Improvements in Apparatus and Processes for Impregnating Wood with a Mixture or Solution to Render the Wood Tenacious and Resistible to Pressure.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Mar., 1899-Accepted, 29th Apr., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (AMENDED).
Improvements in Apparatus and Processes for Impregnating Wood
with a Mixture or Solution to Render the Wood Tenacious and
Resistible to Pressure.
I, SIGMUND WILLNER, of Nos. 10 and 12, Walbrook, in the City of London,
England, Engineer and Inventor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention is for improvements in the invention described in the Specification
of Letters Patent granted to Alfred Julius Boult No. 1355 A.D. 1893, and has
reference to a novel construction of apparatus and process for impregnating wood
with a mixture or solution, which upon drying within the wood renders a portion
thereof, at or near the surface, tenacious and resistable to pressure, whereby the
wood can be subjected to the action of a die or dies bearing a design, and under
pressure, can be provided with an ornamentation in perfect, imitation of hand
carving, without any danger of distorting or tearing the fibre of the wood, no
matter whether the pressure is applied across or longitudinally with the grain of
the wood.
This invention therefore has for its primary objects to provide a novel con-
struction of apparatus and a process of treating the wood in such apparatus for
the purposes stated, and to provide a simple and operative device, whereby con-
siderable time and expense is saved during the treatment of the wood, to render it
tenacious and resistable to pressure, and whereby, sharper, deeper and more
clearly defined ornamentations can be produced in the wood, than by the methods
and apparatus heretofore employed.
The invention therefore consists in the novel apparatus for and the process or
method of impregnating the wood with a mixture or solution, to render the wood,
at or near its surface, tenacious and resistable to pressure.
The invention furthermore consists in the several arrangements and combina-
tions of parts of the apparatus and mechanism connected therewith; and also,
in the minor details of the construction thereof, all of which will be fully described
hereinafter.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a front view of the apparatus for treating the wood by my novel
process. Figure 2 is a plan or top view of the apparatus, and Figure 3 is a
longitudinal vertical section of the same.
Figure 4 is a cross section of one form of supporting frame or cradle, on which
the blocks, slabs or pieces of wood to be treated are placed.
Figure 5 is a cross section of a piece of wood before treatment, Figure 6 is a
similar view of the piece of wood after treatment, and Figure 7 is a cross section
of the treated wood after it has been subjected to the pressure of a die or 'dies
hearing a design.

page_text: Similar letters of reference are employed in all of the above described views,
to indicate corresponding parts..
In order to render wood, which may be of any kind, tenacious and resistable
to pressure from a die or dies, without distorting or tearing the fibre of the wood,
a mixture, usually consisting of water, bi-chromate of potash and mica; or,
consisting of water, formic aldehyde and gelatine, either with or without mica;
or, consisting of water and any tough cementaceous matter, as glue, is placed in
a suitable boiler forming a part of the apparatus, such as will be hereinafter
fully described, which boiler I fill to about the middle with one of the mixtures
above mentioned, and I bring the same to the boiling point by a fire beneath
the boiler. Upon a suitable cradle or frame within such boiler, and normally
above the mixture, I place the blocks, slabs or any other piece of wood, of any
size and kind through an opening in the front or other suitable point in the boiler.
The next step in the operation is to close the door hermetically, and; by means
of a rack and gear-mechanism, or other suitable means, to lower the cradle, or
frame on which the wood to be treated has been placed, down into the boiling
mixture. I have found, however, that by simply immersing the wood in the
liquor, the latter will not sufficiently penetrate the pores of the wood, especially
when hard wood is to be treated, to render the surface of the wood sufficiently
tenacious to resist the pressure from a die or dies without tearing or distorting
tho fibre of the wood.
