Conveying and forming method and apparatus for forming a stream of tobacco industry segments

Abstract

The object of the application is a conveying and forming apparatus (1) for forming a stream(S) of tobacco industry segments (A), comprising in particular a third conveyor (10) comprising separating discs (11), the separating disc (11) having third flutes (12) for receiving the segments (A) from a second drum conveyor (8), and the third flutes (12) of the separating disc (11) are arranged with a third pitch (t3), the separating discs (11) having axes of rotation (m) positioned non-coaxially and at least two third flutes (12) of the separating discs (11) are positioned non-coaxially, the third flutes (12) holding the segments (A) in the group (G) in a non-coaxial spiral configuration. The object of the application is further a method of forming at least one stream(S) of the segments.

Claims

1. A conveying and forming apparatus (1) for forming a stream (S) of tobacco industry segments (A), comprising: a first drum conveyor (2) having first flutes (4) for conveying groups (G) of the segments (A), the first flutes (4) being arranged with a first pitch (t1) and holding the segments (A) in the group (G) in a coaxial configuration, a second drum conveyor (8) having second flutes (9), for receiving the groups (G) of the segments (A) from the first drum conveyor (2), the second flutes (9) being arranged with a second pitch (t2) and holding the segments (A) in the group (G) in the coaxial configuration, the second pitch (t2) being greater than the first pitch (t1), a third conveyor (10) comprising separating discs (11), the separating disc (11) having third flutes (12) for receiving the segments (A) from the second drum conveyor (8), the third flutes (12) of the separating disc (11) being arranged with a third pitch (t3), the separating discs (11) having axes of rotation (m) positioned non-coaxially, and at least two third flutes (12) of the separating discs (11) being positioned non-coaxially, the third flutes (12) holding the segments (A) in the group (G) in a non-coaxial spiral configuration, a fourth drum conveyor (13) having fourth flutes (10) for receiving the segments (A) from the third conveyor (10), the fourth flutes (14) being arranged with a fourth pitch (t4) and arranged to shift the segments (A) in a non-coaxial spiral configuration, the fourth drum conveyor (13) being provided with an aligning mechanism (16) arranged to shift the segments (A) in the fourth flutes (14) in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation (n) of the fourth drum conveyor (13) so as to change the non-coaxial spiral configuration on the circumferential surface (15) of the drum conveyor (13) to a circular configuration, forming at least one stream (S) of the segments (A).

2. The apparatus as in claim 1, characterised in that the second pitch (t2) of the second flutes (9) of the second drum conveyor (8) is at least twice as great as the first pitch (t1) of the first drum conveyor (2).

3. A method of forming at least one stream (S) of the tobacco industry segments (A), comprising steps wherein a group (G) of segments (A) is conveyed in a coaxial configuration of the segments (A) in the first flutes (4) of the first drum conveyor (2), the first flutes (4) being arranged with the first pitch (t1), the group (G) of the segments (A) is transferred to the second flute (9) of the second drum conveyor (8), the group (G) is conveyed in the second flute (9) of the second drum conveyor (8) while maintaining the coaxial configuration of the segments (A), the second pitch (t2) of the second flutes (9) of the second drum conveyor (8) being greater than the first pitch (t1) of the first flutes (4) of the first drum conveyor (2), the segments (A) of the group (G) from the second flute (9) of the second drum conveyor (8) are transferred to the third flutes (12) of the separating discs (11) of the third conveyor (10) and the configuration of the segments (A) in the group (G) is changed to the non-coaxial spiral configuration, the group (G) of the segments (A) in the non-coaxial spiral configuration is conveyed on the third conveyor (10) provided with separating discs (11), the third flutes (12) of the separating disc (11) being arranged with the third pitch (t3), the segments (A) are transferred to the fourth flutes (14) of the fourth drum conveyor (13) in the non-coaxial spiral configuration, the segments (A) are conveyed in the fourth flutes (14) of the fourth drum conveyor (13) in the non-coaxial spiral configuration, the segments (A) are aligned on the fourth drum conveyor (13) by means of the aligning mechanism (16) by shifting the segments (A) axially in the fourth flutes (14) in a direction parallel to the rotation axis (n) of the fourth drum conveyor (13) so as to change the non-coaxial spiral configuration on the circumferential surface (15) of the drum conveyor (13) to the circular configuration, thus forming at least one stream (S) of the segments (A).

4. The method as in claim 3, characterised in that the segments (A) are conveyed on the second drum conveyor (8) with the second pitch (t2) which is at least twice as great as the first pitch (t1) on the first drum conveyor (2).

Description

[0009] The object of the invention is shown in more detail in a preferred embodiment in a drawing in which:

[0010] FIG. 1a shows a conveying and forming apparatus according to the invention,

[0011] FIG. 1b shows the stages of forming a segment stream,

[0012] FIG. 2 Shows the Stages of Forming Two Streams.

[0013] FIG. 1a shows an apparatus according to the invention in a preferred embodiment. The shown conveying and forming apparatus for forming a stream S of segments comprises a group of conveyors, the conveying and forming apparatus being situated between a rod hopper and a receiving conveyor, the rods MA being cut into individual segments A delivered to the receiving conveyor.

[0014] The conveying and forming apparatus 1 for forming the stream S of the tobacco industry segments A shown in the embodiment in FIG. 1a comprises a first drum conveyor 2 situated under the hopper 3 and is arranged to receive the rods MA and to convey the rods MA in flutes 4. At the circumferential surface 5 of the first drum conveyor 2, there are situated circular knives 6. The circular knives 6 cut the rods MA into individual segments A when conveying the rods MA on the drum conveyor 2, whereas from one rod MA after cutting a group G of the segments A is formed. FIG. 1b shows the successive stages of conveying and cutting the rod MA, forming, conveying and reconfiguring the group G of the segments A for individual conveyors of the conveying and forming apparatus 1. The group G of the segments A formed after cutting the rod MA comprises the segments A situated coaxially, the group G of the segments A is conveyed further to the first transfer point N1. The first flutes 4 are arranged on the circumferential surface 5 of the first drum conveyor 2 with the first pitch t1.

[0015] The second drum conveyor 8 is provided with second flutes 9 for receiving the groups G of the segments A from the first drum conveyor 2. The second flutes 9 are arranged with a second pitch t2 greater than the first pitch t1. At the first transfer point N1, the distance between adjacent moving groups G is altered from a distance equal to the pitch t1 to a distance equal to the pitch t2. After transferring the group G to the drum conveyor 8, the coaxial configuration of the segments A in the group G remains unchanged, whereas the circumferential speed v2 of the second flutes 9 is greater than the circumferential speed v1 of the first flutes 4, the second circumferential speed v2 of the second flutes 9 is at least twice the first circumferential speed v1 of the first flutes 4, in the embodiment shown, the second speed v2 is more than ten times the first speed v1. The segments A in the group G of the second flute 9 remain in the same coaxial configuration with an increased distance equal to the pitch t2. The group G of the segments A is transferred to the third conveyor 10 at the second transfer point N2.

[0016] The third conveyor 10 comprises separating discs 11, the axes of rotation m of the individual separating discs 11 being situated parallel to each other, in the embodiment shown, the axes of rotation m of the separating discs 11 are situated non-coaxially. In the case of forming two streams as shown in FIG. 2, the separating discs can be situated coaxially in pairs. The third conveyor 10 is a separating disc conveyor, whereas the number of separating discs 11 in the third conveyor 10 corresponds to the number of segments A in the group G. The separating disc 11 has third flutes 12 for receiving the segments A from the second drum conveyor 8, the third flutes 12 of the separating disc 11 being arranged with a third pitch t3, the third flutes 12 of the adjacent separating discs 11 being situated non-coaxially and holding the segments A in the group G in a non-coaxial configuration, the segments A of the group G being positioned along a spiral line. The separating discs 11 of the third conveyor 10 have different diameters, and the pitch t3 for each separating disc 11 is selected such that the third flutes 12 are equally spaced from one another over the circumference of the separating disc 11. The diameters of the individual separating discs 11 vary slightly, and the third pitch t3 for the individual separating discs 11 has a different value. The separating discs 11 have a uniform rotational speed, and the third circumferential speed v3 is dependent on the diameter of the separating disc 11, the speed v3 of the third flutes being similar to the speed v2 of the second flutes 9 on the second drum conveyor 8, whereas one of the separating discs 11 may have a speed equal to the speed v2. The segments A are transferred to the fourth conveyor 13 at the third transfer point N3, whereas for each segment A in the group G this will be a different point N3 shifted relative to the adjacent point by a small value resulting from the non-coaxiality of the separating discs 11.

[0017] The fourth drum conveyor 13 is provided with fourth flutes 14 for receiving the segments A from the third conveyor 10 and aligning the segments A, whereas the alignment is understood as aligning the segments A one after another along a circular path on the circumferential surface 13A of the fourth drum conveyor 13A. On the fourth drum conveyor 13, the spiral configuration is changed to a circular configuration. The segments A of the group G are successively received from the third conveyor 10 in successive fourth flutes 14, the fourth flutes 14 being arranged with a fourth pitch t4, while the groups G are arranged with a fifth pitch t5, the fourth pitch t4 being equal to the fifth pitch t5 divided by the number of segments in the group G. The speed v4 of movement of the fourth flutes 14 is equal to the speed v3 of movement of the third flutes 12 on the third drum conveyor 10. The fourth flutes 14 hold the segments A in the group G in the spiral configuration on the circumferential surface 15 of the drum conveyor 13. The fourth drum conveyor 13 is provided with an aligning mechanism 16 known from the prior art, arranged to shift the segments A axially in the flutes 14 of the fourth drum conveyor 13. In the embodiment shown, the aligning mechanism 16 aligns the segments A in the circular configuration on the circumferential surface 15 of the drum conveyor 13, which is shown in FIG. 1b in a developed view as a rectilinear stream S. The resulting stream S is transferred towards the fourth transfer point N4 and further to the receiving conveyor 17. The speed v5 of the flutes of the receiving conveyor 17 is equal to the speed v4 of the flutes 14 of the fourth drum conveyor 13.

[0018] FIG. 2 shows, in simplified terms, the formation of two streams of the segments A using the conveying and forming apparatus 1. The method according to the invention is shown with diagrammatic illustration of the steps wherein the rods MA are fed. The rods MA are then cut into the segments A to form the groups G. The groups G of the segments A are spaced at a greater distance than that with which the rods MA are conveyed. In a further step, the segments A are separated transversely, in the direction of conveying, and are then spaced transversely so that, in the preferred embodiment, at least two segments A occupy a coaxial position. In the embodiment shown, the group G comprises two subgroups of segments in a developed view situated slantwise, and spirally on the surface of the conveyor. Subsequently, the segments A are aligned to a configuration in a developed view of two rectilinear streams S of the segments A, i.e. to the circular configuration on the conveyor, transferred to further production stages.