US3180067A

US3180067A - Cigarette-collecting mechanism

Info

Publication number: US3180067A
Application number: US169781A
Authority: US
Inventors: Pembroke George Frederick; Hillman James George Edward
Original assignee: Molins Machine Co Ltd
Current assignee: Molins Machine Co Ltd
Priority date: 1961-02-08
Filing date: 1962-01-30
Publication date: 1965-04-27
Anticipated expiration: 1982-04-27
Also published as: GB1004419A; CH390135A

Description

April 27, 1965 G. F. PEMBROKE EI'AL CIGARETTE-COLLECTING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 30, 1962 Iuvsmara 5 April 27, 1965 s. F. PEMBROKE EI'AL 3,180,067

CIGARETTE-COLLECTING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 30, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,180,067 CIGARETTE-CQLLECTHQG MECHANISM George Frederick Pembroke and James George Edward Hillman, London, England, assignors to Molins Machine Qompany Limited, London, England, a British company Filed Jan. 30, 1962, Ser. No. 169,781

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Feb. 8, 1961, 4,696/ 61 8 Claims. (Cl. 53-148) This invention concerns improvements in or relating to cigarette-collecting mechanism for collecting cigarettes automatically into containers.

Containers used for collection of cigarettes in bulk are commonly known as trays, and the word tray will be used herein, for convenience, as meaning any suitable container in which cigarettes can be held in stack-like arrangement.

It has previously been proposed to feed cigarettes downwardly into a fixed receptacle, (e.g., to form a stack) and then to push the cigarettes in the direction of their axes (e.g., to push a stack of cigarettes bodily) intoan adjacent tray which is open at the front, i.e., at the side facing the fixed receptacle. For this purpose it has been proposed to use a tray having a back wall at the side of the tray remote from the recptacle, to provide'support for the cigarettes pushed into the tray. Such a wall is referred to herein as a back wall, since it is located at the back of the tray considered in the direction in which cigarettes are pushed into the tray.

Trays are also known, and in commonuse, which are open at both sides (i.e., which have no back wall). Such a tray may consist only of end walls and a base. For convenience such trays will be referred to herein as open-sided trays.

According to the present invention there is provided cigarette-collecting mechanism, for use with open-sided trays (i.e., trays having no back wall), in which cigarettes are pushed axially into an open-side tray, and wherein there is provided a plate member arranged to be moved into association with a tray to serve as a temporary back wall thereof, and means operative to move the plate member into such association before filling of the tray commences, and to move it away from the tray when the latter has been filled.

The plate member may be carried by carrier members mounted on a support so as to be movable relative thereto, and so as to be capable of moving the said plate member into and out of association with the tray. The said support may be arranged to be moved up and down to raise and lower the tray, the said carrier members being arranged to move upwardly and downwardly with the said support.

The said carrier members may be pivotally mounted on the said support and arranged to be swung to move the said plate member into and out of association with the tray, and the swinging movements of the said carrier members may be controlled by a cam surface extending along the path of the said support as it moves upwardly and downwardly. There may be provided a further cam Surface, e.g. on the said support, with which a cam follower connected to the said plate member cooperates, so as to effect control over movement of the said plate member relative to the said support.

Apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which 7 FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic plan View,

. whose ends are fixed to brackets 25 carried by a chain" FIGURE 2 is an enlarged plan view of part of FIG- URE 1, showing additional details,

FIGURE 3 is an end view, and

FIGURE 4 shows some of the mechanism illustrated in FIGURE 3, with parts in different positions.

In FIGURE 1, two cigarette-making machines are shown fragmentarily at 1 and 2. Catcher bands 3 and 4 extend towards the right from the machine. 1, and

similar catcher bands

5 and 6 extend towards the left from machine 2.

Cigarettes coming from the two machines are delivered in any suitable way on to the

catcher bands

3, 4, 5 and 6, each of which carries arow of cigarettes transversely t of their axes. 7 Between the ends of the

bands

3 and 5, and lengthwise in line-with them, is a receptacle 7 to receive cigarettes from the

bands

3 and 5. A similar receptacle is located between the ends of the bands 4 and 6, the two receptacles being, asv shown, ofiset from each other lengthwise. Cigarettes are fed from opposite directions by the pairs of bands, 3, 5," and 4, 6, into the

receptacles

7 and 8 respectively, and are supported therein and form stacks 9 and 10 (FIGURE 2) on a platform 11, FIGURES 2 and 3. This platform isformed in two separate parts since the two receptacles are divided by a vertical partition 12. The platform is arranged to be gradually lowered downwardly through the

receptacles

7 and 8, in the'manner disclosed in United States patent specification No. 2,919,529 and cigarettes fed into the receptacles form a stack in each receptacle. platform is near its lowermost position rows of needles 13 are projected into end faces of cigarettes to arrest downwardmovement of all cigarettes above a chosen level, and a support plate 14 is subsequently moved into the receptacles to support those cigarettes. The stacks of cigarettes still supported on the platform 11 continue to move downwardly untilthey reach the appropriate position from which they are to be transferred from the receptacles into a tray.

