EP1360351A1

EP1360351A1 - Separating device for foreign bodies

Info

Publication number: EP1360351A1
Application number: EP02711730A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jürg Faas; Christoph Schönbächler; Armin Jossi; Andreas Meyenhofer; Walter Kiechl
Original assignee: Maschinenfabrik Rieter AG; Jossi Holding AG
Current assignee: Maschinenfabrik Rieter AG; Uster Technologies AG
Priority date: 2001-02-16
Filing date: 2002-02-15
Publication date: 2003-11-12
Anticipated expiration: 2022-02-15
Also published as: EP1360351B2; EP1360351B1; EP1959039A2; CN1511201A; DE50213163D1; WO2002066717A1; CN100507103C; EP1959039A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for recognizing and separating foreign bodies from a fiber material which is conveyed to a cleaning stage (1) by means of feeder elements (14,15), wherein the fiber material is guided by means of an opener cylinder (4) via one or several separating means (5,56) and delivered to a subsequent transport channel (24, 58'). In order to improve upon known solutions and to obtain an optimum, targeted separation of foreign bodies , the recognition and separation device (32, 33, 50) for foreign bodies is arranged directly in the delivery region (20, 24, 58') of the cleaning stage (1).

Description

Separation device for foreign substances

The invention relates to a device for detecting and separating foreign substances from a fiber material, which is fed via feed elements to a cleaning stage, in which the fiber material is guided by means of an opening roller over one or more separating means and is delivered to a subsequent conveying channel.

DE-A1-195 18 783 discloses an embodiment in which an opening roller, which is equipped with pins or hooks, works together with knives which are arranged on a partial circumference of the roller at intervals. When the fiber material is transferred via the separating knife, in relation to the fiber weight, in particular heavier and undesirable components such as dirt, trash, dust and the like are separated from the fiber material. The fiber material is released to the surface of the opening roller via a shaft and two feed rollers. In order to detect foreign fibers in the fiber material passed over the opening roller, sensors are proposed which are arranged opposite the surface of the opening roller. These are color sensors that are arranged across the working width of the roller. The color sensors detect a color deviation of the foreign fibers compared to the normal fiber and are connected to evaluation electronics. To detect the foreign fibers, the surface of the opening roller can have a shiny metallic or white surface. The cleaned fiber material is delivered to a suction line, in which a discharge device is integrated. The signals from the sensors are used to actuate flaps which are displaced in a certain time interval and which feed the fiber material provided with foreign fibers to a disposal line. The removal device shown is relatively far from the actual delivery area of the opening roller, so that a larger fiber mass has to be removed so that the detected foreign fibers are also removed during this process.

When the fiber material is monitored on the opening roller fitted with a clothing or pins, the circumferential tips of the clothing or the Pins, disadvantageous for an exact detection of the foreign fibers. This means that the foreign fibers that are located directly in the area of these tips may not be detected as foreign fibers by the sensors, especially since the flow chart of the clothing tips is filtered out in the evaluation electronics.

In addition, the fiber material is present here as a relatively compact non-woven fabric when it is transferred to the opening roller, under certain circumstances it is not possible to detect foreign fibers which are located on the inside and run directly on the drum circumference.

Furthermore, an opening roller is known from DE-A1-19543 526, which also interacts with knives. An air jam is generated in the area in front of a separating knife in order to remove detected foreign fibers, the fiber material interspersed with foreign parts being lifted off the roller and transferred to a disposal device. Monitoring for foreign fibers is also carried out on the roller surface of the opening roller. In addition, many good fibers are also separated with this device when foreign fibers are discharged.

