GB319970A - Improvements in and relating to method of and apparatus for stemming tobacco - Google Patents

Abstract

319,970. Croad, A. K., (American Tobacco Co.). Nov. 1, 1928. Tobacco. -In means for stemming tobacco, which is an improvement on that described in Specification 248,260, the leaves are fed by a belt 1 to cutters 12 which sever the tips, these being then led to a shoot 9, while the butt ends are fed into a conditioning- cylinder 15, and then to a disintegrator D and a jigger or screen E for removing dust, and afterwards to alternating blowers F, I, K, L, N, P, R and disintegrators J, M, 0, Q the latter breaking up the leaves, and the blowers serving to winnow the detached lamina from the heavier parts. Conditioning is effected by steam supplied by a pipe 17 to the cylinder 15, and by pipes 20, 90 to the disintegrators. Fig. 2 shows a disintegrator D and also the jigger E. The former comprises rotating teeth 53 meshing with fixed teeth 54, the leaves entering at 43 and being discharged at 44 on to a conveyer 21. The teeth 54 are carried on a door 45 hinged at 46 and fastened at 47 so as to give way if the internal pressure should become too great. The conveyer 21 leads to a shoot 65 by which the leaves are fed to reciprocating screens 55, 56, through which the dust falls to a shoot 59, the screened tobacco passing by means of a shoot 61 and belt 22a to the blowers F, I shown in Fig. 4. These each comprise a pair of fans 73, 74 which direct blasts of air through the leaves as they fall from a hopper 78 to an outlet 84, the light particles being thus blown upwards through passages 79, 80 to laterally sloping shoots 82 leading to belts 24, 25, Fig. 1. The stem portions from the last blower R are returned by a belt 38 to the third disintegrator M. The leaves 3 are taken from stacks 2 and laid upon the belt 1 so as to give the desired blend.