GB2200144A - Improvements relating to roller gins - Google Patents

Abstract

A roller gin has its ginning roller (3) clad with toothed clothing wire and radially spaced from the cooperating surfaces of at least one stationary ginning member (4). A second ginning member (6) may be mounted adjacent the first member (4) with the provision of means for adjusting the clearance (7) between them and also means for adjusting the radial clearances (8 and 9) between the roller 3 and the stationary members (4 and 6 respectively). A perforated grid (17) is positioned immediately below the roller (3) to clear entrained dirt and any broken seed husk from the roller (3). Other means of equipping the roller 3 with raised projections may be used, for example abrasive covering in the manner of a "granular card", or pinned fabric in the manner of fillet clothing. A moving knife 14, having a seed removing edge 16, is carried by an angularly oscillating roller 15. A seed grid 11 allows disposal of separated seed. A fluted doffer roll and a cooperating separating plate 19 represent a stripping arrangement. <IMAGE>

Description

wIMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO ROLLER GINS1 The present invention relates to a roller gin.

Known roller gins use a ginning roller, usually having a leather surface, which cooperates with a fixed knife to separate the fibrous outer covering of the seed cotton from the kernel of the seed. The seed cotton is thus separated into usable cotton fibres and the seed material which can, if des-ired, be processed for other uses, for example cattle feed. The important requirement is, however, that the fibres should be separated without becoming damaged and hence shortened in length due to the ginning action.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a roller gin comprising a ginning roller having lint-entraining projections on its surface, and a cooperating stationary ginning member relative to which the ginning roller moves in rotation, there being a clearance between the surface of said stationary ginning member and said ginning roller.

The use of a toothed ginning roller is a novel departure from the traditional ginning mechanisms and gives rise to surprisingly effective separation of the fibres. from the seed at increased rates of production without unduly damaging the fibres, particularly shortening their staple length. Hitherto, such damage has been encountered when operating a roller gin at the increased production rates possible with the roller gin of this invention.

In order that the present invention may more readily be understood the following description is given, merely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which the sole Figure is a transverse sectional view of a roller gin in accordance with the present invention.

The roller gin illustrated in the drawing is fed with seed roller 12 by way of a feed hopper 1 having, near its throat, a seed cotton control rotor 2 of Maltese Cross-shaped profile.

The ginning roller 3 is in the form of a wire-clad roller, similar to a carding cylinder in carding apparatus, and rotates in a direction which carries the surface of the roller downwardly at the point of ginning action, as distinct from the more normal upward movement in a roller gin.

Cooperating with the ginning roller 3 as it approaches the point of ginning action is a fixed knife 4.

Cooperating with the fixed knife 4 is a lower knife or lint control plate 6 which is adjustable in the vertical direction in order to open and close a narrow slit 7 through which the lint passes during ginning.

It is important to note that the ginning roller does not contact the surfaces of the fixed knife 4 or the lint control plate 6 but instead has clearances 8 and 9, respectively, with those two components. This is because the entrainment of the lint of the seed cotton is effected by the teeth on the surface of theginning roller 3 rather than by means of the trapping of the fibres between a leather-covered roller of the more conventional kind, and its cooperating fixed blade.

The clearances 8 and 9 can be adjusted in order to suit the characteristics of the seed cotton being ginned.

The adjustment of the lint control plate 6 is in the direction of the double-headed arrow 10 shown in the drawing.

At the point of ginning (ginning zone) the seed is separated by means of the moving knife 14, carried by an angularly oscillating roller 15 appropriately driven for movement to carry a transversely extending seed stripping edge - defining portion 16 of the movable knife, whilst the lint fibre is being held by the action of the teeth of the metallic wire clothing the rotating ginning roller 3.

Seed removed by the movable knife edge 16 falls clear of the ginning zone whereas the lint passes through the clearance 7 between fixed knife 4 and the lint control plate 6 to become entrained and carried forward by the teeth of the wire on the ginning roller.

Directly below the ginning zone a seed grid 11 allows the disposal of the separated seed by way of the assistance of a vaned flapper roller 13 rotating in an anti-clockwise direction.

In order to control the passage of lint around the ginning roller 3, there is a grid 17, i.e a plate which is in this case perforated, directly below the part of the path of the surface of the ginning roller 3 moving from the lint control plate 6 to a stripping arrangement comprising a fluted doffer roll 18 (having its flutes arranged on a coarse pitch helix), and a cooperating separator plate 19, both-of a type which are known for stripping carded webs from the doffer of a carding cylinder.

The constructional differences between the illustrated roller gin and the traditional roller gin comprise: (a) the alternative direction of rotation of the ginning roller; (b) the use of a ginning roller having its surface provided with upstanding projections, and preferably clad with toothed wire; and (c) the use of a pair of lint control members (the fixed knife 4 and the lint control plate 6-therebelow) which together define a narrow clearance 7 through which the lint constituent of the seed cotton can pass.

In operation, the seed cotton 12 is fed to the hopper 1, either manually or by means of-a suitable automatic feeder, and the seed cotton control rotor 2 and the flapper roll 13 are driven so that the seed cotton control rotor 2 rotates in the clockwise direction and the flapper roll 13 rotates in the anticlocAwise direction.

Seed cotton is thus presented to the point of ginning action, just above the position of the moving knife 14 shown in the drawing, and is consequently able to become entrained by the rotation of the ginning roller 3, by virtue of the interaction of the fibres of the seed cotton with the fibres of earlier-processed seed cotton whose lint has already found its way into the clearance 7 and been attracted to rotate in the clockwise direction.

The purpose of the grid 17 being perforated is to allow any dust and any other impurities which are entrained on the toothed ginning roller 3 and in the ginned lint carried thereon to be discharged to waste during the passage of the lint from the point of ginning action to the point where the lint is stripped from the ginning roller 3.

The provision of a moving knife 14 having a transversely extending edge 16 as shown in the drawing is in accordance with our British Patent Application 8623463 (Publication No.

Likewise, the provision of a "flapper roll" in what would otherwise be a dead zone below the seed cotton control rotor 2 is disclosed in our British Patent Application 8623462 (Publication No.

In the above description, the lint-entraining action of the ginning roller 3 is attributed to the existence of toothed wire cladding on the surface of the ginning roller 3. It is of course conceivable that instead some other form of cladding may be provided, for example pinned fabric or "fillet clothing", or a surface covering of abrasive particles, in the manner of a "granular card".

In any event, it is an important difference between the present invention and the prior art that there is a radial clearance between the surface of the ginning roller and the adjacent fixed knife 4 and lint control plate 6.

Claims (12)

1. A roller gin comprising a ginning roller having lint-entraining projections on its surface, and a ooperating stationary ginning member relative to which the ginning roller moves in rotation, there being a clearance between the surface of said stationary ginning member and said ginning roller.

2. A roller gin according to claim 1, and including a further stationary member mounted adjacent the surface of said ginning roller, and means for adjusting the relative positioning of the first mentioned stationary ginning member and the further stationary member relative to one another.

3. A roller gin according to claim 1 or claim 2, and including means for adjusting the radial clearance between the surface of said ginning roller and the or each said stationary member.

4. A roller gin according to any one of the preceding claims, and including a perforated plate positioned below the ginning roller for passing to waste dust and seed particles liberated from said ginning roller and the lint carried thereon.

5. A roller gin according to any one of the preceding claims, and including a doffer roll positioned adjacent the surface of said ginning roller and cooperating therewith for removal of the lint from said ginning roller.

6. A roller gin according to claim 5, and including a spring-biased stripper blade cooperating with the doffer roll.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein said doffer roll has flutes extending generally longitudinally of the surfaces of the doffer roll.

8. A roller gin according to claim 7, wherein said flutes are arranged to follow a coarse pitch helix.

9. A roller gin according to claim 2, or to any one of claims 3 to 8 when appendant thereto, and including an oscillating knife cooperating with said first mentioned and further stationary members to sweep with a seed-clearing edge past a clearance between said two stationary members.

10. A roller gin according to claim 9, and including means for adjusting said clearance between the two stati-onary members.

11. A roller gin according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said ginning roller is in the form of a cylindrical support having toothed clothing wire mounted thereon.

12. A roller gin substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawing.