US3884749A

US3884749A - Machine for the manufacture of wood fibre panels in continuous lengths

Info

Publication number: US3884749A
Application number: US288294A
Authority: US
Inventors: Christa Pankoke
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-09-13
Filing date: 1972-09-12
Publication date: 1975-05-20
Anticipated expiration: 1992-05-20
Also published as: JPS4839574A; IT965328B; DE2243267A1; FR2153940A5; SE394970B

Abstract

A machine for making wood chip panels is arranged to produce a flat continuous sheet of material consisting of a mixture of wood chips and adhesive, the sheet having built-up rough ridges where the sheet is made thicker. The sheet is passed through a profiled pressure roller which forms the rough ridges into accurately shaped ribs. The adhesive is heated to set it. Two ribbed sheets may be assembled with their ribs facing, either with the ribs coinciding or interlaced. The sheet may be formed by spreading material on a belt, or by extrusion from a nozzle.

Description

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,884,749 Pankoke May 20, 1975 [54] MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF 3,150,416 9/1964 Such 264/119 WOOD FIBRE PANELS IN CONTINUOUS 3,210,447 /1965 Cyr et al. 425/115 LENGTHS 3,533,872 10/1970 Robbins et a1 156/500 3,737,351 6/1973 Ettel 156/582 5 [76] Inventor; Christa Pankoke, Am Jahnplatz 10, 3,748,214 7/1973 Withers 156/242 4800 Bielefeld, Germany [22] Filed: Sept. 12, 1972 Primary Examiner-Charles E. Van Horn Assistant ExaminerM. G. Wityshyn [21] Appl' 288294 Attorney, Agent, or FirmSteinberg & Blake [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 13, 1971 Austria 7940/71 [57] ABSTRACT Nov. 30, 1971 Switzerland 017444/71 A machine for making wood chip panels is arranged to 52] 11.5. C1. 156/501; 156/622; 156/243; Produce a flat continuous sheet of material Consisting 5 24 5 549; 555; 5 /5 2; of a mixture of wood chips and adhesive, the sheet 4 5 5; 373; 425 1 having built-up rough ridges where the sheet is made 51 Int. Cl Bb 3/00; 83% 5/06 thicker- The Sheet is Passed through a Profiled P [58] Field of Search 156/555, 246,582,243, sure roller which forms the rough ridges into accu- 5 2 2 5 5 549; 425 3 373 rately shaped ribs. The adhesive is heated to set it. 5 336 3 22 3 37 3 5 DIG Two ribbed sheets may be assembled with their ribs 264/112 3 1 9 122 'facing, either with the ribs coinciding or interlaced. The sheet may be formed by spreading material on a [56] References Cited belt, or by extrusion from a nozzle.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Claims, 17 Drawing Figures 3,039,137 6/1962 Smith et a1 425/83 PATENTEI] MYZO I975 SHEET 3 OF 3 MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF WOOD FIBRE PANELS IN CONTINUOUS LENGTI'IS The present invention concerns a machine for the manufacture of wood fibre panels, particularly chip panels, by a continuous method, the machine comprising a conveyor belt guiding a slab of chips strewn thereon to a pressing roller and compressing it there into a panel or sheet. 7

It is the object of the present invention to provide such a machine that the wood fibre panel can be produced in various thicknesses; the machine is of simple construction and can be reliably operated by only a few operators.

According to the present invention there is provided a machine for the production of wood fibre or chip panels, comprising a feeding device to produce a continuous sheet of material, and means for producing ribs extending in the longitudinal direction of the said sheet, the machine including either a pressing roller with rib moulding grooves extending round the circumference thereof or a wide extension nozzle with a rib-forming contour.

The pressing roller is preferably provided with parallel annular grooves on its surface and at right angles to the axis of rotation of the roller; these annular grooves may be divided into separate chambers by individual bars with the result that the ribs to be produced are interrupted longitudinally.

The chip material feeding means may be an endless steel band circulating about'two guide rollers spaced from each other, the upper length of which, carrying the slab of chips, extends in a common horizontal plane on both sides of the pressing roller, which is located between the guide rollers in the direction of movement of the belt and has its upper surface below the slab level. This conveyor belt is preferably designed to be heated to varying degrees for the uniform transmission of heat to the panel.

So that the ribs can be smoothly removed from the recesses and withdrawn without damage, the pressing roller is provided with a doctor or scraper shaped to the profile of the roller.

