US1967567A - Cotton huller and cleaner - Google Patents

Description

July 24, 1934.

J. J. WALLACE COTTON HULLER AND CLEANER Filed Sept. 21, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet l J J Wei/9G5 I Gummy July 24, 1934. J. J, WALLACE 1,967,567

COTTON HULLER AND CLEANER Filed Sept. 21, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 grwc/m X mMM y 1934- J. J. WALLACE 1,967,567

COTTON HULLER AND CLEANER Filed Sept. 21. 1932 e Sheets-Sheet 5 J u. Waliaae COTTON HULLER AND CLEANER Fiied Sept. 21. 1952 e Sheets-Shet 4 J L]. P16211205 y 1934- J. J. WALLACE 1,967,567

OTTON HULLER AND CLEANER Filed Sept. 21, 1952 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 July 24, 1934. J, J WALLACE 1,967,567

COTTON HULLER AND CLEANER Filed Sept. 21, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 l i 7 IWTIIHI i w "6) Patented July 24, 1934 UNITED STATES COTTON HULLER AND CLEANER Jeffrey John Wallace,

Amite, La., assignor to Gullett Gin Company, Amite, La., a corporation of Louisiana Application September 21, 1932, Serial No. 634,223

6 Claims.

The invention forming the subject matter of this application is a cotton cleaner and feeder, combinedwith a hull extracting unit which may or may not be used with the cleaning elements according to the character of the cotton operated upon.

The main object of the invention is to provide a machine of this character in which the several units are detachably connected to each other so as to render the parts of the machine readily accessible for replacement or repair.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character in which the same set of cleaning drums may be used when the hull extracting unit is in operation.

Other objects of the invention will appear, and will be described .in greater detail, as the description of the machine proceeds.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the machine;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a right hand end elevation of the machine shown in Figure l with all the shafting, and bearings therefor, removed from the end walls of the machine;

Figure 4 is an end elevation similar to Figure 3 but showing the journal bearings for the various shafts of the apparatus assembled on the end walls;

Figure 5 is an end elevation similar to Figures 3 and l, but with the shafting of the machine inserted in their bearings and connected for operation by various driving belts and pulleys;

V Figure 6 is a fragmentary end elevation to an enlarged scale of conveyor drive mechanism similar to that shown at the lower end of Figure 5, but with the driving sprockets of certain shafts interchanged;

v Figure 7 is an end elevation of the left hand end of the machine as shown in Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a section to an enlarged scale taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a section taken on the line 99 of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary transverse vertical section taken on the line 10-l0 of Figure 1.

Broadly speaking, the invention is a cotton feeder adapted to be supported suitably above the R0 roll box of a cotton gin so as to clean and feed cotton into the roll box. In Figure 2 of the drawing, the feeder as a whole is designated by the reference character F; while the fragmentary part of the roll box illustrated is designated as a. whole by the reference character G.

The feeder is made of three detachably connected units CO, E and CL. The center unit E is the hull extracting unit and forms the main support for the conveyor unit CO and the cleaning unit CL. The base 1 of the unit E, (see Figures 2, 0 3 and 4) is adapted to be detachably secured to runner 1 connected to a standard S forming part of the cotton gin framework. While the feeder may be otherwise connected and suitably braced to the framework of the cotton gin, the connec- 5 tion shown in the several figures of the drawings is suflicient to indicate the position of the feeder relative to the roll box of the cotton gin.

Referring now particularly to Figure 3, there is shown the right hand end wall 2 of the extractor unit E, as viewed in Figure l of. the drawings; the other end wall 2 is similarly shaped and has the same outline and the two end walls constitute a pair of walls for supporting the various shafts and closure members of the unit E which extend lengthwise of the machine. The end wall 2 of the unit E has a flange 3 extending completely around its periphery, not only to strengthen the wall but also to serve as a seat for correspondingly shaped flanges formed on the 30 other units. The end wall 4-. of the unit CL has a flange 5 extending entirely around its edges, one of which edges is shaped to seat on and be suitably bolted to the upper part of the flange 3 of the unit E. The end wall 6 of the unit CO has a 5 flange '7 extending around its periphery and part of this flange 'Tis shaped to fit against the rear flange edge of the unit E and against part of the rear edge of the unit CL. The contacting flanges of the three units are suitably bolted to each other. The opposite end walls of the several units are shown in Figure '7, in which the parts paired with those shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5, are designated by the same reference numerals primed.

