Improvements in Apparatus for Cleaning, Opening or similarly Treating Wool, Cotton, and other Fibrous Materials.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Dec., 1897-Accepted, 22nd Oct, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Cleaning, Opening or similarly
Treating Wool, Cotton, and other Fibrous Materials.
I, JULES DESIRE MOREL, of Roubaix, in the Republic of France, Manufac-
turer, 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:-
:-
This invention relates to a novel apparatus for removing thistles and other
impurities from fibrous materials such as wool, cotton, or the like, by means of
parts the external working covering of which are free from any sharp or pointed
projections capable of entering the thistle-tussocks or prickles and other im-
purities, whilst they are adapted to enter the body of the fibrous material in
order to divide or separate the fibres, and place them in small quantities at a
time in front of (or move them into engagement with) the notches and grooves
of a drum or barrel clothed with a garniture of the kind described in
Specifications of former Patents No. 5833% and 29584% whereby the said
fibres are protected from the action of the expeller or ejector employed to eliminate
the thistle-tussocks, prickles, chaff or the like. And in order to ensure as perfect
an elimination as possible of all impurities, thistles, prickles, chaff or the like, I
have devised a special arrangement of the ejector or expeller, being a cylinder
fitted with blades or paddles.
the
The construction of my improved apparatus is shewn in the accompanying
drawing, in which ;-
Figure 1 is a detail of a portion of the circumference of the barrel or drum
shewing the pins applied thereto.
Figure 2 is a detail view of the expeller, and
Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of the complete machine drawn to a reduced
scale.
On a drum or barrel A (Figure 3) provided with pins arranged in lozenge-
shape, the ends of which are wide and rounded off in such a manner as to present
a somewhat large surface to the thistles and prickles so as to prevent their being
perforated or torn off, I charge or deposit the wool either by hand or by machinery
causing the material to be so engaged that while part of the fibres is retained
by the pins of the barrel A their opposite ends hang down ahead of the said
barrel.
The barrel A revolves as indicated by the arrow and brings the free ends of
the fibres into contact with an endless canvas band or apron B which as it moves
more rapidly than A inclines the free ends of the fibres and takes them along
in the same direction in which it itself is driven thus bringing them up to the
cylinder C.
The cylinder C may be either smooth or provided with wire with rounded parts
similar to those with which the opening drum or barrel G is fitted inasmuch as
the said cylinder C only serves to attract the fibres held by A.

page_text: In revolving, the cylinder C inserts between it and the brush D the free ends
of the fibres brought along by A.
The brush D the bristles of which enter the pins of A serves to disengage the
extremities of the fibres retained by the said pins and to cause them to take up
their position between it and the roller C in proportion as the barrel or drum A
moves along.
The roller C and brush D which are in contact with the brush E, having short
bristles, and the feeding cylinder F provided with wires, with rounded teeth placed
in the reverse direction to those of the drum or barrel G, so as to cause such
barrel G to draw out the fibres by extending them in length, thus serve to dis-
play the fibres when already in the lengthened out condition.
The brush E, the bristles of which are short, exercises a wedge-action in the
wires of F and there retains the fibres whilst the opener G is performing its
.action, such fibres being only delivered to G in proportion as E and F move
along.
The fibres delivered to G through the feeding roller are gradually removed
therefrom by the brush H. which carries them into the notches and grooves of
the barrel J.
The barrel J in its rotary movement takes along with it the fibres in its notches
and grooves, whilst the thistles prickles and other impurities alone, not having
been allowed to find their way into those recesses, are struck by the blades of
the expeller K as they pass within its reach and projected bodily upon the
plate M without having been either stretched out or cut during the operation of
the machine.
Continuing in motion the said barrel or roller J presently brings the fibres
into position to be acted upon by the brush L or by a doffer, whereby they are
taken off and transferred to the card or other apparatus which is to operate upon
them next.
A plate N placed in the rear of the expeller K prevents the impurities from
being thrown back into the material just cleansed.
The expeller K (Figure 2) is of special construction which ensures greater
efficiency in the operation of this device.
I have observed that owing to the speed at which the said expeller has to be
driven, its blades form a fan, and their ventilating action is liable to prove
detrimental to good work inasmuch as the fibres are thereby raised within the
notches and grooves and are more than necessary exposed to the shocks of the
expeller. I have therefore reduced them in height as much as practicable, and
have also diminished the distances between them so as to destroy or reduce to ni
the ventilation or draught to which they would otherwise be subject, while at the
same time ensuring a more frequently repeated action of the blades, given equal
velocities.
The expeller cylinder K is provided on its circumference with a series of blades
horizontal, or parallel to the shaft of the cylinder.
These blades, which only project a little in order to avoid the ventilation or
draught, have their faces turned forwards in relation to their direction of motion,
perpendicular to the shaft and their rear surfaces are oblique in relation to the
face which acts upon or expels the impurities.
As shown at a Figure 2 (left side) the blades may be cast in one with the
cylinder, or the cylinder K may be cast with grooves b (right side) in which
the blades c are fixed by any suitable means.
In order to obtain perfect working, the blades are very close to one another,
so that no thistle-tussocks, twigs, chaff or the like can pass under the expeller
cylinder K without being acted upon.
Within the cylinder A (Figure 3) I arrange a second hollow cylinder A¹ into
which in case of need I may send a current of steam so that the moist wool, as
it comes from washing, may slowly dry on being brought into contact with the
pins and may reach the feeders E F in good operative condition.

page_text: During the process of placing the wool upon the pins of the barrel or roller A,
the impurities which do not firmly adhere to the wool fall down; another part
of the impurities, thistle-tussocks, twigs, chaff or the like drop down during
the lengthening out of the fibres by the action of the roller G; the brush H
in its turn also eliminates a certain proportion of the impurities as it performs
its work, and the expeller K finishes the cleansing operation by performing its
own task.
The wool which has been presented to the feeders will accordingly be found
more readily workable and better adapted to be opened by the drum or roller G,
without being broken, so that the carding or other machine which will have to
operate upon the material next will exercise less strain thereon, and will pro-
duce combed fibres of greater length, with less waste, and the operative parts
of the carding machine also will undergo less strain.
In Figure 3 the dotted line indicates the course taken by the material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is :-
An improved thistle removing or cleansing machine for fibrous material such
as wool, cotton, and the like the main features of which are as follows:-
(1). The combination of a drum barrel or roller such as A the periphery of
which is provided with pins having rounded ends, their object being to enter
the fibrous mass without either perforating or cutting the thistle-tussocks, prickles,
twigs, chaff or other impurities, with an inner cylinder A' capable of receiving
a steam jet which in certain cases may be employed to dry the wool or material
on the cylinder A, and of presenting such material in a good condition to the
feeding mechanism E F.
(2). The combination of a cylinder A A¹ with pins and intermediate parts for
feeding and preparing the material to be treated with an expelling or ejecting
cylinder K provided on its periphery with a series of blades projecting from it
for a little distance and brought close together, so as to avoid ventilation, which
is invariably detrimental to this kind of work, and also to render the action of the
said blades upon the material more frequent within a given time.
Dated this 4th day of Dacomtion 1907
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.