IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR EXTRACTING AND CLEANING THE FIBRES OF PLANTS
Year: 1884

page_text: I ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. and W. Clark of
53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents. do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINES FOR EXTRACTING AND CLEANING THE FIBRES OF PLANTS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object to provide a machine for use in extracting the
fibres of plants such as Maguey, Lechuguilla, Ramie, etc., and at the same time
cleaning the said fibres. It is intended to operate to break and scrape off the
outside of the plants and the soft parts or meat of the inside, this being
accomplished by means of dull edged knives arranged spirally upon a roller that is
fitted to revolve at a high rate of speed.
The mechanism is mounted upon a frame that is fitted at one end with a power
shaft and provided with two pairs of feed rollers, the lower roller of each pair
carrying an endless belt or apron. Forward of the rollers is a table preferably
surfaced with sole leather to prevent the material from slipping, and above the
table is a knife roller which is supported at its ends in boxes that are fitted to
slide vertically and provided with springs for pressing the knife roller into contact
with the material on the table. A presser bar serves to hold the plant said roller
being supported in a cross bar and furnished with a spring to force the bar down
upon the table. There is an endless travelling apron at the end of the table
carried by suitable rollers, and passing beneath a drum or cylinder around one side
of which are arranged a series of rollers extending from the forward end of the
apron to the upper side of the drum, where there is a second table also surfaced
with leather and above this table there is a second knife roller and presser bar.
At the opposite end of the latter table is a delivery apron carried by suitable
rollers.
The rollers carrying the feed apron, and the lower knife roller are driven by
belts from a pulley upon the power shaft, the pulley for the belt of the knife
roller being of considerable diameter so as to give a rapid rotation to the roller.

page_text: The upper knife roller is driven by a cross belt, directly from a pulley on the
shaft of the lower roller, while the drum and rollers and the endless apron at the
end of the table are driven by a belt from a pulley on the lower feed roller and
gearing, but these connections may be made in any convenient manner.
The plant is fed to the first pair of feed rollers, and passes upon the apron,
which carries it forward to the second set of rollers and these two pairs of rollers
serve to crush or flatten the material.
The two upper rollers should be adjustably fitted so that they can be raised or
lowered to accomodate different thicknesses of plants. The material thence passes
upon the table, beneath the presser and knife roller. The presser prevents the
material from being dragged forward by the knife roller without the fibre being
removed, and being thus he'd, the knives on the knife roller serve to scrape or
clean the plants, the pressure of the springs of the knife roller being so regulated
that the knives act to remove the skin and softer portions of the plant; thereby
scraping the fibre bare. From the table the material cleaned upon one side is
carried to the upper table upon which it is laid in a reversed position, so that the
uncleaned portions are presented to the second knife roller, which acts in a similar
manner to finish the cleaning operation, so that the fibre is delivered in a completely
separated and cleaned condition to the delivery apron, by which it is delivered to
any suitable receptacle..
.

page_text: I ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark of
53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINES FOR EXTRACTING AND CLEANING THE FIBRES OF PLANTS," and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
This invention has for its object to provide a machine which is intended for use
in extracting the fibres of plants such as Maguey, Lechuguilla, Ramie, etc. and at
the same time cleaning the said fibres. It is intended to operate to break and
scrape off the outside of the plants and the soft parts or meat of the inside this
being accomplished by means of dull edged knives arranged spirally upon a roller
that is fitted to revolve at a high rate of speed as hereinafter described and
claimed.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the figures.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of this improved machine. Figure 2 is a longitudinal
section of the same and Figure 3 is a side elevation of one of the knife rollers in
larger size.
The mechanism is mounted upon a suitable frame A that is fitted at one end
with a shaft a for connection of power; b b are a pair of feed rollers and dda
similar pair of rollers, the lower roller of each pair carrying an endless belt or
apron c for feeding material to the knives.
Forward of the rollers d d is a table e which is preferably covered or surfaced
with sole leather so as to prevent the material from slipping, and above the table
is fitted a knife roller f which is supported at its ends in boxes that are fitted to
slide vertically, and g are springs above the boxes for pressing the knife roller into
contact with the material on the table. h is a presser bar supported in a cross
bar and fitted with a spring which forces the bar down upon the table e for
the purpose of holding the plant so that it may not run away from the knife
roller, as hereinafter specified. At the end of the table c is an endless travelling
apron carried by suitable rollers and passing beneath a drum or cylinder m
around one side of which are arranged a series of rollers n extending from the
forward end of the apron 7 to the upper side of the drum, where there is a second
table o also covered with leather. Above this table o is a knife roller f¹ and also
a presser bar h¹.
At the opposite end of the table o is a delivery apron p, carried
by suitable rollers for delivery of the clean material.
The knife rollers f and fas shown most 'clearly in figure 3 are fitted with
spiral blades or knifes f, the edges of which are dull or blunt, so that they will
act to scrape, without cutting the fibre.
The rollers carrying the apron c and the knife roller fare driven by belts from
a pulley upon the shaft a, the pulley for the belt of the knife roller being of
considerable diameter so as to give a rapid rotation to the roller. The upper knife
roller is driven by a cross belt directly from a pulley on the shaft of the lower
roller while the apron L, drum m, and rollers n are driven by a belt from a pulley
on the lower roller b and gearing, but these connections may be made in any
convenient manner.
The plaut is fed to the two rollers bb from a suitable table or otherwise and
passes upon the apron c which carries it forward to the second set of rollers d d,

page_text: these two pairs of rollers bd, serve to crush or flatten the material, and the two
upper rollers should be adjustably fitted so that they can be raised or lowered to
accomodate different thicknesses of plants. From the rollers d d the material
passes upon the table e beneath the presser h and knife roller. The presser
prevents the material from being dragged forward by the knife roller without the
fibre being removed, and, being thus held, the knives on the knife roller serve to
scrape or clean the plants, and the pressure of the springs g of the knife roller is to
be so regulated that the knives act to remove the skin and softer portions of the
plant; thereby scraping the fibre bare. From the table e the material, thus cleaned
upon one side, then passes to the apron and is carried by the drum m and
rollers n to the upper table o upon which it is laid in a reversed position or with
the cleaned side downward, so that the uncleaned portions are presented to the
second knife roller f¹, which acts in a similar manner to finish the cleaning
operation, so that the fibre is delivered in a completely separated and cleaned
condition to the delivery apron p, by which it is delivered to any suitable
receptacle.
.
This machine acts most efficiently in the cleaning of fibrous plants for the
removal of the useless or woody portions, and leaves the fibres in the best possible
condition for subsequent use.
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:
1 The combination of the presser bar h, the spring pressed roll f, having spiral
blunt edged blades f³ and the table e, whereby the plants may be held sufficiently
and scraped as described.
2nd The combination of the endless travelling apron 1, the drum m, and the
rollers n, whereby the plant may be carried from one table to the other and
reversed in position as described.