US1732420A

US1732420A - Process for treating, impregnating, seasoning, and stabilizing wood

Info

Publication number: US1732420A
Application number: US21695A
Authority: US
Inventors: Rice George Elton
Original assignee: CONSERVATION CORP OF AMERICA
Current assignee: CONSERVATION Corp OF AMERICA
Priority date: 1925-04-08
Filing date: 1925-04-08
Publication date: 1929-10-22
Anticipated expiration: 1946-10-22

Description

same time, namely, the driving out of the Patented Oct.- 22, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE ELTON RICE, or BROOKLYN, New YORK, Assmrron, BY manor AND MESN'E ASSIGNMENTS, TO CONSERVATION CORPORATION OF AMERICA, A CORPORATION-OF DELAWARE v PROCESS FOR TREATING, IMPREGNATING, SEASONING, AND STABILIZING W001i) No Drawing.

The present invention relates to processes for treating, impregnating, seasoning and stabilizing wood, and is particularly an improvement over the processes disclosed in my copending applications Serial Nos. 726,83 and 7 35,218, filed July 18 and Aug. 30, 1924, respectively. i

One of the ObjGCtS'Of the invention is to treat the wood with a solution that removes the extraneous matters from the wood, such as fats, starches, sugars, gums, acids, oils, dyes, resins, tannins,albumen, etc., and which will simultaneously dehydrate the wood so ,as to reduce the moisture content of the treated Wood to the minimum, without requiring artificial or kiln drying. Another object is the treatment of the wood to remove the extraneous matter, including moisture, and to simultaneously saturate or impregnate the wood with waterproofing and dehydrating material, so that the treated wood will be waterproof, dry and ready for use in a short time after treatment.

A further object is the treatment of the woOd with such materials as to eliminate the extraneous matters from the Wood and to si-' multaneously impregnate the wood with a material or substance that will preserve and waterproof the Wood as well as enabling/the wood to take paints, varnishes and other finishing materials readily and advantageusly.

The invention also has for an object to combine in a single operation the removal of the extraneous matters from the wood, and

, wood, contrary to the solutions as disclose in the aforesaid copending applications, /is

, non-aqueous, in that it contains no water,

thereby not only assisting materially in driving the water or moisture from the wood, but also eliminating both the saturation of the wood by Water in the solution and the requirement for subsequent artificial drying. In this way, two advantages are obtained at the Application filed Apri18, 1925. Serial No. 21,695.

natural moisture from the wood, and the elimination of the entry of'moisturelfro'm the solution into thewood during treatment;

The dehydration of the wood can therefore 1 impregnate the wood to eliminate the extraneous matter therefrom and to dehydrate the wood, and at the same time to protect and preserve the wood for subsequent use.

The proportions of the constituents of the solution may vary for different woods, and as an example for freshly felled or partly air dried maple, birch or sweet gum, ash, mahogany, and similar woods, the solutidn will com prise the following:

Pounds Linseed oil a 1000- Sugar 150 Sodium fluoride 35 Sodium sulphate 15 The proportion of the sugar is substantial-v l 15%, by weight, of the amount of oil, and the proportions of sodium fluoride, and sodium sulphate are substantially 3 and 1% percents, respectively, of the amount of the oil. The linseed oil used is heat treated to fix the foots or gummy content. The saccharine matter or sugar component of the solution may be ei ual parts of maltose and cane syrup or moasses. Malt sugar and cane sugar (granul ted or brown) may be used in place of ma tose and the syrup. A sweet potato syrup may also be used in lieu of cane products when available.

Although linseed oil is mentioned, other drying ve etable oils may be used, such as tung, peri lla, 'soya bean, and similar vegetable oils, or combinations thereof.

The in redients are mixed at a temperature varying rom 100 to 120 degrees F., the 011 bein heated to such temperature and the saccharine-and other materials then being added to and mixed with the oil.

