CA1208100A - Process and apparatus for recovering tobacco particles from intact cigarette packages - Google Patents
Process and apparatus for recovering tobacco particles from intact cigarette packagesInfo
- Publication number
- CA1208100A CA1208100A CA000493680A CA493680A CA1208100A CA 1208100 A CA1208100 A CA 1208100A CA 000493680 A CA000493680 A CA 000493680A CA 493680 A CA493680 A CA 493680A CA 1208100 A CA1208100 A CA 1208100A
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- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- teeth
- tobacco
- packages
- process according
- fragments
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
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Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
- A24C—MACHINES FOR MAKING CIGARS OR CIGARETTES
- A24C5/00—Making cigarettes; Making tipping materials for, or attaching filters or mouthpieces to, cigars or cigarettes
- A24C5/36—Removing papers or other parts from defective cigarettes
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- Manufacturing Of Cigar And Cigarette Tobacco (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT
A process for recovering tobacco particles from intact cigarette packages in which the intact packages are subjected to disintegrating action effected between impeller members and one or more pairs of longitudinally extending rows of teeth, of which the teeth in each row project transversely toward the teeth in the adjacent row, each impeller member having its cross-section elongated in the longitudinal direction and moving generally longitudinally relative to said rows. The disintegration may be carried out on a modified tobacco threshing machine and is effective to tear the packages and paper tubes of the cigarettes containing the tobacco particles into a mixture comprising tobacco particles and non-tobacco fragments which are substantially larger than the tobacco particles. This allows the resulting mixture of non-tobacco fragments and tobacco particles to be separated to obtain tobacco particles which are substantially free of non-tobacco fragments.
A process for recovering tobacco particles from intact cigarette packages in which the intact packages are subjected to disintegrating action effected between impeller members and one or more pairs of longitudinally extending rows of teeth, of which the teeth in each row project transversely toward the teeth in the adjacent row, each impeller member having its cross-section elongated in the longitudinal direction and moving generally longitudinally relative to said rows. The disintegration may be carried out on a modified tobacco threshing machine and is effective to tear the packages and paper tubes of the cigarettes containing the tobacco particles into a mixture comprising tobacco particles and non-tobacco fragments which are substantially larger than the tobacco particles. This allows the resulting mixture of non-tobacco fragments and tobacco particles to be separated to obtain tobacco particles which are substantially free of non-tobacco fragments.
Description
The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for recovering tobacco particles from packaged cigarettes.
Packaged cigarettes have a limited storage life, after which the cigarettes are usually considered by the manufacturer to be unsaleable. The tobacco combined in the cigarettes, if reclaimed, can, however, be treated, e.g. re-humidified, to render it re-useable in cigarette production. There are, however, considerable difficulties in recovering the valuable tobacco from the packaged cigarettes. There are various machines known ~or recovery of tobacco ~rom loose cigarettes.
Utilization of these machines for tobacco recovery from intact packages would, however, require that the packaqes first be opened and the cigarettes removed from the packages, and, in the present state of the art, this operation can be conducted satisfactorily only by hand, and the expense of this makes the procedure uneconomical.
There have been prior attempts at processing of intact packages in order to liberate the tobacco particles, but there is the difficulty that procedures for automatic ripping open of the packages tend to produce fine fibres and other particles of paper, cellulose film and other non-tobacco materials from the cigarette paper tubes, filters and packaging materials. These fine particles are of size substantially the same as or smaller than the tobacco particles. This makes it difficult or impossible to separate the fine non-tobacco particles from the tobacco particles to achieve tobacco of quality adequate for re-use in cigarette manufacture, since there is insufficient difference in density between the paper and other non-tobacco particles on the one hand and the tobacco particles on the other. Before the present invention, therefore, it has been the common practice to destroy the unsaleable packaged cigarettes by burning them or burying them in disposal sites.
The present inventors have found~ surprisingly, that intact cigarette packages can be readily disintegrated to form a disintegrated mixture of tobacco particles with paper or other - 1 ~r~
non-tobacco fragments which are substantially larger than the tobacco particles, and which can, therefore, be readily separated from the former, using, for example, a modified form of threshing machine of the type conventionally employed for threshing tobacco lea~, in tobacco processing.
In the method of the invention, the intact packages are subjected to a disintegrating action effected between impeller members and one or more pairs of longitudinally~extending rows of teeth, of which the teeth in each row pro~ect transversely toward the teeth in the adjacent row. Each impeller member has its cross-section elongated in the longitudinal direction, and is moved generally longitudinally relative to the rows. The intact packages are fed to the teeth, and are drawn along the teeth by the impeller mem-bers and are thereby disintegrated. It has been ~ound that, with this arrangement, it is possible to tear the packages and the paper tubes of the cigarettes contained in the packages into non-tobacco fragments which are substantially larger than the tobacco particles contained in the cigarettes. The resulting mixture of non-tobacco fragments and tobacco particles can then be subjected to particle separation procedures effective to separate out tobacco particles substantially free of non-tobacco fragments.
In the preferred form, the process is conducted using a modified tobacco threshing machine, in which the teeth are defined by cir-cumferentially extending slots formed in a stationary semi cylindrical shell, known in the art as a basket, and the impeller members are blade-like members mounted on a rotor which rotates about an axis coincident with that o~ the basket. It will, however, be appreciated that the above-described disintegrating function can be effected, although with less advantage~ employing equivalent arrangements such as, for example arrangements wherein a slotted planar plate or other planar member defining teeth is employed, and the impeller members are swept over the surface of the planar plate or member by, for example, an endless belt to which impeller members are attached, and which is disposed parallel to the planar member. Similarly, in other arrangements, the impeller members may be stationary, and the array of teeth may be moved relative to the impeller members, e.g. they may be rotated about the impeller members.
One advantage of the present method is that it can be conducted using a modified form of a machine, i.e. a threshing machine, normally employed in the tobacco processors plant.
In the preferred form of apparatus according to the present invention, the teeth are ~ormed in a relatively thin shell, and are defined by a series of elongated indented slots of approxi-mately constant width extending in a longitudinal direction. The ratio of the width of these slots to the smallest dimension of the rectangular packages is preferably in the range about 20:1 to 1:1. The impeller members employed for moving the packages rela-tive to the teeth are preferably spaced apart uniformly trans-versely at a distance about 0.8 to about 3 times the width of the slots. The present inventors have found that, where the width of the slots between the teeth or the spacing between the impeller members is made substantially less than the ratios indicated above, the disintegration operation tends to produce undesired small paper fibres unless the speed of the impeller members rela-tive to the teeth is considerably reduced, thus slowing down therate of disintegration and hence the rate of throughput of the packages. If the width of the slots between the teeth or the transverse spacing between the impeller members is made much greater, the efficiency of the disintegrating action tends to be impaired, as intact packages tend to build up within the disin-tegrating apparatus, resulting in a reduction in the throughput of packages, or an undesirably large proportion of packages may tend to pass intact through the disintegrator apparatus. In the preferred form, the width of the slots between the teeth is in a ratio of about 10:1 to about 2:1 to the smallest dimension of the intact packages which are to be disintegrated, and the spacing between the impeller members is about 1 to a~out 17 5 times the width of the above-mentioned slots.
Further preferred features and advantages of the present process and apparatus will become apparent from the following detailed ~.g~
description, taken in association with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred form of apparatus in accordance witn the invention;
Figure 2 is a side elevation taken on the line 2-2 in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a partially fragmentary end view of the preferred form of modified threshing machine employed in the present apparatus;
Figure 4 is a partially fragmentary front elevation of the basket and rotor of the threshing machine of Figure 3;
Figure 5 is a side view, partially in section taken on the line 5-5 in Figure ~;
Figure 6 is a side view of a solids-air separator device employed in the present apparatus;
Figure 7 is an end elevational view, taken on the line 7-7 in Figure 1; and ~igure 8 is a front elevational view, taken on the line 8-8 in Figure 1.
Referring to the drawings~ the apparatus comprises an endless belt feed conveyor 11, of which the upper flight, travelling in the direction of the arrow 12 in Figure 1 inclines upwardly from a feed hopper 13 to an inlet hopper 14 of a modified form of tobacco threshing machine 16.
