JPS58205486A - Method and apparatus for forming cut tobacco piece - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention relates to feeding tobacco to a cutting machine.

Known Type B tobacco shredding devices include rotary carrier means for one or more blades for shredding tobacco for use in manufacturing cigarettes from a continuous roll/leading edge of compacted tobacco. A mass of combined tobacco is formed in which the tobacco is shaped into a compacted shape by a feeding device including a pair of upper and lower feeding conveyors, said feeding device removing the stamped tobacco from thinning. The compacted tobacco mass is compressed between the upper and lower pressurizing elements using air cylinder pressure and a progressively narrower section extending into the shredding zone moves within the range of the orbiting blades. Forms a multi-channel narrowing path.

Reference is made herein to the disclosures in prior U.S. patent applications filed by the same applicant, which disclose an improved method of feeding tobacco to paired upper and lower consolidation feed conveyors. . As stated in the application specification,
A tobacco layer is first formed in which the tobacco is oriented in a substantially planar layer, the tobacco is interdigitated, and the tobacco is substantially evenly distributed across the layer. The tobacco layer is then densified and the tobacco is subjected to gravity and excitation forces to settle and land at the upstream end of the nipping conveyor without substantially altering the orientation and juxtaposition of the tobacco within the layer. Transport the cigarettes to. This densified tobacco layer is then fed onto the lower conveyor of the nip conveyor without substantially altering the orientation and juxtaposition of the tobacco within the densified layer. In this way,
The orientation and juxtaposition of the tobacco is maintained from the initial formation of the layer all the way to the cutter.

The formation and conveyance of tobacco onto such a compacting conveyor differs from conventional methods by requiring a lower density of VC9 on the tobacco layer for the same production amount of tobacco when compared to conventional systems. In comparison, it is necessary to apply less pressure to the densified tobacco subjected to the cutting machine in order to prevent leaf blades from being extruded.

If the required compacting force applied to the tobacco layer by the conveyor is small, such compacting force will impair the fillability of the cut tobacco, and therefore the gravity pre-compacting and bottoming carried out in the present invention will be effective against cutting. To maintain the filling capacity of the tobacco. Moreover, greater filling capacity is maintained because the gravity-compacted tobacco is subjected to physical forces for a shorter period of time than is common in the prior art.

In one embodiment of the method described in Applicant's prior application:
A vibrating transfer conveyor is provided which extends away in the direction of the water supply. A relatively thick layer of tobacco containing the amount of tobacco desired to be delivered to the cutting section is formed at the upstream end of the conveyor by a stream of tobacco in the form of whole sets or stamped leaf blades, thereby , the tobacco forms a layer of desired thickness in the direction of longitudinal movement of the conveyor. This relatively thick tobacco layer is oriented in a substantially planar layer and is approximately evenly distributed along the width of the bracket layer.

This tobacco layer is subjected to vibrations on the conveyor due to the excitation reciprocating motion applied to the conveyor surface as it is conveyed by the conveyor over the conveyor surface towards the consolidation conveyor under the influence of the moving surface of the conveyor. . This vibration consolidates the tobacco in the layer without using any force other than gravity, and at the same time,
The tobacco layer is transported by a transfer conveyor toward the cutting section without substantially changing the orientation and juxtaposition of the tobacco within the layer.

This orientation and juxtaposition is maintained as the tobacco layer is transferred from the vibratory conveyor to the lower conveyor of the nip conveyor. The speed of the tobacco remains constant throughout the entire journey from the initial formation of the tobacco layer to the cutting section;
There is thus no opportunity for the tobacco to change its orientation and juxtaposition.

This operation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,244 to Thele et al.
382 and 4,254,781, in which a stepped conveyor is used, which is excited in two directions. Ru. The stepped configuration of the conveyor rapidly changes the speed of the tobacco material to form a thicker layer at the step of the conveyor in order to feed the initially formed thin layer of tobacco to the compacting conveyor. In this prior art, a thick layer of tobacco material to be fed to a cutting machine is formed by rolling the tobacco material from a thin tobacco laminar stream in this step to form this thick layer, thereby The orientation and juxtaposition of are changed. This prior art collveyor is designed to handle stem material that does not permit such manipulation. In Applicant's earlier application, a thick tobacco layer is formed from a flow of leaf blades or whole leaves in which the tobacco material is then given a final orientation and juxtaposition.

