EP0166088A1 - Checking device for cigarettes - Google Patents

Abstract

When packaging cigarettes and similar items, an examination of proper training, especially with regard to sufficient tobacco content, is required. This check preferably takes place in the area of chutes (12) or chute groups (15, 16) of a cigarette magazine (11). At one end of the cigarettes (tobacco side), a test block (38) with test plungers (39) takes effect. On the opposite side, gripping members are provided for each tested cigarette, namely needles (41), the tips (42) of which penetrate into the cigarettes or into a filter (43) thereof. The defective cigarettes are pulled out of the grouping by pulling back the needles.

Description

The invention relates to a device for checking cigarettes for errors, in particular for sufficient tobacco content, in connection with cigarette packaging machines, defective cigarettes being separated from the conveying flow or from a formation of cigarettes.

The testing of cigarettes for errors, in particular with regard to insufficient tobacco filling, is essential in connection with the packaging of the cigarettes. Statistically speaking, every 200th cigarette is defective and must be excluded from further processing or packaging. The cigarette test is mainly carried out in the area of a conveyor for cigarette groups, for example in the area of a cigarette revolver. This is equipped with pockets in which a number of cigarettes (cigarette group) corresponding to the finished cigarette pack is accommodated. During a momentary standstill of the cigarette conveyor or the cigarette group, the test is carried out by moving a test head to the free ends of the cigarettes. The identification of a defective cigarette leads to the triggering of a control signal, with the result that the entire cigarette group or the cigarette pack is discarded as a wrong pack in the later course of the conveying flow. A single faulty cigarette accordingly leads to the separation of a group of e.g. B. twenty or more cigarettes.

However, the testing of cigarettes in the area of a cigarette magazine is also known. This usually consists of a funnel-shaped storage container for holding a plurality of cigarettes. In the lower area, a number of shafts grouped together connect to the magazine. The shafts, separated from each other by shaft walls, each hold an upright row of cigarettes in a sealed position. At the lower end of the shafts or shaft groups, a number of cigarettes corresponding to a pack of cigarettes is pushed out in the longitudinal direction thereof by tappets (fingers).

The testing of the cigarettes takes place according to a known proposal in the area of the chutes, with a test device being assigned to each chute. Defective cigarettes should be sorted out individually. (DE-OS 31 10 927).

This known cigarette testing device is set up in such a way that only single-layer cigarette groups can be pushed out at the lower exit end of the shafts of the cigarette magazine. Accordingly, several work cycles are required to form cigarette groups with several layers.

The invention is based on the object of proposing a device for testing cigarettes which is simple in construction and reliable in terms of operation, in which the number of intact cigarettes to be separated out with a defective cigarette is kept small, but nevertheless cigarette groups which are suitable for packaging are formed in one work cycle can.

To achieve this object, the device according to the invention is characterized in that the cigarette to be separated out can be grasped by a sharp or pointed gripping member penetrating a cigarette end, in particular in a cigarette filter, and can be pulled out of the conveying flow or from the formation.

The gripping member is preferably designed as a pointed needle. This is inserted into the cigarette filter in the longitudinal direction via the free end face for rejecting cigarettes. Due to the nature of the cigarette filter, it receives sufficient adhesion to the needle as a result of friction, so that the cigarette in question can be pulled out of the formation in the longitudinal direction by withdrawing the needle.

Preferably, a number of gripping members (needles) corresponding to the number of a cigarette group for a cigarette pack is combined to form a separating member and fed to a cigarette group as a unit. The needles are preferably received in channels or bores of a pull-off block. This will the cigarettes are brought up to the filter-side end faces. Depending on the number and location of the identified missing cigarettes, needles are pushed out of the pull-off block in the axial direction and inserted into the cigarette filter. The needles are expediently acted upon pneumatically.

According to a further proposal of the invention, the checking and rejection of the defective cigarettes is carried out in the area of a cigarette magazine, in particular in the area of shafts thereof. The pull-off block on one side of the chutes or a group of chutes is moved to the cigarettes via an opening in a rear wall. On the opposite side (front wall), test plungers are moved against the tobacco-side end faces of the cigarettes in order to check the presence of an adequate tobacco filling. If the cigarette is defective, the pestle in question is moved in the axial direction, namely into the cigarette. This generates a control signal which enables the assigned needle to take effect.

