U.S. patent application number 11/179603 was filed with the patent office on 2006-08-17 for method and a unit for testing production quality in a line for manufacturing tobacco products.
Invention is credited to Marco Bencivenni, Eura Trivisonno.
Application Number | 20060180166 11/179603 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36299167 |
Filed Date | 2006-08-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060180166 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bencivenni; Marco ; et
al. |
August 17, 2006 |
Method and a unit for testing production quality in a line for
manufacturing tobacco products
Abstract
Single cigarettes selected as samples at the outfeed stage of a
manufacturing line undergo a systematic quality control operation,
performed by a testing unit, that consists in verifying a given
number of characteristics for each cigarette and generating a set
of signals each reflecting the quality of a respective
characteristic; the succession of signals, each assigned a value on
a predetermined scale, is represented in the form of a graph. Once
a significant sample has been processed, the values assigned to all
the characteristics of the tested cigarettes are displayed in a
table, ordered such that each column will serve effectively as a
production report on an individual cigarette.
Inventors: |
Bencivenni; Marco; (Bologna,
IT) ; Trivisonno; Eura; (Castelmaggiore, IT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Harbin King & Klima
500 Ninth Street SE
Washington
DC
20003
US
|
Family ID: |
36299167 |
Appl. No.: |
11/179603 |
Filed: |
July 13, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
131/280 ;
131/908 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A24C 5/34 20130101; A24C
5/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
131/280 ;
131/908 |
International
Class: |
A24C 5/34 20060101
A24C005/34 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 16, 2005 |
IT |
BO2005A000073 |
Claims
1) A method of testing the quality of production in a line for
manufacturing tobacco products, including the steps of: sampling a
given number of finished products taken from the outfeed stage of
the line; subjecting each of the sampled products to a step,
performed by a relative testing unit, in which the quality of a
predetermined number of characteristics is evaluated in such a way
as to obtain a plurality of signals each reflecting the quality of
a single characteristic presented by each product.
2) A method as in claim 1, including a further step in which the
succession of signals reflecting the single characteristics of the
sampled products is represented in the form of a graph.
3) A method as in claim 2, including a step of evaluating the
signals according to a predetermined scale of values.
4) A method as in claim 3, wherein the scale of values is the same
for all of the characteristics.
5) A method as in claim 4, including the step of displaying a table
of values assigned to all of the tested characteristics, for each
of the sampled tobacco products.
6) A method as in claim 5, including the step of attributing an
overall assessment in respect of each sampled tobacco product,
based on the values assigned to a plurality of the tested
characteristics.
7) A method as in claim 6, wherein the overall assessment is the
average of the values assigned to the tested characteristics.
8) A method as in claim 7, including a step in which the succession
of overall assessments attributed to the sampled products is
represented in the form of a graph.
9) A method as in claim 8, including a step in which marks are
printed on the tested tobacco products to indicate the overall
assessment, or to indicate the value assigned in respect of a given
characteristic.
10) A unit for testing the quality of production in a line for
manufacturing tobacco products, typically a line equipped with a
machine for making the tobacco products and a filter tip attachment
machine, comprising a unit such as will test the quality of a given
number of characteristics presented by single products sampled at
the outfeed stage of the line, and generate output signals
reflecting the quality assignable respectively to each of the
single characteristics of each sampled product, also a central
processing and sorting unit by which the output signals are
received from the testing unit, processed, and transmitted to video
display means on which the selfsame processed signals are
represented in the form of graphs.
11) A unit as in claim 10, wherein the central data processing and
sorting unit comprises processing means by which each signal
received from the quality testing unit is assigned a value on a
predetermined scale.
12) A unit as in claim 11, wherein the central data processing and
sorting unit comprises sorting means by which the signals
reflecting the characteristics of each tested tobacco product are
listed in a table.
13) A unit as in claim 12, wherein the central data processing and
sorting unit comprises computing means by which each tested tobacco
product is attributed an overall assessment in respect of all the
tested characteristics, based on the predetermined scale of
values.
14) A unit as in claim 13, wherein the overall assessment
attributed to each tested product is the average of the values
assigned to the tested characteristics.
