METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR OPENING FIBER BALES ALONG AN INCLINED PLANE

摘要

A method of detaching fiber tufts from a top surface of serially-arranged fiber bales by a bale opener includes the steps of propelling the bale opener for back-and-forth travel along the fiber bale series, vertically moving, simultaneously with the propelling step, the detaching device relative to the supporting structure and simultaneously with the propelling step and the vertical displacement of the detacher, removing fiber tufts by the detaching device in consecutive passes. During the run-in phase (in which the surface of the bale series is changed from a substantially horizontal orientation to a predetermined oblique orientation for normal detaching operation) and during a run-out phase (in which the surface of the bale series is changed from an oblique orientation to a substantially horizontal orientation) the following steps are performed in each consecutive pass: a new top bale surface is formed which has an inclination to the horizontal that is different from the previously-formed surface and varying the speed of travel of the bale opener structure during each pass.