GB2111370A - Distributor for cigarette making machine or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

A distributor for use in a cigarette making machine has an upright duct with an inlet at the upper end and an outlet at the lower end. The inlet receives tobacco from a feeding unit at the rate at which the tobacco particles leave the duct, and the device which withdraws tobacco from the duct by way of the outlet employs a hollow rotary drum-shaped carded conveyor whose carding travels past the outlet and removes tobacco which normally descends by gravity. In order to assist the gravitational descent of tobacco in the duct, the conveyor has a suction chamber and suction ports extending radially through the conveyor. The suction chamber is connected with a suction generating device, and the chamber accommodates a valve serving to connect the suction chamber with those ports which advance past the outlet so that the ports tend to advance the column of tobacco in the duct downwardly and into the range of the carding at the periphery of the conveyor. This ensures uniform filling of the carding with tobacco particles. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Distributor for cigarette making machines or the like The present invention relates to machines for processing tobacco and like fibrous materials, and more particularly to improvements in so-called distributors which can be used in cigarette making or like machines to convert a supply of tobacco particles into a more or less homogeneous and uniform tobacco stream ready for conversion into a tobacco rod.

It is already known to provide the distributor of a tobacco processing machine (e.g., a cigarette maker wherein a tobacco rod is draped into a web of cigarette paper and subdivided into discrete cigarettes or the like) with a duct having an inlet at the upper end and an outlet at the lower end. The inlet receives tobacco particles from a suitable magazine, and the outlet is disposed at a level above a rotary drum-shaped carded conveyor whose carding removes tobacco particles from the duct and is relieved of the thus removed tobacco particles by a picker roller so that the removed particles of tobacco form a carpet which is thereupon treated to segregate therefrom fragments of ribs, certain birds' eyes and other undesirable constituents prior to conversion into a continuous tobacco stream.The stream is trimmed and draped into a web of cigarette paper to form a rod which is ready for subdivision into a file of discrete plain cigarettes. The quality of the distributor greatly influences the quality of the ultimate products as well as the economy of the operation. Thus, if the distributor is capable of forming and delivering a homogeneous carpet of natural, artificial and/or reconstituted tobacco, this greatly enhances the quality of the tobacco stream and reduces the quantity of short tobacco and tobacco dust, i.e., the quantity of those fragments of tobacco shreds or leaves which are removed during trimming of the tobacco stream preparatory to draping of the trimmed stream (called filler) into a running web of cigarette paper or the like.The provision of the aforementioned duct, which stores an intermediate supply of tobacco particles between the main magazine or magazines and the stream forming station, has been found to contribute significantly to the quality of the cigarettes. The aforementioned carded conveyor should remove tobacco particles at a uniform rate to ensure that each and every increment of the carpet which is about to be converted into a tobacco stream will contain identical quantities of tobacco particles. Attempts to uniformize the rate at which the carded conveyor draws tobacco from the outlet of the duct include the provision of a mechanical homogenizing device which brushes tobacco particles into the spaces between the projections constituting the carding on the conveyor and which has been found to contribute significantly to the quality of the carpet.However, it can happen that tobacco particles in the duct do not descend at a uniform rate if such descent is to be achieved by gravity alone. Therefore, and since the aforementioned homogenizing device is located at the outlet of the duct, it cannot ensure uniform distribution of tobacco particles in the spaces between the projections of the carding if the column of tobacco in the duct fails to descend at a desired or anticipated rate.

The invention is embodied in a machine for the production of cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or analogous smokers' products. More particularly, the invention is embodied in a tobacco distributor which can be utilized in such machines and comprises a preferably upright duct having an inlet and an outlet preferably at a level below the inlet so that tobacco in the interior of the duct normally tends to descend toward the outlet by gravity flow, means for feeding tobacco into the duct via inlet, and means for withdrawing tobacco from the duct via outlet.The withdrawing means comprises a conveyor (e.g., a suction conveyor including a hollow rotary drum rotatable about a horizontal axis at a level below the outlet) having entraining means (e.g., in the form of a carding having projections extending outwardly beyond the peripheral surface of the drum) arranged to move in a predetermined direction and along a predetermined path (such path can be an endless circular path which is defined by the peripheral surface of the drum) a portion of which is adjacent to the outlet so that the entraining means removes tobacco from the duct during movement past the outlet, and means for pneumatically advancing tobacco in the duct into the outlet and into the range of the entraining means.Such advancing means can comprise a suction generating device and means for connecting the suction generating device with a suction chamber which is surrounded by the drum of the conveyor. The drum has apertures in the form of suction ports which move along the aforementioned path, and the connecting means can comprise a valve which is installed in the drum and connects with the suction generating means those ports which advance past the outlet of the duct. The suction ports are preferably distributed in the drum of the suction conveyor in such a way that they alternate with the projections of the entraining means. Such suction ports can form one or more rows extending circumferentially, axially and/or otherwise of the drum.

