Abstract: Fiberglass filament waste is cut into segments with an apparatus comprised of a feeder that includes a cutting roller having a rotatable shaft with a plurality of spaced circular cutting blades mounted thereon, and a waste feeder having a discharge opening adjacent said roller for conveying said waste into engagement with the periphery of the blades, the feeder including at first and second spaced surfaces extending from a waste inlet opening to a waste discharge opening, at least one of the surfaces being pivotal adjacent the waste inlet opening to expand the discharge opening under pressure from waste being conveyed between the surfaces. At least one of the surfaces, which may be a surface of a conveyor belt, is moveable toward the discharge opening, while the other surface may be stationary, or move toward the discharge opening. In one embodiment, the lower surface moves toward the discharge opening, while the upper surface moves away from the discharge opening to equalize the volume of waste being fed.

Abstract: Fiberglass filament hulls are cut to form fiberglass staple fibers with an apparatus comprising a cutting roller with a plurality of equally spaced, circular, diamond coated cutting blades separated by circular spacers having a diameter less than the diameter of the cutting blades; a circumferentially grooved pressure roller positioned parallel to the cutting roller and forming a nip therewith, with the periphery of the blades extending in non-engaging relation into the grooves; and a conveyor for flattening and conveying the hulls into the nip of the cutting and pressure rollers with the hull filaments being oriented substantially transverse to the blades while the cutting roller is rotated at a significantly greater speed than the pressure roller, whereby the hull filaments are held against the cutting roller by the pressure roller, and cut into staple fiber lengths by the blades.