Method and apparatus for recovering cut tobacco from stem and scrap based on a two-stage comb arrangement

Abstract

The application discloses a method and device for recovering cut tobacco in stem and thread removal based on a two-stage comb structure, wherein the stem and thread tobacco mixture is flattened and thinned by a linear vibration conveyor, the bunched tobacco stem and thread mixture is repeatedly combed and scattered by a multi-stage combing device, and the thinned tobacco stem and thread mixture freely falls onto a conveyor belt conveyor; the conveyor belt conveyor accelerates the dispersion of the tobacco stem and thread mixture falling onto the conveyor belt conveyor; an image acquisition camera acquires images on the conveyor belt conveyor; an industrial computer identifies stems and threads according to the acquired images, gives an identification result, and a high-speed removal valve acts to output high-speed airflow to blow the stems and threads to a stem and thread channel, so that the stems and threads fall into a stem and thread collecting device through the stem and thread channel, and stem and thread removal is realized. The application does not need to carry out moisture conditioning on the stem and thread removal, does not involve air selection, does not affect the moisture of the cut tobacco, does not cause the cut tobacco to be crushed, has a low misselection rate, is highly reliable, and is lossless, high-speed, efficient and cost-saving.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of tobacco manufacturing, and relates to a method and device for recovering cut tobacco from a cut tobacco mixture, in particular to a method and device for recovering cut tobacco from stem rejects based on a two-stage comb structure. BACKGROUND

[0002] In the process of cigarette production, the tobacco leaf after threshing and curing needs to be processed into cut tobacco, and the stems on the tobacco leaf are also cut into stem rejects during the cutting process. The stem rejects in the cigarette affect the rolling quality, easily pierce the cigarette paper, and cause the cigarette to run off the track during rolling. On the other hand, the stem rejects in the cigarette also affect the sensory quality of the product. Therefore, there is a separation process of cut tobacco and stem rejects after cutting and before rolling in the process of cigarette production, so as to separate the stem rejects from the cut tobacco and obtain clean cut tobacco.

[0003] At present, the existing technology mainly uses the process of air separation to separate the relatively heavy stem rejects from the relatively light cut tobacco by adjusting the air flow. However, the cut tobacco and stem rejects cannot be separated, and the air flow needs to be adjusted to a high degree of accuracy during the separation process. In addition, the differences in the water absorption capacity of the cut tobacco and stem rejects, and many other factors cause a large amount of cut tobacco (about 70% of the cut tobacco is mistakenly removed) to be contained in the separated stem rejects, resulting in great waste and increasing the production cost. Many enterprises have developed methods and devices for recovering cut tobacco from these stem rejects, but all of them have defects and cannot achieve satisfactory results.

[0004] Chinese invention patent with publication number CN 108541996B discloses a method for recovering high-quality and undamaged cut tobacco from stem rejects. The method mainly uses atomized water to carry out moisture treatment on the mixture of stem rejects and cut tobacco. The cut tobacco absorbs water and changes from a curled state to an expanded state, while the shape of the stem rejects remains basically unchanged. Then, the mixture is separated by an air separator, and thus the high-quality and undamaged cut tobacco is recovered from the stem rejects. However, this method has two disadvantages:

[0005] 1. The method needs to carry out moisture treatment, which has a great influence on the moisture control of the cut tobacco.

[0006] 2. The method still uses the principle of air separation, and the adjustment of the air flow is still a technical difficulty.

[0007] Chinese invention patent with publication number CN 103537440B discloses a device for recovering cut tobacco from stem rejects by centrifugal extraction. The device includes an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder. The stem rejects enter the outer cylinder through a rotating feeder from a stem reject inlet. The stem rejects are thrown out by the centrifugal force of the rotating feeder. Since the density of the cut tobacco is smaller than that of the stem rejects, the stem rejects are thrown out to the outer cylinder, and the cut tobacco is collected in the inner cylinder for reuse. However, the device cannot complete the air separation of the mixture of cut tobacco and stem rejects, which affects the efficiency and reliability. SUMMARY

[0008] To solve the above problems, the application discloses a method and device for efficiently and reliably recovering tobacco from a tobacco-containing stem plug mixture selected by air.

