Seed cotton on a wire mesh belt dryer is dryed and cleaned by a downflow of heated air
. The natural separation and falling of trash from the belt is increased by shaking the mass of seed cotton upon the wire mesh belt. The belt is flexed to shake the seed cotton upon it. The mesh belt dryer is flexed by running the belt over "V" shaped intermittent supports. The belt is also shaken by being bumped by gussets on rollers beneath the belt. The air is exhausted from beneath the belt by ducts extending across the chamber. The tops of the ducts are inclined planes so that the trash slides from the top of the duct and does not accumulate on the top.
Also, the mesh belt dryer is secondarily flexed by bumper rollers beneath the mass flexing the belt upward at points where otherwise the belt is sagging downward between the intermittent supports. The bumping of the belt is also restricted to cause the flexing to be within the above parameters.
The mesh belt dryer has top run 54 upon which the mass of treated material 32 is placed. Bottom run 56 of the belt is supported by bottom or floor 58 of the chamber 10. The exhaust ducts extend from one chamber wall or side 50 to another below the top run 54 and above the bottom run 56 respectively. The side along the spent air header 26 has a circular opening at each exhaust duct whereby the spent air may be conveyed from the exhaust duct to the spent air header to be drawn to the fan 30.
It will be understood that the mesh belt dryer34 will be flexed by the bumping of the belt from below and also be flexed as it is run over intermittent "V" shaped supports 86. The flexing of the belt will shake the fibrous material, aiding in the release of trash from the fibrous material, thereby aiding the cleaning of the material. The shaking will also prevent excessive packing of the fibrous material from the downflow of the treated air downward through the mass of the fibrous material.