Engineered timber products, components and methodologies

Abstract

A method of drying sticks, a related apparatus, resultant product and its uses where the method involves presenting a plurality of sticks in parallel as a single layer, pressing each stick with a bank of pressing members on and/or into at least one face of the sticks, each with plurality of protuberances, thereby to constrain the sticks against crook, and drying the sticks when so constrained. Preferably each bank of pressing members is an underside of a frame or lattice of a stack of such frames or lattices able to receive such a single layer of sticks between adjacent overlying/underlying frames or lattices, the protuberances preferably being only downwardly directed.

1 . A method of drying a plurality of sticks of square or rectangular cross-section, said method comprising or including the steps of
 advancing the sticks laterally onto an underlying frame which will allow drying of the underlying surface of the sticks,   squeezing the sticks when laterally received on the underlying frame to said underlying frame using an overlying frame carrying spaced penetrative members, said overlying frame with spaced penetrative members penetrating the upper surfaces of the sticks allowing drying of the upper most surface of the sticks, and   allowing and/or causing drying to occur whilst the sticks are so constrained by such squeezing.   
     
     
         2 . The method as claimed in  claim 1  wherein after at least sufficient drying of the sticks whilst constrained to reduce a tendency of crook, the squeezing is released by a lifting of the overlying frame and the sticks are moved laterally from the underlying frame. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  or  2  wherein said sticks are contiguous on the underlying frame. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  when performed in a stack of frames that are skeletal in nature, each adjacent pairing to act as a pair of underlying and overlying frames, several frames acting as both an overlying frame and an underlying frame of different parts. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said squeezing the sticks onto the underlying frame using spaced penetrative members of the overlying frame ensures top surface penetration by at least two penetrative members for each stick at each of several positions along the length of the stick. 
     
     
         6 . The method is claimed in  claim 5  wherein there are at least three penetrative members for each stick at each position along the length of the stick. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each stick is of substantially identical thickness and is in the thickness range, top surface to bottom surface, of from 5 to 25 mm. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the range is from 5 to 17 mm. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein the thickness is about 11 mm. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each underlying frame is skeletal. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein each underlying frame is of rails or bars fixed in a spaced parallel relationship. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein said penetrative members are on or of an underside of said rails or bars. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the penetrative members are pins. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the pins are profiled from a rail or bar of the frame. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each overlying frame and underlying frame pair matches rail or bar over rail or bar. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the rail or bars are laterally of the stick axes. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein spacing of rails or bars of each frame are closer together near the ends of the sticks than centrally of the sticks. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the penetrative members are of or from the underside of the rails or bars. 
     
     
         19 . A method of drying one or more stick which comprises or includes, in and/or in eventual drying conditions, laterally of the longitudinal axis of the, or each, stick and into one such face of its, or their, wider opened faces, constraining the, or each, stick between
 (A) a plurality of protuberances penetrative and/or able to apply a high localised loading of the stick(s) from multiple bar, fillet or like support members, and   (B) a reactive arrangement on the other face.   
     
     
         20 . A method of drying sticks, said method comprising or including:
 presenting a plurality of sticks in parallel as a single layer,   
       pressing each stick with a bank of pressing members on and/or into at least one face of the sticks, each with a plurality of protuberances, thereby to constrain the sticks against crook, and
 drying the sticks when so constrained. 
 
     
     
         21 . Apparatus operable or to be operable as during frames to constrain sticks during drying, the apparatus being in the form of a stack of layers of skeletal frames, each adjacent pair of frames to receive a layer of sticks therebetween with the sticks mutually at least substantially parallel by having been advanced laterally of their elongate axes on an underlying frame of the pair and then being squeezed onto the underlying frame by the overlying frame of the pair, each such overlying frame having protuberances to penetrate each stick on its upper face to constrain the sticks. 
     
     
         22 . Apparatus for holding sticks for drying, said apparatus comprising upper and lower lattices or frames being able to be brought to bear on opposed faces of each stick, at least one of the lattices or frames having sets of protuberances able to apply pressure into the stick against the reaction of the other lattice or frame, thereby, at intervals along the length of the stick, to have each set of protuberances, for each stick, having at least two protuberances bearing into the stick transversely of the face. 
     
     
         23 . A method of drying sticks whilst constrained, said method comprising interposing the sticks between frames against one frame using protuberances of the other frame penetrative of the sticks. 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . “An engineered elongate structural lumber product of square or rectangular cross section and length L greater than 2.4 m,
 wherein said product is, or is dressed back from, a laminate, wide face to wide face, of at least four engineered laminae of identical rectangular cross-section, the engineered laminae 
 (a) being of a width of at least the full dimension on one transverse axis of the structural lumber product, 
 (b) being layered serially to provide, with the accumulated cross-sectional thickness of mutually adhered engineered laminae, at least the other full dimension of the structural lumber product on the other transverse axis of the structural lumber product, 
 (c) being of at least length L; and 
 (d) being derived from end-wise joined uniform laminar thickness boards of less than length L (hereafter “sticks”) of rectangular section of no greater than 17 mm thick and of width not substantially greater than the width of the square cross-section or lesser dimension of the rectangular cross-section of the product, 
 (e) being each derived from a ranked stream of contributing sticks, the sticks of each stream being ranked by a stick by stick test, post drying, for a strength or stiffness, or both, characteristic into a ranked category, and; 
 (f) being each derived from contributing sticks ranked by such characteristic or characteristics into at least three ranked categories;
 and wherein there has been a profiled layering of said engineered laminae across that other full dimension of the structural lumber product, profiled by the ranking of the contributing sticks of each engineered laminae and the strength or stiffness, or both, characteristic wanted for the product; 
 and wherein each contributing stick was constrained by clamping their opposed wider faces, at least one of the wider faces being penetrated during such clamping by penetrative members.