US2325183A - Means and method for separating lint fibers from cotton seeds and cleaning lint fibers by air washing - Google Patents

Description

July 27, 1943. P. HOPPER 2,325,183 MEANS AND METHOD FOR SEPARATING LINT FIBERS FROM COTTON SEEDS AND CLEANING LINT FIBRES BY AIR WASHING Filed Oct. 13, 1941 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I "1' 1 E15 I I Passey g ue/ ENTOR.

July 27, 1943'. P. E. HQPP 2,325,183

FOR SEPAR ATING' L T FIBERS FROM COTTON LEANING LINT FIBRES BY AIR WASHING Filed Oct. 13, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 MEANS AND METHOD SEEDSAND O Press/4:31.13. Zipper,

. I INVENTOR.

Patented July 27, 1943 was AND METHOD FOR SEPARATING LINT Frnnns EnoM oorroN SEEDS AND;

CLEANING new; means BY AIR WASHING Pressley l larl Hopper, Dallas, Ten.

Application ,Qotober 13, 1341, Serial No. 4145826 5 Claims. (01. 219-762) This invention has reference to vthe ginning of cotton, but it relates more particularly to a means a small threads between the seeds. Bothgthe mencarried in the sample and the roping or twisting k greatly reduce the value, therefore the method of air-Washing the sample and-thus eliminating the machiningoi the sample is'most desirabie in the ginning process.

"This same thing-applies on shorter varieties" and more especially in the areas Where cotton is snapped and. separation made at ,theigins instead-of hand picking. Many plants are (unable to effect a thorough cleaning zbeiore theflcotton is fed into the seed rolls and this method or cleaning the trashirom the sample inthe inning process Will be most valuable on allyarietiesoi cotton where this method of gathering .is emp oyed. Y Y

- A survey of results in the snap cottonareasreveals that the better staple varieties vusuallyirun so low in grade because of inability ,to remove the trash in the preparation that manytimesiilm shorterstaple cotton ,-,actually-ig ives greater areturns to-the grower inspitei-Qfthe premiums gfQI better staple cotton ofequal-rgrade.

In the conventional gin, the vonly means pro,-

vided for the removal of trash isibylcentrifugal force'or speed of thesawsion air+blast gins :and

the same action by the saws and brush Where brushes are used instead. of .the air-nozzle. Neither of these is positive 'because much of the extraneous matter is so nearly the same weight as the fibers that it cannot loo-dislodged inethis manner. With the method of air-washing, the trashfcannotl escape removal because ofritslight weight.

Where cott content-it is next to impossible to-reniovethepi-n and leaf trash by conventional cleaning methods 01 motin'g; since thisxcondition; is more prevalent in the delta and other-areasiwhere the better staples are produced, itisve-ry desirable to have a positive :means .ofjtrash removal-1m spite ,its passagefrlomitherollbox.

a I A iurthe'rpobject of the; -invention is the .provi sion of vsuch a gin rib construction whereby an of reducing moisture content of the finished fibers.

In accordance fore one of theobj e'cts of this invention to provide a cotton gin rib construction having a step 7 off or ofi-set'on the upper surface of the rib .or"

ribs adjacent the point where-the .gin-sawteeth pass-between the ribsvan'dcout of the, rol-lbox. Another .object of the .inventioniis the provisionof'a' gin rib. construction having .a ld'uct .or sham;- nel (or a plurality of ducts s01- 'lchamiels therein,

whereby air may be injected .ei-ther througheor between the :gin ribs against thezgin saw teeth or v contiguous thereto and Vin-la, redirection opposite the rotation :of .the .ginxsaw teeth, in the removal of'itrash' from .thecotton fibersand preve ting air'streami or streams'is. or areydirected against and/or contiguous .to the iginlsaw teeth ,inga; die

rectionthe reverse of ;thei.-trave1:of,thegin say/ls,

.wherebyiany cotton fibers not securely. held byzt'he in saw teeth will .be' dislodged bysaid air stream or streams heldlwithinetheseed .rolL, The advantages attained-areeliminatibnof loss pf fiber and better jandcleanercotton sample as the fibers vare thereby straightened:andcornbedbytheaircun- V rent. v

