CA1179108A - Method for making objects from straw and other raw fibrous materials - Google Patents

Method for making objects from straw and other raw fibrous materials

Info

Publication number
CA1179108A
CA1179108A CA000374528A CA374528A CA1179108A CA 1179108 A CA1179108 A CA 1179108A CA 000374528 A CA000374528 A CA 000374528A CA 374528 A CA374528 A CA 374528A CA 1179108 A CA1179108 A CA 1179108A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
straw
bonding agent
fibrous material
weight
raw
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000374528A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Kenneth White
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
STRAW BOX SYSTEMS Ltd
Original Assignee
STRAW BOX SYSTEMS Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by STRAW BOX SYSTEMS Ltd filed Critical STRAW BOX SYSTEMS Ltd
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1179108A publication Critical patent/CA1179108A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B27WORKING OR PRESERVING WOOD OR SIMILAR MATERIAL; NAILING OR STAPLING MACHINES IN GENERAL
    • B27NMANUFACTURE BY DRY PROCESSES OF ARTICLES, WITH OR WITHOUT ORGANIC BINDING AGENTS, MADE FROM PARTICLES OR FIBRES CONSISTING OF WOOD OR OTHER LIGNOCELLULOSIC OR LIKE ORGANIC MATERIAL
    • B27N5/00Manufacture of non-flat articles
    • B27N5/02Hollow articles

Abstract

ABSTRACT:
A method of making containers, container blanks or other similar objects comprising mixing straw (as defined) with a heat curable bonding agent, compressing the resultant mixture and applying heat to commence curing of the bonding agent to form a container, container blank or other similar object.

Description

3 ~791~

This invention relates to a method of an apparatus for ~a~ing containers, container blanks or other similar objects.
In the fruit and veegtable industry it is normal to use wooden or corrugated carboard crates for packaging and transport. Although these are non-returnable they are never-theless expensive to produce and it is an object of the pre-sent invention to replace crates such as these with containers made from cheaper materials such as surplus ma-terials.
The present invention in accordance with one aspect provides a method of making articles from raw fibrous mate-rials comprising the steps of providing fibrous material in raw, unchopped or only coarsely chopped conditions , admixing the raw fibrous material and a thermal setting bonding agent, substantially simultaneously compressing the raw fibrous material/thermal setting bonding agent admixture while heating the same to cure and set the thermal se-tting bonding agent while essentially retaining the raw characte-ristics of the fibrous material, and the heating being conducted at a temperature range suEficient to maintain the raw characteristics of the fibrous material while essentially avoiding schorching thereof.
According to this aspect of the present invention a method for making articles, e.g. containers, container blanks or o-ther similar objects may comprise mixing straw or other raw fibrous material (hereinafter referred -to as straw for convenience) with a thermal setting or heat curable bonding agent, compressing the resultant mixture and applying heat to commence curing of the bonding agent to produce a container, container blank or other similar object.
Preferably the straw is either unchopped or it is only coarsely chopped. This arrangement allows variable lengths of straw to be used which are arranged in random directions to provide good cross bonding so that material has good flexibility and also rigidity.
The weight proportions of bonding agent to straw ., - - - . . . .

1 179 ~ 0 8 are preferably approximately 89~ straw to 11% bonding agent, although these proportions may ~ary by up to 2% in either di-rection.
The bonding agent may comprise 90.225 parts by weight formaldehyde, 40 parts by weight isocyanate, and 8 parts by weight hardener per 1000 parts by weight straw; it may include 12.5 parts by weight of water per 1000 parts by weight straw.
The straw and the bonding agent are conveniently mixed in a mixer, the bonding agent being supplied in liquid form to the mixer, in such a way as to apply an event coating of the straw as for example by way of a spray.
The pressure applied to the resultant mixture is in the order of 80 tons per square metre, and the heat is preferably applied at a temperature of 150 centigrade and at this temperature the heat is applied for - \

. . ~ \

~ ~9 ~ ~
20 seconds for each millimetre of board thickness. The temperature of 150 centrigrade has been found to be the optimum but lower temperatures do~l to 135 centrigrade can be used, curing taking correspondingly longer, and also higller temperatures up to 175 centrigrade can also be used but in this case care has to be taken to avoid scorching.
Conveniently a lining material is applied to the container or container blank or other similar pro(l;lct, and this may be applied eithcr cluring molding oC subsctlucntly. Ihe lining material may be pal)cr or pl.lstics shcct.
In the case of a container blank it may be provided with marking or creases where it is to be folded, and in this case provision may al90 be made for stacking lugs, thickencd end walls, hand grips, ventillation holes and other suitable provisions for use with contaillcrs .
- According to another aspect of the present invention a container or the container blank or other ~iimilar product is made by the method as set forth.
According to a further aspect of the present in~/ention is a container of container blank or other similar product made from straw or othcr raw ribrous m.ltcri~l.
According to a further aspect of the present invention apparatus for r~aking artic1es,e.g.corltairlers,con-ta1ner blanks or other simil~r objec-ts fro~
straw comprises means for mixing straw with a heat curable bonding agent, means Lor compressing the mixture in a mould and applying hcat to conmlcncc curing Or tllc bolldinu aucllt, and subsequently rcmov-ing the formed container, container blank or othcr similar product ~rom the mould.
lhe invelltioll may bc IcrforD-ed in various ways and o~ specific h ' '` .

