US3057126A - Manufacture of packets for cigarettes - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 9, 1962 J. w. CHALMERS ETAL 3,057,126

MANUFACTURE OF PACKETS FOR CIGARETTES "r Shets-Sheet 1 Filed June 20, 1960 17 22 23 INVENTOR! I8 t/olm u/4// r clmlmzr-s Oct. 9, 1962 J. w. CHALMERS ETAL 3,057,126

MANUFACTURE OF PACKETS FOR CIGARETTES Filed June 20', 1960 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTOR/VE) Oct. 9, 1962 J. w. CHALMERS ETAL 3,057,126

MANUFACTURE OF PACKETS FOR CIGARETTES Filed June 20, 1960 '7 Sheets-Sheet 3 FLgZO.

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MANUFACTURE OF PACKETS FOR CIGARETTES '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 20, 1960 s R m m w A TTOR/VEV Oct. 9, 1962 J. w. CHALMERS EI'AL 3,057,126

MANUFACTURE OF PACKETS FOR CIGARETTES 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 20, 1960 Y M; 4% V /M W4 T Wk J Z w 2 mu M u $2 Ym 1962 J. w. CHALMERS ETAL 3,057,126

MANUFACTURE OF PACKETS FOR CIGARETTES 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed June 20, 1960 Oct. 9, 1962 J. w. CHALMERS ETAL 3,057,126

MANUFACTURE OF PACKETS FOR CIGARETTES Filed June 20, 1960 7 Sheets-Sheet '7 A l HIV ATTORNEY 3,057,126 MANUFACTURE OF PACKETS FUR CIGARETTES .lohn Walker Chalmers and Richard Wiiiiam Harris, London, England, assignors to Molins Machine Company Limited, Deptford, London, England, a British com- Pally Filed June 20, 196i), Ser. No. 37,412 Claims priority, application Great Britain June 23, I959 16 @laims. (Cl. 5324) This invention concerns improvements in the packing of cigarettes, and includes a method and machine for making the packet and inserting a Wrapped or unwrapped batch of cigarettes in the packet.

If the cigarettes are wrapped the wrapper, termed hereafter the inner wrapper is usually made of metal foil. The packet is normally made of paper but any such flexible material capable of being folded as described below may be used and the piece of material to constitute the packet will be termed a blank. If the cigarettes are wrapped the packet really constitutes an outer wrapper and this term will be sometimes used where convenient.

In some packets the inner wrapper is often arranged completely to envelop the batch of cigarettes, whilst the outer wrapper is of pouch form and is open at one end so that the end folds of the inner wrapper are accessible, thereby permitting access to the cigarettes by opening such end folds. The end folds of the inner wrapper which are disposed at the open end of the pouch are usually held in position by a band or revenue stamp extending across the open end of the pouch, and secured to opposite faces thereof.

Packets of the kind set forth in the preceding paragraph are extremely popular in the United States of America and in many other countries, and in the United States at least, a very tightly-filled packet is essential for the market, and moreover, the four sides, comprising the front and back and the two narrow sides must merge into one another in small arcs of approximately the radius of a cigarette. In order to make a packet of such crosssection it is necessary to fold the outer wrapper around a former having round corners and the machine described later has this feature in one construction.

In order to achieve the desired tightness of packing, such packets have hitherto been made on hollow formers made of thin sheet metal, and when the packet (normally the inner and outer wrappers combined) is nearly completed the cigarettes have been thrust through the interior of the former and moved far enough to strip the packet therefrom. Such a former must necessarily have a reasonable thickness for the sake of rigidity and durability, and in order to obtain the desired tightness of wrapping, the batch of cigarettes is compressed very heavily before it is inserted into the former and expands somewhat as the packet is stripped from the former, so that a tight packet is obtained. This is satisfactory with ordinary cigarettes but cigarettes having filter mouthpieces cannot be compressed in this manner because most mouthpieces are fairly rigid and packets made in the manner recited are quite unsatisfactory for containing filter cigarettes as the cigarettes are rather loose in the finished packet.

The present invention provides a machine on which the outer wrapper or packet, at least, is made on a former but in which either ordinary cigarettes or filter cigarettes can be wrapped as tightly as may be desired.

Whether the packet has square corners, that is neighbouring faces of the packet meet at 90, or the aforesaid round corners it will be appreciated that the crosssection (transverse to cigarettes contained in the packet) will be substantially rectangular and this term is used atenr n 3,951,126 Patented Get. 9, 1962 herein to cover both shapes of packet. Further it will be appreciated that whether the outer Wrapper is open-ended in its finished form, as in the United States type of packet referred to above, or whether the outer wrapper is long enough to be folded down to efiect complete closure of the packet, the manufacture of the outer wrapper up to the stage where it is ready to receive the contents is just the same. As it is customary to refer to the outerwrapper in a United States type of packet as a pouch, this Word will be used herein to cover either style of outer wrapper.

