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The invention relates to a device for filling cigarette tubes with tobacco, wherein the device comprises at least one suitable separating means by means of which the tobacco can be detached from a tobacco block, and also at least one suitable filling means with which the cigarette tube can be filled with the tobacco, wherein the device comprises at least one suitable portioning means for the portioning of a tobacco block.
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The present invention relates to a device for filling cigarette tubes with tobacco.
A device for filling cigarette tubes with tobacco is known for example from European patent application EP 399 143 A1. This is a device in which loose tobacco which is poured in through a fill opening is compressed into a tobacco rod by means of a compression head. In addition, the device has a pusher to push the tobacco rod into the cigarette paper tube and a bush for attaching the cigarette paper tube. In an embodiment of this device, the tobacco fill opening is allocated above the compression heads a blade or similar separating element the separating movement of which is preferably in advance of the movement of the compression head. A disadvantage of this device is that only loose tobacco can be processed. In addition, it is disadvantageous that the quantity of loose tobacco that is used to fill a cigarette paper tube is not specified.
A further device for filling cigarette tubes with tobacco is disclosed in European patent application EP 584 805 A1. This differs from the device known from EP 399 143 A1 merely by virtue of a magazine for the housing and introduction in part-quantities of pre-portioned tobacco portions. A disadvantage of this device is that pre-portioned tobacco is used. However, it would be desirable if cigarette tubes could also be filled starting from non-pre-portioned tobacco material. It would be particularly desirable if cigarette tubes could be filled with a substantially identical quantity of tobacco.
The object of the present invention is to provide such a device. This object is achieved according to the invention by a device for filling cigarette tubes with tobacco, wherein the device comprises at least one suitable separating means by means of which tobacco, preferably a tobacco portion, can be detached from a tobacco block, and also at least one suitable filling means with which the cigarette tubes can be filled with the tobacco, preferably the tobacco portion, and at least one suitable portioning means for the portioning of a tobacco block.
In the context of the present invention, the term “tobacco portion” denotes the quantity of tobacco that is used to fill a cigarette tube. The term “tobacco block” denotes a unit of compressed tobacco the quantity of tobacco of which exceeds that contained in a tobacco portion and advantageously represents a multiple thereof. The tobacco block can be portioned or unportioned, an unportioned tobacco block being preferred. If a portioned tobacco block is used, its portioning unit must not correspond to the tobacco portion which is specified by the portioning means according to the invention. A portioning means according to the invention is a means which allows the operator of the device to detach in a targeted manner from a tobacco block the quantity of tobacco which corresponds to one tobacco portion.
Such a portioning means can be for example one or more signal transmitters which give the operator an appropriate signal, for example an acoustic, visual or tactile signal, when the tobacco block is in a specific spatial relationship to the device and a tobacco portion can be detached from the tobacco block, or when the tobacco portion is detached from the tobacco block. Portioning means which comprise one, two or three signal transmitters are preferred. Also preferred are signal transmitters that transmit several signals, for example an acoustic and a tactile, or a tactile and a visual signal. The acoustic signal can be for example a noise which is produced when a catch is engaged, an electrically generated beep or a noise produced when a snap disk (“clicker frog”) is bent. The visual signal can be for example a pointer and an allocated marker which act together to display the tobacco portion to the operator. For example, the marker can be a row of numbers, and the pointer can indicate on this row of numbers the number which corresponds to the number of tobacco portions still remaining in the tobacco block or the number of detached tobacco portions. Either the marker or the pointer, or marker and pointer are fixed to the device, say on a wheel or other advance means. The part not fixed to the device can for example be provided on a covering of the tobacco block. If desired, it is also possible to specify in a targeted manner different sizes of tobacco portions by corresponding markers with the portioning means, say to produce cigarettes of different densities if required. Alternatively, the visual signal is for example an electrically generated light signal or a display on a graphic user interface. A further visual signal can be represented for example by the return of a button, a switch or a lever to its starting position. The tactile signal is for example a perceptible resistance which the operator senses when he has brought the tobacco block into a specific spatial relationship to the device.
The suitable separating means is for example one or more blades, rasps, screws, worms or wheels, into the sphere of action of which the tobacco block can be introduced in order to separate the tobacco portion all at once, in part-quantities or continuously. The one-off separation takes place for example with a blade, wherein the cohesion inside the separated tobacco portion is advantageously not loosened. The tobacco portion is present substantially in one piece, wherein this piece already substantially has the shape of a tobacco rod. The separation of the tobacco portion in part-quantities is carried out with several cuts of the same blade or different blades. The continuous separation can be carried out for example with a rasp or other rotary element.
The at least one filling means is for example a pusher which pushes the tobacco portion into the cigarette tube. A tongue on which the tobacco portion is located can also be used for this purpose. A driver for the tobacco portion can be attached to the end of the pusher or tongue which is not pushed into the cigarette tube.
