Patent Application
20100242229
This application claims benefit of Serial No. 2009901314, filed 26 Mar. 2009 in Australia and which application is incorporated herein by reference. To the extent appropriate, a claim of priority is made to the above disclosed application.
The present invention relates to a ginning rib, an insert for a gin rib, a gin stand with a saw for processing cotton fibre and a method of ginning cotton fibre.
The present invention is applicable to modern saw-gins which are highly automated and productive systems that incorporate many processing stages besides the removal of fibre from seed-cotton.
For instance, typical operation of a modern saw-gin involves opening a module of seed-cotton weighing between 10 and 20 tonnes by a bank of beaters; the seed-cotton is then transported by air through a drying tower that dries the seed-cotton to a moisture level that ensures efficient trash removal. The seed-cotton may be pre-cleaned to remove sticks, stones and unopened bolls before proceeding to a gin stand. At the gin stand, lint is separated from the seed and transported by air to one or two lint cleaners for further cleaning. Following lint cleaning the lint is transported to the battery condenser and the bale press for pressing into a bale.
The roll box of a gin stand is where the actual ginning process, i.e. the separation of cotton fibre (lint) and seed, takes place. The ginning action is caused by multiple circular saws set on a shaft rotating between gin ribs, which are located approximately 1 mm from the saws. The teeth of the saw rake a seed-roll, which is formed in the roll box where in-coming seed-cotton is accumulated. The teeth of the saws pick and hold the fibre on seed-cotton and pass it between the gin ribs at a ginning or gin point or working zone which is substantially adjacent to the saw teeth. The gin point is a zone defined between the leading edge of the saw teeth and the gin rib. At this point the saw teeth pull the lint from the seed, which is too large to pass through the gap between the gin rib and saw, thereby separating the cotton fibre from the seed.
The ginning rib and in particular, the outer face of the ginning rib at the gin point or working zone, which is essentially a planar outer face, is subjected to significant wear and tear. In order to minimize the frequency at which the ginning ribs need replacing, sacrificial inserts or wear plates may be added to the ginning rib at the ginning zone. Like traditional one piece ginning ribs, the inserts also have a planar outer face.
The present invention has arisen through the realisation that production rates of cotton gins are restricted by denuded or fuzzy seed becoming wedged between the ginning rib and rotating saws that prevents other seed-cotton from accessing the ginning point or zone. This wedge effect can also cause damage to the seed and fibre that can result in an overall reduction in the quality of the fibre produced.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved ginning rib, an insert for a ginning rib, an improved gin stand, and a method for ginning cotton fibre that can alleviate these issues.
The present invention also relates to an insert having a body that may be fixedly or removeably mounted to a ginning rib at a high wear working zone on the ginning rib, the insert or the body of the insert including:
In an embodiment, whereby when the insert is mounted to the ginning rib which is itself operatively mounted to a ginning apparatus, the outer face of the insert has a leading portion and a trailing portion relative to a direction of rotation of saws of a ginning apparatus, and the outer face of the insert has a wall section disposed between the leading portion and trailing portion so that the particles moving in a direction from the leading portion toward the trailing portion can contact the wall section and be guided away from the side edges.
Throughout this specification it will be appreciated that the term “working zone” embraces a region of the ginning rib or an insert of the ginning rib that is subject to high wear and is located near, adjacent to, or overlaps with the teeth of rotating saws. In other words, the working zone includes or overlaps with a ginning point or ginning zone that is defined between the ginning rib and the rotating saws.
Throughout this specification the term “seed-cotton” has been used to mean a seed still having the cotton lint attached and seeds that are yet to be processed in a ginning process i.e., substantially all lint remains. The terms “cotton seed” or “fuzzy seed” embrace seeds that have undergone a ginning process in which a portion, a substantially portion, or close to all of the cotton lint has been removed.
The present invention relates to a ginning rib for use in a gin stand having rotating saws, cotton lint being separated from seed-cotton over a ginning zone, or at a ginning point defined between the ginning rib and the saws, the ginning rib including:
In an embodiment, when the ginning rib is in use the working zone of the ginning rib has a leading portion and a trailing portion relative to the direction of rotation saw, and wherein the guiding surface is disposed between the leading and trailing portions and has a different level to a level of the leading portion such that the particles moving from the leading portion toward the trailing portion can contact the guiding surface and be guided away from the side edges of the working zone.
The present invention also relates to a ginning rib for use in a gin stand having rotating saws, the ginning rib including:
The working zone may be cast from the same or different material to the material of the elongate body.
The present invention also relates to an insert having a body that may be fixedly or removably mounted to a ginning rib at a high wear working zone on the ginning rib, the insert including:
In an embodiment, the guiding surfaces include a wall section that protrudes above and/or are recessed below the outer face. Suitably, the wall section defines a recess in the form of a groove or grooves or defines a raised ridge or ridges.
