Abstract: A bucking machine with internal motor rollers includes a frame and first and second rollers mounted on the frame. Each of the first and second rollers includes an internal housing inside the roller, and a motor is disposed inside the internal housing within each roller. Each motor is completely housed inside the roller such that external motors are not necessary to drive rotation of the rollers. Each motor roller is connected to a motor control via a cable that provides power and instructions to the motor. A stem on a plant is inserted into a bore in a debudding cone such that the stem is received between the first and second rollers and is pulled through the machine. As the stem is pulled through the machine between the first and second rollers the flower is separated from the stem by engagement with the debudding cone.

Abstract: A method for threshing and pneumatic separation of tobacco leaves, including: 1) transporting a mixture of the tobacco slices and stems from a primary threshing set into primary pneumatic separation unit for sorting out tobacco slices, and transporting a remaining mixture into a secondary threshing set; 2) transporting the mixture from the secondary threshing set into a secondary pneumatic separation unit for sorting out the tobacco slices and qualified stems, and transferring a remaining mixture to a tertiary threshing set; 3) transporting the mixture from the tertiary threshing set into a tertiary pneumatic separation unit for sorting out the tobacco slices and the qualified stems, and transferring a remaining mixture into a quaternary threshing set; 4) transporting the mixture from the quaternary threshing set into a quaternary pneumatic separation unit for sorting out the tobacco slices and the qualified stems, and returning a remaining mixture to the quaternary threshing set.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of producing cut tobacco material, whereby a tobacco initial material is heated and placed under pressure and once heated and placed under pressure, the material is fed through a shearing gap and expanded and defibrated. It further relates to a device for producing cut tobacco material with a pressure chamber, which has a tobacco material inlet at the low-pressure end and a tobacco material outlet at the pressure end and a conveyor system for conveying the tobacco material from the inlet to the outlet, and the tobacco material outlet has a gap through which the material passes and expands, and the gap has walls which can be moved towards one another. It further relates to a smoking article containing such a cut, defibrated tobacco material product and the use of a plug screw feeder-extruder with a shearing gap outlet for defibrating tobacco material.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a cellulosic material having one or more smoke diluents within its cellular structure and, optionally, one or more smoke diluents on its surface.

Abstract: A machine which provides for both leaf stripping and grading can be used to process plants, such as burley tobacco plants, by continuously moving the plants in a first direction while simultaneously varying the position of the plants in a second direction relative to a defoliating apparatus. The plants may be moved horizontally through a machine by a transporter engaging the plant stalks while the vertical distance between the transporter (and thus the plants) is varied relative to the defoliating apparatus. The transporter and defoliating apparatus may be positioned at an angle to one another. Due to the changing amount of vertical distance, leaves from different sections of the plants, such as leaves at different stalk heights, can be contacted and removed at different corresponding horizontal locations in the machine. Accordingly, leaves can be graded based on the location(s) from which they are retrieved after removal.

Abstract: Size reduction equipment is added at the feed end of a cigarette maker to take separated winnowers and other overages from a tobacco feed to the maker, cut or shred the overages to appropriate size and reintroduce the cut or shred overages into the lamina stream from a tobacco feed hopper for the cigarette maker. The winnowers may be pneumatically or mechanically conveyed back into the feed stream in the cigarette maker.

Abstract: Tobacco is treated before or during curing to lower or eliminate bacterial populations and/or activity, fungal growth, and/or tobacco-specific nitrosamine or bacterial endotoxin levels in the cured tobacco, wherein the tobacco is treated with an effective amount of a wash solution. Air-cured tobacco may be cured in four weeks or less when treated with a wash solution of bicarbonate salts.

Abstract: In a process to reduce fines and objectionable stem from tobacco in a smoking article, a humectant, particularly glycerin, is added to whole leaf tobacco prior de-stemming. After de-stemming, stems are separated from lamina and the stems and lamina are further processed for use in smoking articles, particularly cigarettes.

