US1935665A - Cigarette tobacco feeding method and machine - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 21, 1933. A. PODMORE 1,935,665

CIGARETTE TOBACCO FEEDING METHOD AND MACHINE Original Filed Nov. 21, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 [42 v 4/40 ML Nov. 21, 1933. A. PODMORE 1,935,665

CIGARETTE TOBACCO FEEDING METHOD AND MACHINE Original Filed Nov. 21, 2 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 mgl INVZNTOR BY WM A ORNEY Nov. 21, 1933.

Original Filed Nov. 21, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig.5

INVENTOR Paiented Nov. 21 1933 v PATENT OFFICE CIGARETTE TOBACCO FEEDING METHOD AND MACHINE Arthur Podmore, London, .England, assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a cor-.

poration of New Jersey Application November21, 1928, Serial No. 320,87

' Renewed August 3, 1932 ,8 Claims. (Cl. 131-39) This invention relates to an improvedmethod and apparatus for feeding tobacco to continuous rod cigarettelmachines. Hitherto, despite a great deal of effort directed toward obtaining uniform 5 cigarettes, substantial differences in the weights and density of the cigarettes produced during one run of a given machine have been common, "these differences sometimes amounting to 10% or even more in the weight of the cigarettes.

Generally, in machines of this type, a sheet of tobacco is fed from amass and the tobacco is disentangled and discharged from this sheet to the rod forming means of the cigarette machine. Part of this variation in cigarette Weight and density is due to lack of uniformity in this sheet.

The main purpose of this invention is to obtain greater uniformity in this sheet of tobacco, especially in sheet density. Thus, one object of the invention is to level off 'excess tobacco from the mass above the filling position of the feeding means to thereby initially suppress inaccuracies of densitydue to varying weights and thickness of tobacco at this position. Another important object is to provide for correcting plus or minus errors in density of the initially corrected sheet. Another object is to provide means for tamping out voids or air pockets in the layer of tobacco above the filling position of the -feeding,means while subjecting all parts of this layer tothe same pressure. I H With these and other objects in view, themvention consists in certain constructions and combinations which will be hereinafter fully described and then set forth in the hereunto appended claims. F

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this'specification and in which like characters of reference indicate the same or like parts: Fig. 1 is a sectional side elevation ofa machine illustrating the improved method and apparatus for feeding tobacco; Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly broken away, of the machine shown in Fig. 1, seen from the left hand side of Fig. 1; v 1

Figs. 3 and 4 are left and right hand side elevations, partly broken away, of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Y Fig. 5 is a plan view of the machine shown in Fig.- 1, with the side frames and drives omitfto the specific method and, apparatus illustrated wherein a sheet of tobacco is progressively formed from a mass of tobacco, and any excess tobacco near 'where the sheet is formed is raked back over the masssoas t'o' initially govern the'density of the. sheet; and wherein plus or minus inaccuracies of sheet density are corrected by sub-. jecting the sheet to the action of an auxiliary supply of tobacco which furnishes additional to bacco to compensate for minus inaccuracies and which is arranged to absorb tobacco from the sheet to compensate for plus inaccuracies; and wherein tobacco is disentangle'd and discharged from the corrected sheet to furnish a uniform stream of tobacco to the rod forming means of the cigarette machine. In the apparatus selected to carry the invention into effect, there is pro vided means for progressively. forming a sheet of tobacco from a mass, means for periodically raking excess tobacco back over the mass to initially govern the density of the sheet, means for causing an auxiliary supply of tobacco to furnish additional' tobaccoto said sheet to compensate. for minus inaccuracies of sheet density and to absorb tobacco from said sheet to compensate for plus inaccuracies of sheet'density, together with means for disentangling .and discharging tobacco from the corrected sheet in order to provide a'uniform stream of tobacco. Preferably, the sheetforming means will also include tampers ,coacting with said raking mean's to eliminate air pockets and otherwise govern the initial density, of the sheet. in the best constructions also, the sheet forming means willinclude a feed drum, supporting the mass of tobacco. These various stepsand parts may be widely varied in construction within the scope of theclaims, for theparticular machine selected to illustrate the inventionjis but one of many possible concrete embodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted and described. s Referring to the drawings, the supply of tobacco T in the casing 10 is supported, as shown in Fig. 1, on a relatively large main feed drum 17 provided with the usual card pins, the tobacco supply being retained on the drum by an inclined wall 16 and by the sidewalls of the casing. This retaining wall is pivotally mounted between the sidewalls ofthe casing with its lower end adjacent the surface of the main feed drum, and is made adjustable so that it can be set at the proper angle to suit the quality and condition of the to.- bacco used The casing 10 issuitably supported by frames Hand 12 connected by a tie rod 15 and supported on pedestals 13- and 14. Above the feed drum 17, and beyond a vertical plane through its axis, is positioned a filling drum 18 which cooperates with the feed drum to form a sheet of tobacco thereon from the supply of tobacco resting on the feed drum and to brush back surplus tobacco.

