CIGARETTE MACHINE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING CIGARETTES

Description

Field of invention

[0001] The invention relates to a method for manufacturing cigarettes according to the preamble of claim 1 and a cigarette machine for implementing the method according to the preamble of claim 10. State of the art

[0002] Cigarette extrusion machines have been known for over 100 years. A cigarette extrusion machine consists of a distribution unit in which vibrating chamber walls and / or a roller with steel pins ensure an even distribution of the cut tobacco arriving via a conveyor belt within the distribution box. At the bottom of the box, the mixed tobacco is finely and evenly separated. This is achieved by means of an air-permeable, textile conveyor belt (the so-called suction extrusion conveyor), which conveys the tobacco evenly from the distribution box. To keep the tobacco on the belt, a vacuum is created beneath the air-permeable conveyor belt, so that the tobacco is drawn onto the belt and thus effectively fixed in place. At the end of the suction extrusion conveyor is an excess removal device consisting of two rotating trimmer discs, which remove excess tobacco fibers from the tobacco strand.Depending on the position of the trimmer discs relative to the conveyor belt, a greater or lesser amount of tobacco is removed. The excess tobacco falls into a chute and is fed back to the distribution unit.

[0003] The tobacco strand is then transferred from the suction conveyor onto a continuously moving forming belt, which shapes the tobacco strand into a round. The tobacco strand then passes through a narrowed mouthpiece, where the cigarette paper is wrapped around it from the outside. This station is also called the forming chamber. Here, a glue nozzle containing food-grade glue continuously applies glue to one edge of the cigarette paper. A short heating section then ensures that the glue sets and smooths the glued seam. This process creates an endless, wrapped, and sealed tobacco strand.

[0004] In an alternative manufacturing process for producing a cigarette, the cut tobacco is separated in a feeder. The separated tobacco falls onto a conveyor belt at the bottom of the tobacco separator. The excess tobacco dust is removed by an excess removal device, preferably by suction. On the conveyor belt, the tobacco is formed into a strand by a metering wheel. The tobacco strand is compressed by at least one compression wheel. The tobacco strand is then passed through a constricted mouthpiece, and cigarette paper is wrapped around the mouthpiece. The cigarette paper is glued along the longitudinal direction of the strand.

[0005] If cigarettes are to be produced which contain another smokable substance instead of or in addition to tobacco, problems may arise with the processing of this additional substance.

[0006] German patent DE 10 2006 027 597 A1 describes an operating mode of a stranding machine used in the tobacco processing industry. Tobacco is drawn by suction air through a suction shaft to a suction belt. A nozzle is arranged on the channel wall of the suction shaft through which a fluid is metered to the tobacco.

[0007] German patent DE 10 2004 017 618 A1 describes a process for manufacturing a smokable product. A suction conveyor is fed with tobacco and an extrudate strand. The extrudate is formed from a base component and an additive added discontinuously. As a result, no additive is present on the front side of the smokable product where it is ignited.

[0008] German patent application DE 38 21 677 A1 describes a process for producing an aromatized, stick-shaped smoking material. To prevent the liquid carrying the flavoring agent, for example menthol, from staining the cigarette paper, the liquid is applied between the first and second halves of the tobacco strand.

[0009] From EP 2 883 462 A1, a method for feeding a stranding machine with a product stream of fiber material enriched with additives is known. The fiber material consists of tobacco fibers and / or filter material fibers. By feeding the product stream directly into the classifier channel, the fiber material is distributed evenly in the product stream.