According to the invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a pouch of substantially rectangular cross-section open at one end and suitable for containing cigarettes, according to which a blank of flexible material is folded around a former to tubular form and one end of the tube is folded on to an end of the former and sealed, while the side fold of the tube is provided with adhesive but is, at least partly, unsecured and the unfinished pouch is removed from the former.

The extent to which the seam is secured, if at all, depends on the condition of the contents to be inserted into the packet. In the case of cigarettes which are uncompressed or are only slightly compressed the side seam of the packet may be secured up to, for example, onethird of its length, the secured part starting at the sealed end of the packet, but where the cigarettes are heavily compressed and would tend to expand somewhat forcibly if free to do so the side seam is left entirely unsecured. In both cases however the outer fold of the seam is held substantially in place by any suitable device and when the contents enter the packet the overlaps of the unstuck seam, or part of the seam, can move to adjust themselves to the size of the contents but the extent of permissible movement is controlled by the size of a receptacle into which the partly-finished packet is inserted, prior to the entry of the contents, as will now be stated.

Further according to the invention there is provided a method of packing cigarettes in an unfinished pouch manufactured by the method set forth above wherein an unfinished pouch is transferred to a hollow receptacle of such size and shape that the pouch is held moderately closely to its original shape, and a batch of cigarettes is fed in through the open end of the pouch whereafter the sides of the pouch are subjected to external pressure and such part of the side seam as is unsecured is sealed.

In this way it is possible to insert the contents easily since the tubular part of the packet will open sufficiently to receive the contents easily and then the tube may be closed down for sealing by exerting external pressure for example by using a converging hollow receptacle so that a tightly wrapped batch is obtained. If the side fold has been left entirely unsecured it will be understood that the whole overlaps can slide over one another as may be necessary to receive a relatively large batch of cigarettes.

It will also be understood that the blank can be of such length as to provide material for closing the mouth of the pouch and that if the cross-section of the packet is to be truly rectangular the former is shaped appropriately. Where an inner wrapper is required this can be first folded on the former, at least partly, as is common in the art, and the outer Wrapper can be then folded on top of the inner wrapper, or the inner wrapper can be formed independently in which latter case the said batch of cigarettes is completely or partly wrapped in an inner wrapper.

The invention further includes machines for carrying out the methods set forth into effect and for the first stated method there is provided a machine for manufacturing a pouch of substantially rectangular cross-section open at one end and suitable for containing cigarettes, comprising an intermittently rotatable wheel having a numher of radially projecting formers spaced around its axis and means for feeding blanks of flexible material to each former in turn and for folding said blank around the former during the intermittent rotation of the wheel, each former having means, including suction means, for holding the blank thereto during the folding operations and an ejector movable Within each former for removing the resulting pouch from the former.

if it is desired to operate according to the second method set forth a further wheel, referred to hereafter, to avoid confusion, as a drum is provided and the invention then includes a. machine for packing cigarettes comprising a machine as set forth above and further comprising an intermittently rotatable drum having a number of radial passages extending from its periphery inwards and adapted to receive pouches removed from the formers by the ejector action, the drum and wheel being so arranged that each pouch only enters a passage for a portion of a pouch length whereafter a batch of cigarettes is inserted through the open end of the pouch and each filled pouch is thereafter pressed further into the passage in the drum. Usually the filled pouch will be pressed so far into the passage that its outer end lies flush with the periphery of the drum. If however the pouch is to have its open end closed it may be pressed into the passage to such an extent that the end folds may be made to effect complete closure during further movement of the drum the folding being done in any known manner. End folding on packets contained in drums or the like is known in the art and devices for this purpose may be substantially identical with those described later for closing the tube end on the former on which the tube is made.

The passages in the drum are of such shape that a fully entered packet is closed entirely along its side seam and during its movement with the drum, the seam dries and the packet is finished. A filled packet may remain in the drum until a further empty packet is ejected into the passage containing said filled packet thus causing the filled packet to move farther towards the axis of the drum and eventually the inner packets may be ejected laterally from the drum as finished articles. The purpose of this arrangement is first to ensure that the side seam is properly sealed and the packet is pulled taut about the contents and next to provide a lateral discharge which is convenient for the particular kind of machine to which filled packets are fed for further operations.

