US3605989A

US3605989A - Apparatus for feeding cigarettes

Info

Publication number: US3605989A
Application number: US91313A
Authority: US
Inventors: Alan Keith Mccombie
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-11-20
Filing date: 1970-11-20
Publication date: 1971-09-20
Anticipated expiration: 1988-09-20

Abstract

CONVEYING APPART FOR CIGARETTES, ESPECIALLY TIPPED CIGARETTES, HAVING AN EXPANSIBLE RESERVOIR THROUGH WHICH THE CIGARETTES ARE CONVEYED IN A CONTINUOUS STACK BY MEANS OF CONVEYOR AND ROLLERS BETWEEN WHICH THE STACK IS CONFINED AND HAVING A HORIZONTAL CONVEYOR FEEDING THE CIGARETTES INTO THE RESERVOIR AND A PAIR OF ROLLERS RESTING ON THE CIGARETTES ON THE HORIZONTAL CONVEYOR AND ARRANGED TO PUSH THEM INTO THE RESERVOIR AND PACK AGAINST A CEILING OF THE RESERVOIR TO REDUCE THE RISK OF JAMMING. ADDITIONALLY, THE ROLLERS SENSE VARIATIONS IN THE FLOW RATE WHICH ARE USED TO CONTROL THE CAPACITY OF THE RESERVOIR.

Description

Sept. 20, 1971 A, K, McCQMBlE; 3,605,989

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CIGARETTES Original Fled Sept. 30. 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VENTCR. ALIM Aff/TH /ffma/f Sept- 20 1971 A. K. MGCQMBIE 3,605,989

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CIGARETTES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Sept. 50, 1965 Sept. 20, 1971 A. K. MccoMBlE APPARATUS FOR FEEDING CIGARETTES Original Filed Sept. 30. 1965 5 Sheecs--Sheeil 3 United States Patent O f 3,605,989 APPARATUS FOR FEEDIN G CIGARETTES Alan Keith McCoinbie, 2 Evelyn St., Deptford, London, SE. 8, England Division of application Ser. No. 854,028, Aug. 28, 1969, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 685,995, Nov. 7, 1967, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 491,672, Sept. 30, 1965, which in turn is a continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 319,846, Oct. 29, 1963. Application Ser. No. 547,702, Apr. 11, 1966, being a continuation of said application Ser. No. 319,846. This application Nov. 20, 1970, Ser. No.

Int. Cl. B65g 15/14 U.S. Cl. 198-76 20 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE Conveying apparatus for cigarettes, especially tipped cigarettes, having an expansible reservoir through which the cigarettes are conveyed in a continuous stack by means of conveyor belts and rollers between which the stack is conned and having a horizontal conveyor feeding the cigarettes into the reservoir and a pair of rollers resting on the cigarettes on the horizontal conveyor and arranged to push them into the reservoir and pack against a ceiling of the reservoir to reduce the risk of jamming. Additionally, the rollers sense variations in the tlow ra-te which are used to control the capacity of the reservoir.

This application is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 854,028 tiled Aug. 28, 1969, which in turn is a continuation of my copending application Ser. No. 685,995 filed Nov. 7, 1967, now abandoned, which in turn is a continuation of my copending application Ser. No. 491,672 filed Sept. 30, 1965, now abandoned, which in turn is in fact a continuation-impart of my copending application Ser. No. 319,846 tiled Oct. 29, 1963, now abandoned. My application Ser. No. 547,702 tiled Apr. l1, 1966, is a continuation of said application Ser. No. 319,846 and matured into U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,138 issued Jan. 10, 1967.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to conveyor apparatus for rodlike articles, for example cigarettes, which apparatus moves the articles in parallel alignment in a continuous stack.

Such apparatus is disclosed in United States Patent No. 3,297,138 where its use in conveying cigarettes from cigarette-making machines to cigarette-packing machines is described.

This apparatus includes a reservoir into and out of which the cigarettes are moved in a continuous stack, and which provides means of accommodating the fluctuations in operating rates which occur between the making and the packing machines.

In this apparatus certain problems occur in handling the cigarettes. For example tipped cigarettes have a marked tendency to cross and jam.

