US847611A - Machine for treating flax. - Google Patents

Description

No; 847,611. PATENTED MAR. 19, 1907 R SCHOPIBLD MAGHINB PORA-TRBATING FL'AX.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 29, 1904.

Win eSSes;

' F05 er? PATENTED MAR. 19, 19M

A R. SGHOPIBLD. MACHINE POR TREATING PLAXV APPLICATION FILED PEB.29, 190.4.

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w'zesss/ UErrEn s'rnfrEs rafrEnrf Lorrie-'fit1 ROBERT SCHOEIELD, OENEW BEDEORD MA'ssAoEsErrsyjssieNoa. 'ro

AMERICAN LINEN ooMPANY, or NEW HAVEN, coENEcr1cUfr,.-aj een 4of Massachusetts,'v `and 'usefulmp --Treating speciificationf j Po'RA'rioN QE MAINE.

MACHINE FOR TRETENG F'LAX. y

Specification of Letters Patent.

resented Marea 19, i907.`

Annlication led February 29, 1904. Serial N o.`195,716. i

citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in'NeW Bedford, in thev county of Bristol and State ve invented certain new lax;- following is a i, Thisimproveinent relates :to i'ibertreating machineaendfrnore 'particularly to that blass of suchgrnachin .as automatically manipull late fiber plants. especially flax, wit-.hl the obl# jecttoseparate the ber from the .woody or shiye portions thereof. This object has heref tfore been` partially"accomplished by various meansas, *forliristancc, crushing-rollers, intermeshing'tootbled Wheels, or combing mechanismi or by" these devices used in com bination or succession-but by these and other-means as heretoforefuse'd the waste and breakagefofglibcrhas been excessive.

.object of my improvement isto furnish 'means adapted for operating on the ma. terialin a progressive marmer and with increasing mechanical intensity and more or less governed by the qua ity and quantity.

of I'thestock being treated, so that aprelatively large quantity and "a relatively hi h stalksor other material fed between said quality small loss by Waste and breakage.

r 'With these objects in view I have providedA an improved machine embodying my present invention, whichI machine l'in the form illus'- trated 1n .the accompanying. drawlngs comprises a series of pu leys or rollsgpreferab'ly decreasing indiameter rom-the supply end of the machine toward the delivery end thercof` andmso arranged and actuated that a pair of conveying members comprising continuous coacting fiber-conveying belts may be caused to travel aroundmand between said vrolls in alternate bends opposite. directions, re'- spectively, in such 4manner that the iiaxbelts :will be bent successively in opposite directionsf`a11d witlrincreasinv sharpness' of bends,v and at the same time said stalks will be causedlto move locally lengthwise in relai tion to oneyanother, and thereby abrade the partially and increasingly broken and loos another. This 'simultaneous bending and rubbing action subjects the fiber to a com,

ment'sfin' Machines for 4 of fiber vis preserved with a relative y pound treatment of peciiliarand compleir character, operating with unusual efficiencyl for the separation 'of the shives from the ber', of the iiax and for breaking upthe shive ,thoroughlybeiore it is'passed 4out tothe point where y the Shiva-fragments will be j shaken out or'fo'therwise disposed of. 5 The freed shive fragments willi-hen act as abra--- sives on the remaining partlydeshived fiber.

(lne feature of the present.improvement relates to crushing-rolls icrlseizing andpass`r ing the-stalks and fiber to the disinteg-ratn'g-A belts, therolls crushing thefstaiks andlgrb'er pre aratory to the subsequent treatment and ice ing' the crushed material directly to Y belts.. in this way the action upon the 'liber by the beltsand coacting rollers will be niade more uniform, since the `larger stalks wiligbe crushed relatively more than the smaller stalks. 'j f In the drawings accompanying and fo ing la' art ofthis specification, Figure 1 ina side e evati'on with the side frame removedof a machi-n'illustrating one form, andvliich. may be the preferred form, of my imprese?. y

ment. Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe frame, illustrating partially in diagram an ar# rangement of framingugearing, andten'sion devlces suitable 'for' mounting and driyiiji operative parts embodying my iniprvez;

ment'. v"Fig '3' is a -plan view with some .parte` 'broken away and some omitted of--the nia-z chine illustrated in Figvzl.. .Fig `4 is a plan.

which said belts are accelerated-and retarded i in relation to one another. y Y Similar characters 'of reference y"indicatesimilar parts throughoutthe drawings.

