Within performing operations, the present invention refers to wood processing, namely to firewood splitting machines, in which blades or wedges are used. Pursuant to the International Patent Classification, such inventions should belong to the class B 27 L 07/06. In parallel, such invention might also refer to working machines, namely to blade saws, in which an endless band with a plurality of cutting elements is used, so that such and invention could also belong to the class B 23 D 55/00.

In this, the invention is rest on a problem, how to conceive a machine, by means of which a timber could be economically, namely with minimal energy consumption and with minimal losses of a wood volume, gradually i.e. step by step, sawn to separate sections of a predetermined length, while immediately upon sawing, each particular sawn timber section should be further split to firewood pieces suitable for direct application in household furnaces.

Machines are known from the state of the art, which are suitable for a so-called one-phase splitting of timber sections, which have been previously sawn to a predetermined length, wherein such machines are furnished with a splitting unit, which may comprise either a single or multiple cutting blade. Such machine enables splitting of said timber section of a pre-determined length either to two or more firewood pieces just in a single phase, namely on the basis of a single movement of the splitting unit relatively to said timber section. Such a machine with a single cutting blade is disclosed in CA 1,084,814, and is in view of productivity pretty inefficient and uneconomical. A further machine, which comprises several cutting edges, is disclosed in PCT/CH2005/000175 and is in correspondingly improved with regard to the earlier mentioned machine, but the forces, which are required for the purposes of splitting, are pretty high, so that such machine is quite bulky and energy consuming, and in addition to that, each transporting thereof to each working place appears to be quite complicated.

A multi-phase firewood splitting machine is disclosed in WO 99/64214. Such machine comprises a bearing frame, which is furnished with supporting legs and is therefore held at a desired distance above the ground. Longitudinal bearing walls of said bearing frames are furnished with guides, which are suitable for guiding of a further guiding frame, which is adjusted for receiving of a timber section, which is intended to be split and may be thanks to said guide displaced in the longitudinal direction of the bearing frame. A supporting plate is arranged between said bearing walls of said bearing frame, which define the longitudinal direction of the machine, and said supporting plate is intended for supporting of a previously sawed timber section, when separated from the rest of the timber, as long as said timber section remains located within the area of said bearing frame. The length of the supporting plate should not be shorter than the length of the guiding frame or the length of the timber section, which should be split. A driving means is foreseen in the one terminal area of said bearing frame, and is capable for establishing relative movement of each timber section, which is intended to be split, relatively to each disposable splitting unit, namely for displacing of said guiding frame relatively to the bearing frame. Said driving means is a longitudinally extending hydraulic cylinder, which is on the one hand attached to said bearing frame, while on the other hand, a piston road thereof is connected with said guiding frame. A splitting unit is arranged on the other terminal area of the bearing frame and comprises several of cutting edges, namely a primary cutting edge in form of a plate, which is available in a horizontal plane, as well as several secondary cutting edges, which are offset with regard to said primary cutting edge in a direction apart from the guiding frame and are arranged at suitable distances apart from each other below said primary cutting edge, so that each of them extends in a longitudinal direction of the machine. Each particular timber section is placed onto said guiding frame, upon which said guiding frame is by means of the driving means pushed towards the splitting unit, in which the timber section is split to several firewood pieces, which then freely fall into a collector or onto ground below the bearing frame. Such multi-phase firewood splitting machine is also disclosed in SI 25007 A and SI 25612 A.

When desired, each timber can be sawn to several sections of a pre-determined length, which is suitable for application of firewood pieces in household furnaces, even in the area outside of the machine, e.g. by means of an engine-powered handoperated chainsaw, which is disclosed e.g. in US 2019/0111582 Al, but in such case the timber sections then need to be one by one brought onto said guiding frame. Such saw is an engine-powered hand-operated saw, which comprises a suitable frame, which is embedded within in a suitable casing with an ergonomically designed grip, as well as with a chain guiding blade, which protrudes out from the casing and is formed as s plate, which is on its terminal area semi-circularly ended and the circumferential edge of which is adjusted for guiding of the endless sawing chain. A driving wheel for moving the chain, when placed thereon, is arranged within the interior of said casing and is via a suitable shaft connected with a driving engine. Said blade should normally also be displaceable in a direction towards said chain wheel or in the opposite direction, by which a required tensioning of the chain may be performed, when required. The chain as such comprises lamellar links with outwardly directed protrusions with cutting edges formed thereon. As soon as such chain is in contact with wood, and is thanks to rotation of said driving chain wheel displaced relatively to the wood, said cutting edges start one by one gradually cutting the wood, and in such a way then the timber can be gradually cut over its complete depth i.e. along the complete diameter. It should however be born in mind that such cutting may be performed pretty quickly and efficiently, but the process as such is pretty uneconomic. On the one hand, just driving the chain, overcoming a friction between the links and forced sliding of the chain due to forces, which are required for sawing, leads to essential energy consumption, and despite to intensive lubricating quite often also to overheating. On the other hand, due to the constructional design of such chainsaw, namely due to a required thickness of the saw blade as well as the chain links, the width of the cutting area may also be essential and is in the practice nearly 1 cm. This of course means that, when cutting a timber to sections, an essential quantity of wood volume is lost, namely around 2 - 5%, which indirectly also means a proportional energy loss, and from quite economical point of view also a correspondingly worse yield.

