US1407655A - Process of manufacture of slabs of compressed cork - Google Patents

Description

EMIL HORNSTEIN, OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA.

rRocEss or MANUFACTURE oi SLABS or COMPRESSED CORK.

No Drawing.

7 (GRANTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Dr. EMTL HORN- STEIN, deputy-manager, subject of the Emperor of Austria, residing at Vienna, VI, Kfistlergasse 7, in the county of Lower Austria'and State of Austria, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Manufacture of Slabs of Compressed Cork,'of which the following is a specification.

There is already known a process of manufacture of slabs of compressed cork for facing or coverlng, which process is characterized' bypressing in a mould granulated intosuitably thin plates.

cork that has been steamed or moistened with water, whereby there .is produced a compressed cork slab, which is dried in the mould by" warming, and is thereupon sawn This process has, however, a whole series of serious disadvantages. In order to obtain the'requisite compactness in the structure of the final product, the slab of, compressed cork has to be compressed with very great force, whereby the subsequent drying process is rendered difficult, since. the compact block, being a bad conductor, must be very highly heated from the outside if the heat is to penetrate to the inner part. In this process, the outer edges of the slab are heated to such an extent that the cork substance in part undergoes chemical changes, whereby it assumes uneven colouring, this occurring even at a time at which the heat has not yet penetrated to the interior sufficiently to drive off the humidity; Undersuch circumstances, there could be no hope of obtaining a constant quality of the final product. Moreover, the

' cutting up of adried slab was not always possible in alve'neer machine, on account of its brittleness, but could only. be effected by sawing, so that, as may easily be seen, there was a great deal of waste, which, in View of the comparatively small thickness of the slabs to be produced, often amounted to 50%. In addition to that in the slabs thus obtained, an evenly close-grained and evenly coloured surface could not be produced at all; i

' Another method of manufacture of these plates is as follows:

, They are separately produced in suitable moulds, by compressing the necessary quanany of cork. This prccess, however, has the Specification of Letters Patent. Patented F b. 21 192% Application filed July 13, 1914. Serial No. 850,626.

01? THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1 921, 41 STAT. L, 1313.)

disadvantage that, even though it might be considered as technically more perfect, it is economically less advantageous, as the manipulation required is much too expensive and too intricate. In order to improve this method economically, the slabs of cork were also made of different qualities of cork, the bottom of the mould being first covered with a thin layer of the best cork substance, and coarser and therefore cheaper cork being then thrown on to this first layer, so that when compression had been effected, a slab was obtained having a compressed surface of good cork. Apart from the fact that these expedients resulted in only a very slight increase in the economic value of the intricate process, the products obtained had moreover the disadvantage that, as soon as the thin surface layer was worn through, the inferior cork was ,exposed, and the possibility of employing lthe slab any longer was doubtful.

All the disadvantages mentioned above are avoided in the present invention. 'This processis as follows: A suitable number of thin layers obtained by dividing aslab of the compressed cork produced by low pressure and by-a subsequent drying out, are placed one upon the other, and this pile subjected to higher pressure than that employed for making the original slab. The compressed slabs thus obtained are then dried by heat, there being two ways of doing this, drying operations are conducted at a low temperature in order to avoid changes in the cork substance, the separate layers are stuck togetherby a suitable binding substance. If higher temperatures are employed, the binding substance is not neces sary, as the products of distillation, given off by the cork substance at high temperatures, will effect the junction of the separate layers. y

This process is distinguished from that hereinbefore referredto, principally by the fact that the primary compressed cork slabs are divided into thinlayers, it being possible to effect this without any waste and without much difficulty, on a veneer machine. As many of the thin layers thus obtained are placed one upon the other as are necessary for the production of the desired slabs, and if necessary, these layers process according to the i of heat.

are connected together by a binding substance, such as for mstance casein-resin cement, or any other waterproof cement. The slabs obtained by the compression of these piles possess-so little: thickness, that they may be simply dried by a moderate amount Unlike those employed inother known processes, the moulds need not be closed on all sides, but only a top and a bottom piece are required, between which the pile of cork slabs is placed; the advan- ,-tage thus gained being that, since all the V the putting of thegranulated cork in the I mould to the final compression.

