EP0628646A2 - Method for mixing of textile fibres - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to the mixing of individual fibre components on the basis of properties of a required intermediate product, for example a card sliver, or of a required end product, for example a yarn. This mixing takes place in that fibre bales (2) are combined to form component groups, and the fibre components of these groups are administered accurately by means of metering devices (11) to a mixer, in which these components are mixed homogeneously. The product of the mixer is subsequently cleaned in a cleaner (60) and is thereafter transferred for processing to a card (63). After the card, the card sliver is tested in a colour tester (65), and the corresponding signal is transmitted to a control (7;7.1;7.2;44) which primarily controls the component mixture and secondarily is corrected by such a colour signal, insofar as the primary mixture control is varied correspondingly, until the colour at the exit of the card is correct again in the card sliver. Furthermore, the card sliver is tested for fibre fineness (MICRONAIR) by means of the fibre-fineness tester (66), and a corresponding signal is transmitted to the abovementioned control. The abovementioned component mixture is likewise changed on the basis of this signal, if the fineness differs from a predetermined desired value. A third signal (81) comes from the card control (64). This signal transmits the output (kg/h) to the abovementioned control, in order to control the stripping capacity of the stripping devices (20,23). <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a method for mixing textile fibers, in which different types of fibers from fiber bales of different provenance are removed and mixed. The fiber bales can be put together to form fiber mixture components, each with different but predetermined fiber properties. The components can each be mixed together with controllably variable component parts to form a component mixture.

The previous methods of mixing consist either in that fiber bales from different origins are placed in a row and removed by means of a removal device which moves back and forth in the process, in which fiber flakes are removed from the surface and transferred to a means of transport, or therein that parts of fiber bales are lifted manually or mechanically and fed one after the other on a conveyor belt to an opening machine in which these parts are broken down into fiber flakes and transferred to a means of transport.

Such means of transport can be mechanical or pneumatic and convey the fiber flakes into so-called mixing boxes, in which the delivered fibers are filled in as a flake mixture.

From these mixing boxes, the fiber flake mixture is transferred to a collective transport at different speeds, in order to obtain a doubling effect in order to strive for homogenization of the fiber flake mixture.

Such homogenizers are shown and described, for example, in CH-A-481 230 and US-A-4,009,663.

The disadvantage of the former removal and mixing process, however, is that the mixture, due to the stationary rows of bales, is unchangeable until such a row is finished, so that the mixing ratio remains the same throughout this time, during the second removal and mixing process additionally has the inaccuracy of the amount withdrawn.

It was therefore the task to produce precise and homogeneous fiber mixtures, which can also be changed quickly as required.

The object can be achieved in that fiber mixture components are formed, each with predetermined different fiber properties, which are each mixed together with controllable variable component fractions to form a component mixture, and in that this component mixture as a function of predefined or ascertained, modified properties of a subsequent intermediate product, for example one Card sliver or an end product, for example a yarn is determined or corrected.

With this measure, fiber properties, which are determined in advance by taking samples from the fiber bales, can be mixed to the desired extent in order to obtain the desired properties of an intermediate product, for example a card sliver or an end product, for example a yarn.

There is also the possibility, for example, of measuring fiber properties on the card sliver or on the yarn

Identify deviations that allow the mixture to be corrected immediately in order to maintain the required properties of the card sliver or yarn.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to drawings which show only execution routes.

Fig. 1 bis 5

je eine schematische Darstellung eines erfindungsgemässen Mischverfahrens_,

Fig. 6 und 7

eine Variante der Ausführungsart des Mischverfahrens von Fig. 5,

Fig. 8

eine schematische Darstellung je einer Erweiterung der erfindungsgemässen Verfahren nach Fig. 1 bis 7,

Fig. 9

eine schematische Darstellung einer Variante des erweiterten erfindungsgemässen Mischverfahrens von Fig. 1 bis 8, beispielsweise mit einer in Fig. 3 dargestellten Faserabtragung,

Fig. 10

eine Variante des Verfahrens von Fig. 9.

It shows:

1 to 5

each a schematic representation of a mixing process according to the invention _,

6 and 7

5 shows a variant of the embodiment of the mixing process from FIG. 5,

Fig. 8

1 shows a schematic illustration of an expansion of the method according to the invention according to FIGS. 1 to 7,

Fig. 9

2 shows a schematic representation of a variant of the expanded mixing method according to the invention from FIGS. 1 to 8, for example with a fiber removal shown in FIG. 3,

Fig. 10

a variant of the method of FIG. 9.

