Fibres from the Stalks or Stems of Plants.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 20th June, 1887
Complete Left, 9th Nov., 1887
Complete Accepted, 29th Mar., 1888
Fibres from the Stalks or Stems of Plants.
A communication to me from abroad by FRANÇOIS JULES MAIZIER and FRANZ JOSEPH
WILHELM REITZ, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Engineers.
I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object improvements in machinery or apparatus for
separating fibres to be used for textile purposes from the stalks or stems of plants and
for simultaneously removing the refuse or waste.
The improved machine includes the processes already used for separating the fibres
such as fluted, breaking, beating, scraping or stripping, and combing or heckling
rollers which are arranged in suitable order. It also includes mechanism for auto-
matically feeding the material at the proper times and in the proper manner. The
efficiency of the machine and the quantity of the material treated is much greater
than in such machines heretofore ordinarily used, the fibrous material to be treated
not being liable to injury.
In the improved machine the fibrous stalks or stems which are to be treated are
held by means of elastic clips in a moveable frame arranged on both sides of tho
machine and are fed in the direction of their width through the machine in such
manner that the frame which carries them has an up and down motion for passing
them through the different sets of rollers by which they are treated, and a horizontal
motion for passing them from one such set of rollers to the next at intervals, whilst
automatic apparatus receives and carries away the refuse.
The improved machine consists of a horizontal frame carrying bearings in which
revolve four groups of pairs of rollers of the well known kind, that is to say fluted,

page_text: beating or stripping, rubbing, and heckling rollers, between which other pairs of
similar intermediate rollers may be arranged should the character of the material to
be treated require them.
Above these rollers is arranged feeding mechanism by which the stems or stalks are
automatically fed between the rollers vertically and are also moved forward horizontally
from each pair of rollers to the next. Below the rollers are arranged a series of
parallel stretched wires, by which the refuse from the stalks is removed, and carried
away by an endless screw.
The stalks or stems to be treated are arranged across the machine in hinged clips
or pincers consisting of curved steel plates covered with india rubber and fixed to
crossbars, the stems or stalks being held between the india rubber surfaces.
The clip is suspended by means of hooks which can be opened by hand when desired
so that the clip can be readily inserted and removed.
Between the clip and the support which carries it is arranged a spiral or other spring
which prevents injury to the stalks or stems by any sudden pull upon them, and safety
chains are also provided to prevent injury to the mechanism in case the spring should
break. Two rods fixed to the support on each side of the clip serve to guide the latter
in a vertical direction. The clips having been supplied with the stalks or stems arc
successively placed by hand upon an inclined guide bar or bars, down which they slide
until stopped by fixed pins. Endless chains passing round pullies are provided with
hooks which as the chains move lift the clips and carrying them over the upper pulley
deposit them upon inclined bars down which they slide until again stopped by pins.
The pullies round which the chain passes are made adjustable in position.
The frame, which as already described carries the clips and stems in both a vertical
and horizontal direction, in its rising movement lifts by means of an inclined plate
the clip carrying the stems over the pins by which it has been stopped as described
and allows it to continue its descent until it rests in hooks or notches at the bottom
of the inclined bars. The frame then continues to rise until endless chains one of
which it carries on each side lift the ends of the crossbar which carries the clip, and
as the chains travel forward they carry the clip with them until the stalks or stems
depending from it are exactly above the first pair of rollers.
The main driving shaft of the machine is provided at each side of the machine with
cranks set exactly opposite to each other, the cranks being provided with connecting
rods the outer ends of which are jointed to crossheads each of which actuates a
horizontal toothed rack the full length of the machine. The rotation of the cranks
therefore imparts to these racks an alternate motion backward and forward which
motion actuates all the other mechanism of the apparatus with the exception of the
chain by which the clips are raised as already described.
The frame which carries the clips as first described is provided with vertical racks.
which gear with a toothed wheel which itself receives an alternate rotating movement
backward and forward from the racks first described, and an up and down motion is
therefore given to the frame which is preferably balanced by counterweights.
The endless chains at each end of the frame upon which the ends of the supports
carrying the clip rest receive their movement in the following manner.
