US3251094A - Roller cotton gin - Google Patents

Description

y 966 A. L. VANDERGRIFF 3,251,094

ROLLER COTTON GIN Filed July 31, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fl I 22 INVENTOR.

4/?VZ L. VHNDEEGfF/FF May 17, 1966 Filed July 31, 1963 A. L. VANDERGRIFF ROLLER COTTON GIN 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG-2 1N VEN TOR.

ARI 4 L1- VHNDERGE/FF y 1966 A. L. VANDERGRIFF 3,251,094

ROLLER COTTON GIN Filed July 31, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. 1421 51 4,. VHNDERGR/FF May 17, 1966 A. L. VANDERGRIFF 3,251,094

ROLLER COTTON GIN Filed July 31, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fl 6 8 INVENTOR 4P V54 [1. VHNDEEGE/FF y 1966 A. 1.. VANDERGRIFF 3,251,094

ROLLER COTTON GIN Filed July 31, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR 4%?V5L 1,. VHNDE'EGE FF United States Patent 3,251,094 ROLLER COTTON GIN Arvel L. Vandergrilf, Montgomery, Ala., assignor to Continental Gin Company, Prattville, Ala., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 31, 1963, Ser. No. 298,879 3 Claims. (CI. 1953) This application relates to a cotton gin and is particularly concerned with a roller cotton gin.

The ginning of cotton, which is the operation in which the seeds are separated from the cotton fibers, is customarily carried out either in a saw gin or in a roller gin; the former type being the most widely used at the present time. Saw gins, however, have certain drawbacks in connection with long staple cotton, in particular, and for this reason, in certain regions rollergins are employed. The advantage of a roller gin is that it can handle long staple cotton better than a saw gin, and produces a superior fiber product that has less fiber breakage therein and which is more free of nips or entanglings than is the case with fibers produced in a saw gin.

Heretofore however, in connection with roller gins, a particular disadvantage has been encountered in that, whereas a saw gin produces fibers'continuously, successful roller gins are somewhat intermittent in operation. This comes about on account of the fact that there is a moving knife employed that cooperates with the ginning roller and a doctor knife to strip the seeds from the fibers as the fibers are drawn past the doctor knife by the ginning roller. The reciprocation of the moving knife serves to interrupt the flow of cotton to the ginning roller so that, heretofore, the productive rate of a roller cotton gin has been relatively slow.

The high quality of the fibers produced by a roller gin however have kept it in use, particularly in regions where the cotton is characterized by particularly long fibers, such as Pima cotton.

Various attempts have been made to improve the roller cotton gin and, in particular, to improve the gin with respect to the rate of fiber production in order to make it more competitive with the saw gin, while at the same time, retaining the advantageous characteristic of the roller gin that the fibers produced are not entangled or broken.

The particular condition that has given the most difii culty in connection with the roller gins is the length of time required to pull the fibers from the seed, particularly,

long fibers, and to dislodge the seed from the fibers with the seeds in a relatively fiber free condition, and to do this continuously and at a relatively high rate of speed. This has led to the construction of a roller gin having a ginning roller turning against a stationary knife so that the fibers will be drawn under the knife while the seeds are retained thereby, and utilizing therewith rotary or con-.

tinuously moving knife means to knock the seeds away above the stationary knife. In the case of the gin having the rotary knife, a swastika type knife was employed, for example, running inside a seed grid concentric therewith. This gin, however, did not produce clean seeds because it did not give enough ginning time to pull the fibers off the seeds and also led to considerable seed cracking.

In another type roller gin, a plurality of moving'knives or flat bars were employed moving continuously in one direction over the top of the ginning roller where it engaged the ginning knife and serving to pull the seeds away from the fibers to effect discharge of the seeds. This type roller gin had certain advantages in that ample time was available for the ginning of the locks of cotton, but the difiiculty of keeping the machine in adjustment at high speeds of operation completely offset any advantages that were otherwise present. This type of gin also did not always produce seeds as clean as could be desired.

