EP4265129A1 - Conveying rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates, among other things, to a method for the transverse axial conveying of rod-shaped articles in the tobacco processing industry, wherein article groups (100) with three or more than three rod-shaped article segments are or are formed in a provision process, the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of each article group (100) are arranged next to one another in the longitudinal axial direction of the article groups (100), a defect detection device (60) being designed such that for each article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the respective article groups (100) the presence or absence of the respective article segment within the respective article groups (100) is determined, and using the defect detection device (60) to determine the absence of at least one article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) within the respective article group ( 100) it is determined whether at least one article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the respective article group (100) is to be displaced longitudinally axially with respect to a reference plane (40) and after determining a longitudinal axial displacement of at least one article segment to be carried out (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) at least one article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) by means of at least one movement element (Z, Z ') for the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) in Relative to the reference plane (40) is shifted and / or aligned.

Description

The invention relates to a method for the transverse axial conveying of rod-shaped articles from the tobacco processing industry, in particular filter segments, and a device for the transverse axial conveying of rod-shaped articles from the tobacco processing industry, in particular filter segments.

The invention further relates to a machine in the tobacco processing industry for producing rod-shaped articles in the tobacco processing industry, in particular multi-segment filters or filter cigarettes.

In machines in the tobacco processing industry, in particular filter attachment machines or machines for the production of alternative smoking products such as heat-not-burn products or e-cigarettes, conveyor drums are used to transport cigarettes, filter pieces or their components.

Conveying the aforementioned rod-shaped objects during the In modern production machines in the tobacco processing industry, the production of cigarettes, filters and filter cigarettes or so-called heat-not-burn products or e-cigarettes is generally carried out using conveyor drums, the lateral surface or drum body of which is used for the transverse axial conveyance of rod-shaped objects (cigarettes, filter rods or filter plugs, filter cigarettes) is provided with grooves or receiving troughs for receiving the rod-shaped objects. During conveyance, these rod-shaped articles from the tobacco processing industry are arranged in rows transversely axially one behind the other in receiving troughs.

In filter attachment machines, rod-shaped articles, such as tobacco sticks or filter plugs or filter rods, are conveyed transversely axially into receiving troughs in the conveyor drum. Here, the receiving troughs are arranged at predetermined pitches on the peripheral surface of the conveyor drum.

Further is over EP 1 943 909 B1 a method for conveying a rod-shaped article in the tobacco processing industry is described, wherein during a transfer of the article from the first conveyor to a second conveyor at the time of transfer, the article is moved in the longitudinal axial direction by means of a movement pulse.

One object of the invention is to improve the assembly of article groups with several rod-shaped article segments, whereby it should be possible to increase the productivity of a machine in the tobacco processing industry for producing rod-shaped articles.

• wobei im Bereitstellungsvorgang vollständige Artikelgruppen mit einer konstanten vorbestimmten ganzzahligen Anzahl n (n ≥ 3, 4, 5, 6, ...) an stabförmigen, insbesondere zylinderförmigen, Artikelsegmenten bereitgestellt werden und unvollständige Artikelgruppen mit einer Anzahl an stabförmigen, insbesondere zylinderförmigen, Artikelsegmenten bereitgestellt werden, wobei die Anzahl der Artikelsegmente der unvollständigen Artikelgruppen jeweils kleiner als die konstante Anzahl der Artikelsegmente der vollständigen Artikelgruppen ist,
• wobei die Artikelgruppen in queraxialer Richtung entlang eines Förderwegs mittels wenigstens einer Fördervorrichtung, insbesondere wenigstens einer Fördertrommel, gefördert werden,
• wobei die Artikelgruppen entlang des Förderwegs mittels einer Fehlstellenermittlungseinrichtung für die Artikelgruppen geprüft werden,
• wobei die Fehlstellenermittlungseinrichtung derart ausgebildet ist, dass für jedes Artikelsegment der jeweiligen, insbesondere unvollständigen, Artikelgruppen die Anwesenheit oder das Fehlen des jeweiligen Artikelsegments innerhalb der jeweiligen, insbesondere unvollständigen, Artikelgruppen ermittelt wird oder ermittelbar ist,
• wobei mittels der Fehlstellenermittlungseinrichtung bei Ermittlung des Fehlens von wenigstens einem Artikelsegment innerhalb der jeweiligen, insbesondere unvollständigen, Artikelgruppe bestimmt wird, ob wenigstens ein Artikelsegment oder mehrere Artikelsegmente der jeweiligen, insbesondere unvollständigen, Artikelgruppe in Bezug auf eine, insbesondere vorbestimmte, Referenzebene längsaxial zu verschieben sind,
• wobei nach Bestimmung einer durchzuführenden längsaxialen Verschiebung von wenigstens einem Artikelsegment oder von mehreren Artikelsegmenten oder nach Bestimmung von durchzuführenden längsaxialen Verschiebungen von mehreren Artikelsegmenten für die, insbesondere unvollständige, Artikelgruppe in einem nachfolgenden Schritt das wenigstens eine Artikelsegment oder mehrere Artikelsegmente mittels wenigstens eines Bewegungsorgans für die Artikelsegmente in Bezug auf die Referenzebene verschoben werden und/oder ausgerichtet werden.

