JP2008529932A - Apparatus and method for conveying rod-shaped articles - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for conveying rod-shaped articles, such as cigarettes, filter sticks, or similar. Said device comprises a continuously revolving feeding element (11) and a continuously revolving discharging element (12) for the rod-shaped articles (20). The feeding element (11) and the discharging element (12) are arranged on top of each other so as to overlap at least in part in the direction of travel (arrow 19) of the flow of articles formed by the articles in order to create a transfer zone (21) for transferring the articles (20) which are disposed on the feeding element (11) in a single layer onto the discharging element (12). The inventive device is characterized in that both the feeding element (11) and the discharging element (12) are embodied as troughed belt conveyors (13, 17) while a vacuum strip (32) which at least partly extends across the transfer zone (21) is placed in the area of one of the troughed belt conveyors (17). The invention also relates to a corresponding method.

Description

  The present invention has an infinitely-circulating supply element and an infinitely-circulating discharge element for a rod-shaped article, and the supply element and the discharge element relay an article arranged further on the supply element to the discharge element For example, a bar-shaped article such as a cigarette, a filter bar, etc., which is arranged vertically so as to overlap in the conveying direction of the article flow composed at least partially of the article to constitute a relay area for The present invention relates to an apparatus for conveying. Further, the present invention is formed as a grooved belt by accommodating a single article stream composed of articles in a supply element, conveying the article stream to a relay area, and applying a vacuum to the grooved belt. The present invention relates to a method for transporting a bar-shaped article, such as a cigarette, a filter bar, etc., having the steps of sucking the article against the discharged discharge element and conveying the article stream to a delivery area.

  Such devices and methods are used in particular in the tobacco processing industry. When manufacturing cigarettes, filter rods or other bar-like articles, an article stream with a gap usually occurs, which flows out of the production machine and is fed to a further processing section or directly to the packaging machine. The An article stream with such gaps is a production condition, which involves taking individual articles or groups of articles for testing or inspection during the manufacturing process and removing wrinkled articles from the constructed article stream. It is because it discharges. In addition, short-term machine outages can cause an irregular flow of goods. This means that the article flow flowing out of the production machine becomes irregular and includes gaps. This is disadvantageous for subsequent processing on the machine disposed thereafter and for packaging the article directly after the article is manufactured.

  This problem can be solved, for example, by processing a messy article flow. In this case, the articles are positioned one above the other in multiple layers and are usually temporarily stored prior to the next treatment or packaging in order to be fed into the next treatment or packaging in a gapless mass flow. This embodiment, however, has the disadvantages of not knowing the scum of the article and the layer being inaccurate. Another problem is that the articles in the lower layer, in particular, are significantly loaded by stacking, repeated delivery and refilling.

  In order to avoid this problem, a device having the characteristics constituting the species was developed. This type of device is used as a connecting device between a production machine, a so-called manufacturer, and a machine, such as a packaging machine, which is disposed thereafter, a so-called packer. In the case of these known devices and methods according to the last mentioned principle, the article is received in one layer from the production machine in the supply element and conveyed to the relay area. In this case, the article is positioned on a flat belt conveyor in an unfixed state and is dammed at the end of the supply element in the transport direction of the relay area. In the relay zone, the article is delivered from the supply element to the discharge element. For this purpose, the discharge element is arranged slightly inclined with respect to the supply element, so that the article enters the funnel-shaped lane. In the conveying direction, at the end of the discharge element, which is formed as a grooved belt, i.e. in the area where the article is blocked, the discharge element comprises a vacuum unit, by means of which the article is sucked onto the grooved belt. And is conveyed to a delivery area disposed on the side opposite to the supply element, centering on a turning roller in which a vacuum unit is disposed. By damming and sucking articles in the relay zone, the article stream, possibly having a gap in front of it, is usually collected into an article stream without a gap.

  However, this device has the disadvantage that the article is located freely on the supply element, i.e. without being guided, and can thereby be displaced or slip completely off the supply element. Another disadvantage is that the article is dammed at the end of the supply element in the transport direction, so that on the one hand the article is further loaded and on the other hand, unambiguous between the supply element and the discharge element in the relay zone. Since there is no correspondence, the discharged article flow has a gap depending on circumstances.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that can convert a supply-side article stream having a gap into a discharge-side article stream without a gap. Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to propose a simple and reliable method for converting an article flow having a gap supplied from a production section into an article stream having no gap and discharging it.