With this machine the resultant panel has ribs which extend upwardly.

In another preferred embodiment, two identical machine units are arranged as one unit one above the other, the active lengths of the two belts moving in opposite directions.

The lower machine unit produces panels with upwardly projecting ribs and the upper machine unit produces panels with similarly upwardly pointing ribs; the panel of the upper unit moves oppositely to the lower panel and, after pressing, is deflected downwardly so that the ribs of the upper panel point downwardly and are then connectable to the ribs of the lower panel since they can be made to abut each other. Alternatively the ribs may be relatively staggered.

A continuous adhesive applicator device is associated with each belt which provides the surfaces of the ribs formed by the bases of the grooves with an adhesive for the interconnection of .the panels.

A pressing device is provided between the two belts which presses the two lengths of panels, disposed with their adhesive surfaces against each other, into a composite structure.

i the panel, if necessary with upper or lower grooves for the formation of the ribs. It may be preferable to provide a plurality of extruder screws adjacent to each other feeding the material to the mouth-piece, the

- overall width of which corresponds to the normal width of-the panels. This slab of material may consist of glued chips or a slab of chips and/or fibres having a varying degree of plasticity.

It is also within the scope of the present invention to provide two extrusion presses with their orifices arranged one above the other in such manner that two i slabs of material flow out with ribs directed towards each other and resting one upon the other to form bars or webs. Alternatively, for the formation of comparatively thin panels, the orifices are disposed closely adjacent to each other.

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a machine for the continuous production of single wood fibre panels with ribs,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same machine,

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a machine for the continuous manufacture of wood fibre panels from two sheets,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a pressing roller with grooves extending around the cylinder,

FIG. 5 is a cross-section through the roller according to FIG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a pressing roller comprising" interrupted cylindrical grooves,

FIG. 7 is a cross-section through the roller according to FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is a cross-section through the pressing area between the pressing roller and conveyor belt with an'interposed panel length,

FIG. 9 is a cross-section through a panel formed of two sheets located with their ribs opposite each other,

FIG. 10 is a cross-section through a panel formed of two sheets with interlaced ribs,

'FIG. 11 is a cross-section through a panel made from one ribbed sheet and one plain sheet,

FIG. 12 is a cross-section through a panel with interrupted ribs,

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal view through an extrusion press having an extruder screw and a wide mouthpiece, sectioned on the line I-I of FIG. 14,

FIG. 14 is a plan view of the same extrusion press,

FIG. 15 is a cross-section through the wide mouth piece taken on the line IIII of FIG. 13,

FIG. 16' is a cross-section through two superimposed sheets both provided with ribs,

FIG. 17 is a plan view of an extrusion press comprising a plurality of adjacent extruder screws.

A machine according to the present invention for the preparation of wood chip or fibre panels or sheets 10, comprises a conveyor belt 15 conveying layers of material ll, 12, strewn thereon to a pressing roller l3, l4 and pressing it into a sheet panel 10 in a continuous process. The

pressing roller

13, 14 is provided with a plurality of spaced grooves 17, pressing the layers of

material

11, 12 strewn on the conveyor belt'l5 to form continuously a panel layer provided with ribs 16 projecting above the thickness of the panel.

The pressing roller 13' is'provided'w'ith parallel annu- The pressing roller 13 may be provided with annular grooves which are interrupted by bars 19 (FIG. 6). The interrupted grooves 18 may be formed by leaving some of the material on the roller during formation of the grooves, or by parts 19 subsequently inserted into the formed grooves. The thickness of the bars 19 on the circumference of the roller is selected in accordance with the spacing of the ribs 16.

In another embodiment the pressing roller is provided parallel to its axis of rotation with spaced recesses by which ribs can be produced on the wood sheet, the ribs extending in the direction of movement of the belt. In yet another embodiment the grooves are formed in the pressing roller inclined to the axis of rotation of the roller, or helical.

