U.S. patent application number 13/807496 was filed with the patent office on 2013-04-25 for method of verifying and improving the positioning of rod-like articles in trays or intermediate stores and a device enabling the verification of correct positioning of rod-like articles and aligning of their front face in trays or intermediate stores.
This patent application is currently assigned to INTERNATIONAL TOBACCO MACHINERY POLAND SP. Z O.O.. The applicant listed for this patent is Radoslaw Owczarek, Marek Warchol. Invention is credited to Radoslaw Owczarek, Marek Warchol.
Application Number | 20130101379 13/807496 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44630274 |
Filed Date | 2013-04-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130101379 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Warchol; Marek ; et
al. |
April 25, 2013 |
METHOD OF VERIFYING AND IMPROVING THE POSITIONING OF ROD-LIKE
ARTICLES IN TRAYS OR INTERMEDIATE STORES AND A DEVICE ENABLING THE
VERIFICATION OF CORRECT POSITIONING OF ROD-LIKE ARTICLES AND
ALIGNING OF THEIR FRONT FACE IN TRAYS OR INTERMEDIATE STORES
Abstract
A method, where a verification of positioning of articles (3) is
effected by means of sensors (14), and an improvement of
positioning is effected by aligning a plane of end faces of the
articles (3), consists in that the verification and improvement of
positioning of rod-like articles (3) is effected simultaneously by
means of an aligning device (1) provided with sensors (14), where
the sensors (14) detect correct filling and/or arrangement of the
articles (3), and the aligning device (1) aligns the plane of end
faces of the articles (3) correctly filling the inside of a tray
(6, 6') or an intermediate store (7,7'), and in the event of
detection of incorrect filling and/or arrangement the aligning
device (1) is switched off and the operation of the entire unit is
interrupted. An apparatus for using the method has an aligning
device (1) in the form of a plate (2) coming in contact with end
faces of the articles (3), provided with at least one sensor (14)
for the control of filling of the tray (6, 6') or the intermediate
store (7, 7'). The plate (2) consists of multiple pushers (4) whose
number corresponds to the number of segments (5) of a multi-segment
tray (6) or intermediate store (7), and a gap (8) between the
pushers (4) corresponds to the thickness of a partition (9) between
the segments (5), where on each pusher (4) one sensor (14) is
situated. The sensors (14) may constitute an optical element
operating in the range of visible or invisible radiation, or an
ultrasonic element, respectively. Between the pushers (4), movable
gates (11) eliminating the gap (8) in the event of using
conventional trays (6') or intermediate stores (7') with one
compartment are situated.
Inventors: |
Warchol; Marek; (Pionki,
PL) ; Owczarek; Radoslaw; (Radom, PL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Warchol; Marek
Owczarek; Radoslaw |
Pionki
Radom |
|
PL
PL |
|
|
Assignee: |
INTERNATIONAL TOBACCO MACHINERY
POLAND SP. Z O.O.
Radom
PL
|
Family ID: |
44630274 |
Appl. No.: |
13/807496 |
Filed: |
June 30, 2011 |
PCT Filed: |
June 30, 2011 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/PL2011/000066 |
371 Date: |
December 28, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
414/754 ;
414/816 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A24C 5/354 20130101;
A24C 5/356 20130101; A24C 5/35 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
414/754 ;
414/816 |
International
Class: |
A24C 5/35 20060101
A24C005/35 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 30, 2010 |
PL |
P-391692 |
Claims
1. A method of verifying and improving the positioning of rod-like
articles in trays or intermediate stores used in production lines
of the tobacco industry, where the verification of positioning of
the articles is effected by means of sensors, and the improvement
of positioning of the articles is effected by aligning the plane of
end faces of the articles, characterised in that the verification
and the improvement of positioning of rod-like articles is effected
simultaneously by means of one aligning device provided with
sensors.
2. A method as in claim 1 characterized in that the sensors detect
the correct filling and/or arrangement of rod-like articles, and
the aligning device aligns the plane of end faces of the articles
correctly filling the inside of a tray or an intermediate
store.