The arrangements whereby cigarettes are arrested and supported by needles l3 and the plate 14 are similar to those disclosed in United States patent specification No. 2,919,529 referred to above, but in the present case the needle rows and the support plate are stepped as illustrated in FIGURE 2.

A pusher device comprising two

pusher plates

15a and 15b is arranged to move forwardly so that the

plates

15a, 15b, which as seen in FIGURE 2 are in line with each other, move through the

receptacles

7 and 8 respectively. The pusher plate ISa-first engages the stack. 9 and pushes it forwardly (i.e., axially of the cigarettes) until it is in line with the stack 19, which is thereupon engaged by the pusher plate 15b and the two stacks are thereafter moved as a single stack across the platform 11 and a bridge member 16 into the tray 17.

The pusher plates 15a and 15:; are mounted on bars 13 carried by a cross-piece 19, each end of which is fixed to a carriage 2% running along guide rods 21 on wheels 22. t t g The tray 17 is an open-sided tray, and the mechanism includes a plate member 23 which can be moved into position to serve as a temporary back well during the filling of the traywith cigarettes, to act as a support for the side of a stack of cigarettes in the tray and also'as a stop to prevent cigarettes which have been pushed into the tray from continuing their forward movement and Patented Apr. 27, 1965' When the conveyor system .26, the brackets being guided by guide rods 27 and wheels 28 on the brackets. The conveyor system 26 is arranged to be operated so as to bring the tray to two different filling levels whereby two successive batches or stacks of cigarettes are pushed into the tray, one on top of the other.

The temporary back wall plate 23 is carried by the brackets in the following manner.

One arm 29 of a bell crank lever pivoted at 30 to a bracket. 25 carries a roller 31 which runs along a cam track 32 as the tray is raised and lowered by the convey: or system 26, the top end of the cam track 32 being recessed at 33. The other arm 34- of the lever has a hooked end 35 in which is supported a short rod 36 fixed to the plate 23. i

A roller 37, also fixed to the plate 23, runs along an other cam track 38 formed as an extension of the bracket It will be understood that mechanism as just described is provided in association with each of the brackets 25.

In operation, an empty tray is placed in position as shown in FIGURE 4, and the conveyor system 26' is then operated to lower the trays to a position at which its lower half is opposite the pushers 15a, 15b. 7

As the brackets travel downwardly the rollers 31move out of the recesses 33 and thus turn the arms 34 about the pivots 30. "This causes the arms 34 to swing downwardlyand towards the tray. The weight of the plate 23 causes it to drop with the arms 34, and accordingly the rollers 37 move to the right, FIGURES 3 and 4, over their cam tracks 38. These combined movements bring the plate into position within the tray to form a temporary back wall.

When the tray is in position, a stack of cigarettes is pushed into it from the

receptacles

7 and 8, filling the lower half of the tray. Thebrackets 25 are then lowered to bring the tray to the position shown in FIGURE 3. When further stacks of cigarettes have been formed in the receptacles =7 and 8, they are moved, as a single stack, by the pushers into the upper half of the tray.

The filling of the tray having thus been completed, the conveyor system operates to move the tray upwards to the position shown in FIGURE 4. As the tray comes into this position, the rollers 31 enter the slots 33 and the plate 23 is thus swung away from the tray, the rollers 37 also riding up and away from the tray over their cam tracks 38.

The bridge 16 is arranged to be moved prior to a filling operation, into a position to bridge the gap between the platform 11 and the base of the tray. Associated with the bridge is a block 39 which simultaneously moves forwardly, and on the second filling operation this block engages theside of the stack already in the tray (i.e., the end faces of the cigarettes) to ensure that the stack is kept in alignment during the filling of the upper half of the tray.

It will be appreciated that the plate .23 may be interchangable with plates of diiference thicknesses so as to enable the mechanism to deal with cigarettes of dilferent standard lengths. This makes. it possible for a standard tray, wide enough to accommodate the longest cigarettes likely to be made, to be used for all sizes of cigarette, since the cigarettes can be centered in the tray by using a back plate 23 of suitable thickness, Alternatively the arms 34 could be interchangable with arms of different length, or the rods 36 fixed to the plates 23 could be ad-v j'ustable, or diiferent plates could have rods 36 spaced different distances from the plates.

