The Power Roll Gin Stand is the first truly revolutionary redesign of the cotton gin stand since the original design by Eli Whitney in 1794 and improvements by H. Ogden Holmes in 1796. It works much more efficiently than the traditional design and captures more cotton fiber from the ginning process which can be sold by the farmer to increase his profitability. It also benefits the cotton gin by increased efficiencies in energy use and labor. This design can be used in the construction of new cotton gin stands as well as constructing kits to retrofit existing gin stands. This involves installing a new front for Power Roll Gin Stand which contains the key components of the paddle roll and seed finger roll as well as the electronic control system.

Power roll technology works by using a powered paddle roll to turn the cotton in the roll box of the gin stand and bring it into contact with the gin saw cylinder where the lint may be gripped by the teeth of the saw. This paddle roll is powered by an electric motor and operates in the opposite direction as the gin saw cylinder. A powered seed finger roll rotating in the same direction as the gin saw cylinder also is used to control the rate of seed passage between the blades of the gin saw cylinder and their subsequent discharge from the gin stand.

How was it developed?
Power roll technology was developed by engineers at the Cotton Production and Processing Research Unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service as an outgrowth of research done to develop the Easi Flo™ technology. Easi Flo™ cottonseed is coated with starch to improve the handling capabilities and meet the needs of dairy producers who add this high protein feed to their rations. Upon developing the Easi Flo™ technology, USDA scientists found that extra fiber coming off the seed during the coating process resulted in clumping of tangled seeds. They determined that more fiber needed to be removed from seeds before the coating process which led them to redesign the gin stand. They then determined that this redesigned gin stand could be used for more than just reginning seeds.

U.S. patent number 6,061,875 was issued to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for this technology on May 16, 2000. Cotton Incorporated also assisted in its development. According to Brad Robb, Communications Director of the Cotton Board, the technology, "was born out of a problem - one that was solved by Cotton Incorporated's grower-funded research."