FI56309C - PROOF OF ORIGINATION FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FILM MATERIALS - Google Patents

Description

I -.- 1 .-. 1 r. ... ANNOUNCEMENT

JgHA ™ i11) UTLÄGGNINGSSKRIFT 56309 • C (45) Patents granted 10 01 1 <? 30

Patent eeddelat, '(51) Kv.lk. * / Lnt.CI. * A 24 B 7/12 SUOMI - FINLAND (21) PKM, ttlh * kemu * - P * t * i «» i »eiu» lng 18U0 / 72 (22) Hakemliptlvi - Antttknlngsdtg 28.06.72 (23) Alkupilvl— Glltlghettdag 28.06.72 (41) Tullut julkliakci - Bllvlt offantllf 31.12.72

The National Board of Patents and Registration N.hti * «k.ip» is „moonL | ulk * un pvm.-

Patents and Registration Cases issued and published 28.09.79 (32) (33) (31) Requested foreword *, - Begird pHorltet 30.06.71 USA (US) 158198 (71) Celanese Corporation, 522 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY , USA (US) (72) James Reed Honeycutt, Charlotte, North Carolina, Thomas Fleming Friday, Charlotte, North Carolina, Terry Stephen Floyd, Matthews,

North Carolina, USA (US) (7 ^) Oy Kolster Ab (51+) Method and apparatus for cutting flexible film material - Förfarande och anordning för avskärning av ett böjligt filmmaterial

Many commercial manufacturing processes require flexible film materials to be cut into discrete pieces when the film materials are converted to the desired compositions. Such cuts are made in the manufacture of papers, fibrous film materials, plastic films, and the like. The present invention relates to the cutting of these flexible film materials and in particular to the cutting of flexible film materials used in the manufacture of combustible articles.

The filler used in cigarettes and cigars usually consists of stripped tobacco leaf. Many of these fillers also contain significant amounts, e.g., up to about 20 reconstituted tobacco substances. In addition, there is a growing interest in industry in the use of tobacco substitutes in a combination of substances. The term "reconstituted tobacco" encompasses substances prepared by two different methods. Wet reconstituted tobacco is made by finely grinding tobacco particles in a high humidity environment and then forming a leaf, the cohesiveness of which is achieved by the tobacco's own binding capacity. The tobacco reconstituted by the dry method is prepared by combining a fine amount of binder and usually a small amount of 2,530,309 combustion modifiers with the finely ground tobacco and then casting a film from the mixture.

Tobacco substitutes do not contain essentially tobacco, but are intended to mimic the properties of tobacco in terms of appearance, burning rate, and so on. These materials normally consist of a combustible substrate, which is usually a cellulosic material in nature, combined with one or more conventional combustion modifiers. Other ingredients may be added to impart certain properties to the combination. These materials are usually made in the form of a molded film or a paper-like film material.

In this description, reconstituted tobacco and tobacco substitutes are commonly referred to as "combustible film materials."

The use of combustible film materials has considerable advantages for the manufacturer and the consumer. Such advantages include greater uniformity of production, easier manufacture and lower costs. In addition, some tobacco substitutes have the advantage of lower tar and nicotine content in the finished, smokable product.

The combustible film materials are normally mixed with the tobacco leaf before being cut into strips in the manufacture of cigarettes or before the tearing step in the manufacture of cigars. Since the film materials to be burned are produced in the form of a continuous film, e.g. about 60 to 180 cm wide, before this mixing, the film material must be cut to a suitable size, e.g. so that the side dimension is 2.5 to 12.5 cm. It has been found that it is most advantageous to perform this cutting during the manufacture of the material because it is easier and more economical to transport in the cut form.

Cutting devices previously used in the art for this purpose have proved unsatisfactory because cutting with these devices tends to cause the film material to rupture or tear. In addition, for some materials, especially those containing combustion modifiers, the cutting blades of these devices often need to be sharpened due to the abrasive nature of the leaves. In addition, these devices can only cut at relatively low speeds and in many cases require intermittent cutting operation. Many devices also make too much noise when operating. In order to achieve the benefits of the use of combustible film materials, an apparatus and method are needed to cut the film into continuously processed pieces at high speeds, e.g. 75 m / min. or higher speed.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved method for cutting these materials

It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus for continuously cutting flexible sheets, especially combustible sheets, at high speeds.

Other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description, 3,563U9, which relates to the drawing. The drawing shows a perspective view of a device for achieving the objects of the present invention.

