Fiber opening apparatus

An opener for opening fibers comprising:

• a feed station including a pre-opening section;
• a fiber receiving station arranged beneath said feed station and including a pair of substantially parallel and horizontally disposed opening rolls, a blending chamber and a containment receiving area;
• a main roll located beneath and between said first and second opening rolls;
• a first wall forming a channel about outer peripheries of said first opening roll and said main roll;
• second and third walls forming a channel about outer peripheries of said second opening roll and said main roll;
• and
• first and second waste removal openings each containing at least one mote knife arranged between said second and third walls adjacent said second opening roll and between said first and third walls adjacent said main roll;
• wherein
• fibers fed into said receiving station are contacted by said first and second opening rolls creating a tumbling action which dislodges contaminant comprising trash, broken fibers and dust from said fibers into said waste receiving area, fibers picked up by said first opening roll are doffed onto said second opening roll and carried past said first waste removal opening, where contaminants are removed, and further opening occurs, and into position to be doffed onto said main roll, said fibers are then carried past said second waste removal opening where further opening occurs as contaminants are again removed;
• said fibers-are then doffed from said main roll.

An opener for opening fibers comprising:

• a cabinet having a feed opening, an inner chamber, a waste removal chamber and a fiber web removal unit;
• a fiber feed arranged above said opening for feeding fibers by gravity into said inner chamber;
• a pair of horizontally spaced opening rolls arranged parallel and adjacent each other, said opening rolls being located in the lower area of said inner chamber;
• a main roll located beneath, parallel, and between said opening rolls;
• a plurality of channels formed between said rolls and walls of said cabinet;
• openings formed in certain of said walls forming said channels providing access to said waste removal areas, each said opening having a mote knife mounted therein;
• and,
• a fiber removal unit located beneath said main roll;
• wherein,
• fibers fed into said inner chamber after being engaged, tumbled and opened are carried by an opening roll through a first channel to be doffed onto said main roll, said main roll carrying said fibers to said fiber removal unit where said fibers are removed for further processing.

An opener for opening fibers comprising:

• a cabinet having a feed opening, an inner chamber, and a fiber web removal unit;
• a fiber feed arranged above said opening for feeding fibers by gravity into said inner chamber;
• a pair of horizontally spaced opening rolls arranged parallel and adjacent each other, said opening rolls being located in the lower area of said inner chamber;
• a main roll located beneath, parallel, and between said opening rolls;
• a plurality of channels formed between said rolls and walls of said cabinet;
• openings formed in certain of said walls, each said opening having a mote knife mounted therein;
• and,
• a fiber removal unit located beneath said main roll;
• wherein
• fibers fed into said inner chamber after being engaged, tumbled and opened are carried by an opening roll through a first channel to be doffed onto said main roll, said main roll carrying said fibers to said fiber removal unit where said fibers are removed for further processing.