Computerized yard builds walls super fast!

A NIACHI\E THAT can huild in a week tlrc walls for 500 ]ronres lras been developed hy three lumbcr compan)r executives.

l)irertcd hy a small IllM computer, the device at M. Kellncr & Son Lumber Co., Frcsno. Calif.. c,an construct the intcrior and erterior walls for an average-sizt,d t*o-hedroom house in ulrout 20 minutt.s.

ln theory, the r:omputcr-guided invtution could build an unbroken wall from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than three rnonths. In rnore practical terms. it could help buildt'rs meet an urgent dcmand for new housins.

Story dI s Glqnce

By using a computer, this lumberman can turn out prefab walls at an amazing rate. Contractors ap- preciate benef its of accuracy, lower costs, uniformity.

"A lack of skilled labor keeps the housing industry {rom meeting that demand now," said Ray Kellner, general manager of the comoanv.

"The use oi prefabricated parts, sudr as these rvalls, will enable contractors to build more homcs than ever before-and at lower cost."

The machine was designed by Nlinor Gee. director of the firm's product engineering department; Bruce Butler, who supervises Kellner's data processing engineering scction, and Kellner. Stretching

120 feet across the main floor of thc lumber company building, it resembles a series of steel-topped rectangular tables.

A conveyor chain-similar to thosc that tow automobiles through car washes-runs through its center.

When the machine has receivt'd instructions, generated on a paper tape bv the desk-sized IBM f 130 comDutcr. it starts constructing the outside lranre of a wall. using building materials fed into it {rom hoppers.

As the wall frame moves throush the machine on the ing devices such matically are cut place. conveyor chain, supportas braces and studs autoto size and nailed into

Relativell- easy walls, those with few windows or doors, move through the machine faster than those with more complicated patterns. The machint, has the capacitl' to produce 20 fcct of wall per minltIe.

"Risht now we have to nail on the extt'rior' -*iding when a wall is completed, but we plan eventually to let the machine do that and also to predrill holes for clectrical wiring," Kellner said.

Costs oI the prefabricated walls are lot't'r than those of hand-made walls. Kellncr said. because the machine is so accurate that it wastes no material. Its close tolerances also produce finished walls that will meet architects' specifications almost per{ectly time after tinre.

The electronic signals that activate the machine are transmitted by its control unit, which rcads the tape generated by the IBM 1130. The computer has been progranrmed to determine thc internal support pattem needed for a wall bascd on the outside dimensions.

It also prints out the precise amounts oI matcrials. including the spccific number of nails- that will be needcd {or t,ach wall.

Kcllner Lumber also nscs its ll30 for inventory control and analysis, keeping track of its large stores of lumber. Tht, biggest part of thc company.'s busincss is supplying developers and contractors.

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