FR2658542A1 - METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PROCESSING AND SWAPPING FEATHERS. - Google Patents

Abstract

In the volumetric feather expansion device, the feathers are subjected to an expansion during which selective cutting is carried out so that only elementary fibers with a length of less than 10 mm can leave the zone. cutting. The device comprises a cutting zone 43, cutting members 42 similar to knives and a selection surface 47, the peripheral speed of the cutting members being between 70 and 150 m / s and the device performing a selection cut. Application to the enhancement of poultry cover feathers.

Description

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PROCESSING AND

SWAPING OF FEATHERS

  The subject of the invention is a process for the preparation of a

  cotton-like product from cover feathers (several

  covering the wings and tail of a bird) whose appearance, elasticity, thermal insulation capacity and other sensitive properties are similar to those of down or wool. treated as padding of clothing and other textile articles, for the manufacture of soundproofing cushions and

  thermal energy in the construction industry, for the

  sandwich paneling, for the packaging of materials sensitive to shocks and temperature fluctuations, etc. The feathers obtained by plucking poultry with hot water are available in large quantities and well grouped in poultry slaughtering but their value is relatively low. Moreover, wet feathers are very dirty and deteriorate at high speed because of

  their adverse physical properties, their field of application

  cation is considerably narrower than down

obtained by plucking geese.

  In currently known methods of use, the feather base material, indigestible keratin, is made suitable for animal feed by boiling, steam hydrolysis, acidic and alkaline treatment. Keratin is extremely resistant to all these substances. treatments

  natural quantities, the quantities currently not used represent

  a serious problem of environmental pollution.

  We can distinguish three types of feathers, such as

  pennes, the covers and the down The two main parties

  feather blades are the pipe and the barbs The lower part of the tubular pipe constitutes the hollow shaft and the upper part, the solid rod The barbs extend from both sides of the solid rod The branches of the barbs are fine bundles and fibrous The ends separating the branches and tufts are interconnected by hooks If tufts lack hooks, the branches and tufts are not interconnected, and the feathers become fluffy The covers are distinguished by a rigid pipe and continuous barbs duvets are foldable, the slats are mobile and sometimes the stem

full lack.

  For quilting cushions and eiderdowns, only duvets are used, not quilting feathers, although they represent the largest

part of the plumage of a poultry.

  Long coverts can be unidirectional with a tendency to compactness Compact hairs can only come off by intense mixing (see: bale breaker in German Patent 2,441,003) Since pointed stems and stems have a tendency to pierce the bristles. envelope in their original form, they can not agree

  padding quilts and quilted clothing.

  The process according to the invention is based on the observation that the selective cutting of the covers makes it possible to obtain a cottony or fluffy product whose elements are well detached and give a flexible and elastic mass whose volume represents from 10 to 80 For example, this padding product can be stored in a compressed state in a small volume and recover its volume.

  initial release of compression forces.

  To obtain the volumetric swelling, we set

  a cutting device which, in addition to the trans-

  versal, cut the hollow stems and the solid stems

fine longitudinal fibers.

  The currently known method of cutting resilient and elastic materials such as feathers uses a freeze, for example using liquid nitrogen, so that the material becomes rigid and brittle. Also used cutting devices with two blades relatively slow and dynamic force for cutting and expanding the volume of fibrous materials These devices are practically not suitable for the treatment of feathers The characteristic diameter of the branches of the barbs and radial fibers is of the order of a few micrometers, and it is therefore necessary to maintain distances of less than one micrometer between the cutting blades surrounding the fibers or else it is necessary to

  to use self-sharpening blades.

  these two methods are disadvantageous

because of the wear of the tools.

  The device developed for the implementation of the method according to the invention for expanding the volume of feathers operates a cutting using high speed tools exerting

  a kinetic force at normal atmospheric temperature.

  The cutting zone of the device advantageously has a cylindrical shape or a disc shape and comprises a rotor carrying blade-shaped tools. Part of the wall of the cutting zone and, advantageously, the envelope or part of it. this forms a permeable surface of selection according to the dimensions and is made of sheet metal

  perforated metal, wire or wire cloth.

  The pen is admitted into the cutting zone through an inlet orifice on the front wall, preferably in the vicinity of the rotor shaft. The cut product leaves the device through the selection surface arranged.

  on the walls Blades operating at a peripheral speed

  between 70 and 150 m / s and made of wear-resistant metal sheet collide with

  repetition with the feather pieces Typically

  for this device, the thickness of the blades from 2 to 4 mm is considerably smaller than the external dimensions

  pieces of feathers to cut.