In general, the objects of the present invention are achieved by a method characterized by the steps of: a) continuously conveying an endless, flexible film material in a first direction to a first cutting zone; h) cutting the film material into longitudinally continuous, parallel strips; c) cross-gluing the strips to a surface moving in a second direction substantially transverse to the first direction; and d) cutting the strips transversely to form discrete pieces.

The steps of the present invention will be described in the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, which is generally described above, and which illustrates an apparatus used in the practice of the present invention.

In a preferred embodiment, the combustible film material or other flexible film material 10, preferably having a moisture content of about 8 to about 12% to facilitate cutting, is conveyed by a first conveying means 12 shown in the drawing in the form of an endless conveyor belt to the cutting means. . The drawing shows the cutting means in the form of several discs.

These blades cut with scissor-like action between the top and bottom edges of the blades. These blades are known in the cutting industry. Instead of these cutter blades, it is also possible to use e.g. circular ironing blades, which are also known in the art. in the field and consisting of a plurality of round blades located against a resilient surface. Other similar cutting means known in the art can also be used as the cutting means. The distance between the different cutting or cutting blades forming the cutting means il · is usually the same length, i.e. about 1.3 to 12.5 cm, preferably about 2.5 to 5.0 cm.

The continuous and parallel strips of material coming out of the cutting means 11 are cross-linked to the second conveying means 16 by means of a reciprocating transfer means 18.

. In the preferred embodiment, the transfer means 18 is an endless conveyor belt with an internal vacuum source. One end of the conveyor belt is close to the cutting means il · and its other end is close to the conveying means l6. The strips carried by the conveying means 18 are held on the surface of the conveyor by means of an internal vacuum source until they reach the end of the conveyor belt closest to the conveying means 16. The transfer means 18 is designed to pivot about the end closest to the cutting means il · and swing across the surface of the conveyor 16, preferably at a distance of about 15 · .20 cm.

It is not essential to the present invention that the transfer means 18 is of the type just shown. Instead, it is equally possible to use double, ** '·) b? · O 9 opposite conveyor belts arranged to swing over the conveying means 16 and to convey between the leaf material. A rocking trough known in the art as a braiding device can also be used for this purpose. Other suitable alternatives will be apparent to one skilled in the art. In some cases, the transfer means 18 can even be completely eliminated by using as the transport means 16 an endless conveyor belt designed to swing transversely.

The strips cross-linked on the conveying means 16 are conveyed to a second cutting zone 20, where the strips are cut approximately transversely to form separate pieces having a parallel shape. The solution means 20 generally, but not necessarily, has the same structure as the cutting means 1¾. The above description of the solution means 14 also applies to the solution means 20. The separate pieces of film material coming out of the solution means 20 fall into the container 22 or can be otherwise assembled for later handling, storage or transport.

Claims (5)

1. Continuous method of cutting a flexible, particularly smokable, film material into parallelogram shaped pieces, characterized by the following steps: a) an endless web of a flexible film material is continuously advanced in a first direction to a first cutting site; the film material in endless, parallel strips, c) intersecting the strips over one another on a surface which is advanced in a substantially perpendicular direction to the first direction, and d) cutting the strips in the transverse direction to form separate pieces. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the film is cut by cutting the film material into parallel strips of a width of about 2.5 * - 12.5 cm and cutting the strips into separate parallelogram shaped pieces, whose side edges have a length of approx. 2.5 ... 12.5 cm. Apparatus for carrying out the method according to claim 1 for producing separate parallelogram shaped pieces of a flexible, particularly smokable, continuous film material, characterized in that it comprises: a) a first conveyor (12), by means of which the flexible film material ( 10) is continuously advanced in a first feed path in a first, predetermined direction; b) a first cutting means (1M) which is located in the first feed path and arranged perpendicular to the first predetermined direction by which the material web is cut in a plurality of parallel strips, c) a second conveyor (16) arranged perpendicular to the first conveyor (12) and advancing the film material along a second conveying path in a second predetermined direction, d) one between the first (12) and the second conveyor ( l6) positioned, reciprocally movable intersecting means (l8), by means of which the endless strips parallel to each other cor (e) a second cutting means (20) located along the second feed path and disposed perpendicular to the second predetermined direction and by means of which the parallel endless strips interconnected are separated into separate parallelogram pieces. and f) a container (22) in which the pieces are collected. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the first and second conveyors (12, 16) are made of endless conveyor belts having a width of about 60 ... I80 cm. 5. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the first and second cutting means (1H, 20) comprise cutting blades arranged parallel to one another, spaced about 2.5 ... 12.5 cm apart. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the cross-laying means (18) is made up of an endless conveyor belt, provided with an inside