U.S. patent application number 12/553537 was filed with the patent office on 2009-12-24 for method for feeding tobacco in a machine for manufacturing tobacco products.
This patent application is currently assigned to G.D S.p.A.. Invention is credited to Marco BENCIVENNI, Fiorenzo DRAGHETTI, Fausto MENGOLI.
Application Number | 20090314302 12/553537 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36691862 |
Filed Date | 2009-12-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090314302 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
DRAGHETTI; Fiorenzo ; et
al. |
December 24, 2009 |
METHOD FOR FEEDING TOBACCO IN A MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING TOBACCO
PRODUCTS
Abstract
In a cigarette maker, shredded tobacco passes through a feed and
transport section toward a unit by which divided particles of the
tobacco are gathered into at least one stream providing the filler
for cigarettes. By positioning one or more sensors either along the
feed and transport section or at a point upstream, relative to the
feed direction of the tobacco, it becomes possible to identify the
type of tobacco being handled at any given moment, so that when
production schedules include a changeover from one brand to
another, supervisors can be certain that the right type of tobacco
has been selected, and ensure that different types of tobacco will
not mingle.
Inventors: |
DRAGHETTI; Fiorenzo;
(Medicina, IT) ; MENGOLI; Fausto; (Sasso Marconi,
IT) ; BENCIVENNI; Marco; (Bologna, IT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SHUTTLEWORTH & INGERSOLL, P.L.C.
115 3RD STREET SE, SUITE 500, P.O. BOX 2107
CEDAR RAPIDS
IA
52406
US
|
Assignee: |
G.D S.p.A.
Bologna
IT
|
Family ID: |
36691862 |
Appl. No.: |
12/553537 |
Filed: |
September 3, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11436662 |
May 19, 2006 |
|
|
|
12553537 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
131/282 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A24C 5/31 20130101; A24C
5/39 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
131/282 |
International
Class: |
A24C 5/33 20060101
A24C005/33 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 19, 2005 |
IT |
BO2005A000355 |
Claims
1-13. (canceled)
14. A method of feeding tobacco in a machine for manufacturing
tobacco products as in claim 13, including the steps of: shutting
down the machine to suspend production of a first brand of tobacco
product made from a first type of tobacco; replacing the first type
of tobacco with a second type of tobacco from which to manufacture
a second brand of tobacco product; activating sensing means in
order to identify the type of tobacco being handled by the machine
before initiating production of the second brand of tobacco
product.
15. A method as in claim 14, including the further steps of closing
off the header chamber to prevent the second type of tobacco from
flowing into the carding unit, feeding a predetermined quantity of
the second type of tobacco into the header chamber by way of the
inlet duct, and activating sensing means deployed upstream of the
carding unit for an interval of time sufficient to identify the
type of the new tobacco.
16. A method as in claim 14, including the step of emptying the
machine of the first type of tobacco, wherein the step of
activating the sensing means consists in activating at least one
sensor placed downstream of the carding unit for an interval of
time sufficient to verify that there is no trace of the first type
of tobacco in the machine before initiating production of the
second brand of tobacco product.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a unit and a method for
feeding tobacco in a machine by which tobacco products are
manufactured.
[0002] The invention finds application to advantage in the art
field of complete lines for the manufacture of tobacco products,
and in particular cigarettes.
[0003] In a conventional line for manufacturing tobacco products,
shredded tobacco passes along one or more ducts from a primary
processing section into the feed and transport section of a
cigarette maker; a partial vacuum is generated in the ducts,
drawing the tobacco first into a header chamber, then from the
header chamber into a feed chamber. The tobacco is directed en
masse from the feed chamber into a carding unit and thereafter into
a descending duct, or chute. Emerging at the bottom of the chute,
the tobacco is transferred toward the bottom end of an ascending
duct or chimney, enclosed at the top end by at least one moving
conveyor consisting in an air-permeable aspirating belt by which
the tobacco, drawn up through the chimney as a continuous flow of
distinct particles, is attracted and gathered progressively into a
continuous stream.
