US1501622A

US1501622A - Tobacco-feeding apparatus for cigarette machines

Info

Publication number: US1501622A
Application number: US521979A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ruau Felix
Original assignee: United Cigarette Machine Co Inc
Current assignee: United Cigarette Machine Co Inc
Priority date: 1921-12-13
Filing date: 1921-12-13
Publication date: 1924-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 1941-07-15

Description

1,501,622 F.RUAU

TOBACCO FEEDING APPARATUS FOR CIGARETTE MACHINES Jul 15 1924.

Filed Dec. 13 1921 gmve/ntoz Fezzzxm 35137065 61 01500140135 V441,. gww aww 441.;

Patented July 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FELIX RUAU, OF LYNGHIBURG, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED CIGARETTE MACHINE 60., INC, 0F LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

TOBACCO-FEEDING AYPARA'IUS FOR CIGARETTE MACHINES.

Application filed December 18, 1921. erial No. 521,979.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FE'LIX RUAU, a citizen of the Republic of France, and resident of Lynchburg, in the county of Campbell and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tobacco-Feeding Apparatus for Cigarette Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a tobacco feeding apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus for feeding tobacco from a supply means such as a hopper to cigarette making machines; and has special reference to the provision of an apparatus of this character in which the quantity or level of the tobacco in the hopper is regulated to effect uniform feeding conditions.

In cigarette machines of, for exam lo, the continuous rod type, the tobacco filler for the cigarettes is fed from a supply means such as a hopper and is delivered onto the cigarette paper, the paper being moved or fed continuously past a tobacco receiving station and the tobacco being delivered to the paper continuously either in a loose or a compacted state. To obtain resulting cigarettes of uniform quality it is necessary to deliver the continuously fed tobacco to the paper in a uniform manner and to this end the feeding of the tobacco from the hopper should be carried on under uniform conditions. In the feeding of the tobacco it has been found that a substantial variation in the level of the tobacco in the hopper results in an uneven feeding of the tobacco from the hopper, with the result that the cigarettes produced are of non-uniform quality. It has therefore been found desirable to provide an apparatus in which the quantity or level of the tobacco in the hopper may be regulated and controlled to the end of obtaining uniform feeding of the tobacco; and the provision of such an apparatus functioning in an eflicient manner is a prime desideratum of my present invention.

In an apparatus of the nature referred to, although variation of the level of the tobacco in the hopper is one of the primary causes for the non-uniformity of tobacco feeding, the variation in the feeding will ofttimes result from other causes as, for example, from the failure of the feeding means to operate with the maximum of efficiency. I have therefore found it highly desirable to regulate the quantity or level of above enumerated, the provision of an apparatus for feeding tobacco in which delivcry of the tobacco to the hopper is made independent of the feeding of the tobacco from the hopper, with the delivery controlled by the variation in level of tobacco in the hopper; the provision of an apparatus of this nature in which the delivery means comprises an intermittently oiperable conveyer, the operation of which is controlled by means following thetobacco level in the hopper; the further provision of an apparatus in which the conveyor comprises an elevator delivering tobacco from a supply bin to the hopper and the provision of a tobacco feeding apparatus simple in construction, dependable in operation and requiring a minimum of control and attention by the operator.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter particularly described and sought to be defined in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which show a preferred embodiment of my invention, and in which- The figure is a cross sectional elevational view of my apparatus.

In the feeding of the tobacco to the cigarette machine there is provided, as shown in the drawin s, the usual hopper 10-hold ng a charge of to acco T, themeans for feeding the tobacco from the hopper comprising the toothed feed roll 11 rotatable about shaft 12 in the direction shown by the arrow in the drawings, and cooperating with this feed roll there is provided the dressing roll 13 rotatable about the shaft 14 in the direction as shown b the arrow in the figure, the dressing r0 cooperating with the feed roll in the usual manner for producing a uniform layer of the tobacco over the teeth of the feed roll 11. The tobacco fed by the roll 11 is stripped therefrom in the usual manner and delivered to a conveyer or belt 15 trained over a roller 16, the conveyer feeding the tobacco from the hopper to the cigarette machine (not shown). Forming the bottom. of the hopper 10 I provide the usual movable belt 17 trained over rollers 18 and 19, the upper bight or reach of the belt traveling in the direction as indicated in the figure,

. this belt functioning, as usual, to carry the tobacco in the hopper to the feed roll 11.

As hereinbefore referred to, a prime desideratum of my present invention comprehends the provision of an apparatus in which the quantity or level of the tobacco in the hopper 10 is maintained substantially uniform and in which the uniformity is maintained independent of the operating conditions of the feeding means. To this end my present invention contemplates an apparatus in which the quantity of the tobacco is controlled directly by the levelof the tobacco and is thus made independent of the feeding conditions of the feeding means. To accomplish this I preferably provide means for delivering the tobacco to the hopper 10; and the feeding of the tobacco by the said means is regulated and controlled by the level of'the tobacco in the hopper. Accordingly, I preferably provide a delivery conveyer 20 which preferably talres the form of an endless belt and in the present form of my invention the said end less conveyer comprises preferably an elevator provided with a plurality of spaced flights or rake elements 21 for carrying successive charges of tobacco for delivery to the hopper 10, the conveyer 20 being movable over a plurality of rollers or drums 22 to 25 inclusive and guided in itsmovement by the inclined and horizontal guide walls 26 and 27 respectively. In operation the endless conveyor 20 functions to deliver charges of tobacco from a supply bin-28 to the hopper 10, the supply bin 28 being preferably mounted at a low level conveniently chargeable by an operator.

