U.S. patent application number 11/143670 was filed with the patent office on 2005-12-08 for cigarette maker.
Invention is credited to Draghetti, Fiorenzo, Esposti, Marco.
Application Number | 20050268924 11/143670 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34943216 |
Filed Date | 2005-12-08 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050268924 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Draghetti, Fiorenzo ; et
al. |
December 8, 2005 |
Cigarette maker
Abstract
A cigarette maker is equipped with an infeed hopper, a pneumatic
feed duct carrying a flow of shredded tobacco to the hopper, a
carding unit, a descending channel, and an ascending channel by
which the tobacco is directed up and onto aspirating conveyor belt.
A separator device installed upstream of the infeed hopper and
designed to remove foreign matter from the flow of shredded tobacco
is packaged as a module, coupled into the feed duct, comprising a
first section isolated from pneumatic pressure in the duct, and a
second section in which pneumatic pressure is reinstated; tobacco
advancing through the first section is thinned on a conveyor belt
and loosened on a vibrating tray in such a way as to disentangle
the constituent particles and stems and redistribute the flow as a
layer of relatively limited thickness, thereby favoring separation
of the foreign matter.
Inventors: |
Draghetti, Fiorenzo;
(Medicina, IT) ; Esposti, Marco; (Casalecchio Di
Reno, IT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Harbin King & Klima
500 Ninth Street SE
Washington
DC
20003
US
|
Family ID: |
34943216 |
Appl. No.: |
11/143670 |
Filed: |
June 3, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
131/108 ;
131/109.1; 131/109.2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A24C 5/396 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
131/108 ;
131/109.2; 131/109.1 |
International
Class: |
A24B 007/14 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 4, 2004 |
IT |
BO2004A000358 |
Claims
1) A cigarette making machine comprising an infeed hopper, a
pneumatic feed duct carrying a flow of shredded tobacco to the
hopper, a carding unit by which the tobacco is taken up from the
hopper and released as a flow of separated particles to be directed
first through a descending channel then through an ascending
channel, toward an aspirating outfeed conveyor belt placed at the
top end of the ascending channel; also, a separator device for the
removal of foreign matter from the flow of shredded tobacco,
comprising means by which to form and feed a carpet of tobacco,
descending conveyor means into which tobacco is directed by the
forming and feeding means in free fall, an outfeed duct interposed
between the outlet of the descending conveyor means and an inlet
connecting with the hopper, and means by which to generate a stream
of air directed along the outfeed duct.
2) A machine as in claim 1, wherein means by which to form and feed
a carpet of tobacco comprise a vibrating tray.
3) A machine as in claim 2, wherein means by which to form and feed
a carpet of tobacco comprise a conveyor belt.
4) A machine as in claim 1, wherein means by which to form and feed
a carpet of tobacco comprise a conveyor belt, also a vibrating tray
interposed between the conveyor belt and the descending conveyor
means.
5) A machine as in claim 1, wherein descending conveyor means
comprise an inclined plane.
6) A machine as in claim 1, wherein descending conveyor means
comprise a substantially vertical duct.
7) A machine as in claim 1, wherein descending conveyor means
comprise a duct with walls of zigzag profile.
8) A machine as in claim 5, wherein a bottom end of the descending
conveyor means communicates with a duct through which to reject
foreign matter.
9) A machine as in claim 1, wherein the descending conveyor means
and the outfeed duct are connected by a section coinciding with a
vent forming part of the means by which to generate a stream of
air.
10) A machine as in claim 9, wherein the outfeed duct is an
ascending channel and the connecting section is a bend.
11) A machine as in claim 1, wherein the separator device consists
in a unit or module installable along the feed duct conveying the
shredded tobacco.
12) A machine as in claim 1, wherein the separator device comprises
a first feed section advancing the shredded tobacco, along which
pneumatic pressure generated through the feed duct is deactivated,
and a second feed section along which the selfsame pneumatic
pressure is reinstated.
13) A machine as in claim 12, wherein the first section of the
separator device is composed of the means of forming and feeding a
carpet of tobacco, and the descending conveyor means.
14) A machine as in claim 12, wherein the second section is
provided by the outfeed duct.
15) A machine as in claim 4, wherein descending conveyor means
comprise an inclined plane.