In order that the liquor or mixture may be readily driven into the wood, I
have connected with the boiler a suitable exhauster or air-pump, which, when
set in operation, will exhaust all the air from within the boiler and also from
the wood therein, whereby a vacuum is created in the said boiler. I then lower
the cradle or frame, with the wood thereon, down into the boiling mixture, in
which it is left for about five to ten minutes, thereby allowing the liquor to
thoroughly impregnate the wood. After the cradle or frame has again been
raised, air is admitted into the boiler and the door opened to permit of the removal
of the impregnated wood, which, when dried, within two or three days, becomes
very hard and it is then ready to be subjected to the action of a die or dies,
bearing a design, and an ornamentation is produced in the surface of the wood in
perfect imitation of hand carving.
I will now describe the construction of the several parts of the apparatus and the
operations thereof in carrying out the process of treating blocks, slabs, or pieces of
wood for ornamentation in imitation of hand carving.
In the accompanying drawings, A indicates a suitably constructed tank or
boiler, which may be placed upon the usual form of boiler-setting b, of which b₁
is the front wall provided with doors 62 and 63 for the fire-pot opening 6 and
ash-pit opening 65 respectively. Resting against the bridge-wall 60 and the inner
surface of the wall ₁are any well known forms of grate bars 67, and 68 is a
suitable stack or chimney for conveying the smoke and gases of combustion from
the fire-chamber underneath the boiler.
Said boiler is provided, preferably in the front, with an opening a over which
can be arranged a suitable door or cover a¹, placed between lugs a², substantially
as illustrated in Figure 1. In suitable places, said door is provided with slots
or openings a³, which are passed over lugs a directly upon the boiler. Pivotally
arranged jam-levers as on the door or cover a¹ can be brought into holding or locked
engagement with said lugs a to firmly wedge a suitable packing a6 on the back
of the door or cover a¹ against the front of the boiler, and to hermetically scal
or close the opening. a in said front. When the levers a5 are disengaged from
the lugs at the door or cover a¹ can be lifted off the lugs a² and suspended by
means of chains a², connected with the door or cover at a and with the front of
the boiler at a', 'directly beneath the opening a in said front, as will be clearly
understood from Figures 1 and 3. It will, however, be evident that any other
suitable arrangement of door may be employed. At any suitable point of the
boiler A. I have arranged a glass gauge e for indicating the height of the mixture

page_text: within the boiler, and also a temperature indicator c. Upon the top of the boiler,
in any convenient position, is a suitable safety valve a¹ and a man or hand-
hole a, which are both of the usual and well known forms of constructions.
At any suitable point in the bottom of the boiler is an outlet pipe a provided
with a valve a¹³, and a¹ is a pipe which communicates with the top of the boiler
at its one end and is connected at its other end with any well known form of
exhauster or air-pump A for exhausting the air from the boiler, when the
mechanism of the pump is set in operation. At any convenient point in said
pipe is a valve a, which is closed during the operation of exhausting the air
from the boiler, but is opened, to permit a fresh supply of air from without and
into the boiler when it is desired to remove the wood after it has been immersed
in the liquor and again removed therefrom.
Within said boiler A, and normally above the level of the liquor therein is a
suitable cradle or frame 1) on which the blocks, slabs or pieces of wood h are
supported.
Said cradle or frame comprises a pair of end-pieces d and d', suitably con-
nected by means of cross stays or rods and the longitudinal stays or rods d³,
upon which rods the wood is arranged prior to its being immersed in the mixture
in the boiler. Said cradle or frame 1 is operatively connected with and sup-
ported within said boiler by means of a pair of upwardly extending posts or
uprights and d which pass through suitably constructed stuffing boxes f and f¹,
respectively, as will be clearly seen from the several figures of the drawings.
Each upright is provided with rack-teeth which are in operative mesh with
suitable gear-mechanism E and E at each end of the boiler.
