US1173978A - Boll-breaker and cotton-cleaner. - Google Patents

Description

BOL. BREAKER AND CTTN CLE/HAIER,

APPLICATION FILED IIIII.

T. E, OHNSTON.

BOLL BREAKER AND COTTON CLEANER..

flPPLlcATmw' man Nov.

29, FMG.

Mmmm Heb.

3 SHEETS-S E. EUHNSON.

SGLL BREAMR AND Cowon CLEANER.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THOMAS ELLIOTT JOHNSTON, OF AMETE, LOUISIANA, .ASSIG-NOR T0 GULLETT, GIN

COMPANY, 0F NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, A CORPORATION OF LOUISIANA.

IBOLL-BREAKER AND COTTON-CLEANER.

Specification of Letters lPatent. Patented Feb, 29521916.

Application led November 13, 1915'. Serial No. 61,372.

To all whom t wiay concern:

Be it known that I, Tnonas E. JOHNSTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Amite, in the parish of Tangipahoa and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new `and useful Improvements in Boll- Breakers and Cotton-Cleaners; and I' do hereby declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact descriptionl cf the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same. I

This vinvention relates to breaks and gins, and more especially to gin feeders; and the object of the same is to produce an improved machine for breaking the hullsand removing them along with the dirt, and then picking and feeding'the cotton to the gin.

The present invention is an improvement on my prior Patent No. 985,037 issuedv February 21, 1911, in which case the dirt and dust was` takenv from the cotton by pneumatic suction, but no provision was made for breaking the hulls. In other devices the hulls have been broken and the cotton cleaned and picked, all while subjected to l and claimed, 'and as shown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a central vertical section of the machine, and Figs 2 and 3 arefront and rear elevations thereof. Fig. et is a perspective detail of the mechanism for setting the breaker board.

This entire machine' is housed within a framework 1 having at one end an inlet 2 and 'opposite-thereto an exhaust opening S communicating with a suction fan 4l, While the numeral 5 designates the outlet for the cotton and 6 the outlet for the hulls and other dirt which is not drawn out the exhaust opening Means not necessary to show are provided for carrying away the -waste materiah'and the cotton outlet will also be connected with a gin bysultablcmeans. Across/the upper portion of the casing or framework is a trunk 7 ca rrylng a screen 8 beneath which 1s an inlet passage 10 Whose inner end is dciected and opens atv 11 against the lower si de of a boll crushing or breaking roller 12. A curved screen 13 extends over this roller and separates it 'from the outlet portion of the trunk, which latter extends beneath the top of the casing to the exhaust opening 3, and the bottom 14 separates this portion of the trunk from theremainder of the mechanism. Underlying the breaking roller 12 is a slightly dshed corrugated breaker board 15 yieldingly supported. by springs 16 which rest on brackets 17 within the housing. At the ends of this board 'are pins 18 loosely engaging loops 19. in the arms of a yoke 20 whichserves as a lever andt is pivoted at 21 within the framework. A

handle 22 is connected to the-'stem of the yoke and extends downward behind a spring 23 within a keeper 24, the inner edge of this handle having a rack 25 thrown normallv into engagement with a tooth 26 by the spring .as best seen in Fig. 1, and it follows that by disengagmg the rack from -such tooth and adjusting the handle the lever or yoke 20 -can be rocked on its pivots 421 so that its loops 19 ldepress the board 15 against. the tension ofthe springs 16 to interrupt the breaking action which normally takes place by the ribs 27v on the roller 12 moving over .the corrugations on' the board 15. When the.

^ parts stand as seen in Fig. 1- the whole cotvton passing inward along the passage 10 will be directed between theV roller and the board, and the bolls will be crushed, the fine leaf trash and particles of the boll lining being mostly' drawn through Athe screen 13 by suction and carried out the opening 3.