16) A machine as in claim 4, wherein descending conveyor means
comprise a substantially vertical duct.
17) A machine as in claim 4, wherein descending conveyor means
comprise a duct with walls of zigzag profile.
18) A machine as in claim 15, wherein a bottom end of the
descending conveyor means communicates with a duct through which to
reject foreign matter.
19) A machine as in claim 16, wherein a bottom end of the
descending conveyor means communicates with a duct through which to
reject foreign matter.
20) A machine as in claim 17, wherein a bottom end of the
descending conveyor means communicates with a duct through which to
reject foreign matter.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a cigarette maker.
[0002] In a typical cigarette making machine, shredded tobacco is
directed normally along a feed duct to an infeed hopper, from which
it is taken up by a picking or carding unit and fed into a
descending channel or chute.
[0003] At the bottom end of the chute, the tobacco is transferred
by a toothed outfeed unit onto a feed conveyor and then carried by
this same conveyor toward the bottom end of an ascending channel or
riser, of which the top end is enclosed by an air-permeable
transport belt.
[0004] An air current set up in the ascending channel, generated at
least in part by suction through the permeable belt, ensures that
the lighter particles of tobacco consisting in dust and relatively
minute shreds are directed upwards, whereas any heavier particles
such as scraps and stems, stones, metal or plastic fragments and
the like, are caused to drop by gravity into a collection vessel at
the bottom end of the ascending channel, from where they are
rejected.
[0005] Whilst the method outlined above is effective enough, it can
present certain drawbacks inasmuch as the carding unit is
susceptible to damage from the heavier particles, and in particular
the metal or plastic foreign matter.
[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a
cigarette maker that will be unaffected by the drawbacks in
question, and will also be of simple and economic embodiment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The stated object is realized according to the present
invention in a cigarette maker comprising: an infeed hopper, a
pneumatic feed duct carrying a flow of shredded tobacco to the
hopper, a carding unit by which the tobacco is taken up from the
hopper and released as a flow of divided particles directed first
through a descending channel then through an ascending channel,
toward an aspirating outfeed conveyor belt placed at the top end of
the ascending channel.
[0008] The machine disclosed includes a separator device for the
removal of foreign matter from the flow of shredded tobacco,
comprising means by which to form and feed a carpet of tobacco,
descending conveyor means into which tobacco is directed by the
forming and feeding means in free fall, an outfeed duct interposed
between the outlet of the descending conveyor means and an inlet
connecting with the hopper, and means by which to generate a stream
of air directed along the outfeed duct.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The invention will now be described in detail, by way of
example, with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates a cigarette maker equipped with a
separator device embodied in accordance with the present invention,
viewed schematically and in elevation and with parts in
section;
[0011] FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate three embodiments of the
separator device indicated in FIG. 1, viewed schematically and in
elevation and with parts in section;
[0012] FIG. 5 is a plan view of the device illustrated in FIG.
2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0013] Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, 1 denotes a cigarette
maker, in its entirety, comprising a hopper 2 filled with a mass of
shredded tobacco 3, and a pneumatic feed duct 4 through which
tobacco is conveyed to the hopper from a storage unit or a shredder
shown schematically as a block denoted 5.
[0014] The tobacco 3 is directed from the hopper 2 down into a feed
chamber 6 occupied by a carding unit 7 equipped with a carding drum
8 driven in rotation about a horizontal axis 9 and turning
counter-clockwise as seen in FIG. 1. The carding roller 8 operates
in conjunction with a proportioning roller 10 and an impeller
roller 11 by which the tobacco 3 is projected, in the form of
distinct particles, into a descending channel or chute 12
terminating at the bottom end adjacent to a toothed unit 13 such as
will pick up the particles and direct them onto a transfer belt 14
advancing toward the bottom end of an ascending channel or riser
15.
[0015] The top end of the riser 15 is enclosed by an aspirating
transport belt 16 made of air-permeable material such as will
attract the tobacco particles and gather them progressively into a
continuous stream 17 providing the filler for the manufactured
cigarettes (not illustrated).
[0016] 18 denotes a separator device, shown in FIG. 1 as a unit or
module 19 that can be installed along the aforementioned pneumatic
feed duct 4 carrying the flow of shredded tobacco to the
hopper.