[0010] EP 3 020 288 A1 also discloses a method for forming a tobacco strand. The short tobacco, which is inevitably drawn off with the suction air, is freed from fine dust in a separator and is returned to the tobacco fibers. Object of the invention

[0011] The disadvantages of the described prior art result in the problem that initiates the present invention: to propose a method for manufacturing cigarettes which makes it possible to produce cigarettes containing a smokable additive in addition to tobacco, without the additive affecting the manufacturing process, in particular the production speed, or causing an uneven distribution of the additive in the cigarettes. Description

[0012] The problem posed is solved in a process for manufacturing cigarettes by the features listed in the characterizing section of claim 1. Further developments and / or advantageous embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0013] The process is characterized by the addition of a smokable additive containing resins that would otherwise contaminate the cigarette machine to the tobacco-infused suction stream. The resulting tobacco strand, consisting of tobacco and the additive, is then formed on the underside of the first conveyor belt. Any quantity of additive can be added to the suction stream, meaning the dosage is not a limiting factor for production speed. Even if the cigarette production speed is comparable to that of cigarettes without additives, a sufficient quantity of additive can still be added to the tobacco-infused suction stream.

[0014] Another advantage of this method is that additives can be processed in the cigarette machine that would normally contaminate it so heavily that they are difficult or even impossible to process. This is achieved by adding the additive substance directly to the suction stream, which can contaminate the entire cigarette machine. In particular, the conveyor belt and the excess removal device become contaminated and can no longer function satisfactorily.

[0015] Another advantage of the process is that any quantity of additive can be added to the suction stream, meaning that the dosage is not a limiting factor for the production speed. Even if the production speed of the cigarettes corresponds to that of cigarettes without additives, a sufficient quantity of additive can be added to the tobacco-mixed suction stream.

[0016] The invention is preferably characterized in that the smokable additive is metered into the suction stream essentially in the middle of its width. Surprisingly, this point of addition leads to a uniform distribution of the additive in the tobacco strand formed on the first conveyor belt. This contradicts the expectation that the additive would accumulate on the underside of the first conveyor belt and therefore be inhomogeneously distributed in the tobacco strand.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the smokable additive is metered into the suction flow using a vibrating feeder. This allows for precise metering of the additive by adjusting the appropriate vibration frequency. Furthermore, the vibrating feeder is robust and requires little maintenance.

[0018] In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the vibrating conveyor comprises a spiral conveyor with a spiral bowl, which is set into vibration, thereby conveying the additive in the direction of the suction flow. A spiral conveyor is typically used to separate individual parts and position them precisely at the outlet of the spiral bowl. This allows the individual parts to be gripped. Surprisingly, it has been found that the spiral conveyor conveys the additive at any desired speed and with any desired uniformity. This prevents any bottleneck in the added additive, even if the conveyor speed of the cigarette machine is the same as that of a cigarette machine producing cigarettes without any added additive.The spiral conveyor can also be used to achieve distribution rates of, for example, 20% by weight of additive to 80% by weight of cut tobacco.

[0019] It has proven advantageous to fill the spiral conveyor from a vibrating hopper, depending on the fill level of the additive in the spiral bowl. This allows the dosing of the additive into the suction flow to be fully automated. If the vibrating hopper is empty, it can be refilled with additive at any time during operation.

[0020] In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the spiral conveyor is filled by a vibrating hopper depending on the fill level of the additive in the spiral bowl. This ensures that the spiral bowl is always optimally filled so that a sufficient quantity of additive can be metered into the suction flow with high accuracy.

[0021] The invention is also preferably characterized by the fact that the additive is ground more finely than the tobacco. This degree of grinding facilitates the even distribution of the additive in the suction stream and in the tobacco strand. Vibrations also occur during the transport of the cigarettes to the points of sale, which further contribute to the even distribution of the additive in the tobacco strand.

[0022] In a further particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, pulverized components of the hemp plant are used as an additive. Although hemp contains resin and oil, which can cause the parts of the cigarette machine it touches to stick together, hemp can be processed as an additive. According to the method, the hemp is added to the suction stream to minimize the sticking of machine parts. Other smokable additives, such as herbs or cloves, which impart a specific aroma to the cigarette smoke, are also conceivable.

[0023] It is advantageous to cut the parts of the hemp plant for shredding. This allows the degree of shredding to be precisely adjusted, in particular so that the hemp parts are well distributed in the airflow and in the tobacco strand, and blend homogeneously with the tobacco strand.