v Beyond. and slightly below the boll break- I soA ing mechanism above described is a rotary' l valve designated as a whole by the numeral v 30,- the same acting also as a feeder which conveys thev material forward to the picking mechanism described below. This valve comprises a number of blades 31 radiating from its shaft and each having a flexible tip 32 making close Contact with the cylindrical casing'33 whichli'as its: inlet at 34 and its outlet at 35,'and passage 1'0 is continued beyond the'roller 12in a passage 36 whose bottom 3T is fixed and stands adjacent the rear edge'of the board 15 and whose top 38 converges 4toward the bottom and is shown in Y Fig. 1 as a'separate member although it may A be part of the element 14 above described. The passage 36 thus formed leads to the inlet 34 which communicates Withtheupper side of the casing 33, and the close fit of the 'l through the outlet 35. fore serves asa valve to confine the suctionv tips 32 in such casing prevents the suction device 4 from drawing air through thlsro-v tating member which `therefore serves as a valve, while themovement of'its blades in' the direction indicated by the arrow causesA lthem to take up the material delivered from beneath the roller l2 and feed-it downward The element thereto the upper portion of the machine, and

also as a feeder' to carryI the material forn ward and downward.

The retarding mechanism is situated just beneathl therotary valve where it acts. on the material passing through the outlet 35, and

as shown it consists of two rolls 40 standing side by side and rotating toward each other as indicated by thev arrows. The surfacevof each rolls is. corrugated, and its ridges are:

provided with radial pins 41', but the rolls are so situated that these pins are some little distance from each other on the contiguous or descending sides of the rolls as seen. lt is important that these rolls rotate some-A what slowly as will be described below. f v

The picking mechanism stands in 'the lower part ofthe main'framework and includes three similar rollers 40 each having radial pins 4l so disposed that they do not lap each other on the contiguous sides of the rollers,l and a scalloped screen 42 underlying.

i `these rollers and carr1ed around the lowermost in what might be called a breast screen 43 which extends up to the point 44 where VV"the're'tarding rolls delivery the material to of the bottom may be hinged or not as ,dei

sired. l prefer to employ three rollers as shown, -andthey rotate inthe same direction as shown by the arrows and at the same speed.

The driving mechanism is best `seen in Figs. 2 and 3. Power is ledcfrom a suitable source t'o the driving pulley 50 which here shown fast on thc shaft 5l of the lower-most roller 40, and the shafts-of the various rollers carry pulleys S2-which are connected by' belting 53 to causethem to move in unison as just stated. On the oppoai@ @ad of are aan 51, '(seegFi-g. s) is mounteda pulley '54.,conneeted by.' a cross belt 5K5 with asomewhat smaller pulley 56 on the shaftf( of the breaking roller 12,

i best seenin Fig. 3.` .i

'whereby the' latter is driven, slightly,l 3

higher'speed than the rollers ofthe picking mechanism. The shaft 58 of the feeder 4or y valve. 30 is mounted. at its" ezitremitiesl in bearings 59carriedby-.spiders l( Owhich are detachably secured a't 61 to the front and rear sides of the main casingpandone end as seen in Fig'. 3.v Thisl belt leads arounda tightener 64and a small driving 'sprocket on the driving shaft 51,and it also leads in opposite directions 1 around af par-l of sprockets 66 fast on the shafts 67 of the rolls (1.

, 80 n i than the driving sprocket, with'the result 40. These4 sprockets are 'somewhat 'larger that the rolls rotate .more slowly vthan the.

any picker roller, andfconsequently'they re-v lta'rd lthe I feed of material lto'. thel ypicking of this shaft carriesv a removable sprocket wheel 62 over which passes, a chain belt 63 y driving shaft and therefor nioreslowly than mechanism. "lheA shaftsGS .of the other' picker rollers are mounted in bearings 69 as With this constr'uctiomthe -operation is as follows: The fan or suction devioe'4 having been set in motion and .power applied to the driving pulley 50, cotton is fed into the in'- let 2 and along the passagev 10 of the tru-nk 7 in whichit is drawn gently upward toward the screen 8 and dirt and `dust extracted from it through the screen and passed out the opening 3. With the parts standing as seen in Fig. 1, the cotton enters the breaking or crushing mechanism where the bolls are crushed between theroller 12- and the breaker board 15, and the line leaf trash and particles of boll lining are'mostly carried by suction th'rough the screen 13y and out the opening 3. The crushed bolls' are thrown by centrifugal action into the passage 36 and through the inlet 34 of the valve casing 33 into the feeder 30, whose blades not'only pass the material onward but soon ycarry it out ofposition where the suction in the upper part of the machine has any effect" on it. For thisreason the feeder serves as a rotary valve, and as soon as' the tip 32 of its uppermost blade has passed the inlet opening 34' it is carried along underl atmospheric pressure by the forward movement of this bladeg Delivered-through the outlet 35, the material now falls into the retarding mechanism which consists of the rolls 40 rotating in the direction indicated., and by the tearing or reforming action of this mechanism much of the dirt and foreign matter is removed from the material and permitted to drop, while any lingering connection between the cotton and a particle of the boll is here disrupted. The material next passes downward within the breastscreen 43 and is acted upon by the lingers or pins of the lowermost-picker roller; these carry it across the'lowermost scallop ofthe screen 42 and on the ascending side of this roller deliver it soon as the material has passed into the' feeder' 30, it is free from the suction within the trunk 7 and thereafter all action on the material takes place under ordinary atmospheric pressure.

