JPS6151861B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a feeding device for feeding tobacco to a cutting machine.

A conventional type of tobacco cutting device consists of a rotating carrier equipped with one or more knives for cutting the compacted continuous tobacco mass into tobacco pieces from the distal end surface for use in making tobacco. The tobacco in the compacted mass is provided in a compact form by a feeding device consisting of a pair of upper and lower feed conveyors, which extend from a source of fallen tobacco from a branch to a cutting position. A tapered or converging passageway is formed in which the distal end of the compact tobacco mass is squeezed between upper and lower pressure members using air cylinder pressure and moved into the range of the pivoting knife.

Our prior U.S. patent application dated December 10, 1980, no.
No. 215006 describes an improved method for feeding tobacco onto a pair of compacting upper and lower feed conveyors. A layer of tobacco is first formed therein as described, in which the tobacco is oriented virtually flat against the layer, the tobacco being arranged interleaved with each other, and across the layer. virtually equally distributed. The tobacco layer is then densified by applying gravity and vibration forces, and the leaf pieces are stacked while the tobacco is directed toward the upstream end of the astringent conveyor without substantially altering the orientation and alignment of the tobacco within the layer. carried along.
The densified layer is then fed onto the lower conveyor of the aggregation conveyor without substantially altering the orientation and placement of the tobacco in the layer. In this way, the orientation and alignment of the tobacco is maintained from the initial formation of the layer to the cutting device.

Forming tobacco in this way and feeding it to the compacting conveyor requires less compacting force on the tobacco layer compared to traditional systems for the same tobacco output, and it also reduces leaf rebound. The pressure exerted on the hardened tobacco that is sent to the cutting device for protection may also be lower than in conventional methods.

The compressive force exerted by the conveyor on the leaf pieces must be small; such forces would impair the filling force of the cut tobacco; therefore, the gravity-generating precompacting and folding action performed in the present invention reduce the filling force of the cut tobacco. is retained. Furthermore, because gravity-hardened tobacco is subjected to physical forces for a shorter period of time than in the past, more filling force is retained.

In one embodiment of the method described in our previous application, the vibratory translation conveyor extends substantially horizontally from the upstream end of the compacting conveyor. A relatively thick layer of tobacco having the desired tobacco characteristics is delivered to the cutting position so that the tobacco falls evenly over the length of the conveyor in the form of complete leaflets, i.e. in the form of leaflets dropped from branches. is formed at the upstream end of the conveyor so that the tobacco accumulates in the direction of longitudinal movement of the conveyor to the required thickness of the layer. The tobacco in a relatively thick layer is oriented substantially flat against the layer and is distributed virtually equally across the width of the layer.

This tobacco layer is subjected to vibrations at the conveyor stop due to the vertical reciprocating movement of the conveying surface as it is conveyed by the conveyor towards the compacting conveyor under the influence of the conveyor's translational surface. This vibration, without the use of any force other than gravity, densifies the tobacco in the layer, when the layer is moved to the cutting position by a translating conveyor without virtually changing the orientation and alignment of the tobacco within the layer. carried towards.

This orientation and parallelism is maintained as the layer is transferred from the vibrating conveyor to the lower conveyor of the ablating conveyor. There is no change in the speed of the tobacco from the initial formation of the tobacco layer to the cutting device, and there is no opportunity to change its direction and alignment.

This operation differs significantly from that described in Thiele et al., U.S. Pat. It starts to vibrate in the direction. The staged nature of the conveyor means that the velocity of the tobacco molecules changes abruptly as the initially formed thin layer forms a thin layer at the step of the conveyor for delivery to the compacting conveyor. In this conventional method, the thick layer of tobacco molecules that needs to be delivered to the cutting device is formed by the rolling of the molecules from a narrow stream at the step to form a thick layer, thereby controlling the direction of the molecules. and the parallel changes. This conventional method of conveyor is designed to treat peg material and such operations may be omitted. In the method of our previous application, the thick layer is formed by shearing tobacco leaf pieces, ie complete leaves, where the tobacco molecules have their final orientation and alignment.

