US2690596A

US2690596A - Apparatus for the dry mechanical extraction of fibers from stems of textile plants

Info

Publication number: US2690596A
Application number: US201052A
Authority: US
Inventors: Angiolini Aristide; Barbuti Renzo
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1950-01-12
Filing date: 1950-12-15
Publication date: 1954-10-05
Anticipated expiration: 1971-10-05

Description

1954 A. ANGIOLINI ETAL 2,690,596

APPARATUS FOR THE DRY MECHANICAL EXTRACTION 0F FIBERS FROM STEMS 0F TEXTILE PLANTS Filed Dec. 15, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I1; ven s H H 0// 7/ N \----D-- R.

Oct. 5, 1954 A. GlOLlNl ETAL 2,690,596

APPARATUS R DRY MECHANICAL EXTRA ON OF FIBE FROM STEMS 0F TEXTILE PLAN Filed Dec. 15, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ina/807616 a fiq /ab'n/ R- 52/1541 7 WM, 222% W fiffor rjiys Patented Get. 5, 1954 APPARATUS FOR THE DRY MECHANICAL EXTRACTION F FIBERS FROM STEMS OF TEXTILE PLANTS Aristide Angiolini and Renzo Barbuti, Rome, Italy Application December 15, 1950, Serial No. 201,052

Claims priority, application Italy January 12, 1950 4 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to an apparatus for the dry mechanical extraction of fibres from the stems of textile plants.

An object of this invention is to replace the rustic setting of textile plants with its known drawbacks such as particularly the reduction of output and the mechanical stress to which the material is submitted which causes the dispersion of a remarkable percentage of the fibrous material.

The fibres obtained by the process according to the present invention, which is exclusively mechanical, are not submitted to any treatment varying its physical-chemical constitution; the fibers maintain therefore all the natural characteristics of resistance and elasticity.

Furthermore, as the process according to the invention treats the fibers by merely mechanical actions, the fibers are freed from the very variable conditions usual ln retting and successive drying; the obtained product has therefore particular characteristics of uniformity, of resistance and of elasticity.

The process according to the invention consists in freeing the fibres from the stems, from the external wood or straw tissues, and substantially from all the incrusting substances, as well as from the internal surrounding tissues by means of a succession of mechanical operations which may be summarized as follows: rolling, breaking, scutching, shaking, refining and final brushing.

For the short stemmed plants, i. e. for those whose stems are shorter than about 60 cm., there must be added to said mechanical operations two stretching phases, one of which is before the breaking and the other and the end of the working cycle.

The above mentioned operations render the fibres parallel, and give them fineness, softness and lustre.

It is to be noted that the essential condition for an efiicient embodiment of the process is that the stems enter under the working elements perpendicular to the axes of the cylinders which constitute said working elements; the stems must be practically in a single layer.

A preferred form of an embodiment of the device allowing the process to be carried out, is diagrammatically shown in the attached drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a side view of the entire machine;

Fig. 2 diagrammatically shows a detail of the teeth of the breaking cylinders; and

Fig. 3 diagrammatically shows the arrangement of the scutching cylinders.

With reference to the drawing, the stems are fed in a layer on an endless conveyor belt I travelling over the rollers 2 and 3 which are operated in any desired way.

The stems are preferably arranged in the direction of motion of the belt I and their layer must have a thickness as constant as possible; the depth of such thickness may be established according to the working speed of the device.

The layer has to be continuous in the case of short stemmed plants or when the parallel fibres have to be collected in the form of a ribbon; the layer must be interrupted at every length of the plants in the case of long stemmed plants or when the fibres are desired to be collected in bundles.

The length of the belt 1 depends upon the length of the stems and upon the working speed of the machine.

The belt I feeds the stems between the pairs of cylinders 5-5', 6-6 and 3l-3l', for the rolling and stretching which serves to break the wood or the straw, particularly lengthwise and to diminish the thickness of the stem in order to facilitate its breaking.

The cylinders of each pair are elastically pressed one against the other and the distance between the pairs of cylinders is such that the length of the short stemmed plants is a little shorter than such distance.

The peripheral revolution speed of the cylinders 6 and 6 is greater than that of the cylinders 5 and 5' so that there is a stretching of the stem ribbon, which diminishes the thickness of the ribbon, while it increases the parallelism between said stems. A thin ribbon of parallel stems is thus formed with the stems perpendicular with respect to the working elements which will be here below described, which allows the stems to be Worked in a direction parallel to the direction of their motion, which constitutes an essential requirement for the efiicacy of the process.