Abstract: A process for preparing tobacco stem for use as filler for a smoking article includes classifying the green tobacco stem by diameter to provide a plurality of stem grades and rolling each grade separately. Each grade is rolled under rolling conditions optimized for that grade including rolling the grade through the nip between rollers with the nip size being adjusted for each grade so as to achieve a uniform rolled stem thickness and the oven volatiles content of the stem being adjusted before the rolling. The yield of flat rolled stem which may be used directly as filler is increased, and the average stem length and thus the average length of cut filler from stem is increased.

Abstract: An apparatus for threshing tobacco includes a rotatable stripper and a feeder which includes a pair of cooperating counter-rotatable elements for delivering tobacco leaves to the stripper. The feeder and the stripper are arranged such that, in use, the tobacco leaves experience shearing forces as they pass from between the counter-rotating elements to the rotating stripper. These forces at least partially strip the lamina from the stems.

Abstract: An inductively driven gas discharge lamp assembly (40) includes an electrodeless lamp (42), an inductive drive coil (44) disposed about the lamp, and a shield (10) disposed over an end portion (50) of the lamp. The shield (10) has a number of turns (12) of electrically conductive material, such as wire, with each of the turns being disposed generally coaxially about the central, longitudinal axis (20) of the drive coil (44). The turns (12) together form a continuous spiral helix and are shorted together via a number of electrical conductors (14) that are angularly disposed about the axis (20). These electrical conductors (14) extend generally perpendicularly to the turns (12) and are connected to the ground node (26) of a d.c. to a.c. inverter circuit 46 that is used to drive coil 44. This arrangement provides good r.f.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a plant for the treatment of tobacco leaves for the production of cut tobacco for smokable articles, in which stems and the lamina material of the tobacco leaves are conditioned and cut separately from each other. The conditioned, non-rolled, cut and optionally expanded stems are blended with the conditioned and cut lamina, and the lamina and stems are then jointly conditioned and dried.

Abstract: Tobacco leaf stem is separated into large-stem and small-stem fractions, the large-stem fraction is cut in a stem cutter and the small-stem fraction is shredded in a mill, whereafter the cut and shredded materials are mixed.

Abstract: A tobacco harvester for automatically harvesting only tobacco leaves in which leaf stripping claws of leaf stripping chains descend along a stem of a tobacco plant to strip down the tobacco leaves and transporting conveyors transport the tobacco leaves to a storage section. The tobacco harvester according to the present invention having a movable main body; a harvesting mechanism mounted on the main body for harvesting tobacco leaves while the main body travels. The harvesting mechanism having a pair of leaf transporting mechanisms which oppose each other with a clearance through which a stem of a tobacco plant passes, the leaf transporting mechanisms arranged on right and left sides of the main body and having leaf transporting rollers and endless conveyor belts disposed below the leaf transporting rollers which oppose each other and travel transversely to the main body, and leaf stripping chains disposed above and opposing the pair of leaf transporting mechanisms.

Abstract: Uncured tobacco leaves are heated by microwaves or in an electric high-frequency field prior to subdivision into ribs and strips. The strips are separated from the ribs, preferably with a stream of conditioned air, and are thereupon heated again and condensed, and the condensed strips are dried and cooled in vacuo prior to packing. The separated ribs are heated and are thereupon introduced into containers. The containers are then admitted into a vacuum chamber for cooling and drying of the ribs therein prior to packing.

Abstract: A sorting system according to the present invention comprises a leaf picking apparatus for picking off tobacco leaves from tobacco plants and dropping the leaves while the plants are being passed through the leaf picking apparatus, a collecting vessel disposed under the picking apparatus and adapted to receive and collect and picked and dropped tobacco leaves, a plurality of partition walls disposed in the vessel and dividing the inside thereof into a plurality of compartments successively arranged in a guide direction across the passing direction of the plants, a pair of inclined guide rails for guiding the collecting vessel in moving in the guide direction, and a rack and pinion for moving the collecting vessel in association with the transport of the tobacco plants.

