WO2011137536A1

WO2011137536A1 - Systems and methods for strand alignment and distribution for mat formation

Info

Publication number: WO2011137536A1
Application number: PCT/CA2011/050272
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wu-Hsiuing Ernest Hsu; Chunping Dai
Original assignee: Fpinnovations
Priority date: 2010-05-05
Filing date: 2011-05-04
Publication date: 2011-11-10

Abstract

A strand mat formation system including a vibrating alignment conveyor and a plurality of alignment plates disposed on the vibrating alignment conveyor is provided. Each alignment plate extends at least along a portion of a length of the vibrating alignment conveyor. A strand mat formation system including a vibrating alignment plate assembly with a belt conveyor beneath the vibrating alignment plate assembly is also provided. Associated methods for forming a strand mat are also provided.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR STRAND ALIGNMENT

AND DISTRIBUTION FOR MAT FORMATION

Technical Field

This invention relates to mat formation of structural composite lumber or panel products such as oriented strand board (OSB), oriented strand lumber (OSL), and veneer strand lumber (VSL) products. In particular, this invention relates to alignment and distribution of strands to form mats prior to pressing and gluing into solid products.

Background

Two important properties during mat formation are strand alignment and strand mass distribution. Good strand alignment is critical to achieving optimum properties in the major application direction because the stiffness and strength of wood in the fibre direction is 20-35 times those in the cross-fibre direction. Uniform strand mass distribution is critical to ensure uniform physical properties and dimensional stability in end products.

Three general types of strand alignment systems are currently used commercially.

A first type of strand alignment system is the disc orienter. Strands are metered and fed evenly from a feeding bin onto an array of rotary discs. Rectangular strands are forced to drop length-wise through gaps between the discs. To reduce strand blockage, the discs are rotated. This is the most common method used in the industry to form surface layers for making OSB and whole mats for OSL products (see US Patent nos. 6,752,256, 7,055,562, and 7,004,300, and US Patent Application publication nos. 2003/0221 37 and

2004/0250900). The overall strand orientation with disc orienters is not good, with typical average strand angles about 32° (0° degree being perfect alignment) for OSB which uses smaller strands (up to 6 inches long, 0.5 inch wide and 0.025 inch thick) and about 21 ° for OSL which uses larger strands (up to 12 inches long, 1 inch wide and 0.028 inch thick). Longer strands tend to orient better. There are several problems with disc orienters. First, the rotation dynamics of the discs cause random collisions with strands. Second, disc rotation generates air flow which causes strand angles to drift from their intended directions. Third, discs cannot provide full shielding needed to prevent strands from free falling onto the mat. As such, aligned strands will randomly rotate before they land on the surface of the mat. Disc orienters are therefore not effective at providing the strand orientation required for high-stiffness high-strength composite wood products, especially when short strands are used. A large amount of small strands are generated during the strand preparation process, even though longer and slender strands are the most desired. As such, a large quantity of short or small strands (up to 45%) must be removed (wasted) for making OSL.

A second type of strand alignment system is the vane orienter. Vane orienters are described for example in US Patent nos. 3,807,931 and 5,404,909. Evenly separated vanes extend radially from a rotating drum. Strands first fall into the vanes in parallel to the vanes as they rotate upwards. When the vanes face down, strands drop onto the mat conveyor

perpendicular to the conveying direction. Vane orienters are mechanically simpler but generate inferior orientation compared to disc orienters. Vane orienters are usually designed to form the core layers of strands in the cross-to-machine direction for OSB products and are not suitable for forming surface layers or high strength products such as OSL where alignment is more critical.

A third type of strand alignment system combines a belt conveyor, curtain, and side-moving trough to align long (3 to 8 feet) veneer strands to make parallel strand lumber (PSL, also known as PARALLAM™) as described in US Patent no. 4,563,237. This process does not provide very good strand orientation, particularly for short strands, due to side movement of the trough used to form the mat.

All three types of known strand alignment systems use separate mechanical systems for strand mass distribution and mat transportation. A strand alignment and distribution system that addresses at least some of the shortcomings of known systems is desirable.

Summary

The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems and methods which are meant to be exemplary and illustrative, not limiting in scope. In various embodiments, one or more of the above-described problems have been reduced or eliminated, while other embodiments are directed to other improvements.

One aspect provides a strand mat formation system including a vibrating alignment conveyor and a plurality of alignment plates disposed on the vibrating alignment conveyor. Each alignment plate extends at least along a portion of a length of the vibrating alignment conveyor.