In an advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the at least one suitable portioning means specifies a portion length unit with the result that one tobacco block per portion length unit contains the quantity of tobacco that corresponds to the tobacco portion. This is particularly advantageous if the tobacco block is a body with a uniform cross-section along one axis, say with a cylindrical or prismatic, in particular cubic body, wherein the portion length unit can be measured along this axis of the body. A tobacco block particularly advantageously has the shape of a flat, cubic body with a short side the dimensions of which correspond substantially to the diameter of the tobacco rod which is poured into the cigarette tube, and a mid-length side the dimensions of which correspond substantially to the length of the tobacco rod which is poured into the cigarette tube, and a long side. The portion length unit can be measured along this long side of the tobacco block.
In an advantageous embodiment, the device according to the invention comprises at least one suitable transport means by means of which the tobacco block can be transported. This at least one suitable transport means serves in particular to transport the tobacco block in the direction of the separating means. The transport means can be pushers, in particular pushers, tooth racks, wedge bars, screws, shafts, wheels that can be pre-tensioned with a spring, e.g. friction wheels or toothed wheels, pulling means, e.g. chains, cable pulls or webs of material. Transportation can be continuous or stepwise, automatic, semi-automatic or manual, for example by moving a lever, pusher, button or wheel. This facilitates the operation of the device, as the operator must not advance the tobacco block with his fingers, and thus also increases the precision of the portioning. The specified portion length unit advantageously corresponds to the distance travelled by the tobacco block to separate a tobacco portion. Furthermore, a transport means advantageously also has at least one suitable guide for the tobacco block. The guide can be the opening of the shaping chamber. Alternatively, lateral guides are attached to the device which guide the tobacco block during transportation. Depending on the embodiment, the tobacco block can be guided on two sides, for example on the narrow sides of the tobacco block, on three sides or on four sides. A covering of the tobacco block can also be part of the guide for the tobacco block.
In an advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device comprises at least one suitable shaping means by means of which the separated tobacco can be shaped into a form in which the tobacco portion can be introduced into the cigarette tube by the filling means. This is for example one or more plungers, toothed wheels or other mechanisms used to bring the tobacco portion into a substantially cylindrical shape. The tobacco of the tobacco portion can advantageously be compacted somewhat more tightly during shaping than the tobacco is later in the cigarette tube. This facilitates the pouring of the shaped tobacco portion into the cigarette tube.
In one embodiment of the device the movement of the at least one suitable shaping means is coupled with the movement of the separating means. For example, the separating means and the shaping means are attached to a common lever. In another embodiment of the device, only one means is provided which both separates and shapes. In a further embodiment, the movement of the shaping means is superimposed on the movement of the separating means. This means that the separating means is moved for example with a lever in a separating movement, wherein the shaping means is moved along during this movement. Following the separating movement, the shaping means performs a further shaping movement independent of the movement of the separating means in order to shape the detached tobacco. The separating means then moves into the starting position and in the process likewise takes the shaping means with it into its starting position.
In an advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device has at least one suitable fixing means for the tobacco block. For example, the tobacco block can be covered with a suitable covering, wherein the covering is detachably fixable to the device by means of the at least one suitable fixing means. Thus a fixed spatial relationship between the tobacco block and the device can advantageously be created. Guides for the tobacco block or its covering can thereby be dispensed with inside the device, which results in a more compact structure of the device.
Further details, features and advantages of the invention follow from the following description in conjunction with the embodiments shown in the Figures. There are shown in:
The figures diagrammatically show embodiments of the device according to the invention. For simplicity's sake, elements of generic devices known from the state of the art have been omitted, e.g. fixing means, guides, sliding blocks, control systems, drives, bearings, openings, bushes and similar. Recurring elements such as the separating means, the shaping means, shaping chamber and similar are likewise omitted from some figures as they result from the state of the art or can be transferred without difficulty from other embodiments. Although not shown or described, each embodiment comprises all the elements necessary to fill cigarette tubes with tobacco.
In principle, according to the invention the different portioning means can be combined with different transport means, different shaping means, different separating means and different fixing means to encase the tobacco block in different ways in order to arrive at different embodiments. Eight of the large number of possible combinations are described below by way of example. The same elements are given the same reference numbers. Generically identical elements, e.g. the portioning means 190, 290, 390, 391, 490, 491, 590, 690, 691, 692, 790, 791, 891, 892, 893, the separating means 130, 230, 530, 830 or the transport means 140, 141, 142, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 340, 342, 444, 445, 446, 540, 541, 542, 543, 640, 641, 740, 742, 743, 840, 842, 845, 846, 847 have comparable reference numbers.
The shaping chamber 150 has an opening through which the tobacco block 1 can be pushed by a transport means 140. In this case, the transport means is a pusher 140 which can be moved inside the covering 2 of the tobacco block 1 by turning a spindle 142. Before operating the device, the spindle 142 is pushed into the tobacco block 1 as far as a stop, for example the edge of the covering 2. The spindle 142 has at its free end a wheel 141, say a knurling wheel. The wheel 141 has a visual portioning means 190, for example a pointer 190, which can be brought into line with a marker. For example, beside the pointer there is a scale which, in co-operation with the pointer 190, shows how far the pusher 140 has advanced the tobacco block 1. If the pointer 190 and the marker agree, the operator knows that the tobacco block 1 has been advanced by one portion length unit, and he can then activate the separating means 130 and the shaping means 120 in order to fill a cigarette tube with the tobacco portion 10. If the markers differ, it is also possible to specify different sizes of tobacco portions 10 with the portioning means 190, e.g. to produce different cigarettes if required using the same or different cigarette tubes.