In an alternative embodiment, the guiding surfaces may be in the form a depression spaced from the side edges. The depression may be symmetric or asymmetric about a central axis but is in any event recessed compared to the side edges.
In an embodiment, it is possible that the insert may be cast from different material to the main body of the ginning rib, yet integrally connected thereto.
In an alternative embodiment, the insert may be removably attached to the ginning rib, thereby enabling the insert to be replaced with a fresh insert as required. Suitably, the insert includes one or more than one attachment element or formation associated with the insert for fastening the insert to the ginning rib. The removable insert may be made of any material including metals, plastics, ceramics that are different or the same as the material of the ginning rib.
In the situation in which the working zone is integrally formed with the ginning rib, the outermost planar surface is continuous with regions of the ginning rib adjacent to the working zone. In the alternative situation in which the working zone is formed by a replaceable insert, the leading portion and/or trailing portion of the insert may be continuous with adjacent sections of the ginning rib when fitted thereto. Alternatively, either one of both of the leading and trailing portions may be discontinuous with adjacent sections of the ginning rib.
In an embodiment, the wall section protrudes to a varying height, or is recessed to a varying depth relative to the outer face of the working zone.
In an embodiment, the guiding formation, wall section or groove may have a varying or non-uniform width. For example, the width may have a maximum width of equal to, or less than 10 mm.
In an embodiment, the wall section of the guiding surface is in the form of a V-shape in which the apex of the V-shape points toward the trailing portion. Suitably, the diverging legs of the V-shape extend to the side edges.
In an embodiment, the wall section of the guiding surface has a level that is different to the level of a leading portion.
In an embodiment, the wall section extends above the surface of the leading portion and/or the trailing portion.
In an embodiment, the wall section extends below the surface of the leading portion and/or the trailing portion.
In an embodiment, the difference in levels between the wall section and the remainder of the outer face reduces such that the wall section is substantially planar with the outer face. For example, in the situation in which the wall section has a V-shape, the depth of the wall section may effectively diminish at the apex.
In an embodiment, the wall section is formed by a groove or channel that extends below the leading portion. The groove or channel may have a substantially constant depth or uniform depth. Alternatively, the groove or channel may have a varying or non-uniform depth. For example, the groove or channel may reduce in depth in a direction toward the central zone or axis of the working zone.
In another example, the groove or channel reduces in depth from the side edges to a central zone or axis.
In an embodiment, the depth of the groove or channel has a depth that is equal to, or less than 10 mm, and suitably less than 5 mm.
In an embodiment, the groove or channel has at least one of: a flat bottom wall, a curved bottom wall, or pointed bottom defined by two walls converging.
In an embodiment, the leading portion is an essentially planar surface.
In an embodiment, the trailing portion is also essentially planar.
In an embodiment, the leading portion and trailing portion may be substantially co-planar. In an alternative embodiment, the leading portion and trailing portion may be substantially non-planar.
It is within the scope of the present invention that the wall section may include one or more than one of the grooves, channels or wall sections that protrudes above or below the leading or trailing portions.
The guiding surface may include any means for guiding the particles such as frictional means including low profile barbs or teeth that resist movement of particles toward the side edges, but allow movement of the particles away from the side edges toward the centre of the ginning zone.
The present invention also relates to a gin stand including:
The present invention also relates to a gin stand including:
The present invention also relates to a method of ginning seed-cotton in a ginning apparatus including a frame assembly, a plurality of saws that are rotatably mounted to the frame assembly about a common axis and are spaced from one another in adjacent relationship, and a plurality of ginning ribs of which one is located between some or all of the saws and in which the ginning ribs have a working zone at a high wear region of the ginning rib, the working zone having an outer face and side edges, the outer face of the working zone has one or more than one guiding surfaces that extend above or below the outer face and are configured to extend in a direction inwardly of, or inwardly from, the side edges, and wherein the method includes:
In an embodiment, the seed-cotton engages the guiding surfaces and moves in a direction away from the side edges of the working zone while the cotton lint is being removed from the seed-cotton during rotation of the saws.
In an embodiment, the working zone has a leading portion and a trailing portion relative to the direction of rotation of the saw, and the seed-cotton moves in a direction away from the side edges of the working zone while moving in a direction from the leading portion to the trailing portion.
In an embodiment, the working zone may be a zone that is integrally formed with the rib or, alternatively, the working zone may form part of a removable insert.
The method of the present invention may be applied to any cotton fibre type including long and short Upland (Gossypium hirsutum) cottons which account for approximately 90% of the total cotton grown globally.