This problem is solved by a method for the transverse axial conveying of rod-shaped articles from the tobacco processing industry, in particular filter segments, with groups of articles having three or more than three, in particular four, five or more, rod-shaped in one supply process Article segments are or are formed, the article segments of each article group being arranged next to one another in the longitudinal axial direction of the article groups,

• wherein in the provision process, complete article groups with a constant predetermined integer number n (n ≥ 3, 4, 5, 6, ...) of rod-shaped, in particular cylindrical, article segments are provided and incomplete article groups with a number of rod-shaped, in particular cylindrical, article segments are provided are, whereby the number of article segments of the incomplete article groups is smaller than the constant number of article segments of the complete article groups,
• wherein the article groups are conveyed in the transverse axial direction along a conveying path by means of at least one conveying device, in particular at least one conveying drum,
• wherein the article groups are checked along the conveying path by means of a defect detection device for the article groups,
• wherein the defect detection device is designed in such a way that for each article segment of the respective, in particular incomplete, article groups, the presence or absence of the respective article segment within the respective, in particular incomplete, article groups is determined or can be determined,
• wherein by means of the defect detection device, when determining the absence of at least one article segment within the respective, in particular incomplete, article group, it is determined whether at least one article segment or several article segments of the respective, in particular incomplete, article group are to be displaced longitudinally axially with respect to a, in particular predetermined, reference plane ,
• wherein after determining a longitudinal axial displacement to be carried out of at least one article segment or several article segments or after determining longitudinal axial displacements to be carried out of several article segments for the, in particular incomplete, article group in a subsequent step, the at least one article segment or several article segments by means of at least one movement element for the article segments in relation to the Reference plane can be moved and/or aligned.

The advantage of the invention is that when assembling article groups with three or more article segments, the arrangement of the article segments within the rod-shaped article group can be checked for the presence or absence of article segments, with an incomplete article group being determined depending on the arrangement of article segments whether at least one article segment of the article group should be moved with respect to a reference plane, which is preferably aligned perpendicular to the conveying path of the article groups. In the event that it is determined that at least one article segment of the (incomplete) article group is to be moved with respect to the reference plane, the defect detection device in particular determines in which way an article segment that is to be moved is determined by means of a, preferably downstream, movement element is aligned. This ensures that a compact arrangement of the article segments within the incomplete article group is achieved before further processing of the article groups, and in particular the incomplete article group. With the compact arrangement of the article segments of the respective article groups, the article segments are preferably pushed together directly adjacent to one another or in contact with one another.

Within the scope of the invention, it is possible for the center plane of the complete article groups to be (pre-)determined as the reference plane for the article segments of the article groups, the center plane being aligned perpendicular to the longitudinal center axes of the article groups. Within the scope of the invention, a plane can also be selected that is arranged parallel to the center plane of the complete article groups.

Advantageously, the article segments of the incomplete article groups are arranged, for example, in the receiving troughs of a conveyor drum immediately next to each other after the displacement of at least one article segment or several article segments, so that the head ends of the adjacent article segments touch. In the complete article groups provided, the head ends of the adjacent article segments preferably also touch each other.

Within the scope of the invention, the article segments and the article groups are also conveyed in receiving troughs of conveyor drums along a conveyor path, with a defect detection device for the article groups being arranged in one section in order to check the article groups for completeness or for the absence of article segments within the article groups. In one embodiment, the defect detection device for the article groups and the at least one movement element for the article groups are arranged on a conveyor drum, with the at least one movement element being arranged downstream of the defect detection device.

Furthermore, it is provided within the scope of the invention that when checking for the presence of article segments in complete article groups using the defect detection device, in one embodiment it is not necessary for the article segments of the complete article groups to be moved in this case.

In the context of the invention, an incomplete article group is also understood to mean an article group that does not have an article segment. In this case, it is also not necessary for the defect detection device to be used to determine whether an article segment is to be displaced longitudinally axially with respect to the reference plane. Furthermore, the process step of moving or aligning the (non-existent) article segments is also eliminated.

Furthermore, it is provided within the scope of the invention that when an article segment gap occurs between two article segments within the incomplete article groups, it is determined whether the two article segments or article segment groups on both sides of the existing article segment gap, preferably independently of one another, are moved longitudinally axially and aligned with respect to the reference plane. In the event that the two article segments or article segment groups are to be aligned on both sides of the existing article segment gap with respect to the reference plane by a longitudinal axial displacement, a movement element on the conveyor device, in particular a conveyor drum, is provided on both sides of the article groups, preferably on the front side.

For this purpose, in a further development of the method it is provided that at least one side of the, in particular incomplete, article group is determined by means of the defect detection device, so that depending on the absence of one article segment or of several article segments within the respective, in particular incomplete, article group from the specific page The article segment to be moved or the article segments to be moved are acted upon by a movement impulse from the at least one movement element.

Preferably, at least one movement element is arranged on one or on each end face of the article group in order to apply at least one movement impulse to the article segments to be moved, as a result of which the article segments acted upon are moved longitudinally axially within the receiving troughs.

Within the scope of the invention it is also provided that movement elements are provided at both head ends of the article groups in order to move the article segments to be moved longitudinally axially by means of at least one movement pulse and to align them with respect to the reference plane.