Upon the
axis of one of the chain wheels round which the chain passes two toothed wheels are
loosely mounted which can set the chain wheel in movement when required by means
of a double ratchet wheel and palls so arranged that the chainwheel can be made to
rotate in one direction only.
Two vertical racks serve to rotate the toothed wheels just described one of these
racks being constantly in gear with one of the toothed wheels whilst the second rack
gears upon the opposite side with the other toothed wheel. When the frame rises and
has reached the proper point the first rack drives the toothed wheel with which it
gears and turns the chain wheel and chain as the frame continues to rise, and the chain
accordingly receives a horizontal movement from the right to the left.
When the frame descends the rack comes down without causing the chain wheel to
rotate the pall passing over the ratchet wheel.
The rack just described is not firmly fixed but slides through an opening in its

page_text: support and only acts upon the toothed wheel with which it gears, when a stop upon it
comes in contact with the support. The rack is therefore constantly in gear with the
wheel and by this arrangement the chance of breaking the teeth of the wheel or rack
is prevented which would be the case if the rack were to leave the wheel entirely and
were not to come properly in gear with the latter on its return. The other rack
imparts a similar motion to the chainwheel and chain when the frame descends, and
by this arrangement of the two racks the vertical movement of the frame for a
determined horizontal movement of the chain is only half as great as if only one rack
were used.
By the alternate ascending, horizontal backward and forward, and descending
motions of the frame and with it of the feeding mechanism, the clips filled with stalks
or stems are first lifted and then deposited upon the endless chains of the frame and
are successively fed in the direction of their width between the several pairs of rollers
where they are subjected to the required treatment.
The several pairs of rollers are actuated in the following manner. The first pair
of fluted rollers have for their object to break the woody parts of the stems and partly
to loosen them. As the bundles of stems are fed into each working part of the
machine in the direction of their width they receive a vertical up and down motion,
and the pairs of fluted rollers are also made to revolve in alternately different directions
and speed.
The fluted rollers may have either horizontal or circumferential grooves and if the
stalks or stems are liable to be injured each roller of the pair may be driven, one
roller by a rack upon one side and the other by a rack upon the other side. The
shafts of each pair of rollers revolve in bearings the distance between which can be
accurately regulated, and one of them being adjusted by a screw and the other being
held by an adjustable metal or india rubber spring, which allows the rollers to separate
in case of need. The rollers are driven by two toothed wheels of different diameters
turning freely upon the shaft of one of the rollers and gearing with the horizontal
racks already mentioned. These wheels transmit their movement to the axle by means
of double ratchet discs keyed upon the shaft between them and actuated by two palls
gearing with the teeth of the ratchet dise and carried by the toothed wheels so that
when the stalks are entering between the fluted rollers the larger toothed wheel
drives the latter at a less speed, whilst in the reverse direction when the stalks are
leaving the rollers the latter are driven by the smaller toothed wheel at a greater
speed.
The up and down movement of the feeding mechanism and frame is so arranged
relatively to the circumferential speed of the fluted rollers that in the descending
movement of the frame the latter moves at a greater speed than the rollers while in
the ascending movement the reverse is the case, so that the stalks or steins are not
injured by any direct pull.
The extent of up and down movement of the frame may be regulated by altering
the position of the crank pins.
By the apparatus described, after the plants stalks or stems have been operated upon
by the first fluted rollers they are moved forward and fed to the succeeding pairs of
rollers.
When the woody matter of the stalks or stems has been thus finely broken up the
first stage of cleaning the broken woody matter from the fibres is proceeded with.
For this purpose the rotation of the rollers is continuous in the same direction and in
this group of rollers the springs by which the clips are suspended as already described
come into operation, as without them the action of the heating cylinders by which
the woody matter is removed tends to tear the fibres of the stalks or stems.
In order to impart a continuous rotation in the same direction to these beating
rollers, one of each pair of rollers is set in motion on one side of the machine by a
rack while the other is set in motion on the other side of the machine by another rack
moving in the opposite direction. Ratchet wheels and palls are arranged between
the racks and the roller axles so that the latter always revolve in the same
direction.

page_text: From the rollers just described the plant stems are now moved forward to the third
group of rollers which are similar to the first described having grooves either parallel
with the axis or circumferential these grooves however being made as fine as possible
in order to effect the final bruizing of the woody and straw particles and the further
cleaning of the fibres.
