US1941769A - Impregnated fibrous block - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 2, 1934. G. .LwARD I IIPREGNATED FIBROUS BLOCK Filed Jan. 22. 1.930

IN V EN TOR. Z-wg i A TTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 2, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i 1,941,769 IMPREGNATED Fnmons BLOCK Gilbert J. ward, l'srooklyln N. Y., assigno'r to Cheesman-Elliot Co. Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 22, 1930. ySerial No. 422,52'3

3 Claims.

tured, and to the provision of a process by which v .such blocks may be produced with uniform im' pregnation.

More specifically, the invention has for its object, the provision of improved boards of the character indicated which retain their initial sound and heat insulating properties and attain by treatment a relatively high degree of mechan ical strength and other properties, including weatherproof qualities.

Still another object is to provide an improved process by which the degree of impregnation can be accurately controlled at all times and thus produce impregnated boards which have substantially uniform penetration and unimpaired heat and sound insulating properties.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation and order of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the article possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements, which are exemplied in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an impregnated board constructed in accordance with the invention, a corner being cut away to assist in illustration; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing the nature of the impregnation. f

. It has been` proposed to prepare building boards, blocks, and' the like from compressed mineral, animal and vegetable fibres, manufacturing the same into structural and heat-insulatingv bodies which have as their chief constituents .such materials as mineral wool, asbestos, cellulose flbres, Wool, hair, etc. It has also been attempted to coat such bodies with pitch, tar, asphaltum, sodium-silicate and like materials,

Y by painting thesame thereon, or by dipping the bodies into suitable baths of the coating material.

Such bodieshave relatively great capillarity and characteristics in a degree adapted for the comlarity is furtherrincreased where a waterproof it has been found that the coating is relatively porous and that the degree of penetration is far from uniform, such coating material frequently running together at points Within the body, destroying its texture and otherwise interfering with its .structural and heat-insulating properties.

By the present invention, boards of brous material are employed which are highly compressed. Such boards may have a certain amount of relativelylarge pithy bres more or less uniformly 55 distributed throughout the block' andl may if desired, be initially sized with a waterproofing composition, whereby the compressed fibrous body is highly repellant to moisture remaining relatively` dry, so that it does not readily become' soggy. Such bodies in order to retain their sound and heat-insulating properties relatively unimpaired must be kept substantially dry and clean,-a condition which has not been maintained in fibrous building boards heretofore, because of the iniiltration of moisture and dust laden air through the pores of the material.

Compressed fibrous boards which have these mercial practice of the present invention, are

made up largely of small densely compacted bres which may average in the neighborhood of about one-thousandth of an inchin diameter or crosswise dimension, While their lengths vary more widely, but are of the order of one hundred times greater than their crosswise dimension. Such boards when relatively `highly compressed have no pore or cell openings of a definite or regular size. Voids, however, exist between the interlaced fibres which are of asize of the order of 9 their vcrossvvise dimension. This property, together with the enveloped air imparts to the boards a relatively low capillarity, so that no great elevation of water can be effected. This low capilsizing for the fibrous material is employed. Boards possessing these characteristics are now obtainableon the open market, certain of which contain relatively large amounts of coarse libres, moreor less uniformly distributed with the interlaced material, and are sold under the trade names, as lfor exampla. Celotex,

Such boards by reason of these properties vare adapted for u on'the interiorsv of buildings as a `105 lstructural base -or iinish, but the mechanical conditions, they readily become filled with mois-4 ture and disintegrate.

In the practice of the present invention, boards which contain jhighly compressed small fibrous 5 material having no definite pore structure are substantially uniformly impregnated to a predetermined depth with materials such as asphalt,

pitch, tar, resix, halowax and the like, in a manner whereby a non-porous homogeneous exterior 1o u surface results and there remains a definite unimpregnated interior core portion permanently shielded fromV the action of moisture or weather conditions.4 The infiltration of air of different temperatures and humidlties which may also be dust laden with the attendant loss of desired properties, is thus avoided. The block in consequence retainsits initial sound and'rheat-insulating properties substantially without change. The impregnated surface layer not only prevents disintegration but also imparts strength to the material of a character suiilcient ,to enable it to be used in eirterior construction where it is subjected to relatively high stresses due to overhead loads or wind. Y j The impregnation is carried out so as to leave no sln'face coating on the board or block, as will be apparent from thel reference to Figure 1 of the drawing, in which the large and small fibres at the surface have the same appearance as at the inner unimpregnated portion. It will be apparent, therefore, that the texture of the original surface remains substantially unchanged after impregnation.