In particular, according to a further aspect of the method, the article segment or segments of the respective, in particular incomplete, article group to be moved are moved by means of at least one compressed air pulse, in particular a lateral one, designed as a movement pulse.

Furthermore, an embodiment of the method is characterized in that the article segment to be moved or the article segments to be moved of the respective, in particular incomplete, article group are moved using opposing compressed air nozzles, between which the article groups are conveyed.

For this purpose, it is further provided according to an advantageous aspect that the compressed air nozzles are controlled independently of one another by the defect detection device in order to move and/or align the article segment or segments of the, in particular incomplete, article groups to be displaced by means of compressed air pulses emitted by the compressed air nozzles. This makes it advantageously possible to move article segments that are to be moved independently of one another within the receiving troughs of a conveyor drum, with the article segments, between which an article segment gap is formed due to the absence of an article segment, being moved against one another in one embodiment, whereby the article segments are pushed together.

Furthermore, in one embodiment of the method, it is advantageous that the size of the at least one compressed air pulse depends on the number of article segments to be displaced and/or as a function of the positioning of the article segments to be displaced, in particular in relation to the reference plane, and/or as a function of the mass of the article segments to be moved and/or depending on the respective length of the article segments to be moved.

Taking into account various parameters for the displacement of the article segments, it is possible to create a corresponding compressed air pulse to move the item segment(s) to be moved by a predetermined displacement distance.

For this purpose, in one embodiment of the method it is further provided that the compressed air pulse(s) for the article segment or segments to be displaced of an, in particular incomplete, article group are each provided by a compressed air source or by a combination of several compressed air sources. This makes it possible to provide a corresponding, in particular predetermined, compressed air level for the displacement of article segments to be carried out, so that the respective compressed air pulse is directed onto the article segment or segments via the compressed air nozzle by simply combining corresponding compressed air sources.

In addition, in one embodiment of the method it is provided that the article groups are or are arranged on at least one conveyor drum or several conveyor drums in respective receiving troughs of the conveyor drums, with the article segments of the respective, in particular incomplete, article groups to be moved before being transferred to a subsequent conveyor drum can be moved and/or aligned in the respective receiving trough.

Furthermore, in one embodiment, the method is characterized in that the presence or absence of, in particular individual, article segments of the, in particular incomplete, article groups is determined by means of individual sensors of the defect detection device for the respective article segments.

By providing individual sensors for each item segment, it is possible to easily check the presence or absence of item segments within the item groups. This means that the article segment gaps within the incomplete article groups are quickly and reliably identified or recorded.

In addition, it is advantageous in the method if, if at least one article segment is missing within the respective, in particular incomplete, article group, the remaining article segments are moved and/or aligned and/or pushed together.

Preferably, two or three or four or more than four movement organs are provided, the movement organs being controlled and/or actuated independently of one another in order to apply at least one movement impulse to the article segments to be moved and to move the article segments acted upon thereby longitudinally axially within the receiving troughs.

• mit einer Fördervorrichtung zum queraxialen Fördern der Artikelgruppen, insbesondere mit wenigstens einer Fördertrommel, entlang eines Förderwegs,
• mit einer Fehlstellenermittlungseinrichtung für die queraxial geförderten Artikelgruppen, wobei die Fehlstellenermittlungseinrichtung eingerichtet ist, die Artikelgruppen zu prüfen, wobei die Fehlstellenermittlungseinrichtung derart ausgebildet ist, dass für jedes Artikelsegment der jeweiligen, insbesondere unvollständigen, Artikelgruppen die Anwesenheit oder das Fehlen des jeweiligen Artikelsegments innerhalb der jeweiligen, insbesondere unvollständigen, Artikelgruppen ermittelt wird oder ermittelbar ist, und wobei mittels der Fehlstellenermittlungseinrichtung bei Ermittlung des Fehlens von wenigstens einem Artikelsegment innerhalb der jeweiligen, insbesondere unvollständigen, Artikelgruppe bestimmt wird, ob wenigstens ein Artikelsegment oder mehrere Artikelsegmente der jeweiligen, insbesondere unvollständigen, Artikelgruppe in Bezug auf eine, insbesondere vorbestimmte, Referenzebene längsaxial zu verschieben sind,
• und mit wenigstens einem Bewegungsorgan für die Artikelsegmente der, insbesondere unvollständigen, Artikelgruppen, wobei nach Bestimmung einer durchzuführenden längsaxialen Verschiebung von wenigstens einem Artikelsegment oder von mehreren Artikelsegmenten für die, insbesondere unvollständige, Artikelgruppe durch die Fehlstellenermittlungseinrichtung das wenigstens eine Artikelsegment oder mehrere Artikelsegmente mittels wenigstens des Bewegungsorgans für die Artikelsegmente in Bezug auf die Referenzebene verschoben werden und/oder ausgerichtet werden.

