GB2189128A - Arrangement for making cigarettes - Google Patents

Abstract

A sheet of cigarette paper (10) for wrapping a plurality of rods of tobacco to provide cigarettes is shaped and folded to provide parallel troughs (20) each adapted to receive a rod of tobacco. The edges (206) of adjacent troughs of cigarette paper are formed into an inverted V-shape, the apex of each V being provided with a region of weakness (208) along its length, and the external faces of each inverted V being provided with a region or regions of adhesive (16) so that, in use, each V may be divided along its apex and the upstanding portions of the Vs wrapped over rods of tobacco in the troughs of cigarette paper and sealed by means of the adhesive so as to provide cigarettes. There is also provided a base member adapted to support and maintain the sheet of cigarette paper in its shape. Apparatus for making cigarettes from the sheet of paper, tobacco rods and, optionally, filters is also disclosed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Packaging arrangement for assembling elongate smoking articles The present invention concerns a packaging arrangement for wrapping a plurality of rods of smoking material to provide elongate smoking articles such as cigarettes.

"Smoking material" will be understood to include tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, or a non-tobacco smoking substitute, or any mixture thereof.

It is an object of the present invention to enable a smoker to produce conveniently and simultaneously a number of cigarettes from prefabricated rods of smoking material that are unsmokeable per se.

According to the present invention there is provided a packaging arrangement including a sheet of wrapping material for wrapping a plurality of rods of smoking material to provide a plurality of elongate smoking articles, wherein the sheet of wrapping material is shaped and folded to provide a plurality of parallel troughs each adapted to receive a rod of smoking material, there is provided a base member shaped into troughs adapted to support and maintain the sheet of wrapping material in its said shape, the edges of adjacent troughs of wrapping material being connected by an upstanding integral web of wrapping material of inverted V-shape, the apex of each inverted V being provided with a region of weakness along its length, and the external faces of each inverted V contiguous with the interior of adjacent troughs of wrapping material being provided with a region or regions of adhesive whereby, in use, each V may be divided along its apex and the upstanding portions of the Vs wrapped over rods of smoking material in the troughs of wrapping material and sealed by means of the adhesive so as to provide elongate smoking articles.

The packaging arrangement preferably includes a device for making a plurality of elongate smoking articles from prefabricated rods of smoking material and the sheet of wrapping material, the device comprising, (a) means arranged on actuation by a user when each trough contains a said prefabricated rod of smokeable material to sever adjacent troughs of wrapping material at each said region of weakness between the troughs; and, (b) means for subsequently sealing the external faces of inverted V's either side of a said trough of wrapping material over a said rod of smokeable material within that trough to provide an elongate smoking article.

The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic non-scale drawings in which, Figure 1 is an oblique perspective view of part of a formed sheet of cigarette paper folded, gummed and perforated to provide a series of parallel troughs; Figure 2 is a plan view of the part of the formed sheet of Fig. 1 with the addition of wrapped filter plugs inserted in the ends of the troughs; Figure 3 is an exploded oblique perspective view of a packed arrangement of cigarette paper and wrapped filter plugs, utilising the components shown in Figs 1 and 2; Figure 4 is an exploded oblique perspective view of a storage tray of rods of smoking material; Figure 5 is an exploded oblique perspective view of a device for assembling a plurality of cigarettes from the cigarette paper, filter plugs, and rods of smokeable material shown in Figs. 1 to 4;; Figures 6 to 9 are vertical section views of a portion of the device of Fig. 5 showing successive stages in the assembly of a plurality of cigarettes.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings there is shown a web of cigarette paper 10 shaped and folded to provide a tray 22 (Fig. 3) comprising a number (e.g. twenty) of parallel troughs 20 each of which has a semicylindrical base 202 dimensioned so as to receive a prefabricated rod of tobacco as a close fit.

The semi-cylindrical base 202 of each trough extends upwardly to provide vertical walls 204 each of which splays outwards, relative to the trough, to provide a non-vertical wall section 206. The non-vertical wall sections 206 of adjacent vertical walls 204 of adjacent troughs 20 join at an apical fold line 12 to form an inverted "V" shape. The fold line 12 at the apex of the inverted V is provided along its length with perforations or slits 208, thereby providing a perforated line of weakness 14 in the cigarette paper web 10 at that point.

