US2796066A - Device for mixing and loosening of tobacco - Google Patents

Description

v June 18, 1957 R. CREUZBURG DEVICE FOR MIXING AND LOOSENING OF TOBACCO Filed Sept. 12, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR: flab/ 1a??? Creazzeiy BY g g I .ltzorne ys June 18, 1957 R. CREUZBURG DEVICE FOR MIXING AND LOOSENING OF TOBACCO 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 12, 1955 INVENTOR. rd Crezzz 5a /Ziiqrneys United States ,PatfitOfiice DEVICE FOR MIXING AND LOOSENTNG OF TOBACCO Richard Creuzburg, Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany, assignor to Kurt Korber & C0. K. G., Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany Application September 12, 1955, Serial No. 533,825

Claims priority, application Germany September 14, 1954 Claims. (Cl. 131-108) The invention relates to a device for mixing and/or loosening tobacco which'is stacked in layers. More particularly the invention is directed to a tobacco handling apparatus, wherein tobacco stacks are fed to an oscillating rake, which rakes, loosens and mixes the tobacco which is thereafter carried away.

There are numerous devices known in the art, in which the tobacco layer is torn away on its front side by an endless rake belt provided with pins or similar projections. The disadvantages of such belts, which engage the tobacco partly from below and going upwardly, and partly from the top and then downwardly, is that the pins had tobe drawn through the full height of the stack, which requires substantial power. Since the raking motion is at right angles to the tobacco layers, the rake shears and damages the leaves rather than withdraws them and also tends to form lumps of unmixed tobacco.

The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a rake arrangement, in which the rake members have a component of motion in the plane of the tobacco layers.

One object of this invention is to provide an arrangement for loosening tobacco stacks without damaging the tobacco.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for loosening tobacco stacks which requires minimum power.

A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for loosening tobacco stacks by a raking action against one face of the stack, in which a component of raking motion substantially paralleling the tobacco layers is provided.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a selfcleaning rake apparatus for loosening tobacco stacks.

According to the present invention, a single rake arrangement is provided, which is driven by a crankshaft or similar operating device. Suitable pegs or prongs forming the rake assembly are arranged in substantially horizontal and vertical directions and are disposed to penetrate the ends of the layers of the tobacco stack with horizontal or substantially horizontal and vertical components of motion for withdrawing the tobacco with similar, substantially horizontal movement.

Some of the tobacco material, impaled on or clinging to the pegs or prongs is removed by a second rake assembly, provided in the arrangement.

The individual pegs or prongs remove only a part of the stacked tobacco material from the front side of the stack and are not carried through the whole tobacco stack. The tobacco material is separated in numerous small parts by the multitude of pegs or prongs, so that lumps cannot be produced. On the contrary, uniform loosening and mixing of the tobacco material is obtained. The relatively small power necessary for efiecting penetration and 2 taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation view partly in section of a tobacco loosening and mixing apparatus embodying the principles of this invention,

Fig. 2 is an elevation view of the apparatus looking into the rake assembly, and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line III--IH of Figure 1.

In the drawing, the tobacco stack 1, comprising layers of different brands of tobacco, is transported by a conventional horizontal conveyor belt 2, operating at constant speed, between two vertical walls 13 and 14 toward the rake assembly. The rake assembly comprises a vertical support or a frame 4 connected at its :corners to four crank discs 5a, 5b, and 5c and 5d, each having an adjustable crank arm 5e. bly extend laterally outwardly from the frame and their outer ends are bent downwardly and in the direction of raking motion. When the frame 4 is driven by the discs 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d, the pegs perform a movement in a circular path. Preferably the crank radius is adjustable as by rotatably adjusting the crank arms 5e relatively to the crank discs. The pegs 3 are arranged in substantially horizontal and vertical rows in order to provide better mixing of the different tobacco brands. The crank discs are driven by chain and sprocket drives operating the shaft 13, which drives the two pairs of elliptical toothed gears 6a and 6b, respectively, connected to crank discs 5a and 5b. Thus the speed of pegs 3 varies as their movement becomes unsymmetrical during each cycle, the arrangement being such, that the pegs penetrate the stack at high speed and are removed from the stack at a lower speed.