In addition, the object is achieved by a device for the transverse axial conveying of rod-shaped articles from the tobacco processing industry, in particular filter segments, in particular the device being designed to carry out the method described above, with an article group provision unit for providing article groups with three or more than three, in particular four, five or more rod-shaped article segments, the article segments of each article group being arranged next to one another in the longitudinal axial direction of the article groups, and the article group provision unit being set up to provide complete article groups with a constant predetermined integer number n (n ≥ 3, 4, 5, 6, . ..) to provide rod-shaped, in particular cylindrical, article segments and to provide incomplete article groups with a number of rod-shaped, in particular cylindrical, article segments, the number of article segments of the incomplete article groups being smaller in each case than the constant number of article segments of the complete article groups,

• with a conveyor device for transversely axial conveying of the article groups, in particular with at least one conveyor drum, along a conveyor path,
• with a defect detection device for the transversely axially conveyed article groups, the defect detection device being set up to check the article groups, the defect detection device being designed in such a way that for each article segment of the respective, in particular incomplete, article groups, the presence or absence of the respective article segment within the respective, in particular incomplete, article groups is determined or can be determined, and wherein by means of the defect detection device when determining the absence of at least one article segment within the respective, in particular incomplete, article group, it is determined whether at least one article segment or several article segments of the respective, in particular incomplete, article group are in relation must be moved longitudinally axially to a, in particular predetermined, reference plane,
• and with at least one movement element for the article segments of the, in particular incomplete, article groups, wherein after determining a longitudinal axial displacement to be carried out of at least one article segment or of several article segments for the, in particular incomplete, article group by the defect detection device, the at least one article segment or several article segments by means of at least the Movement organ for the article segments can be moved and / or aligned with respect to the reference plane.

For this purpose, in one embodiment it is provided that the defect detection device is designed in such a way as to determine at least one side of the, in particular incomplete, article group, so that depending on the absence of one article segment or of several article segments within the respective, in particular incomplete, article group from the specific one Page the article segment to be moved or the article segments to be moved are acted upon by a movement impulse from the at least one movement organ.

According to another aspect, they are movement organs for both sides Compressed air nozzles are provided in the article groups, the compressed air nozzles being designed in such a way that the article segment or the article segments to be displaced of the respective, in particular incomplete, article group are displaced by means of at least one, in particular lateral, compressed air pulse designed as a movement pulse. This ensures that if there is no article segment between two article segment groups with at least one article segment, the two article segment groups move towards each other.

In particular, the compressed air nozzles are arranged at a distance such that the article groups are conveyed, in particular past, between the compressed air nozzles.

In one embodiment, the device is characterized in that the compressed air nozzles are or can be controlled independently of one another by the defect detection device in order to use at least one of the compressed air pulses emitted by the compressed air nozzles to move the item segment or segments to be moved to the, in particular incomplete, item groups move and/or align.

According to a further aspect of the device, the defect detection device is designed such that the size of the at least one compressed air pulse depends on the number of article segments to be moved and/or as a function of the positioning of the article segments to be moved, in particular in relation to the reference plane, and/or as a function the mass of the article segments to be moved and/or depending on the respective length of the article segments to be moved.

In addition, in one embodiment of the device, it is advantageous to provide one or more compressed air pulses for the A compressed air source or a combination of several compressed air sources is provided for each item segment to be moved or the item segments to be moved of an, in particular incomplete, item group.

Preferably, at least one conveyor drum or several conveyor drums with receiving troughs for the article groups are provided for the transverse axial conveyance of the article groups. The conveyor drums have receiving troughs in the circumferential direction in which the article segments or article groups are arranged. According to one embodiment, compressed air nozzles are arranged laterally on the receiving troughs in order to move the article segments longitudinally axially.

In a further embodiment, it is advantageously provided that the conveying device has two conveyor drums with receiving troughs for the article groups along the conveying path of the article groups, with the article segments of the respective, in particular incomplete, article groups to be moved on the first conveyor drum before being transferred to the second, subsequent one Conveyor drum can be moved and/or aligned in the respective receiving trough. In the case of incomplete article groups, the longitudinal axial displacement of the article segments takes place before they are transferred to a subsequent conveyor drum. In particular, the defect detection device is provided upstream of the transfer point between the two conveyor drums, with a longitudinal axial displacement of the article segments of incomplete article groups taking place between the defect detection device and the transfer point between the two conveyor drums by means of the at least one movement element.

According to a further embodiment of the device, the defect detection device for the article groups each has individual sensors for the article segments of the article groups, so that the presence or absence of article segments of the, in particular incomplete, Article groups are determined or can be determined by means of the individual sensors of the defect detection device for the respective article segments.

In addition, two or three or four or more than four movement elements are advantageously provided in the device, the movement elements being able to be controlled and/or actuated independently of one another, as a result of which the article segments to be moved are subjected to at least one movement pulse and thus the article segments subjected to this are applied longitudinally axially within the receiving troughs can be moved.

Furthermore, the object is achieved by a machine in the tobacco processing industry for producing rod-shaped articles in the tobacco processing industry, in particular multi-segment filters or filter cigarettes, which is designed with a device described above for the transverse axial conveying of rod-shaped articles. To avoid repetition, express reference is made to the above statements.

Further features of the invention can be seen from the description of embodiments of the invention together with the claims and the accompanying drawings. Embodiments according to the invention can fulfill individual features or a combination of several features.

