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
  • A24C5/35—Adaptations of conveying apparatus for transporting cigarettes from making machine to packaging machine
  • A24C5/352—Adaptations of conveying apparatus for transporting cigarettes from making machine to packaging machine using containers, i.e. boats
  • A24C5/356—Emptying the boats into the hopper of the packaging machine
• • 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
  • A24C5/35—Adaptations of conveying apparatus for transporting cigarettes from making machine to packaging machine
  • A24C5/352—Adaptations of conveying apparatus for transporting cigarettes from making machine to packaging machine using containers, i.e. boats
  • A24C5/358—Boat constructions

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a combination of a tray for holding cigarette parts, such as cartridges, for electronic cigarettes and an unloading device for unloading the cigarette parts from the tray.
• the present invention also relates to the tray and to the unloading device separately, and to a method of unloading cigarette parts from a tray with the unloading device.
• the manufactured cigarette parts are transported from the country with lower labour costs to the country with high labour costs.
• the cigarette parts are often transported in large numbers.
• the cigarette parts are transported in a tray.
• a single tray may hold several hundred to several thousand cigarette parts.
• an addition operation is often performed on the cigarette parts.
• An operation line is used for said additional operation.
• the cartridges are typically manufactured in a country with low labour costs, and subsequently filled with a liquid in a country with high labour costs.
• a filling line is used for the filling of the cartridges.
• the invention provides a combination of a tray for holding cigarette parts, such as cartridges, for electronic cigarettes and an unloading device for unloading the cigarette parts from the tray,
• the tray comprising: a front wall, a rear wall, a left wall, a right wall, a bottom wall and a top wall which define a compartment (C), wherein the front wall is movable from a closed position to an open position in order to create an access opening for filling the tray with cigarette parts, and wherein the bottom wall is movable from a closed position to an open position in order to create a discharge opening for unloading the cigarette parts from the tray under the influence of gravity,
• the unloading device comprising:
• a tray holder constructed for receiving a full tray and for holding the full tray in an essentially upright orientation in which the cigarette parts have an essentially horizontal orientation
• a receiving opening configured to engage the discharge opening of the tray and having dimensions which correspond to the dimensions of the bottom opening, a reservoir configured for holding a plurality of cigarette parts in an essentially horizontal orientation, and
• a discharge unit for discharging the cigarette parts from the reservoir.
• each cigarette part stays in a controlled orientation and position from the moment it has been made and stored to the moment the additional operation is performed.
• the step of reorienting the cigarette parts which are stored as bulk is removed from the process, resulting in a simpler and more efficient overall process.
• a tray which may be filled manually by a worker in for instance China or any other location, is directly coupled to the unloading device according to the invention and subsequently emptied. During the transport and the unloading process the cigarette parts stay in the required orientation. There is no need for any reorienting.
• the discharge unit comprises a reorienting device constructed to reorient the cigarette parts from an essentially horizontal orientation to an essentially vertical orientation.
• the tray was found to be unloaded best in a situation in which the cigarette parts are oriented horizontally.
• certain operation lines such as the filling line of cartridges, generally work best when the cigarette parts are oriented vertically.
• the reorienting device makes this possible.
• the unloading device is configured to discharge the cigarette parts one by one.
• the unloading device receives the cigarette parts from the tray in a flow of multiple cigarette parts in parallel and transforms this flow into a one by one flow, which is convenient for the operation line.
• the discharge opening of the tray or the receiving opening of the unloading device is provided with a flexible band which is fastened in a sliding manner to the tray or to the unloading device, wherein when the tray is engaged with the unloading device and the bottom wall is in an open position, the flexible band is taut and blocks the receiving opening and wherein after engagement of the tray with the unloading device the band is gradually loosened in order to let the cigarette parts move downward through the receiving opening into the reservoir in a controlled manner, and wherein after the controlled lowering the flexible band is removed from the reservoir by pulling the flexible band out of the reservoir.
• the flexible band provides and effective control device for unloading the cigarette parts from the tray while maintaining the required orientation.
• the flexible band is attached to the tray and has:
• connection point at one end of the opening and a second connection point at a second, opposite end of the opening
• the flexible band is detachable from at least one connection point and comprises a pulling member at one end for pulling the flexible band from the reservoir once the cigarette parts have been controllably lowered into the reservoir. This is an effective way of removing the flexible band from between the cigarette parts.
• the bottom wall of the tray is arranged in a sliding manner in rails which extend along the bottom of the tray, the bottom wall being configured to slide in order to open the discharge opening.
• the sliding bottom wall enables a simple unloading process of the tray, after the tray has engaged with the unloading device.
• a sliding direction of the flexible band is parallel to a sliding direction of the bottom wall. This makes the overall process simple to carry out for an operator.
