CIGARETTE BLANK FILLING TUBE APPARATUS
A tobacco filling tube having a cylindrical portion having an outside diameter, an inside diameter, a first end and a second end and a hollow tapered portion having a first end with an outside diameter and a second end with an outside diameter. The first end of the tapered portion adjoins the second end of the cylindrical portion, the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is substantially the same as the outside diameter of the cylindrical portion, the outside diameter of the second end of the tapered portion is less than the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion, the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is sized to fit inside a tobacco blank, and the tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter.
This invention relates generally to an apparatus for loading a tobacco blank onto a filling tube. The invention also relates to methods of using a tobacco blank loading apparatus.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONPrior to the invention of the electronic rolling machine, rolling your own cigarettes was restricted to manual table top machines, hand held machines, and attempts that have been made to perfect personal single stick electric machines. These machines employ a chamber for loading tobacco, a manual lever that compresses the tobacco, and a spoon mechanism that injects the tobacco into an empty preassembled cigarette blank. Many attempts have been made with varying degrees of success to perfect a table top electric machine. These basically employed the same technology, only electronically enhanced. The shortcoming is that the spoon mechanism shreds the tobacco. Secondly, loading the proper amount of tobacco each time is extremely variable. The other obvious drawback is the tedious nature of the process; each cigarette blank must be mounted on a nozzle manually. Moreover, the empty cigarette blanks are extremely fragile and easily damaged during the process.
While other electronic machines for use in retail settings have been developed, there remain drawbacks with those machines. First, separating the cigarette blanks for individual loading onto a filling tube remains imprecise. Secondly, loading the fragile cigarette blanks unto filling tubes often results in damaged and unusable cigarette blanks.
What is needed is an apparatus and method for separating and loading the cigarette blanks on a machine in a retail setting.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to a tobacco filling tube comprising a cylindrical portion having an outside diameter, an inside diameter, a first end and a second end, a hollow tapered portion having a first end with an outside diameter and a second end with an outside diameter, wherein the first end of the tapered portion adjoins the second end of the cylindrical portion, wherein said outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is substantially the same as the outside diameter of the cylindrical portion, wherein said outside diameter of the second end of the tapered portion is less than the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion, wherein the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is sized to fit inside a tobacco blank, wherein said tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter.
This invention also relates to an apparatus comprising a filling tube holder capable of holding a plurality of filling tubes, a plurality of filling tubes mounted to said filling tube holder, each of a plurality of filling tubes having a cylindrical portion having an outside diameter, an inside diameter, a first end and a second end, and a hollow tapered portion having a first end with an outside diameter and a second end with an outside diameter, wherein the first end of the tapered portion adjoins the second end of the cylindrical portion, wherein said outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is substantially the same as the outside diameter of the cylindrical portion, wherein said outside diameter of the second end of the tapered portion is less than the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion, wherein the outside diameter of the first end of tapered portion is sized to fit inside a tobacco blank, wherein the tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter
This invention further relates to a method of locating a tobacco blank on a tobacco filling tube, said method comprising providing at least one filling tube comprising a cylindrical portion having an outside diameter, an inside diameter, a first end and a second end, and a hollow tapered portion having a first end with an outside diameter and a second end with an outside diameter, wherein the first end of the tapered portion adjoins the second end of the cylindrical portion, wherein said outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is substantially the same as the outside diameter of the cylindrical portion, wherein said outside diameter of the second end of the tapered portion is less than the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion, wherein the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is sized to fit inside a tobacco blank, wherein the tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter, and dispensing a tobacco blank over the at least one filling tube.
The embodiments discussed herein describe the operation of the invention relating to cigarette blanks and making cigarettes. The use of other tobacco blanks in addition to cigarette blanks is also contemplated. Other tobacco blanks include, but are not limited to, cigar blanks and other tubes into which tobacco is inserted.