For the purpose of regulating the delivery of the tobacco made by the conveyer 20, the said conveyer is preferably intermittently operated with the intermittent operation determined or controlled by the quantity of the tobacco in the hopper. To this end I v provide means for operating the conveyer,

the said means comprising preferably a drive phain 29 trained over the opposed sprockets 30 and 31, the sprocket30 being mounted on the shaft of the drum 25 and the sprocket 31 being connected to driving means (not shown). To drive the conveyer 20 intermittently as desired, the sprocket 31 is preferably connected and disconnected to neoaeaa the driving means and to this end I preferably provided a clutch 32 for efiecting the alternate connection and disconnection between these parts, the said clutch 32 being provided with a clutch lever 33.

The operation of the clutch and clutch lever is directly controlled by the quantity of the tobacco in the hopper and tothis end is provided means for following the level of the tobacco in the hopper, the said means controlling the operation. of the clutch lever 33. For this purpose there is provided a lever 34 fulcrumed preferably in the walls of the hopper 10, one arm of the said lever being connected pivotally to a link 35, the other arm 36 of the said lever being preferably curved and being provided with a head 37, the said arm 36 and head 37 functioning as a feeler and operative for following the variation in level of the tobacco T in the hopper. The rod 35 is provided with preferably adjustable spaced collars 38 and 39 each of which is adapted to engage and move the clutch lever 33 when the rod 35 is alternately reciprocated in opposite directions. The lever 34 is oscillated in opposite directions, as indicated by the arrows in the figure, for. effecting reciprocation of the rod 35 and to this end. there is provided a cam element 40 fixed to the'shaft 41 and rotatable therewith, rotation of the said shaft 41 being effected by means of a chain 42 trained over opposed wheels 43 and 44 mounted on the shafts 14 and 41 respectively. Cooperating with the cam element 40 and actuated thereby I provide the cam follower 45 which may take the form of a roller journalled in the arm 36 of the lever 34. With the provision of this means it will be apparent that in the operation of the feeding means the cam 40 is continuously rotated, the rotation of the cam efi'ecting an oscillation of the feeler lever 34 and the reciprocation of the rod 35 connected therewith.

The feeler arm 36 in its oscillation moves in and out of contact with the tobacco in the hopper and follows the variation in the level 'of the tobacco T in the hopper. The parts of the apparatus are so relatively arranged that when the feeler head 37 falls below a predetermined normal level of the tobacco the collar 39 will engage with and move the clutch lever 33 to efiect the locking of the clutch 32 and the driving of the conveyer 20 to deliver a charge of the tobacco from the supply bin 28 to the hopper 101. This is shown in the drawings and referring to the figure, it will be seen that the feeler head37 in its descent has fallen below the normal level of the tobacco which may be indicated by the dotted line 46, the collar 39 being shown engaged with the clutch lever 33 and the conveyer 20 being shown in activity for delivering a charge of the tobacco into the hopper 10. Still referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the cam element 40 is about to engage the cam follower 45 and in the further rotation of the shaft 41 the cam follower 4:5 is raised, causing the downward motion of the rod 35 with the result that the collar 38 on the said rod engages with the clutch lever 33 and moves the same to unlock the clutch 32, thus stopping the operation of the conveyer 20. When the cam element 40 passes the cam follower 45 the feeler arm 36 will drop; and if the level of the tobacco is still below the normal level 46 the clutch 32 will again be locked to effect the delivery movement of the conveyer 20. If, however, the level of the tobacco reaches the normal level as indicated by the dotted line 46, or moves slightly above the said level, the feeler arm and head 36'and 37 will be prevented from dropping to this low position and this will prevent the engagement between the collar 39 and clutch lever 33 and since the clutch lever 33 has been moved to unlocking position by the collar 38, the clutch 32 will remain unlocked and the conveyer 20 will be maintained stationary. This condition of affairs will persist in the continued operation of the ap paratus until the level of the tobacco T in the hopper falls below the normal or predetermined level and the conveyer 20 will again be set into operation to deliver another charge to the tobacco hopper. In this manner and by this means the tobacco delivered to the hopper is made independent of the feeding conditions of the feeding means and is controlled directly by the level or quantity of the tobacco in the hopper itself.

