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Not AvailableCotton lint samples used for fibre quality evaluation must be clean and free from any non-lint content to ensure accurate measurement of quality parameters otherwise there is every possibility of variations in the readings from the actual values. Presently, testing laboratories resort to opening cotton lint samples either manually by hand or by using trash analyser. The extent of lint opening in both these methods is not uniform and optimum and also the speed is too slow to match the handling capacity of the High Volume Instrument (HVI). Therefore, an attempt was made to design and develop a new mechanical device for opening of cotton lint samples used in fibre quality evaluation. The machine consists of feeder roller, licker-in cylinder and suction assemblies mounted on a frame provided with adequate safety covers. It works on the carding principle where licker-in wires having sharp profile open up lint fibres by scrubbing action. Preliminary test trials of the lint opener have yielded satisfactory performance in terms of the handling capacity (40-50 samples/h) and the specific volume after opening (90-100 cc/g), which was found to be nearly double that of the unopened samples (40-60 cc/g).Not Availabl

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Not AvailableCotton lint samples drawn from densely packed bales are required to be well opened and cleaned before being used for fibre quality assessment using modern testing equipment. Importance of proper opening of lint samples introduced into the porosity chamber for measurement of fibre fineness (micronaire) is well recognised to ensure not only correct micronaire but also strength values. If lint samples are tested as such without any opening and cleaning, there is every possibility of variations in the micronaire reading from the actual value. In this paper, performance of the two equipments namely trash analyzer and opener blender has been analysed for opening of cotton lint samples to ensure accurate and precise measurement of fibre fineness using High Volume Instrument. It was observed that while both equipments gave similar quality of opening, the capacity of trash analyser was nearly double due to its larger size when compared to opener blender.Not Availabl