A cigarette making apparatus 10 is illustrated in
The input hopper 100, illustrated in
In operation, cut tobacco is poured into the tobacco inlet 102 of the input hopper 100. The cut tobacco falls onto the input end 109 of the conveyor 103 and is thereby transferred toward the strand separator 110 and discharge end 108 of the conveyor 103. After going through the strand separator 110, the cut tobacco is discharged from the input hopper 100 through a discharge opening 115.
In operation, the receiving hopper 215 receives cut tobacco from the discharge opening 115 of the input hopper 100 described above. As an inward side 213 of conveyor 202 and an inward side 214 of conveyor 205 move downward, cut tobacco is received from the receiving hopper 215, compressed by conveyors 202 and 205, and ultimately transferred to a compressor device 250.
The tobacco compressing device 250 illustrated in
In operation, the downwardly moving inner sides 213 and 214 of conveyors 202 and 205, respectively, partially compress cut tobacco and deliver it to the compression cavity 253. The conveyors 202 and 205 run for a period of time to deliver an amount of cut tobacco into the compression cavity 253, and then stop. The amount of tobacco that is delivered into the compression cavity 253 may be within a predetermined range, with the exact amount being established by the operator of the machine depending on individual preferences, which may include, among other things, the operator's preferred “draw” of the cigarette. Then, the piston 261 pushes the first compression plate 251, by way of piston rod 262, toward the second compression plate 252, further compressing the tobacco in the tobacco cavity 253. As the first compression plate 251 moves toward the second compression plate 252, the top edge 257 of the first compression plate 251 meets the cutting edge 264 of the knife 263. The cut tobacco in the compression cavity 253 is then sheared from the cut tobacco in the tobacco conveying zone 214. The first compression plate 251 continues to move toward the second compression plate 252, thereby forming a tobacco plug 265. The first compression plate 251 then retreats slightly away from the second compression plate 252, allowing a tobacco plug insertion pin 501 (
The second end 864 outside diameter 865 of the tapered portion 852 is less than the outside diameter 854 of the cylindrical portion 851 to guide a cigarette blank (not shown) onto the larger cylindrical portion 851. A tobacco plug (not shown) enters the filling tube 350 through the first end 860 of the cylindrical portion 851, and moves forward into the tapered portion 852, which is constructed of metal, plastic or other materials that are sufficiently flexible to expand and contract. The tobacco plug has an outside diameter that is slightly smaller than the inside diameter 853 of the cylindrical portion 851. Thus, when the tobacco plug is inserted into the filling tube 350, it expands the flexible tapered portion 852 so that the second end 864 of the flexible tapered portion 852 has an outside diameter 865 approximately the same as the outside diameter 854 of the cylindrical portion 851. When a completed cigarette (not shown) is removed from the filing tube, the outside diameter 865 of the second end 864 returns to its initial smaller diameter. In one embodiment, the tapered portion 852 contains a plurality of flexible fingers 870 that are biased inward at the second end 864, thereby forming an outside diameter 865. In
The filling tubes may be mounted on a filling tube drum 401 shown in
Referring to
Axially aligned with the filling tube hole 404 is a conical directing hole 411, having a proximal end 412 and a distal end 413. The distal end 413 of the cone shaped hole defines the larger diameter of the cone, and the diameter of the proximal end of the cone shaped hole is slightly larger than the outside diameter of a cigarette blank (discussed later).
As noted above, the sensor 601 determines whether a cigarette blank is loaded properly onto a filling tube before injecting a tobacco plug into the filling tube and cigarette blank. If an improperly loaded cigarette blank is found, the cigarette blank is not injected with a tobacco plug and the improperly loaded cigarette blank continues to rotate on the drum, eventually arriving at the cigarette blank rejection location.
Referring now to
In operation, a user turns the cartridge 310 upside down so that the bottom 316 is on the top, and opens fully the bottom 316. The user then sets a full box of cigarette blanks into the cartridge 310. Thereafter, the user may tear the top from the cigarette carton and close the cartridge bottom 316. The loaded cartridge is then ready for loading into the cartridge tube separator device 300.
