US3680360A

US3680360A - Tobacco leaf scanning device

Info

Publication number: US3680360A
Application number: US69601A
Authority: US
Inventors: Frank Hollenton
Original assignee: AMF Inc
Current assignee: Automated Machinery Systems Inc
Priority date: 1970-09-04
Filing date: 1970-09-04
Publication date: 1972-08-01
Anticipated expiration: 1989-08-01
Also published as: DE2143089C3; FR2107099A5; DE2143089B2; CA930253A; GB1323236A; DE2143089A1

Abstract

A wrapper, prior to being cut to a cigar wrapper shape having a defined configuration, is arbitrarily divided into a plurality of sections, each substantially pneumatically isolated from each other. Each section is then pneumatically examined for the absence or presence of undesired holes or voids. A single pneumatic examining section can be used with good results. A vein detector can be provided to examine the head section of the strip of tobacco for the presence or absence of veins.

Description

United States Patent Hollenton [451 Aug. 1, 1972 [54] TOBACCO LEAF SCANNING DEVICE SCANNING DEVICE SUCTION 2,884,495 4/1959 Frankel ..73/37.7 UX

Primary Examiner-Louis R. Prince Assistant Examiner-William A. Henry, II Attorney-George W. Price and Eli Weiss [57] ABSTRACT A wrapper, prior to being cut to a cigar wrapper shape having a defined configuration, is arbitrarily divided into a plurality of sections, each-substantially pneumatically isolated from each other. Each section is then pneumatically examined for the absence or presence of undesired holes or voids. A single pneu matic examining section can be used with good results. A vein detector can be provided to examine the head section of the strip of tobacco for the presence or absence of veins.

9 Clains, 6 Drawing Figures 22 a air a i/ m SUCTION CHAMBER Hummus 1 m2 3.680.360

SHEET 1 U? 3 Fl G. l

i i I i 5 HEAD TUCK Fl G. 2

54 77 I I L32 665 32 I INVENTORS FRANK HOLLENTON BY [1i QJJQNL ATTORNEY PATENTEDAus I m SHEET 2 0F 3 FIG. 4

02: 3 TIME DELAY MEANS SENSITIVITY ADJUSTMENT FIG.5

SCANNING DEVICZEZ i fiIi i i/ INVENTORS FRANK HOLLENTON ATTORNEY PATENTEmuc' I I972 3.680.360

sum

3 or 3 FIG.6.

INVENTORS FRANK HOLLENTON ATTORNEY TOBACCO LEAF SCANNING DEVICE FIELD or THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to the production of cigars and the handling of tobacco leaves and, more particularly, to apparatus for automatically positioning a portion of a tobacco leaf to identify a complex shaped portion of said leaf that is free of objectionable veins and holes or cuts for use as a cigar wrapper.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIORART At one time, all cigars were made by hand. As economic circumstances gradually forced the mechanization of various processes, it was natural that manufacturers should demand that the machine made product be indistinguishable from that made by hand.

This meant that practices which cost nothing when performed manually were carried over to the machine made product, even when this involved extra costs for machine parts and machine labor. By far, the most costly of such practices concerns the preparation of the inner and outer layers of leaf which are employed to wrap the loose core shaped tobacco known as the filler. The two layers being known as the.binder and wrapper respectively. p

Owing to the peculiar shapes in which cigars are made, coupled with the custom of applying at least the outer layer in the form of a helical strip, the'preparation of the leaf became a complex and time consuming I job. Presently, the operator splits all binder and wrapper leaves longitudinally by removing the unwanted coarse mid-rib and stacks the resulting two parts separately,making books'of half leaves of the two varieties. These books are stored, treated, if desired, and then transported to the cigar making factory.

A When making cigars-by hand, it is merely necessary toins'ure that cigars made from the two leaf halves are not mixed, since the maker can sort out right or left hand wrappers .at will. However, for machine made cigars the technical problems are such that many of the machine elements must be made right or left hand accordingto which half of the leaf is to be used and, in practice, separate machines are employed for the exelusive use of the two leaf portions.

