EP4238428A1

EP4238428A1 - Apparatus and method for manufcturing rods of tobacco industry

Info

Publication number: EP4238428A1
Application number: EP22160350.9A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Bartosz Cieslikowski
Original assignee: International Tobacco Machinery Poland Sp zoo
Current assignee: International Tobacco Machinery Poland Sp zoo
Priority date: 2022-03-04
Filing date: 2022-03-04
Publication date: 2023-09-06
Also published as: WO2023166478A1

Abstract

An apparatus for manufacturing rods of tobacco industry provided with a feeding assembly for feeding a strand of a filler material, a compaction assembly for compacting the filler material, a wrapper material feeder, a forming assembly for forming a continuous rod, a cutting head, characterized in that it is further provided with a liquid substance dispenser (17) adapted for dispensing the liquid substance in portions (L).

Description

The object of the invention is apparatus and method for manufacturing rods of tobacco industry.
The tobacco industry manufactures a variety of smoking products containing tobacco or processed tobacco material fitted with a mouthpiece also known as a filter. Multi-segment products containing a segment which is adapted to generate tobacco aerosol by heating the material contained therein are also manufactured. Several types of filters can be distinguished. One group includes filters made of a single type of material, and such filters may contain capsules with liquid flavour substance, or may be provided with a scented thread which is soaked with flavour substance. Soaking the filler material with liquid aromatic substance is also a common solution. The other group includes filters made of several types of material placed in the filter in the form of cylindrical segments, i.e. segment filters. The segmented filters may comprise segments made of filter material, they may comprise segments producing the aroma released during burning, the aroma substance may be encapsulated, placed on a thread or the filter material may be soaked with such substance. The filter material of single-material filters as well as of segment filters is usually saturated continuously, i.e. during the production process the liquid flavour is continuously delivered to the filter material. The disadvantage is that some of the flavour substance evaporates before the cigarette or another product is placed in a closed pack.
The solution to the problem is to dispensing the liquid flavour substance in portions in such a way that a portion of the substance is placed centrally in the segment or filter so that it is not in contact with the cut surface in the course of manufacturing. The filter or segment thus produced is attached to the tobacco portion, whereby during the production process the substance penetrates the material which was not originally soaked.
The essence of the invention is an apparatus for manufacturing rods of tobacco industry provided with a feeding assembly for feeding a strand of filler material, a compaction assembly for compacting the filler material, a wrapper material feeder, a forming assembly for forming a continuous rod, a cutting head, The apparatus according to the invention is characterized in that it is further provided with a liquid substance dispenser arranged for dispensing liquid substance in portions.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that the liquid substance dispenser is adapted for dispensing a portion of a liquid substance onto the filler material in a feeding assembly for feeding a strand of the filler material.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that the feeding assembly for feeding the strand of the filler material is provided with a cutting unit for longitudinally cutting the strand of the filler material into partial strands of the filler material and a guiding unit for guiding the partial strands of the filler material, and the liquid substance dispenser is adapted for dispensing the liquid substance onto the partial strand of the filler material in the guiding unit for guiding the partial strands of the filler material.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that the liquid substance dispenser is adapted for dispensing a portion of the liquid substance onto the filler material in the compaction assembly for compacting the filler material.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that the liquid substance dispenser is adapted for dispensing a portion of the liquid substance centrally between the partial strands of the filler material in the compaction assembly for compacting the filler material.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that the liquid substance dispenser is adapted for dispensing a portion of the liquid substance onto the filler material in the forming assembly for forming a continuous rod.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that in the compaction assembly for compacting the filler material or at least in a part of the forming assembly for forming the continuous rod there is arranged a spreader plough for spreading the strand of the filler material and/or a cutting element for cutting the strand of the filler material.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that the liquid substance dispenser is provided with a dispensing element selected from a group comprising a nozzle, an injection unit, a dispensing valve.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that the dispensing element is rotary mounted and periodically approaches the filler material.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that it is provided with a sensor for checking amount of the liquid substance dispensed, in particular the sensor is a microwave sensor.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that it is provided with a sensor for checking the position of the portion of the dispensed liquid substance in the direction of movement of the strand of the filler material, wherein the signal from the sensor of the position of the portion of the liquid substance is used to synchronize the rotation of the cutting head so that the cutting head cuts the continuous rod at a location which is not soaked with the liquid substance.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that the frequency of dispensing of the liquid substance portion finds in the range from 50 to 1000Hz, preferably from 200 to 350Hz.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that it is adapted to dispense portions of the liquid substance in portions of 10 to 30 mg, advantageously 10 to 15 mg with an accuracy of 10%.
Advantageously the apparatus is characterized in that the filler material is a material having properties of paper, an acetate-based material or a fibrous material with filtering properties.
Further the essence of the invention is a method of manufacturing rods of tobacco industry, wherein a strand of a filler material is provided, the filler material is compacted, the strand of the filler material is formed so that it has a circular shape in cross-section, a wrapper material is fed, a continuous rod is formed by wrapping the strip of the filler material with the wrapper material, the continuous rod is cut into individual rods by a cutting head. The method is characterized in that the liquid substance in portions is dispensed onto the strip of the filler material.
The advantage of the invention is that by applying precise placement of precisely measured portions of aromatic substance in precisely defined places, the degree of evaporation of aromatic substance is reduced and the cutting head knives are kept clean for a longer time, thus shortening the downtime associated with maintenance of the cutting head, which results in an increase in productivity of the apparatus in comparison with apparatuses of the prior art.
The object of the application is illustrated in embodiments in the drawing, in which

