The article is devoted to the improvement of the quality of tree-trunks delimbing by means of time-effective bringing the delimbing knife into an operating position before its contact with the branches. The set goal was achieved by bringing the delimbing knife into the operational mode, parallel to the direction of the tree-trunk feed motion, following the load shift of the pusher beyond the cutting edge. This type of load emerges when the branches press upon the pusher. After the stress is fi nished both mechanisms return to their original position. The described method and the construction of the mechanism provides placement of the delimbing knife in the operational position, thus enhancing the delimbing quality.
Background and Purpose: The article is devoted to the reduction of energy consumption necessary for delimbing.
Materials and Methods: Branch delimbing method includes feeding the tree trunk through the ring formed by the delimbing knives and simultaneous reciprocator movement of the delimbing knives along the axis of the processed trunk. The distinctive feature of the construction is the presence of the beater unit comprising a pusher and a piston mounted inside a sealed housing.
Results: As a result of the suggested construction the force of the beater impact of the delimbing knife is increased. Using this method, the branches are removed not only due to the force generated when the knives come in contact with branches pushed by feed rolls moving the trunk, but also due to extra beater stress affecting the delimbing knife. The use of the aforesaid method and the construction of the mechanism allows to reduce energy consumption necessary for the delimbing process.
Conclusions: The design of harvesting and processing head proposed in this article can be used in the design and manufacture of logging machines and mechanisms. The technical solution may be an interesting advance of the delimbing process when processing trees, especially when cutting big branches or when cutting forces are temporarily higher than average force values.
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