WO2016020792A1

WO2016020792A1 - Method and apparatus for transferring rod-like articles in machines of tobacco industry

Info

Publication number: WO2016020792A1
Application number: PCT/IB2015/055688
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ryszard Dominiak
Original assignee: International Tobacco Machinery Poland Sp. Z O.O.
Priority date: 2014-08-04
Filing date: 2015-07-28
Publication date: 2016-02-11
Also published as: PL409093A1

Abstract

The object of the application is a method and an apparatus (1) for the transferring of a stream of rod-like articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) in the tobacco industry machinery, comprising: a first conveyor (2) on which the articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) are conveyed at distances (d1, d2, d3) one after another, and a second conveyor (4) on which the articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) transferred from the first conveyor (2) are conveyed in an arrangement where at least one distance (D1, D2, D3) between the articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) is different than on the first conveyor (2) characterised by comprising a rotary transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) situated in such a way that it facilitates the transport of the articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) from the first conveyor (2) to the second conveyor (4), with the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) having angularly spaced projections (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) on its circumference (3A, 13A, 23A, 33A, 43A), with the surface of the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) being parallel to the direction (T2) of movement of the articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) on the first conveyor (2), whereas the angular spacing of the projections (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) makes it possible to receive an individual article (S6) or a group (G) of rod-like articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) from the first conveyor (2) between two adjacent projections (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) and to transfer the received individual article (S6) or the group of articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) to the second conveyor (4) while maintaining the rectilinear direction of transferring (T) of the articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) consistent with the direction of transport (T2) of the articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) on the first conveyor (2), and each projection has a first abutting surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) with which the front face of the individual article (S6) or the first article (S1) of the group (G) of articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) being transferred comes in contact, and a second abutting surface (5B, 15B, 25B, 25B', 35B, 45B, 55B) with which the second front surface of the individual article (S6) or the last article (S2) of the group (G) of articles (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5) being transferred comes in contact, whereas the peripheral speed of the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) and the linear speed of the second conveyor (4) are smaller than the speed of the first conveyor (2).

Description

Method and apparatus for transferring rod-like articles

in machines of tobacco industry

The object of the application is a method and an apparatus for the transferring of rod-like articles of the tobacco industry machinery.

During production of tobacco industry articles formed by cutting continuous rods, consisting of multiple rod-like articles, into rods it is necessary to convey and to transfer such articles both within and among the machines. The articles are arranged one after another principally coaxially on conveyors at certain distances to one another and move usually in the rectilinear direction along the conveyor. During the transport on one or multiple conveyors, the distances between the articles are decreased, i.e. the articles are pushed together and moved further so that they remain in contact or are situated close to one another. An example of the machine where such process is carried out is a machine for the manufacture of multi- segment filter rods. The segments in finished rods are usually pushed together, but also rods with spaces between the segments, where for example granulated carbon is placed, are manufactured. Also rods where such spaces are left empty are manufactured.

The patent EP1703306B1 has disclosed an apparatus comprising three wheels with lugs for transferring groups of filter segments between two conveyors. A similar solution is known from the international publication WO2010/076653A1 , whereas adjustable lugs have been presented there. On the other hand, the application US2005/0282693 has disclosed an apparatus also comprising three wheels, but for transferring filter segments individually. The devices disclosed in the above-mentioned documents cause that the transferred articles change the direction of movement from rectilinear horizontal to circular movement where they are subjected to loads resulting from the change of the direction of movement and from the fact that they are transferred four times either between the conveyor and the wheel or between individual wheels. As a result of the loads, the segments may be damaged, and in case of segments comprising granulated carbon such carbon may be shaken out to a considerable extent.

The objective of this invention is to develop a simplified apparatus for the transferring of rod-like articles among the conveyors by means of only one transferring disc and without the change of the direction of movement of the articles being transferred relative to the direction of movement of the articles on the conveyor feeding the articles.