Therefore, the present invention improves the conventional application method,
Concerning improving its operation. In the present invention, the translating vibratory conveyor includes side walls in contact with the sides of the tobacco layer, and the side walls translate at the same speed as the vibratory conveyor's translation.

According to the invention, tobacco pieces are cut from a compacted tobacco layer formed by providing a layer of tobacco in the form of a complete leaf, i.e. in the form of leaf pieces dropped from a board; The tobacco layer is oriented substantially flat, interleaved with each other, and distributed substantially evenly across the layer, and then without substantially altering the orientation and juxtaposition of the tobacco in the layer. To provide a method for forming tobacco pieces by making tobacco in a layer denser by applying gravity and vibration force to it while conveying it almost horizontally, and compacting the dense tobacco. This method is characterized by confining the sides of the tobacco layer and moving the confining surface in the direction of movement of the tobacco layer.

Providing a vibrating conveyor with movable sidewalls eliminates the need for the cigarettes to be held by fixed sidewalls, thereby preventing the orientation and/or alignment of the cigarettes from changing.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the conveying surface of the tobacco layer extends substantially horizontally to the upstream end of the converging conveying surface, the tobacco layer being formed at the upstream end of the conveying surface, and the conveying surface extending substantially horizontally to the upstream end of the converging conveying surface. It moves in a straight line from the upstream end to the downstream end. The formation of a tobacco layer at the upstream end of the conveying surface causes the tobacco to descend downwardly toward the upstream end of the conveying surface, deflecting the tobacco in a shower so that it falls evenly over the length of the conveying surface. This is done by letting The combination of even showering of the tobacco and the linear conveyance of the tobacco layer over the conveyor surface forms a tobacco layer with an upwardly sloping rear surface extending in the direction of travel of the layer.

Preferably, the tobacco is delivered to the shower in sufficient quantity such that the angle of said upwardly sloping rear surface of the tobacco layer is close to, but does not exceed, the angle of rest of the layer. As a result, the shower-distributed tobacco lies flat on the layer and does not fall off the rear surface of the layer. In this way, the thickness of the tobacco layer is maximized with the length of the conveyor surface being the shortest.

The tobacco is typically gripped at the downstream end of the ablating conveyor surface while cutting tobacco pieces from the front end of the compacted tobacco layer. The speed of movement of the upper and lower conveyors determines the velocity of the tobacco layer for the entire path from its formation at the conveyor surface to the downstream end of the upper and lower ablating conveyor surfaces. Preferably,
The confining surface and the conveyor surface move at a speed slightly faster than the speed of the confining conveyor surface, so that the orientation of the tobacco in that layer is the same as from the formation of the tobacco layer to the downstream end of the converging conveyor. Retained.

The vibratory force on the tobacco layer on the conveyor surface decreases evenly from a maximum value at the upstream end of the conveyor surface to a minimum value at the downstream end of the conveyor surface. using this method,
The maximum force is applied to the tobacco when it is most needed, i.e. during the initial compaction and folding of the tobacco.
When the tobacco hardens into a tightly compressed state, it experiences reduced forces. This involves mounting the conveyor surface to pivot around a horizontally extending pivot located at its downstream end, and reciprocating the upstream end of the conveyor surface vertically as it moves around the pivot. It is achieved by doing so.

The present invention also provides an apparatus for carrying out the method, comprising upper and lower tobacco conveyors that sweep toward a downstream end, and a downstream end of the shuttle conveyor for cutting tobacco held at the downstream end. It consists of a cutting device located near the end and a generally horizontal vibratory conveyor that conveys the tobacco layer to the upstream end of the collection conveyor and applies a vertical reciprocating force to the tobacco layer as it is conveyed. This device is characterized by confining movable side walls located on each side of the vibrating conveyor for contacting the side edges of the tobacco layer.

In the apparatus of the invention, the confining movable side walls preferably have a vertically extending conveyor belt extending substantially the length of the vibratory conveyor on each side and rotatable rollers on which the conveyor belt rests. Preferably, the vertically extending conveyor belt is mounted in a fixed position with respect to the vibratory conveyor for vertical reciprocating motion.