With the foregoing in mind, a primary object of the roller gin which operates more rapidly than roller gins according to the prior art which produces cleaner seeds with less breakage of the seeds, and which produces better fibers having fewer nips and with less fiber breakage.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a roller gin in which the damaging of (the ginning roller in the event of stopping of the roller gin is prevented.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a roller gin in which the opportunity is afforded to efiect some preginning of the locks of cotton, and wherein ample time is provided for eifecting'the complete ginning of every lock of cotton before a substantially clean seed is stripped from the cotton fibers.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a method of ginning cotton, particularly long staple cottons, which results in a superior product produced at a more rapid rate.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a roller cotton gin which is substantially 'self regulating with respect to feed, so that even an excess amount of cotton delivered thereto will not cause any operating ditficulties.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic elevational view showing a roller cotton gin according to the present invention with a precleaning or extracting stat-ion ahead 0f the gin;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the gin according to the present invention looking in from one side of the gin; I

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view looking in from the other side of the gin;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view through about the middle of the gin showing in more detail the various operative portions thereof;

FIGURES 5 thru 8 are somewhat diagrammatic views FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary view showing the slidable support for the ginning roller and the motor pertaining to the support by means of which the .roller is pressed toward and retracted from the stationary ginning knife or doctor knife;

FIGURE 10 is a more or less diagrammatic representation of the pneumatic and electric control system forming a part of the roller tion;

FIGURE 11 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of a modification; and

FIGURE 12 is a diagrammatic sectional view showing a still further modification.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, in FIGURE 1 the roller cotton gin according to my invention is generally indicated at 10 and this unit is preceded by a cleaner or extractor 12, and between the extractor and the gin is a feeding station 14. The cotton to be ginned is fed into the machine by way of a hopper 16 and the fibers that are separated from the seed are removed by way of a duct 18. The gin may comprise as an integral part thereof a reclaiming station generally indicated at 20 where the unginned seeds that pass the ginning station are separated from the ginned seeds.

gin according to the present inven- The unginned seeds are conveyed by a duct 22 back to 3 station 20 and the mechanism for driving the gin will be better seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, which are side elevational views, and FIGURE 4 which is a vertical sectional view through the mechanism.

The roller gin stand according to the present invention comprises a frame 24 made up of sheet metal and suitable brace elements, and this may 'be in the form of a weld-ment so that it has suflicient strength to support the various operative parts of the gin.

The aforementioned feeding station 14 mounts on top of the housing 24 of the gin and itself includes a hous-- ing 26 with Walls therein defining a passage 28 for the cotton to be ginned.

The cotton passing through passage 28 is influenced by a pair of feed rollers 30 which deliver the cotton to a larger feed wheel 32 which, in turn, delivers the cotton to a slide 34 located within the gin housing.

The feed rollers 30 may be driven in any suitable manner, for example, as shown in FIGURE 2, wherein the supporting shafts for the feed rollers are provided with pulleys or sprockets 36 about which passes the flexible drive element 38 that also passes around pulley or sprocket 40 mounted on the output shaft of hydraulic motor 42. Motor 42 is supplied with pressure fluid from a motor driven pump 44 via conduit means that include a fluid control valve 46. By the described arrangement, a compact unitary feed structure is provided that requires only the connection of electric wires to motor 48. The speed with which cotton is fed can be determined by the setting of valve 46.

The cotton that is delivered at a controlled rate to slide 34 passes therefrom to a smaller slide 50, and then passes off this slide to a rotary knife or bar member 52 which, as viewed in FIGURE 4, is rotating counter-clockwise. The cotton delivered to the rotary bar or knife 52 is accordingly fed thereby leftwardly as viewed in FIGURE 4 to the region designated by the arrow 54 on top of the ginning roller 56. The ginning roller 56 has a covering thereon of leather or rubber-like material of such a nature that the fibers of the cotton tend to adhere thereto so that the cotton is carried around the ginning roller in the direction of the arrow 56 on the ginning roller 56 and toward the stationary knife 60. The ginning knife 60 bears on the surface of the ginning roller adjacent the rotary bar or knife 52, and the fibers of the cotton locks are drawn beneath the stationary ginning knife while the seeds are prevented from passing beneath the knife because there is not sufficient clearance for the seeds. The fibers are thus pulled from the seeds and the seeds are discharged in the direction of arrow 62 above the ginning knife.