While it has been of. prime importance to simplify The machine operator sits in convenient proximity to the die turret, selects a portion of tobacco leaf from the book provided and examines it finally for holes, coarse veins or other imperfections and stretches it over the cutting die where it is held in stretched, creaseless formation by the vacuum applied via the perforations in the surface surrounding the die, care being taken to insure that the contour to be cut by the die will not include any imperfection. Having placed the leaf portion in position, the operator initiates one cycle of the cigar making machine which causes the turret to index to the next position where the leaf stretched over the die is finally cut out and forwarded to a transfer mechanism to be rolled about the shaped roll of tobacco filler. This same turret movement then presents to the operator another die on the turret from which the cut-out shape had been removed during a previous operation, the remainder of the leaf portion being suctionally held on the perforated table surrounding the die. This, the operator removes and either discards, or places over the die again in a new position, if, as frequently happens, sufficient leaf area remains to enable a whole binder or wrapper shape to be cut from the remainder.

From the foregoing description, it readily becomes obvious that the production of cigars is not onlyhighly complex, but still includes a number of hand operations. Further, the final speed of production of the cigar maker machine is determined by the speed at which the operator can place a leaf portion over the die. The whole sequence of events is based upon the expensive pre-stemrning and pre-booking of tobacco leaves as a necessary pre-requisite and the accurate inspection and Cigar Making Machine by-Hooper, Hollenton and v mechanisms and standardize cigarmanufacture, it still remains very convenient to continue the old practice of separating the two halves of the leaves by removing the mid-rib and booking the separate halves, each according to its kind, the different books being sent to the ap-' propriate machines.

Cigar machines are designed to cut out tobacco leaves to approximately the desired final shape for binders or wrappers and, while said final shaped cut pieces are still under control, to apply them to the tobacco core or bunch for rolling. For this purpose, one or more cutting dies are mounted on a turret arranged to index about a vertical axis, one turret being provided for the binder and wrapper respectively. Each cutting die is surrounded by a perforated surface, the perforations being connected to a source of vacuum. Reference is made, for example, to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,255,772; 3,222,967; 3,187,756 and 3,152,497 which show cigar making machines of the type herein just described.

' tion is made a part of this disclosure, the same as if the location of the leaf on the machine. This multiple h'andling of leaves and leaf parts is clearly unproductive.

There has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 790,277, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,542,036 entitled System for Feeding Leaf to aCigar Making Machine by Hooper, Brackmann and Hollenton, a system for aua cigar making machine. I There has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 790,302, now U.S. Pat, No. 3,59 I ,044 entitled Brackmann, a method and apparatus for feeding wrappers stored on a roll to a cigar'rnachine. and including means for unwinding the roll, maintaining the wrapper in stretched, oriented position and feeding the same f directly to the turret of a cigar maker.

There has been additionally disclosed in U.S., Pat. Application Ser. No. 790,278, now US; Pat. No.-'

specification and drawing of each application were incorporated herein and made a part of this application.

The methods and apparatus described in said applications have proved to be very practical and successful under many conditions and circumstances. However,

under certain circumstances, certain difficulties can be encountered. For example, it will be appreciated that the wrapper should have no objectionable voids or holes nor should veins be present in the head area of the wrapper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In this invention, a wrapper, prior to being cut to a cigar wrapper shape having a defined configuration, is arbitrarily divided into a plurality of sections, each substantially pneumatically isolated from each other. Each section is then pneumatically examined for the absence or presence of undesired holes or voids. In the description of this invention, the use of a plurality of pneumatically isolated sections has been disclosed. However, it-

is to be understood that a single pneumatic examining section can be used with good results. Additionally, a vein detector means can be provided to examine the head section of the strip of tobacco for the presence or absence of veins.

