JP2000037181A - Quality control system for cigarette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a quality control system for cigarettes capable of effectively performing the production quality control for the cigarettes in plural apparatuses for producing the cigarettes by effectively utilizing a cigarette inspecting device without causing an increase in equipment cost. SOLUTION: This quality control system for cigarettes is equipped with a cigarette inspecting device 3 held in common with plural apparatuses 1 and 2 for producing the cigarettes and capable of measuring the quality of the cigarettes produced by the respective apparatuses 1 and 2 for producing the cigarettes and a controller 4 capable of collecting quality data of the cigarettes measured by the cigarette inspecting device 3 through, e.g. a wireless type local area network(LAN) 5, classifying, arranging and storing the quality data into information (control number) of the apparatuses 1 and 2 producing the cigarettes together with information (brand) about the cigarettes, feeding the quality data to the apparatuses 1 and 2 producing the cigarettes concerned and presenting the quality data to an operator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cigarette quality management system suitable for managing cigarette production quality.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, cigarettes are manufactured by continuously winding a cut cigarette with a long wrapping paper to form a tobacco rod while controlling the supply amount of the cut cigarette. This is performed by cutting each time and attaching a filter to the cut end.
At this time, the filling amount of the cut tobacco per cigarette in the tobacco rod is measured, and the feed amount of the cut tobacco is feedback-controlled based on the measurement result. In addition, it is also practiced to inspect the cut-out of the cut tobacco from the end of the cigarette, which is the cut portion of the tobacco rod (dropping), and to remove the dropped cigarette as a defective product.

[0003] The quality of cigarettes manufactured as described above depends not only on the filling amount of shredded tobacco and on the presence or absence of falling, but also on the length, winding diameter, hardness and the like.
In order to inspect each of a plurality of evaluation items such as the length and winding diameter of such a cigarette, and further, ventilation resistance and hardness,
Conventionally, in general, a cigarette manufactured by the cigarette manufacturing apparatus is sampled using a cigarette inspecting apparatus configured independently of the cigarette manufacturing apparatus, and the above-described evaluation items are measured. Incidentally, the cigarette subjected to the quality inspection in this manner is finally destroyed by the hardness test, and is discarded without being returned as a product.

[0004]

In order to utilize the quality of a cigarette evaluated as described above in the manufacture of a subsequent cigarette, the quality data for each evaluation item of the cigarette must be obtained by manufacturing the cigarette manufactured by the cigarette. It is important to feed back to the device and present it to the operator. However, in order to provide a cigarette inspection device for each of a plurality of cigarette manufacturing devices forming a plurality of manufacturing lines, it is unavoidable that a large facility cost is required. Moreover, since the quality inspection by the cigarette inspecting device is performed only sporadically only on the sample extracted from each of the cigarettes manufactured by each manufacturing device, it is not necessary to provide the cigarette inspecting device for each manufacturing device. This is not a good idea from the viewpoint of effective utilization (operating rate) of the inspection equipment.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make use of a cigarette inspection apparatus effectively without increasing equipment costs, and to manufacture cigarettes in a plurality of cigarette manufacturing apparatuses. An object of the present invention is to provide a cigarette quality control system capable of effectively performing quality control.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a cigarette quality management system according to the present invention measures the quality of a cigarette manufactured by each cigarette manufacturing apparatus shared by a plurality of cigarette manufacturing apparatuses. Cigarette inspection device, collect the quality data of the cigarette measured by this cigarette inspection device, classify and arrange this quality data together with information on the cigarette manufacturing device that manufactured the cigarette, and information on the production of the cigarette It is characterized by comprising a management device for storing, and means for giving the quality data of the cigarette collected by the management device to the cigarette manufacturing device that manufactured the cigarette and presenting it to the operator.

In a particularly preferred aspect of the present invention, the management device collects the cigarette quality data and presents the collected quality data to a cigarette manufacturing device as described in claim 2. The inspection is performed via a wireless LAN constructed between the inspection apparatus and a plurality of cigarette manufacturing apparatuses.

That is, according to the present invention, a movable cigarette inspecting apparatus is shared by a plurality of cigarette manufacturing apparatuses, and the cigarette quality data obtained by the cigarette inspecting apparatus is collected by a management apparatus, and the cigarette is inspected. The cigarette manufacturing apparatus that manufactured the cigarette and the information related to the manufacture of the cigarette are integrally managed, and at the same time, the quality data is given to the cigarette manufacturing apparatus that manufactured the cigarette and presented to the operator, thereby enabling the cigarette inspection apparatus to be effective. The cigarette quality data manufactured by a plurality of cigarette manufacturing apparatuses by utilizing the data is reliably fed back to the manufacturer (cigarette manufacturing apparatus).