The fibers that are pulled under the ginning knife by roller 56 drop into chamber 64, which communicates with conduit 18 and those fibers that remain adhered to the surface of the ginning roller are stripped therefrom by dofiing roller 66 which has flexible rubber-like blades 68 that serve to strip the fibers from the surface of the ginning roller.

Seeds that are discharged along the path indicated by arrow 62 either fall on a rotary saw 70 or strike against a slide 72 and move down this slide to the saw and the fibers yet connected with the seeds are caught by the teeth of the saw and carried thereby past the bars 74. This whips the seeds from the bars and the unginned seeds are then removed from the saw by dofling brush 76 and the fibers, together with any trash or seeds entrained therein are delivered to chamber 78 which communicates with duct 22 leading back to the inlet side of cleaner or extractor 12. Seeds substantially free or com: pletely free of fibers and those seeds pulled off from the fibers by bars 74 are dropped into chamber 80 and conveyed therefrom to a disposal point.

The manner of actuating the several rotary elements of the gin and the reclaimer will be seen in FIGURES 2 and 3. In these figures it will be observed that there is an input shaft 82 supported on the roller gin frame at one side and this shaft is driven by any suitable means, such as an electric motor.

The shaft carries a pulley 84 that is engaged by a double angle V-belt 86 that passes over a somewhat larger pulley 88 on a shaft 90 that extends transversely through a housing of the gin between chambers 64 and 80. Belt 86 is maintained taut by an idler pulley 92 adjustably carried in a bracket 94 attached to the side of the housing of the gin. An adjustment bolt 96 can be availedof for drawing pulley 92 downwardly thereby to impose the desired degree of tautness to belt 86.

As will be seen in FIGURE 3, shaft 90 on the same end that carried pulley 88, carries also a sprocket wheel 98 that drives a chain 100 that runs over a large sprocket wheel 102 fixed to shaft 104 on which ginning roller 56 is mounted. Chain 100 is preferably a double chain so that suitably large amounts of power can be delivered to shaft 104 fordriving roller 56.

Turning now to FIGURE 2, it will be seen that shaft 90 at the end opposite pulley 88 has fixed thereto a pulley 106 over which passes a double angle V-belt 108. This V-belt is entrained over pulley 110 on shaft 112 that carries dofiing brush 76 and over an idler pulley 114, and then over. pulley 116 fixed to shaft 118 that carries saw cylinder or wheel 70 and then over another idler pulley 120 back to pulley 106. Idler pulley 120 is adjustable for maintaining belt 108 taut and to this end pulley 120 is mounted on a plate 122 that is adjustably secured to the gin housing as by the bolt and slot means 124.

The shaft 118 pertaining to saw cylinder 70 also has a pulley 126 thereon about which is entrained a V-belt 128 which passes also around a pulley 130 fixed to shaft 134, which is the shaft for the rotary bar or knife 52, or is the projecting end of the said rotary bar or knife. The shaft pertaining to the rotary bar or knife, or the ends thereof, are journaled in the bearings 136 mounted on opposite sides of the gin housing, and these hearings are carried by bearing mounts or brackets 138. The mounts or brackets 138 are slotted as at 140 and are secured to the gin housing by bolts 142. Inasmuch as the location of the rotary bar or knife relative to the surface of the ginning roller is extremely important, the position of the mounts or brackets is determined by abutment screw means 144 provided at opposite ends of each of the said mounts or brackets.

