US2090260A - Process of reconditioning used waste - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 17, 1937. L. c. M NAMARA ET AL 6 PROCESS OF RECONDITIONING USED WASTE Original Filed Dec. 1, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l In ven tors, Leo C McNamara, Irvin M. Conway, William T Bissell,

Herschel H.

Harold,

Mm I

A Horny;-

Aug. 17, 1937. L. c. M NAMARA ET AL PROCESS OF RECONDITIONING USED WASTE Original Filed Dec. 1, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllllirili Aug. 17, 1937. 1.. c. McNAMARA ET AL PROCESS OF RECONDI TIONING USED WASTE Original Filed Dec. 1, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 m mm m s, a H mmr uBH. n M L e e u C m n na I ww h s Lhud wH Patented Aug. 17, 1937 UNITED STATS ATENT OFFICE PROCESS OF RECO-NDIT'IONING USED WASTE Application December 1, 1932, Serial No. 645,222 Renewed April 22, 1936 Claims.

journal box is to provide means for feeding oil by capillary action to the surface of the journal. 5 Cotton waste is commonly employed and it is preferable to mix some wool waste with the cotton in order to secure a greater resiliency so as to keep the mass of waste in contact with the journal. The cotton waste is composed of strands of yarn and threads and these strands are spun in the usual and well known manner from the cotton lint. Each strand is therefore built-up from innumerable bits of lint varying in length as does the usual cotton lint from approximately a half inch to a maximum of two inches. Therefore each strand will have many ends of these 1, individual pieces of lint exposed along the sides thereof and in fact will have such ends projecting somewhat so as to give the yarn a fuzzy appearance. As is well known, each particle of cotton lint represents a single cellular structure resembling somewhat, on a much smaller scale, a twisted length of empty fire hose. That is, the cotton lint is a flattened structure having a 5 slight spiral twist to it. By reason of this twist, the lint is easily and readily handled and brought into the form of the yarn or thread. Also by reason of this peculiar formation of the lint, the yarn or thread formed from such lint provides an excellent wick since these innumerable particles of lint form many capillary tubes through which the oil will flow.

The waste in the journal box around the under side of the journal will give excellent service so long as its wick-like action is maintained. This action will persist as long as there is a supply of oil present and also as long as these capillary tubes within the yarn itself and between adjacent strands of yarn do not become clogged with foreign matter. In all of the literature pertaining to the reclaiming of used journal box Waste and the oil reclaimed therefrom, which we have been able to secure, it is repeatedly stated that the difficulty encountered with waste in the usual journal box is that free lint in the waste will felt or mat against the journal, become charred, and cause a hot-box. Thus in all of the processes heretofore known to us, particular stress has been placed upon the removal of the lint. Of course in handling any cotton yarn or threads in the presence of oil, there is bound to be some lint loosened from the threads and yarn and flowed out in this oil. However our experience has been that it is not the presence of this lint which causes journal boxes to heat but it is the presence of colloidal matter accumulating in the waste which progressively stops-up the many capillaries through the waste and thereby prevents the feeding of the oil to the journal. Felt itself will give a wick action as long as it does not become clogged with foreign matter and therefore what lint may separate from the waste after it is in the journal box, even though it may felt against the journal, will not cause any harm as long as it remains free of the colloidal matter since it will of itself tend to feed the oil against the journal.

This colloidal matter above referred to consists of finely comminuted particles of carbon, metals, cinders, sand and the like coated with films of the lubricating oil. The particles of metal arise from the wearing of the journal and the brass and much of the other foreign matter gets into the journal box from the dust arising along the roadway. Upon a sufiicient accumulation of this colloidal matter, the capillary action of the waste becomes stopped since this finely divided matter forms a coating about the strands of yarn and threads and about each of the exposed lengths of lint themselves so that the passages through which the oil has been flowing become stopped. It is then that lubrication fails and the journal becomes heated. Another factor which must be taken into consideration in employing waste in a journal box is that short ends must be guarded against. The term short ends is generally employed to mean such short lengths of yarn and threads which become disengaged from the general mass of the waste in such a manner that they may work around between the journal and the brass in which case the bearing will fail.

