CN117597204A - Method and apparatus for recovering down from stuffed products - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus for recovering down from a down filled product, the method comprising the steps of: -a cut (2) adapted to chop the stuffed product; -subsequently mechanically agitating the chaff in at least one first separation chamber (3, 4) to separate at least some down from the chaff; -pumping down takes place at the first separation chamber (3, 4) and upstream and/or downstream of the first separation chamber (3, 4); -collecting the sucked down in at least one container (71-73).

Description

Method and apparatus for recovering down from stuffed products

The present invention relates to a method and a corresponding apparatus for recovering down, in particular goose down and duck down, from down-filled products, such as clothing, quilts, pillows and the like.

Currently, automated systems for recovering down from a down filled product in order to recycle the various components (and in particular to reuse down in a new filled product) are known.

However, no effective solution has been found to the problem of extracting down while maintaining high quality (particularly with relatively low levels of foreign matter such as fibers (e.g., less than or equal to 0.5% by weight).

Furthermore, no solution has been found to the problem of extracting high quality down from the component parts of the hybrid stuffer product (i.e. products made of fabrics and/or yarns of the stuffer product that are different from each other).

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for recovering down from a down filled product for subsequent recycling which is capable of improving the prior art in one or more of the above-mentioned aspects.

Within this aim, an object of the present invention is to improve the separation of the down from the chips of the initially stuffed product during the recovery process.

Another object is to recover down which remains in high purity, substantially independently of the material constituting the initial stuffed product, in particular independently of the electrostatic behaviour of the fabric and/or independently of the yarns (for example wool, cotton, polyester fibers) of such stuffed products which are commonly used for articles such as garments stuffed with down.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to collect down with different purities separately during the process.

Another object of the present invention is to be able to increase the purity of the extracted down during the recovery process in case the purity of the extracted down is not satisfactory.

Furthermore, the present invention aims to overcome the drawbacks of the background art in a way that can replace any existing solutions.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a recycling method and corresponding apparatus that is highly reliable, easy to implement and low cost.

This aim and these and other objects that will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a method for recovering down from a down filled product, such as items of clothing, quilts, pillows and the like, comprising the step of feeding at least one down filled product into a conveyor line in an inlet, and which is characterized in that it comprises the steps of:

-cutting, suitable for shredding at least one stuffed product to obtain pieces in which said down is mixed with scraps of other components of said initially stuffed product, such as fabric, sutures, zippers, buttons, etc., and subsequently advancing said pieces along said conveyor line;

-mechanically agitating said chaff inside at least one first separation chamber along a conveying line, said mechanically agitating being adapted to separate at least a portion of said down from said chaff;

-sucking the separated down, said sucking being performed at and upstream and/or downstream of said first separation chamber;

-collecting the sucked down in at least one down collecting container.

The method according to the invention may optionally be provided with one or more features of the dependent claims.

The objects and aims of the present invention are also achieved by a device for recovering down from a down filled product, such as a garment, a quilt, a pillow, etc., comprising: an inlet for feeding down-filled products; a conveying line; and at least one outlet for collecting down feather recovered from the stuffed products fed at the inlet, said apparatus being characterized in that it comprises along said conveyor line:

-at least one cutting station adapted to receive the stuffed product from an inlet to cut the stuffed product and to release chaff as a result of the cutting onto the conveyor line;

-at least one first separation chamber downstream of said at least one cutting station, said at least one first separation chamber being provided with at least one mechanical agitator for said chaff, said at least one mechanical agitator being adapted to separate at least a portion of said down from said chaff;

other features of the apparatus are that the apparatus comprises:

-suction means connected to a suction port arranged along said conveying line, in particular at said first separation chamber and upstream and/or downstream of the first separation chamber, to suck down separated from said chaff and convey said down towards at least one collection container.