lThe picking mechanism can be reached for cleaning or repair by swingingvopen the bottom 46 on its hinge 47, and when the lowermost roller 40 is removed this gives access to the rolls of .the retarding mechanism. The rotary valve or feeder can be Vreached by -removing one of the spiders 60 and drawing the shaft 58 out of the bearing in the other spider and taking the entire feeder out of the casing. The roller 12 may be reached by removing part of the top of the casing and lifting oil' the screen 13, and when this roller is taken out the breaker board can be reached.

,I Whenever it is desired to clean cotton which may have already been removed from its bolls, the rack 25 of the handle is disen gaged from the tooth 26 and the whole han dle moved so as to swing the lever or yoke 20 Aand cause its loops 19 to bear downward on the pins 18 and thus depress the board 15: Hence this mechanism serves as a means for adjusting the position of the board when desired, and as a means for practically thro'rf'` g the breaking mechanism out of action ..en the board is adjusted to a considerable extent, though even then the ribs 27 vwill serve to -feed the cotton in large or ysmall lumps forwardA over the bottom 37 to the rotary valve 30.

What I claim is: 1. In a cotton boll breaker, the combinau tion with a casing, a chamber therein having one perforated wall subjected to suction, and a rotating ribbed breaker roller Within said chamber; of a corrugated breaker'board uns derlying and spaced from the roller, lsprings pressing it normally upward toward said roller, pins in its extremities, a movable yoke whose arms have loops elongated in a direction parallel with that in which the board is moved by said springs, and manually oper* ablemeans for adjusting the position oi the yoke whereby the engagement of the loops with the pins limits the movement of the board toward the roller but permits its movement away from the roller, for the purpose set forth. .l

2. A boll breaker and cotton cleaner comprising a framework, a trunk across its upper portion having an inlet at one end and its otherend connected with suction means,

a screen in said trunk defining an inlet passage and extending over a roller chamber to 'which the passage leads, a rotating ribbed roller within said chamber, a corrugated breaker board yieldingly mounted beneath the roller, a circular caslng having inlet and outlet, imperorate walls connecting the outletoi` the chamber with the inlet of the cas ing, a rotary valve within the casing, and

cotton picking mechanism beneath the outlet of the easing. 3. In a boll breaker and cotton cleaner,

the combination with a casing having a transverse cotton trunk with cotton inlet one end and suction means its other end, a screen Within the trunk arched over a chamber, and a ribbed breaking relier tting Within said chamber; oif a cor. Ligated breaker board underlying 'the roller, means for yieldingly supporting it, pins at its el;d

-tremities, a pivoted yoke engaging said pins,

a handle for setting the yoke to move 'the board from the roller, means for holding the handle in adjusted position, cotton picking mechanism, and a rotary valve between said roller and mechanism and separating the l latter irom the suction within the trunk.

4. In a boll breaker and cotton. cleaner, the combination with a casing having a transverse trunk with cotton inlet at one end and a suction fan at its other end, a screen within the trunk defining an inlet passage and arched over a chamber, and a ribbed breaking roller rotating within ychamber; of a corrugated breaker boei. enderlying the roller, springs for yieldingly, supportingit, pins its extremities, ayoke having loops loosely engaging said pins, means for setting the yoke to move the board from the roller, cotton picking mechanism, and a rotary valve between said roller and mechanism and separating'the latter freni the suction within the trunk. In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

THOMAS ELLIOTT JOHNSTON.

ll Gli

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