Improvements in Machines for Decorticating Ramie and other Textile Plants in a Dry or a Green State.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd June, 1990
Complete Specification Left. 2nd Mar., 1891-Accepted, 4th Apr., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Decorticating Ramie and other
Textile Plants in a Dry or a Green State.
I, PIERRE AUGUSTE FAVIER, of No. 14, Rue St. Fiacre, Paris, in the Depart-
ment of the Seine and Republic of France, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in machines for decorticating ramic and
other textile plants dry or green, their essential object being the complete separa-
tion of the ligneous from the fibrous matter. These improvements which also
permit the decortication both in the green or the dry condition, ensure better results
than those hitherto obtained by the machines now in use.
In fact in all these machines, one of the great defects has been the incomplete
elimination of the interior wood which in ramic resembles the bullen or stalks of
peeled hemp. The stalks, dry or green, after having been crushed by breaking or
bruising cylinders carry with them remains or debris of wood from one pair of
cylinders to the other under the influence of the centrifugal force which drives them
forward as they issue from each pair of cylinders, because in ordinary machines these
remains cannot fall with sufficient facility to prevent their being partially carried
away by the following cylinders. Thus carried away the remains or debris of wood
are broken or crushed into splinters more or less thin, which mix with the fibre in
proportion as this latter disaggregates, which makes it of bad quality and results in
great waste when, for ulterior treatment, it must be freed from these splinters.
Another serious defect of existing machines consists in the imperfect disengage-
ment of a part of this same interior wood, by reason of the incomplete effect of the
groovings or flutings of the crushing or beating cylinders.
With my improvements I attain on the one hand, the complete elimination of the
wood which, in this way, does not incur the risk of being broken or crushed into
splinters and on the other hand the fall of the remains or debris of wood imme-
diately after the crushing bruising or breaking thereof.
I thus obtain a fibre completely freed from all ligneous part and the certainty
that remains or debris of wood cannot be carried away with the fibre, nor hinder its
passage in the machine.
In order that it may be thoroughly understood in what these improvements consist
I will now describe them in detail.
The stalks to be decorticated are submitted to the action of parts or cylinders
the arrangement and the working of which vary accordingly as the operation is in
the dry or green state.
In the dry state, the stalks pass between smooth flattening cylinders intended to
crush them, to break the resin, and to ungum the bark from the wood; they then
pass between breaking or crushing cylinders grooved or fluted longitudinally and
intended to break or crush the wood into small pieces, acting at the same time as
nippers to hold the material while it is being worked by cylinders or scrapers placed
following them and which possess a special grooving or fluting and travel at a much
greater speed. From the scraping cylinders, the material passes, finally, between
frictors or friction cylinders, with small grooves or flutings which commences the
disengagement or separation of the brown or dark pellicles with which the strips of
ramie are covered.
In the green state, the stalks pass between the crushing or breaking cylinders, the
nipping cylinders which are simply undulated, the scraping cylinders and the smooth
flattening cylinders. The nipping cylinders with undulating grooving or flutings

page_text: which follow the breaking cylinders with ordinary triangular grooving or fluting,
which also serve as nippers, have for object to hold the strips or lengths of material
submitted to the action of the scrapers, without leaving to the wood already crushed
a tendency to adhere thereto and to produce obstructions or chokings hurtful to the
travel of the material in the machine; these chokings need not be feared in the
nipping cylinders which operate the breaking bruising or crushing.
Both in the dry and the green state, the line or series of cylinders is preceded by
a table serving for the distribution and division of the stalks and is followed by an
endless cloth intended to receive the fibre as it issues from the. machine.
Between the groups of cylinders and of scrapers which are contained in this
machine in variable number the stalks are submitted to the action of beaters
intended-1° to facilitate the fall of the remains or debris of wood by the shocks
or shaking which they give to the material; 2° to facilitate the passage of the strips
or lengths of material between the vacant spaces without in any way hindering
the fall of the ligneous parts. These beaters or batteries are of any section, but
preferably of a lozenge or a square form; they may be formed of cross bars set upon
a plane or even rod or shaft. In this case the beaters form hollowed or grooved
flyers between which the remains or debris of wood may pass, while they uphold the
fibrous part which passes above.
