US 7,320,202 B2
Stacking of lumber pieces
James A. McLeod, Box 6, Vassar, Manitoba R0A 2J0 (Canada); and Murray Pisony, Box 87, Lundbreck, Alberta T0K 1H0 (Canada)
Filed on Oct. 21, 2004, as Appl. No. 10/969,238.
Application 10/969238 is a continuation of application No. 09/634833, filed on Aug. 04, 2000, abandoned.
Prior Publication US 2005/0132667 A1, Jun. 23, 2005
Int. Cl. B65B 27/10 (2006.01); A01D 43/08 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 53—390  [53/589; 53/391; 53/167; 53/148; 56/341] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. Apparatus for collecting, stacking and bundling elongate pieces comprising:
a vehicle for moving in a direction of working movement across ground between stacks on the ground of the elongate pieces to be collected;
a frame arranged for attachment to the vehicle;
an unscrambling and stacking assembly mounted on the frame including a row former for receiving the elongate pieces and for unscrambling and aligning the pieces side by side in a row and including a transfer section for stacking rows on top of one another to form a stack of the rows;
and a bundling assembly mounted on the frame for wrapping the stack of the rows with a bundling material;
the unscrambling and stacking assembly and the bunding assembly being mounted on the frame for transportation with the vehicle across the ground;
the unscrambling and stacking assembly including a receiving section for the pieces which is mounted on the frame so as to be located on a first side of the vehicle;
the bundling assembly being mounted on the frame so as to be located on a second side of the vehicle opposite to the fist side and arranged to discharge the bundle rearwardly of the vehicle from the second side;
wherein the transfer section of the unscrambling and stacking assembly includes a transfer conveyer extending across the vehicle from the receiving section on the first side to the bundling assembly on the second side;
and wherein the transfer section of the unscrambling and stacking assembly includes a transfer rack for lifting a row of a predetermined number of the pieces from the transfer conveyer and moving the row generally horizontally from the transfer conveyer, and a stack support for receiving the moved rows deposited thereon and for moving the received rows downwardly to receive a next row on top of a previous row.