A feed-a ron 2, 'preferably inthe'fform of 'an endless welt, is suitably supported on rolls l3 andv 4, and theu per ply of said beltvis*A caused to travel in t e direction of the arrow the machine ,by means' of Asuitab e gearing loo ' adjacent thereto toward the main ortion of hereinafter'morefully described. Roll is y mounted for free rotation lon a shaft in brackets 8, which brackets are slid'ably mounted.

' integrating-belt 21.

on rearwardly-extending'portions t). of side frames 10. Saidbrackets 8 may be held rigidly in position on extensions 9 by means of 12 Roll 4` may be'mounted for rotation in bearings, ,as 66, inside frames 10.

`Suitably mounted Afor rotation one above theether contiguous to the delivery end of theapron is a pair of oppositely-disposed By means of gearing i,

cruslnng-rolls 5 and 6. connecting them with the driving-shaft 7 these rolls are caused to revolve at a surface speed preferably somewhat in excess of the surface speed of apron 2. The bearings of the upper roll 6 are vmounted in verticallyslidable boxes 16, and said upper roll 6 may be inipelled toward lower roll 5 by springs 17. l'the pressure exerted by said springs may be varied by means of adjusting-.screws 18, threaded into the upper wall of box-caps 19 and detained from turning by suitable' check-nuts 67.

A pair of rolls 13 14 is suitably .mounted for rotation in side frames 10. Either or both of said rolls l preferably drive by gearing from driving-shaft? Under said roll 14 i pass in the direction of the rotation of said rollan upper disintegratingbelt 2O and over roll 13 and ina similar direction a lowerdis- I then pass these belts in conjunction with one another .upwardly found roll 14 and then over roll 22,;then`e downwardly under roll 23, and so on to` gather-over and under successivarolls, respectively, until roll 29 is passed. The zone of' coaction of saidbelts 2O and 21 thus ex-v tends Y through an intricate and circuitous path from their point of meeting. in passing under roll 14 lto their point of separation i'n passing'under roll 29. From this point belts 26 21 are separated, the upper belt being passed over tension-roll 32 and thence over idler-roll 33 back to its starting-place under .roll 14, thus forming an endless circuit.

Belt 21 after leavingr roll 29 is passed over idler-roll l30 and thence over tension-roll 31 back to its startingplace over roll 13, thus forming a continuous circuit. ,v TheI rolls 13 and 33 and tension-rolls 31 and 32 are. preferably cron'fned, Fig. 3, so as` to reserve. the

' direction of travel of belts20`an 21. A

, successively, respectively.

Rolls 22 to 30 l-preferably decrease in size from roll 22 downwardly and gear a part or -all vof them to large gearI 15. u Such of the rolls as are geared tolarge gear 15-may be .timed so as to allV have the same surface speed; but I preferably gear them so that t eir surface speed may be slightly increased Rolls '13 14 are 'preferably so situated in advanceof rolls 5 an'd (f3/that the latter will deliver without special assistance the partially-crushed stalks l into the mouth-like openingbetween. belts 20 21 as said belts run inwardly faeeto face Wer rolls 13 14.

