329results about "Wood testing" patented technology

The invention provides a method for predictively assessing one or more characteristics of wood pulp produced from solid wood. The method comprises the steps of determining the velocity of sound through the solid wood, and assessing characteristic(s) of wood fiber or wood pulp produced from the wood by reference to the velocity of sound through the solid wood. The method may also comprise the steps of causing a sound wave to be transmitted through the wood, determining the velocity of the sound wave through the wood, and comparing the result to stored information on fiber characteristic(s) versus sound velocity through the wood-type to determine the fiber characteristic(s) for the wood.

A moisture meter (1) has an LCD display (8) driven by a digital microcontroller (50) which generates digital moisture reading data. Readings are stored as discrete records in files. The microcontroller (51) stores a library of material data and automatically compensates signals from a capacitive / impedance sensor circuit (51) according to both stored material parameter values and sensed temperature. Users may edit the parameter values. A non-removable cover (4) is used at the final stage of production to configure the meter for the nature of interfacing (such as serial port interfacing) required.

A “Woodprint™” characterization and identification technique employs cameras (16), lighting (14), camera interface hardware (18), a computer (20), and / or image processing software to collect and analyze surface characteristics of pieces of wood (8) to track them through an automated production process in real-time with information that is specific to each wood piece (8), such as what machining is required, its value, and / or its destination. When a wood piece (8) reaches a point in the production process where a decision is required, its unique identity is used to retrieve appropriate information previously determined and assigned to the wood piece (8).

The invention relates to a device and a method for marking and analyzing detects in a means for cutting-to-size boards of wood at least in part, in which defect detection is combined with marking by a marking means. By an assignment between the detected defects and marks, the steps in the process following cutting-to-size can be controlled as a function of the existence of defects.

A method and apparatus for assessing standing tree stems for readiness for harvesting, or for determining cutting points for processing of felled tree stems, logs, or wood pieces, or for assessing stems, logs, or wood pieces for a particular end use, includes scanning with short-wave or microwave electromagnetic energy and processing the scan data to produce an image indicating the external shape or dimensions of the stem or log and hidden internal characteristics and their position, and assessing the image. Knots and / or whorls, which are not visible from the exterior and the depth of the clear wood sheath from the surface, may be determined.

This invention provides a novel, rapid method and device for determining the relative phase retardation of a multi-layered specimen, which is related to the thicknesses of its layers and walls, and the orientations of its optical axes. An intact wood pulp fibre is a typical multi-layered birefringent specimen. This new method is based on the change of polarization of polarized light that passes through a specimen composed of birefringent layers with different optical axis orientations, such as directions of cellulosic microfibrils oriented differently in various layers of wood fibres. In particular, a novel solution is found to relate the emerging light intensity from an intact wood fibre to the incident light intensity, the wavelength of the light, and the relative phase retardations of various layers and orientations of their cellulosic microfibrils, such as fibril angle, in a circular polarized light system. This new method evaluates the transmitted light intensities of multiple predetermined wavelengths simultaneously to determine the optical and physical properties of a multi-layered specimen being measured. A device for determining the relative phase retardation (retardance) of fibre walls and the fibril angle of intact wood fibres in accordance with the presented invention comprises a light source with well defined multi-wavelengths, an achromatic circular polarized light system, appropriate imaging optics, a multi-channel camera such as a digital color camera that has two or more wavelength (color) detection channels, and an image processing and data analysis system. The measurements take advantage of the birefringence of cellulosic microfibrils, and thus require neither sample preparation nor high resolution optics. Specimen alignment is not required as specimens such as wood fibres are evaluated under circular polarized light. Compared with other methods, this invention is more rapid, accurate, and robust. This method can be automated, and implemented in a fibre flow-through system, thus allowing a rapid assessment of wood pulp fibre properties (on-line in real time).

There is an air coupled ultrasonic contactless method and an installation for non-destructive determination of defects in laminated structures with a width (W) and a multiplicity of n lamellas with intermediate N−1 bonding plants (B), whereas at least one transmitter (T) in a fixed transmitter distance (WTS) radiates ultrasound beams at multiple positions and at least one receiver (R) in a sensor distance (WSR) is receiving re-radiated ultrasound beams at multiple positions relative to the laminated structure (S). The method images the position and geometry of for example lamination defects and allows for inspection of laminated structure (S) of arbitrary height (H) and length (L), and an individual assessment of specific bonding planes (e.g. B1, B2, B3), as well in situations with constrained access to the faces of the sample parallel to the bonding planes.

A method of non-destructive testing of a wood piece using a multiplicity of sensors. The method may include the steps of sensing the wood piece; collecting information from the sensors; and integrating the information into a physical model providing for strength and stiffness prediction. The collected information relate to material characteristics of the wood piece and to fiber quality characteristics of the wood piece. The material characteristics may include one or more of the following material characteristics of the wood piece: growth ring thickness; grain angle deviation; clear wood density; knot location; knot density; knot type; knot size; location in the tree from which the wood piece was cut. The fiber quality characteristics may include one or more of the following fiber quality characteristics: microfibril angle, juvenile wood, biodeterioration; reaction wood species; and manufacturing or drying defects including one or more of the following defects: sawcuts, checks, shake; size of actual cross-section, and species.

Disclosed is a high speed electro-optical sensor system to determine quality of objects, such as lumber, having complex structures such as grain, knots and the like. It is particularly concerned with electro-optical sensors useful for this purpose, for example those employing the tracheid or other grain induced distortion effects, or those based on visually discernable defects due to contrast variation. Preferred versions use computer processed data from TV cameras viewing laser spot illumination of boards.

A process and equipment for an automated lumber end-scan system includes a conveyer to carry sawn lumber in a direction transverse to the axis of the boards, a light source to illuminate at least one butt end of each board as it passes by a scanning region, at least one digital camera to capture an image of each end face, and a processing unit to convert the digital signal into useable information. The digital signal is analyzed to obtain information about both natural and manufacturing defects that might be present at the end of the lumber and also to obtain further information about the properties of the lumber from the location of the pith, the growth rings and the grain pattern. This information may be used to augment the analysis of defects present in the entire board for determination of the final grade within an automatic lumber grading system. The system can also be used on a stand-alone basis and integrated into a non-automated grading area as a grader assist device.

A method of testing an elongate wooden element comprises injecting an input acoustic signal into the element, detecting a return acoustic signal at a surface of the element, and determining a spectral profile for the return signal. In at least a predetermined range in the spectral profile, each resonance peak is detected whose amplitude exceeds a first predetermined value, and from the resonance peaks so detected the number of higher peaks is determined whose amplitude exceeds 3 dB. For each of said higher peaks a quality factor Q is calculated, a mean quality value Qm is determined, and Qm is then compared with a predetermined value to provide an indication of the presence or absence of external decay of the element. A ratio R of the number of higher peaks to the number of resonance peaks detected, and the statistical spread S of the average Q for the spectral profile, are calculated and compared with a predetermined boundary function Fn(R,S) to determine acceptability or unacceptability of the pole.

A method and apparatus for determining the effect of various agents on the growth of biological material (biofilm), microbially-influenced corrosion and the deposition of organic and inorganic contaminants is disclosed. The method and apparatus allow for the modeling of the growth of biological contaminants and the deposition of organic and inorganic materials on industrial equipment surfaces, such as those used in the pulp and papermaking industry. The device consists of a tray which includes recessed areas for receiving coupons, as well as fluid inlets and fluid outlets for permitting the flow of liquid samples over the coupons. The design and configuration of the apparatus provides a great deal of versatility in testing various biocidal and other agents under select environmental conditions.

An authenticable paper product is prepared from a bleached chemical papermaking furnish containing a minor but detectable amount of lignin containing fibers selected from the group consisting of mechanical, thermomechanical, chemi-thermomechanical and bleached-chemi-thermomechanical.

The moisture content of a test material may be determined using a microwave-based process and device which is free from interference by multipath standing waves. Multipath signals may be electronically removed from the measured signal.

A system for determining properties of settling suspensions includes a settling container, a mixer, and devices for ultrasonic interrogation transverse to the settling direction. A computer system controls operation of the mixer and the interrogation devices and records the response to the interrogating as a function of settling time, which is then used to determine suspension properties. Attenuation versus settling time for dilute suspensions, such as dilute wood pulp suspension, exhibits a peak at different settling times for suspensions having different properties, and the location of this peak is used as one mechanism for characterizing suspensions. Alternatively or in addition, a plurality of ultrasound receivers are arranged at different angles to a common transmitter to receive scattering responses at a variety of angles during particle settling. Angular differences in scattering as a function of settling time are also used to characterize the suspension.

The photographing means of the present apparatus photographs a piece of wood, while the image processing means calculates degrees of circularity from the photographed images of the piece of wood, and detects images with significant degrees of circularity as knots. In addition, the image processing means 1 clips a portion including a knot from the photographed image of the piece of wood, deems a portion clipped at a predetermined threshold among the color spaces of each pixel of the clipped portions to be a blackened portion, and determines black portions with a high proportion of a number of pixels of the blackened portion to the number of pixels of the clipped portion of the knot as dead knots.

A “woodprint™” characterization and identification technique unique employs cameras (16), lighting (14), camera interface hardware (18), a computer (20), and / or image processing software to collect and analyze surface characteristics of pieces of wood (8) to track them through an automated production process in real-time with information that is specific to each wood piece (8), such as what machining is required, its value, and / or its destination. When a wood piece (8) reaches a point in the production process where a decision is required, its unique identity is used to retrieve appropriate information previously determined and assigned to the wood piece (8).

Methods are provided for rapidly simulating “in-service” warp distortion of a wood product. Methods are also provided for rapidly estimating shrinkage properties of a wood product by using electromagnetic energy to dry and redistribute absorbed water in the wood product.

A panel testing device, and a method of its use, for flexing and measuring mechanical properties of a panel are provided comprising a panel bending assembly operable to engage a panel and impart a bending force on the engaged panel, and a linear actuator having an output shaft coupled to the panel bending assembly, wherein the output shaft is operable to be movable relative to the panel bending assembly continuously at a constant rate of linear motion regardless of the torque force resisting such motion at the panel testing assembly.

Improved methods and apparatus for estimating and controlling relative proportion of wood chips originating from a plurality of sources characterized by various wood species, in a mass of wood chips to be fed to a process for producing pulp, use light reflection-related and density-related properties as input in a model characterizing a relation between such wood chip properties and species information. This principle allows efficient monitoring of the variation in wood species composition characterizing the wood chips to be processed, for the purpose of stabilizing chip feeding control and optimizing process parameters adjustment.

PCT No. PCT / AU96 / 00587 Sec. 371 Date Sep. 1, 1998 Sec. 102(e) Date Sep. 1, 1998 PCT Filed Sep. 19, 1996 PCT Pub. No. WO97 / 11346 PCT Pub. Date Mar. 27, 1997A wood coring drill bit comprising a hollow tube having an internal bore (103) and an exterior (100) with equally spaced bodies (10) of substantially uniform width extending in a helical manner from a cutting end (10) of said drill bit, said bodies (10) defining equally spaced flutes (15) between the edges of adjacent bodies (10), each body (10) comprising a land (20) upstanding from a relief (21) at the leading edge of the body (10), a respective cutting face (12) and associated lip (25) being formed at the end of each body (10) at said cutting end. The wood coring drill bit is characterized by having three equally spaced bodies (10) and flutes (15) said cutting face (12) has an included angle which is preferably 125 DEG for hardwood and drywood and 112 DEG for softwood. The lip (25) has a lip clearance angle that is about 6 DEG + / -1 DEG , the lands (20) on the bodies (10) extend for an axial distance of about 65 mm+ / -5 mm from said cutting end (101) and the internal bore (103) of the hollow tube is tapered outwardly from or adjacent the cutting end (101).

An imaging means captures a color image of lumber. An image processing means obtains the color distribution of the color image captured by the imaging means, compares the obtained color distribution with a predetermined color distribution of normal lumber, judges the obtained color distribution as an abnormal one when it is deviated from the color distribution of normal lumber by a predetermined value or more, and detects a defect of the lumber having the abnormal color distribution deviated by a value larger than the predetermined value in an area on the surface of the lumber captured by the imaging means.

A physical property of an object such as a lying log is determined by taking pairs of images of the opposed end faces and of the exposed upper side from elevated positions relative to the log, so that the images allow stereo imaging of the log seen from both ends. The stereo images are used for determining the physical property of the object. A plurality of logs can be imaged using a single camera or a pair of cameras mounted on a vehicle that is moved relative to the lying logs, or using a single camera or a pair of cameras mounted on a fixed frame and moving the logs past the cameras.

A system for detecting bluestain and rot in wood in a wood processing plant including a conveyor for conveying a piece of wood through a scanning area includes a scanning unit comprising a plurality of scanners arranged to scan a face of the piece of wood in a direction perpendicular to a conveying direction. Each of the scanners include a light for illuminating a point on the piece of wood; a collector for collecting light reflected from the piece of wood; a splitter for splitting the collected light into at least two beams; a filter for filtering out of each of the beams a wavelength associated with each of the beams, each of the wavelengths being different; a collector for collecting the filtered light, the collector being adapted to output a signal related to an intensity of the filtered light; and a comparator for comparing the output of each of the collector, the comparator being adapted to output a signal when a ratio between the signal between each of the collector exceeds a predetermined threshold.

Enzymatic methods are provided for determining the surface triglycerides content in a sample of wood pulp. The methods preferably comprise reacting triglycerides which are present on the surface of the wood pulp fibers in the sample in the presence of a lipase to form glycerol and fatty acids, and then determining the difference between the amount of free glycerol present in the sample and the amount of glycerol formed from said triglycerides. The method is useful as a quick, portable, accurate, and low cost assay for assessing the amount of triglycerides present at various sample points in pulp and paper mills, which advantageously serves as a diagnostic tool for use in controlling the undesirable deposition of pitch during the papermaking process.

Two pairs of primer are designed: Pl / P3 is an idiocratic primer for pine wood nematode; P2 / P3 an idiocratic primer for quasi pine wood nematode. The kit includes 1.25ml solution I,1ml solution II, 100U tag enzyme, and 50ul for each contrapositive DNA of wireworm. The solution I is as following constitutes: Worm Lysis Buffer, 500mM KCl, 100mMTris-ClpH 8.0, 15mM MgCl2, 10mMDTT, 4.5% Tween20, 0.1%gelatin, 0.2ug / ul protease K. The solution II is as following constitutes: 2xPCR reaction Buffer, 4.0mM MgCl2, 0.2mM dNTP, 0.8 mu MP1, P2, P3. The invented kit possesses high specificity, sensitiveness and stability, providing fast, sensitive and specific technical method.

A system for non-destructive testing using acoustic techniques includes first and second measuring probes and an electronic unit. Each probe includes a penetrating end and a retaining flange end. Each probe further includes a handle slideably coupled to the probe and a transducer for detecting stress waves. The probes are lightweight, portable, and rugged for field testing wood products.

The consistency of a pulp slurry in a pipe 12 is determined using a pair of effective sound speeds a1eff and a2eff of the fluid / pipe system. The pair of effective system sound speed measurements are taken at two sensing regions X1, X2 along the pipe wherein each of the sensing regions comprises a different system cross sectional area compliance. The pair of effective system sound speeds a1eff and a2eff are provided to signal processing logic 160, which determines at least the composition of the fluid 12 flowing in the pipe 112. The effective system sound speeds a1eff and a2eff may be provided by a pair of sound speed meters positioned at sensing regions X1, X2 wherein the sound speed meters utilize a spatial array of acoustic pressure sensors placed at predetermined axial locations along the pipe 112. One technique uses acoustic spatial array signal processing techniques with the direction of propagation of the acoustic signals along the longitudinal axis of the pipe 112.

An optical apparatus and a method for identifying wood species of a raw wooden log involve directing light onto a representative portion of a peripheral surface of the wooden log, sensing light reflected on the illuminated representative log portion to generate reflection intensity image data including color image data, subdividing the reflection intensity image data into a plurality of image data regions each containing a preset number of image pixels, analyzing the image data regions to generate associated texture data, analyzing the color and texture data associated with each image data region to assign thereto a probable one of a plurality of species indications, and selecting a majority species indication for the inspected wooden log.