The operation of my apparatus will, in the main, be apparent from the above de tailed description thereof. It will be further apparent that I have provided an apparatus in which delivery of the tobacco to the hopper is made substantially automatic and in which the feeding" of the tobacco from the hopper is controlled to provide a uniformity highly desired in the art for producing a uniform quality of cigarettes. It will be further apparent that by providing an intermittently operable elevator which delivers tobacco charges from a supply bin to the hopper, that I have provided a construction in which it is possible to reduce the working force required for filling the hoppers, the filling of the bin 28 being carried on with ease and the tobacco level in this bin in being of no importance, permits less attention and control on the part of the operator than has been hitherto possible in other devices. It will be further apparent that I have provided an apparatus simple in construction and operation and requiring a minimum of attention and control by the operator. 7

While I have shown my device in the preferred form, it will be obvious that many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a feed roll for feeding tobacco from said hop per to a cigarette machine, means for delivering tobacco to the said hopper, and mechanism controlled by the quantity of tobacco in the said hopper for maintaing the quantity of tobacco therein substantially uniform.

2. A tobacco feeding apparatus for cigarette machines comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a feed roll for feeding tobacco from said hopper to-a cigarette machine, mechanism for delivering tobacco to the said hopper, the said means being continuously operable and the said mechanism intermittently operable.

3. A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a feed roll for feeding tobacco from said hopper to a cigarette machine, means for delivering tobacco to said hopper and mechanism for controlling the deliveryof the tobacco made by the said delivery means, the said mechanism being controlled by the quantity of the tobacco in the said hopper.

4. A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a feed roll for feeding tobacco from said hopper to a eigarette machine, means for delivering tobacco to said hopper and mechanism for controlling the delivery of the tobacco made by the said delivery means to main? tain the quantity of tobacco in the hopper substantially uniform.

5. A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a feed roll for feeding tobacco from said hopper to a cigarette machine, means for delivering tobacco to the said hopper and mechanism following the variation of and controlled by the tobacco level in the said hopper for maintaining the said tobacco level substantially uniform.

6. A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a feed roll for feeding tobacco from said hopper to a cigarette machine, instrumentalities for delivering the tobacco to the said hopper, the said instrumentalities being intermittently operable and means for oper ating the said instrumentalities when the tobacco in the said hopper falls below a predetermined level.

7. A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a feed roll for feeding tobacco from said hopper to a cigarette machine, instrumentalities for delivering the tobacco to the said hopper, the said instrumentalities being intermittently operable and means for operating the said instrumentalities when the tobacco in the said hopper falls below a predetermined level, the said last mentioned means being operative on and controlled by the level or surface of the tobacco in the hopper.

8. A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a feed roll for feeding tobacco from said hopper to a cigarette machine, instrumentalities for delivering the tobacco to said hopper, means for operating the feeding means, means for operating the said instrumentalities and mechanism for varying the operation of the said instrlmientalities relative to the operation of said feeding means to maintain the quantity of the tobacco in the hopper substantially constant.

9. A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a feed roll for feeding tobaccb from said hopiper to a cigarette machine, instrumentalities for delivering tobacco to the said hopper, mechanism for operating the said instrumentalities, means alternately movable into and out of contact with the tobacco in the hopper and following the variation of level of the tobacco in the hopper for controlling the operation of the said mechanism whereby the quantity of tobacco in the hopper is maintained substantially uniform.

10. A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a feed roll for feeding tobacco from said hopper to a cigarette. machine, a tobacco supply means, instrumentalities for delivering tobacco from the said supply means to the said hopper, the said instrumentalities comprising an intermittently operable conveyer.

.11. A tobacco feeding apparatus com-,- prising a tobacco hopper, means includin a feed roll for feeding tobacco from sai hopper to a cigarette machine, a tobacco supply means, instrumentalities for deliveoaeaa ering tobacco from the said supply means to the said hopper, the said instrumentalities comprising an intermittently operable elevator.

12, A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means includin a feed roll for feeding tobacco from sai hopper to a cigarette machine, a tobacco suppl means, instrumentalities for delivering to acco from the said supply means to the said hopper, the said instrumentalities comprising an intermittently operable (3011!- veyer, and means operative upon and controlled by the level of the tobacco in the hopper for intermittently operating the said instrumentalities.

13. A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a feed roll for feeding tobacco from said hopper to a cigarette machine, intermittently operable instrumentalities for delivering tobacco to the said hopper, drivin means for the said instrumentalities inelu ing a clutch mechanism and means for effecting engagement and disengagement of the clutch mechanism, operation of the said last mentioned means bein controlled by the uantity of tobacco 1n 'the be per 75 where y the feed of the tobacco in the hopper may be controlled to maintain the quantity of tobacco thereinconstant.

14.. A tobacco feeding apparatus comprising a tobacco hopper, means including a 80 feed roll for feeding tobacco from said hopper to a cigarette machine, a tobacco supply means, instrumentalities for delivering tobacco from the said supply means to the said hopper, the said instrumentalities comprising an intermittently operable conveyer, and means for controlling the operation of the said conveyer to maintain the quantity of tobacco in the hopper constant.

Signed at ynehbur in the county of 90 Campbell and State o1: Virginia, this 10th day of December, A. D. 1921.

FELIX RUAU,