English: Josse Timber-Piling Machine

A MACHINE FOR PILING TIMBER. The operation of piling beams, logs, planks and railway ties is usually performed by hand. The piles are built up by successive stages. Many workmen are required and the work is not free from danger. Hence the new piling machine or elevator invented by M. Josse, the director of the municipal wood paving establishment of Paris, will be found very useful, for it solves very successfully a technical 'problem that has baffled the ingenuity of more than one inventor.

The machine, which is shown in operation in the ac, companying photograph, consists mainly of two vertical triangular frames stiffened by cross braces. The frames are joined together, at each of the three angles, by an arbor bearing two toothed wheels which move two endless chains in vertical planes parallel to the frames. The chains carry, at regular distances, hooks for the reception and elevation of the logs, which are brought on cars to the foot of the machine. At the back of the machine are two pairs of inclined arms which can be raised vertically, as the pile increases in height, by means of a winch operated by a small electric motor. Two men, standing at the foot of the machine in front, lay the logs Or beams, one by one, in the hooks attached to the lifting chains. When the log reaches the top of the machine it is tipped on to the two longer hooks which may be seen in advance of it. These long hooks, which are turned in a direction opposite to that of the lifting hooks, support the log in its descent down the back of· the machine until it reaches the inclined arms. These arms receive the log from the hooks (which continue their downward course with the chains) and allow it to glide into the hands of a workman stationed on the pile. The man passes the log to his companions who lay it in its place.

The operation of the Josse machine is continuous and its employment makes possible a considerable reduction in the working force. It will probably be promptly introduced in all large timber yards.