DRYAD Technology History – who are
we?
DRYAD TECHNOLOGY Inc.,(DTI) was incorporated in the State of Delaware in 2000. DTI head quarters is located in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S.). DTI shareholders are Mr. Donnelly, PhD (U.S.) and Mr. Kangas, MSc, PE (U.S.).
DTI directors are engaged as majority in a private partnerhip that also include Mr. Sundholm (no party to DTI). The partnership owns the initial patents No 4 and 5 (expired). DTI owns patent No 3 jointly with VIB GmBH (see below). This spray technology was extensively demonstrated and tested in Finland and the USA until mid 2003 when the economic slowdown suspended industry financing. The demonstrations and specific application development started again in 2007 in Finland with documentation to support. At the time Mr. Sundholm orally requested to represent the original private partnership during the test runs and it was agreed.
The technology is described in details in the following US and international patents with further development in the pipeline. In the preferred process we use patented air/gas aided lubrication spray nozzles e.g. the one that was jointly developed with VIB that have been engineered to suit both for spray sizing and spray coating processes.
We knew from our past testing in early 1970's that high pressure nozzles (fluid type nozzles) work also but they would wear too fast and work properly only at one flow rate per nozzle opening. With that control the flow and profiling was out of the question. Our new gas/air propelled low pressure lubrication nozzles can spray any quantity of starches, coating colors and anything between up to the maximum flow without losing the form of the spray cone.
Here is the list of our patents (futher patents pending, Kangas):
- USA 7,217,342 B2, filed by Kangas and Kangas (DTI), November 24, 2003, Issued May 15, 2007;
- USA 6,866,207 B2, filed by Kangas and Kangas (DTI), June 4, 2003, Issued March 15, 2005;
- USA 6,969,012-B2, filed by Kangas and Diebel (VIB), January 24, 2002, Issued November 29, 2005;
- CAN 2,148,505, (Original filing FI 96894) filed by Partnership between Kangas, Donnelly and Sundholm, November 5, 1993, International patents in major paper making countries except USA
- USA 4,944,960, filed by Partnership between Kangas, Donnelly and Sundholm, Issued July 31, 1990; International patents in major paper making countries
Our initial patenting effort was supported by
the Finnish Government's technology development organization.
After demonstrating the technology to some major paper machine manufacturers we agreed to work together with VIB Systems GmbH, a respected family owned company from Germany with a long track record in the paper industry. We had found their re-moisturizing nozzle to be one of the most promising and they filled our essential requirements for sizing and coating while in "as is" form they were not usable. The further joint nozzle development work was done in Atlanta and resulted to a joint patent by Kangas and Diebel that was filed in January 2002. At the same time we demonstrated the viability of our spray sizing and coating technology on a pilot machine in the US South, "Model 2002".
The jointly patented nozzle was built and fine-tuned in Germany during the economic down cycle starting in already in 2002. With improving economy a new pilot unit, "Model 2008", was constructed and installed on a high speed pilot machine in Finland. and as said above Mr. Sundholm was designated by his request to represent the interests of the initial partnership during these tests. The significant issue was a high solids starch (25%...30%) that is now performing perfectly and sizing is now available for commercial use.
Paper coating is part of the partnership initial goals and the initial indication from the Pilot Plant run in the US South showed that spray coating is certainly possible. This was actually proven at Allbbruck Mill in Germany where a Finnish supplier had provided a spay coating system using "fluid type nozzles". We can see this opportunity shaping to real implementation with layered approach offering highest quality paper surface in combination with proper smoothening devices. The layered approach eliminates the forever bothering pin-holes from the coated paper.
To get an idea what happens during sprays sizing and spray coating check the SEM pictures we offer on this site.
