Object of the Invention. The present invention has for its object a system that enables the mass manufacture and distribution of timber products with reduced wastage of logs, improved quality of timber, and reduced manufacture, management, marketing and distribution costs. The system incorporates the recording and use of information and data relating to radially sawn wedge sectors of timber and the products produced from the sectors.

Background Art. The present sawmilling industry is faced with a resource that is increasingly difficult to process as average sawlog diameters decrease as old growth forests are cut over or taken out of production for conservation purposes and there is an increased reliance on managed forests and plantations.

Economic forces and resource competition force the reduction of rotation cycles in many native and plantation forests. This results in the production of logs that in many cases are not suitable or ideal for economic processing by traditional milling systems as they are smaller and they have sawing and use characteristics that can be quite different from old growth and larger sized logs.

With older growth trees and timber that is highly stable it is not so important to produce timber sections with a particular growth ring aiignment, but it has always been the general aim of the sawyer to produce timber that is either quartersawn, (growth rings at"right angles"to the broad face of the section) or backsawn (growth rings"parallel"to the broad face of the section).

A high proportion of wastage occurs in conventional sawmilfing in the attempt to cut sections of timber with the correct growth ring alignment that will adequately meet end use requirements.

Processing logs containing growth stresses and timber with a high rate of drying distortion makes it increasingly important to produce timber as close as possible to true quartersawn or true backsawn.

Smaller log diameters makes it more difficult to isolate the band of"good"quality timber that occurs between the sapwood and the core of the tree. The geometrical problem of efficiently turning smaller round logs into rectangles is compounded

by the effect of growth stresses and the distortion that occurs during the drying of the cut timber.

Growth stresses and drying distortion are related to the circular and radial nature of the log. The primary effects of spring, bow and cupping in a particular section of timber relate directly to the alignment of the growth rings.

Conventional milling, which only saws at right angles and parallel to initial breaking down cuts, cuts at varying angles across the radial stress lines which relate to the annular growth rings of the tree. This"parallel and right angle cutting"produces a relatively high percentage of wide boards from close to the centre of the trees or the log. Wide boards cut near the heart of the tree (especially in quick growing and relatively young hardwoods) contain high levels of residual stress and are prone to splitting and excessive cupping during drying.

Cutting these wide boards to narrow boards to minimize the effect of cupping produces a high percentage of boards with"incorrect"growth ring alignment (i. e. neither quartersawn nor backsawn) which are prone to excessive"diamonding" during drying and contain both bow and spring, which are difficult or wasteful to treat.

Lower percentages of sawn timber recovered from a log and lower quality timber produced results in lower profits and forces change on traditional sawmills that historically are small production units located close to the forest resource.

Current technology using conventional sawing patterns attempts to address the problems presented by the changes in available log resource by maximizing recovery, and by maximizing throughput.

Maximizing recovery generally involves the increased turning of the log in ninety degree increments to produce as much timber as possible with the correct growth ring alignment. If this approach is not automated it is labour intensive and requires the sawyer to have a high level of skill. If it is automated the automation required is complex and expensive to install per unit of timber produced. Even though the method maximizes recovery of sawn timber and gross profit from the logs processed, capital or labour costs are high and production of quality timber is still limited by the geometry of the sawing pattern used and the nature of the log. Kajala and others, in Patent US5806401 summarize the issues of the problems and needs of the industry and present a

solution that shows the complexity required in even a low level of automation in the conventional sawmilling industry.

Systems that maximize throughput usually give a secondary consideration to the amount of timber recovered from a particular log and focus on the time taken to produce an acceptable volume of acceptable quality timber. Gross profits from logs are lower in this type of system. This is compensated for by lower wage expenses and a lower capital cost per unit of timber produced when compared to automated higher recovery systems. Low recovery and high overall capital costs necessitate the processing of large volumes of logs so that the mills stay economically viable.

A large number of both recovery and throughput sawmills are heavily reliant on the sale of by-products or co-target products such as woodchips to remain economically viable, with many mills producing greater volumes of woodchips and wood fibres than sawn timber.

