US 2014/0096623 A1Published application

Cotton acquisition and tracking system

AssigneeQuantitative Engineering Solutions, LLC

InventorsJoe Mansfield, Ken Campbell, Clark A. Roberts

Life of this patent

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Abstract

Apparatus for a cotton sample acquisition and tracking system. The system includes a loading station in which a pair of primary sample halves are loaded in a carrier. The primary samples are identified and transported to a sub-sample station that extracts a sub-sample from the primary sample. The sub-samples are conditioned and transported to various testing stations. The primary samples are transported via a conveyor system. The sub-samples are transported through a pneumatic system. The sub-sample station advances the primary sample against a pick drum that pulls tufts from the primary sample. The tufts flow through a cotton containment system into an indexer that collects, conditions, and routes the tufts as a sub-sample. The sub-samples are staged in a carousel for continued conditioning and storage until the test equipment is ready to process the sub-sample.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An apparatus for acquiring, conditioning, and testing cotton sub-samples, said apparatus comprising:

a loading station that receives and identifies a primary sample of fibrous material;
a sub-sampler that extracts a sub-sample from said primary sample, said sub-sampler including a sample feed mechanism and a drum, said sample feed mechanism advancing said primary sample against said drum, said drum including a plurality of pucks configured to grab a plurality of fibers from said primary sample that are collected to form a sub-sample, said drum reciprocating with said plurality of pucks moving relative to said primary sample, said sub-sampler further including a shroud around a portion of said drum, said shroud having an outlet at a negative pressure relative to an ambient pressure outside said shroud, said shroud configured to draw air from around said drum through said outlet of said shroud thereby capturing said plurality of fibers extracted from said primary sample;
a conditioning system that routes conditioned air through said sub-sample;
and
a pneumatic routing system configured to transport said sub-sample to a test station.

2 more elements

An apparatus for acquiring, conditioning, and testing cotton sub-samples, said apparatus comprising:

a loading station that receives and identifies a primary sample of fibrous material;
a sub-sampler that extracts a sub-sample from said primary sample, said sub-sampler configured to grab a plurality of fibers from said primary sample and introduce said plurality of fibers into an air stream;
a cotton containment mechanism that prevents an oversized clump of cotton from passing through said air stream with said plurality of fibers, said cotton containment mechanism including a first tube with a restrictor plate, said restrictor plate having an orifice sized to capture said oversized clump of cotton having a specified mass;
and
a pneumatic routing system configured to transport said plurality of fibers from said cotton containment mechanism to a carrier that collects said plurality of fibers to form a sub-sample.

2 more elements

An apparatus for acquiring, conditioning, and testing cotton sub-samples, said apparatus comprising:

a loading station that receives and identifies a primary sample of fibrous material;
a sub-sampler that extracts a sub-sample from said primary sample, said sub-sampler configured to grab a plurality of fibers from said primary sample and introduce said plurality of fibers into an air stream;
an indexer receiving said air stream with said plurality of fibers from said sub-sampler, said indexer collecting said plurality of fibers into a sub-sample carrier to form a sub-sample, said sub-sample carrier including a first cylinder having a distal end with a mesh sized to stop said plurality of fibers from passing completely through said first cylinder;
a conditioning system that routes conditioned air through said sub-sample in said first cylinder;
and
a pneumatic routing system configured to transport said sub-sample to a test station.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/048,635Filed 8 Oct 2013
Priority: 9 Oct 2012
Published: 10 Apr 2014
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification6 codes

G01N 1/04
Devices for withdrawing samples: in the solid state, e.g. by cutting
G01N 1/08
In the solid state, e.g. by cutting: involving an extracting tool, e.g. core bit
G01N 33/362
Textiles: material before processing, e.g. bulk cotton or wool
G01N 35/02
Automatic analysis not limited to methods or materials provided for in any single one of groups G01N1/00 - G01N33/00; Handling materials therefor:…