Board drying apparatus

Claim 1

A board drying apparatus comprising: a substantially closed housing; a pair of fork conveyors disposed vertically in said housing with spacing therebetween and having inner sides opposed to each other; each fork conveyor having a plurality of extension arms fixed at ends thereof to said fork conveyor to extend substantially at right angles thereto, in such a manner that each of said extension arms of one of said fork conveyors has an associated extension arm at the same level on the other of said fork conveyors, and that the said extension arms on said inner sides of said fork conveyors are opposed to each other and are moved downwardly at the same speed; means for feeding boards to be dried to the uppermost horizontally positioned said extension arms at said inner sides of said fork conveyors, said feeding means comprising a delivery conveyor provided above and between said pair of fork conveyors, said delivery conveyor including a pair of swingable arms operable to be opened at lower portions thereof in the manner of a gate; means for discharging the dried boards from the lowermost position of said fork conveyors; heating means for producing heated air in said housing; blower means for circulating the heated air through space between said fork conveyors; and said blower means and said heating means being disposed in series in the horizontal direction at a side portion in the interior of said housing to cause the heated air to flow through said space between said fork conveyors in the lengthwise direction of the boards supported thereby.