[0024] Another aspect of the invention relates to a cigarette machine for implementing the method described above, comprising a metering device with a feed line that opens below the underside of the first conveyor belt and by which a smokable additive can be metered into the suction stream containing isolated tobacco. The metering device is a vibrating conveyor. The vibrating conveyor is robust and requires little maintenance. Furthermore, the quantity of additive can be precisely metered. The positioning of the feed line to add the additive to the suction stream ensures that a sufficient quantity of additive can be metered even at high production speeds and correspondingly large quantities of cigarettes.Furthermore, the positioning of the supply line, so that the additive enters the suction stream, ensures that as few parts of the cigarette machine as possible come into contact with the additive. This reliably prevents contamination of machine parts with the additive.

[0025] According to the invention, the vibrating conveying device comprises a vibrating hopper with which the spiral pot can be filled depending on the fill level of the additive in the spiral pot. This ensures that the spiral pot is always automatically filled to the optimal level in order to convey the additive in a sufficient and precise quantity into the suction stream.

[0026] In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the feed line is arranged essentially in the middle of the length of the suction bar. This allows the additive substance to be distributed surprisingly evenly in the tobacco strand formed on the underside of the first conveyor belt.

[0027] In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the vibratory conveying device comprises a spiral conveyor with a spirally shaped spiral bowl, which is set into vibration, thereby conveying the additive substance in the direction of the suction flow. The spiral conveyor, which is typically used for singulating and positioning individual parts, surprisingly makes it possible to introduce a sufficiently large and precisely metered quantity of additive substance into the suction flow.

[0028] Advantageously, the vibratory feeder includes a laser for measuring the fill level in the spiral bowl. The laser continuously measures its distance to the additive present at a specific point in the spiral bowl. As soon as the additive falls below a first predefined distance, the vibratory feeder automatically starts and feeds additive until a second predefined distance between the additive and the laser is reached, which is smaller than the first predefined distance.

[0029] Further advantages and features will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention with reference to the schematic diagrams. It shows, in a representation not to scale: Figure 1: a schematic diagram of a cigarette machine to illustrate the process for manufacturing cigarettes.

[0030] In the Figure 1A cigarette machine is shown, which is designated in its entirety by reference numeral 11. The cigarette machine can also be referred to as a cigarette extrusion machine. The process makes it possible to easily produce cigarettes which, in addition to tobacco, contain a smokable additive 13. The new process also enables the number of cigarettes produced per minute containing additive 13 to be increased tenfold compared to prior art methods.

[0031] The cigarette machine 11 comprises a tobacco sifter 14, which separates cut tobacco 16 and is also referred to as a "hopper". The cut tobacco 16 is fed into a first conveyor belt 34 below the suction bar 22. This conveyor belt has a top surface 36 and a bottom surface 38. The first conveyor belt 34 is air-permeable but largely prevents the tobacco 16 from passing towards the suction bar. Preferably, the first conveyor belt 34 is a fabric belt that is both air-permeable and tobacco-permeable. The suctioned tobacco 16 is retained at the bottom surface 38 and formed into a tobacco strand 40 at the bottom surface 38 by the suction flow 28.

[0032] After the tobacco strand 40 has been formed on the underside 38 of the first conveyor belt, it is transferred to the upper side 44 of a second conveyor belt 42. Before the tobacco strand 40 is transferred to the second conveyor belt 42, a cigarette paper strip 46 is positioned or unwound on the upper side 44 of the second conveyor belt 42, which moves along with the second conveyor belt 42. The tobacco strand 40 therefore comes to rest on the cigarette paper strip 46.

[0033] The tobacco strand 40 is guided through a mouthpiece 48. The mouthpiece 48 automatically wraps the tobacco strand 40 with the cigarette paper strip 46 by means of a shaped shoulder when the tobacco strand 40 and the cigarette paper strip 46 are pulled or guided through the mouthpiece. At the same time, the cigarette paper strip 46 is glued along its long sides.