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the machine;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view of FIGURE 1 in the direction of the arrow A;

FIGURE 3 is a local view of FIGURE 1 in the direction of arrow B, partly in section;

FIGURES 4 to 11 show stages in the pouch-making operation;

FIGURE 12 is another side elevation taken from the same standpoint as FIGURE 1 and showing further details of a drum shown broken in FIGURE 1 and of a mouthpiece and pusher shown in that figure, together with details of two ejecting devices associated with a former wheel and the said drum respectively;

FIGURE 13 is a side elevation of tucking mechanism for performing operations shown diagrammatically in FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 14 is a plan of tucking mechanism shown in FIGURE 13;

FIGURE 15 is a front elevation of the mouthpiece shown in FIGURE 12 drawn to a larger scale;

FIGURE 16 is a diagram of the driving arrangements of the former wheel and drum of FIGURE 12.

Referring first to FIGURE 1, 1 is a magazine in which blanks B are placed as indicated and removed one at a time from the bot-tom thereof by any suitable blank feeding device, shown for simplicity as a roller 2. A discharged blank is received on a conveyor 3 and carried towards a wheel 4 which rotates intermittently in the direction of the arrow. The wheel has ten equally spaced radial formers 5 fixed to it and a blank fed from the conveyor 3 is delivered on to the former in line with the conveyor, as shown, and is held thereto by any suitable means. For instance suction could be exerted through holes in the former but it is preferred to use a presser plate 6, operated as hereinafter described.

During its movement along the conveyor 3 the blank is gummed by a gumming device 7 the arrangement being such that one side edge of the blank has a stripe of adhesive 8, FIGURE 4, applied to it and there is also a cross stripe at the trailing end of the moving blank, but this is not shown. In order that the folding stages FIG- URES 49 may be more easily followed the views are arranged above one another, with FIGURE 4 at the bottom and it will be assumed that the observers eye is directed at the end of the former shown receiving the flat blank and then follows round with this former through the several folding stages. At the next movement of the wheel 4 the former 5 and blank B move one stage and tuckers 9, 10 and 11, FIGURE 5, fold the blank round three sides of the former, the short lap near the tucker 11 being thereafter held to the former by suction exerted through holes 12. The tuckers can be of any of the wellknown kinds and operated in any well-known manner as this method of folding a blank round a former is well practised in the art.

The wheel then moves stepwise for three further stages but, in transit, the former moves past a flat plate 13, FIGURE 6, which folds down the remaining part of the blank so that the blank is now folded into a tube about the former. The plate 13 is of such shape and disposition that the overlapping parts of the tube are only lightly held to one another.

As stated previously the side seam formed by joining the overlapping parts may be temporarily unsecured or sealed for part of its length, for example, the distance indicated by the line 14, FIGURE 7. In order to secure adhesion of such part of the seam as it is desired to secure, pressers are provided arranged to operate on the tube of the partly-finished packet during the times formers occupy these three further stages. Referring also to FIGURE 3, 15 is a bracket fixed to some suitable part of the machine frame and at 16 is a pivot. Curved arms 17 are pivoted at 16 and each has a presser 18 at its free end, the two pressers engaging opposite sides of the tube on a former. A lever :19 is fixed to one curved member and pivoted to a link 20 carrying a roller 21 and pivoted at the roller centre to a further link 22 pivoted to the other curved arm. A crown cam 23 periodically depresses the roller 21 and the links force the respective curved members towards one another to apply the pressure to both sides of the tube to keep it firmly located while the seam is pressed. In FIGURES 10 and 11 crosssections of the former at any of the pressing positions are shown. In FIGURE 10 the section is taken near the outer end of the former 5 and the presser 18 on the seam side is pressing on the whole of the packet side. In FIG- URE 11 the section is nearer to the inner end of the former, that is, nearer to the open mouth of the eventual pouch and the presser on the seam side is cut away as shown so that the seam is not secured at that part. It will be appreciated that these pressers assist in the actual formation of the tube, whether the seam is secured or not, by holding the wider part of the material forming the seam side of the tube substantially in the position it finally occupies. Thus according to the amount by which the presser at the seam side is cut away the adhesive either does not secure the seam or, alternatively, only sticks the overlaps together where they are beneath the pressers 18. The plate 13 extends around the path of the formers as far as the ejecting position but the middle part is broken away for clarity. At the fifth stage of the movement which is reached as just described three tuckers 25, 26 and 27, of any conventional construction, move in the directions indicated in FIGURE 8 and fold the narrow tucks down onto the ends of the former with one broad flap overlapping them.

