Some manufacturers, for example former Schubert & Salzer and Trützschler, have used plucking springs for opening. Two spring systems, facing each other like the jaws of a pair of tongs, are parted and dropped into the feed material and are then closed before being lifted clear. They grasp the material like fingers. This type of gripping is the most gentle of all methods of opening, but it produces mostly large to very large clumps of uneven size. This type of opening device is therefore no longer used.
Fig. 15 – Plucking springs