There has been thus outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will bedescribed hereinafter and which will form the subject of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception on which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as the basis for the design of other structures for carrying out the several features and purposes of the invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood by the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top view of a shaped cigar wrapper cut from a strip or leaf of tobacco and used to wrap cigars;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the structure in accordance with the principles of the invention;

FIG. 3 isa view in section along the line 33 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of a circuit which can be used in combination with the structure of FIG. 2; and;

FIG. 5 is a view of the structure of FIG. 2 in combination with tobacco strip feeding structure;

FIG. 6 is a partial view in section along the line 33 of FIG. 2, depicting an alternative means of vein detection by means of a photocell.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed to the automatic scanning of a strip of tobacco to obtain a cigar wrapper that has no objectionable holes or voids and/or no veins in the head area. In this invention, strips or patches of tobacco sized to be longer than and at least as wide as the cigar wrapper die are fed to an open top sensing means having a configuration substantially similar to the configuration of the cigar wrapper die. The sensing means can have a single compartment or a plurality of shallow compartments. In those instances where the sensing means has a plurality of compartments, each compartment is coupled to a source of suction through an orifree that is selectively adjustable. Each compartment is also connected to a pneumatically operated switch, ar-

' ranged to sense a comparative or differential value of suction which exists between its respective shallow compartment and a main chamber which communicates with a source of vacuum. A strip of tobacco that is to be automatically inspected for the presence of undesired holes and voids is positioned over the open top of the shallow compartments. The selectively adjustable or controllable orifice of each compartment is adjusted to maintain within each compartment a comparative value of suction that is less than a predetermined comparative, of differential value when the holes or voids in that portion of the strip of tobacco positioned over a compartment are smaller than the maximum permissible and, therefore, unacceptable. The pneumatically operated switch can be of the normally closed type adjusted to be held open by a differential value of suction until the suction within the compartment being sensed rises to the predetermined value. To express the absolute value of air pressure within the compartment in another way, when the absolute pressure in the compartment is above a predetermined value because the holes or voids in the leaf permit more air to enter the compartment than can be withdrawn, then the air pressure in the compartment, which is difi'erentially compared with the absolute'positive pressure of the vacuum source, causes the normally closed pneumatically operated switch to be operated and switched to its open state. A coincidence of a series of normally closed pneumatically operated switches can be made to complete an electrical path and indicate that the area of the leaf being positioned over the various compartments of the sensing means does not contain any objectionable holes or voids and can be cut to provide a good cigar wrapper. Additionally, a vein detector means which can be of the optical type or of the mechanical type can be provided to examine the head portion or area of the leaf for the presence of a vein. The absence of a vein in the head portion and/or the absence of undesired holes or voids in the leaf indicates that the leaf, as positioned, can be cut by the cigar wrapper die to provide a good cigar wrapper.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated one of many shaped cigar wrappers 10- used to wrap cigars. The cigar wrapper is cut from a leaf of tobacco by means of a wrapper die and can, for purposes of illustration, be considered to consist of several sections defined by imaginary lines and corresponding to the shape of their inspection compartments as follows:

the head section 12, intermediate sections l4, 16, 18, etc., and; the tuck section 20.

The condition of the selected leaf area for the wrapper determines the quality and appearance of the finished cigar. While the requirements for a good cigar wrapper may vary in accordance with cigar quality and differences in standards of cigar manufacture, a wrapper will generally satisfy the following conditions:

a. Exceptionally good mechanical quality of leaf in the tuck sections;

b. Generally good mechanical leaf quality in all other sections of the wrapper, that is, holes or voids not exceeding a certain size, and;

c. No veins in the head section.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is illustrated a plan and sectional view of a scanning head for determining if a section of a leaf is acceptable for cutting into a shaped cigar wrapper. I

The scanning head 22 consists of a closed hollow chamber 24 having a port 26 coupled to a source of suction. The source of suction, acting through the port 26, creates a suction in the hollow chamber 24. Thus, chamber 24 can be referred to as a suction chamber. The chamber 24 is defined, in part, by a back wall member 28 and a front wall member 30. The outside surface of front wall member 30 supports a continuous ridge 32 shaped to define the configuration of the cigar wrapper desired such as that illustrated in FIG. 1. The area within and defined by the continuous ridge 32 is divided by

rib members

34, 36, 38 and 40 to form several areas or compartments 44, 46, 48, 50 and 52 which serve to divide the area of the leaf to be inspected into several separate areas, and are arranged to collectively represent the desired shape of the cigar wrapper. Thus, area 44 represents the head section 12 of the wrapper;

