USRE21468E - Fiber separating machine - Google Patents

Description

D. E. PATTERSON FIBER ssnnnma Inclusa original Filed wat. 19. 1932 Re. 21,468 I May 28, 1940.

8 Sheets-Shet 1 Ml? 28, 1940. D. AEf. PATTERSON Re. 21,468

Hann snrm'riue normas original Filed Feb. 19, A1952 a sheets-sheet 2 DAVID E. PATTERSON `BY HIS ATTORNEYS I l x N NVENTOR D. E. PATTERSON FIBER SEPARATING MACHINE j or11na1 Filed Peb. 19, 1952 May 2 8, 1940.

`8- Sheef-s-Sheet 5 INVENTOR DAVID a PATTERSON BY HIS ATTORNEYS May 2s, 1,940. y

D. E. PATTERSON FIBER SEPARATING IIACHINE Original Filed Feb. 19, 1932 s sheets-shet 4 INVENTOR A l www n. Pnl-rassen BY HIS ATTORNEYS May 28,- 1940. In. E; PATTERSON R- 21,458

' Y Hasn sEPAnA'rINo ucr-um:

Original Filed Feb. 19, 1932 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR DAVID E. PATTERSON BY Hlsv ATTQRNEYS D. E. PATTERSON l FIBERv SEPARATING IIACI'IINB Original Filed Feb. 19, 1932 8 Sheets- Sheet 6 v INVENTDR D Avlo E. PATTERSON y BY Hls ATTORNEYS May 28,Y 1940. D. E'. PATTERSON FIBER SEPARATING MACHINE original Filed Feb. 19,

1952 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 DAVID E. PATTERSON BY HIS ATTORNEYS May 28, 19,40. D. a PATrr-:RsoN Re 21,458

- FIBER ssrm'rma uc3m:

original Filed Feb.. 19, 19:52 a sheets-Sheet a INVENTon DAVID E. PATTERSON.

Reuma May 28. `1940 Ppxrala'rv OFFICE l 21,468' man sarm'rmc MACHINE David E; rampen, Philadelphia, rs., signor to Consolidated Fibre Products,

Limited. a corlporation of the Bahama Islands Original No.l 2,079,661, dated May 1l, 1931, Serial` No. 594,070, February 19, 1932. Application for reissue August' 9. 1938, Serial No. 223,994

13 claims.

This invention relates to machines for extracting bers from plants such as ilax, hemp, ramie, sisal grass and the like.

` Machines of the !oregoing type as heretofore made have been unsatisfactory in that they iniure the fibers during the process of separating them from the Vwoody parts, due to too strenuf ous treatment of the plant stalks or material betweeny compression rolls or by whipping del0 vices, thus causing an excessive amountof tow.

The ideal of a iinished fiber should be long and ribbony in nature.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved machine for separating the woody part of fibrous plant stems from the `fibrous parts I of scutching operations inthe machine.

Another object is toY provide a machine which will subject fibrous stalks and the like to a smoothly operating continuous treatment,` without shock, for the purpose of removing the shives or woody parts of the stalks. 1 Other objects andfadvantages of my invention s will appear as the invention is described in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: y Fig. l is a rear elevation view of the invention looking into the discharging end thereof.

Fig. 2 is a front end elevation view of the invention looking into the feed rollers; I

Fig. 3 is a side elevationview of the machine; Fig. 4 is a side elevation view of the machine looking at the opposite side from that shown in Fig'. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectionalview through the machine taken' substantially on line B-I of m. 1: Fig. 6`^is la sectional view taken substantially onlineI--lof1ig.'l;.`A Fig. 'I is adetail sectional view throughvthe beater blades and their actuating mechanism; Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional v iew through the planetary gearing of the beater biadeassembly;

Fig'. 9 represents 'an end elevational view of oney of the beater blade supporting members;

' Fig. 1.0 is a sectional view taken substantially on line'il-iii of Fig. 7; l Fig. ll is a perspective view of one of the scutchers; f

Fig. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the compression and breaker bars. and their supporting hardware;

" Fig. 13 is a fragmentary detailed elevational i! to remove loose shives before the ber is taken view of the breaker and compressor bars and the operating means for lthe breaker bar;

Fig. i4 is an end view of Fig. 13 with the operating .cam added;

Fig, 15 is a fragmentary side elevational view 5 showing the means for operating the breaker bar and feed rollers to adjusted position;

`Flg. 16 represents a fragmentary .'side elevational view of a modified form of vbeater blade; and `1o Fig. 1'7 represents a cross-sectional view taken substantially on line i1`-I1 of Fig. `16.

