US3587593A - Method and apparatus for producing a tobacco rod - Google Patents

Method and apparatus for producing a tobacco rod Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US3587593A
US3587593A US668859A US3587593DA US3587593A US 3587593 A US3587593 A US 3587593A US 668859 A US668859 A US 668859A US 3587593D A US3587593D A US 3587593DA US 3587593 A US3587593 A US 3587593A
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
tobacco
stream
fibers
rod
periphery
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 - Lifetime
Application number
US668859A
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Friedrich Wilde
Johannes Herrmann
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Tabak & Ind Masch
VEB TABAK-UND INDUSTRIEMASCHINEN DRESDEN
Original Assignee
Tabak & Ind Masch
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from DE19671632258 external-priority patent/DE1632258C3/de
Application filed by Tabak & Ind Masch filed Critical Tabak & Ind Masch
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3587593A publication Critical patent/US3587593A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

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
    • A24C5/14—Machines of the continuous-rod type
    • A24C5/18—Forming the rod

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the treatment of fibers such as tobacco fibers derived from shredded tobacco.
  • the invention relates to a method and apparatus for continuously manufacturing a rod of pourable fibers of this type.
  • the fibers are pneumatically supplied to a given outlet opening of a pneumatic supply means which is spaced from the grooved periphery of a rotary suction wheel at whose grooved periphery the rod is continuously formed, and at the outlet opening of the pneumatic supply means the stream of tobacco has a high speed for separation of the tobacco fibers from each other, while at the same time the stream has a low density and a small cross section so as to be directed in this way along a predetermined path to the grooved periphery of the rotary suction wheel.
  • a relatively large number of mechanical and pneumatic methods and apparatus are known for manufacturing continuous tobacco rods, and all of these known methods and apparatus are designed to attempt to achieve a high rod speed while at the same time maintaining as much as possible a homogeneous and uniform fiber structure as well as a good transverse elasticity and thus a good filling capability for the rod of tobacco.
  • the best results have been achieved up to the present time with that type of method and apparatus where the tobacco rod is pneumatically formed.
  • the rod is formed at the grooved periphery of a suction wheel which is provided at the innermost part of the groove at its periphery with suction openings through which air flows into the interior of the wheel so as to form the rod in the periphery of this rotary suction wheel.
  • the shredded tobacco is delivered either mechanically or pneumatically to the grooved periphery of the suction wheel, and a more or less satisfactory separation of the fibers from each other takes place also either mechanically or pneumatically.
  • a modified construction of this type utilizes a stream of compressed air which is directed against the grooved periphery of the'suction wheel in order to maintain the impulse for moving the tobacco between the delivery end of the conveyor belt and the suction wheel.
  • the shredded tobacco can be delivered to the suction wheel in an amount which is in excess of the amount actually required, and the excess tobacco is separated by way of a suitable blade which forms a cover for the grooved periphery of the suction wheel.
  • beater rollers which receive the tobacco from the delivery end of the conveyor belt and deliver it into the groove at the periphery of the suction wheel, and with this construction the intermediate space between the conveyor belt and the suction wheel is bridged by guide baffles made of sheet metal.
  • the shredded tobacco is delivered with impact from a roller type of distributor by means of beater rollers into a passage which accommodates a stream of tobacco, and this stream is delivered by suitable rollers into the air stream of a suction wheel in which the air flows transversely with respect to its axis so that the fibers are deposited at the periphery of the wheel over a relatively large sector along which the fibers are distributed.
  • lt has also been proposed to deliver the shredded tobacco from a roller type of distributor by means of beater rollers into the suction inlet of a supply conduit which is under the influence of a suction stream and in which the shredded tobacco is loosened into its individual fibers while being preliminarily compacted in an intertia type of compactor whereupon the stream of compacted fibers is taken up by a stream of compressed air and delivered by a metering device to the passage of a rotary wheel in such a way that the stream of tobacco reaches the latter wheel tangentially.
  • FIG. 1 is a horizontal schematic section illustration of an apparatus according to the invention, shown partly in section;
  • FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1, in the direction of the arrows;
  • FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a rod produced by the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;
  • FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, showing a modified means for controlling the direction of a portion of an air and tobacco stream therein;
  • FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3, of a portion of a rod produced by the apparatus shown in FIG. 4.
