JP2007223214A - Apparatus for impregnating woody material with resin - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus 1 for impregnating a woody material with a resin which can perform continuous operation. <P>SOLUTION: The resin impregnation apparatus 1 has a vacuum chamber 10 equipped with a woody material inlet 11 through which a woody material W, which should be impregnated with a resin, can pass with a little clearance and a woody material outlet 12, a vacuum pump 14 which depressurize the inside of the vacuum chamber 10, a woody material introduction way 16 which comes out from the woody material inlet 11 to the upstream side, a woody material deviation way 17 which comes out from the woody material outlet 12 to the downstream side, a liquid resin tank 18, a liquid feeding passage 20 equipped with a liquid feed pump 19 for sending out the resin in the liquid resin tank 18 to a woody material introduction way 16 and a woody material deviation way 17, and a liquid return way 23 for returning the resin which piles up in the vacuum chamber 10 to the resin liquid tank 18. In the process which charges the woody material W into the apparatus 1 followed by moving the material, the inside of the vacuum chamber 10 is depressurized with a vacuum pump 14. Thereby, the deaeration of the woody material W is carried out continuously. At the same time as the deaeration, the impregnation with the resin is carried out there. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for impregnating a wood material with a resin for the purpose of imparting dimensional stability, strength, heat resistance and the like.

  It is known that a wooden material is impregnated with a resin for the above purpose. For example, when the resin is a thermosetting resin, the wood material impregnated with the resin is subjected to a resin curing treatment such as a heat treatment, and the impregnated resin is cured to improve the physical properties of the wood material. When impregnating a wood material with resin, there are methods such as application impregnation by brush, roll, etc., or immersion impregnation in which the wood material is immersed in the resin liquid to be impregnated, but the type of wood material and the type of resin to be impregnated In some cases, it may not be sufficiently impregnated. As a method for uniformly impregnating a necessary and sufficient amount of resin, a vacuum impregnation method using a vacuum kettle is known, but it has a large size and shape larger than the wood material to be processed, and a large airtightness that can withstand a high degree of vacuum. In addition to requiring a simple apparatus, the impregnation treatment is a batch type, resulting in high production costs and poor efficiency.

In order to efficiently perform resin impregnation treatment on a wood material, a method and an apparatus for performing the impregnation treatment while transferring the wood material have been proposed. Patent Document 1 describes a method and an apparatus for performing a deaeration process for removing the internal air of a wooden material under reduced pressure, and performing an impregnation process (a reduced pressure impregnation) of a thermosetting resin immediately after the deaeration process is completed. Patent Document 2 describes a method in which a thermosetting resin is sprayed from the upper surface side of a medium density fiberboard (MDF) and simultaneously sucked from the lower surface side with a negative pressure with a degree of vacuum of about 50 to 760 mmHg. ing.
JP 2004-330738 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-323809

  The device described in Patent Document 1 can perform deaeration and resin impregnation in a series of steps while moving the wood material, and can simplify the apparatus as compared with the reduced pressure impregnation method using a vacuum kettle. Also, productivity is improved. However, deaeration and resin impregnation are performed in separate steps, and it is inevitable that air enters the wood material again in the process of moving from the deaeration step to the impregnation step. Moreover, although the resin impregnation is improved by the reduced pressure impregnation, it is necessary to prepare a reduced pressure chamber provided with a spray for resin impregnation separately from the deaeration chamber, and the apparatus becomes complicated.

  The method described in Patent Document 2 is such that a suction from the lower surface side and a spraying of the thermosetting resin from the upper surface side are simultaneously performed, and it can be said that it is a preferable method in terms of processing steps. However, this method is basically a method in which the resin sprayed on the upper surface side is sucked from the lower surface side, and the resin is infiltrated into the wooden material, obtaining a uniform impregnation, and a high resin impregnation rate. It is not easy to secure.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the above situations, and provides the resin impregnation apparatus which can obtain the wooden material which impregnated resin more efficiently and more uniformly than the conventional thing. Objective.