Tuckers and operating mechanism of suitable design are shown in FIGURES 13 and 14 and will now be described. The tuckers diagrammatically indicated in FIG- URE 8 at 25, 26, 27 are shown in these views in their true shape with the necessary operating mechanism, and bear the same references as before. The tucker as is supported on links 71 and 72 pivoted at 73 and 74 respectively. A rod 75 is pivoted to the link 71 at 76 and its other end is pivoted at 77 to an arm 78 of a doublearmed cam lever which is pivoted at 79 to a boss 86 of a box casting referred to later. The other arm 80 of the cam lever has a roller 81 attached to it which engages a disc cam 82. The link 72mentioned above has an ex- .tension 83 so that the link also functions as a lever and to the extremity of the extension is pivoted at 84 a link In practice the link 85 is made in two pieces adjustable on one another so as to vary the link length but as this is merely for setting operations the link is shown as a plain bar.

The link 85 is pivoted at 37 to a bell-crank lever 89 which is pivoted at 90. The tucker 25 is carried by the bell-cnank lever 89 and a further link 91, similarly to the manner in which the tucker 26 is mounted. A spring 92extends from the point 76 to a similar point on another set of tuckers (the machine being a duplex model) and draws the roller 81 into contact with the cam 82. Thus as the cam 82 rotates, the tuckers 25 and 26 move towards and away from one another in arcuate paths and tuck in the narrow tucks and press them down on to the end of the former.

The tucker 27 is fixed to a curved lever 93 which is fixed to a pivoted shaft 94 mounted in a bracket 88. A lever 95 is also fixed to this shaft and has a roller 96 at its .free end which engages a crown cam 97 under the pressure of a spring 98. This cam is fixed to the same .driving shaft as the disc cam 82 and this shaft 99 and the two cams are shown in FIGURE 13. The cams are housed in a box casting 100 which is shown broken away and in section and partly in chain outline. The boss 86 is part of this casting and the bracket 88 is fixed to it.

The crown cam 97 has a contour such that the tucker 27 dwells in three different positions, two outer positions being shown inchain lines in FIGURE 13 and a final .position in full lines. The tucker is in the outer position folded until the remaining broad flap encounters a plate 28 which folds said remaining flap as described next. ;In this vway the first broad .flap cannot spring up and escape from its folded position.

During the next movement of the wheel the remaining broad fiap of the end of the packet encounters a plate 28 which, operating in a manner similar to the plate 13, folds down said broad flap so as to produce anopenended packet, the closed end of which is sealed in the manner shown in FIGURE 9. The said plate extends round the path of the formers to terminate just before the ejecting position.

The wheel then moves three further intermittent stages during which pressure by said plate 28 came end of the tube continues, but in order to make an effective seal because, as will be seen, the fiaps in question are quite short and liable to be springy, pressers 29 are provided operating at three stages as shown in FIGURE 1. The

position.

they are ignored here.

:first presser 29 is fixed to a lever -30 pivoted at 3'1 and on the same pivot is another lever 32 carrying the second 33 having a roller 34 which engages a cam 35 and lever '32 is openated directly by a cam 36. The reaction of the wedge is taken by a roller 24 rotatable on a fixed axis. The last presser 29 is fixed to a lever 37 pivoted at 38 and this is operated in a similar manner to the lever 30, by a cam rod 39 having a roller 40 engaging a cam 41. The cams 35 and 41 are alike because they both operate t trough a wedge-like cam rod but the cam 36 has a smaller throw because it operates directly on the roller of lever 32 which roller is in line with the corresponding prcsser.

After leaving the last presser 29 a former moves a further stage bringing the packet into alignment with a passage 42 formed radially in an intermittently rotatable drum 4-3, whereupon an ejector inside the former pushes the packet partly into said passage. The ejector is not shown in FIGURE 1 but in FIGURES 4, 5, and 6 a dotted rectangle 44 may be taken to represent the stem of the ejector, the ejector itself being a plate 45 constituting the end of the former.

The ejector action is best followed from FIGURE 12 where the ejector rods 44 are shown provided with rollers 52. A bell-crank lever pivoted at 53 has a long arm 54 provided at its free end with an open fork 55 into which a roller 52 can run as a former comes to the ejecting The other arm 56 of the bell-crank lever has a roller 57 at its free end which engages with a cam 58 under the pressure of a spring 59. Each time the Wheel stops, the cam-58 causes the arm 54 to make a stroke and carry the ejector whose roller is at that time engaging the fork in the arm 54 outwards from the axis of the wheel 4-. It will be noticed that the arm 54 is of elaborate construction having a number of parts attached to it which have not been described. These parts relate to a detecting device associated with the ejecting operation and form the subject of another patent application and therefore The passages such as 42 referred to above with respect to FIGURE 1 are in fact elements shaped as shown in FIGURE 12 where they are marked .142. These elements are attached to a circular member 101 to constitute the drum 43.

