Textiles: fiber preparation – Working – Carding
Reexamination Certificate
1997-05-15
2001-04-10
Neas, Michael A. (Department: 3741)
Textiles: fiber preparation
Working
Carding
C019S0650CR, C019S08000R, C019S200000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06212737
ABSTRACT:
The present invention concerns blowroom plants for opening and cleaning fibre material as well as corresponding methods and apparatus. The invention is applicable particularly, but not exclusively, in processing cotton fibres or fibres of similar staple length.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
STATE OF THE ART
It is the general goal of fibre processing in the blowroom to enhance production and the degree of cleaning and to process the material gently minimising losses of good fibre content. The problems involved have been mentioned often in the (patent) literature, see e.g. DE-C-3490510 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,060).
In principle, the fibre material is cleaned in the blowroom in at least one “cleaner” before being transferred to carding. As to the lay-out of cleaners, no consistent agreement prevails. There are tendencies, however, to unite the cleaning processes “in one single machine” as far as possible—see e.g. AT-C-231054, DE-A2939861 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,356) and DE-A-4039773 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,652).
A cleaning line delivers fibre material to a predetermined number (e.g. twelve) cards. The line must be laid out in such a manner that the maximum throughput demand by the cards associated thereto can be satisfied. As the processing capacity of the individual card increases, the processing capacity of the cleaning line is to be adapted accordingly (i.e. a reduction in the number of cards associated with a cleaning line is undesirable).
TECHNOLOGY
The following principles apply to the state of the art as well as to the present invention.
1. The “fine cleaning” process implies a high degree of opening (in other words: it is not possible to eliminate trash hidden inside fibre clusters).
2. A high degree of opening implies application of “nip feeding” (to be explained in the following).
3. A fine cleaning process using nip feeding at higher throughput rates implies closer settings if good results are to be achieved. Consequently nep generation (measuring value: nep count) and fibre damage (measuring value: short fibre contents) tend to increase.
4. If gentler cleaning is attempted (less intensive—without nip feed), risks are taken that small trash particles are eliminated insufficiently and that unnecessary losses of good fibres occur. A system (“cleaning diagram”) illustrating the corresponding compromises at the operating interface of the individual machine (or of the plant control) is given in EP-A-452676 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,458) and has been introduced to the market under the trade mark Varioset”.
5. Nip feed is harmless at relatively low throughput rates. Successful fine cleaners of the 60's and 70's were based thereon, as blowroom throughput rates were relatively low at that time.
Returning to the production conditions of the 60's and 70's, certainly is out of the question (compare the notes mentioned already concerning the increased processing capacity of the individual machines) but the idea can be taken up insofar as fine cleaning can be effected at a point where the fibre material flow has been subdivided already (e.g. for subsequent carding), e.g. in a card feed chute.
DE-A-2532061:
DE-A-2532061 concerns dedusting of cotton provided for processing on open end spinning machines. For this purpose, an additional cleaning point is provided in the feed chute, i.e. the fibre material has been cleaned already according to known principles. In other words, the fine cleaning machine was not planned to be dispensed with, and this actually was not done in practical application.
According to DE-A-2532061 processing in the feed chute is to be intense—opening to the individual single fibres—for ensuring that the dust is set free and can be eliminated. Furthermore the following points are to be noted:
1. In the year 1975 (priority date of DE-A-2532061) card production was relatively low. Thus, at that time, moving the basic cleaning operation into the feed chutes did not make sense as a total production corresponding to the processing capacity of the card room could be taken care of efficiently by a conventional cleaner. It did, however, make sense to transfer the intense opening action for dedusting purposes according to DE-A-2532061 into the feed chute (relatively small quantities of fibre material, as mentioned in the document).
2. In DE-A-2532061, no “co-operation” between the feed chute and the card is mentioned.
DEFINITIONS
The term “nip feed” in this description, where used in the following without an explanation, refers to “nip feed with subsequent cleaning function” in which arrangement the elimination of material is considered as an essential characteristic of the cleaning function. This definition is discussed briefly in the following.
The nip feed is important for the finer opening (the finer cleaning) favouring the fine cleaning process. The present invention, however, does not concern the opening process as such. Insofar as the intense opening action (resolving) must be provided for other purposes than cleaning (e.g. for mixing), it is not influenced directly by the present invention. The total stress load the material is subject to, however, is reduced if the present invention is applied, from which the application of nip feeding may benefit in connection with other functions than cleaning.
A plurality of embodiments of the present invention are described in the following with reference to illustrated design examples.
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Dority & Manning
Maschinenfabrik Rieter AG
Neas Michael A.
Welch Gary L.
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