  The apparatus for impregnating a wood material according to the present invention includes a vacuum chamber having a wood material inlet and a wood material outlet through which a wood material to be impregnated with resin can pass with a slight gap, and a vacuum in the vacuum chamber. A vacuum pump, a wood material introduction path extending upstream from the wood material inlet of the vacuum chamber, a wood material outlet path extending downstream from the wood material outlet of the vacuum chamber, a resin liquid tank, and a resin liquid A liquid feed path provided with a liquid feed pump for sending the resin in the tank to the wood material introduction path and the wood material lead-out path, and a return path for returning the resin staying in the vacuum chamber to the resin liquid tank. It is characterized by providing.

  In the above apparatus, the resin in the resin liquid tank is fed out by the liquid feed pump, enters the wood material introduction path and the wood material lead-out path through the liquid feed path, passes through the vacuum chamber, and returns from the return path to the resin liquid tank. Take a circular path back to. Meanwhile, the vacuum chamber is depressurized by a vacuum pump.

  When the wood material is fed from the wood material introduction path, the wood material enters the vacuum chamber from the wood material inlet with the peripheral surface covered with the resin liquid, passes through the vacuum chamber, and passes through the vacuum chamber to the wood material outlet path. Sent out. Even when passing through the wood material lead-out path, the wood material is in a state where the peripheral surface is covered with the resin liquid.

  Meanwhile, the vacuum chamber is depressurized by operating the vacuum pump. The dimensions of the wood material inlet and the wood material outlet formed in the vacuum chamber are dimensions that allow the wood material to pass through leaving a slight gap, and when the wood material passes, this gap covers the wood material surface. As a result, the airtightness is secured in the vacuum chamber. The “slight gap” is a gap having such a size that the gap is sealed by the resin liquid covering the surface of the wood material, and the physical property value of the resin to be impregnated and the vacuum chamber during the vacuum impregnation treatment. In consideration of the degree of pressure reduction to be established, the size of the gap is set experimentally and experimentally.

  When the wood material passes through the vacuum chamber, the inside of the vacuum chamber is depressurized as necessary, so that the internal air of the wood material is sucked under a negative pressure and degassed from the inside of the wood material. The negative pressure suction acts on the wood material portion located in the wood material introduction passage and the wood material lead-out passage, and deaeration in the portion also proceeds. That is, by using the apparatus of the present invention, the internal air of the wooden material to be transferred is sucked by the negative pressure, and at the same time, the resin around the wooden material immediately enters the portion where the air was present. Since the internal air deaeration and the resin liquid impregnation are performed simultaneously, the resin impregnation time is shortened and the uniform impregnation proceeds.

  This deaeration and resin impregnation proceed continuously in the process of moving the wood material through the wood material introduction path, the wood material lead-out path, and the vacuum chamber. Therefore, a sufficient resin impregnation treatment can be applied to the wood material in a short time. By continuously charging the next woody material, the resin can be continuously impregnated under reduced pressure without stopping the operation of the vacuum pump.

  In the present invention, the wood material to be treated may be any wood material that is degassed by the negative pressure suction treatment, and is made of solid wood, laminated wood, plywood, or PB, OSB, MDF, Any wood material such as wood fiberboard such as HDF is included. Since a high degree of pressure reduction can be obtained, a continuous resin impregnation treatment can be performed even on a wood material whose front and back surfaces are like a solid material.

  In the present invention, the resin used for impregnation includes all the resin materials that have been conventionally used to stabilize the physical properties of wood materials, such as urea resins, phenol resins, acrylic resins, melamine resins, Examples thereof include epoxy resins, vinyl acetate resins, ethylene vinyl acetate resins, polystyrene resins, and the like. Moreover, when using curable resin, arbitrary resin hardened | cured with a heat | fever, an ultraviolet-ray, etc. can be used. Further, the resin may be any of water-based, solvent-based and solvent-free.

