APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ALIGNING ROD-SHAPED AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLES

Abstract

An apparatus for aligning rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles including a susceptor band, the apparatus including: a conveyor configured to accommodate and transport an aerosol-generating article including a susceptor band; a holder configured to hold the aerosol-generating article in the conveyor and to allow temporary rotation of the aerosol-generating article; a magnetic positioner configured to rotate the aerosol-generating article held by the holder around a longitudinal axis of the aerosol-generating article to a defined position; and a cutting device configured to cut the aerosol-generating article in the defined position, the magnetic positioner including at least one rotatable magnetic shaft. A method for aligning rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles including the susceptor band is also provided.

Claims

1.-15. (canceled)

16. An apparatus for aligning rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles comprising a susceptor band, the apparatus comprising: a conveyor configured to accommodate and transport an aerosol-generating article comprising a susceptor band; a holding means for holding the aerosol-generating article in the conveyor, the holding means being configured to allow temporary rotation of the aerosol-generating article; a magnetic positioning unit configured to rotate the aerosol-generating article held by the holding means around a longitudinal axis of the aerosol-generating article to a defined position; and a cutting device configured to cut the aerosol-generating article in the defined position, wherein the magnetic positioning unit comprises at least one rotatable magnetic shaft.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the at least one rotatable magnetic shaft is diametrically magnetized.

18. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the at least one rotatable magnetic shaft has a form of a rod comprising at least one slit running circumferentially around a longitudinal rotation axis of the at least one rotatable magnetic shaft for parts of the cutting device to pass through the at least one slit to cut the aerosol-generating article.

19. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein a longitudinal rotation axis of the at least one rotatable magnetic shaft is arranged parallel to a longitudinal axis of a seat in the conveyor.

20. The apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising a guiding element arranged at a distance and parallel to the conveyor and being configured to prevent aerosol-generating articles from falling off the conveyor.

21. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the magnetic positioning unit is mounted on the guiding element.

22. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the cutting device is mounted on the guiding element.

23. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the cutting device comprises at least one circular cutting knife.

24. The apparatus according to claim 23, further comprising several rotatable magnetic shafts arranged in sequence to each other, wherein a rotatable magnetic shaft is arranged upstream of a circular cutting knife.

25. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the magnetic positioning unit further comprises a permanent magnet.

26. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the conveyor is a fluted conveyor drum comprising several flutes, each flute configured to accommodate an aerosol-generating article.

27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein a longitudinal rotation axis of the at least one rotatable magnetic shaft is arranged parallel to the flutes of the fluted conveyor drum.

28. The apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising an output control configured to detect a condition of the susceptor band in a cut aerosol-generating article, to compare the detected condition with quality specifications, to reject the cut aerosol-generating article as waste when not meeting the quality specifications, and to trigger the magnetic positioning unit to adjust the at least one rotatable magnetic shaft, if the rejected cut aerosol-generating article exceed a predefined waste threshold.

29. A method for aligning rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles comprising a susceptor band, the method comprising: receiving an aerosol-generating article comprising a susceptor band in a seat of a conveyor, transporting and holding the aerosol-generating article in the seat of the conveyor; contactless rotating the aerosol-generating article around a longitudinal axis of the aerosol-generating article to a defined position by a magnetic positioning unit comprising a rotatable magnetic shaft; and cutting the aerosol-generating article in the defined position, thereby cutting the susceptor band at a cutting angle between 20 degrees and 70 degrees.

30. The method according to claim 29, further comprising: detecting, by an output control, a condition of the susceptor band in a final cut aerosol-generating article; rejecting final cut aerosol-generating articles with defective susceptor bands as waste; and if the waste exceeds a predefined waste threshold, using information on a detected output condition of the susceptor band in the final cut aerosol-generating article to rotate a rotatable magnetic shaft and thereby to adjust the rotating of the final cut aerosol-generating articles.