Another aspect provides a strand mat formation system including a vibrating alignment plate assembly with a belt conveyor beneath the vibrating alignment plate assembly.

Another aspect provides a method of forming a strand mat that includes the step of conveying strands along a vibrating conveyor. The vibrating conveyor has a plurality of alignment plates oriented in a parallel direction to a flow of the strand stream.

Another aspect provides a method of forming a strand mat including the step of passing a stream of strands through a vibrating plate assembly suspended above a belt conveyor, to form a mat of aligned strands on the belt conveyor.

In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above, further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by reference to the drawings and by study of the following detailed descriptions. Brief Description of Drawings

Exemplary embodiments are illustrated in referenced figures of the drawings. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.

Figure 1 is a side view of a prior art strand mat formation system using disc orienters;

Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating a strand mat formation process according to one embodiment of the invention.

Figures 3A and 3B show a strand mat formation system according to another embodiment of the invention, where Figure 3A is a perspective view of the system and Figure 3B is a partial top view of the system.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a strand mat formation system according to another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a strand mat formation system according to another embodiment of the invention.

Figures 6A to 6F show an alignment conveyor according to another embodiment of the invention, where Figure 6A is a perspective view of the alignment conveyor, Figure 6B is an exploded view of the alignment conveyor, Figure 6C shows various views of the bottom deck of the alignment conveyor, Figure 6D shows various views of the second and third decks of the alignment conveyor, Figure 6E shows various views of the feeding boards of the alignment conveyor, and Figure 6F shows various views of the base of the alignment conveyor.

Figures 7A to 7C show an alignment conveyor according to another embodiment of the invention, where Figure 7A is a perspective view of the alignment conveyor, Figure 7B is an exploded view of the alignment conveyor, and Figure 7C shows various views of the second deck of the alignment conveyor.

Figure 8 is a side view of a strand mat formation system according to another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of alignment plates of a strand mat formation system according to another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 10 is a side view of a strand mat formation system according to another embodiment of the invention.

Figures 1 1 A and 1 IB show a strand mat formation system according to another embodiment of the invention, where Figure 1 1A is a side view of the system and Figure 1 I B is a cross- sectional view taken along plane A-A indicated in Figure 1 1 A.

Figures 12A and 12B show a strand mat formation system according to another embodiment of the invention, where Figure 12A is a side view of the system and Figure 12B is a cross- sectional view taken along plane B-B of Figure 12A.

Figure 13 is a top view of strand alignment of 1 ft strands aligned by the embodiment of Figure 3.

Figure 14 is a top view of strand alignment of 3 ft strands aligned by the embodiment of Figure 3.

Figure 15 is a top view of strand alignment of OSB (small) strands aligned by the embodiment of Figure 3. Detailed Description

Throughout the following description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention. However, the invention may be practiced without these particulars. In other instances, well known elements have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than a restrictive, sense.

This invention relates to strand mat formation. Strand mat formation includes the steps of strand alignment and strand mass distribution. These are key steps of wood composite lumber product manufacturing processes.

Figure 1 shows a prior art system for strand mat formation. A feed bin (not shown) dumps largely rectangular strands S onto feed conveyor F from where they are metered and fed evenly with the assistance of rotating picker rolls P onto an array of orienter discs D. Strands S are forced to drop length-wise through gaps between orienter discs D, forming strand mat M oriented along the length of mat conveyor C. Discs D are rotated to reduce strand blockage. Feed conveyor F and mat conveyor C are belt conveyors. This is currently the most common method used in the industry to form surface layers for making OSB and whole mats for OSL products.

Figure 2 is a flowchart of a strand mat formation process according to an embodiment of the present invention. Upstream processes include drying the wood, blending with resin, wax and possibly other additives, and then initially orienting the blended strands in a blender or a pre-orienter. The strands are then fed to a series of three vibrating conveyors: a feed conveyor, an alignment conveyor, and a mat conveyor. The vibrating feed conveyor transports and distributes strands across the conveyor. The vibration action allows the strand mass to be distributed uniformly before entering a vibrating alignment conveyor. The vibrating alignment conveyor is equipped with an array of alignment plates that are specially designed and positioned, as described further below, to facilitate strand alignment while being transported. The aligned strand mat enters a vibrating mat conveyor of narrower width compared to the alignment conveyor in order to maintain the compactness of the strand mass after exiting the alignment plates. The further vibration action in the mat conveyor also helps pack the strands more closely, which is desirable for downstream pressing operations. After strand mat formation on the conveyors, downstream processes including transferring the strands to caul plates and hot pressing the loose mats into solid products.