The mounting and operation of the first side plate 331 will be described herein, and the mounting and operation of the opposing second side plate (not shown) is substantially similar to that of the first side plate 331. A cross bar 336 ties the first side plate 331 to the second side plate (not shown). The cross bar 336 has a cartridge tab receiving area 337 for receiving the mounting tab 320 disposed on the second end wall 312 of the cartridge box 321. The first side plate 331 has an upper end 332 that is pivotally mounted at a pivot point 338 adjacent to the upper end 328 of the base plate 326. A portion 335 of the first side plate 331 rides on an eccentric cam 333 that rotates about a camshaft 334. The cam shaft may be driven by a motor (not shown) or by other means available to impart a rotational action upon the camshaft 334.
The lower end 327 of the base plate 326 abuts a shaking assembly 380. In one embodiment, the shaking assembly 380 has a shaking plate 381 pivotably mounted a top end 383 to a frame 382. The shaking plate 381 may be shook by a variety of methods, and one method of shaking the plate is by an eccentric cam 384. In operation, the rotation of the eccentric cam pivots the plate about the top end 383 of the shaking plate 381, thereby shaking a plurality of cigarette blanks 390. Typically, a lower end 385 of the shaking plate 381 is at a sufficient distance above the base plate 326 to allow a lowest plurality of cigarette blanks 396 to pass between the base plate 326 and the lower end 385 of the shaking plate 381.
The plurality of cigarette blanks 390 has a first row 387, a second row 388 and upper rows 389. As the shaking plate 381 advances towards the upper end 328 of the base plate 326, because of the rotation of the cam 384, the shaking plate 381 pushes the plurality of cigarette blanks 390 toward the upper end 328 of the base plate 326. The base plate 326, has a retainer 391 for maintaining the position of the cigarette blanks once they move to the lower end 392 of the retainer 391. By shaking the second row 388 and the upper rows 389 of a plurality of cigarettes blanks 390, the shaking plate breaks up the pyramidal structure 393 that ordinarily forms between successive rows of cigarettes. Additionally, the retainer 391 keeps the lower plurality of cigarette blanks 396 from moving toward the upper end 328 of the base plate 326, furthering the shaker's effectiveness in breaking the pyramidal structure 393.
The cigarette blank loading area 394 has in it a cigarette blank 395 ready to be loaded onto a filling tube 350 as depicted in
Referring back to
The cigarette blank separating device 300 separates a cigarette blank 395 from the plurality of tubes in the cartridge 310, allowing a cigarette blank to flow into the loading area 394 as shown in
Referring again to
If the sensor 601 has found an improperly loaded cigarette blank, then the drum 401 with the filling tube 350 holding the improperly loaded cigarette blank will continue to index forward on in the direction of arrow 602, skipping the tobacco injection process and the completed cigarette ejection process, whereupon it arrives at an improperly loaded tube rejection area 605. Thereafter, a rejection pin 502 pushes the improperly loaded cigarette blank off of the filling tube. (
After the above discussed process is complete and a completed cigarette is made (or an improperly loaded cigarette blank is rejected), the filling tube is ready to receive a new cigarette blank. Typically, the above discussed process will produce 25 completed cigarettes a minutes with less than 4 rejected cigarettes per 100 completed.
The plurality of filling tubes on the drum 401 allows the above steps to take place concurrently. For instance, a cigarette blank may be inserted on a filling tube at the same time a tobacco plug is being injected into another filling tube, which may be occurring at the same time a completed cigarette is being rejected from a filling tube, which may be occurring at the same time an improperly loaded cigarette blank is being rejected. Additionally, the tobacco conveying and compressing and the cigarette blank separating may also be occurring concurrently with the above steps.
While the present invention has been illustrated by the description of embodiments thereof, and while the embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not intended to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The invention is therefore not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and method, and illustrated examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.
