MXPA98004392A - Composite band format device, and its met - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for continuously forming a composite canvas for use in the manufacture of a smoking article, comprising the steps of: unwinding a first fiberglass canvas, having a specific width, from of a first coil, along the travel path, provide a second fiberglass canvas of the same specific width, on a second coil, the second fiberglass canvas has an initial end, place the initial end of the second Fiberglass canvas in a splice region located along the travel path, stopping the unwinding of the first fiberglass canvas, cutting the fiberglass canvas stopped along the cutting plane in the region of splice to form a final end of the first fiberglass canvas and a remaining canvas of the first fiberglass canvas, splicing the initial end of the second fiberglass canvas to the end fi of the first fiberglass canvas in the splice region to form a joint between the mentioned ends and unwind the second fiberglass canvas of the second coil along the travel path; divide the first canvas or the second canvas on two narrow canvases of substantially equal width in a division region along the path of travel under the splice region, separate the two narrow canvases in a spaced relation, guide a paper canvas between the two narrow canvases and converge the two narrow canvases and the paper canvas together to form a canvas composed of three layers, leaving the paper canvas sandwiched between the two narrow canvases

Description

COMPOSER DB BAND FORMER APPARATUS. AND ITS METHOD FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a handling device for a composite band and the corresponding method and more particularly to a system and method for handling a band of glass fiber that is used in the manufacture of smoking articles, similar to the conventional cigarettes. Background of the Invention It is known that smoking articles, which have a combustible element, carry such an element at one end to provide heat generation in order to operate the smoking article. This fuel element comprises a carbonaceous fuel rod wrapped in a band of glass fiber and which is then further wrapped with wrapping paper or a plug-like wrapper. Such smoking articles are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent Nos. 4,714,082; 4,756,318; and 5,065,776, which were also assigned to the assignee of the present invention and whose texts are incorporated in the present invention as a reference material. In a method for making the fuel element of such smoking articles, a band of reconstituted tobacco paper is disposed between two identical bands of a glass fiber material to thereby form a composite band which is then wrapped around the fuel rod. carbonaceous extruded in a continuous manner to then apply an outer wrapper with a wrapping paper which can also be paper for tobacco, as described in European Patent Application No. 562,474, published on September 29, 1993. In order to produce economically such smoking articles, it is necessary to form the different components of the smoking article in a continuous process with high production speeds. Conventional cigarette making machinery typically operates at the high production rates contemplated by the present invention. A conventional cigarette filter apparatus, which is known as a KDF filter manufacturing machine, can be employed in the manufacture of fuel elements for smoking articles as described in the aforementioned patents. However, the apparatus that is upstream of the KDF filter for supplying the components of the fuel element is substantially different from that device used to make the filters for conventional cigarettes. The present invention is directed to such an apparatus and in particular to the different components of the apparatus for forming the composite web noted above from material in the form of a roll of fiberglass as well as paper for tobacco and then feeding this composite band to the machine manufacturing of KDF filters to make the fuel element of the smoking article. SUMMARY AND OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a system and method for handling the different web materials, used to form a composite, continuous web, for manufacturing the fuel elements for smoking articles, described above. In particular, the fuel element constructed with the apparatus and method according to the present invention may be that disclosed in the aforementioned US Patent No. 5,065,776 in the name of Lawson et al. The components of the fuel element comprise an extruded carbonaceous rod, a band of glass fiber which may consist of a glass mat C of Owens-Corning which has an uncompressed thickness of the order 1.0 mm and a width of approximately 38 mm, a paper web for reconstituted tobacco having a thickness of the order of 0.13 mm and a width of approximately 19 mm, as well as a band of paper similar to a plug-like wrap having a thickness of the order of 0.13 mm and a width of approximately 26.5 mm. The carbonaceous rod can have a composition described in the aforementioned US Patent No. 5, 065,776 and is continuously extruded from an endless screw type extruder ?? and it is delivered through an elongated V-shaped gutter to a KDF filter manufacturing machine where it is wrapped with a composite band formed of the glass and tobacco paper bands, described above, to then subject the material to a outer envelope constituted by the paper envelope. The apparatus according to the present invention comprises a web unwinder that supports two coils of rolled glass C-mat material, which is then split into web widths of the order of 38 mm with about 10 individual webs per reel or reel . These glass bands are pulled alternately from the two coils or reels and then automatically spliced to provide a continuous fed glass band load. The belt unrolling device graduates the reels in the transverse direction so that the strips coming out of the unwinding unit will be aligned with the feeding path of the band, which passes through the apparatus. Once the last band of a reel is removed, that reel is replaced by a full reel during the unwinding of the band present in the other reel so that the general operation proceeds continuously without interruptions even during the replacements of a reel.

