Feeder for components of an aerosol forming article

Abstract

The present invention refers to a feeder for components of an aerosol-forming article, the feeder comprising: a plurality of tubular hoppers, each hopper being adapted to receive and to deliver a plurality of components, each hopper including an inlet and an outlet and a channel connecting the inlet and the outlet, each channel having an axis and defining an insert dimension in a direction perpendicular to the axis, the insert dimension being constant along the axis of the channel; a frame to which the tubular hoppers are fastened and arranged so that their axes are substantially parallel to each other and in series along a transport direction; a delivery drum including a plurality of angularly spaced grooves arranged substantially parallel to said transport direction, said drum being located under the outlets of the tubular hoppers so that components going through said channels are delivered into one of said groves; a motor to rotate said delivery drum; a transport device located under said delivery drum and adapted to transport said components delivered by the delivery drum along the transport direction; and a size change element adapted to vary the insert dimension of the channel of at least one of the plurality of hoppers.

Claims

1. Feeder for components of an aerosol-forming article, the feeder comprising: a plurality of tubular hoppers, each hopper being adapted to receive and to deliver a plurality of components, each hopper including an inlet and an outlet and a channel connecting the inlet and the outlet, each channel having an axis and defining an insert dimension in a direction perpendicular to the axis, the insert dimension being constant along the axis of the channel; a frame to which the tubular hoppers are fastened and arranged so that their axes are substantially parallel to each other and in series along a transport direction; a delivery drum including a plurality of angularly spaced grooves arranged substantially parallel to said transport direction, said drum being located under the outlets of the tubular hoppers so that components going through said channels are delivered into one of said grooves; a motor to rotate said delivery drum; a transport device located under said delivery drum and adapted to transport said components delivered by the delivery drum along the transport direction; and a size change element adapted to vary the insert dimension of the channel of at least one of the plurality of hoppers.

2. The feeder according to claim 1, wherein each hopper of said plurality is releasably fastened to said frame.

3. The feeder according to claim 1, wherein said hoppers are arranged so that said axes of the channels are substantially parallel to a vertical direction so that components inserted into the channels via the inlet fall toward the outlet due to gravity.

4. The feeder according to claim 1, wherein said insert dimension defines a major dimension of said inlet or of said outlet in which an insertion of said component is possible.

5. The feeder according to claim 1, wherein said insert dimension is a dimension of said channel along the transport direction.

6. The feeder according to claim 1, wherein the channel has a constant cross section along planes perpendicular to its axis.

7. The feeder according to claim 6, wherein a size of the cross section is such that the insertion of a single component is possible, so that the channel is adapted to house a single column of components.

8. The feeder according to claim 1, including a suction device and wherein said transport device includes a plurality of holes, said suction device being adapted to suck air from said holes so as to keep the components connected to the transport device.

9. The feeder according to claim 1, including one or more curvilinear wall contouring without contact at least a portion of a lateral surface of the delivery drum.

10. The feeder according to claim 1, wherein each hopper of the plurality includes a size change element.

11. The feeder according to claim 10, wherein the each size change element of the plurality of size change elements is independently adjustable.

12. The feeder according to claim 1, including a handle.

13. The feeder according to claim 1, including a cover for the outlet of at least one hopper when the hopper is detached from the frame.

14. The feeder according to claim 1, wherein said size change element includes a slidable wall which is adapted to be slidable along a direction defined by said insert dimension.

15. The feeder according to claim 14, wherein said slidable wall is movable by a screw.

16. The feeder according to claim 1, including at least 5 hoppers.

17. An apparatus for the realization of a multi-component aerosol-forming article, comprising one or more feeders according to claim 1.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, comprising a first feeder and a second feeder, the second feeder being apt to feed components to the same transport device as the first feeder.

19. The apparatus according to claim 17, further including a spacer drum located downstream of said feeder.

20. The apparatus according to claim 17 comprising a wrapping station so as to wrap the components fed by said feeder.

Description

(1) The invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an apparatus for manufacturing multi-component aerosol forming articles according to the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a feeder realized according to the invention, part of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the feeder of FIG. 2;

(5) FIG. 4 is a schematic lateral view of the feeder of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3;

(6) FIG. 5 is a perspective view in an enlarged scale of a portion of the feeder of FIGS. 2 and 3;

(7) FIG. 6 is a perspective view in an enlarged scale of a part of the portion of the feeder of FIG. 5;

(8) FIG. 7 is a partial top view of the feeder of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3;

(9) FIG. 8 is a partially sectioned view of a portion of the feeder of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3; and

(10) FIG. 9 is a schematic lateral view in section of an embodiment of a multi-component filter for an aerosol-forming device realized by the apparatus of FIG. 1.