As shown in more detail in Figure 3, the machine 16 comprises an upper casing 17 having an upper inlet opening 18 into which the hopper 14 feeds. Referring to Figures 4 and 5, within the casing 16 is supported a semi-cylindrical basket 19, which is in the form of a thin semi-cy].indrical shell apertured by generally ~2~8~
longit~dinally-extending slots 21. These slots 21 are of indented configuration, and are of approximately constant width "W" as indicated in Figure 4, and thus de~ine between them sets of triangular teeth 22 disposed in longitudinally-extending rows in pairs, one on each side of a slot 21. The teeth 22 in each row project transversely toward the teeth in the adjacent row, and each tooth lies in the yeneral surface of the semi-cylindrical shell or basket 19, and is offset longitudinally relative to the teeth in the adjacent row. Each tooth tapers toward a pointed end facing to~ard the teeth of the opposing row. As will be seen from Figures 4 and 5, each tooth 22 is relatively thin compared with its length, since the thickness "T"
(as shown in Figure 5~ of the shell 19 is small relative to the length "L" (as shown in Figure 4) of each tooth 22. The ratio T:L is desirably in the range from about 0.01:1 to about 0.2:1, more preferably about 0.05:1 to 0.15:1. Thus, the side edges of the teeth present relatively thin elongated surfaces well adapted for severing and tearing the cardboard and paper and other wrapping and packaging materials of the intact cigarette packages, as ~ell as the paper of the cigarette tubes themselves.
Also within the casing is mounted a rotor 23 having an axle 24 journalled within the upper casing 17, on an axis coincident with the axis o the shell 19. A drive for rotating the rotor 23 at controlled speed is connected to the axle 24. The rotor 23 consists of a series of circular disks 26 keyed on the shaEt 24, and having spacers 27 arranged between them. A series of rods 28 are passed axially through apertures in each disk 26 and the spacers 27. The rods 28 are threaded at each end, and have nuts 29 secured to them, thus clamping the disks 26 and the spacers 27 together firmly. A series of blade-like impeller members 31 are mounted on the rotor 23, and are distributed substantially uniformly circumferentially and axially on the rotor. In the example shown, the impeller members 31 are disposed in six rows, with the rows being positioned at uniform angular spacings around the axis of the rotor. Desirably, each impeller member 31 is spaced axially from its adjacent impeller members in the row by a distance D, as shown in Figure 4~ which is about 0.8 to about 3 ~2~
times, more preferably about 1 to about 1.5 times the width W of the slots 21 between the teeth 22 of the basket 19, in order to exert an efficient disintegrating action on the cigarette packets fed into the basket 19, without production of excessive quanti-ties of small paper fibres or other non-tobacco fibres of small size the same as or substantially the same as the size of the tobacco particles. Desirably, hardened, e.g. carbide, inserts 32 are welded in leading edges of the impeller members 31 at their tips, to reduce wear.
1~ Desirably, the width W of the slots 21 is in a ratio of about 20:1 to about 1:1 to the smallest dimension, for example the thickness, of the packages which are to be disintegra~ed. More preferably, this ratio is about 10:1 to about 2:1. Further, in order to efficiently disintegrate the packages without excessive production of fine paper fibres, it is desirable to control the speed of the impeller members 31 relative ~o the teeth 22.
Desirably, the tips of the impeller members 31 move at a speed of about 1500 to 5000 ft./min. relative to the teeth 22, more preferably about 2000 to about 4000 ft./min., and still more preferably about 2500 to about 3500 ft./min., relative to said teeth.
Merely by way of example, it may be mentioned that the semi-cylindrical shell 19 may have a radius of about 1 ft. 1 and 5/8 inches, and a length of about 2 ft. 6 inches. The width W of the channels between adjacent teeth may be approxima~ely 2 inches, and each tooth may have a length L of about 2 and 1/2 inches. The thickness T of the thin shell 19 may be about 7/32 of an inch.
The rotor 23 as shown may comprise disks 26 of about 16 inch diameter, and each plate-like impeller member 31 may project radially a distance about 4 and 15/16 inch beyond the edge of each disk 26. The spacing D between adjacent impeller members 31 may be about 2 and 1/2 inches, which may be arrived at by modifying a conventional tobacco thresher rotor by removing every other impeller member 31, so that the spacing between adjacent ~.:2Q~
impeller members is doubled as compared with the spacing in the conventional threshing operation, except adjacent the ends of the rotors, where some impeller members, e.g. the impeller members 31a may be left at their usual spacing, in order to avoid excessively large gaps between impeller members and the adjacent ends of the rotor. with the rotor and basket having the above dimensions, particularly satisfactory disintegration action is achieved in use, without excessive production of small paper fibres or other small non-tobacco particles, when the rotor 23 is rotated in the direction shown in Figure 3 at about 450 rpm, so that the tips of the impeller members 31 travel at a speed of about 3000 ft./min. relative to tne surroundings The above described machine is also modified as compared with the conventional tobacco threshing arrangement in that a row of stationary blade-like members connected to and projecting inwardly from the inner wall of the casing 17, somewhat in the manner of a comb down through which the impeller members 31 of the rotor normally pass as the cylinder rotates, is removed, so that, in the upper portion of the casing 17, the impeller members 31 rotate through free space. It has been found that removal of these stationary blade like members further reduces the tendency toward production of fine non-tobacco particles. Merely by way of example, it may be mentioned that the threshing machine 16 may be a modified Cardwell (trade mar~.) Thresher Model MT450.
Connected to the bottom of the casing 17 of the machine 16 is a hopper 34, which receives disintegrated material passing through the basket 19. The lower end of the hopper 34 opens into an intermediate portion o~ a horizontal run of a duct 36. This connects through an elbow to a vertical portion 37 of the duct, and through a further elbow to a raised horizontal portion 38, which feeds to ~he inlet of a tangential separator 39, shown in more detail in Figure 6.
The tangential separator 39 comprises a generally cylindrical casing, having its axis horizontal, and with a rectangular inlet 41 leading ~o a throat 42 disposed tangentially of the ~2~
cylindrical curvature of the device. The separator has opposing side walls 43 and 44 curving downwardly toward a tapering lower outlet 46 which opens into an air lock device comprising a cylindrical casing 47 having its axis parallel to that of the separator 39. The separator 39 has on one side a relatively large central opening 48 adjacent which extends, across the width of the separator, a curved inner baffle 49 on the same side of the opening 48 as the inlet opening 41l and somewhat below the central opening 48. The separator functions somewhat in the manner of a cyclone, and, through its geometry, is effective to cause solids entrained in the airstream entering through the throat 42 to travel tangentially around the circumference of the separator and to accumulate at the lower outlet throat 46, while the air or gas phase tends to flow outwardly through the axial opening 48.
The casing 47 of the air lock device has an opening in its lower surface, which communicates with a tapering outle~ 51 at the lower end of the device. Mounted within the casing 47 is a paddle-wheel-like arranyement 52 rotated through a drive 53 from a motor 54. The tips of the paddles 42 have flexible sealing members ~6 which scrape the inner surface of the casing 47, and thus form substantiall~ sealed compartments between each paddle 52 and the interior surface of the casing 47. Thus, solids falling into the casing 47 through the throat 46 are conveyed by the rotation of the paddle-wheel arrangement arcuately downwardly to the outlet 51, while escape of any major flow of air from the inside of the device 39 is prevented. ~erely by way of example, the separator 39 may be a Cardwell Tangential Separator Size 36-60.
As shown in Figure ~, a fan 57 is mounted coaxially of the separator 39, and exhausts air through the central opening 48 and blows it through a duct 58 sloping downwardly through a portion 59 to elbows 60 and 61, seen in Figures 1 and 2, leading to the duct portion 36 connecting to the lower end of the machine 16, so that air flows in a substantially closed loop between the machine 16 and the separator 39O
The outlet 51 o~ the air lock casing 47 connects to the upper portion of one side of a pneumatic lift device 62, which comprises a rectangular chamber 63. On the side to which the outlet 51 is connected, the pneumatic lift device 62 is formed internally with a vertically-extending chute, at the lower end of which is arranged a driven paddle-wheel device 64, so that solids falling down the chute are cast laterally by the device 64 across the interior of the chamber 63, along paths indicated by broken lines 66 in Figure 2.
An inclined wire mesh screen 67 extends transversely across the interior of the lift device 62, and extends outwardly and down-wardly through an opening 68 at the lower side. Air is drawn upwardly out of the upper end of the lift device 62 through a duct 6g passing to a tangential separator 71 similar to the separator 39. The axial exhaust from the tangential separator 71, passing through a duct 72, is blown by a fan 73 along duct portions 74, 76, and 77 to an elbow leading to a vertical duct section 78 passing through an elbow to an inlet duct 79 which feeds into the bottom of the lift device 62. Thus, air is passed upwardly through the chamber 63 of the device 62 and through the tangential separator 71 in a substantially closed loop.