15) A unit as in claim 14, wherein the central data processing and
sorting unit comprises processing means by which a graph is
generated to indicate the trend of the overall assessments for a
given number of sampled products.
16) A unit as in claim 15, comprising means, interlocked to the
central data processing and sorting unit, by which the end products
emerging from the line are selected and organized into identifiable
lots, according to the trend of the overall assessments.
17) A unit as in claim 16, comprising print means connected to the
quality testing unit and driven by the central data processing and
sorting unit, by which the tested tobacco products are impressed
with marks indicating the overall assessment or the value assigned
to a given characteristic.
18) A unit as in claim 10, comprising print means connected to the
quality testing unit and driven by the central data processing and
sorting unit, by which the tested tobacco products are impressed
with marks indicating the overall assessment or the value assigned
to a given characteristic.
19) A method as in claim 1, including a step of evaluating the
signals according to a predetermined scale of values.
20) A method as in claim 1, including a step in which marks are
printed on the tested tobacco products to indicate the overall
assessment, or to indicate the value assigned in respect of a given
characteristic.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a method and a unit for
testing production quality in a line for manufacturing tobacco
products.
[0002] The invention is applicable to the art field of systems for
the manufacture of tobacco products, and of cigarettes in
particular, comprising both cigarette maker and filter tip
attachment machines, albeit no limitation is implied.
[0003] More exactly, the invention is concerned with testing the
various characteristics or properties of cigarettes sampled at the
outfeed of the line during the course of the production cycle.
[0004] Among the characteristics of cigarettes subjected to such
tests, certain items are notably important: the weight, the
consistency of the filler at the cut ends, the degree of
ventilation, the quality of the print, the integrity of the paper
wrap, and the soundness of the join between filter and
cigarette.
[0005] Conventionally, sample cigarettes taken at the outfeed end
of the manufacturing line for quality control purposes will undergo
tests conducted by a specialist operator who selects single
cigarettes at regular intervals. The samples are subjected to a
quality control procedure implemented in part visually and manually
by the operator, and in part instrumentally by dedicated testing
devices.
[0006] In practice, the procedure in question serves to verify
whether or not the different characteristics of the sample
cigarettes are within given limits, which in the case of certain
characteristics, at least, will be determined by the experience and
judgement of the operator.
[0007] In the event of at least one among the tested
characteristics failing to meet the standards of acceptance, the
operator will identify those parts of the cigarette maker or the
filter tip attachment machine to which any defects found in the
finished product are attributable, and proceed to take the
appropriate action.
[0008] It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the quality
control procedure in question depends to a large extent on the
experience and judgement of the operator. Consequently, the
evaluation of certain characteristics presented by the cigarettes
is necessarily subjective and may not always be made uniformly,
even within the scope of a single production run.
[0009] The object of the present invention is to provide a method
and a unit whereby all the characteristics of products turned out
by a manufacturing line of the above noted type are evaluated on
the basis of rigorously objective criteria that remain constant
over time.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The stated object is realized, according to the present
invention, in a method for testing the quality of production in a
line for manufacturing tobacco products that consists in sampling a
given number of finished products taken from the outfeed stage of
the line, then subjecting each of the sampled products to a step,
performed by a testing unit, in which the quality of a
predetermined number of characteristics is evaluated in such a way
as to obtain a plurality of signals each reflecting the quality of
a single characteristic.
[0011] The stated object is realized likewise in a unit for testing
the quality of production in a line for manufacturing tobacco
products, typically a line equipped with a cigarette maker and a
filter tip attachment machine, comprising a unit such as will test
the quality of a given number of characteristics presented by
single products sampled at the outfeed stage of the line and
generate output signals reflecting the quality assignable
respectively to each of the single characteristics of each sampled
product, also a central processing and sorting unit by which the
output signals are received from the testing unit, processed, and
used to create video displayable graphs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] The invention will now be described in detail, by way of
example, with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram representing a line for the
manufacture of tobacco products, equipped with a unit for testing
the quality of production such as will implement the method
according to the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective representation of the line
for manufacturing tobacco products as illustrated diagrammatically
in FIG. 1;
[0015] FIGS. 3 and 4 show two graphs obtainable using the unit of
FIG. 1;
[0016] FIGS. 5 and 6 show a table and a corresponding graph,
respectively, obtainable using the unit of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, numeral 1 denotes a
production line, in its entirety, for the manufacture of tobacco
products such as cigarettes, denoted 2, comprising a cigarette
maker 3 and a filter tip attachment machine 4.