The distributor preferably further comprises means for maintaining the quantity of tobacco in the duct within a predetermined range, i.e., for ensuring that the rate of admission of tobacco via inlet of the duct matches or closely approximates the rate of removal by the entraining means.

Still further, the distributor can comprise a mechanical homogenizing device having one or more strip-shaped tobacco advancing and equalizing elements or otherwise configurated and/or operated means for mechanically advancing tobacco into the range of the entraining means on the conveyor.

The aforementioned advancing means is preferably designed to draw tobacco downwardly from the duct, through the outlet and into the range of the entraining means. A picker roller or other suitable means for mechanically or otherwise separating tobacco from the entraining means is preferably provided in or adjacent to a second portion of the aforementioned path, namely, in or close to a path portion which is located downstream of the outlet, as considered in the direction of travel of the entraining means.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved distributor itself, however, both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing.

The single Figure of the drawing is a fragmentary schematic vertical sectional view of a cigarette rod making maching utilizing a distributor which embodies the present invention and wherein the conveyor which removes tobacco from the outlet at the lower end of the duct is a rotary drum-shaped carded suction conveyor.

The drawing illustrates a portion of a cigarette making machine, e.g., a machine of the type known as GARANT or SE-80 both manufactured and sold by the assignee of the present application. Reference may be had to commonly owned U.S. Patent No. 4,063,563 granted December 20, 1 977 to Heinz-Christen Lorenzen which shows and describes a GARANT machine.

The machine comprises a distributor including a magazine 1 for a supply 2 of tobacco which includes a mixture of interlaced shreds, fragments of ribs, so-called birds' eyes, some tobacco dust, some short tobacco (namely, fragmentized shreds which are formed during trimming of a tobacco stream preparatory to draping of the trimmed stream or filler into a web of cigarette paper or the like) and possibly some impurities, e.g., fragments of metal or the like.

The means for removing tobacco from the supply 2 and for feeding tobacco into the inlet 11 a at the upper end of an upright tobacco duct 11 comprises an endless belt or band conveyor 4 having entraining elements in the form of vanes 3 each of which defines a transversely extending pocket 3a for a batch of tobacco particles. The vanes 3 which advance along the upwardly moving reach 4a of the conveyor 4 remove such batches from the supply 2 in the magazine 1 and advance successive batches past a course equalizing device including a driven paddle wheel 8 having a set of leather straps or like paddles 7 which brush the surplus off successive batches in the oncoming pockets 3a.The equalized batches advance over and around a pulley 6 at the upper end of the conveyor 4 to descend in a vertical channel 1 2a along a suitably configurated shroud 12 having an arcuate portion whose curvature matches that of the peripheral surface of the pulley 6 and which extends downwardly toward but short of the inlet 11 a. A guide roller 9 engages the left-hand reach 4b of the conveyor 4 to ensure that the upper part of such reach extends vertically and in at least substantial parallelism with the flat lower portion of the shroud 12. The lower edge face of the shroud 1 2 is adjacent to a driven magnetic roller 1 4 which serves to extract metallic particles and other magnetizable impurities from the shower of tobacco particles descending in the channel 12a.

The paddle wheel 8 preferably receives motion from the shaft 6a of the pulley 6, and such shaft preferably receives motion from the main prime mover (not shown) of the cigarette making machine. The flat lower portion of the shroud 1 2 is preferably coplanar with the left-hand wall 13 of the duct 11, and such wail is at least substantially parallel with a second (right-hand) wall 1 6 carrying photosensitive detector means 1 8 which monitors the upper level of the supply of tobacco particles in the duct 11 and cooperates with the drive means for the conveyor 4 to ensure that the upper level of the intermediate supply of tobacco particles in the duct 11 will remain within a given range. Reference may be had, for example, to commonly owned U.S.Patent No. 4,037,712 granted July 26, 1977 to Waldemar Wochnowski and/or to commonly owned U.S. Patent No.