[0009] To achieve the above object, the application provides the following technical scheme:

[0010] The device for recovering tobacco from stem plug rejects based on a two-stage combing structure comprises a linear vibration conveyor, a multi-stage tow combing and scattering device, a conveying belt conveyor, a trigger encoder, an image acquisition camera, an auxiliary light source system, an industrial computer, a high-speed rejection valve, a stem plug channel, a stem plug collecting device, a tobacco channel and a tobacco collecting device.

[0011] Further, the distances from the heights of the plurality of groups of combs to the tobacco stem plug mixture are different.

[0012] Further, the plurality of groups of combs are arranged from high to low along the transmission direction of the linear vibration conveyor.

[0013] Further, the combs are three groups.

[0014] Further, the image acquisition camera is fixed on an image acquisition device mounting bracket at the tail of the conveying belt conveyor.

[0015] Further, the auxiliary light source system is mounted on the image acquisition mounting bracket and comprises two groups of special spotlight sources, and the light rays emitted by the light sources are focused on the scanning line of the image acquisition camera.

[0016] The method for recovering tobacco from stem plug rejects based on a two-stage combing structure comprises the following steps:

[0017] Step one, the stem and thread tobacco mixture is placed on a linear vibration conveyor;

[0018] Step two, the stem and thread tobacco mixture is evenly spread on the linear vibration conveyor, the bunched stem and thread tobacco mixture is repeatedly spread by the multi-stage combing device, and the spread stem and thread tobacco mixture freely falls onto the conveyor belt machine;

[0019] Step three, the stem and thread tobacco mixture falling onto the conveyor belt machine is accelerated and dispersed by the conveyor belt machine, and an encoder outputs a picture taking instruction;

[0020] Step four, an image acquisition camera acquires an image on the conveyor belt machine;

[0021] Step five, an industrial computer identifies the stem and thread according to the acquired image, and gives an identification result;

[0022] Step six, according to the identification result, a rejection signal is transmitted to a rejection plate in combination with the running speed of the belt, and a rejection instruction is given;

[0023] Step seven, the rejection plate drives a high-speed rejection valve according to the rejection instruction;

[0024] Step eight, the high-speed rejection valve acts, and outputs a high-speed airflow to blow the stem and thread to a stem and thread channel, the stem and thread falls into a stem and thread collecting device through the stem and thread channel, and the stem and thread is rejected;

[0025] Step nine, the stem and thread enters the corresponding collecting device through the corresponding channel.

[0026] Further, each stage of the multi-stage combing device is inserted into the stem and thread tobacco mixture at different heights to spread and separate the bunched stem and thread tobacco mixture.

[0027] Further, the first combing row and the second combing row in each stage of the combing row simultaneously act to insert into the bunched stem and thread tobacco mixture, and the cylinder pulls the second combing row to act to spread and separate the bunched stem and thread tobacco mixture.

[0028] Further, the running speed of the conveyor belt machine is greater than the falling speed of the stem and thread tobacco mixture.

[0029] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following advantages and beneficial effects:

[0030] The device and method provided by the present application can efficiently and quickly spread and separate the bunched stem and thread tobacco mixture, identify the stem and thread in the image based on the image of the separated stem and thread containing tobacco, reject the stem and thread by high-speed airflow, fully separate the stem and thread, and realize the recycling of the stem. The present application does not need to carry out moisture treatment on the rejected stem, and does not participate in the winnowing, so as not to affect the moisture content of the tobacco and not to cause the tobacco to be crushed. The present application has low misselection rate, high reliability, no damage to the tobacco, high speed, high efficiency, and saves the production cost of the cigarette. Attached Figure Description

[0031] Figure 1 The flowchart illustrates the steps of the method for recovering tobacco shreds from stem removal materials based on a two-stage combing structure provided by this invention.

[0032] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the device for recovering tobacco shreds from the stem removal material based on a two-stage combing structure provided by the present invention.

[0033] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a multi-stage yarn combing device.

[0034] Figure 4 This is a mixed image of tobacco leaves and stems; the area within the box represents the stems.