The device according to the invention may optionally have one or more of the features of the dependent claims.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 shows a device according to the invention;

fig. 2 shows a top plan view of the device of fig. 1;

figure 3 shows a partial cross-section of the first separation chamber of the apparatus of figure 1, with the inclined conveyor downstream;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the first separation chamber of the previous figure, wherein the flow of down and debris is indicated;

figure 5 is a partial cross-section of a second separation chamber of the device of figure 1;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the second separation chamber of the previous figure, wherein the flow of down and debris is indicated;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a third separation chamber of the apparatus of FIG. 1, wherein the flow of down and debris is indicated;

referring to the drawings, the apparatus according to the present invention, generally designated by reference numeral 1, is specifically intended for recovering down (in particular goose down or duck down) from down-filled products 10, such as items of clothing, quilts, pillows, and the like.

Such an initially down-filled product 10 (schematically shown in the form of a jacket in the figures) is basically a fabric bag filled with down, in particular goose down or duck down, and is provided with seams and optionally sewing supplies or stitching articles such as zippers, buttons, belts, stippling, ropes etc.

The apparatus 1 comprises a conveyor line 12 having an inlet 11 for feeding these stuffed products 10 and at least one outlet for collecting down recovered by means of the invention from the stuffed products 10 fed to the inlet 11. In the embodiment shown, there are three such collection outlets represented by the mouths of the respective down feather collection containers 71, 72 and 73.

Advantageously, the stuffed product 10 may be introduced into the inlet 11 as is, i.e., without first removing accessories such as zippers and/or buttons. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is capable of handling stuffed products, in fact, even though these types of fittings are relatively heavy.

The conveyor line 12 may consist of a conveyor belt (motorized, preferably enclosed in a covering to prevent the down from scattering and to ensure safety), in which the treatment stations 2, 3,4, 5 of the apparatus 1 (better described below) are inserted.

Alternatively, one or more conveyor belts may be provided inclined in the direction of advance of the conveyor line 12 to raise the conveyed material to a level so as to thereafter drop it into a processing station immediately downstream, which may facilitate separation of the material components.

The processing stations along the conveyor line 12 comprise at least one cutting station 2 adapted to receive the stuffed product 10 from the inlet 11 to cut it into pieces and release such pieces onto the conveyor line 12, in particular onto a conveyor belt immediately downstream of the cutting station 2, which connects the cutting station to the subsequent processing station.

Preferably, the cutting station 2 comprises a primary cutting station 21 and a subsequent rotary cutting station 24.

The primary cutting station 21 is preferably a guillotine-type cutting station adapted to receive the stuffed product 10 in its inlet 22 (which is fed into the inlet 11 of the apparatus 1) and to use at least one guillotine-type blade (i.e. a substantially vertical movement) to substantially slice the stuffed product into sheets. The thus cut pieces of material can then be conveyed along the conveyor line 12 between the outlet 23 of the primary cutting station 21 and the inlet 25 of the rotary cutting station 24 so as to be able to further chop the cut pieces of material and to provide a greater amount of down components for the subsequent steps at the outlet 26 of the cutting station 2.

The material present at the outlet 26 of the cutting station 2 is referred to herein as "chaff" and may comprise separated down, clusters of down attached to other residues (typically lines or fragments of fabric), and fragments of other materials and accessories (fabric, zippers, buttons, etc.) that may be mixed with the down.

The treatment station along the conveyor line 12 comprises one or more separation chambers 3 and/or 4 downstream of the cutting station 2, each provided with at least one mechanical agitator adapted to mechanically separate at least a portion of the down from the incoming chaff. Advantageously, each mechanical agitator is constituted by at least one motorized striking roller having a horizontal rotation axis, i.e. an axis substantially parallel to the floor on which the apparatus 1 rests.