An area of the interior of each trough 20 adjacent one end thereof and extending over the semi-cylindrical base 202 and upwardly over the vertical walls 204 is coated with a contact adhesive. This is indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 by hatching 16. Likewise, those areas of non-vertical wall sections 206 that are contiguous with the interiors of the troughs 20 are coated with a contact adhesive, again indicated by hatching 16.

The tray 22 of shaped cigarette paper is held and supported in a preformed tray 24 (Fig. 3) made out of stiff cellulosic board that is shaped to correspond to the shape of the troughs 20 so as to prevent the tray 22 from collapsing. This is because cigarette paper is fragile, easily creased, and would not be able to retain a complex three-dimensional shape unless supported.

The tray 24 comprises a series of parallel semi-cylindrical troughs 26 that are held in position by stiff cross-ties 242 at their ends and separated by spaces 262. Each trough 26 is coated on its inner surface with a low-friction coating, so that a tobacco rod being wrapped in cigarette paper may roll easily within the trough 26 in a manner to be described. In an alternative embodiment the troughs 26 themselves may be made of a low-friction material.

The tray 22 of cigarette paper may be shaped by forming cigarette paper in situ in the board tray 24, for example by vacuum forming techniques, or by using a male forming tool in conjunction with tray 24. Alternatively, the tray 22 may be shaped independently of tray 24 and subsequently placed therein. Other methods will be apparent to the man skilled in the art.

In Fig. 2, a wrapped filter plug 18 is shown located and adhesively retained in the adhesive-coated area at the end of each trough 20. This will normally be done by the manufacturer.

As shown in Fig. 3, the trays 22 and 24, together with the filter plugs 18, are held in a preformed plastics bubble tray 28, and the whole covered over with a peel-off foil or film cover 30.

In Fig. 4 there is shown a preformed plastics bubble tray 36 adapted to hold a plurality of rod-shaped cartridges 32 made of a smoking material, the tray being covered with a peel off foil or film cover 38. The spacing between adjacent cartridges 32 is similar to that between the troughs 20 in the tray 22 of cigarette paper.

The smoking material will usually be tobacco but may be reconstituted tobacco or a non-tobacco smoking substitute, or any combination of all three.

Each cartridge 32 consists of smoking material wrapped in a highly permeable wrapper 34, and, in this condition, will therefore be unsmokeable. However, such a cartridge will indeed be smokeable when correctly wrapped in cigarette paper. It may be convenient to colour the permeable wrapper 34 a colour other than white.

Referring to Figs. 5 to 9 there is shown a device for manually making cigarettes from the cigarette paper tray 22, filter plugs 18, and cartridges 32 described above. The device is made of injection moulded plastic and has three sections, a base 40, a mid-section 54, and a cover 66.

The base 40 is a rectangular open-topped box adapted to hold the board tray 24 together with the cigarette paper tray 22, and a multiple knife mechanism 41. The mid-section 54 is also a rectangular open-topped box adapted to hold the plurality of cartridges 32 in place within the troughs 20. The cover 66 is for cosmetic and protective purposes.

The base 40 is provided with a series of parallel semi-cylindrical flutes 50 made out of injection moulded plastic extending longitudinally from a front wall 402 to a rear wall 4040 of the base. There is provided a longitudinally extending lateral space 502 between each pair of adjacent flutes 50. The series of flutes 50 is arranged to support the board tray 24 together with the cigarette paper tray 22 therein so that the troughs 26 rest in the flutes and the perforated lines of weakness 14 in the web of cigarette paper 10 lie over the lateral spaces 502 between the flutes.