4,220,164 granted September 2, 1 980 to Heinz Christen Lorenzen. The disclosures of these patents are incorporated herein by reference. The detector means 1 8 can comprise a set of reflection-type photocells which form one or more rows, as considered at right angles to the plane of the drawing, and are electrically connected with one another to regulate the operation of the drive means for the conveyor 4 with a certain delay foilowing interruption of light beams between their light sources and transducers for preselected intervals of time.

A roller 17 which is driven at a constant speed (in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in the drawing) is provided below the guide roller 9 to prevent particles of tobacco which descend from the channel 1 2a from entering the space which is provided adjacent to the reach 4b of the conveyor 4 in order to provide room for advancement of the vanes 3 toward the lower end turn of the conveyor 4.

The outlet 11 b of the duct 11 is adjacent to a hollow rotary carded suction conveyor 21 whose carding 1 9 (e.g., needles, pins or analogous projections) travels along an endless circular path a portion of which (at the one o'clock position of the conveyor 21) is adjacent to and disposed below the outlet 11 b. The shaft (not shown) of the conveyor 21 is driven by the aforementioned main prime mover of the cigarette making machine through the medium of a suitable (preferably infinitely variable-speed) transmission so that the carding 1 9 advances in a clockwise direction, as viewed in the drawing.

A mechanical homogenizing device 22 is adjacent to the right-hand side of the outlet 11 b and comprises one or more horizontally extending oscillatable profiled strips 23 serving to promote the penetration of tobacco particles into the gaps or spaces between the projections of the carding 1 9 on the hollow rotary drum 24 of the conveyor 21. The strip or strips 23 oscillate substantially at right angles to the plane of the drawing. Such homogenizing devices are disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Patents Nos. 3,996,943 and 3,996,944 granted December 14,1 976 to Alfred Hinzmann. The disclosures of the patents to Hinzmann are incorporated herein by reference.

The hollow cylindrical drum 24 of the conveyor 21 is formed with radially extending apertures 26 in the form of suction ports which are distributed between the projections of the carding 19, whose outer ends communicate with the atmosphere around the drum 24 and whose inner ends can communicate with a suction chamber 27 in the interior of the conveyor 21 during movement of the ports 26 past the outlet 11 b of the duct 11.

This is ensured by the provision of a stationary valve 30 which is installed in the interior of the drum 24 and only permits the suction chamber 27 to communicate with those ports 26 which advance below the outlet 11 b. The suction generating means 29 is a blower or fan whose intake is connected with the suction chamber 27 by a conduit 28 at one axial end of the conveyor 21.

A rapidly rotating picker roller 31 is installed at the five o'clock position of the conveyor 21 to expel tobacco particles from the carding 1 9 downstream of the outlet 11 b of the duct 11. The particles which are expelled from the carding 19 descend onto the upper reach of an elongated apron conveyor 32 to form thereon a relatively wide carpet or layer which advances in a direction to the left, as viewed in the drawing, and into the range of a curtain of compressed air issuing from the orifices 37 of a plenum chamber 36 forming part of a sifting or classifying device 33.The apron conveyor 32 is driven at a constant speed which is sufficiently high to enable heavier tobacco particles (such as fragments of ribs or the like) to advance across the curtain of downwardly flowing air and to enter an intercepting receptacle 39 containing a feed screw 41 for continuous or intermittent removal of accumulated heavier particles from the interior of the machine.

Portions of the conveyor 21 and picker roller 31 are adjacent to a stationary baffle 34 which prevents the particles of tobacco from travelling rearwardly and beyond the receiving end of the upper reach of the apron conveyor 32. Certain tobacco particles exhibit such tendency because the picker roller 31 is driven to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in the drawing. The outer side of the apron conveyor 32 can be coated with a profiled layer of rubber or the like to prevent or at least reduce slippage of tobacco particles along the upper reach of the apron conveyor and to thus ensure that the particles which are expelled by the picker roller 31 form a homogeneous carpet of at least substantially uniform height.