Considered broadly, the invention, as embodied l in the machine illustrated, treats a layer of stalks I of brous material by feeding them through 15 a, hopper 8 to feed rolls 5, B which deliver` the stalks between a pair of breaker barsB and I 0 of which the upper bar 9 is resiliently urged toward the lower, while the lower bar is reciprocated toward and away from the upper bar by 20 mechanism hereinafter more -fully described. After leaving the breaker bars, between which the material is alternately gripped firmly and released by the reciprocation of the lower bar, the

materialls fed between cooperating upper and 25` -rotary assembly acts on the underside of the bers to assist in cleaning of the fibers as will be 36 hereinafter more fully described.

From the rotary assembliesvor beating devices the fiber is fed to four scutching devices I5`iil rotating on ilxed axes, pairs of such scutching devices cooperating in such manner that the 40 edges of one device scrape over and bite into the ber as that device rotates and while the fiber is backed up by a concave surface on the other cooperating device (see Fig. 5). The scutching devices work on both the upper and lower sur- 45 faces of the fiber. n

Finally the scutched and cleaned fiber is subjected to the action of' a rotating shaking device from the machine for further treatment. 50

` Referring more speciflcalLv to'the drawings, the machine parts are supportedon a framework made up of vertical end frames 29 and 30 which are joined by horizontal U-bars Il. 55

The .feeding and breaker bar mechanism and adjustments .Pivotally mounted on a horizontal shaft 32 which is journalled in bearings 29h, 39", tlxed midway of the side edges ofthe frames 29, 90, is 'an adjustable mechanism made up of a` pair of similar heavy metal arms or standards 33 fixed A by set screws on shaft 92 and extending verti-` cally therefrom adjacent opposite ends of the shaft. In 'theupper ends oi' standards 93 are formed slots or guideways 9| in which there are slidably mounted bearing blocks 95 rotatably supporting the reduced ends of a pair of parallel cooperating feed rolls 5 and 6 located one above the other in the plane of -the guideways. 'Ihe upper roll 5 may be resiliently mounted by providing compression springs 99 between the bearing blocks 35 of thatroll and cap pieces 36 covering the ends of the slots 94.' Adjustment bolt I1 passing vertically through each cap 99 and engaging the springs 99 affords means to adjust the pressure of the upper roll. f

, Also mounted on said standard '33 for the pur- Vpose of delivering material to the feed rolls is a hopper l of any suitable form. The stalks passing through the feed rollers are alternately .gripped and released by the com# pression bar 9 and breaker bar Il) both of which are pivotally supported upon the standards 39.

As-shown in detail in Fig. 12 the compression bar 9 is a long strip of metal of arcuate form in section and having securing fingers 9 projecting from itsend yportions normal to the upper surface of the bar. The compression bar is attached at f each end to mounting, members each consisting of a centrally bored collar` portion Il having a lug 49 extending radially therefrom with a slot 49 therein. Bolts 46* passing through holes in the securing ngers 9 take into internally members pivot. In order to urge the compression` bar resiliently toward the breaker bar i9 below, a pin 99 'passes loosely through the slot I9 in lug Il and into the standard. Colled around the pin between the lug 49 and the standard 93 is a com.-

pression spring Il whereby the compression'bar is urged downwardly.

The breaker bar is in the form of a long strip of metal having a laterally upturned lip I2 in the direction of the compression bar. As the material passes betweenthe breaker and compresitl is directed upwardly' by the 11p l2 and is bent down over the lip by the beaters her inafter described.

