CN220255690U - Tobacco shred expansion equipment and tobacco production system - Google Patents

Abstract

The application provides a tobacco expansion device and a tobacco production system. The tobacco shred expansion device comprises: a storage bin for storing the cut tobacco flowing out of the impregnator; the expansion device is arranged at the downstream of the storage bin along the flowing direction of the cut tobacco so as to receive the cut tobacco flowing out of the storage bin and expand the cut tobacco; and the loosening device is arranged between the storage bin and the expansion device along the flowing direction of the tobacco shreds and is used for loosening the tobacco shreds flowing from the storage bin to the expansion device. Therefore, the expansion effect of the tobacco shred expansion equipment can be effectively improved.

Description

Tobacco shred expansion equipment and tobacco production system

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of tobacco machinery, in particular to tobacco shred expansion equipment and a tobacco production system.

Background

The tobacco shred expansion device is an important component of a tobacco production system, and generally comprises an impregnator, a storage bin and an expansion device which are sequentially arranged along the tobacco shred flowing direction so as to sequentially impregnate, store and expand tobacco shreds, and finally, expanded tobacco shreds are prepared.

In the process of preparing the expanded cut tobacco, the cut tobacco contains moisture, so that the cut tobacco is easy to form large cut tobacco clusters, and the large cut tobacco clusters are difficult to fully absorb heat in the expansion process to influence the expansion effect, so that the cut tobacco is required to be treated.

In the related art, the tobacco shred expansion device does not fully process the massive tobacco shred clusters, in particular, the massive tobacco shred clusters in the tobacco shreds flowing from the storage bin to the expansion device are not processed, so that the expansion effect is poor, and the product quality is affected.

Disclosure of Invention

One technical problem to be solved by the present application is: improving the expansion effect of the tobacco shred expansion equipment.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present application provides a tobacco shred expansion apparatus, which includes:

a storage bin for storing the cut tobacco flowing out of the impregnator;

the expansion device is arranged at the downstream of the storage bin along the flowing direction of the cut tobacco so as to receive the cut tobacco flowing out of the storage bin and expand the cut tobacco; and

the loosening device is arranged between the storage bin and the expansion device along the flowing direction of the tobacco shreds and is used for loosening the tobacco shreds flowing from the storage bin to the expansion device.

In some embodiments, the loosening device also sorts the cut tobacco flowing from the storage bin to the expansion device to form a first portion and a second portion having a smaller volume than the first portion, and causes the sorted first portion to flow to the expansion device after loosening by the loosening device, and the second portion to flow to the expansion device without loosening by the loosening device.

In some embodiments, the tobacco expansion apparatus further comprises a conveyor belt and a feed airlock disposed between the storage bin and the expansion device in sequence along the direction of flow of the tobacco, such that the tobacco flowing from the storage bin flows to the expansion device after passing through the conveyor belt and the feed airlock in sequence, and the loosening device is disposed between the conveyor belt and the feed airlock along the direction of flow of the tobacco.

In some embodiments, the tobacco expansion apparatus further comprises an opener disposed between the impregnator and the storage bin along a direction of flow of the tobacco, loosening the tobacco flowing from the impregnator to the storage bin.

In some embodiments, the loosening device includes a loosening mechanism located in the path of the tobacco from the storage bin to the expansion device and including two loosening rollers spaced side by side and each rotatable to loosen the tobacco flowing between the two loosening rollers.

In some embodiments, the loosening mechanism is located in the path of the tobacco shreds flowing from the conveyor belt of the tobacco shred expansion apparatus to the feed airlock of the tobacco shred expansion apparatus.

In some embodiments, the loosening mechanism is configured to at least one of:

the gap between the two loosening rollers is 5-15 mm;

the gap between the two loosening rollers is adjustable;

at least one of the two loosening rollers is adjustable in rotation speed;

at least one of the two loosening rollers is provided with loosening teeth.

In some embodiments, the loose teeth include two flanks that are oppositely sloped and intersect on a side distal from the loose roller center to form a tooth tip; and/or at least two loosening teeth are arranged on at least one of the two loosening rollers.

In some embodiments, at least one of the two loosening rollers is provided with a plurality of loosening teeth.

In some embodiments, 6 to 12 loosening teeth are provided on at least one of the two loosening rollers.

In some embodiments, the loosening device further comprises a sorting mechanism positioned between the storage bin and the loosening mechanism along the direction of flow of the tobacco shreds, and sorting the mass of the tobacco shreds flowing from the storage bin to the expansion device into a first portion and a second portion having a smaller volume than the first portion, and causing the sorted first portion to flow to the expansion device after loosening by the loosening device, while the second portion flows to the expansion device without loosening by the loosening device.

In some embodiments, the sorting mechanism is located between the conveyor belt of the tobacco expansion device and the loosening mechanism along the direction of flow of the tobacco.