In our invention below described, it is our intention to remove the colloidal matter from the used waste in such manner that the minimum number of lint ends will be broken-off or removed from the strands of yarn and threads so as to leave these ends exposed to aid in the capillary action which is to be restored. Our entire method is devoted to the restoration of the capillary action in the waste and it is to this object that our method is directed. One particular form of apparatus suitable for carrying out our method is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation in more or less diagrammatic form;

Fig. 2, a top plan View;

Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section taken on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4, a fragmentary feeding end elevation;

Fig. 5, a detail on an enlarged scale of the picker rod structure;

Fig. 6, a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section through an oil extractor, and

Fig. 7, a diagram illustrating the various changes produced in the waste by the succeeding steps of the process.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views in the drawings.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, we employ a tank [0 which has a relatively narrow floor sloping downwardly from the discharge end toward the feeding end of the tank. The sides of the tankare carried upwardly to flare outwardly to give a comparatively large open area across the top as compared with the floor area. A plurality of scraper blades I! are mounted transversely of and carried by the pair of endless chains l2 and I3, Fig. 3, whereby the blades may be moved downwardly along the floor of the tank to scrape across this floor and discharge any matter scraped therealong into a sump l4 across the lower end of the floor. A plurality of scraper blades 15 are mounted on an endless chain l6 to be carried across the bottom of this sump and up an inclined floor ll whereby such matter scraped off the tank floor and delivered into the sump is removed therefrom.

A screen I8 is mounted within the tank It! above the path of the returning scrapers II to be in substantially a horizontal positionand extending longitudinally throughout the major length of the tank. This screen I8 is built up from a plurality of flat bars turned on edge and 45 spaced apart to leave openings therebetween to form a grid-like structure with the bars running longitudinally of the tank. The rear end of this screen l8 terminates forwardly of the rear end of the tank so as to permit the insertion there- 0 between of a plurality of closely spaced steam pipes 19, these pipes forming in effect a grid screen filling in the space at the rear end of the screen I8. The Width of the screen I8 is substantially that of the floor of the tank l0 and the 55 screen is mounted in the upper part of the tank so that a space is left on either side thereof.

On each side of the screen l8 and extending thereabove are a plurality of steam pipes 20. The screen I8 is preferably provided with a cen- 60 tral longitudinal partition 2| extending vertically upward therefrom so as to divide the space above the screen into two lanes, one on each side of the partition.

Above the horizontally disposed steam pipes l9 5 and over the rear end of the screen I8 is mounted a frame 22 carrying a plurality of downwardly hanging picks 23 which are given an up. and down and a fore and aft motion by the swinging of the frame 22 on cranks. Forwardly of the 70 frame 22 are mounted a plurality of pairs of pickor rods 24, 24', which are mounted on transverse shafts 25, Fig. 5, to be rocked by a common arm 26 extending from an eccentric 21 to give a greator degree of rocking to one of the rods in each 7 pair than to the other as indicated by the dash lines, Fig. 5. rods move fore and aft immediately above the screen l8 for a predetermined length of time and are then raised upwardly a considerable distance while their lower ends point forwardly and are again lowered when their lower ends have been rocked rearwardly. The structure embodying the picks 23 and the picker rods 24, 24, is explained in detail in the U. S. Patent to Conway et al., No. 1,783,407, issued Dec. 2, 1930, and in combination with the grid screen in a copending application by McNamara et al., filed May 4, 1929, Serial No. 360,544, which application has since matured into Patent No. 2,000,291, granted May '7, 1935.

An inclined floor 28 leads upwardly from the screen 18 in front of the picker rods and has mounted immediately thereabove a pair of endless chains 29 and 30 across which are bars 3| on which are mounted a plurality of fingers 32 adapted to be moved upwardly and over the floor 28.