  By using the resin impregnation apparatus for the wood material according to the present invention, it becomes possible to continuously and uniformly impregnate the resin into the wood material containing the solid material under reduced pressure.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a resin impregnation apparatus for a wood material according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a state in which the apparatus performs a resin impregnation treatment on the wood material.

  The apparatus 1 has a vacuum chamber 10, and a wood material inlet 11 and a wood material outlet 12 having the same shape are formed on opposite side walls of the vacuum chamber 10, respectively. An exhaust port 13 connected to a vacuum pump 14 (FIG. 2) is formed on the top surface of the vacuum chamber 10, and the inside of the vacuum chamber 10 is depressurized by the action of the vacuum pump 14. The lower part of the vacuum chamber 10 is a resin liquid reservoir 15.

  The wood material inlet 11 of the vacuum chamber 10 is attached with a wood material introduction path 16 extending upstream in the moving direction of the wood material W (FIG. 2) to be treated. A wood material lead-out path 17 extending downstream in the moving direction of the wood material W to be moved is attached.

  The apparatus 1 includes a resin liquid tank 18 that stores a resin liquid R (FIG. 2) impregnated in a wood material. The resin liquid tank 18 is connected to a liquid supply path 20 via a liquid supply pump 19. The liquid supply path 20 has two branch paths 21 and 22, and one branch path 21 is further branched into two and connected to the wood material introduction path 16. Similarly, the other branch path 22 branches into two and is connected to the wood material outlet path 17. Further, the resin liquid reservoir 15 of the vacuum chamber 10 is connected to the resin liquid tank 18 via the liquid return path 23. Although not shown, if necessary, a return pump is attached to the return path 23.

  When the liquid feed pump 19 is driven with the vacuum pump 14 activated, the resin liquid R accommodated in the resin liquid tank 18 is sent out to the liquid feed path 20 by the liquid feed pump 19. The sent out resin liquid R is divided into the two branch paths 21 and 22, the resin liquid R flowing in the branch path 21 flows into the wood material introduction path 16, and the resin liquid flowing in the branch path 22 is woody. It flows into the material outlet path 17. The inflowing resin liquid R flows into the vacuum chamber 10 and is returned from the resin liquid reservoir 15 through the liquid return path 23 to the resin liquid tank 18.

  In order to impregnate the wood material W with the resin, the wood material W is put into the apparatus 1 in which the resin liquid R circulates as described above. The cross-sectional shape of the wood material W to be processed needs to be the same shape as the wood material inlet 11 and the wood material outlet 12 formed on the opposite side walls of the vacuum chamber 10, and the wood material W passes therethrough. It is sometimes necessary that a slight gap is formed between the wood material inlet 11 and the wood material outlet 12, and the gap is sealed by the resin liquid R supplied. Although it depends on the processing conditions, the gap is about 0.1 mm to 3.0 mm.

  The wood material W sent from the left to the right in FIG. 2 by an appropriate transfer means is, as shown in the figure, the resin liquid R circulating therethrough in both the wood material introduction path 16 and the wood material lead-out path 17. The peripheral surface is covered. In addition, the resin liquid R is filled with no gap between the peripheral walls of the wood material introduction path 16 and the wood material lead-out path 17 and the wood material W so that the peripheral surface is completely covered with the resin liquid R. The feed amount of the liquid feed pump 19 is adjusted. In this state, a slight gap formed between the wood material inlet 11, the wood material outlet 12 and the wood material W formed on the opposite side walls of the vacuum chamber 10 wets (covers) the surface of the wood material W. ) Since it is sealed with the resin liquid R, the inside of the vacuum chamber 10 is kept airtight.