areas

46, 48, 49 and 50 represent the

intermediate sections

14, 16, and 18, of the wrapper; and area 52 represents the tuck section of the wrapper. Each compartment communicates through a first passageway to the suction chamber 24; and is coupled through a second passageway to a pressure sensitive switch. Referring specifically to compartment 44, passageway 54 within front wall member 30 couples suction chamber 24 to compartment 44. Back wall member 28 supports a threaded opening 56 axially aligned with the passageway 54. An externally threaded shaft 60 having a knurled adjusting knob 62 at one end and a conical-shaped valve end member 64 at the other end is positioned within and supported by threaded hole 56. Gasketed lock nut member 58 serves to positionally secure and seal in an air-tight manner threaded shaft 60. Turning the knob 62 rotates and advances the threaded shaft 60 to selectively advance or retract the conical shaped member 64 towards or away from the end of passageway 54. Thus, conical member 64 cooperates with the end of passageway 54 to function as a valve to adjustably control or throttle the flow of air through the passageway 54 from compartment 44 to suction chamber 24 when suction is applied to the chamber 24.

A second passageway 68 within front wall member 30 in combination with a small plastic tube 70 couples the compartment 44 to one inlet of a pressure differential switch 72 such as is manufactured by De Hart, Inc. of Norristown, Pa. and referred to as De Hart 506-1. The other inlet of the switch is exposed to sense the pressure within the suction chamber 24. In practice, it was possible to mount the switch 72 directly to a wall within the suction chamber 24.

Each of the

other compartments

46, 48, 50 and 52 are connected through a first passageway and a valve means to the suction chamber 24; and are also connected through a second passageway to a differential pressure sensitive switch arranged to compare the pressure in the compartment relative to the pressure in the suction chamber 24 in the same manner as just described for the compartment 44.

The continuous ridge 32 and the

rib members

34, 36, 38 and 40 are equal in height and terminate in the same plane. A relatively rigid perforated or air permeable member 74 is positioned on top of the continuous ridge 32 and the

rib members

34, 36, 38 and 40.

Member 74 forms a support to prevent a patch or strip of tobacco from being sucked down in the various compartments.

A vein detector means which can be of the mechanical type, optical type or the like is positioned to detect the occurrence of a vein in the head section of the cigar wrapper.

It. is to be appreciated that the structure of this invention can be used in two modes of operation. In one, the strip or patch can be automatically inspected while it is stationary or, in the other, while it is on the fly. In the stationary mode of operation, a strip of tobacco can be placed on top of member 74 in proximity of ridge 32 having the configuration of the shaped cigar wrapper and, if the strip contains a hole or void that is objectionable, the strip can be lifted off and repositioned. In the automatic inspection of a strip of tobacco on the fly, the strip of tobacco can be moved or driven across the top of the ridge 32 having the configuration of the shaped cigar wrapper carried by air permeable ribbon 122 and supported by member 78 until a signal is ob tained which indicates that the strip of tobacco satisfies the various requirements for holes or voids to provide a good cigar wrapper.

In the automatic inspection of a strip of tobacco that is stationary, a vein detector means of the mechanical type can be positioned to contact the head section of a leaf positioned over the compartment 44. Referring to FIG. 3, a pad or a strip of material 76 of sufficient size to span the head section to be inspected and adjustably positioned to just contact the leaf is coupled to a lever 78 pivoted at a point 80 to provide a large displacement at the end of the lever coupled to the strip 76. A movable contact 84 is positioned to be driven by the end 82 of the lever 78 towards a stationary contact 86, the end of the movable contact 84 being positioned to experience a large displacement for a small driving displacement by the end 82. The presence of a vein under the pad or strip 76 will urge the

contacts

84, 86 apart to indicate the presence of a vein in the head area of the cigar wrapper.