The bands of both reels are strung around rollers and a control stick to feed the material to a splicing device which is located downstream of the unwinding unit. Just prior to the splicing operation, the exhausted state is seen to be fully unwound from the web coming out of a first reel, and the unrolling speed of the web is increased to fill a web deposit downstream of the splicer unit by applying enough web material to allow the unwinding of the web to stop so that the splicing operation can proceed. When the tail end of a band coming out of the first reel enters the splicer, the unwinding is temporarily stopped and the tail end of the newly unwound band is automatically spliced to the head end or the guide end of the next band that will unroll from the second reel. The splicing apparatus includes clamps for retaining the bands and cutting knives to finish the ends of the bands that must be spliced. There are upper and lower belt applicators in the splicing apparatus, which are loaded by an operator with short sections of splicing tape and when the ends of the head and tail bands are in a slightly separated and stapled position, the tape automatically to the upper face and lower face of the bands to effect the splicing and then retract the tape applicators and clamps. A winch roll downstream of the splicer unit then pulls the spliced band through the splicer unit and the band exits the second spool. The operator then loads the guide end or the head of the next band from the first reel and the splicing tape separates into the splicing apparatus in preparation for the next splicing. During the splicing operation, the band of glass accumulated in the band magazine is received in such a way that the filter manufacturing unit KDF continuously operates at a high production speed even when the band for splicing is temporarily stopped. From the deposit for the band, the glass band is fed to a splitting unit where it is cut longitudinally in two equal widths of approximately 19 mm each. Then the two bands are guided by a system of rollers in vertically spaced paths. A band of paper for tobacco that also has a width of the order of 19 mm goes out of a reel and is guided by the roller system to a position between the two bands of glass. The axes of the three bands are initially displaced transversally between them but these axes are guided by the roller system so that they are aligned one above the other and then come into contact with each other and with the band of tobacco that remains sandwiched between the two glass bands to form a composite band consisting of three layers. The composite web is then guided into the KDF filter manufacturing unit, where it is wrapped around the extruded carbonaceous fuel rod, and then an outer wrap is applied to the material with the paper wrapper and an adhesive is applied by a longitudinal seam in a manner similar to the wrapping and application of the glue to a plug wrap around a conventional cigarette filter. According to certain aspects relating to the method of the present invention, the method for making the carbonaceous fuel element is a continuous process which includes the step of continuously extruding a carbonaceous rod component, continuously feeding the rod component to a manufacturing unit of KDF filters, continuously supply a band of glass and a band of paper for tobacco, split the glass band into two bands of equal width, guide the tobacco paper band between the two glass bands, sandwich the three bands to thereby constitute a composite band, wrap the composite band around the component of the rod carbonaceous to combine them, wrap this combination with a paper band and seal the paper web with its outer wrap longitudinally to form the carbonaceous fuel element. Another aspect of the method according to the present invention includes the automatic splicing of the glass bands brought from a pair of reels in a double reel unwinder so that the production speed of the filter manufacturer KDF can be maintained without interrupting the process destined to splice the glass bands. From the foregoing it will be apparent that a principal object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for making a carbonaceous fuel element for a smoking article or smoking article, in a continuous process, at high production speeds comparable to those high speeds. of existing production in modern machines that make filters for cigarettes and conventional cigarettes. Another object of the present invention is to provide a production process and apparatus for making a carbonaceous fuel element for a smoker article which are reliable and which do not suffer from the problems of frequent interruption or breakage of the components of the fuel element, phenomena which have characterized to some of the processes and apparatuses corresponding to the prior art.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a virtually automatic process and apparatus for securely splicing the ends of two glass bands so as to ensure the reliability of the splice. Another object of the invention is to provide a splice structure and corresponding method for splicing two glass strips together with a tape in such a way as to allow the passage of the splice around rollers of relatively small diameter and which will otherwise be tensioned and tight but without separating or weakening the joint. With the foregoing characteristics and the other objects, advantages and features of the invention which will be presented in the following, the essence of the present invention will be more clearly understood, taking note of the following detailed description of the invention, with its appended claims and the different views illustrated in the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus according to the present invention for making a carbonaceous fuel element. FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the double reel unwinding apparatus according to the present invention. FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the splicing device according to the invention. FIGURES 4 to 7 are schematic views illustrating the sequential steps for making a splice of two glass strips within the splicing apparatus of FIGURE 3. FIGURE 8 is a planar, fragmentary top view on a splice made in accordance with FIG. with the invention in the splicing apparatus of FIGURE 3. FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of a splice made according to the invention in the splicing apparatus of FIGURE 3. FIGURE 10A is a view in FIG. lateral elevation of the band magazine according to the invention. FIGURE 10B is a cross-sectional end view of the band magazine according to the invention, taken along line A-A of FIGURE 10A. FIGURE 11 is a side elevation view of the apparatus according to the invention for manufacturing the composite web based on glass and paper. FIGURE 12 is a perspective view showing the manner in which the apparatus of FIGURE II forms the structure of the composite band; and FIGURE 13 is a cross-sectional view of the composite band taken along line 13-13 of FIGURE 11.

