U.S. patent number 3,883,017 [Application Number 05/384,944] was granted by the patent office on 1975-05-13 for apparatus for automatically feeding cigarettes into a hopper of a cigarette packing machine.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Tokyo Automatic Machinery Works Ltd.. Invention is credited to Sumio Honda, Hisasi Kugua, Haruji Shirai.
United States Patent |
3,883,017 |
Shirai , et al. |
May 13, 1975 |
Apparatus for automatically feeding cigarettes into a hopper of a
cigarette packing machine
Abstract
An apparatus for automatically feeding cigarettes into a hopper
of a cigarette packing machine from a cigarette tray, which
comprises a cigarette tray feeding means, a cigarette tray
transferring and withdrawing means, and cigarette tray inverting
means. The cigarette tray feeding means feeds cigarette trays
alongside said cigarette tray inverting means intermittently. The
cigarette tray transferring and withdrawing means transfers the
cigarette trays fed by the cigarette tray feeding means to the
cigarette tray inverting means and withdraws them from the
cigarette tray inverting means and transfers them to the cigarette
tray feeding means. The cigarette tray inverting means inverts the
cigarette trays transferred by the cigarette tray transferring and
withdrawing means and feeds the cigarette in the tray into a
hopper.
Inventors: |
Shirai; Haruji (Tokyo,
JA), Honda; Sumio (Nagareyama, JA), Kugua;
Hisasi (Nagareyama, JA) |
Assignee: |
Tokyo Automatic Machinery Works
Ltd. (Tokyo, JA)
|
Family
ID: |
23519394 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/384,944 |
Filed: |
August 2, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
414/414; 414/403;
414/421 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A24C
5/356 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A24C
5/00 (20060101); A24C 5/356 (20060101); B65g
059/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;214/302,303,307,312,313,314,315 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Spar; Robert J.
Assistant Examiner: Oresky; Lawrence J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sherman & Shalloway
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An apparatus for automatically feeding cigarettes into a hopper
of a cigarette packing machine from a cigarette tray, which
comprises a cigarette tray feeding means, a cigarette tray
transferring and withdrawing means, and a cigarette tray inverting
means, wherein said cigarette tray feeding means is disposed
alongside said cigarette tray inverting means and carries cigarette
trays at predetermined intervals and feeds them intermittently;
said cigarette tray transferring and withdrawing means is disposed
above said tray feeding means and reciprocates in a direction at
right angles to the direction of the intermittent feeding of said
tray feeding means for transferring cigarette trays from said tray
feeding means to said tray inverting means and withdrawing them
from said tray inverting means and transferring them to said tray
feeding means, when said cigarette tray inverting means is at halt;
and said cigarette tray inverting means, while holding the
cigarette trays, swings between the upright position of said tray,
the upright position being defined as the position in which the
cigarette trays are transferred and withdrawn and an upside-down
position in which the cigarettes in the trays are fed into a
hopper, said cigarette tray inverting means includes a inverting
plate capable of swinging between the upright position and the
upside-down position, a receiver stand having a cigarette tray
supporting member and connected to said inverting plate and being
vertically movable relative thereto, and a lift means for lifting
said receiver stand when the inverting plate is in the upside-down
position and causing it to descend when the inverting plate is on
the way from the upside-down position to the upright position.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 which further includes at least one
electrical detecting means for detecting the level of the
cigarettes within the hopper in order to control the swinging of
the inverting plate and the vertical movement of the receiver stand
according to the level of the cigarettes within the hopper.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 which further includes a cover plate
swingably connected to said inverting plate for partly covering the
upper opening of the cigarette tray supported on the receiver stand
and means for preventing the disorder of cigarettes which are in
the tray when said cover plate is opened for feeding the cigarettes
into the hopper at the time of the upside-down position of the
inverting plate and holds the uppermost surfaces of the cigarettes
within the trays to prevent the disorder of the cigarettes caused
by falling.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said lift mechanism lifts said
receiver stand by a predetermined distance when the inverting plate
is at the upside-down position, and after this lifting, the cover
plate is opened and the cigarette disorder preventing means is
inserted in the tray, and then the lift mechanism further lifts
said receiver stand by a predetermined distance.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 which further includes at least one
electrical detecting means for detecting the level of the
cigarettes within hopper in order to control the swing of the
inverting plate, the vertical movement of the receiver stand, the
swing of the cover plate and the insertion of the cigarette
disorder preventing means according to the level of the cigarettes
within the hopper.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cigarette tray feeding
means comprises a plurality of hand-pushable cigarette tray
transporting vehicles that can be connected in the longitudinal
direction and an intermittently feeding mechanism for moving said
tray transporting vehicles intermittent in the longitudinal
direction.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein feed pins disposed at
predetermined intervals are provided on one side portion of the
cigarette tray transporting vehicles, and the intermittently
feeding mechanism includes a member for moving said cigarette tray
transporting vehicles intermittently by the distances between the
feed pins by engagement with the feed pins, and the cigarette trays
are arranged on the cigarette tray transporting vehicles at
intervals corresponding to the intervals between the feed pins.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said cigarette tray delivering
and withdrawing means comprises a frame disposed above a passageway
of the cigarette feeding means, a moving plate connected to an
endless chain provided in said frame and reciprocating at right
angles to the feed passageway, and an arm connected to said moving
plate and delivering and withdrawing the tray by reciprocating
together with the moving plate.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said arm comprises a first arm
fixed to said moving plate and having an opening at its forward end
and a second arm connected swingably to the first arm and having a
hook which plunges into, and projects from, the opening of said
first arm, said hook being plunged in said opening for a first
certain period of the process during which the arm delivers the
cigarette tray towards the inverting plate and a last certain
period during which the tray is withdrawn from the inverting plate,
and is projected from the opening at other times.
Description
This invention relates to an apparatus for automatically feeding
cigarettes into a hopper of a cigarette packing machine, and more
specifically, to an apparatus for automatically feeding cigarettes
filled in a cigarette tray successively into a hopper of a
cigarette packing machine.
Manually operable cigarette tray-inclining devices or
semi-automatic cigarette tray-inclining devices have previously
been used to supply cigarettes to a hopper of the packing machine.
These devices require operators for supplying cigarettes, and it is
difficult to increase the working efficiency of the packing machine
by maintaining the amount of the cigarettes within the hopper
always constant.
In recent years, apparatuses for automatically feeding cigarettes
into the hoppers of cigarette packing machines have been worked
out, but have not proved entirely satisfactory because of inability
to reduce the number of personnel in the packing process or
increase the efficiency of operation. Furthermore, these
apparatuses are of complicated structure, which in turn causes a
high cost of production.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide an apparatus
for feeding cigarettes automatically into a hopper of a cigarette
packing machine in a rapid and exact manner.
Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for
automatically feeding cigarettes filled in a tray into a hopper of
a cigarette packing machine, which is of a relatively simple
structure and can be operated very rapidly and assuredly with high
efficiency.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus
for automatically feeding cigarettes into a hopper of a cigarette
packing machine, which further includes means for preventing the
random arrangement or popping-up of cigarettes during feeding.
The above objects of this invention can be achieved in accordance
with the present invention by an apparatus for automatically
feeding cigarettes into a hopper of a cigarette packing machine
from a cigarette tray, which comprises a cigarette tray feeding
means, a cigarette tray transferring and withdrawing means, and a
cigarette tray inverting means, wherein said cigarette tray feeding
means is disposed alongside said cigarette tray inverting means and
carries cigarette trays at predetermined intervals and feeding them
intermittently; said cigarette tray transferring and withdrawing
means is disposed above said tray feeding means and reciprocates in
a direction at right angles to the direction of the intermittent
feeding of said tray feeding means for transferring cigarette trays
from said tray feeding means to said tray inverting means and
withdrawing them from said tray inverting means and transferring
them to said tray feeding means, when said cigarette tray feeding
means is at halt; and said cigarette tray reversing means, while
holding the cigarette trays, swings between the upright position of
said tray transferring and withdrawing means at which position the
cigarette trays are transferred and withdrawn and its upside-down
position at which the cigarettes in the trays are fed into a
hopper.