These rollers have preferably an oscillating rotary movement, simultaneously pro-
gressive and changing its direction, which is imparted to them by the following
means.
Upon the crosshead which is driven backwards and forwards by the connecting rod
already described is arranged a toothed wheel gearing with a rack firmly fixed to the
crosshead guide so that as the crosshead moves backward and forward the toothed
wheel moves with it at the same time revolving first in one direction and then in the
other. This toothed wheel sets in corresponding revolution by means of toothed
wheels and pinions a crank carried by the crosshead which crank drives by means of a
connecting rod a crosshead fixed to a rack which actuates the rollers. The rotation of
these rollers is therefore an oscillating movement in the direction of rotation, and at
the same time a forward progressive and alternate movement, whereby the object of
the cylinders or rollers which is to heckle out the last fine woody or straw particles
from the vegetable fibres, is successfully accomplished. In order to render this move-
ment as free as possible from shocks the joint by which the connecting rod is connected
to the crosshead is preferably arranged between springs.
By a further continued movement of the chains and frame the clip carrying the
stems is now caused to enter the fourth and last group of rollers which carry arms
made of wood and covered with leather. The movement of these last beating rollers
is more powerful than that of the rollers of the second group and by it the last and
finest particles of straw and woody matter are removed and a proper direction given
to the fibres. The clips carrying the finished fibre are then deposited by the endless
chains upon inclined bars whence they can be removed. The stems or stalks are then
removed from the clips, inverted end for end, and again passed through the machine
in order that the parts previously held by the clips may be treated.
The residual woody fibre and straw removed from the material by the treatment
described is carried away by the following arrangement. Below the whole length of
the machine is arranged an endless band consisting of a large number of parallel steel
or other wires passing round pullies at the ends of the machine. The axles of these
pullies at one end are moveable and provided with springs by which the wires are
kept stretched. Near the upper surface of these steel wires are arranged inclined
moveable gratings consisting of parallel bars which catch up the towy fibre whilst the
strawy matter drops further on through the steel wire. One of these gratings is
placed behind the first pair of beating rollers, and a second grating behind a second
pair of beating rollers, so that the best material falling from the first pair is separated
from that falling from the second pair and can be independently removed from the
machine. The strawy matter falling through the wire band can be conveyed away to
any suitable place by endless screws of the usual kind.
EDWARDS & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Fibres from the Stalks or Stems of Flants.
A communication to me from abroad by FRANÇOIS JULES MAIZIER and FRANZ
JOSEPH WILHELM REITZ, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgiumn, Engineers.
I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
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 and accompanying drawings:
This invention has for its object improvements in machinery or apparatus for the
separation of fibres to be used for textile purposes from the stalks or stems of plants
and for the simultaneous removal and transport of the refuse or waste.
The improved machine includes the known processes and appliances used for the
separation of the fibres such as fluted, breaking, beating, scraping or stripping, and
combing or heckling, rollers, which are arranged in suitable order. It also includes
mechanism for automatically feeding the material, in such a manner that this
mechanism does not actuate each working part, such as the fluted, breaking or other
rollers independently, but so that all work harmoniously and in the proper manner
relatively to each other, the efficiency and the quality and quantity of the material
treated being thus increased to a point not hitherto attained (the production reaching
6000 kilogrammes of flax per 10 working hours) with regard to the quantity of the
production as well as with regard to the quality of the product.
In machines heretofore known and used for the automatical preparation of vegetable
textile fibres in which a set of successive treatments is carried out by means of special
and separate machines, the working parts receive either a regular rotary motion, or
several different motions corresponding to the operation which is being performed,
such motions being uniform and not graduated in proportion corresponding to the
various periods of operation and to the motion of the feeding mechanism and
consequently the textile fibres are taken up and operated upon in an injurious manner
and are thus subjected to frequent breakages or injury.
In the improved machinery which forms the subject of the present invention oven
during the strongest beating action, an elastic gearing action is ensured for the part
of the machine which operates upon the stalks or stems of the plants, and which feeds
the latter in the direction of its width further through the machine.
In the accompanying drawings which are in illustration of the invention,
Figures I, II, III, and IV shew respectively side, front, and top, views of the entire
machine, while Figures V to XXIX shew details of the feeding and motor mechanism.