This invention relates to improving the procedures of applicant's prior applications in order to improve their performance.

According to the present invention, a method is provided for cutting tobacco strips from a densified tobacco layer formed by providing a tobacco layer in the form of whole or stamped leaf blades to form cut tobacco strips. , in which the tobacco within the layer is oriented substantially planar, arranged in a convoluted configuration and approximately evenly distributed in the direction of lateral force, and then applies gravitational and excitation forces to the tobacco within the tobacco layer, simultaneously The method includes conveying the tobacco layer in a generally horizontal direction without substantially changing the orientation and juxtaposition of the tobacco within the layer, and consolidating the densified tobacco layer. This method is characterized by forming the tobacco layer from a downwardly flowing tobacco stream with an upwardly sloping back surface having an angle that approximates, but does not exceed, the angle of repose of the layer.

In this invention, the thick tobacco layer pours tobacco from the top blade, distributes the tobacco evenly over the length of the vibratory conveyor, and provides an upwardly sloping rear surface for the tobacco layer in its downstream direction; It is formed at the upstream end of the vibrating conveyor by feeding tobacco into the stream in sufficient quantity such that the angle of the formed back surface approximates and does not exceed the angle of repose of the tobacco layer.

By forming a thick layer of tobacco in this way, the poured and distributed tobacco lies flat within the layer and does not get tossed around or fall off the back side of the layer, while at the same time the thickness of the layer is reduced by the conveyor. It can be approximated to the maximum value obtained at the shortest length of the surface.

The distribution of tobacco over the length of the conveyor directs the tobacco stream towards the surface within the descending stream of tobacco to form an even stream of tobacco where the amount of tobacco is evenly distributed within the length and width of the conveyor. This can be done by vibrating the male.

The initial stream of tobacco distributed on the conveying surface can be created by dropping the tobacco from the end of the conveyor located at the blade on the conveying surface where a thick layer of tobacco is formed and transferred.

The invention also provides an apparatus for carrying out the above method comprising an apparatus for forming cut tobacco, the apparatus comprising upper and lower tobacco conveyors tapering towards the downstream end, a tip for cutting the tobacco held at the downstream end. A tongue-and-groove cutting device disposed adjacent the downstream end of the nip conveyor and a substantially horizontal cutting device conveying the tobacco layer to the upstream end of the nipping conveyor and applying a vertical reciprocating force while conveying the tobacco layer thereon. Including vibrating conveyor. This device features a tobacco feeding device that forms a falling stream of tobacco in the form of whole packs or stamped leaves that extends uniformly over a predetermined longitudinal distance of the vibrating conveyor.

This tobacco feeding device for forming an even stream of tobacco includes a conveyor belt positioned above the upstream end of the conveyor belt and dropping the tobacco from one end thereof, and an equal amount of tobacco over its length and width. It is preferred to include a dispensing device for distributing the falling tobacco into an even tobacco stream.

The dispensing device includes a downwardly depending plate pivoted at its upper end to vibrate in the path of the tobacco falling from the conveyor belt.

The invention will be explained in detail below by means of examples with reference to the drawings.

In a diagram illustrating the best generally known mode for carrying out the invention, the tobacco cutting device 10 includes a cutting section 12 in which the upper blade and lower conveyors 14 and 16 are connected to the downstream throat section. The throat part has a pair of upper and lower blade pressing plates 18 attached so as to apply pressure to solidify the group of tobacco materials placed between them. The rotary drum type tool rest 24 can hold tobacco from the solid cigarette 22 to the cigarette 28.
It has a plurality of peripherally mounted cutting blades 26 for cutting the pieces.

Thick layer 30 of tobacco in whole leaf or stamped leaf blade form
at the upstream end of the tobacco conveyor 34, spaced from the cutting section 12 and substantially uniformly across its width. The rail extends over the length of its conveying surface 32. tobacco conveyor 34
The detailed structure of is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

By distributing a single tobacco over the length of the conveying surface 32 from the tobacco stream 36, the tobacco is formed to the required thickness over the length of the conveying surface 32, in which case the leaf blades are approximately Horizontally, its thickness corresponds to the feed rate required by the cutter at the desired processed amount of tobacco. The tobacco is placed on the upwardly sloping rear surface 37 of the tobacco layer 30.
It is preferred to deliver as the stream 36 an amount that does not exceed the angle of repose of the layer. In this way, the tobacco strips do not fall or scatter under the pulling force without disturbing their orientation or juxtaposition. The vertical reciprocating vibrations of the conveying surface 32 simultaneously cause the tobacco to settle and harden. Maintain mutual juxtaposition and orientation. The excitation force of conveyor 32 and gravity are the only forces applied to cause the tobacco to harden. conveyor 32
can rotate at its downstream end, so according to the invention, the magnitude of vibration evenly decreases from a maximum value at the upstream end to a zero value at the downstream end. In this way, the vibrations initially have a maximum amplitude during tobacco layer formation and decrease as the tobacco layer assumes its agglomerated form.

