US3251096A

US3251096A - Apparatus for breaking compressed fibrous material

Info

Publication number: US3251096A
Application number: US351386A
Authority: US
Inventors: Rapp Hans
Original assignee: Maschinenbau Rapp and Seidt
Current assignee: Maschinenbau Rapp and Seidt
Priority date: 1961-06-13
Filing date: 1964-03-12
Publication date: 1966-05-17
Anticipated expiration: 1983-05-17

Description

May 17, 1966 H. RAPP 3,251,096

APPARATUS FOR BREAKING COMPRESSED FIBROUS MATERIAL Original Filed June 7, 1 62 3 h he l M n/Ir H ns- Ra May 17, 1966 H. RAPP 3,251,096

APPARATUS FOR BREAKING COMPRESSED FIBROUS MATERIAL May 17, 1966 H. RAPP 3,251,096

APPARATUS FOR BREAKING COMPRESSED FIBROUS MATERIAL Original Filed June 7, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 United States Patent 14 Claims. (c1. 19- s0) This is a division of my application Serial No. 200,745, filed June 7, 1962.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for treatment of fibrous materials, and more particularly to an apparatus for breaking and teasing packages of stacked cotton slabs or raw cotton bales. Still more particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus wherein tufts of fibrous material removed from stacked slabs or bales are immediately subjected to a thorough sifting, cleaning and mixing action.

An important object of the invention is to provide an exceptionally simple and highly reliable apparatus which is capable of consecutively breaking raw cotton bales or cotton slabs in a continuous operation and which is constructed and assembled in such a way that the bales or slabs are comminuted into small tufts of uniform or nearly uniform size.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the just outlined characteristics which requires less energy than any apparatus for the same purpose of which I am aware at this time because the instrumentalities used for breaking of bales or slabs act in directions in which the compressed fibrous material offers least resistance to a comminuting action.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for breaking bales or slabs of compressed fibrous material which constitutes an improvement over the apparatus disclosed in a copending application Serial No. 96,221 now US. Patent No. 3,139,650, filed by Hermann Diesel and assigned to the same assignee.

The improved apparatus comprises means for advancing stacked slabs endwise against one or more re volving plucking rollers which are reciprocated in such a Way that their teeth move in directions substantially parallel with the general planes of the slabs. It ispreferred to mount two or more plucking rollers in a reciprocable carriage and to rotate the rollers in opposite directions so that they move tufts of fibrous material toward a plane which is locatedmidway between and which is perpendicular to the plane common to the axes of the plucking rollers.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section in a vertical plane through -an apparatus which embodies one form of my invention, the section of FIG. 1 being taken in the direction of arrows as seen from the line II of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal section through the apparatus as seen in the direction of arrows from the line IIII "of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a similar horizontal section through a modified apparatus which is shown on an enlarged scale.

Referring now in greater detail to the illustrated emwhich are removed from the slabs.

bodiments, and first to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown an apparatus for breaking a parallelepiped stack 1 of slabs consisting of compressed fibrous material and for thereupon sifting, mixing and cleaning tufts of fibrous material As shown in FIG. 1, the stack 1 comprises a first package of superimposed slabs 1a which are disposed in horizontal planes, and a second package of superimposed slabs 1b which are also disposed in horizontal planes and which are located rearwardly of the slabs 1a. The slabs 1a or 1b may but need not be of identical thickness. A third package of slabs may be assembled on a stacking table T which is shown to the right of the package 1b. In other words, the packages of stacks 1a, 1b and the package momentarily assembled on the table T may form a continuous body of stacked horizontal slabs, and the two foremost packages are engaged by a composite conveyor which, in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises four endless conveyors including an upper conveyor 2, a lower conveyor 3, a first lateral conveyor 4, and a second lateral conveyor 5. Each of these conveyors comprises a pair of driven

sprockets

2a, 3a, 4a, 5a, and an endless needle band or apron 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b which is trained around the respective sprockets. The stack-engaging inner runs or stringers of the aprons 4b, 5b are driven, downwardly, as viewed in FIG. 2, and the stack-engaging inner runs of the aprons 2b, 3b are driven in a direction to the left, as vewed in FIG. 1, so as to advance the package of slabs 1a endwise against a pair of toothed plucking rollers 7 and 8 which are best shown in FIG. 2 and which are mounted in a specially constructed carriage 9. The aprons 2b-5bdefine between themselves a passage of substantially rectangular cross section through which the packages of stacked slabs advance toward the carriage 9. Before reaching the plucking rollers 7 and 8, the package of stacked slabs 1a passing through the discharge end of the composite conveyor must advance through a rectangular frame 6 which defines a passage of diminishing cross section and which thus causes a final compression of the slabs 1a before they reach the

teeth

7a, 8a of the respective plucking rollers.