Fig. 1 , 2 presents semi-finished products of tobacco industry with pointwise placed liquid flavour substance,
Fig. 1a, 2a present semi-finished products of tobacco industry with liquid flavour substance placed in line segments,
Fig. 3 presents an apparatus according to the invention in the first embodiment,
Fig. 4 presents an apparatus according to the invention in the second embodiment,
Fig. 5 presents a cutting unit of the apparatus according to the invention,
Fig. 6 presents a compaction assembly in the first embodiment,
Fig. 7 presents a compaction assembly in the second embodiment,
Figs. 8, 9, 10 present a compaction assembly in the third embodiment,
Fig. 9 presents a cross-sectional view of the compaction assembly of Fig. 8,
Fig. 10 presents a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the compaction assembly of Fig. 8,
Fig. 11 presents a compaction assembly in the fourth embodiment,
Fig. 12 presents a forming assembly of the apparatus in the first embodiment, and
Fig. 13 presents a forming assembly of the apparatus in the second embodiment.

Fig. 1 shows an exemplary article of the tobacco industry in the form of a rod R which contains a filler material 5 adapted for filtering tobacco smoke. In the filler material 5, portions of a liquid substance L are arranged along an axis k. The portions shown are positioned pointwise in the filler material. The rod R is a semi-finished product which is cut into segments in the course of a manufacturing process. Fig. 2 shows segments P produced by cutting the rod R, each segment P comprises a portion of the liquid substance L. The filler material can be acetate fibres, crimped paper or material with paper properties, any material containing fibres with filtration properties. Fig. 1a shows a rod R, in which portions L of the liquid substance are stretched in the filler material, i.e. they are placed in line segments. Fig. 2a shows segments P comprising such line segment portions L of the liquid substance. The segments P can be attached directly to a tobacco part. The segments P can be used to manufacture multi-segment filters or multi-segment products which are provided with a segment for generating tobacco aerosol.
Fig. 3 shows a machine 1 for manufacturing rods R of tobacco industry in a first embodiment, which comprises a feeding assembly 2 for feeding a strand 4 of filler material 5, a compaction assembly 6 for compacting the strand 4 of the filler material 5, a wrapper feeder 7 for feeding a wrapper material 8, a forming assembly 9 for forming a continuous rod CR and a cutting head 10. In the presented embodiment the filler material 5 is a fibrous material, for example an acetate material. The machine 1 produces a continuous rod CR which comprises a cylindrically formed strand 4 wrapped with the wrapped material 8 in the form of a strip. The continuous rod CR is cut by the cutting head 10 into individual rods R, in the presented embodiment the rod R contains acetate fibres 5. In the feeding unit 2 the acetate fibres 5 are spread aside and soaked with a curing liquid. The strand 4 of the acetate fibres 5 prepared in this way is fed for compaction. The compaction unit 6 for compacting the strand 4 is provided with a compacting element having a tapered inner surface, which guides the strand 4 of the filler material 5 and causes the strand fibers to converge. A forming assembly 9 for forming a continuous rod CR is arranged behind the compaction assembly 6. The forming assembly 9 comprises elements for guiding the wrapper material 8 for wrapping the cylindrically formed strand 4 of the filler material 5 with the wrapper material 8 and an adhesive unit 16 for applying an adhesive for longitudinally gluing the edges of the wrapper material 8. The machine shown
in Fig. 1 is provided with a liquid substance dispenser 17 located in the feeding assembly 2 above the strand 4 of the filler material 5. The liquid substance dispenser 17 is adapted for dispensing the liquid substance in portions, whereby the portion L of the liquid substance is dispensed at intervals. The liquid substance dispenser 17 may comprise a nozzle 19, its outlet 18 being pointed towards the strand 4. The nozzle 19 can eject a portion of the substance or spray the substance. The liquid substance dispenser 17 may be designed as an injection unit or a dispensing valve. Any other applicator adapted for dispensing the liquid substance in portions may be used in the dispenser 17.