The breaker bar Il is supported on blocks Il (see Fig. 12) which are formed with ua central portion having oppomtely directed arms at opposite ends and a laterally extending plate 99 on one side upon which the breaker bar lies and is bolted. In one of the arms of the blocks M (such arm extending upwardly) is bored a hole I'I for reception of the pins b in order that the breaker bar, 'as well as the previously described compression bar. may pivot about the same axis. The other of the arms of the block Il (these other arms .extending downwardly) are bifurcated and `beater blades I'I, I2.

have pivotally supported between the bifurcations 55, 55, a roller 59 which is engaged'with hereinafter described mechanism to rock the breaker bar lli toward and away from'the compression bar 9.

As hereinbefore mentioned the breaker bar is positioned to cooperate with rotary beater blades whose structure and function are hereinafter more particularly'described. In order that the f clearance between the breaker andlblades may be adjusted there is rigidly afllxed on the end i shaft 32 a segmental member lll whose arcuate portion has gear teeth l2 cut thereon. Meshing with the gear teeth 42 is a horizontal worm gear 43 mounted in a bracket M aillxed to the frame 29 of the machine. A hand wheel I9 is provided on the end of the worm gear for rotating it` to turn the segmental member 40, shaft 92, standard 33 and the breaker bar I0, all four of which turn as-a unit, so that the rotation of the hand wheel l causes adjustment of the breaking clearance between the breaker bar and the beater blades. To indicate the degree of adjustment the apex 4I of the segmental member I0 may act as a pointer, working over dial-like graduations 39 marked on the face of the bearing (for shaft 92) which, it will be recalled. is ilxedly supported by the frame 29.

This adjustment of .the breaking clearance is essential to take care of the different sizes or thicknesses of stalks or straws of the raw fibers,`

, machines either have no means of adjustment for varying the thicknesses of straws or stalks of the raw iibers, or at best are provided with'a crude hand adjustment where the machine must be stopped to make the adjustment, but this requires considerable time and labor.

The planetary beater blade assemblies As may be seen by reference, to Fig. 5, there are provided two rotary assemblies i9 and Il o! The blades of these lassemblies are interchangeable but those of the lower assembly are mounted for rotation in the opposite direction to those ofthe upper assembly and consequently the blades in the lower as-y sembly should be mounted with their scutchingedges directed in the opposite direction to those yof the upper assembly. But, both assemblies will have their scutching edges of the blades directed in the direction of rotation of the blades.

' The beater blades are preferably solid pieces may be employed. Preferably the edgeeof the blades will iollow a spiral or helical path of slight curvature so that the blade will progressively cooperate with vthe breaker bar and material passing over it, beginning at a point at one end of the.

Aand the woody center portions ofthe stalks are brokenandslipfromthenbrouspart.

the shoulder IIIl but further in on the blade, to

receive a retaining bar Ill having a laterally turned edge portion II5 adapted to fit within the groove H3. The retaining bar Ill and toothed bar II2 may be held to the edge of the blade by spaced screws I I6 passing through both bars and into the body of the blade II or I2.

Since the upper and lower assemblies I3, I4 are constructed of identical parts, description of one assembly will sulce.

Driving mechanism of the beater blade assemblies Mounted between the vertical members of the end frames 28-30 of the machine are a `series of plates a, b, c, d and e, serving to close the end of the frame so that a draft of air may be directed through the machine as hereinafter described and also serving as a mounting for a number of machine parts including a bridge bar 6l which is' spaced from the plates b and e by brackets 8l* located at the ends of the bridge bar and secured thereto and to plates b and c (see Fig. l). Mounted in and keyed (by key 13) to a bearing boss 1U in the bridge bar 6B is a stub shaft 1I which extends inwardly through the plate d and has keyed on its inner end a small gear 16 that forms the central gear of the planetary gear train by which-the beater blades are driven.

Referring to Figs. '7 and 8 it will be seen that rthere is rotatably mounted on the midportion of the stub shaft 1I a sleeve '12 which extends through the frame plate d. To support the sleeve 12, a bearing 12B is attached to the frame plate d around the opening through which the shaft 1I and sleeve 12 pass. For the purpose of driving the sleeve 12 a gear 15 is keyed by key 14 to the outer end of the. sleeve. Keyed on theinner end of the sleeve by key 11 so as to rotate therewith is a gear box 59 housing the planetary gearing by which the beaters I2 are operated.