  • the apparatus of the invention which is used to perform the method of the invention includes a distributing unit made up of a pair of driven rollers 1 having sharp pins projecting outwardly from the periphery thereof, and only one of these rollers 1, which receive the shredded tobacco, driven rollers is illustrated. These deliver a carpet of tobacco to a picker wheel 2 which has attached to its periphery attached to its pins projecting therefrom and which rotates at a higher speed than the rollers 1.
  • a pneumatic supply means has its inlet end located adjacent to the picker wheel 2.
  • This pneumatic supply means includes the inlet end of the convergent duct 3 which communicates with the inlet ofconduit 4 which in turn delivers the fibers to a dust separating device comprising a conical tube of louvered metal 5 having a series of frustoconical sheet metal rings 6 partly nested one into the next, and a casing 7 which concentrically surrounds the separating device 5.
  • This casing 7 communicates at its left end, as viewed in FIG, 1, with the inlet ofa radial fan 9 of high output while forming at its end distant from the fan, with the last of the series of the rings 6, the outlet opening 8 of the pneumatic supply means.
  • This outlet opening 8 is of a small cross section, on the order of 20-30 times smaller than the cross-sectional area of the inlet end of the convergent duct 3.
  • the outlet opening 8 of the pneumatic supply means is situated at a given distance from a suction wheel 21 which rotates clockwise about a horizontal axis, and the tobacco stream is delivered from the outlet open ing 8 into a completely surrounded and enclosed chamber 12 which extends between the outlet opening 8 and the suction wheel 21.
  • This enclosure chamber includes sidewalls 13 and 14, an upper limiting wall 15 and a lower limiting wall 16, the latter having a sealed engagement with a rod-forming groove 22 situated at the periphery of the suction wheel 21.
  • the upper wall 15 of the enclosure chamber is extended at its right end, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 4, by a leaf spring 17 which covers a small part of the periphery of the suction wheel 21.
  • the upper wall 15 of the enclosure chamber includes several air inlet openings 18 which can be optionally opened or closed by way of the schematically illustrated valves 19. These are simply tiltable closure plates capable of being turned into engagement with the exterior surface of the upper wall 15 to close the openings 18, respectively, or capable of being turned to positions spaced from the upper wall 15 so as to uncover the openings 18, as shown, for example, at the left of FIG. 2.
  • the suction wheel 21 is supported for rotary movement on a hollow shaft 24 which serves as a suction conduit and which houses in its interior an adjustable butterfly valve 25.
  • This suction conduit 24 communicates with the inlet 27 of a second fan 26.
  • the hollow shaft 24 is closed at its end which is distant from the fan 26 and is formed at the region of the suction wheel 21 with an opening which communicates with a stationary air-guiding sector-shaped structure 29 which is located in the hollow interior of the suction wheel 21 and which forms with the sidewalls of the latter wheel a sector-shaped air passage 30 leading to the hollow interior of the shaft 24.
  • the innermost portion 23 of the groove 22 at the periphery of the wheel 21 is perforated so that air will flow through the perforations into the sector 30 and from the latter into the suction conduit 24.
  • the fan 9 draws air which is extracted from the dust separating device 5 into the interior of the casing 7 through the inlet 10 and delivers the air under pressure out through the outlet 11 and into a dust separating device comprising a conical tube of louvered metal 31 situated within a perforated filter 32.
  • This dust separating device 31 communicates with a pipe 33 which terminates in the interior on the inlet end of the convergent duct and accordingly this air stream induces a flow through the pneumatic supply means 3, 4, 5 of the tobacco which is introduced thereinto by the picker wheel.
  • the fan outlet 28 communicates with a dust separating device 34 situated in the filter 32, and the outlet of the dust separating device 34 communicates through a pipe 35 with the inlet end of the convergent duct 3 of the pneumatic supply means.
  • the dust which is extracted by the dust separating device 31, 34 is filtered by filter 32.
  • a pair of trimmers 36 are provided as indicated schematically at the lower right of FIG. 1.
  • the drive for the pin rollers and suction wheel 21 is derived from a single main driving motor 38.
  • the shredded tobacco which has not yet been separated into individual fibers to the desired extent is delivered in the form of a shower of tobacco by the picker wheel 2 into the inlet end of the convergent duct 3 of the pneumatic supply means.
  • the tobacco in the form of a stream is delivered in the form of a shower of tobacco by the picker wheel 2 into the inlet end of the convergent duct 3 of the pneumatic supply means.
  • the stream of air and tobacco 39 which issues from the outlet 8 has a cross section which is exceedingly small with respect to the cross section at the inlet end of the inlet end of the convergent duct 3.
  • the stream is thus of a reduced crosssectional size and flows from the outlet opening 8 into the space 12, where the stream of tobacco is acted upon by the second suction stream, namely that derived through the perforations at the periphery of the suction wheel 21, this latter suction acting within the enclosure means 13-16.
  • the stream of air and tobacco 39 in the chamber 12 is subjected to a second acceleration which provides the tobacco particles with a speed which is greater than that which they have in the dust separating device 5, so that there is an additional separa tion of the fibers.
