Device for removing stems in a cigarette making process and a method for removing the stems

Abstract

A stem removal device for a cigarette making process is disclosed, including a feeding unit (N1), a flexible air sorting unit (N2), a pure tobacco collection unit (N3), a tobacco conveying unit (N4), a coarse stem removal unit (N5) and a fine stem removal unit (N6). A method for removing the stems during the cigarette making process using the stem removal device is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A stem removal device for a cigarette making process, comprising a feeding unit (N1), a flexible air sorting unit (N2), a pure tobacco collection unit (N3), a tobacco conveying unit (N4), a coarse stem removal unit (N5) and a fine stem removal unit (N6), wherein: the tobacco feeding unit (N1) is in a center of the stem removal device, the flexible air sorting unit (N2) is on a first side of the stem removal device, the coarse stem removal unit (N5) is on a second side of the stem removal device, the fine stem removal unit (N6) is on a third side is of the stem removal device, and a tobacco-and-stem feed port of the tobacco conveying unit (N4) is on a fourth side of the stem removal device; the flexible air sorting unit (N2) comprises a rectangular box, the pure tobacco collection unit (N3) is below the rectangular box, and the tobacco conveying unit (N4) includes a tobacco blanking device (32) below or at a lower side of the rectangular box; and raw tobacco enters the tobacco feeding unit (N1), the flexible air sorting unit (N2), then pure tobacco is collected in the pure tobacco collection unit (N3); remaining tobacco with stems goes into the tobacco conveying unit (N4), then into the coarse stem removal unit (N5) and the fine stem removal unit (N6), then into the flexible air sorting unit (N2) and into the pure tobacco collection unit (N3), wherein: the feeding unit (N1) comprises a vibrating conveying feeding device (20) and a funnel feeding device (21) above the vibrating conveying feeding device; the vibrating conveying feeding device (20) extends obliquely to a flexible air separator (22); the tobacco feeding unit (N1) and the flexible air separator (22) have a connecting port (221) beside the flexible air sorting unit (N2); the flexible air sorting unit (N2) comprises the flexible air separator (22), a baffle (23), a dust removal device (24) and a vibrating conveying discharge device (27), wherein the baffle (23) is on a top wall in a middle of the flexible air separator (22) and above and to a side of the connection port (221); the dust removal device (24) is above the flexible air separator (22), and an exhaust air outlet (26) is in the flexible air separator (22) through an exhaust air pipe (25); the vibrating conveying discharge device (27) is between the pure tobacco collection unit (N3) and the tobacco conveying unit (N4), and is diagonally tilted, and has a first end adjacent to a pure tobacco discharge pipe (28) and a second end adjacent to the tobacco blanking device (32), and the pure tobacco collection unit (N3) is connected through a pure tobacco discharge air lock (29); the pure tobacco collection unit (N3) comprises a pure tobacco collection device (30), and the pure tobacco collection device (30) is connected to the pure tobacco discharge pipe (28) through the pure tobacco discharge gas lock (29); the tobacco conveying unit (N4) comprises a horizontal tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe (34); the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe (34) is tubular, with an upper wall connected at one end with the tobacco blanking device (32) through a tobacco blanking air lock (33), and a port connected with a positive pressure air generating device for a pneumatic conveying inlet (31); the coarse stem removal unit (N5) comprises a vertically-configured air sorting device (4), a lifting tube (5) and a coarse stem collecting cylinder (3); the lifting tube (5) is hornshaped; the air sorting device (4) is cylindrical, and has an upper port which is connected with an opening of the lifting tube (5), and a lower port which is connected with the coarse stem collecting cylinder (3); the coarse stem collecting cylinder (3) is connected with the coarse stem collecting pipe (1) through the coarse stem collecting gas lock (2); the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe (34) has a 90? upward bend, and a port which is connected to a side wall of the air sorting device (4); the fine stem removal unit (N6) comprises a horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe (6), an image recognition system (7), a fine stem removal system (10), a fine stem collecting cylinder (14) and a cyclone separator (17); the horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe (6) comprises a horizontally-configured transparent square tube; the image recognition system (7) comprises an image acquisition camera (8) and a light source (9); the fine stem removal system (10) comprises a compressed air spray pipe (11), a high-speed solenoid valve (12) and a detection and identification signal servo controller (13); the image recognition system (7) is upstream of the fine stem removal system (10), and the image recognition system (7) and the fine stem removal system (10) are above the horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe (6); the fine stem collecting cylinder (14) is below the horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe (6), and has an upper end which is connected with the horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe (6) and a lower end which is successively connected with a fine stem discharge air lock (15) and a fine stem discharge pipe (16); the fine stem removal system (10) is opposite to an upper end of the fine stem collecting cylinder (14); the cyclone separator (17) is vertically configured, and has a lower port which is connected with the vibrating conveying feeding device (20) through a purified tobacco discharge gas lock (19) and an upper port which is connected with an exhaust pipe (18); the exhaust pipe (18) has a 180? bend, is connected to a wall between the connection port (221) and the tobacco blanking device (32), and has an outlet (181) facing upwardly; the horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe (6) has a first port is connected with an upper port of the lifting tube (5), and a second port connected with a wall of the cyclone separator (17).

