VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS FOR PRODUCING A TOBACCO ROD WITH A HOLLOW CYLINDRICAL TUBE EXTENDING THERETHROUGH
A method for making cigarettes comprising feeding tubing piece-by-piece to a vertical duct by opening and closing-timing gate operated by cam, accelerating tubing down to the vertical duct, with the help of vertical accelerator belts until the tubing becomes captured into the hopper holder, picking the tubing with an articulate tubing holder located on a transferring drum, lowering to the garniture, and releasing the tubing under the registration lagged-belt.
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The present application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60/877,600, filed Dec. 28, 2006.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe field of the invention relates to apparatus and methods for making cigarettes, and more particularly to making cigarettes with a central hollow cylindrical tube.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONMethods are provided for making cigarettes which comprise a hopper section that feeds tobacco, and a rod forming section that wraps the tobacco with paper. A porous belt, through which air is drawn, runs on two wheels and tobacco is fed to the porous belt through a tobacco feed chamber. As the porous belt passes over the chamber, a tobacco column builds up on the porous belt. The tobacco column travels with the belt and is contained by the front and rear rails. In addition, the tobacco column feeds through two trimming discs where the column is trimmed to a specific weight/volume. The trimmed tobacco column then passes under the left wheel where it is scraped off the belt by a scraper. At the same time, paper, which is pulled by a drive belt, is pulled under the tobacco column by the rod forming section of the maker.
The scraper, which is flat at the entrance and concave at the exit, forms the top of the tobacco column into a cylindrical shape. At the same time the paper and drive belt under the tobacco column enter a garniture that supports the drive belt and paper. As the tobacco column leaves the scraper it passes under a tongue that maintains the cylindrical shape of the top of the tobacco column. As the tobacco column travels through the tongue area the drive belt and paper under the tobacco column are formed by the garniture around the tobacco column to produce a cylindrical shape on the lower half of the column.
At this point the tobacco column has been transformed into a tobacco cylinder. Front and rear side rails/folders attached to the garniture press in on the drive belt and keep the paper tight against the tobacco cylinder. As the tobacco cylinder leaves the tongue the rear folder forces the drive belt and paper to wrap over the top of the tobacco cylinder. The tobacco cylinder and paper continue to travel down the garniture and glue is applied under the front edge of the paper. The front folder then wraps the front edge of the paper over the rear edge as the rear folder releases the drive belt.
Heretofore, there has been a need to provide an efficient way to provide a hollow passageway in the tobacco rod, and for a method for producing a tobacco rod with a hollow cylindrical tube extending therethrough.
The present invention is intended to intermittently insert and accurately position objects in a tobacco rod being produced by a tobacco rod maker equipped with a dual (or multiple) path suction rod conveyor.
One embodiment of the present invention is a method for making cigarettes comprising: configuring wheels of a conveyor to allow tow porous belts to run in parallel to one another; adding a rear rail, front rail and center divider rail to the conveyor to form a separate tobacco column on each porous belt; feeding tobacco to an updraft chambers located below the porous belts while the belts are moving; building-up tobacco columns on each of the porous belts; trimming the tobacco columns with rotating trimmer disks and producing accurate tobacco weight; moving the trimmed tobacco columns along the porous belts until the tobacco columns reach drive wheels; feeding paper under the tobacco columns at the drive wheels and removing excess tobacco from the porous belt with a scrapper; depositing the tobacco on moving paper and around a hollow cylindrical tube; flowing the tobacco, tube and paper into a garniture; forming the tobacco tube and paper into a cylindrical shape; feeding the cylindrical shaped rod through folders and past a glue applicator that seals the paper; producing a finished tobacco rod for cutting into individual tobacco rods.
Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for making cigarettes comprising: cutting tubing to a certain length and loading the tubing into a hopper; picking-up the tubing with a vacuum drum and moving the tubing down vertical ducts by friction belts; propelling pieces of the tubing with a propulsion wheel that transports the tubing; separating the tubing with a friction spacing wheel; registering the tubing with a lugged belt; and entering the tubing into a garniture and tongue area.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is a method for making cigarettes comprising: feeding tubing piece-by-piece to a vertical duct by opening and closing-timing gate operated by cam; accelerating tubing down to the vertical duct, with the help of vertical accelerator belts until the tubing becomes captured into the hopper holder; picking the tubing with an articulate tubing holder located on a transferring drum, lowering to the garniture; and releasing the tubing under the registration lagged-belt.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is a method for making cigarettes comprising: feeding tubing piece-by-piece to a vertical duct by opening and closing timing gate operated by cam; accelerating tubing down to the vertical accelerator belts until it comes to rest on tubing position supports or slanted toward the garniture; accelerating tubing horizontally in direction of tobacco flow with horizontal acceleration pusher; and capturing the tubing by registration lagged belt.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is a method for making cigarettes comprising: getting tubing picked from mass flow hopper by vacuum drum; transferring tubing to a locating drum with vacuum or mechanical retention mechanism; turning the tubing holder of the locating drum at least 90 degree in the horizontal plan and at least 180 degrees in vertical plane; and depositing a plug under the registration lagged belt inside of the garniture.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is a method for making cigarettes comprising: getting tubing picked from mass flow hopper by vacuum drum; transferring tubing at least 180 degrees in the vertical plane and accelerated down to the vertical duct with compressed air until it become rested on tubing positioning supports and slanted toward the garniture; and accelerating tubing horizontally in the direction of tobacco flow with horizontal acceleration pusher until it become captured by registration lagged belt.