Desgripcjfp Det ll d gf i * invnción Referring now in detail to the drawings, FIGURE 1, illustrates a general perspective view of the apparatus according to the invention to make a carbonaceous fuel element for a smoker article, apparatus which in general terms has been designated with the reference number 10. The apparatus 10 comprises six main components: an extruder 12 for extruding a carbonaceous fuel rod, a double-reel unwinder 14 for unwinding the cracked bands of material in the form of a fiber mat glass, a splicing apparatus 16 for semiautomatically splicing alternating bands of a unrolling glass mat of the double reel unwinder unit, a reservoir for band 18 for accumulating the web during splicing operation, a composite band manufacturing unit 20 and a Filter manufacturing unit KDF 22, modified to form a carbonace fuel element or. The extruder 12 produces a rod that is an extruded carbonaceous bar, which is transported by a V-shaped channel (not shown), practiced on a conveyor 24, which is arranged above the other components of the apparatus, to go to the filter manufacturing unit KDF 22, wherein said rod is used to form the carbonaceous fuel element. The double spool unwinder unit 14 (FIGURE 2) comprises a frame 26 for supporting a first mandrel and a second spool mandrel 28 and 30, respectively. A respective reel B-L is supported on each mandrel, B2, each rolled with a fiberglass band, such as a so-called C-glass mat from Owen-Corning, which has been split into ten or more strips of band, Wx and W2 each having a width of the order of 38 mm. Each spool mandrel 28, 30 is rotated by a respective drive servo motor (not shown), which is mounted on a first and a second respective carriage 32, 34, and these carriages can reciprocate independently between them and in transverse direction with respect to the supply direction of the bands Wx and W2. The bands Wx and W are aligned, both with a given trajectory of travel of the band through the apparatus 10. When one of the bands W- ^ or W2 of a given reel Bx or B comes out, the carriage 32, 34 , which supports the corresponding reel, is cross-graduated by conventional auxiliaries (not shown), creating a bandwidth (of 38 mm) to place an adjacent adjacent band Wx or W2 in alignment with the given trajectory of the band. The mandrels of the reels 28 and 30 are positively driven or rotated by the driving servo motors at a speed controlled by a winch-type roller 17 (FIGURE 1), located in the path of the band between the splicing device 16 and the reservoir for band 18. The winch roller 18 in turn is synchronized with the speed of the filter manufacturing unit KDF, 22. When the band x or W2 is coming out, the spool mandrel 28 or 30 must rotate at increasing speed to maintain a constant bandwidth speed, equivalent to the speed of the winch roller. The speed of the reel is controlled by means of a first control rocker 36 and second control rocker 38, which come into contact with a respective band W1 or W, which passes between the pairs of the guide rollers 40 and 42 (only one roller 42 being shown in FIGURE 2). The control rocker arms 36, 38 comprise rocker arms 44 which rest on one. respective band Wx or W2 by means of a slight counter-clockwise torsion applied to the pivot axes 46 of the rocker arms 44. Assuming that the band W2 or W2 is fed to the filter manufacturing unit KDF 22 at a constant speed by the roller of winch 17, it will be understood that when the band j 6 2 comes out in coil B1 or B2 for a given rotational speed of the reel, the arm of the rocker arm will begin to pivot clockwise about the pivot axis 46. The angular movement of the arm 44 is detected by a sensor or sensor 48, such as an optical sensor or any other suitable sensor, and the output of this sensor is used to control the speed of the transmission servo motors for the spool mandrels 28, 30 to maintain a constant speed of the band equivalent to the speed of the winch roller during the supply of the band W¿ or W2, except during the splicing operation, which will be described in the following paragraphs. esive The sensors or sensors 50, aligned with the band that leaves each reel, detect the moment when the band has been unwound or fully extracted to a given diameter of the reel. When such a diameter is reached, a pair of detectors or sensors 50 interact by the axis D (FIGURE 2) and a signal is thus transmitted to the winch roller 17 to cause it to increase the speed of the band, same as its once will cause the arm of the rocker 44 to pivot clockwise to thereby send a signal from the sensor 48 to cause the transmission servo-motor to increase