In this machine the parts operating upon the stalks and stems of the plants form four
groups of the well known fluted, beating or stripping, friction and heckling rollers

page_text: arranged in pairs which may be provided according to the nature and the properties
of the material under treatment with more or less sub-divisions, that is to say with a
greater or less number of pairs of intermediate rollers such as the two pairs of fluted
rollers 40, 40, pairs of beating and stripping rollers or arms 41, 41, beyond which are
placed the two pairs of heckling and rubbing rollers 62, 62, while a part of the
machine arranged above and by the side of these pairs of rollers forms the feeding
mechanism which feeds automatically into the machine the stems or stalks of the
plants clamped in suitable clips, such stems or stalks being fed in in the direction of
their width and subsequently moved forward.
Underneath are arranged below the pairs of rollers the parallel stretched wires 55,
two grids or gratings 59 and 60, and an endless travelling screw 61 for taking up and
removing the residual tow and straw.
In the following description the mode of operation of the machinery is described
simultaneously with the general arrangement of the same.
The stalks or stems of the plants under treatment are placed in sufficient numbers
in the clip or pincers 1, having a single or a duplex form, and consisting of the curved
steel plates 76 coated with india rubber, moving upon the hinge 75, and fixed to the
cross bars 78; these clips serve to firmly hold the stems or stalks between the india
rubber surfaces. The clip is closed by means of a lever 84 arranged to move upon
the link 85 and provided with a nose or projection gearing into a hollow projection of
the second half of the clip (as shewn in figures V and X.)-This clip is suspended to
a support 36 by means of hooks 81 soldered or fixed upon the former; Figures XIII
and XIV shew the detailed construction of these hooks. A hook-like ring 81. is
provided and a flap or strap 82 which flies open when the clip is raised by hand which
is effected by depressing the lever 83, so that the clip may be raised in and out.
In order that during the motion of the clip an injurious pull or tension may not be
imparted to the stalk or stem, there are placed between the hooks 81 and the cross
bar 38, spiral springs serving to prevent such pull, and there are moreover provided
safety chains 80 which in case of rupture of the spiral spring will prevent any injury
being caused to the mechanism. Two rods 87 fixed to the support and placed on both
sides of the clip, serve for guiding in a vertical direction the clip as well as the springs 79
during the motion of the former and the cross bar 88*, provided with ears for
connecting the hooks 81 the spring 79 and the safety chain 80, slides upon these
guiding rods 87. The clips 1 which are supplied with stalks or steins are successively
placed by hand upon the bar or rail 2, which in this machine is the only manipulation
required to be effected by hand. The sloping position of the rail 2 ensures that the
clips 1 laid upon them should slide as far as the pins 3. By means of the hooks 4 of
the chain 5, which is in motion, the clips are raised up and are laid upon the rail 6
upon which they slide until they come to the abutting pins 7. These chains 5 are
driven by the chain wheels 8 which are keyed upon the gearing 9. The rollers 10
are moveable upon the rod 11 and serve for guiding as well as for attaching and
adjusting the chains (see Fig. 1). By means of the ascending frame or gallery 18 the
feeding mechanism which is moveable in both a vertical and in a horizontal direction
will now raise, by means of the plate 36 connected with 18, the clips over the abutting
pins 7 so that they may pass into the hook-like bend or curvature 37 of the rail. The
gallery 18 which continues to ascend takes up by means of its endless chain 19, the
clips 1 and the support 38 in such a manner that claws connected with the latter fall
into the links of the chain. This upward motion of the gallery 18 and the necessary
further motion of the chain and of the clips until precisely over the centre of the pairs
of rollers, as well as the now requisite motion of the gallery for feeding the stalks or
stems to the pairs of rollers is carried out by means of the following arrangement.
As mentioned in the commencement of this description, the motion of all the parts of
the machine is effected from one point and in one direction the motion of the feeding
mechanism being effected by the main shaft a, of the machine, at the sides of the latter,
two main cranks 12 being arranged opposite to one another and connected by means
of the rods 13 with the cross heads 14 (Figures I, IV and 28, 29).
To each of these cross heads (figures XXVIII and XXIX) is firmly fixed or cast

page_text: in one piece therewith two racks 15, and 15* having the same length as that of the
entire machine.