FIG. 1 shows a number of conveyor belts 1 for receiving fiber bales 2, which are removed by fiber bale removal elements 3.

The respective fiber bale removal member moves on stationary rails which are arranged, for example, in the diagonal direction of the fiber bales 2 located on the conveyor belt. One such device is basically known from the applicant's CH-A-503 809. As a variant to this, the device shown and described in the applicant's EP-A-0 327 885 could be used, in which the removal member 3 is opened and closed on a removal device (not shown) which can be moved back and forth along horizontal bales 2 can be moved, as well as tilted for diagonal removal.

The removal rate in both removal devices can be controlled by changing the displacement speed of the fiber bale removal member 3 along the diagonal path, and by changing the feed speed of the fiber bale 2 by means of a variable speed of the individual conveyor belt 1.

The fiber flakes detached from the removal drum 4 are transported away in a manner known per se by a pneumatic conveying line 5, which is not described further here.

With the help of this pneumatic conveying capacity 5, the fiber flakes are conveyed into a mixer 6 and mixed therein to form a uniform mixture.

The quantities conveyed into the mixer 6 by means of these individual pneumatic conveying capacities 5 are hereinafter referred to as fiber flake components or simply components.

Batch mixers or continuous mixers can be used as mixers; Depending on the, the quantities mentioned are individual weight batches (kg) or a running quantity per unit of time (kg / h).

For the sake of simplicity, the delivery lines 5 in FIG. 1 schematically open directly into those which are also shown schematically Mixer 6, but in practice this can vary depending on the type of mixer. For example, air-fiber separators can be used to separate the respective fiber-air mixture from one another, so that the fiber flakes can fall into the mixer in free fall, while the air can be led into an exhaust air line. Such separators are well known from practice and are therefore not shown here in particular.

The stated quantities of the aforementioned individual fiber flake components which are added to the mixer 6 are controlled by a controller 7 on the basis of a control program.

Such a control program can be a computer program which has a component mixing program which can be adapted or changed to adapt to changes in the mixture.

Another variant would be a digital control per component, in which the performance of the individual components could be selected or changed manually.

The functions determining the removal performance of the components, such as the feed speed of the respective conveyor belt 1 or the removal movement of the fiber bale removal member 3, are controlled by one or the other controller.

It goes without saying that the pneumatic conveying lines do not have to convey the removed product directly into the mixer, but that mechanical conveying elements can be connected in between, for example conveyor belts. In such a case, the fiber air separators mentioned place their fiber product in such mechanical conveying elements.

Each fiber removal member 3 is connected to the controller 7 via a control line 8 and each conveyor belt 1 via a control line 19.

The three incoming control lines in the controller 7 will be described later.

2 shows a variant of FIG. 1, but in which the same elements have the same reference numerals. In it, the pneumatic conveying lines 5 do not convey the removed fibers or fiber flakes, also called product, directly into the mixer 6, but into component cells 9, from which the product filled therein is discharged by means of a discharge device 10 and into the mixer by means of a subsequent metering device 11 6 is given.

Depending on the type of discharge device 10, this can also take on the dosing function as a variant.

The discharge rate from the individual component cells 9 is controlled by a controller 7.1, which controls the individual metering devices 11 or, as a variant, the discharge devices 10 by means of control lines 12.

In the first-mentioned disposition, the metering devices 11 can each be controlled by means of a control line 13 via the dispensing devices 10 in order to coordinate the dispensing with the metering. The discharge apparatus could also be controlled directly by the controller 7.1.

The component cells 9 are filled by the elements 1 to 5 already mentioned for FIG. 1, the use of two fiber bale rows, each with the elements 1 to 4, being chosen only as an example. In practice, more than two rows of fiber bales could be used, or just one only one row per component cell 9 can be selected. Such a decision depends on the number or mix of provenances per row of bales, which are to form a mixed component to be placed in a corresponding cell 9.

Furthermore, the filling of the component cells 9 is controlled, for example, by full-level detectors 14 provided in each cell and by vacancy detectors 15 by means of a controller 16. For this purpose, the controller 16 for the reciprocating movement of the removal elements 3 is connected by control lines 17 each to the fiber bale removal elements 3 and by control lines 18 each to the drive motors of the conveyor belts 1.