In some embodiments, the sorting mechanism includes a sorting roller rotatably disposed and including a roller body and a sorting unit disposed on the roller body and including a plurality of rake nails spaced apart along a circumference of the roller body, a gap between any adjacent two of the rake nails in the sorting unit being configured to not allow the first portion to pass therethrough and to allow the second portion to pass therethrough.

In some embodiments, the sorting roller is configured to at least one of:

the sorting unit comprises 10-20 harrow nails;

the clearance between any two adjacent harrow nails in the sorting unit is 15-35 mm;

the distance between the harrow nails of the conveying belt facing the tobacco shred expansion equipment on the sorting roller and the conveying belt is 3-10 mm;

the rotational speed of the sorting roller is adjustable.

The present application additionally provides a tobacco production system comprising a tobacco expansion apparatus of any of the embodiments of the present application.

By arranging the loosening device between the storage bin and the expansion device, the tobacco shreds flowing from the storage bin to the expansion device are loosened, so that large tobacco shreds in the tobacco shreds flowing into the expansion device can be reduced, and the expansion effect of the tobacco shred expansion device can be improved.

Other features of the present application and its advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present application, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings that are required in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below, it being obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and that other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a tobacco expansion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a partially enlarged schematic view of fig. 1 at a loosening device.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of the construction of the sorting roll of fig. 2.

Reference numerals illustrate:

10. a tobacco shred expansion device;

1. an impregnator;

2. an opener;

3. storing the bin;

41. a conveyor belt; 42. a feed airlock; 43. a protective cover;

5. a loosening device; 51. a sorting mechanism; 52. a loosening mechanism; 53. a sorting roller; 54. a roller body; 55. a sorting unit; 56. a harrow nail; 57. a loosening roller; 58. loosening teeth; 59. tooth surfaces; 50. tooth tips;

6. an expansion device; 61. a sublimator;

7. a tangential separator;

8. and (5) discharging an air lock.

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present application will be made clearly and fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is evident that the embodiments described are only some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present application. The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the application, its application, or uses. All other embodiments, which can be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without undue burden from the inventors, are within the scope of the present application, based on the embodiments herein.

Techniques, methods, and apparatus known to one of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail, but are intended to be part of the specification where appropriate.

In the description of the present application, it should be understood that, where azimuth terms such as "front, rear, upper, lower, left, right", "transverse, vertical, horizontal", and "top, bottom", etc., indicate azimuth or positional relationships generally based on those shown in the drawings, only for convenience of description and simplification of the description, these azimuth terms do not indicate and imply that the apparatus or elements referred to must have a specific azimuth or be constructed and operated in a specific azimuth, and thus should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present application; the orientation word "inner and outer" refers to inner and outer relative to the contour of the respective component itself.

In the description of the present application, it should be understood that, the terms "first," "second," etc. are used for defining the components, and are merely for convenience in distinguishing the corresponding components, and if not otherwise stated, the terms are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present application.

In addition, the technical features described below in the different embodiments of the present application may be combined with each other as long as they do not collide with each other.

Tobacco shred expansion is an important link in the tobacco processing process, and can effectively reduce the tar content of cigarettes and improve the quality of the cigarettes. After the tobacco shreds are expanded, the volume is increased, the filling value is increased, and the content of harmful substances such as tar is reduced, so that the tar content of cigarettes can be effectively reduced, and the quality of cigarettes is improved.

The tobacco shred expansion equipment is special equipment for realizing a tobacco shred expansion process, and whether the tobacco shred expansion equipment can realize a better expansion effect or not is one of important factors influencing the quality of finished products of cigarettes. Whether the tobacco shred expansion equipment can achieve a better expansion effect or not is influenced by the tobacco shred expansion equipment on the treatment effect of the large-block tobacco shred clusters in the tobacco shreds. Because the tobacco shreds contain moisture in the tobacco shred expansion process, the tobacco shreds are easy to form large tobacco shred clusters, the large tobacco shred clusters are difficult to effectively absorb heat in the heating expansion process, the expansion effect is not fully influenced, and the tobacco shreds which are not fully expanded are mixed into the finished expanded tobacco shreds, so that the quality of the finished expanded tobacco shreds is influenced, and the quality of cigarettes is reduced.

In order to realize the effective treatment of the massive tobacco shred clusters, improve the expansion effect of tobacco shred expansion equipment and improve the product quality, the application improves the structure of the tobacco shred expansion equipment.

Fig. 1 to 3 exemplarily show the construction of the tobacco expansion apparatus in the present application.

Referring to fig. 1-3, a tobacco expansion apparatus 10 provided herein includes a storage bin 3, an expansion device 6, and a loosening device 5. The storage bin 3 is used for storing cut tobacco flowing out of the impregnator 1. An expansion device 6 is provided downstream of the storage bin 3 in the direction of flow of the tobacco, to receive the tobacco flowing out of the storage bin 3 and expand the tobacco. The loosening device 5 is disposed between the storage bin 3 and the expansion device 6 along the flow direction of the tobacco shreds, and loosens the tobacco shreds flowing from the storage bin 3 to the expansion device 6.