[0017] More exactly, and with reference to FIG. 2, the separator
device 18 establishes a predetermined feed path P to be followed by
the flow of shredded tobacco, comprising a first feed section 20
along which the pneumatic pressure generated internally of the feed
duct 4 is deactivated, and a second feed section 21 embodied as an
ascending outfeed duct 22 along which the pneumatic pressure of the
duct 4 is reinstated.
[0018] The first section 20 of the separator device 18, which is
coupled directly to the feed duct 4, comprises means, denoted 23 in
their entirety, by which to form and feed the tobacco as a carpet
24 of predetermined thickness S.
[0019] The forming and feeding means 23 of the first section 20
comprise a substantially horizontal looped conveyor belt 25 passing
around two return pulleys 26, of which at least one is power
driven, and a tray 27 caused to vibrate through the agency of
respective actuator means shown schematically as a block denoted
28.
[0020] The vibrating tray 27 is inclined, presenting a transverse
dimension that increases along the feed direction followed by the
tobacco carpet 24, as discernible in FIG. 5, and occupies a
position interposed between the runout end of the belt 25 and the
entry point of descending conveyor means, denoted 29 in their
entirety and constituting the downstream part of the first section
20.
[0021] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the descending conveyor means
29 take the form of a substantially vertical duct 30 into which the
tobacco will drop and fall freely to a bottom outlet end coinciding
with a vent 31a positioned to deliver a stream of air generated by
blower means 31. The air stream serves to divert the flow of
tobacco toward the substantially vertical outfeed duct 22, which is
coupled to the pneumatic feed duct 4.
[0022] The bottom outlet end of the vertical duct 30 is connected
to the inlet end of the ascending outfeed duct 22 by way of a bend
32 in which foreign matter is able to accumulate before dropping
through a reject duct 33 into a collection vessel 34.
[0023] The embodiment of FIG. 3 differs from that of FIG. 2 in that
the descending conveyor means 29 are afforded by an inclined plane
35 along which the tobacco carpet 24 slides downward by
gravity.
[0024] Finally, the embodiment of FIG. 4 differs from that of FIG.
2 in that the descending conveyor means 29 consist in a duct 36
presenting walls of zigzag profile, along which the tobacco tumbles
by gravity.
[0025] In operation, a relatively compacted mass of shredded
tobacco 3 flowing from the upstream unit or machine 5 along the
feed duct 4 at a first velocity V1 is deposited on the top branch
of the conveyor belt 25, which will be driven at a second velocity
V2 slower than the first V1. The tobacco 3 settles on the belt,
spreading gradually to form a carpet 24 of relatively limited
thickness S.
[0026] The carpet 24 runs off the belt 25 and onto the vibrating
tray 27, whereupon the vibratory motion has the effect of advancing
the tobacco 3 while loosening the constituent particles and stems,
which are thereupon distributed transversely to the feed direction
in such a way as to form a layer of thickness S1 reduced further
from the thickness S of the carpet 24 formed initially.
[0027] In all of the embodiments illustrated, the fact of isolating
the conveyor belt 25 and the vibrating tray 27 from the pneumatic
pressure of the feed duct 4 is instrumental in enabling a reduction
in the rate at which the tobacco 3 advances, from a given first
velocity V1 to a predetermined second velocity V2.
[0028] In effect, the tobacco advances along the feed duct 4 at a
relatively high velocity V1, determined by the associated pneumatic
circuit, whereas during its passage along the belt 25 and
thereafter along the tray 27, the first velocity V1 can be reduced
to a lower velocity V2 in order to facilitate the removal of
foreign matter. Together with the steps of gradually disentangling
the tobacco and reducing the thickness S of the carpet 24 and the
subsequent drop down the descending conveyor means 29, this slowing
effect favors the separation of foreign bodies from the flow of
tobacco 3 at the moment of its passage adjacent to the vent 31a of
the blower means 31.
[0029] Finally, it will be self-evident that the unit or module 19
is easily deployed, whether as a first time installation or
retrofitted to a cigarette maker 1 already in commission without
any separator device 18.
[0030] The inclusion of the unit 19 by no means excludes the
possibility of the machine 1 being equipped with a second separator
device installed downstream of the carding unit 7. Indeed in this
instance, the presence of a second separator will help to obtain an
extremely thorough winnowing action on the flow of tobacco
ascending through the riser 15.
* * * * *