  This task is achieved, on the one hand, according to the device having the features mentioned at the outset, in which the supply element and the discharge element are formed as a grooved belt and are relayed at least partly in one region of the grooved belt. This is solved by providing a vacuum plate that extends over the area. This ensures, on the one hand, a reliable guide or positioning of the article on the supply element and the discharge element, thus ensuring an orderly relay of the article from the supply element to the discharge element. That is, the provision of grooved belts on the top and bottom of the article prevents inclination of the article, particularly on the lower grooved belt, thereby avoiding so-called non-alignment. Furthermore, the groove ensures a unique guide of the article during the braking and acceleration process. On the other hand, the vacuum plate ensures that a predetermined vacuum distribution extends over the delivery area. Therefore, a groove of the grooved belt on the last still empty in the conveying direction is ensured, thereby composing an article flow on the discharge element without gaps from an article flow on the supply element possibly with gaps be able to.

  Preferably, the vacuum plate is connected to the air supply via a connecting pipe, which is arranged in the area of the rear turning roller in the conveying direction of the upper grooved belt. This formation supports a reliable relay of the article to the last empty groove in the conveying direction on the upper grooved belt, as the vacuum in the area of the connecting tube is very high and escapes opposite to the conveying direction To do. In other words, since the suction force is greatest in the area between the connections, the article conveyed in the relay area depends on whether the article is supplied in an article flow with no gap or an article flow with a gap. Without being, it is ensured that the articles relayed from the upper grooved belt will then be sucked to the next position on the upper grooved belt still free.

  In an advantageous development of the invention, elements for monitoring the flow of articles entering the relay area are arranged in the receiving area of the lower grooved belt in front of the upper grooved belt in the conveying direction. The monitoring element allows early confirmation of whether a gap exists in the article flow and how large this gap is. In that case, this information can be used in particular to control the speed of the upper grooved belt. This always results in an optimum speed relationship between the two grooved belts, which also improves the reliability when relaying articles and guarantees an article flow configuration without gaps.

  On the other hand, the problem is that according to the method with the steps mentioned at the beginning, the grooves of the upper grooved belt are simultaneously subjected to the action of vacuum, and the empty groove of the last discharge element in the conveying direction is the highest vacuum. Under the action of the above, the vacuum is solved by starting from the last empty groove and exiting in the direction opposite to the conveying direction. This always ensures that the first empty groove on the upper grooved belt is placed after the groove occupied by the already pre-contained article, thereby obtaining an article flow without gaps.

Preferably, the feed element and the discharge element are driven at different speeds v _uM and v _oM and at least v _oM is controlled to tune to v _uM . This ensures that the gaps between the articles on the supply element are tightly packed and are independent of parameters affecting the flow of goods, such as pitch, space, errors, etc.

Advantageously, the article flow on the supply element is monitored before entering the relay zone to ascertain the number of articles or the size of the gaps in the article stream. This facilitates and improves the control of the discharge element or more precisely the control of the speed v _oM .

  Further advantageous and advantageous features, embodiments and method steps can be seen from the dependent claims and the following description. Particularly preferred embodiments and methods will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Each of the devices shown is used to transport a production flow of bar-shaped articles from a production machine to a machine disposed thereafter, in particular a packaging machine, the production flow being provided with gaps by these devices. It is converted from a stream to an article stream without gaps.

  Although apparatus 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1, this apparatus typically connects to a production machine, particularly a cigarette or filter rod making machine. The device 10 has a supply element 11 and a discharge element 12. The supply element 11 and the discharge element 12 are arranged one above the other, and the supply element 11 is arranged below the discharge element 12 in the illustrated embodiment. The supply element 11 is formed as a grooved belt 13 having two supply belts 14 arranged one after the other. However, the grooved belt 13 may also be formed as a separate supply belt or in other conventional ways. The supply belt 14 is formed endlessly, and is guided around the turning roller 15 and the driving roller 16. The discharge element 12 is likewise formed as a grooved belt 17. The grooved belt 17 is formed integrally, that is, in a non-divided manner, but may be composed of a plurality of discharge belts that are selectively arranged in parallel. The grooved belt 17 is also formed endlessly and guided around a turning roller (not shown) and a driving roller 18.