Some suitable tension devices for belts 2O and 21 may be used, and that herein illustrated comprises for upper belt 20 a roll 32 revolubly mounted in swinging arms 34 hxed to rock-shaft 35, suitably supported i1 i portions of frames 10. Fixed to and depend ing fronrshaft 35 is a hand-lever 36, which is connected for tension by spring 39 to a part of one ofV frames 10. Lower belt 21 may be held taut in a similar manner by roll 31, revolubly mounted in swinging arms 37, fixed to rock-shaft 38, mounted in frames 10'. A spring 39, attached by one end thereof to one adjacent frames 1t), exerts tension on said arms 37. A hand-lever 40, fixed to shaft 38, is provided to facilitate manipulatingr the device.

In their preferred form running members 2() 21 comprise wovengbelts and preferably composed of flax,l so that in the treatment of flax'this fiber will be subjected to the mechanical action of its own kind of material, lso that in a sense thc liax being treated will be subjected tothe attrition of its own fiber.

Atable,` as A63, is provided at the delivery end of the machine to receive the material as'delivered by belts 20 21.

Power-shaft 7 may be operated from any suitable sdurce of power by ordinary mean sw as, for'instance, a belt (notshown) connecting with pulley 41 on said shaft. The geartrainswhich drive several rolls will`best be understood by) reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings, in which the various gears are illustrated in. diagrammatic ferm. Gear 5U onpoWer-shaft 7 meshes with and 'drives gear 49 atl the rearward end of shaft 51, en which roll 5 is secured. Gn'the forward' end `of said shaft' 51 is secured gear 43, which meshes with gear 47 Vof roll 6 and als( through intermediate gear 46 drives gear 45 1 f apron-roll 4. 4Gear l50 also meshes with and drives large gear 15, which in turn meshes with and drivcsthe gears on several ofthe endless-belt rolls arranged abovev said gear 15. The first gear driven di-rectiy by gear 15 isgear 52 on shaft 42, to which shaft is fixed roll 14. Adjacent to gear 52 and fixed to the same shaft therewith is gear 53, which ymeshes witliand drives gear 54 on shaft 43,

to which shaft is fixed rcll v22. Gears 55, 56, 57, and 58, meshing witl1an l..d1iven by gear 15, are fast to shafts 44, 60, 61, and 62, respectively, and through said shafts actuatc rolls 23, 25, 27, and 29, respectively, fixed y.trated as idler-rolls,I being driven by thc belts contacting with them. The' directions of rotation ofthe varicusgears are indicated I by arrowsth'ereon,respectively.

, .The operation of my improved machine is thereon. Rolls 24, 26, 28, and 3()V are illus.

of arms 37 and by the other end thereof to i as follows: Power being applied to rotate shaft 7 in an anticloc'kwise direction, the varicus rolls and belts of the 'machine are put in motion by the means already described,

the iiax-stalk's or other material' to be operbe sufficiently crushed in passing between said rolls... From therlce by thecontinued revoluticn of said rolls crushed stalks are fed forward into the grip of the opposing disintegrating-belts 20 21.. The stalks tend to separate these belts somewhat, thereby increasing the tension of said belts, which thereupon tend to grip more rmly the stalks between them. The stalks are bent upwardly by the belts around roll 14 and .thence upwardly and in a reversed bend over roll 22, then downwardly under roll 23, which last roll not only again reverses the bend of the belts and the stalks between them, but said roll 23, being smaller in diameter than roll 22 ,also

' bendsthe stalks in a sharper bend, thereby actingupon some shive portions not acted upon in their transit between the belts about.

rolls 14 and 2'2 and ,increasing the bending action on such shive portions as were somewhat bent in their previous travel. Coincident with the bending action on the stalks the peculiar path of the belts 20 21 about said rolls causes opposite coacting portions of the faces of said belts to be alternately accelerated and Vretarded with relation to one another. This action is particularly illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein the edges of said belts are shown with equidistant portions, as 64 64a 64b, &c., as to' belt 21 and' 65at 65h., &c., as to belt 20, shaded darker than the main portions of such edges. Por;

