EP3740088B1

EP3740088B1 - Rolling bed for smoking articles

Info

Publication number: EP3740088B1
Application number: EP19705221.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gianluca Bertinelli; Stefano Balotta; Massimo Sartoni; Luca Federici
Original assignee: GD SpA
Current assignee: GD SpA
Priority date: 2018-01-19
Filing date: 2019-01-18
Publication date: 2022-11-09
Anticipated expiration: 2039-01-18
Also published as: IT201800001368A1; EP3740088A1; PL3740088T3; CN111629609B; WO2019142139A1; CN111629609A

Description

Technical field

This invention relates to a rolling bed for smoking articles which are substantially cylindrical in shape (that is, rod-shaped); the invention also relates to a corresponding rolling kit for smoking articles.

Background art

This invention is applicable in particular in machines known as "filter tip attachment" machines used in the tobacco industry to make smoking articles, such as, for example, traditional filter cigarettes (which can be smoked by burning the end of the cigarette opposite the filter), or cigarettes of other kinds, such as, for example, electronic cigarettes (which can be smoked by electronically heating the end of the cigarette opposite the filter in different ways).
The term "smoking articles" is thus used to denote a plurality of products, such as cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos and the like - with filter, for example - or even electronic cigarettes.
In filter-tip attachment machines, the term "rolling" means an operating step whereby each filterless smoking article, hereinafter referred to as "cigarette segment" is joined to a respective filter segment by means of a strip of paper to which glue has previously been applied by a gluing unit. More specifically, rolling in the filter tip attachment machine is performed in a channel where two filter smoking articles (cigarettes) are made at a time. More specifically, this method involves first of all interposing a double filter segment, that is, a filter segment which is twice as long as the filter tip of the end product, between two cigarette segments. Next, a double strip, that is, a strip which is twice as long as the one on the end product, is rolled and wrapped round the double filter segment and round the adjacent ends of the cigarette segments, to obtain a semi-product consisting of a double cigarette. After rolling, the double cigarette is cut in half at the double filter to obtain two single cigarettes of equal length.
As is known, the rolling channel is defined by two facing walls. The height of the rolling channel is slightly smaller than the diameter of the filter cigarette to be made so that a light compressive force is applied to the filter segments and to the cigarette segments adjacent thereto, as required to guarantee correct rolling and gluing of the connecting strips.
Typically, one wall of the rolling channel is defined by the surface of a conveyor drum on which the smoking articles consisting of the "cigarette segment-double filter segment-cigarette segment" configuration are held by suction in respective flutes. The other wall of the rolling channel may be defined by the surface of the rolling bed facing the surface of the conveyor drum. More specifically, at the infeed end of the rolling channel, the rolling bed is provided with a trigger tooth which is adapted to impact the segments of the smoking article in such a way as to initiate rotation of the smoking article around its longitudinal axis and thus dislodge the smoking article from the respective flute of the conveyor drum.
Different rolling beds for smoking articles are known in the prior art.
In particular, a rolling bed for smoking articles is described in document IT102017000020421 . The trigger tooth, which may be located in a specific housing, has a first impact portion for a first segment and a second impact portion for a second segment; more in detail, the first impact portion and the second impact portion differ in height so as to apply different compressive forces on the connecting strips and on the respective smoking article segments.
Document BO2011A000419 describes a rolling bed for smoking articles where the surface of the rolling bed (and/or the surface of the conveyor drum) has first zones and second zones at different heights according to the glue application pattern (or gluing pattern); that way, the first zones and the second zones define different sections of the rolling channel where the connecting strips are pressed on the respective segments to different degrees. Also, the first zones and the second zones may be provided with different surface features (knurls) to create different grip surfaces for the connecting strips and the respective smoking article segments (so as to optimize the rotation of the different segments making up a smoking article).
Rolling beds of this kind have inherent disadvantages.
In particular, these rolling beds have a substantially monobloc structure, each suitable for the production of a specific smoking article. In other words, the structure of each rolling bed is such as to make a corresponding smoking article. That means that every kind of smoking article to be made (that is to say, in the event of changeover to a different size or product), requires a corresponding different rolling bed, which in turn means disadvantages in terms of costs and production.
Moreover, in some situations, with prior art rolling beds, the glue applied on the connecting strips during the gluing process may not be properly dried during rolling; this may negatively affect not only the aesthetic appearance of the rolled products but also the processes to be carried out after rolling. Document DE 25 04 772 A1 discloses a monolithic rolling bed having fingers at the inlet side.

