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Many mills process boards that are cut in two or more pieces to add value to their output , or to meet their cut-to-order requirements . In North America and some other regions where there are a high number of grades , optimization is capable of extracting the utmost value from each board . Then handling a vast number of products becomes much more of a challenge . Traditional methods have improved the value of the products , but can reduce the volume of production . USNR has developed several solutions to mitigate the challenges . The traditional process When boards are identified for cut-n-two processing , the lug loader deals an empty lug for each cut-n-two board . After the trimmer cuts the board in two pieces , one of the resulting pieces must be transferred into the empty lug space . There are two common methods to achieve this .
Lift skids can be installed in the flow to lift one of the cut-n-two board pieces and drop it into the empty lug space . The other method involves a recirculation transfer . One of the pieces is directed into
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the recirculation transfer and is deposited into an empty lug space . These processes come with several drawbacks . Creating empty lugs means reducing the mill ’ s overall production output , as a full-length board that is destined to be cut in two now requires two lug spaces . If the mill wants to maintain its production level it must speed up the line . With a high percentage of cut-n-two solutions , the reduction in production or increase in speed can have major impacts on the operation ’ s process .
New designs USNR has developed several designs to overcome the challenges and allow mills to operate at the same rate of speed and production , while accommodating a high percentage of cut-n-two boards .
After the board is cut in two at the trimmer , both pieces remain in the same lug space until sorted directly into the correct bin . The two pieces of the cut-n-two boards are ended to opposing lumber lines for sorting , and USNR offers two methods for accomplishing this :
• Board ending : One method involves hold downs and
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opposing ending rolls after the trimmer . In the first section of the transfer , hold downs hold one piece of the board while ending rolls transfer the other piece to one lumber line . In the second section of the transfer , the ended piece is held in place and opposite ending rolls end the other piece to the opposite lumber line . Both pieces of the cut-n-two board share the same lug space , but at opposing ends of the transfer going into the sorter
• The second method involves temporarily splitting the flow at the trimmer outfeed . The clear line pieces of the cut-n-two boards are diverted up an incline and even ended to the clear line . Meanwhile the lumber line board pieces and full-length boards remain on the lower deck , and are even ended to the lumber line . The two board pieces are merged again into the same lug space just prior to entering the sorter .
Sorting options As with board separation , USNR has two methods for sorting boards
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