The machine 1 shown in Fig. 3 is provided with a sensor 33 for the presence of a liquid substance in the produced continuous rod CR. For example, a microwave sensor may be used. The signal from the sensor 33 informs about the presence of a portion L of the liquid substance and about the amount of the liquid substance in the portion L. Moreover the signal from the sensor 33 informs about the position of the portions L along the continuous rod CR so that the rotational movement of the cutting head 10 can be synchronized with the movement of the continuous rod CR so that cutting of successive rods R takes place between the portions L of the liquid substance. For detection the position of the portions L of the liquid substance along the continuous rod CR, a second sensor may be used independently of the sensor 33 for detection the presence and amount of the liquid substance. Fig. 1 shows a rod R and a successive rod R' being cut off in the plane G, whereby synchronizing the rotational movement of the cutting head 10 and the continuous rod CR enables obtaining the position of the liquid substance portion L at a distance d from the end of the rod R and the adjacent rod R'. The knife of the cutting head cuts the continuous rod in a plane G distant from the portion L of the liquid substance, so that the liquid substance is not deposited on the knife.
Fig. 4 presents a machine for producing rods R, in which the filler material 5 is creped paper. The feeding assembly 2 for feeding the strand 4 of the filler material 5 is provided with a crimping unit 21 and a cutting unit 22 (Fig. 5) provided with disc knives 23 for cutting the strand 4 into at least two partial strands. In the example shown, the strand 4 is cut into three partial strands 4A, 4B and 4C. The liquid substance dispenser 17 is positioned in the feeding assembly 2 above the central partial strand 4B. The outlet opening 18 of the nozzle 19 is positioned in direct contact with the strand 4, alternatively it may be immersed into the strand 4. The liquid substance portion L is dispensed onto the upper surface of the central partial strand. The partial strands 4A, 4B and 4C are guided in a guide assembly 28 in such a way that the lateral partial strands 4A and 4C are lifted and positioned above the central strand 4B, so that the liquid substance portion L will be positioned substantially centrally with reference to the cross-section of the formed continuous rod CR or rods R. The direction of dispensing of the liquid substance portion L, i.e. the direction in which the liquid substance is ejected from the outlet opening 18 may be transverse to the direction of movement of the strand 4, whereby advantageously the direction of dispensing of the liquid substance portion may be at least partially convergent with the direction of movement of the strand 4 of the filler material, i.e. a component of the direction of movement of the portion L should be in line with the direction of movement of the strand 4 so as to ensure that the liquid substance is deposited on the strand 4. The machine is provided with a sensor 33 for the presence of the liquid substance analogously to the previous embodiment.
Fig. 6 shows a compaction unit 6 provided with a liquid substance dispenser 17, the liquid substance dispenser 17 being provided with a nozzle 19. The nozzle 19 is arranged such that the outlet 18 of the nozzle 19 is located inside the moving strand 4. Advantageously, the outlet 18 is located centrally in the strand 4. The outlet 18 of the nozzle 19 is pointed towards the interior of the compacting element 12. The direction of the liquid substance dispensing is convergent with the direction of the movement of the strand 4. By adjusting the speed of the liquid substance dispensing to the speed of feeding of the strand 4, a concentration of the portion L of the liquid substance can be obtained as shown in Fig. 1 and 2. Fig. 7 also shows a compaction assembly 6 provided with a liquid substance dispenser 17, whereby the nozzle 19 is positioned transverse to the direction of movement of the strand 4. The direction of the liquid substance dispensing, i.e. the direction in which the liquid substance is ejected from the outlet opening 18 is transverse to the direction of movement of the strand 4, which may cause the liquid substance to be stretched along the strand 4. Immediately after the dispensing of the portion L of the liquid substance, the direction of movement of this portion is altered, which will cause the portion L of the liquid substance to be stretched in line segments along the filler material 5 as shown in Figs. 1a and 2a. A nozzle, a spray nozzle, an injection unit, a dispensing valve or any other liquid substance applicator adapted for delivering the liquid substance in portions may be applied in the dispenser 17. The feeder 17 may be located in the compacting unit 6 when producing rods of both fibrous material and material with paper properties, wherein the strand 4 of the filler material may be uncut as well as cut into at least two partial strands 4A, 4B.