When the seed-cotton is Upland seed-cotton, an embodiment of the method of the invention includes removing more cotton lint from the seed-cotton so that less residual lint remains on the fuzzy seed after one pass through the ginning apparatus. Typically, we have found that the method of the invention can remove 0.5% more cotton lint by weight compared to conventional methods in which standard ginning ribs or rib inserts are used. The term “residual lint” as used herein is a mass ratio (usually as a percentage) of the lint remaining on the denuded seeded cotton (fuzzy seed) to the total weight of the denuded seeded cotton.
We have found that the residual lint percentage on the fuzzy seed using the invention is at least 0.5% by weight less than the residual lint percentage using a conventional ginning rib or insert (i.e., without a guiding formation), and suitably at least 1.0 to 1.5% by weight less. In a preferred embodiment, the residual lint percentage is decreased by 0.5% to 1.5%, or 0.5% to 2.0%, relative to using a conventional ginning rib or insert.
In an embodiment, less than 10.9 wt %, and even more suitably less than 10.7 wt %, and yet even more suitably approximately 10.5 wt % residual lint remains on the fuzzy seed. In a preferred embodiment, the residual lint percentage is in the range 10.5% to 10.9%.
We have found that the mean long length of the fibre removed from the seed-cotton is typically longer, by an amount of 0.02 inches (0.51 mm), than the mean long length of fibre using a conventional ginning rib or insert (i.e., without a guiding formation). In a preferred embodiment, the mean long fibre length is increased by 0.01 inches to 0.04 inches relative to using a conventional ginning rib or insert. It will be understood that the term “mean long length” of fibre is an average fibre length of the upper half or longest half of the fibres in a sample.
We have found that mean long fibre lengths of the present invention are at least 0.5% greater that the mean long fibre length produced using a conventional ginning rib or insert, and suitably at least 1.0 to 2.0% greater. In a preferred embodiment, the mean long fibre length is increased by 0.5% to 1.5%, or 0.5% to 2.0%, relative to using a conventional ginning rib or insert.
In an embodiment, the mean long fibre length may be greater than 1.07 inches (2.718 cm). Even more suitably, the mean fibre length is greater than 1.075 inches (2.731 cm). In a preferred embodiment, the mean long fibre length is 1.07 inches to 1.10 inches.
We have found, the length of fibre removed from the seed-cotton has a lower mean short fibre index the mean long length of fibre using a conventional ginning rib or insert (i.e., without a guiding formation). It will be understood that the term “short fibre index” of fibre is the average percent by weight of fibres in a sample with a fibre length less than ½ inches (12.7 mm).
We have found that the mean short fibre index of the present invention is at least 0.5% by weight less that the mean short fibre index produced using a conventional ginning rib or insert, and suitably at least 1.5 to 2.0% by weight less. In a preferred embodiment, the mean short fibre index is decreased by 0.5% to 2.0% relative to using a conventional ginning rib or insert.
Each of these changes was unexpected and could not have been predicted prior to testing the inserts. Each of the changes is highly significant in economic terms since each 0.1% change represents millions of dollars per year to the cotton industry. Each of the improvements described herein is understood to be relative to ginning of the same variety of cotton, ginned under the same conditions, but using a conventional ginning rib or insert.
The present invention also relates to a method of ginning seed-cotton in a ginning apparatus including a frame assembly, a plurality of saws that are rotatably mounted to the frame assembly about a common axis and are spaced from one another in adjacent relationship, and a plurality of ginning ribs of which one is located between some or all of the saws and in which the ginning ribs have a working zone at a high wear region of the ginning rib, the working zone having an outer face and side edges, the method including:
It is within the scope of the present invention that the gap between the saws and ginning ribs may be any size. For instance, the gap may be up to 2 or 3 mm, or as little as 0.15 mm, and suitably in the range of 0.25 to 2.25 mm.
The present invention also relates to cotton lint produced by the method described herein.
The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
The gap between the gin ribs and the saws may be any suitable gap, for example, and without limitation, a gap in the range of 0.25 mm to 2.5 mm may be employed.
We have found that the production capacity of the ginning stand is limited by fuzzy seed becoming wedged between the ginning rib and the saw at the ginning zone. The wedging effect prevents access for other seed-cotton to the ginning zone. Furthermore, denial of access of seed-cotton can also result in damage of seeds which can cause broken seeds to travel between the saws and into lint cleaning stages downstream of the ginning stand 10.
To reduce the incidence of blockage of the ginning zone and, in turn, reduce the incidence of damage to fuzzy seeds and breakage of the cotton, we have devised an improved ginning rib or insert for a ginning rib.
The improvement comprises the ginning rib or insert for a ginning rib having a contoured outer face.
