessel means to lift and move logs to deposit them in said cradles.

---

Description

---

BACKGROUND

In many areas where logging operations are conducted it is desirable to gather quantities of logs for transport either overland or over the water. With overland hauling the usual mode has been to rack or stack the logs on a carrier such as a truck or a railroad car. This operation is normally conducted by the use of overhead lifting means, booms, cranes or the like. The carriers have uprights at their sides and the logs are deposited therebetween and then secured for hauling. For waterborne transport it has been the custom to form rafts, generally comprising a single layer of floating logs surrounded by a boom. Such rafts are towed from the collection place to a mill-pond or other holding place for subsequent lumbering operations. Under relatively quiet conditions the water transport of logs in large, loose rafts is usually satisfactory. However, there are many places where wind and waves and tidal action makes this a very hazardous and unsatisfactory way to move great quantities of logs.

In the past, multiple-deck rafts have been devised where great numbers of logs are accumulated and decked and strapped or otherwise secured into a compact unit. Generally, such rafts are of substantial dimension as to length, breadth and depth. It is necessary in constructing such rafts that there be sheltered waters and that powerful and large log-handling equipment be provided. Such an operation is not practical where there is considerable exposure to the elements and where there are tidal movements of the water.

Having in mind the inland waterways of the Puget Sound area of the Pacific Northwest United States and the passages and inlets of the Coastal Regions of British Columbia and Southeastern Alaska, it has been observed that millions of logs of marketable quality have escaped over the years and have been deposited on the remote shores and beaches throughout the entire area. It is a practical impossibility to salvage these logs in accordance with the present methods and the presently known equipment because of the substantial exposure of the salvagors and their equipment to the vagaries of the elements.

It is my concept that most, if not all, of the salvage difficulties can be overcome by the provision of log-bundling apparatus which may be incorporated with a mobile platform equipped with a power-operated crane. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide log-bundling apparatus adaptable to the rapid and efficient accumulation of logs and timbers into a tight compact bundle which may be secured and transported as a unit.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of simply constructed and easily operated cradling means for receiving logs being salvaged and accumulating a quantity of them adapted to form such into a compact bundle.

A still further object of the invention has been the provision of log-cradling means which may be easily discharged of a formed log bundle to free the log unit for collection and rafting for transport to the mills or other holding places.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of log-bundling apparatus which may be used in stationary installations or on floating bases that may be water borne from place to place in the salvage of shore-stranded logs.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent during the course of the following description in which is set forth the preferred form of the invention. It will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the subjoined claims. All such, by a liberal and appropriate application of the doctrine of equivalents, as reasonably fall within the appropriate degree of equivalency are intended to be covered by this point.

DRAWINGS

In the drawings forming a part of this specification:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of log-bundling apparatus associated with a barge of other mobile unit including log-salvaging power means;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the log-bundling apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the log-bundling apparatus in detail; and

FIG. 4 is an end view showing the log-bundling apparatus discharging an accumulated and bound bundle of logs bound bundle of logs.

DESCRIPTION

Referring particularly to FIG. 1, the barge 10 is shown in the conventional rectangular shape as having power units 12,12 at one end, living and operating quarters 14, a crane 16 mounted on a swivel base 18 secured near the end of the barge 10. The power units 12,12 may be outboard power packages, as shown, or the propulsion means may be driven from a prime mover unit mounted within the barge. The barge 10 forms a working platform as well as a support for the swiveled crane 16 and, along its sides, as the support for the log-bundling apparatus appropriately located to receive salvaged logs. It may be anchored to the shore by lines 13,13; and by means of stern line 15 anchored on the bottom, it may haul itself off the shore when a move is being started.

Customarily, that end of the barge 10 carrying the crane 16 is nosed in toward the beach or shore on which logs L may previously have been deposited, either from the water or as windfalls from times past. The workhouse of crane 16 includes a power-operated winch from which extends the cable 20 that may have on its outer end log tongs 22. By such means the logs are grasped, moved, lifted and eventually deposited in the log-bundling apparatus. During movement of the barge 10 from place to place, the crane 16 may be fully revolved on its swivel base 18, and the boom 17 is lowered to rest on the house 14 to place the apparatus in shipshape condition.