In the related art, the loosening device 5 is not arranged between the storage bin 3 and the expansion device 6, and the tobacco shreds are not subjected to loosening treatment in the process that the tobacco shreds flow from the storage bin 3 to the expansion device 6, so that large tobacco shreds in the tobacco shreds flowing out of the storage bin 3 can directly enter the expansion device 6 to be expanded, and the core parts of the corresponding large tobacco shreds are difficult to absorb enough heat, so that the large tobacco shreds are difficult to fully expand, the integral expansion effect of the tobacco shred expansion device 10 is affected, and dry ice exists in the part of the insufficiently expanded tobacco shreds and is mixed in the finished expanded tobacco shreds, so that the process quality of the product is affected, and the quality of cigarettes is reduced.

Although some measures are taken in the related art to reduce the adverse effects of the large-sized cut tobacco mass, the effect is still not ideal.

For example, in some related art, an opener 2 (see fig. 1) is provided between the impregnator 1 and the storage bin 3, and the respective opener 2 loosens the cut tobacco before it enters the storage bin 3, and breaks up the mass of cut tobacco. In this way, although the adverse effects of the large shredded tobacco clusters can be reduced to some extent, it is still difficult to effectively prevent the large shredded tobacco clusters from flowing from the storage bin 3 to the expansion device 6, affecting the expansion effect and product quality. Because, on the one hand, the cut tobacco which has been opened by the opener 2 is easily recombined into a large mass of cut tobacco during storage after entering the storage bin 3, and, on the other hand, in order to prevent the dry ice cut tobacco from being broken too much, the distance between the rake nails of the opener 2 is usually set to be large, typically around 50mm, which results in a large volume of cut tobacco mass still being present even through the opening action of the opener 2, which results in a large volume of cut tobacco mass still flowing from the storage bin 3 into the expansion device 6 even if the opener 2 is provided, which affects the expansion effect and the product quality.

As another example, in some related art, a wind separation device is provided downstream of the tobacco shred expansion apparatus 10, and wind separation is performed on the insufficiently expanded dry ice tobacco shreds flowing out from the tobacco shred expansion apparatus 10, so as to reduce the influence of the insufficiently expanded large tobacco shreds on the quality of the finished product. However, this method cannot solve the problem of poor expansion effect of the tobacco expansion apparatus 10, and also has a problem of large energy consumption.

To above-mentioned condition, this application sets up loosening device 5 between storage bin 3 and expansion device 6, like this, can loosen the pipe tobacco that flows to expansion device 6 by storage bin 3, will flow to the big piece pipe tobacco group in the pipe tobacco of expansion device 6 by storage bin 3 and break up, reduce the proportion of big piece pipe tobacco group in the pipe tobacco that gets into expansion device 6 for after the pipe tobacco flows into expansion device 6, can fully absorb heat and expand, and then effectively improve expansion effect, promote product quality.

Especially, in the case that the opener 2 is provided between the impregnator 1 and the storage bin 3, the loosening device 5 provided between the storage bin 3 and the expansion device 6 can be matched with the opener 2 to form two loosening steps before and after the cut tobacco is formed, so that the cut tobacco expansion device 10 can not only loosen the cut tobacco by the opener 2 once before the cut tobacco flows into the storage bin 3, but also loosen the cut tobacco by the loosening device 5 twice in the process that the cut tobacco flows from the storage bin 3 to the expansion device 6, so that the loosening device 2 can not loosen the cut tobacco and the cut tobacco which is formed again in the storage bin 3 can be more favorably loosened, the expansion effect can be further effectively improved, and the product quality can be improved.

Simultaneously, the expansion effect is improved, and the large dry ice tobacco shreds in the tobacco shreds flowing out of the expansion device 6 are reduced, so that the load of a downstream winnowing device is reduced, and even the winnowing device is not required to be arranged, and the method is beneficial to reducing unnecessary consumption and saving energy and cost.

Therefore, the tobacco shreds flowing from the storage bin 3 to the expansion device 6 are loosened by arranging the loosening device 5 between the storage bin 3 and the expansion device 6, so that the expansion effect is effectively improved and the product quality is improved under the condition of reducing production consumption.

The loosening device 5 may be arranged at any position between the storage bin 3 and the expansion device 6, as long as the tobacco shreds flowing from the storage bin 3 to the expansion device 6 can be loosened. Illustratively, referring to fig. 1, the tobacco expansion apparatus 10 includes not only the storage bin 3, the expansion device 6, and the loosening device 5, but also the conveyor belt 41 and the feed air lock 42, wherein, along the flow direction of the tobacco, the conveyor belt 41 and the feed air lock 42 are disposed between the storage bin 3 and the expansion device 6 in this order, so that the tobacco flowing out from the storage bin 3 flows to the expansion device 6 after flowing through the conveyor belt 41 and the feed air lock 42 in this order, and the loosening device 5 is disposed between the conveyor belt 41 and the feed air lock 42 along the flow direction of the tobacco.

