Method and apparatus for feeding groups of cigarette industry products into pockets of a conveyor

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for feeding groups (10) of products (13) from the cigarette industry to pockets (11) of a conveyor (12), wherein the products (13) are pushed out in groups (10) from a chute (15) of a magazine (14) for the products (13) by means of a slide (16) associated with the chute (15) and pushed through a nozzle (17) associated with the chute (15) into a pocket (11) of the conveyor (12), in particular a pocket chain conveyor or a revolver, and wherein the magazine has several chutes, each of which is assigned an individually actuated slide (16) with which a group (10) of products (13) is pushed from the respective chute (15) into a pocket (11) of the conveyor (12) associated with the respective chute (15).and wherein, in a normal operating state, groups (10) of products (13) are pushed from a predetermined number of chutes (15) into pockets (11) of the conveyor (12) by means of a respective associated slide (16). According to the invention, it is provided that in the event of a malfunction which results in a complete group (10) of products (13) no longer being able to be pushed from one of the chutes into a pocket (11) of the conveyor (12), so that this pocket (11) would not be completely filled, a group (10) of products (13) is pushed from a substitute chute (30) into the unfilled pocket (11) of the conveyor (12).

Description

The invention relates to a method for feeding groups of products of the cigarette industry to pockets of a conveyor, wherein the products are pushed out in groups from a shaft of a magazine for the products by means of a slide assigned to the shaft and are pushed through a mouthpiece assigned to the shaft into a pocket of the conveyor, in particular a pocket chain conveyor or a turret, and wherein the magazine has a plurality of shafts, each of which is assigned an individually actuatable slide, by means of which a group of products is pushed in each case from the respective shaft into a pocket of the conveyor assigned to the respective shaft, and wherein in a normal operating state groups of products are pushed out of a predefined number of shafts into pockets of the conveyor by means of a respective assigned slide, according to the preamble of claim 1.The invention further relates to a corresponding device according to the preamble of claim 14.Products of the cigarette industry are understood within the scope of the application to be tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigarette clos and the like, but also novel tobacco products, such as heat-not-burn products or liquid carriers for E-cigarettes.The cigarette industry increasingly requires high-boiling packaging machines which can be operated efficiently and with high efficiency. This relates, for example, to hinge-lid packers for cigarettes which introduce the cigarette groups into outer packaging under high performance. In order to achieve a high efficiency of the device, the down times of the device that arise must be reduced. These occur more frequently, for example, in the cigarette magazine, if, for example, the shafts of the cigarette magazine are blocked by transversely disposed cigarettes. In the event of a blocking or failure of a shaft of the cigarette magazine, the respective slide must be stopped in order to eliminate the fault in the shaft concerned. This automatically leads to a standstill and thus loss of efficiency of the device, possibly even in the case of forward and rearward running machines in the line.In order to eliminate the malfunction in the corresponding shafts when the apparatus is running, the cigarette slides must be provided with individual drives in order to be able to stop the corresponding drive in the event of a malfunction in the shaft. Such a solution is described in EP 3 439 965 B1. In the event of a malfunction, the machine speed of the other sliders can be controlled to obtain an effective production rhythm equal to or close to the predetermined production rhythm. In this way, the disturbance can be compensated.EP 1 580 129 B1 describes a method for forming cigarette groups on a packaging machine, wherein a pocket chain conveyor passes a sequence of pockets stepwise past a number of group forming stations, the pockets receiving respective cigarette groups which are axially supplied to the respective pockets by means of independent slides (21) which are operated in a normal cyclic operating sequence (S2) to selectively move through respective group forming stations. The formation of a gap along the pocket chain conveyor caused by the non-feeding of a defective group to a corresponding pocket can be prevented by replacing the normal cyclic operating sequence (S 2) with another cyclic sequence (S 3) capable of ensuring that all pockets are filled only from the fully functional group forming stations.The device according to EP 3 439 965 B1 is intended to be able to continue to produce with substantially the