Material spreading device and material spreading method

Abstract

The spreading device comprises a hopper assembly, a weighing assembly and a discharging assembly, the hopper assembly is used for receiving tobacco materials and conveying the tobacco materials to a cigarette station for rolling, and the hopper assembly extends in the first direction; the weighing assembly is used for measuring the mass of the tobacco materials in the hopper assembly; the discharging assembly is located above the hopper assembly, and the discharging assembly can move to a plurality of discharging positions in the first direction and is used for enabling the tobacco materials to fall into the hopper assembly at the discharging positions according to the set amount, so that the tobacco materials are laid in the hopper assembly in the first direction. The invention further provides a spreading method adopting the spreading device. In combination with the material spreading method, the material spreading device can automatically adjust the falling position of the tobacco materials and control the weight of the tobacco materials falling at different discharging positions, so that the cigarettes with different tobacco material distribution conditions can be rolled, and the device is simple in overall structure and convenient to use in a laboratory to carry out experiments.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of novel tobacco product equipment, and in particular to a material spreading device and a material spreading method for controlling the distribution of tobacco material in a cigarette. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, tobacco products have developed rapidly and come in many varieties, including traditional ignited cigarettes and new tobacco products. Conventional cigarettes are heated by ignition, burning the tobacco material inside the cigarette to produce smoke for consumers to inhale. New tobacco products include heat-not-burn aerosol generating products, which are specially designed and manufactured cigarettes. The cigarette contains tobacco segments filled with tobacco material, and by heating the tobacco segments, an aerosol similar to that produced by burning cigarettes is generated for consumers to inhale. Both traditional tobacco products and new tobacco products need to wrap the tobacco material, and the design of the distribution of the tobacco material in the cigarette is crucial. When processing rolled cigarettes, the tobacco material needs to be laid out in a suitable position according to certain rules, but there are still many problems with the devices used for laying tobacco material in the prior art.

[0003] Existing technologies such as CN109998155A disclose a semi-automatic cigarette rod rolling machine, which requires manual laying of tobacco on a material path before rolling cigarettes. The manual operation is complicated, and manual laying makes it difficult to accurately control the quality of tobacco placed at each position, making it unsuitable for laboratory proofing research.

[0004] In addition, before the tobacco is dropped, the tobacco is accumulated and there may be debris or tangled tobacco clumps, which is not conducive to ensuring the purity of the tobacco in the cigarette. The prior art generally uses an elastic roller to loosen the tobacco, and the elastic roller disclosed in the prior art such as CN109315821 includes a plurality of rigid material-moving pins and elastic material-moving pins, and has a complex internal structure and high cost, which is not suitable for use in small batches of laboratory cigarette making utensils. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present invention provides a material spreading device for tobacco materials to solve the above problems.

[0006] The embodiment of the present invention discloses a material laying device for tobacco material, comprising: a hopper assembly, a weighing assembly and a material unloading assembly, wherein the hopper assembly is used to receive tobacco material and transport the tobacco material to a cigarette rolling station for rolling, and the hopper assembly extends along a first direction;

[0007] A weighing assembly, used to measure the mass of the tobacco material in the hopper assembly;

[0008] The material discharge assembly is located above the hopper assembly and can move to multiple material discharge positions along the first direction to drop the tobacco material into the hopper assembly at the material discharge positions according to set amounts, so that the tobacco material is laid in the hopper assembly along the first direction.

[0009] By adopting the above technical scheme, the material laying device disclosed in the present invention can automatically adjust the position where the tobacco material falls, and according to the needs, a specific weight of tobacco material is placed at different material laying positions to achieve control of the distribution of tobacco material, thereby being able to control the density of tobacco material in the rolled cigarettes, which is conducive to the laboratory to carry out various experiments on the density distribution of tobacco material in cigarettes. The material laying device of the present invention only needs a small amount of tobacco material to automatically lay the material, which is suitable for small batches of cigarettes and experiments in the laboratory, and the overall structure of the material laying device is simple, small in footprint, and flexible in use.

[0010] Optionally, the hopper assembly includes a hopper, and the bottom of the hopper is a flap, which can be opened to allow the tobacco material in the hopper to fall from the bottom of the hopper.

[0011] Optionally, the hopper assembly further comprises a spring hinge, and the spring hinge is used to control the opening and closing of the flap.

[0012] Optionally, the hopper assembly further comprises a handle mounted above the side wall of the hopper for grasping and transferring the hopper assembly.