In the above scheme, the loosening device 5 is arranged between the conveying belt 41 and the feeding airlock 42 between the storage bin 3 and the expansion device 6, and is closer to the expansion device 6, so that the tobacco shreds can be more effectively broken before entering the expansion device 6, and the number of the large-block tobacco shreds flowing into the expansion device 6 can be more reliably reduced, thereby being more beneficial to improving the expansion effect and improving the product quality. Moreover, the space between the conveyor belt 41 and the feed airlock 42 also facilitates the arrangement of the loosening device 5.

To achieve the loosening of the tobacco shreds by the loosening device 5, see fig. 1 and 2, in some embodiments the loosening device 5 comprises a loosening mechanism 52, the loosening mechanism 52 being located in the path of the tobacco shreds from the storage bin 3 to the expansion device 6, for example in the path of the tobacco shreds from the conveyor belt 41 to the feed airlock 42.

In particular, referring to fig. 1 and 2, in some embodiments, the loosening mechanism 52 includes two loosening rollers 57, the two loosening rollers 57 being arranged side-by-side in a spaced apart relationship and each rotatable to loosen tobacco shreds flowing between the two loosening rollers 57. Therefore, the cut tobacco can flow through the gap between the two loosening rollers 57 before flowing into the expansion device 6, and the two rotating loosening rollers 57 crush and crush the cut tobacco clusters with larger blocks, so that the volume of the large cut tobacco clusters is reduced, the loosening purpose is realized, the volumes of materials entering the expansion device 6 are smaller, the heat absorption expansion can be fully realized, and the better expansion effect is realized.

The gap between the two loosening rollers 57 is related to the volume of the cut tobacco mass that can be broken up by the loosening mechanism 52, and affects the loosening effect and thus the expansion effect.

To achieve a good loosening effect and thus a good expansion effect, the gap between the two loosening rollers 57 is set to 5-15 mm in some embodiments. At this time, the gap between the two loosening rollers 57 is relatively suitable, so that on one hand, larger cut tobacco clusters can be sufficiently scattered, a relatively good loosening effect can be achieved, and an expansion effect can be effectively improved.

In addition, in some embodiments, the gap between the two loosening rollers 57 may be adjustable. In this way, the gap between the two loosening rollers 57 can be flexibly adjusted according to the actual requirements, so as to achieve a better scattering effect.

Further, referring to fig. 3, in some embodiments, at least one of the two loosening rollers 57 is provided with loosening teeth 58. Thus, at least one of the two loosening rollers 57 is not a smooth roller, and since in this case, the loosening roller 57 having the loosening teeth 58 can be broken up by the loosening teeth 58, a better loosening effect can be achieved compared to the case where both the loosening rollers 57 are smooth rollers without the loosening teeth 58, and moreover, the case where the material sticks to the loosening rollers 57 is less likely to occur, which is advantageous in reducing the waste of the material.

Wherein the number and shape of loose teeth 58, etc. are not limited.

For example, the number of loose teeth 58 may be one, two or more. When the number of loose teeth 58 is at least two, particularly when the number of loose teeth 58 is a plurality, it is more advantageous to sufficiently break up and reduce the binder. In some embodiments, the number of loose teeth 58 is 6-12, so that the structure is simple, the processing is convenient, a better scattering effect can be achieved, and the adhesive is effectively reduced.

As another example, the loose teeth 58 may take on various shapes such as round teeth or sharp teeth. As an example, referring to fig. 2, the loosening teeth 58 comprise two flanks 59 that are inclined relative to each other and intersect on a side remote from the center of the loosening roller 57 to form the tooth tip 50, at which point the loosening teeth 58 are pointed, allowing a more efficient break up of the shredded tobacco mass and a more efficient reduction of the risk of binding.

In the foregoing embodiments, the rotational speeds of the two loosening rollers 57 may be constant or adjustable. When at least one rotation speed of the two loosening rollers 57 is adjustable, the rotation speed of the corresponding loosening roller 57 is convenient to adjust according to practical situations, and blocking caused by too slow rotation speed of the loosening roller 57 is prevented, that is, at least one of the two loosening rollers 57 is set to be adjustable in rotation speed, so that the working flexibility is improved, and the blocking risk is reduced.

As a modification of the foregoing embodiments, in some embodiments, the loosening device 5 is configured not only to loosen the cut tobacco flowing from the storage bin 3 to the expansion device 6, but also to sort the cut tobacco flowing from the storage bin 3 to the expansion device 6 into a first portion and a second portion smaller in volume than the first portion, and to cause the sorted first portion to flow to the expansion device 6 after being loosened by the loosening device 5, and the second portion to flow to the expansion device 6 without being loosened by the loosening device 5.