same power in the event of a fault. However, it seems fragile whether this is actually possible in practice or whether this is no longer a theoretically conceivable solution. In order to be able to operate the slides at a significantly higher speed in the event of a malfunction than in the normal case, at least drives with significantly greater power or corresponding power reserves would have to be used than are necessary for the normal case. However, such drives are more expensive, have poorer efficiency, require additional space and possibly also cooling.Furthermore, this solution has the disadvantage that, in the event of failure of a specific shaft / slide, individual pockets cannot be filled, for which packaging materials (tiniol, collar, blank) must be blocked or ejected in the further course of the packaging process in order to further reliably operate the process.On the basis of this, the object of the invention is to propose methods and apparatuses of the type mentioned at the beginning which appear more suitable for maintaining production in the event of a fault. At least, however, further or alternative solutions should be added.A method according to the invention has the features of claim 1. Accordingly, it is provided that in the event of a malfunction which leads to the fact that a complete group of products can no longer be pushed out of one of the shafts into a pocket of the conveyor, so that this pocket would not be completely filled, a group of products is alternatively pushed out of a replacement shaft into the non-filled pocket of the conveyor.The replacement shaft is a shaft which is kept ready in the standby state in the normal operating state, i.e. is in the standby mode.This solution has the particular advantage that the shafts or their slides not affected by the fault can continue to operate in the normal cycle and the failed shaft or slide can be compensated by the replacement shaft. The need for over-dimensioning of the shafts or slides which are active in the normal operating state is therefore not required.Preferably, it is provided that in the event of the fault groups of products are pushed into pockets of the conveyor from the shafts not affected by the fault, as in the normal operating state.Furthermore, it is preferably provided that in the event of the fault, the clock rate of the shafts not affected by the fault is maintained as in the normal operating state.In this case, the cycle rate is understood to mean the speed or the cycle at which the groups of products are pushed out of the chute into a pocket of the conveyor by means of the slide.In particular, it is provided that, in the case of a number of n shafts, in normal operation from a number of n-1 shafts, groups of products are pushed by means of a slide assigned to the respective shaft into a pocket of the conveyor assigned to the respective shaft, and that the remaining replacement shaft is used only in the event of a fault in order to push groups of products into pockets of the conveyor which, owing to the fault, have not been filled from the shafts active in normal operation.A further special feature can consist in that in the event of the malfunction groups of products are first pushed out of the shafts not affected by the malfunction, and that the replacement shaft is subsequently connected in order to fill any empty pockets of the conveyor.Furthermore, it can be provided that the groups of products are pushed out of the replacement shaft synchronously or asynchronously with the groups of products from the shafts not affected by the fault.In this way, it can be ensured that empty pockets in the conveyor can be avoided.It is preferably provided that the shafts and the replacement shaft are arranged in a row successively along the conveyor, wherein the replacement shaft is preferably provided as the last shaft in the conveying direction of the pockets of the conveyor.The arrangement of the replacement shaft as the last shaft in the conveying direction enables synchronous operation of the slides of all shafts that are active in normal operation.Alternatively, it can be provided that any shaft serves as a replacement shaft in the event of the fault.It is preferably provided that in the event of the malfunction, the slide of the shaft affected by the malfunction is shut down, wherein it is preferably provided that the slide is moved, preferably retracted, into a rest position in which it does not protrude into the shaft or the mouthpiece or the pocket.Furthermore, it can be provided that a contactless checking station is provided along the conveyor, with which the total number of products in the pockets, their alignment and / or their quality is checked.In a preferred embodiment, it can be provided that an ejection station for separating groups of products, which have been assessed as defective by means of the monitoring station, is arranged downstream of the monitoring station.A particular feature may be that, in the event of the fault, the cycle rate or speed of the sliders not affected