Glued laminated timber made of spruce and larch (formerly also often called glued timber or glued beams) consists of at least three board layers which are glued together in the same fiber direction. Glued laminated timber is mainly used in engineering timber construction, i.e. with a high static stress. Trusses made of glued laminated timber are referred to as gluelam beams or gluelam trusses and they are the ideal material when great importance is attached to high dimensional stability and dimensional accuracy.
The PAUL K34VARIO used has an opening width of approx. 1 500 mm and is fed with uncoated glued panels. The workpieces have a maximum length of 16 m and a maximum thickness of 45 mm. Due to the ground or planed surface, the thickness tolerance is +/- 0.2 mm. Fitted with 7 servo axes (5 rip saws and 2 hoggers) it is possible to produce 6 variable strips with a width tolerance of +/- 0.7 mm. The strong saw heads are reaching a maximum capacity of 3 panels per minute. The position specification for the hoggers and rip saws is effected via a superordinate master computer which is transmitting a data protocol to the Maxi 6 control as quick as a flash. Changeover of the workpiece thickness is also effected in a fully automatic manner, which ensures the best possible flexibility even with small batch sizes.
Subsequent to the ripping operation the products obtained are glued together to glued laminated timber. In case smaller dimensions (cross sections) are required, ripping is effected by means of a band saw.
In the further course the workpieces in customer-related dimensions are fed to a RAPID_XL which is also from Paul. The application for cross-cutting solid construction timber and glued laminated timber has already been taken into consideration when designing this unique machine type. The powerful feed unit with powered top and bottom rollers ensures a precise feed of the incoming workpieces. Not only the maximum dimensions of 400 x 145 mm, but also the single weight of 400 kg are quite impressive.
To be able to achieve the length accuracy of +/- 0.5 mm with cut lengths of up to 4 m, PAUL developed a dynamic outfeed length identification system where two laser light scanners are positioned directly ahead of the cross-cut station by means of a servomotor. The workpiece fed is detected by these sensors, so that any length variations can be corrected in next to no time before the target. Several firmly positioned laser light scanners are used for workpiece detection to be able to produce cut lengths of 14 m with an accuracy of +/- 1.5 mm.
Like with the K34VARIO, the production data of the RAPID_XL is also transmitted electronically, which ensures a fully automatic operation. Waste pieces are reliably chopped up in a chipper underneath the cross-cut station, thus avoiding downtimes and increasing the productive capacity. Due to sophisticated control functions this cross-cut system is capable of producing 25+ workpieces per minute and transferring them to the subsequent handling equipment / planing system.
The customer uses these two new PAUL circular saws for making commissioned products that can be manufactured according to customer requirements in next to no time. This ensures highest flexibility.