US1468036A - Redwood-bark wall board - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 18 1923. l

J. K. SHAW nnwoon BARR WALL BOARD 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 23. 1920 Sept. 18 1923-. 1,468,036

J. K. sHAw REDWOOD BARI( WALL BOARD Filed oct. 2:5, 1920 2 sheatssheet z wuuatoa ffofmlflhaw,

Lmerals designate like parts Patented Sept. 18, 1923.

UNITED STATES JOHN K. SHAW, or MINNEAPOLIS, MiNNEsOTA.

REDWOOD-BARK WALL BOARD.

Application led October 23, 1920. Serial No. 419,048.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, .JOHN K. SHAW, a citizen 'of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Redwood- Bark -liVall Board; and I do hereby declare,

the following to be afulhclear, and exact description of the invention, 'such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make Aand use thesame.

This invention' relates toy a wall libre board composed of the fibrousbark material Obtained from Vthe well known redwood trees growing in California, and elsewhere, and has for its object to provide a heat insulating board which 'will be more efficient in use and less cxpensiveito produce than those heretofore proposed.

iVith these vand otherobjectsjin view the invention consists in the novel `features and combinations of :features constituting the wall board, ally as will be'more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims. f

ln order that the exact invention may be the more clearly understood, reference is had to the `accompanying drawings forming a part of thisV specification in which like nuin all -the views i Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of an apparatus suitable for making a board in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the fiow of fibres and water to a foraminous 'traveling surface;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating how the libres are entangled with each other;`

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of a finished board made inaccordanoe with this invention; and

Figure 5`is a diagrammatic view illustrating a bundle of the red wood bark fibres detached.

In preparing the bres from which to make the above board I proceed as follows z--The redwood bark is first chopped or otherwise removed from the tree, and is broken up into suitable sizes whereupon it is partially cooked with'a caustic soda or other suitable solution, or until the chips are softened.

After thus softening the chips by the cooking operation they areireduced laysuitable apparatus to the form of a'pu1p.' For this purpose Icanuse any well known beating engines and refiners` The pulp. wi1l be found to consist of a mixture ofrelativelylong very `fine hair like libres and a powder like substance-which originally encased the libres or bound them together. v-The pul material thus formed canbe used mixe'djwit this powder, or it can be washedandthe fine powder Iikemateri'al thus separated from the hair like fibres. .y If the powdered Iriaterial is separated from the hair like fibres, theflatter are passedl through a felting machine such as that-illustrated in Figure 1, whereupon the fibres are felted together into 'a compactboard, which is passed between rollers.` This machine, as illustrated, may consist Ofany suitable tank 1 for holding lthe stock containing water and cooked libres, of a bottom 2, an inclined false bottom 3flocatedfabove the bottom 2, a roll or drum 4 -near the lower end of said false bottom 3, a pluralityof supporting rolls 5, a guide and compression roll 6 adjustable on the slide 7, a guide roll 8 similar to the roll f1, and a guide and tensioning roll 9 adjustable on themeans 10; Passing over the rolls just mentioned is the endless foraminous 1belt or surface 11, conveniently made ofA wire cloth and having the oppositely moving portions or runs 12 and 13. Between the runs 12 and 13 is located the `water outlet 15 'provided with the controlling means or gate l16 which may be suitably manipulated as by the handle or other device 17.

Coacting with the foraminous surface or belt 11 and in close proximity thereto, as regards one portion thereof, is the foraminous belt 18 passing over and'around the series of guide rolls` 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,A and 24. Said belt 18 also passes over' the compression guide rolls 25 coacting with the compression roll 6 and adjustably mounted on a movable means 26. 27 represents a tension and guide roll, adjustably mounted on the means 28, and 29 an outlet for the water passing through the belt 18 controlled by the gate 3() and adjustable lthrough the handle 31. 32 and 33 Vrepresent suitable water seals of flexible materials for the belts 11 and 18 respectively. 35 represents a channel or passage for water and fibres which may bev maintained at any desired hydrostatic head 36, 37 an opening from the channel 35 into een sp 4 any-uw lengte maybe efniioyed.e Byrnethe tank Space or chamber 38, and 39 a partition separatingvsaid chamber or space 38 from the re'nieindr of the tank-.-

40 represents a second channel for water and pulp fibers, 41 the head thereof, 42 an opening from said channel into thev tank chamber or space 43, and 44 e partition which with the partition 39 serves to separate said space 43 froxf th'frest f the tank.