[0013] Optionally, the weighing assembly includes a balance and a support frame, the balance is used to weigh the mass of the tobacco material in the hopper assembly, the hopper assembly is placed on the balance, and the support frame is fixed on the balance to support the hopper assembly.

[0014] Optionally, the unloading assembly includes a silo, a unloading drum wheel and a dividing plate. The unloading drum wheel is a needle roller, which is located at the outlet of the silo and is used to drive the tobacco material to fall into the hopper assembly by rotation. The dividing plate divides the silo into a placement area and a unloading area. The placement area is used to receive tobacco material from upstream. The rotation of the needle roller drives the tobacco material in the placement area to cross the dividing plate and reach the unloading area, and the tobacco material falls into the hopper assembly from the unloading area.

[0015] Optionally, a plurality of material removal pins are provided on the peripheral wall of the needle roller, and the material removal pins extend outward from the peripheral wall. A row of shifting fork feet is provided at the bottom of the separator, and the material removal pins shift the shifting fork feet through the rotation of the needle roller.

[0016] Optionally, the length of the stripping nail extending outward from the peripheral wall is 1-2 mm.

[0017] Optionally, there are gaps between adjacent fork legs to allow tobacco to pass through.

[0018] Optionally, the separator is a spring.

[0019] Optionally, there is a tiny gap between the edge of the outlet of the silo and the needle roller, and the tiny gap is only for the stripping pins to pass through.

[0020] Optionally, the needle roller is arranged horizontally, and the separator is arranged vertically and is coplanar or parallel to the central axis of the needle roller.

[0021] Optionally, the blanking assembly further includes a brush roller, which is rotatable and contacts the needle roller for cleaning the tobacco shreds that have not fallen on the needle roller.

[0022] Optionally, the blanking assembly further includes a limit baffle, which is arranged at the end in the axial direction of the needle roller.

[0023] Optionally, the tail end of the limit baffle has a guiding surface, which faces the needle roller, and the included angle between the guiding surface and the limit baffle is an obtuse angle for restricting the falling range of the tobacco material.

[0024] Optionally, the feeding device further includes a sliding guide rail, and the blanking assembly moves along the first direction on the sliding guide rail.

[0025] Optionally, the multiple blanking positions include an end blanking position, and the first direction of the end blanking position is along the end among the multiple blanking positions, and the quality of the material blanked at the end blanking position is greater than that of the other blanking positions.

[0026] The present invention also proposes a feeding method, which adopts the above-mentioned feeding device. The multiple blanking positions include an end blanking position, and the first direction of the end blanking position is along the end among the multiple blanking positions, and the quality of the material blanked at the end blanking position is greater than that of the other blanking positions. Description of the Drawings

[0027] Figure 1 A three-dimensional view showing the overall structure of the feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 A front view showing the overall structure of the feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 3 A three-dimensional view of the hopper assembly of the feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention (when the flap is opened);

[0030] Figure 4 A three-dimensional view showing the blanking assembly of the feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 5 A side sectional view showing the blanking assembly of the feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 6 A front sectional view showing the blanking assembly of the feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 7 A top view showing the blanking assembly of the feeding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] (Symbol Explanation)

[0035] 1. Hopper assembly; 11. Hopper; 12. Flap; 121. Convex panel; 13. Spring hinge; 14. First side wall; 15. Second side wall; 16. Handle; x. First direction; 2. Weighing assembly; 21. Balance; 22. Weighing platform; 23. Support frame; 3. Feeding assembly; 31. Silo; 311. Placing area; 312. Feeding area; 32. Needle roller; 321. Scraper nail; 33. Partition; 331. Fork foot; 34. Needle roller motor; 341. Reducer; 35. Brush roller; 351. Brush roller motor; 36. First limit baffle; 361. Guide surface; α. First angle; 37. Second limit baffle; 4. Sliding guide; 41. Linear guide; 42. Slide block; 43. Stepper motor; 5. Tray Detailed implementation mode

[0036] The following specific embodiments illustrate the implementation manners of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the content disclosed in this specification. Although the description of the present invention will be introduced in conjunction with preferred embodiments, this does not mean that the features of this invention are limited to this implementation manner. On the contrary, the purpose of introducing the invention in conjunction with the implementation manner is to cover other alternatives or modifications that may be extended based on the claims of the present invention. In order to provide a deep understanding of the present invention, many specific details will be included in the following description. The present invention can also be implemented without these details. In addition, in order to avoid confusing or obscuring the key points of the present invention, some specific details will be omitted in the description. It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments in the present invention and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0037] It should be noted that in this specification, similar reference numerals and letters indicate similar items in the following drawings. Therefore, once an item is defined in one drawing, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent drawings.