FIG. 3 shows a further embodiment in which the same elements already shown and described with FIG. 2 have the same reference numerals. This applies to the fiber bales 2, the component cells 9, the discharge apparatus 10, the metering apparatus 11, the mixer 6 as well as the control 7.1 and the control lines 12 and 13.

For the removal of the fiber bales 2, which are here directly on the floor, these are also set up in groups which correspond to the respective provenance of the fiber bales. The removal takes place by means of a mobile fiber bale removal device 20, which runs along the fiber bale groups and removes fibers or fiber flakes from the surface thereof. Such a device is known in the spinning industry under the name "Unifloc" and is sold worldwide by the applicant.

This fiber bale removal device 20 conveys the removed fibers in a manner known per se via a pneumatic conveying line 21 into the corresponding component cells 9.

As already described for FIG. 2, the component cells 9, full-level detectors 14 and empty-space detectors 15, which input their signals to a controller 22. This controller is connected to the fiber bale removal device 20 via a control line 24 and controls the removal of fiber flakes from the corresponding fiber bale groups for the filling of the corresponding component cells 9.

As shown schematically in FIG. 3, the fiber bale removal device 20 has a fiber bale removal member 23, known per se from the Unifloc, which removes the fibers from the bale surfaces by means of a removal drum (not shown) rotating therein.

It is also known that the fiber bale removal member 23 can be rotated by 180 ° indicated by the arrow M in such a way that the fiber bale removal member can remove the fiber bale group 2 on the opposite side. This makes it possible that either one of the opposite fiber bale groups is used as a reserve fiber bale group or that with an automatic, aforementioned possibility of rotation of the fiber bale removal device 20, both opposite bale rows can be removed with a predetermined variation.

FIG. 4 shows a variant of FIG. 3, so that the elements already described and shown with FIG. 3 have the same reference numerals.

The difference between that shown with FIGS. 3 and 4 is that overall not only a single fiber bale removal device 20 is provided, but one of each for two opposing fiber bale groups.

Accordingly, the control is identified with 22.1 instead of 22, since it means that four individual fiber bale removal devices 20 are to be controlled separately by means of the corresponding control line 24. Likewise, a pneumatic conveying line is provided for each fiber bale removal device 20, which is accordingly identified with 21.1 instead of 21 and each opens into a component cell 9.

5 shows an arrangement similar to FIG. 1, in which instead of the single conveyor belt 1 per bale group of FIG. 1, a conveyor belt 30 with a purely conveying function and a conveyor belt 31 with conveying / weighing function, per fiber bale group, is provided for each bale group.

The weighing function of the latter conveyor belt can be provided, for example, by supporting the axes of the deflection rollers of the conveyor belt 31 on pressure sockets 32 known per se, each of which emits a signal 33 corresponding to the weight, which signal is sent via a control line 33 to a control unit processing the signals 7.2 is forwarded. The processing of the above-mentioned signals consists in the control 7.2 working out the control signals therefrom which controls the motors of the conveyor belts 30 and 31 mentioned above and the removal elements 3 via control lines 34.

Of course, other weighing systems can also be used, which can be combined with conveyor belts.

Furthermore, the elements already described and shown for FIG. 1 are provided with the same reference symbols.

In operation, the controller 7.2 controls the fiber removal elements 3 and the conveyor belts 30 and 31 with predetermined ones Speeds to remove fibers from the fiber bales 2, which are conveyed into the mixer 6 by means of pneumatic conveying lines 5.

Each fiber bale removal member 3 of the individual fiber bale groups conveys a predetermined amount, controlled by the control 7.2, into the mixer 6. This predetermined amount to be removed (kg / h) per bale group is conveyed by the respective weighing conveyor belt 31 or by the pressurized weighing conveyor belt 31/32 monitored and converted into signals and delivered to the controller via the control lines 33. If the quantity (kg / h) removed per fiber bale group does not match the specified quantity, the control adjusts the quantity to be removed until it matches the specified quantity.

In this case, measurement is always carried out via the measuring device 32 when the fiber bale removal member is at a standstill for a brief moment at the turning point of the back and forth removal path.