Based on the above arrangement, the loosening device 5 has not only a loosening function, but also a sorting function, which is more abundant, and, since the loosening device 5 sorts before loosening, only the first portion having a larger volume is loosened, but the second portion having a smaller volume is not loosened, it is also advantageous to reduce the consumption, so that the expansion effect can be effectively improved on the basis of saving the cost.

In order to achieve the corresponding sorting function of the loosening device 5, see fig. 1 and 2, in some embodiments the loosening device 5 comprises not only the loosening means 52, but also the sorting means 51, the sorting means 51 being located between the storage bin 3 and the loosening means 52 in the direction of flow of the cut tobacco and sorting the mass of cut tobacco flowing from the storage bin 3 to the expansion device 6 into a first portion and a second portion of smaller volume than the first portion, and the sorted first portion flowing through the loosening device 5 to the expansion device 6 and the second portion flowing without loosening through the loosening device 5 to the expansion device 6.

It will be appreciated therein that when the loosening mechanism 52 is located between the conveyor belt 41 and the feed airlock 42, the sorting mechanism 51 located between the storage bin 3 and the loosening mechanism 52 along the direction of flow of the cut tobacco is located specifically between the conveyor belt 41 and the loosening mechanism 52.

As an example of the sorting mechanism 51, however, referring to fig. 1 to 3, the sorting mechanism 51 includes a sorting roller 53, the sorting roller 53 is rotatably provided and includes a roller body 54 and a sorting unit 55, the sorting unit 55 is provided on the roller body 54 and includes a plurality of rakes 56 spaced apart along a circumferential direction of the roller body 54, and a gap between any adjacent two of the rakes 56 in the sorting unit 55 is configured to allow the passage of the first portion but the passage of the second portion.

Based on the above arrangement, during operation, the second portion with smaller volume can fall down through the gap between the two circumferentially adjacent rake nails 56, while the first portion with larger volume can be clamped between the two circumferentially adjacent rake nails 56, and along with the rotation of the sorting roller 53, when the first portion and the second portion (the larger cut tobacco mass) with different volumes (the smaller cut tobacco mass and the non-agglomerated cut tobacco mass) fall down above the loosening mechanism 52, the loosening mechanism 52 is used for loosening, the effective sorting of the first portion with larger volume (the larger cut tobacco mass) and the second portion with smaller cut tobacco mass) is realized, and the first portion with larger volume obtained by sorting flows through the loosening mechanism 52, while the second portion with smaller volume does not flow through the loosening mechanism 52, so that the expansion effect is effectively improved on the basis of saving cost.

The gap between circumferentially adjacent rake pins 56 on the sorting roller 53, which is related to the size of the first part that can be sorted out, affects the sorting result and the subsequent loosening effect and thus the expansion effect.

To achieve a good sorting effect and thus a good expansion effect, in some embodiments, the gap between any two adjacent rake pins 56 in the sorting unit 55 is 15-35 mm. At this time, the gaps between two adjacent harrows 56 along the circumferential direction are more suitable, so that the full sorting of the large-block tobacco shreds with larger influence on the expansion effect can be realized, the sorting effect is effectively improved, the small-block tobacco shreds with smaller influence on the expansion effect can not be loosened, and the small-block tobacco shreds directly flow to the expansion device 6, so that the consumption is reduced, and the cost is saved.

The number of the rake fingers 56 in the sorting unit 55 may be designed in order to make the gap between any adjacent two of the rake fingers 56 in the sorting unit 55 more suitable. In some embodiments, the sorting unit 55 includes 10 to 20 rake nails 56, so that a gap between any two adjacent rake nails 56 in the sorting unit 55 is more suitable, and based on less consumption and lower cost, sufficient sorting of large-sized tobacco clusters with larger influence on expansion effect can be realized, and the sorting effect is effectively improved.

When the sorting mechanism 51 is located between the conveyor belt 41 and the loosening mechanism 52, the distance between the rake 56 of the sorting roller 53 facing the conveyor belt 41 and the conveyor belt 41 can be set to 3-10 mm, so that the distance between the sorting roller 53 and the conveyor belt 41 is proper, the material conveyed by the conveyor belt 41 can be fully received, and the sorted second part with smaller volume can be conveniently dropped.

In the foregoing embodiments, the rotational speed of the sorting roller 53 may be constant or adjustable. Wherein, when the rotational speed of letter sorting roller 53 is adjustable, be convenient for adjust the rotational speed of letter sorting roller 53 according to actual conditions, prevent to get rid of the material because of letter sorting roller 53 rotational speed is too fast, influence letter sorting effect and follow-up loose effect.

The present application is further described below in connection with the embodiments shown in fig. 1-3.