Vacant spaces are left between the beaters and the adjoining cylinders so large
that the crushed or broken wood, carried by centrifugal force, cannot be taken by
the following cylinders; they are calculated in relation to the diameter and speed
of the cylinders; thus, for example, 75 millimetres for cylinders of 50 millimetres
turning at a speed of 400 revolutions a minute. It should however be observed that
these spaces should always be greater than the exterior diameter of the beaters, in
order that these may not aid the transmission of ligneous remains or debris from one
pair of cylinders to the other, which would cause entanglement or binding of the
fibres and ligneous parts very prejudicial in the ulterior treatment of the material
obtained.
As regards the scrapers, which work at a great speed, I would observe that in a
same pair of scrapers, they are arranged in such wise that their blades or projections
intersect without ever touching or meeting each other, and that on the other hand
the end of each blade in travelling passes near the circular bottom of the corre-
sponding scraper, at a distance leaving exactly the space necessary for the scraping
of the material. These scrapers therefore permit, while the strip or length of
material is stretched between the crushers or breakers or the nippers or between the
last crusher or breaker and the first frictor or friction cylinder to scrape this strip
or length of material without damaging the fibre and to cause the remains or debris
of wood to fall.
As regards the frictors or friction cylinders used in the decortication of the dry
stalks, I would observe that for the lower row or series, these cylinders have a
smaller diameter (say about ) less than that of the cylinders of the upper row.
Thus, there is obtained, between the cylinders of the lower row a certain space
permitting the pellicles and the few splinters which might have passed notwith-
standing the action of the beaters, to fall more easily from the textile material to
which they adhered. These vacant spaces may go on decreasing, especially if the
machine is largely developed, in order to prevent the windings or rolling up which
might take place when the material is entirely disaggregated.
This reduction of the spaces is obtained, for example, by means of a progressive
increase of the diameter of the lower cylinders, care being had to arrange the driving
gear so that the circumferential speed remains the same, which is an essential condi-
tion to avoid rupture of the material and the production of short fibres. The
reduction of the spaces may only be applied by series of several cylinders.
The arrangement of these several cylinders and the passage of the material
through them as above set forth, permit obtaining an effect which has no relation to
the action of beaters acting upon fibres not held back between the cylinders, or of
beaters having a speed equal to that of the parts which precede and follow them, or

page_text: of intersected beaters, the travels of which is not regulated, to prevent the blades
touching, or again of beaters the blades of which cannot touch but which only
operate a lashing or whipping without producing the scraping upon the semi-
circumferentially rounded bottom, as I do to obtain the pressure upon the bottom
without injuring the fibre.
This said, I will now indicate the installation or setting up and the driving gear
of the various cylinders used.
All these cylinders have their axles supported by lateral checks, and mounted on
a framing having feet or set on wheels ad libitum. They are arranged in two sets
or groups, the front set towards the table and the back set towards the endless
cloth.
In the back set the cylinders extend the entire breadth of the machine whereas
in the front set the length of the cylinders may be broken into two parts separated
by a middle partition.
For the upper cylinders the separated parts are independent of each other, so as
to facilitate their uplifting and to render it independent, with the object of producing
a more regular crushing, when material of different size passes under the parts
and the machine is fed by several workmen. On the contrary, for lower cylinders
the separate parts are dependent and, to this end, united by a common axle so that
it is not necessary to double the driving gear.
All the upper cylinders whether fractional that is to say divided into parts or not,
have their axles freely engaged in vertical slide bars connected to the cheeks and to
the middle partition, and these axles are submitted to the action of springs the
tension of which is regulated by means of adjusting screws. These springs give
the desired pressure and permit the uplifting of the cylinders at the moment of
the passage of the material.
All the lower cylinders whether fractional or not revolve in fixed bearings. They
are driven from a longitudinal shaft connected by spur wheels with an intermediate
shaft itself in connection by means of bevel wheels and to a transverse shaft which
carries fast and loose pulleys.
The flattening, crushing, nipping and frictor or friction cylinders and the endless
cloth or apron turn at the same speed and are driven by bevel wheels keyed on the
aforesaid longitudinal shaft. The scraping cylinders turn at a greater speed than
the preceding and are driven by bevel wheels, also keyed on the aforesaid shaft.
Further, the lower scraping cylinders transmit their movement to the upper scrapers
by the aid of spur wheels.