[0004] Externally of the chimney, the stream of tobacco advances
from the aspirating belt toward the entry point of a station where
it is fashioned into a continuous cigarette rod; the continuous rod
will then be cut into single cigarette sticks, which are
transferred to a filter tip attachment machine.
[0005] The schedules of a single manufacturing facility, and indeed
of single production lines operating within the facility, each
composed typically of a cigarette maker, a filter tip attachment
machine and one or more cigarette packers, will normally include
frequent changes of the particular brand in production, as dictated
by demand. A change of brand means generally that the type of
tobacco, the cigarette paper, tipping papers and filter tips, and
the packet and carton blanks used for the new brand will be
different to those in use previously.
[0006] Having shut off the supply of tobacco and paper to the
cigarette maker, the machine itself is kept in operation until all
the cigarette sticks have run out, followed by the final length of
cigarette rod still in the process of being formed.
[0007] Once the machine has been emptied, an operator will proceed
to change the type or blend of tobacco and, if envisaged, the type
of paper used to wrap the rod, the tipping papers, and the
filters.
[0008] Once the tobacco has been changed, the line can be started
up again.
[0009] It will often become clear when the machine has already
produced a certain quantity of cigarettes, for example from systems
monitoring the quality of the single cigarettes turned out, that
the tobacco is unsuitable and the product must be discarded,
incurring considerable loss of time and materials. The error in
question is frequently attributable to the fact that different
types of tobacco can often be so similar in color as to be
indistinguishable to the eye of an operator.
[0010] In addition, even when the change of tobacco has been
accomplished without error, it is inevitable that traces of the
tobacco used previously will remain in the cigarette maker,
especially in the chute of the feed and transport unit, and mingle
with the new tobacco. Likewise in this instance, a certain quantity
of cigarettes must be discarded.
[0011] The object of the present invention is to provide a tobacco
feed unit in a machine for manufacturing tobacco products, such as
will be unaffected by the aforementioned drawbacks.
[0012] One object of the invention, in particular, aimed at
minimizing the impact attributable to a change of brand in a
machine for manufacturing tobacco products, is to provide a tobacco
feed unit that will allow of verifying the selection of a certain
type of tobacco and/or preventing different types of tobacco from
becoming mingled in production.
[0013] Similarly, the object of the present invention is to provide
a method of feeding tobacco in a machine for manufacturing tobacco
products, such as will be unaffected by the aforementioned
drawbacks.
[0014] A further object of the invention, in particular, aimed at
minimizing the impact of a change of brand in a machine for
manufacturing tobacco products, is to provide a method of feeding
tobacco that will allow of verifying the selection of a certain
type of tobacco and/or preventing different types of tobacco from
becoming mingled in production.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0015] The stated objects are realized in a tobacco feed unit
according to the present invention, applicable to a machine for
manufacturing tobacco products, comprising means by which shredded
tobacco is fed along a predetermined path toward a unit of the
machine where tobacco particles are formed into a continuous
stream, and sensing means deployed along the predetermined path, by
which the tobacco is identified according to type before it reaches
the forming unit.
[0016] The aforementioned objects are realized similarly in a
method of feeding tobacco in a machine for manufacturing tobacco
products, including the steps of shutting down the machine to
suspend production of a first brand of tobacco product made from a
first type of tobacco, replacing the first type of tobacco with a
second type of tobacco used to manufacture a second brand of
tobacco product, and activating sensors to identify the type of
tobacco being handled by the machine before initiating production
of the second brand of tobacco product.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The invention will now be described in detail, by way of
example, with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0018] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cigarette maker and
part of a tobacco feed unit according to the present invention;
[0019] FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the tobacco feed
unit in FIG. 1, shown enlarged and in its entirety.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0020] With reference to FIG. 1, numeral 1 denotes a machine, in
its entirety, for manufacturing tobacco products 2 such as
cigarettes, by way of example.
[0021] The machine, or cigarette maker 1, is equipped at the
upstream end with a tobacco feed and transport section 3 by which a
mass of shredded tobacco 4 is formed into a continuous flow of
tobacco particles. The components of the feed and transport section
3 are housed in a vertically extending enclosure 5 delimited
uppermost by a horizontal wall 6 and on either side by two vertical
walls 7.