Fig. 1

im Ausschnitt eine Filterherstellungsmaschine in einer schematischen Vorderansicht,

Fig. 2

schematisch eine Übergabe zwischen zwei Fördertrommeln der in Fig. 1 gezeigten Filterherstellungsmaschine,

Fig. 3a

schematisch die möglichen Anordnungen von Artikelsegmenten von vollständigen und unvollständigen Artikelgruppen auf einer Fördertrommel,

Fig. 3b

die Anordnung von Artikelsegmenten von vollständigen Artikelgruppen sowie zusammengeschobenen Artikelsegmenten von unvollständigen Artikelgruppen und

Fig. 4

schematisch die Darstellung einer Fehlstellenermittlungseinrichtung an einer Fördertrommel.

The invention is described below without limiting the general idea of the invention using exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings, with express reference being made to the drawings with regard to all details of the invention not explained in more detail in the text. Show it:

Fig. 1

a detail of a filter manufacturing machine in a schematic front view,

Fig. 2

schematically a transfer between two conveyor drums in Fig. 1 filter making machine shown,

Fig. 3a

schematically the possible arrangements of article segments of complete and incomplete article groups on a conveyor drum,

Fig. 3b

the arrangement of article segments from complete article groups as well as pushed together article segments from incomplete article groups and

Fig. 4

Schematic representation of a defect detection device on a conveyor drum.

Within the scope of the invention, features marked “in particular” or “preferably” are to be understood as optional features.

In the drawings, the same or similar elements and/or parts are provided with the same reference numbers, so that they are not presented again.

In Fig. 1 A filter manufacturing machine M is shown in the detail. The filter manufacturing machine M has a provision unit 50, with article groups 100 having three or more than three article segments being provided by means of the provision unit 50, the article segments of the article groups 100 being arranged next to one another or one behind the other in the longitudinal axial direction. The complete article groups have a predetermined, constant number n (n ≥ 3, 4, 5, 6...).

During the production of the rod-shaped article groups, it can happen that incomplete article groups with a number of Article segments are provided or formed by the provision unit 50, the number of which is smaller than the number of article segments of complete article groups.

The article groups 100 produced by the provision unit 50 and conveyed transversely axially are transferred from the provision unit 50 to a conveyor drum 12, the rod-shaped article groups 100 (cf. Fig. 2 , Fig. 4 ) in receiving troughs 120 (cf. Fig. 2 ) of the conveyor drum 12 are arranged. The receiving troughs 120 of the conveyor drum 12 are arranged one behind the other in the circumferential direction. The unconnected article groups 100 are subsequently transferred from the conveyor drum 12 to a further conveyor drum 14 and then from the conveyor drum 16 to a downstream conveyor drum 18.

A covering apparatus 20 is also arranged on the conveyor drum 16. The covering apparatus 20 has a knife roller 22 and a suction roller 24, with a conveyed covering paper strip 26 being cut into connecting sheets for the article groups 100 to be wrapped in cooperation with the knife roller 22 and the suction roller 24. The connecting sheets cut from the covering paper strip 26 are transferred to the article groups 100 conveyed on the conveyor drum 16 and attached to them. The article groups 100 with attached connecting sheets are then conveyed to a subsequent conveyor drum 18 and handed over to it.

A rolling device 28 is arranged on the conveyor drum 18, with the article groups 100 provided with a connecting leaflet being conveyed to the rolling device 28, so that the connecting leaflets are completely wrapped around the article groups 100. The finished wrapped article groups 100 are then transferred to further conveyor drums and made available for further processing or processing.

In Fig. 2 a section of the transfer between the conveyor drum 12 and the subsequent conveyor drum 14 is shown schematically in an enlarged section. The conveyor drum 12 conveys transversely axially in its outer receiving troughs 120 article groups 100, which are transferred from the supply unit 50 to the conveyor drum 12.

During their transverse axial conveyance on the conveyor drum 12, the article groups 100 are passed on a defect detection device 60 (cf. Fig. 1 ) conveyed past, so that by means of the defect detection device 60 the article groups 100 conveyed past are determined for completeness or for the presence or absence of article segments within the respective article groups. The article groups 100 are then conveyed to the transfer area between the conveyor drum 12 and the subsequent conveyor drum 14, with the article groups 100 being conveyed past a blowing together point 70 before the article groups 100 are transferred from the conveying drum 12 to the conveying drum 14, the blowing together point 70 being supplied with compressed air In the case of incomplete article groups 100, which are detected upstream by means of the defect detection device 60, the article segments are pushed together or centrally or symmetrically to the center plane 40 (cf. Fig. 3a ) of complete item groups 100 can be aligned. The schematically drawn collapse point 70 preferably has a compressed air nozzle Z, Z 'on both head sides of the article groups 100 (cf. Fig. 4 ), so that the article segments of the article groups 100 are displaced or moved in the longitudinal axial direction in the receiving troughs 120 of the conveyor drum 12 when compressed air is applied through the compressed air nozzles in the longitudinal axial direction. By shifting the article segments in the case of incomplete article groups 100, the article segments of the article groups 100 are aligned symmetrically to the center plane (of complete article groups).

In Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b are, as a non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the arrangements of five article segments 111, 112, 113, 114, 115 of Item groups 100 shown. Within the scope of the invention, the (complete) article groups 100 can have three or more than three article segments in further embodiments.