In particular, the collection of the quality data and the feedback of the quality data to the manufacturing apparatus are performed via a wireless LAN, so that the cigarette inspection apparatus can be freely moved regardless of the layout configuration of a plurality of cigarette manufacturing apparatuses. It is characterized in that the quality inspection can be performed while performing the inspection.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a cigarette quality management system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system according to an embodiment. Reference numerals 1 and 2 denote independent cigarette manufacturing devices (cigarette hoisting machines), 3 denotes a cigarette inspection device, and 4 denotes a management device. The cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2 generally supply a cut tobacco, and a supply section S for continuously supplying a long roll of paper, and a supply section S for controlling the supply amount.
A winding section (tube winding section) W which forms a long tobacco rod by continuously winding the cut tobacco supplied from a long wrapping paper, and cutting the tobacco rod from the winding section W into predetermined lengths. And a filter attachment part F for mounting a filter on the supplied cigarette. The supply section S, the winding section W, and the filter attachment section F operate in association with each other under the control of the control section C to continuously produce cigarettes (cigarettes with filters).

On the other hand, the cigarette inspecting apparatus 3 is basically supplied with cigarettes sampled for quality evaluation from cigarettes manufactured continuously by the cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2, respectively. It operates and is provided with various measuring units M such as a weighing scale and a ventilation measuring device.

Incidentally, the cigarette inspecting device 3 measures the weight while sending out a plurality of cigarettes one by one as the measuring part M, and the cigarettes after the weight measurement are guided to measure the winding diameter. The winding diameter measuring unit, and then the cigarette is held in a ventilation container, and the cigarette winding part and the filter part of the cigarette are air-tightly partitioned. In this state, the cigarette is separated from the end of the filter part at a constant flow rate. When sucked, the air flow flowing into the cigarette from the peripheral surface of the tobacco winding part and the air flow flowing into the cigarette from the peripheral surface of the filter part are measured, respectively, to measure the ventilation characteristics of the cigarette, and hence the ventilation resistance. Ventilation measurement unit, length measurement unit to measure the total length of cigarette, side of cigarette From collapse condition when applying a predetermined load, and comprises a hardness measurement unit or the like for measuring the hardness.

The cigarette inspection device 3 serves as an operation screen for the measuring unit M in addition to the measuring unit M, and displays measurement data (quality data) obtained by the measuring unit M. A display D is provided. Further, the cigarette inspection device 3 includes a communication unit T for communicating the measurement data and the like to the management device 4. The communication unit T is connected to the cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2 and the management apparatus 4 via a wireless LAN (local area network) 5 installed in a factory where the cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2 are installed. And a communication unit T which is incorporated in each of the above-mentioned devices.

The management device 4 includes a host computer HC, and transmits the cigarette quality data measured by the cigarette inspection device 3 via the communication unit T to information on the cigarette manufacturing device that manufactured the cigarette and the cigarette manufacturing device. Collect with information on the manufacture of Then, these data (information) are classified and arranged and stored in the database DB, and the quality data is given to the cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2 which manufactured the cigarette, and the data is displayed on the display D provided in the cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2.
, And plays a role of feeding back the quality evaluation result to the operator.

That is, in this system, one cigarette inspecting apparatus 3 is shared by a plurality of (two) cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2. And cigarette inspection device 3
The cigarette manufactured by the cigarette manufacturing apparatus 1 (2) is selectively positioned near the cigarette manufacturing apparatus 1 (2) that manufactures a cigarette to be inspected by moving the cigarette, and the quality is evaluated. Is performed. The management device 4 stores the cigarette quality data (weight, winding diameter, etc.) measured by the cigarette inspection device 3 in this manner.
The information is collected together with information on the cigarette manufacturing apparatus that manufactured the cigarette (management number of the manufacturing apparatus, etc.) and information on cigarette manufacturing (cigarette brand, manufacturing lot number, etc.). This data collection is performed wirelessly via the LAN 5 as described above.

The management device 4 sorts and sorts the data collected as described above, for example, according to the management number and brand of the manufacturing device as shown in FIG. 2, and stores the data in the database DB together with the evaluation result, for example. The quality information of the cigarettes manufactured by each of the cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2 is unitarily managed. At the same time, the management device 4 selectively feeds back the collected data classified and arranged as described above to the cigarette manufacturing device that has manufactured the cigarette indicated by the management number described above, and displays it on the display D of the cigarette manufacturing devices 1 and 2. By displaying the quality data, the quality evaluation result of the cigarette is presented to the operator.