DE-A1-19847237 shows a similar device, in which a blown air stream directed approximately tangentially to the roller is generated to remove the foreign fibers detected on the drum, the fibers located in the area of the blown air stream being removed from the roller surface via the resulting negative pressure on the roller surface be lifted off and taken to a disposal room. In the example shown, it is an opening roller, which has the task of opening the supplied fiber material further, or of breaking it down into smaller fiber flakes. An additional cleaning of the fiber material from dirt is not provided here. With this arrangement there is also the risk, as described above, that not all foreign fibers in the fiber material guided over the opening roller can be determined or removed.

DE-A1-195 16 568 also shows only one opening roller, on which no cleaning work is carried out. The resolution device consists of one or two feed rollers, which deliver the fiber material fed via a shaft to a high-speed opening roller. The fiber material further dissolved by the opening roller is fed in free fall to a downward shaft in which a device for recognizing and separating foreign substances is attached. The foreign substances detected by a plurality of sensors lying next to one another or by a camera are blown out sequentially into a special collecting container by means of blowing nozzles which are subsequently arranged and are arranged next to one another in rows. These blow nozzles are controlled via a control unit which is connected to the sensor system. The sensor system also detects contaminants, trash parts and the like that are still in the flow of fiber material, as a result of which the blowing nozzles are very often actuated for blowing out via the control. The blow cone of the blow air flow must have a corresponding size so that the detected foreign substances are safely excreted. In addition to the foreign substances, a large number of good fibers are also separated at each blowing interval. However, this results in a loss in the productivity of the fiber material obtained.

The object of the invention is therefore to avoid the disadvantages of the prior art described in order to obtain an optimal device for the targeted removal of foreign substances and the removal of good fibers is minimized.

This object is achieved in that the detection and separation device for the foreign substances is arranged directly in the discharge area of the cleaning stage. The term “delivery area” is understood to mean the area directly at the delivery opening of the cleaning stage or also the area which follows directly after the delivery opening. With this device it is ensured that the detection device (sensor system) is supplied with a fiber material mass in the free flock flow, from which usual contaminations, such as trash parts, dirt, dust and the like, have already been substantially separated in a conventional manner at the upstream cleaning stage. In addition, the foreign matter still to be detected is easier to detect in an open stream of flakes than between the clothing of an opening roller. By mounting directly in In the discharge area of the cleaning stage, the fiber air flow has a speed at which the detection of foreign substances can still be carried out without problems. Due to the separation of the contaminants carried along in the fiber material already at the cleaning stage, the subsequent detection and separation device can concentrate on the foreign substances which, due to their physical properties, are not separated out at the upstream cleaning stage.

Since the cleaning stage is essentially provided with an opening roller, which has a corresponding length, it is proposed that the delivery area - seen in the conveying direction - be designed as a tapering and funnel-shaped channel which opens into the conveying channel. This ensures that the fiber material can be guided over a correspondingly large cleaning area in the area of the cleaning stage, while for the further transport of the cleaned fiber material it can be brought together via the funnel-shaped channel on a narrower, tubular transport channel. This makes it possible to keep the energy required for the transport of fiber goods to a minimum.

The detection and separation device is preferably attached to the funnel-shaped channel. As already described, the conveying speed of the fiber material in the funnel-shaped channel is lower than in the subsequent conveying channel, so that problem-free detection and separation of foreign substances can be carried out here.

In order to keep the fiber flow constant in cross-section between detection and elimination, it is proposed that the delivery area be provided in a first part with an approximately constant cross-section, which is followed by a funnel-shaped part which opens into the conveying channel. When the detection and separation device is installed in the area of the constant cross-section of the channel, the exact detection and separation of foreign substances is guaranteed. This means that the position of the detected foreign substances remains approximately the same in the fiber stream between detection and elimination. In order to detach the fiber material from the opening roller and to generate a subsequent transport air flow, it is proposed that a channel for supplying air in the conveying direction be arranged in the discharge area.

Furthermore, an embodiment is proposed, the detection device being arranged approximately tangentially in the discharge area of the cleaning stage at a distance from the loading of the opening roller. This makes it possible to detect the foreign matter directly in the area of the detachment from the opening roller.