The orifices 37 of the plenum chamber 36 are preferably rectangular and closely adjacent to one another to form a row which extends substantially at right angles to the plane of the drawing. A vertically adjustable wall 42 is located in the path of movement of relatively lightweight tobacco particles (especially shreds) which are deflected by the aforementioned air curtain after they advance beyond the pulley 38 at the discharge end of the apron conveyor 32. Vertical adjustability of the wall 42 is desirable in order to enable the operators to regulate the percentage of those (relatively heavy) particles which are not deflected at all, or which are deflected only in part, by the aforementioned curtain of air so that they can enter the intercepting receptacle 39.The satisfactory (deflected) tobacco particles descend in a channel located to the right of the vertically adjustable wall 42 to slide along a downwardly sloping wall 44 and into the range of a rotary carded accelerating conveyor 43 which is spacedly surrounded by a shroud 46 defining with the accelerating conveyor an arcuate channel for transport of accelerated tobacco particles toward the stream forming station. The curvature of the adjustable wall 42 is preferably selected in such a way that this wall also promotes the advancement of satisfactory tobacco particles into the range of projections at the periphery of the accelerating conveyor 43. The latter is driven at a constant speed to rotate in a clockwise direction, as viewed in the drawing.

The shroud 46 constitutes the top wall of a plenum chamber 47 which discharges streams of compressed air or another gaseous fluid through a set of suitably inclined openings 52 and toward an upright wall 48 flanking one side of a tobacco channel 49 wherein the particles of tobacco ascend to form a growing tobacco stream at the underside of a foraminous tobacco stream forming belt or band conveyor 51. The wall 48 extends substantially tangentially of the shroud 46. The lower reach of the conveyor 51 advances below a stationary suction chamber 53 which contains metallic or ceramic pins or analogous guide means for the upper reach of the conveyor 51.The righthand side of the tobacco channel 49 is flanked by an upright wall 56 whose lower portion overlies the upper part of the accelerating conveyor 43 and can be provided with suction ports to remove tobacco from the carding of the conveyor 43. The wall 56 can further constitute the bottom portion of the intercepting receptacle 39, i.e., a portion of the wall 56 can extend below the feed screw 41.

The reference character 57 denotes a foraminous portion of the wall 56 which constitutes a sieve. A blower (not shown) whose intake is connected with the suction chamber 53 and whose outlet is connected with the plenum chambers 36 and 47 ensures proper circulation of air when the machine is in actual use. The details of the stream forming station and of the mechanism which supplies tobacco from the picker roller 31 to the stream forming station (in the channel 49) are disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Patent No. 4,175,570 granted November 1979 to Uwe Heitmann.

The disclosure of this patent is incorporated herein by reference.

The operation of the machine which is shown in the drawing is as follows: The vanes 3 on the upwardly moving reach 4a of the tobacco feeding conveyor 4 remove batches of tobacco particles from the supply 2 in the magazine 1, and the tobacco particles which extend from the respective pockets 3a are brushed off by the straps 7 of the paddle wheel 8. The equalized batches are dumped seriatim into the channel 1 2a after they advance around the pulley 6, and such batches descend by gravity toward and into the inlet 11 a of the duct 11. The rotating wheel 14 removes fragments of metal (if any), and the roller 1 7 prevents the particles of tobacco from straying on their way downwardly beyond the channel 12a.The feature that the roller 9 causes the inverted vanes 3 to advance downwardly along a substantially vertical path (on their 'vary toward and past the roller 17) ensures that the contents of each pocket 3a are fully evacuated prior to advancement of the respective pockets 3a past the roller 1 7 and downwardly toward the lower end turn of the conveyor 4. The detector means 1 8 ensures that the upper level of the supply of tobacco particles in the duct 11 fluctuates within a permissible range.The wall 12 directs the descending batches into and through the inlet 1 1 a so that they come to rest on top of the intermediate supply in the duct 11, and such supply normally slides by gravity toward the outlet 11 b, i.e., into the range of projections constituting the carding 19 of the conveyor 21. The photocells of the detector means 1 8 can be designed to effect stepwise changes in the speed of the conveyor 4.

The mechanical homogenizing device 22 promotes the entry of tobacco particles into the spaces between the projections of the carding 19, and such uniform filling is also promoted by the suction ports 26 of which communicate with the suction chamber 27 to draw tobacco particles from the duct 11, through the outlet 11 b and toward the peripheral surface of the conveyor 21.

