Means for measuring stiffness of lumber

Claim 1

AN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE LONGITUDINAL STIFFNESS OF A WOODEN BOARD COMPRISING: A SUPPORTING FRAMEWORK; FIRST AND SECOND SUPPORT MEANS ON SAID FRAMEWORK IN LONGITUDINALLY SPACED LOCATIONS ADAPTED TO CONTACT A FIRST SURFACE OF A BOARD ALONG LONGITUDINALLY SPACED TRANSVERSE LINES DURING MOVEMENT OF THE BOARD IN A LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION RELATIVE TO THE FRAMEWORK; DEFLECTION MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID FREAMEWORK AT A LONGITUDINALLY ALIGNED POSITON INTERMEDIATE SAID FIRST AND SECOND SUPPORT MEANS, INCLUDING FORCE APPLYING MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID FRAMEWORK FOR LIMITED MOVEMENT RELATIVE THERETO IN A DIRECTION PERPENDICULAR TO A FIRST PLANE CONTAINING THE LINES OF CONTACT OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND SUPPORT MEANS AND THE BOARD, SAID FORCE APPLYING MEANS BEING ADAPTED TO CONTACT A SECOND SURFACE OF THE BOARD OPPOSITE TO SAID FIRST SURFACE AS THE BOARD MOVES IN CONTACT WITH SAID FIRST AND SECOND SUPPORT MENAS, THE PERPENDICULAR DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID FIRST PLANE AND A PARALLEL PLANE TANGENTIAL TO THE AREA OF CONTACT OF SAID FORCE APPLYING MEANS AND THE BOARD BEING LESS THAN THE BOARD THICKNESS BETWEEN THE TWO CONTACTED BOARD SURFACES; AND MEANS ON SAID FRAMEWORK OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID DEFLECTION MEANS ADAPTED TO INDICATE THE STIFFNESS OF THE BOARD DURING CONTACT OF THE BOARD BY SAID FIRST AND SECOND SUPPORT MEANS AND SAID DEFLECTION MEANS.