As shown in FIG. 1, the teeth 8a of the plucking roller 8 are preferably arranged in the form of one or more helices so that, when the roller 8 revolves, each horizontal layer of each slab 1a will be subjected to the action of these teeth. The arrangement of teeth 7a on the periphery of the plucking roller 7 is analogous. Both pluck The carriage 9 for the-rollers 7, 8 simultaneously serves as a means for preventing removal of large batches of fibrous material from the stacked slabs 1a. In addition, the carriage 9 may accommodate a motor 9a (shown schematically in FIG. 1) which is drivingly connected with the shafts of the rollers 7, 8 e.g., through a suitable reducing gearing, soas to rotate these rollers in opposite directions. The base structure of the housing 31 of the apparatus accommodates a reversible motor 917 which serves as a means. for reciprocating the carriage 9 back and forth along the left-hand 'e'nd faces of the slabs 1a, as viewed in FIG. 1. This motor 9b may drive the carriage through a rack-and-pinion assembly or the like. The means 9a for rotating the plucking rollers 7, 8 in opposite directions, and the means 9b, 90 for reciprocating the carriage 9 along the end faces of the slabs 1b are not shown in minute detail since many' types of such rotating and reciprocating means may be used, for example, simple gear trains, belts and pulleys, sprockets and chains, hydraulic or pneumatic motors, and many others. All that is necessary for satisfactory operation of my improved bale breaking apparatus is that-the rollers are rotated and that the carriage moves back and forth along the slabs 1a in such a way that the

teeth

7a, 8a are reciprocated in horizontal planes and that the substantially vertical axes of the rollers 7, 8 remain parallel with one another and remain in their respective substantially ver tical planes when the carriage 9 reciprocates. It will be noted that the general planes of the slabs 1a, 1b are perpendicular to the axes of the plucking rollers 7, 8 and to the common plane of these axes and that during reciprocation of the carriage 9 the plucking roller 7 removes fibers from one half of the width of the slab end faces while the roller 8 does the same on the other half of the width of the slab end faces.

As shown in FIG. 2, the carriage 9 comprises several sections including a hood-shaped first bafiie or shield 10a which partially surrounds the plucking roller 7, a hoodshaped second bafile or shield 1017 which partially surrounds the roller 8, and a substantially plate-like third baffle or shield 11 which extends between the rollers 7, 8 and which is immediately adjacent to the front end faces of the slabs 1a. The

shields

10a, 10b, 11 all of which are mounted on the carriage 9 define between themselves two vertical apertures or windows 11a, 11b through which the rollers 7, 8 project into actual engagement with the slabs In. It is preferred to construct the carriage 9 in such a way that the rollers 7, 8 and/or the

shields

10a, 10b, 11 are adjustable with respect to each other so as to change the width of the apertures 11a, 11b. Doubleheaded arrows 7', 8' in FIG. 2 indicate the directions in which, the rollers 7, 8 are movable for adjusting purposes. The directions in which the rollers 7, 8 rotate are selected in such a way that tufts 30 of fibrous material removed from the slabs 1a are caused to pass through the windows 11a, 11b and behind the central shield 11. In other words, the tufts 30 are advanced from one side of the vertical plane common to the axes of the rollers 7, 8 to the other side of this vertical plane. The vertical plane common to the axes of rollers 7, 8 is also the vertical axial plane of the carriage 9 which reciprocates back and forth along the slabs 1a in horizontal direction. As soon as the package of slabs 1a is broken up, the continuously or intermittently advancing needle aprons Zb-Sb move the next package (slabs 1b) into the range of revolving and reciprocating

teeth

7a, 8a.

It is preferred to provide the frame 6 with hard and highly polished material-engaging inner faces to reduce friction when the conveyers 2-5 are in operation.

At the left-hand side of the carriage 9,'as viewed in FIG. 1, the housing 31 of the apparatus defines a downwardly inclined channel 21 of diminishing cross section whose intake end is adjacent to the carriage and through which the tufts 30 advance into the range of a first teasing roll r 13. The bottom wall in the channel 21 assumes the form of a grate 12 through which any particulate matter heavier than the tufts 30 can descend by gravity into a receptacle 12a. Such heavier particulate matter may consist of stones, metallic particles and'the like which are accidentally contained in the compressed fibrous material of the slabs. The grate 12 is preferably removable so that it may be replaced by a grate whose bars are spaced at a greater or lesser distance from each other. The teasing roller 13 breaks up the tufts 30 and permits foreign particles which might have been entrapped in the tufts 30 to drop by gravity through the bars of a second grate 17 which is located below this teasing roller and which allows such particles to descend into the receptacle 12a. Additional teasing rollers 14, 15, 16 and additional grates 18, 19, are located in a flat upwardly inclined second channel 32 which communicates with the channel 21 and through the fibrous material is drawn by suction produced by a suitable apparatus, not shown. The particles descending through the grates 18, 19, 20 accumulate in

