GB1083111A - Method and apparatus for controlling the segregation of faulty articles such as cigarettes or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

1,083,111. Cigarette making machines. K. KÍRBER. March 12, 1965 [Feb. 11, 1964], No. 5640/64. Heading A2C. In an apparatus for testing the wrapping of cigarettes or the like and rejecting those which are faulty, a cigarette is subjected to a checking air current during each cycle of the apparatus and variations of the air current which lie outside predetermined limits indicate a faulty cigarette. Such a variation is converted into an electrical signal pulse which is then shaped to form a further control pulse of the duration of a full cycle and with a delay of one cycle. The control pulse is fed to a rejector device for rejecting the faulty cigarette. Changes in the flow of air through a cigarette may be converted to electrical signals by a diaphragm which is fixed in an air chamber having an inlet connected to the air flow through the cigarette and an outlet of predetermined size so that the diaphragm moves in accordance with the air flow through the cigarette. The diaphragm may form part of a variable capacitor or inductance connected in an oscillatory circuit having an output 124 in which pulses 124a-124e occur when the pressure in the chamber varies from the predtermined limits. Pulses 124b, d and e indicate that a faulty cigarette has been tested in the cycle periods A-C, C-E and F-H. Spurious pulses 124a and 124c may occur at the beginning of each cycle. To cancel these, a synchronizing signal pulse source having an output 122 is provided. The waves 122 and 124 are fed to pulseshapers to provide outputs 126 and 128 respectively which are fed to an "and" gate circuit, the output 130 of which consists of square pulses 130b, d, and e corresponding to the fault signals in output 124. The output 130 is applied to a first pulse shift register stage, the output pulses 132b, d and e of which are initiated by the leading edges of the pulses 130b, d and e and last until the end of the respective cycles in which they occur. The pulses 132b, d and e are then fed to a second pulse shift register stage the output pulses 134 of which are initiated by the trailing edges of the pulses 132b, d and e and last for a complete cycle. The original fault signals 124b, d and e thus give rise to pulses having a delay and duration of a complete cycle which are fed to rejector mechanism for rejecting the cigarette which gave rise to the original fault signal.