Finally the beaters receive their movement from the preceding cylinders by
means of wheels between which is an intermediate wheel so as not to change the
direction of rotation.
It is the same with half of the frictor or friction cylinders this one half being
driven by the other half which is alone actuated directly from the main shaft.
Dated this Second day of June 1890.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Machines for Decorticating Ramie and other
Textile Plants in a Dry or a Green State.
!, PIERRE AUGUSTE FAVIER, of No. 14, Rue St. Fiacre, Paris, in the Depart-
ment of the Seine and Republic of France, Manufacturer, 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 improvements in machines for decorticating ramie and
other textile plants dry or green, their essential object being the complete separation

page_text: of the ligneous from the fibrous matter. These improvements which also permit
the decortication both in the green or the dry condition, ensure better results, than
those hitherto obtained by the machines now in use.
In fact, in all these machines, one of the great defects has been the incomplete
elimination of the interior wood which in ramie resembles the bullen or stalks of
peeled hemp. The stalks, dry or green, after having been crushed, by breaking or
bruising cylinders carry with them remains or debris of wood from one pair of
cylinders to the other under the influence of the centrifugal force which drives
them forward as they issue from each pair of cylinders, because in ordinary machines
these remains cannot fall with sufficient facility to prevent their being partially
carried away by the following cylinders. Thus carried away the remains or debris
of wood are broken or crushed into splinters more or less thin, which mix with the
fibre in proportion as this latter disaggregates, which makes it of bad quality and
results in great waste when, for ulterior treatment, it must be freed from these
splinters.
Another serious defect of existing machines consists in the imperfect disengage-
ment of a part of this same interior wood, by reason of the incomplete effect of the
groovings or flutings of the crushing or beating cylinders.
With my improvements I attain on the one hand, the complete elimination of the
wood which, in this way, does not incur the risk of being broken or crushed into
splinters and on the other hand the fall of the remains or debris of wood immediately
after the crushing bruising or breaking thereof.
I thus obtain a fibre completely freed from all ligneous part and the certainty
that remains or debris of wood cannot be carried away with the fibre, nor hinder its
passage in the machine.
In order that it may be thoroughly understood in what these improvements
consist will now describe them in detail, referring to the annexed drawing which
represents, as example, a machine embodying my invention.
DESCRIPTION.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal view of my decorticating machine.
Figure 2 is a corresponding top plan view.
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the machine arranged with a view of treating
dry products.
Figure 4 is a transverse section of the machine arranged in view of treating
green products.
In the machine thus represented, the stalks to be decorticated are submitted to
the action of parts or cylinders the arrangement and the working of which vary
accordingly as the operation is in the dry or green state.
In the dry state, the stalks pass between smooth flattening cylinders EE (Fig. 3)
intended to crush them, to break the resin, and to ungum the bark from the wood;
they then pass between breaking or crushing cylinders F F grooved or fluted
longitudinally and intended to break or crush the wood into small pieces, acting at
the same time as nippers to hold the material while it is being worked by the
cylinders II or scrapers placed following them and which possessing a special
grooving or fluting travel at a much greater speed. From the scraping cylinders II,
the material passes, finally, between frictors or friction cylinders JJ, with small
grooves or flutings which commences the disengagement or separation of the brown
or dark pellicles with which the strips of ramic are covered.
F
In the green state, the stalks pass (see Fig. 4) between the crushing or breaking
cylinders FF, the nipping cylinders FF' which are simply undulated, the scraping
cylinders II and the smooth flattening cylinders EE. The nipping cylinders
with undulating groovings or flutings, which follow the breaking cylinders F F
with ordinary triangular grooving or fluting which also serve as nippers, have for
object to hold the strips or lengths of material submitted to the action of the
scrapers II, without leaving to the wood already crushed a tendency to adhere
thereto and to produce obstructions or chokings hurtful to the travel of the material

page_text: in the machine; these chokings need not be feared in the nipping cylinders F which
operate the breaking bruising or crushing.
Both in the dry and the green state, the line or series of cylinders is preceded by
a table D serving for the distribution and division of the stalks and is followed by
an endless cloth Kintended to receive the fibre as it issues from the machine.
.