Transfer surface 32 transports thick tobacco layer 30 to the mouth of conveyors 14 and 16 where thick layer 30 is transferred to lower conveyor 16. Layer 30 is conveyed at a constant speed all the way from its formation at the upstream end of conveying surface 32 to the throat between the downstream ends of conveyors 14 and 16.

In this way, the initial horizontal force 1 orientation of the tobacco leaf blades within the thick layer 30 and their juxtaposed alignment are maintained up to the cutting operation of the tobacco mass 22. thick layer 30
The moving speed of is determined by the conveying speed of the tapered conveyors 14 and 16.

To ensure that the thick layer of tobacco 30 maintains its juxtaposed alignment and orientation, the surface 30 is conveyed at a speed that is lower than the nipping conveyor 1 to create slippage between the surface 32 and the layer 30.
It is preferred to travel at speeds slightly greater than speeds 4 and 16.

According to this method, the pressure to be applied to the tobacco mass 22 is greatly reduced compared to the conventional method for the same amount of tobacco material, and it is possible to prevent leaf blades from being extruded and reduced. can. Generally, the air cylinder pressure to be applied can be reduced from about 4 Q psi (2,8 kg/cij) to about 5 p31 (0,4 kl//C1). An improved filling capacity of the tobacco pieces 28 produced by cutting was observed.

Next, the detailed structure of the conveyor 34 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described. The conveyor 34 includes the side h frame member 4
horizontally extending rollers 38 attached to 2 and 44;
and a continuous conveyor belt 32 mounted around 40
have. Frame members 42 and 44 are attached to the conveyor 34
is pivotally connected to a fixed frame member of the cutting section at its downstream end.

Conveyor belt 32 is formed on a support member (not shown) with downwardly sloped portions 46 and 48 extending on each side of a central planar portion 50 when viewed in cross section. This structure can be seen very clearly from FIG. This configuration of the conveyor belt 32 provides a more even distribution of tobacco across the width of the tobacco mass 22 than conventional types.

Frame members 42 and 44 are supported at their force ends distal to the pivot points by compression spring supports 52 and 54, respectively, which are attached to a support table 56. A frame lateral support member 58 extends between and is secured to frame members 42 and 44. crank arm 6
0 is pivotally connected to the frame lateral support member 58 and the axle 6
It is attached to the mandrel 62 so as to rotate eccentrically with respect to 2.

The mandrel 62 is connected to the belt 6 which is passed through pulleys 68 and 70.
6 and is driven by a motor 64.

When the motor 64 drives the mandrel 62, the crank arm 6
0 performs an eccentric movement about the axle 62, thereby causing the frame members 42 and 44 and thus the conveyor belt 3
Move 2 up and down. The spring 54 is connected to the crank arm 60
dampens the vibrations caused by the movement of the The motor 64 is
The cigarettes 30 on the surface of the conveyor belt 32 are operated at a speed such that the cigarettes 30 are subjected to continuous vibrations of a magnitude that decreases evenly as they are transported by the conveyor belt 32.

Upper frame members 72 and 74 joined by cross members 76 and 78 connect lower frame members 42 and 44.
separated from and joined to these. conveyor belt 8
0 and 82 are mounted between each pair of frame members 42 and 72 and 44 and 74 on rollers 84 and 86, respectively.

Conveyors 80 and 82 engage the sides of tobacco layer 30 and are driven at the same speed as conveyor belt 32 via a suitable drive mechanism generally indicated at 88.

Moving side force belts 80 and 82 that engage tobacco layer 30
By providing the tobacco blades in the tobacco layer 30 maintain their apposition and orientation and reduce the tendency for the tobacco layers to become snagged on the conveyor's stationary enclosure walls leading to confusion and loss of orientation and apposition. We guarantee that it will not occur.

