Control apparatus for a veneer lathe

Claim 1

IN A PLYWOOD MANUFACTURING DEVICE WHEREIN A LOG OF VARIABLE MOISTURE CONTENT IS ROTATED AT A PREDETERMINED ANGULAR VELOCITY ABOUT ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS AND A PERIPHERALLY MOUNTED KNIFE BLADE IS POSITIONED ALONG THE LONGITUDINALLY DIMENSION OF THE LOG FOR STRIPPING OFF A CONTINUOUS SHEET OF VENEER, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A FIRST GAUGE POSITIONED ADJACENT SAID VENEER EMANATING FROM SAID KNIFE FOR MEASURING THE WET WEIGHT PER UNIT AREA OF SAID VENEER, A SECOND GAUGE POSITIONED ADJACENT SAID FIRST GAUGE FOR MEASURING THE MOISTURE WEIGHT PER UNIT AREA OF SAID VENEER, CIRCUIT MEANS UTILIZING SAID MEASUREMENTS FOR COMPUTING THE DRY WEIGHT PER UNIT AREA OF SAID VENEER, ADJUSTABLE MEANS FOR DISPLACING SAID KNIFE TOWARD SAID LONGITUDINAL AXIS DURING SAID ROTATION TO PROVIDE A SHEET OF THICKNESS EQUAL TO THE AMOUNT OF SAID DISPLACEMENT OCCURRING PER REVOLUTION OF SAID LOG, AND CONTROL MEANS FOR ADJUSTING SAID KNIFE DISPLACEMENT MEANS IN ACCORDANCE WITH SAID COMPUTED DRY WEIGHT PER UNIT AREA OF SAID VENEER.