The substance of the invention is an apparatus for the transferring of a stream of rod-like articles in the tobacco industry machinery, comprising: a first conveyor on which the articles are conveyed at distances one after another and a second conveyor on which the articles transferred from the first conveyor are conveyed in an arrangement where at least one distance between the articles is different than on the first conveyor. An apparatus characterised by comprising a rotary transferring disc arranged in such a way that it enables the transport of articles from the first conveyor to the second conveyor, with the transferring disc having angularly spaced projections on its circumference, with the surface of the transferring disc being parallel to the direction of movement of the articles on the first conveyor, whereas the angular spacing of the projections makes it possible to receive an individual article or a group of articles from the first conveyor between two adjacent projections and to transfer the received individual article or the group of articles to the second conveyor while maintaining the rectilinear direction of transfer of the articles consistent with the direction of transport of the articles on the first conveyor, and each projection has a first abutting surface with which the front face of the individual article or the first article of the transferred group of articles comes in contact and a second abutting surface with which the second front surface of the individual article or the last article of the group of articles being transferred comes in contact, whereas the peripheral speed of the transferring disc and the linear speed of the second conveyor are smaller than the speed of the first conveyor.

An apparatus according to the invention is characterised in that the angular spacing of the projections on the transferring disc is selected in such a way that the distance covered by the individual article or the first article of the group of articles being transferred from the moment of coming in contact with the first abutting surface of the projection of the transferring disc to the moment of coming out of contact with the said surface is greater than the length of the individual article or the total length of articles making up one transferred group. An apparatus according to the invention is characterised in that the distance between successive individual articles or between the last article of one transferred group of articles and the first article of the successive group of articles on the second conveyor is determined by the first abutting surface and the second abutting surface of the projection. An apparatus according to the invention is characterised in that the transferring disc has a horizontally situated axis of rotation.

An apparatus according to the invention is characterised in that the transferring disc has an axis of rotation situated at an angle to the horizontal direction. An apparatus according to the invention is characterised in that the first and second abutting surfaces of the projection are selected from the group: convex surface, flat surface, concave surface, broken surface.

An apparatus according to the invention is characterised in that the first abutting surface is a concave surface and the second abutting surface is a convex surface.

An apparatus according to the invention is characterised in that the first abutting surface is a flat surface and the second abutting surface is a broken surface.

An apparatus according to the invention is characterised in that the line showing the orientation of the projection is deflected from the radial direction of the transferring disc.

The substance of the invention is also a method for the transferring of a stream of rod-like articles in the tobacco industry machinery wherein the articles are conveyed by the first conveyor on which the articles are conveyed at distances one after another, and are conveyed by a second conveyor on which the articles transferred from the first conveyor are conveyed in an arrangement where at least one distance between the articles is different than on the first conveyor. An apparatus according to the invention is characterised in that the articles conveyed on the first conveyor are transferred to the second conveyor by means of a rotary transferring disc having angularly spaced projections on its circumference designed to receive rod-like articles individually or in groups from the first conveyor and to transfer the received articles to the second conveyor while maintaining the rectilinear direction of transfer of the articles consistent with the direction of transport of the articles on the first conveyor, whereas each projection has a first abutting surface and a second abutting surface, and the first abutting surface of the individual article or the first article of the group of articles being transferred is pushed close to the first abutting surface of one projection so that it comes in contact with the first abutting surface of that projection, and the second abutting surface of the individual article or the last article of the transferred group of articles is pushed by means of the second abutting surface of the next projection, whereas the subassemblies of the apparatus are driven in such a way that the peripheral speed of the transferring disc and the linear speed of the second conveyor are smaller than the speed of the first conveyor. The method according to the invention is characterised in that the first front surface of the individual article or the first article of the transferred group of articles remains in contact with the first abutting surface of one projection of the transferring disc until the moment when the first front surface of the successive individual article or the first article of the successive transferred group of articles comes in contact with the first abutting surface of the successive projection of the transferring disc.

The solution according to the invention takes less space on the production machine compared to known devices, which makes it possible to extend other units of the machine without the necessity of increasing the overall dimensions of the entire machine. The solution also ensures the reduction of the quantity of format parts depending on the dimensions and kinds of manufactured rods.

