Claims
- 1. A method of ultra-rapidly conditioning a sample of staple fibers comprising the steps of
withdrawing a bundle of staple fibers from a batch of the staple fibers, converting said bundle of staple fibers into a tapered beard of staple fibers, said beard having first and second opposite ends, subjecting said tapered beard of staple fibers to conditioned air flow moving in a direction from said first end of and along the length of said beard for a time sufficient to condition said beard for testing.
- 2. A method of extracting a sample from a quantity of contained staple fibers comprising the steps of
providing a containment for the staple fibers wherein the containment includes an opening defined through one wall thereof and the fibers contained therein are presented to said opening in bulk, rotating a needle roll bearing at least one needle sampler exposed on the outer peripheral surface of said needle roll past said opening, capturing a bundle of fibers from said containment with said needle sampler, transporting said bundle of fibers captured on said needle sampler through at least one physical conditioning station wherein said bundle of fibers is converted to a fiber beard having first and second opposite ends and comprising a plurality of staple fibers which are substantially aligned in a common direction, transporting said physically conditioned fiber beard to a testing station, while disposed within said testing station, subjecting said beard to conditioned air flowing at ultra-high velocity in a direction from said first end of and along the length of said beard for a time sufficient to condition said beard for testing, determining at least one property of said fibers of said beard, withdrawing said beard from said testing station, and separating said beard from said needle sampler.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein said fibers of said beard are tested for their length.
- 4. The method of claim 2 wherein said fibers of said beard are tested for their strength.
- 5. The method of claim 2 wherein said conditioned air flows over said beard at a velocity of multiple hundreds of feet of per minute.
- 6. The method of claim 2 wherein said beard comprises about 5 mg of staple fibers.
- 7. The method of claim 2 wherein said air flow over said beard is continued for a time of at least 10 seconds but less than one minute.
- 8. In a method of sampling a batch of staple fibers the improvement comprising
containing the batch of staple fibers within a container having a wall thereof within which there is defined an opening through said wall, urging the fibers of the contained batch of staple fibers toward said opening to the extent that the a portion of the fiber protrude from said opening, moving a collector past said opening, said collector capturing a bundle of said fibers and withdrawing the same from the batch of staple fibers through said opening, and anchoring said bundle of fibers to said collector.
- 9. The method of claim 8 and including the steps of
converting said bundle of fibers into a tapered beard of fibers, conditioning said fibers of said beard preparatory to testing of at least one property of said fibers.
- 10. The method of claim 9 and including the step of testing the length and strength of said fibers of said beard without removal thereof from said collector.
- 11. The method of claim 10 and including the step of removing said beard from said collector.
- 12. Apparatus for the collection of a sample quantity of staple fibers from a batch of the staple fibers comprising
a container housing a batch of staple fibers, said container including a wall member having at least one opening extending therethrough, said container including means including means urging said batch of fibers in the direction of said opening in said wall member, a carrier having an outer peripheral wall and being mounted for rotation about a central longitudinal axis thereof, a collector mounted in said outer peripheral wall and projecting therefrom by an amount sufficient to cause said collector to engage and withdraw a sample quantity of the staple fibers upon rotation of said collector past said opening upon rotation of said carrier, and means anchoring said withdrawn quantity of staple fibers on said collector.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 12 and including a resilient member carried by said carrier in a position proximate to said collector, and means selectively biasing said resilient member into engagement with said quantity of staple fibers on said collector.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said means for selectively biasing said resilient member comprises a shaft mounted for movement between positions of operative and non-operative engagement with said resilient member and cam means operatively engaging said shaft for selectively moving said shaft toward its position of operative engagement with said resilient member.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 14 and including telescoping housing elements defining a mounting structure for substantially unrestrained movement of said shaft within the confines of said housing elements and spring means biasing said telescoping housing elements toward minimum telescoping relationship therebetween, one of said housing elements being interposed between said shaft and said cam.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the fibers are urged toward said opening to the extent that a portion of the fibers protrude through said opening and said collector includes a needle type projection on said outer peripheral surface of said carrier, said projection being adapted to be moved past said container of fibers and to engage and withdraw a sample quantity of staple fibers from said container through said opening.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said means for anchoring said sample of stable fibers on said projection is mounted on said carrier in operative juxtaposition with said projection and thereby movable simultaneously with said projection.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 12 and including means for converting said sample of fibers to a tapered beard of said fibers, means for ultra-rapidly conditioning said fibers of said beard for testing, and means for testing at least the length and strength of said fibers of said beard.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said fibers remain attached at one end thereof to said collector, hence to said carrier, throughout their conversion to a tapered beard, their conditioning and their testing.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein rotational movement of said carrier conveys said collected sample of fibers sequentially through their conversion to a tapered beard, their conditioning and their testing.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said carrier comprises a generally hollow cylindrical housing having an outer periphery and a longitudinal axis, means mounting said housing for rotation about its longitudinal axis, hence rotation of said outer periphery of said housing past said opening in said container.
- 22. Apparatus for testing the length of the fibers of a tapered beard of the fibers comprising
a carrier having an outer peripheral surface and mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis of said carrier, a tapered beard of staple fibers having a first end anchored to said outer peripheral surface of said carrier and a second end comprising unsupported ends of those fibers anchored to said carrier, an elongated air flow channel having an entrance and an exit, a source of conditioned air located remote from said elongated flow channel, first conduit means interposed between said source of conditioned air and said entrance to said flow channel and providing for the supply of conditioned air to said entrance to said flow channel, second conduit means interposed between said exit of said flow channel and said source of conditioned air and providing for the return of conditioned air from said flow channel to said source of conditioned air, whereby rotational movement of said carrier delivers said second end of said beard to the entrance to said flow channel whereupon said unsupported ends of the staple fibers of said second end of said beard are carried by the flow of conditioned air into said flow channel and retained in said flow channel for a time sufficient to condition said fibers of said beard.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said conditioned air is supplied to said entrance of said flow channel at a velocity of not less than about one hundred feet per minute.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said conditioning of said fibers of said beard is effected within less that thirty seconds.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said fibers of said bead are conditioned within less than fifteen seconds.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein said first conduit means terminates proximate said entrance of said flow channel.
- 27. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein said outer peripheral surface of said carrier includes a milled cavity and said collector resides substantially within said cavity.
- 28. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein at least a portion of the fibers protrude into said milled cavity in position to be engaged by said collecor.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation in part of copending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/663,497 filed Sep. 15, 2000 and U.S. Provisional Applications Serial No. 60/281,301, filed Apr. 4, 2001 and Serial No. 60/304,826, filed Jul. 12, 2001.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60281301 |
Apr 2001 |
US |
|
60304826 |
Jul 2001 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09663497 |
Sep 2000 |
US |
Child |
10116254 |
Apr 2002 |
US |