Claims
1. A tobacco filling tube comprising:
- a cylindrical portion having an outside diameter, an inside diameter, a first end and a second end,
- a hollow tapered portion having a first end with an outside diameter and a second end with an outside diameter,
- wherein the first end of the tapered portion adjoins the second end of the cylindrical portion,
- wherein said outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is substantially the same as the outside diameter of the cylindrical portion,
- wherein said outside diameter of the second end of the tapered portion is less than the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion,
- wherein the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is sized to fit inside a tobacco blank,
- wherein said tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter.
2. The filling tube according to claim 1, wherein said tapered portion comprises a plurality of flexible fingers.
3. The filling tube according to claim 1, wherein said tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand to substantially the same diameter as the first end of the tapered portion and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter.
4. The filling tube according to claim 2, wherein said tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand to substantially the same diameter as the first end of the tapered portion and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter.
5. The filing tube according to claim 1, said filling tube further comprising a cigarette making apparatus to which the filling tube is mounted, said cigarette making apparatus further comprising a tobacco loading apparatus, a cigarette plug compression apparatus, a tobacco blank separation apparatus, and a tobacco blank loading apparatus mounted to said cigarette making apparatus.
6. An apparatus comprising:
- a filling tube holder capable of holding a plurality of filling tubes,
- a plurality of filling tubes mounted to said filling tube holder, each of a plurality of filling tubes having a cylindrical portion having an outside diameter, an inside diameter, a first end and a second end, and a hollow tapered portion having a first end with an outside diameter and a second end with an outside diameter,
- wherein the first end of the tapered portion adjoins the second end of the cylindrical portion,
- wherein said outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is substantially the same as the outside diameter of the cylindrical portion,
- wherein said outside diameter of the second end of the tapered portion is less than the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion,
- wherein the outside diameter of the first end of tapered portion is sized to fit inside a tobacco blank,
- wherein the tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter.
7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the tapered portion comprises a plurality of flexible fingers.
8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand to substantially the same diameter as the first end of the tapered portion and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter.
9. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand to substantially the same diameter as the first end of the tapered portion and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter.
10. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the tube holder is a drum.
11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the drum is rotatable.
12. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the tube holder is a drum.
13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the drum is rotatable.
14. The apparatus according to claim 6, said apparatus further comprising a cigarette making apparatus to which the filling tube is mounted, said cigarette making apparatus further comprising a tobacco loading apparatus, a cigarette plug compression apparatus, a tobacco blank separation apparatus, and a tobacco blank loading apparatus mounted to said cigarette making apparatus.
15. A method of locating a tobacco blank on a tobacco filling tube, said method comprising:
- providing at least one filling tube comprising a cylindrical portion having an outside diameter, an inside diameter, a first end and a second end, and a hollow tapered portion having a first end with an outside diameter and a second end with an outside diameter, wherein the first end of the tapered portion adjoins the second end of the cylindrical portion, wherein said outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is substantially the same as the outside diameter of the cylindrical portion, wherein said outside diameter of the second end of the tapered portion is less than the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion, wherein the outside diameter of the first end of the tapered portion is sized to fit inside a tobacco blank, wherein the tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter, and
- dispensing a tobacco blank over the at least one filling tube.
16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the tapered portion comprises a plurality of flexible fingers.
17. The method according to claim 15, wherein said tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand to substantially the same diameter as the first end of the tapered portion and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter.
18. The method according to claim 16, wherein said tapered portion is flexible to allow the second end of the tapered portion to expand to substantially the same diameter as the first end of the tapered portion and thereafter return to its initial outside diameter.
19. The method according to claim 15, further comprising providing a filling tube holder wherein said at least one filling tube is mounted to said filling tube.
20. The method according to claim 19, wherein said filling tube holder is a drum.
21. The method according to claim 20, wherein said drum is rotatable.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 4, 2009
Publication Date: Mar 10, 2011
Inventor: Jacques Laplante (Niles, OH)
Application Number: 12/554,109