by the fault is reduced in order to reduce the time required for the slider of the replacement shaft to reach the cycle rate or speed of the sliders not affected by the fault, and that, thereafter, the cycle rate or speed of all the active sliders is increased again to the cycle rate or speed in the normal operating state.This solution has the advantage that it makes it easier for the slide of the replacement shaft to reach the speed of the other slides. Whether this is necessary depends not least on the circumstances in the individual case, for example the speed of the slides in normal operation, the masses to be moved, the strength of the drives etc.In principle, it can be provided that in the normal operating state groups of products are pushed out of at least one or preferably of a plurality of shafts and that at least one replacement shaft is provided in the event of faults.A device for achieving the object mentioned at the beginning has the features of claim 14. Accordingly, it is provided that in the event of a malfunction which leads to the fact that a complete group of products can no longer be supplied from one of the shafts into a pocket of the conveyor, so that this pocket would not be completely filled, a group of products can be supplied alternatively from a replacement shaft into the non-filled pocket of the conveyor.Preferably, provision can be made for a contactless checking station to be arranged along the conveyor for checking the total count of the products in the pockets, their position and / or quality.In this way, the total count, the position and, if appropriate, the filter and / or tobacco end of the cigarettes can be checked.Preferably, provision can be made for an ejection station to be arranged downstream of the control station for separating groups of products which have been assessed as defective by means of the control station.In this way, groups of products judged to be defective can be ejected.Preferably, it can be provided that the shafts and their associated slides are arranged on the same side of the conveyor or are arranged at least partially on different sides of the conveyor.Preferably, it can be provided that the groups of products are transferred to a discharge conveyor following the conveyor, wherein the discharge conveyor is arranged running transversely to the transport direction of the conveyor.Alternatively, it can be provided that the groups of products are transferred to a discharge conveyor following the conveyor, wherein the discharge conveyor is arranged running parallel to the transport direction of the conveyor.In this case, it can also be provided that an intermediate conveyor is provided in the transition between conveyor and discharge conveyor in order to transfer the groups of products from the conveyor to the discharge conveyor.Preferably, it can further be provided that the intermediate conveyor is configured to change the orientation of the groups of products or the products during the transfer of the groups of products from the conveyor to the discharge conveyor.In one exemplary embodiment, it can be provided that the device is embodied in two lanes, such that the device is configured to push out two groups of products from adjacent shafts simultaneously by two slides coupled to one another and to push the two groups of products together into adjacent pockets of the conveyor.In principle, it can be provided that in the normal operating state groups of products can be pushed out of at least one or preferably of a plurality of shafts and that at least one replacement shaft is provided in the event of faults.Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the drawings. In these show: FIG. 1 shows a device for feeding groups of products to pockets of a conveyor in schematic three-dimensional representation, FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the device in normal operation, FIG. 3 a is a plan view of the device in the event of a fault in a first (dual) shaft, FIG. 3 bshows a top view of the device in the event of a fault in a first (dual) shaft and use of a (dual) replacement shaft, FIG. 4 a is a plan view of the device in the event of a fault in a second (double) shaft, FIG. 4 bshows a top view of the device in the event of a fault in a second (dual) shaft and use of a (dual) replacement shaft, FIG. 5a is a plan view of the device in the event of a fault in a third (double) shaft, FIG. 5 bshows a top view of the device in the event of a fault in a third (dual) shaft and use of a (dual) replacement shaft, FIG. 6 shows a schematic illustration of a clock sequence in normal operation, FIG. 7 shows a schematic illustration of the cycle sequence according to FIG. 6 in the event of a fault in a first (dual) shaft, FIG. 8 shows a schematic illustration of the cycle sequence according to FIG. 6 in the event of a fault in a second (dual) shaft, FIG. 9 shows a schematic illustration of the cycle sequence according to FIG. 6 in the event of a fault in a third (dual) shaft, FIG. 10 shows a schematic