[0038] The terms "first", "second", etc. are only used for distinguishing descriptions and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0039] To make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the implementation manners of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0040] The present invention relates to a tobacco material laying module in the cigarette production process, and discloses a laying device for tobacco materials. "Tobacco materials" refer to tobacco materials used for traditional cigarettes or new tobacco products, which are solid tobacco materials, including but not limited to granular, flaky, filamentous and other forms. When introducing the implementation manners of the present invention, taking cut tobacco as an example, the laying device of the present invention is mainly responsible for laying cut tobacco from the feeding component 3 into the hopper component 1 according to a preset rule, and then the manipulator grabs the hopper component 1 and sends it to the cigarette-making station. The hopper component 1 is opened, and the cut tobacco falls from the bottom of the hopper component 1 to the rolling area of the cigarette-making station for rolling. The laying device of the present invention has a simple mechanical structure, and the cut tobacco naturally falls by gravity, which is easy to control the falling position of the cut tobacco, is beneficial to realizing the control of the cut tobacco distribution in the cigarette, and can roll cigarettes with dense ends or cigarettes with uniform cut tobacco distribution according to requirements to meet different experimental needs. Among them, a cigarette with a dense end means that in different unit areas in the axial direction of the tobacco section in the cigarette, the density and total mass of the cut tobacco are different. The area with a high cut tobacco density is the dense end. There is more cut tobacco at the dense end, and the cut tobacco is arranged densely. By appropriately increasing the cut tobacco density, it can effectively prevent the cut tobacco from falling off the cigarette; a cigarette with uniform cut tobacco distribution means that in the axial direction of the tobacco section of the cigarette, the cut tobacco mass and the cut tobacco distribution density in each unit area are the same.

[0041] Specifically, as Figures 1 - 2 shown, a laying device for tobacco materials of the present invention includes a hopper component 1, a weighing component 2, a feeding component 3 and a sliding guide rail 4. The hopper component 1 is used to receive tobacco materials, such as cut tobacco, and transport a certain amount of tobacco materials to the cigarette-making station for rolling. The hopper component 1 extends along the first direction x, and is placed on the weighing component 2. The weighing component 2 is used to weigh the mass of the tobacco materials falling into the hopper component 1, so as to control the mass of the tobacco materials at different positions in the hopper component 1, thereby controlling the distribution of the tobacco materials. Among them, the first direction x can be any direction parallel to the ground. In this embodiment, the first direction x is set as the direction parallel to the extension direction of the sliding guide rail 4. The feeding component 3 is located above the hopper component 1 and can move along the first direction x. Specifically, it can move in the first direction x through the sliding guide rail 4. The feeding position can be set as the position where the feeding component 3 stops and feeds on the sliding guide rail 4, but is not limited thereto. After setting the feeding position, the feeding component 3 moves along the first direction x and feeds in sequence according to the set amount at each feeding position, so that the tobacco materials are laid in the hopper component 1 according to a certain rule.

[0042] Figure 3Schematic structural diagram showing the flap 12 of the hopper assembly 1 of the present invention in an open state. The hopper assembly 1 includes a hopper 11, a flap 12, and a spring hinge 13. The hopper 11 includes a first side wall 14 and a second side wall 15, and the included angle formed by the planes where the first side wall 14 and the second side wall 15 are located is an acute angle. The flap 12 is arranged between the first side wall 14 and the second side wall 15 to form the bottom of the hopper 11, and the flap 12 can be opened. The spring hinge 13 connects the second side wall 15 and the flap 12 to control the opening and closing of the flap 12. Specifically, during the process of tobacco shreds falling into the hopper assembly 1, the flap 12 is tightly closed under the control of the spring hinge 13, so that the tobacco shreds can be stored in the hopper assembly 1. When the flap 12 is controlled to close, the included angle between the flap 12 and the first side wall 14 is an acute angle, and the included angle between the flap 12 and the second side wall 15 is an obtuse angle. With the above structure, a sharp corner is formed at the bottom of the hopper assembly 1, which is convenient for the flap 12 to open, and the tobacco material can fall along the inclined side wall, which is easy to ensure that the tobacco material still maintains its original distribution in the hopper assembly 1 after falling. Further, the flap 12 has a convex panel 121 whose length in the first direction x is greater than the length of the second side wall 15, which is convenient for opening the flap 12 to make the tobacco material in the hopper assembly 1 fall. By pushing the convex panel 121, the flap 12 can be opened.

