US3484904A - Apparatus and method of ginning and delinting cotton - Google Patents

Description

386- 3, 969 L. P. BERRIMAN L APPARATUS AND METHOD OF GINNING AND DELINTING COTTON Filed Jan. 11, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 LESTER e BEER/MAN KENNETH 5 LEW INVENTQR:

' Dec. 23, 1969 BERRIMAN ETAL APPARATUS AND METHOD OF GINNING AND DELINTING COTTON 2 Sheets-$heet 2 Filed Jan. 11, 1968 LESTER BERR/MAN KENNETH E. LEW

ZW/ A United States Patent O US. Cl. 19-41 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Method and apparatus for centrifugally ginning cotton and the like, which apparatus includes a high speed rotor having rotary brushes mounted thereon adjacent to the periphery thereof, the high speed of the rotor imparting centrifugal force to the cotton impelling it toward and past the rotary brushes, the action of which is to engage and pull loose the cotton fibers as the cotton is passed thereby, the loose fibers and remaining material being centrifugally thrown out generally in a plane, and means for providing a cross current of air serving to carry away said loose fibers toward a lint condenser with the remaining material being heavier moving past said cross current of air into a collecting chamber.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The present invention relates to cotton ginning and delinting and more particularly to an apparatus and method for ginning cotton and delinting cottonseed which employs centrifugal force and rotary brushes to remove lint from cotton bolls or ginned cottonseed.

The basic principles utilized in present commercial ginning systems involve restraining the seed While pulling the fiber from the seed by some kind of mechanical force. This is the basic concept of the cotton gin of Eli Whitney. Thus, in most cases, the ginning of cotton utilizes processes which are basically old. Although much has been done over the years to improve these processes, these improvements have consisted primarily of refinements of Whitneys basic invention. The improvements have resulted in high capacity gins, but it appears that further improvements to the basic Whitney process are not likely to be significant due to the physical limitation of making it run faster. Among reasons for improving the basic process is the increased demand for high strength and long fibers. Such fibers have difiiculty surviving the rigors of high speed ginning. The cotton industry is aware that new fundamental methods are needed that alleviate such problems as nepping, fiber breakage and lint cleaning. In order to make major breakthroughs in the industry, it has been clear that a different approach must be taken and new methods of cotton processing are needed.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method based on a different concept of ginning and which is adaptable for both ginning and delinting of cotton. The term ginning as herein employed refers to the separation of fiber from seeds and Waste material without regard to the cottons orientation relative to the cotton boll or pod within which the cotton matures.

Another object is the provision of apparatus and method for delinting cottonseed to any extent desired, even to the attainment of black planting seed.

A further object is to provide an apparatus and method for ginning cotton fibers which maintain their high quality during ginning.

3,484,904 Patented Dec. 23, 1969 Still another object is the provision of apparatus and method which is capable of differentially ginning cotton, that is, of removing fibers in a sequence dependent upon the fiber lengths.

A still further object is to provide an apparatus and method which employs centrifugal force for ginning and delinting cotton in a reliable manner and more economically than the processes used in present day systems.

Still another object is to provide a centrifugal apparatus and method which removes trash during ginning of the cotton more effectively than do present day conventional systems.