The air passing upwardly through the lift device 62 passes through the inclined screen 67, and its upward velocity is con-trolled so that heavier components present in the material cast laterally through the casing 63 by the paddle-wheel arrangement 64 are not entrained by the airstream, but fall onto the inclined screen 67. The inclined screen 67 is connected to a vibrator or shaker device, and the vibrations cause such components falling on the screen to travel gradually ~own the incline of the screen 67 toward its lower end. The pneumatic lift device 62 may be, for example, a conventional form of pneumatic lift and separator device employed in tobacco threshing. Merely by way o~ example, the pneumatic lift device may be a Cardwell pneumatic lift PL
Separator Model ST-664-2.
The lower end of the inclined screen 67 is disposed over the lower end ~f an endless belt conveyor 81, so that said components falling from the inclined screen 67 are conveyed ~pwardly. The upper end of the belt conveyor 81 is disposed over the lower end of a further upwardly inclining belt conveyor 82, as seen in Figures 7 and 8, the upper end of which is disposed over a vibratory screening table 83, seen in Figures 1 and 8. The table 83 is of a conventional form used in tobacco leaf processing.
Briefly, it comprises an elongated channel-section trough 83a.
At the end adjacent the conveyor 82, the trough 83a is closed by a transverse end wall. The opposite end of the trough is open.
~ounted within the trough and spaced a small distance below its upper edge is a screen mesh 83b. The table 83 is connected to a vibrator device 84 and is supported on swing supports 86, about which the table is driven in a rapid oscillation when driven by the device 84. Particulate material on the screen 83b travels along the screen in the direction toward the open end of the trough as a result of the form of the vibratory motion to which the table is subjected. Particulate material passing throu~h the screen 83b travels along the bottom surface 83c of the trough 83a f as a result of the vibratory motion, to an opening 83d, through which the particulates fall to a chute 88.
The end of the table 83 opposite the conveyor 82 is disposed over the hopper 13 and feed conveyor 11, so that material which does not pass through the screen 83b is recycled to the hopper.
Referring again to Figure 2, the outlet at the lower end of the tangential separator 71 connects to the interior of a hood 89, which is intende~ to shield the relatively fine particles which rain downwardly from the airlock in the bottom of the tangential separator 71 from being carried to one side by drafts or cross-currents of air. The hood 89 is positioned over one end of a vibratory screening table g1 similar to the table 83, and connected to a vibrator device 92 effective to move particulates toward the opposite end of the table 91. The table 9l includes a lower screen 91b of relatively fine mesh, and in the region of the hood ~9, an upper screen 93 of relatively coarse mesh inter-posed between the outlet of the airlock of the tangential separator 71 and the screen 91b, so that solids raining down-wardly from the tangential separator device 71 are received first on the screen 93. The screen 93 is fixed to the table 91 so that it vibrates therewith. The screen 93 extends only a short distance, e.g., approximately the axial extent of the tangential separator 71, as indicated in Figure 7. Solids passing through the screens 91b and 93 collect on the trough of the table 91, and are moved forwardly by the vibrating action toward an opening 91d in the table through which the screened solids pass onto the upper surface of an intermediate portion of an endless conveyor belt 96. This conveys the screened solids in the direction indicated by the arrow 97 in Figure 1 to the upper surface of a further endless conveyor belt 98, which conveys the solids in the direction indicated by the arrow 99 in Figure 1. The conveyor belt 98 is relatively wide, and preferably there is a vibrating plate device (not shown) disposed between the end of the conveyor belt 96 and the upper surface of the belt 98 on which the solids initially fall and which tends to spread solids more or less evenly on the upper surface of the belt 98. The vibrating plate may be for example a rectangular plate bent into an inverted V-section and connected to the table 83 and vibrating therewith.
In ~he operation of the apparatus, as described in more detail later, the belt 98 receives tobacco particles and the spreading out of the particles on the belt 98 permits the quality of the tobacco particles product passing along the belt 98 to be inspected visually by an operator stationed alongside the belt 98~ Preferably, the operator is provided with a vacuum nozzle connected to a vacuum hose, so that the operator can pick ~Ip and remove by vacuum any scraps of paper which are evident on visual inspection.
In order to subject the solids separated at the tangential separator 71 to a lengthy screening action, the shaking table 91 and screen 91b extend beyond the opening 91d to an end positioned over an end of a further horizontal vibratory screening table 101 similar to tables 83 and 91, and provided with a screen 101b of mesh dimensions the same as those of the screen 93. The shaking table 101 is vibrated by a vibrator device 103. An opening 101d is formed in the trough of the shaking table 101 adjacent the end remote from the shaking table 91, and a chute 106 extends downwardly from the opening 101d toward the upper surface of an upwardly-inclaning endless conveyor belt 107, so that solids passing through the screen 101b, and moved along the table 101 by its shaking action, travel through the opening 101d, down the chute 106, and onto the conveyor belt 107, which feeds the solids to the inlet end of the conveyor belt 96. The end o~
the screen 101b remote from the belt 91 is positioned over a paper waste collection box 108 which receives fragments which do not pass through the screen 101b.
The above-mentioned chute 88 extending from the opening 83d in the shaking table 83 is disposed over endless conveyor belt 109, which conveys material received from the chute 88 to the upper surface of the screen 101b of the shaker table 101.
In operation, the wrappings of cartons of cigarettes, which may be filter or non-filter cigarettes, from which the tobacco is to be reclaimed are removed by hand, and the intact packages are placed in the feed hopper 13. The packages are conveyed by the conveyor 11 to the machine 16. The packages falling downwardly through the casing 17 are received on the upper surface of the basket 19, and are drawn at high speed by the impeller members 31 along the inner surface of the basket in a direction generally circumferentially of its surface, and are thereby subjected to a disintegrating action as they are drawn over the relatively thin blade-lilce edge surfaces of the teeth 22. This action is effective to cut through cellulose film, paper and card packaging materials of the intact packages, and to cut through the paper tubes of the cigarettes. Tobacco particles tend to be liberated from the cut-open tubes, as a result of t~e agitation to which they are subjected as a result of impacts by the impeller members 31 and teeth 22, so that a mixture of torn and shredded cellulose film, paper and cardboard, together with intact and severed cigarettes, pieces of paper tube and liberated tobacco particles ~%~
is formed~ It has been found that the form of disint2grating action which is effected by this arrangement, wherein the cigarette packages are drawn by impeller members longitudinally along longitudinally-extending rows of teeth, such as the teeth 22, wherein the teeth in each row project transversely toward the teeth in the adjacent row, ~orms a disintegrated mixture without any substantial production of small paper fibers or other parti-cles, whether resulting from wrapping paper or cardl cigarette tube paper, or cellulose fiber or other filters, of a particle size the same as or smaller than the tobacco particles. The disintegrated mixture, which may also include occasional more or less intact cigarette packages, which fall through the elongated openings 21 between adjacent rows of teeth, passes downwardly through the hopper 34, and is entrained in the stream of air passing along the horizontal portion 36 of the duct. The mixture passes into the tangential separator device 39, and the solids, passing downwardly through the airlock device 52 are passed into the pneumatic lift device 62 and are cast laterally by the paddle wheel impeller 64 along the substantially horizontal paths 66 ~0 into the upflowing stream of air passing through the rectangular chamber 63 of the device 62. The stream of air flowing upwardly through the chamber 63 is controlled such that it is insufficient to elevate intact cigarette packages or more or less intact cigarette packages that may be present in the mixture, and these fall downwardly onto the vibrating or shaking screen 67, and pass laterally outwardly to the conveyor device 81.
