MACHINE FOR MANUFACTURING POUCHES OF COHESIONLESS MATERIAL

Abstract

A machine manufacturing pouches of a smokeless tobacco product, or other similarly cohesionless material, comprises a feed system (100) by which the tobacco is supplied to a conveyor (4) at a delivery station (5), from where it is transported by the conveyor (4) to a transfer station (6), also a system (102) operating at the transfer station (6) by which predetermined portions (7) of the product are directed from the conveyor (4) into at least one duct (16) linked to a form-fill-and-seal wrapping station (8) where the portions (7) are enclosed in a continuous succession (101) of pouches (2). The wrapping station (8) is equipped with ultrasonic welders.

Description

This application is the National Phase of International Application PCT/IB2008/000663 filed on Mar. 19, 2008 which designated the U.S. and that International Application was published under PCT Article 21(2) in English.

This application claims priority to Italian Patent Application BO2007A000197 filed Mar. 20, 2007 and PCT/IB2008/000663 filed Mar. 19, 2008, which applications are incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a machine for manufacturing individual bags or sachets of cohesionless material, and in particular, pouches of nasal snuff, or of moist snuff (also known as snus) for oral use.

Reference is made explicitly to tobacco in the course of the following specification, albeit no limitation in scope is implied, as the cohesionless material might consist similarly, for example, in powdered pharmaceutical or confectionery products treated with moisturizing agents.

BACKGROUND ART

The prior art embraces machines of the type in question, which comprise a dispensing disc rotatable intermittently about a vertical axis and furnished with a ring of cavities, each containing a quantity or portion of tobacco that will correspond to the contents of a single pouch.

The portions are released into the single cavities at a filling station from a hopper containing a supply of powdered tobacco en masse, treated with flavouring and moisturizing agents.

With the disc in rotation, the cavities are directed through a transfer station where the single portion of tobacco contained in each cavity is ejected.

Installed at this same station are pneumatic ejection means comprising a nozzle positioned above the dispensing disc. At each pause in the movement of the disc, a portion of tobacco is forced by the nozzle from the relative cavity into a duct, of which the mouth lies beneath the disc and in alignment with the nozzle, and toward a wrapping station where the single pouches are formed.

The wrapping station comprises a tubular element, placed at the outlet of the duct and functioning as a mandrel over which to fashion a tubular envelope, for example, of paper material or nonwoven fabric.

The material in question consists of a continuous web decoiled from a roll and fed in a direction parallel to the axis of the tubular element, which is wrapped progressively around the element and sealed longitudinally.

Beyond the tubular element, the machine is equipped with transverse sealing means of which the operation is intermittent and synchronized with the transfer of the tobacco portions, in such a way that each successive portion will be sealed in a relative segment of the continuous tubular envelope of wrapping material delimited by two consecutive transverse seals.

The successive tubular segments of wrapping material, formed as pouches containing respective portions of tobacco, are separated one from the next through the action of cutting means positioned downstream of the transverse sealing means.

Machines of the type in question present certain drawbacks.

In effect, such machines are not able to guarantee a completely smooth flow of the tobacco product through the connecting duct and the tubular element.

The amount of tobacco deposited on the walls of the connecting duct and the tubular element increases significantly, in particular, when the moisture content of the tobacco exceeds certain limits, jeopardizing correct operation of the machine.

In order to remove the tobacco accumulating internally of the connecting duct and of the tubular element, the machine must be shut down, whereupon these same parts have to be dismantled so that the tobacco deposited on their inside surfaces can be removed by hand.

These operations are a source of high maintenance costs, and have the effect of reducing production capacity.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine for manufacturing single pouches of smokeless tobacco that will be unaffected by the drawbacks mentioned above in connection with machines of the prior art, and able to guarantee a high production tempo while avoiding the formation of tobacco deposits internally of the aforementioned connecting duct and tubular element.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with the aid of the accompanying drawing,

FIG. 1, which shows a machine according to the present invention, viewed schematically and in a front elevation.

With reference to FIG. 1, numeral 1 denotes a machine for manufacturing pouches 2 containing a cohesionless material, in particular a smokeless tobacco product.

The machine 1 comprises a hopper 3 filled with the material in question and constituting tobacco feed means 100, also conveying means 4 rotatable between a delivery station 5 at which the cohesionless tobacco material is taken up from the feed means, and a transfer station 6 at which successive portions 7 of tobacco are ejected.

The machine 1 further comprises a wrapping station 8 where the portions 7 of tobacco removed from the transfer station 6 are taken up and enclosed in respective pouches 2.

The conveying means 4 are embodied as a drum 9 rotatable intermittently and anticlockwise, as viewed in the drawing, about a horizontal axis A. The drum 9 is interposed between a bottom end of the hopper 3, delimited by two side walls 3a and 3b, and the aforementioned transfer station 6.

The drum 9 presents a cylindrical wall, denoted 10, that includes a band 11 of predetermined width rendered permeable to air by a plurality of through holes 11a.

The enclosure 12 delimited by the cylindrical wall 10 is divided by two radial walls 12a and 12b into two sectors, denoted 13 and 14.

A first sector 13, located adjacent to the outlet of the hopper 3 and extending around to the transfer station 6, is connected to a source of negative pressure (not illustrated).