Between the cylinders 5 and 6, the stems are supported by an inclined plane 1 continuing beyond the pair of cylinders 6, in the plane '8 which feeds the stem layer toward the group of cylinders 9 which break the stems.

The toothed cylinders 9, arranged in pairs, crush the wood and the straw tissues, and partially pulverize and remove the incrusting substances.

The various cylinders 9 are rotated with equal peripheral speeds which are equal to the speeds of the cylinders 3i forming the last pair of rolling cylinders.

The teeth of the cylinders 8 are diagrammatically shown in Fig. 2 showing that the thickness of the teeth at the pitch line is preferably less or equal to a quarter of the distance between the extremities of the teeth, while the total length of each tooth is approximately equal to said distance.

The aforesaid distance between the teeth is a function of the diameter of the cylinder, so that the friction of the teeth on the fibres will not be greater than the tensile strength of the latter.

An adjustment of known type allows a more or less engagement of the teeth.

lhe stems are fed by the cylinders 9 to the group of cylinders marked in their complex by H] in Fig. 1 and which comprises cylinders H, 62, l 3 and l 6 shown in greater detail in Fig. 3. Cylinders H, which are coated with elastic material l5 and elastically pressed one against the other (Fig. 3), feed the fibres toward the pair of cylinders I2 which scutch the stems and detach the wood or straw awns from the mass of the broken product and cause a further detachment and pulverisation of the incrusting substances.

The cylinders i comprises a pair of cylinders I2 similar to the breaking ones. The teeth engage with a clearance and they rotate with a peripheral speed greater than that of the fibre ribbon. The teeth of said cylinders, owing to the clearance provided, act as spatules on the fibers, and scrape the fibres so that the wood awns are split away.

After the group of scutching cylinders i2, a pair of cylinders 53, the surface of which is ;ted with a layer of elastic material Hi, and which are resiliently pressed one against the other exerts the necessary traction on the fibres.

It to be noted that the peripheral speed of the 3 is slightly less than that of the pair i i so that the fibres are not tensioned.

Two other toothed cylinders are engaged with the teeth of the cylinders 42. Said cylinders have their shafts displaced outwardly with respect to the motion direction of the fibres at a distance which is determined according to the feeding speed, to the distance of the cylinders H from the cylinders E3 and to the dimensions of the seutching cylinders.

The purpose of the cylinders I6 is that of treating the terminal portion of the stems when these leave the cylinders I2. fact the rear end of the shorter stems when released by cylinders H engage the teeth of cylinders i2 rotating at a speed greater than that of cylinders H, and are brought into engagement with the teeth of cylinders I5. Since the fore end of the said stems is drawn by cylinders i3, the rear end of the stems undergoes a scutching between cylinders l2 and [6.

After the group of scutching cylinders the fibre ribbon falls on a net conveying element il traveling over the cylinders l8 and I9 and which is vibrated by a vibrator device 20.

The net lets the wooden residues that the st utching has detached from the fibres fall, which residues lall on an inclined plane 2|, which removes them from the machine.

The conveying net 17 then brings the product between a series of cylinders 22, lengthwise grooved with very fine and thick grooves; the peripheral speed of said cylinders being equal to the feeding speed of the fibre layer. Said series of cylinders pulverizes and removes almost all of the residue incrusting substances. and softens and subdivides the fibrous bundles.

Also, the group of cylinders 22 may be re As a matter of placed by one or more pairs of scutching cylinders, similar to those described and indicated at 10.

The last pair of cylinders of either one or the other type, is formed by cylinders grooved perpendicuiar to the axes of the cylinders, in order to subdivide the ribbon of fibres into bundles and to facilitate the work of the following brushes.

The process continues with a brushing phase which removes the last residues of the incrusting substances and of the extraneous tissues from the fibres, which might have been left in the fibrous mass.

Said phase furthermore subdivides minutely the fibres, gives them lustre, and softens them.

The operation is carried out by means of a pair of cylindrical brushes 23 rotating with a speed greater than that of the ribbon of fibres "which is conveyed and pulled by two pairs of cylinders 24 and 25.

