Patent Number: 6615454
Docket Number: 11401
Serial Number: 10247156
Date Patented: 09/09/2003

Technology Description: Agricultural Research Service scientists developed an invention that reduces the amount of usable cotton typically lost in gins, and increases the weight of a single bale of cotton after ginning by about 10 pounds. The device reduces the amount of cotton fiber normally wasted by a gin’s saw lint cleaners. After lint is separated from the seed, lint cleaners remove foreign matter, moisture and other contaminants that reduce the value of the crop. The lint-cleaning stage usually results in losses of about 20 pounds per 500-pound cotton bale. The new lint cleaner contains an additional saw cylinder to reprocess fiber that is normally ejected with the waste. The invention prevents most good fiber from being ejected from the lint cleaner along with the leaf particles, sticks, stems, seed coat fragments, grass and bark that must be removed. The cleaning efficiency of the device is equal to that of a standard lint cleaner. This method could help growers increase the value of their crops. Cotton is the most important textile fiber in the world. It accounts for more than 40 percent of total world fiber production. The U.S. cotton industry accounts for more than $25 billion in products and services annually. The device could also be used to separate fibers from alternative crops, such as kenaf and flax, which are used in the production of paper and linen. Reference: Please refer to USPN 6,615,454 (Docket #0114.01), "Enhanced Separation of Contaminants from Fibers such as Cotton, Kenaf and Flax," issued September 9, 2003.  Foreign rights are available. Please refer to USPN 6,539,585 (Docket #0062.00), "Device to Separate Contaminants from Cotton and Flax," issued April 1, 2003, and is similar to this technology.  Foreign rights are not available. Inventor: Richard K. Byler Research Leader Stoneville, MS 38776-0256 Phone: (662) 686-3095 Fax: (662) 686-5483 rick.byler@ars.usda.gov