In this type of removal, the fiber bale removal member 3 always moves back and forth on the same path, essentially lying in the diagonal of the fiber bale to be removed, or up and down. The amount (kg / h) of the fibers to be removed from the bales is generated by means of the feed speed of the conveyor belts 30 and 31 and the removal member 3.

The controller 7.2 can be an electronic controller based on the analog technology or a microprocessor, by means of which the different quantities removed per bale group can be set and adapted by the signals of the control lines 33 and input signals explained later.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a weighing system similar to FIG. 5, FIG. 7 being a plan view of FIG. 6, corresponding to the direction of arrow A.

It can be seen from FIG. 7 that this is a number of bale rows or bale groups, which are arranged next to one another and each form a mixing component. As shown in FIG. 6, the fiber bales 2 each lie on a conveyor belt 40 and a weighing conveyor 41 connected to it. Each weighing conveyor 41 can be supported, analogously to the weighing conveyor 31 in FIG. 5, on load cells 42, of which a signal corresponding to the weight is delivered to a controller 44 by means of a control line 43.

The fiber bales 2 located on the weighing conveyor 41 are removed by a fiber bale removal device 48 in accordance with EP-A-327 885, which has already been mentioned in connection with FIG. 1. The difference essentially consists in a long fiber bale removal member 49, which extends over the predetermined number of bale rows, with a removal drum 51 which removes fibers from all the bale rows shown in FIG. 7 at the same time.

Another difference of this removal method compared to that described for FIG. 1 is that the fiber removal member 49 removes in an oblique removal path which essentially corresponds to the diagonal of a predetermined number of fiber bales 2 lined up, for example as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, of four fiber bales 2.

However, it goes without saying that a different number of rows of bales can also be removed obliquely in this way, for example only one, as shown with FIGS. 1 and 2.

It also depends on the possible length of the removal member 49 how many fiber bales can be lined up next to one another in order to be removed at the same time.

The fiber material removed by the fiber removal member 49 is conveyed in a pneumatic conveying line 50 which, according to the invention, opens into a continuous mixer 45. As described for FIG. 1, the delivery line 50 can open into a separator (not shown), which discharges the product into the mixer 45.

Furthermore, the fiber bale removal device 48 is controlled by the controller 44 via the control line 46 with respect to the driving speed.

Another control line 47 is used to control the drive motors of the deflection rollers of the conveyor belts 40 and 41.

It goes without saying that the deflection rollers of the conveyor belts 40 and 41 (not particularly marked) of each bale group have a separate drive motor, that is to say that each motor has a control line 47 for the control 44 separately.

In operation, the controller 44 controls the back and forth movement of the fiber bale removal device 48 along the bales located on the weighing conveyor 41 and the up and down movement of the fiber bale removal member 49 on the device 48 during the aforementioned back and forth movement, so that the fiber bales as in FIG Fig. 6 shown in an inclined, substantially the diagonal ver four bales 2 corresponding direction are removed.

This removal movement always runs in the same path and at a predetermined speed, so that the removal quantities (kg / h) of the individual fiber bale groups can be selected differently by the individual feed speeds of the conveyor belts 40 and 41. These different feed speeds of the individual bale groups correspond to a removal program with different amounts (kg / h) of the individual bale groups to be removed in order to obtain the mixture mentioned.

Advantageously, the drive motors for the conveyor belts 40 and 41 are drum motors which are installed in the deflection rollers of the conveyor belts. Such drum motors can be operated by means of frequency inverters at different frequencies, that is to say driven at different speeds, which is a component of the controller 44.

Likewise, as in all cases in this application and particularly mentioned for FIG. 5, the controller 44 can be an analog or digital controller by means of which the quantities of the individual components are controlled. These quantities are corrected by means of the pressure sensor signals, which are input through the control line 43 of the control 44, and the individual component quantity does not correspond to the target specification.

FIG. 8 shows an extension of the previously described method, in which it is shown that after the mixer 6, the product coming from this mixer is put into a so-called blow room 60, in which cleaning machines known per se are used.

The blowroom 60 can contain so-called coarse cleaning machines 61 and fine cleaning machines 62. This blow room, like the previous one, is only shown schematically.

The same applies to the card 63 following the blowroom, which can be a card known per se, for example the card C4 distributed worldwide by the applicant.

This card 63 is provided with a control 64, which is known per se and controls the card functions, which, among other functions, also has the function of ensuring the uniformity and the amount (kg / h) of the card sliver.