According to one aspect of the invention, the apparatus 1 further comprises suction means 6 connected to a plurality of suction ports arranged at the at least one separation chamber and further upstream and/or downstream of the at least one separation chamber along the conveyor line 12 for sucking down separated from the chaff from above in several different areas of the conveyor line 12 and in determined treatment stations, and for being able to convey such down to at least one down collection container 71, 72, 73, such as a bin or a sack. The separated down is thus sucked both at the first separation chamber and at other positions or treatment stations along the conveying line.

The suction means 6 may comprise one or more pneumatic suction machines 61, 62, 63, such as air compressors or fans, suction pumps or vacuum pumps or suction fans. Each suction machine 61, 62, 63 may have: an access port connected to the suction port via means 8 for selective delivery; and a discharge port connected to the mouth of the down feather collection container 71, 72 or 73.

The means 8 for selective transfer essentially consist of various tubular suction ducts which are conveniently connected to transfer the down from the respective ports to the respective collection containers 71-73.

Suction from above is more advantageous than the introduction of an upwardly directed air flow, since suction from above alone also reduces the risk of transporting down under pressure of chips and contaminations towards the transport means 8 and the collecting containers 71-73.

The suction machines 61-63 may be arranged in respective bins which also house the down feather collection containers 71-73. Alternatively, the suction machine may be arranged along the conduit of the conveyor 8 or at a suction port in the treatment station.

In a preferred embodiment, the first separation chamber 3 arranged downstream of the cutting station 2 may comprise a stepped cleaner 30 having: an inlet 31 for receiving crushed aggregates from the cutting station 2; and an outlet 32 for releasing onto the conveyor line 12 crushed aggregates of partially stripped down, which have been subjected to a combination of mechanical stirring and pneumatic suction by means of the suction device 6.

Preferably, the outlet 32 is provided in a tubular form so as to keep the space between the step-like cleaner 30 and the conveyor belt downstream of the step-like cleaner 30 closed.

The step cleaner 30 may be constituted by a plurality of impact rollers 33a,33b,33c having a substantially horizontal axis of rotation. The striking rollers 33a,33b,33c are arranged such that their axes are substantially perpendicular to the advancing direction of the chaff along the conveying line, and a plurality of striking rollers are arranged in such a way that the respective ground clearance heights gradually increase, so that the chaff rises and gradually separates it from the sucked down. The rotational speed of the striking rollers 33a,33b,33c may be comprised between 350rpm and 400 rpm.

Each striking roller 33a,33b,33c is provided with a plurality of vanes 35a, 35b, 35c protruding from the side wall of the respective roller and adapted to separate the constituent parts of the chaff and to advance them, optionally with the aid of a concave striking grid 34a-34b arranged at least below the rotation axis of the first roller 33a-33b of the first step cleaner 30 with a radial distance slightly greater than the radial extension of the vanes 35a-35 b. The striking grids 34a-34b may be adapted to allow the passage of waste chaff to reduce the likelihood of chaff clogging at the outlet 32.

In the embodiment shown, the vanes 35a, 35b, 35c are arranged side by side at regular intervals along respective straight generatrices (generators) of the respective striking rollers 33a,33b,33c, which are equally spaced from each other.

In alternative embodiments (not shown), the vanes may be arranged in a staggered fashion along the sidewall of the respective striking roller, or they may be arranged side-by-side along a spiral line.

The stepped cleaner 30 is closed in the upper region by a first suction hood 37 connected to the suction device 6. In particular, the first hood 37 is connected to the first suction machine 61 through a port 82 arranged on the first hood 37 and a first tubular suction duct 83 of the optional transfer device 8. The first suction machine 61 (e.g. a pump) may be arranged such that its inlet port is connected to the first conduit 83 and its outlet port is connected to the first collection container 71.

Alternatively, the first suction duct 83 may comprise a first branch 81, which allows the inlet port of the first suction machine 61 to be connected to other suction ports 80 along the conveying line 12 and preferably upstream of the first separation chamber 3.

