AU672820B2 - Process for manufacturing building panels or other articles from plant matter and a production line for carrying out thesaid process - Google Patents

Description

9 I, UPI DATE 17/01/95 AOIJP DATE 23/02/95 Ilelf~AI 11T A V7 Afln &I INSn A IT IAI APPLN. ID 49374/93 PCT NUMBER PCT/BY93/00001 AU9349374 (511) M~e cynapo~uan ziacexumAwn u0o6peTelil 5: B27N 3/28 Al (11) Homep ueii~yuapouok uy6auxaguu: (48) IATO KMAYUUPApoUoi WO 95/00304 nv6iauanum: 5 inapa 1996 (05.01,95I)

I

(21) Hoxep uxAc uspo~iioik oiml: PCTIBY93/00001 (81) Yiaounnhi rocygapcma: AU, CA, FIT JP, KP, NO, eaponeficiadi naTeu'r (AT, BE, CH, DE, DK, ES, FR, GB, GR, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE).

(22)AUTOMOMAHWAHA UOaqm:23 uoin 1993 (23,06,93) 3asnhHTeJu,6 H H3o6peTUTe031: %1HBYJlb reopriin fliconmzemm' [BY/BY]; 220104 MIUICI, *lYAPo, A. im, 94 (BY) (ZHIBUL, Georgy Yakovievich, Minsk OHy63Jnicona C omqenm o ma cynapoOattoM loucicL'.

672820 (54) Title: PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING BUILDING PANELS OR OTHER ARTICLES FROM PLANT MATTER AND A PRODUCTION LINE FOR CARRYING OUT THE SAID PROCESS (54) Ha3anue U3O6peTeuumH CIIOCOB H3POTOBJIEHHSI CTPOHTEJIbHbix nJIRT HJIH H3AIEJIHIA H3 PACTHTEJIbHOI'O MATEPI4AJIA H JIHHHSI .IJISI Ero (57) Abstract The process involves the following steps: humidification of the material through exposure to saturated steam; crushing; dryi-~ out during preliminary heating until thermoplasticity is attained while the material is being transported in a closed vessel; pressing in an extrusion press; and gradual cooling with preliminary seasoning in an insulated vessel, The production line comprises the following elements: a hopper a device in the form of a24 steam pipe for humidification; a crushing device a means of transport comprising6 two continuous conveyors (8 and 9) arranged in housings (10 and 11), in one of which water is removed from the material, while the other is used for drying and heating until thermal plasticity is attained; and an extrusion press (24) including a heating zone, a neutral zone and a cooling zone., L wiwU -2- Wood by Moulding, 1960, BSSR Governmental Publishing Office, Minsk, p. 123- 127) is known. The method consists in humidification of a source material and transmission of a waste into chipping machines for milling. Ground waste is sized, hereupon coarse portions are fed for repeated milling and' the remaining wood pulp is reseived into a bin. The mass is fed automatically from a bin into driers(pneumogas, drum and other driers) with a dosing feeder. Dry material is received into other bin, from which it is uniformly loaded with a dosing feeder into chlin pulsating conveyer placed dies and the material is fed to a single daylight hydraulic press for preheating to thermal fluidity. After moulding material preheating in high-frequency field the dies with compacted material are fed with the same conveyer onto a charging device of a hydraulic multiopening press. Cooling, opening press plates and unloading of the dies with finished articles are carried out after moulding. However, this process is laborious and expensive due to large energy consumption. Stage-by-stage operations and moulding with a multiopening press cause low process productivity.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is a method of manufacturing building boards or other articles of vegetable materials as well as a production line of this method ensuaring ecological cleanliness of building boards or other articles with improved physical-mechanical characteristics together with high manufacturing productivity due to coincidence of operations and usage of an extrusion' moulding without application of binding resins and because of rational design in order to make this operations.