The rotation of the crank 12 imparts to these racks a to and fro or backward and
forward motion, and this motion serves also to actuate all the other mechanism of the
apparatus with the exception of the chain 5 which raises the clips. The gallery 18
consisting of two U-iron supports, which receives its motion through the box 35 and
the rods 34, is provided with the vertical racks 17 which gear with the toothed
wheel 16, the latter receiving an alternate opposite rotation from the racks 15 whereby
an up and down motion is also imparted to the gallery.
In order to balance the weight of the whole gallery 18 racks 17* are provided
having counterweights and arranged opposite the racks 17.
The clips 1 seized by the chain 19, receive their horizontal or to and fro motion in
the following manner. Upon the upper surface of the gallery support 18 slides an
endless chain 19 of light construction which passes on the top of the gallery and upon
the front of the machine over a guiding roller 20 and returns along the inner surface
of the lower flange of the U-iron after having been wound upon the chain wheel 21
which furnishes at the same time the motor wheel for the chain 19. Upon the axis of
the chain wheel 21 are loosely mounted as shewn in Figures XI and VI the two
toothed wheels 22 and 23 which can cause the chain wheel 21 to rotate in a similar
manner to that hereinafter more particularly described with reference to the
transmission of motion to the fluted roilers and to the stripping rollers by means of
the pawls 24 and 25 and of the double ratchet wheel 26.
The pawls 24 and 25 are so placed that the chain wheel 21 can only be rotated in
one direction by the toothed wheel 22 and 23 as indicated by the arrow. The two
racks 27 and 28 serve to rotate the toothed wheels 22 and 23 loosely mounted upon
the axis of the chain wheel 21, the rack 27 being in continuous gear on the left with
the toothed wheel 22 and sliding by means of its rectangular slot upon the vertical
rod 29, while the second rack 28 remains fixed.
When the gallery 18 ascends and reaches its highest determined point the rack 27
ascending with it strikes a disc or stop 30, that is to say the rack is suddenly firmly
secured, and the toothed wheel 22 must turn in the direction of the arrow while the
chain wheel 21 must be caused to rotate by the pawl 24 in order that the gallery may
be allowed to ascend further; the chain thus receives a horizontal motion from the
right to the left. When the gallery descends, the rack 27 slides downwards without
causing the toothed wheel 22 and the chain wheel 21 to rotate, until the rack abuts
against the lower disc or stop 31. The motion of the toothed wheel 22 is now repeated
in an opposite direction without however imparting a motion to the chain wheel 21
and without causing the endless chain 19 to travel therewith backward, this being
prevented by reason of the release of the pawl 24. This arrangement possesses the
essential advantage that a more constant gearing of the toothed wheel with the rack
is obtained, while were the latter made a fixture, there would be a possibility that on
gearing with the toothed wheel, the top or face of a tooth of the rack night strike
upon the top of one of the teeth of the toothed wheel and thus cause a breakage.
The second rack 28 is firmly fixed and the toothed wheel 23 is so arranged by means
of a spring 32 that the tops or points of the teeth cannot come together.
This right hand fixed rack 28 will impart, when the gallery descends, a motion to
the chain wheel and to the chain 19 in the direction indicated by the arrow this being
effected by means of the toothed wheel 23 and of the pawl 25, so that owing to the
arrangement of the two racks the lift of the gallery for a determined horizontal
motion of the chain is only half as great as if only one rack were used.
The extent of the horizontal motion of the chain is determined by the extent of the
relative motions of the chain wheel 21 and of the racks 27 and 28, and hence the
extent of this horizontal motion can be accurately regulated by adjusting these racks
in a higher or lower position, for which purpose the racks are adjustable in their
supports by means of the pressure screws 33. The extent of the horizontal motion is
regulated in accordance with the distance at which the pairs of rollers are placed from
one another.

page_text: In consequence of these alternate ascending, and descending motions of the
gallery 18 and the horizontal motion of the chains 19, and hence of the feeding
mechanism the clips filled with stalks or stems are raised up by the chain 5, taken up
by the endless chain of the gallery 18 and successively fed in the direction of their
width into the pairs of rollers of the groups above mentioned, where they are subjected
to further treatment.