. tions 64 65 are lllustrated as opposite one another, and at 64a 65a is shown the manner in y which belt 20 in contact with roll 14 travels .Y on a circle of shorter radius than that traver'sed by belt 21, which is separated from said 'roll by the thickness of belt 20 and by whatever material may be between .said belts. Belt 20 therefore moves more-rapidly, measured in degrees, about the axis of roll 14 than belt 21 and leads it in their travel' toward roll 22. The amount of .this lead continues to increase to positions 64b 65h, where it about reaches its maximum. Then the in-` ment, at 64e 65e belt 21 is Iin the lead of beltl 20, and as the belts in passing about roll 23 again reverse their turning portions 64f 65,t7 come opposite one another, and so on. -I thus obtain a constantlyalternative` lengthwise abrading action of the belts upon the stalks between them and also a constant abrading action of the 4stalks one upon another as they pass onward between the-belts. In this way the entire mass of materialbeing treated is subjected to a kind of attrition action, and during this process the freed broken and granulated shive portions of the stalks operate as a grinding or abrading means for the further treatment of the material not yet 'l disintegrated. The stalks then continue in alternately-opposite directions between the belts around succeeding rolls 24 25,&.,

each roll being of less diameter thanits iin- A mediate predecessor, and thereby bending the dax-stalks with increasing sharpness of bends. These combined bending and abrading actions in successively-increasing intensity are continued until roll 29 is reached, l' when upper belt 20 passes upwardly over ten-A -V sion-roll 32 and lower belt 21 passes overroll 30 and downwardly over tension-roll 31.y Just after lower belt 21 passes over roll 30 the disintegrated iibrous mass is delivered to table 63, and the freed shives and woody por-y tions .may be blown out or otherwise removed from the brous portions in any convenient or. well-known manner.

. By reference to 'Fig'. 1 it will be seenthat the' rolls are arrangedin two sets or series. The axes ofthe oute'r series of rolls-namely, 22, 24, 26, and 28are arranged in the are of a circle, and the inner series ot' rolls, comprislrolls 23 and 26, and lso on 'through the entire series of rolls. It will also. beobserved by In the reference to such view that the innermost points on the perimeters on the outer series of rolls are arranged in the arc of a circle and..

that the `outermost points ofthe perimeters of the rolls of the inner'series are arranged. in the same arc, thel arrangement between the respective series being sta gered. This arrangement will bring the ro ls of' the inner series closer together than the rolls ofthe outer series, so that the belts and material being treated in their passage about the rolls will be wrapped about the outer rolls toI a greater extent than they wilulhbe wrapped about the innerrolls. In the lpresent instance the wrapping about ea'ch'of the rollsA 22, 24,26, and 28 comprises about threechine in its treatment upon the fibrous plants,

ior

as above referred to.

1.. In a fiber-treating machine the combination with a pair of coacting belts, of rolls Jfor successivelybending said belts in opposite directions in their .zone of coaction'and tension devices fors-'closing the coacting Tbelts lalternately-about alternate rolls onto the liber during the successive bendings of saidbelt's` and the fiber betweenthem in alternate' directions, and meansfor actuating the rolls at successively-'increasing .surface speeds respectively.y

,2.A VIn a fiber-treating machine the combination With coactin` runi1ing members of means for successive y bending said running members in opposite directions and in increasing sharpnessfof bends, and .for closing the lrunning members alternately about the bending means onto Atheiiber during the suc cessive bendings of the running members and iber'betvveen them .in alternate direc-v tions. l

conveyer and disintegrator comprising` eplus rality, df ruiming members in combination with means for actuating and controlling said members for bending the fiber in alternate directions and inincreasing sharpness of bends and subjecting tion, substantially as described,