illustration of a further clock sequence in normal operation, FIG. 11 shows a schematic illustration of the cycle sequence according to FIG. 10 in the event of a fault in the first shaft, and FIG. 12 shows a schematic illustration of the cycle sequence according to FIG. 10 in the event of a fault in the second shaft.The embodiments described below are concerned with the feeding of groups 10 of cigarettes to pockets 11 of a conveyor 12, but since the apparatus is also suitable at least for other products of the cigarette industry, products 13 are generally referred to below. The conveyor 12 is designed in the present case as a pocket chain conveyor, but could also be designed as a turret. Other conventional conveyors are also conceivable.The products 13 are transferred from a conventional magazine 14, which is only partially shown in FIG. 1, to shafts 15 assigned to the magazine 14 in the sealing position or in the mass flow. In practice, the shafts 15 are each divided into a plurality of tracks in which the products 13 are individually moved down by gravity. At the lower end of the shafts 15, a group 10 of products 13 is pushed out in each case by means of a slide 16 which can be moved to and fro and is pushed into an associated pocket 11 of the conveyor 13 by a mouthpiece 17 associated with the respective shaft 15. In this way, in the present case, a group 10 is formed as the package content.The groups 10 are subsequently pushed out of the pockets 11 by drivers 18 and transported along a transversely directed discharge conveyor 19. In the present case, the groups 10 are then pushed through a further die 20 and subsequently wound into a blank for an inner wrapper. As is customary in the prior art, this takes place in the region of a suction disc knife block 21, the fixed knives 22 of which separate the required blanks from a material web 23 and then each hold them ready for entrainment by a group 10.FIG. 1 further shows that the slides 16 can be individually actuated by drives 24. In the present case, the sliders 16 are operated by servo drives. A further drive 25 or servodrive serves for transporting the pockets 11 of the conveyor 12 in the conveying direction 32, and the transport of the pockets 11 and the movement of the slides 16 take place in a clocked manner and in a manner coordinated with one another. For this purpose, a control not shown in the figures is used.In the present case, the feeding of the groups 10 to the pockets 11 of the conveyor 12 takes place in the region of the upper run of the conveyor 12, whereas the pushing out of the groups 10 from the pockets 11 takes place in the region of the lower run of the conveyor 12.The shafts 15 are arranged next to each other in the conveying direction 32 following each other and laterally adjacent to the conveyor 12, so that the groups 10 are all inserted from the same side. It is also conceivable, however, for one or more shafts 15 to be arranged on different sides of the conveyor 12, provided this appears expedient in the individual case.As an alternative to the transversely directed arrangement of the conveyor 12 and the discharge conveyor 19, a parallel arrangement of the two members can also be provided, for example one above the other. In this case, it may be expedient to provide an intermediate conveyor in the transition between conveyor 12 and discharge conveyor 19 in order to transfer the groups 10 of products 13 from conveyor 12 to discharge conveyor 19. If necessary, it can be provided that the intermediate conveyor is configured to change the orientation of the groups 10 of products 13 or of the products 13 when the groups of products are transferred from the conveyor 12 to the discharge conveyor 19.Also shown, although of secondary importance for the present invention, are sensors 26 and a camera system 27 which can be used in a control station 28 for controlling the groups 10, for example for head control, position control and / or completeness control. Groups 10 identified as defective can be removed from the conveyor 12 in a subsequent ejection station 29.It can be seen by the person skilled in the art that the device is designed in double-web fashion. Accordingly, two groups 10 are conveyed next to one another along the discharge conveyor 19 and simultaneously removed from the pockets 11 of the conveyor 12. The shafts 15 are also designed as double shafts, wherein the respective slides 16 of a double shaft are coupled to one another as double slides and are actuated correspondingly together. Accordingly, only half of the drives 24 are required, as in the case of single actuation. Of course, the device can also be configured in one track, so that instead of double shafts, individual shafts 15 are used, each of which has an individually actuatable conveyor 12. Of course, the number of shafts 15 can also be adapted to the respective need or individual case.A special feature of the device is that in the normal operating state groups 10 are not pushed out of all shafts 15 into pockets 11 of the conveyor 12. In