Patent GB-593676-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to machines for treating flax or other fibrous plants
IPC: D01B5/00
Filed: 1944-06-28
Abstract: 593,676. Treating flax &c. BRITISH UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CO., Ltd., RICKS, F., CHOICE, F. C., PRATT, J. W., and ROFFEY, F. June 28, 1944, No: 35133/46. Divided out of 590,062. [Class 120 (i)] A machine for treating flax &c. comprises a conveyer arranged to grip the plants near the middle thereof and to carry them past combing means positioned on each side of the conveyer, combing elements of which are supported for movement, while performing their combing operation, in a non-circular path transverse to said conveyer, flexible endless carriers for supporting the combing elements and means for exercising a butting action on ends of the plants after they have been combed by said combing means. General arrangement of machine. (i) The flax stalks, lying at an angle to the horizontal and transversely of the machine, are subjected while being conveyed between the grip of a lower and two upper belts to simultaneous combing at root and seed ends by three sets of combs which progressively comb longer portions of the stalks, so to arrange the stalks in parallelism and remove seeds &c. (ii) The stalks are then taken from between the belts by the projecting pins of a pair of parallel conveyers and while lying substantially transversely of the machine, they are rocked by an oscillating plate and butted, at their root ends by a further plate moved by an eccentric which arranges the root ends in substantial alignment. Plant conveying belts 611, 613, urged towards each other by freely-mounted pulleys 651, 653, arranged in staggered relationship, are each supported by an adjustable free pulley at one end and by driven pulleys at the other. The belts are substantially triangular in cross-section, the stalks, lying transversely, being gripped between the bases of the triangles. The top driven pulley is carried on an eccentric mounting so that it may be rotated to separate the driven pulleys for the purpose of removing the belts 611, 613. For the same purpose, the lower free pulleys 651 are carried by bars 667 which may be lowered at one end. This end of the bars 667 is also furnished with an adjustable device to enable the grip on the stalks between the belts to be varied. While gripped between the belts 611, 613, the stalks are progressively combed, on both sides of the conveyer, by combing bars 693, 695, 697 carrying pins 721 the tips of which are curved in the direction of motion, bars 725 being provided for holding-down the stalks while they are combed. The combing bars are carried by chains 699 rotating in sprockets 701, 719, the sprockets 701 being driven from shafts 705 (extending along both sides of the combing mechanism) driven by chains from an electric motor. The chains 699 are supported at their top runs by bars 723. The driving pulleys for the belts 611, 613, are driven by worm and worm wheels from a further electric motor. Since a greater length of the flax stalks is arranged to project from the conveyer 611, 613 at the seed end than at the root end, the combing chains at that side of the conveyer are longer than at the root side and carry more combing bars. Each bar may carry 25 pins projecting 2 1/4 inches and having a diameter of 3/16 inch, the axes of the pins being 1/2 inch apart. After combing the stalks are removed from the belts 611, 613 by pins 733 carried by two parallel belts 727 and while supported thereon are shaken by a plate 735, pivoted at 737, and oscillated by a bellcrank lever through an eccentric rod 745. The root ends of the stalks, supported on a table 755 are, at the same time, butted by an adjustable plate 751, moved by the same rod 745, so to align the root ends of the stalks. After leaving the butting device, the stalks are received upon a work table from which they are fed by hand or mechanically to a scutching machine. Throughout the combing and butting mechanism the flax stalks may be inclined at about 30 degrees to the horizontal.