The unit CL includes all the shafting for the cleaning drums and feeder rolls and trash conveyor. The unit E carries the saw cylinders and various kicker and doffer rollers co-operating therewith. The unit CO carries various conveyors and spike rollers for presenting bully and wadded cotton to the saws of the unit E. It will be readily appreciated that these feeders are quite large and are very unwieldy to handle as a whole.- Obviously, it is decidedly advantageous to have the feeder built up in sections, which can be readily handled and detached from each other or assembled for the purpose of giving access to all the parts encased so that these parts may be readily repaired or cleaned or replaced.

Referring now to Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the upper side of the cleaning drum 38.

drawings, the opposite end walls of the unit CL are provided with bearing apertures 8 and 9 (see Figure 3) adapted to receive the ends of shafts 10 and 11, which carry the feed rollers 12 and 13, respectively. These feed rollers are arranged immediately below the feed aperture 14 formed in a top 15 which extends between said end walls to protect the upper parts of the mechanism in the unit CL. A polygonal cleaning drum 16 is suitably secured to a shaft 17 which is mounted in journal bearing plates 18 and 18 (Figures 4 and '7) detachably secured to end walls 4 and 4'. A shaft 19 is journaled in the opposite end walls 4 and 4 in bearing plates 20 and 20 detachably secured to the said end walls. The shaft 19 is mounted centrally below a line joining the axis of the shafts 10 and 11 and supports the poly,,- onal cleaning drum 21.

A partition 22 is arranged below theoleaning drums l6 and 21 substantially parallel to a line joining the axis of the shafts 1'7 and 19. This partition 22 slopes downwardly, as shown in Figure 2, substantially along the downwardly inclined flanges 3 and 5 and terminates in a curved portion 23, provided with an outturned flange 24. The curved portion 23 is continued by a thin sheet metal wall 25 which terminates in its upper end against a wall leading to the feeding aperture 14, and at its lower end is provided with a flange detachably secured by any suitable means to the flange 24.

Within the chamber formed by the partition 22 and the wall 25 there is mounted on runners 26, 27 and 28, a screen 29. The rear part of the screen 29 is curved so as to give a slight clearance for the ends of the flights 30 and the angles 31 of the cleaning drum 16. The curvature of this rear portion extends upwardly from the partition 22 toward the line joining the axis of the shafts 17 and 19 and is then continued concentrically with the axis of the shaft 19 until it terminates in a support 32 fixed to the runner 28 adjacent to the periphery of the feed roller 13. The direction of rotation of these cleaning drums l6 and 21 is indicated by the arrows which show that both drums rotate in the same direction.

The partition 22 terminates somewhat short of the flanges 5 on the opposite end walls 4 and The line of junction between the flanges 5 and '7 of the units CL and CO being indicated in Figure 2 by the line 33. The end of this partition 22 forms with the upper curved end of the casing 34 of the unit CO a passageway 35 for cotton which may be fed therethrough by operation of the feed rollers 12 and 13 and the cleaning drums 16 and 21.

The ends of the walls 4 and 4 opposite to the passageway 35 are provided with bearing plates 36 and 36 in which are journaled the opposite ends of the shaft 3'? carrying the polygonal cleaning drum 38. A front wall 39 contacting With the end of wall 25 and suitably connected to the opposite end walls 4 and 4 encloses the This wall 39 terminates at the upper end of a hood 40 which extends over the discharge aperture 41 of the unit CL. A chute 42 pivotally secured to the opposite end walls of the hood 40, as shown in my prior patent application, Serial No. 514,887, filed February 10, 1931, is arranged at the lower edge of the aperture 41 to direct cotton cleaned by the said apparatus into the roll box 43 of the cotton gin G.