The object of the invention was presented in embodiments in a drawing in which:

Fig. 1 shows a fragment of a tobacco industry machine,

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged fragment of the transferring disc in the first embodiment,

Fig. 3a and 3b shows a cross-section of a projection of the disc of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 shows an enlarged fragment of the transferring disc in the second embodiment,

Fig. 5a and 5b shows a cross-section of a projection of the disc of Fig. 4,

Fig. 6a and 6b shows enlarged fragments of the transferring disc in the third and fourth embodiments,

Fig. 7 and 8 show fragments of tobacco industry machinery,

Fig. 9 shows an enlarged fragment of the transferring disc in the fifth embodiment,

Fig. 10 shows an enlarged fragment of the transferring disc in the sixth embodiment,

Fig. 11 shows a view of the transferring disc having the peripheral surface in the form of a broken line.

The apparatus 1 for the transferring of rod-like articles showed in Fig. 1 is a fragment of the machine for manufacturing multi-segment filter rods and comprises a first conveyor 2, a transferring disc 3 and a second conveyor 4. The first conveyor 2 conveys, in the form of a stream, three different kinds of filter segments S1 , S2, S3 of which, after wrapping with a paper wrapper or any wrapping material, a continuous multi-segment filter rod CR, which is cut in the further process into multi-segment filter rods, is composed. Moreover, the number of types of segments and the sequence of segments are predetermined for each type of manufactured multi-segment rods. The apparatus according to the invention may also be applied to other semi-finished products and on other tobacco industry machines; hereinafter the name of rod-like articles will be used with reference to all products and semi-finished products.

The transferring disc 3 has on its circumference 3A angularly spaced projections 5, whereas the angle between two successive projections is marked as a. The projections 5 are spaced in such a way that two adjacent projections 5 make it possible to receive one group G of rod-like articles. In the embodiment shown, two successive projections 5 on the circumference of the transferring disc 3 make it possible to receive and to transfer the group G of rod-like articles comprising the article S1 , two articles S2 and the article G3. The rod-like articles S1 , S2, S3 are conveyed in a predetermined sequence at distances d on the conveyor 2 and are received in groups between successive projections 5 of the transferring disc 3, whereas the distances d between individual articles may differ. During the operation of the apparatus 1 , the transferring disc 3 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow and the first rod-like article S1 comes in contact with the first abutting surface 5A of the projection 5 as shown also in Fig. 2, and each successive article is pushed close to the preceding one in the manner explained below. The groups G of rod-like articles are successively transferred to the second conveyor 4, whereas the peripheral speed of the transferring disc 3 and the linear speed of the conveyor 4 are smaller than the speed of the conveyor 2, and the rod-like articles S1 , S2, S3 on the conveyor 4 remain in contact with one another, i.e. each distance d has been reduced to the distance D with the zero value. Moreover, the direction of transfer T is principally rectilinear and is consistent with the direction of transport T2 of the articles on the first conveyor 2. Fig. shows also the article S2 - the last article of the group G' which has already been transferred to the conveyor 4, whereas the article S2 is in contact with the second abutting surface 5B of the projection 5. Due to dimensional tolerances of the articles and the special applications of the apparatus as well as the required clearances between the segments, in order to avoid excessive compression of the articles, the articles may be in discontinuous contact with the abutting surfaces i.e. temporarily a gap between the articles during the movement of the articles may occur, which is also within the scope of this invention. The projection is also to be regarded as being in contact with an article if it constitutes a movement limiter for the article. The abutting surfaces 5A, 5B are generally convex surfaces; they may be for example involute, elliptic, cylindrical or other not easily mathematically describable surfaces. The peripheral surface of the transferring disc in a postaxial view may have the form of a wheel or a broken line 3B shown in Fig. 11 in case of long rod-like articles, whereas appropriate articles are placed on the sections of the broken line. In the above and the next embodiments, the axis of rotation P of the transferring disc is situated horizontally - perpendicular to the drawing plane, but a deflection of the axis of rotation from the horizontal direction is also possible.