3. A method as in claim 1 or 2 characterized in that, in case of
detection of incorrect filling and/or arrangement of rod-like
articles by the sensors, the aligning device is switched off and
the operation of the unit, on which the aligning device is mounted,
is interrupted.
4. An apparatus enabling the verification of correct positioning of
rod-like articles and aligning of their front face in trays or
intermediate stores used in production lines of the tobacco
industry, wherein the verification is effected by means of sensors
controlling the level of filling of a tray or an intermediate
store, and aligning consists in aligning the plane of end faces of
rod-like articles by their axial shift, characterised in that the
aligning device (1) constitutes a plate (2) coming in contact with
end faces of rod-like articles (3), provided with at least one
sensor (14) arranged for the control of filling of a tray (6 or 6')
or an intermediate store (7 or 7'), respectively.
5. An apparatus as in claim 4 characterized in that the plate (2)
consists of multiple pushers (4) whose number corresponds to the
number of segments (5) of a multi-segment tray (6) or an
intermediate store (7), and a gap (8) between the pushers (4)
corresponds to the thickness of a partition (9) between the
segments (5).
6. An apparatus as in claim 4 or 5 characterized in that on each
pusher (4) at least one sensor (14) is situated.
7. An apparatus as in claim 6 characterized in that the sensors
(14) constitute an optical element operating in the range of
visible radiation.
8. An apparatus as in claim 6 characterized in that the sensors
(14) constitute an optical element operating in the range of
invisible radiation.
9. An apparatus as in claim 6 characterized in that the sensors
(14) constitute an ultrasonic element.
10. An apparatus as in claim 5 characterized in that between the
pushers (4) movable gates (11) eliminating the gap (8) in case of
using conventional trays (6') or intermediate stores (7') with one
compartment are situated.
Description
[0001] The object of the invention is a method of verifying the
correct positioning of rod-like articles with simultaneous
correction of their arrangement in trays or intermediate stores
used in the tobacco industry, and a device enabling the
verification of correct positioning of rod-like articles in trays
or intermediate stores and aligning of their front face.
[0002] Trays intended both for conveying cigarettes or cigars from
the manufacturing machine to the packing machine and for the
transport and/or temporary storage of filters in the manufacturing
process are frequently used in the tobacco industry. Conventional
trays have the shape of a cuboid without the front wall and the top
wall. Furthermore, multi-segment trays which are divided inside
into segments by means of vertical inner walls are known. Such tray
was disclosed in the description of the German utility model No. DE
1.915.446. In the production lines of the tobacco industry,
intermediate stores intended for unloading conventional or segment
trays are used. One of such stores was presented in the description
of the European patent No. EP 2.079.327 A1 belonging to the holder
of the present invention, where the rod-like articles are conveyed
from the tray to multiple segments separated from each other by
vertical division walls, which are then emptied independently on
each other through a throat formed at the base of the store, where
both the intermediate store and the base with the throat
independently of each other make reciprocating motions along the
receiving conveyor so as to enable meeting of successive segments
with the throat, and the sequence of emptying the segments is
backward to the direction of receiving the articles on the
conveyor. Said articles are fed onto the conveyor via a chute,
which is permanently connected to the throat, where the throat of
the surface area corresponding to the surface area of the
horizontal section of a segment of the intermediate store receives
articles each time from one, successive segment, and complete
emptying of a segment is monitored by means of a sensor. In the
production practice, it happens that the tray filling unit may jam,
the consequence being that not all segments are correctly filled
with rod-like articles. Similarly, when emptying the intermediate
store, the arrangement of rod-like articles may be distorted, which
would result in their suspension, and in effect a disturbance of
the emptying process. In such cases, the production process has to
be interrupted as quickly as possible in order to remove the
irregularities, and for their detection serve sensors situated in
different places of the tray or the store. In the publication of
the USA invention No. US 2008/0181754 A1, an apparatus for
unloading trays, in particular multi-segment trays, was presented
in which sensors situated above the bottom of reversed tray in the
number corresponding to the number of segments were used, where, in
the bottom of the tray, holes in the axis of operation of said
sensors are made through which the emptying status of the tray is
checked. In the publication of another USA invention No. US
2008/0213072 A1, an apparatus for unloading multi-segment trays was
presented in which sensors situated axially to rod-like articles in
the number corresponding to the number of segments were used, where
the sensors are situated in one row in the bottom part of the tray,
after its reversal. On the other hand, in the publication of the
international invention No. WO 2008/110390A1, an unloading store
for emptying trays of rod-like articles was shown in which,
alternatively, apart from the sensors situated as in said
publication No. US 2008/0181754 A1, also the use of sensors
situated axially to rod-like articles in two rows--lower and
higher, in the central part of the tray was presented, where to
each segment of the tray two sensors are assigned. The U.S. Pat.