A bearing plate 45 is detachably secured to the end wall 4 and a bearing plate 45' is detachably secured to the end of a hood H forming the upper end of a dust spout DS. The plates and 45 receive the opposite ends of the shaft 46 carrying the screw conveyor 47. The feed rolls, cleaning drums, chute and conveyor just described constitute with the said end walls, shafts and bearings the unit CL and may be removed bodily f om the supporting unit E.

The end wall 2 of unit E is provided at its rear edge with slots 48, 49, 50 and 51. Shafts 52, 53 and 54 are mounted to slide in slots 48, 49 and 51; while shafts 55 and 56 are slidably mounted in the slot.50. While not shown in the drawings, is to be understood that the other end wall 2' is provided with a similar arrangement of slots to receive said shafts.

- Three pairs of bearing plates are detachably secured to the end walls 2 and 2 to support the five shafts 52, 53, 54, 55 and 56. The plates 5'? and 57 on the opposite end , walls 2 and 2 of the unit E serve as journal boxes for the shafts 52 and 53. These bearing plates or journal boxes are provided with lugs adapted to receive machine screws, and the end walls 2 and 2' correspond with the spacing of the shafts 54 and and are provided with projecting lugs adapted to receive machine screws which enter tapped holes in the end walls for the purpose of properly positioning the shafts 54 and 55 on said wall. The shaft 56 is journaled in bearing plates 59 and 59.

As will be apparent from Figure 5 of the drawings, the bearing plate 59 is V-shaped and one of its outer ends 60 apertured to receive the bolt 61 which passes through the end 60 and a projecting lug formed on the bearing plate 58; the end of the other legofthe plate 59 is likewise bored to receive a machine screw 62 which passes through registering apertures in lugs formed on the adjacent ends of the bearing plates 57 and 58. By this interconnection of the bearing plates 57, 58 and 59, correct positioning of the shafts 52, 53, 54, 55 and 56 .is easily established and maintained. The bolts 61 and 62 operate as locating pins for all of these shafts, thereby preventing incorrect assembly of the same, if dismantled in the field and likely to be assembled by unskilled labor.

The shaft 52 carries a polygonal kicker 63 arranged to rotate under and near the upper end of the partition 22. The shaft 53 carries the saw cylinder 64 below the kicker 63. The shaft 54 carries a similar saw cylinder 65, and the shaft 55 carries the kicker roller 66 arranged be is outer ends thereof in brushing contact with the saws of the cylinders 64 and 65. A cleaning cylinder 68 is mounted on a shaft 69, journaled at its opposite ends in bearing plates 70 and 70" suitably secured to the end walls 2 and 2'.

A slide 71 .is suitably supported between the lilii end walls 2 and 2'; and slopes downwardly from the upper part of the kicker 63, over the saw cylinder 64, the doffer 67, and the upper part of saw cylinder 65. A second slide 72 is suitably supported between the end walls 2 and 2' and has its upper end extending from a point directly below the lower end of the slide 71.

The lower end of the slide '72 joins with the screen 73 supported on runners 74, 75 and 76 extending between the end walls 2 and 2. The screen '73 for the greater part of its length is curved concentrically with the cleaning drum 68. A curved wall 77 of sheet metal extends between and is suitably supported adjacent the saw cylinder 65 by the end walls 2 and 2, and has its upper end bent to form a hook '78 extending over the upper end of the slide '72. The lower end of the wall 7'7 is bent downwardly to form a flange '79, and the entire wall 7'7 is suitably secured to and supported by cast iron brackets 79 bolted or otherwise secured to the end walls 2 and 2'.