There may be occasions where, for obvious reasons, it is not best or necessary that both sides of a block be impregnated. In such cases the treatment of the block may be limited to any desired portion of the Referring to the drawing, 10 denotes a building board. composed'of compressed small interlaced,

fibres with larger fibres dispersed therein, having no definite sized capillary passages; the Ylonger fibres of the board being indicated at 11 on the exterior thereof and at l2 on thelinterior. The fsmall fibres are indicated'by the stippling 13.

The impregnating material here is indicated at 14 by the heavy cross-hatching. There is shown a line of definite demarcation at 15 indicating the interior boundary between the impregnated outer -shell andthe non-impregnated core which is composed of the unaltered initially compressed iibrous interlaced material.

The impregnating material, whether of asphalt, pitch, tar,resin,. halowax,l or the like, is of a u character which may be readily brought to a desired iiuid condition adapted for -treating the,

'A board, but readily hardens 'and becomeslike a homogeneous solidafter `the treating conditions have been withdrawn and normal conditions areV f restored. A relatively hard asphalt is preferred as the impregnating material, since the treating condition is attained 'ny the application of a lmoderate heat. When melted, it is relatively uid, and when cooled imparts a relatively high ggf-degree of mechanical strength tothe fibrous.

board. Uniform penetration for a material distance through all of the outer surface is readily' attained. Where a hard asphalt has thus been made to penetrate for a distance'from ene-fourth 'ze to one-third the total thickness of. a block approximately one-half inch in thickness, the increasein mechanical strength under all usual conditions of use will be of the order of while at the same time the to weather t: conditions is increased in the order of 1.000% or tenfold. The resistance to puncture which such impregnation imparts is of the order of from 100% to 300%. The strength of the bond which suchlimpregnated board makes with nails, is inl creased by impregnation of this character in the order of 300% to 400%. The resistance to tearing is also increased by such impregnation in the order of 100%. j

In order to produce impregnated fibrous boards, blocks, and the like,'which have an unimpairedcore, it is essential that the degree o f impregnation shallrbe regulated and kept uniform, and since the board possesses relatively poor capillarity, the impregnating material is forced into the same by means of a suitable application of pressure or its equivalent, and the flow regulated by control of viscosity, so that the degree of impregnation may be determined. Since the impregnating materials here employed are readily brought initially to a fluid treating condition it is seen that the rate of ilow into the board or block l is a function of the time of treatment; in general it is a linear function so that by properly timing the treating process, impregnation of the blocks may be had to any desiredrdepth and may be reproduced at will with uniformity. Pressuresand temperatures may also be varied to the same end.

A suitable process for impregnating boards of the present invention, involves first freeing the block of air from its interior structure and then forcing the impregnating material in a fluid condition to flow into the block for a predetermined time. When such periodA of time has elapsed, the flow is stopped and the impregnating boards withdrawn and permitted to harden. The following is an example of the manner in which this process may be carried out: A

Y Atreating chamber is provided which may be hermetically sealed and lhas a vacuum pump connected thereto. This treating chamber is initially opened and is adapted to receive frames supporting the lboards to be treated.' These frames may be of any suitable construction, such as steel frames adapted to support superposed blocks in spaced relation. Frames containing the boards to be treated, for example, Celotex boards, are iirstplaced in the treating chamber which is then sealed and the vacuum pump applied. A vacuum of 27 inches is preferably obtained in this manner; the vacuum being held fora treating period of approximately 5 minutes. Suitable iiuid impregnating-materialis then flowed into the treating chamber under full vacuum, for example, hot asphalt is thus flowed inat a temperature of 392 F. Such asphalt 130 is permitted to iiow into the treating chamber until substantially. atmospheric pressure again obtains in the chamber; the asphalt being kept hot'during the treating period by the employment of a suitable heating means in coniunction with the treating chamber, such as a jacket on the chamber supplied with saturated steam at 'l5 pounds gauge pressure, or with heated oil.