The article groups 100 are transferred from the provision unit 50 to the conveyor drum 12, with the in Fig. 3a shown variants of complete article groups 100 with five article segments 111, 112, 113, 114, 115 and incomplete article groups with fewer than five article segments and at least one article segment gap are shown. The various options are shown here if at least one article segment is missing within the article groups 100. In the variant marked A, the (complete) article group 100 has no defect or article segment gap, so that the article group 100 is completely formed according to variant A.

According to variants B, C, D, E, F, at least one article segment is missing, with the missing article segment or the article segment gap being marked with an “X” at the corresponding location. Variant B shows the five possibilities in which an article segment within the (incomplete) article group 100 is missing. According to variant C, two article segments are not present at the locations marked with "X". In variant D, three article segments are missing at the points marked with "X". According to variant E, four article segments are missing from the article groups. In the article group according to variant F, all article segments are missing.

Is determined by means of the defect detection device 60 on the conveyor drum 12 (cf. Fig. 1 ) it is determined that the article groups 100 conveyed past them are incomplete, that is, that at least one article segment is missing from the article groups 100, it is then determined by means of the defect detection device 60 whether the remaining article segments of the incomplete article groups 100 relate to a schematically drawn center plane 40 of the (complete ) Item groups (as a reference level) for a compact arrangement of the item segments must be moved, the article segments of the incomplete article group 100 being displaced longitudinally axially into the receiving troughs 120 with respect to the center plane 40 determined as a reference plane at the blowing air point 70. If the defect detection device 60 determines that at least one article segment or several article segments of the respective article group need to be moved, the blown air nozzles (cf. Fig. 4 ) activated to shift the article segments remaining in the incomplete article group 100 in the longitudinal axial direction, so that the article groups 100 with the shifted article segments are aligned symmetrically to the center plane 40.

According to the incomplete article groups 100 with article segment gaps in variants C, E and F marked with a horizontal arrow 140, it is not necessary to align the remaining article segments with respect to the center plane 40. In the context of the invention, an incomplete article group is considered to be an article group in which, as shown in variant F, no article segments are present.

For all article groups not marked (with an arrow 140) according to variants B, C, D, E, in which the remaining article segments of the article groups are not arranged symmetrically to the center plane 40 on the drum 12, it is necessary to position the article segments longitudinally axially within the respective receiving troughs must be moved accordingly by applying compressed air to the head sides. The aligned article groups 100 are then transferred to the subsequent conveyor drum 14 (cf. Fig. 2 ).

In Fig. 3b The variants of the article groups 100 are shown, which are aligned symmetrically to the center plane 40 and from the upstream conveyor drum 12 to the subsequent conveyor drum 14 after any displacement processes of the article segments have been carried out be handed over. The complete article groups 100 according to variant A and the incomplete article groups according to variants B, C, D, E, F are shown accordingly, with all incomplete article groups being arranged symmetrically or centrally to the center plane 40 on the conveyor drum 14.

In the exemplary embodiment in Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b In the article groups shown, the complete article groups 100 have five segments. Within the scope of the invention, it is possible for the article groups 100 to have a different number of article segments. Furthermore, within the scope of the invention, the article segments of the article groups can have different lengths and/or different (own) weights.

The article segments 111 to 115 are preferably designed as cylindrical or cylindrical segments, with the article segments in particular having the same diameter.

In Fig. 4 is a schematic of the basic structure of the defect detection device 60 (cf. Fig. 1 ) shown on the conveyor drum 12. The defect detection device 60 has a sensor S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 for each article segment 111, 112, 113, 114, 115 of an article group 100, by means of which the presence or absence of the monitored article segment of the article groups 100 conveyed past is individually detected . If an article segment is missing, a corresponding signal is transmitted from the respective individually monitoring sensors S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 to an evaluation and control unit 62, whereby the corresponding signals are evaluated.

On the output side of the evaluation and control unit 62, it has switchable valves V1, V2, V3, V4, V5 on one side of the article groups 100 or the conveyor drum and with valves V1', V2', V3', V4', V5' connected to the other, opposite side of the article groups 100 or the conveyor drum.

In addition, the individual valves V1, V2, V3, V4, V5 and V1', V2', V3', V4', V5' are equipped with corresponding throttles or pressure regulators D1, D2, D3, D4, D5 and D1', D2', D3', D4', D5' connected. On the output side, the valves V1 to V5 and V1' to V5' are also connected to an outlet nozzle Z or Z' (as a movement element for the article segments).

Furthermore, the pressure regulators D1, D2, D3, D4, D5 are connected to a compressed air reservoir P, while the other pressure regulators D1', D2', D3', D4', D5' are connected to another compressed air reservoir P'. The respective throttles D1 to D5 and/or D1' to D5' provide corresponding compressed air levels for the outlet nozzles Z and Z' independently of one another, with the associated valves V1 to V5 or V1' to V5' being switched on accordingly corresponding, predetermined compressed air pulse is provided in the outlet nozzle Z or Z 'in order to carry out the longitudinal axial displacement path of the rod-shaped articles in incomplete article groups 100, whereby the remaining article segments of an incomplete article group at the blown air point 70 on the conveyor drum 12 are acted upon in order to align the article segments to the center plane 40. This ensures that appropriate, coordinated air pressures are made available for the intended displacement of the article segments. The compressed air pulses emerging through the outlet nozzle Z or Z 'are directed onto the end faces of the article segments, whereby the article segments are moved longitudinally axially in the receiving troughs of the conveyor drum 12 or aligned with the center plane 40.