• the flexible band is arranged in the receiving opening of the unloading device. After engagement of the tray with the unloading device and after removal of the bottom wall, the cigarette parts are effectively supported with the flexible band.
• a distance (Y) between the front wall and the rear wall of the tray can be varied in order to allow the tray to hold cigarette parts of different lengths.
• the receiving opening may have a width which can be varied in correspondence with the distance between the front wall and rear wall of the tray.
• the tray comprises a plurality of mounting positions for the rear wall, each mounting position corresponding to a different distance (Y) between the rear wall and the front wall. This is an effective way of varying the distance between the front wall and rear wall.
• the tray may be flat.
• the discharge unit comprises:
• an inclined rotary member which is mounted for rotation about an inclined axis, the inclined axis extending at an angle of 40-50 degrees to the horizontal
• the inclined rotary member comprises part holders which are constructed to hold the cigarette parts at an angle of 40-50 degrees to the inclined axis, wherein during rotation of the inclined rotatory member a part axis of a cigarette part which is held by a part holder tilts from a substantially horizontal orientation to a substantially vertical orientation
• a rotary infeed member constructed to rotate about an essentially
• a rotary outfeed member constructed to rotate about an essentially
• the reorienting device comprises a gear box, wherein an inclined gear, an infeed gear and an outfeed gear are coupled to respectively the inclined rotary member, the rotary infeed member and the rotary outfeed member and engage one another in the gear box, wherein the inclined gear is positioned between the infeed gear and the outfeed gear.
• the gearbox advantageously synchronizes the different rotary elements of the reorienting device.
• the inclined rotary member is configured to move the cigarette parts downward from the infeed location where the cigarette parts are received from the rotary infeed member to the outfeed location where the cigarette parts are transferred to the rotary outfeed member.
• the downward movement makes it possible to perform all processing operations at a convenient height for an operator.
• the part holders are recesses in a conical part of the inclined rotary member.
• the reservoir comprises a tapering end section which becomes narrower towards the rotary infeed member. In this way the flow is advantageously converted from a plural cigarette part flow to a singular cigarette part flow, i.e. one by one.
• the present invention further relates to a tray for holding multiple cigarette parts for electronic cigarettes, the tray comprising: a front wall, a rear wall, a left wall, a right wall, a bottom wall and a top wall which define a compartment, wherein at least the front wall is removable to provide access to the interior for filling the tray with cigarette parts, and wherein the bottom wall is removable in order to create a discharge opening for unloading the cigarette parts from the tray.
• the tray may comprise any of the features as disclosed in the combination of the tray and unloading device.
• the present invention further relates to an unloading device for unloading the tray according to the invention, the unloading device comprising:
• a tray holder constructed for receiving a full tray and for holding the full tray in an essentially upright orientation in which the cigarette parts have an essentially horizontal orientation
• a receiving opening configured to engage the discharge opening of the tray and having dimensions which correspond to the dimensions of the bottom opening
• a reservoir configured for holding a plurality of cigarette parts in an essentially horizontal orientation
• a discharge unit for discharging the cigarette parts from the reservoir.
• the unloading device may comprise any of the features as disclosed in the combination of the tray and unloading device.
• the present invention further relates to a method of unloading cigarette parts for electronic cigarettes from a tray, the method comprising:
• the discharge unit discharges the cigarette parts one by one.
• the tray or the unloading device comprises a flexible band, and wherein the cigarette parts are lowered into the reservoir as a group whil being supported by the flexible band, wherein the lowering takes place by gradually increasing the length of the flexible band, and wherein after the cigarette parts have been lowered into the reservoir the flexible band is pulled out of the reservoir.
• the cigarette parts are held in the reservoir in an essentially horizontal orientation and are reoriented to an essentially vertical orientation by the discharge unit.
• the cigarette parts have a substantially tubular shape and have a main axis, wherein the main axis of the cigarette parts is oriented orthogonally to the front wall and to the rear wall.
• the cigarette parts leave the tray in a downward direction (D) which is essentially orthogonal to the main axis of the cigarette parts.
• Figure 1 shows a view in perspective of the unloading device according to the invention on its support frame.
• Figure 2 shows a view in perspective of the unloading device according to the invention on its support frame and from a different angle.
• Figure 3 shows a view in perspective of the unloading device according to the invention.
• Figures 4A - 4G show views in perspective of a combination of a loaded tray and an unloading device according to the invention in different stages of the unloading process.
• Figure 5 shows a close-up of figure 2 with some parts removed.
• Figures 6A and 6B show views in perspective of a reorienting device of the unloading device according to the invention.
• Figure 7 shows a view in perspective of the tray according to the invention.