Description

[0118] Examples will now be further described with reference to the figures in which:

[0119] FIG. 1 shows a perspective cut-open view of an aerosol-generating article comprising a susceptor band;

[0120] FIG. 2 schematically shows a cutting process of rod-shaped articles on a fluted conveyor drum;

[0121] FIG. 3 shows the cutting process with magnetic positioning unit;

[0122] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of a guiding element with integrated magnetic shafts;

[0123] FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross section of a magnetic shaft;

[0124] FIGS. 6 and 7 show different relative orientations of magnetic shaft and aerosol-generating article;

[0125] FIG. 8 shows a detailed view of an aerosol-generating article in the cutting position; and

[0126] FIG. 9 shows an aerosol-generating article being cut.

[0127] FIG. 1 shows a cut-open view of a rod-shaped aerosol-generating article 1 comprising a susceptor band 10. A continuous planar susceptor band 10 is arranged along the center of a continuous aerosol-forming substrate 11. The substrate 11 may be a gathered sheet of homogenized tobacco material. The article 1 is wrapped with a wrapping material 12, for example a paper wrapper. The article 1 is cut from a continuous rod and typically has a length which is a multiple of the length of a final plug that is subsequently combined with other segments to create the final consumable. The final consumable may be used in electronic inductive heating devices for aerosol generation by inductively heating the susceptor band 10 and by this the aerosol-forming substrate 11 in the vicinity of the susceptor band 10.

[0128] Usually, initial rods have a length of 120 mm and are cut into 10 plugs by several cutting steps, each plug then having a length of 12 mm.

[0129] As shown in more detail in FIG. 2, cutting the aerosol-generating article 1 is performed in three cutting steps using three different cutting knife arrangements. In a first cutting arrangement 30, two cuts are applied to the article, in a second cutting arrangement 31 three cuts are applied and in a third and last cutting arrangement 32 four cuts are applied to the article 1.

[0130] Aerosol-generating articles 1 comprising a susceptor band 10 are provided in a hopper 4, which is arranged above a conveyor drum 2. The articles are then fed into flutes 21 of the fluted conveyor drum 2 in a receiving location using gravity and suction force.

[0131] The articles 1 are held in the flutes 21 by suction force applied to the flutes from the conveyor drum 2.

[0132] The articles 1 are transported by rotation of the conveyor drum 2 (indicated by arrow 22) to subsequent first, second and third cutting locations, where the articles are cut transversally by rotating circular knives 33.

[0133] The cutting device 3 comprises three cutting arrangements 30,31,32. Each cutting arrangement comprises at least one, but preferably two or more circular knives 33 which are arranged in parallel on a common rotatable cutting shaft 300,310,320. The three cutting arrangements 30,31,32 are arranged subsequently and preferably equidistantly along the circumference and moving direction of the conveyor drum 2.

[0134] The cutting device 3 is integrated into a guiding element 5. The guiding element 5 is a curved plate arranged parallel to the circumference of the conveyor drum 2. The guiding element 5 prevents the articles 1, which are cut either before or afterwards, from falling out of the flutes 21. The guiding element 5 comprises slits for the cutting knives 33 to pass through the slits for cutting the articles 1 in the flutes 21.

[0135] Suction force may be provided under the hopper 4 only. Suction force may also be provided from the hopper 4 to the guiding element 5.

[0136] As may be seen in FIG. 2, the articles 1 are fed with random rotational orientation to the drum 2. By this, also the orientation of the susceptor bands in the articles 1 is random. This random susceptor orientation generates high rejects on the machine, for example more than 15 percent, due to an improper cut of the susceptor band (displaced, bent or deformed susceptor band). In addition, good orientation of the susceptor band and cut angle helps to increase the lifetime of the circular knives.

[0137] In FIG. 3 the set-up of FIG. 2 is shown including three magnetic positioning units 6 each comprising a magnetic shaft 61. The magnetic shafts 61 extend over the width of the conveyor drum 2 and are arranged parallel to the flutes 21 in the conveyor drum. The magnetic shafts 61 are arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis of the articles 1 in the flutes 21 and accordingly essentially parallel to the susceptor band 10 in the articles 1. The magnetic force of the magnetic shafts 61 acting on the susceptor bands may force the articles to rotate as physically the susceptor tends to be aligned with the magnetic field lines.

