Pre-scan bundles, then pick the best bundles for the job

Buffer control for automatic defect recognition systems

What does it do?

The LumberId system uses the unique grain pattern of lumber to identify lumber. The scanning station reads 16 inches of lumber and saves it to a database. The detection station scans the same 16 inches of lumber to indentify the piece. Depending on the material flow, either the first 16 inches of lumber is scanned or the last 16 inches.

Application 1: Buffer Control

The LumberId system serves as a painless buffer control system. The scanning station is placed just before an automatic defect recognition scanner (such as the WoodEye™ or Luxscan™). The detection stations are placed just before or inside the cross-cutting saws (such as the Eagle Talon™). In this arrangement, the finger print and cut solution for the piece of lumber are saved to the database at the scanning station. When the detection station reads and identifies the piece of lumber, the associated cut solution is passed to the cross cut saw. This system provides complete buffer control with no possiblity for error. This in turn reduces the complexity of the material handling and avoids having to clear the buffer and starting over whenever the system gets out of sync.

Why is it needed?

• Boards may double deal into the scanner or into the saw.
• Boards may break in transit from the scanner to the saw.
• Send any board to any available saw. No need for saw selection signaling or round robin schemes.
• No need for "flush" capabilities in the material handling.
• No need for ability to drive backwards in material handling.

Application 2: Bundle Selection

Bundles are first finger printed by the LumberId scan station and then scanned for defects with an automatic defect detection system. These bundles are then placed back in inventory. The LumberId optimization package then runs simulations on the known bundles and selects the bundles that would yield best for a given job. These bundles are then run through the LumberId Detection station where the cut solutions are passed to the cross cut optimizer.

Application 3: Offsite Scanning/Cutting

Companies that have a scanner along with LumberID may scan bundles for another company. The bundle along with the scanner information and finger print database may then get shipped to another company having LumberID detectors and chop saws. The LumberID detectors will identify the board and retrieve the corresponding cut solution or defect data from the database and pass this information to the chop saw for cutting.