Motion is also imparted to these parts by the motor shaft A and results from the
above described motion of the racks 15*, which as compared with the motion of
similar parts or rollers in machines hitherto constructed is not only different in the
manner of working but is correspondingly different in the motion of parts according
to the arrangement of the periods of treatment, so that the motion of the first group
of working parts or devices in the improved machine, ciz: that of the fluted rollers 40
(Figures I, II, XIX, XX) is a motion suited to and in accordance with their object.
These fluted rollers have for their object to break the woody parts of the textile
fibres and partly also to loosen them. The bundles of plant stalks or stems clamped
in the clips 1 are fed into each working part of the machine not in the direction of
their length but in that of their width as already stated, and they subsequently receive
a vertical up and down motion; the pairs of fluted rollers 40 are subjected by means
of the hereinafter described arrangement to two uniform notions of different speed
and taking alternately opposite directions, so that the rollers not in operation revolve
more quickly than the rollers which are in operation, and hence they are subjected to
a lesser to and fro or side motion in their bearings, perpendicularly to the direction of
the plant stalks or stems.
The fluted rollers 40 (Figures I and II) which may be provided in the well known
manner, either as shewn in figure XLX with horizontal grooves, or as shewn in
Figure XX with circular surrounding grooves are driven as shown in Figures I
and II from one side of the machine so that the transmission of motion from one
roller to the other for each pair of rollers is caused by the plant stalks or stems or in
the case of fine stalks which may suffer from such a motion, the two rollers of each
pair may be subjected to a separate motion, one of the rollers receiving its motion
from a rack upon one side, whilst the other roller receives its motion from a rack upon
the other side.
The two shafts of each pair of rollers rest in bearings whose arrangement is shown
in Figures XV and XVI and is such that their relative positions and the depth of
their grip can be regulated.
This is effected by arranging them so that one bearing 45 can be moved in a
horizontal direction by means of a key 44, while a spring 47 capable of being regulated
by a screw 46 (and which can be replaced as shewn in Figure XVIII by an india
rubber pad) allows a separation of the rollers whenever any material too thick or hard
enters between them. The bearing 48 for the second shaft is firmly fixed. Two
toothed wheels 50 and 51 servo to drive these fluted rollers and are loosely mounted
upon the shaft 49 of one of the said rollers (as shewn in figures XX1 and XXII), ono
of these wheels (51) being of smaller diameter than the other (50). These two toothed
wheels gear with the racks 15 and 15* already mentioned and transmit motion to the
fluted rollers by means of the double ratchet discs 54 placed between them and keyed
upon the shaft 49, and by means of the two pawls 52 and 53 (figure XXI) gearing on
one side with the teeth of the ratchet disc and firmly connected on the other side with
the wheels 50 and 51, in such manner that in one direction-that is when the stalks
are being operated upon or when they are entering between the fluted rollers-the
large wheel 50 operates the transmission with a lesser speed, and that in the opposite
direction of the motion, that is when the stalks come out of the pairs of fluted rollers,
the transmission is carried out by the small wheel 51 at a greater speed.
The up and down motion of the feeding mechanism and hence of the gallery is
arranged, relatively to the tangential or circumferential speed of the fluted rollers, in
such a manner that in the descending motion of the gallery, the latter moves with a
greater speed than the tangential speed of the said rollers, and that in the ascending
motion of the same gallery the reverse condition takes place, so that in the descending

page_text: motion a shortening of the stalks is effected while in the ascending motion the said
stalks are stretched or lengthened, without any direct pull being imparted by the
fluted rollers to the descending stalks or by the gallery to the ascending stalks. The
extent of the up and down motion of the gallery may be regulated by altering the
position of the crank pin of the crank 12 according to the length of the stalks or
stems under treatment. The rods 34 serve to ensure the vertical position of the
gallery which is guided upon them by means of the box or guide 35.
After the treatment of the plant stalks or stems in the first fluted rollers 40, 40 is
terminated, the material is fed, in the already hereinbefore described manner, into the
second and then into the third pair of fluted rollers in order to be subjected to a finer
division and breaking by the last two pairs of rollers 40, 40, 40, 40 which are provided
with finer flutes or grooves than the first pair.