The conveyor unit 00 has a by-pass valve 81 suitably pivoted to the corner of an angle iron brace 82, which extends lengthwise of the unit and has its opposite ends suitably secured to the end walls 6 and 6. It will be seen from inspection of Figure 2 that the valve plate 81, in the fullline position shown, will direct cotton passing through the cleaning unit CL on to the upper surface of the kicker 63 which throws this cotton along the slide 71 against the cleaner drum 68. The lower end of slide '71 has an extension '71 extending over the upper end of slide '72 to prevent drum 68 from throwing seeded cotton on to the saw cylinder 65.

The valve plate 81 may be swung from the full-line position shown in Figure 2 to the dotted line position to close the passageway leading to the upper side of the kicker 63 which permits the cotton to pass through the cleaning unit CL into the conveyor unit CO where the various elements present hully or wadded cotton to the saws in the extractor unit E.

As the cotton flows downwardly from the upper end of the conveyor unit it contacts first with a hull board 83, the upper end of which is connccted by a hinge 84 to the rear wall 85 of the conveyor unit. The hull board 83 is angularly adjustable relative to the wall 85 by means of a screwthreaded rod 86 having an eye 87 at its inner end engaged with a hook 88 on the back of the hull board 83. A nut 89, pivotally secured to a support 90 on the back of wall 85 in any well known manner, is screwthreaded on to the rod 86 and by its rotation on the support moves the rod 86 inwardly or outwardly of the wall 85 to adjust the hull board 83 so that it directs the hully cotton on to a spiked roller 91 mounted on a shaft 92. The shaft 92 passes through slots formed in the end walls 6 and 6, only one of these slots appear in the drawing where itis designated in Figure 3 by the reference numeral 93. It is to be understood,.however, that the wall 6 is provided with a similar slot.

The shaft 92 is journaled in bearing plates 94 (see Figure 5) and 94' (see Figure '7) provided with slots 95 and 96, 95' and 96', respectively, to receive slidably the shanks of bolts 9'? and 97' and permit the bearings and the shaft-92 to be adjusted for varying the distance of the spiked roller 91 with respect to the saw cylinder 64. The bolts 97 are screwthreaded into bosses 98 and 99, respectively, formed on the end wall 6. A similar pair or bosses (not shown) is formed on the end wall 6 to receive the bolts97. These pairs of bosses form sliding surfaces for the hearing plates 94 and 94. The length and position of slot 93 is such that the end of the slot adjacent the saw 64 forms a stop to limit the adjustment of roller 91 toward saw 64, so that the roller cannot at any time contact with the saw cylinder, and so that whole bolls may at all times pass between the roller and saw cylinder.

The sole function of the spiked roller 91 is to retard the fiow of cotton through the conveyor unit and pile it up into contact with the saw cylinder 64 which removes the cotton from the hulls. The lower part of the kicker 63 rotates past the upper periphery of the saw cylinder 64 in the opposite direction, and it acts as a stripper to kick or knock the hulls and foreign material off the saw cylinder 64 back on to the spiked rollor 91. The spiked roller 91 is not a boll breaker and there is always sufficient space between the spikes of this roller 91 and the saw cylinder 64 to allow whole bolls to drop past the spiked roller on to a second spiked roller 100 located adjacent the rear side of the lower saw cylinder 65.

The spiked roller 100 is mounted on a shaft 101 journaled at its opposite ends in bearing plates 102 and 102' suitably secured to the end wall 6 and 6', respectively. The spiked roller 100 performs the same function for the lower saw cylinder 65 as does the spiked roller 91 for the upper saw cylinder 64. The kicker roller 66 is mounted in proper relation to the saw cylinder 65 to knock back hulls and foreign material on to the spiked roller 100, to be again presented to the saw cylinder 65.

A runner 103 is secured to the rear wall 85 of the conveyor unit and to the opposite end walls 6 and 6 to serve as a brace and a support for castings 104 on the inside of the opposite end walls. These castings have runners 105 and 106 extending across the conveyor unit to form intermediate supports for a screen 107 which extends from the runner 103 below the spiked roller 100, and below a pair of screw conveyors 108 and 109, to the other runner 80 directly below the saw cylinder 65. The part of the screen 107 to the rear of the spiked roller I00 merely serves to prevent any material from passing the roller 100 Without being presented to the lower saw cylinder 65.

