US1043060A - Apparatus for impregnating logs. - Google Patents

Description

W. G. BORN. APPARATUS FOR IMPREGIIA'I'HTG LOGS. APPLIUATION FILED 00T.11, 19Q9. RENBWED DEO. 3, 1910.

Patented Nov. 5, 1912.

Q www@ lUNlTE SARS PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM: G. BORN, OIE CHICAGO, ILLNOIS, AsSGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO WOOD PROCESS COMPANY, OF NEW-YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.'

APPARATUS FOR :IMPREGNATNG LOGS.

Application tiled October 11, 1909, Serial No. 521,999.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

PatentedNov. 5,1912.

Renewed December 3, 1910. Serial No. 595,539.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Tinian G. BORN, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, and a resident olf Chicago, county of Cook, State ot' Illinois, have invented vcertain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus tor lmpregnating Logs, of which the following is a specil'ication.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form of apparatus for injecting chemicals, coloring matter or other tluids into logs; to provide a device ot this class which is particularly adapted for treating the logs under high pressures without straining thenraterial of the logs; and to provide an improved construction for preventing spilling and waste ot the ehemicals 'during the process oit treating the logs.

Wood is an organic substance, and a log consists of fibers disposed in a longitudinal direction and arranged in annular layers representing successive periods oi` growth ot the tree. The inner layers are called heart wood, and are usually ot a darker color than the outer layers. The spaces between the fibers ot' heart wood are filled with dried and hardened gum and resinous substances which clog up the sap channels. rl`he outer layers of fibers iorm what is called sap wood, which contains a larger amount ot' water than is contained in the heart wood. cells of the sap wood also contain a large amount of organic and sott gelatinous substances.

In the prior practice ot the art t-o which this invention relates, it has been t'ound that the heart wood of the log requires much greater pressure for its successful treatment.'

than is necessary lfor the treatment ot' the living or sap Wood of the log. As far as I am aware, the injecting of chemicals or fluids into logs has always been accomplished by forcing the tluids into one end ot' the logkathigh pressure, while the outer surface of the log is exposed to the atmosphere. Under such conditions, it has been impossible to use pressures high enough to insure the uniform treatment of the heart Wood, for the reason that the sap wood is incapable of withstanding such high pressures. In the art of coloring logs, it lhas tor this reason been necessary to waste that part ot' the Wood which is at the heart ot the log. and to eut up into narrower strips the widest The and most Valuable boards which could be obtalned from the log.

ln the apparatus which is hereiinlfterdescribed, the log may be subjected to any de sired pressure` without .splitting open, tor the reason that the pressure both inside and outside of the log is equalized. lt is theretore a simple matter to treat. the log under sutiicient pressure to insure that the fluids, chemicals or coloring matter penetrate all of the parts ot the log and produce uniform results throughoutthe entire transverse area ot the log.

A specitic form of appaatu s for carrying out this invention is ilhlstrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section, partly dia-` grammatic. of an apparatus designed accordiug` to4 this invent-ion for yinjecting coloring matter. chemicals or other lluids into the sap channels oi a log. Fig. 2 is an end View showing the manner of mounting the removable head on the casing or cylinder. Fig. 3 is a diagram re1'iresenting in outline the transverse section ot a tree, and the position of the heart wood therein.

ln the form shown. in the drawings, the apparatus comprises a cylinder' or casing l, preferably mounted with its axis horizontal upon suitable supports, not shown, and provided With relatively movable heads 2 and 53, adapted to support alog` t between them in the manner shown in F ig. l. l

The head 2 is hinged at to one end of the cylinder and is secured in liquid-tight engagement therewith by means of a plural ity or' bolts (5. Theseare preferably hinged at 7 to lugs on the cylinder, and extend lthrough radial slots in the head so that they may be thrown back ont of the way without entirely removing the nuts from the bolts. The head 3 is in the form of apiston slidably fitting within the cylinder and is provided with suitable packing rings 8 to forni a {luid-tight fit with the walls of the eylin der. The opposed faces of the heads 2 and 3 are provided with axially alined conicalthe logs are, of course, trimmed so as to provide as large an exposed area as possible at the end of thellog, and at the same time insure a continuous bearing on the head around the entire periphery of the log. When the log is in position as shown in Fig. 1, there will be a space 10 and 11 respectively between each head and the adjacent end ofthe log. A'fiexible pipe 12 connects the space 10 in the hea'd 2 with a 3-way valve fitting 13 which-has branches leading .respectively to a pressure pipe M and a suction pipe 15. A similar flexible pipe'16 is con nected through a {Ji-way valve fitting 17 with the suction and pressure pipes 14 and 15. A pipe 18 connects the pressure pipe 14 with the cylinder at a point between the heads 2 and 3. This pipe is controlled by a valve 19. The cylinder has also connected thereto a pair of valved pipes 2O and 21, for, the purpose of washing the interior of the cylinder by causing water or another liquid to circulate through it. The head 3 is movable in the casing by means of a rod 22 which may be moved by any suitable mechanism, as for instance, a hydraulic jack, not shown in the drawing.