As shown in fig. 1 to 3, in this embodiment, the tobacco expansion apparatus 10 includes an impregnator 1, an opener 2, a storage bin 3, a conveyor belt 41, a feed airlock 42, an expansion device 6, a tangential separator 7, and a discharge airlock 8, which are disposed in this order along the tobacco flow direction.

Wherein, the impregnator 1 is arranged at the upstream of the opener 2 and is used for realizing the impregnation of the tobacco shreds in carbon dioxide liquid so as to prepare dry ice tobacco shreds. The carbon dioxide liquid can enter tobacco shred cells under a certain pressure, and dry ice is formed inside the tobacco shreds, so that dry ice tobacco shreds are prepared. The temperature of the dry ice tobacco shreds under normal pressure is 75.6 ℃ below zero, and because the dry ice tobacco shreds contain moisture, massive tobacco shreds are easy to form.

The opener 2 is arranged between the impregnator 1 and the storage bin 3 and is used for loosening tobacco shreds flowing from the impregnator 1 to the storage bin 3, and the opening effect is achieved by scattering massive tobacco shreds.

The storage bin 3 is arranged between the opener 2 and the conveyor belt 41, and is used for storing cut tobacco which is opened by the opener 2. In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the storage bin 3 is arranged vertically and is a vibrating bin that also vibrates the tobacco during storage of the tobacco.

A conveyor belt 41 is arranged between the storage bin 3 and the feed air lock 42 for conveying the cut tobacco stored in the storage bin 3 to the feed air lock 42 for expansion via the feed air lock 42 into the expansion device 6. In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, a conveyor belt 41 is provided in a hood 43 located below the storage bin 3 and extends horizontally to convey the cut tobacco stored in the storage bin 3 horizontally. In this embodiment, the conveyor belt 41 is a dosing belt which is able to dose cut tobacco into the expansion device 6.

The feeding airlock 42 is arranged below the protective cover 43 and below the tail end of the conveying belt 41, and is connected with a feeding port of the expansion device 6 to control whether cut tobacco falling from the conveying belt 41 enters the expansion device 6 for expansion.

An expansion device 6 is arranged between the feed airlock 42 and the tangential separator 7 for heating expansion of the tobacco shreds. In this embodiment, the expansion device 6 is a sublimator 61, which sublimates the dry ice in the tobacco shred at a high temperature to make the dry ice fly out of the tobacco shred in a gas form, so as to realize rapid temperature rise expansion of the tobacco shred. The temperature of the process gas in the sublimator 61 may be up to 300 ℃ or more to sublimate the dry ice cut tobacco effectively.

The tangential separator 7 is disposed between the expansion device 6 and the discharge air lock 8, and is used for separating the process gas from the cut tobacco, and making the cut tobacco obtained by separation flow to the discharge air lock 8. The separated cut tobacco flows out through the discharging airlock 8.

Based on the arranged impregnator 1, the opener 2, the storage bin 3, the conveyer belt 41, the feeding airlock 42, the expansion device 6, the tangential separator 7 and the discharging airlock 8, tobacco shreds firstly enter the impregnator 1 to be made into dry ice tobacco shreds in the working process, then enter the storage bin 3 for storage after being opened by the opener 4, then quantitatively feed the feeding airlock 42 by the conveyer belt 41, enter the expansion device 6 for rapid temperature rise expansion, and then flow out of the discharging airlock 8 after flowing through the tangential separator 7.

The moisture content of the cut tobacco discharged from the cut tobacco expansion device 10 is usually 6% to 8%, and in order to obtain a finished expanded cut tobacco having a moisture content of about 12%, it is usually necessary to rewet the cut tobacco discharged from the cut tobacco expansion device 10 by a rewet device.

In order to improve the expansion effect of the tobacco expansion apparatus 10, in this embodiment, the tobacco expansion apparatus 10 includes not only the impregnator 1, the opener 2, the storage bin 3, the conveyor belt 41, the feed airlock 42, the expansion device 6, the tangential separator 7 and the discharge airlock 8, but also the loosening device 5 to sort and loosen the tobacco clusters in the tobacco flowing from the conveyor belt 41 to the feed airlock 42.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, in this embodiment, the loosening device 5 is provided in a hood 43, which is located between the conveyor belt 41 and the feed airlock 42, and includes a sorting mechanism 51 and a loosening mechanism 52.

Wherein the sorting mechanism 51 is used for sorting tobacco clusters with different volumes. As shown in fig. 2 and 3, in this embodiment, the sorting mechanism 51 includes a sorting roller 53, and the sorting roller 53 is rotatably provided on the side of the conveyor belt 41 remote from the storage bin 3, and is spaced apart from the end of the conveyor belt 41. The center of the sorting roller 53 is substantially on the same horizontal line as the center of the pulley around which the conveyor belt 41 is wound, and the sorting roller 53 includes a roller body 54 and a plurality of sorting units 55. The plurality of sorting units 55 are arranged at intervals along the axial direction of the roller body 54, and each sorting unit 55 comprises 15 rakes 56 uniformly arranged along the same circumference of the roller body 54, and a gap between any two adjacent rakes 56 of the 15 rakes 56 of the same sorting unit 55 is 25mm. During operation, the sorting roller 53 always has a portion of the rake 56 facing the conveyor belt 41, in this embodiment the distance between the end of the sorting roller 53 facing the rake 56 of the conveyor belt 41 and the end of the conveyor belt 41 is 5-8 mm.

