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
  • A24C5/32—Separating, ordering, counting or examining cigarettes; Regulating the feeding of tobacco according to rod or cigarette condition
  • A24C5/34—Examining cigarettes or the rod, e.g. for regulating the feeding of tobacco; Removing defective cigarettes
  • A24C5/3412—Examining cigarettes or the rod, e.g. for regulating the feeding of tobacco; Removing defective cigarettes by means of light, radiation or electrostatic fields
• • 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
  • A24C5/32—Separating, ordering, counting or examining cigarettes; Regulating the feeding of tobacco according to rod or cigarette condition
  • A24C5/322—Transporting cigarettes during manufacturing
  • A24C5/327—Construction details of the cigarette transport drum

Definitions

• This invention addresses the technical sector of production methods and systems of the tobacco industry or generically for the production of smoking or aerosol generating articles.
• this invention regards a unit for inspecting rod-shaped articles (filters, cigarettes, tubes or the like) and a related inspection method which allow assessing the quality of these articles.
• the inspection devices perform sampling of a limited number of sample portions of the outer surface of each article to be inspected by scanning the images of these sample portions and comparing the images with a model image to check for surface defects (for example, badly formed and/or obstructed ventilation holes, irregular gluing, incorrectly positioned and/or blurred printing or other defects detectable by optical inspection systems) and thus to determine whether the inspected article meets one or more quality requirements or whether it is unsuitable for sale and must therefore be rejected.
• surface defects for example, badly formed and/or obstructed ventilation holes, irregular gluing, incorrectly positioned and/or blurred printing or other defects detectable by optical inspection systems
• the articles are processed in such a way as to expose different angular portions of their outer surfaces to the cameras. This is done by conveying the articles into suction seats having a semi-circular or circular arc cross section and, between capturing two consecutive images, transferring the articles between two tangent conveyors or rotating each article about its axis in the respective suction seat in such a way as to rotate the article so that the hidden part and the externally exposed part of it are inverted.
• a prior art inspection system comprises a first rotary drum (which exposes approximately 180° of the lateral surface of each article), with which two cameras are associated, and a second rotary drum (which exposes the approximate remaining 180° of each article), with which a third camera is associated.
• the first two images usually overlap to a more than adequate extent, whereas the third image is unable to ensure a sufficiently large overlap and/or to cover the 360°.
• the basic technical purpose of this invention is to provide a unit for inspecting rod-shaped articles to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.
• the aim of this invention is to provide a unit for inspecting rod-shaped articles capable of performing a full inspection of the outer surface of the articles in a precise and reliable manner, specifically using three cameras.
• FIGS. 1A-1 E show a sequence of operating steps performed by a unit for inspecting rod-shaped articles according to a first embodiment of the invention
• FIGS. 2A-2E show a sequence of operating steps performed by a unit for inspecting rod-shaped articles according to a second embodiment of the invention
• FIGS. 3A-3E show a sequence of operating steps performed by a unit for inspecting rod-shaped articles according to a third embodiment of the invention
• FIGS. 4A-4E show a sequence of operating steps performed by a unit for inspecting rod-shaped articles according to a fourth embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 5 shows an enlarged detail of a portion of the unit of the invention according to any of the embodiments of Figures 1 A-1 E, 2A-2E or 3A-3E;
• Figure 6 shows a variant embodiment of the detail of Figure 5;
• FIG. 7 shows an enlarged detail of a portion of the unit of the invention according to Figures 4A-4E.
• the reference numeral 1 in the accompanying drawings denotes in its entirety a unit for inspecting rod-shaped articles A (cigarettes, filters, tubes or other articles of this shape of the tobacco industry or aerosol generating articles) according to different embodiments of the invention.
• each article A is either transferred to further stations and/or working processes downstream of the unit 1 (if the quality requirements are met) or rejected, that is, moved away from the production line because it is considered unsuitable (if the quality requirements are not met).
• the unit 1 comprises at least a first conveyor 2, a trigger device 3, a first inspection station 4a and a second inspection station 4b.
• the first conveyor 2 is in the form of a drum and the first seats 2a are disposed circumferentially around the axis of rotation of the drum and are configured to receive and convey the articles A in such a way that the articles are disposed in parallel with the axis of rotation.
• first seats 2a have, along the first conveying direction (that is to say, tangentially), an extension such as to define at least one rolling surface 2a’ for each rod-shaped article A.
• first seats 2a extend along the conveying direction between a front abutment 2a” and a rear abutment 2a’” which delimit the rolling surface 2a’.
• the first seats 2a are each configured to receive a respective article A and extend between two ends delimited by the front abutment 2a” and the rear abutment 2a’” which have, disposed and extending between them, the rolling surface 2a’ which allows controlled rolling of the articles A between one end and the other of the first seats 2a.
• the rolling surface has the shape of a portion of a cylindrical surface with a constant diameter around the axis of the drum 2.
• each first seat 2a has, along the conveying direction, an extension such as to cause an article A to rotate through an angle between 1° and 359° and preferably between 30° and 90°.