Disclosure of the invention

The aim of this invention is to provide a rolling bed for smoking articles to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art described above.
This aim is fully achieved by the rolling bed for smoking articles according to this invention as characterised in the appended claims.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting embodiment of it and in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic cross-section of a rolling bed for substantially cylindrical smoking articles in a filter tip attachment machine, in accordance with this invention;
Figure 2 is a schematic view of a possible embodiment of a substantially cylindrical smoking article;
Figure 3 is a cross section of the rolling bed according to this invention;
Figure 4 is a plan view of the rolling bed according to this invention.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention

With reference to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 11 denotes in its entirety a rolling unit for substantially cylindrical (that is, rod-shaped) smoking articles according to this invention, hereinafter referred to simply as "unit 11".
The unit 11 is configured to roll rod-shaped smoking articles A, that is to say, to wrap connecting strips D around at least two segments B, C in such a way that, after rolling, the two segments B, C are joined together. In effect, the smoking articles A according to this invention comprise at least two coaxial, rod-shaped segments B, C and a connecting strip D.
In the rest of this description reference is made to smoking articles A of the kind illustrated in Figure 2, that is to say, comprising a double filter B interposed between two coaxial cigarette segments C and a connecting strip D disposed tangentially to the smoking article A starting from one end of the strip itself. In other words, the two cigarette segments C are aligned with each other lengthways and abutted end to end with the double filter B interposed between them.
The invention is, however, also applicable to smoking articles A comprising a different number of segments of diverse kinds. For example, the invention can be applied in the production of new generation smoking articles comprising two or more segments, where at least one of the segments is intended to be heated to produce an aerosol.
Preferably, each connecting strip D is applied only to a small portion of the segments B, C, preferably at one edge of it; the remaining portion of the connecting strip D remains raised to prevent the connecting strip D from sticking.
The unit 11 comprises a conveyor drum 3 provided with peripheral suction flutes 12 which are equally spaced on a peripheral surface of the conveyor drum 3 itself. The suction flutes 12 are capable of receiving and holding the smoking articles A by suction. The conveyor drum 3 is adapted to rotate about its axis of rotation 3a in the direction indicated by the arrow F to convey the smoking articles A into a rolling channel 5 at a rolling portion 4 of the conveyor drum 3.
The unit 11 also comprises a rolling bed 1 for smoking articles A, comprising a transporting surface 2 adapted to receive the smoking articles A and facing the rolling portion 4 of the conveyor drum 3 in such a way as to define the rolling channel 5. The rolling channel 5 is traversed transversely by the smoking articles A along a rolling direction. More specifically, the rolling path preferably has a curved shape between an infeed station I corresponding to an infeed portion 2a of the transporting surface 2 and an outfeed station U corresponding to an outfeed portion 2b of the transporting surface 2.
The term "rolling direction" is used to mean a direction along which the smoking articles A are moved during a step of rolling, in such a way that the longitudinal axes of the smoking articles A are perpendicular to the rolling direction.
The rolling channel 5 is delimited, at one end, by a rolling portion 4 of the conveyor drum 3, and at the other end, by the rolling bed 1 located at a distance or height from the rolling portion 4 such as to define a width of the rolling channel 5 which is approximately the same as, or slightly smaller than, the diameter of the smoking articles A. The width of the rolling channel 5 is such as to allow each smoking article A to be received lengthwise.
Each smoking article A, as it advances in a travelling direction between the infeed station I and the outfeed station U, rotates about its longitudinal axis, rolling on the rolling portion 4 and on the transporting surface 2. Preferably, after rolling and at the outfeed end of the rolling channel 5, the connecting strip D is completely wrapped round the segments B, C and the smoking article A is picked up at the outfeed station U, for example by a conveyor roller (not illustrated in the accompanying drawings) and sent on for further processing.
The infeed portion 2a of the transporting surface 2 may, in a preferred embodiment, have a trigger tooth 6 configured to initiate rotation of the smoking articles A in order to wrap the connecting strip D around the segments B, C. The trigger tooth 6 (which may be located in a specific housing 6a) extends at least partly along a direction transverse to the rolling direction. In other words, the trigger tooth 6 dislodges the smoking articles A from the respective suction flutes 12 which received them at the infeed station I of the conveyor drum 3, thus defining the zone of the rolling bed 1 which first comes into contact with the smoking articles A.
In a preferred embodiment, illustrated in Figure 4, the transporting surface 2 of the rolling bed 1 is made up of at least two independent rolling sectors 7 positioned side by side along a direction transverse to the rolling direction. By "independent" is meant that each sector 7 is made and defined as an individual element. In other words, the rolling bed 1 of this invention is not structured as a single part or monobloc (as described by the prior art) but is made up of a number (at least two) replaceable sectors 7 configured to receive at least one corresponding rod-shaped segment for rolling one particular type of smoking article A. The rolling bed 1 is thus obtained by assembling the sectors 7 suitable for rolling the type of smoking article A required and is not made as a monobloc part.