Used waste as taken from the journal boxes in more or less 'matted condition; containing much colloidal matter and heavy congealed oil, is brought into the reclaiming plant and, without preheating, is dumped into the tank In immediately above the steam pipes 19. Lubricating oil of the type generally employed to saturate the waste for lubricatingpurposes is placed in the tank l0 to have a level six or seven inches above the top of the screen I8. By means of the pipes l9 and 20 the temperature of this oil is brought up to above the boiling point of water, temperatures as high as 260 degrees Fahrenheit being employed in some cases. This oil is free from moisture and therefore may be heated to such a temperature safely in the open tank without any danger of foaming. Now as the dirty waste is dumped into this hot oil above the pipes I3, the moisture in the waste is driven off rapidly in this area immediately above the pipes I9 before the moisture is carried into any appreciable volume of the oil. The waste is fed into the oil gradually at a rate such that the moisture may be driven off as rapidly as it is received in the oil. Since the pipes 20 are along the sides of the tank and just submerged under the oil, and an intensely heated area is provided at one end by the pipes 19, and by reason of the shape of the tank as to its sides and sloping floor, the oil in the tank is being constantly moved downwardly through the screen l8 and back up around the sides to over the pipes 20 and also from the discharge end of the tank downwardly over the floor thereof and up between the pipes IS. The oil itself is thus automatically circulated by convection currents. Therefore when the cold dirty waste is fed into the heated oil over the pipes IS, the waste is quickly heated, the water heated and evaporated and carried upwardly out of the oil, the old oil in the waste heated, and the waste itself somewhat expanded. During this action, much of the foreign matter, particularly the larger particles, will be precipitated from the incoming Waste to drop between the pipes l9 down through the oil to the floor of the tank.

The reciprocating picks 23'engage in this incoming waste and. move it forwardly from "the pipes l9 to carry it onto the screen 18. As the waste is thus moved forwardly, the picker rods 24, 24' engage with the waste and gently move it fore and aft over the parallel bars in the screen I8 and at the same time exert a slight pulling apart action also in the direction of the rocking of the rods. By reason of this action of these rods in combination with the form of the screen The lower ends of these picker l8, a carding action is set up in the presence of the heated oil which serves to untangle the matted incoming waste and to open it up by spreading apart the strands of yarn and threads, hereinafter termed fibers, and more important, to arrange these fibers in a more or less parallel alignment along the bars of the screen 18. This movement of the waste by the picker rods is repeated a number of times by the various pairs by the time the waste is shifted to the front end of the screen l8. While these fibers are being shifted and straightened out, and by the repeated action thereof, the fibers are gently and slowly rubbed one over the other in the presence of the heated oil whereby the colloidal matter adhering to the fibers and the lint ends projecting therefrom is loosened up and floated out into the oil.

Thus far what has happened to the waste is that the cold matted waste with congealed oils and foreign matter including some moisture has been fed slowly in comparatively small amounts into an intensely heated zone of lubricating oil to have all of the moisture content removed, to have the congealed oil heated and intermixed with the oil in the tank, and the larger solid particles of foreign matter precipitated from the waste. The waste has then been carded in the presence of the hot oil and one fiber rubbed frictionally over the other so as to further aid in the separation of the colloidal matter therefrom so as to float such matter from the waste into the oil.

The oil in the tank In is watched and the contamination by such colloidal matter as above referred to is never allowed to exceed such a concentration as would interfere with the capillary action of the waste when it is withdrawn from this oil. The oil in the tank It) is frequently changed and renovated so as to remove the colloidal matter and permit the same oil to be returned to the tank for use again. While the volume of oil in the tank I0 is relatively small yet in comparison to the Waste passing through it and the colloidal matter removed therefrom, the volume of the oil is comparatively large so that it may be used for a considerable length of time before the concentration of the colloidal matter in the oil reaches a point requiring a change thereof. During the steps of the method thus far described, some lint will float out of the waste into the oil but since the waste is not violently handled nor oil forced through it by pressure, the lint ends extending from the fibers will not be broken off nor will particles of lint be pulled out of the fibers. What lint does appear in the wash oil is removed when the oil is renovated and what little lint may be carried by the waste out of the Wash oil is so slight as to be negligible since such lint will be entrapped between adjacent fibers tending to further aid in forming additional capillary tubes in the final production. Waste itself is an excellent filter and will entrap and retain these particles of lint when lint bearing oil is carried through the waste.