The invention can be described in greater detail with the aid of the following drawings.
Furthermore
As shown in
As shown in
Further, in this embodiment individual tubes may be spaced apart, and when the tobacco rod is cut to specified lengths, the tubes are inwardly spaced from the ends to form a double length tobacco rod. When cut in half, each tobacco rod has an appearance as shown in
In the above-discussed embodiment, the tubing gets cut to a certain length and loaded into the hopper 205, picked by the vacuum drum and moved down the vertical duct by the friction accelerating belts 209. The bottom of the hopper 205 has a cradle-guide and horizontal accelerating pusher that propels pieces of tubing under propulsion wheel 203 that transports them thru the tobacco-hopper 201 into the dual band suction rod conveyor. Further down stream tubing gets separated (e.g., by pulling gaps between separate pieces) by the friction spacing wheel. At this point the speed of the tubing slightly exceeds the speed of the suction rod conveyor, which allows it to be registered with the lugged belt before entering into the garniture and tongue 197 areas.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention is shown in
In the embodiment of
A fourth exemplary method comprises: (1) picking tubing from a mass flow hopper by vacuum drum; (2) transferring tubing at least 180 degrees in the vertical plane and accelerated down to the vertical duct with compressed air until it become rested on tubing positioning supports and slanted toward the garniture; and (3) accelerating tubing horizontally in the direction of tobacco flow with horizontal acceleration pusher until it become captured by registration lagged belt.
The foregoing description illustrates and describes the present invention. Additionally, the disclosure shows and describes only the preferred embodiments of the invention, but as mentioned above, it is to be understood that the invention is capable of use in various other combinations, modifications, and environments and is capable of changes or modifications within the scope of the inventive concept as expressed herein, commensurate with the above teachings and/or skill or knowledge of the relevant art. The embodiments described hereinabove are further intended to explain best modes known of practicing the invention and to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention in such or other embodiments and with the various modifications required by the particular applications or uses of the invention. Accordingly, the description is not intended to limit the invention to the form or application disclosed herein. Also, it is intended that the appended claims be construed to include alternative embodiments.
Claims
1. A method form making cigarettes comprising:
- configuring wheels of a conveyor to allow tow porous belts to run in parallel to one another;
- adding a rear rail, front rail and center divider rail to the conveyor to form a separate tobacco column on each porous belt;
- feeding tobacco to an updraft chambers located below the porous belts while the belts are moving;
- building-up tobacco columns on each of the porous belts;
- trimming the tobacco columns with rotating trimmer disks and producing accurate tobacco weight;
- moving the trimmed tobacco columns along the porous belts until the tobacco columns reach drive wheels;
- feeding paper under the tobacco columns at the drive wheels and removing excess tobacco from the porous belt with a scrapper;
- depositing the tobacco on moving paper and around a hollow cylindrical tube;
- flowing the tobacco, tube and paper into a garniture;
- forming the tobacco tube and paper into a cylindrical shape;
- feeding the cylindrical shaped rod through folders and past a glue applicator that seals the paper; and
- producing a finished tobacco rod for cutting into individual tobacco rods.
2. A method for making cigarettes comprising:
- cutting tubing to a certain length and loading the tubing into a hopper;
- picking-up the tubing with a vacuum drum and moving the tubing down vertical ducts by friction belts;
- propelling pieces of the tubing with a propulsion wheel that transports the tubing;
- separating the tubing with a friction spacing wheel;
- registering the tubing with a lugged belt; and
- entering the tubing into a garniture and tongue area.
3. A method for making cigarettes comprising:
- feeding tubing piece-by-piece to a vertical duct by opening and closing-timing gate operated by cam;
- accelerating tubing down to the vertical duct, with the help of vertical accelerator belts until the tubing becomes captured into the hopper holder;
- picking the tubing with an articulate tubing holder located on a transferring drum, lowering to the garniture; and
- releasing the tubing under the registration lagged-belt.
4. A method for making cigarettes comprising:
- feeding tubing piece-by-piece to a vertical duct by opening and closing timing gate operated by cam;
- accelerating tubing down to the vertical accelerator belts until it comes to rest on tubing position supports or slanted toward the garniture;
- accelerating tubing horizontally in direction of tobacco flow with horizontal acceleration pusher; and
- capturing the tubing by registration lagged belt.
5. A method for making cigarettes comprising:
- getting tubing picked from mass flow hopper by vacuum drum;
- transferring tubing to a locating drum with vacuum or mechanical retention mechanism;
- turning the tubing holder of the locating drum at least 90 degree in the horizontal plan and at least 180 degrees in vertical plane; and
- depositing a plug under the registration lagged belt inside of the garniture.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 26, 2007
Publication Date: Nov 20, 2008
Applicant: Philip Morris USA Inc. (Richmond, VA)
Inventors: Steven F. Spiers (Richmond, VA), Steven R. Rinehart (Chesterfield, VA), Loren Duvekot (Goochland, VA), Michael Braunshteyn (Richmond, VA), Martin T. Garthaffner (Chesterfield, VA), Gregory A. Lyaker (Richmond, VA)
Application Number: 11/964,340
International Classification: A24C 5/02 (20060101); A24C 1/28 (20060101);