[0034] The smokable additive 13 is added to the suction stream 28 containing tobacco 16, and the tobacco strand 40 is formed from the tobacco 16 and the additive 13 on the underside 38 of the first conveyor belt 34. The additive 13 preferably consists of comminuted plant parts of the hemp plant. For example, these can be the flowers of the hemp plant. Preferably, the degree of comminution of the additive 13 is greater than the degree of comminution of the tobacco 16. The additive 13 is therefore more finely comminuted than the tobacco 16.

[0035] The addition of the additive substance 13 to the suction stream 28 leads to several surprising advantages: The additive substance 13 is distributed evenly throughout the formed tobacco strand 40, and no areas with concentrated additive substance 13 form within the tobacco strand 40. If the production speed or the conveyor belt speed is increased, the rate at which the additive substance 13 is added is not a limiting factor. The rate at which it is added to the suction stream 28 can therefore be increased as desired. Furthermore, adding the additive substance 13 to the suction stream 28 minimizes, or even eliminates, contact between the additive substance and machine parts. This is particularly important if the additive substance 13, such as hemp, contains resin, because the inventive method prevents machine parts from becoming resinous and requiring constant lubrication or cleaning.

[0036] Contrary to the expectation that the additive substance 13, which is more finely ground than the tobacco, would accumulate on the upper surface 36 and therefore be inhomogeneously distributed, the additive substance 13 is distributed evenly in the tobacco strand 40. In particular, if the additive substance is added to the suction stream 28 essentially in the middle of the width 30 of the suction stream 28, a particularly homogeneous distribution of the additive substance 13 in the tobacco strand 40 can be achieved.

[0037] The additive substance 13 is metered into the suction flow 28 by a vibrating conveying device, which is collectively designated by reference numeral 50. The vibrating conveying device 50 comprises a spiral conveyor 52, a vibrating hopper 54, and a feed line in the form of a conveying trough 56.

[0038] The spiral conveyor 52 is equipped with a spiral-shaped bowl 58, which is vibrated by a first vibratory drive 60. Within the bowl 58, the additive 13 is conveyed in a spiral motion from the inside and bottom to the top and outside. The spiral conveyor 52 is typically used to align and separate individual parts so that they can be gripped at the outlet of the bowl 58. Surprisingly, it was found that the spiral conveyor 52 conveys the additive 13 at any desired speed and with any desired consistency. This prevents any bottleneck in the added additive 13, even if the conveyor belt speed of the cigarette machine 11 is, for example, between 5 m / s and 7 m / s. Furthermore, the dosing quantity of the spiral conveyor 52 is very precise.The vibrating spiral pot 58 is firmly connected to the conveying trough 56, causing the conveying trough 56 to also vibrate and transporting the additive substance 13 to the open end of the conveying trough 56 and feeding it directly into the suction stream 28.

[0039] The vibrating hopper 54 is set into vibration by a second vibrating drive 62. The additive 13 is stored in the vibrating hopper 54 and is conveyed to the center of the spiral pot 58. The delivery rate of the additive 13 can be adjusted to the delivery rate of the tobacco 16 or the delivery speed of the tobacco strand 40 by the first and second vibrating drives 60 and 62. This allows a precise ratio between the tobacco 16 and the additive 13 to be set. The vibrating drives 60 and 62 can also be linked to the delivery rate of the tobacco 16 so that the ratios between the tobacco 16 and the additive 13 remain constant when the delivery rate of the tobacco in the cigarette machine 11 is changed.

[0040] The fill level 63 of the additive 13 in the spiral pot 58 can be measured with a distance meter 64, which is preferably a laser. Depending on the measured fill level 63, the vibrating hopper 54 is activated until the fill level 63 reaches a predefined value.

[0041] The tobacco strand 40 wrapped with the cigarette paper strip 46 is cut into cigarettes 68 by a knife 66.

[0042] The described method has the advantage that a sufficient quantity of the additive substance 13 can be very precisely dosed to the tobacco 16, even if the conveying speed of the tobacco strand 40 is high or the number of cigarettes produced 68 per minute corresponds to the quantities of cigarette machines that produce cigarettes without an added additive substance 13.