45 represents a thirdchannel for Water and'fibers having e* heizd'fi,A 47 en opening it the tli'- cfiiax'nbe of* sfce 48a'd 49 a piitin' coctig vivitliJ the partition to st'agelgfcte'l seid space 48 from the relnamd'er of thes tank;

P-lie foregoing mechanism is, orv ny' be sbstrtiallly the Siii 1553* t-l'tA disclosed in my @pending application #368995, filed Masai eeisieog-.andferitined nbre Hoorde of fette@ interlaced fibers Iii felling rdiotd aclf'dia to this invention, it is preferred to"`ue ong fibres-,Unt of co'fise, the fi'lefmy be broinL-tl besiting engiegf nd those of son, However,- of'elie affectionne ,non or che water" nifoogh the cnensbes es", @fend 4s, and by' of' the notera! tendency of the non#- ef esteri Vto letefsny seperate 'seid bfesg'tte lattes winte- Bf'oughtfnto positions more o? les's pe'ellel tofech other', dnd merece' less perpemiceisr et on in@ of nevel @tiene sur-'feesie whileat the Sams timeen of seid stressed seiiales of abres willv eecspy positions more ,of-less staggered with felation@ tnei neighbors, as Shown.

Aoeordigly, n lsfge; percentage of the fofwerd ends 61- ofA sind' fibres ons policies of Willf's't cont-act iv'itli sd' s'face' 13, andwlllbe csried'xlong bytliebelty from the posing@ shown in- Figure 2, to th'os sllnx in igure,

wrangling' action Between nie fibres so and s3 will' se entonces or increased by the oncoming .einer ener. 'seid ceinture takes 11i-see; It resultsfroni the actions just de- Sc-,ised that seid seres es become them selves' inof of less' euries se indienen in Figi-ne s; and tttttthird fon; of fibres o4 which are also intel-Moes or staggered with foi" lthe' 'riser ends- 62 of said fibres r'dfbindles'of fibres wiil have legged beh-ind the ifoiit ends 61 inthe' the fibres 63 will become in time curved and entangled with' the fibres 60 and 61% that have receded said fibres 64.-

It t `us results that owing to the Boating of the fibres into parallel interlaced, or staggered positions, and in a direction transverse to the trovelin surface 13, the entanglement of the fi res is continuous between Successive rows and' the pressure of the Water causes the whole to be very thickl)- assembled in the-i1 interlaced" positions'- on said surface', thus forming an openniass of fibres more co'mpa'ct next to the wire than; away from it.- Thisimass is caf-*Fried through'- the' opening 70 into the Speleo 43 with one or-rnore partie-lily curved and partially en?` tangled layers similerto'the fibres 60 and 63 clinging to it; I'n seid chmmber orsp'nce 43 other fibres similar` to the fibres 64 become interlaced and entangled vri-thi the lwy'ers on the belt, and the process o'f-*entaLg-lerne'nt and messing proceeds 'as befor'ez In' themeen'time, layers of fibres in: all respects similar' to the layers' 63,i 64 and 60: erenterlwz'ed, entangled sind massed on the traveling belt' 18- from the space or chamber' 48. .This second massingofribres is carried through the opening 71` by the belt 18'V in a: condition similar to the first mentioned mass that passes the' opening 70, and the fibres in the space' 43 iterlaceA 'and beoome entangled with said seeonct mass in a manner' simile-r to that described inv connection with seid first nnnfred mass.

The result is, owing to this parallel :ind staggered relation illustrated, the" fibres in the space 43 constitute a: third mass of fibres which are interlaced andenten :led with each othenasf well ais withA each seid first named messes. Asia resnlto theVv foregoing entanglement, of the various fibres and thev motion of the surfaces 13 and\18,:themess of fibres are carried through the openings 7 5 between the compression' or' comp'ucting rolls 6 and 25l and is formed into a sheet, or board 76, all as will be r'eadily understood'.

Not only may fibres of redwoodbark be entangled or interlaced in thel manner above disclosed,` but fibres of one length may be placed in the chamber 45, fibres' of, another length inthe chamber' 40, and fi-br'esof still another' length in the chamber 35,A whereupon the finished board will becompose'd of different layers 78, 79 and 77,` es illus` treed in' Figures 1 amd- 4.

