SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR BENDING WOOD STRIPS

摘要

A system and method for automated bending of wood strips. The system includes an preprogrammed automated robot arm that is fitted with a gripper for grasping and manipulating the wood board around a hot mandrel in order to bend the wood into intricate bent shapes. The wood strips are first soaked in water so that they pliable to bend around the mandrel. The heated mandrel plasticizes the lignin to allow the fibers to reorient in the wet wood strips thus fixing or locking the wood in the bent shape. The grippers are preferably pneumatic grippers formed from two plates that move towards each other to grasp or clamp onto the wood strip. A friction plate urges the wood strips against the heated mandrel to provide consistent and constant contact between the wood strip and the surface of the hated mandrel.

主权项

1. An automated process for bending wood into a bent structure, which comprises:
grasping a water saturated wood strip by a holding member; contacting the held water saturated wood strips with a heated mandrel for a sufficient time and with sufficient pressure to reorient fibers in the water saturated wood strips to fix or lock the wood strip in a desired bent configuration, and removing the wood that is fixed or locked in the bent configuration; wherein the grasping, contacting and removing steps are automatically conducted under computer control of the holding member and mandrel to obtain the bent structure.