Historically, sawmills would maximize recovery by sawing lower quality and thinner sections of timber to thin boards as a small volume non-target product for use as lower quality cladding and fencing. Recently the industry has seen the establishment of specialist mills that generally cut lower quality logs to specifically target this cladding and fencing market. This has resulted in these mills having decreasing markets for their small volume fallback product as they have a supply volume that is relatively small and fragmented. This has resulted in many cases of lost sales and lower prices and the timber being channelled to increased wastage or to lower value woodchips with a resultant decrease in profitability and commercial viability.

A potential exists for a similar progression with the widespread establishment of large, purpose grown pulpwood plantations with economies of scale that could lower the price of woodchips. This may place economic pressure on sawmills that are reliant on woodchips for income with the pressure increasing as their relative market size decreases and they change from being a mainstream supplier to become the fragmented supplier.

While large scale, capital intensive mills with small operating margins are sensitive to price fluctuations, and require large capital inputs to respond to changing market conditions, they offer major advantages in the mass

production of standardised products that can be marketed and distributed consistently across a broad base.

Smaller mills have attempted to consolidate into networks to reduce the effect of fragmented production and to achieve efficiencies in marketing and distribution These attempts have generally not been successful with a major difficulty being inconsistency in the quality of product, mostly resulting from different sawyers operating different machines resulting in the production of timber with variable growth ring orientation.

The issue of producing low volumes of target product and low value products from sawlogs does not only effect the economy of the sawmill it can also effect regional and national economies, quality of life and the environment.

Regional economies suffer when good timber in logs is turned to waste or shipped to other regions as woodchips. Timber off the saw from good sawlogs will have eight to fifteen times the value of woodchips out of the chipper from the same logs. While woodchips can be eventually turned to high value products, woodchip processing mills are very highly capital intensive, consume large volumes of other resources and are generally being built on larger and larger scares to maintain economic competitiveness. Quality timber that is economically produced from logs provides the opportunity for local resource use and the ability to add value to the timber by the manufacture of further products with comparatively small capital inputs.

Wastage of timber and inappropriate processing technology reduces opportunity for economic sustainability and can reduce material availability for housing and construction which can have significant impact particularly if alternative materials are expensive, scarce or more labour and energy intensive.

Environmental issues relating to log harvesting and timber production are complex but if the issue of logging practices and sites are put aside there are clear advantages if more timber is economically produced from each log. Issues include less logs needed to produce a given volume of timber, less road damage and fuel costs, greater volumes of low embodied energy material available for use and the potential to lock higher volumes of carbon into long-term stable products.

The present invention has for its object a system that could allow sawmills to reduce this wastage and the reliance for economic viability on by-products such as woodchips, and to enable the economical production, sale and distribution of standardised timber products.

Radial sawing is different to conventional sawmilling in that it works with the radial and circular nature of the log. It produces timber that generally contains less residual stress and less movement in drying and in use.

While the advantages of reduced wastage and product quality of radial sawing patterns and processes have been pointed out in a number of patent specifications and patents over a period of time such as Kirst (US 5816015), Kohn (US 4301202), Hasenwinkle (US 3903943) (US 4027769) and Knorr (US 05560409), and despite claimed improvements for sawing mechanisms, Knorr (US 06032708), industry has been reluctant to adopt the technology.

Part of this reluctance could be attributed to uncertainty about use of a technology that appears to be radical step from the normal at both a manufacturing level and a marketing level. These concerns appear to relate to a general opinion in the industry regarding the scale of investment that is needed to establish viable new operations. Operators appear to stay with the apparent safety of investing in minor improvements on what is normal to the industry.

Aims of the Invention. The system of the present invention links a basic production technology based on repetitive operations in an inventive step with the broad capabilities of data transfer technology. The invention aims to enable a system that will take advantage of the inherent efficiency of the radial sawing technology, at manufacturing, managing, distribution and marketing levels. The system has for one of its objects the mechanism for enabling the establishment and conversion of regional based mills to enable the efficient use of local resources and the provision of local employment. The system provides the mechanism to achieve this as implementation of the system will allow the establishment of regional productions sites with infrastructure and machinery costs but without the full cost of a management marketing and distribution network.