2. The stem removal device of claim 1, wherein the baffle (23) is horizontally adjustable.

3. The stem removal device of claim 2, wherein the pneumatic conveying inlet (31) provides a positive pressure air velocity into the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe (34) that ranges from 8.0 m/s to 15.0 m/s.

4. The stem removal device of claim 1, wherein the stem-label tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe (34) provides a positive pressure air velocity into the air sorting device (4) that ranges from 2.0 m/s to 6.0 m/s.

5. The stem removal device of claim 1, wherein the lifting tube (5) provides a positive pressure air velocity into the horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe (6) that ranges from 13.0 m/s to 23.0 m/s.

6. A method for removing stems in the cigarette making process using the stem removal device of claim 1, wherein: a positive pressure wind or air flow enters the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe (34) through the pneumatic conveying inlet (31), then flows along the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe (34) into the air sorting device (4), then moves upward along the air sorting device (4), and enters the horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe (6) through the lifting tube (5), then it continues to move along the horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe (6) into the cyclone separator (17), and then along the exhaust pipe (18) through the exhaust pipe outlet (181) into the flexible air separator (22), then into the exhaust outlet (26) and is discharged through the exhaust air pipe (25) and the dust removal device (24); and the method for removing the stem in the cigarette making process comprises the following steps: dropping raw material tobacco onto the vibrating conveying feeding device (20) from the funnel feeding device (21), vibrating the vibrating conveying feeding device (20), and entering the raw material tobacco into the flexible air separator (22); inclining positive pressure air upward and entering raw tobacco into the flexible air separator (22) through the exhaust pipe (18), then separating the raw tobacco into a major part of pure tobacco and a small part comprising a mixture of tobacco and stems, wherein the pure tobacco falls onto the vibrating conveying discharge device (27); transmitting the pure tobacco to the pure tobacco discharge pipe (28), and passing the pure tobacco through the pure tobacco discharge air lock (29) to the pure tobacco collection device (30); collecting the small part separated by the flexible air separator (22) in the tobacco blanking device (32), and passing the small part through the tobacco blanking air lock (33); entering the small part into the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe (34); entering the positive pressure wind or air flow from the pneumatic conveying inlet (31) and flowing the small part along the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe (34) to enter the vertical air sorting device (4), fully and loosely separating the small part into coarse stems and a mixture of cut tobacco and fine stems, wherein the coarse stems descend in the vertical air sorting device (4) and are discharged through the coarse stem collecting cylinder (3), the coarse stem collecting gas lock (2) and the coarse stem collecting pipe (1), moving the mixture of cut tobacco and fine stems towards a top of the vertical air sorting device (4) using the positive pressure wind or air flow, and entering the mixture of cut tobacco and fine stems into the horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe (6) through the lifting tube (5), identifying the mixture of cut tobacco and fine stems with the image recognition system (7), removing the fine stems using the compressed air spray tube (11) under the fine stem removal system (10) into the fine stem collecting cylinder (14), and discharging the fine stems through the fine stem discharge gas lock (15) and the fine stem discharge tube (16), moving the cut tobacco along the horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe (6) into the cyclone separator (17), collecting the cut tobacco in a bottom of the cyclone separator (17), and dropping the cut tobacco through the purified tobacco discharge gas lock (19) onto the vibrating conveying feeding device (20), thereby completing removal of the coarse stems and the fine stems.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In order to more clearly describe the technical scheme in the embodiments of the invention or the prior art, the following is a brief introduction of the drawing to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. It is obvious that the drawing described below represents only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in the field, without creative labor, other drawings may also be obtained from the drawing.

