Flock delivery systems

Abstract: A flock extracting devices has two extractor arms (140, 142) extending in opposite directions from the main carrier (100) and supplying respective feed ducts (164, 166).

Description: The present application relates to flock delivery systems comprising a flock extraction unit which is movable relative to a "lay out" of fiber bales in order to extract flock material therefrom. Systems employing such extraction units, for example the machine supplied by the present applicant under the trade mark UNIFLOC, have become increasingly common in spinning mills over the last decade. Prior Art Currently available systems usually comprise a turret mounted on a carriage for rotation relative to the carriage about a vertical axis. The carriage itself is movable back and forth along a track. The turret carries a cantilevermounted arm projecting at right angles to the track and comprising downwardly facing flock extraction means (for example including a rotatable, spiked roller). Flock material is extracted from the upwardly facing surfaces of bales laid out alongside the track. Extracted flocks are fed to a suction system including a transport duct extending along the track and connected to suitable transport ducting in the spinning mill as a whole. In the past, rotation of the turret to move the arm from one side to the other of the track has usually been effected manually. Such rotation would be performed, for example, after fiber material on one side of the track had been exhausted and a new bale lay out had been prepared on the other side of the track. The back and forth movement of the carriage for flock extraction on one track side, and control of operation of the extraction arm on that side, has however been substantially automated and brought under computer control. The U.S. Patent Specification No. 4,187,052 describes an apparatus for remaining fibrous material from bales with a pair of identical devices including a suction hood at both sides of a main frame. Rails are mounted on vertical supports between which a belt conveyor is provided and which allows the main frame to be moved to and fro. The suction hoods can be lifted and lowered by respective linkage means including links and hydraulic rams pivotably connected to the links. The main frame with the linkage means is mounted on a turntable which in turn is supported on a support plate of a mobile chassis with carrying wheels on the rails. The suction hoods are connected by flexible pipes to fans which generate a negative pressure or suction. In operation, the suction hoods are lowered onto upper surfaces of the bales and fibrous material is sucked into the hoods until a predetermined vacuum level has been reached. Then, the suction hoods are raised and rotated through 90° to drop the fibrous material onto the belt conveyor. This known apparatus does not feed fiber flocks continuously to the belt conveyor. Moreover, it is quite likely that the suction or underpressure is not always sufficient to extract a reasonable amount of fiber flocks. In addition, the extraction process is complicated and time consuming. The present invention, however, is based primarily on the well-known bale-opener with a spiked roller. Furthermore, it provides a direct flow of extracted fiber flocks from the flock extraction apparatus to subsequent flock processing machines. By way of example, an embodiment of the present invention will now be disclosed with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows details of a "double-armed" flock extraction unit in end elevation, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the unit shown in Fig. 1. Attention is directed to the parent European patent application No. 86 112 855, which has been granted as European Patent No. 0 221 306 and the disclosure of which being incorporated in the present divisional application by reference. In order to emphasise that turret rotation is not essential to processing of a field on both sides of the carriage path, additional detail of a "double-armed" flock extraction unit is provided in Figs. 1 (end elevation) and 2 (plan view). A straight-line track defining means is indicated at 160. The track defining means is hollow and is divided by a longitudinal wall 162 into a "left hand" duct 164 and a "right hand" duct 166. At the "downstream" end (the end closer to the processing lines considered in the direction of transport of flock material) the ducts are connected to a diverter chamber 168 which feeds two transport ducts 170, 172 respectively. These feed respective processing lines. Chamber 168 can be operated to direct flock material from both ducts 164,166 into one or other of ducts 170,172, or to direct material from respective ducts 164,166 into respective ducts 170,172. The means for directing flocks from chamber 168 selectively to ducts 170,172 (one example of which will be described below) can be controlled by signals from the micro-computer MC shown in Fig. 6 of the parent patent application EP-A-0 221 306. One example of an arrangement for enabling selective delivery of flocks to lines 170,172 is shown diagrammatically by the three slidably movable plates 171A, B and C in Fig. 2. Each is slidable in guides (not shown) in directions along the length of track 160. Wall 162 stops short of the end of track 160. Plate 171A is slidable through a vertical slot in the end wall of the track. Plate 171A can be moved between an inserted position (not shown) in which it engages the end of wall 162 and a withdrawn position (illustrated) in which it closes the slot but does not project significantly into ducts 164,166. In its inserted position, plate 171A separates ducts 166 and 170 from ducts 164 and 172. When plate 171A is in its withdrawn position, all four ducts (164,166,170 and 172) are in free communication with each other at their junction region. Similarly, each of plates 171B and 171C has a withdrawn position (illustrated) in which it permits free communication between its associated duct 170,172 and at least the adjacent track duct 166,164 respectively. In their withdrawn positions, plates 171B and 171C close respective slots through which they can be individually moved to respective inserted positions. In the latter, plate 171B separates duct 170 from the interior of the track, and plate 171C separates duct 172 from the interior of the track. Each duct 170,172 can be connected to a respective fan downstream (considered in the material flow direction) from the track 160. When plate 171B or 171C is inserted to separate a duct 170,172 from the track, the fan in that duct is preferably also de-energised. A carrier 100 is adapted (by means not shown) to run along the track in the same way as carriage 10 in Fig. 1 of the parent patent application EP-A-0 221 306. Carrier 100 does not have a rotatable turret but extends to approximately the same height above floor 20 (Fig. 1) as the turret 12 in Fig. 1 of EP-A-0 221 306. Carrier 100 supports and guides two flock extracting arms 140,142 which are vertically movable in the same way as arm 14 in Fig. 1 of EP-A-0 221 306. A flock directing lead 144 is provided within carrier 100 to guide flocks extracted by arm 142 into duct 166. A second lead 146 directs flocks from arm 140 to duct 164. The details of these leads have not been shown - they can be similar to those currently used to direct flocks from arm 14 (Fig. 1 of EP-A-0 221 306) into the single duct in track 16 (Fig. 1 of EP-A-0 221 306). As shown in Fig. 1, arm 140 can process bales 130 on the left hand side of the track while arm 143 simultaneously processes bales 132 on the right hand side thereof (right and left designations arbitrary). There are a number of advantages: a) as shown in Fig. 1, the arms can be disposed at different heights; thus bales at different "stages" can be processed - that is, assuming bales 130 and 132 are similar before flock extraction starts, arm 140 can be operating on fresh bales while arm 142 is processing half finished bales; this gives a much better fiber blend even if the fibers are of the same origin - they can however also be of different origins, giving earlier blending of the two fiber types, b) fibers of different sorts can be fed sumultaneously to two lines, c) as a result of b), the capacities of downstream buffer chambers in the processing lines can be reduced, d) higher production rates can be achieved. A double-armed flock extraction unit has already been disclosed in German Patents 12 45 815 and 24 35 290. In that case, however, the arms are provided with flock gripper units, rather than with spiked roller equipment of the type shown in European Patent 58 781. Accordingly, the prior unit (DE-PS 24 35 290) was not capable of feeding flocks simultaneously from both sides to a duct pair in the track defining means, nor of selective blending of the fiber flocks in the duct system.

Claims: Flock extraction apparatus comprising a track defining means (160), a carrier (100) movable along the track, a pair of fiber flock extracting means (140;142) extending in opposite directions from the carrier to either side of the track, characterized in that the track defining means (160) having a pair of ducts (164;166) extending along the track and flock directing leads (144;146) extending through the carrier (100) from respective flock extracting means to respective ducts in the track. Flock extracting apparatus as claimed in claim 1 including means (171A) at one end of the track for selectively combining flocks carried by the ducts (164;166) for further transport or supplying such flocks separately to separate further transport ducts (170;172).

Inventors: BINDER ROLF, HANSELMANN DANIEL, SCHLEPFER WALTER, STAEHELI CHRISTOPH, BINDER, ROLF, HANSELMANN, DANIEL, SCHLEPFER, WALTER, STAEHELI, CHRISTOPH
Applicants: RIETER AG MASCHF, MASCHINENFABRIK RIETER AG
Application year: 1986
Main classification: D01G7
IPC codes: D01G13, D01G7