  • This second suction stream is of course derived by way of the fan 26 which acts through conduit 24 and the air-guiding elements 29 at the perforations in the innermost part of the groove 22 at the periphery of the wheel 24, and this latter additional suction can be controlled by adjustment of the valve 25.
  • the stream of air and tobacco 39 intersects the peripheral groove 22 of the wheel 21, which rotates at the speed with which the tobacco rod is formed, the tobacco being delivered from the stream 39 into a building plane of fiber deposition 40 at which the tobacco rod is initially formed, so that the tobacco rod starts at the building plane 40 where the fibers are deposited from the stream 39 which intersects the tobacco rod at this plane 40.
  • the plane 40 is tangent to the innermost part of the groove at the periphery of the wheel 21, and forms an acute angle 0.
  • the position of the building plane 40 which extends transversely across the stream 39 and the tobacco rod, is of the utmost importance for the construction of the tobacco rod, and the optimum position of the plane 40 will depend upon the quality of the tobacco which is treated, with respect to the length or shortness of the fiber structure thereof. Within the chamber 12, therefore, the tobacco stream 39 is provided with the optimum direction.
  • the tobacco will initially have the speed V at the entrance into the inlet end of the convergent duct 3 at the region of the picker wheel 2, and the tobacco particles are accelerated through and beyond the speed V within the dust separating device 5 up to the speed V in the chamber 12, and this latter speed is on the order of l5+times the speed of movement V, of the tobacco rod at the periphery of the suction wheel 21.
  • the stream of tobacco is delivered at the speed V to the building plane in the groove 22, and the tobacco fibers become layered to provide a uniformly dense and homogeneous structure for the tobacco rod, with the tobacco fibers automatically assuming primarily a position located at the angle a with respect to the axis of the tobacco rod, as is particularly apparent from FIGS. 3 and 5.
  • downwardly deflected stream 39 forms a building plane 40 which has a different angle a with the tangent to the periphery of the suction wheel at the place where the plane 40 intersects this periphery.
  • the smaller the angle a the greater the extent of intertwining of the fibers longitudinally of the cigarette rod, but at the same time the extent of transverse stressing of the tobacco fibers against the surrounding paper envelope of the cigarette becomes smaller.
  • the structure and method of the invention therefore make it possible by a suitable selection of the direction of the stream 39 to provide an optimum relationship between both of these factors.
  • the tobacco rod which is thus formed in the groove 22 at the periphery of the suction wheel as a result of the suction action is held in the groove by suction and is delivered to a known structure which acts to complete the manufacture of the cigarettes.
  • the rod of tobacco can be delivered to a further metering structure and can also be formed with an excess amount of material which can be cut away, for example by way of the separating structure which takes the form of the schematically illustrated separating discs 36.
  • the air which is delivered under pressure from the fans 9 and 26 is freed of tobacco dust in the dust separating devices 31 and 34, in connection with the filter 32, and the relatively short particles of tobacco which are still held in the air stream are delivered by way of the pipes 33 and 35 back into the suction inlet 3.
  • a device for manufacturing a continuous rod of pourable fibers such as fibers of shredded tobacco comprising pneumatic supply means including convergent duct means open at one end, secondary duct means surrounding and communicating with the portion of said convergent duct means adjacent to the other end thereof, chamber means including inlet and discharge end portions, said inlet end portion communicating with said other end of said convergent duct means, suction wheel means including a grooved foraminous outer periphery defining a portion of said chamber means, means for projecting an air and tobacco stream through said convergent duct means to said other end thereof and into said chamber means, means for extracting a portion of the air from said air and tobacco stream and into said secondary duct means and means for extracting air from said air and tobacco stream through said foraminous groove into said suction wheel means whereby the air and tobacco stream will be compacted and formed into a filler stream which is removed from said chamber through said chamber means discharge end portion.
  • a device wherein said portion of the convergent duct means adjacent to the other end thereof comprises a dust separating device including a conical tube of louvered metal.
  • a device including adjusting means coacting with said chamber means for adjusting the direction of flow of the stream of particles from said pneumatic supply means to said groove located on the periphery of said suction wheel means.
  • said adjusting means includes inlet openings located along an upper wall portion of said chamber means for introducing ambient air through said openings into said chamber means.
  • a method for manufacturing a continuous rod of pourable fibers such as fibers of shredded tobacco in an apparatus including convergent duct means open at one end, secondary duct means surrounding and communicating with the portion of said convergent duct means adjacent to the other end thereof, chamber means including inlet and discharge end portions, said inlet end portion communicating with said other end of said convergent duct means, and suction wheel means including a grooved foraminous outer periphery defining.
  • a method according to claim 5 further comprising the step of adjusting the direction of flow of said stream through said chamber means.

