A fill or effect material

Abstract: Apparatus for producing, in bulk, long tailed neps, is disclosed the apparatus including a housing 1 supporting a main rotor 11 the periphery of which has a plurality of teeth 13 and beaters which co-­ operate with teeth on a set of feed rollers 9, 10 mounted in the housing 1 alongside the periphery of the main rotor, the housing 1 having an intake chute 3 and a closeable discharge door 5, the arrangement being such that, in use, a synthetic or material fibrous material is fed to the intake chute 3, while the discharge door 5 is closed, is fed into the housing 1 by the feed rollers 9, 10, the fibrous material being removed by beaters and teeth 13 of the rotor 11 from the feed rollers 9, 10, the fibrous material being spun in the housing 1 and the interaction between the teeth and the beaters of the main rotor 11 and the teeth of the feed rollers causing the fibrous materials to be entangled and felted to form a plurality of long tailed neps which are discharged from the housing 1 when the discharge door 6 is opened.

Description: This invention relates to the production of a fill or effect material and more particularly to an apparatus for producing a fill or effect material. The fill or effect materials are long tailed neps and these have been manufactured in the mechanism described in European patent specification No. 0 234 110. The fill or effect material is sold by the applicants licensees under the trade mark "soft knops". The mechanism described in European patent specification No. 0 234 110 is a modified woollen opening mechanism and although the material can be produced satisfactorily on this type of machine there is a need in the market place for a purpose built machine for producing in bulk the long tailed neps. An object of the present invention is therefore to provide an apparatus for producing in bulk long tailed neps. Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparant from the following description which is given by way of example only. According to a broadest aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for producing, in bulk, long tailed neps, the apparatus including a housing supporting a main rotor the periphery of which has a plurality of teeth and beaters which co-operate with teeth on a set of feed rollers mounted in the housing alongside the periphery of the main rotor, the housing having an intake chute and a closeable discharge door, the arrangement being such that, in use, a synthetic or natural fibrous material fed to the intake chute, while the discharge door is closed, is fed into the housing by the feed rollers, the fibrous material being removed by the beaters and teeth of the rotor from the feed rollers, the fibrous material being spun in the housing and the interaction between the teeth and the beaters of the main rotor and the teeth of the feed rollers causing the fibrous material to be entangled and felted to form a plurality of long tailed neps which are discharged from the housing when the discharge door is opened. The size of the long tailed neps depends on the degree of mesh of the cooperating teeth and their relative spacing. The feed rollers can be a set of worker and stripper rollers. One of the stripper rollers can be fluted. The main rotor is adapted to remove the fibrous material from the feed rollers by providing teeth and flexible beaters on the periphery of the rotor, the teeth and beaters in operation ensure that most of the fibrous material on the worker roller is removed and formed in the housing into the long tailed neps. Further aspects of the invention which should be considered in all its novel aspects will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example only. An example of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which: Figure 1 shows in side elevation an apparatus according to the present invention; Figure 2 shows a typical section through part of the apparatus shown in Figure 1; and Figure 3 shows a detail on an enlarged scale of the worker and stripper feed rollers interacting with the main rotor. The example of the invention will now be described with reference to the production of long tailed neps of the type shown in Figure 5 of European patent specification No. 0 234 110. In the accompanying Figures 1 to 3 is shown an apparatus according to the invention which includes a housing 1 which is cylindrical and mounted with its longitudinal axis horizontal. The housing 1 has mounted across its top an inlet 2 which extends across the full width of the housing 1. The inlet 2 has an intake chute portion 3 at the housing end of which is mounted a set of worker/stripper feed rollers generally indicated by arrow 4 (Figures 2 and 3). The housing 1 has a discharge door 5 which is connected to an outlet chute 6 an open end 7 of which is directed toward a collection cage 8. In the example a set of three rollers forms the worker/stripper feed rollers 4. The rollers 4 are mounted with their axes horizontal and two of the rollers are stripper rollers 9 between which is a single centrally mounted worker roller 10. The teeth on the rollers 9 and 10 can be hook shaped inside elevation as shown in Figure 3 and are mounted in parallel rows. The teeth on the rollers 9 and 10 are preferably spaced apart so that the rotating stripper rollers 9 remove fibres from the worker roller 10. Some of the fibres drop into the housing 1. In an alternative construction (not shown) the feed roller 9 on the discharge door side of the housing 1 is a fluted roller. The housing 1 has mounted therein a main rotor 11 driven by motor 12. The rotor 11 has a high rotational speed relative to that of the worker and stripper feed rollers. The rotor 11 is preferably driven at about 900 rpm but this depends on the diameter of the rotor or housing and the rotational speed can be varied to suit the end product produced by providing for variations in the rotational speed of the motor 12. The worker and stripper rollers 10 and 9 respectively rotate at a slow speed and speed thereof is advantageously controlled automatically to ensure an even input of fibres from the intake chute 3 to the housing 1 to ensure that the motor 12 is not overloaded. The main rotor 11 has a plurality teeth 13 which interact with the teeth on the worker roller 10 to remove during processing some of the fibres . The main rotor 11 also includes a series of beaters 14 on the trailing edges 15 of the arm 16. The beaters are preferably constructed from a flexible material, for example, strips of leather. In use the fibrous material to be formed into long tailed neps is fed by a conveyer system or the like to the inlet 2 while the discharge door 5 is in its closed position. The material is fed by the feed rollers 4 into the housing 1. The speed of the feed rollers 4 being adjusted to ensure an even flow and input time which depends on the volume of fibrous material being processed and is ideally over 10 to 20 secs. The main rotor 11 is operated for a preselected time chosen to suit the type of fibres and volume being processed. The processing time can be from one minute upward. The particular type of long tailed neps to be produced also has a bearing on the process time. While the rotor 11 is operating with the door 5 closed the fibres are continuously caught by the teeth on the rotor 11 and removed thereform by the worker roller 10. The remaining fibres are stripped from the worker 10 by being beaten therefrom by the beaters 14. At the end of the preselected processing time the door 5 is opened and the rotation of the rotor 11 throws the formed long tailed neps through the door 5 into the cage 8. If desired the processing can include the addition of a lubricant like water to the housing. This water or lubricant can be sprayed into the housing by a boom 16 which extends across the housing 1. Thus by this invention there is provided an apparatus for producing in bulk long tailed neps. A particular example of the invention has been described and it is envisaged that improvements and modifications can take place without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims: Apparatus for producing, in bulk, long tailed neps, the apparatus including a housing (1) supporting a main rotor (11), the periphery of which has a plurality of teeth (13) which co-operate with teeth on a set of feed rollers (9, 10) mounted in the housing (1) alongside the periphery of the main rotor, the housing (1) having an intake chute (3) and a closeable discharge door (5), characterised in that the periphery of the main rotor (11) has a plurality of beaters (14) which co-operate with the teeth on the set of feed rollers (9,10), the arrangement being such that, in use, a synthetic or natural fibrous material, fed to the intake chute (3) while the discharge door (5) is closed, is fed into the housing (1) by the feed rollers (9,10), the fibrous material being removed by the beaters (14) and teeth (13) of the rotor (11) from the feed rollers (9,10), the fibrous material being spun in the housing (1) and the interaction between the teeth (13) and the beaters (14) of the main rotor and the teeth of the feed rollers (9,10) causing the fibrous material to be entangled and felted to form a plurality of long tailed neps which are discharged from the housing (1) when the discharge door (5) is opened. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the size of the long tailed neps depends on the degree of mesh of the co-operating teeth (13) and their relative spacing. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the feed rollers are a set of worker (10) and stripper (9) rollers. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein one of the stripper rollers (9) is fluted. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the housing (1) is cylindrical and is mounted with its longitudinal axis horizontal. Apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the housing (1) has mounted across its top a full width inlet (2) having the intake chute (3) at its base, the set of feed rollers (9,10) being mounted in the intake chute. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the set of feed rollers (9,10) comprises a pair of horizontally mounted stripper rollers (9) between which is a single centrally mounted worker roller (10). Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the teeth on the feed rollers (9,10) are hook shaped in side elevation and are mounted in parallel rows. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the worker roller (10) and stripper (9) rollers are rotated at a slow speed relative to that of the main rotor (11). Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the beaters (14) are constructed from a flexible material.

Inventors: MCFARLANE IAN DUNCAN, WALLS RICHARD JAMES, WATSON JULIAN MARK, MCFARLANE, IAN DUNCAN, WALLS, RICHARD JAMES, WATSON, JULIAN MARK
Applicants: WOOL RES ORGANISATION, WOOL RESEARCH ORGANISATION OF NEW ZEALAND INC.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: D01G9
IPC codes: D01G15, D01G9