The screw conveyor 108 is mounted on a shaft 110 which is journaled at its opposite ends in the bearing plates 111 and 11 1. The screw conveyor 109 is fixed to a shaft 112 which is journaled at its opposite ends in bearing plates 113 and 113 suitably secured to the end walls 6 and 6, respectively.

As lint cotton will adhere more readily to the teeth of the saw cylinder than will the hulls, the hulls and hard locks of cotton will fall into the spiral screw conveyor 108, the direction of rotation of which is opposite to that of the saw cylinder and the spiked roller 100. The lead of the spiral conveyor 108 is to the right, with the carrying side of this spiral conveyor adjacent to the saw cylinder 65. The conveyor 108 advances the material from the right hand end of the machine to the left, the material travelling between the flights of the conveyor and the saw cylinder, thereby allowing the teeth of the saw cylinder to come in contact with the cotton fibre and remove the same from the hulls. A continuation or the screen 107 forms a partial trough for the conveyor 108 and allows small particles of broken hull and foreign matter to be sifted out. A suitable opening is provided at the left hand end of the machine for hulls conveyed by the conveyor 108 to thereto.

be discharged into the trough of the conveyor 109. The conveyor 109 carries the hulls to the right hand end of the machine and discharges them through a suitable opening in the screen 107 into a large dust and hull conveyor 114, located at the bottom of the feeder for conveying the hulls and dust outside of the gin house.

The cotton lint reclaimed by the lower saw cylinder is removed by the doifer cylinder 67 which discharges this lint cotton, and seed of the same, on to the inclined slide 72, whence it is taken by the cleaning drum 68 along the screen 73 into contact with the flights of the cleaning driun 38 at the discharge outlet ofthe feeder. The method of operating this feeder when used with cotton free of hulls and foreign material will be apparent to those skilled in the art by inspe'c" tion of Figure 2 of the drawings, and noting the direction arrows applied toeach of the cooperating rotating elements.

It is to be noted that whether the hull extracting part of the feeder is or is not used, all of the cleaning drums 21, 16, 68 and 38 perform their cleaning operations on the cotton. The dust and foreign matter resulting from the cleaning opera tion passes through the screen 29 to the conveyor 47 and through the screen 73 to the large con-- veyor 114. The screens 29 and 73 are used at all times in conjunction with the cleaning drums aforesaid. When hully cotton is presented for a cleaning operation to this feeder, the by-pass valve 31 is thrown to the dotted line position shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. In this case, the cotton is prevented from flowing downwardly along the slide 71 but passes through all the clean ing drums along the screens 29 and 73, and in addition is acted upon by the saw cylinders 64 and 65, and by the various spiked rollers and kicker elements and conveyor 108 to have the hulls and foreign matter removed therefrom to be discharged finally through the large trash conveyor 114. I

Referring now to Figures 1 and 5, the shafts 17, 19, 69, 55, 52 and 56 are illustrated as projecting through the right hand end Wall of the feeder; and as having fixed thereto, the belt pulleys 114, 115, 116, 117, 118 and 119, respectively. An idler pulley 120 is rotatably mounted on the end of a slide 121 which is adjustably mounted in a guide 122 fixed to the end wall 2. A set screw 123 may be used to lock the slide 121 in adjusted position in the guide. A belt 124 engages these pulleys as shown in Figure 5 to effect rotation of the shafts connected thereto.

The shaft 37 has a pulley 125; and a belt 126 extends around the pulley 116 to eifect drive of shaft 37 from shaft 69. Sprockets 127 and 128 are fixed to shafts 69 and 46, respectively; and a chain 128' engages the said sprockets to drive the conveyor shaft 46 from the shaft 69 of the cleaner drum 68. The main drive mechanism will be described later. For the present it is merely intended to show the driving and driven interrelation between the various shafts of the feeder.