The gear box 59 is provided with internal` gear teeth with which mesh a plurality of spur gears B3 (four are shown for the purpose of illustration). These gears 63 are keyed to and revolve with stud shafts 62 which extend parallel to the stub shaft 1I` and through a gear box cover 60 with winch they revolve. As may be seen in Fig'. '1 the gear box cover revolves on and about .the hub of center gear 16 but relatively to the gear box while the gear box revolves with sleeve 12 and drives the planetary gear train. On the ends of the stud shafts 62 are mounted the several beaters of the beater blade assemblies `by means of beater blade supporting members having cylindrical portions 64 receiving the shafts 62 and from which end plates B6 extend radially for suptheir own axes and at the sametime about the xed axis 1I in a manner readily understandable -by those familiar with planetary gear train operation. y

Driving mechanism for compression and breaker lbars- 'I'he gear box at the right end (Fig. 2) of the lower beater blade assembly Il differs from the others in the provision thereon of a cam annulus il with which engages a roller Il on one end of a bell crank lli which is pivotally mounted on the standard u. To the other end of this bell crank is loosely pivoted, by pin 8l, a lever 93 whose central portion is pivotally mounted on a pin 94 in the standard u. The free end of this lever ll engages roller 5i of the breaker bar supporting member. As the cam il revolves the low portions 02 receive the. roller Il causing rocking of the bell crank Il and lever 93 and oscillation of the breaker bar ID toward and away from compression bar I.

Functioning of beater assemblies Referring to Fig. 5 it will beobserved that by positioning the upper beater blade assembly I3 so that the edges of the blades pass by the edge of the breaker bar-with clearance adjusted by the previously described means so as to suit the material-the stalks will be struck by the beater blades as the stalks are fed. over the edge of the breaker bar and the stalks will be bent and the woody parts broken out. beater at the moment of striking will be the speed of rotation of the whole beater assembly plus the speed of rotation oi the beater about its own axis. Thus with a relatively slowly rotating assembly a rapid or quick striking can be obtained. The number of strikes or beats per minute will be determined by the 'speed of rotation of the beater assembly and the number of blades which make up the assembly. The number of strikes per unit length oi' stalk will depend upon the speed of feed oi the stalks and the speed of rotation and number of blades in the beater assembly. These factors may all be regulated to suit the particular material being treated, by proper choice and relation of gears and diameters of feed rollers and beater assemblies.

Due to the fact that the beater blades are ro tating around their own axes as well as vthe axis of the whole beater assembly at the moment of striking the brous stalks'the arc of attack of the beater blades differs from prior devices in that it is of narrower compass and of different shape than the generally wide circular arcs of the prior devices. This distinguishing characteristic of my machine results in better scutching action, cleaner ber and less' tow than in other machines for like purpose.

yAnother distinguishing characteristic of my machine is the cooperation'between the blades of the upper beater assembly and those of the` lower as shown in Fig. 5, so that a vscutching action on the fiber takes place between the blades of the two assemblies as they rotate. l

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that -in putting the principles of my invention into practice the gear ratios may be determined in such manner as to cause the beaters to make one or several rotations about their own axes while making one revolution with the whole beater assembly about the fixed axis of the assembly, lprovided, however, the edges of the blades shall cooperate with breaker bar in the same manner on The speed of each each succeeding revolution of the assembly. Therefore I do not limit the inventionto any particular number of rotations of the beater blades'per revolution of the beater assembly.

An advantage; of the solid or closed form -of beater blade is that the bers, shives and tow do not tend to interfere with the operation of the blades by collecting or winding or becoming tangled in between the blades. The blades tend to throw the tow and shives clear of the beater assemblies.

'The cleaning and scutching devices After treatment in the beater assemblies the fiber is fed to cleaning and scutching devices I5, Ii, I1, I9 comprising thick bars of polygonal iron section with concaved sides. They rotate about parallel fixed axes. The concavity of the sides affords passage in one device for the protruding corners'of the adjacent devices as they bite into the fiber between neighboring" devices. cally, the uppermost devicev I5 cooperates with the next lower device I1 which also cooperates with the next lower device I5. The lowest device IB also cooperates with device I6.

