Apparatus for defibering sheaths of fibrous material, particularly sheaths of abaca

Claim 1

A conveyor arrangement, comprising, in combination, a first series of at least three parallel elongated guide rollers having respective first rotation axes, neighboring ones of the guide rollers being spaced apart to define first elongated inter-roller spaces which extend parallel to the first rotation axes; a second series of at least three parallel elongated guide rollers having respective second rotation axes, neighboring ones of the guide rollers of the second series being spaced apart to define second elongated inter-roller spaces which extend parallel to the second rotation axes, the guide rollers of the first series projecting towards and extending into respective ones of the second elongated inter-roller spaces, the guide rollers of the second series projecting towards and extending into respective ones of the first elongated inter-roller spaces; a first endless conveyor arrangement comprising first elongated endless conveyor means encircling the first series of guide rollers and having a first run which is supported on the surfaces of the first series of guide rollers, the first run extending between the first series of guide rollers and the second series of guide rollers, so that the first series of guide rollers is located to one side of the first run whereas the second series of guide rollers is located to the opposite side of the first run; a second endless conveyor arrangement comprising second elongated endless conveyor means encircling the second series of guide rollers and having a second run which is supported on the surfaces of the second series of guide rollers, the second run extending between the first series of guide rollers and the second series of guide rollers, so that the second series of guide rollers is located to one side of the second run whereas the first series of guide rollers is located to the opposite side of the second run, the second run adjoining the first run and defining together with the first run an elongated path for fibrous material to be transported and gripped between said first and second runs, said first elongated endless conveyor means being comprised of a plurality of parallel endless first elongated conveyor sections arranged side-by-side in the direction transverse to the elongation of said first sections to define a plurality of elongated parallel first intermediate spaces extending along substantially the entire length of said first run, and said second elongated endless conveyor means being comprised of a plurality of parallel endless second elongated conveyor sections arranged side-by-side in the direction transverse to the elongation of said second sections to define a plurality of elongated parallel second intermediate spaces extending along substantially the entire length of said second run, and wherein along substantially the entire lengths of said first and second runs said sections of said conveyor means project in the direction from the respective one of said runs towards the other one of said runs into respective ones of the plurality of elongated parallel intermediate spaces of the other one of said conveyor means, wherein said first elongated endless conveyor means is comprised of a respective first plurality of parallel spaced discrete endless conveyor members each constituting one of said first sections, and wherein said second elongated endless conveyor means is comprised of a respective second plurality of parallel spaced discrete elongated endless conveyor members each constituting one of said second sections.