According to the invention, in the case of defective cigarettes, a plurality of cigarettes lying one above the other in a shaft or in a formation are also removed. In the case of cigarette groups with three layers one above the other, the other cigarettes in the same shaft of the same cigarette group are also separated together with the defective cigarette. This makes it possible to ensure that all cigarettes are checked in every shaft.

• Fig. 1 einen Teil einer Zigaretten-Verpackungsmaschine in Seitenansicht bzw. im Längsschnitt,
• Fig. 2 eine Rückansicht der Einzelheit gemäß Fig. 1 in vergrößertem Maßstab,
• Fig. 3 ein Detail der Vorrichtung gemäß Fig. 1 in nochmals vergrößertem Maßstab in Seitenansicht bzw. im Längsschnitt,
• Fig. 4 das Detail gemäß Fig. 3 im Grundriß bzw. im Horizontalschnitt,
• Fig. 5 eine Darstellung der Einzelheit gemäß Fig. 4 bei veränderter Relativstellung von Organen,
• Fig. 6 die Stirnansicht eines Prüf- bzw. Abförderorgans,
• Fig. 7 eine schematische Darstellung der Vorrichtung zum Prüfen und aussondern von Zigaretten mit (elektrotechnischen und pneumatischen) Steuer-und Betätigungseinrichtungen in schematischer Seitenansicht,
• Fig. 8 eine Einzelheit im Bereich eines Zigaretten-Magazins in stark vergrößerter Ansicht,
• Fig. 9 eine Einzelheit analog zu Fig. 8 auf der gegenüberliegenden Seite des Zigaretten-Magazins.

An embodiment of the invention is explained below with reference to the drawings. Show it:

• 1 shows a part of a cigarette packaging machine in side view or in longitudinal section,
• 2 is a rear view of the detail of FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale,
• 3 shows a detail of the device according to FIG. 1 on a further enlarged scale in side view or in longitudinal section,
• 4 shows the detail according to FIG. 3 in plan or in horizontal section,
• 5 shows an illustration of the detail according to FIG. 4 with a changed relative position of organs,
• 6 shows the end view of a test or removal device,
• 7 shows a schematic representation of the device for checking and rejecting cigarettes with (electrotechnical and pneumatic) control and actuation devices in a schematic side view,
• 8 shows a detail in the area of a cigarette magazine in a greatly enlarged view,
• Fig. 9 shows a detail analogous to Fig. 8 on the opposite side of the cigarette magazine.

In Fig. 1 the details of interest here of a cigarette packaging machine are shown in simplified form. The cigarettes 10 are located in a cigarette magazine 11 which is customary and known in such packaging machines. Of these, shafts 12 are shown in the drawings, only in the lower region of the cigarette magazine. These are separated from one another by sloping, thin shaft walls 13 in the lower region, such that the shafts 12 have an internal dimension which is slightly larger than the diameter of the cigarettes 10 Rows 14 in a sealed position one above the other in the shafts 12.

In the present case, the cigarette magazine 11 is equipped with two shaft groups 15 and 16, which each serve to form cigarette groups 17 assigned to a cigarette pack.

The cigarette groups 17 are formed by jointly ejecting the cigarettes 10 belonging to them from the lower region of the chutes 12 or chute groups 15, 16. In the present exemplary embodiment, cigarette groups 17 with three layers 18, 19 and 20 are formed. At least the two outer layers 18 and 20 consist of a number of cigarettes 10 corresponding to the number of shafts 12 lying next to one another. Slider members 21 assigned to each shaft group 15, 16 and having a number of fingers 22 corresponding to the number of shafts 12 become the cigarette group 17 pushed out of the shafts 12 in the longitudinal direction of the cigarettes 10. The height of the web-shaped, thin-walled fingers 22 is dimensioned such that three superimposed cigarettes 10 of each row 14 are detected and carried along.