The recesses of the pressing roller have a crosssection (preferably trapezoidal,) which enlarges to- 'wards the surface of the roller and the grooved bases of which are formed by a plane cross sectional surface. The cross sectional edges on the surface of the cylinder, are rounded and/or chamfered; in the divided recesses 18, the cross-section of the individual recesses 18 is also enlarged in the circumferential direction of the roller and the basic limiting edges formed by the bars 19 are also rounded and/or chamfered on the surface of the roller. 1

The conveyor belt shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an endless steel band circulating about two guide rollers 20 which are rotatable about two parallel axes spaced from each other, the upper length 15a of the belt, carrying the sheets of

material

11, 12 extending in a horizontal plane, the pressing roller 13 being located between the two guide rollers 20. The length 15a cooperating with the pressing roller 13 extends on both sides of the pressing roller 13 in a common plane and partly encloses said roller 13. It is preferred to arrange the.pressing-roller 13 with its surface below the plane of the carrying length 15a and to associate belt guiding rollers 21 with the pressing roller 13 ahead of it and behind it in the direction of movement of the belt, by which roller 21 the length 15a is guided downwardly to the roller 13 and away again into the carrying plane. There is a device 22 strewing a layer of chips 11 of uniform thickness over the length 15a of the belt, and a profile strewing device 23 associated with the strewing device 22 for strewing individual elevated rows of chips 12 onto the uniform layer 11 for forming the commencement of the ribs. These are disposed ahead of the pressing roller 13 in the direction of movement of the belt; the profile strewing device '23 strews the chips in spaced ridges onto the panel layer 11 to correspond to the spacing of the ribs 16 to be formed and to the grooves 17 18 of the

rollers

13, 14, forming the ribs 16.

A doctor blade 24 associated with the pressing roller 13 at the outlet of the pressed

panel sheet

10, 16, raises the sheet 10 from the pressing roller 13. The blade enters the grooves 17 to remove the pressed ribs 16 and enables the

sheet

10, 16 to be, withdrawn from the pressing roller 13 neatly'and without damage.

The doctor 24 is shaped to the cross-section of the surface of the pressing roller 13 (FIG. 4).

The

pressing roller

13, 14 and/or the conveyor belt 15 are preferably heatable. so that a bonding agent (glue, adhesive) mixed with the chips, bonds during pressing and consolidates the pressed chipsinto the appropriate shape.

In order to expose the entire panel cross-section, which is of varying thickness on account of the ribs 16, to a uniform heating action, it is preferable to provide the conveyor belt 15 with zones heated to a varying degree, the zones of the belt in the region of the ribs 16 providing more heat than the other zones. The belt 15 may be divided into zones of different heat either parallel or transverse to the feed direction. In the region betweeneach two adjacent ribs 16 and in

grooves

17, 18, the belt 15 may be provided with an insulation layer 25 of poorly conducting material, impeding the transmission of heat to the strips of belt disposed below the elevations 12. Due to this formation of the belt the temperature to which the different thicknesses of the band is raised is uniform and even over the entire crosssection of the belt.

The same formation may also be provided for

th pressing roller

13, 14, said roller giving a shorter transmission of heat in the region of its

recesses

17, 18 than in the region of the surface between the recesses l7, 18.

According to the embodiment of the machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a sheet of material consisting of a layer of chips 11 and ridges 12 thereon is strewn onto the belt 15 moving in the direction of the arrow, which is then conveyed by the belt 15 to the

pressing roller

13, 14; the belt 15 and the pressing roller 13, 14then compress the

loose mass

11, 12 into a panel sheet the bonding-agent of the chips acting to consolidate the panel under the action of heat. The very high ridges 12 are pressed into the

grooves

17, 18 of the

pressing roller

13, 14 to form the panel ribs 16 and, together with the panel 10, represent a single unit.

FIG. 3 of the drawings discloses another embodiment of the machine for the continuous production of the chip panels 10 with ribs 16; this'machine is a duplex form of machine according to FIG. 1, in which machine two panel sheets 10 provided with ribs 16 are produced and then connected together to form a unit.

This machine has two conveyor belts 15 which circulate endlessly about guide rollers 20, in the two upper lengths 15a of which respective

pressing rollers

13, 14 are provided. The two sheet bearing lengths 15a run in opposite directions and the portions on both sides of the

pressing roller

13, 14 each extend in a common horizontal plane.

Associated with each conveyor belt 15 is a sheet strewing device 22 and a profile or ridge strewing device 23 thestrewing device 22 being located ahead of the profile strewing device 23 in the direction of movement of the belt; the two

devices

22, 23 of the lower machine unit are at one end of the belt run and the two

devices

22, 23 of the upper machine unit are at the opposite other end of the belt run.

