Improvements in Apparatus for Soutching and Cleaning Fibrous Stems or Leaves.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 10th July, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 28th Nov., 1891-Accepted, 16th Jan, 1882
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Soutching and Cleaning Fibrous
Stems or Leaves.
I, EPHRAIM DEATH, of Albert Works, Leicester, in the County of Leicester,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
1
My invention relates to apparatus specially adapted for separating the pulpy
portions from the fibres of the stems or leaves of fibrous plants in a green state.
In such machines there is usually a feed plate rigidly fixed level or nearly level
with the axis of a revolving beater wheel, or there is a moveable curve which can
be advanced towards the beater.
•
According to my invention, I dispense with the stationary feed plate and move-
able curve and employ a flat table on which I lay the stems or leaves to be
operated on.
The table is moved on horizontal guides or it may be partly on rollers to and
fro under the beater wheel, the axle bearings of which are made adjustable
vertically to suit the working distance of the beaters above the table. As the
wheel revolves the beaters clean the leaves or stems laid upon the table, water.
being preferably but not necessarily distributed over them.
To hold the leaves or stems on the table their ends farthest from the wheel are
pinched in a clamp, and in order to hold the cleaned fibres down upon the table
while it is being drawn back, a curved plate or presser is lowered upon them, this
presser extending across the table and being carried by radial arms so that it can
be moved up or down nearly concentric with the boater wheel.
Dated this 10th day of July 1891.
ABEL & IMRAY,.
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Soutching and Cleaning Fibrous
Stems or Leaves.
I, EPHRAIM DEATH of Albert Works, Leicester in the County of Leicester,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
My invention relates to apparatus specially adapted for separating the pulpy
portions from the fibres of the stems or leaves of fibrous plants in a green state.
In such machines there is usually a feed plate rigidly fixed level or nearly level
with the axis of a revolving beater wheel, or there is a moveable curve which can
be advanced towards the beater,
According to my invention, 1 dispense with the stationary feed plate and
moveable curve and employ a flat table on which, I lay the stems or leaves to be
operated on.
The table is moved on horizontal guides, or it may be partly on rollers, to and
fro under the beater wheel, the axle bearings of which are made adjustable vertically
to suit the working distance of the beaters above the table.
As the wheel revolves, the beaters clean the leaves or stems laid upon the table,
water being preferably, but not necessarily, distributed over them.
To hold the leaves or stems on the table, their ends farthest from the wheel are
pinched in a clamp, and in order to hold the cleaned fibres down upon the table

page_text: २४
while it is being drawn back, a curved plate or prosser is lowered upon them,
this presser extending across the table and being carried by radial arms so that it
can be moved up or down nearly concentric with the beater wheel.
Fig. 1 is a side view, Fig. 2 is a plan, Fig. 3 is a half transverse section on the
line X X of Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 is a half end view of apparatus according to my
invention for scutching and cleaning fibrous stems or leaves. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal
section of apparatus on a smaller scalo for the same purpose. In all the figures
like parts are indicated by like letters of reference.
A is the flat table which, as shewn in Fig. 3 may slide on ways B or, as
shown in Fig. 5 and by dotted lines in Fig. 1 may be arranged to run on
rollers C. For apparatus of the larger sizes as shewn in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 1 employ
a band wlieel D with suitable gear and pinion acting on rack E to move the table
to and fro.
For the smaller sizes, as shewn in Fig. 5, these parts may be dispensed with,
the table being moved to and fro by hand applied to the lever F. At the end of
the table is fixed on it a bar or plate G with a V shaped groove. Above this is
a V shaped bar H which being brought down towards the bar G clamps the stems
or leaves that are to be operated on. This clamping may be effected, as shewn in
Fig. 5 by pushing down the levor F, or, in the larger apparatus, by turning a hand
wheel I, the spindle of which is a differential screw, causing a crosshead J to
descend and with it a double crosshead K between the two limbs of which the
clamp bar His pivotted at its middle so that it can accommodate itself to inequalities
of the material which it clamps.
Above the table the benter wheel L is mounted in vertically adjustable bearings
and is, as usual covered by a casing M. On the bearings at each side is pivotted
a radial arm N, and these arms have attached to them a curved presser plate P
which extends across the table and serves to hold the cleaned fibre down on the
table while it is drawn back.
This presser plate can be raised by the operator turning a barrel Q winding
on a cord attached to the middle of the presser plate, or by other suitable means.
Having now particularly-described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In apparatus for scutching and cleaning fibrous stems or leaves, in combina-
tion with a revolving scutching wheel armed with beaters, a flat table on which is
clamped the material to be operated on and which is moved to and fro under the
soutching wheel, substantially as described.
2. In apparatus such as is above referred to, the use of a curved presser plate
for holding down the material operated on during the return stroke of the table.
Dated this 26th day of November 1891.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.