A tobacco feed mechanism 90 is provided to create a stream of tobacco that includes an even distribution of tobacco in both the lateral and longitudinal directions of the conveyor 34. Tobacco feeding mechanism 90 includes a feeding belt 92 onto which stamped tobacco blades or strips 94 are transferred to a location above the upstream end of conveyor belt 32. It is hinged adjacent the downstream end of the conveyor belt 92 for movement in the longitudinal force direction under the influence of a drive mechanism 98 . Plate member 96 engages tobacco blades 94 as it falls from the end of conveyor 92, and its back and forth movement creates tobacco stream 36.

Although the feed belt 92 is shown extending coaxially with the conveyor 34, it is possible to run the feed belt 92 against the conveyor 34 so that the feed belt 92 is fed to the conveyor 34 from a side force. The same result can be obtained by orthogonally arranging.

This tobacco conveyor 34 makes it possible to form a layer 30 and transfer it to the cutting mechanism 14.The tobacco conveyor 34 allows the tobacco layer 30 to be formed and transferred to the cutting mechanism 14. , 80 and 82, increasing density as the name increases and maintaining its orientation and juxtaposition while being transported.

As stated above, the present invention provides an improved procedure for forming and transporting tobacco layers to a cutting machine.

Various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a general overview showing an embodiment of the apparatus provided by the present invention. FIG. Perspective view of the device, 3rd! shows a cross-sectional view of the conveyor of FIG. 2 taken along line 3--31 of FIG. 2'. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Tobacco cutting machine, 12... Cutting part, 14... Upper blade conveyor, 16... Lower blade conveyor, 18. 20... Pressing plate, 24... Drum-shaped tool rest, 26- ... Cutting blade, 28 ... Cut tobacco fragments, 30 ... Tobacco layer, 32 ... Conveying surface, 34 ... Tobacco conveyor, 36 ... Pour, 38.40 ... Roller, 42 .44... Plame member, 46.48... Belt inclined portion, 50... Belt planar portion, 52.54... Support body, 56... Support table, 58... Lateral support Member, 60... Crank arm, 62... Center rod, 64... Gita, 68.70... Pulley, 72.74... Upper frame member, 76.78... Lateral member, 80.82... Side force pelt, 90... Feed mechanism, 92... Stitch feeding mill, ゛94... Tobacco leaf blade, 96... Plate member, 98... ...Drive mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An entire cluster or stamped leaf-like structure in which a layer of tobacco is oriented in a substantially planar manner, arranged in an insert and substantially evenly distributed over the direction of lateral force. The tobacco layer is provided with a layer of tobacco, and the application of gravity and excitation forces to the layered tobacco causes the tobacco layer to be conveyed generally horizontally during commerce without substantially altering the orientation and juxtaposition of the layers within the layer. to densify the tobacco within the layer, and harden the densified tobacco layer. In a method of forming shredded tobacco pieces in which tobacco shreds are cut from a compacted tobacco layer formed by bringing together; 2. A method of forming cut tobacco pieces, characterized in that a tobacco layer is formed from a downwardly flowing stream of tobacco. 2. A method for forming cut tobacco pieces according to claim 1, characterized in that the downward flow of tobacco comprises a uniform tobacco distribution in its length and width. 3 upper and lower tobacco conveyors forming a nip configuration toward the downstream end; a cutting device disposed adjacent to the downstream end of the nip conveyor for cutting the tobacco held at the downstream end; Convey the tobacco layer to the upstream end of the nipping conveyor. and includes a substantially horizontal vibrating conveyor for imparting a vertical reciprocating force while conveying the tobacco layer, and a collection or stamped sheet extending uniformly over a predetermined longitudinal distance of the vibrating conveyor (32). A device for forming cut tobacco pieces, characterized by a tobacco feeding device (90) forming a leaf-like falling tobacco stream. 4. A conveyor belt (92) in which a tobacco feeding device is disposed above the upstream end of the conveyor belt (32) and causes the tobacco to fall from one end thereof, and distributes the falling tobacco evenly in the tobacco stream; 4. Apparatus for forming cut tobacco pieces according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises a distribution device (96). 5. The dispensing device comprises a downwardly depending plate member (96) rotatably pivoted at its upper end for vibration in the path of the tobacco falling from the conveyor belt (92). A device for forming cut tobacco pieces according to scope 4.