The lower belt 15 and the

pressing roller

13, 14, produces a sheet, the ribs 16 of which point upwardly; the

upper belt 15 produces a sheet with upwardly pointing 0 ribs 16, this sheet being deflected by the guide roller 20, with the result that the ribs 16 then point downwardly to rest on the ribs 16 of the lower sheet or interlace between them.

A device 26 applying adhesive, such as glue or the like, to the exposed surfaces formed by the plane base surface of the grooves, is associated with each belt following the doctor blade 24; the glueing device 26 for the lower belt 15 is located after the pressing roller 13 above the bearing length 15a and the adhesive applicator 26 for the upper belt 15 is provided in the deflecting area (roller Following the

pressing rollers

13, 14 of the upper belt there are further belts 27 above and below the two adjacent belt lengths (upper run 15a of the lower belt 15 and lower run of the upper belt 15) pressing the two panel lengths l0, 16- together: to form a plate unit. These press the ribs of the superimposed panel lengths 10, either superposed or'interlaced so that the sheet lengths 10 are cemented together at the ends of the ribs. The panel sheets produced by these two machine units can be cut to any desired length.

The reversing rollers 20 and the pressing roller 13 (FIG. 1) are located with their bearing axles on the same level and are mounted on a machine frame, not shown, on which the reversing rollers 21 are mounted and on which the doctor blades 24 and

feed devices

22, 23 are fixed. The same arrangement is used in the machine shown in FIG. 3 for each panel producing unit, except that the upper unit (with shorter carrier belt) is vertically adjustable by means of connecting members such as clampable slides.

The machine of FIG. 1 may also'be used as a separate unit for connecting ribbed panel lengths 10 to plane panels 28. In FIG. 9, a panel is produced which is formed from two sheets 10, the ribs 16' of which are superposed to abut each other and are there connected together by adhesive to form a unit.

FIG. 10 shows a panel in which two sheets 10 engage with interlaced ribs 16, the ribs of each sheet resting between ribs on the other sheet. They are cemented together as before by adhesive applied to the end of the ribs.

FIG. 11 shows a ribbed panel length 10, on the ribs 16 of which a plain panel 28 is glued.

FIG. 12 shows a panel 10 with interrupted ribs 16 extending in a line; the interruption in the ribs is produced by bars 19. These interrupted ribs are of advantage inremoving the pressed sheet 10 from the grooves 18, since this panel l0 is subjected in the area of the rib to very little longitudinal or expansion stressing.

In order to be able to connect the ribbed panel sheets by their interengaging ribs (FIG. 10), the

pressing rollers

13, 14 and the

strewing devices

22, 23 of the upper belt 15 are mounted so as to be axially displaceable relatively to the lower belt 15. For the production of wood fibre or chip panels, by an alternative-continuous process, a machine is used in which the chips with admix-' tured bonding agent (glue or the like) are pressed by the extrusion pressing method through a suitably shaped jet or nozzle and applied continuouslyto a base, such as a conveyor belt. This extrusion pressing machine, as shown in FIGS. 13-15, is provided with an extruder screw 30 in a channel 31 into which the plasticised mass of chips is fed from a hopper 32. The extruder screw '30 presses the mass of chips through a nozzle 3 3, the shape of which corresponds to the finished wood fibre sheet 34. This wide nozzle 33 has a 3 mass is at least partially bonded after leaving the nozzle 33 and so retains its extruded shape.

FIG. 16 shows an entire profile section assembled from two wood fibre panels 34 with ribs 37 and comprising centre bars '39 between cavities 40 in the wood fibre panel, which is completely flat on both sides.

'If the desired width of the wood fibre panel exceeds the normal capabilities of a single screw, 30, it is possible to provide an extrusion press according to FIG. 17, having a plurality'of adjacent extruder screws 41 in passages 42, which feed the plasticised material to a common nozzle 43, said material being fed from a divided hopper 41 to the extruder screws.

It is advisable to associate heaters with each nozzle to completely set the extruded sheet of material. A pulp of chips or fibres may be added to the sheet in the case -of such an extrusion press, instead of glued chips, the

moisture content of saidpulp being made higher or 1 lower according to the prevailing conditions.

As in the case of the method of manufacture using pressing rolls, described in accordance with FIG. 3, it

' is possible, by arranging two extrusion press devices one upon the other to form panel units having crosssectional profiles as shown in FIGS. 9 to 11 and 16 in one operation.

