GB1043368A - Improvements in or relating to apparatus for feeding rod-like articles - Google Patents

Abstract

1,043,368. Packaging-machines. MOLINS ORGANISATION Ltd. July 26, 1963 [July 27, 1962], No. 28961/62. Heading B8C. [Also in Division A2] In apparatus for feeding cigarettes, the cigarettes are stacked in a hopper and a testing device periodically operates to detect faulty batches which are rejected by means responsive to the testing device. Cigarettes supplied to hopper 1 (Fig. 1) fall between vanes 5 and form a stack between walls 6, and are supported by movable rods 10. Two detector assemblies 14 (Fig. 2) are moved inwardly, allowing plungers 9 to engage the ends of the cigarettes in a batch so that the ends of the cigarettes abut plates 24. Electrical contacts are made to plates 18 and to collars 20 on shafts 17 of plungers 9, the shafts 17 passing through holes 18a in plate 18 across the support 16, so that movement of plungers 9 opens or closes the electrical circuit. As the assemblies move inwardly plungers 9 which are engaging cigarettes are moved relatively to the supports 16 against the action of springs 21 by the counter pressure exerted by each cigarette on its engaging plunger, thus moving collars 20 away from plate 18 to break the electrical circuit. If the batch is faulty the counter pressure of the cigarette is insufficient to move the plunger 9 so the circuit remains closed. Plate 18 and collars 20 are connected to a timed rejector means, which responsively rejects faulty batches. Supports 16 of assemblies 14 are attached to horizontal bars 25 (Fig. 3) and as cams 30 rotate bars 25 are moved alternately towards and away from each other by the combined action of cams 30 and springs 29, the movement being guided by rollers 27 on guides 26 which maintain bars 25 parallel to each other as they are moved towards or away from the stack of cigarettes during detecting operations. Cams 30 rotate in timed relationship with the movement of a conveyer chain 13a (Fig. 2) carrying pushers 12 which remove. a batch of cigarettes from the bottom of the stack while the detector means is acting on a group. The testing device is arranged to have a range of action such that a full complement of cigarettes tested in a single operation is a multiple of the number of articles required in a batch, whereby each batch is tested more than once. A modification is described where support rods 10 are omitted, the cigarettes being supported by projections engaging the cigarette end and the plungers 9 of the bottom row act only as yielding carriers for the members on which the projections are formed; thus in this construction less rows of cigarettes are tested at a time.