Longitudinal tenderizing of veneer
AssigneeWestvaco Corporation
InventorLee E. Veneziale
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
As a preparatory step to rigid substrate application, indefinite length strips of wood veneer are tenderized by cross-grain stressing through a roll nip wherein the surface of a steel roll is corrugated with circumferentially extending flutes bearing against the veneer strip and backed by a medium hard rubber roll. Such treatment fractures the natural, transverse or cross-grain fiber in the veneer along longitudinal strip increments of the veneer surface.
Claims14
A method of tenderizing a sheet of wood veneer comprising the steps of:
- a. drawing a sheet of veneer along a longitudinal direction parallel with the grain of said sheet into a first nip between an elastomer surface backing roll and a corrugated roll having corrugation flutes extending predominately around the surface of said corrugated roll to distress longitudinally extending first strip areas of said sheet on the side thereof adjacent said backing roll and opposite of sheet contact areas by flute crests;
- b. drawing said sheet along said longitudinal direction into a second nip between an elastomer surface backing roll and a corrugated roll whereby contact points of flute crests corresponding to said second nip corrugated roll distress second strip areas parallel with but laterally offset from said first strip areas;
- and,
- c. drawing said sheet along said longitudinal direction into additional nips between an elastomer surface backing roll and a corrugated roll to distress additional, laterally offset and parallel strip areas until substantially the entire surface of said sheet has been distressed.
An apparatus for tenderizing a sheet of wood veneer comprising:
- an elastomer surface backing roll disposed for parallel axis rotation with a corrugated hard surface roll having corrugation flutes of less than 5 mm crest radius extending predominantly around the surface of said corrugated roll, the axis of one of said rolls being positionally adjustable relative to the axis of said other roll whereby a sheet of wood veneer may be nip loaded between said rolls and one of said rolls being rotationally driven to draw said sheet into said nip.
An apparatus for tenderizing a sheet of wood veneer comprising:
- a plurality of driven roll nips in series alignment along a veneer sheet process line for drawing a veneer sheet between rotatively converging surfaces of two rolls respective to a single nip, one of said two rolls respective to each nip having an elastomer surface and the other roll having a corrugated hard surface, said corrugated roll surface comprising corrugation flutes extending predominantly around said roll, flute crest areas of the corrugated roll respective to each nip being aligned and timed to engage different surface areas of a veneer sheet passing successively through said plurality of nips and means to displace one roll of a nip relative to the other in parallel axis translation to compressively load opposite face surfaces of said veneer sheet between said flute crests and said elastomer surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.