The pressed sheets 34 leaving the

nozzles

33, 43, move onto a conveying belt 45'representing a base for these panels 34. In the drawing, only a portion of this base 45 is shown in FIG. 13.

The

grooves

17, 18,and bars 19 of the

pressing rollers

13, 14, form shaping members for the panel ribs 16 to be produced, whilst the wide slots 35 and the grooves 36 of the

nozzles

33, 43, are also shaping members for forming theribs. The conveyor belt 15 and the

endless screws

30, 41, form devices for feeding the chip material.

I claim: v

1. In a machine for continuously producing from a material, which is in comminuted form and includes a binder which will set when heated, a sheet having a pair of opposed faces providing the sheet with a cross sectional configuration having a straight line at one of said opposed faces and a predetermined profile at the other of said opposed faces, an endless belt, guide rollers supporting said belt, a first feeding device depositing on said belt a continuous'layer of said material, a second feeding device depositing ridges of said material on the layer deposited by said first feeding-device, a pressure roller formed with grooves extending around the surface thereof, said belt and said layer with ridges ing individual continuous ridges of said material onto said uniformly thickslab with said ridges being laterally distributed on said layer atfspaced intervals corresponding to the spaces between said ribs to be subsequently formed by said pressure roller.

2. In a machine for continuously producing from a material, which is in comminuted form and includes a binder which will set when heated, a sheet having a pair of opposed faces providing the sheet with a cross sectional configuration having a straight line at one of said opposed faces and a predetermined profile at the other of said opposed faces, an endless belt, guide rollers supporting said belt, a first feeding device depositing on said belt a continuous layer of said material, a second feeding device depositing ridges of said material on the layer deposited by said first-feeding device, a pressure roller formed with grooves extending around the surface thereof, said belt and said layer with ridges thereon passing around said pressure roller to form said ridges into ribs, and means for applying heat to the ribbed layer to set said binder, said heating means being adapted to heat said ribbed layer to a lesser degree between said ribs.

3. In a machine for continuously producing from a material, which is in comminuted form and includes a binder which will set when heated, a sheethaving a pair of opposed faces providing the sheet with a cross sectional configuration having a straight line at one of said opposed faces and a predetermined profile at the other of said opposed faces, an endless belt, guide rollers supporting said belt, a first feeding device depositing on said belt a continuous layer of said material, a second feeding device depositing ridges of said material on the layer deposited by said first-feeding device, apressure roller. formed with grooves extending around the surface thereof, said belt and 'said layer with ridges thereon passing around said pressure roller to form said ridges into ribs, and means for applying heat to the ribbed layer to set said binder, said conveyor belt being provided in each region between adjacent ribs with an insulating strip transmitting less heat than the portions of said belt below the ribs.

4. In a machine for continuously producing from a material, which is in comminuted form and includes a binder which will set when heated, a sheet having a pair a of opposed faces providing the sheet with a cross sectional configuration having a straight line at one of said opposed faces and a predetermined profile at the other of said opposed faces, an endless belt, guide rollers supporting said belt, a first feeding device depositing on said belt a continuous layer of said material. a second feeding device depositing ridges of said material on the layer deposited by said first-feeding device, a pressure roller formed with grooves extending around the surface thereof, said belt and said layer with ridges thereon passing around said pressure roller to form said ridges into ribs, and means for applying heat to the ribbed layer to set said binder, including a doctor blade contacting said pressing roller in the outlet region of said pressed material sheet, said-blade removing said sheet from said pressing roller and extracting said ribs from said roller grooves by engaging in said grooves,