In the automatic inspection of a strip of tobacco that is inspected on the fly, a vein detector means of the optical type can be used. In this embodiment, the strip of tobacco leaf is positioned on a transparent, semi-transparent or translucent air permeable belt or ribbon, 122, that is driven across the surface of the air permeable support member 74 positioned on top of the continuous ridge 32 and the

rib members

34, 36, 38 and 40. If it is assumed that the strip of tobacco is driven from the compartment representative of the head section of the cigar wrapper toward the compartment representative of the tuck section, a photocell can be positioned adjacent to the upstream position of the ridge 32 that defines a portion of the head compartment. The photocell 100 is positioned at one side of the strip of tobacco and a source of light 124 is positioned at the other side of the strip of tobacco opposite the photocell. In operation, light from a source of light 124 is directed to shine through the strip of tobacco through carrying ribbon 122, and through a suitably located hole 126 in support member 74 to the photocell. The photocell and its associated network is adjusted to operate a relay when the relatively opaqueness of an objectionable vein blocks the path of light to the photocell. It is to be noted that in this instance the moving strip of tobacco is examined for the presence of each .vein as the strip of tobacco is conveyed past the photocell location prior to arrival of sufficient tobacco to cover the several compartments. A time delay network, repeatedly actuated by the photocell as it senses the passage of each vein, is provided, synchronized with the motion of the strip of tobacco so as to cause persist an electrical reject signal for the duration of time required for passage of the objectionable vein past the head compartment area. This signal, when properly applied in conjunction with the signals from the differential pressure switches, as is better described below, prevents the inspection procedure from being completed on an otherwise acceptably sound strip of tobacco whenever an objectionable vein still remains in the head area. Additionally, by suitable addition of further time delay means or shift registers, not illustrated in the drawings, but well known to the art, the

photocell arrangement can be positioned an additional distance upstream and still be activated in synchronism with the arrival of any particular objectionable vein in the head area and its safe conveyance past while inspecting for voids or holes.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is illustrated a circuit network in accordance with the principles of the invention. Each of the pneumatically operated pressure differential switches located within the suction chamber and coupled tosense the pressure in the

various compartments

44, 46, 48, 50 and 52 are electrically coupled in series and represented by the normally closed

contacts

88, 90, 92, 94 and 96; it being assumed in this description that these contacts when closed, indicate that the area of the tobacco strip covering their respective various compartments contain only hole or void imperfections of an acceptably minor nature. A pair of normally closed contacts 98 is coupled in series with the

contacts

88, 90, 92, 94 and 96. The contacts 98 are urged open by a relay coil for a predetermined interval of time after photocell 100 detects the passage of a vein, the time interval being sufficient to permit the vein to move from beneath the photocell to the position of the head compartment 44. The photocell 100 is coupled through a sensitivity control (which defines the actuation of the cell to only those veins deemed to be of objectionable size) to a time delay network which is coupled to energize the relay coil 102 for a predetermined interval of time immediately after sensing the passage of veins. Relay coil 102, when energized hold contacts 98 open. When all pressure differential switches monitoring the various compartments simultaneously sense the presence of sound tobacco and an absence of actuation of the time delay means indicates no veins are located in the head area, the following results: All of the

contacts

98, 88 90, 92, 94, 96 close to energize drive control relay 104. Energized relay 104 opens contacts 106 to de-energize drive motor 108 which is coupled to drive the strip of tobacco at a preselected rate of speed past the vein detector, means and across the sensing head. Energization of relay coil 104 also closes contacts 110 which are connected to cause relay coil 104 to latch in its energized state, thus preventing further motion of drive motor 108 and allowing the acceptable tobacco for the cigar wrapper to be removed. A normally closed reset switch 1 12 is cou pled in series with the contacts 110 to enable the system to subsequently resume operation when desired by deenergizing relay coil 104 to enable drive motor 108 to be energized.

It is to be appreciated that a mechanical vein sensor having a small diameter leaf contacting surface can be employed in place of the photocell and its associated network. In all instances, however, the time delay network must be adjusted to insure that the contacts 98 are open during that interval of time when the detected vein is in or passing over the pneumatic head sensing compartment 44 of the sensing head.

In operation, each conical member 64 is adjustably positioned relative to the end of passageway 54 by turning the knob 62 to control the value of suction within each compartment such that the

contacts

88, 90, 92, 94, 96 of their respective differential pressure switches will be closed only when their associated compartments are adequately covered by the tobacco strip being inspected. A strip of tobacco is positioned on to a transparent or semi-transparent air permeable belt and drawn across the vein detector means and pneumatic sensing head at a predetermined speed. As soon as all of the conditions are satisfied, the absence of a vein in the head area and the absence of undesirable holes or voids in the tobacco strip, a signal will be generated to stop the advance of the strip of tobacco.