The treating period'here directly determines the degree of penetration. In the case of Celotex 140 boards, it is found that a treating period of. 5 minutes attains a. penetration to the depth of Y substantially 56 of an'inch on each face, so thatl there is left a clearly Ydefined core in blocks one- Y halfinch or'more thick, the insulating charac- 145 teristics of which are in no way altered by the treatment.

when the treating period is over, the vacuum being broken, the asphalt removed, and the Amiti-ds drained, the treating chamber may lbe opened, the frames withdrawn and the impregnated blocks then' permitted to cool and the asphalt to harden.

In the case of brous insulating boards to which the present invention particularly refers, it has been found that by the use of an impregnating compound having a viscosity of 11,300 seconds, Saybolt universal viscosimeter, at the operating temperature, and with other conditions previously described remaining the4 same, an impregnation to av depth of 1;/8 inch is secured within the time limits of ve to ten minutes soaking in the compound under atmospheric pressure.

In the case of fibrous insulating boards to which the present invention applies, if the vis- Acosity of the impregnating compound be kept between the limits of 5,000 and 15,000 seconds (Saybolt universal viscosimeter) at the operating temperature, impregnation to a depth of V8 inch is secured in five minutes, with other conditions previously described remaining the same.

'Ihe boards or blocks thus impregnated have the color when dry that is imparted by the impregnating material which is substantially .their permanent. color, as fibrous blocks of the present character are not readily painted with ordinary paints nor does such paintadhere well thereto.

Where it is desired to impart colors to the boards and blocks of the present invention, this may be accomplished by suitable pigmentation of the impregnating/material, since by this means, color is permanently and uniformly distributed over the surface, and penetrates the same t'o any desired depth. Color fastness is thus obtained and liability to deterioration avoided. Any suitable pigment material may be employed whichcan be admixed with asphalt, resins, waxes, etc., without liability of having their color affected thereby. 4

It is to be understood that by the term exterior faces as used in the rst claim, is meant `ical values of the board and so as to leave subthe areas of the board or block which would be exposed during use, or which are to serve as heatinsulating or sound-insulating surfaces, and does not include edges, or edge' portions which would not be exposed during use, or which ting, non-exposed surfaces.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above process, and certain modifications in the article Patent dated January 2, i934.

assignee, Mastz'c'Asptalt Corporation.,

form abut-` which embody the invention may be made without departing from its scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description, or shown in the accompanying drawing, shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having described'my invention, What I claim as new and-desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A heat and sound insulating fibrous board or `block which comprises a compacted, looselyassociated fibrous material, such as Celotex or the like, the exterior faces of said board or block being substantially uniformly impregnated from the surface thereof to a substantial depth with a relatively hard asphalt or the like material in a manner -to leave substantially unchanged the texture of the original surface and to leave an unimpregnated inner portion shielded by said impregnated. portion.

2. A heat and sound insulating fibrous board or block which comprises a compacted, looselyassociated fibrous material, such as Celotex or the like, the exterior portion of said board or block being substantially uniformly impregnated inwardly from the surface thereof to a substan- A tial depth with a material from the class including hard asphalt, pitch, tar, resins and halowax,

to materially increase the mechanical values of the board and so as to leave substantially unchanged the textureV of the original surface and to leave an unimpregnated inner core shielded by the said impregnated portion, whereby the structure is improved as to its heat-insulating and sound-proofing qualities.

3. A heat and sound insulating fibrous board or block which comprises a compacted, looselyassociated fibrous material, such as"Celotex or the like, the exterior portion of said board orblock being substantiallyluniformly impregnated inwardly from the surface thereof to about onefourth of its thickness with a material from the class including hard asphalt, pitch, tar, resins and halowax, tomateriallyincrease the mechan- .whereby the structure is rendered heat-,insulating and substantially sound-proof.

GILBERT J. WARD.

LAIMER'L Y l,94vl,769.-G11lbert J. Ward, Brooklyn, N. Y. IMPRGNATED FIBRoUs BLoCK.

Disclaimer filed May 13, 1942, by the Hereby enters this disclaimer to claiml of said Letters Patent.

v[Oljrmal Gazette June 16, 1.942.] y 1-

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