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US 11,976,415 B2Granted
Fiber transport apparatus
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsKoji Motohashi, Makoto Sato, Takashi Abe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A storage portion includes a case which includes an internal space configured to accommodate raw material pieces having fibers, a discharge pipe coupled to a side wall of the case, and a transport motor which rotates the discharge pipe on an axis, in which one end in an axial direction of the discharge pipe communicates with the internal space and the other end has an outlet for discharging the raw material pieces, and a spiral member is provided on an inner peripheral surface of the discharge pipe.
Claims15
A fiber transport apparatus comprising:
- a case that has an internal space configured to accommodate fiber pieces containing fibers;
- a tube coupled to a side surface of the case;
- and
- a driving portion that rotates the tube on a virtual axis,
- one end of the tube in an axial direction communicating with the internal space, and another end having an outlet for discharging the fiber pieces,
- a protrusion being provided on an inner surface of the tube,
- the tube including an annular rib that is formed at the outlet, the annular rib extending, in a perpendicular direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the tube, from the inner surface of the tube toward the virtual axis of the tube, and
- an outlet side-inner surface on an outlet side of the tube being a low friction portion having a friction coefficient lower than a friction coefficient of a coupling portion side-inner surface of the tube on a coupling portion side with the case, the low friction portion being formed by a film member that is attached to the inner surface on the outlet side of the tube and has a friction coefficient lower than the friction coefficient of the coupling portion side-inner surface of the tube.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.