US2153442A - Method for conditioning tobacco - Google Patents

Description

April 4, 1939- R. D. TOUTON METHOD FOR CONDITIONING TOBACCO Filed Dec. 6, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet l film/ i 751111 022 Arrawzrs April 4, 1939. R. D. TOUTON METHOD FOR CONDITIONING TOBACCO Filed Dec. 6, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 O a e n w 0 R W a. M 5 m R. D. TOUTON METHOD FOR CONDITIONING TOBACCO April 4, 1939'.

Filed bee. 6, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 April 4, 1939.

R. D.'TOU'-TON 2,153,442

METHOD FOR CONDITIONING TOBACCO Filed Dec 6, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 W/T/VESS.

4770mm K April 1939- I R. D.YTOUTON 2,153,442

METHOD FOR CONDITIONING TOBACCO Filed Dec. 6, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I Patented Apr. 4,1939

METHOD FOR CONDITIONING TOBACCO Application December 6, 1935, Serial No. 53,137 2, Claims. (o 131-55) UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE This invention relates to a method for conditioning tobacco.

More particularly, in accordance with this invention a method is provided whereby tobacco will be conditioned for any desired purpose. Thus, for example, tobacco may be conditioned by moistening to adjust its moisture for fermentation, by moistening to prepare it for sorting, packing, for use in the manufacture of cigars, or other use. In particular, the method in accordance with this invention will be found highly economical and efficient for the preparation'of tobacco for fermentation.

The method in accordance with this invention will, from the broad standpoint, involve subjecting tobacco in bunches or hands to a gas, as air, conditioned with respect to the nature of the treatment of the tobacco, as moistening. The gas, as air, will be generally circulated with respect to the tobacco and/or forcefully directed into the hands or bunches for the purpose of opening or spreading the leaves, and, at the same time, the hands or bunches will be subjected to movement through a circuitous path.

The method in accordance with this invention will involve increasing the rate of movement of the hands or bunches after the tobacco leaves have absorbed sufiicient moisture to render them pliable.

From the broad standpoint the apparatus for carrying out this invention will comprise a chamber in which travels a conveyor arranged with substantially vertical reaches and adapted to support bunches or hands of tobacco. Within the chamber will be arranged a system of ducts provided with outlets arranged with respect to the conveyor for the delivery to the chamber of conditioned gas in a manner to promote general circulation with respect to the tobacco and for the direction of conditioned gas into the bunches or hands. Means for the conditioning of gas, as air, with respect to temperature and humidity or moisture content will be provided .and will be so arranged asto effect recirculation of air from the chamber through the system of ducts.

The more specific details of the method and apparatus according to this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the apparatus and its mode of operation in carrying out the method with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side view, partly in section, of a 55 form of apparatus employing this invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a detail sectional view showing a portion of the conveyor system. 1

Figure 4 is a detail view showing the means of attaching the cross bars of the conveyor to the same.

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a side view, partly in section, of another form of apparatus employing this invention.

Figure '7 is a sectional view on line .1-1 of Figure 6, and

Figure 8 is a detail view showing a portion of the conveyor system shown in Figure '7.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a indicates a chamber which may be of suitable dimensions, depending upon the amount of tobacco to be treated, and which is desirably insulated. Within the chamber a is positioned an endless conveyor b of any desired type, and which may comprise a pair of endless chains 0, c, from which are supported at spaced intervals cross members or bars (1, d. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, each of a plurality of spaced links in the endless chains 0, c is provided with a pin III, which is journaled loosely in a socket I2 at each end of a cross bar it so as to permit free rotation of the cross bars d about the pins l0.

The chains 0, c pass over a series of relatively large sprockets e, e secured to shafts ,f, ,f journaled in a frame g and positioned in line in the upper portion of the chamber a; and also over a series of relatively small sprockets h, 71. secured to shafts ,f', f journaled in the frame a and positioned in line in the'lower portion of the chamber and in staggered relation with the sprockets e, e; and finally over sprockets k, k and k, It, all secured to shafts journaled in the frame g and positioned below and beyond the ends of the series of sprockets h, h.

The conveyor will be driven through a sprocket 24 on one of the shafts f by any suitable connection with any suitable prime mover, as through a chain or belt 10 from an electric motor 80, through the medium of a speed regulator 90 enabling the conveyor to be driven at various different rates of speed.

By virtue of the arrangement of the several sprockets, e, h, k and k, the conveyor will have a number of pairs of substantially vertical reaches 1 in its travel from one end to the other in the series of sprockets e and h, which in pairs will be relatively close together, the pairs being relatively her and for such operation will and 22 and a horizontal return reach supported by the brackets ll.