[0018] The cigarette maker 3 incorporates a plurality of devices
and machine units and, more exactly, is equipped at the upstream
end with a carding unit 5 in receipt of tobacco from an infeed
hopper (not illustrated); proceeding downstream, the tobacco is
taken up onto a carding drum 6 and projected by an impeller roller
7, operating in conjunction with the carding drum 6, into a descent
duct or chute 8, thence onto a belt conveyor 9 and into an ascent
duct or chimney 10.
[0019] The top end of the chimney 10 is enclosed by an aspirating
belt 11 on which the tobacco particles collect and are formed
gradually into a continuous stream 12 that will ultimately provide
the filler for the cigarettes 2.
[0020] The stream 12 of tobacco is released onto a strip of paper
13 decoiling from a roll 14 along a path that passes initially
through a printing device 15, and advances into a garniture section
16 where it is enveloped longitudinally by the aforementioned strip
13 to form a continuous cigarette rod 17.
[0021] The continuous rod 17 is fed toward and through a cutting
station 18 where it will be divided up by a rotary cutter device 19
into discrete segments of predetermined and constant length, and
more exactly into sticks 20 of length measuring twice the length of
a stick making up a single cigarette 2.
[0022] Numeral 21 denotes a device by which the double length
sticks 20 are transferred, through a set of infeed rollers 22
forming part of the filter tip attachment machine 4, to a cutting
station 23 where each successive double length stick 20 is
separated into two single cigarette sticks 24 by the action of a
roller 25 and a disc cutter 26.
[0023] The single cigarette sticks 24 are directed from the roller
25 of the cutting station 23, first onto a distancing roller 27 on
which the two sticks 24 separated by each cutting stroke are spaced
apart axially one from the other, then onto an assembling roller
28, whereupon a double length filter plug 29 supplied by a
respective feed unit, denoted 30 in its entirety, is interposed
between the two single sticks 24 of each advancing pair.
[0024] The resulting assemblies, each consisting of two single
cigarette sticks 24 and one double length filter plug 29 placed
between them, are released from the assembling roller 28 onto a
roller 31 that forms part of a finishing station 32, comprising a
unit 33 by which tipping papers 34 are cut and fed to the selfsame
station 32, and a rolling device 35 such as will take up the
stick/double-filter/stick assemblies and the tipping papers 34 and
roll each successive tipping paper 34 about a corresponding
assembly to fashion a double length cigarette 2.
[0025] The double length cigarettes 2 are fed by way of an
intermediate roller 36 to a cutter device 37 and divided by a
cutting stroke made through the double length filter 29 to generate
two successions of single filter cigarettes 2 appearing identical
one to another.
[0026] The two successions of filter cigarettes 2 are directed
toward an outfeed stage 38 of the filter tip attachment machine 4,
advancing first onto an overturning roller 39 by which a single
succession of cigarettes 2 is established, then passing onto a
final train of rollers denoted 40 in its entirety, along which the
cigarettes 2 will undergo further finishing steps of a familiar
nature.
[0027] As illustrated in FIG. 2 for example, the final train 40 of
rollers, supported together with the aforementioned rollers 22, 25,
27, 28 and 31 by a vertical bulkhead 41 associated with the frame
42 of the filter tip attachment machine 4, comprises a roller
denoted 43 on which ventilation holes are pierced in the cigarettes
2 by a laser generator device 44, and a roller denoted 45 on which
the cigarettes are scanned.
[0028] Referring again to FIG. 1, the manufacturing line 1
comprises a unit 46 by means of which to test the production
quality of the cigarettes 2, connected on the input side by way of
a single cigarette sampling device, indicated as a block 47, to a
roller 48 coinciding with the outfeed stage 38 of the filter tip
attachment machine 4.