As best may be seen in FIG. 3, at the side of the barge on plate 24 is provided upright guideways 26 which receive the vertically movable base-plate 28. By means of an upstanding pin 30 and cable 32 passing over guide sheaves 34, plate 28 is suspended over the side of the vessel in a vertical manner. Cable 32 is connected to rod 36 that is subjected to the retractive force of spring 38 in housing 40, secured to the deck of the barge 10, generally normal to the side of the barge, as shown in FIG. 1. While there is but one pair of log-cradling units shown at one side of the vessel 10, it will be understood that the same may be duplicated on the other side of the vessel to thus materially increase capacity and to permit timber sorting and segregation.

Outstanding at the side of the barge from plate 28 is a pair of arms 42,42 which have a lower arcuate portion 44 and an upper and outwardly curved horn portions 46. Preferably the arms 42,42 are spaced apart and joined together by bolts or rivets 48 so that the paired arms in effect form a laterally outstanding channel. Between the arms 42,42 is mounted the arcuate jaw member 50, pivoted on pin 52. The normal disposition of jaw 50 is shown in FIG. 3, with its inboard portion being located in the channel between arms 42,42 thus forming the cradle shape for receiving logs or timbers. When it is tilted, as shown in FIG. 4, a bundle of logs previously accumulated therein is rolled over or tilted outward from the vessel 10 to deposit the bundle in the water. At its inner end, jaw member 50 has a cross-pin 54 which normally resides in the notches 56 of the arms 42,42 as can best be seen in FIG. 3. The weight and shape of the jaw member 50 is such that its normal tendency is to maintain its inner end and the cross-pin 54 in cradling relation to the arms 42,42. A bail 58 of such a size as to swing over and inboard of the horns 46,46 is provided. When it is desired to tilt jaw 50 outward, by the use of a hook 60 on supplemental lifting line 21, also carried by the boom 17, the bail 58 may be engaged, lifted and swung outward between the positions shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

During movement of the barge from one salvage site to another it may be desirable to unship or remove the cradle arms 42,42 from the guideways in plates 24 and to deposit them on the barge deck. This is easily accomplished by disconnecting eye 30 and cable 32, the hoisting operation being facilitated by the boom 17 and its hoisting line 20.

MODE OF OPERATION

As salvage operations progress, the operators secure the tongs or other grasping equipment 22 to the logs on the beach and lift and swing the same into the paired cradles as shown in FIG. 1. As several logs are accumulated and their weight and mass increase, a downward force is exerted on the cradling apparatus. In other words, there is a tendency to force the arcuate jaw 50 and the outstanding arms 42,42 downward. This is accommodated by compression of the spring 38 allowing the cable 32 to payout, thus permitting plate 28 to move downward in the guideways 26.

As a number of logs accumulate, the overhanging horns 46 and the inwardly directed outer end 51 of the jaw 50 tends to shape the bundle into a round and compact form as disclosed in FIG. 2. When a sufficient amount of logs to form a suitable bundle have been accumulated, the operators will pass banding or a choker cable 64, or several of them, around the formed bundle. The operation of compacting logs is facilitated by the shape of the cradles and eliminates the necessity of applying lifting and jostling forces to the choker cables. The logs close together as they accumulate and, in this way, an extremely tight bundle is formed. This is desirable because, in rough water and for long distance moving, loose bundles can work in the water and thus logs can escape again.

As the log bundle is dumped into the water, in the manner shown in FIG. 4, expansion of the springs 38 will tend to lift plates 28 and the associated jaws 42,42 and 50 upward to near the surface of the water in readiness for the next deposit of logs.

In the foregoing description there has been disclosed a preferred form of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that equipment of this nature must be made very rugged and quite simple in order to insure that it remains operable despite hard usage and the rigors of the elements to which the equipment may be subjected. For example, the simplest form of vertical guideways and a vertically movable member 28 mounted therein have been shown. Quite obviously, antifriction devices may be included without departing from the invention.

* * * * *

---