A drive is also effected to the dofier 66 by way of a pulley mounted on shaft 152 pertaining to the said doffer and about which pulley there is entrained V-belt 154 that passes about pulley 156 fixed to shaft 104 of the ginning roller at the end thereof opposite sprocket wheel 102.

The ginning knife is stationary and is substantially rigidly mounted in a support frame 158 thereof that is rigidly mounted in the housing of the gin stand. The ginning roller however is movably supported so that it can be adjusted toward and away from knife 60 and be caused to engage the knife under varying degrees of pressure. The purpose of varying the degree of pressure between the ginning roller and the knife is to permit proper ginning of the cotton locks at various speeds of the ginning roller. In general, as the rate of feed of the cotton increases, the pressure with which it bears on the ginning knife is increased.

The invention further contemplates the provision of means for separating the ginning roller from the ginning knife upon halting of the ginning roller because when the gin is operating, the knife becomes quite hot, and if the ginning roller is stopped while it is hearing against a hot knife, the ginning roller can be damaged to the point that it will have to be replaced and this is, of course, costly and laborious.

With the foregoing in mind, shaft 104 of the ginning roller is supported in bearings 160, which are secured to slides 162 that are slidably supported in the guide means 164 fixed to the frame of the gin and extending substantially at right angles to the plane of the ginning knife 60. Carried on the frame of the guide means are the fluid motors made up of cylinders 166, each of which has therein a piston 168 connected by rod 170 with a clevis 172. Each clevis 172 is pivoted to the longer portion of a lever 174 that is stationarily pivoted at 176 to the frame of the pertaining guide means. The short portion of lever 174 on the other side of pin 176 is pivotally connected by link 178 with one end of the pertaining slide 162 on which bearing 160 is mounted. Each cylinder 166 is furthermore pivotally supported at 180 on the frame of the guide means.

Conduits 182 supply air under pressure to cylinders 166 while spring means 184 are provided for biasing pistons 168 in the opposite direction.

' The conduits 182 lead to an adjustable pressure control valve 186 conveniently located so that the operator, by manipulating lever 188, can adjust the valve to provide any desired degree of pressure to cylinders 166 thereby to thrust ginning roller 56 toward ginning knife 60 with any desired degree of thrust within operative limitations. The particular pressure being supplied to the cylinders can be indicated by pressure gauge 190.

The novel manner in which the gin according to the present invention operates will be seen best in FIGURES 5 thru 8 which are more or less diagrammatic views drawn at enlarged scale showing the action of the ginning roller and stationary knife and rotary knife or bar as the seeds are stripped from the fibers of the cotton locks.

In these figures it will be seen that the cotton locks are carried toward stationary knife 60 by the adherence of the fibers to the surface of the ginning roller 56. This surface moves toward the leading edge of knife 60 from above and at a more rapid speed than the tips of the blades 200 on rotary bar or knife 52. Because of this speed differential, the fibers 202 tend to be drawn out ahead of the seeds 204 and a certain amount of pre-ginning of the cotton locks takes place before the fibers are pulled under the tip of knife 69. The action of the gin at about the time the fibers of a lock of cotton indicated by arrow 206 commence to move under the stationary knife 60, is 51- lustrated in FIGURE 5. The fibers will not be drawn under the knife at the same speed as the surface of the ginnin roller because there will be a certain resistance to movement of the fibers under the knife. In particular, with long staple cotton, a substantial time pull the fibers completely under the tip of the knife.

The gin of the present invention operates to provide for highly efiicient ginning of the cotton because of the action of rotary bar or knife 52. For example, turning to FIGURE 6, which follows in sequence from FIGURE 5, the seed 204 of the cotton lock 206 is engaged by the lowermost bar 200 of the rotary bar or knife and is being, in FIGURE 6, pushed outwardly over the top of knife 60. If the seed were confined in a circular cage about the rotary bar or knife, as has been attempted heretofore, the result would be breakage of fibers and the tearing off of the seed from the cotton lock with a I of fibers still adhering to the seed.

