The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 13, 2001
Filed:
Feb. 21, 1995
Frederick M. Shofner, Knoxville, TN (US);
Michael E. Galyon, Knoxville, TN (US);
Joseph C. Baldwin, Knoxville, TN (US);
Masood A. Khan, Knoxville, TN (US);
Zellweger Uster, Inc., , NC (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for delooping fibers in a fluid flow preferably includes a cyclone for receiving entities from a fiber individualizer and delivering individual fibers to a sensor. The fluid flow rate to the cyclone is set to optimize operation of the individualizer and the flow rate from the cyclone is set to optimize operation of the sensor. A nozzle is provided in the sensor for mechanically delooping the fibers so they are sensed in a straight condition. In addition, electronics associated with the sensor detects sensor signals corresponding to looped fibers and electronically “deloops” the fibers to produce data, such as the actual length of a fiber that was presented to the sensor in a looped condition.