No. 7,609,393 B2 shows a method and an apparatus for controlling
the correctness of arrangement of rod-like articles in a
conventional tray by means of a scanner checking the upper layer of
the articles or the lateral layer of the articles as well as
controlling, by means of a laser, the tray after its emptying. From
the German patent No. DE 1.066.118 an apparatus for filling
conventional trays with cigarettes is known, where the inside of
the one-compartment tray is, before filling, divided into cavities
by self-aligning partition walls, situated vertically for the
filling time. After complete filling, the tray is put away onto the
conveyor for full trays, where, in the course of putting away the
tray, the partition walls are removed from inside of it, and the
cigarettes accumulated in vertical cavities are joined. In order to
prevent axial shift of cigarettes in the course of removal of
partition walls, the trays are conveyed to the receiving station by
means of a pusher making reciprocating motions on which a vertical
wall of the area corresponding to the front surface of the tray,
provided with vertical grooves corresponding to partition walls of
the apparatus is mounted. In the state of the art, no solution
enabling simultaneous control of filling and improving the
positioning of rod-like articles in trays or intermediate stores
used in production lines of the tobacco industry is known.
[0003] According to the invention, a method of verifying and
improving the positioning of rod-like articles in trays or
intermediate stores used in the production lines of the tobacco
industry, where a verification of positioning of the articles is
effected by means of sensors, and an improvement of positioning of
the articles is effected by aligning the plane of end faces of the
articles, consists in verifying and improving the positioning of
rod-like articles simultaneously be means of one aligning device
provided with sensors, where the sensors detect the correct filling
and/or arrangement of rod-like articles, and the aligning device
levels the plane of end faces of the articles correctly filling the
inside of the tray or the intermediate store. Such method ensures
that the trays being filled have verified and corrected arrangement
of articles, owing to which unloading of the tray will not be
disturbed by improper arrangement of front faces of the articles.
In case of detection of incorrect filling and/or arrangement of
rod-like articles by sensors, the aligning device is switched off
and the operation of the unit, on which the aligning device is
mounted, is interrupted. In this way the flow of articles to the
tray, which will be later rejected from production, is interrupted,
owing to which the number of rod-like articles of full value
rejected from production is limited because each improperly filled
tray is removed from the production. It is of particular importance
in a modern production line where, on average, the trays contain
4000 articles each, and the production output amounts to more than
16000 articles per minute, so that the loading or emptying cycle of
one tray lasts about 15 seconds. The above information applies
equally to intermediate stores.
[0004] The substance of the invention constitutes also the
structure of a device enabling the verification of correct
positioning of rod-like articles and aligning of their end face in
trays or intermediate stores used in production lines of the
tobacco industry, where the verification is effected by means of
sensors controlling the filling level of a tray or an intermediate
store, and aligning consists in aligning the plane of end faces of
rod-like articles by their axial shift. According to the invention,
an aligning device is made of a plate coming in contact with end
faces of rod-like articles, provided with at least one sensor
serving for the control of filling of a tray or an intermediate
store. Said plate may consist of multiple pushers whose number
corresponds to the number of segments of a multi-segment tray or an
intermediate store, and a gap between the pushers corresponds to
the thickness of a partition between the segments, with at least
one sensor being situated on each pusher. The sensors may
constitute an optical element operating in the range of visible
radiation or invisible radiation, or may constitute an ultrasonic
element. When conventional trays or intermediate stores with one
compartment are used, movable gates eliminating the gap are placed
between the pushers. An advantage of the device according to the
invention constitutes the possibility to check the correct filling
of trays or intermediate stores with rod-like articles, where
simultaneously the front face of an entire layer of articles is
aligned to one plane, and, if irregularities in arrangement or
filling are detected, filling or emptying may be interrupted and
removed from the production line.