According to the present invention however, the path of the bars 200 of the rotary knife or bar is such as to have their tips 280 describe a circular path, the diameter of which is a small fraction of the diameter of the roll 56. The tips of the bars diverge from knife 60 so that the seed 204 of the lock 206 is released after the rotary bar or knife turns a small amount beyond its FIG- URE 6 position. What then occurs is that the fibers being drawn under the ginning knife by the ginning roller pull the seed backwardly to the tip of the knife with the fibers being pulled under the knife and the next bar 200 of the rotary knife or bar approaches the seed as will be seen in FIGURE 7, which follows FIGURE 6 in sequence.

As the fibers are substantially completely pulled from the seed at this time, the bar will knock the seed over the top of the stationary knife and free of the fibers, and substantially all of the fibers will pass with the ginning is required to substantial amount v 7 r 6 roller under the stationary knife. The seed 204 thus dislodged will be seen in FIGURE 8, which follows in sequence from FIGURE 7.

With long staple cotton it has been found that the seed will be pulled around by a bar 200 of the rotary knife or bar as many as 2, 3 or 4 times and successively released before all of the fibers pertaining to the particular seed are pulled therefrom and drawn under the ginning knife. There is thus a substantial amount of time available for the complete ginning of each lock of cotton even though the time required to pull the fibers therefrom amounts to as much time as it might take the rotary knife or bar to make a half revolution or more. The action of the gin, however, is continuous and is not intermittent as has characterized former roller gins having a reciprocating knife member. The amount of cotton that can be ginned in a. roller gin of the type described compares with the best rate of production that can be had with a saw gin, while at the same time the resulting fiber output is in superior condition in that the fibers are more nearly parallel with each other and are free of entanglement with each other, are substantially free of nips and exhibit a minimum amount of breakage.

The gin according to the present invention is substantially self-regulating in that any substantial overfeeding of cotton to the ginning roller will tend to cause cotton locks to pass over the top of the rotary knife or bar and pass on to the saw cylinder 70 whence the fibers are returned to the extractor or precleaner 12 at the input side of the gin.

The pre-ginning referred to above, which takesplace on account of the retarding of the movement of the cotton locks by the rotary knife or bar prior to the fibers reaching the stationary knife can be augmented by providing one or more additional rotary knives or bars preceding the one illustrated in the drawings. The provision of one or more rotary knives or bars in advance of the one located at the tip of the stationary knife will provide for a substantial amount of pre-ginning and this would materially increase the fiber output of the gin.

It will therefore be understood that the term rotary knife means or rotary bar means is intended to include the provision of a plurality of these members arranged parallel to each other and spaced circumferentially about the top of the ginning roller where it applace.

The rotary bar or knife represents an all important.

feature of the present invention and has the merit not only of bringing about the aforementioned pre-ginning and the cooperation with the stationary knife at the time of the actual ginning, as illustrated in FIGURES 5 thru 8, but is a device that can be adjusted with great precision and the adjustment maintained for a long period of time and with the gin running at a high rate of speed. This feature overcomes the specific defect in roller cotton gins having flight bars, as explained above, which, as mentioned, are substantially impossible to keep in adjustment for any period of time in addition to representingexpensive and bulky devices that require considerable maintenance.

' The control system for the gin is somewhat diagrammatically illustrated in FIGURE 10 wherein electric power lines are indicated at L1 and L2. Connected between these power lines is a relay R adapted for being energized by closing of a starting switch 250. The relay has a holding circuit through a blade R1 thereof and a normally closed stop switch 252. V

A second blade R2 of the relay is in circuit with main drive motor 254 which is belted or otherwise connected to the input shaft 82 of the gin.

Still another blade R3 of the relay is in circuit with the actuating solenoid S1 of an air control valve 256. This valve has a pressure inlet conduit 258, a pressure exhaust conduit 260, and a service conduit 262 leading through the aforementioned regulating valve 186 to the cylinders 166 pertaining to the slides on which the bearings for the ginning roller are mounted. Valve 256 is shifted into position to connect pressure conduit 258 with service conduit 260 upon energization of solenoid 51 which is accomplished by energizing relay R. When relay R is de-energized to stop the gin, the solenoid S1 is de-energized and at this time valve 256 is shifted by its spring 264 into position to connect service conduit 262 with exhaust conduit 260.

