Patent ID: 6412530
Filing Date: 2002-07-02
Classification: B27N

Abstract:
A process for producing a colored wood product, comprising the steps of grinding wood in a mill until a wood compact is formed with a particle size distribution such that at least about 80 percent of the particles of the wood compact are smaller than about 4.0 inches, sieving said wood compact to produce a first sieved wood compact, spraying said first sieved wood compact with an aqueous solution of colorant to produce a first colored wood compact, immersing said first colored wood compact in a bath of aqueous solution of colorant while simultaneously moving said colored first colored wood compact with a multiplicity of counterrotating augers to thereby produce a second colored wood compact, and then removing said second colored wood compact from said bath, wherein:(a) said mill comprises a rotor assembly rotatably mounted to a support member, said rotor assembly having a rotor and a plurality of reducing members mounted to said rotor, (b) said rotor assembly further comprises a plurality of augers disposed beneath said rotor and being rotatable to push reduced waste material up toward said rotor to be reduced at least another time by said reducing members, and (c) said rotor assembly further comprises a basin disposed beneath said rotors, wherein: 1. said plurality of augers is disposed in said basin, and 2. an anvil is provided at the top of said basin to act as a support for said reducing members.