With the above arrangement, the cut tobacco conveyed by the conveyor belt 41 can sufficiently fall onto the sorting roller 53, and small cut tobacco clusters and non-agglomerated cut tobacco which have small influence on the expansion effect can pass through the gap between the circumferentially adjacent rake nails 56, fall down via one side of the loosening mechanism 52, which is close to the conveyor belt 41, directly enter the feed airlock 42, and simultaneously, large cut tobacco clusters which have large influence on the expansion effect can be clamped between the circumferentially adjacent rake nails 56, rotate together with the sorting roller 53 to one side away from the conveyor belt 41, and then fall down under the action of gravity to fall to the loosening mechanism 52 to be loosened by the loosening mechanism 52.

Also, in this embodiment, the rotation speed of the sorting roller 53 is adjustable, and the material can be prevented from being thrown away due to the excessive rotation speed.

The loosening mechanism 52 is used for loosening the large cut tobacco mass sorted by the sorting mechanism 51. As shown in fig. 2, in this embodiment, the loosening mechanism 52 is provided below the sorting roller 53 and includes two loosening rollers 57, which are disposed side by side at equal heights and are reversely rotatable. The gap between the two loosening rollers 57 is located directly below the rake 56 of the sorting roller 53 facing away from the conveyor belt 41, so that when the sorting roller 53 rotates with the mass of shredded tobacco to the side facing away from the conveyor belt 41, the mass of shredded tobacco falling by the sorting roller 53 can fall just between the two loosening rollers 57. And, the gap between the two loosening rollers 57 is 7 to 10mm, and is adjustable. Wherein 6 to 12 (8 are shown) loosening teeth 58 are uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction on each of the two loosening rollers 57, and each of the loosening teeth 58 is a pointed tooth having a tooth tip 50.

With the above arrangement, the large cut tobacco clusters sorted by the sorting roller 53 can fall between the two loosening rollers 57, and are scattered by the two loosening rollers 57, and the two loosening rollers 57 can sufficiently scatter the large cut tobacco clusters sorted under the condition that the dry ice cut tobacco is effectively prevented from being too crushed, meanwhile, in the corresponding scattering process, less adhesive materials can sufficiently fall, and the scattered materials enter the expansion device 6 through the feed airlock 42 for heating expansion.

It can be seen that the loosening device 5 can loosen the cut tobacco for the second time after the loosening device 2 loosens the cut tobacco for the first time, and the loosening device sorts out the massive cut tobacco groups from the storage bin 3 and breaks up the cut tobacco groups, so that the volume of the materials entering the expansion device 6 is smaller, and the materials can be fully expanded in the expansion device 6 by absorbing heat, therefore, the expansion effect can be effectively improved, and the product quality can be improved.

And the loosening device 5 is utilized to secondarily loosen the tobacco shreds, so that the utilization rate of the dry ice tobacco shreds is improved, the consumption is reduced, and the cost is saved. Meanwhile, the loosening device 5 can improve the expansion effect, so that the materials which are not fully expanded and contain dry ice in the materials which flow out of the tobacco shred expansion equipment 10 are reduced, the load of the downstream winnowing device is reduced, the winnowing device can be omitted, and the consumption and the cost are reduced from the perspective.

It can be seen that the tobacco expansion apparatus 10 of this embodiment has a better expansion effect, and is less consumed and lower in cost.

Based on the tobacco expansion apparatus 10 provided herein, the present application also provides a tobacco production system that includes the tobacco expansion apparatus 10 of any of the embodiments of the present application. It will be appreciated that in addition to including tobacco expansion apparatus 10, the tobacco production system may also include other apparatus upstream and/or downstream of tobacco expansion apparatus 10, for example, may include a conditioning device downstream of tobacco expansion apparatus 10.

The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the present application is not intended to limit the utility model to the particular embodiments disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, alternatives, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the utility model.

Claims (15)

1. A tobacco expansion apparatus (10), characterized by comprising:

a storage bin (3) for storing the cut tobacco flowing out from the impregnator (1);

an expansion device (6) arranged downstream of the storage bin (3) along the flow direction of the cut tobacco, for receiving the cut tobacco flowing out of the storage bin (3) and expanding the cut tobacco; and

the loosening device (5) is arranged between the storage bin (3) and the expansion device (6) along the circulation direction of the tobacco shreds, and loosens the tobacco shreds flowing from the storage bin (3) to the expansion device (6).