the present case, in the normal operating state, groups 10 are only pushed out of the first six shafts 15 or the first three double shafts, whereas the last two shafts or the last double shaft are used as replacement shafts 30 or their slides 16 only in the event of a fault. Outside a fault, the replacement compartment or compartments 30 are in standby or standby mode, i.e. the replacement compartment or compartments 30 are filled with products 13 and ready to be put into operation.A fault relevant here can occur, for example, if products 13 are not arranged correctly in the magazine 14 or in the shafts 15 or the mouth pieces 20, for example are transverse, and thus impede the flow of product in the magazine 14 and / or the shafts 15 and / or the pushing out of the groups 10 from the shafts 15 into the mouth pieces 17 and / or the pockets 11. In the present case, a fault is therefore understood to mean that no complete group 10 of products 13 can be pushed out of one of the shafts 15 which are active in the normal operating state into a pocket 11 of the conveyor 12.In the event of failure of a shaft 15 or double shaft, the replacement shaft or shafts 30 thus take over the filling of the pocket 11, which could not be filled as provided by the shaft 15 or double shaft affected by the fault, so that an empty pocket 11 on the conveyor 12 can be avoided. The (replacement) shafts 16, 30 are controlled by the control of the device.During the changeover between the normal operating state and the operation during the fault, a transitional behavior can be provided during the filling of the pockets 11, in which there are initially single empty pockets 11 on the conveyor 12, but these are subsequently filled by appropriate clocking of the slides 16.With the aid of a changeover strategy in the control of the drives 24, the aim is pursued of suppressing the formation of empty pockets 11. In this case, when the slides 16 are changed at the beginning of the first cycles after the fault, the actuation of the slides 16 is adapted by control technology until a new temporary operating state is reached during the fault in the subsequent cycles. In the new temporary operating state, depending on the position of the failed shaft 15, a partially synchronous slide movement and a partially asynchronous slide movement occur. When changing to the original normal operating state after the disturbance has been eliminated, a transition behavior can likewise be provided. In this case, a brief use of all slides 16 present may also be necessary or an adaptation of the actuation of the slides 16 may be necessary. Concrete examples will be explained later.There are two options for the arrangement of the replacement compartment or compartments 30: 1. option with fixed arrangement of the replacement compartment or compartments 30:The replacement compartment or compartments 30 are in this case the last existing compartments in the product flow direction 32 (conveying direction or transport direction) and can thus ideally switch over into the temporary operating state without generating empty pockets. After the failed shaft 15 is functional again, without generating empty pockets, it is switched back to the original operating state. This enables the lowest loss of efficiency in the event of shaft failure.2. Option with Alternating Arrangement (not shown):A further measure for maintaining the product quality is the planned regular change of the shaft or shafts 30 in standby redundancy, so that no products 13 have to dwell there for a longer time. The essential advantage of the changeover strategy is that the device can continue to produce in the case of one or more blocked shafts 16 without the device being at a standstill. In a configuration of n shafts 15 and a (double) replacement shaft 30, the full production output is maintained in the event of failure of not more than one shaft 15.In the device according to FIG. 1, the magazine 14 has four double shafts (double block design), the last two shafts serving as replacement shafts 30. In the normal operating state, the first three (double) slides 16 operate synchronously with one another, pushing the groups 10 into the associated pockets 11 of the clocked conveyor 12 every third cycle of the apparatus during a temporary standstill. The two replacement trays 30 remain stationary and wait for retrieval by the controller (FIG. 2 ).The cycle or filling of the pockets 11 during normal operation of the device is shown in FIG. 6. The clock sequence is shown in the left column. The rectangles symbolise the pockets 11 of the conveyor 12 and the hatching of the rectangles symbolises the state of the respective pocket 11. a rectangle without hatching represents an empty pocket 11. a rectangle with single hatching represents the filling of a pocket 11 and a rectangle with double hatching represents a filled pocket 11. this also applies to FIGS. 7 to 11. In the uppermost row the status of the shafts 15 or of the associated slides 16 is displayed. A circuit 31 without filling