In a preferred embodiment, the rotary cutting station 24 is also closed in the upper region by a respective suction hood 27 which is connected to the suction device 6 via a port 80, for example belonging to the first branch 81 described above, in order to suck out the portion of down which has been advantageously freed by the rotary cutting and the preceding primary cutting.

In addition to being used to recover down from the chaff, the suction of down at the rotary cutting station 24 can also be used to reduce the mass of chaff advancing along the conveyor line 12, in order to prevent the chaff from clogging the conveyor line 12.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown in detail), a suction hood of the cutting station 2 may be located at the outlet 26 of the rotary cutting station 24, wherein the suction hood closes the outlet 26 in an upper region.

Optionally, there may also be suction from above in the primary cutting station 21.

Part of the down sucked up at the cutting station 2 and at the step-like cleaner 30 may be contaminated with residues, in particular threads or fragments of fabric. Accordingly, the quality level of the down collected in the first container 71 after the suction may be lower than the target level, and thus may be treated differently; for example, such down may be reintroduced into the device 1.

The chaff at the outlet 32 of the first separation chamber 3 still contains textile residues and non-textile residues 14 (fabric fragments, zippers, buttons, etc.) with down clusters also attached.

Advantageously, downstream of the first separation chamber 3 or instead of it, there can be a second separation chamber 4 along the conveyor line 12, which is adapted to receive, after suction in the upstream station, at its inlet 41, a chaff of partially stripped down via the conveyor line 12.

Preferably, the second separation chamber 4 comprises a (second) mechanical agitator for the chaff, which is advantageously provided with a single motorized striking roller 43 with a horizontal rotation axis, preferably of the type with spikes 44. The spikes 44 are advantageously arranged side by side along a spiral around the axis of rotation of the striking roller 43, thereby also promoting the axial advance of the residual debris 14 from the inlet 41 of the second separation chamber 4 at the end facing the spike roller 43 to the outlet 42 at the other end facing the spike roller 43.

The spiked roller 43 further comprises longitudinal blades 46, wherein each longitudinal blade protrudes substantially radially from the axis of rotation and extends substantially along the entire length of the roller 43. The number of longitudinal blades 46 (equidistant from each other in angle) may be four (thus 90 ° apart) as in the case shown, and they define separating walls between the groups of spikes 44, the height of the longitudinal blades being substantially equal to or slightly lower than the height of the groups of spikes 44.

The spike roller 43 is basically a mechanical agitator, the rotation of which is preferably much slower than the rotation of the hitting rollers 33a-33c of the first separation chamber 3, e.g. the rotation of which is about an order of magnitude smaller than the rotation of the hitting rollers 33a-33c, which may be comprised between 30rpm and 50rpm, for example.

The spike roller 43 advantageously interacts with the lower striking surface 45 (for example by means of a concave grid through which any waste passes) for separating down 13.

On top of the spike roller 43 there is also mounted a second hood 47 coupled to at least one respective upper suction port, which in turn is connected to the suction device 6 and the conveyor 8. In particular, the second cover 47 closing the second chamber 4 from above may have a plurality of suction ports 84a-84c in the upper region, and therefore may optionally be associated with several suction machines 62-63 in case the power of a single suction machine 62 is insufficient to create a partial vacuum in the second separation chamber 4.

In particular, in the preferred embodiment, the upper portion of the second cover 47 is coupled to two end ports 84a-84b and a central port 84c interposed between the two end ports. The two end ports 84a-84b are connected to the second suction machine 62 by respective tubular ducts 85a and 85b converging into a single tube towards the inlet port of the second suction machine 62, which transfers the down thus sucked to the second collection container 72. Instead, the central port 84c is connected to the third suction machine 63 by a further tubular duct 85c and transfers the down thus sucked out to the third collection container 73.

The second cover 47 may be shaped substantially like a truncated pyramid with a rectangular bottom surface and defines a large closed free space (e.g. 1300 to 1700 litres) between the ports 84a-84c and the volume occupied by the spiked roller 43, in which closed free space the down continuously separated from the chaff is released by the spikes 44 and fed into the second cover 47 by the continuous rotation of the longitudinal blades 46.