In the normal operation of the scutching devices I5 to I0 the length of fiber Within the devices I5- tor I0 is greater in certain positions of the devices than in other positions, due to the fact that the part of the bight which issues from the beaters II and I2 is not always at the same height: This part of the bight is raised or lowered slightly as the position of the individual beaters changes during their rotation and revolution. 'I'his raising and lowering tends to create slack at certain times, but the slack never really exists, for any lessening in the required length of the bight results in additional fiber being taken into the scutchers I5 to I0. Consequently when the bight moves further up or down and requires an increase in the length of bight, lthis increase can only be supplied by pulling the fiber backward through the scutchers I5 to I0, slightly, it being remembered that the compression bar 9 holds the fiber except for intermittent releases as previously described. This yretrograde movement of the fiber assists in the scutching action of the scutchers I5 to I0 and tends to clean the fiber more thoroughly. y

As a final step in thetreatment the fiber is passed over a shaking device I9. This device is made up of a series of short sections which in cross-section are like the scutchers I5 but are angularly spaced and are separated by discs 2I and are mounted on a shaft 20. By means of this device bunching of the fibers is prevented and the discs serve to keep the fibers aligned.

Finally, delivery of the 'fiber may be over an apron 23 .secured to thefmachine adjacent the shaker device I9.

With some fibers, or for some purposes, it may not be necessary to use all steps of the treatment. Thereforethe machine need not be used as a whole to successfully treat fiber but where bers are sufficiently cleaned in the beater assemblies to permit immediate use of the ber l therefrom further treatments in the' machine may be eliminated.

For the purpose ofy removing the shives as they fall, a conveyor belt 24 is provided passing around belt rollers 25 supported by bearing brackets on the ends of the machine frame. The `belt is kept tight by a tensioning device 00 on the underflight of the belt.

Power may be transmitted to the various de- Specificorticating devices above described through gear trains from a power shaft 19 which at one end is .05 above a sprocket wheel 09 on the end of the shaft of the conveyor roll 25. A chain 01 isA trained over sprockets 05 and 00 whereby power is transmitted to conveyor belt 2l.

For driving the scutcher members I5-I0, inter-V meshing gears are provided on one end of each scutcher member (see Fig. '4). The lowermost scutcher I0 has a gear |01 (Fig.3) mounted on the shaft thereof and meshing with a pinion 19b on an adjacent stub shaft. On this stub shaft is a gear 10* meshing with gear 10 on power shaft 19. y

For causing a downward draft of air through the machine a four-bladed impeller I05 on a shaft I00 may be provided in the top of the machine with its bearing in side plates a. The top of the machine may be inclosed and provided with an inlet for air. The impeller is vdrivenby a pinion |09 on shaft |04 meshing with a gear |02 on a stub shaft IOI. A pinion |00, also on shaft IOI, meshes with a large gear 15. This gear 15* meshes with a gearA 99 on a shaft 99 supported in bearing brackets on lthe machine frame. Shaft 90has a gear 91 meshing with the gear 96 of the uppermost scutcher I5. Thus the impeller |05 and its gear train is driven from the scutcher devices gear train.

For driving the beater assemblies the hereinbefore-mentioned gears 15 are provided. These mesh with each other'and the gear 15 of the lower beater assembly also meshes with the power gear 1I.

Many modifications within the scope, of my invention will occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore I do not limit the invention to the specific embodiment described.

I claim:

1. A machine `for separating the material in plant stems comprising feed rollers, and vibratory means for bending the stems at intervals to break open the outside part thereof, supplemental means for removing the pithy interior parts of the stems from the outside fibrous parts, said last-mentioned means comprising a pair of rotary assemblies, each provided with a plurality of longitudinally spiral and individually rotatable blades. k y

2. Al machine for separating. the material in plant stems comprising feed rollers, and vibratory means for bending the stems at intervals to break open the outside part thereof, supplemental means for removing the pithy interior paris of the stems yfrom the outside fibrous parts, said lastmentioned means comprising a pair of rotary assemblies, each provided with a plurality of longitudinally spiral and individually rotatable blades, the blades of one group being successively engageable with the bending means for eecting the bending of the material, the blades of the other group being successively engageable with the blades of the preceding group.