the rotational speed of the reel associated therewith. This increased speed of the band is above the speed of the filter manufacturing unit KDF so that the band will now accumulate in the deposit for band 18 in preparation for the splicing operation of the band that will be described later. The rotation and removal of the glass bands dislodge the glass fibers and glass powder from the previous slitting operation into the atmosphere surrounding the reels. Such fibers- and dust are attracted to the interior of a plenum 52, arranged above the reels. The plenum 52 is connected through the tubes 54, 56 to an exhaust blower unit (not shown), which removes the glass fibers and the powder for collection and disposal. FIGURE 3 illustrates the splicing apparatus 16 placed between the winch roller 17 and the respective guide rollers 40, 42 of the double reel unwinder unit 14. A control panel 58 for the apparatus 10 is located in the splicing apparatus 16 all Once you need an operator who must stand at the point of the splicer to thread the band that comes from the alternating reels to the splicer and to load this splicer with strips of tape to make each splice. It will be seen that the trajectory of the band P is the same for each of the bands JÑ1 and W2, which pass through the splicing unit 16 and then downstream thereof. The operation of the splicing apparatus generates a certain amount of glass dust and loose glass fibers. Advantageously, air suction hoses are placed in those places in the splicing unit where dust and fibers are generated. The hoses are connected to the exhaust blower through a tube 55 (FIGURE 2) to dislodge the dust and fibers for collection and disposal. The suction hoses can also be located in any other source of glass dust and fibers within the apparatus 10 and can be connected to a tube leading to the exhaust blower. Referring now to FIGURES 10A and 10B, the band reservoir 18 comprises a narrow rectangular compartment 60 located just downstream of the winch rollers 17. A transparent plastic front panel or access door 62 is hinged to the front of the compartment through the hinges 64, in case of bends, twists or tangles occur in the glass band present in the band deposit, these deviations can be detected visually by the operator who has easy access to the unit through the door 62 to correct or eliminate the fault manually. The compartment 60 comprises a rear metal plate 66, the side walls 68 and a floor wall 70. A curved metal guide 72 is mounted on the walls of the compartment 60 and is configured to prevent in a maximum the interruptions such as bends, twists and entanglements in the band when the latter accumulates in the store. A guide arm 74 is mounted on the rear wall 66 and the band Wx or W2 is guided from the winch rollers 17 above the arm 74. Now the operation of the splicing apparatus 16 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 7, and particularly to FIGS. 4 to 7. The splicing apparatus 16 comprises the inlet band guides 76, 77 and the outlet band guides. 78, 79, arranged on the upstream and downstream sides, respectively, of a region. splicer A fixed spacer for the band 80 is located between the guides 76 and 77 to form a pair of input guides for the band. The upper and lower band clamps 81 and 82 are arranged to tighten the bands x and W2, respectively in their respective band guides 76, 80 and 77, 80 and a downstream band clamp 83 is arranged to tighten the band W Or W2 in the outlet band guide 78, 79 before this band is delivered to the winch rollers 17 and then further, downstream. The air jets, above and below, 84 and 85, are arranged in the inlet guides for the band in order to direct an air jet in the upstream direction in order to eject the end of the splicing unit from the splicer unit. tail that is behind a band and which has been completely unrolled from your reel. A base for tape 86 supports a lower strip of splicing tape T? that is stored in place through the air suction holes (not shown), present in the base 86. The band clamp 87 supports an upper strip of splicing tape T2 also by means of the air sucking holes present in the surface of the clamp and this clamp can be moved vertically to go in the direction of the tape base 86 and get away from it. A retractable knife 88 can be moved between the base 86 and the clamp 87 to cut the ends of the strip in a straight direction to achieve splicing. The sensors of the band 89 and 90 are positioned to detect the presence of the guide end or head end of the bands a and W2 respectively, when a corresponding band end is already placed for the splicing. The tape