Firewood splitting machines are also known in the state of the art, e.g. in SI 25612 A, in which such saw with an endless chain is pivotally mounted onto the bearing frame of the machine in a suitable position to enable sawing the timber to said section prior to splitting thereof due to producing firewood pieces. In such case, the saw is pivotal around a pivot point, which must be located outside of the circumference of the maximal admissible timber, while its cutting blade must be sufficiently long that the saw is able to cut the timber along its complete transversal cross-section during a single pivoting stroke and without any rotating of the timber. As soon as each timber is in its integral state completely loaded onto the machine, it is then in the area of the conveyor step by step cut to separate timber sections, end each obtained timber section is promptly upon that split to several firewood pieces. In professional machines, the maximal thickness of a timber, which is still allowed to be processed, may go up to 50 cm or even more, which of course required correspondingly long saw blade together with a required chain, which leads to correspondingly high energy and power consumption.

Various sawing machines are also known in the field of cutting of metals, where an endless flexible metallic band is used as a cutting tool, wherein said band is bent to form and endless loop, and is along its one longitudinal edge furnished with a plurality of mutually spaced teeth, which are each per se furnished with cutting edges. Said endless band is placed around a pair of rolls, which are suitably spaced apart from each other, and one of said rolls is via a shaft connected with a driving motor. Such sawing machine is e.g. disclosed in EP 3 031 561 Bl and comprises a bearing frame, in which said rolls are embedded together with said band and driving motor. The rolls are located in a plane, which extends inclined with regard to the ground, or to horizontal or vertical geometric plane. A vise, suitable for attaching of a working piece as intended to be sawn, should be arranged in the area between said rolls, namely below a linear i.e. undeflected area of the sawing band. Sawing as such is performed along the vertical geometric plane, while the progression of the sawing blade throughout the working piece may be achieved either by means of displacing of said vise relative to fixed rolls, or by displacing the rolls together with the sawing band in a direction towards the working piece, wherein of course also the sawing band must be properly supported in order to avoiding sliding thereof along the surface of the rolls in a direction away from the working piece. As mentioned, said rolls incl. the belonging sawing band are arranged inclined with respect to said vertical plane, so that the sawing band must be by means of suitable rigid guiding means just in the sawing area temporarily deflected from said inclined position exactly into a vertical plane. By processing of metals, such approach may be acceptable, since the thickness of the working piece, when compared with the overall length of the band, in particular of each linear area of the sawing band between the rolls, is relatively small, so that such temporarily deflection of the sawing band into said vertical plane appears to be feasible. However, when sawing a timber having a much larger diameter, such approach becomes impossible, since this would unavoidably lead to extreme dimensions of the sawing machine, which could be then substantially much larger than the firewood splitting machine itself. Despite to benefits resulting from application of such sawing machine, like elimination of returning strokes with corresponding time and energy consumption, the need on deflection of the sawing band would, despite to intensive lubricating, lead to essential friction and wearing, which leads to correspondingly higher energy consumption and also to serious risks in the view of reliability of the sawing band during a long-term use, regardless on the sharpness of the cutting edges thereon.