An object of the invention is the method of manufacturing building boards or other articles of vegetable materials including: milling, drying, conveying of ground mass, preheating of the ground mass in a close space to thermal plasticity and moulding followed by cooling of the article,according to the invention drying is carried out during ground mass preheating to thermal plasticity, said preheating being executed during conveying and moulding is performed with an extrusion press.

Simultaneous ground mass drying and preheating to thermal plasticity during conveying ensures short-term preparation of a moulding material, namely, bringing it to maximum fluidity with formation of resins.

It reduces the term of further moulding and ensures application of continuous extrusion moulding without use of phenol-formaldehyde and other resins because manufacturing productivity of ecologically clean building boards or other articles with improved physical-mechanical characteristics is increased.

w, I e METHOD OF MANUFACTURING BUILDING BOARDS OR ARTICLES OF VEGETABLE MATERIALS AND PRODUCTION LINE FOR REALIZATION OF THIS METHOD FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to construction, namely, to a method of manufacturing building boards or articles of vegetable materials and a production line for realization of this mlethod.

Tile invention will find broad application in making of a furniture in the i woodworking industry.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART i The technology of wood-particle board manufacture is known G.

Romanov, Production Process of Wood Plastics and Boards, 1965, publishing office Lesnaya Promyshlennost, Moscow, p. 447-449), this teclmiology includes lilling of wood, drying a ground material, preparation of a binding agent and application it on surfaces of wood particles as well moulding.

A wood is milled with hanner breaker, cain crusher and so on, thereafter the ground material is dried in pneumatic, drum, continuous-belt or other driers.

A binding agent is prepared in the form of urea formaldehyde, phenol-fornialdehyde and other resins. Continuous or batch-operated nixers, for example, drun and paddle mixer, are used for mixing of chips and binding resins together. Mixed with the binder wood particles are moulded with continuous caterpillar presses or batch-operated iydraulic multiopening presses.

The said method of manufacturing wood-particle boards has the following drawback. Applied binding resinls pollute an environment with toxic gases both during mouldig and during use of the articles.

An extrusion inethod of manufacturing wood-particle boards (SU, A, 10216310) is well known. This ,method consists in feeding resin coated wood particles into a press receiving bin. Then particles are fed into a mouldillg channel formed by heating plates and void-formers. Moulded wood-particle board removes a press chamlel as a continuous band under the ilnfluence of punch pressure and heat of heating plates and external surfaces of void-formers.

However, use of resins causes pollution of an environment with toxic formaldehyde both during moulding and during use of finished articles. A method of manufacturing building boards or articles of vegetable materials without addition Sof binding agents N, Minin, Production of Articles and Materials of Ground

I~

Howeveruse.of.esins.cases.polution. o an envro. en wi MaEhD bO drngR BUoudiNG and dR A thod Ta RoaoPoutoLrcs fWo lsisadBad,16,pbihn t3 .4 I 4 4 S* 4 steam. It facilitates milling of the material in a breaker and reduces energy consumption.

Preferably,rarefaction is created in a close space during giound material conveying. It ensures moisture and volatile gases removal from the material in the hermetic space. This phenomenon promotes all sizing agent conservation formed during material heating, facilitating to a process of moulding thereafter.

Preferably, the finished article is seasoned before cooling in a close space for removal of internal stresses, it increases a strength and reduces water absorption of the finished articles.

Other object of the invention is a production line for manufacturing of building boards or other articles of vegetable materials which consists of a bin, an apparatus for humidification of a material, at least one breaker for milling of a material, a vehicle, a device for moulding, the vehicle includes two continuous conveyers, each of them is arranged in a housing, the housing of the first continuous conveyer is provided with a charging trough connected with a breaker and a cone portion having some openings on its surface and a lesser base of the cone is connected with a receiving apparatus of the housing of the second continuous i conveyer, said housing is provided with double inner and outer walls; between these walls there is aspace filled with heat-transfer agent as well with pipes for moisture and volatile gases removal and with a pipe for unloading of the mass connected with a moulding device as an extrusion press containing heating plates forming a heating zone, a collector with void-formers consisting of outer and inner tubes for heat-transfer agent supply and a punch.