The closed free space defined between the walls of the second hood 47 is so large that it is difficult to accommodate components with a high specific gravity and thus it contributes to the suction of only lighter components, i.e. down 13 with a low degree of contamination.

Maintaining the ports of the cover 47 a sufficient distance from the roller with the spikes 44 (e.g., the distance between the ports 84a-84c and the spikes 44 closest to them is comprised between 110cm and 150 cm) reduces the likelihood of aspirating down that is contaminated with heavier components.

As with the chaff remaining at the outlet 32 of the first separation chamber 3, the apparatus 1 may advantageously comprise a third separation chamber 5 in which chaff from an upstream separation chamber, for example the second separation chamber 4, falls down by gravity onto the obstruction while in the third separation chamber 5 suction from above remains effective to collect down released inside the third separation chamber, taking into account that the chaff remaining at the outlet 42 of the second separation chamber 4 may still have down attached to other materials.

In particular, the third separation chamber 5 may be connected to the second separation chamber 4 by a conveyor with a diagonal clamping plate 54 in order to bring the remaining particles from the outlet 42 of the second separation chamber 4 to a higher level into the third separation chamber 5.

Preferably, the third separation chamber 5 comprises an internal blocking surface 55, such that during the fall the residual chaff received at the inlet 51 of the third separation chamber 5 hits such blocking surface 55, thereby releasing further down. The blocking surface 55 is essentially a chute (chute), which optionally has an inclined step, i.e. the step is inclined essentially downwards, in particular towards the bottom discharge opening 52, for letting out the residue 14 of the chaff falling by gravity. These "heavier" residues may be collected in the bag 58 for disposal.

Optionally, the third separation chamber 5 may further comprise a third mechanical agitator 53, for example a motorized cylindrical rotor with a horizontal rotation axis, arranged close to the inlet 51 of the third separation chamber, in order to intercept the chaff falling from the inlet 51, in particular from the end of the conveyor 54, and to improve the separation of the down feather 13 from the debris 14.

Above the inlet 51 of the third separation chamber 5, a protective screen 59 may optionally be arranged, which protective screen is adapted to prevent down from being sucked directly upwards from the chaff still on the conveyor 54.

The third separation chamber 5 is closed in the upper region by a third suction hood 57, the port 87 of which is connected to the third suction machine 63 by a tubular duct 86 in order to collect the released down feather 13 in a third collection container 73. The tubular conduit 85c connected to the cover 47 of the second separation chamber 4 may branch off from the tubular conduit 86.

The method according to the invention is evident from the description of the device 1.

Essentially, the method requires a step of feeding the stuffed product 10, preferably arranged at the entrance 11 of the conveyor line 12, with the direction of the sutures of the stuffed product oriented such that it is not parallel to the knife direction of the station 2, in such a way as to improve the cutting of the sutures.

In the cutting step, which as already seen preferably consists of a primary guillotine cut and a subsequent rotary cut, the stuffed product 10 is cut into small pieces in which down 13 is mixed with chips 14 of other components (such as fabric, sutures, zippers, buttons, etc.).

Advantageously, suction is applied to the rotary cutting station 24 from above in order to collect the first portions of down released by the cutting. These down can be collected in a first container 71 intended to contain the most contaminated down that can be recovered from the conveyor line 12.

Subsequently, one or more separation steps of the chaff are carried out in the respective separation chambers 3-4 along the conveyor line 12, wherein the separation steps are carried out by combining mechanical agitation of the chaff with suction applied above the chambers.

Mechanical agitation is essentially provided by beating rollers 33a-33c,43 which rotate continuously about a substantially horizontal axis and which optionally rotate in an impact manner when the material falls into the separation chamber 5 at the end of the conveying line, while suction is performed through respective hoods 37, 47, 57 which close the respective separation chambers 3,4, 5 from above.