Preferably, the vibratory conveyor extends substantially horizontally with a tobacco conveying surface capable of linearly advancing motion. The conveying surface usually consists of a continuous conveyor belt. Preferably, the conveying surface is pivoted downstream of a horizontally extending pivot such that the vertical reciprocating vibratory force extends the length of the vibratory conveyor from a maximum at the upstream end of the vibratory conveyor to zero at the downstream end of the vibratory conveyor. decreases uniformly along

In one configuration, the conveying surface has, in cross-section, a generally flat central portion extending for a substantial proportion of its width, and a downwardly sloping portion extending from the flat portion to the side edges of the conveyor belt. have

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the vibrating conveyor and confining movable sidewall include multiple elements. In this embodiment, the horizontally extending frame has one longitudinal end thereof for pivoting adjacent the upstream end of the conveyor about an axis extending generally horizontally across the longitudinal axis of the vibratory conveyor. will be placed on. A first conveyor belt is mounted on the frame and extends horizontally to convey a layer of tobacco from near the other longitudinal end of the frame to one longitudinal end of the frame. The second and third conveyor belts are mounted on the frame and the first
extending vertically on each side of the first conveyor to engage the side edges of the layer of tobacco as the tobacco is conveyed on the conveyor belt. Drive means are provided for driving the tobacco engaging surface of the conveyor belt toward the pivot end of the frame at substantially the same speed so that the orientation and juxtaposition of the tobacco within the layer is controlled by the first conveyor belt. remains substantially unchanged during transport. Vibration inducing means are coupled to the other longitudinal end of the frame to effect a fast vertical reciprocating movement of the frame, thereby transmitting vibrations to the first conveyor belt and the layer of tobacco thereon. The frame may be spring-loaded adjacent the other longitudinal end to dampen vibrations. Each side edge of the first conveyor belt may engage the second and third conveyor belts adjacent the lower edge.

The apparatus of the invention includes a tobacco feed device for forming a falling shower of tobacco in the form of whole leaves or cut pieces extending uniformly over a predetermined longitudinal distance of a vibratory conveyor, thereby The layers are built up over a predetermined conveyor length. The tobacco feed device has a conveyor belt located on the upstream end of the conveyor belt that allows the tobacco to fall from its end and distributes the falling tobacco into a shower containing a uniform amount of tobacco over its length and width. It may also have a distribution device.

The invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, the present best mode of carrying out the invention known to applicants is illustrated in which a tobacco cutting device 10 has a cutting position 12 and its upper conveyor 14 and lower conveyor 16 are connected to a downstream throat. A pair of upper pressure plates 18 and a lower pressure plate 20 are located therein, which pressure plates apply pressure to the compressed tobacco mass located between them. The rotating drum carrier 24 has a plurality of cutting knives 26 disposed about the circumference to cut the tobacco 28 from the tobacco mass 22.

A thick layer 30 of tobacco in the form of a complete leaf or leaflet is formed on the vibrating conveying surface 32 of the tobacco conveyor 34 by a uniform shower 36 of tobacco, the shower being spaced upstream from the cutting position 12. They are distributed over a length of the conveying surface 32 at the ends and are distributed substantially evenly across its width. Details of the structure of the tobacco conveyor 34 are shown in FIGS.

By distributing the tobacco over a length of the conveying surface 32 by the shower 36, the tobacco is layered to the required thickness in a virtually horizontal layer over that length of the conveying surface 32. , its thickness corresponds to the feed required by the cutting machine at the desired output of tobacco. The tobacco layer 30 is close to, but does not exceed, the rest angle of the tobacco layer 30.
is fed into the shower 36 with an upwardly angled rear surface 37. In this way, the tobacco molecules do not fall backwards or change their orientation and alignment.

The vertical reciprocating vibration of the conveying surface 32 causes the tobacco to be piled up and compacted while maintaining their juxtaposition and orientation with each other. The vibration force and gravity of the conveyor 32 are used to cause the clumps.
This is the force that acts on tobacco. As the conveyor 32 pivots downstream thereof, as will be explained in more detail below, the magnitude of the vibration is attenuated evenly from a maximum value at the upstream end to a zero value at the downstream end. In this way, vibrations are reduced when the tobacco layer assumes its compact shape.