In addition to this, it is proposed that the sensor system is opposite

Wall of the duct following the cleaning stage in one section as an optical one

Background, e.g. is designed as a reflective surface for the sensors, the

Reflection surface is arranged approximately at a right angle to the monitoring level. The reflective surface can be adapted to the color of the fiber material (good fibers), whereby an optimal detection of foreign parts is possible.

The optical background can have defined properties regarding brightness and

Color or can e.g. active light, in which case the optical

Background no longer acts as a reaction surface.

It is further proposed that the cleaning device with subsequent

Detection and separation device is integrated in the feed shaft of a card.

The previously claimed sensor system can be formed from one or more cameras. Individual sensors for monitoring are also possible. An illumination device is preferably assigned to the sensor system.

The separating device can be formed from blow nozzles arranged side by side, which can be controlled sequentially via the sensor system by a control unit.

Further advantages of the invention are shown and described in more detail in the following exemplary embodiments. Show it:

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of a cleaning stage with the following

Detection and separation device for foreign substances. Fig. 2 is a partial view X of FIG. 1 of the delivery area of the

Cleaning stage Fig. 3 A schematic side view of a card with integrated

Cleaning stage in the feed shaft and subsequent detection and

Separation device for foreign substances.

Fig. 1 shows a cleaning stage 1, which is provided with an opening roller 4 and with separation knives 5, which are arranged one behind the other over a portion of the circumference of the opening roller. The fiber material, which is conveyed in flake form by a transport air stream, is fed to the cleaning stage 1 via a feed shaft 6.

The fiber material can be delivered from an upstream cleaning stage in which, for example, a rough cleaning is carried out. The cleaning stage 1 shown is then downstream of the "coarse cleaner" as a "fine cleaner".

In the feed shaft 6, the fiber material comes into the range of action of a pair of opening rollers 8. The fiber flakes are opened further and metered downwards via the opening rollers 8, the fiber material entering the nip of a screen roller 10 and a transport roller 11. The screen roller 10 and the transport roller 11 are connected to a drive, not shown in more detail, which drives them in the opposite direction of rotation, as a result of which the fiber material fed from above is passed between the two rollers. The transport roller 11 has a smooth surface, while the screen roller 10 has a perforated surface, the interior of the screen surface being connected to a schematically shown channel 12, in which most of the transport air of the fiber air mixture is discharged. The fiber material passed between the rollers 11 and 10 is still in flake form and reaches the feed channel S of a subsequent feed roller 14 which interacts with a feed trough 15.

The funnel-shaped merging of the fiber material between the feed roller 14 and the feed trough 15 compresses the fiber material and in the region of the feed lip 16 transfers it to the schematically indicated clothing 7 of the rotating opening roller 4. When the fiber material is pulled off in the area of the feed lip 16 by the clothing 7, the fiber flakes are opened further, as a result of which the impurities such as dirt, trash parts, etc. carried in the fiber material stream can escape from the fiber material stream to the outside due to the centrifugal force generated on the opening roller 4.

Due to the centrifugal force, these parts reach the area of the separating knife 5 and are separated there and transferred to a disposal device (not shown in more detail).

A trough plate 18 is arranged after the separating knife 5, via which the cleaned fiber material is fed to a discharge opening 20. In the area of the discharge opening 20, a channel 22 is arranged, via which air L is supplied from an air pressure source, not shown in detail. The air L is supplied approximately in the tangential direction to the opening roller 4 and supports the detaching process of the fiber material located in the clothing 7 of the opening roller 4.

The air L could also be supplied directly from the ambient air, which is sucked in by a negative pressure generated in the transport channel 26.