The brushing unit is formed by the cylinders 23, which are preferably cylindrical brushes of animal or vegetable hair, or of metallic elements, without transverse interruptions.

The distance between the shafts of the cylinders 23 is adjustable. The rear end of the fibers when released by cylinders 24, engage the surface of brushing cylinders 23 and are brought, due to the rotation of cylinders 23, under the action of the metal sheets 26 which are elastically pressed by means of a device not shown, against the brushing cylinders 23. Since the fore end of the fibers are drawn by cylinders 25. the rear end of the fibers undergo a further brushing between cylinders 23 and metallic sheets 25.

The complex of the brushing cylinders is conin a casing 2? in which operates an exiaust fan 28 in order to remove the pulverulent material produced by the brushing.

In case the fibres under treatment are short. a further pair of cylinders 29 stretches the fibres coming from the cylinders 25.

For this purpose the peripheral speed of the gylinders 29 is greater than that of the cylinders The ribbon of fibres coming from the cylinders 29 falls on a conveying belt 30 which leads it out of the machine.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for the dry mechanical extraction of fibers from the stems of textile plants comprising, in combination, a continuous stemifeeding belt, an inclined plane receiving the stems from said belt, an assembly of rolling and stretching cylinders including one pair of cylinders disposed at the upper end, one pair disposed at the lower end of said inclined plane, and one pair of cylinders intermediate the said upper and lower pairs of cylinders, said rolling and stretching cylinders having a smooth surface, a piurality of breaking cylinders disposed in pairs with interengaging teeth in each pair, said breaking cylinders being disposed higher than said lower pair of said rolling and stretching cylinders, along a curved path, and having the same speed a said rolling and stretching cylinders, a plurality of cylinders vertically disposed under said breaking cylinders comprising a pair of feeding cylinders coated with resilient material, a pair of scutching cylinders having teeth intermeshwith clearance rotating at a peripheral speed greater than the advancing speed of the stems. a pair of drawing cylinders coated with resilient material receiving the stems from said scutching cylinders, a conveying net located horizontally with an end below said last mentioned drawing cylinders, a plurality of cylinders at the other end of said conveying net, the latter cylinders being provided with longitudinal grooves and rotating at a peripheral speed equal to the advancing speed of said stems, a pair of cylinders provided with grooves perpendicular to the axes thereof to subdivide the layer of fibers resulting irom said stems in bundles and a plurality of brushing cylinders to remove the residues of incrusting materials and to subdivide and soften the fibers and means for carrying out of the apparatus the fibers coming from said brushing cylinders.

2. An apparatus for the dry mechanical extraction of fibers from the stems of textile plants comprising, in combination, a continuous stemfeeding belt, an inclined plane receiving the stems from said belt, an assembly of rolling and stretching cylinders including one pair of cylinders disposed at the upper end, one pair disposed at the lower end of said inclined plane, and one pair of cylinders intermediate the said upper and lower pairs of cylinders, said rolling and stretching cylinders having a smooth surface, a plurality of breaking cylinders disposed in pairs with interengaging teeth in each pair, said breaking cylinders being disposed higher than said lower pair of said rolling and stretching cylinders, along a curved path, and having the same speed as said rolling and stretching cylinders, a plurality of cylinders vertically disposed in alignment with said breaking cylinders comprising a pair of feeding cylinders coated with resilient material, a pair of scutching cylinders provided with teeth intermeshing with clearance rotating at a peripheral speed greater than the advancing speed of said stems, a pair of drawing cylinders coated with resilient material receiving the fibers from said scutching cylinders, a conveying 'net horizontally disposed with an end under said drawing cylinders last mentioned, a plurality of cylinders at the other end of the conveying net, the last mentioned cylinders being provided with longitudinal grooves and rotating at a peripheral speed equal to the advancing speed of the stems, a pair of cylinders provided with grooves perpendicular to the axes thereof disposed following said cylinders with longitudinal grooves to subdivide the layer of fibers resulting from said stems in bundles, a plurality of cylinders comprising a pair of cylindrical brushes rotating at a speed greater than the advancing speed of the fibers, a pair of cylinders feeding the fibers to said cylindrical brushes and a pair of drawing cylinders for the fibers coming from the cylindrical brushes, two metallic strips cooperating with said brushes, and means for carrying out of the apparatus the fibers coming from said cylindrical brushes.