3. A machine of the character described comprising a pair of pressing rolls, a beater plate, a compression plate complementary to the beater plate, rotary blades complementary to the beater plate for bending material passing over the firstmentioned plate, and a fan for forcing a draft downwardly through the rotary blade.

Til

ames l f y assembly axes, said assemblies having their blades 4. A machine of the character described comprising a pair of pressing rolls. a beater plate, a compression plate complementary to the beater plate, rotary blades complementary to the beater plate for bending material passing over the firstmentioned plate. a fan for forcing a draft downwardly through the rotary blade, and an endless conveyor below the rotary blade for catching material dropping from the beating operation.

6. In combination, a feed roll mount,V a rotary beater assembly. comprising a plurality of blades, a breaker plate vibratorily mounted on the beater feed rollermonn't. a cam on the` rotary beater. a connection between the breaker and the cam for vibrating the said plate `and means whereby the said feed roller mount can be adjusted 6. In combination. a feed roll mount, a rotary beater assembly comprising a lplurality of blades. a breaker plate vibratorily mounted on the beater feed roll mount, a cam on thex rotary beater. a connection between the breaker and the cam for vibrating the said plate and means whereby the said feed roller mount can be adjusted, said adjusting means comprising a shaft carrying the .nbers to remove said non-fibrous parts.

ing. and a breaker bar over which plant 'stalks' may be fed and cooperating with the blades of said upper assembly to cause separation of the non-brous parts from the fibers of the stalks.

9. In a scutching machine, a breaker bar. a plurality of beater blade assemblies, a plurality 'of beater blades rotatablewith each assembly,l

one of said assemblies having its blades cooperating with said breaker bar to bend thel stalks Vof fibrous materials and remove the non-brous parts therefrom. an axis for each assembly around which each assembly rotates, 'an axis Vfor each blade.' means to yrotate said blades about their axes in the same direction as said assemblies while said assemblies revolve about said edges CODVCX.:

cooperating with eachother and` having the fibrous-material passing between them whereby to scutch said fibrous material on opposite sides and toremove non-fibrous partsl therefrom.

l0. In a scutching machine. a breaker bar, a

plurality of rotary beater blade assemblies, an-

axis for each assembly, a plurality of beater blades making `up each assembly each' bladehaving its own axis. meansto rotate said blades about their own axes as said assemblies revolve about their said assemblyaxes, one. of said assemblies having vits blades cooperating with said breaker barto bend the stalks of brous material and remove the non-fibrous parts therefrom, said assemblies having their blades cooperating with each other and scutchingssaid fibrous material to remove non-fibrous parts therefrom,

their advance edges concaverand their following l1. In-a scutching machine, a breaker bar, a beater blade movable about a fixed axis and cooperating'with said breaker bar, a plurality of scutching edges on said beater blade, means to revolve said blade about a fixed axis, and ymeans to rotate said blade about a movable axis whereby the arc of movement of said edge when adjacent to and cooperating with said breaker bar is-of less magnitude than thecircle whose radius is.

the distance .from said fixed axisto said breaker bar, and means to cause said blade to revolve in the same direction about each of said movable and fixed axes.V

.'12. In a scutching machine, a breaker bar, a beater vblade movable about a fixed axis and .cooperating with said breaker bar, a plurality of scutching edges on said beater. blade, means to revolve said blade about a fixed axis. and means to rotate said blade about a movable axis whereby the arc of movement ofsaid edge when adjacent to and cooperating with said breaker bar is of less magnitude than the circle` whose radius isthe distance from said fixed axis to said breaker bar, in combination with a beater blade vrevolvable about a second fixedv axis, means to 'revolve said blade abqut said second axis, means to rotate said second blade about a movable axis. a

said blades being of closed construction and having' plurality of scutching edges on said second blade adapted to cooperate with said first blade to scutch fibrous material between said rstand second blades on both sides of said material.

13. In combination with a scutching machine as described in claim 7, means -to scutch and clean the fibrous materials'issuing from the beat-

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