In a preferred embodiment, illustrated in figure 3, each sector 7 of the rolling bed 1 has a height that is adjustable independently of the heights of the other sectors 7. Each sector 7 thus defines sections of the rolling channel 5 which press the connecting strip D on the respective rod-shaped segments B, C to different degrees. For this purpose, each sector 7 of the rolling bed 1 preferably comprises a lead nut and screw system 15 to adjust the height of each sector 7 independently of the other sectors 7. Looking in more detail, the lead nut and screw system 15 allows adjusting the height of a sector 7 by turning a respective screw in the corresponding lead nut. In an example embodiment, one complete turn of the screw corresponds to a variation in the height of the sector 7 of between 1 hundredth of a mm and 60 hundredths of a mm, specifically 5 hundredths of a mm. Preferably, the lead nut and screw system 15 comprises a disc spring (not illustrated in the accompanying drawings) which guarantees a more precise match between the turn of the screw and the variation in the height of the respective sector 7. That is because the disc spring keeps the screw positioned snugly along one side of the lead nut, avoiding slack between the threading of the screw and that of the lead nut, which would reduce the preciseness of the match between the turn of the screw and the variation in height.
In other words, the screw and lead nut system 15 allows the height of each sector 7 to be adjusted independently of the other sectors 7, so that each sector 7 applies a certain pressure on the respective segment (or segments) B, C and this pressure may be different from the pressure applied by the other sectors 7. The modularity of the pressures applied on the rod-shaped segments B, C allows the segments B. C to remain coaxial with each other. In effect, since the rod-shaped segments B, C may differ in hardness (because they may be made of different materials), the pressure applied in modular manner takes the different hardness into account, thus ensuring that the segments B. C are still coaxial after being rolled.
In another preferred embodiment, as illustrated in Figure 3, each sector 7 of the rolling bed 1 comprises, at the transporting surface 2, a heating system 8 suitable for heating and regulating the temperature of the respective sector 7 independently of the other sectors 7. That way, the glue applied on the connecting strip D during the gluing process is well dried when the connecting strip D is rolled round the rod-shaped segments B, C.
The heating system 8 comprises a heating element 13 associated with each sector 7 and a control unit 14 connected to each heating element 13. The control unit 14 is configured to control the operation of the heating element 13. Preferably, each sector 7 internally comprises the respective distinct heating element 13 along the rolling direction. Each heating element 13 is thus connected to the single control unit 14 which controls the operation of all the heating elements 13 based on a preset temperature and a drive signal.
More specifically, the heating element 13 may comprise a container body made of ceramic material and housing a coil made of electrically conductive material. The coil is traversed by an electric current which heats the container body.
The control unit 14 may be a thermocouple connected to the heating element 13 and configured to control the temperature of the respective sector 7. That way, the control unit 14 ensures that each sector 7 has a preset temperature. The heating system 8 configured this way can guarantee temperatures of between 100°C and 800°C in the sectors 7. Preferably, the temperatures are between 180°C and 200°C.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, each sector 7 of the rolling bed 1 is spaced from the other sectors 7 along the direction perpendicular to the rolling direction; that way, the temperature of each sector 7 does not affect the temperature of the neighbouring sectors 7. More in detail, the gap between two adjacent sectors 7 is between 0.01 mm and 10 mm. Advantageously, the gap between adjacent sectors is 5 mm
In a further preferred embodiment, as illustrated in Figure 4, each sector 7 has a grip surface 9 with a coefficient of friction which may be equal to or different from that of the grip surfaces 9 of the other sectors 7. For example, if the coefficient of friction is high, the related grip surface 9 increases the friction with the rod-shaped segments B, C and improves rolling.
Each grip surface 9 has a plurality of knurls 10 which, in a preferred embodiment, are parallel to each other and transverse to the rolling direction.
In a further preferred embodiment, each sector 7 or the transporting surface 2 of each sector 7 is made of elastomeric material. Preferably, the elastomeric material is selected from the group comprising natural and/or synthetic rubbers.
In an embodiment, shown in Figure 4, the rolling bed 1 may have a "comb-like" structure, where the sectors 7 are variable in length along the rolling direction. That way, the rolling bed 1 can be engaged with a conveyor drum (not illustrated in the accompanying drawings) which is shaped to match the structure of the rolling bed 1, where the conveyor drum is adapted to transfer the smoking articles A (already rolled) for further processing (specifically, as mentioned above, for cutting the double filter to obtain two individual cigarettes).
According to a further aspect of it, this invention provides a rolling kit comprising the rolling bed 1, where the sectors 7 are replaceable and where the number and/or the height and/or the temperature and/or the coefficient of friction of the sectors 7 depend on the type, size and number of the rod-shaped segments B, C.
Thus, thanks to this invention, it is possible to fit and change the sectors 7 of the rolling bed 1 differing according to production requirements in number, height and coefficient of friction as a function of the characteristics of the segments that they have to receive and roll.
That way, it is possible to roll smoking articles A comprising segments B, C of any kind effectively and without having to change the entire rolling bed 1 but only choosing and fitting the sectors 7 that are suitable for rolling the segments B, C needed for the kind of smoking article A to be made. The above mentioned features of the rolling bed 1 of this invention can be used to describe a method for making smoking articles A comprising the following steps:

axially juxtaposing at least two rod-shaped segments B, C,
applying the connecting strip D along the transporting surface 2 tangentially to the at least two juxtaposed segments B, C starting from one end of it in order to make a rod-shaped smoking article A,

wrapping the connecting strip D around the at least two segments B, C by feeding the smoking articles A along the rolling channel 5;
selecting and assembling, as a function of the type, size and number of segments B, C of smoking articles A, a number of independent rolling sectors 7 positioned side by side along a direction transverse to the rolling direction in such a way as to make up the rolling bed 1, each sector 7 being adapted to receive at least one respective rod-shaped segment B, C.

The invention achieves the proposed aims by providing the user with a smoking article rolling bed and rolling kit capable of guaranteeing excellent rolling quality thanks to the independent sectors which apply a pressure suitable for the type of segment B, C to be rolled (more specifically, based on the material each segment B, C to be rolled is made of). The rolling unit 11 thus allows improving the efficiency of the production process.
The invention described above is susceptible of industrial application; it may also be modified and adapted in several ways without thereby departing from the scope of the inventive concept. Moreover, all the details of the invention may be substituted by technically equivalent elements.

Claims

A rolling bed (1) for substantially cylindrical smoking articles (A), each of which comprises at least two coaxial, substantially cylindrical segments (B, C) and a connecting strip (D), the connecting strip (D) extending tangentially from the segments (B, C) on which the strip (D) is positioned with an end preferably glued to the segments (B, C);
the rolling bed (1) comprising a transporting surface (2) adapted to face a rolling portion (4) of a conveyor drum (3) for said smoking articles (A) and defining, with said conveyor drum (3), a rolling channel (5) adapted to transversely carry the smoking articles (A) along a rolling direction between an infeed station (I) corresponding to an infeed portion (2a) of the transporting surface (2) and an outfeed station (U) corresponding to an outfeed portion (2b) of the transporting surface (2);

said rolling bed (1) comprising at least two independent rolling sectors (7) positioned side by side along a direction transverse to the rolling direction; wherein the rolling bed (1) is characterised in that each sector (7) is made and defined as a separate element and wherein in that the rolling bed (1) is made by assembling the sectors (7), the sectors (7) being preferably replaceable and configured to receive at least one corresponding rod-shaped segment (B, C).
The rolling bed (1) according to claim 1, wherein each sector (7) is adapted to receive at least one respective substantially cylindrical segment (B, C).
The rolling bed (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the infeed portion (2a) of the transporting surface (2) has a trigger tooth (6) configured to initiate rotation of the smoking articles (A) in order to wrap the connecting strip (D) around the segments (B, C), the trigger tooth (6) extending at least partly along a direction transverse to the rolling direction.
The rolling bed (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each sector (7) has a height that is adjustable independently of the heights of the other sectors (7); each sector (7) defining sections of the rolling channel (5) which press the connecting strip (D) on the respective substantially cylindrical segments (B, C) to different degrees.
The rolling bed (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each sector (7) is spaced from the others along the direction perpendicular to the rolling direction.
The rolling bed (1) according to claim 5, wherein the gap between two adjacent sectors (7) is comprised between 0.01 mm and 10 mm.
The rolling bed (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each sector (7) comprises, at the transporting surface (2), a heating system (8) suitable for regulating the temperature of the respective sector (7) independently of the other sectors (7); the heating system (8) comprising a heating element (13), connected to the respective sector (7), and a control unit (14) connected to the heating element (13), the control unit (14) being configured to control the operation of the heating element (13).
The rolling bed (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each sector (7) has a grip surface (9) with a coefficient of friction equal to, or different from, the coefficient of friction of the other sectors (7).
The rolling bed (1) according to claim 8, wherein each grip surface (9) has a plurality of knurls (10).
The rolling bed (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each sector (7) is made of elastomeric material.
A rolling kit comprising a rolling bed (1) according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the sectors (7) are replaceable, and wherein the number and/or the height and/or the temperature and/or the coefficient of friction of the sectors (7) depend on the type, size and number of the substantially cylindrical segments (B, C).
A rolling unit (11) comprising:
- a rolling bed (1) according to one or more of claims 1 to 10;

- a conveyor drum (3) comprising a plurality of peripheral suction flutes (12) adapted to receive the substantially cylindrical smoking articles (A) and having a rolling portion (4) which defines a rolling channel (5) adapted to transversely carry the smoking articles (A).