The wood may be treated in any shape'or form, either timber, lumber or wood prod-.

nets, and timber may be treated with or without the bark being removed. The term wood. also includes vegetable fibres for which the process is suitable. The wood is immersed in the solution, an this can be .done in several different ways, such as by loading the wood in piles or stacks in or on a rack or flat truck, skid or other conveyance, which is run into a tank, or the wood may be conveyed into the tank by an overhead or automatic conveyor, or may be piled of stacked in the tank. If the wood is lowered into and elevated from the-tank, then the sides and ends of the tank may be solid, but' if the wood is conveyed on tracks into and out of the tank, the ends of the tank are arranged to open for the entrance and exit of the conveyors or vehicles carrying the wood. An open rectangular tank is preferably used, although it is preferable to rovide a hoodor-cover for the tank to con ne thevapors so that theycan be drawn off and con- ;served for the recovery of valuable byproducts.

After .thewood is placed in the tank and held therein so as not to float to the top of the solution,the solution is delivered into the tank to fill the tankto a level several inches above the wood. The solution is heated,-.such as by submerged steam radiators at the bottom of the tank, until the solution reaches a tempera- 1 ture of 130 degrees F. andis maintained at such temperature for about one hour, and then gradually raised to between 210 and 212 degrees F. and maintained at such temperature until no furthepexcess matters are seen leaving the wood. Then, after a period varying from one hour to several hours, based on the thickness and. density of the wood, the heat is shut off, and the wood and solution allowed to cool until no further bubbles are observed leaving the wood. The wood is then removed from the solution or allowed to remain in the solution while it cools until the wood has become completely impregnated with the solution, and the impregnation may be regulated by the length of time the wood is permitted to remain .in the cooled solution. The impregnation may thus be varied according to requirements.

During the impregnation period, when especially dry wood is required, the wood is according to the amount of impregnation of the waterproofing material desired, based on re uirements.

s soon as the wood is removed from the solution,.the tank and solution are ready for the next'load of wood.

heatingand cooling periods may be repeated as indicated. The lengths of the heating and cooling periods are determined by the nature of the wood'being. treated and results desired.

During the'treatment or boiling of the immersed lumber, the. solution penetrates the wood, and'owing to osmotic action the solution acts under pressure from all sides in the Wood, and a steady stream of extraneous matters are expelled from the wood until the wood is cleansed. The wood is also sterilized, the poison being combined with the fibres and interstices, and the crystals of the poison remain in combination with the fibres and interstices and have reserve power so that they constantly expel toxic poison for indefinite periods. The poison prevents further action of fungus or wood destroyers and avoids the liability of dry rot occurring.

The fats, starches, sugars, gums, acids, oils, dyes, resins, tannins, albumen and other extraneous matters are removed from the wood in asimple, practical, and eflicient manner, a nd are replaced by the solution or material that preserves and compacts the fibres; reducing the cell spaces, and filling the wood with the oil which Waterproofs the wood as well'as encapsuling in the fibre and cell walls the toxic poison that inhibits the wood against the attacks of wood destroyers, dry rot and other fungus.

Freshly felled or green timber as well be seasoned rapidly by the present process, as well as being insect-proofed and waterproofed at the same time, in a single operation, without resorting to artificial driers. The linseed or other vegetable drying oil will waterproof and dehydrate the wood,

as well as serving to encapsule the toxic.

poison and retain same in the wood indefinitely. By timing the length of treatment or immersion of the wood it is possible to reduce the moisture content of the wood to a desired percentage, without requiring subsequent kiln or artificial drying, it being notedthat the solution contains no water so that as'the moisture is forced from the pregnated with the oil will have 'a perfect aflinity for practically all finishing materials. Furthermore, there is a saving inthe amount of finishing material necessary, inasmuch as the absorption-of the finishing materials by the wood is reduced, although the finishing material adheres effectively to the superficial portion of the wood.

l/Vhen treating the wood the substances extracted from the wood are recovered in order to obtain valuable by-products. These 4 are obtained from the scum rising tothe surface of the solution which is skimmed 0d, and also from vapors passing from the solution which are drawn off and con densed. The treatment eliminates the. ex-' traneous matterfrom the wood without fracturing the cellwalls orfibres, thereby reducing season checking and degrading. During the treatment, the cell walls are swollen, releasing the air combined with the fibres and cell walls, without breaking down the cell walls, and the spongy or soft portions as well as the summer or immature growth of the wood are filled, and the absorption properties of the wood equalized.