Fig. 8 shows a compaction assembly 6 adapted for compacting a strand 4 which has been cut longitudinally into three partial strands 4A, 4B and 4C, the compaction assembly 6 is shown in the direction B indicated in Fig. 4. In the embodiment shown, the compaction assembly 6 comprising a compaction member 26 in the form of a funnel (longitudinal section shown in Fig. 10) which is provided with radially spaced guides 23, 24, 25 which separate the partial strands 4A, 4B and 4C. The guides 23, 24, 25 are arranged along the compacting member 26 from the inlet 29 to the outlet 30 of the compacting member 26 (Fig. 10). The partial strands 4A, 4B, 4C move along channels respectively 26A, 26B, 26C formed between the guides 23, 24, 25 and the inner wall 26Z of the compacting member 26. The cross-section of each of the channels 26A, 26B, 26C narrows down in the direction of movement of the strand 4. Fig. 9 shows the cross-section D-D through the compaction assembly 6 indicated in Fig. 10. Fig. 8 shows an exemplary location of the outlet 18 of the nozzle 19, while Fig. 9 shows the location of the liquid substance portion L between the converging partial strands 4A, 4B, 4C. The central position of the nozzle 19 and the uniform converging of the partial strands 4A, 4B, 4C ensure the central position of the liquid substance portion L. It is possible to construct a compaction assembly adapted to more partial strands.
Fig. 11 shows an embodiment of a compaction assembly 6 adapted for compacting two partial strands 4A and 4B, the position of the nozzle being analogous to the above described case of feeding three partial strands. In both cases, the nozzle 19 may be positioned so that the outlet 18 is upstream of the inlet 29, in the inlet or deeper downstream of the inlet inside the compaction member 26 depending on the volume of the partial strands 4A and 4B or 4A, 4B and 4C. Portions L of the liquid substance are dispensed between the partial strands 4A, 4B, 4C within the region of convergence of the partial strands. The dispensed portion L of the liquid substance is small, and dispensing the substance directly between the partial strands 4A, 4B, 4C ensures that the portion L of the liquid substance is transferred to the fibers of the strand 4 without dividing it into smaller portions. The direction of dispensing of the liquid substance portion 20 is compliant with the direction of movement of the partial strands 4A, 4B, 4C, so that the portion L will be concentrated as shown in Fig. 1. The location of the outlet 18 within the region of convergence of the partial strands ensures that the size of the dispensed portion L is repeatable. The outlet 18 may also be located downstream of the region of convergence of the partial strands, where the fibers of the strand 4 are more compacted. The liquid dispensing shown in Figs. 8 to 11 can be applied to any fibrous material or material having properties of paper, furthermore it can be applied to material containing processed tobacco, for example tobacco recovered from production.
Fig. 12 shows a forming assembly 9 provided with a liquid substance dispenser 17. The forming assembly 9 comprises a guiding element 13 situated just behind the compacting element 12. The guiding element 13 has the form of a tube, the inner surface of the tube being conical with a small angle of convergence, the inlet 14 of the guiding element 13 having a larger diameter than the outlet 15 of the guiding element 13. The dispenser 17 is situated so that the outlet 18 of the dispenser is situated in direct contact with the material 5 of the strand 4 of the rod being formed. Advantageously, the dispenser 17 may be situated so that the outlet 18 of the liquid substance is immersed into the interior of the band 4, whereby in front of the dispenser 17 (considering the direction of movement of the band 4) a plough 27 is situated, i.e. a splitting element for spreading the fibres of the band 4. Due to the use of the plough 27, the nozzle 19 of the dispenser 17 is not loaded by the pressure force exerted by the moving band 4. The plough 27 may act as a cutting element. The plough 27 shown in Fig. 12 has the form of a flat rounded element. The plough 27 may be made as a circular knife, for example it may have the form of a circular knife having a thickness close to the width of the nozzle 19. The positioning of the dispenser 17 in the forming unit 9 may be applicable to any filler material whether the band 4 remains uncut or is cut into partial strands as shown in Fig. 5.
In the embodiment shown in Fig. 13, a plurality of liquid substance dispensers 17 are mounted on a rotating body 31. Nozzles 19 are positioned radially and their outlets 18 approach the strand 4 cyclically as the body 31 rotates. To facilitate immersion of nozzles 19 into the filler material of the strands 4, a plough 32 is mounted, the end of which is positioned inside the strand 4.
The apparatus according to the invention can be applied to dispense any volume of a liquid substance in the range from a few milligrams to 3 grams. Furthermore, the device according to the invention can be applied to a liquid substance of any viscosity used for flavouring substances. Among other things, the apparatus may be adapted for dispensing portions of a liquid substance in portions having mass from 10 to 30 mg, advantageously from 10 to 15 mg with accuracy of 10% of the dispensed volume.
In production practice, the frequency of dispensing of a portion L of a liquid substance finds within the range of 50 to 1000Hz, whereas optimum frequency of dispensing of a portion of a liquid substance finds within the range of 200 to 350Hz.