The present invention refers to a timber processing and firewood splitting machine. Such machine generally comprises

- a self-standing bearing frame, which is suitable for being placed on the ground;

- a conveying unit, which is arranged in one terminal area of said bearing frame and is adjusted for step-by-step forwarding of a timber with a pre-determined diameter in the longitudinal direction of said bearing frame; - a cutting unit, which is suitable for cutting said timber to separate longitudinal sections of a pre-determined length and is arranged in the area above said conveying unit;

- a guiding unit, which is suitable for guiding of each particular longitudinal timber section in said longitudinal direction and along a geometric axis towards a working area, where a splitting assembly is arranged, which is intended for splitting of each longitudinal section of the timber to several firewood pieces, wherein said splitting assembly comprises at least a splitting unit, which is by means of a suitable driving unit displaceable to and fro along said longitudinal geometric axis, as well as

- a supporting assembly, which is arranged below the bearing frame at a suitable distance above the ground, and which comprises two one towards the other directed flaps, which are adjusted for supporting firewood pieces, upon being split apart from the rest of said longitudinal section of the timber and apart from said splitting unit, and are mainly maintained in approximately horizontal position, but may also be pivoted into an inclined or even vertical position, when necessary.

The invention proposes that said cutting unit is conceived as a band saw with an endless saw band blade with a cutting area which is formed by equally spaced cutting teeth and is directed downwardly towards the ground and towards the guiding unit in the area between said conveying unit for forwarding said timber and said working area with said splitting unit. Said endless saw band blade is bent to form a loop, which is located substantially in a horizontal plane and comprises a straight operational area, which is oriented transversally with respect to said longitudinal direction of the bearing framework and also to a direction of forwarding the timber, and wherein the length of said straight operational area is longer than the diameter of the maximal admissible timber of or each belonging longitudinal timber section. Said endless saw band blade is, with exception of said straight operational area, embedded within a casing of the cutting unit, and is within said casing adjusted to be run over suitable guiding rolls, at least one of which is via a suitable shaft connected with a driving means, wherein each of said guiding rolls is adapted both for guiding of said endless saw band blade and also for supporting thereof due to disabling any movement thereof relatively to said rolls and said casing in a vertical direction. Said casing of the cutting unit is mounted on a column and is by means of a suitable driving unit displaceable in a controlled manner in vertical direction at least for a distance, which exceeds maximal admissible diameter of the timber, and is moreover in the area adjacent to said straight horizontal working area of the saw band blade in a horizontal plane above said guiding unit furnished with a recess, the longitudinal dimension of which along said geometric axis in a direction of forwarding of the timber exceeds the length of each admissible section of the timber, while its transversal dimension substantially corresponds to the length of said straight operational area of the saw band blade and should therefore exceed the maximal diameter of the timber or each cut-off timber section.

Embodiments of the invention are foreseen, in which three rolls are foreseen for guiding and driving of said saw band blade, which are located within said casing and are each per se rotatable around a corresponding geometric axis and arranged in comers of either a virtual equilateral triangle or a virtual isosceles triangle, which is however symmetric with respect to said longitudinal geometric axis, along which the timber is forwarded, and located in a horizontal plane above said guiding unit in the area between said conveying unit for forwarding said timber and said working area with said splitting unit. In further possible embodiments, four rolls are foreseen for guiding and driving of said saw band blade, which are located within said casing and are each per se rotatable around a corresponding geometric axis and arranged in comers of either a virtual square or a virtual rectangle, which is however symmetric with respect to said longitudinal geometric axis, along which the timber is forwarded, and located in a horizontal plane above said guiding unit in the area between said conveying unit for forwarding said timber and said working area with said splitting unit. In all aforementioned embodiments the roll, which is selected to be a driving roll, is preferably located in the area in which the casing with the endless saw band blade is mounted to said column.

The invention will also be explained in more detail by means of an embodiment, which is shown in the attached drawing, in which

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a timber processing and firewood splitting machine in a position just prior to cutting-off a timber section; and

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of a machine according to Fig. 1 after said cutting-off a timber section.

A timber processing and firewood splitting machine, which is presented in Figs. 1 and 2, comprises

- a self-standing bearing frame 1 , which is suitable for being placed on the ground;

- a conveying unit 2, which is arranged in one terminal area of said bearing frame 1 and is adjusted for step-by-step forwarding of a timber T of a pre-determined diameter D in the longitudinal direction 10 of said bearing frame 1 ;

- a cutting unit 3, which is suitable for cutting said timber T to separate longitudinal sections T1 of a pre-determined length L and is arranged in the area above said conveying unit 2;

- a guiding unit 4, which is suitable for guiding of each particular longitudinal timber section T1 in said longitudinal direction and along said geometric axis 10 towards a working area 5, where a splitting assembly 6 is arranged, which is intended for splitting of each longitudinal section T1 of the timber T to several firewood pieces, wherein said splitting assembly 6 comprises at least a splitting unit 60, which is by means of a suitable driving unit 61 displaceable to and fro along said longitudinal geometric axis 10, as well as

- a supporting assembly 9, which is arranged below the bearing frame 1 at a suitable distance above the ground, and which comprises two one towards the other directed flaps 91, 92, which are adjusted for supporting firewood pieces upon being split apart from the rest of said longitudinal section T1 of the timber T and apart from said splitting unit 60, and are mainly maintained in approximately horizontal position, but may also be pivoted into an inclined or even vertical position, when necessary.