The plant stalks or stems whose woody matter is now finely broken are subsequently
and automatically fed-by reason of the horizontal motion of the chain 19 to the
second group of working parts, or to the beating or stripping rollers 41, 41, by
which the first stage of cleaning the broken woody matter from the fibres is proceeded
with.
For this purpose the rotation of the pair of rollers revolving against one another is
a continuous motion in the same direction. In this group the action of the spring 79
already described comes into operation as by the motion of the beating arms made of
wood if an elastic connection between the clips and the fixed support did not exist, a
tearing of the plant stalks or stems would be likely to take place.
The beating or stripping rollers 41 of which one pair is placed behind the before
mentioned fluted rollers and another pair is situated behind the friction rollers 62
hereinafter to be described and at the end of the apparatus, are subjected to a
continuous rotary motion, upon both sides of the shafts thereof ratchet discs 41* being
firmly keyed in which gear palls (not shewn in the drawings) and constructed in the
same way as for the fluted rollers already described, such palls heing in connection
with the toothed wheels 41** loosely mounted upon the shaft of the rollers and set in
motion by means of the rack 15. A continuous motion is imparted to the beating
rollers 41 in the direction of the arrow in the following manner; One of each pair of
beating rollers is set in motion upon one side of the machine by a rack, while the other
is set rotating on the other side of the machine by another rack moving in a contrary
direction to that of the former. By reversing the direction of the motions of the racks
with the aid of the corresponding palls, the toothed wheels placed on the opposite side
come into play and notwithstanding the motion of the racks in a reverse sense, the
rotation of the beating roller will continue to take place in the same direction.
The material is now fed by means of the chain 19 into the third group of working
parts, that is to say into the rubbing rollers 62 which, in the same way as the rollers of
the first group are provided with grooves either in an axial or in a circumferential
direction. But these grooves are formed as fine as possible, in order to effect the final
bruizing of the woody and straw particles and the further cleansing of the fibres.
The motion of this pair of friction rollers 62, 62 which answers best for the desired
purpose is an oscillating rotary motion simultaneously progressive and changing in
direction. This is effected by means of the following arrangement.
Upon the crosshead 14 is mounted a toothed wheel 63. This toothed wheel gears
with a rack 64 firmly fixed upon the crosshead guide 65, so that by the to and fro motion
of the cross-head 14, the toothed wheel 63 receives a progressive motion changing its
direction at each half revolution of the motor shaft. This toothed wheel 63 transmits
motion through the gearing 66, 67, 68, and 69 to a crank 70, and then by means of a
rod 71 and a cross-head 72 to the rack 73 actuating the friction rollers. The rotation
of these rollers is hence an oscillating motion in the direction of rotation and at the
same time a forward progressive and alternate motion, by means of which the object
of the friction cylinders, which is to rub out the last fine straw particles of the
vegetable fibres, is accomplished. In order to render this motion as free as possible
from shocks, the crosshead 72 of this rack, (as shewn in figure XVII) is arranged
B

page_text: between springs 74 so that even during a rapid to and fro motion, occurring shocks
will be as much as possible diminished and rendered harmless.
By a continued motion of the chain 19, the clip is now caused to enter into the
fourth and last group of working parts, that is to say between the pair of beating
rollers 41, 41° whose arms are made of wood and are covered with leather.
The motion of this pair of heating rollers 41" of the fourth group is more powerful
than that of the beating rollers of the second group, in order to remove the last and
finest particles wood and straw and to give a proper direction to the fibres. When
the clips have arrived (after the stalks or stems placed in them have been subjected to
treatment by the operating parts of the fourth group) at the rear end of the gallery,
the said clips are taken up by the oblique rails or bars 42, in order to be withdrawn
from the machine.
This is effected at the time when the gallery is raised above the bars 42, and the
horizontal motion of the chain 19 has deposited upon these sloping surfaces the last
clip left on the gallery, so that when the said gallery descends the clip is removed
from it, and the withdrawal from the machine can be effected. The stalks or stems
Exed in the clips are then transposed in such a manner that the parts which have been
under treatment are pressed between the india rubber cheeks while the parts that have
not yet been treated are left free, so that after a second passage through the machine
of the clips holding the stalks or stems, the complete treatment of the bundles is
effected.