The multiple knife mechanism 41 lies within the base 40 underneath the parallel flutes 50 and comprises a set of laterally spaced parallel knives 44 each of which extends longitudinally between the front and rear walls 402, 404, the set being mounted in a rigid knife block 42 moulded from a plastic material. The knives are arranged in the block 42 so that their cutting edges are directed upwardly through the lateral spaces 502 between the flutes 50 and through the spaces 262 between the troughs 26. The knife block 42 itself is mounted at one end on a pair of hinges 48 (only one of which is illustrated) located on end wall 404. The hinges 48 optionally may be spring-loaded (not illustrated) so as to urge the knife block 42 downwards.

The other end of the knife block 42 is provided with an operating lever mechanism 46 which projects through vertical slots 406 in front wall 402 and is provided with an external handle 47 so that upward movement of the handle 47 by a user against the spring loading will move the knives 44 upwardly through the lateral spaces 502 between the flutes 50.

The mid-section 54 is provided internally with a series of parallel semi-cylindrical flutes 62 made out of injection-moulded plastic extending longitudinally between mid-section front and rear walls corresponding to walls 402, 404 of the base 40. The flutes 62 are arranged so that, when the mid-section is inverted and held against the top of the base 40, they will hold in place any cartridges 32 that may be held in troughs 20 in the base.

The top surface of the mid-section 54 as shown in Fig. 5 is provided over most of its surface with a foam-backed rubber pad 58, and adjacent a longitudinal edge, an upstanding brush 60 extending between said front and rear walls of the mid-section.

The upper surfaces of the front and end walls 402, 404 of the base 40 are provided with inverted L-shaped lugs 52. The top surface of the mid-section 54 (Fig. 5) is similarly provided with corresponding inverted L-shaped lugs 56 which are positioned so as to interlink with lugs 52 when the mid-section is inverted and slid onto the base 40 in a manner to be described.

In operation, the foil covers 30, 38 are peeled off the cigarette paper tray 22 and the rod tray 36 respectively. The cigarette paper tray 22 contains a number of filter plugs 18, as described with reference to Fig. 2, and the rod tray 36 contains an identical number of cartridges 32, as described with reference to Fig. 4.

The cigarette paper tray 22 is then placed in the base 40 of the device so that the troughs 20 rest in the flutes 50. The tray 36 of cartridges 32 is inverted over the base 40 so that the cartridges fall into the troughs 20 so as to abut the plugs 18.

The mid-section 54 of the device is then inverted so that its open side (i.e. its bottom surface as shown in Fig. 5) faces downwards, and is placed on the base 40 so that the flutes 62 locate and hold firmly in place the filter plugs 18 and cartridges 32.

The user then moves the knife mechanism handle 47 upwards. As a result, the knives 44 tear through the perforated lines of weakness 14, converting the non-vertical wall sections 206 of the cigarette paper tray into upstanding leading and trailing laps 210, 212 of cigarette paper respectively (Fig. 7). The user then releases the handle 47.

The mid-section 54 of the device is then taken off the base 40 and re-inverted so that what was its top surface (Fig. 5) now faces downwards, and is then slid back onto the base so that the lugs 56 on the mid-section interdigitate with the lugs 52 on the base.

The user then slides mid-section 54 across the base 40 in the direction of arrow 9 (Figs.

8 and 9). As a result, the brush 60 folds the adhesive-coated leading lap 210 of cigarette paper onto the cartridge 32 in the first of the troughs 26 in the preformed board tray 24 (Fig. 8). As the mid-section 54 continues across the base 40 the foam-backed rubber pad 58 presses and seals the leading lap onto the cartridge 32 and starts to rotate the cartridge and its surrounding cigarette paper within the trough 26 in the direction of arrow 8, thereby causing the adhesive-coated trailing lap 212 of cigarette paper to be nipped between the rod and the wall of the trough 26 and thus to be folded onto the rod and sealed thereto (Fig. 9), forming a smokeable cigarette. Simultaneously, the brush 60 is now folding the adhesive-coated leading lap 210 of cigarette paper onto the cartridge 32 in the next trough 26.

The rotation of the cartridges 32 and cigarette paper in the troughs 26 is assisted by the aforementioned low-friction coating of the troughs 26.

On completion of the travel of the mid-section 54 across the base 40 and subsequent removal from the base there is revealed a number of cigarettes in the troughs 26 in the pre-formed board tray 24.