Landscapes

  • Manufacturing Of Cigar And Cigarette Tobacco (AREA)
US668859A 1967-04-07 1967-09-19 Method and apparatus for producing a tobacco rod Expired - Lifetime US3587593A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE19671632258 DE1632258C3 (de) 1967-04-07 1967-04-07 Verfahren und Vorrichtung zum Herstellen eines kontinuierlichen Stranges aus schüttfähigen, faserigen Teilchen, insbesondere aus Schnittabak VEB Kombinat Nagema, DDR 8045 Dresden

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3587593A true US3587593A (en) 1971-06-28

Family

ID=5683464

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US668859A Expired - Lifetime US3587593A (en) 1967-04-07 1967-09-19 Method and apparatus for producing a tobacco rod

Country Status (3)

Country Link
US (1) US3587593A (de)
DE (1) DE1632258B2 (de)
GB (1) GB1141698A (de)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3851652A (en) * 1971-07-28 1974-12-03 Mollins Ltd Cigarette making machines
US3941036A (en) * 1972-01-07 1976-03-02 Molins Limited Continuous filter rod making machines
GB2132874A (en) * 1982-12-02 1984-07-18 Hauni Werke Koerber & Co Kg Apparatus for forming a tobacco stream
EP0617900A1 (de) * 1993-03-29 1994-10-05 Japan Tobacco Inc. Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Herstellung von Zigaretten
EP0674848A1 (de) * 1994-03-28 1995-10-04 Japan Tobacco Inc. Zigarette
US5497794A (en) * 1993-03-29 1996-03-12 Japan Tobacco Inc. Cigarette

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2623547A1 (de) * 1976-05-26 1977-12-08 Hauni Werke Koerber & Co Kg Vorrichtung zum bilden eines tabakstranges
US4153978A (en) * 1977-08-29 1979-05-15 Georgia Tech Research Institute Method for fiber alignment using fluid-dynamic forces
DE3342123A1 (de) * 1982-12-02 1984-06-07 Hauni-Werke Körber & Co KG, 2050 Hamburg Vorrichtung zum bilden eines tabakstranges

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3851652A (en) * 1971-07-28 1974-12-03 Mollins Ltd Cigarette making machines
US3941036A (en) * 1972-01-07 1976-03-02 Molins Limited Continuous filter rod making machines
GB2132874A (en) * 1982-12-02 1984-07-18 Hauni Werke Koerber & Co Kg Apparatus for forming a tobacco stream
EP0617900A1 (de) * 1993-03-29 1994-10-05 Japan Tobacco Inc. Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Herstellung von Zigaretten
US5497794A (en) * 1993-03-29 1996-03-12 Japan Tobacco Inc. Cigarette
EP0800776A2 (de) * 1993-03-29 1997-10-15 Japan Tobacco Inc. Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Herstellung von Zigaretten
EP0800776A3 (de) * 1993-03-29 1998-02-04 Japan Tobacco Inc. Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Herstellung von Zigaretten
EP0674848A1 (de) * 1994-03-28 1995-10-04 Japan Tobacco Inc. Zigarette

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE1632258B2 (de) 1976-06-16
DE1632258A1 (de) 1972-07-27
GB1141698A (en) 1969-01-29

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US3074413A (en) Cigarette making machine
US3655043A (en) Pneumatic tobacco classifying apparatus
US3587593A (en) Method and apparatus for producing a tobacco rod
US3030965A (en) Tobacco manipulating machines
US3092117A (en) Winnowing apparatus for cigarettemaking machines
DK174472B1 (da) Fremgangsmåde og apparat til dannelse af et absorptionslegeme
US1755080A (en) Means for spreading cut tobacco in cigarette-making machines
US4372326A (en) Manufacturing machine for producing two continuous cigarette rods
US4155367A (en) Apparatus for producing a continuous tobacco stream
JPH01191673A (ja) たばこ加工産業における二本分の連続体を造るための連続体製造機
US2932300A (en) Cigarette machine
US3094127A (en) Cigarette making machine
US3563249A (en) Method and apparatus for manufacturing continuous strands of a pourable material such as shredded tobacco
US3088468A (en) Tobacco manipulating machinery
GB2168885A (en) Pneumatic tobacco supply
US3096770A (en) Cigarette making machine and method
US3624748A (en) Cigarette making
US4484589A (en) Distributor for a rod making machine for the production of smokers' articles
US3549293A (en) Method and device for forming a tobacco strand
US3491770A (en) Centrifugal tobacco stream forming apparatus
US3297040A (en) Tobacco rod forming device
US3732871A (en) Method and apparatus for making cigarettes
JPH04227261A (ja) おむつ類のための綿毛詰め物の製造装置
GB463583A (en) Improvements in and relating to mechanism for winnowing disintegrated tobacco leaves
US4256125A (en) Cigarette making machine