In the case of the preferred embodiment shown in
The guiding formation 44 shown in
The V-shape is in the form of a groove or channel that is ground out of what is otherwise an essentially planar outer face between opposite side edges 47. The V-shape may have a flattened, rounded or sharpened bottom line that extends part way, or along the entire length of the V-shape. In the case of the embodiment shown in
The wall sections 48a, 48b also define the width of the groove of the V-shape. The width also reduces or tapers from its widest point at the side edges 47 of the insert to the narrowest point of the groove at or approaching the apex 45.
The V-shape may be symmetrical or asymmetric about the apex 45. Similarly, the wall sections 48a, 48b that converge to form the base or bottom line of the groove may also be symmetric or asymmetric about the bottom line. In the case of the embodiment shown in
As can be seen, the V-shaped formation is adapted to receive a fuzzy seed 50. In particular, when in the use, the fuzzy seed 50 moving from the leading portion 42 of the insert toward the trailing portion 43 can be received by the V-shaped formation so as to move the fuzzy seed 50 away from the side edges 47 of the insert and, in turn the ginning point or zone between the ginning rib 14 and the saw 12. In other words, the V-shaped formation guides the fuzzy seed 50 toward the central region or axis 46 of the insert while the fuzzy seed 50 is in the ginning zone. We have found that configuring the insert in this manner reduces the incidence at which fuzzy seeds can become wedged or jammed between the ginning rib 13 and the saw 12 at the ginning zone.
In other words, material travelling along the ginning rib 14 at the ginning zone is directed away from the edges 47 of the ginning rib 14. The benefits of this effect are numerous. For example, the present invention can: i) open up the ginning zone improving fibre transfer and reducing the natural tendency for the saw to pull the fuzzy seed down into the ginning zone which ‘wedges’ fuzzy seeds in the space between the saw and ginning point, ii) reduce the incidence of damage to cotton, iii) reduce the incidence of the fuzzy seed being broken which can result in the broken fuzzy seed passing between the ginning rib and the saw and into the lint separated from the seed, iv) enables more seed-cotton to access the ginning zone on account that fewer fuzzy seeds become wedged between the ginning rib and the saw.
The leading and trailing portions 42, 43 of the alternate embodiments are substantially co-planar. However, this need not necessarily be the case. For instance the leading portion 42 may be recessed at a level below the surface of the trailing portion 43. Although not illustrated, when the insert is located in an in use or operative position on a ginning rib, the surface of the leading portion 42 is essentially continuous with the outer surface of the ginning rib 14.
In the case of the embodiment shown in
In the case of the embodiment shown in
In the case of the embodiment shown in
In case of the embodiment shown in
It is within the scope of the present invention that the guiding formation may be in the form of a ridge, crest or rib. For example, the ridge or crest may protrude above the leading and/or trailing portions. In another embodiment, it is also possible that the guiding formation may in the form of a triangular or diamond formation having an apex of reducing depth located toward the top of the insert. According to another embodiment, it is also possible that the guiding formation may be in the form of a depression or recess, such as an elongate depression that is displaced inwardly of the side edges of the insert.
The embodiments of the removable insert described above can be replaced with a fresh insert in the event of wear or failure of the insert. However, it will be appreciated that it is within the scope of the present invention that any guiding formation such as V-shaped formation for guiding seed-cotton or fuzzy seed away from the side edges of the ginning rib may be integrally formed with a ginning rib. In this situation, the guiding formation, and the leading and trailing portions of the ginning rib may made from the same material as the remainder of the ginning rib or, alternatively, made from material having a higher wear resistance than the remainder of the ginning rib.
It is also within the scope of the present invention that the removable insert be reversible and have guiding surfaces on opposite sides of the insert.
A method according to an embodiment of the invention includes using of a rib insert or ginning rib that urges the seed-cotton away from the ginning point. With reference to
Finally, the method may include replacing the rib inserts as the guiding formations thereon wear, or in the situation in which the guiding formations are integrally formed with the ginning ribs, the entire ginning rib may be replaced.
A rib insert having a guiding formation as shown in
Samples of the fuzzy seed i.e., the seed after processing were also collected from opposite ends of the ginning stand.
The greatest return to growers and ginners is in the ability to facilitate removal of more cotton lint from the seed. As shown by the trial, residual lint on fuzzy seed can be reduced by approximately 1%. In the past, an increase in ginning efficiency of 1% has only been achievable by constricting roll box dimensions, for example such as reducing the distance of the gap between the seed fingers and the ginning rib. However, reducing the dimensions between the dimensions in this way has a downside of creating more fibre damage, which in turn, reduces the length of the fibre separated.
The trial conducted has shown that this is not a downside when using guiding formations. Moreover,
Those skilled in the art of the present invention will appreciate that many variations and modifications may be made to the preferred embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009901314 | Mar 2009 | AU | national |