(11) With reference to FIG. 1, an apparatus utilised to manufacture multi-component aerosol forming articles 20 is globally indicated with 50.

(12) An embodiment of a multi-component article 20, which can be realized using the apparatus 50 of FIG. 1, is schematically depicted in FIG. 9, where the article 20 includes five different components 22, that is, five components of different types, having different lengths along a common longitudinal axis 21. Each component 22 includes a tubular element and defines a longitudinal length along the longitudinal axis 21. The five components may be (from right to left) for example a mouthpiece plug, a PLA, a hollow component, a tobacco plug and a diffuser, however any other component can be used as well. Apparatus 50 may realize not only complete aerosol-forming articles and but also part thereof, such as multi-component filters.

(13) The apparatus 50 includes at least a feeder 1, preferably two feeders (the second feeder is not shown in the drawings), a spacer drum 3 and a wrapping unit 4 where the different components 22 transported in a transport device 2 are wrapped, for example in a wrapping paper (not shown). The feeder 1, spacer drum 3 and wrapping unit 4 are located in series one after the other along a transport direction 5 (depicted with an arrow in FIG. 1) defined by the movement of the transport device 2.

(14) The feeder 1, with now reference to FIGS. 2-4, includes a plurality of hoppers 7. Hoppers 7 are all releasably attached to a frame 8 and are arranged substantially parallel to each other in a vertical direction. Each hopper 7 defines an inner channel 9 having an axis 10, which is preferably parallel to the vertical direction. The inner channel 9 includes an inlet 11 where the components 22 may be introduced and an outlet 12 for the delivery of components. The channels 9 have preferably a constant cross section along their axis 10, that is, in each channel 9 planes parallel to the axis 10 create cross-sections having the same dimensions.

(15) Preferably, the feeder 1 includes a handle 50 for being easily transported.

(16) Further, preferably the hoppers 7 of the plurality are arranged on the frame 8 so that they are aligned to each other. In this way, all channels 9 can be delimited by two parallel planes parallel to the channels' axes 10. Each hopper 7 thus is preferably positioned as a translation of the subsequent or precedent hopper along the transport direction 5 defined by the transport device 2. The inlets 11 and the outlets 12 of the hoppers 7 are therefore all aligned along the transport direction 5. This configuration cane be better seen in FIG. 7.

(17) The feeder 1 further comprises a delivery drum 13 including a plurality of grooves 14 to house the components 22. The grooves 14 are also preferably aligned along the transport direction 5, that is, the grooves 14 and the transport direction 5 are preferably parallel to each other. The number of grooves 14 is arbitrary and they are preferably spaced apart at regular intervals.

(18) The drum 13 is positioned below the hoppers 7 and above the transport device 2, so that the components 22 exiting the hoppers fall into one of the grooves 14. The grooves 14 are preferably at least as long as the total length of all the aligned outlets 12 of the hoppers, that is, at least as long as the distance between the first and the last outlet, which are aligned as mentioned above, of the feeder 1.

(19) The transport device 2 preferably runs below the drum 13 and more preferably below the lowermost portion of the drum.

(20) The delivery drum 13 is rotatable and the rotation is imparted by a motor 15 (see FIGS. 5 and 6), preferably housed in frame 8. The rotation mechanism from the motor to the drums includes two transmissions. A first transmission 30 couples the motor rotation to the drum 13. A second transmission 31 includes a Geneva drive. The second transmission 31 includes a transmission wheel 32 connected to the motor 15 including a notch 33. The second transmission 31 further includes a driven wheel 34 having a Maltese cross shape which is connected to the drum 13, for example via a belt 36. As known, the continuous motion of the transmission wheel 32 gives rise to a step-motion of the driven wheel 34. Preferably the step motion has an angular spacing which coincides with the angular spacing of the grooves 14 in the drum 13. Preferably, the axis of rotation of the delivery drum 13 is parallel to the transport direction 5. The rotation and the step-wise motion of the drum 13 causes the fall of the components 22 located in one of the groove 14 due to gravity onto the surface of the transport device 2.

(21) Preferably, in order to avoid the exit of the components 22 from the grooves 14 before the groove is located above the transport device 2, one or more curvilinear walls 19 is located in the vicinity of the drum 13. The wall 19 follows the contour of at least a portion of the outer surface of the drum 13, so that the components 22 are sandwiched between the outer surface of the groove 14 and the surface of the wall 19. The wall 19 can include for example two symmetrically arranged portions at two sides of the drum 13, as shown in FIG. 4. In order to allow the rotation of the drum 13, there is no contact between the surface of the drum 13 and the wall 19, but preferably a gap of relatively small dimension is formed between the wall 19 and the drum 13. Preferably, the diameter of the groove 14 is slightly larger than the diameter of the components, for example about 0.5 millimeters larger.

