USOO883.

4623B2

(12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 8,834,623 B2

Shoshani et al. (45) Date of Patent: Sep. 16, 2014

(54) WATER REPELLENT MATERIALS FOR 40/0039 (2013.01); C08L91/08 (2013.01);

WOOD PRODUCTS C04B 21 1 1/0062 (2013.01); C08L95/005
(2013.01); C08L 29/04 (2013.01); C08L33/08
(75) Inventors: Amnon Shoshani, Givat Ada (IL); Irina (2013.01); C08L97/02 (2013.01); C08L91/06
Glazer, Kiryat Shmona (IL); Daphna (2013.01)
Halevy, Tel Aviv (IL); Shai Yosifon, USPC ............ 106/164.6; 106/2: 106/270; 106/271;
Kiryat Tivon (IL) 106/272; 524/60
(58) Field of Classification Search
(73) Assignee: T.I.P. Ltd., Caesarea Industrial Park (IL) USPC .............. 106/2, 270, 271, 272, 1646; 524/60
See application file for complete search history.
(*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
patent is extended or adjusted under 35 (56) References Cited
U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days. U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
(21) Appl. No.: 13/641,181 1.544,813 A * 7, 1925 Clapp ........................... 162,171
3,668,064 A * 6, 1972Kucera ... ... 162,171
(22) PCT Filed: Apr. 13, 2011 5,049,186 A * 9/1991 Kawabata ......................... 106.2
6,890,976 B2 * 5/2005 Sinnige ...... 524/5
(86). PCT No.: PCT/US2O11AO322O2 6,939.420 B2 * 9/2005 Pollack ... ... 149/2
7,071,249 B2 * 7/2006 Ho et al. ......................... 524/39
S371 (c)(1), 8,476.345 B2* 7/2013 Buchholz ... 524/74
(2), (4) Date: Jun. 19, 2013 2005/0222311 A1* 10, 2005 Richter et al. . 524/275
2011/0257301 A1* 10, 2011 Stuartet al. ....................... 524/5
(87) PCT Pub. No.: WO2011/130338 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
PCT Pub. Date: Oct. 20, 2011
DE 10043316 3, 2002
(65) Prior Publication Data DE 102004041032 10/2005
DE 102005035515 2, 2007
US 2014/OOOO475A1 Jan. 2, 2014 DE 102005059207 6, 2007
WO 98.28239 7, 1998
Related U.S. Application Data W8 woo; ERA, 358;
(60) Pygal application No. 61/323,392, filed on Apr. W. Woss is: A1 * 123.
s * cited by examiner
(51) Int. Cl.
COSL 9/06 (2006.01) Primary Examiner — Anthony J Green
COSL 9/08 (2006.01) (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Dekel Patent Ltd.; David
C04B 28/4 (2006.01) Klein
C04B 24/00 (2006.01)
C08L 3L/04 (2006.01) (57) ABSTRACT
C04B 40/00 (2006.01) A method of manufacturing a wood product including using
COSL 95/00 (2006.01) a water and wax mixture with wood particles in a production
COSL 29/04 (2006.01) process of wood products, wherein the wax mixture includes
COSL 33/08 (2006.01) a hydrocarbon wax, and a water-repellant material selected
COSL 97/02 (2006.01) from the group consisting of (a) an asphaltite, (b) a polyolefin
CO4B III/OO (2006.01) copolymer, (c) a polyolefin synthetic wax, and (d) combina
(52) U.S. Cl. tions thereof, and forming a wood product.
CPC ................. C08L 3 1/04 (2013.01); C04B 28/14
(2013.01); C04B 24/00 (2013.01); C04B 9 Claims, No Drawings
 US 8,834,623 B2
1. 2
WATER REPELLENT MATERALS FOR chips, flakes, refined chips or flakes, fibers, webs of splintered
WOOD PRODUCTS wood formed by twisting or crushing billets of wood, or other
forms of wood particles.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED The term “strand encompasses flakes, wafers or other
APPLICATIONS Suitable wood elements used in forming composite wood
products, such as but not limited to, oriented Strand board
This application is a national phase patent application of (OSB).
and claims priority from, PCT Patent Application PCT/US 11/ The term “adding encompasses mixing, coating, dissolv
32202, filed Apr. 13, 2011, and claims priority under 35 USC ing, pouring, or any other action to make the Suspension part
S119 to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/323,392, filed 10 of the finished wood product.
Apr. 13, 2010. There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment
of the present invention an aqueous wax mixture including a
FIELD OF THE INVENTION hydrocarbon wax, and a water-repellant material selected
from the group consisting of (a) an asphaltite, (b) a polyolefin
The present invention relates generally to water repellants,
15 copolymer, (c) a polyolefin synthetic wax, and (d) combina
tions thereof.
Such as wax or wax-like Substances that are used to impart In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
water repellency and other characteristics to wood products, the asphaltite is selected from the group consisting of uintaite,
Such as boards or panels and others. gilsonite, grahamite, and glance pitch. The polyolefin copoly
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
mer may be selected from the group consisting of ethylene
acrylic acid copolymers, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers
and oxidized ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers. The poly
Wood and wood composite products are well known. Wood olefin synthetic wax may be selected from the group consist
composites are in widespread use in building industry, furni ing of polyethylene homopolymers and oxidized polyethyl
ture and other industries. Some examples of specific wood 25 ene homopolymers. The wax mixture may further include
composite products are particleboard, medium density fiber montan wax. The wax mixture may further include polyvinyl
board (MDF), and oriented strandboard (OSB). alcohol or cellulose derivatives such as hydroxyethyl cellu
It is known in the prior art to improve the dimensional lose, carboxymethyl cellulose or surfactants or emulsifiers or
moisture stability and other properties of the wood product by any combination thereof.
applying a suitable wax in emulsion or molten form to the 30 There is also provided in accordance with an embodiment
wood particles or fibers at Some stage in the fabrication pro of the present invention a method of manufacturing a water
CCSS, resistant wood product including using a water and wax mix
It has been found that emulsions of a blend of waxes are ture with wood particles in a production process of wood
Superior to single waxes inachieving satisfactory water repel products, wherein the wax mixture includes a hydrocarbon
lency and other qualities. For example, a blend of paraffin 35 wax, and a water-repellant material selected from the group
wax with montan wax has been used. consisting of (a) an asphaltite, (b) a polyolefin copolymer, (c)
Montan wax is a hard, fossil-plant wax extracted from a polyolefin synthetic wax, and (d) combinations thereof, and
certain types of lignite or brown coal. However, there is a forming a water-resistant wood product. A water-resistant
major problem with montan wax. It is commercially available wood product may be made by this method.
40
in only a few locations, including Amsdorf, Germany (the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
majority of montan wax coming from there), and in the Ione
Basin near Ione in Amador County, Calif. Its rarity casts a It has been surprisingly found that the water-repellant
shadow of doubt on its continued availability and makes it materials of the present invention achieve equivalent or Supe
very expensive. 45 rior water repellency, and other qualities, than wax alone,
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Such as but not limited to, slack wax and/or significantly
reduce the amount of wax used, thereby achieving significant
cost savings.
The present invention seeks to provide materials for It has been also surprisingly found that the water-repellant
imparting water repellency and other characteristics to wood 50 materials of the present invention achieve equivalent or Supe
products, as is described in detail further hereinbelow. The rior water repellency, and other qualities, than several wax
characteristics include, without limitation, water repellence blends. Such as but not limited to, a blend including slack wax
or resistance, water absorption control, sizing control, dimen and montan wax, thereby achieving significant cost savings
sional stability, thickness Swell control, edge sealing, density and reducing dependency on montan wax Supplies. It was also
control, mechanical strength, internal bonding and elasticity 55 surprisingly found that blends of the water-repellant materi
control, Stickiness control, preservation, mold control, and als achieve equivalent or Superior water repellency than wax
any combination thereof. alone and/or than several wax blends, such as but not limited
The term “wood encompasses, but is not limited to, wood, to, wax blends that include slack wax and montan wax; and/or
HW (hardwood) CW (compressed wood), plywood, PB (par significantly reduce the amount of montan wax used, thereby
ticle board), FB (fiber board), LDF, MDF, HDF (low, 60 achieving significant cost savings and reducing dependency
medium, high density fiber board), OSB (oriented strand on montan wax Supplies. The water-repellant materials can
board), PSL (parallel strand lumber), WB (wafer board), HB reduce or even eliminate the use of PVA or cellulose deriva
(hard board), DPH (dry process hardboard), WPH (wet pro tives if used for water repellency. The water-repellant mate
cess hardboard), and IB (insulating board) and any other rials can be used as any kind of mixture. Such as but not
engineered wood, wood composite, wood particle, reconsti 65 limited to, emulsions or Suspensions or molten blends. Emul
tuted wood product or wood-type products. The term “wood sifiers, Surfactants and/or dispersing agents, may be added to
particles' encompasses, but is not limited to, wood strands, Such emulsions, Suspensions or blends as the case may be.
 US 8,834,623 B2
3 4
The present invention provides a wax composite for addi Example 2
tion to wood or wood particle, comprising a hydrocarbon
wax, Such as but not limited to, slack wax, paraffin wax, A mixture of material from group 1, slack wax, material
carnauba wax, plant wax, and a water-repellant material. Such from group 3 and polyvinyl alcohol was prepared and used for
as any one or combination from the following groups: samples production.
1. Asphaltite, Such as but not limited to, uintaite, gilsonite, Example 3
grahamite, and glance pitch
2. Polyolefin copolymers, such as but not limited to, eth A mixture of material from group 1, materials from group