said blade having a profile shaped to the profiled surfrom a material, which is in comminuted form and includes a binder, endless belt means, a pair of end roll means cooperating with said endless belt means for guiding an upper run thereof from one to the other of said end roll means and a lower run thereof from said other back to said one end roll means, each of said end roll means including at least one roller engaging and guiding said endless belt means and said rollers having parallel axes, respectively, a rotary forming roll situated in its entirety between said pair of end roll means at an elevation higher than said lower run of said endless belt means and at an elevation lower than the uppermost parts of said pair of end roll means where said endless belt means travels from saidone end roll means and is received at said other end roll means, said forming roll having an axis parallel to the axes of said guide rollers, an additional pair of guide rollers having axes parallel to the axis of said forming roll, said additional pair of guide rollers forming a leading and a trailing guide roller, said leading guide roller leading said endless belt means downwardly toward said forming roll to travel around the latter and said trailing guide roller receiving said endless belt means from said forming roll to lead said endless belt means to said other .end roll means, said leading guide roller situating part of said upper run of said endless belt means which travels from saidone end roll means to said leading guide roller in a horizontal plane and said trailing guide roller situating part of said upper run of said endless belt means also in a horizontal plane traveling from said trailing guide roller to said other end roll means, and said pair of additional guide rollers being situated at an elevation higher than said forming roll and closer to each other than the diameter of said forming roll for providing for said endless belt means at its upper run an intermediate loop portion extending around said forming roll through more than l, and at least one feed means situated over the part of said upper run of said endless belt means traveling from said one end roll means toward said leading guide roller at the region of said one end roll means for depositing on said upper run of said endless belt means a layer of said material to be directed between the loop portion of said endless belt means and said forming roll, the latter having an outer surface formed with depressions which will determine the configuration of one face of a sheet issuing from said forming roll and traveling with said endless belt means at said upper run thereof around said trailing guide roller to said other end roll means, each of said end roll means consisting of a single guide roller having a diameter substantially larger than the diameter of said forming roll, and the parts of said upper run of said endless belt means which extend between said end guide rollers and said leading and trailing guide rollers being situated in a common horizontal plane, a second feed means being situated over said upper run of said endless belt means at the part thereof traveling between said one end roll means and said leading guide roller, subsequent to said first-mentioned feed means,

for depositing on a layer previously deposited by said first-mentioned feed means a series of continuous ridges of said material and said depressions of said gitudinally along each rib which is formed in each groove.

7. The combination of claim and wherein the end guide rollers and said forming roll respectively have their parallel axes situated at the same elevation.

8. In a machine for continuously producing a sheet, from a material, which is in comminuted form and includes a binder, a first set of components comprising endless belt means, a pair of end roll means cooperating with said endless belt means for guiding an upper run thereof from one to the other of said end roll means and a lower run thereof from said other back to said one end roll means, each of said end roll means including at least one roller engaging and guiding said endless belt means and said rollers having parallel axes, respectively, a rotary forming roll situated in its entirety be tween said pair of end roll means at an elevation higher than said lower run of said endless belt means and at an elevation lower than the uppermost parts of said pair of end roll means where said endless belt means travels from said one end roll means and is received at said other end roll means, said forming roll having an axis parallel to the axes of said guide rollers, an additional pair of guide rollers having axes parallel to the axis of said forming roll, said additional pair of guide rollers forming-a leading and a trailing guide roller, said leading guide roller leading said endless belt means downwardly toward said forming roll to travel around the latter and said trailing guide roller receiving said endless belt means from said forming roll to lead said endless belt means to said other end roll means, said leading guide roller situating part of said upper run of said endless belt means which travels from said one end roll means to said leading guide roller in a horizontal plane and said trailing guide roller situating part of said upper run of said endless belt means also in a horizontal plane traveling from said trailing guide roller to said other end roll means, and said pair of additional guide rollers being situated at an elevation higher than said forming roll and closer to each other than the diameter of said forming roll for providing for said endless belt means at its upper run an intermediate loop portion extending around said forming roll through more than 180, and at least one feed means situated over the part of said upper run of said endless belt means traveling from said one end roll means toward said leading guide roller at the region of said one end roll means for depositing on said upper run of said endless belt means a layer of said material to be directed between the loop portion of said endless belt means and said forming roll, the latter having an outer surface formed with depressions which will determine the configuration of one face of a sheet issuing from said forming roll and traveling with said endless belt means at said upper run thereof around said trailing guide roller to said other end roll means, and a second set of components comprising a second endless belt means together with a second pair of end roll means, a second forming roll and a second pair of additional guide rollers all cooperating in the same way with each other as the first mentioned endless belt means, end roll means, forming roll, and guide rollers, with the second pair of components situated over the first set of components and having a total length shorter than the distance between said first-mentioned trailing guide roller and said first mentioned other end roll means, said second endless belt means having a lower run traveling in the same direction as that part of the upper run of said first-mentioned endless belt means which travels from said trailing guide roller to said first-mentioned other endless roll means, and at least one second feed means feeding a layer of said material to an upper run are pressed together while traveling between the upper run of said first-mentioned endless belt means and the lower run of said second endless belt means.