By reason of the convection currents set up in the oil itself in the tank In, considerable amount of the colloidal matter will be precipitated on the floor of the tank in the presence of the intense heat of the oil and will thus be carried by the scraper blades ll back to the sump l4 and removed from the tank. It is to be noted that the form of the tank I0 approaches that of an evaporating pan with a wide evaporating surface and. a restricted volume therebelow. The presence of the partition 2[ through the center of the screen I8 aids in holding the fibers in parallel alignment and in preventing them from rolling up into balls or rolls which would interfere with the bringing of the fibers into the wick-like formation.

When the waste leaves the picker rods at the forward end of the screen I3, the fingers 32 on the conveyor over the floor 28 engage in the waste to carry it up over the floor and in so engaging, the waste is looped around the fingers to form hanks of fibers as diagrammatically indicated as step three in Fig. 7, step one indicating the dirty waste being subjected to the intensely heated oil over the pipes l9, and step two the fibers as having been rubbed over each other and brought into parallel arrangement. The waste is carried up the floor 28 with the oil draining back from the fibers into the tank I3, it being noted that the oil is thus permitted to drain by running back down over the fibers as supported in substantial parallel arrangement whereby the flow of oil is essentially longitudinally of the fibers thereby tending to flush off any foreign matter which may still be adhering thereto. The foreign matter however has been effectively removed by the rubbing together of the fibers under the action of the picker rods so that only that small degree of the colloidal matters which may be floating in the oil itself will be on the fibers as they are carried up the floor 28 and by the flow of oil downwardly over this floor, and longitudinally of the fibers, even this small degree of the matter will tend to return with the oil to the tank rather than remain on the fibers.

From the upper end of the floor 28 these fibers are dropped into hoppers 33 and 34, one for each lane as defined on either side of the partition 2!, this partition being continued up the floor 23. Under each hopper is a separate extractor, the structure of which is indicated on the somewhat enlarged scale in Fig. 6. The waste dropping through the hopper 33 for example, falls in front of a plunger 35 which is made to reciprocate within a box-like housing 36. The waste will be in the form of a more or less continuous belt or wick of parallelly arranged fibers as it drops through the hopper 33 and the plunger 35 is loosely fitted within the box 36 so that as the plunger moves beyond the hopper, the waste forwardly of the plunger may be moved ahead without being cut off or damage being caused to the fibers which extend back from that part ahead of the plunger to that part remaining in the hopper 33. Upon each return movement of the plunger 35 back of the hopper to permit more waste to drop in front thereof, a side 31 of the hopper 33, or 34 as the case may be, is so mounted and is so connected to the driving mechanism as to be carried downwardly to press and carry the waste down through the hopper 33 and then be removed as the plunger moves forwardly again. By reason of the reciprocating action of the plunger 35, the member 31 carrying the waste downwardly, and the tendency of the waste to hang together in a continuous belt-like formation, the waste is compacted within the box 36 in a folded arrangement with the folds at the top and bottom of the box and the fibers principally arranged in vertical parallel alignment. The waste which is carried forwardly of the plunger 35 still contains considerable oil carried over from the tank l0 and, upon repeated motion of the plunger 35, is compacted to such an extent by layers of waste being pressed behind forwardly compacted layers that the oil is pressed from the waste by layer upon layer being pushed together. Since the waste is folded within the box to have the fibers in substantially vertical positions, the tendency of the 0il,'-aS pressure is applied to the waste, is to flow longitudinally of the fibers, thereby again obtaining a cleaning effect of the fibers themselves as well as the removal of the oil. The upper side of the box 36 is adjustably spaced by its outer end from the floor of the box in order to retain the compacted waste within the box until sufficient -pres= sure has been built up by repeated motion of the plunger 35 to force the waste outwardly from the open end of the box. The box is sufficiently long to permit a considerable amount of waste to be retained therein while the plunger is going through many cycles of motion so that the waste is actually held under pressure for a considerable length of time so as to provide a time element within which the. oil may gradually flow from the waste rather than violently. forcing it through the waste. In this manner the projecting lint ends of the fibers are further protected and not torn loose. The cross sectional area of these boxes is not great, one particular installation having a box not exceeding 7 x 7 inches square. By compressing the waste into relatively small masses, the distances the oilhas to flow outwardly therefrom are very short. never exceeding that from the center of the waste to the outside so that the filtering action of the waste itself is reduced and there is but slight tendency for the waste to retain any of the colloidal matter which appears in the .wash oil then flowing out of the waste. The pressure applied to the waste and the time interval allowed is sufficient to cause all of the free oil to be extracted uniformly from the waste before the waste leaves these extractors. The waste is thus compacted in the fourth step of the process, Fi '7.

