In a lumber factory, an automated laminated veneer lumber (LVL) process supported by a lumber production line employing a cross-cutting and rip-sawing stage, a dip-coating stage, a spray-coating stage, a print-marking stage, and a stacking, packaging and wrapping stage. At the dip-coating stage, cross-cut and rip-sawed LVL product is automatically transported and submerged through a dipping reservoir containing clean fire inhibiting chemical (CFIC) liquid, and then wet-stacked and set aside to dry. Once dried, the dip-coated LVL products are returned to the production line and sprayed coated with a moisture, fire and UV protective coating at the spray-coating stage, and then passed through a drying tunnel for quick drying of the spray-coating to produce Class-A fire-protected LVL products. The Class-A fire-protected LVL products are stacked, packaged and wrapped at the stacking, packaging and wrapping stage into a package of Class-A fire-protected LVL products, ready for shipping.

A method of producing packaged bundles of Class-A fire-protected lumber for use in wood-framed building construction. The method involved maintaining a dipping tank in a lumber factory, containing a water-based clean fire inhibiting chemical (CFPC) liquid at a depth sufficient to cover pieces of raw lumber while being treated during dip-coating operations. Untreated lumber pieces are submerged into the dipping tank, piece by piece, in an automated manner to coat all surfaces of the lumber pieces in CFIC liquid, and then removed from the dipping tank to produce pieces of Class-A fire-protected lumber having a CFIC liquid coating. The Class-A fire-protected lumber pieces are automatically wet stacked, packaged and wrapped into a packaged bundle, and allowed to dry.

A method of and system for producing Class-A fire-protected oriented strand board (OSB) sheets. Each Class-A fire-protected OSB sheet has: a core medium layer made of wood pump, binder and/or adhesive materials; a pair of OSB layers bonded to the core medium layer; a clean fire inhibiting chemical (CFIC) coating on the surface of each OSB layer, made from CFIC liquid applied to the surface by dipping the OSB sheet into the CFIC liquid in a dipping tank, allowing shallow surface absorption into the OSB layers and ends of the core medium layer at atmospheric pressure; and a moisture, fire and UV protection coating spray coated over the the CFIC coating to provide protection against moisture, fire and UV radiation from Sunlight, which is quickly dried by passing through a drying tunnel on the production line.

A method of and system for producing wood-framed buildings having Class-A fire-protection and defense against total fire destruction during the construction phase, and certifying and documenting the same. The system includes a reservoir for containing a supply of clean fire inhibiting liquid chemical (CFIC) liquid for spray application over over the interior surfaces of raw and treated lumber and sheathing used in a completed section of a wood-framed assemblies in a wood-framed building during its construction phase; a liquid spray pumping subsystem operably connected to the reservoir tank containing the supply of CFIC liquid. A hand-held liquid spray gun, operably connected to the liquid spray pumping subsystem, is used to for spray CFIC liquid from the reservoir tank onto the exposed interior wood surfaces of lumber and sheathing used to construct each completed section of the wood-framed building, to form a CFIC coating on the treated interior wood surfaces providing Class-A fire-protection to the completed section of the wood-framed building.

The present invention provides bonding systems comprising a formaldehyde-based (urea-/melamine-/phenol-/resorcinol-formaldehyde or other combination) and/or a polymeric isocyanate resin system composition for bonding ligno-cellulosic materials to form panels and/or shaped products, which contain a resin hardener, also referred to as resin catalyst, characterised in that the hardener is activated by heat.

A resin composition is provided. The resin composition comprises the following components: (a) a thermal-curable resin system, which has a dielectric loss (Df) of not higher than 0.008 at 10 GHz and comprises a bismaleimide resin of the following formula (I),

##STR00001## wherein M1 and the Z1 groups are as defined in the specification; and (b) an organic compound of the following formula (II) or formula (III),

##STR00002## wherein R, R11 to R19 and R21 to R28 are as defined in the specification, and wherein the amount of the organic compound (b) ranges from 1 wt % to 30 wt % based on the total weight of the resin system (a) and the organic compound (b).

The invention relates to systems and techniques for manufacturing articles containing cellulosic material, a tackifier, and a binder, and related processes of making and using the cellulosic articles. In particularly exemplary embodiments, the manufactured articles are door skins, sometimes known as door facings, and doors made from the door skins. The article contains a lipophilic cellulosic material, a tackifier, and a binder.

A method of and system for on-job-site spray coating of clean fire inhibiting liquid chemical (CFIC) liquid all over the exposed interior surfaces of raw and treated lumber, sheathing and wood used in a completed section of a wood-framed assemblies in a wood-framed building during its construction phase. The system includes a liquid spray pumping subsystem having a reservoir tank for holding a supply of the CFIC liquid; and a hand-held liquid spray nozzle for spraying the CFIC liquid from the reservoir tank, over the exposed interior wood surfaces of lumber and sheathing used in a completed section of a wood-framed assembly in a wood-framed building during construction phase. The CFIC-coated wood surfaces suppress fire ignition and suppression by interfering with free radicals (H+, OH, O) produced during the combustion phase of a fire.

A method of and system for designing and constructing high-density multi-story wood-framed buildings, and Class-A fire-protected building components, and methods and factories for producing the same in an economical manner. An on-job-site method is provided for treating wood-framed buildings so that such wood-framed buildings demonstrate Class-A fire-protection and improved defense against total fire destruction.

An acoustic sound absorptive panel or block is provided that is made from a plurality of materials and volumes selected such that each discrete volume of material has a sufficiently different sound absorption profile, resulting in a system that provides better overall sound absorption of traffic noise from motorways and railways in a practical and cost-efficient manner.