Claims

An apparatus for manufacturing rods of tobacco industry provided with
a feeding assembly for feeding a strand of filler material,

a compaction assembly for compacting the filler material,

a wrapper material feeder,

a forming assembly for forming a continuous rod,

a cutting head,
characterized in that

it is further provided with a liquid substance dispenser (17) arranged for dispensing a liquid substance in portions (L).
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the liquid substance dispenser (17) is adapted for dispensing a portion (L) of a liquid substance onto the filler material (5) in the feeding assembly (2) for feeding a strand (4) of the filler material (5).
The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the feeding assembly for feeding the strand (4) of the filler material (5) is provided with a cutting unit (22) for longitudinally cutting the strand (4) of the filler material (5) into partial strands (4A, 4B, 4C) of the filler material (5) and a guiding unit for guiding the partial strands (4A, 4B, 4C) of the filler material (5), and the liquid substance dispenser (17) is adapted for dispensing the liquid substance onto the partial strand (4B) of the filler material (5) in the guiding unit for guiding the partial strands (4A, 4B, 4C) of the filler material (5).
The apparatus according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that the liquid substance dispenser (17) is adapted for dispensing a portion (L) of the liquid substance onto the filler material (5) in the compaction assembly (6) for compacting the filler material (5).
The apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the liquid substance dispenser (17) is adapted for dispensing a portion (L) of the liquid substance centrally between the partial strands (4A, 4B, 4C) of the filler material (5) in the compaction assembly (6) for compacting the filler material (5).
The apparatus according to claim 1 or 3, characterized in that the liquid substance dispenser (17) is adapted for dispensing a portion (L) of the liquid substance onto the filler material (5) in the forming assembly (9) for forming a continuous rod (CR).
The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that in the compaction assembly (6) for compacting the filler material (5) or at least in a part of the forming assembly (9) for forming the continuous rod (CR) there is arranged a spreader plough (27) for spreading the strand (4) of the filler material and/or a cutting element for cutting the strand of the filler material.
The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the liquid substance dispenser (17) is provided with a dispensing element (19) selected from a group comprising a nozzle, an injection unit, a dispensing valve.
The apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that the dispensing element (19) is rotary mounted and periodically approaches the filler material.
The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it is provided with a sensor (33) for checking amount of the liquid substance dispensed, in particular the sensor is a microwave sensor.
The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that it is provided with a sensor for checking the position of the portion (L) of the dispensed liquid substance in the direction of movement of the strand of the filler material, wherein the signal from the sensor of the position of the portion (L) of the liquid substance is used to synchronise the rotation of the cutting head (10) so that the cutting head (10) cuts the continuous rod (CR) at a location which is not soaked with the liquid substance.
The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the frequency of dispensing of the liquid substance portion finds within the range from 50 to 1000Hz, preferably from 200 to 350Hz.
The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that it is adapted for dispensing portions of the liquid substance in portions of 10 to 30 mg, advantageously 10 to 15 mg with an accuracy of 10%.
The apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the filler material is a material having properties of paper, an acetate-based material or a fibrous material with filtering properties.
A method of manufacturing rods of tobacco industry, wherein
a strand of a filler material is provided,

the filler material is compacted,

the strand of the filler material is formed so that it has a circular shape in cross-section,

a wrapper material is fed,

a continuous rod is formed by wrapping the strip of the filler material with the wrapper material,

the continuous rod is cut into individual rods by a cutting head,
characterized in that

the liquid substance in portions is dispensed onto the strip of the filler material.