US2725598A

US2725598A - Bast and bark fibre decorticating machine

Info

Publication number: US2725598A
Application number: US238638A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gardella Adriano
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1951-05-26
Filing date: 1951-07-26
Publication date: 1955-12-06
Anticipated expiration: 1972-12-06

Description

Dec. 6, 1955 A. GARDELLA EAST AND BARK FIBRE DECORICATING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 0: Ab 0 W) S K a 6 m. H \m m w/ W mm W L .2 m J 5 m\ J mm o t 4 m 5 v w mm 1 m L 55 A x a .Q\ N N L m v w m Dec. 6, 1955 A. GARDELLA 2,725,598

EAST AND BARK FIBRE DECORICATING MACHINE Filed July 26, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 HEB/6W0 GQ/FQELLA B m, 25.16. I d.

Dec. 6, 1955 A. GARDELLA 2,725,598

EAST AND BARK FIBRE DECORICATING MACHINE Filed July 26, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ADRIAN/J G-ARDELLA /N V ENT oR 1955 A. GARDELLA EAST AND BARK FIBRE DECORICATING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet. 4

Filed July 26, 195] f7 7 ADRIANA MUELLA WVEWR By r4.

- AGENTS Dec. 6, 1955 A. GARDELLA EAST AND BARK FIBRE DECORICATING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 26, 195] .mwfimvmw ,n n

BAEaT AND BARK FIBRE DECORTICATING MACHINE Adriano Gardeila, Genoa, Italy Application July 26, 1951, Serial No. 238,638

Claims priority, application Italy May 26, 1951 12 Claims. (Cl. 197) This invention relates to bast and bark fibre decorticating machines and its object is to provide an improved combined breaking, scutching and fibre-cleaning machine which presents particular advantages when compared with existing machines for treating fibrous stalks, basts, barks and/ or leaves of plants by combined breaking and scutching together with, or followed by, a brushing, hackling, cleaning and/ or washing of the fibres.

The known machines of this kind, in which the fibrous plants are delivered to scutching devices by at least one pair of feed rollers, are cumbersome and the scutching is usually effected only on one side of the sheet of fibrous material. However, as it is usually required that the material be treated from both sides, it is generally necessary to turn over the sheet of material, in order to effect a new scutching, brushing, hackling or cleaning on the opposite side.

in order to overcome this necessity of turning over the sheet of material, it has been proposed to arrange scutching drums in pairs, acting on opposite sides of the sheet of material. This arrangement presented however a number of drawbacks among which there may be mentioned the fact that the fibre was subjected to a rough treatment between two scutching drums, and being unsupported by an anvil-acting roller, some of the parts of the fibrous material, and particularly the tails, were not sufficiently well scutched.

With the end in view of overcoming the above and other drawbacks, the invention aims at providing a comhined breaking, scutching and fibre-cleaning machine which is compact and occupies little floor space, and in which the fibrous material is scutched, and hackled or brushed or otherwise treated repeatedly on both sides.

The bast and bark fibre separating machine adapted for treating barks, basts, stalks and/or leaves, according to the invention, comprises at least one scutching set, each set being composed of a revolving scutching drum provided with a plurality of hammering members and of a corresponding material-supporting roller, or anvil roller, and the said mill is characterised mainly by the feature that the feeding of the material past the said nited States Patent scutching drum or drums is effected by a train of materialsupporting rollers, each revolving in opposite direction as the adjacent ones, the feeding being effected in such a manner that the fibrous material passes from a longitudinal, generally vertical, half of each supporting roller to the opposite half of the next-lying roller, whereby the sheet of material passing alternately from one side to the opposite side of the train of feedand material-supporting rollers, exposes alternately both its faces to the operating devices, which comprise the said scutching drums and possibly other operating drums, such as hackling, brushing and/0r cleaning drums.

Another feature of the machine according to the invention consists in this, that the feed roller train is constituted, at least in part, in correspondence with the scutching drums, by a setof smooth rollers acting as material-supporting rollers and which are driven so as to forward the material from one end of the set to the opposite end.

These feedand material-supporting rollers may be of the same diameter and run at the same angular speed, or also of increasing diameters and run at substantially the same peripheral speed. Furthermore, their axes may be arranged on a single plane, or along two parallel or slightly diverging planes.

Another important feature of the said machine consists in the arrangement of showers above the train of material feedand supporting-rollers.

In the machine according to the invention, the scutching drums are provided with longitudinal beaters fitted in preferably dovetail-shaped grooves of the drum and projecting therefrom by such a length as to provide for a hammering action against the next-lying material-supporting rollers acting as anvils, whereby the active surface of the heaters is inclined towards the scutching drum in the revolving direction thereof.

Still another feature of the machine according to the invention consists in that the cleaning of the fibrous material is eifected also directly on the material-supporting rollers, and preferably by a suitable number of brushing drums.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the brushing drums comprise cylindrical sector-shapedbristles-supporting members in which the bristles or the like, which are of equal length, are inserted in the supporting members at an angle to the tangential planes to said members and project therefrom along a cylindrical surface. a

In the machine according to the invention the axes of the drums which effect the scutching, brushing and possibly other operations, are shifted beyond the axes of the respective material-supporting rollers, viz. past these axes, in the direction of feed.

The operating drums (which term shall include in the following specification all revolving devices which act on the fibrous material on the said feed: and materialsupporting rollers) arranged at the sides of the substantially vertical train of material-supporting and feed rollers are mounted shiftable towards and away from said rollers.

The machine according to the invention is further provided with an automatic feed of the fibrous material comprising a bottomless box or hopper arranged above an endless feed belt running also under a grasping roller, said hopper being provided with a valve member, the aperture of which can be adjusted according to the requirements of the material to be fed, the feeding taking place endwise of the stalks or other plant parts.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the said valve member comprises a hinged shutter under the action of means permitting of the same swinging upwardly between predetermined limits.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, all feedand material-supporting rollers are driven by gears keyed on their journals, while the operating drums (comprising the scutching drums, the brushing drums and any other like drums arranged at the sides of the train of feed rollers) are driven by a single trans mission by belt or chain running on side pulleys or wheels.

Further features and advantages of the invention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically a side elevation of a bast and bark decorticating machine provided with a vertical train of feedand material-supporting rollers according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view thereof.

Figures 3 and 4 are side views of the same machine showing particularly the gearing thereof.

Figure is a detail of the feeding device.

Figure 6 is a cross section through the set of scutching drums.

Figure 7 is a partily sectional side elevation of the setting device for the scutching and brushing drums.

Figure 8 is a partly sectional side elevation of the scutching drums.

Figure 9 is a partly longitudinal section of the brushescarrying drum.

Figure is a transverse section on line XX of Figure 9 and Figure 11 shows a modified arrangement of the vertical train of material feedand supporting-rollers.

Figure 12 illustrates a further modification wherein the rollers are shown with different diameters.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, 1 shows the machine frame which carries at its top the set of roller pairs 2-2 and 3-3. The rollers 22 are fluted or otherwise rendered uneven on the surface and they serve for breaking the 'woody portion of the fibrous material, while the rollers 3-3 are smooth and serve for crushing the material and opening the fibres. Rollers 2-2 may be fluted either lengthwise or circumferentially the pitch of the fluting decreasing from each roller pair to the next one, in the direction of feed. Upper rollers 2, 3' are slidably supported in vertical or downwardly slopping guide slots 4 (see Figure 5), provided in the two sides of frame 1. Upper rollers 2, 3' are biased against the respective lower rollers 2-3 of each pair by adjustable springs 5 housed within upper bells 6 and acting upon said slidable hearings or rollers 2', 3.

The fibrous material is fed to the preparing set 22, 3--3 by endless belt 7 and grasping roller 8. The machine is preferably provided with an automatic feeding device, shown in Figure 5. It comprises a large bottomless box or hopper 9 arranged above the feeding belt 7 and provided, in correspondence with grasping roller 8, with a mouth 10 whose aperture can be regulated by any suitable means. Further regulation is provided by some kind of automatic valve, such as a shutter 11 which is hinged, as at 12, to the hopper 9 and is biased by a spring 13. Adjustable abutment means may be provided for limiting the lifting of said shutter and the width or depth of the passage opening for the material. The fibrous material is fed endwise as shown in Figures 2 and 5. The feeding belt 7 running under the hopper 9 is preferably fitted with cross rods 15' (Figure 2), and delivers -the material to rollers 2-2, 33, which are positively driven and thus provide for further feeding of the material.

After passing said rollers, the fibrous material is delivered to the vertical train of feedand material-supporting rollers 16 which are preferably smooth, and one of the middle rollers (16 in Figures 1 and 6) is mounted on a fixed bearing 116, Figure 3, while the remaining rollers have their bearings 116 slidably mounted in guide slots 4 (Figures 3 and 7) and are biased against the fixed roller by springs 6t) and 61 (Figures 1 and 3), whereby the spring 61 is fitted under hell 6. Juxtaposed

rollers

16, 16 are positively driven and each of them rotates in opposite direction with respect to the two adjacent rollers (see Figure 6), so that the fibrous material which is seized between the

feed rollers

16, 16 creeps along a descending and tortuous path, as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 6. Along this path the sheet of fibrous material presents to the sides of the train of feed rollers alternately both its faces and, in passing the operating drums, which in this case include scutching drums and brushing drums, arranged to the sides of said vertical train of rollers, is subjected to the action of these drums.

The scutching is effected by scutching drums 17 (Figures 1, 2, 6, 7 and 8) two for each side of the first rollers 16 for which purpose they are preferably provided with longitudinal dovetail grooves in which scutching heaters 18 pressed by springs 19 are mounted. The drums 17 revolve in opposite direction to, and at much greater speed than, the corresponding material-supporting

rollers

16, 16 and in order to attain a better scutching, their axes are shifted, with regards to the horizontal planes passing through the axes of the

corresponding rollers

16 or 16 acting as anvils, hereinafter referred to as anvil rollers, in the direction of feeding of the material, as clearly shown in Figure 6.

The scutching drums 17 are adjustably mounted with respect to the anvil rollers. For this purpose, their journals 20 are supported in correspondence with the two upright members of the machine frame by a pair of slides 21 (Figures 7 and 8) slidably mounted in horizontal guide slots 22. The adjustment is effected by means of a screw nut 23 rotatably, but not slidably, mounted in a part of the frame 1, and screwed upon a bolt 24 projecting rearwardly of slide 21. Abutments 25 are provided on slides 21 for limiting their shifting in both directions. A dial (not shown) fitted on the nut 23 may be provided to show by its angular position the distance of each scutching drum from its respective anvil roller.

After the scutching, the material passes under the cleaning devices which, in the example shown, are constituted by brush drums 26 on which cylindrical sectors 27 are fastened, provided with natural or artificial bristles 23 or the like. The drums 26 are adjustable with respect to the roller 16 by means similar to those described for the drums 17.

The bristles 28 which are of equal length are inserted into the sectors 27 at the same angle with respect to the tangential planes so that they project by the same length and that their ends lie along a cylindrical surface. By this means no trimming of the bristles ends is necessary in the construction of the brushing sectors. The brushes are mounted on the cylinders with their bristles directed in a direction opposite to the revolving direction of the drum.

Past the brushing, the separated fibres are discharged out of the machine by an endless belt 29, suitably supported by the machine frame and whose supporting members are provided at the outlet end with the usual swinging arm 39, which effects the folding of the sheet of fibres, as clearly shown in Figure 1.

During the scutching, hackling and/or brushing, the material can be washed by means of showers 32 provided on top of the train of rollers 16-16. The water running down along the said rollers and carrying along the washed-off impurities is collected in a vat 33.

The driving arrangement of the machine is shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4. A motor 34 drives, through chain or belt drive, a pulley or wheel 35 fitted on a shaft carrying a pulley or wheel 36 which, through belt or chain drive, drives outer pulleys or wheels 38 of scutching drums 17 and brushing drums 26 (Figures 3, 7, 8 and 9). A pinion 39 keyed on the same shaft as the pulleys 35 and 36 drives a gear 40 and therewith also a gear 41 keyed on the same shaft and arranged on the opposite side of the machine. A gear 41 drives, through

gear train

42, 43, 44 and 45 (Figure 4), the middle roller 16', which drives the upper and lower rollers 16 through a gear train 46 (Figure 7). The gear 45 drives through gears 47 and 48, the last lower roller 3 of the train of roller pairs 2+2 and 3--3'. This lower roller 3, in its turn, drives through gears 49 fitted on the opposite side of the machine, all the rollers of said roller pairs (Figure 3). The feed belt 7 is driven by the first lower roller 2 through

gears

50, 51 and 52 (Figure 4) while the delivery belt 29 is driven by gear 41 through pulleys or gears 53, 54 and 55 of the belt or chain drive 56. The speed at which the various parts of the mill are driven can be varied by mean-s of suitable change speed gears which, in the case illustrated, are constituted by a plurality of

interchangeable gears

42, 43, S1 and 54 fitted on shiftable shafts or journals, as shownin Figure 4.

Of course, the machine hereinbefore described may be modified in various respects without departing from the scope of the invention as ,claimed in the appended claims. Thus the feed rollers 16-.1 6' may be arranged with their axes along a zigzag line,-as diagrammatically shown Figure 11. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 12, the feed rollers 16 may have diiferent, preferably increasing diameters, in order that the sheet of fibrous material issuing from between each roller pair be more easily seized by the subsequent roller pair.

In all cases the peripheral speeds of the rollers 2, 2', 3, 3' and 16 have to be substantially the same or progressively increase slightly towards the delivery end of the machine.

The scutching rollers 17 may be in any suitable number and of any suitable construction, the scutching hammers or beaters being either pressed outwardly by springs, as shown, or in some other-suitable manner, as by centrifugal force, or fixed. Also the shape of the scutching projections may be varied, as shown for example by 18' in Figure 6, in which the scutching surface slopes downwardly, in the direction of the scutching. In the case of very long scutching drums, the heaters 18 maybe made in suitably shifted sections. The scutching drums may be mounted in fixed bearings, and the anvil rollers in springpressed bearings.

Furthermore, the preparing and finishing rollers or drums may comprise any desired number and variety of devices, such as breaking, crushing, hackling, brushing, stripping-hnrdsand burs-separating and other operating devices, preferably fitted on drums or cylinders, whereby the feeding of the'material may be eflected by means of feed rollers like those hereinbefore described.

What I claim is:

l. A bast and bark fibre decorticating machine comprising a bottomless hopper, a travelling feed belt under said hopper, a grasping roller near one end of said feed belt, means for regulating the endwise feeding of the fibrous material from said hopper under saidgrasping roller, a set of roller pairs having an uneven surface and a set of smooth roller pairs arranged past the grasping roller and revolving in opposite directions, so as to take the material from under the grasping roller and pull same forward, a substantially vertical train 'of aligned, substantially tangent feedand material-supporting rollers arranged past the last of the said smooth roller pairs, means for positively driving each of said material-supporting rollers in a direction which is opposite to that of the adjacent rollers,.a plurality of scutching drum-s arranged on both sides of the said train of material-supporting rollers' and provided with spring-pressed beaters, acting on the material travelling from one vertical half of each supporting roller to the opposite vertical half of the nextlying roller, said rollers acting as anvils: brushing drums arranged past the last scutching drums and brushing the scutched fibrous material, and means for taking the ban of fibrous material issuing from between the last brushing drum and feeding same to a folding device.

2. A bast and bark fibre-decorticating machine -cornprising a bottomless hopper, an endless belt running under the open bottom of said hopper, means for regulating the clearance space between the delivery side of said hopper and the said feed belt, a grasping roller arranged at the delivery end of said feed belt, a plurality of fluted breaking roller pairs, a plurality of smooth roller pairs, means for driving each roller of the pair in opposite direction with respect to the other roller of the pair and all the rollers in material-feeding direction, a substantially verticai train of substantially tangent feedand material-supporting rollers arranged past the last of the said roller pairs, means for positively driving each of said material-supporting rollers and in a direction which is opposite to that of the adjacent rollers, a plurality of scutching drums arranged on both sides of the first part of said train of material-supporting rollers and acting on the material travelling from one vertical half of each supporting roller to the opposite vertical half of the next-lying roller, which thus act as anvil rollers, to separate the fibres from the non-fibrous parts thereof, brushing drums arranged on both sides of the last part of said train of material-supporting rollers and a shower arranged above the said substantially vertical train of rollers.

3. A bast and bark fibre decorticating machine comprising: a bottomless hopper arranged above a travelling feed belt, a grasping roller arranged by the end of said feed belt, a plurality of fluted roller pairs and a plurality of smooth roller pairs mounted with their axes along two substantially horizontal planes, means for driving the rollers of each pair in opposite directions and the rollers arranged with the axes on a same horizontal plane, in the same direction, a substantially vertical train of substantially tangent feedand material-supporting rollers arranged at the end of the horizontal set of roller pairs, means for positively driving each of said material-supporting rollers with substantially the same peripheral speed and in a direction which is opposite to that of the adjacent rollers, a plurality of scutching drums arranged on both sides of the said train of material-supporting rollers, spring-pressed beaters mounted in grooves of said scutching drums and projecting out of their surfaces, means for adjusting the distance of said scutching drums from the surface of the next-lying supporting roller, a plurality of brushing drums arranged past the last scutching drum, a shower above the upper material-supporting roller, and means for taking the material issuing from between the lower pair of supporting rollers and forwarding same to a folding device.

4. A bast and bark fibre-decorticating machine comprising pairs of breaking and crushing rollers, a device for feeding the fibrous material endwise between said rollers, a substantially vertical train of substantially tangent material-supporting rollers mounted in such a position as to take the material from the last pair of crushing rollers, means for rotatably driving each of said material-supporting rollers in a direction opposite that of the adjacent rollers, the whole being arranged in such a manner that the fibrous material passes from a longitudinal half of each supporting roller to the opposite half of the neXt-lying'roller, operating devices arranged near the train of supporting rollers, on both sides thereof and acting on the material passing along said supporting rollers, and means extending above the upper supporting roller for washing off the waste material during passage of the fibrous material along said supporting rollers.

5. A bast and bark fibre decorticating machine comprising a device for feeding the fibrous material between revolving rollers or drums and comprising a train of substantially tangent, material-supporting rollers, means for rotatably driving each of the rollers in a direction opposite to thatgof the adjacent rollers, the whole being arranged in such a manner that the fibrous material passes from a longitudinal vertical half of each supporting roller to the opposite half of the next-lying roller, at least two scutching drums, arranged on both sides of said train of material-supporting rollers, and acting on the material passing along said supporting rollers and supported thereby as on an anvil, at least two brushing drums, arranged on both sides of said train of supporting rollers, after the scutching drums, and a shower sprinkling liquid on the scutched and brushed material on said supporting rollers.

6. A machine according to claim 5, in which the scutching and brushing drums are journalled on supporting bearings provided with means for adjusting their distance from the corresponding material-supporting rollers.

7. A bast and bark fibre decorticating machine, comprising a device for feeding the fibrous material between operating rollers, a substantially vertical train of substantially tangent material-supporting rollers of increasing diameter, means for rotatably driving each of the rollers in a direction opposite to that of the adjacent rollers,

means for feeding the fibrous material endwise between said operating rollers and said material-supporting rollers, the whole being arranged in such a manner that the fibrous material passes from a longitudinal vertical half of each supporting roller to the opposite half of the next-lying roller, scutohing and brushing drums facing those halves of the material-supporting rollers on which the material is exposed and acting on said material by means of their scutching members and of their brushes, respectively, and means in the form of a perforated tube arranged above the upper material-supporting roller and connected to a supply of water for washing ofi the plant parts separated from the mass of fibres by the said operating devices.

8. A machine according to claim 7 in which the feedand material-supporting rollers are driven through gears keyed on their journals while the scutching and brushing drums are driven by a single flexible endless transmission means (chain or belt) running on pulleys or wheels fastened on one end of said journals.

9. A machine according to claim 7, in which the material-supporting rollers are of increasing diameter and means are provided for driving same at substantially equal peripheral speeds.

10. A bast and bark fibre decorticating machine comprising a frame including a horizontal upper frame part and a vertical frame part depending from one end of said horizontal frame part, pairs of fluted rollers and pairs of smooth rollers fitted on the horizontal upper frame part, one above the other, means for driving the rollers of each pair in opposite directions and all upper rollers and lower rollers in the same direction, means for feeding fibrous material endwise between the first roller pair adjacent the other end of said horizontal frame part, a vertical train of material-supporting rollers mounted on the vertical frame part remote from the fibrous material-feeding means, means for rotatably driving each of the rollers of said vertical train in a direction opposite to that of the adjacent rollers in said vertical train, means for feeding the fibrous material between said material-supporting rollers, which, by rotating in opposite directions, force the said fibrous material to pass from a longitudinal vertical half of each supporting roller to the opposite half of the next-lying roller, scutching drums and brushing drums arranged near the train of supporting rollers, on both sides thereof, means for adjusting said drums towards or away from said supporting rollers, spring means drawing the horizontal set of roller pairs together, a shower fitted above the upper roller of said vertical roller train, so as to wash the fibrous material and means for discharging the scutched, brushed and washed fibrous material.

11. In a bast and bark fibre decorticating machine having means including pairs of smooth rollers for feeding the fibrous material through a set of grasping and crushing rollers, a substantially vertical train of aligned substantially tangent feeding and material supporting rollers arranged past the last of the said smooth roller pairs, means for positively driving each of said materialsupporting rollers at substantially the same speed and in a direction opposite to that of the adjacent rollers, a plurality of operation drums arranged on both sides of the said train of material-supporting rollers and acting on the material traveling from one vertical half of each supporting roller to the opposite vertical half of the nextlying roller to separate the fibres from the non-fibrous parts thereof, and a shower arranged above the said substantially vertical train of material-supporting rollers to wash waste material from the fibrous material during the travel of the latter along said material supporting rollers.

12. A bast and bark fibre decorticating machine comprising a frame including a horizontal upper frame part and a vertical frame part depending from one end of said horizontal frame part, pairs of fluted rollers and pairs of smooth rollers fitted on the horizontal upper frame part, one above the other, means for driving the rollers of each pair in opposite directions, means for feeding fibrous material endwise between the first roller pair, at the other end of said horizontal frame part, a vertical train of material-supporting rollers mounted on the vertical frame part, means for rotatably driving each of the rollers of said vertical train in a direction that is opposite to that of the adjacent ones, means for feeding the fibrous material between said material-supporting rollers, which, by rotating in opposite directions, force the said fibrous material to pass from a longitudinal vertical half of each supporting roller to the opposite half of the next lower roller, scutching drums and brushing drums arranged near the train of supporting rollers, on both sides thereof, sector-shaped bristles-supporting members fitted on said brushing drums and bristles inserted in the supporting members at an angle to the tangential plane and projecting so that their ends lie on a cylindrical surface, means for adjusting said scutching drums and brushing drums toward and away from said supporting rollers, spring means urging the horizontal set of roller pairs together, a shower fitted above the upper roller of said vertical roller train, so as to wash the fibrous material and means for discharging the scutched, brushed and washed fibrous material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 542,770 Lyman et al; July 16, 1895 561,532 Allison June 2, 1896 653,663 Crowell July 17, 1900 1,219,691 Beere et al. Mar. 20, 1917 1,308,267 Stewart July 1, 1919 2,137,093 1 Monforts et al Nov. 15, 1938 2,197,683 Burkardt Apr. 16, 1940 2,238,666 Unzueta Apr. 15, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS 347,421 Italy Apr. 8, 1937

Claims

5. A BAST AND BARK FIBRE DECORTICATING MACHINE COMPRISING A DEVICE FOR FEEDING THE FIBROUS MATERIAL BETWEEN REVOLVING ROLLERS OR DRUMS AND COMPRISING A TRAIN OF SUBSTANTIALLY TANGENT MATERIAL-SUPPORTING ROLLERS, MEANS FOR ROTATABLY DRIVING EACH OF THE ROLLERS IN A DIRECTION OPPOSITE TO THAT OF THE ADJACENT ROLLERS, THE WHOLE BEING ARRANGED IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THE FIBROUS ,MATERIAL PASSES FROM A LONGITUDINAL VERTICAL HALF OF EACH SUPPORTING ROLLER TO THE OPPOSITE HALF OF THE NEXT-LYING ROLLER, AT LEAST TWO SCUTCHING DRUMS, ARRANGED ON BOTH SIDES OF SAID TRAIN OF MATERIAL-SUPPORTING ROLLERS, AND ACTING ON THE MATERIAL PASSING ALONG SAID SUPPORTING ROLLERS AND SUPPORTED THEREBY AS ON AN ANVIL, AT LEAST TWO BRUSHING DRUMS, ARRANGED ON BOTH SIDES OF SAID TRAIN OF SUPPORTING ROLLERS, AFTER THE SCUTCHING DRUMS, AND A SHOWER SPRINKLING LIQUID ON THE SCUTCHED AND BRUSHED MATERIAL ON SAID SUPPORTING ROLLERS.