Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24C—MACHINES FOR MAKING CIGARS OR CIGARETTES
  • A24C5/00—Making cigarettes; Making tipping materials for, or attaching filters or mouthpieces to, cigars or cigarettes
  • A24C5/47—Attaching filters or mouthpieces to cigars or cigarettes, e.g. inserting filters into cigarettes or their mouthpieces
  • A24C5/471—Attaching filters or mouthpieces to cigars or cigarettes, e.g. inserting filters into cigarettes or their mouthpieces by means of a connecting band

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a device for applying filters to cigarettes, and in particular to a device by which cigarettes and filters are joined together with gummed tipping papers .
• Cigarettes are ordered in pairs, with the two cigarettes of each pair axially aligned and a filter plug double the length of a tip for one cigarette interposed between them in end-to-end contact, likewise axially aligned.
• the group or assembly made up of the single cigarettes and the filter plug is joined permanently by means of a gummed tipping paper wrapped around the filter plug and overlapping each of the corresponding cigarette ends by about three millimetres .
• these assembling and joining steps can be brought about on the surface of a conveying drum, onto which the aforementioned assemblies and the gummed papers are directed, in an operation whereby each assembly is rolled against a relative paper.
• the rolling action is induced along a passage delimited on the one hand by the drum and on the other by a fixed plate of arched profile that combines with the outer surface of the drum to create a rolling channel.
• the rolling channel is created between the drum on the one hand, and on the other, a belt driven at a speed different to that of the drum and embodied usually in a flexible and resilient material .
• the belt material tends to wear rapidly.
• the object of the present invention is to provide a device for applying filters to cigarettes that will be unaffected by the drawbacks typical of prior art devices as described above.
• -figure 1 illustrates a portion of a filter tip attachment, viewed schematically in elevation with certain parts omitted and comprising a device for applying filters to cigarettes embodied in accordance with the present invention, ;
• -figure 2 shows an enlarged detail of figure 1;
• -figure 3 shows a part of figure 1, viewed from above and in a section taken on III-III with certain parts omitted;
• -figure 4 shows a detail of figure 2 in an enlarged and exploded view
• -figure 5 shows a detail of figure 4 in a different embodiment
• FIG. 6 illustrates a portion of a filter tip attachment, viewed schematically in elevation with certain parts omitted and comprising the device of figure 1 in a different embodiment.
• 1 denotes a portion of a filter tip attachment, in its entirety, comprising a device for applying filters to cigarettes, denoted 2 in its entirety.
• 3 denotes a fluted drum 3 rotatable anticlockwise as viewed in figure 1, on which to advance assemblies 4 composed (as illustrated in figure 3) of two cigarettes 5 and a double length filter plug 6 interposed between the two cigarettes.
• the assemblies 4 are directed by the drum 3 through a transfer station 7 and into the device 2, of which the infeed stage includes a first conveyor 8 consisting in a roller 9, rotatable clockwise as viewed in figure 1 and furnished peripherally with a plurality of aspirating seats or grooves 10 each serving to accommodate a respective assembly 4 together with a tipping paper 11 cut from continuous strip by a rotary blade of conventional embodiment (not illustrated) operating in conjunction with the roller 9 at a point upstream of the transfer station 7.
• a first conveyor 8 consisting in a roller 9, rotatable clockwise as viewed in figure 1 and furnished peripherally with a plurality of aspirating seats or grooves 10 each serving to accommodate a respective assembly 4 together with a tipping paper 11 cut from continuous strip by a rotary blade of conventional embodiment (not illustrated) operating in conjunction with the roller 9 at a point upstream of the transfer station 7.
• a flexible rolling conveyor 12 Positioned in close proximity to the roller 9, downstream of the transfer station 7, is a flexible rolling conveyor 12 that combines with the outer cylindrical surface of the roller 9 to establish a rolling channel 13.
• the flexible rolling conveyor 12 is looped around first and second transmission means denoted 14 and 15 of which the first, upstream, comprises a first freely revolving retur pulley 16 combining with the flexible conveyor 12 by which it is partly enveloped to create an infeed conveyor 17 preceding the rolling channel 13, whilst the second, downstream, comprises a second power driven return pulley 18 and, rigidly and concentrically associated with the pulley, a take-up roller 19 of which the periphery affords a plurality of recesses 20 placed to receive the assemblies 4 emerging from the rolling channel 13, each with a tipping paper 11 wrapped around the double filter plug 6 and the cigarettes 5 and denoted 4a.
• the pulley 18 and roller 19 thus constitute an outfeed and take-up conveyor 21.
• the peripheral speed of the conveying roller 9 is greater than the speed of the flexible conveyor 12 along the channel 13, thereby inducing the rolling action.
• the outside face of the flexible conveyor 12 which can be fashioned as a web or belt of resilient and flexible material, is furnished with a plurality of rigid cladding elements 23 consisting, as illustrated in figure 5, of metal cleats 24 ordered one beside the next and disposed transversely to the selfsame conveyor 12.