[0035] Figure 5 The extracted meme's binary image. Detailed Implementation

[0036] The technical solutions provided by the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments. It should be understood that the following specific embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0037] like Figure 2As shown, the device for recovering cut tobacco in the stem plug reject based on the secondary comb structure provided by the application comprises a linear vibration conveyor 1, a multi-stage cut tobacco bundle combing and dispersing device 2, a conveying belt conveyor 3, a trigger encoder 4, an image acquisition camera 5, an auxiliary light source system 6, an industrial computer 7, a high-speed rejection valve 8, a stem plug channel 9, a stem plug collecting device 10, a cut tobacco channel 11, and a cut tobacco collecting device 12. The linear vibration conveyor 1, the conveying belt conveyor 3, and the cut tobacco collecting device 12 are arranged in sequence, the multi-stage cut tobacco bundle combing and dispersing device 2 is installed above the linear vibration conveyor 1, the linear vibration conveyor 1 evenly spreads and thins the cut tobacco and stem plug mixture, the multi-stage cut tobacco bundle combing and dispersing device 2 repeatedly combs and disperses the cut tobacco and stem plug mixture in bundles on the linear vibration conveyor 1, and the linear vibration conveyor 1 outputs the cut tobacco and stem plug mixture to the conveying belt conveyor 3. The rotating speed of the belt conveyor 3 is adjustable, and the running speed is greater than the falling speed of the cut tobacco and stem plug mixture (the rotating speed of the belt conveyor in the embodiment is 3 m / S), so that the cut tobacco and stem plug mixture falling on the belt conveyor is further dispersed. The trigger encoder 4 is installed on the driving shaft of the conveying belt conveyor 3; the image acquisition device mounting bracket is arranged at the tail of the conveying belt conveyor 3, and the linear array image acquisition camera 5 is fixed to the upper end of the bracket; the auxiliary light source system 6 is composed of two groups of special spotlight sources and is installed on the image acquisition mounting bracket. The two groups of spotlight sources are installed at a certain angle, and the light emitted by the light sources is focused on the scanning line of the image acquisition camera. The high-speed rejection valve 8 is installed at the tail of the conveying belt conveyor 3, and the stem plug channel 9 and the cut tobacco channel 11 are also arranged at the tail of the conveying belt conveyor 3. The stem plug channel 9 is connected to the outlet of the high-speed rejection valve 8 and the stem plug collecting device 10, and the cut tobacco channel 11 is connected to the outlet of the conveying belt conveyor 3 and the cut tobacco collecting device 12. Since the airflow output by the high-speed rejection valve is fast, the stem plug collecting device 10 is arranged farther from the conveying belt conveyor 3 than the cut tobacco collecting device 12. In the figure, the stem plug collecting device 10 and the cut tobacco collecting device 12 are arranged in a straight line for convenience of display, but in actual application, the position of the high-speed rejection valve can be set as needed, so that the position of the stem plug collecting device can be adaptively adjusted. The industrial computer 7 can receive the images acquired by the image acquisition camera 5, process the images, identify the stem plugs, and output the identification results. The industrial computer 7 is connected to a signal processing board, the signal processing board is used to calculate the rejection signal according to the identification results and the running speed of the belt, the signal processing board is connected to a rejection control board, and the rejection control board is used to control the action of the high-speed rejection valve. The signal processing board and the rejection control board can be arranged in an electric control cabinet, and the industrial computer and the electric control cabinet can be independently arranged or installed in a suitable spare position of the device. The high-speed rejection valve 8 can be provided with multiple groups, and in this example, it is provided with 12 groups, which can correspond to different points on the scanning line of the image acquisition camera 5, so as to realize fast and accurate rejection.

[0038] The multi-stage cut tobacco bundle combing and dispersing device 2 is designed with several groups of combs with different heights, Figure 2The example includes three groups of parallel comb rows arranged in the feeding direction, the three groups of comb rows are synchronously controlled, each has a driving shaft, the combing distance of each stage from the height of the tobacco stem and thread mixture is from high to low, and the motor and the cylinder are driven to gradually comb the tobacco stem and thread mixture with different heights and different sizes. Each stage of combing includes a cam 21, a transmission synchronous pulley set 22, a comb row fixing frame 23, a rodless cylinder 24, a first comb row 25, a second comb row 26, a driving motor 27, and a driving shaft 28. The comb row fixing frame 23 is movably connected to the frame body of the linear vibration conveyor 1. The driving motor 27 is connected to the driving shaft 28 through the transmission synchronous pulley set 22, the cam 21 is fixedly connected to the driving shaft 28 by a flat key, and the driving shaft 28 rotates to drive the cam 21 to rotate. The first comb row 25 is fixed on the comb row fixing frame 23, the rodless cylinder 24 is fixed on the comb row fixing frame 23, and the second comb row 26 is connected to the piston fixed end of the rodless cylinder 24. The second comb row 26 and the first comb row 25 are arranged in parallel. The upper plane of the comb row fixing frame 23 is in contact with the surface of the cam 21, the cam 21 rotates to make the comb row fixing frame 23 move up and down, so that the first comb row and the second comb row move up and down.

[0039] Based on the above-mentioned device for recovering tobacco from stem and thread rejects based on a two-stage combing structure, the application also provides a corresponding implementation method, including the following steps:

[0040] Step one, tobacco stem and thread mixture feeding, placing the tobacco stem and thread mixture on the linear vibration conveyor 1;

[0041] Step two, the tobacco stem and thread mixture is evenly laid and thinned on the linear vibration conveyor, the bunched tobacco stem and thread mixture is repeatedly combed and scattered by the multi-stage combing device, and the thinned tobacco stem and thread mixture freely falls onto the conveyor belt machine;

[0042] In this step, the multi-stage combing device combs and scatters through the following process: the driving motor 27 drives the cam 21 to rotate through the transmission synchronous pulley set 22 and the driving shaft 28, the rotation of the cam 21 makes the comb row fixing frame 23 press down, the first comb row 25 and the second comb row 26 simultaneously act to insert into the bunched tobacco stem and thread mixture, at this time the rodless cylinder 24 pulls the second comb row 26 to act to parallelly move away from the first comb row 25 by a distance, thereby combing and scattering the bunched tobacco stem and thread mixture, the cam 21 rotates, the rodless cylinder 24 returns, and a movement cycle is completed.

[0043] Step three, the belt machine operates at a speed greater than the falling speed of the tobacco stem and thread mixture (the belt machine operates at a speed of 3 m / S in the example), so that the tobacco stem and thread mixture falling onto the belt machine is further accelerated and dispersed, and an encoder installed on the belt machine outputs a picture taking instruction;

[0044] Step four, light source auxiliary lighting, image acquisition camera acquires images;

[0045] Step five, the industrial computer processes the collected image based on computer vision technology to identify the stem signature (the stem signature binary image is shown in the box) Figure 5 is a stem signature tobacco mixing image, and the box is a stem signature, Figure 5 is a recognized stem signature binary image, and the recognition result is sent to the signal processing board; the computer vision technology can use the recognition algorithm in the prior art.

[0046] Step six: the signal processing board sends the rejection signal to the rejection board according to the recognition result and the running speed of the belt, and issues a rejection instruction;

[0047] Step seven: the rejection board drives the high-speed rejection valve according to the rejection instruction.

[0048] Step eight: the high-speed rejection valve is actuated to output a high-speed airflow to blow the stem signature to the stem signature channel, and the stem signature falls into the stem signature collecting device through the stem signature channel, thereby achieving stem signature rejection.

[0049] Step nine: the tobacco and the stem signature enter the corresponding collecting device through the corresponding channel.

[0050] The technical means disclosed in the present application scheme is not limited to the technical means disclosed in the above embodiments, and also includes the technical scheme composed of any combination of the above technical features. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principle of the present application, some improvements and refinements can also be made, which are also considered to be within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. Apparatus for recovering tobacco from a cut filler reject based on a two-stage comb structure, characterised in that: The device comprises a linear vibration conveyor, a multi-stage tow filament carding device, a conveying belt conveyor, a trigger encoder, an image acquisition camera, an auxiliary light source system, an industrial computer, a high-speed rejection valve, a stem tag channel, a stem tag collecting device, a tobacco filament channel, and a tobacco filament collecting device. The multi-stage tow filament carding device is arranged above the linear vibration conveyor, and the linear vibration conveyor is used to horizontally convey the stem tag tobacco filament mixture. The multi-stage tow filament carding device comprises three groups of parallel arranged carding rows in the feeding direction. Each group of carding rows comprises a cam, a transmission synchronous pulley set, a carding row fixing frame, a rodless cylinder, a first carding row, a second carding row, a driving motor, and a driving shaft. The driving motor is connected to the driving shaft through the transmission synchronous pulley set. The cam is fixed on the driving shaft. The carding row fixing frame is movably connected to the frame body of the linear vibration conveyor. The first carding row is fixed on the carding row fixing frame. The rodless cylinder is fixed on the carding row fixing frame. The second carding row is connected to the fixed end of the piston of the rodless cylinder. The carding row fixing frame is in contact with the cam. The carding row fixing frame moves with the rotation of the cam. The three groups of carding rows are synchronously controlled, each having a driving shaft. The distance between the carding rows and the height of the tobacco stem tag mixture gradually changes from high to low with the driving of the motor and the cylinder. The different height and size of the bunched tobacco stem tag mixture is carded. The second carding row and the first carding row are arranged in parallel. The upper plane of the carding row fixing frame is in contact with the cam surface. The rotation of the cam causes the carding row fixing frame to be pressed down. The first carding row and the second carding row simultaneously act on the bunched tobacco stem tag mixture. The rodless cylinder pulls the second carding row to move away from the first carding row by a distance, thereby carding the bunched tobacco stem tag mixture. The cam rotates, and the rodless cylinder returns, completing a movement cycle.

2. A device for recovering cut rag tobacco from a tobacco rod reject based on a two-stage comb structure according to claim 1, characterized in that: The image acquisition camera is fixed on the image acquisition device mounting bracket at the tail of the conveying belt conveyor.

3. A device for recovering tobacco from a secondary comb structure based cuttings reject according to claim 2, characterized in that: The auxiliary light source system is mounted on the image acquisition mounting bracket and comprises two groups of special spotlight sources. The light rays emitted by the light sources are focused on the scanning line of the image acquisition camera.

4. A method of recovering cut tobacco from a cut filler reject based on a two-stage comb structure, characterised in that, The device comprises the following steps: Step one, placing the stem tag tobacco filament mixture on the linear vibration conveyor. Step two, the stem signature tobacco mixture is evenly spread by a straight-line vibration conveyor, the bunched tobacco stem signature mixture is repeatedly spread by a multi-stage combing device, and the spread tobacco stem signature mixture is freely dropped onto the conveyor belt conveyor; the multi-stage bunched tobacco combing device includes three groups of parallel combing arranged in the feeding direction, the three groups of combing are synchronously controlled, each has a driving shaft, the height of each stage combing from high to low, gradually combing the bunched tobacco stem signature mixture of different heights and different sizes driven by the motor and the cylinder; the process of each stage combing includes: the cam rotates to make the combing fixed frame press down, the first combing and the second combing simultaneously act to insert into the bunched tobacco stem signature mixture, the rodless cylinder pulls the second combing to act to parallelly move away from the first combing by a distance, thereby combing the bunched tobacco stem signature mixture, the cam rotates, the rodless cylinder retreats, and a movement cycle is completed; Step three, the belt conveyor accelerates the dispersion of the tobacco stem signature mixture dropped onto the belt conveyor, and the encoder outputs a picture taking instruction; Step four, the image acquisition camera acquires the image on the belt conveyor; Step five, the industrial computer identifies the stem signature according to the acquired image and gives an identification result; Step six: according to the identification result, combined with the belt running speed, the rejection signal is sent to the rejection plate, and a rejection instruction is given; Step seven: the rejection plate drives the high-speed rejection valve according to the rejection instruction; Step eight, the high-speed rejection valve acts, and outputs high-speed airflow to blow the stem signature to the stem signature channel, the stem signature falls into the stem signature collecting device through the stem signature channel, and the stem signature is rejected; Step nine, the tobacco and the stem signature enter the corresponding collecting device through the corresponding channel.

5. A method of recovering cut rag tobacco from a tobacco rod plug according to claim 4, wherein, Each stage combing in the multi-stage combing device inserts into the bunched tobacco stem signature mixture at different heights to spread and tear.

6. A method of recovering cut rag tobacco from a butt according to claim 4, wherein, The belt conveyor running speed is greater than the tobacco stem signature mixture falling speed.

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