The saccharine solution containing maltose and cane syrup or molasses products has been found to be especially efi'ective, the maltose, which is fundamental monosaccharose, being strongly dextro-rotaryand having greater osmotic action than dextrose or dextrin'. The maltose forms a phenyl ozazone combined with the syrup or molasses (cane or beet) or neutral su ar, which is of advantage in carrying out t e process and in the results obtained.

By combining the oil with the sugar or saccharine matter, this will enable the entire process to be carried out with a single treatment of the wood, eliminating water or moisture from the-sol ution, so that the wood is simultaneously .cured, cleansed, .oisoned, dehydrated and waterproofed. e toxic poison combined with the solution will also prevent fermentation of the solution when not being used, and the poison being encapsuled by the oil inthe treated wood will be prevented from being liberated'too free-' 1y,- the'reby,keeping the poison encapsuled or'imprisoned to indefinitely repel destructive organisms and fungi and inhibit the wood against future attacks from wood destroying insects, fungi and the like, as well as preventing moisture from entering the, wood, which if it occurs, may cause the wood to shrink or swell, or to rot. .The vegetable oil, or a combinatibn of vegetable oils, such as hereinbefore mentioned, will also assist in removing the excess matters from the wood, as well as stabilizing the wood. The oil renders the wood a non-conductor of electrical energy so that the wood may be used for electrical insulating purposes. The oil also assists in preventing the warping or shrinking of the wood.

The process is based on the underlying natural laws that all colloidal substances, of which wood is the most important, absorb their similars, and that all colloidal substances become stable after being'raised to a degree of heat substantially peculiar to each of them, from which it results, that in carrying out this process, the solution which is absorbed by the wood will be thoroughly assimilated by the tissues and held in comb nation with the fibres of the wood and in the interstices,

- and no matter how hard the wood is it will be cleansed of extraneous matters, and the live, summer or sap wood stabilized to equal the heart or fixed growth of the wood, without the aid of vacuumor pressure equipment in the treatment required. The process is a natural one, under atmospheric pressure, being the action of a similar on a similar, and as the wood is impregnated by capillary and osmotic action,.the excess matters removed are replaced by the material with which the wood is impregnated which will dry and oxidize slowly in combination with the fibres, interstices and cell walls, and the cells may be completely filled when required.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is a non-aqueous saccharine wood consisting in impregnating wood with a non-aqueous saccharine solution heated to or above the boiling point of water. I v

3. The process of cleansing, -dehydrating and impregnating wood consisting in immersing wood 1n a non-aqueous saccharine solu tion.

4. The process of cleansing, dehydrating and impregnating wood consisting in immersing wood m a non-aqueous saccharine solu-' tion heated to or above the boiling point of water.

5.-The process of cleansing, dehydrating and impregnatingwood consisting in simultaneously impregnating wood with oil and sugar. I 6.-The process of cleansing, dehydrating and impregnating wood consisting in simul taneously impregnating woodwith oil and sugar heated to or above the boiling point of water.

' 7. The process of cleansing, dehydrating and impregnating wood consisting in immersing wood in a mixture of oil and sugar. 8. The process of cleansing, dehydrating and impregnating wood consisting in 1mmersing wood in a mixture/of oil and sugar heated to or. above the boil-ing point of water.-

9. The process of cleansing, dehydrating and impregnating woodconsisting in simultaneously impregnating wood with sugar and vegetable oil. V

\ 10. The process of cleansing,- dehydrating and-impregnating wood consisting 1n simultancouslyimpregnating wood with so ar and vegetable oilwhea'ted to or above the oiling point of water.

11. The process of cleansing, dehydrating and impregnating wood consisting in immersing Wood in a mixture of sugar and Vegetable oil.

12. The process of cleansing, dehydrating.

and impregnating woodco l'sistin'g in immersing wood in a mixture'of sugar'and vegetable oil heated to or above'theboiling point of water.

13. The process of cleansing, dehydrating and impregnating wood consisting in immersing wood in an oil-saccharine mixture, heat ing the mixture to or above the boiling point of water, andthen cooling the mixture before removing the wood.

14. The process of cleansing, dehydrating.

and impregnating wood consisting in immersing wood in a. mixture of vegetable oil and sugar, raising the temperature of the mixture signature.-

to or above the boilingpoint of water, and then permitting the mixture to cool before removing the wood. Y

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my GEORGE ELTON RICE.