Timber milling apparatus

Claim 1

Timber milling apparatus comprising a mobile platform; four posts extending upwardly from said platform; a pair of substantially parallel beam support members extending between pairs of posts; elevating means associated with each post for raising and lowering the beam support members; a beam mounted on the beam support members, and extending substantially longitudinally of the platform, said beam including means enabling the beam to move along the support members; carriage means mounted for movement along said beam; two circular saw blades carried by said carriage means, one of which is substantially parallel to the platform and the other of which is substantially perpendicular thereto, and electric drive and control means for driving said circular saw blades and for driving and controlling the carriage along said beam, the beam along the beam support members and the beam support members relative to the posts; said beam being mounted on rollers for traverse movement along each beam support member, said electric drive and control means including reversible traverse drive means selectively driving the beam towards one side or the other of the platform, said drive means having an electric traverse motor, a traverse drive shaft extending longitudinally of the beam and mounted in bearings on the beam, a chain sprocket mounted on the shaft adjacent each end thereof, a pair of idler sprockets associated with each chain sprocket, and a traversely extending chain fixed at each end thereof to opposite ends of each beam support member, each chain engaging with the associated idler and chain sprockets, and beam traverse control means for controlling said reversible traverse drive means and having a control handle frictionally mounted on one end of the traverse drive shaft and rotatable relative thereto, a gauging handle mounted co-axial with the control handle, spring biased pin means on the gauging handle for selectively engaging one of a series of gauging holes in one end of the beam which correspond to selectable beam traverse distances, an electric switch, switch engaging means on the control handle, gauging handle stop means on the control handle engagable with a shoulder on the gauging handle, and traverse motor switch means for energizing the traverse motor to rotate the traverse drive shaft thereby rotating the control handle from a position engaging the gauging handle shoulder to a position activating the electric switch to deenergize the traverse motor.