The extractors are here shown asbeinginclined upwardly to have their discharging ends over a comparatively small tank 38. This tank 38 contains a grid screen 39 longitudinally thereacross with a central partition 40 dividing the screen into two lateral alleys, one for each of the extractors 33 and 34. A plurality of sets of picker rods 4| of exactly the same structure and having the same operation as the rods .24, 24, are mounted to swing longitudinally over the screen 39. The tank 38 has clean lubricating oil therein with a level some six or seven inches above the screen 39 and this level is maintained by fiowing additional oil therein as waste is taken from the tank. The temperature of the oil in the tank 38 is much below that of the oil in the tank [8.

Waste discharging from the two extractors under the hoppers 33 and 34 drops into this bath of relatively cold oil in the tank 38 to expand somewhat as it is released from the extractors. This waste as it drops into the cold oil still has a relatively high temperature by reason of its having been heated in the bath of oil in the tank It] so that when the waste drops into the cold oil, the waste is suddenly chilled. This chilled waste is worked by the picker rods 4| over the screen 33 to again separate the fibers and straighten out the folds as caused by" the extractors and brought loosely together in essentially parallel arrangement of fibers and gradually worked forwardly of the tank 38. This step of subjecting the heated compacted waste to the relatively cold'bath of lubricating oil and the second cardingVaction is indicated inthe diagram in Fig. 7 by the numerals 5 and '6. wherein it is indicated that-the folded fibers dropping from the extractors first expand in the. presence of the oil due to their own resiliency and are carded to rearrangethem. g, I

From the front end of the screen 39 the fibers are picked up by the fingers 42 carried by the elevating conveyor 43 to have the fibers looped therearound to string backwardly therefrom; on either side as they are pulled upwardly over a draining floor 44 to allow oil to flow longitudinally down the fibersback intothe tank 38. Since the fibers enterthe tank 38- substantially freeof 011, much of the oil in the tank as will be absorbed by the fibers to fillup the capillaries therein and to adhere to the mass of waste in general so that theilevel of the oil in the tank 38 is constantly tending to be lowered as the waste is taken from it, but this level is maintained by a. supply. .of infiowing oil. The tank 38 is preferably arranged in relation to the tank Hlso. "that any time it may be desirable, the oil in the tank 38 may be directlyconveyed by gravity into the tank [0. The waste being taken from the tank 38 by the conveyor 43, which step is indicated as number '7 in the diagram Fig. '7, is dropped from the upper end of the floor onto a chain belt 45 which travels forwardly undera rolling member 43. This member 46 is composed of a plurality of individual cylindrical sections-each mounted resiliently about a central axis so as to be capable of springing upwardly from the belt 45 individually in respect to adjacent sections. The