The operation of the device shown is as follows :-The head 2 is first swung back out of the way on its hinge 5 so'as to. permit the log to-be insertedinto the easing. The head 2 is then closed and securely bolted by means of the bolts 6 to prevent leakage. The head Y 3 is now forced inward toward the head 2 so as to center the log and support it between the two heads in the manner shown in Fig. 1, it being understood that the ends of the log have been previously trimmed to provide conical surfaces fitting the heads.

Assuming that the apparatus is to be used for injecting coloring matter into the log, the first step is` to force through the sap channels of the log a suitable fluid chemical for removing the sap and resinous matter from the pores of the wood. This is done by manipulating the valves 13 and 17 so as to cause the fluid to fiow from the pressure pipe 14 into the space 10 within the head 2, while the air or fiuid in the space 11 is exhausted by the suction pipe 15. In order to prevent the pressure of the liquid within the log .from bursting the log, the valve 19 is opened to admit the fluid under pressure into the space 'around the log. As the pressure in the space 11 is lower than that in the space 10, the fluid will be forced along the sap channels toward the space 11 and will dissolve the dried'sap and resinous matter and carry them with it. Afterthis operation has continued for asuitable length of time, the valve 13 is set so as to open communication between Ithe pipe 12 and the suction pipe 15,

and the valve 17 is set to connect the pipe 16 with the pressure pipe 14 and eut off its connection with the suction pipe.' This causes a flow of chemical through the log in the opposite direction. After the log has been treated by the sap removing chemical, the chemical contained in the various spaces in the cylinder and in the system of piping is drained off. The coloring matter is now forced in liquid form into the pressure pipe 14, and as the valve 19 is open, it fiows into the space around the log', as well as into one of the headsl The coloring' matter is forced into the log first in one direction and then in the other in the same manner as has been hereinbefore described in'conncction with the chemicals. After the completion of the operation of coloring the log, the head 3 is drawn back so that the log' is no longer held in liquid-tight contact with the two heads, and all' of the liquid is finally7 drained off. There is no waste of the liquid, as any of it which is confined in the spaces 10 and 11 would run down into the cylinder and be drained off. The log may then be washed b water passed into the cylinder through the pipe 20 and drawn off through the pipe 21.

To remove the log, the bolts 6 are loosened, and the head2 is swung back on its hinge so as to permit the log to be withdrawn from the open end of the cylinder.`

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that numer-A ous details of the construction shown may be altered or omitted, within the scope of the following claims, without departing from the spirit of this invention. For example, it is obvious that the liquid in the space around the log need not necessarily be the same as that whichffis injected into the log and undcrccrtain conditions it may be preferable to have a lower pressure in the space around the log than that at the injecting head` I claim 1. A device for injecting fiuids into logs comprising a cylinder having a head at one end, a second head slidably mounted in said cylinder and having a fluid-tight joint therewith, means for forcingsaid movable head toward said first head for supporting a log between them, one of said heads having`therein a conical socket formed to have fluid-tight engagement around the edges of the adjacent end of the log when trimmed to conical form, and means for forcing a fluid into one of said heads through the log and withdrawing' it at the other head.

2. A device of the class described, comprising' a cylinder, a head removably mounted at one end of said cylinder, a movable head in the form of a piston fitting within and slidable along said cylinder, pipes connected with said heads and adapted to permit a fiuid to be fo'rccd into one of said heads and be withdrawn from the other, and means for equalizing' the fluid pressure in said cylinder and one of said heads, said heads having therein opposed conical sockets adapted to have Wedging tit around the outer edges of the ends of a. log when trimmed to conical form. i

3. A device of the class described, coniprising a cylinder, a pair of heads mounted at opposite ends of said cylinder and adapted to engage opposite ends 0I" a log, one of said heads being movable toward and. away from the other', each'of said heads having therein a socket adapted to fit fluid-tight around the periphery of the log and provide a fluid chamber Within said head at the end oi? the log, a iuid pressure pipe, a suction pipe7 individual pipes connected with the sockets in said heads and each having connection with said iuid pressure pipe and said suction pipe, valves controlling said pipe connections and adapted to Cause fluid to flow in either direction through the log wit-hout disturbing the other parts of the device, and a pipe connecting said pressure pipe with said cylinder between said. heads.

4. A device for injecting fluids into logs,

comprising a cylinder having a head at one end, a second head slidably mounted in said cylinder and having a Huid-tight joint thereto conical forni, and means for forcing a fluid into one of said heads through the log and withdrawing it at the other head, the concave surfaces of said sockets being extended so as to substantially meet thel walls of the cylinder whereby a login said cy'linder will he lifted and centered iii said sockets so as to be properly supported be tween the heads through the act of moving said movable head toward the other. 4

Signed at Chicago this 7th day of October 1909.

WILLIAM Gr. BORN. Witnesses:

WALTER HAGEN, SAMUEL P. KNISELY,

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