ABACA Activities in the Philippines - Unido

Ref. No. CFC/FIGHF/09 CFC/UNIDO/FIDA 15
flattener while the second pair is used to pull the tuxies. This is how it
operates: the leaf sheath inserted between the first two rollers passes
through a knife which separates the outer from the inner part of the leaf
sheath. The second pair of roller pulls out the tuxy.
4.2.2.2 Study model
Based on the concept of a mechanical tuxer, a detailed design
specifications was prepared and fabricated. In this model, only one of the
rollers was used. Here is how the machine operated: the leaf sheaths were
fed to the feed rollers which gripped and flattened the leaf sheaths then
pushed towards the blade. The leaf sheaths hit the blade causing the
separation of the inner and outer layers of the leaf sheaths. Tuxies were
collected and separated from waste materials at the discharge end.
Figure 8. Study model of
mechanical tuxer
The problems encountered in this model were inability to tuxy the
edges of the leaf sheaths and the accumulation of materials on the edge of
the blade.
4.2.2.3 Working model
To address the problems identified in the earlier model, two pairs
of rollers with drives were added. The first pair of rollers flattened and
pushed the leaf sheath to the second pair of rollers. These rollers directed
the leaf sheath to the knife. The third pair of rollers pulled the tuxy. An
adjuster for the blade assembly was also provided so that the knife could be
moved in any direction. This was done to establish an effective set-up for
producing the tuxy over the full length of abaca leaf sheaths.