For the achievement of the aforementioned and other objects and advantages of the invention, the present invention contemplates and is concerned with cotton processing apparatus based on the concept of moving cotton material at high speed and removing fibers or lint therefrom as the material passes by, the apparatus including a rotor spinning about an axis and a plurality of spinning wire brushes mounted on the rotor and located near the periphery thereof, the cotton material being fed to one side of the rotor at the center thereof where contact with the rotor disc imparts rotary motion to the cotton material and accelerates it in speed, centrifugal force then moving the cotton material outwardly at high speed toward the spinning wire brushes which engage and tear the fibers or lint therefrom for ginning the cotton and delinting the seed, the seed being centrifugally separated and collected in a separation compartment and the fibers or lint being removed by an airstream substantially perpendicular to the plane of rotation of the rotor disc and across the path of the seeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cotton processing apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation of the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken generally along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken generally along line 4-4 of FIG. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, and also schematically illustrating the system for lubricating the gearing utilized in the apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, there is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1 a cotton processing apparatus embodying the principles of the present invention which is designated generally by reference numeral 10. The apparatus 10 includes, in essence, a high speed rotor 12 on which a plurality of brushes 141 and 14s are mounted for rotation, the brushes being disposed. between the rotor and a top plate 16 having a central aperture 18 through which cotton bolls or ginned cottonseed is fed by means of a feed chute 20. Rotor 12 is secured to a shaft 22 journalled in bearings 24 suitably supported on a stable foundation by pillars 26, or the like, the shaft 22 being conveniently coupled to a source of power, not shown, for rotation thereby. Rotation is imparted to the brushes 14 through the medium of planetary gearing housed in a protective cover 28 secured to a stationary support 30.

Associated with the rotor 12 is a separation and collection system 32 which includes an annular chamber 34 disposed about the rotor and provided with a seed decelerating and collecting compartment 36 in communication with the chamber 34, the seed being centrifugally propelled by the rotor and spirally gravitating in the compartment 36 to a collection chamber 38 from which the seed is removed by means of a screw conveyor 40, or the like.

Also communicating with the annular chamber 34 is a conduit or duct 44 of a suitable type for conveying cotton fibers or lint 46 to a rotary lint condenser 48 with which a roller 50 cooperates to form the condensed lint into a cotton batting 52. The lint condenser 48 is of a type well known in the art and includes a cylindrical body of foraminous or open work construction, the interior of which is connected to a suction blower 54 by piping 56 for causing a suction which draws the lint to the lint condenser. Air openings or louvers 58 are provided in a wall of chamber 34 for the entry of an air sweep in the form of a cross current of air for carrying or conveying the lint through the ducting 44 to the lint condenser 48.

Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, it will be noted that rotor 12 includes a substantially planar disc 12d and a hub portion 12/1, to which the shaft 22 is suitably secured, the rotor being made of any suitable material, for example, a high strength aluminum alloy. It is also to be noted that there is an even number of brushes divided into two sets, the brushes of one set being referenced by numeral 14 the others by numeral 14s. The brushes, preferably with wire bristles, are equiangularly arranged on the rotor disc 12d adjacent its periphery, with a brush of one set disposed between each pair of brushes of the other set for arranging the brushes in alternation. Each of the brushes 14 is provided with a shaft 60a and each of the brushes 14s has a longer shaft 60b. Shaft 60a and 6012 are journalled in suitable bearings 62 in the rotor disc 12d and the cover plate 16, the plate being rigidly attached to the disc and spaced therefrom by vanes or defiectors 64. Each of the shafts 60a is provided with a gear 66 meshing with a gear 68, shafts 6% being provided with gears 70 meshing with a gear 72. The gears 66, 68, 70 and 72 constitute a planetary gear system, gears 68 and 72 being fixedly attached to the stationary support 30 by any suitable means, for example, a nut and bolt 74, and held in properly spaced relation by shims or spacers 76. The planetary gear system may be lubricated in any suitable manner, for example, a lubricating oil sprayed onto the gears by spray jets 78 connected to a manifold 80 supported on the protective cover 28. With such a system, a deflecting lip 82 may be provided on the periphery of the rotor disc 12d so that oil on the rotor, when centrifugally impelled by rotation thereof, will be deflected into the protective cover 28 and gravitate to the lowermost point thereof for return by a pipe line 84 to an oil reservoir 86 for recycling through the lubricating system by an oil pump 88 (FIG. 4).