base 86 and the tape clamp 87 can also be moved by mechanisms (not shown), away from the travel path of the band to facilitate the placement of the strips for the splicing tape T¿, T2 on the base and the clamp, by the operator. For example, the tape base 86 can be moved transversely with respect to the web path P (coming off the paper as seen in FIGURE 4) so that the tape strips T2 can be easily placed with the adhesive side facing outwardly. on the upper face 91 of the base 86. The band clamp 87 can be pivoted about an axis parallel to the band path P so that its lower face 92 is vertical and toward the operator for the positioning of the belt. There are also other ways of placing the base 86 and the clamp 87 for easier placement of the splicing tape, as will be suggested to those skilled in the art. Suppose that the reel B2 has just begun to unwind the web W2 that passes through the splicer unit 16, the winch rollers 17, the web reservoir 18 towards the composite web assembly unit 20. The operator will move the belt base 86 and the tape clamp 87 to its tape loading positions and will place the tape strips T1 and T2 on the respective faces 91 and 92, where the strips are held by air suction. The guide end of the web W will pass under the roller 93 to enter the space between the band guide 76 and the band spacer 80 and will be moved downstream until its presence is detected by the sensor of band end 89. The sensor 89 activates the upper clamp for the band 81 to retain the band guide end »! in its correct position for the spliced. This is the position of the splicer shown in FIGURE 4. When the detectors or sensors 50 (FIGURE 2) detect that the reel B has been emptied to a predetermined diameter, a signal is transmitted to the winch rollers 17 to increase the speed of the band. When the winch rollers 17 increase in speed, the arm of the rocker 44 is pivoted in a clockwise direction which causes the transmission servo motor to rotate to the reel B2 with greater speed. This will cause the band W2 to accumulate in the belt bin in preparation for splicing. At a predetermined speed of the reel B the transmission servo-motor stops rotating to the reel B2, and the band clamps 82, 83 are activated to embrace the band W2 in the band guides 77 ', 80 and 78, 79 and the knife 88 cuts the web W to retract between the base for the ribbon 86 and the band clamp 87 (FIGURE .5). After the knife 88 has been removed, the band clamp 82 is deactivated and the air jet 85 is operated to eject the residue from the end of the web W2 from the splicer unit 16 (FIGURE 6). The tape clamp 87 is then moved downwardly against the tape base 86 to tighten the adhesive side of the tape strips Tx, T2 against the top and bottom side of the tape, adjacent to the tail end of the band W2 and the guide end of the band x to form the splice (FIGURE 7). Once the splice is formed, the band clamp 87 is removed and the band clamps 81, 83 and the winch rollers 17 begin to pull the spliced glass band through the splicer unit. During the splicing operation, the KDF filter making machine 22 and the composite band manufacturer 20 were fed with a band from the belt deposit 18 and thus most of the accumulated band W2 was used in the tank. The spool carriage 34 is then graduated according to the width of one strip to align the next adjacent band on the reel B2 with the web path P. Then the operator loads the splicer unit with new strips of tape Tj, T2 and strings the guide end of the next band W2 up to the band guide 77, 80 until reaching the sensor 90 which activates the band clamp 82 in order to place the band W2 for the next splice proceeding as described above in relation to FIGURES 4 to 7, except that the band that is coming out is the band W¿ and the band tightened with the clamp for the splicing is the band W2. The sensors 89 and 90 are located slightly upstream of the cutting plane of the knife 88 (FIGURE 4) so that when the strips of splicing tape Tx, T2 are applied to the ends of the bands W1 # W, a gap G of about 1/8 of an inch to 3/8 of an inch, equivalent to 3,175 mm to about 9,525 mm, between the ends of the band. Referring to FIGURES 8 and 9, the preferred splice structure with the gap G between the ends of the bands Wx and W2 is shown. The width of the tapes T1 and T2 is preferably less than the width of the bands W1, W2. The presence of gap G results in a much stronger and much more reliable spliced joint between the Wlr W2 bands. if the band ends were to be buckled against each other, the flexibility of the joint as shown in outline lines in FIGURE 9 could result in a loosening or loosening of the