  The lower grooved belt 13 and the upper grooved belt 17 overlap in the conveyance direction (arrow 19) of the article 20 that is conveyed laterally with respect to the spread in the longitudinal direction. In this case, the relay region 21 is configured. . The lower grooved belt 13 protrudes from the upper grooved belt 17 in the direction opposite to the conveying direction (arrow 19), thereby forming an accommodation region 22 for accommodating the article 20 in the lower grooved belt 13. ing. The upper grooved belt 17 protrudes from the lower grooved belt 13 in the conveying direction (arrow 19), thereby forming a delivery region 23 of the article 20 to a machine or the like disposed thereafter. The accommodation area 22, the relay area 21, and the delivery area 23 are essentially positioned in succession in one plane, and the delivery area 23 is directly connected to the relay area 21. By the expression “essentially within one plane”, there is clearly included a small misalignment (see, for example, FIG. 3) between the relay area 21 and the delivery area 23. However, this small misalignment does not change the fact that the regions 21 to 23 are aligned so that they are aligned in one direction.

  The lower grooved belt 13 includes a conveyance side portion 24 and a return side portion 25. The same is true for the upper grooved belt 17, which comprises a transport side portion 26 and a return side portion 27. Both transport-side parts 24 and 26 face each other and extend in parallel with a distance from each other, which is in particular slightly greater than the thickness or diameter of the article 20 to be transported. Alternatively, the conveyance side portions 24 and 26 may extend at an acute angle with each other, and the interval between the conveyance side portions 24 and 26 may be tapered in the conveyance direction (arrow 19). The grooved belt 13 is provided with a number of grooves 28, which are oriented laterally with respect to the conveying direction (arrow 19), and are selectively attached to the grooved belt 13 or the supply belt 14. At least one opening is provided for sucking the article 20. The upper grooved belt 17 likewise has a number of grooves 29 which are oriented transversely to the conveying direction (arrow 19) so as to correspond to the grooves 28. Each groove 29 comprises at least one, preferably three intake openings 30 distributed over the width of the groove 29.

  The apparatus 10 is further provided with a vacuum unit 31. The vacuum unit 31 includes a vacuum plate 32 and a connection pipe 33, and the connection pipe is connected to an air supply unit (not shown). The vacuum plate 32 is disposed in the region of the upper grooved belt 17 and between the conveyance side portion 26 and the return side portion 27. The vacuum plate 32 extends at least partially over a relay area formed between the grooved belts 13 which are the upper grooved belts 17. In the preferred embodiment shown, the vacuum plate 32 extends over substantially the entire relay area 21 between the turning roller (not shown) and the drive roller 18. The vacuum plate 32 is provided with an opening 35 for passing through the lower surface 34 facing the transport side portion 26 or an inlet for intake air. In the illustrated embodiment, the opening 35 formed as a slit is preferably oriented in the conveying direction (arrow 19), so that at least one of the intake openings 30 always depends on the position of the grooved belt 17 relative to the vacuum plate 32. It is formed and arranged so as to be able to act on the vacuum without being.

  In particular, the connecting pipe 33 is arranged at one of the opposing ends of the vacuum plate 32. In the figure shown, the connecting pipe 33 is arranged at the end of the relay area 21 in the conveying direction (arrow 19) in the area of the turning roller (not shown). After the relay area 21 in the transport direction (arrow 19), that is, to the delivery area 23 where the vacuum unit 31 ends, from the grooved belt 17 (not shown) that may be attached to the apparatus disposed thereafter. Means for accommodating the delivered article 20 is provided.

  The article 20 on the conveying side portion 24 of the lower grooved belt 13 is placed in the area of the lower grooved belt 13 in front of the upper grooved belt 17 in the conveying direction (arrow 19), ie in the receiving area 22. An element 36 for guiding is provided. The element 36 normally attached to the production machine is usually the same as the component of the production machine (not shown), and the article after being delivered to the lower grooved belt 13 from the delivery drum 37 is the lower grooved belt. 13 is used for holding and guiding. The element 36 has two belts 38 in the illustrated embodiment, which are wound on the one hand on the transfer drum 37 and on the other hand on the turning roller 39 and constitute infinite. The belt 38 extends at least partially parallel to the conveying side portion 24 of the lower grooved belt 13, and all articles 20 are transferred from the transfer drum 37 to the grooved belt 13 through the relay region 21. Guide and hold to the transition part. Preferably, an elastically formed and slightly preloaded belt 38 is in contact with the article 20. Based on the diameter of the turning roller 39 on the one hand and the diameter of the drive roller 18 of the upper grooved belt on the other hand, the belt 38 does not reach the relay area 21 completely. For this reason, a simple plate 40 or the like is provided between the turning roller 39 and the driving roller 18 on the conveying side portion 24 to guarantee the guidance of the article 20 in this transition region. The plate 40 extends in the transport direction (arrow 19) until the article 20 on the lower grooved belt 13 is covered by the upper grooved belt 17. Instead of the element 36, an additional suction plate, for example attached to the grooved belt 13 described above, may be provided. This suction plate can ensure the positioning / fixing of the article 20 in the groove 28 in the area between the transfer drum 37 and the relay area 21.