  The cutting effect is obtained in the following way: when the blades collide with the feather pieces, the surface of the particles coming directly into contact with the impact surface is immediately driven at the speed of the blades From there, the acceleration effect

  propagates in the form of shear compression waves-

  the other parts of the feather pieces.

  When the load exceeds the mechanical strength of the

  riau, there is a breakage by crushing, shearing, tearing and elongation.

  After each collision, the feather pieces escape

  Blades and collides with the walls of the cutting zone and, by the effect of air resistance, slows down Repetitive bouncing of pieces of feathers moving irregularly in the swirl of air

  cutting area causes them to come into contact with the blades.

  The dimensions of the feather pieces are reduced during cutting until they become smaller than the apertures of the selection surface. The cutting process is selective because fractions with greater strength and requiring higher cut, stay longer in

the device.

  The structure of the device has been completed with fixed cutting blades to improve the efficiency The rotor functions as a centrifugal fan on which blades are mounted. The use of the suction effect

  solves the problem of automatic feeding without

  charge The internal pressure of the air improves the permeability

selection surfaces.

  Cutted feathers no longer tend to be well-ordered, and in the expanding volume, their particles constitute a random and homogeneous mass When preparing padding, the feathers, both the stems and the stems, are minced in fiber and this results in a network intertwined In this cottony network, the differences between

  the initial elementary fibers disappear almost

  completely and the material becomes homogeneous Its properties

  are excellent and it does not tend to be old

  It is resistant to the vapors of mineral acids, except HCl, to bases, salts, oxidation agents and

organic solvents.

  Its moisture content is between 4 and 9%, and if it becomes slightly humid, its humidification does not exceed

not the relative 10%.

  Its thermal conductivity is as follows: Feather padding ISOLIT Conductibility Conductivity Thermal density Thermal density kg / m 3 W / m K kg / m 3 W / m K

51.9 0.040 70.0 0.042

63.6 0.041 100.0 0.046

84.8 0.042 150.0 0.052

  The table indicates that feather padding is a better thermal insulator than glass wool while its

density is much lower.

  The base material of the feather padding is a keratin similar to that of wool and, on the other hand, the fibers of the branches of the barbs are 10 to 20 times more

fine than those of wool.

  The basic material of cotton fibers (GOSSIPIUM) is

  cellulose Its mechanical properties, such as

  fiber strength, resilience and wear resistance, are significantly worse than those of keratin fibers Cotton loses its elasticity under the effect of moisture In its natural state, it is flammable, while the padding feathers is moderately flammable and has a flash point of 381 ° C, which corresponds to a

  fire hazard class "moderately flammable".

  Distribution of the particles of the feather padding Dimension of Mass Volume Specific volume sieve, mm kd cm 3 dm 3 / kg

7 0.1430 3.400 23.8

7 to 5 0.0390 0.817 20.8

at 2 0.0016 0.024 15.0

2 to 1 0.0017 0.028 16.4

1 to 0.5 0.0014 0.021 18.9

  According to these data, 95 to 96% of the mass of the

  padding of feathers is part of the fraction

  have a dimension greater than 5 mm, the proportion

  weight of the powdered part being very small.

  This new material lends itself to many applica-

  With the use of glue, it is possible to mold under

  thermal insulation sheets intended for the indus-

  After proper preparation, for example disinfection, it can be used, for example, for padding quilted garments (instead of cotton), but it can also be used for various purposes in the industry. Since it absorbs moisture poorly, its cleaning is very much

  simpler than that of cotton products.

  The moisture content of feathers coming out of slaughterhouses

  poultry is equal to 50% and can not therefore be

  treatment after drying, cleaning and deodorizing

  Most of the water is in the form of superficial moisture that can be mechanically removed with minimal energy. The fully dry feathers contain about 9% water, 82% crude protein, 1% of

  ash and 2% nitrogen-free extract.

  In the first stage, the slightly

  eliminated in a vibrating filter under gravitational

  In the second step, the water content is reduced by centrifugation accompanied by a dry stream of air passing through. After this two-stage treatment, the pen can be subjected to an expansion of

its volume.

  Other goals, features and benefits will appear

  read the description of various modes of

  embodiment of the invention, made in a non-limiting manner and with reference to the appended drawing, o:

  FIG. 1 schematically represents an installation

  for the implementation of the method according to the invention; Figure 2 shows an installation of the same type as that of Figure 1 but for products of higher quality;

  FIG. 3 schematically represents an installation

  volumetric expansion of feathers according to the invention; Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a volumetric feather expansion device according to the invention; Figure 5 shows a semi-industrial feather expansion device

according to the invention.

