US821571A - Machine for cleaning fiber. - Google Patents

Description

No. 821,571- PATENTED MAY 22, 1906. W. A. ADAMS.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING FIBER.

APPL IOATION FILED JUNE 23, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR WiLLiAM A. ADAMS ATTORNEYS ANDREW. a comma cu, PHDfO-LIYMOGRAPHEHS. WASHINGTON :1v 0.

No. 821,571. PATENTED MAY 22, 1906.

W. A. ADAMS. MACHINE FOR CLEANING FIBER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1905.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2 ATTORNEYS INOREW. a (mum cu. FNOYc-LIYHDGRAPHERS, wAsnmerou :v

efficiently as is done by hand.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING FIBER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 1906.

Application filed June 23, 1905. Serial No- 266,662.

To (tZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. ADAMs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winchester, in the county of Clark and State of Kentucky, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Cleaning Fiber, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is in the nature of a novel machine for breaking and cleaning hemp and other fiber from the pulpy matters investing the same.

An efficient machine for cleaning hemp has for many years been a great desideratum, but none has so far been able to do the work as In my observation and experiments I have found that it is practically impossible to clean hemp by passing it in one direction through a machine, for the reason that when the tail end of the bunch of hemp enters the space between the breast and rotary cleaningdrum, there being no tension on this tail end to resist the scraping action of the drum, the hemp is not only not cleaned at the butts, but is badly tangled up.

My invention proceeds along the lines of first cleaning one end of the bunch of hemp and then withdrawing it and reversing it to clean the other end.

My invention consists of a novel construction of machine for doing this and also in the combination therewith of an air-blower which acts upon the hemp between the period of its protrusion into the machine and the period of its withdrawal, whereby two important results are obtained, one of which is to loosen up and thrash about the hemp by this blast of air while in the machine and be-' tween two distinct operations of the machine on the fiber and the other of which is to prevent the fiber from wrapping around the drum or its journals, as will be hereinafter more fully described with reference to the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the machine; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly'in section, of the feeding and revers- 1ng gears for feeding the hemp part way into the machine and then withdrawing it.

In the drawings, H is a revolving drum with breakers h on its outer periphery.

J is a curved breast between whose concave side and the revolving drum the hemp j A B represent an upper pair of rolls which distend a feed-belt A, and C D represent a corresponding lower pair of rolls which distend a feed-belt C. Between these belts the hemp is fed through an opening in the easing into the space between the breast J and drum H. The lower rolls C D turn in stationary bearings, while the upper ones, A B, (see Fig. 2,) turn in adjustable spring-seated bearings, whereby an elastic-and adjustable pressure is brou ht upon the hemp between the two feede ts to inch and hold the hemp against the pull of t e cleaning-drum and to withdraw it again therefrom when it is-to be reversed.

M is a feed-table on a level with the space between the feed-belts A C, on which table the hemp is placed when it is to be fed to the machine, and c is a small roller placed a little below the table M and in front of the roller 0 and between which two rollers c and O the cleaned hemp is fed down by a reverse movement of belts A 0 onto a belt E, distended about rollers E F.

O is an inclined board extending from the bottom of the breast J downwardly and forwardly to a point some distance in front of the drum H.

I is a fan which takes in air at the center and delivers it forwardly against the rear side and bottom of the drum, the direction of this blast of air being indicated by the arrows (1.

K is a deflector-board hinged at the rear end of the machine and projecting forwardly to a point beneath the drum This deflector is adjustable about its pivotal center, so as to increase or diminish the opening between the deflector and the drum and so modify the current of air passing forwardly under the drum.

L is a discharge-pipe extending from the rear end of the casing outwardly and opening into the casing at a point below the deflector K.

For reversing the travel of the feed-belts A C (see Fig. 2) a shaft S is arranged longi tudinally to the machine in bearings on a level with the shafts or rolls 0 D. This shaftis driven bya small bevel-gear s from a bevel-gear H on the drum-shaft. On the shaft S are two loose bevel-wheels s 8 and between them on the shaft S is a sliding clutch sleeve S, which plays between the gears s s and alternately engages a clutchface on the adjacent ends of said gears. This thrown to the ri ht, it looks gear 8 to the shaft and turns t e wheel S and its roll and belt in one direction. When the clutchsleeve S is thrown to the left, the gear 8 runs loose and gear 8 is coupled to the shaft,

and as this is on the opposite side of wheel S it turns this wheel, its roll, and the feed-belt in the opposite direction. The rolls A B C D may be geared together for positive action or they may be run byfriction from the feed of the belts as driven from the wheel S The operation of my machine is as follows: The hemp placed upon tableMis fed between the belts A G into the machine and passes between the breast J and the revolving beaters of the 'drum. The hemp is allowed to pass in about two-thirds its length, the outer third of its length being tightly held and pinched between the feed-belts A C and the rolls B D, so that the feed devices never loose their restraining hold on the hemp. After the front portion of the hemp has been acted upon the feed mechanism of the belts A C is reversed and the hemp is slowly drawn back again out of the machine and onto the table M. The bunch of hemp is now turned end for end, and the direction of the feed devices being again reversed, the untreated ends of hemp are now run into the machine and acted upon. The gears are now again reversed and thehemp drawn out and allowed to pass down between rollers e and C and onto the discharge-belt E.