As will be seen from FIGURE 1, by entering the packet for only part of its length the unsealed side seam, or unsealed part thereof, is still relatively free and this is helpful to ensure that the contents can be inserted into the packet although the latter will eventually be a very close fit on the contents. When the passage marked 42 has moved four stages in the direction of the arrow it is in alignment with a mouthpiece 46 which is of an expandible nature so that it can be moved into the mouth of the packet while small and is then opened to the full width of the packet, stretching it slightly if need be. .In practice the blades of the mouthpiece are mechanically moved to and .fro for this purpose and a suitable construction is described below.

To the left-hand side of the drum 43 there is shown a plate 49 over Which wrapped batches 48 of cigarettes are moved, by a reciprocating plunger 50 which thrusts a batch through the mouthpiece 46 which moves into the mouth of the packet and is later withdrawn from the packet.

The structure of the mouthpiece 46 FIGURE 1 and its method of operation are best followed from FIGURE 15. Four substantially right angled segments, two marked 102 and two marked 103 are provided, each segment carrying a blade-like portion 102A and 103A respectively. When the segments are closed in as explained below the blade-like portions, referred to hereafter as blades define'a tapering funnel of generally rectangular cross-section. Each segment has a flat extension 104 slidable on studs 105 fixed to a support plate or mouthpiece frame 106. Springs 107, attached to pins 107A fixed in the extensions 104, tend to pull the segments together but they are controlled by a plate cam 108. This cam has a roller 109 mounted on it which lies in a fork 110 at the free end of a lever 111 pivoted to the frame 106. At 112 a further lever 113 fixed to the lever 111 has a roller 114 at its free end which lies in the fork 115 of another lever 116, FIGURE 12. The cam 108 has four arcuate slots 10813 in it in which the studs 105 fit so that the cam can swing around its center so far as the slots permit. It will be seen that as the cam 108 is oscillated rolling on the studs 105 and about its axis, the blades will open and close. 'It will also be seen from the figure that the segments 102 and 103 are not symmetrical about the centre-line of the assembly. This is to suit the number of cigarettes in a row and to ensure, as explained below, that when loose cigarettes are passing into and through the funnel a cigarette in the bottom row cannot be nipped between the lower blades nor fall down between them. The segments and blades are therefore designed to suit the particular batch-form adopted for any cigarette pack. In the present case the lowest row contains an odd number but by offsetting the parts as shown the centre line of the gap between 102 and 103 comes in alignment with a vertical plane on which two cigarettes in the lower row touch one another. Thus there is no risk of injury to a cigarette as long as the centre of the gap lies in a vertical plane as defined. Even when the cigarette batch is wrapped there may be some tendency for the wrapped batch to bulge a little at the base of a cigarette so the arrangement is useful either way and in any case it is not detrimental.

Referring now to FIGURE 12 the lever 116 is pivoted at 117 and a short lever 118 fixed to the lever 116 is rocked on its pivot by a link 119 pivoted at 120 to one arm 121 of a double-armed lever pivoted at 122. The other arm 123 of the lever carries a roller 124 at its free end which engages a cam 125 mounted on a shaft 126. Another cam 127 on the same shaft engages a roller 128 which is attached to a lever arm of almost the same size and shape as 123 and is thus hidden by it in the figu're. This hidden arm has a short arm 129 fixed to it which is pivoted to a link 130. The link is in turn pivoted to a short lever 131 provided on a shaft 132 journalled in a bracket 133 and the mouthpiece frame is fixed to this shaft. Thus as the cams 125 and 127 rotate, the mouthpiece is oscillated to and fro to enter and retreat from the open mouth of a pouch and at the same time the sections of the funnel are opened and closed. The action is as follows:

It will be seen from the figure that the cam 108 has an operative contour marked 108A and that this is somewhat irregular. The drum, in a cycle of 360 is stationary for 180 and then moves for 180. In FIGURE 12 the drum 43 is about to start to move that is, 180 of a cycle has elapsed, and the mouthpiece 46 is wide open and in its remote position from the drum. The mouthpiece remains in the position shown for 80 of the cycle (that is at 260 from the start of a cycle) during which time the pusher 50 moves backwards from its position nearest to the drum and through the open mouthpiece. The mouthpiece then starts to close and is finally closed by the end of a further 80 of the cycle (that is at 340 from the start of a cycle). It remains closed and still in the outer position for another of the cycle and at the end of this 360 cycle the drum stops again. Then the mouthpiece moves towards the drum and reaches its inner position in 36 of the next cycle at which time the pusher starts to move forwards pushing a batch towards the mouthpiece. After a further 4 the mouthpiece starts to open and after a further the opening to the first stage, that is, when the batch starts to enter the mouthpiece is complete. 15 later the mouthpiece starts to move back towards its outer position and at this moment the batch has reached a position where its front end is level with the inner end of the mouthpiece. As the inner end of the mouthpiece is inside the mouth of the packet the cigarettes are fairly entered into the packet. After a further 15 of the cycle the mouthpiece starts to open and by the end of another 15 the mouthpiece is right back and wide open. Meanwhile the pusher is still pushing the batch into the pouch, the pusher forward movement ceasing at the end of a further 27 that is, at 147 from the start of the cycle. From this it will be seen that the mouthpiece is closed until it enters a pouch, then opens to a limited extent to permit the cigarettes to pass into it and then it starts to retreat from he pouch and while retreating it starts to open still more and eventually reaches a maximum opening to permit the pusher to move easily on the remainder of its forward stroke and the whole of its back stroke.