The composition of the corresponding compressed air level for a compressed air pulse for the article segments to be moved is carried out in one embodiment taking into account the displacement path to be carried out of the article segments to be moved as well as taking into account the lengths of the article segments and, if necessary, depending on the weight of the article segments.

All of the features mentioned, including those that can be seen from the drawings alone as well as individual features that are disclosed in combination with other features, are viewed alone and in combination as essential to the invention. Embodiments according to the invention can be fulfilled by individual features or a combination of several features.

Reference symbol list

12

conveyor drum

14

conveyor drum

16

conveyor drum

18

conveyor drum

20

covering apparatus

22

cutting roller

24

Suction roller

26

Lining paper strips

28

Rolling device

40

middle level

50

Delivery unit

60

Defect detection device

62

Evaluation and control unit

70

Blown air point

100

Article group

111, 112, 113, 114, 115

Article segment

120

receiving trough

140

Arrow

D1, D2, D3, D4, D5

Pressure regulator

D1', D2', D3', D4', D5'

Pressure regulator

M

Filter making machine

S1, S2, S3, S4, S5

sensor

V1, V2, V3, V4, V5

Valve

V1', V2', V3', V4', V5'

Valve

P, P'

Compressed air source

Z, Z'

Blown air point

Claims (14)

Method for the transverse axial conveying of rod-shaped articles in the tobacco processing industry, in particular filter segments, with article groups (100) having three or more than three, in particular four, five or more, rod-shaped article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) being produced in one preparation process. are or are formed, the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of each article group (100) being arranged next to one another in the longitudinal axial direction of the article groups (100), wherein in the provision process, complete article groups (100) with a constant predetermined integer number n (n ≥ 3, 4, 5, 6, ...) of rod-shaped, in particular cylindrical, article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) are provided and incomplete article groups (100) with a number of rod-shaped, in particular cylindrical, article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) are provided, the number of article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the incomplete article groups ( 100) each smaller than the constant number of article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the complete article groups (100), wherein the article groups (100) are conveyed in the transverse axial direction along a conveying path by means of at least one conveying device (12, 14, 16, 18), in particular at least one conveying drum, wherein the article groups (100) are checked along the conveying path by means of a defect detection device (60) for the article groups (100), wherein the defect detection device (60) is designed such that for each article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the respective, in particular incomplete, article groups (100), the presence or absence of the respective article segment within the respective, in particular incomplete, Item groups (100) are determined or can be determined, wherein by means of the defect detection device (60) when determining the absence of at least one article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) within the respective, in particular incomplete, article group (100), it is determined whether at least one article segment (111, 112, 113 , 114, 115) or several article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the respective, in particular incomplete, article group (100) are to be displaced longitudinally axially with respect to a, in particular predetermined, reference plane (40), wherein after determining a longitudinal axial displacement to be carried out of at least one article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) or of several article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) or after determining the longitudinal axial displacements to be carried out of several article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) for the, in particular incomplete, article group (100) in a subsequent step, the at least one article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) or several article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115 ) by means of at least one movement element (Z, Z ') for the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) in relation to the Reference plane (40) can be moved and / or aligned. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one side of the, in particular incomplete, article group (100) is determined by means of the defect detection device (60), so that depending on the absence of an article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) or of several article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) within the respective, in particular incomplete, article group (100) from the specific page, the article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved or the article segments to be moved ( 111, 112, 113, 114, 115) are acted upon with a movement impulse from the at least one movement element (Z, Z '). Method according to claim 2, characterized in that the article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved or the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved of the respective, in particular incomplete, article group (100) can be displaced by means of at least one compressed air pulse, in particular a lateral one, designed as a movement pulse. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that the article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved or the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved of the respective, in particular incomplete, article group (100) using opposing compressed air nozzles, between which the article groups (100) are conveyed along, in particular the compressed air nozzles being controlled independently of one another by the defect detection device (60) in order to move the article segment (111) by means of compressed air pulses emitted by the compressed air nozzles , 112, 113, 114, 115) or the article segments to be moved (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the, in particular incomplete, article groups (100) to move and / or align. Method according to one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the size of the at least one compressed air pulse depends on the number of article segments to be moved (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) and/or depending on the positioning of the article segments to be moved ( 111, 112, 113, 114, 115), in particular in relation to the reference plane (40), and/or depending on the mass of the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved and/or depending on the respective length of the article segments to be moved (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) is determined and/or that the compressed air pulse(s) for the item segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved or the item segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved of an, in particular incomplete, item group (100). be provided by a compressed air source (P, P') or by a combination of several compressed air sources (P, P'). and/or that the article groups (100) on at least one conveyor drum (12, 14, 16, 18) or several conveyor drums (12, 14, 16, 18) in respective receiving troughs (120) of the conveyor drums (12, 14, 16, 18 ) are or are arranged, the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved of the respective, in particular incomplete, article groups (100) being moved in the respective receiving trough (120) before being transferred to a subsequent conveyor drum (14). and/or aligned and/or that the presence or absence of, in particular individual, article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the, in particular incomplete, article groups (100) is determined in each case by means of individual sensors (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) of the defect detection device (60) for the respective article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115). Method according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that if at least one article segment is missing within the respective, in particular incomplete, article group (100), the remaining article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) are shifted and/or aligned and/or or pushed together
