Method and apparatus for cutting and trimming shingles

摘要

A method and apparatuses are disclosed for making shingles. The method consists of clampingly holding a block of material to be cut and conveying such block while it is clamped along a selected path through the clamping mechanism and causing relative movement between two cutting means which are inclined relative to one another to firstly cut a shingle from the block tapering in one direction and followed by a second shingle tapering in the opposite direction. The apparatus includes means for receiving and clampingly holding blocks as they are fed in sequence thereto and means to feed the block while it is clamped. The block is fed into the path of two cutting mechanisms and upon relative movement of the clamped block and the cutting mechanisms, the first cutting mechanism cuts first one shingle tapering in one direction and the second mechanism thence cuts a second shingle from the block tapering in an opposite direction, the cutting mechanisms being inclined relative to one another providing the appropriate taper for the shingles cut thereby from the block. The cut shingles are conveyed to an edge trimming apparatus and are moved by conveying means through at least one trimming station having cutting means for trimming the edges of the shingle. Upstream of the cutting means there is located a scanner that provides information to a computer that processes the information and actuates movement of the trimming saws to trim the edges of the shingle minimizing the amount of waste for each shingle. Defect cutting devices are also provided for removing defects in shingles and they too are controlled by information provided by the computer.