Various tests performed with different combinations of rotor speed, brush gap and speed, and direction of rotation, indicate that the gap or clearance between the brushes may vary and that for a rotor having a diameter of 21 inches (53.34 cm.), the optimum operating conditions for ginning seed cotton are a rotor speed of 1,000 r.p.m. with the set of brushes 14 operating at a speed of 3,300 rpm. and the set of brushes 14s at 1,500 rpm, the rotor and brushes all operating in the same direction, clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 3, or counterclockwise, as viewed from the left of FIGS. 1 and 2. The rotor speed of 1,000 rpm. represents a centrifugal force to weight of particle ratio at the periphery of the rotor of about 300 multiples of gravity. Thus, the seed cotton is abaxially impelled with great force and abaxially at high speed away from the axis of rotation of the rotor and is literally thrown past the brushes, the action of which is to engage the cotton fiber or lint, the force on the seed being such that the seed tears itself loose from the engaged fibers, the loose fibers then being centrifugally thrown from the rotating brushes. It is therefore seen that the cotton fed to the rotor is thrown outwardly with a force which varies with the speed and diameter of the rotor. Accordingly, centrifugal force and high speed, as used herein, denotes a force which multiplies the weight of the cotton material, be it cotton bolls, seed cotton or ginned cotton,

4 by a multiples of gravity factor of approximately 200 to 300.

The vanes 64 act to create a flow of air through the space between the rotor disc 12d and the top plate 16 and cushion the impact of the cotton material as it accelerates toward the brushes.

With the rotor and the brushes all rotating counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 3, the action of one brush is to turn in the direction of movement of the seed as it moves past the brush and the action of the other brush is to turn against the direction of movement of the seed. Thus, in one case the rotation of the brush assists the centrifugal How of material generated by the rotor, in the other case it opposes such flow. It is this brush action and the differential speeds of the sets of brushes that create conditions favorable for ginning of the cotton. It is for this reason that the sets of brushes are provided with different size gears in order to provide differential driving of the brushes.

However, for delinting ginned seed cotton the brushes are preferably rotated at identical speeds. To obtain black planting seed ginned cottonseed is fed to a rotor spinning at a speed of 1,000 rpm. and the wire brushes at a speed of 3,500 rpm, both rotor and brushes rotating in the same direction. The brush action obtained appears to cause the seeds to spin in a vortex, thus presenting the entire surface of the seed to the brushes. Such operating conditions have produced seed with 99% of the lint removed.

It is desirable to girl cotton in a humid environment because the maximum fiber strength occurs at about eight percent moisture content and humid condition reduces the number of neps. However, above about five percent moisture, cleaning problems increase and a compromise is therefore used for the normal moisture level during ginning with the standard ginning methods. Nevertheless, with the centrifugal cotton processor of the present invention it appears that most trash is easily removed and an eight percent lint moisture content will not present the cleaning problem which is conventionally encountered.

Studies on the separation of seed, lint and trash as they are discharged from the rotor indicate that such separation does not present a difficult problem; the airstreams perpendicular to the plane of the discharge of the rotor have proven satisfactory for lint collection and separation from seed and trash. The centrifugal processor would therefore appear to have a use for cleaning and fluffing cotton.

OPERATION The method and operation of the apparatus of the present invention are believed to be clearly apparent and are briefly summarized at this point. Returning to FIG. 1, with the centrifugal processor of the present invention set for optimum operating conditions for the processing at hand, harvested cotton is fed into chute 20 and gravitates through entrance aperture 18, the spinning of the rotor imparting centrifugal force to the material being processed and centrifugally impelling it at high speed toward and between the brushes 14 and 14s, the vanes 64 acting to cushion the impact of the cotton as it accelerates toward the brushes and to deflect and direct it toward and between the brushes. The action of the brushes is to tear the cotton fiber or lint from the seed as it speeds by and then centrifugally throw off or doff the lint. The material centrifugally thrown from the rotor, generally in the plane thereof, contains loose lint or fibers and heavier items such as ginned seed, dirt and trash. The current of air induced by the suction of blower 54, and moving in the direction of the arrows A, flows across the material thrown from the rotor and is effective in carrying the cotton fibers or lint 46 into the conduit or ducting 44 and eventually to the lint condenser 48, but has little or no effect on the heavier items, because of the high multiples of gravity factors thereof,

with the result that the heavier items continue past the cross current of air until they engage the arcuate surface S of the annular chamber 34 and are thereby defleted in the direction of the arrows H into compartment 36 where the seed 40 and other heavy items spiral and decelerates, eventually gravitating to the collection chamber 38 from which they are discharged or fed by the screw conveyor 42.