represents a shaft 15 in normal operation. A completely filled circuit 31 stands for a shaft 15 with a fault. A shaded circle 31 represents the replacement compartment or compartments 30. The vertically directed double arrow represents an actuation of the slides 16.FIGS. 3 ato 5 b show a changeover strategy in the control of the remaining drives 24 and the addition of the drive 24 of the (double) slide 16 of the replacement shafts 30, which is initiated and executed by control in the event of a failure of the respective shaft 15. The switching strategy is needed to not form empty pockets 11 downstream of the product flow.The double shafts and the associated pockets 11 are subsequently assigned to stations 1 to 3 intended according to their sequence in the conveying direction 32.In the event of failure of a shaft 15 of the station 1 (FIG. 3 a), the pockets 11 are initially continued to be filled by the slides 16 of the stations 2 and 3, the pockets 11 to be filled by the slide 16 of the station 1 initially remaining empty. The conveyor 12 is then moved further in the product flow direction 32 in cycles and the (double) pockets 11 are displaced to the next insertion station. After a further two cycles, the slide 16 of the replacement shafts 30 is connected synchronously with the slides 16 of the stations 2 and 3 remaining during operation. Synchronous filling of the six pockets 11 then takes place again, wherein the pockets 11 that are actually to be filled by the failed station 1 are filled again from the replacement shafts 30 (FIG. 3 b). From now on, the temporary operating state is reached with the replacement shafts 30. The temporary operating state is carried out until the failed station 1 is ready for use again. The cycle or filling of the pockets 11 in the event of a fault in station 1 is shown in FIG. 7.In the event of failure of a shaft 15 of the station 2, the filling of the conveyor 12 is likewise continued with the remaining slides 16 (FIG. 4 a). The pockets 11 to be filled by the slide 16 of the second station remain empty and form a gap in the filling pattern of the conveyor 12, the pockets 11 are moved further in cycles two cycles in the product flow direction 32, wherein during the second cycle initially only the slide 16 of the replacement shafts 30 is (asynchronously) connected to the slides 16 of the stations 1 and 3 still in operation. The slide 16 of the replacement shafts 30 thereby slides the groups 10 out of the replacement shafts into the empty pockets 11 which have been produced on account of the failure of the slides 16 of the station 2. On the next cycle, stations 1 and 3 again fill the double pockets of conveyor 12 (FIG. 4 b). This temporary operating state with the replacement shafts 30 is also carried out until the failed shafts 15 of the station 2 are ready for use again. The cycle or filling of the pockets 11 in the event of a malfunction of the station 2 is shown in FIG. 8.Also in the event of failure of the station 3, the filling of the pockets 11 of the conveyor 12 with the remaining slides 16 is continued (FIG. 5 a). The pockets 11 to be filled by the slide 16 of the station 3 remain (initially) empty and likewise form a gap in the filling pattern of the conveyor 12; the pockets 11 are further moved in cycles in the product flow direction 32, wherein, in this cycle, initially only the slide 16 of the replacement shafts 30 is (asynchronously) connected to the slides 16 of the stations 1 and 2. The slide 16 of the replacement shafts 30 thereby slides the groups 10 out of the replacement shafts 30 into the empty pockets 11 which have been produced on account of the failure of the station 3. After a further two cycles, the double pockets 11 of the conveyor 12 are filled again by means of the slides 16 of the stations 1 and 2 (FIG. 5 b). This temporary operating state with the replacement shafts 30 is also carried out until the failed station 3 is ready for use again. The cycle or filling of the pockets 11 in the event of a malfunction of the station 2 is shown in FIG. 9.After the failed shafts 15 are functional again, without generating empty pockets, the system is switched back to the original operating state, wherein the pockets 11 of the conveyor 12 are filled in triple synchronism again. The flying change from a normal operating state to the temporary emergency operating state and back again to a normal operating state allows the lowest loss of efficiency of the device.It should be noted that, due to the double-track design of the device and the use of double shafts, a corresponding number of replacement shafts 30 are also provided. If the device is designed in one track, individual shafts 15 can be used in each station 1 to 3 and also an individual replacement shaft 30.FIGS. 10 to 12 show an alternative embodiment with the use of two stations 1 and 2 which are active in the normal operating state and a replacement shaft 30 which is in standby redundancy.FIG. 10 shows the normal operating state, whereas FIG. 11 shows a fault in station 1 and FIG. 12 shows a fault in station 2, wherein, as a special feature, the filling of the conveyor 12 must take place in the event of a fault in station 2 (FIG. 12 ) at each cycle.List of reference numbers:10 Group 11 Pocket 12 Conveyor 13 Product 14 Magazine 15 Shaft 16 Slide 17 Mouthpiece 18 Driver 19 Discharge conveyor 20 Mouthpiece 21 Suction disc knife block 22 Knife 23 Material web 24 Drive 25 Drive 26 Sensor 27 Camera system 28 Control station 29 Ejection station 30 Replacement shaft 31 Circle 32 Conveying directionReferences included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedEP 3 439 965 B1 [0005, 0007]EP 1 580 129 B1