The remaining components of the mix~ure, comprisiny fragments of packages, packaging materials, intact or severed paper tubes and tobacco particles pass upwardly in the airstream flowing through the duct 69 and into the tangential separator 710 Desirably, the upflow of air through the chamber 63 is controlled by adjustrnent of the speed of ~he fan 73 so that it is of such velocity that it will not immediately entrain intact cigarettes or cleanly-severed cigarette lengths, i.e. segments consisting of a length of paper tube packed with more or less undisturbed tobacco particle filler, and carry them out of the chamber 63 ~2~
into the duct 69. Rather, the velocity of the upward airflow is desirably controlled so that these relatively heavy intact ciga-rettes and cleanly severed cigarette portions tend to reside in a suspended condition inside the chamber 63, and tend to be driven against the walls of the chamber, to impact thereon repeatedly, as a result of the somewhat turbulent nature of the flow upwardly through the chamber. As a result, the repeated impacts against the inner walls of the chamber 63 tend to loosen the tobacco particles within the cigarette paper tubes, so that the loosened particles fall out, and the liberated particles, together with the now empty and lightened paper tubes and tube pieces are car~ied upwardly out of the chamber 63 and into the duct 69.
Preferably, the air flow upwardly through the chamber 63 of the lift device 62 has a velocity in the range about 500 to 1200 ft.
per minute. At lo~er speeds, excessive quantities of fragments tend to be separated out onto the vibrating screen 67, and with higher speeds, there is increasing tendency for intact packages to be carried upwardly out of the device 6~ along the duct 69 and into the tangential separator device 71. More preferably, the velocity of the airstream is about 600 to about 900 feet per minute~ still more preferably, about 800 feet per minute~ Merely by way of example, it may be mentioned that the interior cross-section of the chamber 63 may be about 2 feet 6 inches by about 3 feet 4.5 inches, and the airflow upwardly through the chamber 63 may be about 6600 cubic feet per minute, at a velocity of about 780 feet per minute.
The mixture of solid fragments passing downwardly from the tangential separator 71 falls initially on the upper screen 93 of the shaking table 91. The function of the relatively coarse upper screen 93 is to impart tilting or toppling motions to the fragments of paper and other non-tobacco fragments in the mixture, so that tobacco particles which have lodged on top of these fragments is not carried along with them and lost to the recovery process. Thus, because of the relatively large openings in the upper screen 93, as the paper fragments, other wrapping material fragments, and empty cigarette paper tubes travel along the upper surface of the screen 93, under the influence of the vibrator motion, they tend to engage in or momentarily tip downwardly into the relatively large openings in the screen 93, and have a tumbling motion imparted to them, so that the bed of fragments on the upper screen 93 proceeds forwardly in the form of a vigorously agitated bed of fragments. The fragments are further agitated and tumbled as they fall forwardly and downwardly from the forward edge of the upper coarse screen 93 onto the upper surface of the lower relatively fine screen 91b.
Merely by way of example, it may be mentioned that the upper screen 93 may be a half inch square wire mesh screenO The lower screen 91b may be a one-eighth square wire mesh screen.
The tobacco particles fall through the screens 91a and 91b onto the lower continuous table surface of the table 91, and, by the vibratory motion, are carried forwardly along the lower continuous surface to the opening 91d, through which they fall onto the upper surface of the belt 96, which conveys them to the conveyor belt 98. The tobacco particles passing along the conveyor belt 9~ may, as discussed earlier, be spread laterally on the belt and be inspected visually by an operator who has a vacuum nozzle with which the operator can remove any visually evident pieces of non-tobacco material such as small paper fragments or the like. At the far end of the belt 98, the separated tobacco particles may be received in a collection box or the like.
The paper fragments and other non-tobacco fragments travelling along the lower screen 91b fall from the end of the table g1 onto the upper surface of the vibrating screen 101b of the table 101.
The end of the trough of the shaking table 91 is also disposed above the screen 101b, so that any tobacco fragments which pass the screen 91b beyond the opening 91d also fall onto the upper surface of the screen 101b of the table 101.
The paper and other non-tobacco fragments, which are relatively large compared with the tobacco particles, travel forwardly along the screen lOlb under the vibratory action of the table 101, and fall into the collection box 108. Tobacco particles which become dislodged from th~ paper or other non-tobacco fragments on the screen 101b, together with any tobacco particles which are received from the shaking table 91, pass through the screen lOlb, and travel forwardly along the trough of the table 101 below the screen lOlb, and fall downwardly throu~h the opening 101d, pass down the ch~te 106, and onto the upper surface of the belt 107, and onto the belt 96, where they join the screened tobacco particles from the table 91, and hence pass with these particles to the belt 98 and toward collection~
Any more or less intact packages which pass laterally outwardly from the pneumatic lift device 62 on the screen 67 are carried upwardly by the conveyor 81 to the lower end of the conveyor 82, which carries them to the upper surface of the screen 83b of the screening table 83, along which they travel to the end disposed over the hopper 13, so that they are collected by the belt 11 and returned to the thresher device 14.
Any tobacco particles which may be carried along with such intact or more or less intact packages tends to be dislodged from the packages in their passage along the screen 83b, as a result of the vibrations to which they are subjected, and therefore fall through the screen 83b to be collected by the chute 88l from which they are carried by the conveyor 109 to the upper surface of the screen 101b, and travel toward collection together with the other tobacco particles passing through the screen 102b.
Preferably, the openings of the screen 83b are relatively large, so that any fragments smaller than intact packages and which are carried laterally out of the pneumatic lift device 62, along with intact packages, tend to pass through the openings of the screen 83b. Merely by way of example, it may be mentioned that the openings in the screen 83b may be about 3~4 inch mesh openings~
The openings in the screen 101b are preferably relatively small, e.g. 1/8 inch, so that paper and other relatively large fragments are retained by the screen 101b and pass to the paper waste collection box 108.
Packaged cigarettes have a limited storage life, after which the cigarettes are usually considered by the manufacturer to be unsaleable. The tobacco combined in the cigarettes, if reclaimed, can, however, be treated, e.g. re-humidified, to render it re-useable in cigarette production. There are, however, considerable difficulties in recovering the valuable tobacco from the packaged cigarettes. There are various machines known ~or recovery of tobacco ~rom loose cigarettes.
Utilization of these machines for tobacco recovery from intact packages would, however, require that the packaqes first be opened and the cigarettes removed from the packages, and, in the present state of the art, this operation can be conducted satisfactorily only by hand, and the expense of this makes the procedure uneconomical.
There have been prior attempts at processing of intact packages in order to liberate the tobacco particles, but there is the difficulty that procedures for automatic ripping open of the packages tend to produce fine fibres and other particles of paper, cellulose film and other non-tobacco materials from the cigarette paper tubes, filters and packaging materials. These fine particles are of size substantially the same as or smaller than the tobacco particles. This makes it difficult or impossible to separate the fine non-tobacco particles from the tobacco particles to achieve tobacco of quality adequate for re-use in cigarette manufacture, since there is insufficient difference in density between the paper and other non-tobacco particles on the one hand and the tobacco particles on the other. Before the present invention, therefore, it has been the common practice to destroy the unsaleable packaged cigarettes by burning them or burying them in disposal sites.
The present inventors have found~ surprisingly, that intact cigarette packages can be readily disintegrated to form a disintegrated mixture of tobacco particles with paper or other - 1 ~r~
non-tobacco fragments which are substantially larger than the tobacco particles, and which can, therefore, be readily separated from the former, using, for example, a modified form of threshing machine of the type conventionally employed for threshing tobacco lea~, in tobacco processing.
In the method of the invention, the intact packages are subjected to a disintegrating action effected between impeller members and one or more pairs of longitudinally~extending rows of teeth, of which the teeth in each row pro~ect transversely toward the teeth in the adjacent row. Each impeller member has its cross-section elongated in the longitudinal direction, and is moved generally longitudinally relative to the rows. The intact packages are fed to the teeth, and are drawn along the teeth by the impeller mem-bers and are thereby disintegrated. It has been ~ound that, with this arrangement, it is possible to tear the packages and the paper tubes of the cigarettes contained in the packages into non-tobacco fragments which are substantially larger than the tobacco particles contained in the cigarettes. The resulting mixture of non-tobacco fragments and tobacco particles can then be subjected to particle separation procedures effective to separate out tobacco particles substantially free of non-tobacco fragments.
In the preferred form, the process is conducted using a modified tobacco threshing machine, in which the teeth are defined by cir-cumferentially extending slots formed in a stationary semi cylindrical shell, known in the art as a basket, and the impeller members are blade-like members mounted on a rotor which rotates about an axis coincident with that o~ the basket. It will, however, be appreciated that the above-described disintegrating function can be effected, although with less advantage~ employing equivalent arrangements such as, for example arrangements wherein a slotted planar plate or other planar member defining teeth is employed, and the impeller members are swept over the surface of the planar plate or member by, for example, an endless belt to which impeller members are attached, and which is disposed parallel to the planar member. Similarly, in other arrangements, the impeller members may be stationary, and the array of teeth may be moved relative to the impeller members, e.g. they may be rotated about the impeller members.