Between the groups of cylinders F, F or F F and of scrapers I, I which are
contained in this machine in variable number, the stalks are submitted to the action
of beaters H intended:-1° to facilitate the fall of the remains or debris of wood
by the shocks or shaking which they give to the material; 2° to facilitate the
passage of the strips or lengths of material between the vacant spaces without in
any way hindering the fall of the ligneous parts. These beaters or batteries are of
any section, but preferably of a lozenge or a square form; they may be formed of
cross bars set upon a plane or even rod or shaft. In this case the beaters form
hollowed or grooved flyers between which the remains or debris of wood may pass,
while they uphold the fibrous part which passes above.
The vacant spaces r left between the beaters and the adjoining cylinders are so
large that the crushed or broken wood, carried by centrifugal force, cannot be.
taken by the following cylinders; they are calculated in relation to the diameter
and speed of the cylinders; thus, for example, 75 millimetres for cylinders of 50
It should however be
millimetres turning at a speed of 400 revolutions a minute.
observed that these spaces should always be greater than the exterior diameter of
the beaters, in order that these may not aid the transmission of ligneous remains
or debris from one pair of cylinders to the other, which would cause entanglement
or binding of the fibres and ligneous parts very prejudicial in the ulterior treatment
of the material obtained. _
As regards the scrapers I which work at a great speed, I would observe that.
in a same pair of scrapers, they are arranged in such wise (Fig. 5) that their blades.
or projections intersect without ever touching or meeting each other, and that on
the other hand the end of each blade in travelling passes near the circular bottom
of the corresponding scraper, at a distance leaving exactly the space necessary for
the scraping of the material y, y. These scrapers therefore permit, while the strip
or length of material is stretched between the crushers or breakers For the
nippers F, or between the last crusher or breaker F and the first frictor or friction
cylinder J (Figs. 3 and 4) to scrape this strip or length of material without
damaging the fibre and to cause the remains or debris of wood to fall.
As regards the. frictors or friction cylinders J used in the decortication of the dry
stalks (Fig. 3), I would observe that for the lower row or series, these cylinders.
have a smaller diameter (say about ) less than that of the cylinders of the
upper row. Thus, there is obtained, between the cylinders of the lower row a
certain space permitting the pellicles and the few splinters which might have passed
notwithstanding the action of the beaters, to fall more easily from the textile
material to which they adhered. These vacant spaces may go on decreasing,
especially if the machine is largely developed, in order to prevent the winding or
rolling up which might take place when the material is entirely disaggregated.
This reduction of the spaces is obtained, for example, by means of a progressive
increase of the diameter of the lower cylinders, care being had to arrange the
driving gear so that the circumferential speed remains the same, which is an
essential condition to avoid rupture of the material and the production of short
fibres. The reduction of the spaces may only be applied by series of several
cylinders.
i
The arrangement of these several cylinders and the passage of the material
through them as above set forth, permit obtaining an effect which has no relation.
to the action of beaters acting upon fibres not held back between the cylinders, or
of beaters having a speed equal to that of the parts which precede and follow them,.
or of intersected beaters, the travel of which is not regulated, to prevent the blades
touching, or again of beaters. the blades of which cannot touch but which only
operate a lashing or whipping without producing the scraping upon the semi-,

page_text: circumferentially rounded bottom, as I do to obtain the pressure upon the
bottom without injuring the fibre.
This said, I will now indicate the installation or setting up and the driving
gear of the various cylinders used.
All these cylinders have their axles supported by lateral cheeks C and C¹
mounted upon a framing B having feet A or set on wheels ad libitum. They
are arranged in two sets or groups, the front set, towards the table D, and the
back set, towards the endless cloth K.
In the back set, the cylinders extend the entire breadth of the machine,
whereas in the front set, the length of the cylinders may be broken into two parts
separated by a middle partition C².
For the upper cylinders the separated parts are independent of each other, so
as to facilitate their uplifting and to render it independent, with the object of
producing a more regular crushing, when material of different size passes
under the parts and the machine is fed by several workmen. On the contrary,
for lower cylinders the separate parts are dependent and, to this end, united by
a common axle (Fig. 6) so that it is not necessary to double the driving gear.