(22) The transport device 2 preferably includes a belt and a suction device (not shown in the drawings). The suction device is adapted to suck air from holes (also not shown) realized on the transport device. The components 22 positioned on the transport device 2 are therefore pulled towards the transport device itself by the sucking action and they are kept in place, minimizing the loss of components during the transport along apparatus 50.

(23) Further, at least one hopper 7, and more preferably all hoppers 7 of the plurality in the feeder 1, includes a size change device 17, represented in FIG. 8. The size change device 17 allows to change the dimension of the cross section of the inner channel 9 of the hopper. Preferably, each hopper includes a size change device in order to change its cross section. Preferably, the cross section is changed along the transport direction 5, that is, the size of the channel 9 along the direction along which the hoppers 7 are aligned, can be increased or reduced by the transport device. The dimension of the channel 9 along the transport direction is called in this preferred embodiment insert dimension, being the dimension along which the components are inserted. The components are inserted into the channel 9 with their length parallel to the insert dimension 24. Therefore, insert dimension 24 of the channel 9 can be continuously changed. Preferably, if the component 22 has a length along its longitudinal axis of about 5 millimeters, the insert dimension of the channels is of about 6 millimeters, that is, the insert dimension is slightly longer than the length of the component 22 which is inserted.

(24) The size change device 17 includes a slidable or movable wall 26. The movable wall 26 is one of the walls of the channel, that is, it is an internal wall of the channel 9. The wall 26 is slidable operating on a nut or bolt 27 which in turn rotates a screw 28 which extends parallel to the axis of the channel along its length. By a known mechanism 29, the rotational movement due to the screw 28 is transformed into a translational movement which, acting on wall 26, makes it moves, changing the size of the insert dimension 24.

(25) The apparatus 50 operates as follows.

(26) Hoppers 7 are filled with components 22. Preferably, the filling is performed while the hoppers are detached from frame 8. In order to avoid that components 22 drop from the outlet 12 of the hopper 7 while transported, preferably a cover is used (not shown in the drawings) to cover the outlet and avoid the exit of components. The components 22 in a single hopper 7 of feeder 1 are preferably all identical one to the other. However, among two hoppers in the same feeder 1, the components can be the same or different. The insert dimension 24 of the cross section of each channel 9 is selected depending on the size of the components, and in particular preferably depending on their longitudinal length along the longitudinal axis 21, adjusting the size changing device 17 accordingly. Acting on the nut 27, the position of wall 26 can be selected. If the components 22 are different in the various hoppers 7, preferably different cross-section insert dimensions 24 can be selected as well, a different cross section of the channel 9 for each hopper 7, regulating the corresponding size change device 17 accordingly.

(27) Preferably the insert dimension 24 of channel 9 is slightly longer than the longitudinal length of the component 22, which is then inserted with its longitudinal axis 21 aligned to the transport direction 5. The channel 9 is preferably shaped so that the insert dimension 24 is the biggest insertion size at the inlet 11, that is, the insert dimension 24 allows insertion of the component and at the same time all the other dimensions of the cross section of the channel are smaller than it (there could be some longer dimensions, but they do not allow the insertion of a component).

(28) The components 22 within the channels 9 cannot rotate or may rotate in an angularly restricted manner, due to the fact that generally the longitudinal direction of the components is the longest direction in the component, therefore the dimensions of the cross section of the channel hinder rotation of the component. The components 22 therefore exit the hoppers 7 from outlets 12, preferably by the sole action of gravity, and fell onto the groove 14 of the delivery drum 13, with the same orientation they had at the inlet 11. The drum 13 then rotates by the activation of motor 15 and delivers the components 22 to the transport device 2. The transport device 2 transports the components 22 along the transport direction 5. The transport device 2 may for example transport the components 22 towards other feeders, that is, below other feeders, which can be similar or different to the feeder 1 above described.

(29) The other feeders may deliver onto the transport device 2 components which are the same or different than the components delivered by the feeder 1. Further, downstream the feeder or the feeders in the transport direction 5, preferably the transport device 2 transports the components 22 towards the spacer drum 3 which reduces the gap present among adjacent components and then towards the wrapping unit 4 where the components 22 are wrapped in a wrapping paper. The components so wrapped are then preferably cut so as to form the article 20 as depicted in FIG. 9.

(30) More than one cutting element can be present.