# US 5,344,871 A · Method of making binder from naturally occurring agricultural products

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- Number: US 5,344,871 A
- Document ID: US5344871A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 07/954,740
- Filed: 1992-09-29
- Granted: 1994-09-06
- Earliest claimed: 1985-03-18
- Assignees: Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska
- Inventors: Delmar C. Timm; Ayodeji Ayorinde; Harold E. Egger
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US5344871A

## CPC

- C10L 5/46: on sewage, house, or town refuse {(C10L5/403, C10L5/406 take precedence)}
- C08L 97/02: Lignocellulosic material, e.g. wood, straw or bagasse {(manufacture of articles made from lignocellulosic material by dry processes B27N)}
- C08L 99/00: Compositions of natural macromolecular compounds or of derivatives thereof not provided for in groups C08L89/00 - C08L97/00
- C09J 189/00: Adhesives based on proteins; Adhesives based on derivatives thereof
- C10L 5/14: with organic binders
- Y02E 50/10: Biofuels, e.g. bio-diesel
- Y02E 50/30: Fuel from waste, e.g. synthetic alcohol or diesel
- C10L: FUELS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NATURAL GAS; SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS OBTAINED BY PROCESSES NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C10G OR C10K; LIQUIFIED PETROLEUM GAS; USE OF ADDITIVES TO FUELS OR FIRES; FIRE-LIGHTERS
- C08L: COMPOSITIONS OF MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS (compositions based on polymerisable monomers C08F, C08G; artificial filaments or fibres D01F; textile treating compositions D06)
- C09J: ADHESIVES; NON-MECHANICAL ASPECTS OF ADHESIVE PROCESSES IN GENERAL; ADHESIVE PROCESSES NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE; USE OF MATERIALS AS ADHESIVES (preparation of glue or gelatine C09H)
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

## Abstract

To form a binder from naturally occurring products without extraction or purification steps, the binder utilizes proteins from the germ or endosperm of cereal grasses or from the seed of buckwheat, oil seed plants, Amaranthus or leguminous plants or from leaves. The protein has a thermoplastic microstructure with linear polymers of moleculer weight of at least 2,000 linked with peptide linkages of at least 50 in number. The naturally occurring product is ground or milled without further processing and thus includes carbohydrates, particularly as cellulose, and possibly fats, yeast or materials yielding ash upon burning, with the carbohydrates being at least 5 percent of the proteins by weight. The binder may include some initiators or catalysts to polymerize fats or other initiators or catalysts to polymerize proteins. Structures formed using the binder may be made from naturally occurring agricultural products with the protein already in them, or in the alternative, the binder may be mixed with filler material and water from other sources.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of making a binder comprising the steps of:
obtaining a naturally occurring agricultural product containing plant protein not processed to remove carbohydrates so that carbohydrates are at least 5 percent of the protein;
grinding the material to a mesh of at least 18;
storing the material so as to not be exposed excessively to elevate conditions that cause reaction; and
adding a compound containing a group that reacts with an amide group of the plant protein to increase the polymerization of protein.

### Claim 2

A method of making a binder comprising the steps of:
obtaining a naturally occurring agricultural product containing plant protein not processed to remove carbohydrates so that carbohydrates are at least 5 percent of the protein;
grinding the material to a mesh of at least 18; and
storing the material so as to not be exposed excessively to elevated conditions that cause reaction;
the step of obtaining a naturally occurring agricultural product including the step of obtaining a naturally occurring agricultural product containing substantial lipids and further comprising the step of adding an initiator for the initiation of chain growth in the lipids.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

A method according to claim 1 in which the step of obtaining a naturally occurring agricultural product includes the step of obtaining seeds from the group consisting of a selected one of a cereal grass, buckwehat or a leguminous plant.