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

l. Cigarette-collecting mechanism for use with opensided trays, in which cigarettes are pushed axially into an open-sided tray, comprising a plate member arranged to be moved into association with a tray to serve as a temporary back wall thereof, carrier members by which the said plate member is carried, a support on which the said carrier members are mounted so as to be movable relatively thereto and so as to be capable of moving the said plate member into and out of association with the tray, and means operative to move the plate member into such association before filling of the tray commences, and to move it away from the tray when the latter has been filled.

2.. Mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said support is arranged to be moved up and down to raise and lower the tray, the said carrier members being arranged to'move upwardly and downwardly with the said support.

3. Mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said carrier members are pivotally mounted on the said support and arranged to be swung to move the said plate member into and out of association with the tray.

4. Mechanism as claimed in claim 3, wherein the said support is arranged to be moved up and down to raise and lower the trays, and comprising a cam surface extending along the path of the said support as it moves upwardly and downwardly to control the swinging movements of the said carrier members.

5. Mechanism as claimed in claim 4, comprising a further camsurface, and a cam follower connected to the said plate member which co-operates with the further cam surface, so as to effect control over movement of the said plate member relative to the said support.

6. Cigarette-collecting mechanism for use with open sided trays, in which cigarettes are pushed axially into. an open sided tray, comprising a movable support arranged to carry a tray to and away from a filling position, at

serve as a temporary back wall of the tray, and arranged to move with the said support, and means operative to move the said plate member relatively to the said support into association with an empty tray carried by the said support as the latter is moved to the said filling position, at which the tray is filled, and out of association with the filled tray as the support is moved away from the said filling position.

7. Cigarette-collecting mechanism for use with open sided trays, in which cigarettes are pushed axially into an open sided tray, comprising a support arranged to be moved along a path between a first position, at which an empty tray can be received on the said support, and a filling position, at which cigarettes are pushed axially into the tray to fill the latter, so as to convey the empty tray from the said first position to the said' filling position, and to return the filled tray from the said filling position to the said first position, a plate member connected to the said support so as to be movable relatively thereto, so

as to be capable of moving into and out of association to the said filling position, and out of association with a filled tray as the support is moved from the said filling position to the said first position. a

8. Cigarette-collecting mechanism for use with open sided trays, in which cigarettes are pushed axially into an open sided tray, comprising a support arranged to be moved up and down to raise and lower the tray, a carrier member pivotally mounted on the said support, a plate member carried by the said carrier member so as to be movable relatively to the said support and arrangedto move upwardly and downwardly with the said support, a cam surface extending along the path of the said support as it moves upwardly and downwardly, a cam fol 5 6 a lower connected to the said carrier member and arranged 7 References Cited by the Examiner to cooperate with the said cam surface to swing the said UNITED STATES PATENTS carrier member so as to move the said plate member into and out of association with the tray to serve as a 2,919,529 1/60 Hillman 53245 X temporary back wall of the tray'as the support moves 5 2,938,317 5/60 Hillman 53-148 along the said path, a further cam surface on the said 3,004,374 10/61 Pembroke 53252 X support, and a cam follower connected to the said plate member and arranged to cooperate with the said fur- FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner. ther cam surface to control movement of the plate mem- ROBERT A LEIGHEY BERNARD STICKNEY ber relatively to the said support as the plate member 10 I Examiners is moved into and out of association with the tray.

Claims

6. CIGARETTE-COLLECTING MECHANISM FOR USE WITH OPEN SIDE TRAYS, IN WHICH CIGARETTES ARE PUSHED AXIALLY INTO AN OPEN SIDED TRAY, COMPRISING A MOVABLE SUPPORT ARRANGED TO CARRY A TRAY TO AND AWAY FROM A FILLING POSITION, AT WHICH CIGARETTES ARE PUSHED AXIALLY INTO THE TRAY, A PLATE MEMBER CONNECTED TO THE SAID SUPPORT SO AS TO BE MOVABLE RELATIVELY THERETO, SO AS TO BE CAPABLE OF MOVING INTO AND OUT OF ASSOCIATION WITH A TRAY CARRIED BY THE SUPPORT TO SERVE AS A TEMPORARY BACK WALL OF THE TRAY, AND ARRANGED TO MOVE WITH THE SAID SUPPORT, AND MEANS OPERATIVE TO MOVE THE SAID PLATE MEMBER RELATIVELY TO THE SAID SUPPORT INTO ASSOCIATION WITH AN EMPTY TRAY CARRIED BY THE SAID SUPPORT AS THE LATTER IS MOVED TO THE SAID FILLING POSITION, AT WHICH THE TRAY IS FILLED, AND OUT OF ASSOCIATION WITH THE FILLED TRAY AS THE SUPPORT IS MOVED AWAY FROM THE SAID FILLING POSITION.