An ther adv ta e attained bv thi nvention r is that of prevent ng cot on Seed in'gth sin rol rom 11mi s p l ed into th crot h s, r 'pa9ine betwe n h sin ribsbyth saw teeth an at ached fibers by keeping the cotton seed suspended abo the to su f ce 50f t lib i tbear he e the, s n t et a s be w enthe sin irlbsando o-fth rr l b x- 1 on carries a relatively highmoisture 1 removedbv brush orairvnozzla, 1

' The drawings accompanying this specification i illustrate-a means whereby the above obj ects and advantages may ;be carried out, 1 and ri the .Ano h rtad anta e accom shedbvt eprsent in en i 5 -;that of directin hi h iveloc ty s eamer S ams ,Q he ted air throu h the sin ribs inuthe removal .;of itrasn'as previously outlined, and to remove 'moistureifrom itlieilintv'fibers before theyare taken fr ointheseed roll, and torso apply heat, directlygto'thegin saw teeth'injorder t anthe fiber ma be ore readily and v as y d awing '7 I figure, 1 is a ,fra mentary view in. elevationnf fl agin lib-constructed; in accordance; with i this. in;-

of; the moisture content," and also: to fhavegnieans 55 vention, and illustrating -.in' :section I partofthe tgimribggin. rib: breast; air-inlet, duo :dotted indication ur ne-r011. box; 1""

with-the preceding; it is there;

Figure 2 is a sectional detail view on line 2-2 of the gin rib construction shown in Figure 3,

the latter figure illustrating a modification of the gin rib and breast formation, and being taken on the line 33 of Figure 4; V r V Figure 4 is a detail fragmentary view of the 7 front edge of one of the gin ribs;

Figure 5 is a detail view in fragmentary side elevation of a gin saw and gin rib showing the efiect of the air stream in dislodging trash and the like from the cotton'lint carried on the gin saw;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view partly in section of another. variation of the gin rib;

Figure 7 is a view similar to that of Figure 1,

is shown a gin rib l with an ofi-set' portion 2, the ribs being assembled in customaryspaced relation with a battery of gin saws 3 and a roll box indicated by broken linesat 4. The upper end or 'ends 5 of the ribs are connected as shOWnsto a gin breastelement 6, the latterabeing bored at 7 for the passage of an air stream conducted from a suitable-source through the pipe 8 in the direction of the arrows. In this form of rib construction the rib is channeled or bored to provide'a passage indicated at!) which is in line with the inlet or bowl and the passage -9 has two tributaries or ducts l9; .It will be noted that the gin breast or element 6 has a slight rearward inclination in order that the air stream upon striking the off-set or step-off 2 will be directed in the direction of the plurality of arrows along or contiguous tothe saw teeth andas indicated in Figure 5 the trash or extraneous matter A will be thrown back into the roll box 4 with the seed and prevented from passage between the ribs, and the lint'indicated at L held on the saw teeth will be allowed to pass. vThe off-set tends to keep the cotton seed-suspended abovethe top surface of the ribs While'the fiber under'the action of the high velocity air streams in the passage 1 and the bore 9 and ducts l0 and held on the saws is subjected to a thorough cleaning and straightthe case of long staple cotin the former instance. The breast element 6 has a forward tilt and the bore 9 more downwardly inclined and curved slightly at 9a.'