adhesive bond between the tape T2 and the ends of the tape. the bands Wx and W2. FIGURES 11 and 12 illustrate the composite band maker, that is, the former 20 in which the x or W2 band passes from the band magazine 18. The band in its full width (38 mm) is traveling above the rolls of guide 94, 95 to a band slitter 96 where the band slits longitudinally by the cutter 97 to form two equal strips Wa, Wb, each having a width of about 19 mm. The bands Wa and Wb on the slitter 96 are separated by vertically spaced paths of travel Px, P2 around the respective sets of the guide rollers 98, 99 and 100, 101. A reel B3 of a tobacco web Wt is mounted on a spool mandrel 102. The Wt band is pulled from the B3 reel by the KDF filter packer at the same speed as the Wa, Wb bands. The web Wt passes over and around a plurality of conventional rollers, 104, 106 and then vertically upwards to a roller 108 positioned between the paths Plr P2, where the web is aligned transversely and guided by the guide 115 to a roll 110 passing through a path P3 virtually * parallel to the trajectories Px, P2. Beginning on the rollers 98, 100, 108 and continuing to the rollers 99, 101, 110, the three bands Wa, Wb and Wt are directed until they enter an overlapping relationship, aligned transversely and then a convergence thereof is created by the rollers 112, 113 and 114 to form a three-layer composite web Wc consisting of the tobacco paper web Wt sandwiched between the glass bands Wa and Wb, as shown in FIGURE 13. The web Wc passes downstream from the compounder of the composite band 20 to the filter manufacturer KDF 22 where it is wrapped around the carbonaceous fuel rod from the extruder 12 and then an outer wrapping with paper is applied to form a carbonaceous fuel element to be used in an article for smoking. The apparatus 10 operates in general terms, as follows: a carbonaceous rod is continuously extruded from the extruder 12 and transported via a conveyor 24 directly to the KDF 22 filter manufacturer where it is combined with a composite band of glass and paper for tobacco and then an outer paper wrapper is applied to form a carbonaceous fuel rod, of a continuous type, which is then cut with individual fuel elements to be used in the manufacture of a smoker article. The band composed of glass and paper for tobacco Wc is also formed continuously in a parallel system with the carbonaceous rod and is supplied to the filter manufacturer KDF 22 together with the outer paper wrapping. The composite web Wc is continuously formed by unwinding from the alternating reels Bx, B2 of a double reel unwinder unit 14, the strips Wx, W2 of a given length for automatically joining the strips together in a splicer apparatus 16. Before of the splicing operation, the unwinder unit 14 is accelerated to accumulate an excess of web material in a band reservoir 18 so that when the strips are stored in stationary condition for splicing, the KDF filter manufacturer is supplied with sufficient material band to maintain constant production speed. The glass bands Wj ^ and W2 are twice the width of the finished composite band. Thus, fewer cracked strips are needed on the reels of the belt and the Wa and W2 belts can withstand higher tensile forces without breaking or stretching. In addition, a single double reel unwinder unit is needed since the band is split in two bands downstream of the splicer unit. If the bands were supplied in the width of the finished composite band, it would take two unwinders and four reels to maintain a continuous process. In the composite band manufacturer 20, the band Wx or W2 is split into two equal bands Wa 6 Wb and separated vertically by a roller system. A band of paper for tobacco W that is sandwiched between the Wa or Wb bands and is placed interspersed between them when the bands converge both laterally and vertically through the roller system in order to form a composite band of three layers Wc. The composite web Wc is then fed to the filter manufacturer KDF 22 and wrapped around the carbonaceous rod and applied to an outer wrap, with a paper, in a conventional manner for use in a smoker article. Although certain presently preferred embodiments according to the present invention have been specifically described herein, it will be apparent to those skilled in the corresponding art that it is possible to introduce variants and modifications of the different embodiments shown and described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the intention is expressed that the invention be limited only to the extent established by the appended claims and the applicable legal rules.

