Patent ID: 6860440

Claim:
A hammermill for singulating cellulosic fibers from a pulp sheet comprising: (a) a cylindrical housing having a longitudinal axis, said housing having at least one feed slot running longitudinally therealong, a breaker bar positioned in said one feed slot and extending radially inwardly from the interior wall of said housing; (b) a rotor mounted for rotation in said housing about said longitudinal axis; (c) feed rolls mounted for rotation exterior of said housing for feeding a sheet of pulp into said one feed slot upstream of said breaker bar; (d) a plurality of hammers mounted on said rotor, said hammers having tips extending radially therefrom, said hammer tips passing a cross said feed slot and in close proximity to said breaker bar so as to separate fibers from said sheet as said hammers rotate; (e) an air inlet running longitudinally along the length of said housing downstream from said one feed slot, said air inlet oriented tangentially to said housing for introducing air tangentially along the inside of said housing to mix with separated fibers, said air inlet positioned adjacent said one feed slot; and (f) an air outlet running longitudinally along the length of said housing, said air outlet oriented tangentially to said housing to allow air and singulated fibers to escape tangentially from said housing, said air outlet being positioned downstream from and at an angle from said air inlet.