• Figure 8 shows a top view of the tray according to the invention.
• Figure 9 shows a view in perspective of a detail of the tray according to the invention.
• an unloading device 10 for unloading cigarette parts from a tray is shown.
• the cigarette parts are cartridges and the operation line is a filling line, but the same principles can be applied in a similar manner on other types of cigarette parts and operation lines.
• the unloading device may form the start of a filling line, in which empty cartridges are filled with a liquid.
• the unloading device may also be placed somewhere halfway the filling line to feed partly processed cartridges to the filling line.
• the filling line may comprise multiple stations for checking, filling, testing, labelling and packaging. The rest of the filling line is not part of the present invention.
• the unloading device 10 is positioned on a support frame 12.
• the unloading device comprises a tray holder 16 which is configured for receiving a full tray, i.e. a tray loaded with empty or partly processed cartridges.
• the tray may be loaded with cartridges in an entirely different location than the location of the filling line.
• the unloading device has a receiving opening 14 which is upwardly directed and configured to engage a discharge opening of the tray.
• the unloading device comprises a reorienting device 50, as will be explained further below.
• a tray 20 is shown.
• the tray is flat, i.e. a height H and a width W are relatively large in comparison with a length L of the tray.
• the tray comprises a front wall 21 (which is of a see through material), a movable rear wall 22A, a fixed rear wall 22B, a left wall 24, a right wall 26, a bottom wall 28 and a top wall 30.
• the walls define a compartment C.
• the compartment C is delimited by the movable rear wall 22A.
• the fixed rear wall 22B provides structural rigidity.
• the tray has handles 101 which are connected to the rest of the tray via hinges 102.
• the front wall is movable from a closed position to an open position in order to create an access opening for filling the tray with empty cartridges 34.
• the tray 20 comprises rails 100 on the front side to allow the front wall to slide in and out.
• the front wall comprises ridges 106 which slide through the rails.
• the cartridges 34 have a substantially tubular shape and have a main axis 110, wherein the main axis of the cartridges is oriented orthogonally to the front wall 21 and to the rear wall 22A.
• the front wall may be completely removable in order to make the tray easily accessible for a person who makes cartridges manually and places the cartridges in the tray as a last step in the manufacturing process.
• the tray 20 may hold several hundreds of cartridges.
• the tray has a slot 112 at the bottom.
• Rails 29 are provided in the sides of the slot 112.
• the bottom wall 28 slides in said slot 112 along the rails 29.
• the bottom wall 28 is movable from a closed position to an open position in order to create an unloading opening 35 for unloading the cartridges from the tray under the influence of gravity.
• the distance Y between the front wall and the movable rear wall 22A of the tray 20 can be varied in order to allow the tray to hold cartridges of different lengths.
• the tray comprises a plurality of mounting positions 105 for the movable rear wall 22A. Each mounting position corresponds to a different distance Y between the rear wall and the front wall which in turn corresponds to a length of the cartridges.
• the movable rear wall 22A comprises ridges 107 which fit in the mounting positions 105.
• Figure 8 indicates three distances Y1 , Y2 and Y3, but there are in fact more options, as there are five mounting positions 105.
• the unloading device 16 comprises the tray holder 15 constructed for receiving a full tray and for holding the full tray in an essentially upright orientation in which the cartridges 34 have an essentially horizontal orientation.
• the tray holder has a receiving opening 14 which has dimensions (length, width) which correspond to the dimensions of the unloading opening 35 at the bottom of the tray.
• the unloading device comprises a reservoir 38 configured for holding a plurality of cartridges in an essentially horizontal orientation.
• the reservoir has sloping side walls 39 which form a tapering section which becomes narrower towards the rotary infeed member and leads to a discharge unit 40 for discharging the cartridges from the reservoir 38.
• the discharge unit is located at the bottom end of the reservoir, so that the cartridges move downward under the influence of gravity.
• FIG 4B the unloading process starts when a full tray 20 is placed on the tray holder 15. In this situation, it is not yet possible for the cartridges to leave the tray under the influence of gravity.
• FIG 4C the bottom wall 28 is subsequently removed by sliding it in the direction E.
• the bottom wall 28 is arranged in a sliding manner in rails 29 which extend along the bottom of the tray. If there would be no extra provision, the cartridges would tumble down under the influence of gravity as indicated in figure 4C. It was found that this results in cartridges falling down in the wrong orientation, and these cartridges subsequently form an obstruction of the unloading device. Therefore, as shown in figure 4D, an extra flexible band 42 is provided which is constructed to prevent the cartridges from dropping in an uncontrolled manner into the reservoir.
• the flexible band may be provided to the unloading opening 35 of the tray or to the receiving opening 14 of the unloading device.
