Improvements in or relating to the Decortication of Rhea, Jute, and other Fibrous Vegetable Stems.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 12th May, 1890-Accepted, 19th July, 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Decortication of Rhea, Jute, and
other Fibrous Vegetable Stems.
We, JAMES LONGMORE, Mill Manager, and WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE WATSON,
Merchant, both of 34 Leadenhall Street, London, E.C., 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 :-
Hitherto the machines used for the decortication of rhea, jute and other fibrous
vegetable stems have usually been of complicated and costly construction and have
not generally been arranged for operating continuously; besides this many of the
machines have proved faulty in use because, among other reasons the gummy
nature of the fibres has caused them to adhere to the rollers, travelling aprons or
other parts of the machine and thus interfere with their proper delivery. Now
this invention has for its object to construct a machine in such a manner as to
combine simplicity and cheapness of construction with continuity and reliability of
operation and also so as to considerably increase the output of such machines.
A machine constructed according to the present invention consists essentially of three
rollers viz. one fluted or ribbed beating roller and two feeding rollers one or both of
which may be grooved, serrated or otherwise roughened so as to deliver the stems to the
beater in as uncrushed a condition as possible, this being found to give far better
results than has resulted when the stem has been crushed previous to being submitted
to the action of the beater. Two travelling aprons are preferably provided, one to
deliver the unbroken stems regularly to the feed rollers and the other to take away
from the beater the stems or fibres after they have been operated upon by said beater
the latter of these aprons being also arranged to remove from the lower feed roller any
particles of the stems which may adhere thereto.
a
In the accompanying drawings Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively a vertical section and
plan of a machine constructed according to this invention the section (Fig. 1) being
taken on the line wa of Fig. 2; Fig. 3 is a section drawn to a larger scale taken
on the line y z of Fig. 2.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
A are the two side frames which support the various parts of the machine and B is
the main shaft to which rotary motion is imparted in any suitable manner.
B' is a
pitch wheel at one side (the "near "side as in Figs. 1 and 2) of the machine secured
on shaft B and of comparatively large size so as to drive the beater C at the required
high rate of speed; on this shaft B at the other or "far" side of the machine as in
Figs. 1 and 2 is another pitch wheel B2 of smaller diameter than the wheel B', for
driving the feed rollers D and E and the feeding and delivering aprons F and Gat
the required rate of speed which is preferably considerably slower than that of the
beater C. The shaft C of the beater at the "near" side of the machine has secured
on it the pitch wheel Cover which passes the chain C which is driven in the
direction of the arrows a Fig. 1 by the wheel B', and the said shaft is supported in
two bearing blocks A' each of which is adjustable by a screw A² in one side frame A
of the machine; this adjustment enables the beater Č to be moved nearer to or farther
from the feed rollers D and E and when so adjusted the beater can be locked in
position by lock nuts A³. The shafts D' and E' of rollers D and E like that of the
beater C are each supported in adjustable bearing blocks A' these being movable up
and down each by its screw A² which may be locked in any desired position by means
of the lock nut A³ threaded upon it. H is the chain which, driven by the pitch
wheel B transmits motion to the wheel H'. This wheel is mounted on a shaft H²
carried by one of the frames A the said shaft also having mounted on it the toothed
wheel or pinion J which rotates in unison with the wheel H. The wheel J gears with

page_text: the wheel D2 Fig. 1 secured on the "far end of the feed roller shaft D' and the
wheel D² gears with the wheel E2 Fig. 2 secured on the adjacent end of the feed
roller shaft E' above it.
On the "near" end of the roller shaft D₁ is secured a pitch wheel D³ around which
passes a chain K which gears with and transmits motion to the wheels F¹ and G
secured respectively on the shafts F2 G2 of the rollers F³ G³ which give motion to the
endless aprons F and G respectively; besides the wheels D3 F G the chain K passes
around the wheel K' which is mounted on a short shaft or stud K2 secured to the
near frame A, and which may be adjustable so as to enable the tension of the
chain K to be regulated. The shafts F2 and G2 may be supported in stationary
bearings formed in the two side frames A or they may be arranged in slots or guides
so as to be capable of adjustment nearer to or farther from the lower feed roller D
so as to admit of larger or smaller apron rollers being applied for the purpose of
operating the aprons F and G.quicker or slower.