The residual tow and straw resulting from the treatment of the material is separately
transported by the following arrangement. Below the whole length of the machine
runs a steel wire band or netting 55 formed of stretched parallel steel wires the
arrangement of which is shown in Figures XXIV, XXV and XXVI.
This steel wire band is actuated by the front drum 56 and runs at the rear end of
the machine upon discs 57 provided with springs 58. The axles of these discs are
moveable in a horizontal direction, such motion enabling the various steel wires to be
stretched by the springs 58. Upon the upper surface of these steel wires are arranged
two rails or grids 59 and 60, which catch up the tow whilst the fallen straw drops
through the steel wire netting. As shewn in figure one of the grids 59 is placed
behind the first pair of beating rollers 41, while the second grid 60 is situated behind
the second pair of beating rollers, so that the best tow falling from the first pair of
rollers is separated from that dropping from the second pair and can be separately
removed from the machine by the rotation of the corresponding grid and through
suitable openings formed in the frame of the machine.
The straw fallen through the above mentioned steel netting 55 enters the endless
screw 61, and can be removed to any suitable spot by making use of additional endless
screws.
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. A machine for the automatic separation of textile fibres from the stalks or stems
of plants, in which these stalks or stems are held with elastic pressure by means of
clips in a frame or gallery arranged upon both sides of the machine, and are fed in the
direction of their width through the machine in such a manner that they together with
this gallery have an up and down motion for enabling them to enter the various
operating parts and to pass through the various stages of treatment, and a horizontal
motion upon the gallery so as to be forwarded or fed on, to the various organs of the
machine arranged in successive order, substantially as described and shewn.
2. In the machine described in claim 1 ;
First). The method of arranging and effecting the motion of the racks actuating
the fluted rollers as well as the gallery, relatively to those of the toothed wheel
actuating the single parts of the machine, in such a manner that the speed at which
the stalks or stems move is greater in their descending motion than the tangential or

page_text: circumferential speed of the fluted rollers, whilst in the ascending motion of the stalks
or stems their speed is less than that of the fluted roller.
Second). The arrangement of the successive pairs of fluted rollers with gradually
finer grooves or flutes and with a gradually increasing diameter or gradually
increasing speed of revolution, substantially as described.
Third). The arrangement of a motor mechanism for the pair of beating rollers
consisting of the combination of the ratchet wheels 41* mounted upon the shafts
thereof, with the pawls connected with the toothed wheels 41** and mounted on the
same shaft, in such a manner, that each beating roller of a pair is always moved on
only one side by the toothed wheel, in order to obtain a continuous rotation of these
beating rollers by the to and fro motion of the racks 15 which transmit such motion;
substantially as described and shewn.
Fourth). The arrangement of the motor mechanism for the friction rollers
consisting of the combination of the gearing connected with the crosshead and of the
rack 64 firmly fixed upon the crosshead guide 65, and the crank 70 connected with
the wheel 69, in order (through the rod 71, the crosshead 72 and the rack 73) to
transmit to the friction rollers a simultaneously oscillating and progressively rotating
movement whose direction is alternately changed, substantially as described and
shewn.
Fifth). The arrangement of an elastic connection between the clips holding the
stalks or stems and the automatic feeding apparatus for the purpose of preventing an
injurious tension or pull of the working part, or of the feeding mechanism upon the
said stalks or stems, substantially as described and shewn.
Sixth). The combination of the chain arranged in the gallery and of its motor
mechanism, with a rack sliding upon a rod on the one hand and with a fixed rack on
the other hand, for the purpose of converting the vertical up and down motion of the
gallery into a horizontal (and with regard to its extent intermittently progressive)
motion of the chain and of the clips holding the stalks or stems substantially as
described and shown.
Seventh). The method of construction and arrangement of the clips for firmly
holding the plant stalks or stems consisting of curved steel plates coated with india
rubber and guided in a straight direction through the cross bars when the clips are
closed and thereby firmly securing the said stalks and stems, substantially as described
and shewn.
Eighth). The method of construction and arrangement of automatic and separate
apparatus for the removal of the residual falling tow and straw from the machine, by
means of the band of parallel wires 55, the grids 59 and 60, and the endless travelling
screw 61, substantially as described and shewn.