[0043] Further, the hopper assembly 1 further includes a handle 16. In this embodiment, the handle 16 is fixedly arranged on the upper edge of the second side wall 15. The position of the handle is not limited to this, and it can also be arranged at other edges or on the side walls of the hopper 11. The shape and size of the handle 16 can be set arbitrarily as long as it does not block the tobacco material when the tobacco material falls. By providing the handle 16 on the hopper assembly 1, it is convenient to grasp and transport the hopper 16 to different positions, and it does not affect the separation of the tobacco material in the hopper assembly 1. Specifically, before the feeding starts, a manipulator can grasp the handle 16, so as to drive the entire hopper assembly 1 and transfer the hopper assembly 1 to the weighing assembly 2; after the feeding is completed, the manipulator can grasp the handle 16 again, drive the entire hopper assembly 1 to leave the weighing assembly 2, and transfer the hopper assembly 1 to the cigarette-making station for subsequent cigarette-making processes, which is conducive to realizing the automation of feeding and cigarette-making.

[0044] In the above embodiments, as Figures 1 - 2As shown, the weighing assembly 2 includes a balance 21 for weighing the mass of the tobacco material in the hopper assembly 1. Furthermore, the balance 21 is a high-precision balance with an accuracy of at least 0.1 mg, so that accurate control of the quality of the tobacco material at different material discharge positions can be achieved. The weighing assembly 2 also includes a weighing platform 22 and a support frame 23. The hopper assembly 1 is placed on the weighing platform 22 for weighing to avoid contaminating the balance 21 and affecting the accuracy of the weighing result of the balance 21. The support frame 23 is fixedly arranged on the weighing platform 22, and is used to support and fix the hopper assembly 1 to prevent the hopper assembly 1 from slipping and overturning the tobacco material during the discharge process. In this embodiment, the support frame 23 can be four support legs arranged separately, which can not only fix the position of the hopper assembly 1, but also save the materials required in the manufacturing process of the device itself. The support frame 23 can also have other shapes, not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0045] Figures 4 - 7 The schematic diagram of the material discharge assembly 3 of the present invention is shown from different angles. The material discharge assembly 3 is used to control the tobacco material to fall into the hopper assembly 1. The material discharge assembly 3 includes a silo 31, a material discharge drum wheel and a separator 33. The tobacco shreds are stored in the silo 31. The rotation of the material discharge drum wheel drives the tobacco shreds to move. The tobacco shreds fall into the hopper assembly 1 under the action of gravity to complete the material laying. In this embodiment, the material discharge drum wheel is a needle roller 32, but it is not limited to this. The material discharge assembly 3 is further described in detail below by taking the material discharge drum wheel as an example of the needle roller 32.

[0046] Specifically, the needle roller 32 is arranged at the exit of the silo 31, and the rotation of the needle roller 32 can drive the tobacco material to fall and be laid in the hopper assembly 1. A partition 33 is provided in the silo 31, which is used to divide the space in the silo 31 into a placement area 311 and a material discharge area 312. Before the material discharge starts, the tobacco material is first stored in the placement area 311. After the material discharge starts, the needle roller 32 rotates to drive the tobacco material from the placement area 311 to the material discharge area 312 across the partition 33, and then falls from the material discharge area 312 to the corresponding position in the hopper assembly 1. By setting the partition 33 to separate the placement area 311 and the material discharge area 312, it can effectively prevent the tobacco from being excessively accumulated, which is conducive to discharging the tobacco in small amounts and multiple times, and it is convenient to control the quality of the tobacco falling at different material discharge positions. The needle roller 32 is arranged horizontally, and the separator 33 is arranged vertically and is coplanar or parallel to the central axis of the needle roller 32, that is, the separator 33 satisfies the condition of being located above the needle roller 32 and contacting the needle roller 32, and the extending direction of the separator 33 can be perpendicular to the ground, or can be inclined at a certain angle in the direction perpendicular to the ground. When the needle roller 32 rotates, the needle roller 32 can contact and move the separator 33, and an elastic force is generated between the two and acts on the tobacco in the silo 31, so as to achieve the effect of loosening the tobacco.

[0047] Furthermore, the peripheral wall of the needle roller 32 is also provided with a plurality of material removal pins 321, which extend outward from the peripheral wall of the needle roller 32, and the position of the material removal pins 321 is relatively fixed to the needle roller 32. The material removal pins 321 can be directly integrally formed with the needle roller 32, or can be inserted through the small holes on the peripheral wall of the needle roller 32, or the material removal pins 321 can be fixedly arranged in other ways. In one embodiment, a plurality of small holes are arranged on the peripheral wall of the needle roller 32, and the material removal pins 321 extend from the plurality of small holes. The position of the material removal pins 321 is fixed in the needle roller 32, and will not move on the surface of the needle roller 32 as the needle roller 32 rotates.