Other objects of this invention along with its advantages will
become clear from the following description given with reference to
the accompanying drawings showing one embodiment of this invention,
in which drawings:
FIG. 1 is a front elevation of an automatic cigarette feeding
apparatus in accordance with this invention;
FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cigarette tray for use in the
automatic cigarette feeding apparatus of this invention;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing an intermittent
feeding mechanism of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 5 and 6 are partially-broken-away enlarged side elevations
showing the intermittent feeding mechanism same as in FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 is an enlarged partial front elevation showing a cigarette
tray transferring and withdrawing means of the apparatus of FIG.
1;
FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the cigarette tray transferring and
withdrawing means shown in FIG. 7;
FIGS. 9 and 10 are perspective views of the arms of the cigarette
tray transferring and withdrawing means shown in FIG. 7;
FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view of a cigarette tray
inverting means of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
FIGS. 11-a and 11-b are views showing the details of a cigarette
tray holding member provided in a inverting plate at its open and
held positions respectively;
FIG. 12 is a front elevation on an enlarged scale of a part of the
cigarette tray inverting means in its upside-down position;
FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along the line (x) --(x) of FIG.
12;
FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the relation among a lift
mechanism, a disturbance preventing means, a cover plate, and other
members fitted to the reversing plate; and
FIG. 15 is an enlarged partial sectional view showing the swinging
and vertical movement of the cigarette tray inverting means.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the automatic cigarette feeding
apparatus of this invention includes a cigarette tray feeding means
A, a cigarette tray transferring and withdrawing means B and a
cigarette tray inverting means C.
The tray feeding means A includes a plurality of hand-pushable tray
transporting vehicles 2 connected to each other in the longitudinal
direction, and an intermittently feeding mechanism 4 for moving
said tray transporting vehicles 2 intermittently in the
longitudinal direction. Cigarette trays 8 arranged at predetermined
intervals on upper surfaces 6 of the vehicles 2 are delivered
intermittently in the longitudinal direction (the direction of
arrow d of FIG. 2) of the vehicles 2. The feeding mechanism 4 will
be described in greater detail below with reference to FIGS. 4 and
6.
The cigarette tray transferring and withdrawing means B includes a
transferring and withdrawing mechanism 10 disposed alongside the
cigarette tray inverting means C above the passageway of the tray
transporting vehicles 2, and an arm 12 which reciprocates in a
direction at right angles to the direction of movement of the
vehicles 2 by means of this transferring and withdrawing mechanism
10. This means B transfers a tray 8 containing cigarettes which has
been delivered to a position adjacent to the cigarette tray
inverting means C by the feeding means A, to the cigarette tray
inverting means C, and transports the empty tray 8, from which the
cigarettes have been fed into a hopper 14 of a cigarette packing
machine (not shown), from the tray inverting means to the cigarette
tray feeding means A. This means B will be described in greater
detail later on.
The cigarette tray inverting means C includes a inverting plate 18
connected to a shaft 16 for swinging movement. The shaft 16 is
secured rotatably to an upright beam 22 fixed to a base 20 by a
suitable means such as welding or bolting. The inverting plate 18,
as a result of the rotation of the shaft 16, swings between its
upright position (shown by a solid line in FIG. 1 and a broken line
in FIG. 2) at which it receives the cigarette tray 8 from the
cigarette tray transferring and withdrawing means B and the
upside-down position [the position shown by a short-and-long-dash
line (imaginary line) in FIG. 2] at which the cigarettes in the
tray 8 are fed into the hopper 14.
Before describing the details of the constituent parts of the
automatic cigarette feeding apparatus of this invention, the
cigarette tray 8 shown in FIG. 3 will be described. Generally, the
cigarette tray 8 used for the cigarette packing process is a
rectangular box open at the upper and fron sides. Projections 24
are provided at the top side ends of the casing, and sectionally
L-shaped members 25 are secured to the bottom side ends of the
casing. Cigarettes 26 are filled in the space of the tray 8, as
shown.