One advantage of the present method is that it can be conducted using a modified form of a machine, i.e. a threshing machine, normally employed in the tobacco processors plant.
In the preferred form of apparatus according to the present invention, the teeth are ~ormed in a relatively thin shell, and are defined by a series of elongated indented slots of approxi-mately constant width extending in a longitudinal direction. The ratio of the width of these slots to the smallest dimension of the rectangular packages is preferably in the range about 20:1 to 1:1. The impeller members employed for moving the packages rela-tive to the teeth are preferably spaced apart uniformly trans-versely at a distance about 0.8 to about 3 times the width of the slots. The present inventors have found that, where the width of the slots between the teeth or the spacing between the impeller members is made substantially less than the ratios indicated above, the disintegration operation tends to produce undesired small paper fibres unless the speed of the impeller members rela-tive to the teeth is considerably reduced, thus slowing down therate of disintegration and hence the rate of throughput of the packages. If the width of the slots between the teeth or the transverse spacing between the impeller members is made much greater, the efficiency of the disintegrating action tends to be impaired, as intact packages tend to build up within the disin-tegrating apparatus, resulting in a reduction in the throughput of packages, or an undesirably large proportion of packages may tend to pass intact through the disintegrator apparatus. In the preferred form, the width of the slots between the teeth is in a ratio of about 10:1 to about 2:1 to the smallest dimension of the intact packages which are to be disintegrated, and the spacing between the impeller members is about 1 to a~out 17 5 times the width of the above-mentioned slots.
Further preferred features and advantages of the present process and apparatus will become apparent from the following detailed ~.g~
description, taken in association with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a preferred form of apparatus in accordance witn the invention;
Figure 2 is a side elevation taken on the line 2-2 in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a partially fragmentary end view of the preferred form of modified threshing machine employed in the present apparatus;
Figure 4 is a partially fragmentary front elevation of the basket and rotor of the threshing machine of Figure 3;
Figure 5 is a side view, partially in section taken on the line 5-5 in Figure ~;
Figure 6 is a side view of a solids-air separator device employed in the present apparatus;
Figure 7 is an end elevational view, taken on the line 7-7 in Figure 1; and ~igure 8 is a front elevational view, taken on the line 8-8 in Figure 1.
Referring to the drawings~ the apparatus comprises an endless belt feed conveyor 11, of which the upper flight, travelling in the direction of the arrow 12 in Figure 1 inclines upwardly from a feed hopper 13 to an inlet hopper 14 of a modified form of tobacco threshing machine 16.
As shown in more detail in Figure 3, the machine 16 comprises an upper casing 17 having an upper inlet opening 18 into which the hopper 14 feeds. Referring to Figures 4 and 5, within the casing 16 is supported a semi-cylindrical basket 19, which is in the form of a thin semi-cy].indrical shell apertured by generally ~2~8~
longit~dinally-extending slots 21. These slots 21 are of indented configuration, and are of approximately constant width "W" as indicated in Figure 4, and thus de~ine between them sets of triangular teeth 22 disposed in longitudinally-extending rows in pairs, one on each side of a slot 21. The teeth 22 in each row project transversely toward the teeth in the adjacent row, and each tooth lies in the yeneral surface of the semi-cylindrical shell or basket 19, and is offset longitudinally relative to the teeth in the adjacent row. Each tooth tapers toward a pointed end facing to~ard the teeth of the opposing row. As will be seen from Figures 4 and 5, each tooth 22 is relatively thin compared with its length, since the thickness "T"
(as shown in Figure 5~ of the shell 19 is small relative to the length "L" (as shown in Figure 4) of each tooth 22. The ratio T:L is desirably in the range from about 0.01:1 to about 0.2:1, more preferably about 0.05:1 to 0.15:1. Thus, the side edges of the teeth present relatively thin elongated surfaces well adapted for severing and tearing the cardboard and paper and other wrapping and packaging materials of the intact cigarette packages, as ~ell as the paper of the cigarette tubes themselves.
Also within the casing is mounted a rotor 23 having an axle 24 journalled within the upper casing 17, on an axis coincident with the axis o the shell 19. A drive for rotating the rotor 23 at controlled speed is connected to the axle 24. The rotor 23 consists of a series of circular disks 26 keyed on the shaEt 24, and having spacers 27 arranged between them. A series of rods 28 are passed axially through apertures in each disk 26 and the spacers 27. The rods 28 are threaded at each end, and have nuts 29 secured to them, thus clamping the disks 26 and the spacers 27 together firmly. A series of blade-like impeller members 31 are mounted on the rotor 23, and are distributed substantially uniformly circumferentially and axially on the rotor. In the example shown, the impeller members 31 are disposed in six rows, with the rows being positioned at uniform angular spacings around the axis of the rotor. Desirably, each impeller member 31 is spaced axially from its adjacent impeller members in the row by a distance D, as shown in Figure 4~ which is about 0.8 to about 3 ~2~
times, more preferably about 1 to about 1.5 times the width W of the slots 21 between the teeth 22 of the basket 19, in order to exert an efficient disintegrating action on the cigarette packets fed into the basket 19, without production of excessive quanti-ties of small paper fibres or other non-tobacco fibres of small size the same as or substantially the same as the size of the tobacco particles. Desirably, hardened, e.g. carbide, inserts 32 are welded in leading edges of the impeller members 31 at their tips, to reduce wear.
1~ Desirably, the width W of the slots 21 is in a ratio of about 20:1 to about 1:1 to the smallest dimension, for example the thickness, of the packages which are to be disintegra~ed. More preferably, this ratio is about 10:1 to about 2:1. Further, in order to efficiently disintegrate the packages without excessive production of fine paper fibres, it is desirable to control the speed of the impeller members 31 relative ~o the teeth 22.
Desirably, the tips of the impeller members 31 move at a speed of about 1500 to 5000 ft./min. relative to the teeth 22, more preferably about 2000 to about 4000 ft./min., and still more preferably about 2500 to about 3500 ft./min., relative to said teeth.
Merely by way of example, it may be mentioned that the semi-cylindrical shell 19 may have a radius of about 1 ft. 1 and 5/8 inches, and a length of about 2 ft. 6 inches. The width W of the channels between adjacent teeth may be approxima~ely 2 inches, and each tooth may have a length L of about 2 and 1/2 inches. The thickness T of the thin shell 19 may be about 7/32 of an inch.
The rotor 23 as shown may comprise disks 26 of about 16 inch diameter, and each plate-like impeller member 31 may project radially a distance about 4 and 15/16 inch beyond the edge of each disk 26. The spacing D between adjacent impeller members 31 may be about 2 and 1/2 inches, which may be arrived at by modifying a conventional tobacco thresher rotor by removing every other impeller member 31, so that the spacing between adjacent ~.:2Q~
impeller members is doubled as compared with the spacing in the conventional threshing operation, except adjacent the ends of the rotors, where some impeller members, e.g. the impeller members 31a may be left at their usual spacing, in order to avoid excessively large gaps between impeller members and the adjacent ends of the rotor. with the rotor and basket having the above dimensions, particularly satisfactory disintegration action is achieved in use, without excessive production of small paper fibres or other small non-tobacco particles, when the rotor 23 is rotated in the direction shown in Figure 3 at about 450 rpm, so that the tips of the impeller members 31 travel at a speed of about 3000 ft./min. relative to tne surroundings The above described machine is also modified as compared with the conventional tobacco threshing arrangement in that a row of stationary blade-like members connected to and projecting inwardly from the inner wall of the casing 17, somewhat in the manner of a comb down through which the impeller members 31 of the rotor normally pass as the cylinder rotates, is removed, so that, in the upper portion of the casing 17, the impeller members 31 rotate through free space. It has been found that removal of these stationary blade like members further reduces the tendency toward production of fine non-tobacco particles. Merely by way of example, it may be mentioned that the threshing machine 16 may be a modified Cardwell (trade mar~.) Thresher Model MT450.
Connected to the bottom of the casing 17 of the machine 16 is a hopper 34, which receives disintegrated material passing through the basket 19. The lower end of the hopper 34 opens into an intermediate portion o~ a horizontal run of a duct 36. This connects through an elbow to a vertical portion 37 of the duct, and through a further elbow to a raised horizontal portion 38, which feeds to ~he inlet of a tangential separator 39, shown in more detail in Figure 6.