structure involved in the belt 45 and the rolling member 46 is exactly the same as shown'inthe 'U. S. Letters Patent to McNamara, No. 1,845,676,

issued February 16, 1932. The under side of the roller 46 revolves in the same. direction of travel as that of the belt 45 so that the Waste dropping onto the belt is carried forwardly therebyunder. the roller to have oil uniformly pressed from the waste to a degree depending upon the clearance between the roller and the belt. Thewaste drops onto the belt in relatively small masses with the ported, the roller may be carried downwardly to compress the waste against the belt 45.1'with the desired pressure and with a uniform pressure laterally acrossfthe roller so that the waste may being in a plurality of sections, and spring .sup-

be dumped off from the belt 45 completing ',step

8 into some suitable receptacle with just that amount of oil desired for final lubricating .pur poses. f f

We find that by practicing the steps 5 through 8, employing relatively cold oil in the tank 38', a much better waste is obtained than when'hot oil is used in the tank 38. The cold oil' is much more viscous than the same oil at a higher temperature and consequently a greater quantity of the oil by weight will remainv in the waste without draining therefrom when it is placed in the receptacle 4! than were hot oil to have been used in the place ofthe coldoil. Since the waste has a very high temperaturein comparison and then as thewaste "is moved along over the 75 Y. I 'l'i.

screen 39, the waste is cooled down while its fibers are being rearranged and the oil worked therein and therebetween under the action of the pickers M in combination with the parallel grids of the screen 39. This carding action on the waste within the tank 38 not only serves to restore the waste to a more wick-like formation but also aids in working the clean lubricating oil into and closely around the various fibers therein and the projecting lint ends, thus further aiding in getting the lubricating oil back in the capillaries in the absence of the colloidal matter.

The waste passing between the roller 46 and the belt 45 is compressed somewhat thereby but not into a mat so that in the presence of the more viscous oil, the fibers are brought somewhat more closely together than they were when they left the tank 38 but not so compressed as to squeeze out all of the oil from between the fibers.

It is to be noted that in following our process, the resultant waste product is in a cool condition ready for immediate use or may be stored indefinitely without any danger of spontaneous combustion or burning. In the processes heretofore practiced, it has been common to find the waste at the end of the reclaiming operation to be exceedingly hot so that much of the oil originally left in the waste would settle down from the top portion of the mass when placed in a containing drum so as to leave the upper portion or even more of it in a more or less dry condition highly favorable to spontaneous combustion. The waste is a poor conductor of heat so that even after the hot oil has settled down out of it the fibers remain heated and are liable to char. Our process prevents such a fire hazard as well as possible damage to the waste itself since the waste is cooled in the bath of relatively cold oil and such cold oil will adhere more tenaciously to the fibers than would the same oil in a highly heated condition. We are therefore able to have a resultant waste product with a higher oil content than has been heretofore possible.

It is believed that the reason that our reclaimed waste is found to be much superior to new waste is that in our method the fibers are so worked in the presence of oil that they are brought into more or less parallel arrangement to more closely approach the maximum possible number of capillary tubes as are required to give the best wick action and also that we are able to incorporate more lubricating oil in the waste.

So far no mention has been made of the disposition of the short ends in the waste as appearing therein when the waste is first dumped into the tank lll. When the waste is expanded in the highly heated bath of oil in the tank Ill and again under the action of the picker rods 24, 24', the short ends are floated out of the waste, not being long enough to engage around the picker rods, and being considerably heavier than the fibers in the waste proper, such short ends drop between the grids of the screen [8 to fall to the bottom of the tank. This precipitation of the short ends is further accelerated by reason of the adhering masses of colloidal matter. Thus by the time the waste is carried to the discharge end of the tank ill, all objectionable short ends have been screened out from the Waste.