[0022] Shredded tobacco 4 is directed into at least one header
chamber 11 surmounting the horizontal wall 6 and connected by way
of at least one inlet duct 12 to a primary processing section
denoted 13, shown schematically in FIG. 2. Leaf tobacco fed into
this same section 13 is processed and conveyed by pneumatic means
(not illustrated) along the duct 12 and into the chamber 11.
[0023] The section denoted 3, the inlet duct 12 and the outfeed
stage of the section denoted 13 combine to establish a feed unit 8
that serves to direct the tobacco 4 along a predetermined path
extending from the upstream section 13 toward a downstream unit 9
by which it is formed into a continuous stream 10.
[0024] The header chamber 11 connects on one side with a carding
unit 14 to which it supplies the tobacco 4, and is equipped
internally with a movable wall 11a such as can be operated
intermittently to open and close the passage to the carding unit
14.
[0025] The carding unit 14 comprises a power driven feed roller,
denoted 15, by which the shredded tobacco 4 is directed down into a
lower chamber 16 delimited at the bottom by a conveyor belt 17.
[0026] The chamber 16 houses a carding drum or roller, denoted 18,
rotatable about an axis 18a transverse to the two side walls 7 and
occupying a position adjacent to the downstream end of the belt
17.
[0027] In addition to the carding roller 18, the unit 14 comprises
a proportioning roller 19 set in rotation substantially tangential
to the carding roller 18 and in the same direction.
[0028] With this arrangement, the shredded tobacco 4 can be
directed by the feed roller 15 onto the belt 17 and then toward the
carding roller 18, whereupon a layer of the shredded tobacco 4
substantially equal in thickness to the radial dimension of the
carding teeth is transferred by the roller 18 away from the chamber
16 and beyond its position tangential to the proportioning roller
19.
[0029] Also associated with the carding unit 14 is an impeller
roller 20 rotatable about an axis parallel to the axis 18a of the
carding roller 18, of which the function is to take up the layer of
tobacco 4 from this same roller 18 and shower the constituent
particles, in the direction denoted F1, down into a substantially
vertical descending duct or chute 21 delimited by a pair of side
walls 22 set parallel one with another and with the axis 18a of the
carding roller 18.
[0030] The bottom end of the chute 21 is located facing the
periphery of a transport device 23 by which the tobacco 4 is
conveyed from this same bottom end of the chute 21 toward the
bottom end of an ascending duct or chimney 24, of which the top end
connects with the unit 9 forming the continuous stream 10 of
tobacco 4.
[0031] In the example illustrated, the aforementioned transport
device 23 comprises a take-up roller 26 and an impeller roller 27
combining to transfer the shredded tobacco 4 away from the chute
21.
[0032] The take-up roller 26 is designed to project the tobacco 4
in the form of distinct particles onto a transport belt 28 moving
from right to left as seen in FIG. 2, and angled upward with the
runout end located beneath the inlet of the chimney 24.
[0033] In an alternative embodiment of the invention (not
illustrated), the transport belt 28 could be replaced by a
fluidized bed, of conventional type, consisting in a static surface
extending between the chute 21 and the chimney 24, along which the
tobacco 4 is caused to slide by a flow of air.
[0034] The top outlet end of the chimney 24 is enclosed by two
aspirating belts 29 of the aforementioned unit 9, on which
particles of tobacco collect and are formed gradually into relative
streams 10 that will be fashioned ultimately into cigarettes 2.
[0035] Each stream 10 of tobacco is advanced together with a strip
30 of paper decoiling from a roll 31 and directed along a path
passing through a print device 32, thence toward a garniture
assembly 33 by which the strip 30 is draped around the stream 10 of
tobacco to form a continuous cigarette rod 34. Whilst the invention
is described with reference to a dual rod, twin-track type
cigarette-making line, it will find application advantageously just
the same in a single rod, one-track type line.