[0138] An optimal orientation of susceptor band 10 relative to the position of the cutting knife 33 is set as a defined position. The magnetic shaft 61 is rotated around its longitudinal rotation axis until a position where the magnetic force of the magnetic shaft 61 may rotate the article to the defined position before being cut. Appropriate actuators to rotate the magnetic shafts 61 are present but not shown in the drawings. Preferably, one actuator per magnetic shaft 61 is provided to rotate the magnetic shafts individually and separately.

[0139] The magnetic shafts 61 are diametrically magnetized permanent magnets that are longitudinally divided in two magnetic poles.

[0140] The magnetic shafts 61 are each arranged immediately upstream of a cutting arrangement 30,31,32. By this, an article 1 may be rotated to the defined position irrespective of an inadvertent displacement due to the transport or a previous cutting of the article. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, rotating each magnetic shaft by a gradual adjustment is possible to align the susceptor band before a cut in order to reach the optimal orientation.

[0141] The positioning unit 6 is integrated into the guiding element 5. In particular, the magnetic shafts 61 are mounted on the guiding element 5.

[0142] The apparatus is provided with an output control 7 arranged downstream of the last cutting arrangement 32. The output control detects a defective cut of the susceptor band or in general a misplacement or deformation of the susceptor band in the article. The output control 7 comprises, for example, a camera or other, preferably optical, device to detect the position and form of the susceptor band in the final cut article. The output control may, for example, provide an image of at least one end of the cut rod-shaped aerosol-generating article 1, of both ends of the article or of the whole susceptor band within the cut article.

[0143] The susceptor band should be straight and arranged in a center of the cross section of the article. If a susceptor band has been deformed during a cut or if a susceptor band is displaced, the amount of deformation and displacement is detected by comparison of the detected values of the output control and predefined quality specifications. For each of the detected parameters, for example, form, rotational position, sideway displacement of the susceptor band etc., predefined thresholds must not be exceeded. For example, a susceptor band should not be closer to a circumference of an article than 1 millimeter. If the susceptor band is displaced such as to be closer to the circumference of the article than 1 millimeter, the article is considered defective and rejected as waste. Thus, the information on the condition of the susceptor band in the final cut article is used to accept articles or reject defective articles, thus article comprising a defective susceptor band. The apparatus may comprise an according rejection system (not shown).

[0144] The output control is in communication with the magnetic positioning unit 6, in particular with one or all of the magnetic shafts 61 of the positioning unit 6. If the amount of rejected defective articles, thus the waste exceeds a certain predefined waste threshold, the information detected by the output control 7 is then used to rotate the rotatable magnetic shaft 61 and thereby to adjust the rotating of the aerosol-generating article.

[0145] By the output control, the final result of the entire cutting process may be controlled and used for adjusting the magnetic positioning unit. This may result in even further improved cut articles and reduced waste. The output control 7 may uniquely or additionally be used as final control unit giving information to a discharge unit (not shown) to discharge damaged or defective cut articles 1.

[0146] In FIG. 4 the guiding element 5 is shown separately. An inner side of the guiding element is even with a curved form corresponding to the circumference of the conveyor drum 2. The guiding element 5 is provided with circumferential slits 61 for the cutting knives 33 of the cutting device 3 to pass through the slits 61. The outer side of the guiding element 5 is provided with grooves 52. The grooves 52 are arranged parallel to the flutes 21 in the conveyor drum. The magnetic shafts 61 as well as the cutting arrangements 30,31,32 (not shown in FIG. 4) are accommodated in the grooves, so that the magnetic shafts 61 are arranged parallel to the articles in the flutes. The provision of the grooves 52 on the guiding element 5 to accommodate the magnetic shafts 61 allows the magnetic shafts 61 to be positioned very close to the articles to optimize the magnetic effect of the magnetic shafts on the articles. This arrangement allows a very compact set-up of the apparatus of the present invention.