' 4. Inaiber-treating machine the combination With a pair of coacting 'endless belts, of means comprising successive rolls o f successively decreasing diameter for alternately supporting at successive points each of said atetlie rolls. 5'. In a bertreating machine the combination with a pair of coacting r'unning'members, of means comprising` successive 'rolls ofsuecessively decreasing rdiameter for alternately supporting at successive points .each of said coactmg- .running members respectively, each` of said running.. members being supported-at intervening points by its coacting running member, andmeans for actuating the suceessiverolls at successively-increasling surface speeds respectively.v

f 6. In a liber-treating machine' the combination with,l two coacting endless' belts, of"

means ior guiding and driving said belts in successive oppositelyldisposed bends of suc? cessivelyincreasing sharpness, in their zone of coaction. 1

7'. In einher-treating machine the combiff the same to disintegra nation With two coacting endless belts, of means comprisingr a serieso'f rolls, said rolls 'being of successively-decreasing diameter respectively, for guiding and driving said belts in successive oppositely-disposed bends in their zone of coaction, and means for actuating the rolls.

8. In a fiber-'treating machine the combination with two coacting endless belts, of means comprising a seriesof rolls, said rolls being of successively-decreasing diameter respectivelyfor guiding and driving said belts in successive oppositely-disposed bends'in their zone of coaction, and means for actuating each of thefseries of rolls at successively increasing surface speeds respecftively.

Vl9. In a iiber-treating machine the combination of a plurality of coacting crushingi rolls, With op ositely disposed convoyjn belts mounte and adapt for bending and abrading in successively-increasing intensity ber supplied thereto, and means tor actuating the rolls and the belts.y

10. In a fiber-treating machine the combination of a plurality of coacting crushing rolls, i .with o positely-disposed combined conveying ben ing'andabrading continuous belts., mounted -and .adapted for treating `fiber in successively-increasing intensityan i 3. VIn a fiber-treating machine a combined means fordirecti said belts in successive oppositely-dispose i bends, and means for actuating the' rolls and the belts.

1-l. A machine for treating fibrous material. embodying belts for carrying between them the niaterialnnden treatment, and a series of rblls disposed alternately upon opposite sides .of an arc of a circle in staggered 'arrangement and about which rolls the belts pass, making a turn of more than a half-cir? cle about each roll.

` 12. In a fibentreating machine the combination yviflthan outer series ot rolls arranged with theinnermost points of their perimeters in an' arcofa circle, of an inner series of rolls arrangedwithvthe outermost points of their perimeters in the saine. arc, the rolls of the respective series' being in relatively staggered positions, and a pair ofbelts passing alternately aboutjthe rolls'of the respective se- .ries- C j 1 3. In a fiber-treating machine Athe combination Wit-h an outer series of rolls arranged with the innermost points of their peri meters in an'arc oi a circle, of an inner series of rolls arranged with the outermost )oinfs of thil r perimeters in the same arc, the rolls of thc` res ective series beingrespectivelystaggered,

an a air oi' belts passing alternately about the rolls ofthe respective series, the belts and VI naterial carried between them in passing about the said inner rolls describing aboyt two-thirds .of a circle, and when passing about the outer'rolls about tlii'eeslourths ol a circle.

IIO

. 14. In a fiber-treating machine the combination with an outer series ofrolls arrangedwith the innermost points of their perimeters in an arc of a circle, oi' an inner series ol' rolls "5. arranged with the outermost points of their pel'inietersin the same arc, the rolls lof the respective series being relatively staggered,.

.a air of belts passing alternately .about the rol s of the respective series, one belt v=con .rc tacting with the rolls of one series and the other belt with the rolls of the other series7 the distance between the inner rolls beingr suilicient for permitting the-passing of the s plies of the be s while carrying material uni 5 der treatment between them', the beltsand material carried between them in passing bination withI two series or rolls arranged fu staggered relation, and a air of belts passing alternately about the ro s of the respective series, the belts and the'naterial carried between these in passing about the said rolls describingr more than a half-circle, and the belts having a local relative movement. ROBERT SCHOFIELD." Witnessesz' EDWARD T1 BANNoN,

THOMAS KNoT'r.

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