  In the receiving area 22, at least one means 41 is further arranged for monitoring the article flow. This means 41 is preferably an optical switch or the like, but is disposed in the region of the conveying side portion 24 of the lower grooved belt 13 and confirms the gap in the article flow passing by the side, Information for controlling the apparatus 10 can be processed. Another optical switch 42 is disposed in the relay area 21 for checking the error of the article flow on the conveying side portion 26 of the upper grooved belt 17. Instead of an optical switch, other conventional verification / monitoring elements may be used. A belt guide 43 is provided under the conveyance side portion 24 of the lower grooved belt 13 to reliably guide the conveyance side portion 24 and effectively prevents the conveyance side portion from sagging. Yes.

The speed v _uM of the lower grooved belt 13 is set and controlled in particular by the production machine connected in front of it. In this case, the speed v _uM matches the speed v _P of the production machine or the delivery drum 37. Velocity v _oM grooved belt 17 above, in particular the speed v _uM grooved belt _below, the number of articles 20, the gap size and the grooved belt 13 between the article 20 on the grooved belt 13 below Follow 17 pitch. In other words, v _oM is a function of v _P , means 41 and grooved belts 13, 17. To reliable relay of the article 20 to the grooved belt 17 above the grooved belt 13 below, v _oM is, v low is preferred over _uM. The pitch of the lower grooved belt 13 is preferably larger than the pitch of the upper grooved belt 17. However, other pitch relationships are possible as well. In this case, the pitch of the lower grooved belt 13 is a function of the drum 44 of the proposed production machine.

  The drum 44 of the proposed production machine has in particular an angle sensor 45 and the like. The angle sensor 45 can provide important information for the grooved belts 13, 17 that are particularly necessary when starting and / or stopping the device 10. In addition, the drum 44 is provided with another means 46 for monitoring the article flow at the position proposed to the apparatus 10.

In order to control the device 10, in particular the speed _voM , the device 10 is connected to a control unit (not shown) that is _{operatively coupled} to a production machine or a component such as an optical switch of the production machine. Yes.

  The embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6-8 essentially corresponds to the embodiment of FIGS. However, the configuration is different in that the pitch of the upper grooved belt 17 is different. The grooved belt 17 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 5 has a uniform pitch. This means that the grooves 29 are all formed at equal intervals, for example, at an interval of 8 mm. On the other hand, the pitch of the grooved belt 17 in FIGS. 6 to 8 is formed depending on the position. In the illustrated embodiment, three product groups are formed in one “cycle”, that is, seven grooves 29, six grooves 29, and again seven grooves 29 are formed one after the other. Each of the gaps is provided with an interval larger than each other, that is, a pitch of the articles 20 in one article group. With such an arrangement or pitch that can be formed with other article groups and article sizes (eg 3-3-3 or 4-3-4-3), for example depending on the position of 20 cigarettes in the package It is possible to supply the cigarette with the packaging preparation or position correct.

The method is described in detail below.
The article 20 is guided from the drum of the production machine to the transfer drum 37. The further stream of goods exiting the production machine is usually provided with a gap. By means of the transfer drum 37, the article 20 is arranged in the lower grooved belt 13, more precisely in the groove 28 of the supply belt 14, in the receiving area 22. Next, the article 20 is relayed between the conveying side portion 24 of the supply belt 14 and the belt 38 that is in contact with the upper side, continuously in the conveying direction (arrow 19) from the accommodating region 22 and fixed in the groove 28. It is conveyed to the area 21. In this case, the speed v _uM of the lower grooved belt 13 or the supply belt 14 is determined by the production machine. The upper grooved belt 17 is driven by a drive roller 18 and is smaller than v _uM , in particular v _uM , the number and size of the gaps on the lower grooved belt 13 and the pitch of the grooved belts 13, 17. _And the number and size of the gaps are detected or confirmed by means 41.