The tangential separator 39 comprises a generally cylindrical casing, having its axis horizontal, and with a rectangular inlet 41 leading ~o a throat 42 disposed tangentially of the ~2~
cylindrical curvature of the device. The separator has opposing side walls 43 and 44 curving downwardly toward a tapering lower outlet 46 which opens into an air lock device comprising a cylindrical casing 47 having its axis parallel to that of the separator 39. The separator 39 has on one side a relatively large central opening 48 adjacent which extends, across the width of the separator, a curved inner baffle 49 on the same side of the opening 48 as the inlet opening 41l and somewhat below the central opening 48. The separator functions somewhat in the manner of a cyclone, and, through its geometry, is effective to cause solids entrained in the airstream entering through the throat 42 to travel tangentially around the circumference of the separator and to accumulate at the lower outlet throat 46, while the air or gas phase tends to flow outwardly through the axial opening 48.
The casing 47 of the air lock device has an opening in its lower surface, which communicates with a tapering outle~ 51 at the lower end of the device. Mounted within the casing 47 is a paddle-wheel-like arranyement 52 rotated through a drive 53 from a motor 54. The tips of the paddles 42 have flexible sealing members ~6 which scrape the inner surface of the casing 47, and thus form substantiall~ sealed compartments between each paddle 52 and the interior surface of the casing 47. Thus, solids falling into the casing 47 through the throat 46 are conveyed by the rotation of the paddle-wheel arrangement arcuately downwardly to the outlet 51, while escape of any major flow of air from the inside of the device 39 is prevented. ~erely by way of example, the separator 39 may be a Cardwell Tangential Separator Size 36-60.
As shown in Figure ~, a fan 57 is mounted coaxially of the separator 39, and exhausts air through the central opening 48 and blows it through a duct 58 sloping downwardly through a portion 59 to elbows 60 and 61, seen in Figures 1 and 2, leading to the duct portion 36 connecting to the lower end of the machine 16, so that air flows in a substantially closed loop between the machine 16 and the separator 39O
The outlet 51 o~ the air lock casing 47 connects to the upper portion of one side of a pneumatic lift device 62, which comprises a rectangular chamber 63. On the side to which the outlet 51 is connected, the pneumatic lift device 62 is formed internally with a vertically-extending chute, at the lower end of which is arranged a driven paddle-wheel device 64, so that solids falling down the chute are cast laterally by the device 64 across the interior of the chamber 63, along paths indicated by broken lines 66 in Figure 2.
An inclined wire mesh screen 67 extends transversely across the interior of the lift device 62, and extends outwardly and down-wardly through an opening 68 at the lower side. Air is drawn upwardly out of the upper end of the lift device 62 through a duct 6g passing to a tangential separator 71 similar to the separator 39. The axial exhaust from the tangential separator 71, passing through a duct 72, is blown by a fan 73 along duct portions 74, 76, and 77 to an elbow leading to a vertical duct section 78 passing through an elbow to an inlet duct 79 which feeds into the bottom of the lift device 62. Thus, air is passed upwardly through the chamber 63 of the device 62 and through the tangential separator 71 in a substantially closed loop.
The air passing upwardly through the lift device 62 passes through the inclined screen 67, and its upward velocity is con-trolled so that heavier components present in the material cast laterally through the casing 63 by the paddle-wheel arrangement 64 are not entrained by the airstream, but fall onto the inclined screen 67. The inclined screen 67 is connected to a vibrator or shaker device, and the vibrations cause such components falling on the screen to travel gradually ~own the incline of the screen 67 toward its lower end. The pneumatic lift device 62 may be, for example, a conventional form of pneumatic lift and separator device employed in tobacco threshing. Merely by way o~ example, the pneumatic lift device may be a Cardwell pneumatic lift PL
Separator Model ST-664-2.
The lower end of the inclined screen 67 is disposed over the lower end ~f an endless belt conveyor 81, so that said components falling from the inclined screen 67 are conveyed ~pwardly. The upper end of the belt conveyor 81 is disposed over the lower end of a further upwardly inclining belt conveyor 82, as seen in Figures 7 and 8, the upper end of which is disposed over a vibratory screening table 83, seen in Figures 1 and 8. The table 83 is of a conventional form used in tobacco leaf processing.
Briefly, it comprises an elongated channel-section trough 83a.
At the end adjacent the conveyor 82, the trough 83a is closed by a transverse end wall. The opposite end of the trough is open.
~ounted within the trough and spaced a small distance below its upper edge is a screen mesh 83b. The table 83 is connected to a vibrator device 84 and is supported on swing supports 86, about which the table is driven in a rapid oscillation when driven by the device 84. Particulate material on the screen 83b travels along the screen in the direction toward the open end of the trough as a result of the form of the vibratory motion to which the table is subjected. Particulate material passing throu~h the screen 83b travels along the bottom surface 83c of the trough 83a f as a result of the vibratory motion, to an opening 83d, through which the particulates fall to a chute 88.
The end of the table 83 opposite the conveyor 82 is disposed over the hopper 13 and feed conveyor 11, so that material which does not pass through the screen 83b is recycled to the hopper.
Referring again to Figure 2, the outlet at the lower end of the tangential separator 71 connects to the interior of a hood 89, which is intende~ to shield the relatively fine particles which rain downwardly from the airlock in the bottom of the tangential separator 71 from being carried to one side by drafts or cross-currents of air. The hood 89 is positioned over one end of a vibratory screening table g1 similar to the table 83, and connected to a vibrator device 92 effective to move particulates toward the opposite end of the table 91. The table 9l includes a lower screen 91b of relatively fine mesh, and in the region of the hood ~9, an upper screen 93 of relatively coarse mesh inter-posed between the outlet of the airlock of the tangential separator 71 and the screen 91b, so that solids raining down-wardly from the tangential separator device 71 are received first on the screen 93. The screen 93 is fixed to the table 91 so that it vibrates therewith. The screen 93 extends only a short distance, e.g., approximately the axial extent of the tangential separator 71, as indicated in Figure 7. Solids passing through the screens 91b and 93 collect on the trough of the table 91, and are moved forwardly by the vibrating action toward an opening 91d in the table through which the screened solids pass onto the upper surface of an intermediate portion of an endless conveyor belt 96. This conveys the screened solids in the direction indicated by the arrow 97 in Figure 1 to the upper surface of a further endless conveyor belt 98, which conveys the solids in the direction indicated by the arrow 99 in Figure 1. The conveyor belt 98 is relatively wide, and preferably there is a vibrating plate device (not shown) disposed between the end of the conveyor belt 96 and the upper surface of the belt 98 on which the solids initially fall and which tends to spread solids more or less evenly on the upper surface of the belt 98. The vibrating plate may be for example a rectangular plate bent into an inverted V-section and connected to the table 83 and vibrating therewith.
In ~he operation of the apparatus, as described in more detail later, the belt 98 receives tobacco particles and the spreading out of the particles on the belt 98 permits the quality of the tobacco particles product passing along the belt 98 to be inspected visually by an operator stationed alongside the belt 98~ Preferably, the operator is provided with a vacuum nozzle connected to a vacuum hose, so that the operator can pick ~Ip and remove by vacuum any scraps of paper which are evident on visual inspection.
In order to subject the solids separated at the tangential separator 71 to a lengthy screening action, the shaking table 91 and screen 91b extend beyond the opening 91d to an end positioned over an end of a further horizontal vibratory screening table 101 similar to tables 83 and 91, and provided with a screen 101b of mesh dimensions the same as those of the screen 93. The shaking table 101 is vibrated by a vibrator device 103. An opening 101d is formed in the trough of the shaking table 101 adjacent the end remote from the shaking table 91, and a chute 106 extends downwardly from the opening 101d toward the upper surface of an upwardly-inclaning endless conveyor belt 107, so that solids passing through the screen 101b, and moved along the table 101 by its shaking action, travel through the opening 101d, down the chute 106, and onto the conveyor belt 107, which feeds the solids to the inlet end of the conveyor belt 96. The end o~
the screen 101b remote from the belt 91 is positioned over a paper waste collection box 108 which receives fragments which do not pass through the screen 101b.
The above-mentioned chute 88 extending from the opening 83d in the shaking table 83 is disposed over endless conveyor belt 109, which conveys material received from the chute 88 to the upper surface of the screen 101b of the shaker table 101.