All the upper cylinders whether fractional that is to say divided into parts
or not, have their axles freely engaged in vertical slide bars (Fig. 1) connected
to the checks C C₁ and to the partition C2, and these axles are submitted
to the action of springs L the tension of which is regulated by means of adjusting
screws v. These springs give the desired pressure and permit the uplifting of the
cylinders at the moment of the passage of the material.
All the lower cylinders whether fractional or not revolve in fixed bearings.
They are driven from a longitudinal shaft T (Fig. 1) connected by the spur
wheels S and R with an intermediate shaft M itself in connection by means of the
bevel wheels Q and O to the transverse shaft N (Figs. 1 and 2) which carries the
fast and loose pulleys P, P.
:
The cylinders E, F, F, J and the endless cloth or apron K turn at the same
speed and are driven by the bevel wheels V and U, these latter being keyed on
the shaft T. The scraping cylinders I turn at a greater speed than the preceding
and are driven by the bevel wheels X W, these latter being also keyed on the
shaft T. Further, the lower scraping cylinders transmit their movement to the upper
scrapers by the aid of the spur wheels a and a' (Figs. 2 and 7).
Finally the beaters H. receive their movement from the preceding cylinders by
means of the wheels Y and Z between which is an intermediate wheel Z' so as not
to change the direction of rotation.
It is the same with the half of the cylinders J which is driven by the other half
alone actuated directly from the main shaft T.
I desire it however to be well understood that I do not in any way
limit myself
to this driving gear which may be replaced by any other producing the same
results. This reservation also applies to all the parts of the machine other than
the cylinders which I have defined and which remain unchangeable, excepting as
regards their number and the manner of grouping them, accordingly as the decortica-
tion takes place in the dry or the green state.
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
The improvements above described which I have applied to machines for
decorticating ramie and other textile plants in a dry or a green state and more
particularly
:-
1. In machines for decorticating ramie and other textile plants, the arrangement
of the beaters H in combination with the vacant spaces a larger than the outer
diameter of the said beaters which intersect them, with the object of eliminating
the fibrous parts from the ligneous parts previously broken or crushed, and of
preventing these ligneous parts or remains or debris. of wood from being driven

page_text: forward by the centrifugal force and passing from one part to another, substantially
as described with reference to the annexed drawing.
2. In machines for decorticating ramic and other textile plants, the arrangement
of the scraping cylinders I having special semi-circumferential fluting or grooving,
in combination with the nipping cylinders For F' which precede them and which
are driven at less speed; the said cylinders I scraping and cleaning the strip or
length of material, nipped and broken or crushed by the cylinders F and F¹,
without injuring or deteriorating it, inasmuch that each of the blades of the one
act in the corresponding circular grooves of the other, in the manner substantially
as described with reference to the annexed drawing.
3. In machines for decorticating ramie or other textile plants in a green state,
the application of cylinders and nippers F with undulating fluting or grooving
preventing the moist parts of the wood which begin to leave the stalk after the
breaking or crushing from being retained and avoiding all kind of choking or
obstruction substantially as described with reference to the annexed drawing.
4. In machines for decorticating ramic and other textile plants, the frictor or
friction cylinders J so arranged that, for the lower row, they leave between them
spaces permitting the pellicles or splinters to easily escape; the said spaces
decreasing progressively, in the direction of the travel of the material from cylinder
to cylinder or by series of several cylinders, to avoid the rollings or windings
which might take place as the fibre becomes more worked; this decrease being
produced by means of a progressive increase of the diameters or by a suitable
regulated distancing of the cylinders, but care being taken to ensure a same
circumferential speed to all the cylinders, substantially as described with reference
to the annexed-drawing-
5. In machines for decorticating ramic and other textile plants, the subdivision of
the fore part of these machines into two compartments by means of a middle
partition C thereby rendering the uplifting of the upper divided or fractional
cylinders independent, with the object of regulating the breaking or crushing,
whatever may be the inequalities of thickness of the material fed to the machine
by several workmen, substantially as described with reference to the annexed
drawing.
6. The machine for decorticating ramie and other textile plants in a dry state,
the entirety of which, formed by the combination of the parts above claimed, is
represented by the Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the annexed drawing,
7. The machine for decorticating ramie and other textile plants in a green state,
the entirety of which, formed by the combination of the parts above claimed, is
represented Figures 1 and 4 of the annexed drawing.
Dated this Second day of March 1891