Now, the cigarette tray feeding means A will be described in detail
by reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6. The tray transporting
vehicles 2 can be connected to each other by joints 28 (see FIG. 2)
provided at the front and rear ends. To one side of each vehicle 2
is fitted a beam 30 (see FIGS. 1 and 6) having an inverted L-shaped
cross section and extending longitudinally of the tray transporting
vehicle 2. Feed pins 32 are provided on the beam 30 at equal
intervals in the longitudinal direction of the tray transporting
vehicles 2. A portion 34 extending downwardly in a perpendicular
direction to the beam 30 is inserted in a guide groove 36 of the
intermittently feeding mechanism 4 provided on the base 20, and is
guided by it. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the intermittently feeding
mechanism 4 includes a toothed member 42 which swings by a certain
angle around a shaft 40 by a rod 38 connected to a suitable power
source, and a rack 44 which reciprocates by a predetermined
distance by the swinging of the toothed member 42. The rack 44 is
fixed to a feed plate 46 which is slidably provided in the
intermittently feeding mechanism 4 in the longitudinal direction.
To the plate 46 is secured a rod 50 having a depression 48 for
engagement with the feed pin 32 of the tray transporting vehicle 2
so that the rod 50 will swing about a shaft 52. The rod 50 is urged
counterclockwise by a spring 51 or the like, and upon engagement
with the feed pins 32 of the tray transportation vehicles 2, moves
the vehicles 2 to the position shown by the imaginary line as a
result of the swinging of the member 40 in the direction of arrow
f. Above the feed pin 32 at this position, a member 53 which can
reciprocate by a suitable means such as a pneumatic cylinder is
provided. This member 53 falls down to the position shown in FIG. 6
when the rod 50 has reached the position shown by the imaginary
line in FIG. 5 (that is, the position shown by the solid line in
FIG. 6), and by swinging the rod downwardly, the engagement between
the rod 50 and the feed pin 32 is released. Then, by the turning of
the member 42 in the direction of arrow g, the rod 50 returns to
the original position, and comes into engagement with a next feed
pin 32. In this returning process, the upper edge of the rod 50 is
under continuous contact with the next feed pin 32 by the action of
the spring 51, and when it returns to the original position, comes
into engagement with the next feed pin 32. By the time the rod 50
returns to the original position, the member 53 rises and returns
to the original position. In FIGS. 5 and 6, a member 54 of the same
structure is provided at a position spaced rearwardly from the
member 53 by a distance corresponding to the feed pin. This is for
the purpose of correctly positioning the foremost feed pin of the
rearwardly located tray transporting vehicle with respect to the
last feed pin of the forwardly located tray transporting vehicle,
when there is some loosening in the joint 28 for the vehicles 2.
The distance between the two adjoining feed pins 32 corresponds to
the distance between the cigarette trays 8 spaced on the tray
transporting vehicles 2.
As described above, it will be apparent that the cigarette trays 8
are intermittently fed by certain distances by the intermittently
feeding mechanism 4. In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the
cigarette tray feeding means consisting of the tray transporting
vehicles 2 and the intermittently feeding mechanism 4 is used, but
it is also possible to feed the cigarette trays 8 intermittently by
such means as a chain or conveyor. The use of hand-pushable tray
transporting vehicles is preferred because an operation of
transferring and exchanging the cigarette trays 8 can be
omitted.
The cigarette tray transferring and withdrawing means C will be
described in greater detail by referring to FIGS. 1, 7, 8 and 9. A
tray transferring and withdrawing mechanism 10 has a frame 58
secured to an upright beam 22 and a supporting post 56 above a
passageway of the tray transporting vehicle 2 at a position
alongside the cigarette tray inverting means C. The frame 58
includes an endless chain 62 for reciprocating a moving plate 60 in
a direction at right angles to the moving direction of the tray
transporting vehicles 2. The arm 12 includes a first arm portion 64
secured to the lower end of the moving plate 60 for reciprocating
movement therewith and a second arm portion 68 partly inserted in a
central open part 65 of the first arm portion 64 and rotatably
connected to the first arm portion at 66. The second arm portion is
urged clockwise by a pulling spring 70 one end of which is
connected to the first arm 64 and the other of which to the second
arm 68. To the rear end of the second arm 68 is fixed a roller 73
which comes into contact with a guide surface 72 provided at the
rear end of the frame 58. The forward end of the second arm 68 has
a hook 76 adapted to project from an opening 74 at the forward end
of the first arm 64. In the above construction, in the early stage
of the forward movement of the moving plate 60 and the arm 12, the
hook 76 of the second arm 68 is placed within the opening 74 at the
forward end of the second arm 68 (see FIG. 9), and the arm 12 comes
into collision with the side wall of the cigarette tray 8 to move
it in the direction of the cigarette tray inverting means C. When
the arm 12 has advanced over a certain distance, the hook 76 of the
second arm 68 projects into a space 78 formed by the projections 24
of the cigarette tray 8 by the action of the spring 70 (see FIG.