This explanation is given by way of example as the relative movements of the parts vary according to the length of the cigarettes being handled, the figures given being for a cigarette mm. long.

It is intended that the movement of cigarettes into the pouch shall not disturb the position of the pouch in the element 142. When the machine is in full operation it will be understood from explanations given below that each pouch thrust into a passage in the drum 43 by ejector action presses a filled pouch already in said passage further towards the drum axis. For starting up a machine previously made packets may be put into the drum passages for the same purpose. Moreover as stated below the passages are of such size that the pouch will be closely pressed around the contents if the side seam has not been sealed and thus a filled pouch is a rather tight fit in a passage and will form an effective support for another one while it is being filled.

The drum 43 moves one further stage when a pusher 51 pushes the filled packet into the passage-way so that it lies somewhat inside the drum periphery. During this movement any unsecured part of the side seam is effectively closed down and the packets remain in the drum for the rest of the revolution, thus giving the adhesive time to dry thoroughly and when a passage containing a finished packet again reaches the position where it is in alignment with a former on the wheel 4, that is, where the passage is marked 42, the next packet being thrust into the passage by the ejector pushes the finished packet farther towards the drum axis and later, at some suitable edge, depending on the construction of the next machine arranged to handle the finished packets, the said packets are ejected laterally from the drum 43. It will be seen that due to the large drum and the fact that packets occupy it for more than one revolution there is ample time for proper drying.

The pusher 51 is operated by a crown cam 134 mounted on a shaft 135. A roller 136 on a lever 137 engages the cam, the lever 136 being pivoted at 138 and having an extension 139 to which is pivoted a link 140. The link is attached to a body 141 slidable in guides 144 and the pusher is fixed to the body.

The lateral ejector is shown in FIGURE 12 as a finger 145 slidable on a pair of rods 146. The finger lies behind the packet it is to eject and then moves forwards, at right-angles to the plane of the paper, under the action of cam or similar mechanism, not shown.

The cross-section of a passage such as 42 may converge from the inlet, at least for part of the way, or it may have parallel sides with a short bevel or radius at the entry edges to provide a lead-in for the entering packet. To illustrate this, two of the members 142 on FIGURE 12 at the lower part of the view are drawn in section. In one section the sides have convex shapes and in the other they converge. It is in order to ensure that the filled pouches lie in parallel parts of the passages that they are pressed in beyond the drum periphery and the amount they are pressed in depends on the shaping of the passage entry. The purpose is first to receive an empty packet and hold its side folds substantially in position and next to confine the packet in such manner that as the contents is thrust 9 in, the packet will be held to the final cross-section desired, the unsecured parts of the packet shifting as may be necessary to accommodate the contents. In other words the cross-sectional dimensions are those of the desired cigarette batch plus the thickness of the wrapper or wrappers.

The pressure plates 6 firmly press the blanks against the formers from the blank feeding position to the last stage preceding the ejecting position. At the said preceding stage the presser plate has been shifted, as shown, from the pressing position, the plates being operated as follows:

A fixed cam 60* is provided and each presser plate is pivoted to the wheel 4 at a point such as the point marked 61. A tailpiece 62 is fixed to each presser plate and a roller 63 attached to this runs on the cam 6t) and the presser plates are thus kept away from the formers in the manner shown in FIGURE 1 in spite of the fact that each pivot 61 comprises a torsion spring (not shown) which tends to close a presser plate on to a former. The cam 60 is shown as an arc concentric with the axis of the wheel but it could have its radius reduced towards the blank feeding position so that the presser would begin to close towards the former as the latter approached the feeding position. As a presser must be. kept far enough away from its former, just after the latter comes to rest, to permit the blank to be fed over the former, a presser control device is provided consisting of a lever 64 pivoted to a stationary pivot at 65 and having another lever 66 attached to it said lever having a roller 67 which runs on a crown cam 68. As a roller 63 runs clear of the cam 60 and its former is beginning to stop moving, a further roller 69 on the tailpiece 62 see FIGURE 2, runs on to a face 70 formed on the free end of the lever 64 which is then in such position that the presser cannot close. When the wheel 4 stops and a blank has been fed to the former the cam 68 causes the lever 64 to move to the left (to the position shown) so that the roller 69 is able also to move to the left and permit the presser to close under the action of the torsion spring.