[0048] In the above embodiments, Figure 6 As shown, the bottom of the separator 33 has a row of fork feet 331. When the needle roller 32 rotates, the multiple material picking pins 321 on the needle roller 32 collide with the fork feet 331 of the separator 33, and the material picking pins 321 move the fork feet 331 to generate elastic force, which then acts on the tobacco in the silo 31, loosening the accumulated tobacco, which is conducive to the tobacco falling more evenly into the hopper assembly 1. Furthermore, there are gaps between the fork feet 331 of the separator 33, and after the fork feet 331 collide with the material picking pins 321, not only can the tobacco be loosened, but the loosened tobacco can also pass through the multiple gaps between the fork feet 331 into the material discharge area, which plays a role in separating the accumulated tobacco from the loose tobacco. The separated loose tobacco is more suitable for material discharge, which is conducive to controlling the quality of each material discharge, thereby realizing accurate control of the distribution of tobacco in the hopper assembly 1. Preferably, the separator 33 is a spring sheet, and the fork foot 331 is made of an elastic material. When the needle roller 32 rotates, the fork foot 331 made of an elastic material can rebound quickly after colliding with the multiple pick pins 321 on the needle roller 32 and generating a certain displacement, so that the tobacco can be repeatedly bounced at a higher frequency to achieve a better tobacco loosening effect. The tobacco is loosened by setting a structure in which the pick pins 321 on the needle roller 32 can collide with the separator 33. The structure is simple, avoiding the complex structure of the rigid pick pin and the elastic pick pin in the prior art, and the cost is lower, which is more suitable for laboratory proofing research. At the same time, by controlling the gap of the fork foot 331, the feeding speed can be adjusted to adapt to different types of tobacco.

[0049] In the above embodiments, there is a small gap between the edge of the material storage bin 31 at the origin and the needle roller 32, and the material scraping nails 321 and the cut tobacco can pass through the small gap. Further, the length of the material scraping nails 321 protruding outward from the peripheral wall of the needle roller 32 is 1-2 mm, which matches the small gap. By setting the small gap, the needle roller 32 will not be hindered during rotation, which is beneficial to the smooth rotation of the needle roller 32, thus not interrupting the feeding process and avoiding affecting the laying efficiency. In addition, since the small gap is very small, the amount of tobacco material that can pass through the small gap at one time is also very small, which is beneficial to feeding in small amounts and multiple times at the same feeding position, facilitating the control of the quality of the tobacco material for each feeding, and thus enabling accurate control of the quality of the tobacco material falling at a specific feeding position to meet the preset requirements.

[0050] Further, the needle roller 32 is controlled by a needle roller motor 34 to rotate. Preferably, the needle roller motor 34 is a servo motor, which is easy to control, but is not limited thereto, and can also be replaced with other types of motors. Even further, a speed reducer 341 is also provided between the needle roller motor 34 and the needle roller 32, and the speed reducer 341 can reduce the rotation speed of the needle roller motor 34. Since during the entire process of the cut tobacco falling, the feeding assembly 3 needs to move to different feeding positions for feeding, and during the movement of the feeding assembly, the needle roller 32 needs to stop rotating and not feed to prevent damaging the distribution of the cut tobacco in the hopper assembly 1. Therefore, it is necessary to set the speed reducer 341 to help the needle roller motor 34 reduce the rotation speed. The speed reducer 341 can bear a large force and can effectively prevent the needle roller motor 34 from being damaged during the process of reducing the rotation speed.

[0051] In the above embodiments, the feeding assembly 3 further includes a brush roller 35. The brush roller 35 is disposed on one side of the needle roller 32 corresponding to the lower part of the feeding area 312 of the material storage bin 31. In this embodiment, the brush roller 35 is parallel to the rotating shaft of the needle roller 32, and the brush of the brush roller 35 contacts the surface of the needle roller 32. During the rotation of the needle roller 32 and the driving of the cut tobacco to fall, there may be cut tobacco residues on the surface of the needle roller 32. By controlling the rotation of the brush roller 35, the brush sweeps across the surface of the needle roller 32, and the cut tobacco residues on the needle roller 32 can be cleaned. Further, the brush roller 35 is controlled by a brush roller motor 351. The brush roller motor 351 is preferably a brushless DC motor. The brushless DC motor has a simple structure and reliable operation, but is not limited thereto.

