GB478375A - Improvements in and relating to cotton opening or picking systems - Google Patents

Abstract

478,375. Opening or picking cotton. TRIGGS, W. W. (Saco-Lowell Shops) Aug. 10; 1936, No. 21952. [Class 120 (i)] A cotton opening or picking system comprises a number of picking units arranged in series for operation successively on a stream of cotton to produce a lap, each unit including a heater and a condenser, e.g. 21, 22 and 30, 31, Fig. 2, mechanism 38, 39 for delivering as a continuous web cotton discharged by the first unit to the feed means of the next unit, this feed means comprising an approximately upright shoot 33 having a beater 34 adapted to open the web of cotton fed thereto and to deliver it into the shoot 33 in a fluffy state and so that it will fall therethrough by gravity. The feed means of the first unit comprises an upright shoot 23, the shoots 23, 33 having respectively feed rollers 24, 25, and 41 to feed a web of cotton through the bottom of the shoot. The system comprises two lines of openers A, B, Fig. 4, each line including in sequence a bale breaker 2, a hopper feeder 3, a horizontal opener 4 and a vertical opener 5, Fig. 5, a horizontal feed table 6 feeding a pneumatic trunk 7 leading to a condenser 8 which discharges on to a Morton distributer feeding hopper feeders 14 discharging on to a feed table 15 which conveys the cotton to a pneumatic trunk 16 leading to a condenser 17. The opened and blended cotton is then delivered to the picking system, e.g. three such systems C, D, E arranged in parallel and fed by a distributer 18 having rakes 20, Fig. 1, each system comprising. two sections, a breaker section including a beater 21 and condenser 22 and a finisher section including a beater 30, a condenser 31, calender rollers and lap forming rollers 32. The cotton is fed to the feed rollers 27 of the beater 21 by the rollers 24, 25, 26 in the shoot 23 and after treatment is fed from the cages 22 by the rollers 28 into the feed shoot 33 of the finisher section. The web is carried upwards by belts 38, 39 across a short guide plate 40 to the rollers 35, and, in.addition to cleaning, the light beating at 34 effects a blending of the cotton. The beater shafts 46, 50 are independently driven, e.g. from a motor and other elements are driven therefrom. A feeler fork 58 in the shoot 33 is mounted on a shaft 60, an arm 61 tending to swing the feeler 58 to the right, Fig. 1. An arm 62 having a pointer 63 is fastened adjustably to the shaft 60 and operates over a scale 64, the lower end of the arm 62 being connected by a link 65 to a tilting mercury switch 66. The belt shifter 67 is normally held in running position, Fig. 3, by an electromagnet 68 and controls the position of the belt 69 through which all the feeding mechanism in the breaker section are driven from the shaft 50. Normally, the switch 66 is closed and the solenoid 68 energized. When the level of cotton in the shoot 33 rises sufficiently the switch 66 is opened, the electromagnet 68 is de-energized and the belt 69 shifted on to the loose pulley. This stops all the parts in the beater section except the beater 21 and the fan or blower 72 for the condenser cages 22. When the level drops, the feeler 58 returns and the switch 66 is closed again to re-energize the solenoid 68 and return the belt to the fast pulley. The inclination of the feeler 58 may be varied or the position of the rear wall 33 of the shoot 33 adjusted to control the weight of the lap produced. The feed roller 25 is mounted on links 76 pivoted on the shaft of the roller 26 and is normally pressed by a spring 77 towards the roller 24. If the cotton supply fails, the roller 25 moves to the left, Fig. 1, and opens a normally closed mercury switch 81 in series with the switch 66. This stops the feed mechanism of the breaker section and an electromagnet 82 in parallel with the electromagnet 68 operates a belt shifter 83 to stop the feed mechanism of the finisher section. A feeler 86 in each shoot 23 is weighted at 87 and connected to a mercury switch 91 which closes when the supply of cotton falls below a desired value. All the switches 91 are connected in parallel to a. switch 92 so that so long as any switch 91 remains closed current will flow through the switch 92. When all the shoots are full, all the switches 91 will be open and the switch 92 will therefore be released. This shuts down all the supplying units until one picker system requires more cotton when the switch 92 will again be closed. The feeler 58 is connected through levers 96, 97, Fig. 8, to the speed controlling lever 98 of a variable speed electric motor 100 to vary the speed of the feed elements between the shoots 23, 33 according to the quantity of cotton in the shoot 33. Alternatively, the feeler may act to control a double cone variable speed drive and both the breaker and finisher units are stopped when the machine knocks off. If desired, only the end two shoots 23 may be provided with feelers 86.