I will now describe the peculiar action of my machine upon the hemp in the operation above described. When the hemp is first projected into the machine,.the hemp is acted upon between the curved breast J and the revolving beaters h; but during this advance of the hemp into the machine practically no cleaning effect is produced, the effect being limited mainly to the breaking of the hemp or the disintegration of the stalk or leaves into shreds. When the hemp is introduced,

its advance is continued until it passes down below the lower end of the breast, and at this point the blast of air catches it and throws it forward under the sloping or inclined roofboard 0, where it is threshed about and loosened up, so that the preliminary mechanical breaking is followed by a pneumatic whipping, which actively separates and partially dislodges the ul and wood matters from the true fib ar. The fibers ai e then drawn slowly back in amore or less open and disheveled condition, in which they are now prepared for the dislodging effect of the beaters, which are still revolving in the same direction, and as the fiber is drawn out back ward the heaters clean off all the remaining particles of pulp which have been loosened by the pneumatic whipping, and-the fiber when withdrawn comes out as perfectly cleaned as is ordinarily done by hand. This pneumatic whipping, it will be seen, is made to take efiect at an intermediate stage between the initial breaking of the hemp and the final cleaning, which takes place on the backward movement. This blast of air not only gives most remarkable and valuable results in cleaning the fiber, but it also strips the fiber off the drum II and prevents it from becoming wound around the same or around its journals, and thus avoids all tangling. In fact, the effect of the pneumatic whipping is to produce not only a clean fiber, but a very straight and smooth one, giving it a thorough dressing, by which it is well adapted for all subsequent industrial uses. The particles of pulp and woody matters that are beaten and scraped off the fiber are forced along the path indicated by arrows b and pass out through the discharge-pipe L. By adjusting the deflector K higher or lower the air-blast may be concentrated with greater or less intensity at any point along the fiber below the breast. If desired, the operator can throw the feed-rollers out of gear, allowing the drum and pneumatic whipping devices to give an extra long cleaning in case the hemp is hard to work from not being sufliciently rotted. Another advantage of the-reverse cleaning of the opposite ends is that when the hemp is of uneven or varying length, as is generally the case, the restraining-rollers hold the hemp, as it is only fed a little more than half-way into the machine. This insures the holding of the short portions of the hemp near the middle while it is being cleaned, so that the drum cannot jerk out the short fiber and tangle it up in the machine, the reverse 4 cleaning insuring that both ends of the hemp shall be thoroughly cleaned and dressed.

In carrying out my invention I may vary the details without departing from my invention and propose to embody in my machine any of the usual adjustments of the breast, the feed-gears, and other working parts of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A machine for cleaning fiber, consisting of a revolving breaker, a breast between which and the revolving breaker the fiber is fed, and means for directing a pneumatic blast against the fiber after passing the breast and in a. direction reverse to the direction of revolution of the breaker.

2. A machine for cleaning fiber, consisting of a revolving breaker, a breast between which and the revolving breaker the fiber is fed, means for directing apneumatic blast against the fiber after passing the breast and in direction reverse to that of the revolving breaker, means for feeding the fiber into the machine and holding the same and means for reversing said feed to withdraw the fiber after having had one end acted upon.

3. A machine for cleaning fiber, comprising means for breaking the plants and for scraping and cleaning the same in two peri ods and means for pneumatically whipping the fiber between the said periods.

4. A machine for cleaning fiber, consisting of a revolving breaker, a breast between which and the revolving breaker the fiber is fed, a closed chamber extending forwardly below the breast and means for delivering a pneumatic blast below the breaker in reverse direction to the revolution of the latter.

5. A machine for cleaning fiber, consisting of a revolving breaker, a breast between which and the revolving breaker the fiber is fed, a closed chamber extending forwardly below the breast and having an inclined upper surface and means for directing a pneumatic blast against the inclined surface to thresh the fiber as described.

7. A machine for cleaning fiber comprising a revolving breaker and means for directing a pneumatic blast against the revolving breaker in reverse direction to that of the breaker to strip the fiber off from the breaker and prevent wrapping around the same as described.

8. A machine for cleaning fiber, consisting of fiber breaking and cleaning devices, two pairs of feeding-rolls bearing upper and lower endless belts, means for reversing the feed of the same, a feed-table arranged on the level of the space between the feed-belts, a roller arranged between the adjacent ends of the feed-table and lower feed-belt to direct the cleaned fiber downwardly and a subjacent discharge-belt for removing the cleaned fiber substantially as described.

W. A. ADAMS. Witnesses:

T. L. Tom), L. T. HAGAN.

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