[0029] The unit 46 in question is designed to test the quality of a
plurality of characteristics presented by the single cigarette 2,
and in particular, the integrity of the paper wrap, the consistency
of the end fill, the degree of ventilation obtained with the holes
pierced by the laser generator 44, the quality of the print, the
weight, and so forth.
[0030] With reference in particular to FIG. 1, the quality testing
unit 46 is connected on the output side to a central data
processing and sorting unit or CPU 49, connected in turn to a
keyboard 50, a video display unit 51 and a printer 52. The CPU 49
can also be connected by way of a web network 53 to the Internet,
represented schematically by a block denoted 59.
[0031] Once the quality testing unit 46 has inspected a significant
number of single cigarettes 2 (say 10, for example) selected at the
outfeed station 38, the CPU 49 will receive signals relating to
each of the characteristics tested, which it processes and outputs
in the form of graphs, as illustrated by way of example in FIGS. 3
and 4, viewable on the video display unit 51.
[0032] The CPU 49 comprises processing means 54 by which each
signal received from the testing unit 46 is assigned a value on a
predetermined scale common to all of the tested
characteristics.
[0033] In the graphs of FIGS. 3 and 4, the "x" axis represents the
succession of cigarettes 2 subjected to quality testing, whilst the
"y" axis is marked 0 to 10, denoting the values on the
aforementioned scale.
[0034] Observing the graphs relative to a succession of cigarettes
2 sampled from the outfeed stage 38, the quality of production as
reflected in each of the tested characteristics will be readily
discernible. Self-evidently, a substantially flat line indicates
that the quality of the tested characteristic has remained
substantially constant over time, whilst an upward trend toward the
higher numbers on the scale indicates an improvement and a downward
trend indicates a deterioration.
[0035] In the latter instance, the information provided will enable
the operator to take corrective action on the devices of the line 1
to which the negative trend is attributable.
[0036] The action in question might occur automatically, triggered
by feedback control circuits indicated schematically in FIG. 1 as
blocks denoted 55 and 56, by way of which the CPU 49 is connected
to the various devices and units of the cigarette maker 3 and of
the filter tip attachment machine 4.
[0037] The CPU 49 further comprises sorting means 57 by which the
signals reflecting the characteristics of each single cigarette 2
tested can be represented as numerical values in a table as
illustrated in FIG. 5.
[0038] Accordingly, each column in the table of FIG. 5 provides
information amounting effectively to a "report" on a respective
cigarette.
[0039] The central data processing and sorting unit 49 is equipped
with computing means 58 able to produce an overall assessment of
the tested characteristics for each cigarette 2 sampled. In the
example of FIG. 5, each of the overall assessments indicated on the
bottom line of the table is attributed by computing the average of
the values assigned for the single characteristics.
[0040] On the basis of the overall assessments produced by the
computing means 58, the processing means 54 are able to generate a
graph of the type shown in FIG. 6, which indicates the trend of the
overall assessments relating to a given series of sampled
cigarettes 2.
[0041] It will be seen that the line 1 is equipped in conventional
manner with a succession of devices serving to monitor the
cigarette-making process, and devices serving to reject any
cigarettes 2 of which the characteristics may not register within
prescribed limits. Thus, all of the cigarettes 2 scrutinized by the
quality testing unit 46 will be identifiable, at least in theory,
as conforming to an acceptance threshold defined in the graphs of
FIGS. 3, 4 and 6, by the line A parallel to the "x" axis.
[0042] Thus, with the graphs described above providing an index as
to the quality of a given production cycle, the manufacturer will
be able, on the basis of these same graphs, to select the most
suitable market for a particular type of production lot.
[0043] Accordingly, selection means might be installed at the
outfeed stage 38 of the line 1, with the end in view of organizing
the tobacco products into distinct lots destined for different
markets.
[0044] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the system might also comprise a
printing device 60, associated with the quality testing unit 46 and
driven by the computing means 58 and/or the processing means 54,
such as will impress the sampled cigarettes 2 with marks 61 serving
to indicate the overall quality assessment attributed by averaging
the values assigned for all of the characteristics tested, or to
indicate the value assigned for one such characteristic.
* * * * *