Each gear-
mechanism E and E' comprises a pair of brackets & having a shaft el rotatively
arranged in bearings e, an operating handle or lever e and a pinion e, which
is in operative mesh with a toothed wheel e on a shaft e rotating in a second
pair of bearings e on said brackets c. On said shaft e is a mitre wheel e meshing
with a similar wheel secured upon an upwardly extending shaft e adapted to revolve
in a bearing elo at the lower end and in a bearing ell at the top, said bearing ell
being connected with one of a pair of brackets e12 secured to the top of the
boiler at or near each end thereof. In operative mesh with a mitre wheel e13
on each shafte is a mitre wheel e¹ secured upon a shaft e¹5 which is rotatively
arranged in bearings connected with said brackets 2, and each shaft es has
secured thereon a pinion e¹6 which is in operative mesh with the rack-teeth de
on the respective uprights and d connected with the cradle or frame D. It
will thus be evident, that by operating the cranks connected with the respective
gear-mechanism E and E', said cradle or frame D can be suitably lowered into
the boiling mixture or raised therefrom, as may be necessary during the operation
of preparing the wood for the purposes herein-above stated.
Of course it will be evident, that any other suitable form of cradle or frame
may be employed, and the mechanism for lowering and raising said cradle or frame
may be varied.
Other changes may be made in the general arrangement and combinations of
the mechanism herein set forth, and in the details of the construction of the parts
thereof, without departing from the scope of my present invention; hence, I
do not limit myself to the several arrangements and combination of the mechanism
herein set forth, nor to the details of the construction of the parts thereof.
In Figure 5 of the drawing, I have illustrated the natural condition of the fibre
of a piece of wood, as h, before it has been subjected to the herein-above described.
treatment, and in Figure 6 said piece of wood h is represented with a tenacious
and pressure-resisting surface h¹ formed by the hardening of the chemicals with
which the wood has been impregnated, and in Figure 7 is illustrated the condition
of the piece of wood after it has been subjected to pressure from a die or dies
bearing a design for providing the surface of the wood with the desired ornamenta-
tion.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be under-
stood that I am aware that in the treatment of wood for the purpose of stamping
it with imitation carvings it has been previously patented to impregnate the wood
by boiling it in a solution of glue, to use a vacuum prior to immersing the wood
in the boiling solution, to immerse the wood while exposed to the action of the
vacuum and to use formic aldehyde in conjunction with the solution of glue.
I lay no claim to these processes, but I declare that what I claim is:-
1. A process of producing imitation carvings in wood, consisting in taking a
piece or slab of wood, and subjecting such piece or slab to a mixture of water,
formic aldehyde and gelatine, to render a portion of the wood at or near its surface
resistable to pressure, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2. A process of producing imitation carvings in wood, consisting in taking a
piece or slab of wood, and subjecting such piece or slab to a mixture of water,.
formic aldehyde and gelatine, to render a portion of the wood at or near its surface
resistable to pressure, and then subjecting the said breated surface to the action
of a die or dies bearing a design, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
3. In an apparatus for preparing wood and rendering its surface tenacious and
resistable to pressure, the combination, with a boiler containing the mixture with
which the wood is to be impregnated, of a cradle or frame in said boiler, a
pair of uprights on said cradle or frame, extending through the closed top of
said boiler and having rack-teeth, and a gear-mechanism in operative mesh with
the rack-teeth on said uprights for lowering and raising said cradle or frame,
substantially as set forth..
4. In an apparatus for preparing wood and rendering its surface tenacious and
resistable to pressure, the combination, with a boiler containing the mixture with
which the wood is to be impregnated, of a cradle or frame in said boiler, a
pair of uprights on said cradle or frame, having rack-teeth, a gear-mechanism
in operative mesh with the rack-teeth on said uprights for raising and lowering
said cradle or frame, and an air exhauster or pump connected with said boiler,
substantially as set forth.
5. In an apparatus for preparing wood and rendering its surface tenacious and
resistable to pressure, the combination, with a boiler containing the mixture with
which the wood is to be impregnated, of a cradle or frame in said boiler, a
pair of uprights on said cradle or frame, a pair of stuffing boxes in said boiler
through which said uprights extend and are movable therein, rack-teeth on the
free ends of said uprights, a gear-mechanism in operative mesh with the rack-
teeth on said uprights, for lowering and raising said cradle or frame, and an
air exhauster or pump connected with said boiler, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 21st day of November 1898.
SIGMUND WILLNER,
Marks & Clerk,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, and
25, Cross Street, Manchester, Agents,