The fiber material is thereby discharged to a discharge area or into a discharge tube 24 and transferred into a subsequent transport channel 26 by the action of the air L. From this transport channel 26, for example, the fiber material is either fed to a further cleaning stage or a subsequent feed shaft of a card. As can be seen in particular in the partial view of FIG. 2, the discharge tube 24 is provided on its first section 28 with a constant cross section, the width B of which corresponds approximately to the length of the opening roller 4. The section 28 of the discharge pipe 24 opens into a second section 30 (tapered "funnel") which tapers in the transport direction T and which opens into the transport channel 26.

In the area of the first section 28, two opposite CCD cameras 32, 32 'and 33, 33', for example, are attached in pairs shortly behind the delivery opening 20, each of which has a transparent window 35, 36 which is integrated in the section 28 Monitor fiber material released from cleaning level 1.

In the subsection 28 there are also background strips 38 which are positioned on the opposite side of the channel relative to the respective camera 32, 32 'and 33, 33'. The color of the background strip 38 corresponds to the set parameters for the fibers, so that the cameras do not respond when the section 28 is empty. A similar device can be found, for example, in WO-96/35831.

As can be seen in particular from FIG. 2, the respective cameras 32-33 'are assigned lighting bodies 40 which ensure adequate lighting of the fiber material guided past the cameras.

As also indicated schematically in FIG. 2, the cameras 32-33 'are connected via the paths 42, 42', 43 and 43 'to a control unit ST, via which the monitoring results are transmitted to the control unit ST. On the basis of the evaluation of the data transmitted to the control unit ST, a corresponding valve 48 is opened via the control line 45, the compressed air supplied via a compressed air source 46 being released to a blow-out nozzle 50 assigned to the respective valve 48. Detected foreign material (for example foreign fibers) is emitted to a container 54 via an opening 52 via the air pulse P thereby created. The container 54 can be closed or with appropriate Openings must be connected to the atmosphere. It is also possible to provide the container 54 with appropriate suction devices for removing the separated material. As shown in dashed lines, the container can also be provided with an air return 55, via which the air supplied to the container is returned to the section 30.

An embodiment is also possible, the blowing nozzles 50 being able to be arranged below the discharge tube 24, the detected foreign parts being blown out upwards through a corresponding opening in the tube 24. With such an arrangement, the collecting container must be designed or arranged accordingly so that the foreign parts that have been separated cannot get back into the channel 24.

It is also conceivable to chemically treat the fiber material before it reaches the monitoring device (32-33 ') in the region of the discharge opening 20, so that foreign parts such as plastic films, which normally do not differ from the color of the cotton, are also treated be made visible to the surveillance system. (e.g. via UV light if the sprayed chemical substance only sticks to the plastic film and can be made visible using UV light.)

The detection and separation device arranged after cleaning stage 1 detects and separates in particular the foreign parts which, due to their physical characteristics, cannot be separated using the centrifugal force in conventional cleaning stage 1.

A further exemplary embodiment is shown in FIG. 3, wherein an opening roller 4 is rotatably arranged in the feed shaft 58 of a card 60 and cooperates with a grate 56 on part of its circumference. The opening roller 4 is here also provided with a clothing 7, which draws off and dissolves the fiber material which is presented via the feed trough 15 in connection with the feed roller 14. Instead of the separating grate 56 shown, separating knives 5 can of course also be attached, as are shown in the exemplary embodiment in FIG. 1. The material deposited over the grate 56 is fed to a schematically shown manifold 57. The fiber material discharged from the cleaning stage 1 at the discharge opening 20 is monitored through an opening 62 following the grate 56. The surveillance plane of the CCD camera shown runs approximately tangentially and at a short distance from the tips of the clothing 7. The following channel 58 'has a presentation surface 64 in the area of the discharge opening 20, which is oriented approximately at right angles to the surveillance plane E. The color of the surface 64 is selected such that the camera 32 only generates a signal from foreign parts based on the fiber parameters set in the control unit ST. As shown in the example in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, the images captured by the camera 32 are also transmitted to a subsequent control unit ST via a path 42. As soon as a foreign material is determined, a control valve 48 is triggered with a time delay via the control unit ST, via which the compressed air supplied by a compressed air source 46 is switched through to a subsequent nozzle 50. Via the compressed air blast P thus generated at a corresponding point within the channel 58 ′, the detected foreign part is delivered to a container 54 or excreted via an opening 52.