Detailed description of the invention and the drawings. While conventional sawmilling patterns usually cut at right angles and parallel to initial cuts, in the radial process cuts are generally made at right angles and parallel to a tangent to annular growth rings of a tree. Initial cuts are made on radii and generally in relation to a chosen centre. The end section of a log radially sawn as described is illustrated in Figure 1 with cuts (21) basically at right angles to tangents (22) to the growth rings (23). This cutting produces individual elongated wedge sectors of timber with an end section as shown in Figure 2. These wedge sectors have two radial faces (24) with growth rings (29) basically at right angles to the broad faces which means they can be classifie as being quartersawn. Each wedge sector requires at least two cuts that involve cutting on, parallel or approximate to the chosen radii (21) or diameter (25) to create the wedge sector.

Additional operations can produce a variety of products such as backsawn boards as in Figure 3, with two radial faces (26), and two broad faces (27) which are basically parallel to a tangent to the growth rings, which means that they can be classifie as being backsawn. Wedge sectors can be further processed into a host of products including conventional rectangular timber sections.

Reference to the two radial faces always provides information on growth ring orientation, an important factor in timber performance and use characteristics.

By referencing the radial faces, the current invention enables the repetitive and reliable production of timber and timber products with consistent growth ring orientation.

In relation to the radial faces and the angle between (28), the angle will generally be acute, or less than 90 degrees but may be obtuse, greater that 90 degrees, but the maximum angle will always be limited to less than 180 degrees by the definition of a wedge which means the radial faces must taper to a point. Acute and obtuse angles, which exclude 90 degree or right angles, are defined because in limited versions of conventional sawmilling, radial cuts are made at right angles to each other. The method is used as a form of quartersawing but, particularly in smaller diameter logs, produces limited quantities of true quartersawn boards. It is not the intention of limiting the invention by excluding totally the possibility of cutting wedge sectors with a right angle between the radial faces. A right angle wedge sector may be produced as a step in the cutting

of an acute angled wedge sector or a right angle wedge sector may be resawn along the radial principle to produce sections with a tangent to the growth rings basically parallel to the broad face.

For the purposes of this invention a wedge sector or wedge sector of timber refers to all or part of a basic wedge sector of timber that retains at least part of the two radial faces as in Figure 3 so that the extension of the radial faces represented by dotted lines (30) come to a point even thought the actual point may be removed. For the purposes of this invention part of a wedge sector may refer to a timber section of any shape that has been produced from a wedge sector of timber and may have taken any number of steps to produce.

In regard to references to terms such as"consistent growth ring orientation"and "basically parallel to"and the like it should be noted that timber is a natural product and trees vary greatly in their form as they grow. This could mean that the centre growth rings of a tree are eccentric to the outside of a tree or a local variation will occur around knots. This will lead to some variation in growth ring alignment in individual wedge sectors but on average the consistency of growth ring orientation will be maintained. Similarly and so as not to limit the current invention the words radius, radii, diameter and centre are referred to in regard to a log or section of a tree as a whole. This wholeness and geometric reference should represent a basic intention and withstand the fact that a chosen centre or radii could shift or be changed during the cutting operation. An example of this can occur in the cutting of a log across the diameter with the chosen effective centres shifting intentionally or unintentionally from one half to the other and be two different points so that a cut may be made parallel or close to a centre or radius.

The current invention is a system of recording information and data for transferral to a computer and for interpretation on a computer. The recorded information and data relates to all or part of a wedge sector of timber with the step of creating the two radial faces being the constant factor in variations of embodiments of the system. For the current invention the words"recording"and "recorded"in relation to the wedge sector should be taken as the act of gathering or collecting information and while it may involve storage of information and data

the words are not meant to imply a timeframe in relation to the holding or transferral of information or data collecte.

Information and data on the wedge sector can cover a wide range of factors that can be of importance to the manufacturing and distribution process.

For example, information may relate to measurement of the angle between the two radial faces (28). The timing and method of the recording could vary with such information being recorded once a decision is made on the angle that the wedges in the log will be cut to and prior to the cutting operation that creates the wedge sector with the two radial faces. Measurement could be made during the relative movement of the log and the cutting device or after the wedge sector of timber had been produced and subjected to other operations.

These variations in timing could be applied to a number of forms of information and data recording, storage, transferral, and interpretation.