The moving surface 32 transfers the thick layer 30 of cigarettes to the conveyor 1.
4, 16, where the thick layer 30 is transferred to the lower conveyor 16. The thick layer 30 extends from its formation at the upstream end of the conveying surface 32 to the conveyor 14.
and 16 at a constant speed. In this way, the initial horizontal orientation of the tobacco layer and the juxtaposition of the tobacco within the thick layer 30 is maintained until the tobacco mass 32 is cut. The moving speed of the thick layer 30 is determined by the transport speed of the conveyors 14, 16. To ensure that the tobacco in the thick layer 30 retains its orientation and alignment, the layer 30 is transported slightly faster than the speed of the transport conveyors 14, 16 to create a slippage between the transport surface 32 and the layer 30. carried at speed.

This procedure makes it possible to apply the necessary pressure to the mass 22 so that the pulling force of the layer is not significantly reduced for the same tobacco output as compared to conventional methods. Typically, the required air cylinder pressure ranges from about 275kPa to approx.
Decrease to 35kPa.

If we consider Figures 2 and 3 here, the conveyor 3
4 structures are shown in detail. Conveyor 34 includes a continuous conveyor belt 32 that is mounted around horizontal extension rollers 38, 40 that are mounted to side frame members 42, 44. Frame member 4
2 and 44 are pivotally connected to the fixed frame member at the cutting position 12 at the downstream end of the conveyor.

When viewed in cross section, the conveyor belt 32 has downwardly sloping sections 4 extending on each side of a central flat section 50.
6, 48, a support member (not shown)
is formed on. This structure is most clearly shown in FIG. This configuration of the conveyor belt 32 allows for a more even distribution of tobacco across the width of the mass 22 than is conventionally possible.

Frame members 42 and 44 are supported at ends remote from the pivot by compression spring supports 52 and 54, respectively, which are mounted on supports 56. A transversely protruding frame member 58 extends between the frame members 42 and 44 and is fixed. The horizontally protruding frame member 58
A crank arm 60 is pivotally connected to the shaft 62, and the crank arm 60 is mounted on the shaft 62 so as to rotate eccentrically with respect to the shaft 62. This shaft 62 is driven by a motor 64 via a belt 66 wrapped around pulleys 68,70.

When motor 64 drives shaft 62, crankshaft arm 60 moves eccentrically about shaft 62, thereby causing frame members 42, 44, and thus conveyor belt 32, to move up and down. Spring 54 cushions vibrations caused by movement of crank arm 60. The motor 64 operates at a speed such that the tobacco layer 30 on the surface of the conveyor belt 32 is subjected to continuous vibrations of evenly decreasing magnitude as the layer 30 is conveyed by the conveyor belt 32.

Separate from and joined to the lower frame members 42, 44 are upper frame members 72, 74,
These frame members are joined by transverse members 76,78. Conveyor belts 80 and 82 are rollers 8
The respective pairs of frame members 42, 72 at 4, 86
It is installed between 44 and 74. conveyor belt 8
Only two rollers are shown for 0.

Conveyors 80, 82 contact 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. Movable side belt 8 in contact with tobacco layer 30
0.82, the tobacco pieces in layer 30 maintain their orientation and relative juxtaposition and do not tend to jam against the fixed limiting walls of the conveyor. This tendency can impair the interruption and orientation and juxtaposition of the tobacco layers.

A tobacco feeding mechanism 90 is provided to create a shower of tobacco that evenly distributes the tobacco in both the lateral and longitudinal directions relative to the conveyor 34. This cigarette feeding mechanism 90 has a feeding belt 92.
, on which the tobacco pieces 94 are transferred to a position above the upstream end of the conveyor belt 32. A plate 96 is hinged near the downstream end of the conveyor belt 92 for back and forth movement under the influence of a drive mechanism 98. The plate 96 contacts the tobacco pieces 94 as they fall from the end of the conveyor 92, and their back and forth movement creates a shower 36 of tobacco.

Although feed belt 92 is shown extending coaxially with conveyor 34, feed belt 92
The same result can be achieved by placing the rollers 2 perpendicular to the conveyor 34.