The abutting surfaces 5A, 5B of the projections 5 on the transferring disc 3 may be shaped depending on the kind of material and the structure of the front surface of transferred rod-like articles which may be tubular or have a soft filling, the shape of the abutting surfaces depends also on the elements working together with the disc which are not shown herein. Fig. 3a shows a cross-section A-A through the projection 5 of Fig. 2, the said projection being composed of two pieces and working together with a single-piece element inserted between the pieces of the projection 5. Fig. 3b shows a similar cross-section through the projection composed of a single piece, working together with the two-piece element enclosing the projection 5. An embodiment of the projection in the form of a cylinder has been shown in Fig. 4. The projection 15 has a first abutting surface 15A and a second abutting surface 15B which together form a cylinder. Moreover, the cylinder may extend between the brackets 16 as a single piece or may be composed of two pieces as shown in the view in Fig. 5a marked as B in Fig. 4. The brackets 16 may be designed as separate brackets or have the form of rings adjacent to the disc 3.

Fig. 5b shows projections designed like in the embodiment shown in Fig. 5a, whereas the circumference of the transferring disc 13 was designed in the form of a circumferential groove 13A with the cross-section in the form of a semicircle.

Fig. 6a shows another embodiment of the projections 25 spaced on the surface 23A wherein a first abutting surface 25A is designed as concave, may be also designed as flat, whereas the second abutting surface 25B is designed as convex, and may be also designed as flat. The abutting surfaces 25A, 25B may be designed as a combination of concave and flat or convex and flat surfaces, respectively. The abutting surfaces may also be designed as a combination of several flat surfaces in the form of a broken surface, which has been shown in Fig. 6b in the form of the surfaces 25A and 25B' whose component surfaces are perpendicular to the drawing plane. The proper selection of abutting surfaces depends on the kind of rod-like articles used, whereas the principles of cooperation of abutting surfaces and front surfaces of rod-like articles are similar to principles known from the gear manufacturing and operation technique.

The rod-like articles S1 , S2, S3 are moved on a path along the conveyor 2 along the axis X principally overlapping the axes of individual articles S1 , S2, S3, whereas the path of movement of these articles may be identified as a cylinder principally tangential to the circumference 3A, 13A, 23A of the transferring discs 3, 13. 23. Moreover, the rod-like articles may be slightly compressed during the transferring, whereas rigid or fragile articles may be transferred with some clearance between the surface of rod-like articles S1 , S2, S3 and the circumference 3A, 13A, 23A, whereas such clearance will ensure that the articles will not be damaged during the transferring. Regardless of whether the articles are transferred with a clearance or compressed, the direction of transferring T remains consistent with the direction of movement T2 of the articles on the first conveyor 2.