10). Accordingly, when the arm 12 moves rearwardly, the hook 76
comes into engagement with the opening 74 to move the cigarette
tray backwards. Immediately before the arm 12 has returned to the
original position shown in FIG. 10, the hook 76 is again plunged in
the opening 74 by the action of the roller 73 and the guide surface
72.
Referring to FIG. 1, the transfer and delivery of the cigarette
tray 8 will be described briefly. When the moving plate 60 moves
from right to left in FIG. 1, the arm 12 pushes the cigarette tray
8 filled with cigarettes towards the inverting plate 18 of the
cigarette tray inverting device B. Furthermore, by the movement of
the moving plate 60 from left to right, the cigarettes in the
cigarette tray inverting device C are supplied to the hopper 14,
and the empty cigarette tray is retracted from the inverting plate
18 towards the cigarette tray feeding device. As shown in FIG. 1,
on the same plate as the upper surface of the tray vehicle 2, a
guide bottom wall 80 and a guide side wall 82 are provided between
the cigarette tray feeding device A and the inverting plate 18.
These walls guide the movement of the cigarette tray between the
cigarette tray feeding device A and the inverting plate 18.
In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, an endless chain 62
is used to reciprocates the moving plates 60, but various known
mechanisms can be used in its place to reciprocate the moving plate
60.
Referring to FIGS. 1, and 11 to 15, the cigarette tray reversing
means C will be described. In FIG. 11, the cigarette tray 8 and the
inverting plate 18 in the position of receiving the tray 8, that
is, in the upright position, are shown. The inverting plate 18 is
fixed to a shaft 16 by an arm 84 extending from the shaft 16, and
by the rotation of the shaft 16, swings between the upright
position and the upside-down position (see FIG. 12). The shaft 16
is adapted to be rotated by a suitable power source (not shown)
such as an electric motor. A receiver stand 86 is provided at the
lower end of the inverting plate 18 in its upright position in
order to receive the cigarette tray 18. This receiver stand 86 is
fixed to sliding beam 92 (see FIGS. 12 and 14) to move with respect
to the inverting plate 18. This will be described in greater detail
later on. To the forward end of the receiver stand 86, a plate 87
is fixed. Furthermore, to both sides of the receiver stand 86,
support members 88 and 89 are provided for supporting the cigarette
tray 8 by engagement with a member 25 of the tray 8. The support
member 88 is fixed to the receiver stand 86, and the member 89 is
swingably fixed to the back surface of the inverting plate 18.
Referring to FIGS. 11-a and 11-b, the member 89 will be described
in detail. A shaft 83 is fixed to the back surface of the inverting
plate 18 by a suitable means such as a bracket, and to the shaft 83
are swingably fixed a support member 89-a and a cylindrical member
89-b which are integral with each other. Two legs 89-c and 89-d are
integrally formed at the lower end of the member 89-b, and a spring
93 is connected to the forward end of the leg 89-c. The other end
of the spring 93 is connected to the undersurface of the receiver
stand 86, for example, and this spring urges the members 89-a and
89-b clockwise. The forward end of the leg 89-d comes in contact
with a stop pin 91 provided at the base, when the inverting plate
18 is in the upright position. In the above-described construction,
the support member 89 is at the cigarette tray receiving and
releasing positions shown in FIG. 11-a when the inverting plate 18
is at the upright position. When the inverting plate begins to
swing, it is at the supporting position shown in FIG. 11-b. In
other words, when the inverting plate 18 is in the upright
position, the forward end of the leg 89-d comes into contact with
the stop pin 91 to retain the member 89-c at the receiving and
releasing positions, and when the inverting plate 18 begins to
swing, the engagement between the leg 89-d and the stop pin 91 is
released and the member 89-a swings to the position shown in FIG.