The cigarette magazine or the shaft groups 15, 16 end in the lower region on bearing plates 23 and 24, which are arranged inclined to one another in accordance with the relative position (inclined position) of the shafts 12 and are oriented transversely to the shaft walls 13 Cigarette 10 on these bearing plates 23 and 24. On these bearing plates 23 and 24, the cigarettes 10 of the respective cigarette group 17 are conveyed from the shaft groups 15, 16 through the slide members 21 into pockets 25 of a cigarette turret 26. On the way from the shaft groups 15, 16 to the cigarette turret 26 the cigarettes of the middle layer 19 shifted so that they have the shown, pack-appropriate formation (saddle layer). The cigarette revolver 26, which rotates step by step about a (horizontal) axis, conveys the cigarette groups 17 to a lower level and transports them away, in the present case by a chain conveyor 27, of which the driver 28 entering the pocket 25 is shown in FIG. 1 is.

The chutes 12 are delimited in the region of the ends of the cigarettes 10 by the front wall 29 and rear wall 30. These essentially upright walls end at a distance above the bearing plates 23, 24, such that the slide members 21 are able to enter the shafts 12 with their fingers 22. The shaft walls 13 extend to the bearing plates 23, 24 and are anchored in them. The front wall 29 merges at a distance above the bearing plate 23 or 24 into an upper wall 31, which forms the upper cover of a closed conveying channel 32 for the cigarette group 17 between the shaft group 15 or 16 and the cigarette turret 26.

The cigarette turret 26 is driven by a shaft 33, the incremental rotary movements of which are brought about by a stepping transmission with driver 34 and switching star 35.

In the area of the cigarette magazine 11 or the shaft groups 15, 16, the cigarettes 10 are checked for proper tobacco filling. For this purpose, the front wall 29 on the one hand and the rear wall 30 on the other hand are provided with bores 36 or a recess 37.

In the present exemplary embodiment, a cigarette test organ, namely a test block 38, is arranged in the region of the front wall 29. This is one of the number the number of tappets 39 corresponding to the number of test plungers to be tested simultaneously. The test plungers 39 protrude from the test block 38, each pass through an associated bore 36 in the front wall 29 and are preferably centered on the free end face of a cigarette, namely on the "tobacco side". The test plungers 39 are axially displaceable against elastic loading in such a way that they are pushed into the test block 38 when the cigarette 10 is properly filled. If, on the other hand, a cigarette lacks sufficient tobacco filling, the relevant, associated test plunger 39 penetrates into the cigarette 10 due to the elastic pressure. As a result, an error or. Control signal generated, which causes the removal of the error cigarette concerned.

The test block 38 with the test plungers 39 can be designed in a suitable manner, for. B. according to DE-PS 22 29 382. The individual tappets are loaded there with coil springs. Alternatively, a pneumatic or other elastic application of the test plunger can take place.

To eliminate any defective cigarettes, in the present exemplary embodiment, a rejection unit is arranged on the side opposite the test block 38 on each shaft group 15, 16, in the present case in each case a pull-off block 40. This is equipped with a number of gripping elements, each for removing a faulty one Serve cigarette from the area of the shaft 12 in question. In the present exemplary embodiment, these gripping members consist of elongated needles 41 with a tip 42. This is inserted into the longitudinal direction in order to eliminate a (faulty) cigarette such that the cigarette 10 is fixed on the needle 41 due to friction. This effect is particularly effective when the needle 41 is inserted into a filter 43 of the cigarette. The pull-off block 40 is therefore on the side of the cigarettes 10 with the filter 43 arranged. The tip 41 of the needle 41 penetrates into the filter 43 via the free end or end face.

The pull-off block 40 is equipped with a number of needles 41 corresponding to the number of a cigarette group 17 as a gripping member. In the present case, these are arranged opposite the tappets 39 of the test block 38, so that a defective cigarette 10 is assigned a needle 41 directly opposite the tappet 39. In the starting position, the needles 41 protrude somewhat from the pull-off block 40 with their tips 42 and lie in the common recess 39 of the rear wall 30.

