Fiber cleaning apparatus with air flow deflector
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture
InventorsMarvis N. Gillum, Sidney E. Hughs
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fiber cleaning utilizing an alternating series of cleaning saw cylinders and doffing brush cylinders. The doffing brush cylinders transfer ginned fiber from an upstream cleaning saw cylinder to the next downstream cleaning saw cylinder in such a way that the flow of the fiber changes direction at the pinch point between the upstream cleaning saw cylinder and the doffing brush cylinder. Guiding means including control bars are provided to help guide the ginned fiber from the doffing brush cylinder to the next downstream cleaning saw cylinder at the pinch point. Flow deflecting means including air control bars are provided to deflect a substantial portion of the flow of entrained air from flowing around the doffing brush cylinder.
Claims15
An apparatus comprising:
- (a) first ginning means for separating fiber and seed, said first ginning means including a first gin saw cylinder;
- (b) first fiber cleaning means including a first fiber cleaning saw cylinder having an outer peripheral surface;
- (c) first fiber transporting means including a first doffing brush cylinder having an outer peripheral surface, operably associated with both said first gin saw cylinder, and said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder, for mechanically removing ginned fiber from said first gin saw cylinder and for transferring said ginned fiber to said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder;
- (d) second fiber transporting means including a second doffing brush cylinder having an outer peripheral surface, operably associated with said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder, for mechanically removing said fiber from said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder;
- (e) guiding means for guiding transfer of said ginned fiber from said first doffing brush cylinder to said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder, said guiding means including a first feed control bar having an arcuate surface which is parallel to said outer peripheral surface of said first doffing brush cylinder adjacent to a pinch point where said ginned fiber is transferred from said first doffing brush cylinder to said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder;
- and,
- (f) flow deflecting means for deflecting flow of entrained air from flowing around said first doffing brush cylinder to flowing counter-rotationally around said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder, said flow deflecting means including a first air control bar having an arcuate surface which is parallel to said outer peripheral surface of said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder adjacent to said pinch point where said ginned fiber is transferred from said first doffing brush cylinder to said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder, said flow deflecting means being on the opposite side of said pinch point from said guiding means, said flow deflecting means being positioned on a side of said pinch point where said ginned fiber does not flow, and said flow deflecting means being positioned between said first doffing brush cylinder and said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder.
A method of cleaning fiber including the steps of:
- (a) separating fiber from unwanted non-fiberous material with a first ginning means including a gin saw cylinder, to produce cleaned fiber;
- (b) transferring said cleaned fiber from said gin saw cylinder to a first fiber cleaning means including first fiber cleaning saw cylinder via a first doffing brush cylinder;
- (c) utilizing first guiding means to guide transfer of fiber from said first doffing brush cylinder to said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder so that said fiber stays on said first doffing brush cylinder until said fiber reaches a first pinch point between said first doffing brush cylinder and said first cleaning saw cylinder;
- (d) utilizing first flow deflecting means to deflect flow of entrained air around said first doffing brush cylinder toward a second doffing brush cylinder, said first flow deflecting means being on the opposite side of said first pinch point from said first guiding means, said first flow deflecting means being positioned on a side of said pinch point where said ginned fiber does not flow, and said first flow deflecting means being positioned between said first doffing brush cylinder and said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder;
- and,
- (e) transferring said fiber from said first fiber cleaning saw cylinder via said second doffing brush cylinder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.