In Figure 6 is shown another variation of the gin rib construction, the breast 6 being further inclined forwardly, the air entering atl3 and passing through the bore- 9--a which as will be noted is almost perpendicular or vertical, and the rib is curved outwardly as at l5, whereby the air stream will be directed more-upwardly. In Figure 7 the breast elementB-is tilted'slightly rearwardly and the rib in this form is applicable to nozzle application, theair entering through andby means of the nozzle l6 and; into .thebore .9 "b;which is but illustrating a further modification of the gin I an I brought almost directly vertical at its output end or termination and the air is directed in the direction of the arrows there shown. From Figure 8 (an edge view taken from the rear of Figure 7) it willbe seen that the bore 9b has a divisional partition 9e whereby the air stream is split in two-tributaries, thus subjecting the saw teeth to the action of the air along the entire length of the bore or bores of the tributaries 9b. In Figure 7 the double passage or bore formation projects rearwardly from the upper end of the rib form where it is attached to the breast; but in Figure 9the double passage formation 9--b is in line with the rear'surface of the part la of Y the rib.

From the foregoing it will b apparent that the disclosure presents a novel means and method for cleaning and otherwise improving the cotton sample and aid in the ginning of the cotton by the use of highvelocity air currents in the regular ginning methodrather than by endeavoring -to eliminate trash and extraneous matter by moting methods. The present method and means here disclosed differs from all methods now being used in the cleaning of trash from the'lint fiber in that it does not embody any change in the regular method .of feeding cotton into the'seed roll box or of controlling th discharge of the finished seed. It further diifers from all moting methods in that by this means any fibers not securely held by the ginning saw teeth will be dislodged by the air stream and held within the seed roll box, being recovered by the ginning saw teeth,' thereby eliminating any loss of fiber in the moting method. r i It is believed that the foregoing explanation will be sufiicient to enable anyone to understand the operationv of the invention without further discussion. It is to be understood, also, that the disclosure does not limit the invention to the precise means herein shown as various types of ducts and'nozzles may be employed. The disclosure of the several types 'of rib construction air ducts and nozzles may be varied to any extent in keeping with the principle of the invention and which will be within the, scope and range of the following claims. I

What is claimed is:

a 1. In a cotton gin including a roll box, a gin rib construction comprising in combinationwith a plurality ofgin saws, a plurality of gin ribs, a rail to which the gin ribs are secured, said rail having a passage for air under pressure, the upper portions of the gin ribs having one or more passages in open communication with the passage in said rail and terminating into ducts opening into the rollbox adjacent to and between the gin saws, and means for supplying air under pressure through said passages or ducts into the roll box and against thesaws in a direction opposite to the rotation of the gin saws thereby removing trash from the cotton on the saws.

' 2. A gin rib construction as claimed in claim 1,,

wherein the terminating ducts of the'gin rib passages have openings in angular relation to the passages in the ribs, whereby the air-is directed outwardly and upwardly, contiguous to and in a .directionopposite to the rotation of the ,gin saws and removing trash and extraneous matter from the cotton lint collected by the gin saw teeth.

3. In a cotton gin including a roll box, a gin rib and rail construction, in combination with a plurality of gin saws, said rib having a headportion formed on its upper end, a passage in the head portion, said passage being directed angularly downwardly into spaced ducts, each duct having an angular side'opening outwardly of the ribs entering the roll box, said rail having an opening communicating with said rib passage,

said'rail, and a plurality of rotary gin saws adapted to convey lint between said ribs; means for directing fluid under pressure against the saws in a direction opposite their direction of rotasaw teeth passbetween the ribs; but before passing out 0f the roll box, whereby trash and other extraneous materialare removed from the lintwithout removal of the Ilint from,the

saws;

5-. Amethodof freeing lint fibers frorn extraneous matter as thelint is carried-upon rotary gin saws operating between stationary gin ribs' in passing from the roll box, which comprises.

blowing fluid under pressure against the lint at approximately the point where the. saw teeth pass between the gin ribs but beforerpassing out of the roll box, and ma direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the ginsaws.

. V PRESSLEY EARLHOPP R.

tion at points adjacent the pointswhereth tgin

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