Figures 3A and 3B illustrate a feed conveyor 12 and an alignment conveyor 14 of a strand mat formation system 10 according to one embodiment of the invention. Strand mat formation system 10 may be used for the strand mat formation process described in Figure 2. The arrow 8 shows the direction of transportation of the strands.

Feed conveyor 12 is a vibrating conveyor which may vibrate vertically or horizontally, or both. In other embodiments, the feed conveyor may vibrate in any direction. In the illustrated embodiment, vertical and forward vibration of feed conveyor 12 transports the strands forward and distributes the strands across the width of feed conveyor 12 to provide a relatively uniform strand stream (i.e., uniform mass distribution).

The strand stream is transported by feed conveyor 12 to an alignment conveyor 14.

Alignment conveyor 14 is a vibrating conveyor which may vibrate vertically or horizontally, or both. In other embodiments, the alignment conveyor may vibrate in any direction. The strands are aligned by alignment plates 16 on alignment conveyor 14, by being oriented substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the strand stream, i.e., downstream.

The alignment plates are designed to align strands without interfering with the flow of the strand stream. The top edge of alignment plates may be profiled or straight. For example, the top edge may be wavy to facilitate vibration-assisted settling of strands into the correct channel and avoid bridging of strands between alignment plates (particularly when as in some embodiments the strands are dumped onto the alignment conveyor from above). The wavy top edges may be either symmetric or asymmetric. The wavy top edges may be laterally aligned or laterally staggered. The upstream edges of the alignment plates may be longitudinally aligned or longitudinally staggered. Longitudinally staggering the upstream edge of the alignment plates introduces the strand stream to alignment plates gradually and lessens the likelihood of clogging up alignment conveyor.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 3A, alignment plates 16 have asymmetric wavy top edges, are laterally staggered, and have longitudinally staggered upstream edges. In the embodiments shown in Figures 4-8 and 10- 12, the alignment plates have straight top edges and have longitudinally aligned upstream edges. In the embodiment shown in Figure 9, the alignment plates have symmetric wavy top edges, are laterally aligned, and have longitudinally aligned upstream edges.

The aligned strand stream from alignment conveyor 14 is subsequently transported to a vibrating mat conveyor (indicated as the 3^ld vibrating conveyor in Figure 2, not shown in Figure 3A). The vibrating mat conveyor does not have alignment plates. In some embodiments the width of the mat conveyor may be slightly narrower than the alignment conveyor to compensate for the loss of width of the alignment plates. Vibration of the mat conveyor provides further close packing of, and further mass redistribution between, the strands.

Figures 13 to 15 illustrate the strand alignment of the mats of 1 ft, 3 ft, and OSB (small) strands, respectively, following one pass of the process illustrated in Figure 2 using a strand mat formation system 10 shown in Figure 3 with relatively short 20 ft long alignment plates 16. Strand alignment is clearly visible after only one pass through relatively short alignment plates. In practice, the length of a typical OSB/OSL line may be 80 ft or greater. A person skilled in the art would readily appreciate that both the strand alignment and strand mass distribution, and thus uniform strand mass packing, could be improved using a longer vibrating conveyor system. The feed conveyor, alignment conveyor and mat conveyor may be three independent conveyors in some embodiments and one or more integrated conveyors in other

embodiments. The widths of the conveyors vary depending on the size of the desired product, and can typically range from 8 ft wide to 16 ft wide. The conveyor surfaces may be coated with a non-stick coating such as TEFLON^{1 M} to minimize strands sticking to the conveyor surfaces. One or more of the feed conveyor, the alignment conveyor and the mat conveyor may be regular belt conveyors in some embodiments.

Figure 4 shows a strand mat formation system 20 according to another embodiment. Strand mat formation system 20 includes a feed conveyor which is a belt conveyor 22, and a vibrating alignment conveyor 24 with rectangular alignment plates 26. Arrow 23 indicates the direction of movement of the conveyor surface of belt conveyor 22. Arrows 25 indicate the directions of vibration of vibrating alignment conveyor 24. The mat is notated with the letter "M".