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the stem-removing device for a cigarette making process according to the present invention.

(3) Description of the reference numbers in the drawing: N1tobacco feeding unit; N2flexible winnowing/separating unit; N3pure tobacco collection unit; N4tobacco-and-stem conveying unit; N5coarse stem removal unit; N6fine stem removal unit; 1coarse stem collecting pipe; 2coarse stem collecting gas lock; 3coarse stem collecting cylinder; 4separating device; 5riser/lifting tube; 6transverse/horizontal pneumatic conveying square pipe; 7image recognition system; 8image acquisition camera; 9light source; 10fine stem removal system; 11compressed air pipe/tube; 12high-speed solenoid valve; 13detection and identification signal servo controller; 14fine stem collecting cylinder; 15fine stem collecting air lock; 16fine stem collecting discharge pipe; 17cyclone separator; 18exhaust pipe; 181exhaust pipe mouth/opening; 19purified tobacco discharge air lock; 20vibrating conveying feeding device; 21hopper/funnel feeding device; 22flexible air separator; 221connecting port; 23baffle; 24dust removal device; 25exhaust air pipe; 26exhaust air outlet; 27vibrating conveying and discharging device; 28pure tobacco discharge pipe; 29pure tobacco discharging air lock; 30pure tobacco collection device; 31pneumatic conveying inlet; 32tobacco-and-stem blanking device; 33tobacco-and-stem blanking gas lock; 34tobacco-and-stem conveying/delivery pipe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) The present invention is further described in conjunction with the drawing and embodiments, but the technical solution of the present invention is not limited to the drawing and the described embodiments. Any transformation or improvement of tobacco stem removal equipment and processes based on the teachings of the present invention is within the scope of the present invention.

(5) The terms central, middle, left, right, upper, above, lower, below, and other words indicating relative or absolute direction are intended to more clearly explain the technical scheme of the present invention, particularly with regard to the structures shown in the drawing, and are not a limitation of the present invention.

(6) As shown in FIG. 1, a device for removing stems in the process of making cigarette-quality tobacco comprises a tobacco feeding unit N1, a flexible separating unit N2, a pure tobacco collection unit N3, a tobacco conveying unit N4, a coarse stem collecting unit N5, and a fine stem removal unit N6.

(7) The tobacco feeding unit N1 is in the center of the stem removal device. Its left side as shown in FIG. 1 includes the flexible separating unit N2, its right side as shown in FIG. 1 is the coarse stem removal unit N5, its upper part as shown in FIG. 1 is the fine stem removal unit N6, and its lower part as shown in FIG. 1 is the tobacco feed port of the tobacco-and-stem conveying unit N4. The tobacco feeding unit N1 vibrates (to loosen and separate agglomerated cut tobacco leaves and stems) and conveys the incoming raw tobacco and tobacco after stem removal to the flexible separating unit N2 for a flexible separating process.

(8) The flexible separating unit N2 may comprise a box or have a cuboid shape. The pure tobacco collection unit N3 is positioned at its lower left bottom, and the tobacco blanking device 32 containing the tobacco-and-stem conveying unit N4 is positioned at its lower right bottom. The flexible separating unit N2 separates pure tobacco from a tobacco-and-stem mixture conveyed by the tobacco feeding unit N1, conveys the separated pure tobacco to the pure tobacco collection unit N3 for collection, and collects the tobacco-and-stem mixture in the tobacco conveying unit N4 for conveying the tobacco-and-stem mixture to the coarse stem removal unit N5. The pure tobacco collection unit N3 collects the separated pure tobacco. The tobacco conveying unit N4 conveys the tobacco-and-stem mixture from the flexible separating unit N2, and the tobacco-and-stem mixture is pneumatically transported to the coarse stem removal unit N5 to carry out the coarse stem removal process. The fine stem removal unit N6 carries out image recognition and precise air injection removal of the fine stems in the tobacco, and the tobacco after removing the coarse and fine stems is conveyed to the tobacco feeding unit N1 for circulating again in the stem removal process. Most, if not all, of the tobacco with the coarse and fine stems removed is expected to be collected in the pure tobacco collection unit N3 in the next flexible air sorting cycle in the flexible sorting unit N2.