This constructive embodiment of the vehicle ensures continuity of drying and preheating during conveying in the close space and it promotes increase of process productivity and ensures moulding material preparation, namely, state of its maximum fluidity with the extrusion press with o ut addition of toxic synthetic resins polluting an environment.

Preferably, the apparatus for humidification of the material is carried out as a steam line. It facilitates subsequently milling of the material with a breaker and reduces energy consumption.

Preferably, the steam line is arranged between the bin and the breaker connected with the vehicle by means of a pipe-line and a cyclone.It will ensure removal of a free steam before drying in the vehicle and, promote reducing of energy consumption.

Preferably, the steam line is placed within the bin. It simplifies production line construction to a great extent.

I^ Preferably, vehicle pipes for removal of moisture and volatile gases are T «i' -4 provided with an apparatus for creation of rarefaction at the gas outlet. Tis promotes effective removal of moisture and volatile gases from the ground material with conservation of hermetic sealing and all sizing agents, being formed during heating of mass which agents facilitate process of moulding.

Preferably, heating plates of the extrusion press are provided with a cooling zone performed with channels for a coolant and placed after the heating zone, a neutral zone being placed between the plate heating zone and the cooling zone.

Channels of the neutral zone are filled with insulator and void-formers additionaly are provided with an interior pipe for a heat-transfer agent and external and internal pipes for acoolant,the last pipes being placed in a space of interior pipes for supply of heat-transfer agent of the heating zone, and are insulated from the latter with insulator,and a collector additionaly is provided with pipes for coolant insulated from pipes for heat-transfer agent with insulator. Length of the voidformer external coolant pipe must be larger than length of the heat-transfer agent pipes by length of the neutral zone and a cooling zone of the heating plates.

This constructive embodiment of extrusion press elements permits after heating of the moulding material to 17-225oC to ensure seasoning of formed article in the neutral zone for removal of internal stresses with subsequent slow cooling to the temperature lower than 100°C in the close space. It promotes increase of article physical-mechanical characteristics. Seasoning time in the neutral zone depends on the type of a source vegetable material.

The invention is explained further by detailed description of its embodiment i specific version and appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 represents a diagram of a production line for manufacturing building boards or other articles of vegetable materials; Fig. 2 also represents a diagram of a production line for manufacturing building boards or other articles of vegetable materials; Fig. 3 represents a vehicle of a production line in longitudinal section; Fig. 4 represents construction of an extrusion press in longitudinal section.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The method of manufacturing building boards or other articles of vegetable materials according to the invention comprises humidification of a source material I with saturated steam at temperatures between 1700 and 2000C, milling, drying of a rW 'iV5 ground mass carried out during preheating it to thermal fluidity and during W conveying in a closed space, noulding with an extrusion press; in addition, rarefaction is created during conveying in the closed space and finished article is seasoned before cooling in the insulated closed space for removal of internal stresses.