[0006]

Claims

Method for feeding groups (10) of products (13) of the cigarette industry to pockets (11) of a conveyor (12), wherein the products (13) in groups (10) are pushed out of a shaft (15) of a magazine (14) for the products (13) by means of a slide (16) assigned to the shaft (15) and are pushed by a mouthpiece (17) assigned to the shaft (15) into a pocket (11) of the conveyor (12), in particular of a pocket chain conveyor or a revolver, and wherein the magazine has a plurality of shafts, each of which is assigned an individually actuatable slide (16), with which in each case a group (10) of products (13) is pushed out of the respective shaft (15) into a pocket (11) of the conveyor (12) assigned to the respective shaft (15), and wherein, in a normal operating state, groups (10) of products (13) are pushed out of a predefined number of shafts (15) by means of a respective assigned slide (16) into pockets (11) of the conveyor (12), characterized in that, in the event of a fault which leads to the fact that a complete group (10) of products (13) can no longer be pushed out of one of the shafts into a pocket (11) of the conveyor (12), such that this pocket (11) would not be completely filled, a group (10) of products (13) is alternatively pushed out of a replacement shaft (30) into the non-filled pocket (11) of the conveyor (12).Method according to claim 1, characterised in that in the event of the fault, groups (10) of products (13) are pushed out of the shafts (15) not affected by the fault into pockets (11) of the conveyor (12), as in the normal operating state.Method according to Claim 2, characterized in that, in the event of the fault, the clock rate of the shafts (15) not affected by the fault is retained as in the normal operating state.Method according to Claim 1 or one of the other preceding claims, characterized in that, in the case of a number of n shafts (15), in normal operation from a number of n-1 shafts (15), groups (10) of products (13) are pushed by means of a slide (16) assigned to the respective shaft (15) into a pocket (11) of the conveyor (12) assigned to the respective shaft (15), and in that the remaining replacement shaft (30) is used only in the event of a fault in order to push groups (10) of products (13) into pockets (11) of the conveyor (12) which, owing to the fault, have not been filled from the shafts (15) which are active in normal operation.Method according to claim 1 or any one of the other preceding claims, characterised in that in the event of the malfunction, groups (10) of products (13) are first pushed out of the shafts (15) not affected by the malfunction, and in that the replacement shaft (30) is subsequently switched on in order to fill any empty pockets (11) of the conveyor (12).Method according to claim 1 or one of the other preceding claims, characterised in that the groups (10) of products (13) are pushed out of the replacement shaft (30) synchronously or asynchronously with the groups (10) of products (13) from the shafts (15) not affected by the fault.Method according to claim 1 or one of the other preceding claims, characterized in that the shafts (15) and the replacement shaft (30) are arranged in a row successively along the conveyor (12), wherein the replacement shaft (30) is preferably provided as the last shaft (15) in the conveying direction of the pockets (11) of the conveyor (12).Method according to claim 1 or any one of the other preceding claims 1 to 6, characterised in that any shaft (15) serves as a replacement shaft (30) in the event of a fault.Method according to claim 1 or one of the other preceding claims, characterised in that in the event of the fault the slide (16) of the shaft (15) affected by the fault is shut down, wherein provision is preferably made for the slide (16) to be moved, preferably retracted, into a rest position in which it does not project into the shaft (15) or the mouthpiece (17) or the pocket (11).Method according to claim 1 or one of the other preceding claims, characterised in that a contactless checking station (28) is provided along the conveyor (12), with which checking of the total number of products (13) in the pockets (11), their alignment and / or their quality.Method according to claim 1 or one of the other preceding claims, characterised in that arranged downstream of the control station (28) is an ejection station 29 for separating groups (10) of