Claims (30)

CLAIMS:

1. An apparatus for forming a composite band for use in the manufacture of a smoking article, comprising: a double-reel unwinder for unwinding a fiberglass band having a given width, alternately from a first and second reel along a path of travel; a splicer for splicing the tail end of a first strip unrolled from one of the reels, with the guide end of a second band to be unrolled from another reel; and a composite band fabricator serving to receive the band from the splicer and to form the composite band, which comprises a slitter to slit the first or second band into two narrow bands of virtually equal width, a first system of rollers for vertically separating the two narrow bands, a third reel in which a paper web is wound, a second system of rollers for guiding the paper web to a positbetween the two narrow bands, in which the first and the second system Rollers include rollers for guiding the two narrow bands and the paper web to form a three-layer composite band with the paper web sandwiched between the two narrow bands.

The apparatus according to claim 1, including a reservoir for web located downstream of the splicer, an element for detecting the supply amount of the first and second webs from their first and second reels, respectively, and a responsive element to the sensing element or sensor to increase the speed of supply of the band from the first or second reel to accumulate a certain length of that band within the band deposit.

The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sensing or sensor element consists of an element for detecting the diameter of the remainder of the band emerging from a first or second spool, respectively.

The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the element for increasing the speed of supply of the belt comprises winch rollers located downstream of the splicing unit and a rocker element located between the winch rollers and a respective spool to produce an output for controlling the rotary speed of the respective spool.

The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the rocker element comprises a rocker arm that abuts the band and that can pivot about a pivot axis, a detector or sensor to detect the angular positof the rocker arm about the pivot axis to produce said output to control the rotatl speed of the respective reel from which the band is coming out.

The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the splicer comprises a pair of web entry guides and a web exit guide, a clamp cooperating with each web guide to embrace a respective web from the first and second webs. reel within each band guide, one element in each web entry guide to eject a web residue therefrom, a cutter disposed between the web entry and exit guides to cut the webs for splicing, as well as an element disposed between the entrance guides and the exit guide of the band to apply a splice to the cut bands.

The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the splicing applicator element comprises a tape base and a tape clamp, disposed over the path of travel of the web through the splicer, a suctmechanism in the base for tape and tape clamp for releasably holding a respective strip of splicing tape in the tape base and the tape clamp.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the tape base and the tape clamp can move relative to each other, either approaching or moving away, to apply the splicing tape to the upper and lower faces of the bands that must be spliced, the cutter being placed in a plane of cut between the tape base and the tape clamp, which is retractable from said place when the tape base and the tape clamp are brought closer to each other to apply the tape. splicing to the bands that must be spliced.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the tape base and the tape clamp can be moved away from the web path to facilitate the placement of the splicer tape over the tape base and tape clamp. .

The apparatus according to claim 6, which includes a band-end sensor or sensor disposed adjacent the downstream end of each band input guide and upstream of the cutter plane to detect the leading end of a respective band. from the first and the second reel and to produce an output that serves to activate the clamp for the respective band input guide.

The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the strip waste expelling member comprises an air jet ejector disposed on each band inlet guide to apply a jet of compressed air to the upstream bandwidth residue to force to the band residue in the upstream direction, so that it leaves the band entry guide in which it is placed.

The apparatus according to claim 1, which includes an element for graduating alternating copies of the first and the second reel transversely with respect to the path of travel at a distance equivalent to the width of a band of glass fiber after a band of Fiberglass has been unrolled from a reel, either the first or the second, to align the next fiberglass band with the path of travel of the band.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fiberglass web has a width of about 38 mm, the narrow strips each have a width of the order of 19 mm and the paper web comprising tobacco paper possesses a width of the order of 19 mm.

The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the roller systems of the composite band manufacturing unit include rollers for vertically diverging the two narrow strips in the slitter and rollers to converge the two narrow strips and the paper web vertically and laterally to constitute the band composed of three layers.

15. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the band reservoir comprises a narrow rectangular compartment having a transparent front panel, and a curved metal guide, disposed in the reservoir to prevent interruptions in the accumulated band.

16. The apparatus for splicing a fiberglass band for use in the manufacture of smoking articles, comprising: a pair of band entry guides for guiding the first and second glass fiber bands having upper and lower faces , leaving these bands of the first and the second reel, respectively, following a path of travel towards a spliced region; a band-out guide for guiding the spliced band from the spliced region; a clamp associated with each band guide for embracing a band in the associated band guide; an element for ejecting a band residue from each band input guide; a cutter disposed between the web entry guides and the web exit guide for cutting the web along a cutter plane transverse to the path of travel of the web; and an element disposed between the web entry guides and the web exit guide for applying a splice to the webs in the splicing region.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the splicing applicator element comprises an element for applying a strip of tape to the upper and lower faces of the bands.

The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the splicing applicator element comprises a tape base and a tape clamp, with a suction mechanism in the tape base and in the tape clamp to hold a respective tape strip splicer in the tape base and tape clamp, as well as an element for moving the tape base and the tape clamp relatively towards each other to apply the tape strips to the upper and lower faces of the bands.

The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the ejector element comprises an air jet ejector disposed in each band inlet guide to apply a jet of compressed air to the band waste in the upstream direction to force the residue of the band in an upstream direction so that it leaves the band entry guide in which it is located.

20. The apparatus according to claim 16, including a band-end sensor or sensor disposed adjacent the downstream end of each band input guide and upstream of the cutter plane for detecting the band-guide end. respective from the first and the second spool and to produce an output to activate the clamp for the corresponding band input guide.

The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the tape base and tape clamp can move away from the path of travel of the band to facilitate the placement of the tape-spreader on the tape base and tape clamp.

22. A method for continuously forming a composite web that is used in the manufacture of a smoker article, which comprises the steps of: unwinding a first band of fiberglass having a given width from a first spool, to along a path of travel; split the first band into two narrow bands of virtually equal width; separate the two narrow bands in a spaced relationship; guide a paper band between the two narrow bands; and converging the two narrow bands and the paper web together in two directions to form a band composed of three layers, in which the paper web is sandwiched between the two narrow bands.

The method according to claim 22, which includes the steps of: providing a second band of fiberglass of a given width, wound on a second reel, the second fiberglass band having a guide end; placing the guide end of the second fiberglass band in the splicing region along the path of travel; detecting the unwinding speed of the first fiberglass strip from the first reel; at a predetermined unwinding speed, stop unwinding of the first fiberglass web; cutting the first fiberglass web stopped, along a cutter plane in the splicer region to form a tail end of the first glass fiber web and a web residue of the first web of glass fiber; splicing the guide end of the second fiberglass web to the tail end of the first glass fiber web; and unrolling the second fiberglass band from the second reel along said path of travel.

The method according to claim 23, which includes the steps of ejecting the residue from the first fiberglass web before effecting the splicing step and after performing the cutting step.

25. The method according to claim 23, which includes the step of embracing the first fiberglass band upstream and downstream of the splicing region when the first fiberglass web is stopped and during the cutting step.

26. The method according to claim 23, wherein the splicing step includes the step of applying splicing tape strips to the upper and lower faces of the first and second glass fiber strips, in the splicing region.

The method according to claim 23, which includes the step of detecting the amount of web unrolled on the first reel, increasing the unwinding speed of the first reel when a predetermined amount of the first web remains on the reel and before stopping the reel. unwinding of the first fiberglass strip, and accumulating a stretch of the first fiberglass strip upstream of the splicing region.

The method according to claim 23, which includes the step of spacing the guide end of the second fiberglass web from the tail end of the first fiberglass web, with respect to each other, before perform the splicing, in order to form a gap between them of a predetermined dimension.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the predetermined dimension is from about 1/8 of an inch to about 3/8 of an inch, equivalent to 3,175 mm to about 9,525 mm. The method according to claim 23, which includes the steps of alternately supplying a fiberglass web from the first and second reels and splicing the glass fiber webs together in the splicing region to thereby supply continuously a band of fiberglass to constitute the composite band.