Improvements in Machinery for Breaking or Scutching Flax and similar Fibrous Materials.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Mar., 1892-Accepted, 30th Apr., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machinery for Breaking or Scutching Flax and
similar Fibrous Materials.
I, EMIL GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS HATSCHEK of 3 Bedford Place, Russell Square
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed t
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
According to my invention the flax straw is presented in a thin layer to a pa
of feed rollers which are pressed against each other so as to crush the straw flat
and thereby split it longitudinally and at the same time feed it into an opening
between two stationary knives placed immediately beneath the feed rollers.
Below these stationary knives is another pair of knives which are connected
rigidly together so as to form a kind of frame which has imparted to it a recipro-
cating motion in a horizontal plane and between it and the face of the said
stationary knives is a small clearance or space. This reciprocating frame has a
pair of knife edges at the upper side and another pair at the lower side with a
space between each pair. Below said reciprocating frame is a third pair of knives
which are stationary but which are pressed up against the reciprocating frame by
springs which exert only a slight pressure thereon. The space between the upper
stationary knives is slightly less than that between the lower stationary knives.
When the flax or other straw passes between the upper stationary knives it is
caught by the two upper edges of the reciprocating frame and broken over the
edges of the upper stationary knives, the straw is thereby broken into small pieces
and shaken out of the fibre by the motion imparted to it by the reciprocating
frame.
On reaching the lower opening of the reciprocating frame the fibre is again
caught and bent alternately over the lower edges of the lower pair of stationary
knives which latter, being pressed against the reciprocating frame by springs, yield
when the fibre is pressed between them and the lower face of the reciprocating
frame, when this latter reaches its two extreme positions so that the fibre is not
damaged. The slight resistance however which the lower stationary knives offer
at the moment at which the lower knife edges of the reciprocating frame strike
them is sufficient to dislodge any particles of straw which have been left in the
fibre after it has passed the first pair of knives and has also the effect of breaking
those thinner stems and branches which have only been bent by passing the first
pair of stationary knives.
My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which,
Fig. 1 is a front elevation,
Fig. 2 a plan and Figs. 3 & 4 two opposite end views of my improved
apparatus.
Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section of the machine and Fig. 6 is an underside view
of one end of it drawn half full size.
Figs. 7 & 8 are sections of the operating parts drawn full size but showing the
reciprocating frame in two different positions. Figure 7 also showing the lower
pair of stationary knives pressed up against the reciprocating frame whilst Figure 8
shows such lower knives pressed slightly away from the reciprocating frame by the
fibre interposed between them.
Fig. 9 is an underside view and Fig. 94 is a cross section and Fig. 10 is an edge
or side view of one half of the reciprocating frame.
Fig. 11 is an underside view and Fig. 12 is an edge or side view of one half of
the lower stationary knives and the cast iron frame to which the same are fixed
and

page_text: Fig. 13 is a cross section of Fig. 11.
In all the figures like parts are indicated by similar letters of reference.
The frame of the machine consists of two end standards a a fixed rigidly together
by four cross stays b b.
These end standards are provided with webs or flanges a' a' which are widened
at a² a for bolting the machine to a horizontal beam or a pair of uprights, the
machine being further supported by a pair of pillars fixed to pedestals (not shown),
the said standards are also provided with bearings for the various shafts and with
chipping pieces a serving as bearings for the reciprocating frame. c is a feed
hopper formed of two thin plates fixed to cross bars ¹ fixed to the end
standards a, u.
dd are a pair of feed rollers, they are formed of wrought iron coated with
india rubber or other yielding material so as to hold the stems tightly in all places
although the thickness of the layer of straw may be different at different points of
the line of contact of the two rollers.
These feed rollers run in brass blocks located in rectangular openings a¹ a
in the end standards a and they are pressed against each other by solid india-rubber
buffers or other suitable springs, bearing against the blocks which springs d³ ³
can be tightened by screws, s.
On one end of one feed roller is fixed a spur wheel d³ and on the opposite end of
the other feed roller is a spur wheel ; these feed rollers are driven from a shaft f
fitted with a belt pulley which is driven from the main or other shaft of the
room-in which the machine is placed. The shaft has fixed thereon at one end a
toothed pinion and at the other end a toothed pinion f; the pinion gears
into the spur wheel d³ on one of the feed rollers d'and the pinion 73 gears into a
pinion running on a stud and giving motion to the spur wheel on the other
feed roller.