In addition to this, by placing fibres of a different kind in the' several chambers the different layers". will becomp-osed of different kinds of libres. Thot is to s'a-y, wood, flax or bagnsse' fibres may be placed in the' chambers 45. :md- 35 while redwood fibres :nity be placed in the chamber 40, and high `n'rade wood fibres mif" be pleced in the Chamb-"rs 45 and 35. and redwood libres alfine or redwood fibres'A iiiiit'ed ywith other fibres may be placed in the chamber 40. In such cases the la ers 77 and 75 will be correspondingly di erent. On the other hand, if it be desired to make a board of uniform fibres throughout, of course, the chambers and 40 and 35 will contain a uniform mixture of fibres. A most excellent board is made by so beating one ortion of the redwood bark fibres as to fine y disintegrate the bundles of fibres and to so beat another portion of said bark as to leave the ultimate fibres in the form of bundles of fibres of a greater orV less size, and to mix these said very fine fibres with these said bundles of fibres and felt the whole into a coherent entangled mass. In such case, the larger bundles of fibres provide air cells and the finer ultimate fibres securely tie the bundles together, thus makin a board which entrains an unusually arge quantity of air and which therefore has a; very high heatl insulating power, while the board itself owin to the exceptional resiliency, strength, pliability and strength of these redwood fibres is exceedinglyfiexible, pliable, resilient and strong.

The exceptional character of redwood fibres for making wall boards may be gath, ered from Figure 5, wherein the entire bundle of fibres is lettered 60, and the very fine hair like ultimate fibres are lettered 100- e and 101.

The pressure used in forming the board 79 will depend upon the qualities vdesired in the finished product. If it is desired to pro-` vide a high heat insulating quality to the board, the pressure is slight, so that a large quantity of air. will be entrained in the interstices of the board, While if the board is desired to take on more the qualities of lumber and to have a harder finlsh, the' pressure is increased which greatly increases the, density of the board, and the latter may then be substituted for lumber in many uses.

An important feature of this invention resides in the discovery that the individual fibres are associated with a` substance the chemical composition of which I do not know, but which renders them non-inhammable. That is to say, a board made as above described may be\ignited by a iiame but it will not continue to burn if left alone. Therefore, b employing this redwood bark material or the making of fibrous boards, of this character, I do not have to freproof the material as .has been the case heretofore.

Should the above mentioned powder like substance be left with the hair like fibres or bundles of fibres, the whole mixture of pulp is subjected to the action of the felting machine, and the massed fibres are passe'd, through the rollers and after having been treated as above disclosed, whereupon the board will be found to be with the same pressure as heretofore more dense and more rigid and more nearly resembling artificial lumber. Further, of course, a eater weight of board is produced from a given weight of bark, when said owdered material is left in the pulp than w en it is removed.

The ultimate redwood libres being unusually long and pliable, they can with ease be mixed with other shorter fibres, filling material or various well known waste materials, and thus roduce excellent substitutes for lumber w en subjected to sufficient pressures.

It will be obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of the invention without departin from the spirit ithereof, and therefore, do not wish to be limited to the above disclosure except as ma be required by the claims.

4 at I claim is:

1. The herein described wall fibre board composed of different layers one of said layers consisting of the fibres of redwood bark and one of said` layers consisting of other ve etable bres and the fibres ofv all of said ayers interlaced with each other, substantially as described.

2. The herein described fibre board com posed of different layers one of which is composed of redwood bark and o'ne of which is composed ofanother vegetable fiber, said layers interlaced with each other, and the fibres of the redwood bark carrying therewith their natural -non-iniammable substances, substantially as described.

3. The herein described heat insulating fibre board containing bundles of fibres from red wood bark 0f different sizes bound together by smaller fibres and also containing bagasse fibers and all of said fibres being substantially non-inammable, substantially as described.

4. The herein described wall board containing a substantialsercentage of fibres from redwood bark an from bagasse, said board provided with different layers of in- V`terlaced fibres and all of said fibres being compressed together to form a board of pronounced resiliency and tensile strength, substantially as described. q

5. The herein described new fibre board containing a substantial percentage of redwood bark mixed with a powder like Inaterial obtained from the chemical treatF ment of said fibres, substantially as described.

6. The herein described fibre board comprising different sized bundles of libres from redwood bark mixed with a binding material obtained from the chemical treatment of said bark, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

JOHN K. SHAW.

Images