AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE COLLATION FORMING WITH INCREASED NUMBER OF HOPPERS

Abstract

An apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles is provided, including: multiple movable pockets, each pocket to house a collation having a number of layers of the articles; a number of hoppers forming a reservoir of the articles, each hopper to provide a respective transfer set of the articles to the collation; and a control system to control relative movement of the respective pocket with respect to the hoppers, the respective pocket to be arranged next to each hopper enabling transfer of the respective transfer set of the articles from the respective hopper to the respective pocket, a cumulative number of the articles in all transfer sets is greater than a number of the articles in the respective collation, and the control system is further to vertically move the pockets independently of each other relative to the hoppers and/or to move the hoppers independently of each other.

Claims

1.-17. (canceled)

18. An apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles, the apparatus comprising: multiple movable pockets, each pocket being configured to house a collation having a number of layers of the rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles; a number of hoppers forming a reservoir of the rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles, wherein each hopper is configured to provide a respective transfer set of the rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles to the collation; and a control system configured to control relative movement of the respective pocket with respect to the hoppers, wherein the respective pocket is configured to be arranged next to each hopper enabling transfer of the respective transfer set of the rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles from the respective hopper to the respective pocket, wherein a cumulative number of the rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles in all transfer sets is greater than a number of the rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles in the respective collation, and wherein the control system is further configured to vertically move the pockets independently of each other relative to the hoppers and/or is further configured to move the hoppers independently of each other.

19. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 18, wherein the number of hoppers is greater than the number of layers in the collation.

20. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 18, wherein when the control system detects a fault condition in one of the hoppers, the control system excludes this hopper from transferring the rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles from this hopper to the pockets.

21. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 18, wherein at least one hopper of the number of hoppers and the pockets are configured to enable relative movement between at least a part of the hopper and the pockets, and wherein the movement is orthogonal to an extension of the layers of the collation.

22. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 18, wherein at least a part of one or more hoppers of the number of hoppers is movable in a direction substantially orthogonal to an extension of the layers of the collation.

23. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 18, wherein each hopper comprises an inserter assembly for pushing one or more rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles from the hopper into the pockets.

24. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 18, further comprising a transport system with a track, wherein the pockets are configured to move along the track.

25. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 24, wherein the multiple pockets are movable independently of each other along the track.

26. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 24, wherein one or more pockets are removably arranged on a carrier, and wherein the carrier is arranged on and movable along the track.

27. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 18, wherein at least two pockets have an inner shape different from each other, suitable to receive a collation of a different format.

28. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 18, further comprising a packer unit configured to form a package around the collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles.

29. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 18, further comprising an inspection system configured to detect a defective collation or rod-shaped aerosol-generating article in a pocket.

30. The apparatus for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 18, further comprising an identification device configured to identify the pockets based on an identifier on the pockets.

31. A method for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles, the method comprising the steps of: providing multiple pockets and a feeder unit comprising a set of hoppers; and performing a number of transfer steps to form the collation in a pocket of the multiple pockets, wherein each transfer step of the number of transfer steps comprises arranging the pocket next to a hopper of the set of hoppers and transferring at least one rod-shaped aerosol-generating article from the hopper to the pocket, wherein a number of hoppers in the set of hoppers is greater than the number of transfer steps, and wherein a control system is configured to vertically move the pockets independently of each other relative to the hoppers and/or is configured to move the hoppers independently of each other.

32. The method for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles according to claim 31, wherein said each transfer step of the number of transfer steps is performed with a different hopper of the set of hoppers.

33. A method for forming a collation of rod-shaped aerosol-generating articles, the method comprising the steps of: arranging a first pocket subsequently next to a first set of hoppers; transferring at least one rod-shaped aerosol-generating article from each hopper of the first set of hoppers to the first pocket to form a first collation; arranging a second pocket subsequently next to a second set of hoppers; and transferring the at least one rod-shaped aerosol-generating article from said each hopper of the second set of hoppers to the second pocket to form a second collation, wherein the second set of hoppers comprises at least one hopper that is not comprised in the first set of hoppers, and wherein the first set of hoppers and the second set of hoppers share one, two, or three common hoppers.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein the first set of hoppers comprises at least two hoppers and the second set of hoppers comprises at least two hoppers.

Description

[0224] FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0225] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a feeder unit and a part of the transport system of

[0226] FIG. 1.

[0227] FIG. 3 shows a side view of FIG. 2.

[0228] FIG. 4 shows a front view of two different collations in two different pockets according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0229] FIG. 5 shows a front view of a hopper according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0230] FIG. 6 shows a front view of three combined hoppers according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0231] FIG. 7 shows a front view of a schematic representation of how the rod-shaped articles are transferred from the feeder unit to the pocket according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0232] FIG. 8 shows a front view of the schematic representation of FIG. 7 in a different scenario.