11-b by the action of the spring 93, whereupon the front surface of
the member 89-a contacts the side surface of the cigarette tray 8,
and the lower surface of the member 89-a contacts the upper surface
of the member 25 of the cigarette tray 8. When the inverting plate
18 returns to the upright position from the upside-down position,
the leg 89-d is engaged with the stop pin 91, and the member 89-a
returns to the receiving and releasing position. Preferably, the
surface of the member 89-c with which the side surface of the
cigarette tray comes into contact has fixed thereto an elastic
buffer member 95.
When the cigarette tray 8 filled with cigarettes is pushed by the
arm 12 and inserted in the receiver stand 86, the member 88 and 89
support the cigarette tray, and the cigarette tray 8 swings to the
upside-down position with the turning of the inverting plate 18.
The empty cigarette tray 8 after supplying the cigarettes into the
hopper 14 returns to the original position by the inverse turning
of the inverting plate 18, and by being pulled by the arm 12, is
retracted towards the cigarette tray feeding device A. As
previously mentioned, the member 89 returns to the receiving and
releasing position.
As shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, a lift mechanism 90 for lifting the
cigarette tray 8 supported by the receiver stand 86 is provided on
the back surface of the inverting plate 18, that is, the surface
opposite to the tray receiving side. The lift mechanism 90 includes
a small-sized electric motor 94 fixed to the reversing plate 18, a
pinion 96 connected to the output shaft of the motor 94, and a rack
98 engaged with the pinion 96. The rack 98 is fixed to the sliding
beam 92 provided slidably on the inverting plate 18. As previously
stated, the receiver stand 86 is fixed to the sliding beam 92.
Accordingly, when the motor 94 rotates, the sliding beam 92 moves
vertically, and hence the receiver stand 86 moves vertically with
respect to the inverting plate 18. Since this receiver stand 86
supports the cigarette tray 8 by means of the support members 88a
and 88b, the cigarette tray 8 also moves vertically with respect to
the inverting plate 18.
The back surface of the inverting plate 18 includes a cover plate
100 for covering the upper opening of the cigarette tray 8 and
means 102 inserted in the cigarette tray 8 (see FIG. 13) in the
upside-down position for preventing the disorder of the cigarettes.
Usually, the cover plate 100 covers the upper opening of the
cigarette tray 8 partially, but when the cigarettes are fed from
the upside-down cigarette tray 8 into the hopper, it swings in the
direction shown by arrow h in FIG. 13. At the time of swinging, the
swinging shaft 104 rises somewhat by the cylinder 106. Accordingly,
the cover plate draws a locus shown by 108.
The means 102 for preventing the disorder of cigarettes includes a
pair of sickle-shaped members 112 adapted to be turned around the
shaft 116 and inserted in the cigarette tray 8, and an elongated
rod 114 for holding the cigarettes which is fixed to the forward
end of the member 112. The member 112 is urged generally in the
counterclockwise direction by such means as a spring. The member
112 is connected to the cover plate 100 by a linking mechanism 110,
and the two are operated interlockingly. As soon as the cover plate
100 turns and opens, the disorder preventing means 102 is inserted
in the cigarette tray 8. The details of this portion are described
in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 12560/1972.
As shown in FIG. 15, an electrical means is provided above the
hopper 14 for detecting the level of cigarette 26 fed into the
hopper 14 and thus controlling the turning of the inverting plate
18 and the vertical movement of the sliding beam 92 (hence, the
cigarette tray 8). In the embodiment shown in the drawings, the
electrically detecting means comprises three photoelectric tubes
E.sub.1, E.sub.2 and E.sub.3 spaced at predetermined intervals
above the hopper 14.