The invention therefore enables a smoker to prepare in one operation a number of smokeable cigarettes from inherently unsmokeable cartridges of smoking material and cigarette paper.

Grades of cigarette paper tray 22, filter plugs 18 (which may be optional), and cartridges may be chosen by the smoker to suit his particular smoking requirements.

In alternative embodiments the external faces of each inverted V contiguous with the interior of adjacent troughs may be coated with an adhesive other than a contact adhesive, or discrete regions only of the external faces may be coated with adhesive.

In other embodiments the cartridges 32 of smoking material may be provided by smoking material constrained into rod-like or cylindrical shape by means of adhesive, or may be provided by smoking material compressed into said rod-like or cylindrical shape.

Claims (17)

1. A packaging arrangement including a sheet of wrapping material for wrapping a plurality of rods of smoking material to provide a plurality of elongate smoking articles, wherein the sheet of wrapping material is shaped and folded to provide a plurality of parallel troughs each adaped to receive a rod of smoking material, there is provided a base member shaped into troughs adapted to support and maintain the sheet of wrapping material in its said shape, the edges of adjacent troughs of wrapping material being connected by an upstanding integral web of wrapping material of inverted V-shape, the apex of each inverted V being provided with a region of weakness along its length, and the external faces of each inverted V contiguous with the interior of adjacent troughs of wrapping material being provided with a region or regions of adhesive whereby, in use, each V may be divided along its apex and the upstanding portions of the Vs wrapped over rods of smoking material in the troughs of wrapping material and sealed by means of the adhesive so as to provide elongate smoking articles.

2. A packaging arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein each trough of the sheet of wrapping material contains a plug of filter material at that end of the trough coated with adhesive.

3. A packaging arrangement as claimed in either preceding claim wherein the base member is made of stiff cellulosic material.

4. A packaging arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the base member and the sheet of wrapping material are contained in a preformed plastics tray covered with a peel-off cover.

5. A packaging arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the base member is made of low-friction material.

6. A packaging arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the inside face of the base member supportive of the sheet of wrapping material is coated with lowfriction material.

7. A packaging arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim including a closure mem ber adapted to cooperate with the base member.

8. A packaging arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim including a device for making a plurality of elongate smoking articles from prefabricated rods of smoking material and the sheet of wrapping material, the device comprising, (a) means arranged on actuation by a user when each trough contains a said prefabricated rod of smokeable material to sever adjacent troughs of wrapping material at each said region of weakness between the troughs; and, (b) means for subsequently sealing the external faces of inverted V's either side of a said trough of wrapping material over a said rod of smokeable material within that trough to provide an elongate smoking article.

9. A packaging arrangement as claimed in claim 8 wherein the means for severing adjacent troughs of wrapping material is provided by a lever-operated array of knives arranged to be directed upwardly against the regions of weakness.

10. A packaging arrangement as claimed in claim 8 or 9 wherein the sealing means includes a brush means arranged to be moved transversely over the rods of smokeable material within the troughs of wrapping material when the regions of weakness between said troughs have been severed.

11. A packaging arrangement as claimed in claim 10 wherein the sealing means is arranged to rotate each said rod and its surrounding wrapping material within its respective trough in the base member so as to cause an adhesive-coated portion of the wrapping material to be nipped between the rod and the trough in the base member and thus be folded onto the rod and sealed thereto.

12. A packaging arrangement as claimed in claim 8 wherein the sealing means is mounted on a member adapted to be slid across the base member.

13. A packaging arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the region or regions of adhesive is or are provided by a region or regions respectively of contact adhesive.

14. A packaging arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the wrapping material is cigarette paper.

15. A packaging arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the rods of smoking material comprise smoking material wrapped in a highly permeable wrapper.

16. A packaging arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14 wherein the rods of smoking material comprise smoking material constrained into a rod-like shape by means of adhesive.

17. A packaging arrangement including a sheet of wrapping material for wrapping a plurality of rods of smoking material to provide a plurality of elongate smoking articles, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.