[0147] The material of the guiding element 5 as well as the materials of the further elements of the apparatus, such as, for example, the conveyor drum, the cutting device etc. are preferably made of non-magnetic and non-magnetizable materials in order not to interfere with the magnetic positioning unit.

[0148] FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal cross section of an exemplary magnetic shaft 61 having a rod shape with a diameter of 20 mm. The length 610 of the magnetic shaft 61 is about 118 mm. The magnetic shaft in the form of a permanent magnet is diametrically magnetized with one magnetic pole on the upper half of the magnetic shaft 61 and the other magnetic pole on the lower half of the shaft 61 in FIG. 5. The magnetic shaft is provided with several, here nine, slits 611 running circumferentially around the longitudinal rotation axis of the magnetic shaft 61.

[0149] The slits 611 have a width of 2 mm allowing the cutting knives 33 to enter the magnetic shaft 61 allowing for a compact construction of magnetic positioning unit 6 and cutting device 3. In addition, a cut may be performed immediately after the article 1 has been positioned, leaving no time for an inadvertent displacement of the article.

[0150] FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are illustrations showing two magnetic shafts 61 rotated so that they generate different magnetic orientations relative to an article 1 comprising a susceptor band. A rotation of the magnetic shafts 61 may not only be used to cause rotation of an article to a defined position in a fixed machine set-up. It may also be used, for example, to dynamically adjust the susceptor angle according to specific variable process parameters, like for instance the speed of the drum, which may vary during the ramp up of the machine. In such embodiments, the differing apparatus parameters are also taken into account when rotating the magnetic shafts.

[0151] FIG. 8 shows a detailed view of the article 1 just before being cut. In FIG. 8, the guiding element 5 is omitted. The article 1 is arranged in a flute 21 of the conveyor drum 2. The conveyor drum is assembled from several individual parallel arranged disks 23 forming the flutes 21 at their circumference. The disks 23 are provided with slits in between the disks 23 for a cutting knife 33 to enter in between the disks 23 when cutting the article 1. The flutes 21 are provided with throughholes 24 communicating with the interior of the conveyor drum 2 and a suction device arranged inside the conveyor drum. Before being cut, the article 1 is rotated by the magnetic positioning unit to a previously defined optimal position, which is in general defined by the relative position between susceptor band 10 and cutting knife 33.

[0152] As discussed in the preamble, to ensure the efficiency and consistency of the performance of the consumable, the susceptor band 10 should not be moved, deformed, damaged or bent during the cut. Such unwanted modifications of the shape of the susceptor band and position inside a plug alters the heating of the final consumable and may create inefficiency and waste of aerosol-forming substrate as well as inconsistency of the consumables.

[0153] It appears that the orientation of the susceptor band inside the aerosol-forming substrate rods before the cut performed by the circular knife 33 has a huge impact on the quality of the cut.

[0154] It has been found that the best orientation of the susceptor band in order to have an efficient cut is approximately a cutting angle 150 of 45 degree?5 degree. Such an optimal position is shown in more detail in FIG. 9.

[0155] The orientation of the susceptor band 10 in the article is calculated for the location where and moment when the circular knife 33 starts to cut the susceptor band 10. The cutting angle 150 of 45 degree relative to the cutting knife 33 is calculated considering the angle between a straight line 100 passing through the plane of the susceptor band 10 and the tangent 120 of the circumference 121 of the circular knife 33.

[0156] For the purpose of the present description and of the appended claims, except where otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing amounts, quantities, percentages, and so forth, are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term about. Also, all ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein. In this context, therefore, a number A is understood as A ?2% of A. Within this context, a number A may be considered to include numerical values that are within general standard error for the measurement of the property that the number A modifies. The number A, in some instances as used in the appended claims, may deviate by the percentages enumerated above provided that the amount by which A deviates does not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimed invention. Also, all ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein.