Method and system for increasing crushing strength of a timber panel

{
  "publication_number": "US11707862B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Method and system for increasing crushing strength of a timber panel",
  "abstract": "A system and method for increasing a crush strength of a panel. The system having a panel being made from side-grain wood, a bore that extends partly or completely through the panel, and a plug made from end-grain wood. Because end-grain wood has a significantly higher crush strength per square inch than side-grain wood, a topical crush strength of the panel can be increased through the use of the plug. The plug can further be provided with a hollow portion to be used with a thread stepped dowel comprising of a base section, at least one middle section, and a tip section, with each section being progressively smaller in circumference than the last. The at least one middle section of the threaded stepped dowel further comprises thread spiraling around the outer surface of the at least one middle section.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A method for increasing crush strength of a panel comprising: providing a panel made from a first wood grain; determining a location on the panel where a crush strength of the panel is to be reinforced; providing a bore at the location; providing a plug made from a second wood grain; providing a hollow portion through the plug; and securing the plug in the bore.",
    "2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wood grain is side-grain and the second wood grain is end-grain.",
    "3. The method of claim 1, wherein the providing the bore comprises providing the bore completely through the panel.",
    "4. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a dowel through the hollow portion of the plug.",
    "5. The method of claim 4, wherein the providing the dowel through the hollow portion of the plug comprises providing a threaded stepped dowel through the hollow portion of the plug.",
    "6. The method of claim 1, wherein the securing the plug in the bore comprise providing adhesives within the bore to secure the plug in the bore.",
    "7. A method for increasing crush strength of a panel comprising: providing a panel made from a first wood grain; determining a location on the panel where a crush strength of the panel is to be reinforced; providing a bore at the location such that the bore extends completely through the panel; providing a plug made from a second wood grain; and securing the plug in the bore such that a top surface and a bottom surface of the plug is flushed with a top surface and a bottom surface of the panel once the plug is secured in the bore.",
    "8. A system comprising: a panel made from a first wood grain having a bore that extends from a first surface of the panel to a second surface of the panel; and a plug made from a second wood grain that is secured to the bore, wherein the plug further comprises a hollow portion through the plug.",
    "9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first wood grain is side-grain and the second wood grain is end-grain.",
    "10. The system of claim 8, wherein the bore extends completely through the panel.",
    "11. The system of claim 8 further comprising a dowel that extends through the hollow portion of the plug.",
    "12. The system of claim 11, wherein the dowel is a threaded stepped dowel.",
    "13. The system of claim 12 further comprising a first pillar and a second pillar, wherein a first end of the threaded stepped dowel is attached to the first pillar and a second end of the threaded stepped dowel is attached to the second pillar, thereby attaching the first pillar and the second pillar to the panel.",
    "14. The system of claim 8, wherein the bore further comprises adhesives to secure the plug within the bore.",
    "15. A system comprising: a panel made from a first wood grain having a bore that extends from a top surface of the panel to a bottom surface of the panel; and a plug made from a second wood grain that is secured to the bore, wherein a top surface and a bottom surface of the plug is flushed with the top surface and the bottom surface of the panel once the plug is secured in the bore.",
    "16. A method of construction comprising: providing a panel made from a first wood grain with a bore extending from a first surface of the panel to a second surface of the panel; providing a plug made from a second wood grain with a hollow portion through the plug; securing the plug in the bore; providing a first pillar, a second pillar, and a threaded stepped dowel; attaching a first end of the threaded stepped dowel to the first pillar; placing the threaded stepped dowel through the hollow portion of the plug; and attaching a second end of the threaded stepped dowel to the second pillar.",
    "17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first wood grain is side-grain and the second wood grain is end-grain.",
    "18. The method of claim 16 further comprising providing adhesives within the bore to secure the plug in the bore."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "This disclosure generally relates to using timber panels for construction. Specifically, this disclosure relates to increasing crush strength of a laminated timber panel for use in building constructions.\n\nWood has been used as a construction material for more than a thousand years. For example, Horyu-ji Temple in Japan is believed to be the oldest wooden building in the world, which was built more than 1,300 years ago.\n\nHowever, for most of the twentieth century, constructions of buildings have mainly relied on utilizing reinforced concrete, such as post-tensioned concrete. In contrast, buildings built out of timber or engineered wood were relatively few and far in between. This began to change since the development of cross-laminated timber (CLT) in early 1990s.\n\nCLT is a multilayer solid wood panel often referred to as thick wood or cross-laminated wood. Such CLT panels form solid wood panels that can be used in construction. CLT usually consists of several flat overlying flat board layers, unlike glued laminated timber (glulam) in which the layers are arranged longitudinally to the fiber.\n\nCLT panel construction is the next level in quality and speed of construction. Wall, floor, and roof elements manufactured in a climate-controlled facility and transported to building sites for rapid assembly dramatically increases quality control in the building process.\n\nToday, CLT is widely used in residential and light engineering structures in situations where large beam depths are required, such as long span openings in houses. However, using CLT to build skyscrapers and other megastructures remain elusive in the industry.",
  "cpc": [
    "B27M 3/0086",
    "B27M 3/0006",
    "B27M 3/008",
    "E04C 2/12",
    "F16B 13/141"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B27M 3/00",
    "F16B 13/14"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Miller Dowel Co"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Michael R. Miller",
    "Robert Daly"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2021-09-21",
  "publication_date": "2023-07-25",
  "grant_date": "2023-07-25",
  "priority_date": "2020-09-23",
  "application_number": "US-202117480401-A",
  "family_id": "80739836",
  "cited_by_count": 0,
  "citations": [
    "US5014483A",
    "US6083126A",
    "US6935084B1",
    "US20170159691A1",
    "US20140086682A1"
  ]
}