Thus, the device 22 enhances the homogenizing action of the suction chamber 27 and suction generating device 29 and/or vice versa, with the result that successive increments of the carding 1 9 advance uniform charges of tobacco particles beyond the outlet 11 b and toward and into the range of the picker roller 31. The strip or strips 23 of the homogenizing device 23 serve to maintain the lower end of the column of tobacco particles in the duct 11 in continuous motion, and the ports 26 which communicate with the suction chamber 27 actuaily draw the particles into the spaces between the projections of the carding 19. The result is a highly uniform distribution of tobacco particles in that region of the carding 1 9 which extends between the outlet 11 b and the picker roller 31.The baffle 34 prevents premature separation of tabacco particles from the carding 1 9 and, as expiained above, this baffle prevents tobacco particles from advancing rearwardly of the picker roller 31 during travel from the carding 1 9 toward the upper reach of the apron conveyor 32. If desired, the baffle 34 can be placed even closer to the picker roller 31 and is then provided with prongs together constituting a comb and defining a set of grooves for the needles or pins of the roller 31.

As a rule, relatively long tobacco shreds adhere to the pins of the picker roller 31 for relatively long intervals of time so that such longer shreds become separated from the pins and advance toward the upper reach of the apron conveyor 32 when they are very close to the upper reach. In other words, the longer shreds form the lower stratum or strata of the carpet on the upper reach of the conveyor 32, and such lower stratum or strata are covered by one or more upper strata consisting of lightweight and heaviest tobacco particles. Such distribution of longer and shorter shreds in the carpet on the upper reach of the conveyor 32 is desirable and advantageous because it enhances the quality of the sifting operation which is carried out by the device 33.

The just discussed carpet is advanced at a constant speed toward and beyond the pulley 38 and enters the range of the air curtain issuing from the orifices 37 of the plenum chamber 36 in the classifying device 33. As explained above, heavier tobacco particles (and/or particles consisting of a material other than tobacco but being heavier than satisfactory tobacco particles) are not deflected at all or are deflected only negligibly during travel across the air curtain to thus enter the receptacle 39 at the left-hand side of the vertically adjustable wall 42. Since the longer shreds of tobacco are disposed in the lower zone of the carpet on the upper reach of the apron conveyor 32, and since the heavier particles are often or normally small, such heavier particles rest on the stratum or strata of longer shreds.Consequently, the longer shreds cannot interfere with propulsion of the heavier particles across the curtain of compressed air issuing via orifices 37 and entry into the receptacle 39 to be evacuated, either continuously or intermittently, by the feed screw 41 which can transport the ribs to a tobacco reconstituting unit wherein the ribs are converted into sheets of tobacco-containing material.

The particles which are incapable of reaching the receptacle 39 descend in the preferably funnel-shaped channel between the walls 42, 44 and into the range of carding on the accelerating conveyor 43. The latter propels the satisfactory tobacco particles into the channel 49 wherein the particles travel upwardly toward and against the underside of the lower reach of the tobacco stream forming conveyor 51 or against the underside of the growing tobacco stream which accumulates below and moves with the lower reach of the conveyor 51. The inclination of the wall 44 is such that the descending satisfactory particles impinge against this wall at a relatively small acute angle, the same as the jets of air issuing from the orifices 37 of the plenum chamber 36.This ensures reliable transport of all descending satisfactory particles-into the channel between the accelerating conveyor 43 and the arcuate portion of the shroud 46. The channel between the conveyor 43 and the shroud 46 also receives air which issues from the plenum chamber 36 via orifices 37 so that such air cannot create turbulence in the mass of satisfactory tobacco particles in the region between the walls 42 and 44.

The purpose of the sieve 57 is to allow acceptable heavier tobacco particles to leave the receptacle 39 and enter the path of satisfactory particles, i.e., to descend through the pores or interstices of the sieve 57 and into the channel between or below the walls 42, 44 for admission into the channel 49. The acceptable particles which happen to enter the receptacle 39 are normally smaller birds' eyes and the like.

The particles of tobacco which reach the lower portion of the channel 49 between the walls 48 and 56 are propelled upwardly by streams of air from the plenum chamber 47 via openings 52 which are oriented in such a way that they impart to the tobacco particles a component of movement toward the underside of the-lower reach of the conveyor 51. The arrangement is preferably such that streams of air issuing from the orifices 52 direct the particles of tobacco in the general direction of advancement of the lower reach of the conveyor 51 and of the-growing tobacco stream at the underside of such reach.