It is an object of the present invention to provide conveyor apparatus which is of particular use in handling cigarettes, especially tipped cigarettes.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Apparatus in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on the line I-I;

3,605,989 lPatented Sept. 20, 1971 DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The apparatus shown in FIGS. l to 4 may form part of an apparatus such as is illustrated in FIG. 5, which corresponds to FlG. 4 of the drawings accompanying the above-mentioned U.S. Patent No. 3,297,138. Briey expressed the reservoir apparatus shown in FIG. 5 comprises upper land lower parallel

elongated compartments

142 and 143, an endless band conveyor 17-1 having an upper run forming the base of the upper compartment 142 and a lower run forming the top of the lower compartment 143, and a concave movable backplate 147 forming a movable end wall of the reservoir. It will be seen that this arrangement forms a loop-shaped conguration comprising parallel links (namely the upper and lower compartments 142 and 143) joined by a cross-link dened partly by the movable backplate 147. The cigarettes enter the upper compartment through an inlet 112, passing underneath a pivoted detector 185 and pass from there between conveyors 179 and 180 and into the upper compartment 142. From there they pass between the backplate 147 and the roller 145 over which the endless band 171 passes and into the lower compartment 143. Finally, the cigarettes are delivered from the reservoir after passing through an outlet dened by a conveyor band and band 171. The backplate and roller can be moved to and fro to increase or decrease the capacity of the reservoir depending upon the relative rates of supply and withdrawal of cigarettes to and from the reservoir.

The apparatus according to either of the embodiments shown in FIGS. l to 4 of the present drawings is intended to be located at the entrance to the upper compartment of the reservoir, and may be considered as replacing the apparatus comprising the bands 179 and 180 and detector shown in FIG. 5.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, an endless conveyor band 1 receives cigarettes C, e.g. from a number of cigarette-making machines, and conveys them as a moving pile, which may be several cigarettes deep, towards the right in FIG. 1. The band `1 passes about a roller 2, between a pair of opposed cleaning elements 3, and between driving rollers `4 and 5. On its upper run the band 1 is supported by

plates

6 and 7.

To the right of the band roller 2 is a drum 8 arranged to rotate in the direction shown by the arrow at a speed which is varied from time to time as will be described later. A bridge 9 extends from the band 1 to the surface of the drum 8.

A concave plate 10 carried on supports 11 extends almost halfway about the drum 8, and forms a back support for an endless band 12 which runs over the inside curve of the plate and returns over

rollers

13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18, the last-named being a drive roller, and 19. The plate 10 which serves as a stationary end wall is spaced a suitable distance from the drum 8 to permit a desired depth of cigarettes to be accommodated between the band 12 and drum 8i.

The band 12 is driven at a speed suitably in excess of the peripheral speed of the drum 8 to carry the cigarettes C around the drum without relative displacement.

Extending beneath the plate 10 and band 12, and also beneath the drum 8 and -the band 1, is an endless band 20, driven by rollers 21 and 22. This band 20` corresponds to the band 171 in FIG. 5 and forms the base of the upper compartment of the cigarette reservoir. :It the speed of this band is altered, the backplate 147 forming 3 the end of the reservoir is moved in one direction or the other so as to alter the capacity of the reservoir. In the present case, such speed changes are effected by changing the speed of the drive roller 21.

A short wedge-shaped bridge 23 extends from the band 12, as it passes over the roller 13, to the band 20.

As stated above, the part of the band 20 shown at the bottom of FIG. 1 forms the base of the upper compartment of the reservoir. The top of this upper compartment is defined by a plate 24.

Side plates 25 and 26 conne the cigarettes laterally at the entrance to and within the upper compartment of the reservoir.

Directly above the conveyor band 1 is a detector member in the form of a pair of relatively narrow rollers 125, which together with the conveyor 1, the bridge 9 and the drum 8 defines the entrance to the reservoir. Each of the rollers 125 is constructed as a pair of flanged discs, as seen in FIG. 2, clamped together and fixed slightly eccentrically on a sleeve 126 which is rotated on a spindle 27 by a Timex belt 28 passing over a sprocket 29. The belt is driven by a sprocket 30 carried by a constantly rotating drive shaft 31. The spindle 27 is supported rotatably by a bush 32, FIG. 2, carried by an arm 33 mounted on a sleeve 34 which is free to rotate about the drive shaft 31. Thus the rollers 125 can swing up and down about the shaft 31. A short arm 35 on the sleeve 34 is connected to one end of a rod 36 so as to cause the rod to move lengthwise to and fro if the rollers 125 move up and down. The other end of the rod 36 engages one end of a pivoted element 36a whose movements are utilized to actuate any suitable means for varying the speed of the drive roller 21, the drum 8 and the drive roller 18 for the band 12. These means are substantially as described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,138.

The rollers 125 are driven at a Speed such that their cigarette-engaging peripheral surfaces move faster than the band 1, e.g. at a speed 1.8 times that of the band 1.