The hoods 27, 37, 47, 57 are connected to the collection containers 71-73 by respective ports and tubular conduits. Thus, after a cutting and beating operation and a moving operation by sucking down 13 towards the various ports arranged along the conveyor line 12, the down gradually separated from the material will be sorted towards one or more collecting containers 71-73 by the suction device 6 and the conveyor device 8 during the advancing of the chaff along the conveyor line 12.

It has surprisingly been found that in the separation chambers further downstream of the transfer line 12 the extracted down has a higher purity than the down extracted in the more upstream stations, and therefore down sucked from the separation chambers arranged further downstream along the transfer line (e.g. chambers 4 and 5) is preferably transferred to the separation vessel.

In this case, the down extracted by the further upstream station (for example by the first chamber 3 and/or by the rotary cutting station 24) may optionally be transferred to the conveyor line 12, for example upstream of the final separation chamber 4 or 5, to further reduce the contamination of those down.

The down collected in containers 71, 72 and/or 73 may be subjected to subsequent steps of sorting and washing, which are conventional in themselves, and such down may be recycled by repeated use in new stuffed products (e.g., articles of clothing, etc.).

Indeed, it has been found that the present invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, all the details may be replaced by other technically equivalent elements.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

This application claims priority from italian patent application No. 102021000029264, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In the technical features mentioned in any claim followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.

Claims (19)

1. A method for recovering down from a down-filled product (10), such as a garment, quilt, pillow or the like, comprising the step of feeding at least one down-filled product (10) into a conveyor line (12) in an inlet (11), characterized in that the method comprises the steps of:

-cutting, suitable for shredding said at least one stuffed product (10) to obtain scraps in which said down (13) is mixed with scraps (14) of other components of the product (10) initially stuffed, such as fabric, sutures, zippers, buttons, etc., and subsequently advancing said scraps along said conveyor line (12);

-mechanically agitating said chaff inside at least one first separation chamber (3, 4) along said conveying line (12), said mechanical agitation being adapted to separate at least a portion of said down from said chaff;

-sucking the separated down, said sucking being performed at the first separation chamber (3, 4) and upstream and/or downstream of the first separation chamber (3, 4);

-collecting the sucked down in at least one down collecting container (71-73).

2. A method according to claim 1, comprising a second step of mechanically agitating said chaff inside at least one second separation chamber (4, 5) to separate down from chaff from said first separation chamber (3, 4), said suction being applied to said second separation chamber (4, 5) as well.

3. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the chaff falls due to gravity into the second separation chamber (4) or into a third separation chamber (5) arranged downstream of the second separation chamber (4) along the conveying line (12), such that during the fall the chaff hits a blocking surface (55) provided inside the second separation chamber or the third separation chamber, releasing additional down (13), the suction also being applied to the optional third separation chamber (5).

4. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein said step of sucking down is also applied at a cutting station (2) arranged upstream of said first separation chamber (3) during said cutting step.

5. A method according to the preceding claim, wherein the down collecting step is adapted to transfer down sucked upstream of the first separation chamber (3) and down sucked in at least the first and/or the second separation chamber into different collecting containers (71-73).

6. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of transferring the content of said at least one first collection container (71) to a point of the conveying line (12) upstream of said first separation chamber (3, 4) or upstream of said second separation chamber (4, 5).

7. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the cutting step comprises a first guillotine cutting step followed by a second rotary cutting step.

8. The method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein said mechanically agitating step is carried out in said first and/or second separation chamber by means of at least one beating roller (33 a,33b,33c, 43) having a substantially horizontal rotation axis.

