A New or Improved Process of Treatment of Straw, Dried Grasses or the like for the Production of Articles of Commerce, a Machine for Carrying Out the Process and the Products Derived therefrom.

摘要

23,403. CarrÚ, L. Oct. 13. [Cognate Application, 11,895/10.] Fabrics composed of fibrous materials agglutinated by adhesives.- Straw, grass, &c. is pressed flat and then split lengthways into fine fibres, which, after the addition of an adhesive, are heated and pressed into sheets or boards, optionally between sheets of paper or the like; the splitting allows access of the adhesive to the inside of the straw &c. The material before or after being split may be impregnated with aseptic, waterproof, or non-inflammable liquids. Flat or other sheets may be obtained,' or compound sheets having the fibres of successive layers differently directed, or special sheets for making matches, as described below. Fig. 4 shows an apparatus for feeding a uniform stream of straws, arranged in the direction of motion, to crushing and splitting rolls. A paddle-wheel a delivers the straw, which may have been cut to length, to remove roots, by a double guillotine, down a shoot into which project blades on one or two moving bands b, by which it is deposited on a conveyer band c with spikes to keep the straws parallel. The crushing-rolls are ribbed longitudinally, and advance the straws in a flattened layer between pairs of rolls having splitting-rings and corresponding grooves. The resulting fibres may be made into sheets in the apparatus shown in Fig. 5. A uniform layer of fibres is deposited on a paper or like band j1, previously coated with starch &c. by a brush k1, and adhesive is.supplied to the fibres by a tap k, a second adhesive band j2 being applied on the top. The fibres may be delivered direct from the splitting rolls, or may be formed into a layer by a, jigged hopper p containing horizontally-corrugated plates p1. Starch &c. may be supplied as a liquid, or semi-liquid, or as a powder if the layer is wetted before or after. The process must be interrupted before or after the formation of sheets, as the succeeding operations are slower, and several sets of apparatus therefor may be used for each splitting apparatus. The wet band obtained is squeezed between rollers, and then moulded by endless chains q, Fig. 7, in a heated chamber, which may be long enough for the material to be heated before and after moulding; or alternatively the band may be cut into sheets and these pressed in moulds.