There has thus been provided a centrifugal processing apparatus of simple and economical construction which processes cotton and the like in a rapid, facile and reliable manner; and which consists essentially of a high speed rotor and revolving brushes mounted on the brushes, the cotton material fed to the center of the rotor being centrifugally propelled outwardly with a force which varies with the speed and diameter of the rotor, the velocity of the brushes being such that the cotton fibers engaged by the brushes are centrifugally thrown therefrom.

Although the invention has herein been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred method and apparatus, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent methods and apparatus.

Having described our invention, What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for processing fibrous material having lint comprising centrifugal means for impelling the fibrous material abaxially therefrom in a predetermined plane; means for feeding the fibrous material to said centrifugal means; lint engaging means mounted in said plane for rotation about axes substantially normal to the p ane on the centrifugal means for removing lint from the material; and means for concurrently driving the centrifugal means and the lint engaging means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said centrifugal means comprises a high speed rotor.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said centrifugal means includes a rotor and at least one vane mounted on the rotor to direct the fibrous material outwardly from the rotational axis of the rotor, the vane being disposed generally in a plane parallel to said rotational axis.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said lint engaging means comprise rotary brushes rotated to impel the removed lint abaxially.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said centrifugal means and lint engaging means are interconnected by differential gearing to rotate in the same direction.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said centrifugal means comprises a rotor, and said lint engaging means comprise rotary brushes substantially equally spaced around the periphery of the rotor.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said centrifugal means further comprises vanes mounted on said rotor adapted to direct the fibrous material substantially radially of the rotor.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising means for separating said lint from the remainder of said fibrous material.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said centrifugal means comprises a high speed rotor, said lint engaging means comprise brushes mounted for rotation on said rotor and rotated to throw off said lint, and said separating means comprise an annular chamber disposed about said rotor.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said annular chamber has a decelerating and collecting compartment into which said remainder of the material is impelled, and means to provide a current of air flowing across said annular chamber for conveying said lint away from said chamber.

11. In an apparatus for processing fibrous material having lint, the combination comprising:

(a) rotatable centrifugal means adapted to throw the fibrous material abaxially in a predetermined plane;

(b) means for feeding the fibrous material into said centrifugal means; and

(c) rotary lint engaging means mounted on said centrifugal means in said plane outwardly spaced from the axis of the rotatable means for removing lint from said cotton material.

12. An apparatus for processing fibrous material comprising:

(a) a rotor;

(b) means for rotating the rotor about a predetermined axis;

(c) means for feeding the fibrous material to the rotor in a substantially axial direction whereby the material is impelled abaxially therefrom;

(d) a plurality of rotary means for removing lint and the like from the fibrous material mounted for rotation on the rotor about axes substantially parallel to the axis of the rotor and outwardly spaced therefrom to receive the abaxially impelled material; and

(e) means for rotating the rotary means as the rotor is rotated.

13. A method of processing cotton and other lint hearing material comprising the steps of z (a) feeding cotton material generally along an axis;

(b) applying a first centrifugal force to the cotton material for impelling said cotton material abaxially in a plane substantially normal to said axis; and

(c) removing lint from said cotton material as it moves abaxially by applying a second and accelerated centrifugal force thereto for accelerating the removed lint abaxially in said plane whereby lint is removed at positions disposed substantially concentrically of the axis, and the removed lint and remainder of the cotton material are impelled generally radially outwardly in said plane.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising separating said removed lint from the remainder of the cotton material by projecting an air stream through said lint and remainder of material after the second centrifugal force is applied thereto and in a direction substantially normal to said plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 30,989 12/1860 Ryder et a1. 1991 546,280 9/1895 Faulkner 19-42 1,669,632 5/1928 Stuart 19-93 3,133,318 5/1964 Neubauer 1980 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,585 1889 Great Britain.

DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner US. 01. X.R. 19-39

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