A plate 37 extends over part of the drum 8 and between the rollers 125, and a short bridge 38 extends between the plate 37 and the roller 19 over which the band 12 passes. A exible strip 39 is secured beneath the plate 37 and its free edge bears against the peripheral surfaces of the rollers 125.

In operation of the apparatus, cigarettes C are carried by the conveyor band 1 beneath the rollers 125 into the space between the periphery of the drum 8 and the plate 37 and strip 39, the bridge 38, and the band 12. The rollers 125 rest on the pile of cigarettes moving beneath them and rise or fall according to the cigarette depth at any moment. At the same time the rollers 125, due to their speed of rotation, positively urge the cigarettes forwardly to ensure that the said space is kept filled with cigarettes and upwardly to urge the cigarettes to pack themselves neatly against the plate 37. It is desirable that the reservoir should at all times be completely filled with cigarettes so that they are kept in close contact with each other and can therefore be moved through the reservoir as a more or less compact body, and it is for this reason that the rollers 125 rotate with a peripheral speed in excess of the normal feeding speed of the cigarettes, thereby tending to ensure that no deficiency of cigarettes, can occur at or immediately beyond the entrance to the reservoir and that the cigarettes pack themselves against the ceiling of the reservoir, dened at this point by the plate 37, thus reducing the risk of them crossing or twisting and thereby jamming the flow. The flexible strip 39, by pressing lightly against the cigarettes just leaving the rollers 125, also assists in keeping them close together.

If the quantity of cigarettes being fed by the band 1 decreases, the cigarette level on the band will fall and the rollers 125 will fall correspondingly, likewise if the quantity on the band 1 increases, the rollers 125 will rise. As explained above, these up and down movements of 4 the rollers 125 are utilized to actuate means whereby the speeds of the drum 8, the band 12, and the band 20 are increased to allow more cigarettes to be received in the reservoir, or decreased if fewer cigarettes are being received.

Any changes in the speed of the band 20 cause the size of the reservoir to be altered in the manner described in the specification referred to above, backplate or movable wall 147 moving towards and away from concave plate or stationary end wall 10 to vary the length of the reservoir and to compensate for the change in volume of cigarettes present in the reservoir.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, these show a modified arrangement at the entrance to the reservoir.

A pair of endless chain conveyors 51 (only one of which is shown) receive cigarettes C from e.g. a number of cigarette-making machines and convey them towards the right in the figure. The chains, which are spaced apart, carry projections 52 which form pockets to accommodate the cigarettes. The chains are driven by and return about sprockets 53.

Three endless bands 54 (only one of which is seen in the figure) are arranged between and on either side of the two chains 51'. These bands pass over rollers 57 and 58 which define their upper run, the rollers 57 acting to tension the band, guide roller 58a, and drive wheels 59. The upper runs of the bands are upwardly inclined in the direction of their movement, and intersect the chains 51 so as to lift the cigarettes from the chains. They run over a guide plate 62.

It will be seen that the chains 51 and bands 54 in this embodiment replace the band 1 of FIG. 1.

To the right of the band rollers 58 is a drum 68, bridge 69, concave plate 70, and band 72, which correspond to the drum 8, bridge 9, concave plate 10, and band 12 of FIG. l.

Above the bands 54 are two pairs of

flanged discs

75 and 76, the discs 76 extending partially between the discs 75. The discs 76 are rotatable about a spindle 77 carried by arms 78 which are mounted for swinging movement about a spindle 79 on which the discs 75 are rotatable, and which is carried by a swingable arm 80. The arm 80 is loosely mounted for swinging movement about a shaft 81 on which is xed a drive roller 82, which is anged as shown in FIG. 4. A band 83, of nylon or other suitable non-stretching material, backed by a narrower band 84, extends about the discs and drive roller and is driven by the latter at the same speed as the chains 51. The narrow backing band 84 ts between flanges of the drive roller 82 and prevents wandering of the composite band. Fixed on a hub 85 of the arm 80 is a short arm 86 connected to one end of a rod 87 so as to cause the rod to move lengthwise to and fro if the arm 80 swings up and down. The other end of the rod 87 engages one end of a pivoted element 88 which is identical with the element 36a in FIG. 1.

The

discs

75 and 76 and the surrounding band 83, which rests on the cigarettes carried first by the chains 51 and then by the bands 54, correspond to the rollers of FIG. 1.