Figure 5 shows a strand mat formation system 30 according to another embodiment. Strand mat formation system 30 includes a vibrating feed conveyor 32 for distributing strands evenly. The strands then fall onto and/or through a vibrating alignment plate system 36 which is suspended over a conventional belt conveyor 34. The aligned strands are further transported by belt conveyor 34 instead of a vibrating conveyor. Arrows 33 indicate the directions of vibration of vibrating feed conveyor 32. Arrow 35 indicates the direction of movement of the conveyor surface of belt conveyor 34. Strand mat formation system 30 may allow the thickness (basis weight) of the strand mat to be more readily adjusted by changing the speed of the belt conveyor, which usually has a broader operating speed range than a vibrating conveyor. Such an adjustment is necessary during processes to manufacture different sizes (thickness) of lumber products. Strand mat formation system 30 may further include a mat conveyor of a width narrower than the belt conveyor 34 for further packing of the strands. Figure 6A to 6F show an alignment conveyor 44, and components thereof, according to another embodiment. Alignment conveyor 44 is a vibrating conveyor assembly including three staggered decks of alignment plates 46a, 46b, 46c and two feeding boards 48a, 48b. Arrow 45 indicates the flow direction of the strand stream. Alignment conveyor 44 allows a three-layer mat (usually the top and bottom are filled with higher quality strands and the core with lower quality strands) to be formed by a corresponding deck.

In particular, a first layer of strands (usually larger, stronger and/or higher quality strands) are fed by a feeder (not shown) onto alignment conveyor 44 and aligned by the bottom deck of alignment plates 46a.

A second layer of strands (usually smaller, weaker, and/or lower quality strands) are fed by another feeder (not shown) onto first feeding board 48a attached immediately upstream to the upstream edge of the middle deck of alignment plates 46b and covering the top of at least a portion of the bottom deck of alignment plates 46a. Vibration of alignment conveyor 44 helps distribute the second layer of strands evenly before they enter the channels of the middle deck of alignment plates 46b. The second layer of aligned strands will then travel forward and fall on top of the first layer of aligned strands.

A third layer of strands (usually larger, stronger and/or higher quality strands) is fed by a further feeder (not shown) onto a second feeding board 48b attached immediately upstream to the upstream edge of the top deck of alignment plates 46c and covering the top of at least a portion of the middle deck of alignment plates 46b. Vibration of alignment conveyor 44 helps distribute the third layer of strands evenly before they enter the channels of the top deck of alignment plates 46c. The third layer of aligned strands will then travel forward and fall on top of the second and first layers of aligned strands.

The typical length of alignment conveyor 44 may be 20 ft or longer. The depth of the base

49 of alignment conveyor 44 may be 1 ft or greater, and the height of each deck of alignment plates may be progressively higher in the downstream direction. The top edges of the top deck of alignment plates 46c may be 1 -3 inches lower than that of top of the side walls 47 of the base 49 of alignment conveyor 44. Depending on the desired product, other embodiments may have two decks of alignment plates, or more than three decks of alignment plates.

Figure 7A to 7C show an alignment conveyor 54, and components thereof, according to another embodiment. Alignment conveyor 54 is a vibrating conveyor assembly including three staggered decks of alignment plates 56a, 56b, 56c. Depending on the embodiment, each deck of alignment plates may or may not include a floor. In alignment conveyor 54, only the bottom deck of alignment plates 56a has a floor. Also in alignment conveyor 54, the bottom deck of alignment plates 56a and the top deck of alignment plates 56c are formed as an integral component (see Figure 7B). Arrow 55 indicates the flow direction of the strand stream. Unlike alignment conveyor 44, alignment conveyor 54 does not have feeding boards. Also, the alignment plates of the middle deck of alignment plates 56b are separated by narrower gaps. The narrower gaps in the second deck of alignment plates 56b help optimize orientation of small strands. The narrower gaps are preferably 1.5 to 3 times the width of the strands. Each of the first, second and third layer of strands will be fed with separate strand delivery systems (not shown). The overall dimensions of alignment conveyor 54 may be similar to those of alignment conveyor 44.