For the purpose of compensating any plus orminus inaccuracies in the density of the sheet of tobacco on the drum to fill or brush off respectively areas containing more or less than the proper amount of tobacco, a second'filler drum l9 spaced beyond the filler drum 18 along the peripheral surface of the feed drum 17, is provided. This second filler drum maintains an auxiliary supply of tobacco in the angle between it and the feed drum, as shown in Fig. 1. This auxiliary supply will be slowly rotated by the rubbing and rolling action of the feed drum and the filler drum 19, and in case of a plus inaccuracy in the density of. the sheet of tobacco on the feed drum, the excess tobacco; which by reason of the spaced relationship of drums 19 and 18 has had opportunity to expand through the springiness of the tobacco, will be rubbed or brushedioff and absorbed by the auxiliary supply. On the other hand, if there is a minus inaccuracy in the sheet of tobacco passing out from under the filler drum 18,

this auxiliary supply resting and rubbing 'on the 'tampers 29 are positioned along the width of the drum and arealternately lifted and lowered on to the tobacco to rest thereon by gravity by any suitable means such as those which will presently be "described.

Theflayer of tobacco between the tampers and the feed drum is levelled off and maintained approximately uniform at all times in thickness by meansofa series of oscillating rakes 32 mounted on a crank operated shaft 33', to thereby initially control the density. of thetobacco sheet by con trolling the weight and thickness of the tobacco above the filling position ,of the drum; Coacting with the oscillating rakes' is a series of rotating rakes 34 mounted on alrotating shaft'35.

shown in Fig. 6, while the tampers 29 are being lifted and after they have reached the position 29 as shown in Fig. 6, the oscillating rakes '32 move from the'positionnear the drum 18 toward the inclined'wall 16, thus levelling olf and raking back excess tobacco on the tampers and also acting to keep the tampers free frorn'loose tobacco. When the tampers are in lowered position, they rest by their own weight on the tobacco and, consequently, each tamper exerts the same pressure, even though the thickness of the tobacco under the tampers is unequal. The rakes 32 are so spaced-that in their operation every other rake element passes through one of the spaces between two successive tampers 29, while the alternate rake elements pass through the slots 86 in the tampers. The rotating rake elements 34 in the'position 34". (Fig. 6), enter between the oscillating rake elements 32 when the latter are in position 32, thus coacting with said: oscillating rakes to receive tobacco therefrom and advance it still farther away from the filling position of the drum 17. The rakes 34 are mounted in pairs, each pair passing through one of the spaces between the tamper mounting bars which are fulcrumed on a shaft 31.

As will be seen from Fig. 1, the combined effect of the main feed drum 17, the filler drum 18, and the rakes 32 and 34 will be to slowly rotate the .tobacco supply T resting on the feed drum, in

tangential contact therewith.

The driving means for the above described parts are mounted on the side frames 11 and 12. A main drive shaft 36 which is connected with the drive of the cigarette machine or with a separate motor by a chain 3'7 and a sprocket 38, is provided with a gear 39 in mesh with a gear 40 on a shaft 41. On the other end of shaft 41 is a sprocket 42 which is connected with a sprocket 43 by a chain 44 and this sprocket drives the shaft 45 located in a housing 46. A shaft 47 mounted in the housing is provided with a worm wheel 48 driven by a worm 49 on a shaft 45.