and/or that two or three or four or more than four movement organs (Z, Z') are provided, the movement organs (Z, Z') being controlled and/or actuated independently of one another. Device for the transverse axial conveying of rod-shaped articles in the tobacco processing industry, in particular filter segments, in particular the device being designed to carry out the method according to one of claims 1 to 6, with an article group provision unit (50) for providing article groups (100) with three or more than three, in particular four, five or more, rod-shaped article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115), the article segments (111, 112, 113 , 114, 115) of each article group (100) are arranged next to one another in the longitudinal axial direction of the article groups (100), and the article group provision unit (50) is set up to provide complete article groups (100) with a constant predetermined integer number n (n ≥ 3, 4, 5, 6, ...) to provide rod-shaped, in particular cylindrical, article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) and incomplete article groups (100) with a number of rod-shaped, in particular cylindrical, article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115), whereby the number of article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the incomplete article groups (100) is each smaller than the constant number of article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the complete article groups (100), with a conveyor device (12, 14, 16, 18) for transversely axially conveying the article groups (100), in particular with at least one conveyor drum (12, 14, 16, 18), along a conveyor path, with a defect detection device (60) for the transversely axially conveyed article groups (100), the defect detection device (60) being set up to check the article groups (100), the defect detection device (60) being designed in such a way that for each article segment (111, 112 , 113, 114, 115) of the respective, in particular incomplete, article groups (100) the presence or absence of the respective article segment within the respective, in particular incomplete, article groups (100) is determined or can be determined, and by means of the defect detection device (60) When determining the absence of at least one article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) within the respective, in particular incomplete, article group (100), it is determined whether at least one article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) or several Article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the respective, in particular incomplete, article group (100) are to be displaced longitudinally axially with respect to a, in particular predetermined, reference plane (40), and with at least one movement element (Z, Z') for the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the, in particular incomplete, article groups (100), after determining a longitudinal axial displacement of at least one article segment (111, 112 , 113, 114, 115) or from several article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) for the, in particular incomplete, article group (100) by the defect detection device (60) the at least one article segment (111, 112, 113, 114 , 115) or several article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) are displaced with respect to the reference plane (40) by means of at least the movement element (Z, Z ') for the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115). be and/or aligned. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the defect detection device (60) is designed in such a way as to determine at least one side of the, in particular incomplete, article group (100), so that depending on the absence of an article segment (111, 112, 113, 114 , 115) or from several article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) within the respective, in particular incomplete, article group (100) from the specific page, the article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved or the The article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved are subjected to a movement impulse from the at least one movement element (Z, Z'). Device according to claim 8, characterized in that compressed air nozzles are provided as movement elements (Z, Z ') for both sides of the article groups (100), the compressed air nozzles being designed such that the article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) or the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved of the respective, in particular incomplete, article group (100) are displaced by means of at least one, in particular lateral, compressed air pulse designed as a movement pulse, in particular the compressed air nozzles being arranged at such a distance that the article groups (100), in particular past, are conveyed between the compressed air nozzles. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the compressed air nozzles are controlled or can be controlled independently of one another by the defect detection device (60) in order to move the article segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) by means of at least one of the compressed air pulses emitted by the compressed air nozzles. or to move and/or align the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the, in particular incomplete, article groups (100) to be moved and/or that the defect detection device (60) is designed such that the size of the at least one compressed air pulse depends on the number of article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved and/or depending on the positioning of the article segments to be moved (111, 112, 113, 114, 115), in particular in relation to the reference plane (40), and/or depending on the mass of the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved and/or depending on the respective ones Length of the article segments to be moved (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) is determined and/or that in order to provide one or more compressed air pulses for the item segment (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved or the item segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved, in particular an incomplete, item group ( 100) one compressed air source (P, P') or a combination of several compressed air sources (P, P') are provided. Device according to one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that at least one conveyor drum or several conveyor drums with receiving troughs for the article groups (100) are provided for the transverse axial conveyance of the article groups (100).
and/or that the conveyor device (12, 14, 16, 18) has two conveyor drums (12, 14) with receiving troughs (120) for the article groups (100) along the conveyor path of the article groups (100), with the first conveyor drum (12 ) the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) to be moved of the respective, in particular incomplete, article groups (100) are or are moved and/or aligned in the respective receiving trough before being transferred to the second, subsequent conveyor drum (14). . Device according to one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that the defect detection device (60) for the article groups (100) each has individual sensors (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) for the article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the article groups (100), so that the presence or the absence of article segments (111, 112, 113, 114, 115) of the, in particular incomplete, article groups (100) by means of the individual sensors (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) of the defect detection device (60) for the respective article segments ( 111, 112, 113, 114, 115) is determined or can be determined. Device according to one of claims 7 to 12, characterized in that two or three or four or more than four movement organs (Z, Z') are provided, the movement organs (Z, Z') being able to be controlled and/or actuated independently of one another. Machine (M) for the tobacco processing industry for producing rod-shaped articles for the tobacco processing industry, in particular multi-segment filters or filter cigarettes, with a device according to one of claims 7 to 13.

Images