Apparatus for grading lumber

Claim 1

A high capacity lumber grading apparatus, comprising transverse substantially horizontal conveyor means for transporting successive pieces of lumber past a grader in spaced, predetermined locations on said conveyor means, and lumber piece turning means in front of the grader for turning the lumber pieces one by one to present to the grader the pair of edges and sides thereof, the improvement that the lumber piece turning means include at least two substantially L-shaped members, individual substantially radial arms having inner and outer ends, each of said L-shaped members being swingably journalled to the outer end of a radial arm, a rotating shaft below the plane of the conveyor means, the inner ends of said arms being carried on the rotating shaft, means continuously turning the L-shaped members to a predetermined angle with respect to the plane of the conveyor means, said angle being everywhere dependent by the angular position of the radial arm with respect to the plane of the conveyor means to cause at least a pair of opposite, parallel spaced apart radial arms and L-shaped members to lift one piece of lumber from a location upstream on the conveyor means, transport the piece of lumber in an arcuate path over the plane of the conveyor means substantially corresponding to the path of travel of the outer ends of the radial arms, during transport to turn the piece of lumber to present to the grader, both edges and sides in a manner approximating a continuous movement, the turning being essentially in the opposite direction of the turning of the radial arms, and repositioning the piece of lumber in the predetermined location on the conveyor means downstream of the grader.