In the above presented embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention, each projection 5, 15, 25 on the circumference 3A, 13A, 23A of the transferring disc 3, 13, 23 is inserted between two adjacent articles on the conveyor 2 and during the transferring remains between the said two articles. The rod-like articles S1 , S2, S3 making up the group G abut against the first abutting surface 5A, 15A, 25A, 25A and are pushed together because the peripheral speed of the transferring disc 3, 13, 23 is smaller than the speed of the articles on the conveyor 2, and they are restricted by the second abutting surface 5B, 15B, 25B, 25B'. The angular spacing of the projections on the transferring disc, marked as angle a in Fig. 1 , ensures that each projection 5, 15, 25 may be pulled out from between adjacent articles only if the next projection 5, 15, 25 is inserted between two segments belonging to two successive article groups. This is why the distance covered by the projection 5, 15, 25 during the transferring of the groups G of articles S1 , S2, S3 is longer than the total length of these articles making up one group G. In other words, the distance covered by the first article S1 of the article group G being transferred from the moment of coming in contact with the first abutting surface 5A, 15A, 25A, 25A' of the projection 5, 15, 25, 25' of the transferring disc 3, 13, 23 until the moment of coming out of contact with that surface is greater than the total length of the articles S1 , S2, S3 making up one group G being transferred. The moment of coming in contact of the first article S1 of the group G with the first abutting surface 5A, 15A, 25A, 25A of one projection 5, 15, 25, 25' is assumed as the moment of commencement of the transferring of the group G of articles S1 , S2, S3, whereas the moment of coming out of contact of the said first article S1 of the group G with the said first abutting surface 5A, 15A, 25A, 25A of that projection 5, 15, 25, 25' is assumed as the moment of ending of the transferring of the group G of articles S1 , S2, S3.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 7, the rod-like articles S4, S5 conveyed on the first conveyor 2 are transferred by means of the transferring disc 33 to the second conveyor 4, whereas on the conveyor 2 all rod-like articles are conveyed at certain distances d1 to one another, while on the conveyor 5 the articles S4 are pushed together with the articles S5, that is zero distances are determined, while between the adjacent articles S4 the distances D1 smaller than the distances d1 are left. The distances D1 are determined during the operation of the apparatus by the abutting surfaces 35A and 35B of the projections 35 spaced on the circumference 33A of the transferring disc. Moreover, the peripheral speed of the transferring disc 33 is smaller than the speed of article transport on the conveyor 2 and is similar to the speed of article transport on the conveyor 4. Furthermore, due to the angular spacing of the projections 35 represented by the angle β between two adjacent projections and their spacing at the appropriate diameter, the distance covered by the first article of the group of articles being transferred from the moment of coming in contact with the first abutting surface 35A of the projection 35 of the transferring disc 33 to the moment of coming out of contact with the said surface is greater than the total length of articles making up one group G being transferred.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 8, the rod-like articles S6 conveyed on the first conveyor 2 are transferred by means of the transferring disc 43 to the second conveyor 4, whereas on the conveyor 2 all rod-like articles are conveyed at certain distances d2 to one another, while such distances may be different due to the allowable inaccuracy of positioning thereof on the conveyor 2, while on the conveyor 4 the determined distances D2 of the articles S6 are smaller than the distances d2. The distances D2 are determined during the operation of the apparatus for example by the abutting surfaces 45A and 45B of the projections 45 spaced on the circumference 43A of the transferring disc 43, whereas the first front surface S6-A (Fig. 9) comes in contact with the first abutting surface 45A of the projection 45, and the second front surface S6-B comes in contact with the second abutting surface 45B of the projection 45. Moreover, the peripheral speed of the transferring disc 43 is smaller than the speed of article transport on the conveyor 2 and is similar to the speed of article transport on the conveyor 4. Furthermore, due to the angular spacing of the projections 45 represented by the angle γ between two adjacent projections 45 and the spacing thereof at the appropriate diameter, the distance covered by the article S6 being transferred from the moment of coming of the first front surface S6-A in contact with the first abutting surface 45A of the projection 45 of the transferring disc 43 to the moment of coming out of contact with the said surface is greater than the length of the article S6 being transferred.

Fig. 10 shows another embodiment of the transferring disc 53 with the projections 55 which are situated non-radially, i.e. the line 56 showing the orientation of the projection 55 is deflected from the radial direction 57 of the transferring disc 53. Both symmetric and asymmetric situation of abutting surfaces, the first abutting surface 55A and the second abutting surface 55b, respectively, is possible.

Claims

Patent claims

1. An apparatus (1 , 1') for transferring a stream of rod-like articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) in machines of tobacco industry, comprising: a first conveyor (2) on which the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) are conveyed at distances (d1 , d2, d3) one after another, and a second conveyor (4) on which the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) transferred from the first conveyor (2) are conveyed in an arrangement where at least one distance (D1 , D2, D3) between the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) is different than on the first conveyor (2) characterised by comprising a rotary transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) arranged in such a way that it enables the transport of articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) from the first conveyor (2) to the second conveyor (4), the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) having angularly spaced projections (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) on its circumference (3A, 13A, 23A, 33A, 43A), the surface of the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) being parallel to the direction (T2) of the movement of the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) on the first conveyor (2), whereas the angular spacing of the projections (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) makes it possible to receive an individual article (S6) or a group (G) of rod-like articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) from the first conveyor (2) between two adjacent projections (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) and to transfer the received individual article (S6) or the group of articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) to the second conveyor (4) while maintaining the rectilinear direction of transferring (T) the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) consistent with the direction of transport (T2) of the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) on the first conveyor (2), and each projection has a first abutting surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) with which the front face of the individual article (S6) or the first article (S1) of the transferred group (G) of articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) comes in contact, and a second abutting surface (5B, 15B, 25B, 25B', 35B, 45B, 55B) with which the second front surface of the individual article (S6) or the last article (S2) of the transferred group (G) of articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) comes in contact, whereas the peripheral speed of the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) and the linear speed of the second conveyor (4) are smaller than the speed of the first conveyor (2).