The production line for manufacturing building boards or other articles of vegetable materials comprises: a bin I, an apparatus for humidification of a material accomplished as a steam line 2 and placed interior to a chamber 3 mounted between the bin I and a breaker 4 (fig. 1) or interior to the bin I connected immediately with the breaker 4 (fig. The breaker 4 is connected with a vehicle by means of a pipe-line 6 and acyclone 7 (fig.1) or directly with the vehicle (fig. The vehicle 5 comprises two continuous conveyers 8, 9, each of them being arranged in a housing 10, 11, correspondingly. The housing 10 is provided with a charging trough 12 connected with the cyclone 7 (fig. I) or directly with the breaker 4 (fig. Also the housing 10 is provided with a cone portion 13 having openings 14 and lesser base of the cone 13 is connected with a charging trough of the housing 11. Also the cone portion 13 is connected with a collector 16 mounted on the outside of the housing 10. The housing 11 is provided with double inner and outer walls 17, 18, correspondingly; there is a space 19 between these walls filled with heat-transfer agent.Also the housing 11 has pipes 20 for removal moisture and volatile gases,these pipes providing with an apparatus 21 for creating rarefaction at the outlet of gases,and a pipe 22 for unloading of mass,which the pipe 22 is connected with a dosing unit 23 of an extrusion press 24.The extrusion press 24 comprises: heating plates 25, side quides 26, a collector 27 with voidformers 28 and a punch 29. The heating plates 25 are provided with channels for heat-transfer agent which channels form a heating zone, and channels 31 for coolant forming a cooling zone of the plates 25 a neutral zone being placed between the heating zone and the cooling zone of the plates 25, as well channels 32 filled with insulator.The void-former 28 consists of interior pipes 33 and 34 and exterior pipe 35 for the heat-transfer agent as well internal and external pipes 36, 37, correspondingly for coolant placed inside pipe 33 and insulated from the 30 latter by means of insulator 38.The collector 27 consists of pipes 39,40 for the heat-transfer agent and pipes, 41,42 for the coolant separated from the pipes 39, by means of insulator 43. The housing 22 is provided with external insulator 44.

The production line for manufacturing building boards or other articles of vegetable materials operates as follows.

A source vegetable material, for example, ground wood, awnchaff, club rush, etc, is loaded into the bin I from which the material is fed into the chamber 3 for humidification with steam from the steam line 2 at temperatures between' RA -1200 and 1700C. Humidified material is fed into the breaker 4 for milling. The ground mass is fed with the pipeline into the cyclone 7 for separation of steam and L i L 1 i -6then the mass is fed into the charging trough 12 of the vellicle 5 (fig. In the second version of embodiment (fig. 2) humidification is took place in the bin I at temperatures between 100° and 170°C with steam from the steam line 2 placed in the bin I. Separation of steam from the ground mass is occured in the bin too.

After humidification the mass is fed into the breaker 4 for milling and then the mass is received inunediately into the charging trough 12 of the vehicle 5. From the charging trough 12 the mass is caime onto the continuous conveyer 8 which moves it into the cone portion 13 of the housing 10. Moisture is removed from the mass into the collector 16 through the openings 14. The mass is moved with the continuous conveyer 9 within the housing II from the cone portion 13 which prevents hit of moisture into the mass fed into the charging trough 15 of the housing II.

The mass is heated to temperature 120-1700C with the heat-transfer agent, as a result drying of the material is carried out with removal of moisture and volatile gases through pipes 20; since rarefaction is created with the apparatus 21 at the outlet from the pipes 20 and hermetic sealing is maintained in the housing II these circumstances contribute to maintain of all sizing agents which is formed.

as a result softening of the mass during heating with the heat-transfer agent. The softened mass is fed through the pipe 22 into the dosing unit 23 of the extrusion press 24. The mass is fed by means of the dosing unit 23 along the side quides 26 into aforming channel formed by the heating plates 25 and exterior pipes 35 of the void-formed 28. A moulded board or other article goes out from the channel of the press 24 as a continuous band under the influence of pressure created by punch 29 and heat from tile exterior pipes 35 heated with tile heat-transfer agent which is fed through the collector 27 into the space between exterior pipe 35 and interior pipes 33, 34 of the void-former 28. The moulded article is fed into the neutral zone in which heating and rapid cooling are absent and owing to this fact removal of internal stresses is occured in the article. Then. tile article is received into the cooling zone for gradual cooling during its motion to temperature lower than 1000C with the coolant fed through tile pipe 37 of the collector 27 into the space between the external pipe 37 and internal pipe 36.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY Tile proposed invention concerned to method of manufacturing building 'i boards or other articles of vegetable materials and production line for realization of this method can find broad application in the woodworking industry and in SRA4 other branches of industry for manufacturing building articles with employment of (Yk \chips, wood shavings, bark, club rush, awnchaff and other vegetable materials 7 T 0 ry i i" -i r -7without adding toxic binding agents. By use of the invention it can obtain cheap ecologically clean material with high physical-mechanical properties.