[0052] Among them, the needle roller motor 34 and the brush roller motor 351 operate independently. When different types of cut tobacco are used for feeding, the rotation speeds of the needle roller motor 34 and the brush roller motor 351 can be adjusted, so that the needle roller 32 and the brush roller 35 can have the same or different rotation speeds to adapt to different cut tobacco, facilitate the control of the feeding speeds of different types of cut tobacco, and facilitate the cleaning of the needle roller 32.

[0053] Further, the blanking assembly 3 further includes a first limiting baffle 36. The first limiting baffle 36 is arranged at the end of the needle roller 32 in the axial direction close to the side of the needle roller motor 34. The tail end of the first limiting baffle 36 has a guiding surface 361. The guiding surface 361 faces the needle roller 42. The included angle α formed by the guiding surface 361 and the first limiting baffle 36 is an obtuse angle. By adopting the above structure, when the tobacco material in the bin 31 falls, the guiding surface 361 can limit the falling range of the tobacco material. The tobacco material slides into the hopper assembly 1 under the guidance of the guiding surface 361, so as to avoid the tobacco material falling outside the hopper assembly 1, avoid polluting the weighing assembly 2, and also avoid affecting the weighing accuracy of the weighing assembly 2.

[0054] In the above embodiments, the paving device of the present invention further includes a sliding guide rail 4. As Figures 1 - 2 shown, the sliding guide rail 4 is a linear guide rail, including a linear guide rail 41, a slider 42 and a stepping motor 43. The blanking assembly 3 is fixedly installed on the slider 42. When the stepping motor 43 drives the slider 42 to move on the linear guide rail 41, the blanking assembly 3 can also move accordingly. The moving direction can be the first direction, the x direction, or the reverse direction of the first direction, the x direction. When the hopper assembly 1 is placed on the weighing platform 22 of the balance 21 in the weighing assembly 2, the entire sliding guide rail 4 does not contact the hopper assembly 1 and does not contact the balance 21 in the weighing assembly 2. The sliding guide rail 4 can be arranged above the weighing assembly 2, on both sides of the weighing assembly 2, or at other positions, as long as it satisfies that during the movement of the slider 42 along the linear guide rail 41, the shredded tobacco in the blanking assembly 1 on the slider 42 can fall vertically into the hopper assembly 1 after falling. The length of the linear guide rail 41 in the first direction, the x direction, is at least greater than the length of the hopper assembly 1 in the first direction, the x direction, after being placed on the weighing platform 22 of the balance 21, so that during the movement of the blanking assembly 3, it can cross the entire hopper assembly 1, so that the tobacco material in the blanking assembly 3 can cover the bottom of the entire hopper assembly 1.

[0055] In the paving device described in the above embodiments of the present invention, for cigarettes with a dense end of shredded tobacco and cigarettes with a uniform distribution of shredded tobacco, the present invention also relates to a paving method, which adopts the paving device of the above embodiments and combines a computer program to achieve automatic and accurate blanking.

[0056] Specifically, when rolling a cigarette with a dense end of tobacco, taking the total required mass of tobacco as 2.4 g and the cigarette length as 65 mm as an example, 2.4 g is divided into multiple regions and multiple feeding positions. For example, it is divided into 4 regions and 12 feeding positions. The 4 regions starting from the heating end are defined as the first region, the second region, the third region, and the fourth region in sequence. Each region is designed with 3 feeding positions. The distance between adjacent feeding positions can be equal or unequal, which can be determined according to actual needs. Among them, the length of the first region is 6 mm, the length of the second region is 14 mm, the length of the third region is 30 mm, and the length of the fourth region is 15 mm. Starting from the heating end of the cigarette, 3 feeding positions are set in the first region, and each feeding position is designed to feed 0.3 g, 0.35 g, and 0.4 g in sequence, so that the tobacco density gradually increases; 3 feeding positions are set in the second region, and each feeding position is designed to feed 0.2 g, 0.15 g, and 0.1 g in sequence, so that the tobacco density gradually decreases; 3 feeding positions are set in the third region, and each feeding position is designed to feed 0.15 g, 0.15 g, and 0.15 g in sequence, so that the tobacco density is evenly distributed; 3 feeding positions are set in the fourth region, and each feeding position is designed to feed 0.1 g, 0.15 g, and 0.2 g in sequence, so that the tobacco density gradually increases again. By adopting the above feeding design scheme, multiple dense ends can be formed in the cigarette, ensuring that the tobacco density at each cutting position is relatively high during the later cutting of the cigarette, which is beneficial to preventing the tobacco from falling off during cutting, making the cut end smoother, and effectively preventing the tobacco from falling off at the end.