Within the apparatus 10, the upper grooved belt 17, more precisely the transport side part 26, is subjected to a vacuum action via a vacuum plate 32. In this case, the vacuum starts from the connecting pipe 33 and decreases in the opposite direction to the conveying direction, that is, in the opposite direction to the arrow 19. In other words, a large vacuum dominates in the area of the connecting pipe 33 at the end of the relay area 21. The article 20 is transported on the transport side portion 24 below the transport side portion 26 of the relay area 21. The suction opening 30 of the groove 29 is subjected to a vacuum by the opening 35 on the lower surface 34 of the vacuum plate 32, but the medium vacuum is reduced from a to b in the joint region 21 (see particularly FIGS. 2 and 7). . The article 20 is sucked by the upper grooved belt 17 in the relay area 21. The connecting pipe 33 is arranged at the end of the vacuum plate 32, so that the highest vacuum is applied to the end of the relay area 21 in the transport direction (arrow 19), so The first empty groove 29 is always subjected to the highest vacuum action. In other words, the first or foremost article 20 on the lower grooved belt 13 is always sucked into the last empty groove 29 of the upper grooved belt 17. The different velocities v _oM and v _uM between the upper grooved belt 17 and the lower grooved belt 13 _close the gap in the article flow of the lower grooved belt 13. The vacuum is used to close the gaps between the articles 20 on the upper grooved belt 17 and thereby eliminate the article flow gaps on the upper grooved belt 17.

The different speeds of the lower grooved belt 13, the different pitches of the grooved belts 13, 17 and the number and size of the gaps in the article flow control / adjust the speed v _oM of the upper grooved belt 17. Adjusted by. Next, the non-gap article stream on the upper grooved belt 17 is discharged for subsequent processing, packaging, storage and the like. The velocity v _oM of the upper grooved belt 17 is, for example: a) the lower grooved belt 13 without a gap;
b) a lower grooved belt 13 with a gap;
c) the pitch of the grooved belt 17 above (see, for example, FIGS. 1-5);
d) Permanently readjusted to adapt to various situations such as any combination of unjustified pitches (see eg FIGS. 6-8).

  Further, the upper grooved belt 17 can be moved in the reverse direction by a predetermined value in a special mode state such as adjustment. This means that the upper grooved belt 17 can be moved to the initial suction position, for example to ensure a clear flow of goods on the upper grooved belt 17 after a long stop. means.

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the first embodiment in which the supply element and the discharge element have a uniform or regular pitch in the transport direction, as viewed from obliquely above. The side view of the implementation system of FIG. 1 is shown. FIG. 3 shows an enlarged detail view A of FIG. FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 viewed from obliquely below opposite to the conveying direction. FIG. 5 shows an enlarged detail view B of FIG. FIG. 5 shows a perspective view from above of another embodiment in which the supply and discharge elements have a non-uniform or irregular pitch in the transport direction. FIG. 7 shows a side view of the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 8 shows an enlarged detail view C of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 apparatus 11 supply element 12 discharge | emission element 13 grooved belt 14 supply belt 15 turning roller 16 drive roller 17 grooved belt 18 drive roller 19 arrow 20 goods 21 relay area 22 accommodation area 23 delivery area 24 conveyance side part 25 return side part 26 Transport side portion 27 Return side portion 28 Groove 29 Groove 30 Air intake opening 31 Vacuum unit 32 Vacuum plate 33 Connection pipe 34 Lower surface 35 Open 36 Element 37 Delivery drum 38 Belt 39 Turning roller 40 Plate 41 Means 42 Optical switch 43 Belt guide 44 Drum 45 Angle sensor 46 means

Claims (21)