After the card, viewed in the direction of belt feed, in front of the card sliver deposition (not shown), the card sliver is checked by a color sensor 65 and by a sensor 66 for measuring the fiber fineness.

It should be mentioned from the outset that either both sensors or only one or the other can be used.

In the case given in FIG. 8, the color sensor 65 outputs a signal 67 corresponding to the color of the card sliver and the sensor 66 for measuring the fiber fineness a signal 68 corresponding to the fiber fineness to the control devices 7 mentioned in connection with FIGS. 1 to 7; 7.1; 7.2; 44, which each control the control of the individual fiber components. Another signal 81 corresponding to the card sliver quantity (kg / h) is also input by the card control 64 into the controls 7; 7.1; 7.2; 44. These three signals are compared by the above-mentioned controls with the setpoint for the sliver color, the setpoint for the fiber fineness and the setpoint for the output, which are entered in the control unit, so that if there are any deviations during operation, these deviations can be caused by changing the Component mix and performance can be fixed again.

The product discharged from the mixer 6 is conveyed to the blowroom 60 via a conveyor system 69 and to the card 63 from the blowroom 60 via a conveyor system 70. Such conveyor systems can be mechanical or pneumatic, it is also known per se that conveyor systems exist between fine cleaning and coarse cleaning machines.

The method according to the invention is likewise not restricted to a single blowroom 60 and a single card 63 after the mixer 6, but rather a plurality of blowrooms 60 and a number of cards 63 can be loaded with the product of the mixer 6 either after the mixer 6, or if a blow room after the mixer 6 is provided, several cards 63 can be loaded with the product of the blow room 60.

If several cards are provided, a color sensor 65 and / or a sensor 66 for measuring the fiber fineness can optionally be provided after each card, or there is also the possibility if several cards process the same product that only one so-called guide card has these latter two test devices .

FIG. 9 shows the possibility of providing the blowroom 60 between the fiber removal and the component cells 9, so that an already cleaned fiber material in the component cells 9 is available for the mixture.

The conveying device from the fiber bale removal device 20 to the blowroom 60 basically corresponds to the pneumatic conveying line 21, whereby in this case too pneumatic conveyance is not mandatory but can be mechanical.

The conveyance between the blowroom 60 and the component cells 9 can also be a pneumatic conveying line as indicated at 21, but it can be any conveyor system. The method according to the invention is not restricted to any conveyor system.

Likewise, the provision of the blowroom 60 is not restricted to the combination with the arrangement from FIG. 3. It goes without saying that fiber components of all the arrangements shown in the figures, with the exception of FIGS. 6 and 7, can first be cleaned and then get into the mixer 6. It is only a matter of effort, since a cleaning shop must be provided for each of the components in FIGS. 1, 2, 4 and 5.

FIG. 10 shows a variant of the method of FIG. 9 in that the blow room is divided into a rough cleaning with the cleaning machines 61 and one into a fine cleaning with the fine cleaning machines 71, each of which is preceded by a storage container 72 (for the sake of simplicity only one is marked) is.

The fine cleaning machines 71 are started or stopped by a controller 73, namely stopped on the basis of a vacancy detector 74 and started on the basis of a full detector 75 (only one identified). These full and vacancy detectors emit their signals to the control 73 via the lines 76 and 77.

The coarse cleaning machines 61 are loaded by means of a fiber transport 78, which can correspond to the pneumatic conveying line 21 from FIG. 9 or to any fiber conveying known per se.

The same applies to the fiber transport 79 between the coarse cleaning machine 61 and the storage containers 72.

The fine cleaning machines each pass their products on to a component mixing cell 9, as has already been described for FIGS. 2 to 4 and for FIG. 9.

Accordingly, the further elements already described are designated by the same reference numerals and are not further described for this figure.

In operation, the components are cleaned individually, accordingly, the vacancy detectors 15 of the individual component cells 9 request the removal of fibers from the corresponding fiber bale group a or b or c or d in order to clean these removed fibers in the coarse cleaning machine and pass them on to the corresponding storage container 72 , which delivers the specified component to the subsequent fine cleaning machines 71.