[0036] Each rod 34 advances toward a cutting station 35 at which it
is divided by a rotary cutter device 36 into discrete cigarette
sticks 37 of predetermined constant length, and more exactly, twice
the length of a stick forming part of a single cigarette 2.
[0037] The cut sticks 37 are transferred to a filter tip attachment
machine denoted M, not illustrated in detail, being conventional in
embodiment.
[0038] The tobacco feed unit 8 further comprises sensing means 38
able to identify the type of tobacco 4 being handled by the feed
and transport section 3, before it reaches the unit 9 by which the
particles are formed into stream 10. Such sensing means 38 operate
along the predetermined path leading from the outfeed of the
primary processing section 13 to the unit 9, that is to say, by way
of the inlet duct 12, the header chamber 11 and carding unit 14,
the descending duct or chute 21, the transport device 23 and the
ascending duct or chimney 24.
[0039] The sensing means 38 in question comprise at least one
sensor 39 mounted in close proximity to the predetermined path and
preferably at points where the tobacco 4 tends to accumulate, so as
to maximize the response of the sensor 39.
[0040] The sensors 39 are wired to a central processing unit, or
CPU 40, by which signals are received from the selfsame sensors 39
and compared with stored parameters relative to different types of
tobacco 4 in such a way as to provide a data item identifying the
tobacco 4 advancing currently through the feed and transport
section 3.
[0041] The sensors 39 adopted would be of conventional olfactory
type, for example, capable of detecting gaseous substances given
off by the tobacco 4 and peculiar to each variety or blend. Such
sensors use semiconducting metal oxide thin film technology, and
when heated to temperatures of 300-400.degree. C. will register a
thermal conductivity determined by the gases to which they are
exposed.
[0042] Alternatively, use could be made of infrared sensors,
likewise conventional, which measure the extent to which the
tobacco 4 absorbs predetermined frequencies in the infrared range,
the rate of absorption being dependent on the presence and
percentages of certain substances in the tobacco 4. The parameters
stored in the CPU 4 are packets of information relative to the
spectral absorption of each type of tobacco.
[0043] The accompanying drawings illustrate a plurality of sensors
39 placed at various points of the feed unit 8. In practice, all of
these or only certain of them might be included.
[0044] One or more sensors 39 can be installed upstream of the
carding unit 14, considered relative to the flow of tobacco 4
advancing along the predetermined path aforementioned, so as to
identify a new type of tobacco 4 at the infeed stage before an
entirely new production run is begun by the machine 1, as explained
below. The sensor 39 in question could be placed at any given point
along the inside of the inlet duct 12, for example immediately
downstream of the primary processing section 13, or upstream of the
inlet duct 12 and at the outfeed stage of this same section 13, or
immediately upstream of the header chamber 11, or preferably, in
the header chamber 11 itself.
[0045] Alternatively, or in addition to the sensors 39 placed
upstream of the carding unit 14, sensors 39 could also be
positioned downstream of the carding unit 14, for example in the
chute 21, along the transport device 23 or in the chimney 24, of
which the function would be to verify that the cigarette maker 1
has been emptied correctly and entirely of material from the
previous run. Given that these sensors 39 are best located at
points where the tobacco 4 tends to accumulate, as explained above,
and in particular when the machine 1 is shut down during a
changeover from one brand to another, the optimum locations will be
in the chute 21 and, if installed, in the fluidized bed (not
illustrated).
[0046] The brand changeover procedure involves shutting down both
the cigarette maker 1 and the downstream filter tip attachment
machine M, so as to suspend the production of a first brand of
cigarettes 2 manufactured from a first type of tobacco 4 and using
other brand-specific materials, such as the cigarette paper, filter
tips, filter papers and possibly the types of ink and gum.
[0047] In particular, adopting the method of feeding tobacco 4
according to the present invention, the flow of the first type of
tobacco 4 is suspended at the primary processing section 13, as
also is the supply of paper 30 from the rolls 31, whereas the
cigarette maker 1 continues operating in order to use up the
tobacco 4 still occupying the carding unit 14, at least in part,
and cause the remainder of the cigarette rod 34 still being formed
in the garniture assembly 33 to run out of the machine.