2. A tobacco expansion apparatus (10) according to claim 1, wherein the loosening device (5) also sorts the tobacco flowing from the storage bin (3) to the expansion device (6) into a first portion and a second portion of smaller volume than the first portion, and wherein the first portion after the loosening by the loosening device (5) is caused to flow to the expansion device (6), while the second portion flows to the expansion device (6) without loosening by the loosening device (5).

3. The tobacco expansion apparatus (10) according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco expansion apparatus (10) further comprises a conveyor belt (41) and a feed airlock (42), the conveyor belt (41) and the feed airlock (42) being disposed between the storage bin (3) and the expansion device (6) in sequence along the flow direction of the tobacco, such that the tobacco flowing out of the storage bin (3) flows to the expansion device (6) after passing through the conveyor belt (41) and the feed airlock (42) in sequence, and the loosening device (5) being disposed between the conveyor belt (41) and the feed airlock (42) along the flow direction of the tobacco.

4. The tobacco expansion apparatus (10) of claim 1, wherein the tobacco expansion apparatus (10) further comprises an opener (2), the opener (2) being arranged between the impregnator (1) and the storage bin (3) along the direction of flow of the tobacco, loosening the tobacco flowing from the impregnator (1) to the storage bin (3).

5. A tobacco expansion apparatus (10) according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the loosening means (5) comprises a loosening mechanism (52), the loosening mechanism (52) being located in the path of the tobacco flowing from the storage bin (3) to the expansion means (6) and comprising two loosening rollers (57), the two loosening rollers (57) being arranged side by side at a distance from each other and being both rotatable for loosening the tobacco flowing between the two loosening rollers (57).

6. The tobacco expansion apparatus (10) of claim 5, wherein the loosening mechanism (52) is located in a path of the tobacco from a conveyor belt (41) of the tobacco expansion apparatus (10) to a feed airlock (42) of the tobacco expansion apparatus (10).

7. The tobacco expansion apparatus (10) of claim 5, wherein the loosening mechanism (52) is configured to at least one of:

the gap between the two loosening rollers (57) is 5-15 mm;

the gap between the two loosening rollers (57) is adjustable;

at least one of the two loosening rollers (57) is adjustable in rotation speed;

at least one of the two loosening rollers (57) is provided with loosening teeth (58).

8. The tobacco expansion apparatus (10) of claim 7, wherein the loosening teeth (58) include two tooth flanks (59), the two tooth flanks (59) being relatively inclined and intersecting on a side remote from the center of the loosening roller (57) to form a tooth tip (50); and/or at least one of said two loosening rollers (57) is provided with at least two of said loosening teeth (58).

9. The tobacco expansion apparatus (10) of claim 8, wherein at least one of the two loosening rollers (57) is provided with a plurality of loosening teeth (58).

10. The tobacco expansion apparatus (10) of claim 9, wherein at least one of the two loosening rollers (57) is provided with 6-12 loosening teeth (58).

11. The tobacco expansion apparatus (10) of claim 5, wherein the loosening device (5) further comprises a sorting mechanism (51), the sorting mechanism (51) being located between the storage bin (3) and the loosening mechanism (52) along the direction of flow of the tobacco, and sorting the mass of tobacco flowing from the storage bin (3) to the expansion device (6) into a first portion and a second portion having a smaller volume than the first portion, and causing the first portion after loosening by the loosening device (5) to flow to the expansion device (6), while the second portion flows to the expansion device (6) without loosening by the loosening device (5).

12. The tobacco expansion apparatus (10) of claim 11, wherein the sorting mechanism (51) is located between a conveyor belt (41) of the tobacco expansion apparatus (10) and the loosening mechanism (52) along a direction of flow of the tobacco.

13. The tobacco expansion apparatus (10) of claim 12, wherein the sorting mechanism (51) includes a sorting roller (53), the sorting roller (53) being rotatably disposed and including a roller body (54) and a sorting unit (55), the sorting unit (55) being disposed on the roller body (54) and including a plurality of rakes (56) spaced apart along a circumference of the roller body (54), a gap between any adjacent two of the rakes (56) in the sorting unit (55) being configured to not allow the first portion to pass therethrough but to allow the second portion to pass therethrough.

14. The tobacco expansion apparatus (10) of claim 13, wherein the sorting roller (53) is configured to at least one of:

the sorting unit (55) comprises 10-20 harrow nails (56);

the clearance between any two adjacent harrow nails (56) in the sorting unit (55) is 15-35 mm;

the distance between the harrow nails (56) of the conveying belt (41) facing the cut tobacco expansion equipment (10) on the sorting roller (53) and the conveying belt (41) is 3-10 mm;

the rotational speed of the sorting roller (53) is adjustable.

15. A tobacco production system comprising a tobacco expansion apparatus (10) according to any one of claims 1-14.