In operation, the wrappings of cartons of cigarettes, which may be filter or non-filter cigarettes, from which the tobacco is to be reclaimed are removed by hand, and the intact packages are placed in the feed hopper 13. The packages are conveyed by the conveyor 11 to the machine 16. The packages falling downwardly through the casing 17 are received on the upper surface of the basket 19, and are drawn at high speed by the impeller members 31 along the inner surface of the basket in a direction generally circumferentially of its surface, and are thereby subjected to a disintegrating action as they are drawn over the relatively thin blade-lilce edge surfaces of the teeth 22. This action is effective to cut through cellulose film, paper and card packaging materials of the intact packages, and to cut through the paper tubes of the cigarettes. Tobacco particles tend to be liberated from the cut-open tubes, as a result of t~e agitation to which they are subjected as a result of impacts by the impeller members 31 and teeth 22, so that a mixture of torn and shredded cellulose film, paper and cardboard, together with intact and severed cigarettes, pieces of paper tube and liberated tobacco particles ~%~
is formed~ It has been found that the form of disint2grating action which is effected by this arrangement, wherein the cigarette packages are drawn by impeller members longitudinally along longitudinally-extending rows of teeth, such as the teeth 22, wherein the teeth in each row project transversely toward the teeth in the adjacent row, ~orms a disintegrated mixture without any substantial production of small paper fibers or other parti-cles, whether resulting from wrapping paper or cardl cigarette tube paper, or cellulose fiber or other filters, of a particle size the same as or smaller than the tobacco particles. The disintegrated mixture, which may also include occasional more or less intact cigarette packages, which fall through the elongated openings 21 between adjacent rows of teeth, passes downwardly through the hopper 34, and is entrained in the stream of air passing along the horizontal portion 36 of the duct. The mixture passes into the tangential separator device 39, and the solids, passing downwardly through the airlock device 52 are passed into the pneumatic lift device 62 and are cast laterally by the paddle wheel impeller 64 along the substantially horizontal paths 66 ~0 into the upflowing stream of air passing through the rectangular chamber 63 of the device 62. The stream of air flowing upwardly through the chamber 63 is controlled such that it is insufficient to elevate intact cigarette packages or more or less intact cigarette packages that may be present in the mixture, and these fall downwardly onto the vibrating or shaking screen 67, and pass laterally outwardly to the conveyor device 81.
The remaining components of the mix~ure, comprisiny fragments of packages, packaging materials, intact or severed paper tubes and tobacco particles pass upwardly in the airstream flowing through the duct 69 and into the tangential separator 710 Desirably, the upflow of air through the chamber 63 is controlled by adjustrnent of the speed of ~he fan 73 so that it is of such velocity that it will not immediately entrain intact cigarettes or cleanly-severed cigarette lengths, i.e. segments consisting of a length of paper tube packed with more or less undisturbed tobacco particle filler, and carry them out of the chamber 63 ~2~
into the duct 69. Rather, the velocity of the upward airflow is desirably controlled so that these relatively heavy intact ciga-rettes and cleanly severed cigarette portions tend to reside in a suspended condition inside the chamber 63, and tend to be driven against the walls of the chamber, to impact thereon repeatedly, as a result of the somewhat turbulent nature of the flow upwardly through the chamber. As a result, the repeated impacts against the inner walls of the chamber 63 tend to loosen the tobacco particles within the cigarette paper tubes, so that the loosened particles fall out, and the liberated particles, together with the now empty and lightened paper tubes and tube pieces are car~ied upwardly out of the chamber 63 and into the duct 69.
Preferably, the air flow upwardly through the chamber 63 of the lift device 62 has a velocity in the range about 500 to 1200 ft.
per minute. At lo~er speeds, excessive quantities of fragments tend to be separated out onto the vibrating screen 67, and with higher speeds, there is increasing tendency for intact packages to be carried upwardly out of the device 6~ along the duct 69 and into the tangential separator device 71. More preferably, the velocity of the airstream is about 600 to about 900 feet per minute~ still more preferably, about 800 feet per minute~ Merely by way of example, it may be mentioned that the interior cross-section of the chamber 63 may be about 2 feet 6 inches by about 3 feet 4.5 inches, and the airflow upwardly through the chamber 63 may be about 6600 cubic feet per minute, at a velocity of about 780 feet per minute.
The mixture of solid fragments passing downwardly from the tangential separator 71 falls initially on the upper screen 93 of the shaking table 91. The function of the relatively coarse upper screen 93 is to impart tilting or toppling motions to the fragments of paper and other non-tobacco fragments in the mixture, so that tobacco particles which have lodged on top of these fragments is not carried along with them and lost to the recovery process. Thus, because of the relatively large openings in the upper screen 93, as the paper fragments, other wrapping material fragments, and empty cigarette paper tubes travel along the upper surface of the screen 93, under the influence of the vibrator motion, they tend to engage in or momentarily tip downwardly into the relatively large openings in the screen 93, and have a tumbling motion imparted to them, so that the bed of fragments on the upper screen 93 proceeds forwardly in the form of a vigorously agitated bed of fragments. The fragments are further agitated and tumbled as they fall forwardly and downwardly from the forward edge of the upper coarse screen 93 onto the upper surface of the lower relatively fine screen 91b.
Merely by way of example, it may be mentioned that the upper screen 93 may be a half inch square wire mesh screenO The lower screen 91b may be a one-eighth square wire mesh screen.
The tobacco particles fall through the screens 91a and 91b onto the lower continuous table surface of the table 91, and, by the vibratory motion, are carried forwardly along the lower continuous surface to the opening 91d, through which they fall onto the upper surface of the belt 96, which conveys them to the conveyor belt 98. The tobacco particles passing along the conveyor belt 9~ may, as discussed earlier, be spread laterally on the belt and be inspected visually by an operator who has a vacuum nozzle with which the operator can remove any visually evident pieces of non-tobacco material such as small paper fragments or the like. At the far end of the belt 98, the separated tobacco particles may be received in a collection box or the like.
The paper fragments and other non-tobacco fragments travelling along the lower screen 91b fall from the end of the table g1 onto the upper surface of the vibrating screen 101b of the table 101.
The end of the trough of the shaking table 91 is also disposed above the screen 101b, so that any tobacco fragments which pass the screen 91b beyond the opening 91d also fall onto the upper surface of the screen 101b of the table 101.
The paper and other non-tobacco fragments, which are relatively large compared with the tobacco particles, travel forwardly along the screen lOlb under the vibratory action of the table 101, and fall into the collection box 108. Tobacco particles which become dislodged from th~ paper or other non-tobacco fragments on the screen 101b, together with any tobacco particles which are received from the shaking table 91, pass through the screen lOlb, and travel forwardly along the trough of the table 101 below the screen lOlb, and fall downwardly throu~h the opening 101d, pass down the ch~te 106, and onto the upper surface of the belt 107, and onto the belt 96, where they join the screened tobacco particles from the table 91, and hence pass with these particles to the belt 98 and toward collection~
Any more or less intact packages which pass laterally outwardly from the pneumatic lift device 62 on the screen 67 are carried upwardly by the conveyor 81 to the lower end of the conveyor 82, which carries them to the upper surface of the screen 83b of the screening table 83, along which they travel to the end disposed over the hopper 13, so that they are collected by the belt 11 and returned to the thresher device 14.
Any tobacco particles which may be carried along with such intact or more or less intact packages tends to be dislodged from the packages in their passage along the screen 83b, as a result of the vibrations to which they are subjected, and therefore fall through the screen 83b to be collected by the chute 88l from which they are carried by the conveyor 109 to the upper surface of the screen 101b, and travel toward collection together with the other tobacco particles passing through the screen 102b.
Preferably, the openings of the screen 83b are relatively large, so that any fragments smaller than intact packages and which are carried laterally out of the pneumatic lift device 62, along with intact packages, tend to pass through the openings of the screen 83b. Merely by way of example, it may be mentioned that the openings in the screen 83b may be about 3~4 inch mesh openings~
The openings in the screen 101b are preferably relatively small, e.g. 1/8 inch, so that paper and other relatively large fragments are retained by the screen 101b and pass to the paper waste collection box 108.