  The vacuum pump 14 is operated to depressurize the vacuum chamber 10. As a result, the degassing of the wood material W from the region located in the vacuum chamber 10 proceeds, and the degassing phenomenon is caused by the resin material R flowing into the wood material W in the wood material introduction path 16 and the wood material lead-out path 17. It progresses to the area part covered with. Due to this deaeration, a negative pressure is generated inside the wood material W, and simultaneously with the deaeration, the surrounding resin solution R is impregnated in the wood material. Due to the impregnation, the deaerated space in the wood material W is immediately filled with the resin, and the replacement of the internal air with the resin is completed. When the wood material W is in contact with the resin liquid R staying in the resin liquid reservoir 15 in the vacuum chamber 10, the resin is also impregnated from there. An amount of the resin liquid R corresponding to the amount of impregnated resin is supplied from the resin liquid tank 18 into the wood material introduction path 16 and the wood material lead-out path 17 by the liquid feed pump 19.

  In the above state, when the wood material W moves in the apparatus 1, the wood material W is impregnated with a desired amount of resin under reduced pressure. Since this process continues with the movement of the wood material W, a plurality of wood materials W are fed in a state where the end surfaces are in contact with each other, so that a plurality of wood materials are continuously subjected to a low pressure impregnation treatment. Can be applied. Therefore, production efficiency is greatly improved.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described by way of examples.
[Example 1]
Using the apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, resin impregnation treatment was performed using a cedar board material as a sample as the wood material W. The sample dimensions were 12 mm thick, 945 mm wide, and 1840 mm long. The dimensions of the wood material inlet 11 and the wood material outlet 12 formed in the vacuum chamber 10 were 15 mm high and 950 mm wide. As the resin to be impregnated, an acrylic resin aqueous solution having a resin solution concentration of 60% was used.

The suction rate of the vacuum pump 14 was controlled so that the feed rate of the sample was 5 m / min and the ultimate pressure reduction degree by the vacuum pump 14 was 5 kPa or less. Thereby, a resin-impregnated cedar board having an average resin impregnation rate of 40% to 50% was obtained. In addition, the resin impregnation rate was calculated | required by following Formula.
Resin impregnation rate (%) = [sample weight after impregnation (g) −sample weight before impregnation (g)] / sample weight before impregnation (g) × 100

[Example 2]
Using the apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, a resin impregnation treatment was performed using a radiatapine plywood as a sample as the wood material W. The sample dimensions were 12 mm thick, 945 mm wide, and 1840 mm long. The dimensions of the wood material inlet 11 and the wood material outlet 12 formed in the vacuum chamber 10 were 15 mm high and 950 mm wide. As the resin to be impregnated, an aqueous phenol resin solution having a resin solution concentration of 30% was used.

  The suction rate of the vacuum pump 14 was controlled so that the feed rate of the sample was 5 m / min and the ultimate pressure reduction degree by the vacuum pump 14 was 5 kPa or less. Thereby, a resin impregnated radiatapine plywood having an average resin impregnation rate of 30% to 40% was obtained.

The figure which shows an example of the resin impregnation apparatus to the wooden material by this invention. The figure which shows the state which is performing the resin pressure reduction impregnation process to the wood material by the apparatus shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Resin impregnation apparatus to wood material, 10 ... Vacuum chamber, 11 ... Wood material inlet, 12 ... Wood material exit, 13 ... Exhaust port, 14 ... Vacuum pump, 15 ... Resin liquid reservoir, 16 ... Wood material introduction path, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 17 ... Wood material outlet path, 18 ... Resin liquid tank, 19 ... Liquid feed pump, 20 ... Liquid feed path, 21, 22 ... Branch path of liquid feed path, 23 ... Return path, R resin liquid, W ... Wood material

Claims (1)

A vacuum chamber with a wood material inlet and a wood material outlet through which the wood material to be impregnated with resin can pass, leaving a slight gap;
A vacuum pump for reducing the pressure in the vacuum chamber;
A wood material introduction path extending upstream from the wood material inlet of the vacuum chamber;
A wood material outlet path extending downstream from the wood material outlet of the vacuum chamber;
A resin liquid tank;
A liquid feed path having a liquid feed pump for sending the resin in the resin liquid tank to the wood material introduction path and the wood material lead-out path;
A liquid return path for returning the resin staying in the vacuum chamber to the resin liquid tank;
A resin impregnation device for a wood material, comprising:

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