I claim:

1. Conveyor apparatus for feeding parallelly aligned rod-like articles transversely to their lengths along a path comprising conveyor means to convey a stack of said articles having a first height, an upper wall member downstream from said conveyor means beneath which said stack is moved, said upper wall member engaging the upper surface of the stack of articles to limit the height of the stack, said height beneath the upper wall member being a second height which is greater than said first height, and urging means between said conveyor means and said upper wall member to feed the continuous stack of articles upwardly against the upper wall member, said urging means comprising upper and lower spaced moving members moving along paths which are spaced apart adjacent said conveyor means by an amount equal to said first height, and diverging in the direction of movement of the stack towards a spacing equal to said second height.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said upper moving member acts on the upper surface of the stack to urge the upper part of the stack to pack against the upper wall member.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said upper moving member comprises at least one roller to rotate in engagement with the upper surface of the stack in the direction of movement thereof and said lower moving member comprises lower conveyor means on the underside of the stack to define with the roller a flow passage for the stack which passage increases in height in the direction of movement of the stack.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 including a reservoir into which the articles are moved by said conveyor and urging means, said apparatus further comprising detector means at the entrance to the reservoir to detect the rate at which the articles enter the reservoir.

S. Apparaus according to claim 4 wherein said upper moving member is arranged to rest on and be supported by said stack of articles being fed to the reservoir so as to rise and fall as the height of said stack from said conveyor means increases and decreases, said detector means being connected to said upper moving member and being responsive to the rise and fall of said upper moving member.

6. Apparatus according to claim A5 further comprising regulating means whereby the size of the reservoir is increased and decreased and wherein said detecting means comprises a pivoted element connected to said upper moving member such that pivotal movements of said pivoted element are utilized to actuate said regulating means.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said upper moving member comprises an endless belt and wherein there are provided at least three rollers for the belt and support members for two of the rollers, which support members are pivoted together, the third roller being positioned to rotate about an axis coincident with the pivot axis.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the third roller has a greater diameter than the other two rollers.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said upper moving member adjoins the upper wall member at a sharp angle.

10. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said lower moving member supports the stack of articles extending beneath said upper wall member and defines therewith a flow passage for the stack, said flow passage having a region of changing height and said lower moving member and upper wall member being each curved in this region.

11. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said upper moving member comprises a roller.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 including an endless belt which passes around said roller and serves as a continuing upper conveyor means of said upper moving member and diverges from said lower moving member towards said second height.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 comprising a further roller upstream of said first mentioned roller said endless belt passing around both said rollers to define with the lower moving member a substantially parellel channel for the article stack of a height substantially equal to said first height.

14. Apparatus for feeding rod-like articles such as cigarettes, comprising conveyor means for feeding a stack of articles having a first height and lying transversely in relation to the direction of feed, a second conveyor means capable of moving at a speed lower than that of the first conveyor means and having associated with it a top wall member for confining the upper surface of a stack of articles having a second height on the second conveyor means, and means for urging the stack of the first height from the first mentioned conveyor means so as to transform said stack into a stack of the second height substantially filling the space between the second conveyor means and the associated top wall member, said urging means comprising upper and lower moving conveyor means defining a space which diverges in the direction of feed of the articles, said diverging space having a height at its upstream end substantially equal to said first height and a height at its downstream end substantially equal to said second height.

15. Apparatus according to claim 14 in which the flow of articles through said urging means has a slight upward component.

16. Apparatus according to claim 14 in which the upper conveyor means of the urging means is movable towards and away from the cooperating lower conveyor means of the urging means and is urged towards said lower conveyor means.

17. Apparatus according to claim 14 in which said second conveyor means comprises a roller and the cooperating top wall member is curved about the axis of the roller.

18. Apparatus according to claim 17 in which the curved top wall member and roller are capable of carrying the stack of articles round through substantially to a position where said stack is increased to a third height, said roller serving to urge said stack into said third height.

19. Apparatus according to claim 18 further comprising a reservoir into which said articles are fed, said reservoir being capable of receiving said stack of articles at said third height.

20. Apparatus according to claim 16 including speed regulating means controlled by said upper conveyor means of the urging means and operative to vary the speed of said second conveyor means in response to the height of said upper conveyor means, the speed of said second conveyor means being increased as said height increases.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,472,358 10/1969 Poupin 198-165X EDWARD A. SROKA, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 198-167 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 15059989 Dated September 20, 1971 Inventor(s) Alan Keith MCCOmbie It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters latent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column l, line 4, after "England" insert assignor to The Molins Organisation Limited, London, England Signed and sealed this 22nd. day of February 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

ROBERT GOTTSGHLK EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR.

Commissioner' of Patents Attesting Officer' USCOMM-OC 50376-P69 ORM PO-105O K10-69) n u s GovEnNMENT Pnlurm@ orne: was o-sss-Ju