Design and development of programmed switching system for processing of mechanically picked cotton

Abstract

Mechanically picked cotton requires approximately 3 to 4 times more machinery as compared to hand picking to bring down trash to an acceptable level. It is required that any machinery that is not necessary should be bypassed and switched off. In addition, gin machines must get started and stopped in a definite sequence to avoid chokage of cotton as well as overloading of machines in ginneries. A programmed switching system for operating ginneries through a handheld keypad control or a personal computer has been presented. It should assist in proper gin management, energy conservation and minimization of productivity loss.