Material passage diagram of Porcupine Opener machine

Objective of Porcupine Opener machine:

1. To unfold and clean the cotton.

Main Parts & their functions:

1. Feed lattice.
2. Presser roller or wooden roller
3. Feed roller or Pedal roller
4. Beater.
5. Grid bar.
6. Condenser or ( perforated edge / Cylinder)

Their functions:

1. Feed lattice: Transports material through endless belts.
   
2. Pressure roller or wooden roller: It pressurised the tuft of cotton and transports.
   
3. Feed roller or Pedal roller: It consists of a feeding system or regulating system.It has a pedal lever under it.
   
4. Beater: It has 17 disks and each disk contains 16 strikers.
   
5. Grid bar: There is a grid bar which controls or gives the gateway for waste and trash.
   
6. Condenser or ( perforated edge/ Cylinder): The task of this condenser is to cleans the tuft of cotton.
   
7. Stripping roller: There are two striping rollers in this machine.They provide the gateway for cotton to the next stage.

Working Principle Porcupine Opener of Machine:

The cotton fed by the previous opener is carried forward by the feed lattice. The sheet of cotton now passes between the pedal and pedal roller.

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The weight of cotton fed per unit time is maintained constant by this pedal feed regulating motion.

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Pedal roller feeds the sheet of cotton in between pairs of feed rollers which are weighted to give necessary grip on the cotton. 16 circular discs are mounted on the shaft of this opener. 14 to 18 striker blades are riveted alternatively on each circular disc. Each striker is bent to a slightly different angle.

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The compressed sheet of cotton delivered from the feed roller is heavily beaten by the rapidly revolving striker of the porcupine beater against the grid bar.

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Because of this beating action, the cotton is effectively opened and extracted trash particles are passed through the spacing of the grid bar.

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At the end of the grid bar, stripping rail is provided, this is a metal bar which is set about 1/16 inch away from the end of the striker. This small clearance between stripping rail and striker prevents bunches of cotton being carried around by the beater.

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cotton from the beater region is taken out by the air current set by the fan and is deposited on to the cages.During the passage of cotton between the beater section and cage, it passes over a series of suspended leaf bars where lighter impurities are removed. The compressed sheet of cotton is delivered from the cage by means of a pair of delivery rollers to the next process. While processing fine cotton and viscose rayon, porcupine opener is not recommended, in this case this opener is passed by suitable by-pass arrangement provision in this opener.