The conveyors 108 and 109 are driven by energy derived through shaft 101 of the spiked roller 100. In Figure 5, the shaft 101 of the spiked roller 100 is shown as having the sprocket 129 fixed Sprockets 130 and 131 are fixed to the shafts 110 and 112 of the conveyors 108 and 109, respectively. 1 A sprocket chain 132 passes around the sprockets sprocket 130. The sprockets 129 and 131 are interchangeable, as indicated in Figures 5 and 6,

129 and 131 and engages the the sprocket 131 being about twice as large in diameter as either of the sprockets 129 and 130.

When the sprockets 129, 130 and 131 are arranged as shown in Figure 5, the conveyor 108 runs at the same speed as the spiked roller 100, and therefore faster than theconveyor 109. Reversal of the sprockets 129 and 131, as shown in Figure 6, obviously causes the conveyors to rotate at the same speed .but faster than the spiked roller.

' The change of speeds in the conveyors 108 and 109 affects the length of time the conveyor 108 Will carry the material from left to right of the machine, as shown in Figure 1; and also affects the length of time for the conveyor 109 to carry the material from the right hand end to the discharge aperture 133, directly over the left hand end of the trash conveyor 114. The screw conveyors 108 and .109 present the holly cotton to the lower saw cylinder 65. On extremely bolly cotton, in order to remove the lint cotton from the hulls, it is necessary to have the sprocket 131 mounted on the shaft 101 so as to rotate the shafts 110 and 112 at high speed. The effect of this high speed is to set up a centrifugal force which prevents the material being conveyed from lying in the bottom of the partial troughs of the screen 107. The flights of the conveyor act as a cylinder and the material is carried around oftener but is advanced along the saw at a slow rate thereby giving a greater agitation and a slower discharge.

Figure 7 shows the method of connecting shafts 53, 54, 92 and 101. The shafts19, 53, 54, 92 and 101 project through a left hand end wall of the feeder and have the sprockets 133, 134, 135, 136 and 137 fixed thereto, respectively. The shaft 19 is the drive shaft and receives its power to drive by a belt and pulley connected with the gin (not shown in the drawings).

A sprocket chain 133 extends around the sprockets 133, 134, 135 to impart rotation to the shafts 53 and 54. The shaft 54 has an additional,

sprocket 139 secured thereto. A sprocket chain 140 extends around the sprockets 139, 136 and 137 to drive the shafts 101 and 92 of the spiked rollers 100 and 91, respectively. As previously described, the shaft 101 extends to the opposite end of the feeder and is used to drive the sprocket chain 132 connected for driving the conveyor shafts 110 and 112.

The shaft 37 extends through the left hand end wall of the feeder and has secured thereto a worm 141 which engages a worm gear 142 fixedto the end of a shaft 143 connected by a universal joint 144 to a shaft 145. The worm and worm gear are enclosed in any suitable casing 146 detachably secured to the end Wall of the feeder. The shaft 11 extends to the left hand end wall of the feeder and has a plate gear 147 rotatably mounted thereon. This plate gear, as shown in the drawings, has five concentric rows of teeth arranged thereon, adapted to mesh with a gear 148, slidably but non-rotatably mounted on the shaft 145 by means of the key 149 slidable in a slot formed lengthwise in said shaft.

A cylindrical casing 150 is formed on the upper end of a standard 151 suitable secured to the feeder end; wall 4'. A sleeve 152 is slidably mounted on the shaft 145 and is connected by a yoke-153 to a collar 154 spaced apart along shaft 145 from the end of the sleeve 152 sufficiently to form a slot in which the gear 148 is received. A cam 155 is formed on the other end of the sleeve and a handle 156 extends radially therefrom to slide in a slot 157 formedlengthwise in the upper part of casing 150. A series of notches 158 extends from the slot 157 through'an angle of 90 degrees and perpendicularly to said slot to receive the handle 156 for the purpose of locking the sleeve 152 in-any desired position of lengthwise adjustment on the shaft 145.