The roller F3 causes the apron F to travel in close proximity to but not necessarily
in contact with the feed roller D. The outer part of the apron F (not shown in the
drawings) passes around another roller which may be supported at the junction of
the tie bolts A* with A5 which may be adjusted so as to slacken or tighten said
apron.
The roller G³ causes the apron G to travel in contact with the feed roller D so as to
rub off from its surface any particles of the stems of fibres tending to adhere thereto;
the parts of the roller D and 'apron G in contact with each other travel in opposite
directions as will be seen by referring to the arrows in Figs. 1 and 3. The outer part
of the apron G like that of the apron F passes over a roller not shown in the drawings
but which may be supported at the junction of the tie bolts A with A' which bolts
provide for any required adjustment in the tension of such apron.
It is specially advantageous to have the lower feed roller D grooved or serrated as
shown in Fig. 3 as in this form it provides what may be termed an endless series of
beating edges. If desired the roller D as also the beater C instead of being each in
one piece as shown in the drawings may be made up of segments arranged longi-
tudinally along the shaft D' or C', and the beater may be formed with ribs or blades
capable of being removed so that when said ribs or blades become worn or otherwise
damaged they may be removed for sharpening or repairing, or others may be sub-
stituted for them; this provision moreover will admit of some of the ribs or blades
being removed for altering the distance between them.
The operation of the before described apparatus is as follows :-
The stems to be treated are laid longitudinally on the apron F which carries them
to the rollers D and E between which they are nipped and by which they are fed to
the beater C. The rollers D and E merely nip the stems sufficiently to ensure their
regular feed to the beater and to prevent the said stems being dragged between them
by the action of the beater C and it is preferred to adjust these rollers D and E by
their screws A2 so that they will exert upon the stems just sufficient pressure for this
purpose and not such as would crush the stems to any appreciable detrimental extent.
After passing between the rollers D and E the stems are subjected to a continuous and
rapid succession of blows from the ribs or blades of the beater C delivered on one side
of the stems the other side being supported on the series of edges of the roller D; this
results in the woody interior of the stems being broken into fine particles and loosened
within the unbroken epidermis so that the said interior may afterwards readily be
removed by shaking the stems by hand.
Any particles of the pellicle or other gummy fragments tending to adhere to the
roller D will be prevented from doing so by the apron G rubbing them off the surface
of D and conveying them out of the machine along with the treated stems.
Though the machine has been described as having the rollers D and E fluted or
serrated this having been found to give the most satisfactory results yet good results
may be secured by the employment of a fluted or serrated roller D and a smooth
roller E it being indispensable that one at least of these rollers shall be roughened to
retain the stem-against the dragging action of the beater.
C.

page_text: One very great advantage secured by the before described machine is that practically
the whole length of the stem is uniformly operated on by the beater C, no portion of
the stems being in practice found to have escaped treatment.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is;-
1. In a decorticating machine beating breaking and separating the woody interior
of fibrous vegetable stems by subjecting said stems to the blows of a rotating beater
delivered upon the ridges of a rotating fluted or serrated feed roller substantially as
herein described.
2. In a decorticating machine the combination with two feed rollers such as D
and E one or both of which may be fluted serrated or otherwise roughened and
against the roller D of which the stems are broken by a rotating beater of an apron
such as G travelling in contact with the roller D so as to automatically remove any
particles adhering thereto and at the same time deliver the decorticated stems from
the machine substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Lau
On day of Pray fo
JAMES LONGMORE.
W. L. WATSON.
W. P. Thompson & Boult,
Agents for the Applicants.
JAMES LONGMORE.
W. L. WATSON.
W. P. Thompson & Boult,
Agents for the Applicants.