• the angle of rotation is determined as a function of the diameter of the article A, of the spacing between the seats 2a of the conveyor 2 (that is, the centre-to-centre distance of the seats 2a) and of the positioning of the inspection stations 4a, 4b (more specifically, of the angle of incidence of the cameras).
• the trigger device 3 is disposed along the first conveying direction and is configured to strike each article A, causing it to roll on the rolling surface 2a’.
• each first seat 2a may comprise at least one retaining tooth 30 ( Figure 6) protruding from the bottom surface of the seat 2a and interposed between the rolling surface 2a’ and at least one between the front/rear abutment 2a”, 2a’”.
• the retaining tooth also has the function of correctly holding the articles A at the respective front abutment 2a” and/or rear abutment 2a’” of the first seat 2a before and/or after interaction with the trigger device 3.
• Figures 4A-4E show a different embodiment, in which the trigger device 3 is defined by a second conveyor 5 configured to receive the articles and move them away from the first conveyor 2.
• the second conveyor 5 is configured to convey the articles A along a second conveying direction transverse to the second seats 5a and, in this case, too, the second seats 5a have, along the second conveying direction (that is to say, tangentially), an extension such as to define at least one rolling surface 5a’ for each rod-shaped article A.
• the conveying direction of the two conveyors 2, 5, which are in the form of drums, is the same in the zone of tangency and the article A, which is initially resting against the rear abutment 2a’” of the respective first seat 2a, is made to roll forward when it engages the second conveyor 5, which is moving at a faster speed.
• the second conveyor 5 might be moving at a slower speed and thus configured in such a way as to cause the article A to roll “backwards” in the respective first and second seats 2a, 5a.
• the suction orifices are located in the front portions of the seats 2a, 5a.
• the first inspection station 4a is disposed upstream of the trigger device 3 and configured to detect a first angular portion A1 of the outer lateral surface of each article A before rolling on the rolling surface 2a’.
• the second inspection station 4b is disposed downstream of the trigger device 3 and is configured to detect a second angular portion A2, at least partly different from the first angular portion A1 , of the outer lateral surface of each article A after rolling on the rolling surface 2a’.
• the inspection stations 4a, 4b detect the properties of the portion of the outer lateral surface of the articles A which is exposed upstream and downstream of the trigger device 3.
• an object of this invention is a method for inspecting rod-shaped articles of the tobacco industry which can preferably be implemented by a unit 1 comprising one or more of the technical features outlined above.
• the method is carried out by performing a first inspection to inspect a first angular portion of the outer lateral surface of a rod-shaped article A.
• This inspection can be performed by capturing an image or a set of images identifying and representing the first angular portion.
• the axis or direction of inspection is not necessarily perpendicular to the instantaneous conveying direction of the article A but may be at an angle to it (angle of incidence) which is different from 90°, for example, between 60° and 80°.
• the article A progressively exposes for inspection a different portion of its outer lateral surface - for example, a portion of it that was originally at least partly hidden by the rolling surface it was in contact with.
• the article A after rolling, remains inside the first seat 2a at a position ahead or behind the position it had at the start of rolling so that, compared to the position at the start of rolling, a portion of angular surface is exposed which is at least partly different from the portion exposed at the start of rolling.
• the step of rolling is carried out during a step of transferring the article A from a first seat 2a of a first conveyor 2, preferably a rotary conveyor, to a second seat 5a of a second conveyor 5, preferably also a rotary conveyor.
• rolling is carried out while the article A is interposed between respective rolling surfaces 2a’, 5a’ of the first seat 2a and second seat 5a.
• the second seats 5a move at a higher speed, or alternatively, a lower speed, than the first seats 2a and the transfer of each article A from the first seat 2a to the second seat 5a occurs by rolling between an initial position of the article A at a rear abutment 2a’” or a front abutment 2a” of the first seat 2a, respectively, and a final position of the article A at a rear abutment 5a’” or a front abutment 5a” of the second seat 5a, respectively.
• each article can be subjected to further rolling, specifically after being transferred to a further drum, in the case of Figures 1-3, or after being transferred to a further unit comprising two similar tangent drums, in the case of the embodiment of Figures 4A-4E.
• each article can expose a further portion of its outer surface to a camera to obtain a final (third) image, thereby capturing the entire outer surface.
• the article is transferred to a further drum (for example, of traditional type, with seats of semi-circular or circular arc shape) and exposes a further portion of its outer surface to a camera to obtain a final (third) image, thereby capturing the entire outer surface.
• a further drum for example, of traditional type, with seats of semi-circular or circular arc shape
• exposes a further portion of its outer surface to a camera to obtain a final (third) image, thereby capturing the entire outer surface.
• the method described herein allows inspecting precisely and accurately different angular portions of the articles A and, by rolling the articles, makes it possible to control, step by step, which specific portion of each is exposed for inspection.

Landscapes

• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Toxicology (AREA)
• Specific Conveyance Elements (AREA)
• Prostheses (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=70739055

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Family Cites Families (6)

• 2020
  • 2020-03-05 IT IT102020000004657A patent/IT202000004657A1/it unknown
• 2021
  • 2021-03-01 EP EP21708397.1A patent/EP4114209A1/en active Pending
  • 2021-03-01 WO PCT/IB2021/051675 patent/WO2021176322A1/en unknown

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events