Manufactured wood product and methods for producing the same

Abstract

A method for producing a manufactured wood product using less desirable or discarded natural wood and a manufactured wood product produced by the described method. This inventive method comprises utilizing less desirable or discarded natural wood pieces by slicing the wood pieces into elongated strips that are then partially separated into elongate sections that maintain fibrous connectivity between the elongate sections. The elongate sections are dried and covered or impregnated with an adhesive. A second drying follows the adhesive application and the elongated strips are then arranged lengthwise in a mold for cold or hot pressing.

1 . Method of making a manufactured wood product having an aesthetically pleasing wood grain appearance extending throughout the length of the wood product such that it is suitable for use in applications where the wood product is displayed comprising:
 providing natural wood pieces having a length of at least about 450 mm along the natural grain thereof;   cutting said wood pieces generally along the wood grain thereof into a plurality of discrete elongated strips;   partially separating each elongated strip generally along the wood grain thereof into a plurality of elongate sections, wherein each of said sections remains in fibrous connection with at least one other of said sections such that the width of the elongated strip remains substantially the same before and after the partially separating step;   reducing the amount of moisture in said elongated strips to leave about 12% to 18% of water by weight;   applying an adhesive to said strips to form a plurality of adhesive strips;   reducing the amount of moisture in the adhesive strips to leave about 8% to 12% of water by weight;   providing a plurality of the adhesive strips lengthwise in a mold wherein each strip is substantially the same length and this length is substantially equal to the length of the interior of the mold; and   pressing the adhesive strips in said mold.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the pressing step further comprises heating the said mold after pressurization at a temperature sufficient to substantially cure the adhesive strips. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the temperature is between about 120° C. to 150° C. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein pressing occurs at a pressure from about 10 MPa to 100 MPa. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the natural wood pieces comprise a mixture of wood species. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the natural wood pieces are selected from the group consisting of byproduct wood material, scraps wood material, waste wood material, or recycled wood material. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the natural wood pieces are of a species that is not considered useful for structural or finished wood building materials. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the elongated strips are air dried in ambient temperature for about 1-48 hours. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the elongated strips are dried in an oven at a temperature from about 45° C. to about 65° C. for about 12-24 hours. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the elongated strips are dried to reduce the moisture content of the elongated strips to about 15% water by weight. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein applying the adhesive further comprises dipping the elongated strips lengthwise into an adhesive solution comprising phenol, formaldehyde, water, and sodium hydroxide. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the elongated strips are substantially saturated with the adhesive solution before removing the elongated strips from said adhesive solution. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the adhesive solution is at ambient temperature and the elongated strips are placed in the adhesive solution for about 1-10 minutes. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein reducing the amount of moisture in said adhesive strips comprises drip-drying said adhesive strips in ambient temperature. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein reducing the amount of moisture in said adhesive strips comprises drying said adhesive strips at a temperature from about 30° C. to about 60° C. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein reducing the amount of moisture in said adhesive strips comprises drying said adhesive strips in an oven. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 removing a manufactured wood product from said mold; 
 slicing wood cuts from the manufactured wood product; and 
 polishing the wood cuts to produce a wood board with a polished look. 
 
     
     
         18 . A manufactured wood product having a natural wood grain appearance prepared by a process of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         19 . Method of making a manufactured wood product having an aesthetically pleasing wood grain appearance extending throughout the length of the wood product such that it is suitable for use in applications where the grain of the wood product is displayed comprising:
 providing natural wood pieces having a length of at least about 450 mm along the natural grain thereof;   cutting said wood pieces generally along the wood grain thereof into a plurality of discrete elongated strips;   partially separating each elongated strip generally along the wood grain thereof into a plurality of elongate sections, wherein each of said sections remains in fibrous connection with at least one other said sections such that the width of the elongated strip remains substantially the same before and after the partially separating step;   reducing the amount of water in said elongated strips to leave about 12% to 18% of water by weight;   applying an adhesive to said strips to form a plurality of adhesive strips;   reducing the amount of water in the adhesive strips to leave about 8% to 12% of water by weight;   providing a plurality of adhesive strips lengthwise in a mold to fill said mold to a desired height wherein each strand is substantially the same length and this length is substantially equal to the length of the interior of the mold;   simultaneously applying heat and pressure to said mold sufficient to cure the adhesive strips.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  further comprising:
 removing a manufactured wood product from said mold; 
 slicing wood cuts from the manufactured wood product; and 
 polishing the wood cuts to produce a wood board with a polished look. 
 
     
     
         21 . An elongated manufactured wood product having a length, a width and a thickness, comprising:
 a large number of elongate natural wood pieces of generally the same length arranged in a generally parallel relationship with one another along the length of the elongated manufactured wood product wherein said elongate wood pieces have been pressed and glued together to form the elongated manufactured wood product;   each wood strip having its own natural wood grain, wherein said natural wood grain extends generally along the length of the strip;   some portion of the wood strips that forms the elongated wood product deviating from the parallel relationship with one another along the length of the elongated wood product by a lateral distance of at least four times the width of the wood strip;   wherein the wood grain appearance is provided by the grain of the wood pieces and the edges of the elongate wood pieces.