The intermittent driving arrangements for the wheel 4 and drum 43 are shown in FIGURE 16.

A motor 150 drives a countershaft 151 through a belt transmission 152 and the countershaft drives a shaft 153 through reduction gearing 154. The wheel and drum are each driven by gearing of the kind sometimes known as a roller drive gear. On the shaft 153 is a driving member 155 which may be regarded either as a cam or alternatively as a worm, part of whose thread 156 is of Zero lead. The thread 156 engages with radially disposed rollers 157 attached to a disc 158, fixed on a shaft 159 which is the shaft carrying the drum 43.

Each revolution of the shaft 153 moves the drum through the angle between two neighbouring rollers which is also the angle between two neighbouring passages in the drum 43 and the drum is held still between the movements while the part of the thread which is of Zero lead is running between two rollers.

The shaft 153 has a mitre gear wheel 160 at one end mating with another mitre gear wheel 161 on a vertical shaft 162. At the top of the shaft are other mitre gear wheels 163 and 164 the latter being fixed on a shaft 165 having a cam 166 on it of the same kind as cam 155. This drives a disc 167 fixed to a shaft 168 which is the shaft carrying the wheel 4. Thus wheel and drum are driven at the proper rates, one former to one passage.

What we claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A method of packing cigarettes comprising the steps of folding a blank of flexible material around a substantially rectangular former so that the margins of the blank overlap to provide a seam on the narrow side of the former thus bringing the blank to tubular form with one end of the tube extending beyond the end of the former, folding the extending part down onto said end of the former by first folding the narrow sides of the extending part to make narrow tucks and then folding the other sides to make broad flaps, to provide at this stage a pouch of substantially rectangular cross-section open at one end with the folded end being adhesively sealed, while the side seam of the tube is provided with adhesive but is, at least partially, unsealed, removing the unfinished pouch from the former and transferring the same part-way of its length into a hollow receptacle, the receptacle being of such size and shape that the pouch is held moderately closely to its original shape, feeding a batch of cigarettes into the pouch through the open end thereof, and thereafter subjecting the sides of the pouch to external pressure by projecting the pouch fully into the receptacle to cause the pouch to close tightly on its contents and such part of the side seam as was left unsealed to become sealed.

2. A machine for packing cigarettes comprising an intermittently rotatable wheel having a number of radially projecting, substantially rectangular formers spaced around its axis and means for feeding blanks of flexible material provided with adhesive to each former in turn and folding devices located at various positions around the path of rotation of the formers for folding said blank around the former during the intermittent rotation of the wheel, said devices operating first to fold the blank around a former so that margins of the blank overlap to provide a seam on a narrow side of the former, thus bringing the blank to tubular form with one end of the tube extending beyond an end of the former whereafter the extending part is folded down onto said end of the former by first folding the narrow sides of the extending part to make narrow tucks and then folding the other sides to make broad flaps to provide a pouch of substantially rectangular cross-section open at one end, the folded end being adhesively sealed, each former having means for holding the blank thereto during the folding operations and an ejector movable within each former for removing the resulting pouch from the former, an intermittently rotatable drum having a number of radial passages extending from its periphery inwards and adapted to receive pouches removed from the formers by the ejector, successive pouches being thrust into successive pockets by the ejector, the drum and wheel being so positioned that each pouch initially only enters a passage for a portion of a pouch length, means for inserting a batch of cigarettes through the open end of the pouch and means for thereafter pressing each filled pouch further into a passage in the drum to cause the filled pouch to conform to the cross-section of the passage.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein the means for holding the blank to the former during the folding operations includes suction means.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the side seam provided with adhesive is lightly pressed against the cooperating part of the blank so that it does not adhere thereto but is slidable thereon.