1 1~9~
embodiment will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
~ ig. ] is all illustra~ioll of a siclc o[ a container (w;th the lining removed) showing how a straw is arranged in a random manner and Fig. 2 is a graph of board thickness againstingredients.
In the invention, straw, normally in bale form~ is supplied to a straw chopper whcre it is coarsely chopped with the aid of a chaff cutter for conven-ient handling. It is not in fact essential to effect this chopping but it tencls to assist in handling. Ilowever, it is prefer-able to have a considerable quantity of variable lengths of straw, for example as long as 250 millimetres down to 10 millimeters or even less so that in the finished product the individual lengths are arranged in random directions to provide good cross bonding which gives strength and rcsistance to bending whilst at the same time enabling a degree of flexibility. ~n example of the finished product is shown in figure 1. This shows the side view of a panel for a container in which straw as such is used and it can le secn from this that the straw is of very consiclcr;lblc variation i.n lcngtll an(l is arran~ed in totally random directions to give the cross-bonding effect referred to. It will be appreciated that in the finished product a lining of paper would normally be placed over the straw which would thus be invisible.
The straw then passes from the straw chopper to a mixer where it is mixed with a bonding agent. This is effected by having means in a mixer for applying an even coating of resin mix on the straw as by a spray in liquîd form and an automatic metering device which is preset according to the quantity required. The bonding agent is a fomaldehyde, isocyanate and a hardener possibly with water added to reduce ~iscosity. It has been found that the proportions of 89% straw t 1~10~
to 11% bonding agent, with plu9 or minus 1-2%, the proportions being by weigllt form a suitable mixture. The straw and bonding agent mix-ture is led from the mixer into a press. The press may be in the form of a mould being the final shape of the container to be manufact~
ured or alternatively may be in the form of a mould onl~ for making a flat sheet for subsequently forming container bLanks, or in a shape suitable for other similar articles. Ileat is then supplied to the press to start the curing process and in this heating period approxi-mately 90% of the curing takes place, the remaining 10% ocurring during the subsequent co~ling.
In the case of the blank, creases or marking lines or other indentations are pr~vided during the moulding where the blank is to e folded. In this form the blank can be stored until required for use.
into A blank may be made up / a carton at any time. This is effected by taking the blank, bending the sides at the nppropriate creases and sccuring tl-c s;dcs togctllcr as by stapling or gluing. Altcrnativcly a carton can be produced by securing together sheets of preformed material which may be for example in the sllape as shown in figure 1 and these sheets can be secured similarly by stapling or gluing.
Also during tl~e moulding process features such as staclting lugs, tl~ckened end walls, hand grips, ventillation holes and the like can be formed.
With the present invention it is thus possible to utilise either on site or in a factory supplied locally a surplus product such as str;lw [or making into a contailler or containcr blallks and for example on a farm which produces ceral and fruit crops surplusrom the cereal crop can easily be converted into blanks, but the methods set forth above, the blanks stored until such time as the containers are needed and the blanlts then made into containers for packing the crops. ~s I 1~910~ ' thc raw matcri;ll is in abull(lallt suplly tl~c cxpenscs arc thus kcpt down to a minimum particularly by using local farm labour when it is not rcquircd for other purposes.
It has bccn found for cxample that a convenienentpressure for use in tbc press is 240 tonncs for a thrce square metre sheet i.e.
a pressurc of 80 tonnes per metre for a board of25.4 oml tllick.
Rcfcrencc is now madc to figuTc 2 which is a graph and where it will bc scen that thc X co-ordillate rcprcscnts board thickness in milli-mctrcs all(l tl)c Y co-ordill;3tc gr;lmrllcs o[ s~r;lw (x 100) pcr rcsin mix and the resin mix itself and which has been found to provide the best rcsults is ma-lc from fomal-lcllydc in thc quantity of 90.225 grammes, i~O~`y311;1~ ,n ul~ s~ ll;lr~ !r 8 ~-r.~ , w.~ r l2.r~ ~r~ s (tl~c water being optional but being used to reduce viscosity). As can be ~SCCIl LrOIll the grapll it i5 possible to obtain soft lightweigllt board, ~ood standard bo~rd~ or hard dcnsc boar(l according to tllc qll~ntity of straw per resin mix. In ~act in the example the quantities are based on a board l~aving an area of 5,000 sq centimetres. Thus for ex~ml)lc it will bc sccn from th(~ graph that if a liglltwe;gllt board is required at 14 millimetres thickness, then only 2,800 grammes of straw l r~ ill lllix ;ll~ l;r~l lol ;1 Illlil ~l 5,()()~ r(- ~l-lltiol(~trcs.
Ilowcver, ;f a har(l dense board i.s requirc(l thcn 3,880 grammes of the straw rcsin olix ;Irc rc(luirc(l ~or ~hc sam(! thickllcs~s of 14 nml board.

