METHOD FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF A WET GLUED WOOD ARTICLE

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a wet glued wood article, as well as a wet glued article obtainable by said method and also uses of a wet glued article, wherein the method comprises the following steps: a) providing two actively never-dried or slightly dried wood pieces comprising at least one surface each which has a superficial layer having a thickness of least 2-3 wood cells; b) drying said surfaces of said wood pieces so that the moisture content of said superficial layer is below the fibre saturation point, providing a dried surface on each of the said wood pieces; c) applying a gluing agent on said dried surface of one of the wood pieces, thus providing a glue surface; d) bringing the dried surfaces together so that said glue surface touches the dried surface on the other wood piece, thus providing a wet glued wood article.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a wet glued wood article comprising the following steps: a. providing a first actively never-dried or slightly dried wood piece comprising at least one surface which has a superficial layer having a thickness of least 2-3 wood cells, b. drying the at least one surface of said wood piece so that the moisture content of said superficial layer is below the fibre saturation point, providing a dried surface on said first wood piece, c. applying a gluing agent on said dried surface thus providing a glue surface, d. providing a second actively never-dried or slightly dried wood piece comprising at least one surface which has a superficial layer having a thickness of least 2-3 wood cells, e. drying the surface of said second wood piece so that the moisture content of said superficial layer is below the fibre saturation point, providing a dried surface on said second wood piece, f. bringing said first and second dried surfaces together, so that said glue surface of the first wood piece touches said dried surface on said second wood piece, thus providing a wet glued wood article.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein at least one surface of said first wood piece in step a) and at least one surface of said second wood piece in step d) are even.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said gluing agent of step c) is polyurethane glue (PUR), phenol- and resorcinol-formaldehyde (PF and RF) glue or melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) glue.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein drying the at least one surface of the wood piece in step b) is from a depth of about 0.15 to about 0.3 mm.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein said wood moisture content of the outermost layer in step b) and e) is from about 8 to about 30%.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein the drying time for the drying in step b) is less than 45 minutes.

7. A method according to claim 1 wherein said drying of step b) and e) is performed using convection drying, radiation drying, contact drying, chemical drying or vacuum drying or combinations thereof.

8. A method according to claim 7 wherein the convection drying involves conventional convection drying, jet drying or high temperature drying or combinations thereof, and the radiation drying involves infrared drying or high frequency drying, or combinations thereof.

9. A method according to claim 1 wherein one or both wood pieces emanate from spruce.

10. A method according to claim 1 wherein one or both wood pieces emanate from Norway spruce.

11. A method according to claim 1 wherein the drying is performed under about 100? C.

12. A method according to claim 1 wherein the drying is performed at from about 20? C. to about 100? C.

13. A method according to claim 1 wherein the gluing is performed at from about 20? C. to about 100? C.

14. A wet glued wood article obtainable by a method as set out in claim 1.

15. (canceled)

16. A method according to claim 1 wherein either or both actively never-dried or slightly dried wood piece in steps a) and d) is a freshly sawn wood piece.

17. A method according to claim 1 wherein drying the at least one surface of the wood piece in step b) is to a depth of from about 0 1 mm to about 1 mm in said wood piece.

18. A method for manufacturing a wet glued wood article comprising the following steps: a. providing a first actively never-dried or slightly dried wood piece comprising at least one surface which has a superficial layer having a thickness of least 2-3 wood cells, b. drying the at least one surface of said wood piece so that the moisture content of said superficial layer is below the fibre saturation point, providing a dried surface on said first wood piece, c. applying a gluing agent on said dried surface thus providing a glue surface, d. providing a second actively never-dried or slightly dried wood piece comprising at least one surface which has a superficial layer having a thickness of least 2-3 wood cells, e. drying the surface of said second wood piece so that the moisture content of said superficial layer is below the fibre saturation point, providing a dried surface on said second wood piece, f. bringing said first and second dried surfaces together, so that said glue surface of the first wood piece touches said dried surface on said second wood piece, thus providing a wet glued wood article, and g. clamping said wet glued wood article for creating a minimal glued joint bridging said first and second wood pieces together.

19. A method according to claim 1 wherein said wood moisture content of the outermost layer in step b) and e) is from about 10 to about 25%.

20. A method according to claim 1 wherein said wood moisture content of the outermost layer in step b) and e) is from about 12 to about 15%.

21. A method according to claim 1 wherein the drying time for the drying in step b) is less than 15 minutes.

22. A method according to claim 1 wherein the drying time for the drying in step b) is less than 10 minutes.

23. A method according to claim 1 wherein the drying is performed at a temperature from about 20? C. to about 80? C.

24. A method according to claim 1 wherein the gluing is performed at a temperature from about 20? C. to about 80? C.

Description

FIGURES

[0042] FIG. 1 discloses measurements from 12 mature spruce trees and show clearly how uneven the moisture content in sapwood can be (moisture content spruce).

[0043] FIG. 2 discloses also measurements from 12 mature spruce trees and show clearly how uneven the moisture content in sapwood can be (pore saturation spruce). Both FIGS. 1 and 2 show the natural distribution of water in freshly felled Norway Spruce (from bark to pith)both graphs are using the same set of data.

Wood moisture content:

[00001]$u=\frac{m_u-m_0}{m_0}*100.Math.\left[\%\right]$ [0044] u wood moisture content in % [0045] m.sub.u mass in original state [0046] m.sub.0 mass in absolute dry state
Wood moisture content is a common measure in the wood products industry. It relates the mass of water in the original sample (m.sub.u-m.sub.0 to the mass of the absolute dry sample.
Pore saturation:

[00002]$\mathrm{PS}=\frac{m_u-m_F}{m_{\max }-m_F}*100.Math.\left[\%\right]$ [0047] PS pore saturation in % [0048] m.sub.u mass in original state [0049] m.sub.F mass at fiber saturation point [0050] m.sub.max mass when 100% of cell lumen are filled with water
Pore saturation is a better measure when looking at the rate of free water in wood cells. It compensates the dependency on density which is an inherent flaw of wood moisture content.

[0051] FIG. 3 shows the model for the surface layer drying.

[0052] FIG. 4 discloses deformations through kiln-drying.

[0053] FIGS. 5 and 6 disclose that the gluing process according to the present invention takes place at the very surface of wooden boardsthe penetration into the wooden structure depends on the glue-system, but is typically not very deep. With PUR glue systems the penetration is in most cases only 2-3 cell rows (which converts into approx. 0.10-0.15 mm). There are 3 lines in each figure whereby these lines indicate the thickness of the glue line (approx. 0.10 mm) and the maximum penetration of PUR into the wood-tissue (approx. 0.15 mm).

EXAMPLES

Example 1

[0054] One trial indicated the model for the surface layer drying (for results see FIG. 3). The dotted (grey; previously blue) lines indicate the target area (8-25%) for the wood moisture content. Depending on the initial value it takes different times to arrive in the target area.

Example 2

[0055] An additional trial indicated using the pretreatment wet gluing method according to the present invention the following results. FIGS. 5 and 6 discloses these and that the gluing process according to the present invention takes place at the very surface of wooden boardsthe penetration into the wooden structure depends on the glue-system, but is typically not very deep. With PUR glue systems the penetration is in most cases only 2-3 cell rows (which converts into approx. 0.10-0.15 mm).

[0056] Various embodiments of the present invention have been described above but a person skilled in the art realizes further minor alterations, which would fall into the scope of the present invention. The breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. For example, any of the above-noted methods may be combined with other known methods. Other aspects, advantages and modifications within the scope of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.