2. An apparatus as in Claim 1 characterised in that the angular spacing of the projections on the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43 53) is selected in such a way that the distance covered by a single article (S6) or the first article (S1) of the group (G) of articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) being transferred from the moment of coming in contact with the first abutting surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) of the projection (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) of the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) until the moment of coming out of contact with that surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) is greater than the length of the single article (S6) or the total length of the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) making up one group (G) being transferred.

3. An apparatus as in Claim 1 characterised in that the distance (D1 , D2) between successive individual articles (S6) or between the last article (S2) of one transferred group (G') of articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) and the first article (S1) of the successive group (G) of articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) on the second conveyor (4) is determined by the first abutting surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) and the second abutting surface (5B, 15B, 25B, 25B', 35B, 45B, 55B) of the projection (5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55).

4. An apparatus as in Claim 1 characterised in that the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) has a horizontally situated axis of rotation (P).

5. An apparatus as in Claim 1 characterised in that the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) has an axis of rotation (P) situated at an angle to the horizontal direction.

6. An apparatus as in Claim 1 characterised in that the first (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) and second (5B, 15B, 25B, 25B', 35B, 45B, 55B) abutting surfaces of the projection are selected from the group: convex surface, flat surface, concave surface, broken surface.

7. An apparatus as in Claim 6 characterised in that the first abutting surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) is a concave surface, and the second abutting surface (5B, 15B, 25B, 25B', 35B, 45B, 55B) is a convex surface.

8. An apparatus as in Claim 6 characterised in that the first abutting surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) is a flat surface, and the second abutting surface (5B, 15B, 25B, 25B', 35B, 45B, 55B) is a broken surface.

9. An apparatus as in Claim 6 characterised in that the line showing the orientation of the projection is deflected from the radial direction of the transferring disc.

A method of transferring a stream of rod-like articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) in machines of tobacco industry wherein the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) are conveyed by a first conveyor (2) on which the rod-like articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) are conveyed at distances (d, d1 , d2) one after another, and are conveyed by a second conveyor (4) on which the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) transferred from the first conveyor (2) are conveyed in an arrangement where at least one distance between the articles is different than on the first conveyor (2), characterised in that

the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) conveyed on the first conveyor (2) are transferred to the second conveyor (4) by means of a rotary transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) having projections (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) spaced on its circumference (3A, 13A, 23A, 33A, 43A) designed to receive rod-like articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) individually or in groups (G) from the first conveyor (2) and to transfer the received articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) to the second conveyor (4) while maintaining the rectilinear direction of transferring (T) of the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) consistent with the direction of transport (T2) of the articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5, S6) on the first conveyor (2), whereas each projection (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) has the first abutting surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) and the second abutting surface (5B, 15B, 25B, 25B', 35B, 45B, 55B), and the first front surface (S6-A) of the individual article (S6) or the first article (S1) of the group (G) of articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) being transferred is pushed close to the first abutting surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) of one projection (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) so that it comes in contact with the first abutting surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) of that projection, and the second front surface (S6-B) of the individual article (S6) or the last article (S2) of the group (G) of articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) being transferred is pushed by means of the second abutting surface (5B, 15B, 25B, 25B', 35B, 45B, 55B) of the successive projection (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55), whereas the subassemblies of the apparatus (1 , 1') are driven in such a way that the peripheral speed of the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) and the linear speed of the second conveyor (4) are smaller than the speed of the first conveyor (2).

11. A method as in Claim 10 characterised in that the first front surface (S6-A) of the individual article (S6) or the first article (S1) of the group (G) of articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) being transferred remains in contact with the first abutting surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A, 45A, 55A) of one projection (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) of the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53) until the moment when the first front surface (S6-A) of the successive individual article (S6) or the first article (S1) of the successive group (G) of articles (S1 , S2, S3, S4, S5) being transferred comes in contact with the first abutting surface (5A, 15A, 25A, 25A, 35A) of the successive projection (5, 15, 25, 25', 35, 45, 55) of the transferring disc (3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53).