Method of manufacturing laminated veneer lumber and decorative laminated sheet utilizing the same

A method for manufacturing laminated veneer lumber stabilized to be free of warps or waviness, comprising the steps of:

• (a) cutting a thin sheet of veneer obtained by cutting a log with one of a rotary lathe or a slicer into a plurality of veneers of predetermined length, placing a stack comprising said plurality of veneers onto a conveyor belt, transferring said stack into a hot press which comprises a fixed lower hot plate and an upper hot plate which moves vertically with respect to said lower hot plate, operating both said upper hot plate and said lower hot plate while pressing the stack towards the side of the lower hot plate by repeatedly moving the upper hot plate toward the fixed lower hot plate to apply pressure for durations of 40-60 seconds 2-3 times every hot press cycle, thereby softening the "lignin" in each of the veneers which constitute the stack while heating and smoothing each veneer by evaporating a moisture content therein, transferring the stack by said conveyor belt into a cold press which comprises a fixed lower cold plate and an upper cold plate which moves vertically with respect to said lower cold plate, cooling the stack, which has been made flexible and smoothed by heat, the cooling stack being pressed for a duration in the range 15-30 seconds towards the side of the lower cold plate by moving down the upper cold plate, and stabilizing each veneer in a smoothed flattened state;
• (b) separating said stack into respective veneers and cutting each of the flattened veneers on both edges in a grain direction to form symmetrically diagonal end faces;
• (c) bonding pluralities of thus obtained veneers at said symmetrically diagonal end faces to obtain a plurality of elongated sheets of veneer;
• and
• (d) cutting the elongated sheets of veneer in a grain direction into a predetermined length, laminating the plural sheets with seams therein, with their respective grain directions aligned, and covering the surface of the laminated veneer material with another thin sheet of seamless veneer.

A method for manufacturing laminated veneer lumber stabilized to be free of warps or waviness, comprising the steps of:

• (a) cutting a thin elongate sheet of veneer obtained by cutting a log with one of a rotary lathe or a slicer into a plurality of veneers of predetermined length, placing a stack comprising said plurality of veneers onto a porous conveyor belt, transferring said stack into a hot press which comprises a fixed lower hot plate and an upper hot plate which moves vertically with respect to said lower hot plate, operating both said upper hot plate and said lower hot plate while pressing the stack towards the side of the lower hot plate by moving down the upper hot plate to apply pressure for durations of 40-60 seconds 2-3 times every hot press cycle, softening "lignin" inherently present in each of the veneers which constitute the stack while smoothing and flattening each veneer by evaporating a moisture content inside said veneers through said porous conveyor belt, transferring the stack by said conveyor belt into a cold press which comprises a fixed lower cold plate and an upper cold plate which moves vertically with respect to said lower cold plate, cooling the stack, which has been made flexible and smoothed by heat, by pressing on the stack for a duration in the range 15-30 seconds towards the lower cold plate by moving down the upper cold plate, and thereby stabilizing each veneer in a smoothed flattened state;
• (b) separating said stack into respective smoothed flattened veneers and cutting each of the veneers, thus smoothed and flattened, on two edges in the grain direction to form symmetrically diagonal end faces;
• (c) bonding pluralities of thus obtained cut veneers to form seams at said symmetrically diagonal end faces thereof to obtain a plurality of elongated sheets of veneer;
• and,
• (d) cutting the elongated sheets of seamed veneer in a grain direction into sheets of laminated veneer material each of a predetermined length, and laminating plural, sheets with seams and grain directions aligned.

A method for manufacturing laminated veneer lumber stabilized to be free of warps or waviness, comprising the steps of:

• (a) cutting a thin sheet of veneer obtained by cutting a log with one of a rotary lathe or a slicer into a plurality of veneers each of a predetermined length, placing a stack comprising said plurality of veneers onto a porous conveyor belt, transferring said stack into a hot press which comprises a fixed lower hot plate and an upper hot plate which moves vertically with respect to said lower hot plate, operating both said upper hot plate and said lower hot plate while pressing the stack towards the side of the lower hot plate by moving down the upper hot plate to apply pressure for durations of 40-60 seconds 2-3 times every hot press cycle, softening "lignin" inherently present in each of the veneers which constitute the stack while smoothing and flattening each veneer by evaporating a moisture content inside said veneers through said porous conveyor belt, transferring the stack by said conveyor belt into a cold press which comprises a fixed lower cold plate and an upper cold plate which moves vertically with respect to said lower cold plate, cooling the stack, which has been made flexible and smoothed by heat, by pressing on the stack for a duration in the range 15-30 seconds towards the lower cold plate by moving down the upper cold plate, and thereby stabilizing each veneer in a smoothed flattened state;
• (b) separating said stack into respective smoothed flattened veneers and cutting each of the smoothed flattened veneers on two edges in the grain direction to form symmetrically diagonal end faces;
• (c) bonding pluralities of thus obtained cut veneers to form seams at said symmetrically diagonal end faces thereof to obtain a plurality of elongated sheets of seamed veneer;
• and,
• (d) cutting the elongated sheets of seamed veneer in a grain direction into a plurality of sheets each of a predetermined length, laminating the plural sheets with seams therein with their grain directions aligned, and covering a surface of the laminated plural sheets with another thin sheet of seamless veneer.