In the following due consideration should be given to timing factors previously mentioned and to factors such that logs could be recorded as though they were or would be comprised of wedges and wedge sectors could be recorded to compile data on the log. While not limiting the scope of the invention, the following are the types of recording that could be carried out on, or relating to, all or part of a wedge sector of timber: the angle between the radial faces, the number of cuts, the length, volume, weight, depth, breadth, contour of natural edge, colour, timber quality, defect or feature occurrence, strength, elasticity, and visual images.

While not limiting the scope of the invention, there are a number of methods or mechanisms that can be used to carry out the listed recordings. Measurements can be carried out by mechanical means such as direct measurement with data being transferred or entered manually or by mechanical means such as revolution counters, wheels or trip arms that convert movement to electronics impulses. There are a wide range of scanning devices using light, sound and radio waves that are in common use in the timber industry that accurately record dimensions and timber section characteristics. Strength and elasticity can be recorded by in-line deflection testing and visual images can be collecte and transferred by digital cameras.

Information and data collecte can be used in many ways.

Recorded information can be used at later stages of operation such as in the channelling of wedge sectors with particular characteristics into certain streams that may produce a particular type of board or other product and using information on defects to make a decision in regard to docking or cutting to length. Recorded information and data can be linked with information on stock or order requirements to promote efficiency of operation and to reduce wastage and extra handling during the production process.

While a wedge sector may be machined into another form during the process of making a product the same act of recording can be applied to all stages of production. A wedge sector or part of a wedge sector could be itself or could be converted to a conventional or rectangular backsawn product, to a conventional quartersawn product, to flooring or a range of finishing items or a connected together product such as a truss, laminated beam or table. These products may be subjected to a range of processes normal to the operation of a sawmill or joinery such as air or kiln drying, machining, jointing, sanding and the like.

Logs could be scanned prior to cutting and theoretical wedges applied to a log to help in the decision-making process in regard to what products should be manufactured from the log and to assist in the alignment of the log for the optimum production of wedges.

In some products such as natural edge tapered weatherboarding and siding thin wedges are cut and left in the log. Cut logs are transported to site where the boards are released for use. Being a natural product the profile of the log will vary from log taper and bends, resulting in different sections of the log providing a different amount of effective cover when applied to a wall. Current practices mean that individual sections need to be measured by hand and it may not be obvious where a dip or narrow section of boards occurs which leads to inaccuracy. Due to convenience or expediency in many cases a estimate of average cover is given which can also be inaccurate. Experience has shown that this can lead to either oversupply or undersupply with both situations leading to expense and inconvenience. With the current invention the outside profile and minimum and maximum effective width of each

wedge sector board can be measured and recorded which can be used to accurately establish the effective covering of siding that is contained in each log.

This data can be transferred to an invoicing system that can calculate the cost of a particular log to a customer.

Similarly recorded information and data can be used to establish figures on log consumption, stock and inventory levels and work in progress and can be used at all stages of production in the preparation of invoices and other financial requirements that are normal to the running of a business.

Recorded information and data can be used in the maintenance of license agreements and be the basis of monitoring royalty payments based on throughput or production.

Recorded information can be the basis for monitoring carbon tax or credits that may arise.

Recorded information and data can be recorded and interpreted directly at machines that are part of the production process or can be transmitted to computers that are remote to production machines.

Computers accessing recorded information and data can be connected to what is commonly referred to as a network, an intranet, the internet or any other data processing system. This will enable the sharing of recorded information and data amongst two or more sites.

An information and data processing centre could be established to receive recorded information and data from one or two or more production sites that may be situated remotely to one another. The same information and data processing centre can be used to transfer information back to the production sites.

Information transferred and received can relate to management and information such as methodologies, services, log stock, production levels, and the production of specific orders.

The system of linked production sites can be used to monitor and co-ordinate standardised production of timber products. The consistent growth ring orientation in products produced at different production sites and the co- ordinated application of standards by information and data transfer and standardised machines means that timber manufactured from a particular species at one site

will behave consistently with timber produced from a similar species at another site.

Orders placed with the central processing centre can be considered and acted on according to recorded information and data from production sites. Data and information initially considered could relate to log stocks, product stocks, work in progress or machinery status. Information such as order delivery destination and production site location can be combined with all relevant factors to make a decision on which production site will produce the order, or what part of a combined order is compile from which production sites.