In the position shown in Figure 9, the handle 156 lies'in'the slot 157. In this position the cam- 155 tilts the sleeve 1'52 and the shaft 145 so as'to'raise the gear 148 clear of the concentric rows of teeth on the gear plate 147. The handle may then be slid along slot 157 to bring the gear 148 directly over the row of teeth on plate 147 with which it is desired to mesh gear 148. When in the desired position, the handle 156 is rotated anticlockwise, as seen in Figure 9, into the adjacent notch 158 to swing the shaft 145 downwardlyand cause the gear 148 to mesh with the row of teeth on plate 147 corresponding in position on said plate to the position of the notch receiving the handle 156. It will, of course, be obvious that the slots 158 correspond in number and position to the number of concentric rows of gear teeth and their location on plate 147.

'The eccentricity of the cam 155 causes a lifting of-the sleeve 152 and the shaft 145 whenever the shank of the handle 156 is in registry with the longitudinal slot 157. This permits a ready shift of the :gear 148 from one row of teeth to another row on the plate 147. The universaljoint 144 is provided to permit this raising and lowering of the shaft 145 relative to the gear plate 147.

A gear 159, connected by a hub to rotate with gearplate 147, meshes with a gear 160 secured to the end of the shaft 10 where it projects through the left hand end wall of the feeder. By this construction, the rotation of the feed rolls 12 and 13 is effected through the rotation of the shaft 37. By this mechanism, too, the rate of feed of the cotton into the feeder may be controlled in accordance with the rate of discharge of cleaned cotton through the chute 42.

As shown in Figure 2 of the drawings, the runner member 103 is pivotally mounted between the end walls of the feeder so that castings 104, with the screen 107 secured thereto, may be swung radially to give ready access to the screen and to the spiked roller 100 and the conveyors 108 and 109.

It is to be particularly noted that in this feeder cleaning drums are provided ahead of the extracting unit, and other cleaning drums act upon the cotton mass after the same has passed all the extracting units, thereby subjecting the cotton to thorough cleaning. It will also be noted that the conveyor 47 is located so as to remove dirt, etc. extracted from the cotton by the cleaning drums 16 and 21. All this extraneous matter I is separately and automatically conveyed to the outside of the machine from beneath the various units, thereby preventing interference with the progressive cleaning, extracting and final cleaning of the cotton mass during its passage through the feeder.

Another important feature of the screenarrangement is that all cleaning screens are so placed as to utilize the force of gravity. The rudimentary partitions between the spiked roller 100 and the conveyors 108 and 109 do not extend up beyond a line joining the center of the conveyors. This construction allows material carried by the conveyor 108 to spill over readily into the space occupied by the conveyor 109. As a safety feature and to care for an excessive amount of hulls, the'rudimentary partion 106 is entirely removed for a distance of about six inches at one end to allow any accumulation of hulls or extraneous matter that may be carried the full length of the conveyor 108 to discharge readily into the space occupied by the conveyor 109.

In practice the material conveyed by the conveyors 108'an'd 109 actually changes position; that is, if a cottonboll having a quantity of lint adhering to it'is in the act of being conveyed forwardly by the conveyor 109, the high speed at which this conveyor is operated throws the hull containing lint cotton in contact with the saw cylinder'65. The lint is impinged upon the saw teeth; which then carries the lint and hulls upward to the 66 which strips off the hulls returns'theni tc the spiked roller 100. The lint is then carried on by the saw teeth and brushed off by the doffer roller 67. In other instances, the cotton lint and hulls may be only partially attached to'the saws by impact from the conveyor 10!), and it falls off the saw cylinder by the eifect of gravity into the mass of material conveyor 108 is continually throwing againstthe saw cylinder 65. The material in contact with the conveyor 109 can return to the conveyor 108along its entire length; and any cotton mass can enter space occupied by conveyor" 109 for its entire length.