De-energization of solenoid S1 will thus relieve cylinders 166 of pressure and will permit the springs 184 therein to move the respective pistons 168 in a direction to retract the ginning roller from the stationary knife. With the arrangement above described the retraction of the ginning roller from the stationary knife is accomplished automatically whenever the gin is stopped so that the hot knife will not cause any damage to the heat sensitive surface of the ginning roller.

Retraction of pistons 168 can be made even more rapid by the provision of a dump valve 266 which is connected to exhaust at 268 and which has a conduit 270 leading to the downstream side of valve 186. Valve 266 is normally biased by spring 2.72 in position to exhaust cylinders 166, but upon energization of relay R, solenoid S2 pertaining to valve 266 is energized and the valve is shifted to interrupt communication between conduits 268 and 270, which, together with shifting of valve 266, brings about the building up of the desired pressure in cylinders 166. De-energization of solenoid S2, however, will produce almost instantaneous exhausting of cylinders 166 and, thus, substantial-1y instantaneous retraction of roller 56 from knife 60.

The roller according to the present invention is relatively compact and operates extremely rapidly, produces up to five times the amount of fibers that can be obtained by the best roller gins of the prior art and operating, in fact, at a rate of fiber output comparable with that of a saw gin of the same dimensions.

As mentioned before, the fibers are in superior condition as compared to fibers produced on a saw gin and, in particular, long staple cotton can be ginned at a high rate of speed in the roller gin according to the present invention.

Seed breakage is kept to a minimum by forming the bars 200 of the rotary knife or bar means with somewhat rounded tip ends as indicated at 280 in FIGURES 5 through 8 and relieving the trailing side of each bar as indicated at 28.2. It has been found that this formation of the individual bars or knives of the rotary knife or bar means is effective for imparting the action described to the seeds during the ginning of a lock while, at the same time, greatly minimizing seed breakage.

FIGURE 11 shows an arrangement wherein the surface of the ginning roller is provided by a belt or the like. In this figure the roller proper is indicated at 300, and spaced therefrom is an idler roller 302. A belt of suitable material indicated at 304 is entrained over the ginning roller and idler roller and provides the surface for the roller. The same ginning knife is indicated at 306 and the rotary bar is indicated at 308.

The arrangement of FIGURE 11 would permit the arrangement of the idler roller 302 at an elevated position as indicated by the dot-dash outline at 310 so there would be a substantial length of belt 304 disposed in the proper position for receiving locks of cotton, so that pre-ginning of the cotton can be carried out over a substantial distance by the provision of a plurality of the rotary bars 308 arranged along the belt in spaced relation.

In FIGURE 12 ginning roller 312 is mounted on a shaft 314, and at one end thereof is a swing-away support arm 316 so the adjacent end of the ginning roller can be exposed. This permits a sleeve like cover 318 to be slipped on the roller, whereupon the roller can be expanded into tight supporting engagement with the sleeve by availing of the wedge shaped ends 320 of the roller and the clamp nut 322. The arrangement of FIGURE 12 greatly facilitates the replacing of the cover of the ginning roller which, in ordinary roller gins, is a time consuming and laborious job.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions; and accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall Within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A roller cotton gin comprising; a ginning roller, a stationary knife parallel to the roller axis arranged substantially tangential to the roller surface and bearing against the downgoing side of the roller, a rotary bar having its axis parallel to the roller axis and located substantially radially outwardly from the region of engagement of the roller with the knife, longitudinal blade means on the bar projecting therefrom and of such a length as to sweep close to the roller and knife as the bar rotates along a path which converges with the roller ahead of said region and diverges from the knife behind said region, and means for driving said roller and bar in respectively opposite directions and with the tips of said blades moving slower than the surface of said roller, said gin including a frame, bearings supporting said roller, slide means in the frame movably supporting said bearings for movement of the roller toward and away from said knife, motor means connected to said roller to move said roller toward and away from said knife, said motor means including biasing means for moving said roller away from said knife and a source of adjustable pressure connected with said motor means for urging the roller toward the knife against said biasing means to develop ginning pressure between the roller and knife, and means for exhausting said motor means to cause said roller to retract from said knife.