receptacles

18a, 19a, 20a, respectively. If desired, the receptacle 12a may be subdivided into two receptacles one of which receives particulate matter descending through the grate 12 and the other of which receives foreign particles descending through the grate 17. The channel 32 discharges comminuted, cleaned and intermixed tufts into a next machine, e.g., a cleaning apparatus, which is not shown in the drawings. The mixing action of the teasing rollers 13-16 is of particular advantage when the package momentarily engaged by the teeth of the plucking rollers 7, 8 consists of slabs containing different fibrous materials. The manner in which the teasing rollers 13-16 may be driven is preferably the same or similar to that disclosed in the aforementioned US. Patent No. 3,139,650 of Hermann Diesel to which reference may be had if necessary.

At least the median shield 11 may be biased by helical springs lie or the like so as to yieldingly bear against the end faces of the slabs 1a. The other shields 10a, 101? may be biased in similar manner if desired. The apparatus of my invention may utilize a carriage with rigidly mounted shields if the nature of the slabs is such that the springs may be dispensed with. The

shields

10a, 10b, 11 may consist of sheet metal or the like. If they are biased by springs, the pressure which the shields exert against the slabs is selected in a way to avoid excessive friction.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portion of a modified bale breaking and teasing apparatus which comprises a different carriage 109. This carriage includes a casing 109a for vertical shafts of idler rollers 22-26 which replace the

shields

10a, 10b, 11 and whose teeth 33 bite into and loosen up the fibrous material of the slabs 1a which are in the range of teeth 107a, 1031). As shown, one or more toothed idler rollers (24-26) may be mounted in the space between the plucking

rollers

107, 108, one idler roller (22) may be located at the outer side of the plucking roller 107, and a further idler roller (23) may be provided at the outer side of the plucking roller 108. The rollers 22-26 may but need not be driven since they are compelled to rotate automatically when the carriage 109 is reciprocated along the end faces of the slabs 1a (see the double-headed arrow 34). The manner in which the

teeth

107a, 108a are arranged in helical groups, the manner in which the

vertical shafts

107b, 10% are driven, and the manner in which the carriage 109 is rcciprocated along the slabs 1a are preferably the same as described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2. The tufts 30 of fibrous material removed by the

teeth

107a, 108a are directed toward a vertical plane which is located substantially midway between the plucking

rollers

107, 108 and which is normal to a vertical plane common to the axes of the shafts 107b, 10817.

The idler rollers 22-26 may consist of wood or a similar material, and they constitute a composite shield which prevents removal of large batches of fibrous material from the slabs 1a when the carriage 109 reciprocates along the package momentarily engaged by the plucking

rollers

107, 108. If desired, the shafts of the rollers 22-26 may be mounted in suitable roller hearings or the like to reduce friction.

An important advantage of my improved apparatus is that, since the shafts of the plucking

rollers

7, 8 or 107, 108 are vertical, since these plucking rollers are caused to reciprocate in a horizontal direction, and since the teeth of the plucking rollers are preferably arranged in helical groups, the

teeth

7a, 8a or 107a, 108a will break the slabs 1a, 1b etc. uniformly without necessitating any other but forward movement of the slabs. In other words, the rather complicated mechanism disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Patent No. 3,139,650 which mechanism is used to reciprocate the stacked slabs while they are being engaged by the teeth of a plucking roller, and also the grid which separates the plucking roller from the end faces of the slabs may be dispensed with without in any way impairing the efficiency of the improved apparatus. Furthermore, the rate at which the

plucking rollers

7, 8

or 107, 108 can remove tufts of fibrous material from stacked slabs may be varied at will, either by changing the rate of speed at which the needle aprons 2b-5b are driven or by changing the width of windows 11a, 11b or windows 111a, 111b (FIG. 3) through which the respective plucking rollers advance tufts of fibrous material into the .interior of the apparatus, i.e., toward the teasing rollers.

It will be readily understood that, if necessary the carriage 9 or 109 may be provided with a single plucking roller or with three or more plucking rollers. Each plucking roller may consist of several tubular sections which may be replaced independently in the event that certain teeth of a plucking roller are damaged or destroyed. By utilizing composite plucking rollers, it is possible to replace damage sections of one or more rollers without necessitating replacement of the entire roller.