In further reference to the question of free lint in the waste, our process actually roughens up the fibers of the waste somewhat by reason of the slipping of one fiber over the other longitudinally so as to free the lint ends from being pasted down to the sides of the fibers. Again what lint isfioating in the wash oil and is carried out by the waste as it leaves the tank I0 is uniformly distributed throughout the waste. This distribution is further created by the flow of oil in the extractors under the hoppers 33 and 34. The minimum flow is at the center of the waste in these extractors while the maximum oil flow is at the outside so that there is no rush of oil through the Waste from one side entirely therethrough to the other and consequently the ficw of solids in the compacted waste is of relatively short length. As to colloidal matter, the nearer such matter is brought to the outside of the mass, in any direction, the greater is the volume of fiow of oil tending to carry it on out. As to the fiow of lint, the flow is not under sufiicient pressure to tear up the fibers or loosen them to free more lint, but instead, the free lint is entrapped and retained largely within the waste in uniformly distributed manner to promote a higher capillary action of the waste in general. In the compacted condition of the waste in the extractors, thefree lint as well as the projecting lint ends, are not free to move with the oil fiow by reason of the pressure of the layers of waste one upon another restraining lint movement.

It is to be further noted that the used waste as it is brought into the plant for cleaning has an oil content that may be removed by the oil bath. When the waste leaves the extractors, this mixture of old oil and bath oil has been removed leaving the waste with no free oil but still containing a fixed oil content in the form of absorbed oil within the lint cells or as films about them. This fixed content remains undisturbed outside of the fact that it has been heated and expanded in the oil bath, which expansion and decrease in its viscosity has aided in reducing the adhesion of the colloidal matter adhering thereto. The films remain after removal of the colloidal mat ter. The clean lubricating oil added to the waste is in addition to the fixed oil content and is the oil which fiows in the capillaries between adjacent lint. Colloidal matter not entering the lint cells proper but "adhering to these films only is re-' moved by our process to leave clean films without having to take that film oil away from the fibers. Therefore the film oil or fixed oil content does not contaminate the added clean lubricating oil and there is no requirement for ever removing this fixed oil from the waste.

We claim:

1. In a process for reclaiming used waste, the combination of these steps which comprise that step of gradually dropping the waste into an intensely heated zone at the top of a bath of oil, a volume along the top portion of which is less heated, that step of moving the waste on into the less heated volume of oil, and that step of cleaning fibers of the waste in the less heated volume of oil, the moisture in said waste being evaporated therefrom and the viscosity of the old oil carried by the waste reduced before the waste is moved in the oil to said volume.

2. In a continuous process for reclaiming used waste the combination of those steps which consist of that step of carding the waste while in a bath of hot oil to gently move fibers of the waste longitudinally one along another to remove colloidal matter from the waste, that step of removing the carded waste from the oil bath, and that step of forming the fibers into layers of relatively small area and successively pressing one layer against another, the forward layers being intermittently moved by the additional pressure of layers added therebehind, whereby the bath oil is pressed from the fibers toflow comparatively short distances and over an inter-' val of time.

3. In a continuous process for reclaiming used waste, that method which consists of immersing the waste in quantities in a bath of lubricating oil heated to a sufficient temperature to evaporate moisture therefrom promptly upon immersion and to reduce viscosity of oldoil carried by the waste so as to induce precipitation of short ends and colloidal matter released from the waste when heated by said immersion; working the fibers of the waste into more or less parallel alignment and gently sliding the fibers longitudinally along each other so as to rub from the fibers adhering colloidal or foreign matter; flowing heated oil downwardly through the waste as it is being worked whereby said matter tends to be flowed out and carried downwardly away from the fibers; lifting the fibers from the bath of oil in hanks; pressing the hanks into layers of relatively small area and thickness and successively pressing one layer against another, the forward layers being intermittently moved by the additional pressure of layers added therebehind, whereby bath oil is pressed from the fibers to flow comparatively short distances through a time interval; immersing the heated forward layers of fibers in a bath of relatively cold lubricating oil; removing the fibers from the oil; and pressing the fibers together in closer relation resulting in reducing the oil content of the waste to a desired quantity.

