Engineered timber products, components and methodologies
AssigneeWood Engineering Technology Limited
InventorsWarwick Bosson, Roger Frank Harrison
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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.
Claims20
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 of a plurality of frames comprising at least one adjacent pair of frames, each adjacent pair of frames receiving said plurality of sticks, 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;
- wherein each adjacent pair of frames is actuatable to constrain said sticks;
- wherein each underlying frame is skeletal;
- and
- wherein a spacing of rails or bars of each frame are closer together near ends of said sticks than centrally of said sticks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.