9. The combination of claim 8 and wherein a pair of endless pressure belt means respectively engage the lower surface of said upper run of said first-mentioned endless belt means where the latter travels between said trailing guide roller and said first-mentioned other end roll means and the upper surface of the lower run of said second endless belt means for pressing the latter runs toward each other to press the sheets toward each other.

10. The combination of claim 9 and wherein the plurality of second components situated over the plurality of first-mentioned components are adjustable with respect to said first-mentioned components.

Claims

1. In a machine for continuously producing from a material, which is in comminuted form and includes a binder which will set when heated, a sheet having a pair of opposed faces providing the sheet with a cross sectional configuration having a straight line at one of said opposed faces and a predetermined profile at the other of said opposed faces, an endless belt, guide rollers supporting said belt, a first feeding device depositing on said belt a continuous layer of said material, a second feeding device depositing ridges of said material on the layer deposited by said first feeding-device, a pressure roller formed with grooves extending around the surface thereof, said belt and said layer with ridges thereon passing around said pressure roller to form said ridges into ribs, and means for applying heat to the ribbed layer to set said binder, said first device being a jet strewing a slab of said material of uniform thickness onto the bearing side of said belt ahead of said pressing roller, and said second device being a further jet strewing individual continuous ridges of said material onto said uniformly thick slab with said ridges being laterally distributed on said layer at spaced intervals corresponding to the spaces between said ribs to be subsequently formed by said pressure roller.

3. In a machine for continuously producing from a material, which is in comminuted form and includes a binder which will set when heated, a sheet having a pair of opposed faces providing the sheet with a cross sectional configuration having a straight line at one of said opposed faces and a predetermined profile at the other of said opposed faces, an endless belt, guide rollers supporting said belt, a first feeding device depositing on said belt a continuous layer of said material, a second feeding device depositing ridges of said material on the layer deposited by said first-feeding device, a pressure roller formed with grooves extending around the surface thereof, said belt and said layer with ridges thereon passing around said pressure roller to form said ridges into ribs, and means for applying heat to the ribbed layer to set said binder, said conveyor belt being provided in each region between adjacent ribs with an insulating strip transmitting less heat than the portions of said belt below the ribs.

4. In a machine for continuously producing from a material, which is in comminuted form and includes a binder which will set when heated, a sheet having a pair of opposed faces providing the sheet with a cross sectional configuration having a straight line at one of said opposed faces and a predetermined profile at the other of said opposed faces, an endless belt, guide rollers supporting said belt, a first feeding device depositing on said belt a continuous layer of said material, a second feeding device depositing ridges of said material on the layer deposited by said first-feeding device, a pressure roller formed with grooves extending around the surface thereof, said belt and said layer with ridges thereon passing around said pressure roller to form said ridges into ribs, and means for applying heat to the ribbed layer to set said binder, including a doctor blade contacting said pressing roller in the outlet region of said pressed material sheet, said blade removing said sheet from said pressing roller and extracting said ribs from said roller grooves by engaging in said grooves, said blade having a profile shaped to the profiled surface of said pressing roller.

5. In a machine for continuously producing a sheet, from a material, which is in comminuted form and includes a binder, endless belt means, a pair of end roll means cooperating with said endless belt means for guiding an upper run thereof from one to the other of said end roll means and a lower run thereof from said other back to said one end roll means, each of said end roll means including at least one roller engaging and guiding said endless belt means and said rollers having parallel axes, respectively, a rotary forming roll situated in its entirety between said pair of end roll means at an elevation higher than said lower run of said endless belt means and at an elevation lower than the uppermost parts of said pair of end roll means where said endless belt means travels from said one end roll means and is received at said other end roll means, said forming roll having an axis parallel to the axes of said guide rollers, an additional pair of guide rollers having axes parallel to the axis of said forming roll, said additional pair of guide rollers forming a leading and a trailing guide roller, said leading guide roller leading said endless belt means downwardly toward said forming roll to travel around the latter and said trailing guide roller receiving said endless belt means from said forming roll to lead said endless belt means to said other end roll means, said leading guide roller situating part of said upper run of said endless belt means which travels from said one end roll means to said leading guide roller in a horizontal plane and said trailing guide roller situating part of said upper run of said endless belt means also in a horizontal plane traveling from said trailing guide roller to said other end roll means, and said pair of additional guide rollers being situated at an elevation higher than said forming roll and closer to each other than the diameter of said forming roll for providing for said endless belt means at its upper run an intermediate loop portion extending around said forming roll through more than 180*, and at least one feed means situated over the part of said upper run of said endless belt means traveling from said one end roll means toward said leading guide roller at the region of said one end roll means for depositing on said upper run of said endless belt means a layer of said material to be directed between the loop portion of said endless belt means and said forming roll, the latter having an outer surface formed with depressions which will determine the configuration of one face of a sheet issuing from said forming roll and traveling with said endless belt means at said upper run thereof around said trailing guide roller to said other end roll means, each of said end roll means consisting of a single guide roller having a diameter substantially larger than the diameter of said forming roll, and the parts of said upper run of said endless belt means which extend between said end guide rollers and said leading and trailing guide rollers being situateD in a common horizontal plane, a second feed means being situated over said upper run of said endless belt means at the part thereof traveling between said one end roll means and said leading guide roller, subsequent to said first-mentioned feed means, for depositing on a layer previously deposited by said first-mentioned feed means a series of continuous ridges of said material and said depressions of said forming roll being in the form of annular grooves respectively aligned with said ridges.

6. The combination of claim 5 and wherein said forming roll includes in each of said annular grooves thereof a plurality of transverse walls distributed circumferentially in each of said grooves and extending thereacross for providing interruptions distributed longitudinally along each rib which is formed in each groove.

7. The combination of claim 5 and wherein the end guide rollers and said forming roll respectively have their parallel axes situated at the same elevation.

8. In a machine for continuously producing a sheet, from a material, which is in comminuted form and includes a binder, a first set of components comprising endless belt means, a pair of end roll means cooperating with said endless belt means for guiding an upper run thereof from one to the other of said end roll means and a lower run thereof from said other back to said one end roll means, each of said end roll means including at least one roller engaging and guiding said endless belt means and said rollers having parallel axes, respectively, a rotary forming roll situated in its entirety between said pair of end roll means at an elevation higher than said lower run of said endless belt means and at an elevation lower than the uppermost parts of said pair of end roll means where said endless belt means travels from said one end roll means and is received at said other end roll means, said forming roll having an axis parallel to the axes of said guide rollers, an additional pair of guide rollers having axes parallel to the axis of said forming roll, said additional pair of guide rollers forming a leading and a trailing guide roller, said leading guide roller leading said endless belt means downwardly toward said forming roll to travel around the latter and said trailing guide roller receiving said endless belt means from said forming roll to lead said endless belt means to said other end roll means, said leading guide roller situating part of said upper run of said endless belt means which travels from said one end roll means to said leading guide roller in a horizontal plane and said trailing guide roller situating part of said upper run of said endless belt means also in a horizontal plane traveling from said trailing guide roller to said other end roll means, and said pair of additional guide rollers being situated at an elevation higher than said forming roll and closer to each other than the diameter of said forming roll for providing for said endless belt means at its upper run an intermediate loop portion extending around said forming roll through more than 180*, and at least one feed means situated over the part of said upper run of said endless belt means traveling from said one end roll means toward said leading guide roller at the region of said one end roll means for depositing on said upper run of said endless belt means a layer of said material to be directed between the loop portion of said endless belt means and said forming roll, the latter having an outer surface formed with depressions which will determine the configuration of one face of a sheet issuing from said forming roll and traveling with said endless belt means at said upper run thereof around said trailing guide roller to said other end roll means, and a second set of components comprising a second endless belt means together with a second pair of end roll means, a second forming roll and a second pair of additional guide rollers all cooperating in the same way with each other as the first mentioneD endless belt means, end roll means, forming roll, and guide rollers, with the second pair of components situated over the first set of components and having a total length shorter than the distance between said first-mentioned trailing guide roller and said first mentioned other end roll means, said second endless belt means having a lower run traveling in the same direction as that part of the upper run of said first-mentioned endless belt means which travels from said trailing guide roller to said first-mentioned other endless roll means, and at least one second feed means feeding a layer of said material to an upper run of said second endless belt means to be formed into a continuous sheet which engages the continuous sheet traveling along the upper run of said first-mentioned endless belt means to said other end roll means, and adhesive-applying means applying adhesive to at least one of said sheets for gluing them to each other as they are pressed together while traveling between the upper run of said first-mentioned endless belt means and the lower run of said second endless belt means.