The crank discs 5a, 5b, 5c and 5d are connected with each other by a shaft 13 and two vertical chain drives 14. The driving shaft 13 and the shafts of the chain drive are supported by two bearing plates 12a and 12b, as shown in Fig. 2. These can be adjusted by suitable means (not shown) in the direction of the conveyor and are connected with the side walls (not shown) of the conveyor 2. A stripper rake 7 is suspended to a pivot about the shaft 8. The shaft 8 can be adjusted in the slots of the plate 12a and 12b. The free end 7a of the rake 7 is spring loaded by a tension spring 9 against an adjusting screw 10. A second horizontal conveyor belt 11, which can be controlled, receives the tobacco removed from the front side of the stack, and conveys it to a further operating point.

The described arrangement can be changed in some respects without changing the principle of removing the material in substantially horizontal layers. For instance, the frame 4 can be driven only by two crank discs 5a and 5c and can be supported at the lower ends in conventional balance bearings, which can be adjusted relative to their distance from the conveyor belt 2.

These and other obvious modifications of the present invention both in its details and in the organization of such details will be apparent to those skilled in the art, accordingly it is intended that the foregoing disclosure and the showings made in the drawing shall be considered only as illustrative of the disclosed inventive prin ciples and not construed in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for loosening and mixing the layers of a tobacco stack, comprising a rake assembly including a support and a plurality of substantially horizontally projecting pegs secured on said support, driving means connected to said support and adapted to move said support to enable the free ends of said pegs to move in a closed path, and conveyor means adapted to receive a stack of tobacco and to convey said stack toward said The pegs 3 of the rake assemrake assembly to permit said pegs to rake one vertical end of said stack, and for removing and mixing the loosened tobacco.

2. An apparatus for loosening and mixing the layers of a tobacco stack, comprising a rake assembly having a support and a plurality of substantially horizontally projecting pegs secured in said support, driving means comprising cranks, means connecting said cranks to said support for movement in a path in which the free ends of said pegs are moved in a circular path, and conveyor means adapted to receive a stack of tobacco to convey said stack toward said rake assembly for permitting said pegs to rake one vertical edge of said stack and for removing and mixing the loosened tobacco.

3. An apparatus for loosening and mixing the layers of a tobacco stack, comprising a rake assembly having a vertically extending support and a plurality of substantially horizontally projecting pegs secured in said support, driving means comprising cranks, means connecting said cranks to said support for movement in a circular path, and irregular gear means connected to said crank means for driving said rake assembly at varying speed during each crank revolution, and conveyor means adapted to receive a stack of tobacco and convey said stack toward said rake assembly for permitting said pegs of said rake assembly to penetrate said stack at a higher speed than said pegs subsequently removed tobacco from said stack.

4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3, in which said irregular gear means comprises elliptical gears.

5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3, in which the effective radius of said crank means is adjustable.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3, in which the free ends of said pegs have a bend disposed in the direction of raking motion.

7. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3, in which said pegs are arranged in substantially horizontal and vertical rows on said vertical support.

8. An apparatus for loosening and mixing the layers of a tobacco stack, comprising a rake assembly including a vertical support and a plurality of pegs projecting laterally from said support and arranged in rows thereon, driving means engaging said support and moving said support to cause the free ends of said pegs to move in a closed path, having a component of motion along the axis of said page, a stripping rake having portions disposed between said pegs, a pivot means pivotally supporting one end of said stripping rake, and conveyor means having spaced side walls for conveying a tobacco stack toward said rake assembly.

9. An apparatus as set forth in claim 8, including means adjustably mounting said pivot means for adjustment in a direction substantially paralleling the axis of said pegs.

10. An apparatus as set forth in claim 8, including a pair of spaced substantially vertical supports, means journalling said driving means between said supports, the spacing of said supports corresponding substantially to the spacing of said side walls, and means for adjusting said supports toward and away from said conveyor.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 911,229 Germany May 10, 1954

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