GB260150A - Improvements in machines for transferring cigarettes from a supply hopper into packets - Google Patents

Abstract

260,150. Muller, J. C., and Halank, G. F. March 10, 1926. Packeting cigarettes in containers.-Relates to a machine for transferring cigarettes from a supply hopper into packets, in which the cigarettes are fed from the hopper into a chamber in which they are arranged in rows, and from this chamber by means of a plunger into a packet. According to the invention, the chamber moves in a closed cycle, during which travel a feeler tests the contents, and, if the chamber is insufficiently filled, the chamber is emptied before arrival at the packeting point and the correspond. ing empty packet is prevented from being presented for filling. Cigarettes fall from a hopper 2, Fig. 1, into grooves 4 on a drum 3 which transfers them to a position above a slide 6. The slide is actuated to withdraw and to allow the cigarettes to fall first into one chamber in a channel 12 and then into the other. A slide 14 is then withdrawn to allow the batch to fall into a chamber 21 on a drum 20, the slide 6 being meanwhile returned to the closed position. The chambers are divided by a partition 22, Fig. 5, and the side walls 24 are resiliently held in position by spring-pressed bolts 25. The base 29 is similarly mounted on a bolt 30. The drum is rotated intermittently so that the batch arrives at a position on the left, Fig. 1, arcuate members 23 maintaining the cigarettes in position during transition. A detector, operated by a lever 31, advances so that the projecting arms 40, 41 of feelers 37 contact with the outermost cigarette in each chamber. If the chambers are properly filled the feelers permit the arrival of the batch at a point at which it is thrust into a packet through a guide. If a chamber is not properly filled, the feeler moves to the right and the arm 40 strikes a cross pin 47, Fig. 2, mounted as shown in Figs. 3<b> and 3<c> in a notched spring. The cross-pin is moved from the notch 49 to the notch 49' so that, in the next intermittent rotation, the end coacts with a double-armed lever 52, Figs. 2 and 3. The lever 52 co-operates with a lever 101 pivoted at 102 and having a free end 103 forming an abutment for an arm 104 on the pivot 64 of a rocking arm 62. Upon the lever 101 being moved, the lever 62 is urged by a spring 105 so that an associated slide 63 prevents the feed of a packet corresponding to the improperly filled chamber. At the same time, a flap 77, Fig. 2, in the casing 23 is opened to allow the cigarettes to fall out. In a modification, the feelers are caused to energize an electrical current if the chamber is not properly filled and the cross-pin is moved bv a lever acting in conjunction with an electromagnet.