2. A roller cotton gin comprising; a ginning roller, a stationary knife parallel to the roller axis arranged substantially tangential to the roller surface and bearing against the downgoing side of the roller, a rotary bar having its axis parallel to the roller axis and located substantially radially outwardly from the region of engagement of the roller with the knife, longitudinal blade means on the bar projecting therefrom and of such a length as to sweep close to the roller and knife as the bar rotates along a path which converges with the roller ahead of said region and diverges from the knife behind said region, and means for driving said roller and bar in respectively opposite directions and with the tips of said blades moving slower than the surface of said roller, said gin including a frame, bearings supporting said roller, slide means in the frame movably supporting said bear ings for movement of the roller toward and away from said knife, motor means including biasing means to move the roller away from said knife, a source of adjustable pressure connected with said motor means for urging the roller toward the knife against said biasing means to develop ginning pressure between the roller and knife, and means for exhausting said motor means to cause said roller to retract from said knife, and means operable in response to the interruption of actuating power to said roller and bar for actuating 'said means for exhausting said motor means.

3. A roller cotton gin comprising; a ginning roller, a stationary knife parallel to the roller axis arranged substantially tangential to the roller surface and hearing against the downgoing side of the roller, a rotary bar having its axis parallel to the roller axis and located substantially radially outwardly from the region of engagement of the roller with the knife, longitudinal blade means on the bar projecting therefrom and of such a length as to sweep close to the roller and knife as the bar rotates along a path which converges with the roller ahead of said region and diverges from the knife behind said region, and means for driving said roller and bar in respectively opposite directions and with the tips of said blades moving slower than the surface of said roller, means for pressing said roller against said knife during rotation of said roller and including means operable automatically upon the interruption of the supply of power to said means for driving said roller and bar for moving the roller away from said knife.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Harriss 19-54 1 Meurling 19-53 Cross et a1. 195O Mitchell 1936 ONeal 1952 Williams et al. 1950 Jennings 19-50 Neitzel 19-50 FOREIGN PATENTS of 1864 Great Britain. of 1896 Great Britain.

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner. ROBERT R. MACKEY, Examiner. 15 D. NEWTON, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A ROLLER COTTON GIN COMPRISING: A GINNING ROLLER, A STATIONARY KNIFE PARALLEL TO THE ROLLER AXIS ARRANGED SUBSTANTIALLY TANGENTIAL TO THE ROLLER SURFACE AND BEARING AGAINST THE DOWNGOING SIDE OF THE ROLLER, A ROTARY BAR HAVING ITS AXIS PARALLEL TO THE ROLLER AXIS AND LOCATED SUBSTANTIALLY RADIALLY OUTWARDLY FROM THE REGION OF ENGAGEMENT OF THE ROLLER WITH THE KNIFE, LONGITUDINAL BLADE MEANS ON THE BAR PROTECTING THEREFROM AND OF SUCH A LENGTH AS TO SWEEP CLOSE TO THE ROLLER AND KNIFE AS THE BAR ROTATES ALONG A PATH WHICH COVERGES WITH THE ROLLER AHEAD OF SAID REGION AND DIVERGES FROM THE KNIFE BEHIND SAID REGION, AND MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID ROLLER AND BAR IN RESPECTIVELY OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS ND WITH THE TIPS OF SAID BLADES MOVING SLOWER THAN THE SURFACE OF SAID ROLLER, SAID GIN INCLUDING A FRAME, BEARINGS UPPORTING SAID ROLLER,

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