(9) Tobacco moves through each unit in the following sequence: raw tobacco passes through the tobacco feeding unit N1, enters the flexible separating unit N2, and pure tobacco is collected in the pure tobacco collection unit N3. The remaining mixture of tobacco with stems enters into the tobacco conveying unit N4, then into the coarse stem removal unit N5 and the fine stem removal unit N6, and after the stems are removed, the tobacco is recirculated to the tobacco feeding unit N1 and the flexible separating unit N2, and most (e.g., >50% or more) of the tobacco with the stems removed is collected in the pure tobacco collection unit N3.

(10) The tobacco feeding unit N1 comprises a vibrating conveying feeding device 20 and a funnel feeding device 21 above the vibrating conveying feeding device 20. The vibrating conveying feeding device 20 extends obliquely upward to the flexible separating box 22. The tobacco feeding unit N1 and the connection port 221 into the flexible separating box 22 is on the lower right side of the flexible separating box 22 in the flexible separating unit N2 as shown in FIG. 1.

(11) The flexible separating unit N2 comprises the flexible separating box 22, a baffle (e.g., a baffle plate) 23, a dust removal device 24, and a vibrating conveying discharging device 27. The baffle 23 is in the middle on the top inner wall of the flexible separating box 22, and to the upper left of the connecting port 221, as shown in FIG. 1. The dust removal device 24 is at the top left corner of the flexible separating box 22 as shown in FIG. 1, and the exhaust outlet 26 and the exhaust pipe 25 extend into the flexible separating box 22. The vibrating conveying and discharging device 27 is above a space between the pure tobacco collection unit N3 and the tobacco conveying unit N4 as shown in FIG. 1, at the bottom of the flexible separating box 22. The vibrating conveying and discharging device 27 is arranged obliquely upward from the tobacco-and-stem conveying unit N4 to the pure tobacco collection unit N3. The end of the vibrating conveying discharging device 27 towards the pure tobacco collection unit N3 is adjacent to and/or over the pure tobacco discharge pipe 28, which is connected with the pure tobacco collection unit N3 through the pure tobacco discharging gas lock 29. The end of the vibrating conveying discharging device 27 towards the tobacco-and-stem conveying unit N4 is below and outside the mouth of the tobacco blanking device 32.

(12) The pure tobacco collection unit N3 comprises the pure tobacco collection device 30, the pure tobacco discharge gas lock 29 connected to the pure tobacco collection device 30, and the pure tobacco discharge pipe 28 below the pure tobacco discharge gas lock 29.

(13) The tobacco conveying unit N4 comprises a horizontal tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe 34, which may be tubular, and which may have an upper wall at one end connected with the tobacco blanking device 32 through the tobacco blanking gas lock 33. A first port of the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe 34 includes a pneumatic conveying inlet 31, which is connected to a positive pressure air generating device.

(14) The coarse stem removal unit N5 comprises a vertical separating device 4, a riser/pipe 5 and a coarse stem collecting cylinder 3. The riser 5 may be horn- or trumpet-shaped. The separating device 4 is cylindrical, and has an upper port connected with an opening in the end of riser/pipe 5, and a lower port connected with the coarse stem collecting cylinder 3. The coarse stem collecting cylinder 3 is connected with the coarse stem collecting gas lock 2, which is connected in turn to the coarse stem collecting pipe 1. One end (e.g., adjacent to the separating device 4) of the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe 34 may be bent (e.g., upwards) by 90? or thereabout. A port at the one end of the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe 34 is connected to a side wall of the separating device 4 (e.g., in the middle and/or lower part[s] thereof).