My improved breaking and teasing apparatus requires less power-than any conventional apparatus of which I am aware at this time. This is due to the fact that the

teeth

7a, 8a or 107a, 108a remove-tufts in the direction of least resistance, namely, in the general planes of the slabs. The compressed fibrous material of the slabs offers less resistance to a comminuting action if such actions takes place in directions perpendicular to directions in which a slab was compressed.

' Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for simultaneously breaking superimposed slabs of compressed fibrous material, comprising at least one toothed plucking roller having a substantially vertical axis of rotation; means for rotating said plucking roller about said axis; means for reciprocating said plucking roller in a horizontal direction with said axis remaining substantially vertical; conveyer means for supporting the slabs of fibrous material in horizontal planes and for moving the slabs of fibrous material endwise against the reciprocating plucking roller whereby the roller removes tufts of fibrous material from the slabs of fibrous material, said conveyer means located at one side of said plucking roller relative to the direction of movement of said slabs; and housing means defining channel means for tufts of fibrous material, said channel means located at the other side of said plucking roller relative to the direction of movement of said slabs.

2. An apparatus for simultaneously breaking superimposed slabs of compressed fibrous material, comprising at least one toothed plucking roller having an axis of 'rotation; means for rotating said plucking roller about said axis; means for reciprocating said plucking roller in a plane passing through said axis and in a direction normal to said axis; conveyer means for supporting the slabs of fibrous material in planes which are perpendicular to said axis and to said first mentioned plane and for moving the slabs of fibrous material endwise against the reciprocating plucking roller whereby the roller removes tufts of fibrous material from the slabs of fibrous material, said conveyer means located at one side of said first mentioned plane; and housing means defining channel means for tufts of fibrous material, said channel means located at the other side of said first mentioned plane, and comprising a portion which is inclined downwardly in a direction away from said first-mentioned plane.

3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said housing means comprises grate means located beneath said portion of said channel means so that any impurities heavier than said tufts which are removed from the slabs of fibrous material by said plucking roller may descend through said grate means.

4. An apparatus for simultaneously breaking superimposed substantially flat slabs of compressed fibrous material, comprising conveyer means for advancing the slabs of fibrous material in horizontal planes, said conveyer means having a discharge end; a carriage adjacent to said discharge end, said carriage comprising a pair of spaced plucking rollers each provided with peripheral teeth and each rotatable about a vertical axis; means for rotating said plucking rollers in opposite directions; and means for reciprocating said carriage and said plucking rollers in horizontal direction transversely along the discharge end of said conveyer means so that the teeth of said plucking rollers are reciprocated in horizontal planes and remove tufts of fibrous material from the slabs of fibrous material advanced by said conveyer means.

5. An apparatus for simultaneously breaking superimposed substantially flat slabs of compressed fibrous material, comprising conveyor means for advancing the slabs of fibrous material in parallel planes, said conveyer means having a discharge end; a carriage adjacent to said discharge end, said carriage comprising at least one plucking roller provided with axially staggered peripheral teeth and rotatable about an axis of rotation perpendicular to said parallel planes; means for rotating said plucking roller; and means for reciprocating said carriage and said plucking roller in a direction normal to said axis and along the discharge'end of said conveyer means so that the teeth of said plucking roller are reciprocated along end faces of said slabs and remove tufts of fibrous mate- 'rial from the slabs of fibrous material advanced by said adjustable in said carriage in horizontal direction and' transversely to the horizontal planes of advancement of said slabs; and shield means onsaid carriage spaced from said discharge end of said conveyer means and defining window means through which said plucking roller extends into engagement with the slabs of fibrous material advanced by said conveyer means, said shield means preventing the teeth of said plucking roller from removing excessively large batches of fibrous material from the slabs of fibrous material; means for rotating said plucking roller; and means for reciprocating said carriage and said plucking roller in horizontal direction transversely along the discharge end of said conveyer means so that the teeth of said plucking roller are reciprocated in horizontal planes and remove tufts of fibrous material from the slabs of fibrous material advanced by said conveyer means.

7. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein said shield means comprises a plurality of shields.

8. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein said shield means are rigidly fixed to said carriage.

9. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6, further comprising means for biasing at least one of said shield means against the slabs of fibrous material.

10. An apparatus as set forth in claim 6, wherein said shield means comprises a pluralityof toothed idler rollers having vertical axes of rotation and rotated by the slabs of fibrous material-when said carriage is reciprocated along the discharge end of said conveyer means.