An infinitely-circulating supply element (11) and an infinitely-circulating discharge element (12) are provided for the rod-shaped article (20), the supply element (11) and the discharge element (12) being a supply element (11) The conveying direction of the article flow (at least partly composed of articles (20) to form a relay area (21) for relaying articles (20) arranged in one layer to the discharge element (12) ( In an apparatus for transporting a bar-shaped article such as a cigarette, a filter bar, etc., which is arranged vertically so as to overlap with the arrow 19),
The supply element (11) and the discharge element (12) are formed as grooved belts (13, 17) and are at least partially in one area of the grooved belts (13, 17). ), A vacuum plate (32) extending over the entire surface.   2. A grooved belt (13) for the supply of an article stream with a gap is arranged below the grooved belt (17) for discharging an article stream without a gap. The device described in 1.   The lower grooved belt (13) and the upper grooved belt (17) are each provided with one conveyance side portion (24, 26) and a return side portion (25, 27), and the conveyance side portion (24, 26). 3. A device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that they face each other.   Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the transport side parts (24, 26) extend parallel to each other.   A vacuum plate (32) is arranged in the region of the conveying side portion (26) of the upper grooved belt (17) and drives the turning roller of the grooved belt (17) and the grooved belt (17). 5. A device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that it extends between the rollers (18) substantially over the entire relay area (21).   The vacuum plate (32) is arranged between the conveying side part (26) and the return side part (27) of the upper grooved belt (17). Device.   A vacuum plate (32) is provided with the opening (35) for allowing intake air to pass to the conveyance side part (26) side of the upper grooved belt (17), The any one of Claims 3-6 characterized by the above-mentioned. Device.   8. Each groove (29) of the upper grooved belt (17) comprises at least one, preferably a plurality of inlets (30), respectively, according to claim 1. apparatus.   The opening (35) of the vacuum plate (32) is always formed and / or arranged so that a vacuum can act on at least one of the inlets (30) of the grooved belt (17) in the relay area (21). The device according to claim 8, wherein the device is provided.   The vacuum plate (32) is connected to the air supply via a connecting pipe (33), and the connecting pipe (33) is turned backward in the conveying direction (arrow 19) of the upper grooved belt (17). 10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device is arranged in the region of the roller.   Device according to claim 10, characterized in that the vacuum starts from the connecting tube (33) and escapes in the direction opposite to the conveying direction (arrow 19).   The lower grooved belt (13) protrudes from the upper grooved belt (17) opposite to the conveying direction (arrow 19) of the article (20), and the upper grooved belt (17) conveys the article (20). 12. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it projects from the lower grooved belt (13) in the direction (arrow 19).   Articles on the conveying side portion (24) of the lower grooved belt (13) in the region of the lower grooved belt (13) in front of the upper grooved belt (17) in the conveying direction (arrow 19) Device according to claim 12, characterized in that an element (36) for guiding (20) is arranged.   14. Device according to claim 13, characterized in that the element (36) comprises at least one belt (38), preferably two infinitely-circulating belts (38).   At least for monitoring the article flow entering the relay area (21) in the receiving area (22) of the lower grooved belt (13) in front of the upper grooved belt (17) in the conveying direction (arrow 19) Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one means (41) is arranged.   16. A device according to any one of claims 2 to 15, characterized in that a delivery area (23) is formed after the lower grooved belt (13) in the conveying direction (arrow 19).   The accommodation area (22), the relay area (21), and the delivery area (23) are essentially positioned in succession in one plane, and the delivery area (23) is directly connected to the relay area (21). The device according to claim 16. As circulating speed or the conveying speed v _oM grooved belt above (17) can be controlled with respect to circulating speed or the conveying speed v _uM grooved belt below (13), at least one grooved on the 18. A device according to any one of claims 2 to 17, characterized in that a control drive mechanism is attached to the belt (17). Receiving a layer of article composed of articles (20) in a supply element (11);
-Conveying the article flow to the relay area (21);
Sucking the article (20) against the discharge element (12) formed as a grooved belt (17) by applying a vacuum to the grooved belt (17);
Conveying the article stream to the delivery area (23);
In a method for conveying a rod-shaped article such as a cigarette, a filter rod, etc.
The plurality of grooves (29) of the upper grooved belt (17) are simultaneously subjected to a vacuum action, and the empty groove (29) of the last discharge element (12) in the conveying direction (arrow 19) is the highest vacuum action. And the vacuum exits from the last empty groove (29) and escapes in the opposite direction of the transport (arrow 19). _{20. The} feed element (11) and the discharge element (12) are driven at different speeds v _uM and v _oM and at least v _oM is controlled to tune to v _uM . Method.   The flow of goods on the supply element (11) is monitored before entering the relay zone (21) in order to ascertain the number of goods (20) or the size of the gaps in the goods flow. The apparatus according to 19 or 20.

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