According to the quality control system configured as described above, a plurality of cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2 are provided.
The cigarette inspecting apparatus 3 shared by the above is moved to the equipment position of the cigarette producing apparatus 1 (2) as necessary, and the quality inspection of the cigarette produced by the cigarette producing apparatus 1 (2) is efficiently performed. And easily. At this time, information such as the brand of the cigarette subjected to the quality inspection and the control number of the cigarette manufacturing apparatus that manufactured the cigarette is given to the cigarette inspecting apparatus 3 by an information input operation by an operator, for example.

When the quality inspection of the cigarette is completed, the cigarette inspecting device 3 transmits the quality data including the weight, winding diameter, ventilation characteristics, and the length and hardness measured for the cigarette to the brand or production. Information is communicated to the management device 4 via the communication unit T together with the management number of the device. The management device 4 sorts and sorts the quality data provided from the cigarette inspection device 3 in this way according to the brand and the management number of the manufacturing device, and the quality data is manufactured by the plurality of cigarette manufacturing devices 1 and 2, respectively. Centrally manage the quality of cigarettes. At the same time, the management device 4 feeds back the quality data collected as described above to the cigarette manufacturing device 1 (2) that manufactured the cigarette.

Therefore, in each of the cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2, the quality of the cigarettes manufactured by the cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2 can be inspected as necessary or periodically using the cigarette inspecting apparatus 3. Since the cigarette inspection device 3 is not occupied, the overall equipment cost can be reduced. Conversely, for the cigarette inspecting apparatus 3, the cigarettes manufactured by the cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2 are subjected to quality inspection while moving to the vicinity of the facility position of the cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2 for which quality inspection is required. The cigarette inspection device 3
Usage rate (operating rate) can be sufficiently increased.

The cigarette quality data measured by the cigarette inspecting device 3 is classified and arranged by the management device 4 and is centrally managed. Therefore, each of the cigarette manufacturing devices 1 and 2 individually obtains the cigarette quality data. There is no need for management, and all of the management can be entrusted to the management device 4. Therefore, even in the case of manufacturing cigarettes of the same brand, it is easy to appropriately refer to quality data of cigarettes manufactured in the past, and it is easy to manage the cigarette manufacturing quality in the cigarette manufacturing apparatuses 1 and 2. Become.

In the system constructed as described above, information communication such as quality data between the cigarette inspecting device 3, the management device 4, and each of the cigarette manufacturing devices 1 and 2 is performed via the wireless LAN 5. Therefore, it is easy to adaptively move the cigarette inspecting device 3 to the vicinity of the equipment position of the plurality of cigarette inspecting devices 1 and 2, and the cigarette is manufactured by the cigarette manufacturing devices 1 and 2, which is an essential equipment function. Effects such as no hindrance can be obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the number of cigarette manufacturing apparatuses (number) may be determined according to the cigarette manufacturing (production) scale, etc. When the number of cigarette manufacturing apparatuses is large, two or three cigarette manufacturing apparatuses are required. It is also possible to use cigarette inspecting apparatuses in a multiplex manner to perform quality inspection of cigarettes manufactured by each cigarette manufacturing apparatus. In this case as well, it goes without saying that all of the quality data measured by each of the cigarette inspection devices may be collected in the management device 4, which may be classified and arranged so as to be centrally managed. In addition, the management structure of the quality data in the management device may be a classification structure according to the specification, for example, the quality data is collected for each cigarette manufacturing device. In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, each cigarette manufacturing apparatus is manufactured by using a cigarette inspecting apparatus shared by a plurality of cigarette manufacturing apparatuses without increasing equipment costs. Quality inspection of cigarettes can be performed efficiently. In addition, the measured quality data can be reliably fed back to the cigarette manufacturing apparatus that manufactured the cigarette, and a great effect in practical use such as efficient overall management of manufacturing quality can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a cigarette quality management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a quality data management structure in a management device of the system shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,2 cigarette manufacturing device 3 cigarette inspection device 4 management device 5 LAN

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4B044 CB45Y CF01Y CF04Y CF08Y CG01Y CG09Y CG10 CL01 CL03 CL04 CL05 CL06 CL10 CL20 CM01 CM13 CM20

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A cigarette manufacturing apparatus, wherein:
A cigarette inspecting device that measures the quality of a cigarette manufactured by each cigarette manufacturing device, and collects quality data of the cigarette measured by the cigarette inspecting device, and information on the cigarette manufacturing device that manufactured the cigarette, and A management device for classifying and storing the information related to the production of the cigarette, and a means for giving quality data of the cigarette collected by the management device to the cigarette production device that produced the cigarette and presenting the data. And cigarette quality control system. 2. The collection of cigarette quality data by the management device and the presentation of the collected quality data to a cigarette manufacturing device are established between the management device, the cigarette inspection device, and a plurality of cigarette manufacturing devices. The cigarette quality management system according to claim 1, wherein the cigarette quality management system is performed through a wireless LAN.