Patents by Inventor William O. West, Jr.

William O. West, Jr. has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6194078
    Abstract: A hardened wooden flooring product is produced by impregnating wooden flooring blanks with a hardener while the wooden flooring blanks are in a bundle, wherein the bundled hardened wooden flooring blanks have improved separation characteristics following completion of the impregnation treatment. The flooring product is made by assembling a plurality of wooden flooring product blanks into a bundle of blanks in surface-to-surface contact with each other and enclosing the wooden flooring blanks in a pressure vessel. The pressure vessel is evacuated and an effective quantity of a hardening composition for being impregnated into the wooden flooring blanks is introduced into the pressure vessel. An effective quantity of a polyethylene glycol composition is introduced into the pressure vessel. The wooden flooring blanks are soaked in the hardening composition and the polyethylene glycol composition for a predetermined period of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2001
    Assignee: Triangle Pacific Corp.
    Inventor: William O. West, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5866270
    Abstract: A method of hardening wooden flooring blanks by impregnating the wooden flooring blanks with a hardener while the wooden flooring blanks are in a bundle, wherein the bundled hardened wooden flooring blanks have improved separation characteristics following completion of the impregnation treatment. The method includes the steps of assembling a plurality of wooden flooring product blanks into a bundle of blanks in surface-to-surface contact with each other and enclosing the wooden flooring blanks in a pressure vessel. The pressure vessel is evacuated and an effective quantity of a hardening composition for being impregnated into the wooden flooring blanks is introduced into the pressure vessel. An effective quantity of a polyethylene glycol composition is introduced into the pressure vessel. The wooden flooring blanks are soaked in the hardening composition and the polyethylene glycol composition for a predetermined period of time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 1997
    Date of Patent: February 2, 1999
    Assignee: Triangle Pacific Corporation
    Inventor: William O. West, Jr.