Apparatus for laying a mat of wood strands

Claim 1

Apparatus for continuously laying wood strands in a mat of substantially even thickness, the mat advancing at a substantially constant speed comprising: means for forming a pile of wood strands of substantially uniform depth, a plurality of spike rolls rotating about substantially horizontal parallel axes spaced vertically apart and located at one side of the pile of wood strands, the spike rolls adapted to pull wood strands out of the pile, and form a uniform curtain of falling strands, advancing means for the pile of wood strands to force the pile against the spike rolls, a pair of counter-rotating spreader rolls side by side in the same horizontall plane, the spreader rolls having axes substantially parallel to the spike roll axes and located beneath the spike rolls to receive the curtain of fallen strands, each of the spreader rolls having a plurality of radial extending spikes to distribute the strands evenly in a mat beneath, means for rotating the spreader rolls in counter-rotating directions such that strands distributed by the spikes are directed outside the spreader rolls and not in between, and horizontal adjustment means for the spreader rolls to adjust the location of the spreader rolls beneath the curtain of fallen strands, provide a predetermined distance between tips of the spikes on one spreader roll and tips of the spikes of the other spreader roll and insure that the tips of the spikes on one spreader roll do not overlap with the tips of the spikes on the other spreader roll.

Claim 12

The apparatus according to any of claims 1, 2 or 3 including an orienting means located beneath the spreader rolls and above the mat, to provide an orientation of strands in the mat.