  In the process corresponding to the diagram of FIG. 1, the raw feathers are first dewatered mechanically,

  suitably with vibrofiltration, centrifugation and

  fugation in a filter 1 and in a spinning unit 2 The drying effect is improved by blowing dry air through the mass In the flow diagram given by way of example, the dewatered material passes through a dryer 3o a part of the fixed water is evaporated in the presence of air at 160 C maximum because, at higher temperatures, the pen becomes sticky or sticky From the belt dryer 3, the material passes to the volumetric expansion device 4 which will be described in more detail below. FIG. 2 represents the volumetric preparation and expansion method corresponding to the requirements of

  high quality (eg for clothing textiles).

  The initial raw material of the process is the dry feather or dried by the method according to the flow diagram

  represented in Figure 1 This raw material is pre-

  The pre-cut feather is cleaned and disinfected with organic solvents, neutral reaction surfactants, treated with chlorinated quaternary ammonium derivatives, or what are called agents of

  fine disinfection and deodorization, or a similar reaction

  In a washing and disinfection assembly 6, the solvents and agents which are recovered are then extracted into a reagent recovery assembly 7 and finally the volume is expanded by cutting.

  selective in a volumetric expander 4.

  FIG. 3 represents, by way of example, a device

  4, whose feed is self-stabilizing, the cutting zone being provided with a temperature sensor 44 and a suitable control circuit 45 and the device being also provided with a mechanism 46

stop in case of danger.

  In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 by way of example, the volumetric expansion device 4 of FIG. 4 is made to the template of the laboratory or pilot and that represented in FIG.

  made to a semi-industrial capacity template (produc-

70 to 100 kg / h).

  FIG. 4 represents a very simple embodiment of the volumetric expansion device 4 according to the invention. It comprises cutting members in the form of cutting blades 42 mounted on an axle driving means 60. section 42 are located in a cutting zone 43 which is separated from a collection zone 50 by a selection surface 47. If the circumference of the selection surface 47 does not extend over 360, the separation is carried out at using the selection surface 47 and an extension envelope The lower part of the

  collection 50 is sloping towards an exit 49.

  The cleaned and dried feather is conveyed to a slatted surface 41 The air stream induced by the rotating parts carries the feather through a passage 48 to the cutting area 43 The feather / air ratio can be adjusted to the Using the slatted surface 41 depending on the type of feathers When the cutting blades 42 collide with the feathers, an explosive effect of crushing, shearing, tearing and tearing occurs in a very short time. The speed of the cutting blades 42 is suitably chosen between 70 and 150 m / s because at

  speeds are lower, the swelling process is inadequate.

  whereas, for higher speeds, the proportion of pulverulent particles becomes considerably greater. If the amount of feathers in the cutting zone 43 increases, the number of openings of the selection surface 47 that are covered increases, and therefore, there is a decrease in the amount of circulating air and

  feathers introduced If the free surface increases, the increase

  tation of the amount of air causes more feathers in the

  In this way, there is a stabilization

  tion and self-adjustment of the load of the ex-

  Volumetric expansion The expanded feathers then leave the device through the outlet port 49, partly by the effect of the air circulation and partly because of the slope of the bottom. FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the invention. expansion device which is completed by a set of fixed cutting blades 62 The upper right quarter is a front view of the device, the lower right quarter is a front view removed lid, the lower left quarter is a sectional view of the plane of the cutting blades and the quarter

  upper left is a sectional view in the plane of the venti-

  freezer. The inlet orifice 48 and a primary air inlet orifice 51 are arranged on a cover or cover 59. A support 54 of cutting blades is fixed on a shaft 56, which

  support 54 receiving a group of movable cutting blades 42.

  A fan 61 is also arranged on the shaft 56,

  behind the cutting blades An air inlet

  Condenser 52 is located at the rear of the enclosure. The selection surface 47 and the group of fixed cutting blades 62 are fixed on a support 55. The cutting zone 43 and the space

  50 are separated by the selection surface 47.

  The collection space 50 is in the form of a spiral casing

  extended by a deflection plate 53 The space of col-

  lecte 50 is adjacent to an acceleration space formed in a base 57 On one side of the acceleration space, opens an air outlet and control orifice 58 and the exit of

  the expanded feather is arranged on the opposite side.

