US2918197A - Conveyor apparatus - Google Patents

Description

1959 A. RITSCHER ETAL 2,918,197

CONVEYOR APPARATUS Filed. April 5, 1956 l I .flttorkeyis 2,9 18,197 CONVEYOR APPARATUS Arthur Ritscher, Hamburg-Bergedorf, and Bernhard Schubert, Hambnrg-Sasel, Germany, assignors to Kurt Kiirber & Co. K.G., Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany Application April 5, 1956, Serial No. 576,452 Claims priority, application Germany, April 29, 1955 ll Claim. (Cl. 221-183) This invention relates to apparatus for inserting rodshaped articles, such as cigaraettes or cigars, into grooves located in rotating conveyor means.

In cases where it becomes necessary to supply rodshaped articles, such as cigarettes, from a storage bin to grooves formed in the outer periphery of a conveyor drum, a chute or the like is employed to conduct the articles from the bin to the conveyor drum. The arrangement is such that when a groove in the conveyor drum sweeps over the mouth of the chute, the cigarette nearest the drum will fall into the groove. It often happens, however, that certain of the grooves remain unfilled as they sweep over the mouth of the chute.

To circumvent this problem prior art devices have employed a second chute, located beyond the first, which is designed to fill the empty grooves after they have swept over the mouth of the first chute. Located in the open end of the second chute is a bucket which can be made to rotate where an empty groove passes thereunder to deposit a cigarette in that empty groove.

Although the device described above may be satisfactory for certain purposes, it fails, for example, when 1,000 or more cigarettes per minute are inserted into the conveyor drum. A further disadvantage of the device lies in the fact that the lowermost cigarette in the chute is always under the pressure of the cigarettes above it and each cigarette must change from a stationary position in the chute to the moving conveyor almost instantaneously. These two factors combine in causing a strain upon the cigarette with a resultant substantial loss of tobacco from the cigarette.

It is an object of this invention to provide new and improved means for transferring cigarettes or the like from a bin to a moving conveyor. In accordance with the present invention, a column of cigarettes is retained in the chute leading from a storage bin by a stationary support. A rotating finger, having the speed of the conveyor drum, then picks up the cigarette in the chute nearest the drum and deposits it in a groove in the drum. In this manner rubbing friction between the cigarettes and conveyor drum is eliminated and the insertion of the cigarettes into their cooperating grooves is achieved without acceleration. The rotating finger is provided on one side with a profile corresponding to the form of the cigarette and is shaped on its other side so that the cigarettes are delivered to the conveyor smoothly and continuously.

In the embodiment of the device shown and described herein, several chutes are provided for conveying cigarettes from their bin to the rotating drum. With this arrangement, a plurality of grooves may be filled simultaneously whereby the speed of the drum is decreased and damage to the cigarettes is minimized.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying single figure drawing which forms a part of this specification.

Referring to the drawing, cigarettes 1 are placed on the bottom plates 2a and 2b of a storage bin 3. Communicating with the lowermost portion of bin 3 are tilted rates atent 2,918,197 Patented Dec. 22, 1959 ice three chutes or channels 4a and 4b and 40 which are adapted to receive the cigarettes 1, substantially as shown. Eccentrically supported rollers 5a, 5b, 5c and 50. will, upon rotation in the same direction, permit the cigarettes to drop into the respective channels.

For purposes of simplicity the operation of chute 4a will be described only, it being understood that the operation of the other two chutes is the same. As shown, the lowermost cigarette 1a in chute 4a rests upon a support 6a which is fastened to the left hand side wall 7a of the chute. At the lower extremity of chute 4a is disposed a circular rotating member 8a having a finger 9a secured to its outer periphery. Upon rotation of member 8a in the direction of arrow 10a, finger 9a will pass through a slot 11a in side wall 7a and support 6a to strip off the lowermost cigarette in chute 4a and deposit it in groove 12a of the conveyor drum 14, rotating in the direction of arrow 13. Support 6a prevents the lowermost cigarette in the chute from being bruised by coming in contact with the rotating member 8a. The channel wall 15a, at its lower extremity, is extended in an arc concentric to member 8a to prevent the cigarettes from falling outwardly when they are carried by finger 9a from chute 4a to groove 12a.

The other rotating members 8b and 8c operate in a similar manner and deposit the cigarettes 1b and 1c in their respective grooves 12b and 120. Suitable gearing means, not shown, interconnects members 8a, 8b and 8c to conveyor drum 14 whereby the outer periphery of drum 14 will traverse the distance between every third groove during one revolution of the members 8a, 8b and 80. In this manner rotating member 8a will deposit cigarettes in grooves 12a and 12a, member 8b will deposit cigarettes in grooves 12b and 12b, and so on. The speed of the drum 14 can thus be increased over the case where only one chute is employed.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a certain specific embodiment it should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and arrangement of parts can be made to suit requirements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

In an apparatus for depositing cigarettes and the like, comprising a rotary conveying drum having a plurality of circumferentially spaced cigarette receiving grooves in its peripheral surface, a storage bin for the cigarettes arranged above said drum, a channel member extending downwardly from said bin toward said drum with its lower end arranged in spaced relation from the periphery of said drum, a pair of spaced prongs extending across a portion of the mouth of said channel for supporting the lowermost cigarette in said channel member and retaining the ones directly thereabove in stacked relation, a rotary roller disposed between the mouth of said channel member and the periphery of said rotary drum, and a finger extending radially outward from the periphery of said rotary member adapted to pass between said prongs and engage the lowermost cigarette in said channel member and convey the same through an arcuate channelway of approximately for being deposited in one of the grooves in said rotary drum, said prongs being arranged to hold the lowermost cigarettes in said channel in spaced relation from said rotary roller and in a position to be engaged by said finger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 815,173 Huser Mar. 13, 1906 2,001,786 Karnaghan May 21, 1935 2,419,242 Woodberry et a1 Apr. 22, 1947 2,550,616 Stephano Apr. 24, 1951

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