I

L ~I q

Claims (6)

1. A method of manufacturing building boards or articles of vegetable materials comprising humidification of source material, milling, drying, conveying of groundmass, preheating said ground mass in closed space to thermal plasticity and moulding with subsequent cooling, characterised in that drying of said humidified material is executed during preheating of the ground mass to thermal plasticity which preheating is carried out during conveying and moulding of said mass is performed with extrusion press.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterised in that humidification of vegetable material is carried out with saturated steam.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterised in that rarefacton is created in said closed space during I conveying of said. ground mass.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterised i in that finished article is seasoned after heating during moulding before cooling in the closed space for removal of internal stresses. A production line for realisation of the method according to claim 1, said line comprising a bin, an apparatus for humidification of the material, at least 25 one breaker, a vehicle for ground mass, a device for moulding, characterised in that said vehicle includes a first and a second continuous conveyer, each of said conveyers being arranged in a respective housing, the housing of the first continuous conveyer being provided .l °30 with a charging trcugh connected with the breaker and a S. cone portion having openings on its surface, and the lesser base of the cone is connected with a charging trough of the housing of the second continuous conveyer, said housing of the second continuous conveyer being provided with double, inner and outer walls, a space provided between said walls being filled with a heat- RA4/ transfer agent as well as pipes for removal of moisture and volatile gases and a pipe for unloading of said mass S:23670A i

9- connected with a moulding device in the form of an extrusion press comprising heated plates forming a heating zone, a collector with void-formers consisting of interior and exterior pipes for heat-transfer agent, and a punch. 6. The line according to claim 5, characterised in that said apparatus for humidification of the material is carried out as a steam line. 7. The line according to claim 6, characterised in that said steam line is placed between said bin and said breaker connected with the vehicle by means of a pipe- line and a cyclone. i 8. The line according to claim 6, characterised in that said steam line is placed within said bin. 9. The line according to claim 5, characterised in that said pipes for' removal of moisture and volatile I gases of the housing of the vehicle are provided with an apparatus for creating rarefaction at the outlet of gases. S 10. The liie according to claim 5, characterised in .that said heating plates of the extrusion press are T; provided with a cooling zone made with channels for a i coolant and placed after said heating zone of the plates and a neutral zone is placed between said heating zone of 25 the plates and said cooling zone, channels of said neutral zone are filled with insulator, void-formers additionally being provided with an external pipe and internal pipes for the coolant which pipes are placed within an interior pipe for heat-transfer agent of the 30 heating zone and insulated from the latter by insulator, s and the collector also additionally being provided with pipes for the coolant, these pipes being separated from the pipes for the heat-transfer agent by an insulator, and the length of said internal pipe for the coolant of the void-former being longer than the length of the interior pipe for the heat-transfer agent by length of the neutral zone and cooling zone of the heating plates. v RA l -46 S:23670A 7 r I

11. A production line for manufacturing moulded articles such as building boards substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1, 3 and 4 or Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings. Dated this 26th day of August 1996 GEOGY AOVLEVICH ZHjIBUL By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK &CO 11 1 ABSTRACT Method of manufacturing building boards or articles of vegetable materials and production line for realization of this method. The method comprises humidification of the material with saturated steam, milling, drying of the mass during preheating to thermal plasticity in process of conveying in a closed space, moulding with an extrusion press and slow cooling with prelininary seasoning in the closed insulated space. The line comprises a bin an apparatus as a steam line for humidification of the material, a breaker a vehicle including two continuous conveyers 9) arranged in housings (10, 11) the first of which is adapted for removal of moisture and the second is adapted for drying and heating of the mass to thermal plasticity, an extrusion press (24) including a heating zone, a neutral zone and a cooling zone. t I 4, I; R A T U