Worm 50 on the shaft 47 drives a worm wheel 51 on'th e feed drum shaft 52 carried by bearings 53 and 54. On the end of the shaft 52 is mounted a sprocket '55 which, by means of a chain 56 running over sprockets 5'7 on shaft 58 and sprocket 59 on shaft 60, drives the filling drums 18 and 19 on the last two shafts. Thedrum 20 is driven by a belt 63 which runs over the pulley 64 on the shaft 41 and over a pulley 65 on a shaft 66 in the housing 6'7. In the housing 6'7 is a shaft 68 carrying a worm wheel 69 driven by a worm '70 from the shaft 66. A worm '71 on the shaft 68 meshes with a worm wheel '72 on the feed drum shaft '73 in bearings '74 and '75. w

The shaft 33 carrying the rakes 32 is mounted in brackets '76 and '77 on angle pieces '78 and '79, and is oscillated by means of a lever 87 connected by a link 88 to a crank 89 on one end of a short shaft 83, the other end of which shaft mounts a crank 82 carrying one end of the crank shaft 81. Also mounted on this shaft 83 is a sprocket 90 connected by a chain 91 to a sprocket 92 on shaft 35 carrying the rotating rakes 34.

The tamper-s 29'are lifted and lowered by flexible chains 80, the upperlinks of which ride on the crank shaft 81 supported at one end on crank 82 carried by said shaft 83 mounted in bearing bracket 85, and at the other end on crank 82, the latter crank-being mounted on a short shaft 84 in bearing bracket 85. Thisshaft 84, which carries a counterweight 112 to "balance the weight of shaft 81 and the parts carried thereby, is driven by a sprocket 93 and a chain 94. The chain 94 runs over sprocket 95 on a shaft 96 which also carries'a sprocket 9'7, having on it a chain 98 running over sprockets 99' and 100 supported on shafts 101 and 102 respectively, and over a sprocket. 103 on a shaft 104. On the shaft 36 is 1 mounted a sprocket 105 connected by a chain 106 with a sprocket 107 on a shaft 108, which also carries another sprocket 109 operating on the 'chain'94 by means of a chain 110 running over sprocket 109 and sprocket 111 on shaft 102, the sprocket 111 being fixed with respect to sprocket 100 and thus driving chains 98 and 94 from the main shaft 36.

. The tobacco shreds adhering to the filler drums 18 and 19 are removed by conventional wiper rolls 21 and 22 on shafts 113 and 114 mounted in adjustable bearings 115 and 116. The wiper rolls are driven by suitable means, .such' as motor 117 driving a belt 118 and a pulley 119 on a picker roll. shaft 120 bearings 121 andprovidedwith a double pulley 122 which connects the pulleys 123'and 124 through belts 125 and 126 respectively. i I I x The uniform sheet of tobacco on thefeed drum 130 exert tension on levers 129011 the studs 128 drum.

and thus yieldingly press the comb against the As an additional precaution to average up the stream of tobacco from adjacent parts of' the sheet formed on the feed drum 17, the tobacco after being picked from the drum 17- by picker roll 25 on the shaftl20, is showered upon the vertical glass wall 27 and thence rebounds on a limited portion of the periphery of the feed drum 20. Thislayeris held against the feed drum 20 by a comb 24 mounted on studs 132 of a bar 133 and pressed against the drum by springs 135, just prior to being showered by the picker roll 26 on the shaft 136 into the delivery chute 28 which leads to the rod forming mechanism of the cigarette machine.

It is obvious that this second feeding and picking may be dispensed with in the practice of the invention and the tobacco discharged from the drum 17 may be fed directly, or .by suitable conveying means to the chute leading to the rod forming mechanism.

The picker roll shaft 136 is mounted in bearings 137 on the frames 11 and 12 and driven directly from the motor 117 by a belt 138 running over pulleys 139 and 140. The delivery chute 28 is supported by screws 141 in the arms of bearings 142 supporting a shaft 143 having knocker means 144 for vibrating the chute. 143 is driven by a pulley 145, belt 146 and pulley 147. a

In view of the foregoing, further description of the operation of the improved method and apparatus for feeding tobacco is deemed unnecessary and is omitted'for the sake of brevity.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with tampers operating on tobacco, of oscillating rakes and c'oacting rotary rakes for raking excess tobacco away from said tampersone of i said'rakes having prongs entering between the ternately lifting said tampers and lowering them on to the tobacco to rest thereon by gravity alone to cause the tampers to exert equal pressure along the length of the row while accommodating themselves to unequal thicknesses of tobacco.

3. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with tampers for operating on tobacco, of means flexibly connected to the tampers for alternately lifting said tampers and lowering them to rest by gravity on the tobacco.

4. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with tampers for operating on tobacco, of means flexibly connected to the tampers for alternately lifting said tampers and lowering them to rest by gravity on the tobacco, said means comprising a crank shaft above said tampers and flexible members connecting said shaft and said tampers.

5. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a rotating carded feed drum, of means for retaining a mass of tobacco on said feed drum,

The shaft a rotating carded filling drum-above said feed drum and cooperating therewith to form a :sheet of tobacco thereon from said mass, a rotating carded compensating drum arranged to maintain an auxiliary supply of tobacco in contact with the sheet formed on the feed drum to compensate plus or minus inaccuracies in the sheet,-means operating to remove tobacco from the filling drum and compensating drum and return it respectively to the mass and auxiliary supply, and a picker roll for disentangling anddischarging tobacco from the corrected sheet, the compensating drum being substantially spaced from the filling drum, whereby excess tobacco inthe sheet may expand While the sheet is carried from the filling drum to the compensating drum and be rubbed or brushed oif and absorbed by said auxiliary supply of tobacco.

' 6. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a rotating carded feed drum, of means for retaining a mass of tobacco on said feed drum, a rotating carded filling drum above said feed drum and cooperating therewith to form a sheet of tobacco thereon from said mass, a rotating carded compensating drum arranged to maintain an auxiliary supply of tobacco in contact with the sheet formed on the feed drum to compensate plus or minus inaccuracies in the sheet, means operating to remove tobacco from the filling drum and compensating drum and return it respectively to the mass and auxiliary supply, and a picker roll for disentangling and discharging tobacco from the corrected sheet, the compensating drum being substantially spaced from the filling drum, whereby excess tobacco in the sheet may expand while the sheet is carried from the filling drum to the compensating drum and be rubbed or brushed off and absorbed by said auxiliary supply of tobacco, spaced slotted tampers, resting on the mass of tobacco in front of the 115 filling drum, spaced oscillating rakes entering into said slots and between the tampers for levelling off the layer of tobacco between the tampers and the feed drum and raking back loose tobacco delivered on the tampers by said-means.

7. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a rotating carded feed drum, of means for retaining a mass of tobacco on said feed drum,

.a rotating carded filling drum above said feed drum and cooperating therewith to form a sheet of tobacco thereon from said mass, a rotating carded compensating drum arranged to maintain an auxiliary supply of tobacco in contact with the sheet formed on thefeed drum to compensate plus or minus inaccuracies in the sheet, means operating to remove tobacco from the filling drum and compensating drum and return it respectively to the mass and auxiliary supply, and a picker roll for disentangling and discharging tobacco w from the corrected sheet, the compensating drum being substantially spaced from the filling drum,

whereby excess tobacco in the sheet may expand while the sheet is carried from the filling drum iing rakes and advancing it still farther away from the filling drum.

8. In a cigarette machine feed, the combination with a rotating carded feed drum, of means for retaining a mass of tobacco on said feed drum,

a rotating carded filling drum above said feed drum and cooperating therewith to form a sheet of tobacco thereon from said mass, a rotating carded compensating drum, arranged to maintain an auxiliary supply of tobacco in contact with'the sheet formed on the feed drum to compensate plus or minus inaccuracies in the sheet,

means operating to remove tobacco from the fillmay expand while the sheet is carried from the filling drum to the compensating drum and be rubbed or brushed ofi and absorbed by said auxiliary supply of tobacco, spaced slotted tampers resting on the mass of tobacco in front of the filling drum, spaced oscillating rakes entering into said slots and betweenthe tampers for levelling off the layer of tobacco between the tampers and the feed drum and raking back loose tobacco delivered on the tampers by saidmeans, and spaced rotary rakes entering between the tampers and oscillating rakes and receiving tobacco from the oscillating rakes and advancing it still farther away from the filling drum and mechanism for actuating said oscillating and rotating rakes and alternately lifting said tampers and lowering them to rest by gravity on the tobacco.

ARTHUR PODMORE.

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