• the flexible band 42 which is fastened in a sliding manner to the tray or to the unloading device.
• the flexible band is arranged in the unloading device at the very upper end of the receiving opening 14.
• the flexible band may also be arranged on the tray directly underneath the bottom wall 28 or on the inside of the bottom wall 28 of the tray, i.e. directly above the bottom wall 28. If the flexible band is arranged on the unloading device, only one flexible band is necessary which is an advantage over an embodiment with a flexible band on each tray.
• the flexible band 42 has a first part 45A which spans a length (L1) of the receiving opening between a first connection point 46 at one end of the opening and a second connection point 47 at a second, opposite end of the opening.
• the flexible band 42 has a second part 45B which forms an extension of the first part, the second part being located on the opposite side of the second connection point 47 as the first part.
• the flexible band When the tray is engaged with the unloading device and the bottom wall 28 has been removed, the flexible band initially is taut and blocks the receiving opening. Thereafter, the flexible band 42 is gradually loosened in order to let the cartridges move downward through the receiving opening into the reservoir in a controlled manner.
• the length of the first part 45A is increased by sliding the second part 45B of the flexible band past the second connection point 47 in a sliding direction S.
• the weight of the cartridges rests on the flexible band and pushes the flexible band down. This weight assists in the sliding movement of the flexible band.
• the cartridges leave the tray in a downward direction (D) which is essentially orthogonal to the main axis of the cartridges.
• the flexible band 42 will contact the cartridges which were already in the reservoir. This point in time also marks the end of any risk that the cartridges may tumble in the wrong direction and form an obstruction.
• the flexible band is now disconnected at connection point 46 and removed from the reservoir in pulling direction P by pulling the pulling member 48. When seen in top view the pulling direction (P) of the flexible band is parallel to the sliding direction (E) of the bottom wall.
• FIG 4F when the flexible band 42 has been removed, the cartridges are free to move in the direction of the discharging unit 40 which discharges the cartridges from the reservoir in a controlled manner and one by one.
• FIG 4G the end situation in which the entire tray 20 has been unloaded is shown.
• the discharge unit 40 comprises a reorienting device 50 constructed to reorient the cartridges 34 from an essentially horizontal orientation to an essentially vertical orientation.
• the discharge unit comprises an inclined rotary member 52 which is mounted for rotation about an inclined axis 62, the inclined axis extending at an angle of 40-50 degrees to the horizontal.
• the inclined rotary member 52 comprises part holders 56 which are constructed to hold the cartridges at an angle of 40-50 degrees to the inclined axis 62.
• the part holders 56 are recesses in a conical part 58 of the inclined rotary member 52.
• Part holders which are configured to hold the cartridges are also referred to as cartridge holders.
• a stationary guide 152 is provided around the inclined rotary member 52 to keep the cartridges 34 in the part holders.
• the stationary guide is indicated in dashed lines.
• a similar stationary guide is provided around the infeed and rotary outfeed members 51 and 53 to keep the cartridges in the recesses.
• the rotary infeed member 51 and the rotary outfeed member 53 have part holders 57 which extend parallel to the respective axes 61 , 63.
• the reorienting device 50 further comprises a rotary infeed member 51 constructed to rotate about an essentially horizontal axis 61 and constructed to receive the cartridges having a horizontal orientation from the tray holder 16 and to transfer the cartridges to the respective part holders 56 of the inclined rotary member.
• a part axis of a cartridge which is held by a part holder tilts from a substantially horizontal orientation to a substantially vertical orientation.
• the part axis is also referred to as cartridge axis.
• the reorienting device further comprises a rotary outfeed member 53 constructed to rotate about an essentially vertical outfeed axis 63 and configured to receive the vertically oriented cartridges from the inclined rotary member 52 and to transport the cartridges further downstream.
• the reorienting device comprises a gear box 64.
• An inclined gear 72, an infeed gear 71 and an outfeed gear 73 are coupled to respectively the inclined rotary member 52, the rotary infeed member 51 and the rotary outfeed member 53 and engage one another in the gear box.
• the inclined gear 72 is positioned between the infeed gear 71 and the outfeed gear 73.
• the inclined rotary member 52 is configured to move the cartridges downward in direction T from the infeed location 75 where the cartridges are received from the rotary infeed member to the outfeed location where the cartridges are transferred to the rotary outfeed member.
• an orientation is intended in which the main axis of the cigarette parts extends at an angle of less than 10 degrees to the horizontal.

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• 2016
  • 2016-06-07 WO PCT/NL2016/050407 patent/WO2016200255A1/en unknown
  • 2016-06-07 EP EP16742031.4A patent/EP3307094A1/de not_active Withdrawn

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