4. In a process for reclaiming used waste, those steps of removing a liquid medium from the fibers, which comprise forming the fibers into layers of comparatively small area; intermittently laying and pressing a succeeding layer against a preceding layer to set up a column of layers; and applying a lateral pressure to said column to retard movement thereof while the succeeding layers are being pressed against the preceding layers in order to set up a predetermined longitudinal pressure determined by said lateral pressure throughout the column causing intermittent movement of the entire column as succeeding layers are pressed thereagainst, whereby a period of time is provided to maintain pressure on each layer as it is advanced in the column. to cause uniform extraction and fiow of said medium laterally in short distances from the layers along the fibers rather thanlongitudinally through a number of layers.

5. In a process for reclaiming used waste the combination of those steps which comprise that step of carding the waste in a heated bath of oil, that step of folding the carded waste fibers into layers of relatively small area to have the fibers principally in vertical positions and compressing the layers one against another.

6. In a process for reclaiming used waste, the combination of those steps which comprises that step of carding the waste fibers in a bath of hot wash oil to bring the waste fibers into moreor less parallel arrangement, that step of folding longitudinally of the fibers to drain slowly therefrom.

'7. A process for reclaiming used waste which embodies immersing the waste in a hot bath of wash oil to drive off moisture, carding the waste in the oil to bring about a more or less parallel fiber arrangement, lifting the waste fibers from the oil. and maintaining them in such arrangea ment to allow the oil to drain longitudinally thereof, folding the fibers into layers and pressing the layers together to expel the free oil therefrom, expanding the layers in a bath of lubricatingoil and carding the fibers to restore the parallel arrangement, removing the fibers from the lubricating oil and substantially maintaining said arrangement, and compressing the removed fibers to bring them into closer relationship to induce the formation of additional capillaries therethrough.

8. A process for reclaiming used waste which embodies immersing the waste in a hot bath of wash oil to drive off moisture, carding the waste in the oil to bring about a more or less parallel fiber arrangement, lifting the waste fibers from the oil and maintaining them in such arrangement to allow the oil to drain longitudinally thereof, folding the fibers into layers and pressing the layers together to expel the free oil there from, expanding the layers in a bath of relatively cold lubricating oiland carding the fibers to restore the parallel arrangement, removing the fibers from the lubricating oil and substantially maintaining said arrangement, and compressing the removed fibers to bring them into closer relationship to induce the formation of additional capillaries therethrough.

9. The steps of a method of renovating used journal box packing which has a fibrous waste part and an oil part, which steps consist of the step of loosening the fibers of the waste part in a bath of heated oil, screening out foreign matter during said loosening, and appreciably adding oil thereto by interchanging bath oil with the original oil part of the packing; the step of removing the fibrcus part from the bath and tightly compacting it causing the oil carried over from the bath to travel through the compacted mass under pressure; the step of holding the com-. pacted fibrous part under pressure for an appreciable time; the step of immersing the compacted fibrous part in a bath of lubricating oil and loosening the fibers while therein; and the succeeding step of removing the fibrous part from the bath and lightly compacting itto give a final predetermined oil part.

10. The process of renovating the waste and reclaiming the oil from journal box packings which comprises subjecting the dirty oil impregnated waste to the action of a pond of hot oil at temperatures above 240 F., allowing the foreign materials to settle out from the waste to the bottom of the oil pond, removing the waste material from the oil pond after a treatment therein for a predetermined length of time, removing free oil from the waste material, returning said oil to the oil pond, rinsing the cleaned waste in another oil pond and removing the excess oil from the thoroughly cleaned waste to produce a product useful for repacking the journal boxes. I

LEO C. McNAMARA. IRVIN M. CONWAY. WILLIAM T. BISSELL. HERSCHEL H. HAROLD.

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