Patent ID: 6063883
Filing Date: 2000-05-16
Classification: B27K,C08L,Y10T

Abstract:
In a method for the treatment of wood which includes the steps of:(a) providing articles of wood;(b) introducing said articles of wood into an autoclave under conditions to substantially remove air contained therein,(c) introducing into said autoclave a treatment solution and impregnating said articles of wood therewith, and(d) submitting articles of wood impregnated with said treatment solution to a temperature higher than ambient, the improvement (I) whereini) said treatment solution comprises a water soluble prepolymer of low molecular weight (<10,000) having reactive groups which can be specifically localized at the end of the main or lateral chains, or statistically or block distributed in the main chain, said reactive groups enabling cross-linking being selected from allyl, vinyl, acrylate or methacrylate or issued from compounds having at least one reactive double bond, in order to ensure a multi-dimensional cross-linking, and a polymerization initiator, said prepolymer being cross-linkable in said wood and whereinii) step (c) is carried out in a gaseous atmosphere under conditions which allow for the polymerization of said prepolymer, thereby reducing the hardness of said wood as compared to wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA) only when said wood is at the same moisture content, and increasing the moisture content of said wood at equilibrium as compared to wood treated with CCA only, while ensuring reduced hardness and increased moisture content to be maintained during aging of said wood outside, under leaching conditions, substantially at the same level as immediately following said treatment.