(15) The fine stem removal unit N6 comprises the transverse pneumatic conveying square pipe 6, the image recognition system 7, the fine stem rejection system 10, the fine stem collecting cylinder 14 and the cyclone separator 17. The transverse pneumatic conveying square pipe 6 may be transparent, square (e.g., having a substantially square cross-section) and/or horizontal. The image recognition system 7 comprises an image acquisition camera 8 and a light source 9. The fine stem rejection system 10 comprises a compressed air blowing pipe 11 (receiving an output of a compressed air source, such as a compressed air tank), a high-speed solenoid valve 12, and a detection and identification signal servo controller 13. The image recognition system 7 is upstream of and close to the fine stem rejection system 10, and both are above (e.g., on top of, but exposed to an interior of) the transverse pneumatic conveying square pipe 6. The fine stem collecting cylinder 14 is below the transverse pneumatic conveying pipe 6, and has an upper port connected to the interior of the transverse pneumatic conveying pipe 6 and a lower port or end connected to the fine stem collecting pipe 16 through the fine stem collecting gas lock 15. The upper port of the fine stem collecting cylinder 14 is opposite from the fine stem rejection system 10 across the conveying pipe 6. The cyclone separator 17 is vertically arranged, and has a lower port coupled to the vibrating conveying feeding device 20 through the purified tobacco discharge gas lock 19, and an upper port connected to the exhaust pipe 18. The exhaust pipe 18 is connected to the wall of the flexible separating box 22, below the connecting port 221 and above the tobacco blanking device 32. The exhaust pipe mouth or opening 181 is inclined to (e.g., faces) the upper left corner of the flexible separating box 22 as shown in FIG. 1. The entry port of the transverse pneumatic conveying square pipe 6 may communicate with the riser 5, and the exit port of the transverse pneumatic conveying square pipe 6 may communicate with and be connected to the wall of the cyclone separator 17 (e.g., in a middle and/or upper part thereof).

(16) The baffle 23 may be adjustable horizontally (e.g., along the left and right directions as shown in FIG. 1) to adjust the air flow direction in the flexible separating unit N2 and the corresponding separation process.

(17) The tobacco from which the stems are removed (e.g., in the process of cigarette making) is one or more of raw cut or shredded tobacco, tobacco containing stems, and finished tobacco (e.g., in a cigarette-making production line).

(18) From the pneumatic conveying inlet 31 into the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe 34, air may be introduced at a positive pressure, velocity or speed in the range of 8.0 m/s?15.0 m/s. In one embodiment, this velocity or speed is 13.0 m/s.

(19) From the tobacco-and-stem conveyor pipe 34 into the separating device 4, the air flow may have a positive pressure, velocity or speed in the range of 2.0 m/s?6.0 m/s. In one embodiment, this velocity or speed is 3.0 m/s.

(20) From the riser 5 into the transverse pneumatic conveying square pipe 6, the air flow may have a positive pressure, velocity or speed in the range of 13.0 m/s?23.0 m/s. In one embodiment, this velocity or speed is 17.0 m/s.

(21) The positive pressure air flow in the present stem removal device may move or have a trajectory as follows: the positive pressure air flow enters the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe 34 through the pneumatic conveying inlet 31, then flows into the separating device 4 along the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe 34, then moves upwards through the separating device 4, enters the transverse pneumatic conveying pipe 6 through the lifting tube 5, then continues to move along the transverse pneumatic conveying square pipe 6 to the cyclone separator 17, then after passing through the cyclone separator 17 and into the exhaust pipe 18, enters the flexible separating box 22 from the exhaust pipe mouth 181, and then flows through the flexible separating box 22 (e.g., through the upper left corner of the flexible separating box 22 as shown in FIG. 1). At least a portion of the positive pressure air flows into the exhaust air outlet 26 and is discharged through the exhaust pipe 25 into the dust removal device 24, where it may exit the stem removal device or be recovered for further use elsewhere (e.g., in the stem removal device or outside the stem removal device).

