Load carrying member constructed of oriented wood strands and process for making same

Abstract

An elongated structural member formed of bonded directionally-oriented wood strands. The member is rectangular in cross section, having a width between longitudinal side edges and thickness between parallel longitudinal faces joining the side edges. Oriented wood strands are utilized to form the member, with flange sections extending inwardly from the side edges and a web section extending between the flanges. Strands within the flange sections are longitudinally oriented parallel to one another and to the face and edges of the member. Strands within the web section are skewed relative to the strands within the flanges. At the interfaces between the flange sections and web sections, strands are disposed with angular components complementary to strands found in both the flanges and web section. The rectangular configuration of the member facilitates its construction by conventional pressing equipment and techniques. In the present process, a rectangular panel is produced with a plurality of elongated strips of longitudinally oriented strands and a plurality of interspersed web sections alternating across the panel width. Openings may be formed through the web sections along the length of each member in the panel during or after production of the members. A conventional press is then utilized to compress and heat the strands to bond the strands together, forming a composite panel of standard width and length dimensions. After hot pressing, the individual structural members within the panel are separated from each other by cutting or sawing the panel along appropriate lines to make a series of like structural members. The individual members are formed by cutting each strip of longitudinally oriented strands midway across its width on the panel, creating an integral flange section along each side of the structural member.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.