A guide channel 44 is formed in the pull-off block 40 for each needle 41. In this, the needles 41 are movable in the longitudinal direction. The guide channels 44 are formed with a channel extension 45 on the side opposite the tips 42. Pistons 46 arranged at the ends of the needles 41 can be moved therein. The axial movements take place against elastic pressure, in the present case against the load of a return spring 47 which is mounted within the channel extension 45.

The needles 41 are acted upon in a suitable manner for insertion into a cigarette'10 in the longitudinal direction. In the present case, a compressed air line 48, coming from a common compressed air source, connects to each guide channel 44 or to a channel extension 45, specifically via a fitting 49. The compressed air line 48 assigned to a defective cigarette is acted upon or released by the error signal, so that the associated needle 41 is acted upon by the piston 46 with compressed air and is displaced in the axial direction (see, for example, FIG. 5).

To reject the defective cigarettes from the cigarette formation or the shaft 12 after the In the present case, the needle 41 in the cigarette in question is withdrawn from the pull-off block 40 from the pull-off position (FIGS. 1 and 5), ie from the position facing the cigarette magazine 11, in such a way that the cigarette is completely removed from the area of the shaft 12 is. 3 and 4, an intermediate position is shown during the relevant retraction movement of the pull-off block 40.

As soon as the discarded cigarette is outside the area of the cigarette magazine 11, the associated compressed air line 48 in question is vented. The needle 41 returns to the starting position under the action of the return spring 47 (contact at the end of the shaped piece 49). In the process, the needle 41 disappears in the guide channel 40. The cigarette 10 is stripped off on the end face of the pull-off block 40. It can fall into a collecting container or onto a conveyor.

Another special feature is that if a defective cigarette is found in the shaft 12 in question, a number of cigarettes arranged one above the other corresponding to the number of layers 18, 19, 20 is discarded, in the present exemplary embodiment three cigarettes (FIG. 3). The reason for this is that by ejecting corresponding cigarette groups 17 at the lower end of the shafts 12, three cigarettes slide down in each of these. In order for each cigarette to be checked, it is necessary to maintain this number even when it is discarded.

For this reason, as shown in Fig. 3, three superposed gripping members or needles 41 are coupled to one another with regard to the actuation. With pneumatic loading, the three are one above the other lying needles 41 or their guide channels 44 are connected to a common compressed air line 48 via a correspondingly shaped fitting 49.

The testing and rejection device is arranged in the lowest area of the shaft groups 15, 16, namely only at a distance of two cigarettes from the lower cigarette group 17 to be ejected from the cigarette magazine 11. In the lower area of the shafts 12 there is a maximum Orientation of the cigarettes and stabilization of their position within the chutes 12 are given.

The movements of the pull-off block 40 are coupled with those of the slide members 21 in the exemplary embodiment shown. Specifically, puller block 40 and slide member 21 are arranged on a common holder 50. This organ is slidably supported with its lower part, namely with support rollers 51 and 52 lying at an angle to one another on stationary support and running rails 53 which are trapezoidal in cross section. The holder 50 is hood-shaped. The inclined support rollers 51 and 52 are positively supported on correspondingly inclined running surfaces 54 of the support and running rail. The holder 50 is thereby secured against movements downwards and upwards as well as towards the sides. A back and forth movement is provided only in the longitudinal direction of the support and running rails 53.

The arrangement of the slide members 21 and the pull-off blocks 40 on the common holder 50 is such that in the end position of the fingers 22 when a cigarette group 17 is pushed out (FIG. 1), the pull-off blocks 40 are in the separating position, that is to say directly adjacent to the rear wall 30. The elongated fingers 22 extend up to the cigarette revolver 26, so that the cigarette group 17 can be fully inserted into the pocket 25 provided.

According to a modified embodiment of the invention, which is not shown in the drawings, the gripping elements of the defective cigarettes can also be designed as suction elements, that is to say with heads acted upon by suction air, which hold the cigarette on the end face of the filter 43 and / or on the outer surface. Capture and pull off the largely airtight surface of the same by suction.