• a plurality of rigid cladding elements 23 consisting, as illustrated in figure 5, of metal cleats 24 ordered one beside the next and disposed transversely to the selfsame conveyor 12.
• fastening means 25 taking the form of blocks 26 secured to the respective cleats 24 by clamping means 27 such as screws or bolts.
• the rolling channel 13 is formed entirely between the cylindrical surface of the conveying roller 9 on the one hand and the corresponding branch of the flexible conveyor 12 on the other, presenting a curved profile; accordingly, the channel 12 is furnished with retaining means and with guiding and locating means denoted 28 and 29 respectively, in their entirety, by which the conveyor 12 is made to describe a path concentric with the roller 9 and the depth of the channel 13 maintained constant and substantially identical to the diameter of the cigarette and filter assemblies 4.
• the retaining means 28 consist in a plurality of magnetic elements 30 fashioned as discs and embedded in a pair of nonmagnetic parallel bars 31 cradled by an arched member 32 consisting also of nonmagnetic material and extending parallel to the rolling channel 13.
• the function of the magnetic elements 30 is to interact with the cleats 24 and with the fastening means 25 and thereby attract the flexible conveyor 12 along the length of the rolling channel 13 in such a way as to maintain the correct position of the conveyor 12 relative to the conveying roller 9, as described above.
• the guiding and locating means 29 comprise a plurality of freely revolving wheels 33 rotatable about axes parallel to the axis of the conveying roller 9 and offered in contact to the inside face of the flexible conveyor 12.
• the wheels 33 are ordered in three races parallel to the two bars 31, which are interposed between the races of wheels 33.
• Each race comprises two rows of wheels 33 lying in parallel planes with each wheel 33 of each row partly overlapping one or two wheels of the parallel and adjacent row, so to afford substantially continuous support to the flexible conveyor 12.
• the inside face of the flexible conveyor 12 affords a toothed profile 34 in mesh with corresponding teeth afforded by the first and second pulleys 16 and 18 and by the freely revolving wheels 33, denoted 35, 36 and 37 respectively.
• the surfaces of the cleats 24 combining to establish one face of the rolling channel 13 each present a reeded profile 38 that constitutes the rolling surface proper.
• every second cleat 24 of the rolling surface is furnished along the edge located downstream in the direction followed by the conveyor 12 along the channel 13, with a rib or lip 39 of which the function is to interact positively with each assembly 4 directed into the rolling channel 13 so as to initiate the rolling step brought about along the channel 13.
• the adjoining edges of successive cleats 24 present a broken outline 40 and interlock one with the next in such a way as to prevent dust or foreign matter, typically tobacco particles, from fouling the parts of the flexible conveyor 12 beneath.
• the aforementioned rib or lip 39 will occupy a substantially intermediate position on the cleat 24.
• the device 2 according to the invention is equipped with two guards 41, one only of which visible in figure 1, flanking the flexible conveyor 12 on either side and occupying respective vertical planes adjacent to the two return pulleys 16 and 18.
• the protected space between the two guards 41 will accommodate the drive for the live pulley 18.
• the assemblies 4 enter the rolling channel 13 spaced apart at a first pitch pi and reach the outfeed end of the channel 13 at a second pitch p2 shorter than the first. To the end of extracting specific and higher levels of performance from the filter tip attachment in terms of output, a further reduction in pitch is also necessary.
• the roller 19 is greater in diameter than the pulley 18 with which it is rigidly associated, and presents a predetermined number of recesses 20 spaced apart in such a manner as to shorten the distance between the advancing assemblies 4a from the aforementioned second pitch p2 to a further selected pitch p3.
• the rolling channel 13 is created between two flexible conveyors 12, one on either side, embodied in entirely the same way as the conveyor 12 illustrated in figure 1, the channel 13 in this instance extending through a rectilinear path and the conveying roller 9 being replaced by a flexible conveyor 12 looped around two pulleys 42 and 43 identical to the pulleys 16 and 18 described previously.
• the pulley denoted 42 will be rigidly associated with a roller 44 presenting seats or grooves 45 similar to the seats or grooves 10 of the conveying roller 9, by which the assemblies 4 are taken up from the drum 3 and transferred to the rolling channel 13.

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• 2003
  • 2003-02-20 IT IT000079A patent/ITBO20030079A1/it unknown
• 2004
  • 2004-02-13 DE DE602004002095T patent/DE602004002095T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2004-02-13 CN CN200480004229.7A patent/CN1750766A/zh active Pending
  • 2004-02-13 US US10/546,262 patent/US20060169295A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2004-02-13 RU RU2005124654/12A patent/RU2005124654A/ru not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2004-02-13 WO PCT/IB2004/000497 patent/WO2004073426A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 2004-02-13 EP EP04710948A patent/EP1596674B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2004-02-13 AT AT04710948T patent/ATE336912T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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