12. An apparatus for breaking substantially flat slabs" of compressed fibrous material, compressing a carriage ineluding at least one plucking roller provided with peripheral teeth and rotatable about a vertical axis; means for rotating said plucking roller about said axis; means for reciprocating said carriage with said plucking roller in a vertical plane passing through said axis so that the carriage is moved back and forth in opposite horizontal directions; conveyer means for advancing the slabs of fibrous material in horizontal planes, said conveyer means having a discharge end adjacent to one side of said vertical plane so that slabs of fibrous material advanced by said conveyer means move into engagement with said plucking roller and the teeth of said roller remove tufts of fibrous material and hurl such tufts to the other side of said vertical plane; housing means defining channel means for the tufts removed .by said plucking roller, said channel means having an intake end adjacent to the other side of said vertical plane; and at least one substantially horizontal teasing roller provided in said channel means.

13. An apparatus for breaking substantially fiat slabs of compressed fibrous material, comprising .a carriage including at least one plucking roller provided with peripheral teeth and rotatable about a vertical axis; means for rotating said plucking roller about said axis; means for reciprocating said carriage with said plucking roller in a vertical plane passing through said axis so that the carriage is moved back and forth in opposite horizontal directions; conveyer means for advancing the slabs of fibrous material in horizontal planes, said conveyer means having a discharge end adjacent to one side of said vertical plane so that slabs of fibrous material advanced by said conveyer means move into engagement with said plucking roller and the teeth of said roller remove tufts of fibrous material and hurl such tufts to the other side of said vertical plane, said conveyer means comprising a plurality of endless needle aprons defining between themselves a passage of substantially rectangular cross section through which the slabs of fibrous material advance toward said carriage; housing means defining channel means for the tufts removed by said plucking roller, said channel means having an intake end adjacent to the other side of said vertical plane; and at 8 least one substantially horizontal teasing roller provided in said channel means.

14. An apparatus for breaking substantially fiat slabs of compressed fibrous material, comprising a carriage including at least one plucking roller provided with peripheral teeth and rotatable about a vertical axis; means for rotating said plucking roller about said axis; means for reciprocating said carriage with said plucking roller in a vertical plane passing through said axis so that the carriage is moved back and forth in opposite horizontal directions; conveyer means for advancing the slabs of fibrous material in horizontal planes, said conveyer means having a discharge end adjacent to one side of said vertical plane so that slabs of fibrous mate rial advanced by said conveyer means move into engagement with said plucking roller and the teeth of said roller remove tufts of fibrous material and hurl. such tufts to the other side of said vertical plane, substantially rectangular frame means provided intermediate the discharge end of said conveyer means and said carriage, said frame means defining apassage of diminishing cross section through which the slabs of fibrous material advance toward said carriage; housing means defining channel means for the tufts removed by said plucking roller, said channel means having an intake end adjacent to the other side of said vertical plane; and at least one substantially horizontal teasing roller provided in said channel means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,929,344 10/1933 Benoit 19-145.5 2,938,239 5/1960 Leineweber et al. l980 3,101,513 8/1963 Wildbolz 19-80 FOREIGN PATENTS 437,242 10/1935 Great Britain.

838,793 6/1960 Great Britain.

ROBERT R. MACKEY, Acting Primary Examiner.

DONALD W. PARKER, Examiner.

Claims

1. AN APPARATUS FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY BREAKING SUPERIMPOSED SLABS OF COMPRESSED FIBROUS MATERIAL, COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE TOOTHED PLUCKING ROLLER HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL AXIS OF ROTATION; MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID PLUCKING ROLLER ABOUT SAID AXIS; MEANS FOR RECIPROCATING SAID PLUCKING ROLLER IN A HORIZONTAL DIRECTION WITH SAID AXIS REMAINING ROLLER IN A HORIZONTAL DIRECTION WITH SAID AXIS REMAINING SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL; C ONVEYER MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE SLABS OF FIBROUS MATERIAL IN HORIZONTAL PLANES AND FOR MOVING THE SLABS OF FIBROUS MATERIAL ENDWISE AGAINST THE RECIPROCATING PLUCKING ROLLER WHEREBY THE ROLLER REMOVES TUFTS OF FIBROUS MATERIAL FROM THE SLABS OF FIBROUS MATERIAL, SAID CONVEYER MEANS LOCATED AT ONE SIDE OF SAID PLUCKING ROLLER RELATIVE TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID SLABS; AND HOUSING MEANS DEFINING CHANNEL MENAS FOR TUFTS OF FIBROUS MATERIAL, SAID CHANNEL MENAS LOCATED AT THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID PLUCKING ROLLER RELATIVE TO THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT OF SAID SLABS.