Claims (16)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A method of making articles from raw fibrous materials comprising the steps of providing fibrous material in raw, unchopped or only coarsely chopped conditions, admix-ing the raw fibrous material and a thermal setting bonding agent, substantially simultaneously compressing the raw fibrous material/thermal setting bonding agent ad-mixture while heating the same to cure and set the thermal setting bonding agent while essentially retaining the raw characteristics of the fibrous material, and the heating being conducted at a temperature range sufficient to maintain the raw characteristics of the fibrous material while essentially avoiding schorching thereof.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the fibrous material is straw.
3. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which there is a weight proportion of approximately 89% straw to 11%
bonding agent.
4. A method as claimed in claim 3 in which the weight proportions may vary by plus or minus 2%.
5. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the fibrous material and the bonding agent are mixed in a mixer, the bonding agent being supplied in liquid form to a spray in the mixer.
6. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the pressures applied to the admixture is in the order of 80 tons per square metre.
7. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the heat is supplied at a temperature of approximately 150°C.
8. A method as claimed in claim 7 in which the said temperature is maintained for 20 seconds for each milli-metre of thickness .
9. A method as claimed in claim 2 in which the bonding agent comprises 90.225 parts by weight formaldehyde, 40 parts by weight isocyanate, and 8 parts by weight hardener per 1000 parts by weight straw.
10. A method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the bonding agent includes 12.5 parts by weight of water per 1000 parts by weight straw.
11. A method as claimed in claim 2, in which a lining material is applied to the surface of the finished product.
12. A method as claimed in claim 10 in which the lining material is paper or plastics sheet.
13. A method as claimed in claim 1, in which in the case of a blank it is provided with markings or creases where it is to be folded.
14. A method as claimed in claim 13 in which in the case of a blank provision is also made for stacking lugs, thickened end walls, hand grips, ventillation holes and other suitable provisions for use with containers.
15. An article made from a fibrous material when-ever made by the method as claimed in claim 1.
16. An article as defined in claim 15 wherein the fibrous material is straw.
CA000374528A 1980-04-03 1981-04-02 Method for making objects from straw and other raw fibrous materials Expired CA1179108A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8011281 1980-04-03
GB8011281 1980-04-03

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1179108A true CA1179108A (en) 1984-12-11

Family

ID=10512593

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000374528A Expired CA1179108A (en) 1980-04-03 1981-04-02 Method for making objects from straw and other raw fibrous materials

Country Status (14)

Country Link
AT (1) AT374814B (en)
AU (1) AU551339B2 (en)
BR (1) BR8102030A (en)
CA (1) CA1179108A (en)
DE (1) DE3113210A1 (en)
DK (1) DK148881A (en)
FR (1) FR2479734B1 (en)
GR (1) GR74497B (en)
IN (1) IN157062B (en)
IT (1) IT1138257B (en)
NL (1) NL8101675A (en)
NZ (1) NZ196694A (en)
PT (1) PT72794B (en)
ZA (1) ZA812126B (en)

Family Cites Families (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB912847A (en) *
FR880447A (en) * 1941-03-10 1943-03-25 Dynamit Nobel Ag A method of manufacturing a light, insulating construction material from straw
CH261129A (en) * 1946-02-18 1949-04-30 Ag Interwood Shaped bodies made of woody material and process for its production
GB677312A (en) * 1949-11-30 1952-08-13 Kreibaum Otto Method for the production of moulded materials and articles from wood splinters and artificial resin
US2645587A (en) * 1950-07-25 1953-07-14 Us Agriculture Method of making lignocellulose pressure molded article
DE1003435B (en) * 1954-03-08 1957-02-28 Wilhelm Hudetz Process for the production of panels or molded parts from organic, fiber-containing material, e.g. B. wood chips, shredded paper, straw or the like.
DE2553968C3 (en) * 1975-12-01 1980-09-18 Otto Gottfried Ing.(Grad.) 8700 Wuerzburg Klee Process for pressing straw, which has been worked up into particles, into plates

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
NL8101675A (en) 1981-11-02
FR2479734B1 (en) 1986-04-04
IT1138257B (en) 1986-09-17
AT374814B (en) 1984-06-12
AU6900981A (en) 1981-10-08
DE3113210A1 (en) 1982-01-28
FR2479734A1 (en) 1981-10-09
PT72794B (en) 1982-04-02
ATA151881A (en) 1983-10-15
DK148881A (en) 1981-10-04
PT72794A (en) 1981-05-01
NZ196694A (en) 1984-03-16
AU551339B2 (en) 1986-04-24
ZA812126B (en) 1982-04-28
BR8102030A (en) 1981-10-06
IN157062B (en) 1986-01-04
GR74497B (en) 1984-06-28
DE3113210C2 (en) 1992-11-19
IT8120917A0 (en) 1981-04-03

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