According to the invention, said cutting unit 3 is conceived as a band saw with an endless saw band blade 30 with a cutting area 31 which is formed by equally spaced cutting teeth 32 and is directed downwardly towards the ground and towards the guiding unit 4 in the area between said conveying unit 2 for forwarding said timber T and said working area 5 with said splitting unit 6. Said endless saw band blade 31 is bent to form a loop, which is located substantially in a horizontal plane and comprises a straight operational area 33, which is oriented transversally with respect to said longitudinal direction 10 of the bearing framework 1 and also to a direction of forwarding the timber T, and wherein the length B of said straight operational area 33 is longer than the diameter D of a maximal admissible timber T or each belonging longitudinal timber section Tl. Said endless saw band blade 31 is, with the exception of said straight operational area 33, embedded within a casing 35 of the cutting unit 3, and is within said casing 35 adjusted to be run over suitable guiding rolls 36, 37, 38, at least one 36 of which is via a suitable shaft connected with a driving means, wherein each of said guiding rolls 36, 37, 38 is adapted both for guiding of said endless saw band blade 30 and also for supporting thereof due to disabling any movement thereof relatively to said rolls 36, 37, 38 and said casing 35 in a vertical direction. Said casing 35 of the cutting unit 3 is mounted on a column 300 and is by means of a suitable driving unit displaceable in a controlled manner in vertical direction at least for a distance, which exceeds maximal admissible diameter D of the timber T, and is moreover in the area adjacent to said straight horizontal working area 33 of the saw band blade 30 in a horizontal plane above said guiding unit 4 furnished with a recess C, the longitudinal dimension of which along said geometric axis 10 in a direction of forwarding of the timber T exceeds the length L of each admissible section T1 of the timber T, while its transversal dimension substantially corresponds to the length B of said straight operational area 33 of the saw band blade 30 and should therefore exceed the maximal diameter D of the timber T or each cut-off timber section T1.

In the shown embodiment, three rolls 36, 36, 38 are foreseen for guiding and driving of said saw band blade 30, which are located within said casing 35 and are each per se rotatable around a corresponding geometric axis and arranged in comers of a virtual equilateral or isosceles triangle, which is symmetric with respect to said longitudinal geometric axis 10, along which the timber T is forwarded, and located in a horizontal plane above said guiding unit 4 in the area between said conveying unit 2 for forwarding said timber T and said working area 5 with said splitting unit 6. The roll 36, which is selected to be a driving roll, is located in the area in which the casing 35 with the endless saw band blade 30 is mounted to said column 300. However, another embodiment might also be used, in which four rolls 36, 36, 38 are foreseen for guiding and driving of said saw band blade 30, which are located within said casing 35 and are each per se rotatable around a corresponding geometric axis and arranged in comers of a virtual square or rectangle, which is symmetric with respect to said longitudinal geometric axis 10, along which the timber T is forwarded, and located in a horizontal plane above said guiding unit 4 in the area between said conveying unit 2 for forwarding said timber T and said working area 5 with said splitting unit 6.

When said casing 35 of the cutting unit 3 is elevated at a sufficient height (Fig. 1), which must exceed at least the diameter D of the timber T, then the timber T can be loaded onto a conveying unit 2, upon which it is by means of said conveying unit 2 forwarded until its front terminal portion reaches the guiding unit 4. Said endless saw band blade 30 is running around said guiding rolls 37, 38 and is driven by means of a driving roll 36, while simultaneously said casing 35 is gradually displaced along the column 300 downwardly towards the ground, so that said endless saw band blade 35 is gradually progressing throughout the timber, which is herewith relatively quickly and with relatively low energy consumption sawn across its complete cross-section (Fig. 2). Upon that, said casing 35 is moved upwardly and returned back to its initial position, upon which due to activation of the conveying unit 2 the timber T is forwarded at a desired distance towards the working area 5, wherein the rest of the timber T pushes the recently cut-off section into the working area 5, in which then it is by means of said splitting unit 6 split to firewood pieces, which are then deposited on said flaps 91, 92 of the supporting unit 9.