Abstract: A system for controlling the lamina size in a raw material treatment process for tobacco leaves comprising measuring means for measuring the production rate of the laminae larger than a given size in the raw material treatment process in which the tobacco leaves which have been provided with a water content and temperature by a humidity controller are stripped into laminae and ribs by means of rib removing machines capable of changing a mechanical impact force applied upon the tobacco leaves by changing the rotational number of grid or threshing gear and are then separated by means of separating machines, and operational control means for receiving measurement signals from said measuring means as a feedback signal for searching a water content, temperature and rotational number of grid or threshing gear which minimize the production rate of the laminae not larger than a given size by a hill-climb method using the water content and temperature provided by the humidity controller and the rotational number of gr

Abstract: An apparatus for determining the stem content of a mass of plant leaves including a size reduction and classifying mechanism for separating the leaves into a stem and lamina portion and a means for introducing the leaves into the reduction and classifying mechanism. A dryer is utilized to reduce the moisture to a proper content for separation and classifying. The separated stem and lamina portions are transported to a scale mechanism which weighs the separated stem and lamina portions to permit calculation of the stem content of the leaf mass.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for producing tobacco filler by cutting whole tobacco leaves, including stems, is provided. The leaves, with stems in, are cut to produce strands of lamina and strands of stem and lamina. The strands are carded to disentangle them and then put through a separator to separate the strands of lamina, for use as filler, from strands of stem and lamina. The strands of stem and lamina can be carded again to disentangle may remaining strands of lamina that there may be, and the strands can then be passed through another separator. The process can be repeated several times if necessary.

Abstract: A process for converting cigarette tobacco winnowings into usable form for cigarette making, comprises crushing the winnowings, which have a moisture content compatible with cigarette making, effecting a first sieving operation on the resulting crushed winnowings, and effecting a second sieving operation on the smaller fraction resulting from the first sieving operation to remove particles unsuitable for direct use. Any larger fraction resulting from the first sieving operation may be subjected to cutting and thereafter a third sieving operation.Suitable apparatus for converting cigarette tobacco winnowings having a moisture content compatible with cigarette making into usable form for cigarette making, comprises crushing rollers (11, 12) to which the winnowings are fed, a sieve (18) arranged to receive the crushed winnowings from the crusher, and a second sieve (19) provided to separate the tobacco usable for cigarette making from tobacco dust.

Abstract: A loose leaf chewing tobacco product is prepared from leaf tobacco by removing the stems and major veins, then cutting the leaves across the grain of the remaining veins in a uniform manner with the cuts being spaced no greater than 1/4 inch apart, then casing the leaves with a casing mixture and finally drying the cased leaves.

Abstract: A tobacco separator is provided for separating light fractions (laminae) from heavy fractions (mid-rib or stem) from threshed tobacco.The separator comprises a separating chamber (10) having an upper first inlet (8) for receiving the material to be separated or classified, and a lower second inlet (9) for receiving a flow of air directed transversely of the material path from the first inlet, a plurality of channels (14-17) are disposed one above the other to receive the tobacco laden air from said inlet, a vertical air passage (20) in communication at its lower end with the lowermost of said channels; and an outlet passage (19) in communication with all said channels.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method and apparatus for processing baled tobacco leaves to separate the lamina portions of the leaves from the stem portions. The bale is cut symmetrically, crosswise to its length, into three or preferably five separate sections, of different characteristic types. A center section is cut from the middle of the bale. On each side of the center section a second section is cut; and two end sections are preferably cut, one at each end of the bale. The different types of sections have different lamina-to-stem ratios, and are processed differently. The second sections are coarsely threshed, to dislodge the larger lamina portions of the leaves from the stem portions therein, and the coarsely threshed material is separated into a first light fraction (comprising mostly lamina) and a first heavy fraction (enriched in stem content). The center section can be combined with the light fraction and can be dried and packed without the necessity of further threshing.