Abstract: A mixture of unsatisfactory fragments of tobacco ribs and shreds of tobacco leaf laminae and/or tobacco ribs which are bonded to each other and/or are clumped together and/or crimped is treated to loosen the coherent and/or clumped shreds and/or uncrimp individual shreds and to thereupon separate the fragments of ribs from the thus liberated and/or straightened shreds. The treatment involves heating the mixture with steam, thereafter cooling (if necessary) the mixture, and thereupon pneumatically separating the shreds from the fragments of tobacco ribs. The heating operation can take place simultaneously with moisturizing of the mixture and can be carried out in a rotary or vibratory conveyor.

Abstract: A method of converting particles of tobacco leaves, particularly bales or portions of bales of compacted tobacco leaf laminae, into cut tobacco involves admitting portions of and/or entire bales into a tobacco cutter while the temperature of compacted particles matches or exceeds the room temperature of 18.degree.-25.degree. C. and the moisture content of the particles is between 10 and 17 percent.

Abstract: Bales of compressed tobacco ribs and/or tobacco leaf laminae having a moisture content of 8-11 percent are advanced past a battery of microwave generators or through one or more electric high frequency fields to raise the temperature of particles in the bales to between 30.degree. and 90.degree. C. The bales or portions of the bales are thereupon loosened, prior to complete cooling back to starting temperature, by the pins of a conveyor which delivers the particles of loosened bales or portions of bales into the magazine of a shredding machine wherein the particles are cut. The moisture content of shreds is raised to 12-13.5 percent at which the shreds are ready for processing into smokers' products, or above 13.5 percent, for example, to between 21 and 30 percent. Such moisturizing to above the processing moisture content is or can be followed by drying of the shreds.

Abstract: The channel between the convergent tobacco compacting upper and lower chain conveyors of a tobacco shredding machine receives particles of tobacco from one or more vibrating troughs which define paths extending in parallelism with the direction of travel of particles between the chain conveyors toward the cutting station. The troughs have stepped bottom walls to effect preliminary homogenization and compacting of particles on their way toward the rear portion of the lower chain conveyor which extends rearwardly beyond the upper chain conveyor. The quantity of tobacco particles in one or more troughs is monitored by one or more photocells whose signals are utilized to vary the speed of the motor for the chain conveyors, the frequency and/or amplitude of vibratory movements of the trough or troughs and/or the rate of feed of tobacco particles to the trough or troughs when the monitored quantity deviates from a desirable range of quantities.

Abstract: The channel between the convergent tobacco compacting upper and lower chain conveyors of a tobacco shredding machine receives particles of tobacco from one or more vibrating troughs which define paths extending in parallelism with the direction of travel of particles between the chain conveyors toward the cutting station. The troughs can have stepped bottom walls to effect preliminary homogenization and compacting of particles on their way toward the rear portion of the lower conveyor which extends rearwardly beyond the upper conveyor. The quantity of tobacco particles in one or more troughs is monitored by photocells whose signals are utilized to vary the speed of the motor for the chain conveyors, the frequency and/or amplitude of vibratory movements of the trough or troughs and/or the rate of feed of particles to the trough or troughs when the monitored quantity deviates from a desirable range of quantities.