Automatic system for fibers extraction from brooms

This paper presents an automatic system for fibers extraction from brooms, realized by Calabrian High Tech S.r.l. in the framework of PON MATRECO. Base of this system is a suspended rail from which a series of hoists are hanging, pulled by a chain. Six work stations are devoted to perform each a specific task, from hanging the plants manually to bars, placing them in position and pushing a button, to immerge them in a maceration bath held at 80° where the plants must be kept for about 20 min, to lift them, then rinse, detach fibers and finally discard the plants to restart the process. The entire cycle, controlled by a PC, will need only one person in operation, even if at the moment, being yet in an experimental phase, more people are involved. Broom is an endemic plant in Calabria, with good mechanical properties and long fibers, but fibers extraction was up to now extremely labor intensive, thus too expensive. Other fibers extraction, such as those of hemp or flax, require simpler treatments, even if the sequence of operations described in this paper, with minor modifications, could be adopted to treat all of them, obtaining long fibers. A patent application has been filed on this plant scheme, taking into account a number of possible variations [7], and a second patent is about to be deposited. © Springer International Publishing AG 2017.