The fiber material discharged from cleaning stage 1 is transported in free fall in channel 58 'and is transferred to a subsequent pair of transport rollers 66. In the case of the transport rollers 66, the fiber material is compressed to form a nonwoven fabric 70, which is transferred via a feed table 68, which slopes downward at an angle, to a subsequent feed roller 72, to which a feed trough 73 is assigned. The fibers are released from the laid nonwoven fabric 70 by means of a licker-in 76 provided with a set and transferred to a subsequent card drum 77 (spool). The drum 77 works together with a schematically shown circumferential cover 78 and transfers the fiber material, which is now broken down into individual fibers, to a subsequent rotating consumer 80. Of course, in the area of the circumference of the drum 77 there are also several carding elements, which are not shown here. The fiber material is removed from the doffer 80 via the doffer roller 81 and to a subsequent one Squeeze roller pair 82 delivered. The fiber fleece delivered via the squeeze roller pair 82 is taken over, for example, by a cross conveyor belt 83, which brings the fiber fleece together to form a fiber belt F, which is transferred via a pair of calender rollers 84 to a subsequent belt deposit, not shown.

The use of such a cleaning stage with the immediately following detection and separation device claimed according to the invention can be used anywhere in the blowroom line between the bale removal machine and the cards.

Claims

claims

1. Device for recognizing and separating foreign substances from a fiber material, which is fed via feed elements (14, 15) to a cleaning stage (1), in which the fiber material is guided by means of an opening roller (4) via one or more separating means (5, 56) and is delivered to a subsequent conveying channel (24, 58 '), characterized in that the detection and the separating device (32, 33, 50) for the foreign substances directly in the delivery area (20, 24, 58') of the cleaning stage (1) is arranged.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the delivery area - seen in the conveying direction (F) - is designed as a tapering and funnel-shaped channel (24) which opens into the conveying channel (26).

3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the detection and the separating device (32, 33, 50) is attached to the funnel-shaped channel (24).

4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the delivery area - seen in the conveying direction (F) - has a channel (24) which has a constant cross-section at least on a section (28) of its length and is at least in its front part ( 30) tapers in a funnel shape, with which it opens into the delivery channel (26).

5. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that the detection and the separation device (32, 33, 50) in the region (28) of the constant cross section of the channel (24) is attached.

6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a channel (22) for air supply (L) in the conveying direction (F) is arranged in the delivery area (20, 24).

7. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the monitoring plane (E) of the detection device (32) in the delivery area (20) of the cleaning stage (1) is arranged approximately tangentially at a distance from the equipment (7) (eg set) of the opening roller (4) is.

8. The device according to claim 7, characterized in that the wall of the channel (58 ') following the cleaning stage (1) opposite the sensor system (32) in one section as an optical background, e.g. is designed as a reflection surface (64) for the sensor system (32), the reflection surface (64) being arranged approximately at a right angle to the monitoring plane (E).

9. Device according to one of claims 7 or 8, characterized in that the color of the reflection surface (64) of the color of the fiber material (good fibers) is adapted.

10. Device according to one of claims 1 or 7 to 9, characterized in that the cleaning device (1) in the feed shaft (58, 50 ') of a card (60) is integrated.

11. The device according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the sensor system is formed from one or more cameras (32, 32 ', 33, 33').

12. The device according to claim 11, characterized in that the sensor system is associated with an illumination device (40).

13. Device according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the separating device is formed from blow nozzles (50) arranged next to one another, which can be controlled sequentially via the sensor system (32, 32 ', 33, 33') via a control unit (ST) are.