In order to facilitate the compressing, the layers or piles may besteamed or moistened with water before pressing, whereby they become more flexible. The slabs may also'bemade of layers of cork of difierent quality, the front being superior .to the back, in order to make therproduct cheap. The top, or perhaps the two top layers, may consist of substance of superior quality to the underneath layers and for this purpose, two different primary compressed cork slabs are produced, in order to obtain layers of varying quality, which are then suitably formed into piles. I The steaming or moistening of the cork before pressing may be limited to the top layer, whether this be of better or the same substance as the other layers; this top layer thus becomes more yielding, and when the whole is pressed, is reduced more than the "other layers. Another advantage of this is that the cork slab retains more elasticity, and moreover asthe under layers are less closely pressed together, a smaller quantity of cork is required to produce a given thicki In every case, cork slabs of extreme evenness and great resistance, with a perfectly smooth surface, are obtained and such slabs may be so easily-and cheaply produced that they can compete with any wooden facing of goodfquality, and will moreover be superior to the wood by reason of their special physical properties (excellent insulation against heat and sound, absolute constancy of volume etc;,) apart from the unique aesthetic effect. 7

What I claim is: r

1. Process for manufacturing compact and solid slabs of compressed cork, consisting in forming by pressure a slab of com pressed finely-divided cork; dividing said slab into thin layers; forming said layers into a pile; and subjecting said pile to pressure. 1

2; Process for manufacturing compact and solidslabs of compressedcork, consisting in forming by pressure aslab of compressed finely-divided cork; dividing said 1 i slab into thin layers; forming said layers into a pile; causing, said layers tobecome sticky; subjecting said pile to pressure; and drying the pile. V v

3. Process for manufacturing compact and solid slabs of compressed cork, consisting in forming a-slab of compressed cork; dividing said slab into thin layers; forming. said layers into a pile; causing said layers by the action of heat'to become sticky with the products of distillation; subjecting said pile to pressure; and drying the pile; 7

- 4:. Processfor manufacturing compact and solid slabs of compressedcork, consisting in forming at low pressure a slab of compressed cork; dividing said slab into thin layers; forming said layers into a pile; causing said layers to becomesticky subjecting said pile to the action of a pressure higher than said low, pressure;,and drying the pile. v

5. Process for manufacturing compact and solid slabs ofcompressed cork, consisting informing a slab of compressedcork;

and solid slabs of compressed cork, 'consisting of the arrangement of a number of thin independent layers of pressed cork one upon the other, the steaming of said layers, the pressing of said layers in their superposed dividing said slab intolayers; forming said 1 position and the drying by heat of the.

pressed and compact layers, sub as described. V V

7. Process for manufacturing compact and solid slabs of compressed cork, consisting of the arrangement of a number of'thin independent layers of pressed cork one upon the other, the steaming of the top independent layer, the pressing of said layers, in their superposed position and the drying. by heat of the pressed and compact layers, the top independents layer being steamed in order to exert greater compression of the said top layer during the pressing of the consolidated slab in order to obtain greater elasticity of the cork slab asa whole, sub:-

tantially V stantially as described.

8. Process for manufacturing compact and solid slabs of compressed cork, consisting in forming a slab of compressed cork; dividing said slab into layers; formingsaid layers into a pile; causing said layers to be: come sticky; subjecting said pile to pressure between top and bottom plates while leavted, in order to exert greater compression of ing the sides free to permit the escape of the said top layer during the pressing of moisture; and drying the pile. the consolidated slab in order to attain 15 9. Process for manufacturing compact greater elasticity of the cork slab as a Whole,

and solid slabs of compressed cork consistsubstantially as described.

ing of the arrangement of a number of thin In testimony whereof I afiix my signature independent layers of pressed cork one upon in presence of two Witnesses.

the other, the Wetting of the top independent layer with water, the pressing of said EMIL HORNSTEIN' layers, in their superposed position and the Witnesses: drying by heat of the pressed and compact AUGUST FUGGER,

layers, the top independent layer being wet- SIEGFRIED NEUTER.