ylene acrylic acid copolymers, ethylene vinyl acetate copoly 10 2, slack wax and polyvinyl alcohol was prepared and used for
mers or oxidized ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers. samples production.
3. Polyolefin synthetic waxes, such as but not limited to,
polyethylene homopolymers or oxidized polyethylene Example 4
homopolymers,
As mentioned before, the water-repellant material may be 15 A mixture of material from group 3, materials from group
combined with a wax. Such as but not limited to, montan wax, 2, slack wax and polyvinyl alcohol was prepared and used for
and added to the wood or wood particles to be treated to samples production.
achieve water repellency or other characteristics. Example 5
The term “blend’ means blend, slurry mixture or any other
term used in the wood industries to describe the mixture of the
main raw material with additives and or additions. A mixture of a small quantity of montan wax (tentimes less
than reference 2), slack wax, material from group 3 and
polyvinyl alcohol was prepared and used for Samples produc
EXAMPLES tion.
25 At all loading levels, reference 1 performed worse than
The invention is further illustrated by the following non reference 2 and worse than examples 1-5.
limiting examples and comparative tests described herein At all loading levels, examples 1-5 performed equivalently
below wherein the terms “part and “percent’ mean part by or superior to that of reference 2
weight and percent by weight. Examples 2 and 5 performed better than the references and
Tests were conducted to compare the water resistant prop 30 the rest of the examples. Example 5 is an example of one of
erties of wood products treated with a) slack wax, b) aqueous the synergetic effects of the invention the blend of water
mixtures of slack wax, montan wax, PVA and water and c) repellant materials and montan wax has superior performance
aqueous mixtures of slack wax, the water repellant materials, to that of montan wax alone. Example 2 is another example of
PVA and water. All aqueous mixtures contained the same the synergetic effects—the blend of water repellant materials
water/materials ratio. 35 has Superior performance to that of montan wax alone.
It is appreciated that various features of the invention
The aqueous mixtures were prepared by heating the mix which are, for clarity, described in the contexts of separate
ture to the molten state, blending the materials together and embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a
then adding them to the wood blend to form board samples. single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the
Several types of wood were tested. Urea formaldehyde resin 40 invention which are, for brevity, described in the context of a
was used. All samples were prepared on a laboratory scale. single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any
The loading levels of each wax/mixture for the references and suitable subcombination.
examples were 1.5%, 1% and 0.8% per dry strands. Board What is claimed is:
samples were prepared from the blends. 1. An aqueous wax mixture comprising:
The board samples were then evaluated, using standard 24 45 wood particles;
hours tests for thickness swell (TS) tests and standard water water;
absorption (WA) tests. a hydrocarbon wax,
a polyolefin homopolymer, and
REFERENCE an asphaltite comprising at least one of uintaite, gilsonite,
50 grahamite, and glance pitch.
2. The mixture according to claim 1, wherein said polyole
A reference (reference 1) molten slack wax was used to fin homopolymer is selected from the group consisting of
produce board samples. polyethylene homopolymers and oxidized polyethylene
Another reference (reference 2) water and a mixture of homopolymers.
slack wax, montan wax, and polyvinyl alcohol was prepared 55 3. The mixture according to claim 1, further comprising
and used to produce board samples. montan WaX.
The solid contents of both references and examples were 4. The mixture according to claim 1, further comprising
equal (slack wax percent of reference 1, and total solids of polyvinyl alcohol.
mixture percent of reference 2 and of all the examples were 5. The mixture according to claim 1, further comprising a
equal) 60 polyolefin copolymer.
6. The mixture according to claim 5, wherein said polyole
fin copolymer is selected from the group consisting of ethyl
Example 1 ene acrylic acid copolymers, ethylene vinyl acetate copoly
mers and oxidized ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers.
Mixtures of materials of each of the groups, slack wax, and 65 7. A method of manufacturing a wood product comprising:
polyvinyl alcohol were prepared and used for samples pro using a water and wax mixture with wood particles in a
duction. production process of wood products, wherein said wax
 US 8,834,623 B2
5
mixture comprises a hydrocarbon wax, a polyolefin
homopolymer and a water-repellant material compris
ing an asphaltite comprising at least one of uintaite,
gilsonite, grahamite, and glance pitch; and
forming a wood product. 5
8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising
adding a polyolefin copolymer to the wax mixture.
9. A wood product made by the method of claim 7.
k k k k k