Method and apparatus for assessing or predicting the characteristics of wood
US7603904B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 10, 2006 |
| Grant date | Oct 20, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 6, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N33/46
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and apparatus for determining a characteristic, such as the stiffness, of a portion of a wood specimen characterised by the steps of a) producing an acoustic signal in the wood specimen part way along the length of the wood specimen, and b) sensing a response in the wood specimen part way along the length of the wood specimen including a reverberation from a first end of the wood specimen, and c) calculating a characteristic of a portion of the wood specimen from analysis of the sensed response. A related method and apparatus may be used to determine a characteristic of a portion of a tree stem during harvesting of a tree and the characteristic used to optimise the value of a log cut from the stem.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.