This product request by the vacancy detector 15 occurs because the corresponding fine cleaning machine no longer supplied a product, since the vacancy detector 74 in the storage container 72 had also reported vacancy. Accordingly, the corresponding group a to d continues to be removed until the corresponding fullness indicator 74 reports fullness to the removed component. The corresponding fine cleaning machine can thus be put into operation again until the fullness detector 14 reports fullness again to the corresponding component cell 9.

The fiber transport 80 between the mixer 6 and the card 63 can correspond to a fiber transport which is identified and described as 70 in FIG. 8.

It also applies to this variant that a mixer 6 can operate several cards, so that the fiber transport 80 the product delivered by the mixer is transported to the appropriate number of cards.

Claims (30)

Process for mixing textile fibers, in which different types of fibers are removed and mixed, characterized in that fiber mixture components with different but predetermined fiber properties are put together from the removed fibers, that controllable variable component parts are dispensed from the components and that the metered parts are dispensed be mixed together into a mixture. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the mixture is determined as a function of a predetermined and determined properties of a subsequently produced intermediate product, preferably a card sliver, or a subsequently produced end product, preferably a yarn, and corrected in the event of deviations therefrom. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the property determined of the intermediate product is the fineness of the fibers located therein. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the property determined of the intermediate or the end product is the color of the fibers therein. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the property determined of the end product is the strength of the yarn to be produced. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the property determined of the intermediate or end product is the length of the fibers. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fiber mixture components are components in which analyzed fiber properties, such as fiber length, fiber fineness, fiber strength and color, selectively play a dominant role in the respective component. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fiber properties of fibers are analyzed, which individual fiber bales are removed and that the fibers are assigned to the fiber mixture components based on such analyzes. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fiber bale provenances form a fiber mixture component. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fiber mixture component is removed in a manner known per se by one or more fiber removal device (s) (3) which can be controlled in terms of the removal capacity, and in that the fibers removed thereby are used to form the component mixture. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that the fibers removed from the bales (2) are transferred to a mixing device (6) to form the component mixture. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that the fibers removed from the bales (2) each in one Component cell (9) allocated in accordance with the fiber mixture component is conveyed and discharged from these cells with a power corresponding to the proportion in the mixture ratio of the component mixture and transferred to the mixing device (6). A method according to claim 10, characterized in that fibers from an assembled fiber bale group are removed simultaneously by one removal member (3) each. Method according to claim 10, characterized in that fiber bale groups joined together as fiber mixture components are alternately removed by a removal member (3) and the fibers obtained therefrom are introduced into the respectively allocated component cells (9). A method according to claim 10 and following, characterized in that the removed fibers are cleaned before the formation of the component mixture. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that the removed fibers are cleaned after the formation of the component mixture. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the component mixture is carded and the fiber fineness and / or the color of the card sliver is measured and that the measurement signal obtained from it influences the component mixture in a corrective manner. Method according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the proportions of the component mixture are controlled by a computer program. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that fiber bale groups joined together as fiber mixture components are removed simultaneously by a removal member (3). Method according to claims 13 and 19, characterized in that the fibers obtained therefrom are fed into a mixer (6). Method according to claim 13, characterized in that the fibers obtained therefrom are input into respectively allocated component cells (9). A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the component parts are metered volumetrically. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the component parts are metered gravimetrically. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the proportions of the component mixture are controlled by a computer program which takes into account the percentage shares of the fiber properties in the fiber mixture components and from this the percentage shares of the component mixture before the start of the operation based on the specified properties of the intermediate or end product determined and automatically maintained during operation due to detected deviations in the properties of the intermediate or end product. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that percentage changes in the mixture components can be carried out controllably. Machine for carrying out a method according to claim 1 with component mixing cells, characterized in that controllable metering devices are provided in order to dispense fibers from the cells in a metered manner and thereby form the controllably variable component parts, and in that a mixing device is provided in order to mix the component parts. Installation with a machine according to claim 26, characterized in that the component mixing cells (9) are provided between removal devices (1,3; 20) and the mixing device (6), in which the fiber flakes from preselected fiber bales are filled, and their metering devices (11 ) are connected to a controller (7; 7.1; 7.2). Plant according to claim 27, characterized in that a measuring device (65; 66) is provided for determining predetermined fiber properties in the mixture. System according to claim 28, characterized in that the measuring device is a color testing device (65). System according to claim 28 or 29, characterized in that the measuring device is a fiber fineness tester (66).

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