A second sector 14, positioned adjacent to and in alignment with the transfer station 6, is angularly complementary to the first sector 13 and connected to a first source of compressed air (not illustrated).

The second sector 14 provides the machine 1 with forcing means 102.

Also indicated are interconnecting means denoted 15, embodied as a rectilinear duct 16, interposed between the transfer station 6 and the wrapping station 8.

The mouth of the duct 16 is in fluid communication with a second source of compressed air (not illustrated)

The wrapping station 8 comprises a tubular mandrel 17 positioned at the outlet end of the rectilinear duct 16, around which a continuous web 18a of wrapping material is formed into tubular envelope 18.

The web 18a of material is decoiled from a roll (not illustrated) and wrapped around the tubular mandrel 17, by degrees, through the agency of suitable folding means.

The edges of the web are sealed by welders 19 positioned next to the tubular mandrel 17, so as to close the tubular envelope 18 longitudinally.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the machine 1 also comprises sealing means 20 located beyond the tubular mandrel 17, of which the function is to bond the tubular envelope 18 transversely and thus form a continuous succession 101 of pouches 2, each containing a single portion 7 of tobacco.

Advantageously, the longitudinal welders 19 and the transverse sealing means 20 are of ultrasonic type.

More exactly, the longitudinal ultrasonic welders 19 are located in close proximity to, and substantially in contact with the tubular mandrel 17.

Also forming part of the wrapping station 8 are aspirating means 21, located at the outlet end of the tubular mandrel 17 and able, given the porosity of the wrapping material, to create a draught internally of the mandrel 17 such as will ease the passage of the tobacco along the selfsame mandrel.

The transverse sealing means 20 are followed downstream by a pair of transport belts 22 looped around respective pairs of pulleys 22a, serving to advance the continuous succession 101 of pouches 2 toward cutting means 23 by which the single pouches 2 of the succession 101 are separated one from the next.

In operation, with the drum 9 set in rotation and exposed to the aspirating action of the negative pressure source, the air-permeable band 11 will gradually attract a continuous stream 24 of tobacco.

The continuous stream 24 advances as far as the transfer station 6, where a given length of the selfsame stream 24, corresponding in quantity to one portion 7, will be detached gradually from the drum by a jet of compressed air forced through the holes 11a of the air-permeable band 11, and directed into the duct 16.

Forced along by the air jet, the portion 7 of tobacco passes along the rectilinear connecting duct 16 and into the tubular mandrel 17, which is ensheathed by the web 18 of wrapping material.

The portion 7 of tobacco is carried forward with the additional force of the air jet generated at the mouth of the rectilinear duct 16 by the aforementioned second source of compressed air.

The envelope 18 of paper is sealed lengthwise by the ultrasonic welders 19, and crosswise, at the outlet end of the tubular mandrel 17, by the transverse sealing means 20.

The operation of the transverse sealing means 20 is intermittent, and timed to match the frequency at which successive portions 7 of tobacco are fed into the transfer station 6, in such a way that each portion 7 of tobacco will be enclosed between two consecutive transverse seals.

Thus, a continuous succession 101 of tobacco-filled pouches 2 will emerge, as aforementioned, joined one to the next by way of the transverse seals.

At a given point downstream of the transverse sealing means 20, the single pouches 2 are separated one from the next by the cutting means 23.

The elements of the design as described above are readily applicable to a twin track type of machine.

In this instance, the conveying means will consist in a drum with two air-permeable bands, in such a way that two portions of tobacco can be supplied simultaneously to the transfer station, and each then directed into a respective duct.

Self-evidently, the machine according to the present invention is able to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks connected with the prior art, by virtue of the fact that the ultrasonic longitudinal welding means serve not only to form the tubular envelope of wrapping material, but also to generate a shaking action on the tubular mandrel internally of which the tobacco advances, and thus prevent the accumulation of deposits on the inside wall of the mandrel.

Accordingly, the mandrel remains free of obstructions internally, and there is no need for any stoppage of the machine to allow the removal of tobacco deposits manually from the inside wall.

Claims

1) A machine for manufacturing pouches (2) of cohesionless material, comprising:

feed means (100) by which the material is supplied to conveying means (4) at a delivery station (5), from where the selfsame material is transported by the conveying means (4) to a transfer station (6);

forcing means (102), operating at the transfer station (6), by which predetermined portions (7) of the material are directed from the conveying means (4) into at least one connecting duct (12) associated with a wrapping station (8) where the portions (7) are enclosed in a continuous succession of pouches (2);

characterized in that the wrapping station (8) is equipped with ultrasonic welding means (19).

2) A machine as in claim 1, wherein the wrapping station (8) comprises a tubular mandrel (17) positioned at the outlet end of the connecting duct (16), around which a continuous web (18a) of wrapping material is formed into tubular envelope (18), the welding means (19) serving to seal the tubular envelope (18) longitudinally and operating substantially in contact with the tubular mandrel (17) in such a way as to transmit vibrations at ultrasonic frequencies to the selfsame mandrel (17).

3) A machine as in claim 2, wherein the wrapping station (8) comprises ultrasonic sealing means (20) located downstream of the tubular mandrel (17), of which the function is to bond the tubular envelope (18) transversely and thus form a continuous succession (101) of pouches (2).

4) A machine as in claim 2, wherein the wrapping station (8) further comprises aspirating means (21) operating at the outlet end of the tubular mandrel (17).