products (13) which have been assessed as defective by means of the control station (28).Method according to claim 1 or any of the other preceding claims, characterized in that in the event of the fault, the cycle rate or speed of the sliders (16) not affected by the fault is reduced in order to reduce the time required for the slider (16) of the replacement shaft (30) to reach the cycle rate or speed of the sliders (16) not affected by the fault, and in that thereafter the cycle rate or speed of all the active sliders (16) is increased again to the cycle rate or speed in the normal operating state.Method according to claim 1 or one of the other preceding claims, characterised in that in the normal operating state groups (10) of products (13) are pushed out of at least one or preferably of a plurality of shafts (15), and in that at least one replacement shaft (30) is provided for the case of faults.Device for feeding groups (10) of products (13) of the cigarette industry to pockets (11) of a conveyor (12), in particular of a pocket chain conveyor or of a revolver, having a magazine (14) for the products (13), which magazine has shafts (15), and slides assigned in each case to the shafts (15), for pushing out in each case a group (10) of products (13) from the respective shaft (15), and having mouthpieces assigned to each shaft (15), through which the groups (10) of products (13) can be fed into a pocket (11) of the conveyor (12), and wherein the magazine (14) has a plurality of shafts (15), to which in each case an individually actuatable slide (16) is assigned, with which in each case one group (10) of products (13) can be supplied from the respective shaft (15) into a pocket (11) of the conveyor (12) assigned to the respective shaft (15), and wherein in a normal operating state groups (10) of products (13) can be supplied from a predefined number of shafts (15) by means of a respective assigned slide (16) into pockets (11) of the conveyor (12), in particular for carrying out the method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the event of a fault which has the result that no complete group (10) of products (13) can be supplied from one of the shafts (15) any longer into a pocket (11) of the conveyor (12), such that this pocket (11) would not be completely filled, In a substitute manner, a group (10) of products (13) can be supplied from a replacement shaft (30) into the unfilled pocket (11) of the conveyor (12).Device according to claim 14, characterised in that a contactless control station (28) is arranged along the conveyor (12) for checking the total number of products (13) in the pockets (11), their position and / or quality.Device according to claim 15, characterised in that arranged downstream of the control station (28) is an ejection station (29) for separating groups (10) of products (13) which have been assessed as defective by means of the control station (28).Device according to claim 14 or any one of the other preceding claims 15 or 16, characterised in that the shafts (15) and their associated slides (16) are arranged on the same side of the conveyor (12) or are arranged at least partially on different sides of the conveyor (12).Device according to claim 14, characterised in that the groups (10) of products (13) are transferred to a discharge conveyor (19) following the conveyor, wherein the discharge conveyor (19) is arranged running transversely to the transport direction (32) of the conveyor (12).Device according to claim 14, characterised in that the groups (10) of products (13) are transferred to a discharge conveyor (19) following the conveyor, wherein the discharge conveyor (19) is arranged running parallel to the transport direction (32) of the conveyor (12).Device according to claim 19, characterised in that, with a parallel arrangement of the conveyor and the discharge conveyor (19), an intermediate conveyor is provided in the transition between the conveyor and the discharge conveyor (19) in order to transfer the groups (10) of products (13) from the conveyor to the discharge conveyor (19).Device according to claim 20, characterised in that the intermediate conveyor is configured to change the orientation of the groups (10) of products (13) or of the products (13) when the groups (10) of products (13) are transferred from the conveyor to the discharge conveyor (19).Device according to claim 21, characterised in that the device is designed in two lanes, such that the device is designed to push out two groups (10) of products (13) from adjacent shafts (15) simultaneously by two slides (16) coupled to one another and to push the two groups (10) of products (13) together into adjacent pockets (11) of the conveyor (12).Device according to claim 14, characterised in that in the normal operating state groups (10) of products (13) can be pushed out of at least one or preferably of a plurality of shafts (15), and in that at least one replacement shaft (30) is provided in the event of faults.

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