At this instant an area of a strip of tobacco which will I provide a good cigar wrapper has been identified for actual cutting into the desired configuration.

FIG. 5 discloses a method of automatically feeding strips of tobacco for sensing to determine which will provide good cigar wrappers. Initially, the tobacco can be cut into strips having a width slightly larger than the width of the cigar wrapper desired and stored on a relatively narrow transparent or semi-transparent air permeable ribbon, the width of the ribbon being equal to or slightly larger than the width of the strip of tobacco. The strip of tobacco should have a length that is at least slightly larger than the length of the cigar wrapper desired, but may, in practice, be of the length of the leaf from which it was cut, or may be of a continuous nature such as would result from joined, or overlapping leaves. The roll of stored strips of tobacco 114 which can be considered to be a roll book is positioned on a spindle for unrolling. The spindle is rotatably mounted onto a shaft that is spring loaded and urged upward to position the roll of stored strips of tobacco against the suction chamber 116 as the roll is unwound. The ribbon and strips of tobacco unwound from the roll are fed over a first suction chamber 116, the sensing or scanning device of this invention and a second articulated

suction chamber

118, 122 to a reel 120 driven by the motor 108. The strips of tobacco are held to the bottom surface of the ribbon of the reel by suction chamber 116 acting through the ribbon as the ribbon is unwound from the reel. The

suction chamber

118, 122

. of acceptable portions of tobacco strip and to reject stripsof tobacco which. will not provide good cigar wrappers. Altemately,

chamber

118, 122 can be selectively operated to reject unacceptable portions of the tobacco, and to retain strips of tobacco which will provide good cigar wrappers for storage'on reel 120 for later use. The articulated

suction chamber

118, 122 insures continuous cooperation between the

chamber

118, 122 and the air permeable belt up -to the point where the belt is formed into a roll.

. Obviously, many modifications and variations'of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teaching. It is, therefore, to be understood that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

What is claimed is: 1 t

1. A device for automatically inspecting a tobacco leaf for a cigar wrapper comprising a depressed area shaped to cover the configuration of the cigar wrapper, wall members coupled to divide said depressed area into discrete compartments, an air permeable member mounted to cover said discrete compartments, a chamber, a passageway interposed between said chamber and said discrete compartments, and means for comparing the pressure in said discrete compartments with said chamber when a strip of tobacco is positioned over said permeable member and suction is applied to said chamber.

2. The structure of claim 1 including switch meansv coupled to said pressure sensing means to indicate whether the pressure in said discrete areas relative to the pressure in said chamber is higher or lower than a predetermined value.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein said passageway interposed between said chamber and said discrete compartments are sized to control the rate at which air is withdrawn from said discrete compartments through said passageway to said chamber.

4. The structure of claim 3 including vein detecting means coupled to detect the presence of a vein in a portion of the strip of tobacco positioned over the discrete compartments representative of the head section of the cigar wrapper.

5. The structure of claim 3 wherein said discrete compartments have a volume that is less than the volume of said chamber. Y

6. The structureof claim 5 including valve means coupled to said passageway to control the rate at which ing means comprises a feeler to contact andride over the surface of the strip of tobacco.

9. The structure of claim 7 wherein said vein detecting means comprises a photoelectric cell.

Claims

2. The structure of claim 1 including switch means coupled to said pressure sensing means to indicate whether the pressure in said discrete areas relative to the pressure in said chamber is higher or lower than a predetermined value.

5. The structure of claim 3 wherein said discrete compartments have a volume that is less than the volume of said chamber.

6. The structure of claim 5 including valve means coupled to said passageway to control the rate at which air is withdrawn through said passageway from said discrete compartments to said chamber.

7. The structure of claim 6 including vein detecting means coupled to detect the presence of a vein in a portion of the strip of tobacco positioned over the discrete compartments representative of the head section of the cigar wrapper.

8. The structure of claim 7 wherein said vein detecting means comprises a feeler to contact and ride over the surface of the strip of tobacco.