3. An apparatus for the dry mechanical extraction of fibers from the stems of textile plants comprising, in combination, a continuous stemfeeding belt, an inclined plane receiving the stems from said belt, an assembly of rolling and stretching cylinders including one pair of cylinders disposed at the upper end, one pair disposed at the lower end of said inclined plane, and one pair of cylinders intermediate the said upper and lower pairs of cylinders, said rolling and stretching cylinders having a smooth surface, a plurality of breaking cylinders disposed in pairs with interengaging teeth in each pair, said breaking cylinders being disposed higher than said lower pair of 6, said rolling and stretching cylinders, along a curved path, and having the same speed as said rolling and stretching cylinders, a plurality of cylinders vertically disposed in alignment with said breaking cylinders comprising a pair of feeding cylinders coated with resilient material, a pair of scutching cylinders provided with teeth intermeshing with clearance rotating at a peripheral speed greater than the advancing speed of said stems, a pair of toothed cylinders engaging the teeth of said scutching cylinders having their axes offset with respect to the axes of said scutching cylinders, a pair of drawing cylinders coated with resilient material receiving said stems from said scutching cylinders, a conveying net horizontally disposed having one end below said last mentioned drawing cylinders, a plurality of cylinders at the other end of said conveying net, said last mentioned cylinders having longitudinal grooves and rotating at a peripheral speed equal to the advancing speed of said stems, a pair of cylinders having grooves perpendicular to the axes thereof disposed following said longitudinally grooved cylinders to subdivide the layer of fibers resulting from said stems in bundles, a plurality of cylinders comprising a pair of cylindrical brushes rotating at a speed greater than the advancing speed of the fibers, a pair of drawing cylinders for the fibers coming from said cylindrical brushes, two metallic strips cooperating with said brushes, a second pair of drawing cylinders rotating at a speed greater than the speed of said last mentioned drawing cylinders and a conveying belt receiving the fibers from said second pair of drawing cylinders to carry the same out of the apparatus.

4. An apparatus for the dry mechanical extraction of fibers from the stems of textile plants comprising, in combination, a continuous stemfeeding belt, an inclined plane receiving the stems from said belt, an assembly of rolling and stretching cylinders including one pair of cylinders disposed at the upper end, one pair disposed at the lower end of said inclined plane, and one pair of cylinders intermediate the said upper and lower pairs of cylinders, said rolling and stretching cylinders having a smooth surface, a plurality of breaking cylinders disposed in pairs with interengaging teeth in each pair, said breaking cylinders being disposed higher than said lower pair of said rolling and stretching cylinders, along a curved path, and having the same speed as said rolling and stretching cylinders, a plurality of cylinders vertically disposed in alignment with said breaking cylinders comprising a pair of feeding cylinders coated with resilient material, a pair of scutching cylinders provided with teeth intermeshing with clearance rotating at a peripheral speed greater than the advancing speed of said stems, a pair of toothed cylinders engaging the teeth of said scutching cylinders having their axes offset with respect to the axes of said scutching cylinders, the teeth of said breaking cylinders, said scutching cylinders and said offset cylinders having a thickness at the pitch line not greater than a quarter of the distance between the extremities of the teeth and having a height equal to said distance, a pair of drawing cylinders coated with resilient material receiving said stems from said scutching cylinders, a vibrating conveying net horizontally disposed having one end below said drawing cylinders last mentioned, a plurality of cylinders at the other end of said conveying net having longitudinal grooves and rotating at a peripheral speed equal to the advancing speed of said stems, a pair of cylinders having grooves perpendicular to the axes thereof disposed following said longitudinally grooved cylinders to subdivide the layer of fibers resulting from said stems in bundles, a plurality of cylinders comprising a pair of cylindrical brushes rotating at a speed greater than the advancing speed of the fibers, a pair of drawing cylinders for the fibers coming from said cylindrical brushes, two metallic strips cooperating with said brushes, a second pair of drawing cylinders rotating at a speed greater than the speed of said last mentioned drawing cylinders and a conveying belt receiving the fibers from said second pair of drawing cylinders to carry the same out of the apparatus.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 5 358,827 1,308,376 1,722,110 2,197,683

10 Number Name Date Angell Mar. 8, 1887 Schlichten July 1, 1919 Pritchard July 23, 1929 Burkardt Apr. 16, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France Aug. 9, 1943