5. A machine as claimed in claim 2 in which the passages are of at least twice the length of a pouch whereby a filled pouch may remain in the drum for more than one revolution, said pouch being pressed further towards the drum axis by the next pouch fed into a passage under the ejector action.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 2 in which the passages are of at least twice the length of a pouch whereby a filled pouch may remain in the drum for more than one revolution, said pouch being pressed further toward the drum axis by the next pouch fed into a passage under the ejector action, the inner part of a passage, which part is occupied by a filled pouch when the latter has been moved further towards the drum axis by the next pouch entering the passage, has an opening through which the filled pouch may be removed in a direction parallel to the drum axis, and wherein an ejector is provided movable to effect the removal of said pouch.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 2 in which the entry to a radial passage converges inwards from the periphery of the drum whereby external pressure is exerted on a filled pouch.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 2 comprising pressing devices operating on the narrow sides of the formed tube while the latter is on a former to retain the formed tube in position and shape.

9. A machine as claimed in claim 2 comprising adhesive applying apparatus positioned between the means for feeding the blanks and the former wheel, and pressing devices operating on the narrow sides of the formed tube while the latter is on a former to retain the formed tube in position and shape, the pressing device operating on the side seam formed when the blank is folded around the former to make the tube being shaped so as to press on only a part of the side seam, said part extending from the closed end of the pouch towards the open end, thus leaving unsecured part of the side seam towards the open end of the pouch.

10. A machine as claimed in claim 2 wherein each ejector comprises a rod extending towards the centre of the wheel and having a roller on its inner end and means for reciprocating said rod comprising a cam lever having a fork at its free end and so located that each roller in turn runs into said fork, and a cam for moving said lever to cause an ejector stroke.

11. A machine as claimed in claim 2 comprising an expansible mouthpiece through which cigarettes are fed into a pouch positioned in the drum said mouthpiece comprising four right-angle segments carrying blades which when closed together define a substantially rectangular funnel, the segments being movable towards and away from the centre of the rectangle on the diagonals thereof, a frame slidably supporting the segments and a cam operatively connected to each of the four segments, means for oscillating the cam around its axis to move the segments away from said centre on one oscillatory movement and springs to draw the segments towards said centre when the cam is moved back on the return oscillatory movement.

12. A machine as claimed in claim 11 comprising a pivot for said frame and means for imparting movement to the frame to move said funnel into the mouth of a pouch, a pusher and actuating means therefor to push a batch of cigarettes through the funnel and into the pouch whereafter the first said means moves the frame in the reverse direction and the said cam separates the segments again.

13. A machine as claimed in claim 2 comprising pressers located at several positions occupied by a stationary former during the intermittent rotation of the wheel, each presser being arranged to engage those portions of blank material which are folded on to the end of a former to provide a base for the pouch, an adhesive applying device to apply adhesive to said portions to cause them to be sealed together and mechanism for forcibly i2 pressing the several pressers against the ends of pouches on formers to consolidate the folds and effect the adhesive sealing thereof.

14. An expansible mouthpiece for a cigarette packing machine through which mouthpiece cigarettes are fed into a pouch, said mouthpiece comprising four rightangled segments carrying blades which when closed together define a substantially rectangular funnel, the segments being movable towards and away from the center of the rectangle on lines extending substantially diagonally thereof, a frame supporting the segments and movable to move the funnel into and out of the mouth of the pouch, means on the frame supporting the segments for sliding movement with respect thereto, a cam operatively connected to each of the four segments, means for oscillating the cam around its axis to move the segments away from said center on one oscillatory movement, and spring means for drawing the. segments toward said center when the cam is moved back on the return oscillatory movement.

15. A drum for receiving in succession a series of formed pouches of the type which are substantially rectangular in cross-end and open at one end and retaining said packages while the contents are inserted into said pouch through said open end, all as said drum is intermittently rotated, said drum having a plurality of radial passages extending from its periphery inwards, said passages being generally of the same cross-section as said pouches, successive pouches being inserted into successive passages and the contents being introduced into successive packages while the latter are in said pasages adjacent said periphery, the length of said pasages being at least twice the length of a pouch, whereby a filled pouch may remain the corresponding passage for more than one revolution of said drum, being pressed farther into said passage as another pouch is inserted therein.

16. A drum as claimed in claim 15 wherein the inner part of a passage, which part is occupied by a filled pouch when the latter has been moved farther into the passage by the next pouch to be introduced therein, has an opening through which the filled pouch may be removed in a direction parallel to the drum axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 665,241 Ludington Jan. 1, 1901 732,703 Brown July 7, 1903 1,803,712 La Bombard et a1. May 5, 1931 1,893,169 Hartmann July 3, 1933 2,281,582 Irmscher May 5, 1942 2,401,109 Rohdin May 28, 1946 2,603,047 Malhiot July 15, 1952 2,608,039 Abramowski Aug. 26, 1952 2,697,313 Wilcox Dec. 21, 1954 2,810,998 Niepmann Oct. 29, 1957 2,951,326 Dorman et al. Sept. 6, 1960 2,991,605 Pollmann July 11, 1961

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