The test and removal organs for the defective cigarettes can also be arranged in other places on the packaging machine in the described embodiment, e.g. B. additionally or alternatively in the area of the cigarette revolver 26.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the test device, namely the test block 38, and the device for removing the defective cigarettes, namely the pull-off block 40, are arranged at the same height on opposite sides of the shaft groups 15, 16. Alternatively, the aforementioned organs can be arranged offset in height from one another, in particular in such a way that the test block 38 is arranged in a plane above the pull-off block 40. The height offset expediently corresponds to the number of cigarettes which are simultaneously ejected from a shaft 12 and are arranged one above the other, that is to say a distance of three cigarettes in the present exemplary embodiment. In this alternative solution, the following cigarettes are already loaded by the test block 38 or by the test plunger 39, while the defective cigarettes determined in a previous check are pulled out of the bandage by the pull-off block 40 will. As a result, the testing and rejection processes can overlap and thus accelerate.

Claims (14)

1. Device for checking cigarettes for defects, in particular for sufficient tobacco content, in connection with cigarette packaging machines, defective cigarettes being separated from the conveying flow or from a formation of the cigarettes,
characterized in that
the cigarette (10) to be separated out can be detected by penetrating the sharp or pointed gripping member (needle 41) into a cigarette end, in particular into a cigarette filter (43), and can be pulled out of the conveying flow or out of the formation. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the gripping member with a tip (42) in the longitudinal direction of the cigarettes (10) in the filter (43) is insertable and retractable with the cigarette in the longitudinal direction thereof. 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the gripping member consists of an (elongated) needle (41) which is mounted displaceably in a guide and can be pushed out of the guide as a result of pressurization with an area having the tip (12). 4. The device according to claim 1 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that the gripping member (needle 41) can be acted upon by compressed air, preferably a piston (46) in an enlarged chamber (channel extension 45) at the end of the needle (41) ) is arranged for the application of compressed air. 5. The device according to claim 1 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that the gripping member (needle 41) is acted upon elastically in a retracted position, in particular by a return spring (47). 6. The device according to claim 1 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that a plurality of channel-shaped guides (guide channel 44), each for a needle (41), are arranged in a common holder, in particular a pull-off block (40) A compressed air connection (compressed air line 48) is assigned to each needle (41) or a group of needles (41) acted on together. 7. The device according to claim 6 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that the pull-off block (40) has a number of needles (41) corresponding to the number of cigarettes (10) in a cigarette pack (cigarette group 17), in particular in three rows arranged one above the other. 8. The device according to claim 1 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that on the gripping member (needle 41) opposite side of the cigarettes or the shaft groups (15, 16) of a cigarette magazine (11) on the are arranged on the free end faces of the cigarettes (10) acting test organs (test plunger 39) which are in control connection with the corresponding needles (41) or: the compressed air system assigned to them. 9. The device according to claim 8 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that a number of test plungers (39) corresponding to the number of needles (41) are combined in a test block (38) and as a unit of a corresponding cigarette group (17th ) is deliverable. 10. The device according to claim 1 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that the checking and rejection of the (defective) cigarettes (10) in the area of shafts (12) of a cigarette magazine (11), wherein the tappet (39 ) and gripping members (needles 41) act in the area of bores (36) or in the area of a recess (37) in the front wall (29) or rear wall (30) of shaft groups (15, 16). 11. The device according to claim 10 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that the test block (38) and / or pull-off block (40) at a short distance above a conveyor channel (32) formed at the lower end of the shaft groups (15, 16) ) for the shoot out Bending cigarette group (17) are arranged, in particular with a distance of two cigarettes arranged one above the other. 12. The device according to claim 1 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that several, in particular three, one above the other in a shaft (12) lying cigarettes (10) can be pulled out of the formation. 13. The apparatus according to claim 6 and one or more of the further claims, characterized in that the holder for the needles (41), in particular the pull-off block (40), with a drive for a slide member (21) for the ejection of the cigarette groups (17) from the cigarette magazine (11) is coupled, in particular by arrangement on a common holder (50). 14. Modification of a device according to claim 1, characterized in that the gripping members are provided with suction air holders for detecting (faulty) cigarettes on the end face, in particular in the region of the filter (43), or on the outer lateral surface thereof.

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