GB1150350A - Apparatus for Packaging Cigarettes - Google Patents

Abstract

1,150,350. Wrapping cigarettes; endless conveyers. R. J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO. 10 Aug., 1966 [23 Aug., 1965], No. 35914/66. Headings B8A and B8C. Hollow arbors 126 are conveyed past a station where a wrapper is folded about them so as to enclose cigarettes placed in the arbors at a preceding or subsequent station; the arbors are detachable from the conveying means so that they can "queue" for treatment at a station. In the form shown cigarettes, fed from a manufacturing machine to a hopper (68), Fig. 5, are channelled into three discrete rows (90a) (90b) (90c) in the bottom part of the hopper. A pocket plunger (110) (Fig. 4, not shown) pushes a packet load of cigarettes from the three rows into a compressor pocket (94) which is lowered vertically into alignment with an empty arbor 126 Fig. 6, within a shoot 128 whereupon the cigarettes are compressed by a vane (122) (Fig. 5, not shown) in the pocket and are pushed into the arbor by a plunger (142) (Fig. 4, not shown). When the arbor is full, solenoid 154 (Fig. 6) operates to pull the lower end of crank 148 away from the shoot thereby allowing the arbor to drop on to a converyer 146. The conveyer, formed from two spaced belts, carries the arbor to the right (as seen in Fig. 6) until it strikes a latch 162 which releases a reciprocating pusher (178), Fig. 7 (not shown), to push the arbor on to a further conveyer (180) leading to a wrapping machine. If the wrapping machine becomes inoperative, a solenoid latch (184) closes to prevent the pusher (178) from operating when latch 162 is struck and thus successive arbors accumulate on the conveyer 146. When all of the sensors 196a, 196b, 196c are actuated by the build-up of arbors, a latch 204, on a reciprocating elevator 214, is disengaged by a solenoid 202 and the elevator reciprocates to push arbors into a filled arbor accumulator 200 which has pivoted walls 222a, 222b, with projections 224 to retain the arbors. When the wrapping machine is operating, the conveyer 146 being free from arbors, and the filling machine supplying no more arbors, solenoids 226 operate to release the arbors singly from the accumulator. Empty arbors from the wrapping machine are returned along a conveyer (232), Fig. 7, to strike a further latch (236) to release a reciprocating pusher 254 which pushes each arbor back into shoot 128 to be again filled. If the filling machine becomes inoperative, a solenoid latch (258) closes over the pusher 254, and a solenoid 278 energizes to unlatch reciprocating elevator 264. As empty arbors engage latch (236), which is connected to latch 276, the elevator operates to lift and store the arbors in an accumulator 262. When the filling machine is operative and no empty arbors are being received on the conveyer 232, release solenoids 286 energize to singly release empty arbors into the shoot. At the wrapping station, packaging material is wrapped around the arbor which is then separated from the material leaving the cigarettes partially enclosed whereon the package is completed. If the product is loose e.g. powdered soap flakes, the arbor is partially wrapped prior to filling, Fig. 2 (not shown).