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US 4,140,503 AGranted
Vapor condenser and lint humidifier system
OwnerArvel L. Vandergriffinventor
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OwnerArvel L. Vandergriffinventor
Estimating the term…
A cotton condenser for receiving air borne lint cotton or similar material from an air stream and forming a bat therefrom on a screen drum for delivery to a packaging press, wherein the condenser housing forms a chamber outwardly surrounding the screen drum maintained at subatmospheric pressure for receiving the air borne lint where the lint forms the bat on the screen. A doffing roller system withdraws the cotton bat from the screen and passes it to a lint slide and packaging press through a further set of doffing rollers which act as a seal against the pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the condenser where the bat exits from the condenser. Means are provided to monitor the moisture level of the cotton bat being delivered by the condenser and activate a humidifying system to supply air of controlled humidity to the condenser chamber and through the bat on the screen to raise the lint moisture to a desired level.
A lint condenser and lint humidifier system for receiving air borne lint cotton or the like from an air stream, separating the lint from the air stream to form a bat for delivery through a discharge outlet, and concurrently increasing the moisture level of the lint, comprising a condenser housing and a rotatable screen drum therein have a screen surface on which the lint bat is to be formed, the housing forming a lint inlet and condensing chamber outwardly surrounding the screen surface over a predetermined inlet zone for receiving the air borne lint deposited as a bat on the screen drum surface, means maintaining the interior of the housing and said chamber at subatmospheric pressure, a doffing station having a first pair of doffing rollers adjacent the screen surface at a location to doff the bat from said screen surface for delivery through said discharge outlet to an external processing station at ambient pressure and a second pair of rollers inwardly adjacent the discharge outlet for passage of the bat therethrough and serving as a seal against air inflow at the discharge outlet and maintaining the pressure differential between the subatmospheric pressure in the housing and external atmospheric pressure, sensor means for monitorng the moisture level of the lint bat being delivered through the discharge outlet, a humidifying air supply duct system having a humidifying air outlet opening through said housing into said chamber, and air humidifying means having means for adding moisture to air supplied through said duct system to said air outlet responsive to the moisture levels monitored by said sensor means including automatic control circuitry coupled to the sensor means and humidifying means to raise and maintain the moisture level of the delivered lint at a predetermined value.
A lint condenser for use in processing system for lint cotton or the like for receiving air borne lint from a lint conveying air stream, separating the lint from the air stream to form a bat, and delivering the bat through a discharge outlet for further processing, comprising a condenser housing including a pair of transversely spaced vertical side walls forming opposite end heads of the condenser, a cylindrical screen drum supported for rotation about a horizontal axis in the housing to substantially span the full width of the condenser housing, said housing forming a lint condensing chamber outwardly surrounding the screen drum surface maintained at subatmospheric pressure wherein the air borne lint is received and deposited as a bat on the screen drum surface, the screen drum having a cylindrical screen fixed at its opposite ends on a pair of end rings having circular peripheries disposed closely adjacent to said vertical side walls leaving end-bounding spaces therebetween to be protected against loss of lint from the condensing chamber therethrough, and air jet barrier means forming air barrier seals against lint admission to said spaces adjacent said circular peripheries at the ends of the screen drum including baffle wall means on said vertical side walls adjacent said circular peripheries forming annular barrier-air chambers supplied with air inflow from outside the condenser housing to maintain interior air pressure superior to the subatmospheric pressure in said condensing chamber and having air discharge outlets directing barrier air in a ring-like pattern along entrances to said spaces adjacent said circular peripheries at the ends of the screen drum in directions to effectively seal the entrances by outflowing air barriers against lint loss through said end-bounding spaces.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.