Accordingly, the strand mat formation systems of the invention may be equipped with multiple decks of feeding and alignment plates to accommodate multiple layers or varying thicknesses of products. It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that while the vibrating conveyors are shown as having a closed base which is generally parallel to the ground or floor, the entire conveyor mechanism may be tilted at an angle which is not generally parallel as described, to further aid the deposition and alignment of strands within the strand mat formation systems. Figure 8 shows a strand mat formation system 60 according to another embodiment. In strand mat formation system 60, strands for different layers are fed to vibrating alignment conveyor 64 by separate delivery systems. Belt feed conveyor 62a delivers strand mass S I via picker roll 67a to an upstream portion of alignment plates 66 to form a first layer of strands, and belt feed conveyor 62b delivers strand mass S2 via picker roll 67b to a downstream portion of alignment plates 66 to form a second layer of strands. Arrows 63 indicate the direction of movement of the conveyor surface of the belt feed conveyors.

Arrows 65 indicate the direction of vibration of alignment conveyor 64. Strand masses S I , S2 should be distributed evenly before fed to vibrating alignment conveyor 64. The two layers of strands form strand mat M. Depending on the number of layers required for the product, other embodiments may have three or more separate delivery systems.

Figure 10 shows a strand mat formation system 70 according to another embodiment wherein an existing OSB or OSL process utilizing a disc orienter D pre-orients the strands S before their delivery onto a vibrating alignment conveyor 74. Such additional pre-orientation of the strands, used in conjunction with the vibrating alignment conveyor 74, further improves strand mat formation. The mass of strands S is evenly distributed by feeding bin 71. The evenly distributed strands enter the disc orienters D and are pre-aligned. Vibrating alignment conveyor 74 with alignment plates 76 replace the conventional belt conveyor, allowing strands to be further aligned before strand mat M is transported by a mat conveyor 79 for downstream processing. Arrows 75 indicate the direction of vibration of vibrating alignment conveyor 74. In some embodiments the mat conveyor may be a vibrating mat conveyor of narrower width compared to the alignment conveyor to pack the strands more closely.

Figure 1 1 A shows a strand mat formation system 80 according to another embodiment with variable speed control of a belt conveyor needed for making different thicknesses of the strand mats/products. Open-bottomed vibrating alignment plates 86 (as shown in Section A- A in Figure 1 I B) are suspended over conveyor 84. The strands are aligned after sequentially passing through disc orienter D and vibrating alignment plates 86. The strands then fall on to the belt conveyor 84 to form strand mat M for further downstream processing. Figure 12A shows a strand mat formation system 90 according to another embodiment similar to the embodiment in Figure 1 1 A, except that the bottom of vibrating alignment plates 96 is closed (as shown in Section B-B in Figure 12B). This embodiment may eliminate any problems associated with strands getting trapped between the plates 86 and the conveyor 84 in the open-bottom plate design of the embodiment shown in Figures 1 1 A and 1 I B.

Table 1 : Comparison of alignment properties

Table 1 shows a comparison of strand alignment results between a prototype embodiment of the invention and commercially available apparatus. The average alignment angle and angle range are important indicators of strand alignment, with an alignment of 0° being parallel (ideal) and 90° being perpendicular (worst). It is important to note that the Parallam ^{1 M} (US Patent no. 4,563,237) apparatus uses strands that are 3 ft to 8 ft long. Although the average alignment angle of Parallam^{1 M} (3.39°) is better than the orientation of 3 ft strands using the prototype embodiment (5.33°), the Parallam^{1 M} angle varies more widely (0.3 - 14.55°) than that of the prototype embodiment (0.04-9.57°). A person of skill in the art would appreciate that the systems and methods of the present invention would produce much better orientation if longer strands are used. Also, the data in Table 1 shows that the systems and methods of the present invention can significantly improve wood recovery by using smaller strands without significantly sacrificing strength properties.

As also shown in Table 1 , average strand alignment using the prototype embodiment with commercial OSB strands ( 18.93°) is significantly better than that of commercial OSB (31.9°). Also, the length of OSB strands (0.5 ft) is only half of that of OSL strands ( 1 ft) and yet the prototype embodiment produces better orientation with the average alignment angle being 18.93° instead of 20.69°, and with a narrower range of angle variation. This is significant because the systems and methods of the present invention allow strand alignment to be significantly improved using regular OSL strands and hence the strength of the product can be significantly increased and/or the wood recovery can be significantly increased by using shorter/lower quality strands. Currently, OSL mills have to screen out 40% of short strands which otherwise cannot be oriented to meet final product performance requirements.

Notably, the prototype results in Table 1 were obtained using a single pass through a short length prototype conveyor. Even better results would be expected in practice when much longer conveyors are operated, or where an existing longer alignment system is retrofitted, according to the systems and methods of the present invention.