9. An apparatus (1) for recovering down from a stuffed product, such as clothing, quilts, pillows and the like, comprising: an inlet (11) for feeding down-filled products (10); a conveyor line (12); and at least one outlet (71, 72,

73 For collecting down recycled from said stuffed products (10) fed at said inlet (11), characterized in that said apparatus (1) comprises along said conveyor line (12):

-at least one cutting station (2) adapted to receive the stuffed product (10) from the inlet (11) to cut the stuffed product and to release scraps as a result of the cutting onto the conveyor line (12);

-at least one first separation chamber (3, 4) downstream of said at least one cutting station (2), said at least one first separation chamber being provided with at least one mechanical agitator (33 a,33b,33c, 43) for said chaff, said at least one mechanical agitator (33 a,33b,33c, 43) being adapted to separate at least a portion of said down feathers (13) from said chaff;

characterized in that the device (1) further comprises:

-suction means (6) connected to suction ports (80, 82, 84a-84c, 87) arranged along the conveying line (12) at the first separation chamber (3, 4) and upstream and/or downstream of the first separation chamber (3, 4) along the conveying line (12) to suck down the eiderdown (13) separated from the chaff and convey these eiderdown towards at least one collection container (71-73).

10. The apparatus according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it comprises at least one second separation chamber (4, 5) located downstream of said first separation chamber (3, 4) along said conveying line, said second separation chamber being adapted to receive said scraps from said first separation chamber (3, 4) via said conveying line (12), said second separation chamber (4, 5) being connected to at least one respective suction port (84 a-84c, 87) to suck out additional down (13) from said scraps from said first separation chamber (3, 4) by means of said suction device (6).

11. The apparatus according to the preceding claim, wherein the second separation chamber (4) comprises a second mechanical agitator (43) for the chaff.

12. The apparatus according to one or more of claims 10 to 11, further comprising a third separation chamber (5) downstream of the second separation chamber (4), in which third separation chamber the chaff from the second separation chamber (4) falls by gravity onto a obstructing surface (55) inside the third separation chamber (5) such that during the fall the chaff hits the obstructing surface (55) releasing additional down (13), the third separation chamber (5) being connected to the suction device (6) and comprising a discharge opening (52) for letting out residues (14) of the chaff falling by gravity.

13. Apparatus according to the preceding claim, wherein said obstructing surface (55) is substantially inclined towards said discharge opening, said third separation chamber (5) further comprising at least one third mechanical agitator (53).

14. The apparatus according to one or more of claims 9 to 13, wherein said at least one cutting station (2) is connected to said suction means (6) to aspirate any down (13) that has been separated as a result of said cutting.

15. Apparatus according to the preceding claim, wherein said at least one cutting station comprises a primary cutting station (21), preferably of the guillotine type, and a rotary cutting station (24) downstream of said primary cutting station (21), said suction device (6) being connected to said rotary cutting station.

16. The apparatus according to one or more of claims 9 to 15, characterized in that it comprises conveying means (8) for selectively conveying the down-feathers (13) sucked by means of said suction means (6), said conveying means (8) being configured to convey the down-feathers sucked upstream and downstream of a given point of said conveying line separately into respective collection containers (71-73).

17. The apparatus according to one or more of claims 9 to 16, wherein the mechanical agitator comprises a beating roller (33 a-33c, 43) having a substantially horizontal rotation axis.

18. The apparatus according to one or more of claims 9 to 17, wherein the first separation chamber (3) comprises a stepped cleaner (30) closed in an upper region by a respective hood (37) coupled to at least one respective port (82) connected to the suction device (6).

19. The apparatus according to one or more of claims 9 to 18, wherein the first separation chamber (3, 4) or optionally the second separation chamber (4) comprises a spiked roller (43) having a substantially horizontal axis of rotation and on top of which a respective cover (47) coupled to the at least one respective port (84 a-84 c) is mounted, said at least one respective port being connected to the suction device (6), said cover (47) defining a closed free space between the at least one respective port (84 a-84 c) and the volume occupied by the spiked roller (43), in which down separated from the crushed aggregates is released by means of rotation of the spiked roller, said spiked roller preferably comprising longitudinal blades between which the down is interposed.