[0233] FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a carrier mounting two pockets according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0234] FIG. 10 shows a top view of a packer unit according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0235] An apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. The apparatus 1 comprises multiple feeder units 2 and multiple packer units 3. The feeder units 2 are connected to the packer units 3 via a transport system 4. The transport system 4 comprises a track 5. Carriers 6 with pockets 7 move along the track 5. The transport system 4 comprises a main loop 8 and several branches 9. Junctions 10 connect the branches 9 with the main loop 8. The pockets 7 are fed with rod-shaped articles 11 at the feeder units 2 and then transported on carriers 6 to the packer units 3. An inspection system 30 is arranged along the track 5 between the feeder units 2 and the packer units 3. A cleaning system 31 is arranged on a branch 9 between the packer units 3 and the feeder units 2.

[0236] FIG. 2 shows a feeder unit 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The feeder unit 2 comprises three hoppers 12. Each hopper 12 holds a plurality of rod-shaped articles 11. Each hopper 12 comprises hopper walls 13 to form multiple vanes 14. The vanes 14 help to arrange the rod-shaped articles 11 into columns. FIG. 2 also shows that a carrier 6 with a pocket 7 is moved adjacent to a hopper 12. Rod-shaped articles 11 located at the bottom of the hopper 12 are then pushed into the pocket 7 by an inserter assembly 15 to form a collation 17 of rod-shaped articles 11.

[0237] The inserter assembly 15 and how the rod-shaped articles 11 are pushed into the pocket 7 are shown in FIG. 3. The inserter assembly 15 enters through an opening at the back of the hopper 12 and selectively transfers rod-shaped articles 11 into the pocket 7. The inserter assembly 15 can have only one pusher 16 as shown in FIG. 3, but may also have multiple pushers 16.

[0238] FIG. 4 shows two collations 17 of rod-shaped articles 11 in pockets 7. The collations 17 in FIG. 4 have different formats. The collation 17 in the pocket 7 on the left side has two layers 18 of rod-shaped articles 11 and the collation 17 in the pocket 7 on the right side has three layers 18 of rod-shaped articles 11. The number of rod-shaped articles 11 per layer 18 varies between the two collations 17 but also between different layers 18 of the same collation 17.

[0239] In this embodiment, the layers 18 extend predominantly in a horizontal direction 100 and two layers 18 are stacked on top of each other in a vertical direction 200.

[0240] FIG. 4 also shows that the pockets 7 have different shapes to house collations 17 of different formats.

[0241] The feeder unit 2 comprises multiple individual hoppers 12. FIG. 5 shows an individual hopper 12 that is separated from other hoppers 12. In an upper part of the hopper 12, the rod-shaped articles 11 are arbitrarily arranged. As the rod-shaped articles 11 progress towards the lower part of the hopper 12, the rod-shaped articles 11 are separated by the hopper walls 13 and arranged into columns in the vanes 14.

[0242] In another embodiment, the feeder unit 2 comprises hoppers 12 that emerge from a common container 19. FIG. 6 shows three hoppers 12 that emerge from a common container 19. Each hopper 12 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 comprises four additional hopper walls 13 to form five vanes 14. The hoppers 12 are fed with rod-shaped articles 11 by a conveyor 20.

[0243] FIG. 7 demonstrates how the rod-shaped articles 11 are transferred from the hoppers 12 into the pocket 7. In this embodiment, a collation 17 with three layers 18, namely a first layer 21, a second layer 22 and a third layer 23, is formed. The feeder unit 2 comprises a first hopper 24, a second hopper 25, a third hopper 26 and a fourth hopper 27. In this embodiment, each layer 18 of the collation 17 corresponds to a transfer set. The positions of the hoppers 24, 25, 26, 27 are adjustable in the vertical direction 200. The pocket 7 moves along the horizontal direction 100 to align with the first hopper 24. After the first layer 21 of rod-shaped articles 11 is transferred from the first hopper 24 into the pocket 7, the pocket 7 moves to the second hopper 25 to receive the second layer 22 of rod-shaped articles 11. The pocket 7 is then moved to the third hopper 26 to receive the third layer 23 of rod-shaped articles 11. In this example, the fourth hopper 27 is redundant.

[0244] FIG. 8 shows the same embodiment as FIG. 7. However, in this example, a jam in the second hopper 25 led to a defect 28 in the arrangement of rod shaped articles 11. The fourth hopper 27 moves downwards to replace the second hopper 25. The pocket 7 moves to the first hopper 24 to receive the first layer 21 of rod-shaped articles 11. Then the pocket 7 moves to the fourth hopper 27 to receive the second layer 22 of rod shaped articles 11. The pocket 7 is then moved to the third hopper 26 to receive the third layer 23 if rod-shaped articles 11. The jammed second hopper 25 can be cleared in the meantime without the need of stopping the feeder unit 2. It is also possible that the third hopper 26 moves downward to replace the second hopper 25 and the fourth hopper 27 replaces the third hopper 26.

[0245] FIG. 9 shows a carrier 6 on a track 5. Two pockets 7 are attached to the carrier 6. The pockets 7 are also detachable from the carrier 6.

[0246] FIG. 10 shows a packer unit 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A carrier 6 is moved along the track 5 to place a pocket 7 adjacent to the packer unit 3. The packer unit 3 comprises a packer unit pusher 29 that transfers the collation 17 of rod-shaped articles 11 from the pocket 7 onto the packer unit 3. The packer unit 3 then forms a package around the collation 17 of rod-shaped articles 11.