[0048] Once the cigarette maker 1 has been shut down, clean-up
systems of conventional type will come into operation to clear the
more easily accessed parts of the machine, albeit residual amounts
of shredded tobacco will inevitably remain in the carding unit 14,
and particularly in the chute 21, above the take-up roller 26.
[0049] The tobacco 4 occupying the primary processing section 13 is
replaced with a second type or blend, or alternatively, the entire
section 13 is replaced with another section 13 containing the
second type of tobacco 4. If envisaged, similarly, the paper 31
utilized for the cigarette rod 34 will be replaced, likewise the
ink in the print device 32 and the gum solutions.
[0050] Before commencing a new production run with a second brand
of cigarette 2, the sensing means 38 are activated so as to verify
the type of tobacco 4 passing through the feed and transport
section 3.
[0051] In a first test cycle, determined by a relative software
program and implemented by the CPU 40, the wall 11a of the header
chamber 11 is closed off so that new tobacco 4 of the second type
cannot pass into the carding unit 14, and pneumatic means are
activated by the CPU 40 to direct a predetermined quantity of the
new tobacco 4 from the processing section 13 into the header
chamber 11.
[0052] Once a sufficient quantity of the tobacco 4 has collected in
the chamber 11 or in the duct 12, the sensor or sensors 39 placed
upstream of the carding unit 14 are activated to run a spot check,
effected in a matter of seconds, or tenths of a second, and serving
to ensure that the tobacco 4 is indeed of the correct type.
Accordingly, the CPU 40 processes the signal received from the
sensor 39 to obtain a value indicating the type of tobacco 4
effectively contained in the header chamber 11 and compares this
same value with a reference parameter entered by the operator and
corresponding to the second type of tobacco 4 used in the new
brand. If the tobacco 4 detected is that of the new brand, the CPU
40 responds by initiating the new production run, either
automatically or when enabled by the operator; conversely, if the
tobacco is not of the right type, the CPU 40 will output an error
signal by means of a conventional indication system.
[0053] Alternatively, or in parallel with the first test cycle, the
cigarette maker 1 may run a second test cycle, likewise implemented
by the CPU 40, with the aid of the sensors 39 positioned downstream
of the carding unit 14.
[0054] In the second cycle, the sensor or sensors 39 placed
downstream of the carding unit 14, located preferably within the
chute 21 immediately above the take-up roller 23, will identify the
type of tobacco 4 before and/or immediately after the cigarette
maker 1 is started up, so as to ensure that the first type has been
entirely used up. Only after verifying that there are no longer any
traces of the first type of tobacco 4, or that the tobacco present
is the right type, will the CPU 40 respond by initiating the new
production run, automatically or when enabled by the operator.
[0055] It would also be possible, likewise in accordance with the
feed method disclosed, for the CPU 40 to establish initially which
type of tobacco 4 is in the chute 21 and thereafter, once the
cigarette maker 1 has been restarted and running for a short
interval, take a second reading internally of the chute 21 to
ensure that the tobacco in the carding unit 14 is in effect only of
the second type.
[0056] The objects stated at the outset are realized by the unit
and the method according to the present invention, and the
drawbacks associated with the prior art thus overcome.
[0057] In effect, with sensing means 38 deployed along the
predetermined feed path, it becomes possible to make certain that
the correct type of tobacco 4 has been selected and ensure that
different types of tobacco will not mingle when changing over from
one brand to another on a single cigarette making line.
[0058] In particular, the first test cycle implemented using
sensors 39 placed upstream of the carding unit 14 serves as a
preliminary sample test on the tobacco 4 about to be fed into the
system.
[0059] Furthermore, the second test cycle implemented with the aid
of sensors 39 placed downstream of the carding unit 14 serves to
verify whether or not there is still any trace of the tobacco 4 in
use previously, at points where accumulation is more likely to
occur, so that the appropriate measures can be taken before
initiating the new production run.
* * * * *