Within the chamber a adjacent one end thereof is positioned a gas or air conditioning apparatus comprising a casing n provided with inlet opening ll and containing a fan 40 positioned adjacent the inlet openings and driven by any suitable means, as, for example,'a motor positioned outside of the chamber. The fan will be arranged to deliver gas or air, drawn from the chamber,

through humidifying, heating and/or coolin elements as a waterspray 50 and a coil Gil, through which may be passed steam or a refrigerant as it may be desired for heating or cooling into a main duct 3 which extends longitudinally in the upper part of the chamber along one side thereof. The humidifier may, for various uses of the apparatus, as in the moistening of tobacco, operate in effect as a cooler, deh 'difier and humidibe supplied with cold water at a. temperature such as to effect desired cooling, dehumidification and humidiflcation for the provision .of gas or air having desired wet and dry bulb temperatures for delivery to the duct 8. Cooling may be effected by admission of cold air to the humidifier, or by the provision of a cool surface within the chamber a. Humidification of the gas in chamber a may be accomplished by .means displace the air conditioning apparatus or be used in cooperation therewith.

From the duct s, a'series of short vertical ducts t, t-lead downwardly at one side of the chamber and terminate in outlet openings from which conditioned gas is discharged for the provision of general circulation of air in the chamber. The air issuing from ducts t, t will rotate in the chamber so that the tobacco on the conveyor will be surrounded'by a sheath of conditioned gas.

A series of horizontal ducts v, 11 extend from the main duct 3 transversely of the chamber beneath the sprocketse, e on lines between the pairs of vertical reaches 1. Upwardly extending nozzles 11, y, spaced so 'as to be in alignment with hands of tobacco as spaced on the cross bars d, d of the .conveyor, lead from the top of the ducts v, v and are adapted to direct forceful jets of conditioned gas into the hands of tobacco carried by the conveyor as it passes over the sprockets e, e. g

In the carrying out of the method in accordance with this invention with use of the apparatus'described above, the fan in the humidifying apparatus will be started andair conditioned as required will be delivered into the main duct and discharged into the chamber through the various ducts described. The conveyor will then be put in motion in the direction of the arrows, and charged with hands of tobacco a: by dividing the hands and straddling them over thebars d, d. The cross bars d, d are tapered upwardly, and thus act to prevent the hands of tobacco from tending to slip off. If desired the hands may be secured to the cross bars without straddling by means of any suitable clip engaged under the butts. The conveyor will be charged at the front end, the hands being placed upon the bars d, d as they progressively pass along the short horizontal reach 20. This charging portion of the conveyor may, as shown in Figure I, extend outside the chamber a. As the hands are placed in straddling position along the cross bars d, they will automatically assume a position with the leaves pendTfiit, and due to the free rotation of the of sprays in the chamber which may 7 2,158,442 widely separated; short horizontal reaches 20 cross bars it about their connection with the chains 0, c, the hands will retain this position with the leaves pendant throughout their entire passage through the chamber a on the conveyor b. 1

Thus, despite the many changes of direction in the pathof the conveyor b as it passes over the sprockets e and j, the hands of tobacco on the cross bars d, will remain fixed in position with the leaves pendant, and will have no tendency to slip or fall off of the conveyor.

If the tobacco to be treated is in the dry state in which it is received by the fabricator of, for example, cigars and is to be conditioned for fabrication, the hands or bunches will remain on the conveyor, which will be driven slowly, for such considerable period as is necessary for the addition to the tobacco of suflicient moisture to brin it to the proper condition and consequently will make a number of complete circuits on the conveyor, including passage along the horizontal return reach thereof, or the conveyor'being fully loaded with tobacco may remain still for a period and set into motion. 0n the other hand, if the tobacco is to be treated to condition it for fermentation, as for sorting or packing, by adjustment of its 'moisture content, by moistening, the amount of moisture necessary to be added to the tobacco will be relatively small and conditioning can be effected in one passage of the tobacco at a slow conveyor speed through the vertical reaches of the conveyor. In such cases the hands may be placed on the conveyor at the front horizon tal reach 20 and removed from the conveyor at the short horizontal reach 22 at the rear of the conveyor.

charge within, for example, two to eighteen inches, preferably about nine inches, from the tips of the leaves. These jets of air from the nozzles 11/, y serve to penetrate and open the leaves of the hands.

Referring now more particularly to the form of apparatus shown in Figures 6, 7 and 8, it will be seen that there is provided a chamber a similar to the chamber a described above and provided with an endless conveyor 1) of any desired type which, in the specific form shown, comprises a pair of endless chains 0 from which are fixedly supported at spaced intervals cross members or bars d, d. Each cross bar d is provided with a plurality of suitable clips 33 adapted to grasp and firmly hold the butts of the hands of tobacco at.