(22) The method of removing stems (e.g., in the process of cigarette making) using the stem removal device of the present invention comprises the following steps:

(23) Raw tobacco falls from the funnel feeding device 21 onto the vibrating conveying feeding device 20 and enters the flexible separating box 22 after being conveyed upward obliquely and being vibrated on the vibrating conveying device 20. Due to the oblique upward positive pressure air flow that enters the flexible separating box 22 through the exhaust pipe 18 and the force of gravity, the raw tobacco is fully loosened and separated into two parts: A majority portion (e.g., >50%, such as ?70%, 80%, or more) of pure tobacco and a smaller (reminder) part or portion containing a tobacco and stem mixture. The pure tobacco moves to the left in the flexible separating box 22 as shown in FIG. 1, falls on the vibrating conveying discharging device 27 due to the effect of gravity (i.e., its own weight), and is then conveyed to the pure tobacco discharge pipe 28, and finally collected in the pure tobacco discharge gas lock 29 and discharged through the pure tobacco collecting device 30.

(24) After being separated by the flexible separating box 22, the tobacco and stem mixture fall into the tobacco blanking device 32 by its own weight (gravity), and enters the tobacco-and-stem conveying pipe 34 through the tobacco-and-stem blanking air lock 33. After transferring through the conveying pipe 34, the mixture of tobacco and stems separates into two parts in the vertical separating device 4; coarse stems that fall to the bottom of the vertical separating device 4 and are collected in the coarse stem collecting cylinder 3, then discharged through the coarse stem collecting air lock 2 into the coarse stem collecting discharge pipe 1, and a mixture of tobacco and fine stems.

(25) The mixture of tobacco and fine stems moves to the top of the vertical separating device 4 due to the positive air flow through the vertical separating device 4, and enters into the transverse pneumatic conveying square pipe 6 through the riser 5. The fine stems are identified by the image recognition system 7 and are rejected downward by a short, optionally focused jet of compressed air from the compressed air injection pipe 11 into the thin stem collecting cylinder 14, where they are discharged through the fine stem collecting gas lock 15 into the fine stem collecting discharge pipe 16. The purified tobacco continues to move to the left as shown in the diagram of FIG. 1 along the transverse pneumatic conveying pipe 6 into the cyclone separator 17, where the purified tobacco falls into the bottom of the cyclone separator 17 (e.g., under the effect of gas-solid separation in such cyclone separators), and falls on the vibrating conveying feeding device 20 after passing through the purified tobacco discharge gas lock 19. The purified shredded tobacco with the stems removed may comprise dried, shredded tobacco, and the present process may be a key process in cigarette tobacco shredding and/or shredded tobacco preparation.

(26) In one example, 3000 kg of tobacco (after drying and shredding), typically used to make a commercial brand of cigarettes, has a stem content of 7.12% (detected by using SST-2 type tobacco stem content tester).

(27) The tobacco is divided into two equal parts (1500 kg each). The present stem removal device and (in comparison) a current production line FS417A type leaf flexible in-situ separating machine, respectively, are used to remove the tobacco from the stems. The results are shown in Table 1. The SST-2 tobacco stem content tester was used to detect the stem content in the tobacco after the two treatments. The quantity of the stems removed was weighed using an electronic balance, and the effective removal rate of the stem was calculated as (the stem content in the tobacco before treatment?the stem content in the tobacco after treatment)/the stem content in the tobacco before treatment?100%.

(28) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Comparison of the results of the present invention and the FS417A type leaf filament flexible in-situ separating machine to remove the stems Processing Quantity of Stem content Effective equipment removed stems (kg) after treatment removal rate FS417A type flexible 41.10 4.38% 38.48% separating machine The present invention 100.05 0.45% 93.68%

(29) From Table 1, it can be seen that, when compared with the current FS417A type leaf flexible separating machine, the device of the present invention removes significantly more stems from the same tobacco, under the same conditions. The tobacco stem removal effect is better, the effective stem removal rate of is 93.68%, meaning that the tobacco is nearly ten times purer after treatment with the present invention (i.e., only 6.32% of stems remaining vs. 61.52% of stems remaining after treatment with the FS417A type leaf flexible separating machine). The present device can efficiently remove stems in the process of cigarette making, significantly reduce the harm of the stems to the subsequent tobacco rolling process and the final cigarette product quality, and can improve and stabilize the quality of cigarette products.

(30) The above is presented only to detail the specific embodiment(s) of the present invention, but the technical solution proposed by the present invention is not limited by the above description. On the premise that it does not deviate from the basic principles of the present art, equivalent modifications and changes made by those skilled in the art to the technology in the present invention shall be considered covered by the scope of the claims of the present application.