Immediately below the feed rollers is a pair of stationary knives 9 y' bolted to
the end standards and having an intervening space of about three eights of an inch
wide; below these knives is another pair of knives which are rigidly connected
together by distance pieces and rivets thereby forming a kind of frame as
shown more clearly by Figure 9.
This frame runs against the chipping pieces or bearings a³ of the end standards
and it has a reciprocating motion imparted to it in a horizontal plane by a pair of
cranks and connecting rods ; the cranks h are fixed or formed on a shaft 4*
running in bearings in the end frames a, a; this shaft 7 has fixed on one end
thereof a drum or pulley ' which receives motion by a strap or band from the
same shaft as that which drives the feed motion.
Between the upper face of this reciprocating frame and the face of the knives g g¹
is a space or clearance of about one sixteenth of an inch or more. The said
reciprocating frame has knife edges h h at both its upper and lower faces and the
space between the upper knife edges is preferably about three eights of an inch
wide and that between the lower knife edges is preferably about one half an inch
wide; so that in the extreme position of the reciprocating frame in one direction
the edge will overlap the edge by about five sixteenths of an inch.
Below this reciprocating frame is a third pair of knives i bolted to a cast iron
frame, these knives are stationary and are pressed up against the recíprocating
frame by two pairs of springs j, i, see Figures 1, 3, 4, and 5; the pressure on these
knives is very slight, being preferably about a pound per foot length.
The reciprocating frame is held up to the chipping pieces or bearings a³ by two
guide bars k which are fixed in position by four bolts 1, 1, and these bolts are
continued through the said guide bars as centres or guides for the springs j,j, which
support the pair of knives these springs are adjustably fixed on such bolts
by nuts and lock nuts l¹.
The various pairs of knives are made of cast steel polished on all their sliding
surfaces and having the edges carefully blunted.
The number of revolutions of the feed rollers depends on the quality of the straw

page_text: which is being treated; the speed being higher for good kinds and lower for poor
or hard kinds of straw.
The straw is fed into the hopper c with the twigs downwards and it is seized by
the feed rollers d d and when the whole has passed the rollers it drops out of the
machine. The crank shaft he runs at a speed of from 400 to 500 revolutions per
minute depending on the quality of the straw to be treated.
The feed rollers drive the straw into the space or opening between the knives g, g³,
where it is caught by the two upper edges h h¹ of the reciprocating frame and
broken over the edges of the stationary knives g, g¹, the straw is thereby broken
into small pieces and shaken out of the fibre.
On reaching the lower opening of the reciprocating frame the fibre is again caught
and bent alternately over the edges of the lowest pair of knives i i¹ which latter
being pressed upwards against the reciprocating frame, yield when the fibre is
pressed between them and the face of the reciprocating frame when the latter
reaches its two extreme positions so that the fibre is not damaged. The slight
resistance however which the knives offer at the moment at which the edge of the
reciprocating frame strikes them, is sufficient to dislodge any particles of straw
which may have been left in the fibre after it has passed the knives g, g', and has
also the effect of breaking those thinner stems and branches which have only been
bent in passing the first pair of knives.
The machine scutches the flax or similar fibrous material without destroying or
entangling any fibre thereby producing a superior product as well as a larger
quantity of flax or other fibre from a certain quantity of straw than the contrivances
or machines hitherto employed for the purpose.
The length of the machine is only limited by considerations for the stiffness of
the knives, a machine three or four feet wide will meet practical requirements best
as it can be easily fed by one attendant.
I would here remark that the means for driving the feed rollers and reciprocating
frame may be varied without departing from the peculiar character of my
invention.
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 1
claim is :-
1. The general arrangement and combination of machinery or apparatus for
breaking or scutching flax or other fibrous materials, substantially as herein shown
and described.
2. In breaking or scutching machinery the combination and arrangement of two
parallel stationary knives having a small opening or space between them, a pair of
feed rollers above said knives for driving the straw between them, a pair of recipro-
cating knives arranged underneath at a short distance from the said stationary
knives and moving in each direction so far as to overlap the said stationary knives
and thereby break the straw, and a pair of stationary knives below the reciprocating
knives and pressed against the latter by spring pressure to finish the work,
substantially as herein shown and described.
DAL
101 1
1002
EMIL G. A. HATSCHEK,
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.