The chains 0', 0' pass over a series of relatively large sprockets e secured to shafts journaled in a frame 9' and positioned in line in the lower portion of the chamber a; and also over a series of relatively small sprockets h, h likewise secured to shafts journaled .in the frame g and positioned in line in' the upper portion of the chamber and in staggered relation to the sprockets e. The conveyor chains, as they leave the last of the series of sprockets e', pass over sprockets 21 and under sprockets 29, thus forming the short series of sprockets e, h'.

' The conveyor may be driven from any one of the shafts of the sprockets e by any suitable connection therefrom to a suitable prime mover as through a chain or belt from an electric motor desirably placed outside the chamber a.

- tively close together, the pairs By virtue of the arrangement of the several sprockets the conveyor will have a number of pairs of substantially vertical reaches 1' in its travel from one end to the other in the series of sprockets e' and h' which, in pairs, will be relabeing relatively widely spaced.

Within the chamber (1', adjacent one end thereof, is positioned a gas or air-conditioning apparatus, similar to that described above in connection with Figures 1 to 5, comprising a casing n from which a main duct s extends longitudinally in the upper part of the chamber along one side thereof. From this main duct s a. plurality of branch ducts t extend downwardly along one side of the chamber and across the bottom of the chamber beneath the conveyor, terminating in the outlets 25. From these outlets 25 conditioned gas is discharged for the provision of general rotary circulation of air in'the chamber.

In carrying out the method in accordance with this invention with use of the apparatus described above, the humidifying apparatus will be set in operation for the circulation of conditioned air within the chamber a. The conveyor will then be set in motion in the direction of the arrows and charged with hands of tobacco at by fastening the butts of the hands in the clips 33 on the cross bars at. The conveyor will be desirably charged as the cross bars d pass through the short horizontal reach 35. The. hands of tobacco a: on the conveyor will then pass over the sprockets 3! along the horizontal reach 0' and downwardly and about the sprocket e. The several changes of direction which will occur in the passage of the hands of tobacco along the conveyor in this manner will serve to agitate the hands to insure a more even take up of moisture from the conditioned atmosphere and will also act to separate the leaves of the hands as they become progressively moistened. As the hands of tobacco pass up the vertical reaches I and over the relatively small sprockets h, it will be seen that they are rapidly inverted through an angle substantially greater than 180 in their passage about the sprockets h, as is best shown in Figure 8. This is due to the fact that the hands of tobacco, because of their position on the conveyor, pass around the outside of the small sprockets h, which results'ininversion of the hands through 180, the inversion occurring at an increasing rate, at first slowly and finally into relatively increased rapidity. This inversion serves to thoroughly agitate and open up the hands of tobacco as they become progressively moistened and to insure that each leaf in the hand is thoroughly and uniformly moistened.

As has been indicated, if the tobacco to be conditioned by moistening requires the addition of only a relatively small amount of moisture and the bunches are loose and open when applied to the conveyor, the conveyor can be operated at a speed with respect to the combined length of the vertical reaches such that the desired conditioning can be effected in one passage of the vertical reaches, since due to the manipulation of the leaves by the forceful air jets and the penetration thereof into the hands, or by the quick and rapid inversion of the hands, the conditioning will proceed relatively rapidly and with uniformity.

As will be appreciated, the conditioned air discharged through the duct system for general circulation and manipulation and penetration of the bunches or hands is recirculated with adjustment of its condition byv passage through the humidifying apparatus, which, dependent upon the nature of the treatment to be given to the tobacco, will act to cool or heat, humidify or dehumidify the air to the temperature and relative humidity suitable to the particular treatment.

As will be appreciated, numerous and various modifications in detail may be made in the apparatus and in the modus operandi above described without departing from the scope of this invention.

As will be appreciated, the conditioning ofthe gas for delivery to chamber a or a may be automatically controlled by any suitable device. responsive to the condition of the gas in the chamber and capable of manipulating the various heating, cooling and humidifying devices.

In proceeding for the carrying out of the method of this invention, it will frequently be desirable to operate the conveyor at varying speed, dependent upon the degree of moistening of the tobacco. Then, when tobacco is dry, a relatively slow speed of the conveyor will be advantageous. As the tobacco absorbs a certain amount of moisture, the speed of the conveyor will be increased. The tobacco, after absorbing sufficient moisture to have acquired a relative pliability, will benefit in the absorption of further moisture by the incessant manipulation attainable by increased conveyor speed and resulting in more complete opening of the hands in this conditioned atmosphere. As will be appreciated, the condition of the atmosphere in chamber a is maintained at substantially a uniform relative humidity.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of conditioning tobacco which includes moving dry tobacco in a conditioned atmosphere for the purpose of moistening the tobacco characterized by the fact that the rate of movement of the tobacco in the conditioned atmosphere is increased after the tobacco has absorbed suihcient moisture to have acquired a pliahas absorbed suflicient moisture to have acquired pliability, and that after the rate of movement of the tobacco is increased the tobacco is subjected to the action of jets of conditioned air.

,RUSH D. TOUTON.

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