  The cleaned and dried nib is sucked by the inlet port 48 into the cutting zone 43 by the air stream

  created by the fan 61 The corresponding feather / air ratio

  The padding preparation process is similar to that used with the previous device with the difference that, in order to improve the yield,

  groups of cutting blades 62 are also provided.

  In this device, the selection surface 47 regulates the appropriate residence time of the various pieces of feathers The volumetrically expanded feathers pass into the collection zone 50 and the treated feathers are conveyed by the fan-induced air flow. 61 in the acceleration space The air flow in the space of

  collection 50 is regulated using the secondary air inlet.

  As shown in this embodiment, the fan 61 performs a dual ventilation and hash function. The fan ventilation function 61

  can be done with a fan mounted independently

  In this case, the treated feathers are transported externally by the air. The feathers treated and transported to the acceleration space pass into the regulated air stream evacuated to

  58 and leave the apparatus through the ori-

  exit fice located on the opposite side.

  It should be noted that, for the correct treatment of the feathers, the fan 61 and the fixed cutting blades 62 do not constitute obligatory elements of the device according to the present invention, and that they are indicated only as

  example to improve performance.

  The process of volumetric treatment and volumetric expansion of feathers is characterized in that the feathers are subjected to a preparation if necessary, followed by an expansion during which selective cutting is carried out so that only elementary fibers less than 10 mm in length may leave the

  If the feathers are wet, during the preparation

  They are filtered, dewatered and dried in at least one step so that the moisture content of the feathers is less than 12%. The feathers are first pre-cut into fibers of a length of 15 to 25 mm,

  then treated with solvent, preferably with the aid of

  Neutral chemical reactive surfactants and / or preservatives, preferably with chlorinated quaternary ammonium derivatives, followed by removal of the

  solvent and / or preservative.

  The volumetric expansion device according to the invention

  tion, in particular for the pen, comprises a cutting zone, cutters similar to knives and a selection surface, the peripheral speed of the cutting members being between 70 and 150 m / s and the device making a cut of selection The maximum thickness of the organs of

  cut is 5 mm and the shape of the cutting area is sensi-

  the dimension of the apertures of the selection surface, at least in a

  direction, is between 3 and 6 mm.

  Feathered feathers having volum-

  according to the invention are characterized in that their volume is between 10 and 80 times the volume prior to expansion, in that they consist of fibers

  homogeneous and fluffy elementary elements with a

  randomization, in that their thickness is between 1 and 5 micrometers, 92 to 98% of the fibers having a length of between 5 and 10 mm, these fibers being slightly

  humid, but their humidification not exceeding 10% relative

  this material constitutes an elastic sonic insulator and

soft to the touch.

  Of course, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described and shown but it is capable of numerous variants accessible to the man of

  art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims (9)

  1. A method of treatment and volumetric expansion of the feathers, characterized in that the feathers are subjected to a preparation if necessary, followed by an expansion during which it implements a selective cutting so that only elementary fibers less than 10 mm in length may leave the area cutting.   2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that, if the feathers are wet, during the preparation, they are filtered, dewatered and dried in at least one step so that the moisture content of the feathers is less than 12%.   3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the feathers are first subjected to a precut of fibers of a length of 15 to 25 mm, and then treated with the solvent, preferably using surfactants with neutral chemical reaction and / or preservatives, preferably with chlorinated quaternary ammonium derivatives, and then the solvent and / or the preservative.   4. volumetric expansion device, in particular for the feather, characterized in that it comprises a zone of   cutter (43), cutting members (42) similar to   and a selection surface (47), the peripheral speed   cutting elements being between 70 and 150 m / s   and the device performing a selection cut.   5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the maximum thickness of the cutting members (47) is 5 mm.   6. Device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized   in that the shape of the cutting area (43) is sensi-   that of a rotating surface.   7. Device according to any one of the claims   4 to 6, characterized in that the dimension of the apertures of the selection surface (47), at least in one direction, is between 3 and 6 mm.   8. Device according to any one of the claims   4 to 7, characterized in that its power supply is self-regulating.   9. Covering feathers having undergone a volum-   characterized in that their volume is between 80 and 80 times the volume prior to expansion, in that they consist of homogeneous and cottony elementary fibers having a random distribution, in that their thickness is between 1 and 5 mm, 92 to 98% of the fibers having a length of between 5 and 10 mm, these fibers being slightly moist but their wetting does not   not more than 10% relative, this material constituting an iso-   sonic elastic and soft to the touch.