The linking of this information to a processing system and the internet, an intranet or a computer network would allow the development of a system where a customer or potential customer could enter details on timber and delivery requirements. After consideration of recorded information and data an answer or quotation could be provided that included price and an accurate delivery time projection which is of importance to the smooth running of the construction industry.

Depending on the geographic location, distribution centres may be established to facilitate the movement of timber between production centres and the customer.

These centres, and an associated transport and delivery system, would be reliant on recorded information and data and would be part of the system.

Payment for orders can be made in line with developments in the area of electronic funds transfer and the making of monetary payments by the transfer of data. These payments could be made to the processing centre. By way of example the processing centre could then deduct an agreed amount and forward the balance to the relevant production site or sites.

Preferred Embodiment of the Invention. Figure 4 shows a diagram of a preferred embodiment of a system that has for its object the supply of timber products to customers in the shortest time and in the most efficient way possible. The recorded information and data processing centre (31) and production sites (32) and distribution centres (33) are linked via the internet, an intranet or a computer network. Customers (34) are linked to the data processing centre via the internet or conventional means such as telephone or postage. In this embodiment

customers would be encouraged to use the internet to take advantage of the automated processing of inquiries and orders that are available directly to online customers.

In the drawings thin lines (35) represents distribution of information and data and the thick lines (36) represents the distribution of product. The processing centre collects and interprets all information and data received in relation to wedge sectors or parts of wedge sectors that are relevant to the processing centre's part in the operation of the system.

Information on production requirements would be forwarded to production sites as well as details of specific orders that would be compile from stock or directly from the production line. In this preferred embodiment a full range of wedge sector products would be manufactured at production sites ranging from products such as decking, from structural timbers to flooring and fabricated items such as trusses and laminated beams and bench tops.

Apparatus for the recording and measurement of information and data would be applied to radial saws that cut the log into sectors and to various other stages of production. Preferred apparatus would be applied to a radial saw in which the log and saw or saws rotate relative to a chosen centre of the log and travel relatively to each other to enable the production of elongated wedge sectors of timber.

Figure 5 represents the end section of a partly cut log (40) with cut wedge sectors (41) and saw blade (42). A suitable device would record the angle of rotation between each cut and thereby record the angle between the radial faces of each wedge sector. Similarly a suitable device can be installe to measure the length and number of cuts. Suitable scanning and measuring devices can be attached to record a range of information including length, surface contour, volume and depth of sector. Depending on information required a suitable system could include scanning or measuring devices (43) either side of and close to the line of cut of the blade. These may be required at more than one location relative to the line of the cut to ensure full recording along the full length of the log depending on the travel of the sawing apparatus.

As illustrated in Figure 6 wedge sectors (44) can be supported by referencing or transfer devices (45) and scanned and measured by devices (46) on the radial

faces to provide information that is not available from the outside of the log. In addition to scanning for width and profile, the timber quality can be ascertained to detect factors such as rot or special grain characteristics. Based on recorded data wedge sectors can be diverted to appropriate processing streams as required.

Preferred recording apparatus can be used on further processing stages such as the cutting of wedge sectors to backsawn boards. Figure 7 represents a wedge sector referenced by supporting devices (47) being sawn to backsawn boards (48) with scanners or measuring devices (49) recording either full or edge data in relation to the natural or bark edge of the sector (50). Data can be used to record information such as volume and quantity and to monitor allocation of volumes to particular processing streams. Data can be used for further operations such as docking with, for example, boards with more than a certain amount of bark edge on a face being marked or tagged for docking and separation to another processing stream or waste.

While further processing such as drying could be carried out at each site with drying kilns being monitored by the processing centre, a distribution centre could double as a further processing plant with, for example, all timber requiring drying being transferred to one site to potentially save on capital costs.

In this preferred embodiment of the invention the implementation of movement from production line directly to specific orders would be a priority to minimize stock values and to take advantage of inherent production and product use efficiencies. In this preferred embodiment management of the production sites would be administered from the processing centre which would have all responsibility for invoicing, book keeping, log supply and the like. Distribution centres would be included in the system if the distance between production sites warranted or if large volumes of timber and products were being distributed between mills in the compilation of orders, and if the centres increased the efficiency of distribution and storage. Orders would be distributed from the appropriate production or distribution site or sites to the customer.