The device shown in
Alternatively, instead of a lever a button can also be used which ensures the step-wise advance of the slide rod. In such an embodiment, two opposite, offset tooth racks are used. The pusher 740 is then pre-tensioned by a tension spring against the end of the slide rod 742 in the direction of the shaping chamber. If the button is pressed, the catch firstly switches from the first tooth rack to the second tooth rack and the slide rod 742 is pushed further by the spring force by a distance corresponding to half a pitch. If the button is returned to its original position, say by a return spring, the catch switches back to the first tooth rack, but into the next pitch, with the result that the slide rod 742 is advanced a further half pitch by the spring force of the tension spring. By pressing the button, the tobacco block 1 is thus advanced a full pitch. The tension spring is pre-tensioned by the operator, for example when inserting the tobacco block. The pitch corresponds either to the portion length unit or a fraction thereof, with the result that the button is pressed several times to travel a portion length unit.
A further alternative embodiment of such a button is shown in
The device for filling cigarette tubes 800 furthermore has a lever 821 which moves the shaping means 820 and the separating means 830, and also a housing 850 and a pusher 861 for filling the cigarette tube 11.
In
In the alternative embodiment, not only is the end face of the covering folded over, but in addition also a part of the top 5 and bottom 6 of the covering as well as optionally also lateral surfaces 7 which in turn can be inserted foldable (shown by dotted lines) into fixing means 70 provided for this and can thus be fixed to the device. Further supporting means for the tobacco block 1 can then be dispensed with.
The tobacco block 1 was moved in a horizontal plane in the shown devices 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800. However, it is clear that a diagonal or vertical movement of the tobacco block can be carried out, as the mechanisms shown are substantially independent of gravitation.
Claims
1. Device for filling cigarette tubes with tobacco, wherein the device comprises at least one suitable separating means, by means of which the tobacco can be detached from a tobacco block, as well as at least one suitable filling means with which the cigarette tube can be filled with the tobacco, characterized in that, the device comprises at least one suitable portioning means for the portioning of the tobacco block.
2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one portioning means specifies a portion length unit with the result that the tobacco block per portion length unit contains the quantity of tobacco that corresponds to the tobacco portion needed to fill one cigarette tube.
3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the portioning length unit of the at least one portioning means corresponds to the distance travelled by the tobacco block to detach a tobacco portion.
4. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that the device comprises at least one suitable transport means by means of which the tobacco block can be transported.
5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the at least one suitable transport means comprises at least one of the following elements:
- a pusher, a lever, a crank, a slide rod, a tooth rack, a wedge bar, a screw, a shaft, a wheel, a friction wheel, a toothed wheel, a chain, a cable pull, a web material or a spring.
6. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the at least one suitable transport means transports the tobacco block continuously by one portion length unit.
7. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the at least one suitable transport means transports the tobacco block (1) step-wise by one portion length unit.
8. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the at least one suitable transport means transports the tobacco block automatically or semi-automatically by one portion length unit.
9. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the device comprises at least one suitable shaping means by means of which the detached tobacco can be shaped into a form in which the tobacco can be introduced into the cigarette tube by means of the filling means.
10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the at least one suitable shaping means can be moved jointly with the at least one suitable transport means.
11. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the device has at least one suitable fixing means for the tobacco block encased by a suitable covering, and wherein the covering is detachably fixable to the device by means of the at least one suitable fixing means.
12. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the device has at least one suitable shaping chamber, with an opening for the introduction of the tobacco portion into the shaping chamber and a discharge opening to discharge the tobacco portion out of the shaping chamber into the cigarette tube.
13. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the device has at least one suitable fixing means to fix the cigarette tube to the device.
14. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one suitable separating means comprises at least one of the following: a blade, a rasp, a screw, a worm or a wheel.
15. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one suitable separating means is designed such that the separating means detaches the tobacco portion from the tobacco block with one separating step.
16. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one suitable separating means is designed such that the separating means detaches the tobacco portion from the tobacco block in part-quantities.
17. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one suitable separating means is designed such that the separating means detaches the tobacco portion from the tobacco block continuously.
18. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the at least one suitable portioning means comprises at least one of the following elements:
- an acoustic signal transmitter, a visual signal transmitter, or a tactile signal transmitter.
19. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the device has at least one suitable bearing plate to support the tobacco block.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 22, 2006
Publication Date: Aug 23, 2007
Applicant: Philip Morris USA Inc. (Richmond, VA)
Inventors: Julia Andersen (Gilching), Klaus Buhlmann (Munich), Andre Feldmann (Hamburg), Lucien Meier (La Neuveville), Manfred Neumann (Radevormwald), Arne Schultchen (Hamburg), Gudrun Schwub-Gwinner (Berg), Stephanie Tiling (Krailling), Marcel Van Rijssel (Gorgier)
Application Number: 11/603,249
International Classification: A24C 5/00 (20060101);