The feeder as a whole is designed to be driven by anysuitahle driving connection with the cotton gin. For example it may be driven by a belt B extending from a pulley on thegin saw shaft around-a pulley P fixed to the shaft 19 (see Figure 7). This drive connection forms no part of the present invention and is merely indicated herein.

The present machine does not contemplate crushing bolls. It is intended to remove lint cotton from the hulls without treating the hulls in a drastic manner. The method of removal of hulls by the machine is intended to eliminate the shale and particles of hulls resulting from ordinary crushing operation. In other words, there are no boll breaking elements included in this feeder; and such elements have been purposely omitted in order to eliminate the usual drastic crushing of the hulls and bolls.

It is believed that the operation of this feeder will be apparent, without further description, by mere inspection of the drawings, to persons skilled in this particular art.

It is thought that the invention and numerous of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention or sacrificing any of its attendant advantages; the form herein described being a preferred embodiment for the purpose of illustrating my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a cotton cleaning machine, a casing, a partition dividing the casing into cleaning and hull stripping chambers, cleaning drums in the cleaning chamber, a saw cylinder in the stripping chamber, a cleaning drum in stripping chamher, a icy-pass valve between said chambers, and a kicker adjacent said saw cylinder and partition for throwing cotton to the last named cleaner drum when the valve is in one position and for stripping the hulls from the saw when the said valve is in another position.

2. Alcotton cleaning machine comprising a casing, a partition extending partly across said casing and forming cleaner and hull extractor chambers connected by a passageway at the end of said partition, a by-pass valve pivoted in said casing and having its pivoted endspaced' apart from the end of said partition, a kicker rotatably mounted in thespace between said ends, and a saw cylinder below said kicker, the upper part of said-kicker servingto by-pass cotton from said saw cylinder when the valve plate is in one position, and to act as astripper for said cylinder when the valve plate is in another position.

3. In a cotton cleaning machine, a casing, a saw cylinder rotatable therein, a spiked roller adjacent said saw cylinder and rotatable in the same direction to direct cotton on to said cylinder, a pair of screwconveyors below said roller and having their axes parallel to the axis of the saw cylinderand concentric therewith, a sprocket detachably secured to the shaft of said spiked roller, a sprocket of .greaterdiameter detachably secured to the shaft of the conveyor remote from said .roller, a sprocket of the same diameter as the first named sprocket fixed to the shaft of the other conveyor, a sprocket chain engaging said sprockets, the detachable sprockets being interchangeable to cause said conveyors to rotate at the same speed or at different speeds, one of said conveyors rotating in the same direction as the saw cylinder and the other conveyor rotating in the opposite direction.

4. In a cotton cleaning machine, a casing having an inlet at the top thereof and an outlet at one side, a cleaner drum adjacent the outlet, the

shaft of said drum projecting through the wall of said casing, a worm fixed to the end of said shaft, aworm gear in mesh with said worm, a shaft on which the worm gear is mounted, a'feeder roll in said casing adjacent said inlet and having a shaft projecting through said casing, a gear plate rotatably mounted on the projecting end of the last named shaft-and having concentric rows of gear teeth formed thereon, a bearing mounted on said casing between the, feed roller shaft and the shaft carrying said worm gear, a sleeve slidable in said bearing toward and from the axis of said feed roll, a shaftv slidable in said sleeve and havingone end thereof connected by universal joint to the worm gear shaft,

a pinion slidably and non-rotatably mounted on the shaft, and movable by said sleeve to mesh with any of said concentric rows of teeth, and means for adjusting said sleeve radially toward and from the axis of said feed roll shaft.

5'. The device set forth in'claim 4 in which the last named'means includes a cam for raising the pinion clear of the teeth on said gear plate during the adjustment of the sleeve toward and from the axis of the feed roller shaft.

6. The device set forth in claim 4 in which said bearing is provided with a series of transverse slots corresponding in number to the number of concentric rows of gear teeth, said sleeve having a handle movable into and out of engagement with any of said slots for locking the pinion in operable engagement with a selected" row of said concentric rows of gear teeth.

. JEFFREY JOHN WALLACE.

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