Thus, the tobacco conveyor 34 can form the tobacco layer 30 and send it to the cutting mechanism 14. The tobacco in layer 30 is effectively oriented flat and densified such that it is carried by belts 32, 80, 82 and maintains its orientation and alignment as it is carried.

In summary, the present invention provides an improved method of forming a tobacco layer and conveying it to a cutting machine. Of course, variations are possible within the scope of the invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a general schematic view of an embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an apparatus constructed according to an embodiment of the invention for feeding tobacco to a cutting machine; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the conveyor shown in FIG. 2 taken along line 3--3. [Explanation of symbols], 10... Tobacco cutting device, 1
2... Cutting position, 14... Upper conveyor, 16...
... lower conveyor, 18, 20 ... a pair of upper and lower pressure plates, 22 ... compressed tobacco mass, 24 ... rotating drum carrier, 26 ... cutting knife, 28 ... tobacco fragments, 30 ... thick layer, 32 ... ...Vibration conveyor surface, 34...Tobacco conveyor, 36...Shower, 38, 40...Roller, 42, 44...Side frame member, 46, 48...Slanted portion, 50...Central portion, 52, 54... compression spring support, 56...
...Support stand, 58...Transverse projecting frame member, 60...
...Crank arm, 62...shaft, 64...motor,
66...Belt, 68, 70...Pulley, 7
2, 74... Upper frame member, 76, 78... Traverse member, 80, 82... Conveyor belt, 84, 86
...Roller, 88...Drive mechanism, 90...Tobacco feeding mechanism, 92...Feeding belt, 94...Tobacco leaf, 96...Plate body, 98...Driving mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Tobacco by cutting tobacco pieces from a hardened tobacco layer formed by applying a layer of tobacco in the form of a complete leaf, i.e. in the form of leaf pieces dropped from a branch. forming fragments of the tobacco layer, in which the tobacco of the tobacco layer is oriented virtually flat and distributed virtually evenly, with the tobacco layer being substantially horizontally oriented without substantially altering the orientation and juxtaposition of the tobacco in that layer. A method of forming tobacco fragments in which the tobacco layer is densified by applying gravitational and vibrational forces to it, and the densified tobacco is compressed. A method for forming tobacco fragments, characterized in that the surface of the tobacco layer is moved in the direction of movement of the tobacco layer. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the conveying surface and the confining surface supporting the tobacco layer move at a conveying speed slightly higher than the speed of movement of the tobacco layer. 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the vibrational forces on the tobacco layer are reduced in an even manner along the length of the layer. 4. The tobacco layer is formed from a descending shower of tobacco and is characterized in that it is formed with an upwardly sloping rear surface having an angle close to, but not exceeding, the rest angle of the layer. 1-3
The method described in any one of the paragraphs. 5 upper and lower tobacco conveyors that sweep towards the downstream end, a cutting device located near the downstream end of the winding conveyor for cutting the tobacco held at the downstream end, and a cutting device located near the downstream end of the winding conveyor to cut the tobacco held at the downstream end; In a tobacco shredding apparatus comprising a generally horizontal vibrating conveyor that conveys a layer of tobacco and applies a vertical reciprocating force to the layer while conveying the layer, the vibratory conveyor 32 is configured to confine the side edges of the tobacco layer. Tobacco fragment forming device characterized in that it has movable confining side walls 8, 82 located on each side of the tobacco fragment forming device. 6 The movable confinement side walls extend in effect the length of the vibrating conveyor, one on each side thereof, and include vertically extending conveyor belts 80, 82 and rotating rollers 84, 8 on which the conveyor belts are mounted.
6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that it consists of: 6. 7. The vertically extending conveyor belts 80, 82 and the vibrating conveyor 32 are mounted on a frame 34 that is mounted on a pivot 38 at the downstream end of the vibratory conveyor 32 and operatively connected to the other end. 7. The device according to claim 6, characterized in that it has a vibration generator 60 having a vibration generator. 8 The drive motor 88 is connected to the side conveyor belt 8
8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the apparatus is connected to a vibrating conveyor 32 and a vibrating conveyor 32, and drives each conveyor at the same speed.