[0057] When rolling a cigarette with evenly distributed tobacco, for example, when rolling a cigarette with a diameter of 7.2 mm and a length of 65 mm, the total required mass of tobacco for feeding is 2.2 g. The feeding positions are designed to be 10. The feeding component 1 moves in 10 segments along the sliding guide rail 4 for feeding in sequence. Each feeding position needs to feed 0.22 g, which is automatically controlled by a computer program. After the balance 21 detects that the measured value increases by 0.22, the feeding component 1 is moved to the next feeding position for feeding. During the actual feeding process, the falling of tobacco is a dynamic process. It is possible that when the tobacco is still in mid-air, the mass change at this feeding position has reached 0.22, resulting in the mass of the tobacco at this feeding position being more than 0.22 g after the tobacco finally falls, for example, 0.24 g. When the above situation occurs, when feeding at the next adjacent feeding position, the program controls the mass of the tobacco fed this time to make up the previous difference negatively, that is, only 0.20 g is fed, until the ten times of feeding are completed to gather a total of 2.2 g of tobacco.

[0058] In the above embodiments, the division of the feeding region, the determination of the feeding positions, and the mass of the tobacco material falling at each feeding position can all be designed or adjusted according to actual needs, not limited to the design methods of the above embodiments, so as to roll cigarettes with different tobacco distribution situations, which is convenient for the laboratory to carry out various experiments.

[0059] In the above embodiments, the feeding device further includes a tray 5 which is placed at the lower end of the sliding guide rail 4 and is used to receive the excess cut tobacco that falls from the feeding component 3 before the start of feeding or after the end of feeding.

[0060] The feeding device disclosed by the present invention has a simple equipment structure, occupies a small area, has a low cost, is flexible to use, and the weight of the cut tobacco for single feeding is small, which is suitable for rolling a variety of cigarette sticks with different cut tobacco distribution situations in small batches in the laboratory so as to carry out experiments. During the feeding process of the feeding device of the present invention, a high-precision balance is used to weigh the entire hopper component, and after a certain mass of tobacco material falls at a specific position, the feeding component is moved, which can achieve high-precision control of the amount of cut tobacco at different positions in the hopper, so as to control the cut tobacco distribution situation in the rolled cigarette stick, so as to roll a cigarette stick with uniform tobacco material distribution or a cigarette stick with a locally dense end.

[0061] The working principle of the above embodiments of the present invention:

[0062] Put the cut tobacco required for rolling a cigarette stick into the placement area 311 of the bin 31 of the feeding component 3, place the hopper component 1 on the weighing table 22, and fix the position of the hopper component 1 by the support frame 23. Operate the needle roller motor 34 to make the needle roller 32 rotate, and the feeding component 3 starts to feed.

[0063] According to the total mass of the cut tobacco and the requirements of the cigarette stick to be rolled, determine the feeding position where the cut tobacco falls in the hopper component 1 and the mass of the cut tobacco falling at each feeding position, and set the corresponding computer program.

[0064] Driven by the computer program, the stepping motor 43 drives the slider 42 to slide along the first direction x on the linear guide rail 41. The slider 42 drives the entire feeding component 3 to move in the first direction, and the cut tobacco is fed at each feeding position in turn.

[0065] During feeding, the needle roller 32 rotates, and the material scraping nails 321 on the needle roller 32 collide with the partition 33 in the bin 31, applying an elastic force to the cut tobacco to loosen the cut tobacco. The cut tobacco passes through the gap between the fork feet 331 of the partition 33 and the material scraping nails 321, enters the feeding area 312, and falls into the hopper component 1 under the action of gravity as the needle roller 32 rotates.

[0066] During the cut tobacco feeding process, the balance 21 weighs the entire hopper component 1. When the value weighed by the balance 21 increases by the mass of the cut tobacco corresponding to this feeding position at a feeding position, the needle roller 32 stops rotating, and the stepping motor 43 moves the entire feeding component to the adjacent next feeding position. The needle roller 32 rotates again and starts feeding. Repeat the above steps until all the cut tobacco required for a cigarette stick is fed into the hopper component 1.

[0067] After blanking is completed, the manipulator grabs the handle 16 of the hopper assembly 1, transfers the entire hopper assembly 1 to the cigarette-making station, opens the flap 12, and the cut tobacco falls from the bottom of the hopper assembly 1. After falling, the cut tobacco can still maintain its distribution within the hopper assembly 1, and cigarettes meeting the production requirements are formed by rolling.

[0068] Although the present invention has been illustrated and described by referring to some preferred embodiments thereof, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the above content is a further detailed description of the present invention in combination with specific embodiments, and it cannot be determined that the specific implementation of the present invention is only limited to these descriptions. Those skilled in the art can make various changes in form and details, including making several simple deductions or substitutions, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A laying device for tobacco material, characterized in that, include: Hopper assembly, weighing assembly and unloading assembly, wherein: A hopper assembly, used for receiving tobacco materials and transporting the tobacco materials to a cigarette rolling station for rolling, the hopper assembly extending along a first direction; A weighing assembly, used to measure the mass of the tobacco material in the hopper assembly; A material discharge assembly is located above the hopper assembly and can move to a plurality of material discharge positions along the first direction, and is used to drop the tobacco material into the hopper assembly at the material discharge positions according to set amounts, so that the tobacco material is laid in the hopper assembly along the first direction.

2. The laying device according to claim 1, characterized in that The hopper assembly comprises a hopper, the bottom of which is a flap, and the flap can be opened to allow the tobacco material in the hopper to fall from the bottom of the hopper.

3. The laying device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The hopper assembly also includes a spring hinge, and the spring hinge is used to control the opening and closing of the flap.

4. The laying device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The hopper assembly also includes a handle mounted above the side wall of the hopper for grabbing and transferring the hopper assembly.

5. The laying device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The weighing assembly comprises a balance and a support frame, wherein the balance is used to weigh the mass of the tobacco material in the hopper assembly, the hopper assembly is placed on the balance, and the support frame is fixed on the balance to support the hopper assembly.

6. The laying device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The material discharge assembly includes a silo, a material discharge drum wheel and a separator. The material discharge drum wheel is a needle roller. The needle roller is located at the outlet of the silo and is used to drive the tobacco material to fall into the hopper assembly by rotation. The separator divides the silo into a placement area and a material discharge area. The placement area is used to receive tobacco materials from upstream. The rotation of the needle roller drives the tobacco materials in the placement area to cross the separator to reach the material discharge area, and the tobacco materials fall into the hopper assembly from the material discharge area.

7. The laying device according to claim 6, characterized in that, A plurality of material removal nails are arranged on the peripheral wall of the needle roller, and the material removal nails extend outward from the peripheral wall. A row of shifting fork feet is arranged at the bottom of the separator, and the material removal nails shift the shifting fork feet through the rotation of the needle roller.

8. The laying device according to claim 7, wherein, The length of the stripping nail extending outward from the peripheral wall is 1-2 mm.

9. The laying device according to claim 7, characterized in that, There is a gap between adjacent fork legs to allow tobacco to pass through.

10. The laying device according to claim 7, characterized in that, The separator is a spring sheet.

11. The laying device according to claim 7, characterized in that, There is a tiny gap between the edge of the outlet of the material bin and the needle roller, and the tiny gap is only for the stripping nail to pass through.

12. The laying device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The needle roller is arranged horizontally, and the separator is arranged vertically and is coplanar or parallel with the central axis of the needle roller.

13. The laying device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The unloading assembly also includes a brush roller, which is rotatable and in contact with the needle roller to clean the tobacco shreds that have not fallen off the needle roller.

14. The laying device according to claim 8, characterized in that, The blanking assembly further comprises a limit baffle, and the limit baffle is arranged at the end of the needle roller in the axial direction.

15. The laying device according to claim 14, characterized in that, The rear end of the limit baffle is provided with a guide surface, the guide surface faces the needle roller, and the included angle between the guide surface and the limit baffle is an obtuse angle, which is used to limit the range of falling of the tobacco material.

16. The laying device according to claim 8, characterized in that, The material laying device also includes a sliding guide rail, and the material unloading component moves along the first direction on the sliding guide rail.

17. The laying device according to claim 1, wherein The plurality of material discharge positions include an end material discharge position, the first direction of the end material discharge position is along the end of the plurality of material discharge positions, and the mass of the material discharged at the end material discharge position is greater than the mass of the material discharged at other material discharge positions.

18. A laying method, characterized in that, Adopt the laying device described in any one of claims 1-17. The plurality of the material discharging positions include an end material discharging position. The first direction of the end material discharging position is along the end of the plurality of the material discharging positions. The method includes: driving the material discharging assemblies to move to the plurality of material discharging positions respectively for material discharging, and the mass of the material discharged at the end material discharging position is greater than the mass of the material discharged at other material discharging positions.

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