US1479503A - Cotton cleaner - Google Patents

Description

2 sheets..-"sheet x N. B. HENRY coTToN CLEANER Filed Nov. 11

Jan. l, 1924 Jan. l, 1924 1,479,503 A v N. B. HENRY COTTON CLEANER Filed Nov. l1. 1G22 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. l, 1924.

UNITED A.ST'FES masts rarest orme-s.

NELSON B. HENRY, or ATLANTA, GEORGIA, AssreNon To Tnn MURRAY COMPANY, F

DALLAS, TEXAS, A conroaATroN or TEXAS.

COTTON CLEANER.

Application filed November 11, 1922. Serial No. 600,297.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, NELSON B. HENRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Atlanta, in the county of Fulton and State of 1.5 trash, which owing to the compression to which the cotton mass has been subjected in the baling process has become very intimately embedded and entangled in and among the fibers of the cotton, so that its removal V is difficult and commonly not thoroughly performed, the cotton itself being so compressed and compacted as to be matted and solid, the air having been largely expressed and evacuated from the cotton mass.

It is an object of my invention to thoroughly open aerate and clean such low grade cotton and to that end to give the maximum screening to it, possible in a machine of a given size; to open the cotton by the interaction of beater arms, screens and air currents and to thoroughly aerate the cotton by pneumatically carrying it through a suitably designed chamber in a cyclonic path, separating the fibers as much as may be by the Cyclonic air currents whirling within the chamber in connection with the other elements.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows, in diagrammatic form, a typical installation of my cleaner-aerator;

Figure 2 is an elevation of the cleaner chamber mainly in longitudinal section.

Figure 3 is a cross-section on line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a plan View of the chamber of Figure 2 the interior parts indicated in dotted lines.

Figure 5 is a cross-section on line 5-5 of Fi re 4 s indicated diagrammatically in Figure 1, the air current employed in my cotton cleaner-aerator is induced by a fan A, which sucks cotton through a pipe B, from the bale opener C to and through the cyclone Vthe outer casing 1 and'its open end is concleaner chamber and from the chamber by 'a pipe B to the suction side of vthe fan, throughV which the cotton passes and is then discharged with the air blast through a pipe B2 preferably to a condenser D, where the cotton fibers are separated from the air, forming a light bat on the condenser surfaces, ready for further operations in the mill. The bale opener, pneumatic pipes, fan and condenser are all well known instrumentalities in the art which require no explanation as to their mechanism, beyond the dia- Egrammaticl showing of the organization of 'these elements, made in Figure 1.

The gist of my new invention lies in the new cleaner and in the organization of the old elements with this new cleaner, to obtain the desired mode of operationand results.

The cleaner'is made up of an air tight outer casing,'1, within which is a curved wire mesh surface 2, extending longitudinally thereof. ln the central, longitudinal axis of the casing and curved screen is mounted for rotation a shaft 3 driven by a pulley 31 and carrying beater arms 4, the free ends 41 of'which are set at an angle, tending to move the cotton in a spiral path from the inlet end to the outlet end of the cleaner. At one end of the cleaner, pipe B passes through ensl nected toV a corresponding opening in the curved screen 2 (see Figs. 2, 3 and 5). The point of entry of pipe Bis at one end of vthe casin'g, so ldirected that the air current moving into the casing through pipe B is tangential to the path of the beater arms 4 and in the same direction as the motion of the beater arms. The incoming air cur-v rent moves in a spiral path within the casing, gradually circling to the exit end of the casing and during its course it carries a load of cotton which is at the same time thrownV by the arms against the screen and back into the air stream, the ends, 41, of the arms 4, which are at an angle to the axis of the machine, aiding in urging the cotton around and lengthwise of the screens and chamber simultaneously.

It is to be observed that the air in pipe B, the cleaner and pipe B is under tension, and the tension is practically uniform from end to end of the system, and the air stream, upon entering the cleaner docs not spread as would be the case if the stream were under compressiond This is advantageous as the Y tributed, carried and sustained, tor the bet- Cil ter breaking up ci" mats into iibrous term, the cotton, as it comes from the bale opener and enters the cleaner', being in units yof aggregated ibers. The course ont the air stream and cotton covers the screen from end to end ot the cleaner, whereas in other cleaners, in which the cotton entered at the top rside of ther casing, above the beater shaft and in a direction longitudinal oithe cleaner and across the path ot the beater arms and Was directed to the exit at the other end, the cotton was carried along the cleaner so that thescreens at the. bottom at the incoming end were not covered or utilized. Furthermore the beater arms moving across the path ot the air current broke and destroyed it so that its load Was deposited on the screens and the process became purely -a screening process, as distinct from the beating of airsustained cotton and cleaning and aerating process above described, in which n ats and bats are beaten in air into their constituent iibers, as Well as subjected to screen action when they tall upon the screens.

. in previous cleaners, in which seed cotton Was operated upon, in its path to the gins, the suction was cut ed from vtime to time and the air current ceased and this tact was taken advantage of to evacuate the dirt and trash from the cleaner, the dirt being pushed by a screw conveyer into, a hanging canvas cylin- 1 der held closed at the bottom by atmospheric `nessure so lone' as the suction was etiective l C in the cleaner but opening and dropping its contents When the suction was broken. ln

Amy new cleaner-aerator the suction .is confast as additional Adirt is forced into the cylinder at its inner Yend by the screv7 5. The plug ot dirt contained in the cylinder during operations prevents the entrance of air.

l claim:

l. rlhe cotton cleaner above described, made up of an air-tight casing; a screen chamber Within the casing; beater arms mounted `tor rotation about the longitudinal axis ct the screen chamber andcasing; an air and cotton inlet opening, at one end, through the casing side Wall to the interior of the screen chamber, directed tangentially to the circular path ot' the `beater arms and in the direction ot the rotation thereof; an air and cotton exit opening, at the other end from` the interior ot the screen chamber, through the casing side Wall; a fan to create an air current through the tangential inlet opening and through the screen chamber to the exit, substantially as shown and described. l l

2. rlhe cotton cleaner above described, made up ot an air-tight casingy a screen chamber Within the casing; beater arms mounted Jtor rotation about the longitudinal axis of the screen chamber and casing; an air and cotton inlet opening, at one end, through the casing side Wall to the interior ot the screen clramber, directed tangentially to the circular path of the beater arms and in the direction oi' rotation thereof; an air and cotton exit opening trom the interior o1 the screen chamber, through the casing side Wall. y

Signed at Atlanta, Georgia, this seventh day of November, i922.

NnLsoN n. nemer

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