While a number of exemplary aspects and embodiments have been discussed above, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications, permutations, additions and subcombinations thereof. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims and claims hereafter introduced are interpreted to include all such modifications, permutations, additions and sub-combinations as are within their true spirit and scope.

Claims

1 . A strand mat formation system comprising:

a vibrating alignment conveyor;

a plurality of alignment plates disposed on the vibrating alignment conveyor, wherein each alignment plate extends at least along a portion of a length of the vibrating alignment conveyor.

2. A strand mat formation system according to claim 1 wherein at least some of the plurality of alignment plates comprise profiled top edges.

3. A strand mat formation system according to claim 2 wherein the profiled top edges are wavy.

4. A strand mat formation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein

upstream edges of at least some of the plurality of alignment plates are staggered along the length of the vibrating alignment conveyor.

5. A strand mat formation system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 further

comprising a vibrating feed conveyor upstream of the vibrating alignment conveyor.

6. A strand mat formation system according to any of one claims 1 to 5 further

comprising a vibrating mat conveyor downstream of the vibrating alignment conveyor.

7. A strand mat formation system according to claim 6 wherein a width of the vibrating mat conveyor is narrower than a width of the vibrating alignment conveyor.

8. A strand mat formation system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 further comprising a plurality of orienter discs above the plurality of alignment plates.

9. A strand mat formation system according to claim 1 comprising a plurality of feed conveyors upstream of the vibrating alignment conveyor, wherein the feed conveyors deliver strand streams in a staggered manner along the length of the vibrating alignment conveyor.

10. A strand mat formation system according to claim 9 wherein the plurality of

alignment plates comprise two or more decks of alignment plates staggered along the length of the vibrating alignment conveyor.

1 1 . A strand mat formation system according to claim 10 wherein each of the feed

conveyors delivers a strand stream to a corresponding one of the two or more decks of alignment plates.

12. A strand mat formation system according to claim 1 1 wherein the plurality of

alignment plates comprise bottom, middle, and top decks of alignment plates.

13. A strand mat formation system according to claim 12 comprising a feeding board immediately upstream of each of the middle and top decks, wherein the feeding boards receive a strand stream from a corresponding feed conveyor.

14. A strand mat formation system according to claim 13 wherein spacing between plates of the middle deck is narrower than spacing between plates of the bottom and top decks.

15. A strand mat formation system according to claim 13 wherein the spacing between the plates of the middle deck are 1.5 to 3 times the width of strands of the strand stream delivered to the middle deck.

16. A strand mat formation system comprising:

a vibrating alignment plate assembly;

a belt conveyor beneath the vibrating alignment plate assembly.

17. A strand mat formation system according to claim 16 wherein the vibrating alignment plate assembly is bottomless.

18. A strand mat formation system according to claim 16 wherein the vibrating alignment plate assembly comprises a bottom surface.

1 . A strand mat formation system according to claim 17 or 18 further comprising a plurality of orienter discs above the vibrating alignment plate assembly.

20. A strand mat formation system according to any one of claims 1 to 19 wherein the system is tilted at an angle in relation to a surface on which the system sits to aid deposition and alignment of strands.

21. A method of forming a strand mat comprising aligning strands by conveying the strands along a vibrating alignment conveyor comprising a plurality of alignment plates oriented in a parallel direction to a flow of the strands.

22. A method according to claim 21 comprising, prior to aligning the strands, distributing the mass of the strands by conveying the strands along a vibrating feed conveyor.

23. A method according to claim 21 or 22 comprising, after aligning the strands, packing the strands by conveying the strands along a vibrating mat conveyor, wherein a width of the vibrating mat conveyor is narrower than a width of the vibrating alignment conveyor.

A method according to claim 21 wherein aligning the strands comprises directing a plurality of streams of strands in a staggered manner along a length of the vibrating alignment conveyor to provide a strand mat with a plurality of strand layers.

25. A method according to claim 24 wherein the plurality of streams of strands comprise streams of strands of two or more different sizes, stiffness and/or quality.

A method of according to any one of claims 21 to 25 comprising passing the strands through a plurality of disc orienters before conveying the strands along the vibrating alignment conveyor.

A method of forming a strand mat comprising aligning strands by passing a stream of strands through a vibrating plate assembly suspended above a conveyor, to form a mat of aligned strands on the conveyor.

A method according to claim 27 comprising, prior to passing the stream of strands through the vibrating plate assembly, passing the stream of strands through a plurality of disc orienters.