[0005] The object of the invention was shown in an embodiment in a
drawing in which FIG. 1 shows in perspective view an apparatus in
the form of an aligning device in a position for handling
multi-segment trays or intermediate stores, FIG. 2--a perspective
view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in the course of loading a
multi-segment tray, FIG. 3--a perspective view of the apparatus of
FIG. 1 in the course of loading or emptying a multi-segment
intermediate store, FIG. 4--a perspective view of the apparatus of
FIG. 1 in the course of emptying a multi-segment tray, FIG. 5--a
perspective view of an apparatus in the form of an aligning device
in a position for handling conventional trays or intermediate
stores with one compartment, FIG. 6--a perspective view of the
apparatus of FIG. 5 in the course of loading a conventional tray,
FIG. 7--a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 5 in the course
of loading or emptying an intermediate store with one compartment,
FIG. 8--a perspective view of the apparatus of FIG. 5 in the course
of emptying a conventional tray, FIG. 9--an incorrectly filled
multi-segment tray in vertical section using a verifying device
provided with optical sensors, and FIG. 10--an incorrectly filled
multi-segment tray in the top view using a verifying device
provided with ultrasonic sensors.
[0006] The apparatus constitutes an aligning device 1, having a
front plate 2 coming in contact with end faces of rod-like articles
3. The plate 2 is divided into multiple pushers 4 whose number
corresponds to the number of segments 5 of a multi-segment tray 6
or an intermediate store 7, where a gap 8 between pushers 4
corresponds to the thickness of a partition 9 between segments 5.
Each of the pushers 4 of the plate 2 has at the top a slant wall 10
which facilitates aligning of axially protruding rod-like articles
3 in the course of vertical movement in the tray 6 or the
intermediate store 7 being loaded or emptied. In gaps 8 between
pushers 4 of the plate 2, movable gates 11 connected by a common
slat 12 shifted horizontally by an actuator 13 are situated, with
the gates 11 having the shape corresponding to a vertical section
of the plate 2. If conventional trays 6' or intermediate stores 7'
with one compartment are used, the slat 12 is shifted forwards in
order that the gates 11 fill the gap 8 between the pushers 4,
making the plate 2 a monolith. In the plate 2, sensors 14 of the
axis perpendicular to the aligning plane are situated, where
preferably each pusher 4 is provided with at least one sensor 14.
The sensors 14 may constitute an optical element, operating in the
range of visible or invisible radiation which detects the absence
of rod-like articles 3 in a tray 6 or 6' or in an intermediate
store 7 or 7', respectively, whereas for locating improperly
arranged rod-like articles 3 ultrasonic sensors 14 are used. It is
obvious that each pusher 4 may be simultaneously provided with both
kinds of sensors 14.
[0007] The operation of an apparatus in the form of the aligning
device 1 provided with sensors 14 and situated in a production line
unit of the tobacco industry is as follows: the device 1 is
situated horizontally, preferably in the upper part of the unit
loading the articles 3 to trays 6 or 6' or to stores 7 or 7',
respectively, and may be also situated in the bottom part of the
unit emptying the trays 6 or 6' or the stores 7 or 7',
respectively. In the course of movement of rod-like articles 3, the
aligning device 1, making constantly and uniformly a reciprocating
motion in a plane parallel to the axis of the articles 3,
provisionally aligns by means of the slant wall 10, and then by
means of the plate 2, the front face of successive layers of
rod-like articles 3. Simultaneously, the sensors 14 check the
correctness of filling or arrangement of the articles 3, and in
case of detection of improper positioning or filling, the operation
of the unit is stopped.
* * * * *