METHOD FOR PRODUCING MULTIPLE FIBER STRIPS IN PARALLEL AND APPARATUS FOR EXECUTING SAID METHOD
The invention relates to methods for simultaneously producing crimped fiber strips in parallel, in particular filter tow strips, in a crimping machine (KM) having an inlet region (3), a squeezing zone (6) formed between two transport rollers (4, 5), and a compression channel (7), comprising the following steps: a) simultaneously feeding in parallel a plurality of fiber strips (1, 2) via the inlet region (3), wherein the fiber strips are guided separately in the inlet region (3), using a first separating device (31), b) simultaneously transporting and compacting in parallel the fiber strips in the squeezing zone (6) by way of the two transport rollers (4, 5), and c) simultaneously crimping in parallel the fiber strips in the compression channel (7), wherein the fiber strips are guided separately in method step b) by using a second separating device (61) and in method step c) by using a third separating device (71), and wherein the first, second and third separating devices (31, 61, 71) are designed such that the separate guidance in parallel of the fiber strips takes place from the inlet region (3) through the squeezing zone (6) into the compression channel (7) without interruption. Moreover, the invention relates to an apparatus for executing said method. The invention enables the simultaneous formation of a plurality of separate, crimped fiber strips, having a substantially constant and symmetric crimping characteristic over the respective entire fiber strip cross-section, and in particular also cost-effective production of crimped filter tow strips, having a low overall titer, by avoiding the phenomenon of the split-off edge, by way of a conventional spinning and crimping machine.