Patent ID: 8075735

Claim:
A method for the separation of bast fibers comprising the steps of: soaking a plurality of bast stalks in a hot water bath for softening outer bast material on the stalks, the stalks comprising a first and a second end; respectively scanning each stalk with a scanning device in order to acquire data in regard to the diameter of the first and the second end of the stalk; feeding the stalks through a stalk incisor to produce longitudinal cuts or slices along the length of the stalks to help initiate and control the width of splits within the stalks; sequentially feeding the stalks into a plurality of scrim stations, each scrim station comprising a plurality of sets of spinning scrim rolls, the scrim roll sets being utilized to perform a refined crushing function upon the stalks, wherein the scrim sets comprise a top scrim roll and a bottom scrim roll, the result of the stalk scrimming step being a scrim stalk material; operating a final scrim roll set at a speed moderately faster than the scrim roll set immediately preceding the final set for separation of the outer bast material on the stalks from inner core fibers within the stalks, wherein the final scrim roll set removes the outer bast material as the scrim roll set immediately preceding the final set effectively holds the stalk in place.