This is desirable and advantageous because the particles which reach the growing stream are not likely to require any or any appreciable acceleration (in a direction at right angles to the plane of the drawing) so that they are unlikely to interfere with a proper buildup of tobacco particles which are to form the stream. Air (from the plenum chambers 36 and 47) which enters the channel 49 is drawn into the-suction chamber 53, i.e., such air flows through growing tobacco stream and through the lower reach of the foraminous conveyor 51 to ensure that the growing stream adheres to and advances with the lower reach of the conveyor 51.

The fully grown stream is thereupon trimmed by a suitable trimming or equalizing device to be thereby converted into a filler which is draped into a web of cigarette paper and is subdivided into tobacco-containing rod-shaped- articles of unit length our multiple unit length in a manner not forming part of the present invention.

The provision of the valve 30 is desirable and advantageous because this element ensures that the carding 1 9 does not retain tobacco particles in the region downstream of the picker roller 31 (as considered in the (clockwise) direction of rotation of the conveyor 21). The- ports 26 communicate with the suction chamber 27 only in the region below the outlet 11 b of the duct 11; however, it is also possible to extend the region of communication between the chamber 27 and the ports 26 all the way to the iocus where the pins of the roller 31 expel tobacco particles from the carding 19.

An important advantage of the improved distributor is that ports 26, suction chamber 27 and suction generating device 29 cooperate to guarantee uniform (uninterrupted) filling of spaces between the projections of the carding 1 9 with tobacco particles, even if the homogenizing device 22 is omitted. Such uniform filling-ofthe spaces between the projections of the carding 1 9 contributes to uniformity of the carpet on the apron conveyor 32 and to uniformity of the tobacco stream at the underside of the lower reach- of the conveyor51.

The means 18 for maintaining a quantity of tobacco in the duct 11 at a substantially constant level can be constructed and assembled in a manner as disclosed-in commonly owned U.S.

Patent No. 4,235,248 granted November 25, 1980 to Schumacher.

Claims (12)

1. In a machine for the production of cigarettes or the like, a tobacco distributor comprising a duct having an inlet and an outlet; means for feeding tobacco into said duct via said inlet; and- means for withdrawing tobacco from said duct via said outlet, comprising a conveyor having entraining means arranged to move in a predetermined direction and along a predetermined path a portion of which is adjacent to said outlet so that such entraining means removes tobacco from said duct during movement past said outlet, and means for pneumatically advancing tobacco in said duct into said inlet and into the range of said entraining means.

2. The distributor of Claim 1, wherein said outlet is disposed at a level below said inlet so that tobacco in said duct exhibits the tendency to descend toward said outlet.

3. The distributor of Claim 1, wherein said conveyor is a suction conveyor.

4. The distributor-of Claim 3, wherein said conveyor has apertures arranged to move along said path, and said advancing means comprises suction generating means and means for connecting said apertures with-said suction generating means.

5. The distributor of Claim 4, wherein said conveyor-includes a hollow rotary drum and a suction chamber surrounded by said drum and connected with said suction generating means, said entraining means-being provided on and said apertures being provided in said drum.

6. The distributor of Claim 5, wherein said apertures are suction ports and said drum has a peripheral-surface defining said path, said entraining means comprising projections extending outwardly beyond said peripheral surface and said suction ports being distributed in said peripheral surface between said projections.

7. The distributor of Claim 6, wherein said connecting means comprises valve means provided -in said drum and arranged to establish connections between said suction ports and said chamber during movement of suction ports past said outlet.

8. The distributor of Claim 1, further comprising means for maintaining the quantity of tobacco in said duct within a predetermined range.

9, The distributor of Claim 1 , further comprising means for mechanically advancing tobacco in said duct into the range of said entraining means.

10. The distributor of Claim 1, wherein said conveyor is disposed at a level below said outlet and said advancing means includes means for drawing tobacco downwardly from said duct, through said outlet and into the range of said entraining means.

11. The distributor of Claim 1 ,further comprising means for mechanically separating tobacco from said entraining means in a second portion of said path located downstream of said outlet, as considered in said direction.

12. A tobacco distributor substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.