Claims (31)
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. Process for recovering tobacco particles from intact cigarette packages comprising subjecting the intact packages to disintegrating action effected between impeller members and one or more pairs of longitudinally extending rows of teeth, of which the teeth in each row project transversely toward the teeth in the adjacent row, each impeller member having its cross-section elongated in the longitudinal direction and moving generally longitudinally relative to said rows, wherein the intact packages are fed to said teeth and are drawn therealong by the impellers and are thereby disintegrated on the teeth, and the disinte-grating action being effective to tear the packages and paper tubes of the cigarettes containing the tobacco particles into a mixture comprising tobacco particles and non-tobacco fragments substantially larger than the tobacco particles, and subjecting the resulting mixture of non-tobacco fragments and tobacco particles to particle separation effective to separate from the mixture tobacco particles substantially free of non-tobacco fragments.
2. Process according to claim 1 in which each tooth tapers toward a pointed end and toward the teeth of the opposing row and extends in a simple surface generally perpendicular to the impeller members.
3. Process according to claim 2 in which the teeth in each row are offset relative to the teeth in the opposing row and each pair of rows defines an elongated indented slot of approximately constant width.
4. Process according to claim 3 wherein the width of the slots is in a ratio of about 20:1 to about 1:1 to the smallest dimension of the packages.
5. Process according to claim 4 wherein said ratio is about 10:1 to about 2:1.
6. Process according to claim 1, 2 or 3 in which the portions of the impeller members adjacent the teeth move at a speed of about 1500 to 5000 ft. per min. relative to said teeth.
7. Process according to claim 1, 2 or 3 in which the portions of the impeller members adjacent the teeth move at a speed of about 2000 to 4000 ft. per min. relative to said teeth.
8. Process according to claim 1, 2 or 3 in which the portions of the impeller members adjacent the teeth move at a speed of about 2500 to 3500 ft. per min. relative to said teeth.
9. Process according to claim 1 wherein each tooth is relatively thin compared with its length.
10. Process according to claim 9 wherein the thickness of each tooth is in a ratio to its length of about 0.01:1 to 0.2:1.
11. Process according to claim 10 wherein said ratio is about 0.05:1 to 0.15:1.
12. Process according to claim 1 in which the impeller members comprise blade-like members elongated in the direction perpendicular to the teeth.
13. Process according to claim 3 in which the impeller members are spaced apart transversely at a spacing about 0.8 to about 3 times the width of said slot.
14. Process according to claim 13 in which the spacing is about 1 to about 1.5 times the width of the slot.
15. Process according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the teeth are defined by indented slots formed in a stationary semi-cylindrical shell, said teeth projecting parallel to the axis of the shell, and the impeller members are mounted on a rotor rotating about an axis coincident with the axis of the shell.
16. Process according to claim 1 wherein said particle separation includes introducing the mixture into an air stream flowing upward at velocity sufficient to entrain substantially all tobacco particles and non-tobacco fragments and insufficient to entrain any intact packages present in the mixture, removing from the air stream such non-entrained packages and recycling them to the point where the disintegrating action is effected, withdrawing the air stream containing the entrained particles and fragments, and separating the entrained particles and fragments therefrom.
17. Process according to claim 16 wherein the air stream passes upwardly through a chamber having side walls against which intact cigarettes and severed cigarette tubes containing tobacco impact before being carried upwardly out of the chamber by the air stream.
18. Process according to claim 16 or 17 wherein the velocity of said air stream is about 500 to 1200 ft. per min.
19. Process according to claim 16 or 17 wherein the ve-locity of said air stream is about 600 to about 900 ft. per min.
20. Process according to claim 16 or 17 wherein the velocity of said air stream is about 800 ft. per min.
21. Process according to claim 16 or 17 wherein the entrained particles and fragments are subjected to screening on screens of mesh size sufficient to pass substantially all the tobacco particles therethrough while retaining substantially all non-tobacco fragments, and including recovering the tobacco particles passed therethrough.
22. Apparatus for recovery of tobacco particles from generally rectangular intact cigarette packages comprising (a) continuously-operating disintegrating apparatus for disinte-grating the packages to form a mixture of tobacco particles and non-tobacco fragments, comprising means for feeding intact packages to an array of teeth defined by a relatively thin shell having a series of elongated indented slots of approximately constant width extending longitudinally therein, the width of the slots being in a ratio of about 20:1 to about 1:1 to the smallest dimension of the packages, and the slots defining pairs of longitudinally extending rows of teeth of which the teeth in each row taper toward a pointed end facing transversely toward and are offset from the teeth in the adjacent row, a series of impeller members each having their cross-section elongated in longitudinal direction and the members being spaced uniformly transversely at a distance which is about 0.8 to about 3 times the width of the slots, and means for moving the impeller members longitudinally relative to and adjacent the array of teeth, whereby intact packages fed to the array of teeth are drawn therealong and subjected to a disintegrating action to form said mixture, wherein the non-tobacco fragments are substantially larger than the tobacco particles; and (b) particle separation means for separating the tobacco particles from the substantially large non-tobacco fragments.
23. Apparatus according to claim 21 wherein said spacing between impeller members is about 1 to about 1.5 times the width of the slots.
24. Apparatus according to claim 21 wherein each tooth is relatively thin compared with its length.
25. Apparatus according to claim 24 wherein the thickness of each tooth is in a ratio to its length of about 0.01:1 to 0.2:1.
26. Apparatus according to claim 25 wherein said thickness:
length ratio is about 0.05:1 to 0.15:1.
length ratio is about 0.05:1 to 0.15:1.
27. Apparatus according to claim 21 wherein the impeller members comprise blade like members elongated in the direction perpendicular to the teeth.
28. Apparatus according to claim 27 wherein said relatively thin shell is semi-cylindrical and is maintained stationary, and the impellers are mounted on a rotor rotating about an axis coincident with the axis of the shell.
29. Apparatus according to claim 22 wherein the particle separation means include means for conveying the disintegrated mixture to and introducing it into the side of a chamber through which an air stream is flowed upwardly at velocity sufficient to entrain substantially all tobacco particles and non-tobacco fragments and insufficient to entrain any intact packages present in the mixture, and having an outlet from the upper part of the chamber for recovering the entrained particles and fragments, and means for removing intact non-entrained packages from the lower region of the chamber.
30. Apparatus according to claim 27 wherein said means for removing intact packages comprise an inclined vibrating screen through which the air flow passes upwardly.
31. Apparatus according to claim 29 including means for conveying the air-entrained mixture to an air-solids separator, from which the separated solids are passed to a vibrating screen of mesh size sufficient to pass substantially all the tobacco particles while retaining substantially all non-tobacco fragments, and means for recovering the tobacco particles passed through the screen.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000493680A CA1208100A (en) | 1985-10-23 | 1985-10-23 | Process and apparatus for recovering tobacco particles from intact cigarette packages |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000493680A CA1208100A (en) | 1985-10-23 | 1985-10-23 | Process and apparatus for recovering tobacco particles from intact cigarette packages |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1208100A true CA1208100A (en) | 1986-07-22 |
Family
ID=4131689
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000493680A Expired CA1208100A (en) | 1985-10-23 | 1985-10-23 | Process and apparatus for recovering tobacco particles from intact cigarette packages |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1208100A (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP0634259A2 (en) * | 1993-06-16 | 1995-01-18 | Rhone-Poulenc Rhodia Aktiengesellschaft | Method and device for recovering the components from filters used in the manufacturing of cigarettes |
| DE102014018052A1 (en) * | 2014-11-11 | 2016-05-12 | Hauni Maschinenbau Ag | Apparatus for the recovery of smoking article waste |
-
1985
- 1985-10-23 CA CA000493680A patent/CA1208100A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EP0634259A2 (en) * | 1993-06-16 | 1995-01-18 | Rhone-Poulenc Rhodia Aktiengesellschaft | Method and device for recovering the components from filters used in the manufacturing of cigarettes |
| EP0634259A3 (en) * | 1993-06-16 | 1995-05-24 | Rhodia Ag Rhone Poulenc | Method and device for recovering the components from filters used in the manufacturing of cigarettes. |
| US5429310A (en) * | 1993-06-16 | 1995-07-04 | Rhone-Poulenc Rhodia Aktiengesellschaft | Method and arrangement for processing or reprocessing waste material accumulating in the production or processing of cigarettes |
| DE102014018052A1 (en) * | 2014-11-11 | 2016-05-12 | Hauni Maschinenbau Ag | Apparatus for the recovery of smoking article waste |
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| MKEX | Expiry |