Importance

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Abstract

An apparatus for making a fiber lap from a mass of fiber tufts includes a generally vertically extending feed chute having relatively wide first and second walls facing one another and relatively narrow third and fourth walls facing one another. The distance between the third and fourth walls defines the width of the feed chute. Each first and second wall has a mid region and flanking edge regions. The first and/or second wall is provided with air outlet openings in a bottom region. The apparatus further has a device for charging the feed chute with fiber tufts at a top portion thereof, and a device for withdrawing the fiber tufts from the feed chute as a fiber lap at a bottom portion of the feed chute. A plurality of side-by-side arranged elements are positioned in a series on the first wall at a bottom portion thereof along the wall width. The distance between any given element and the second wall defines the depth of the feed chute at the given element. The elements in the mid region have a first dimension measured parallel to the wall width, and the elements in the edge regions have a second dimension measured parallel to the wall width. The first dimension is greater than the second dimension, and the elements in the mid region are at a greater distance from the second wall than the elements in the edge regions of the first wall.

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First Claim