The turning of the inverting plate 18 and the vertical movement of
the cigarette tray 8 are controlled as follows: When the level of
cigarette 26 within the hopper is at the position of the
photoelectric tube E.sub.2, the inverting plate 18 having the
cigarette tray 8 filled with cigarettes begins to turn from the
upright position to the upside-down position. Of course, at this
time, the cover plate 100 partially closes the upper opening of the
cigarette tray 8, and the disorder preventing means 102 has not yet
been inserted in the tray 8. When the inverting plate 18 reaches
the upside-down position and comes to a halt, the sliding beam 92
rises by the distance m (for example, 10 mm) shown in FIG. 15.
Accordingly, the cigarette tray 8 is moved upwardly by the distance
m. With the upward movement of the tray 8 by the distance m, the
guide plate 120 provided above the hopper 14 moves horizontally
from the position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 15 to the
position shown by the solid line, and covers the front surfaces of
cigarettes 26 exposed as a result of the upward movement of the
tray 8. By the upward movement of the tray 8, a space is formed
between the bottom wall of the tray 8 and the upper surfaces of the
cigarettes within the tray 8 in which the means 102 can be
inserted. When the level of cigarettes within the hopper 14 reaches
the position of the photoelectric tube E.sub.3, the cover plate 100
turns and opens, and the cigarettes in the tray 8 are fed into the
hopper 14. At the same time, the means 102 for preventing the
disorder of the cigarettes is inserted in the tray 8 to hold the
uppermost surface of the cigarettes and thus prevent the popping of
the cigarettes caused by falling. Then, the cigarette tray 8
further rises by the distance n (for example, 170 mm) as shown in
FIG. 15. With this rise in the cigarette tray 8, the guide plate
122 provided above the guide plate 120 moves horizontally from the
position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. 15 to the position
shown by the solid line, and with the rise in the tray 8, covers
the front surfaces of the exposed cigarettes 26. Thereafter, when
the level of the cigarettes fed into the hopper 14 is at the
position of the photoelectric tube E.sub.1, the inverting plate 18
begins to swing from the upside-down position to the upright
position. Consequently, the cigarettes are closed with plate 122 at
their front and both sides are closed with guide plates as shown in
FIG. 1. Before the inverting plate 18 reaches the upright position,
the sliding beam 92 and the empty tray 8 descend by the distance (m
+ n) and return to the original position. The guide plates 120 and
122 return to the original positions shown by the imaginary line
when the level of the cigarettes passes the lower ends of these
guide plates. Raising of the tray 8 by a predetermined distance
after the cigarettes begin to be fed into the hopper 14 is for the
purpose of rapidly feeding the cigarettes in the tray 8 and
performing a next step of the inverting plate 18 before the amount
of the cigarettes in the hopper 14 becomes very small.
The operation of the apparatus of this invention is believed to be
clear from the above description, but will be summarized below.
The cigarette tray 8 filled with cigarettes which has been
transferred to the position alongside the tray inverting means C by
the tray feeding means A moves towards the inverting plate 18 by
being pushed by the arm 12 of the tray transferring and delivering
means B, and is received by the inverting plate 18. The inverting
plate 18 which has received the tray 8 swings from the upright
position to the upside-down position, and further, as detailedly
described above, feeds the cigarettes within the tray 8 into the
hopper 14. When the cigarettes within the tray 8 have been fed into
the hopper 14, the inverting plate 18 swings from the upside-down
position together with the empty tray 8 to the upright position.
Next, the arm 12 of the tray transferring and delivering means B
delivers the empty cigarette tray 8 from the inverting plate 18
towards the tray feeding means A. When the empty tray 8 has been
returned to the tray delivering means A, the intermittently feeding
mechanism 4 of the tray feeding means A pushes the tray
transportation vehicle 2 by one pitch, and accordingly, pushes the
tray 8 forwardly by one pitch. Sequence control means for the
individual components of the apparatus of this invention have not
been described in detail, but it will be obvious to those skilled
in the art that sequence control can be performed as desired by
using suitable electrical or mechanical control means.
While the present invention has been described in detail by
reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood
that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment
described in the drawings, but various changes and modifications
can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the
present invention.
* * * * *