[0043] Another advantage is that the process makes it possible to produce cigarettes containing an additive 13 while simultaneously significantly reducing the contamination of the cigarette machine 11 with the additive 13. This also allows the use of resinous additives, such as crushed components of the hemp plant, without the resin clogging the cigarette machine 11. Legend:

[0044] 11 Cigarette machine, cigarette strand machine 13 Additive 14 Tobacco sifter 16 Cut tobacco 18 Roll 20 Bottom of tobacco sifter 22 Suction bar 24 Length of suction bar 26 Air extraction 28 Suction stream 30 Width of suction stream 34 First conveyor belt 36 Top of first conveyor belt 38 Bottom of first conveyor belt 40 Tobacco strand 42 Second conveyor belt 44 Top of second conveyor belt 46 Cigarette paper strip 48 Mouthpiece 50 Vibrating conveyor, metering device 52 Spiral conveyor 54 Vibration hopper 56 Conveyor trough, feed line 58 Spiral pot 60 First vibrating drive 62 Second vibrating drive 63 Fill level 64 Distance meter 66 Blade 68 Cigarettes

Claims

1. A method of producing cigarettes (68) in a cigarette machine (11), wherein - cut tobacco (16) is separated in a tobacco sifter (14), - the separated tobacco (16) is collected at the bottom of the tobacco sifter (14), - the separated tobacco (16) is sucked in a suction stream (28) to a lower side (38) of a first air-permeable conveyor belt (34) by arranging a suction bar (22) above an upper side (36) of the first conveyor belt (34), which suction bar (22) is connected to an air suction (26), - a width (30) of the suction flow is defined by a length (24) of the suction beam (22), wherein air with tobacco (16) is sucked in along the length (24) of the suction beam (22), - the tobacco (16) is formed into a tobacco rod (40) at the lower side (38) of the first conveyor belt (34) by being compressed at the lower side (38) of the first conveyor belt (34) by the suction current (28) - the tobacco rod (40) is transferred from the lower side (38) of the first conveyor belt (34) to an upper side (44) of a second conveyor belt (42), on which upper side (44) a cigarette paper band (46) is arranged, - the tobacco rod (40) is guided on the upper side (44) of the second conveyor belt (42) through a narrowed mouthpiece (48), - the tobacco rod (40) is wrapped with the cigarette paper band (46) at the mouthpiece (48), - the cigarette paper band (46) is glued along the longitudinal direction of the rod (40), and - the tobacco rod (40) is cut into cigarettes (68), characterized in that a smokable additional substance (13), which contains resins which contaminate the cigarette machine (11), is metered into the suction stream (28) mixed with tobacco (16), and the tobacco rod (40), comprising the tobacco (16) and the additional substance (13), is formed on the lower side (28) of the first conveyor belt (34).

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the smokable additive substance (13) is metered into the suction stream (28) essentially in the middle of the width (30) of the suction stream (28).

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the smokable additive substance (13) is metered into the suction stream (20) by means of an oscillating conveyor device (50).

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the oscillating conveyor (50) comprises a spiral conveyor (52) with a spiral-shaped spiral pot (58), which spiral pot (58) is set into oscillation, whereby the additional substance (13) is conveyed in the direction of the suction flow (28).

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the spiral conveyor (52) is filled by a vibrating hopper (54) dependent on the level (63) of the additive substance (13) in the spiral pot (58).

6. The method according to claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the delivery rate of the additional substance (13), which is metered in by the oscillating conveyor device (50) dependent on the delivery rate of the tobacco (16) in the suction stream (28).

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the additive substance (13) is more finely cut than the tobacco (16).

8. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that finely cut constituents of the hemp plant are used as additive substance (13).

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that the components of the hemp plant are chopped for fine cutting.

10. A cigarette machine (11) for implementing a method according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising - a tobacco sifter (14) in which cut tobacco (16) is separated, - a suction beam (22) which is connected to an air extraction (26) and with which a suction flow (28) with the separated tobacco (16) can be sucked along the length (24) of the suction beam (22), - a first air-permeable conveyor belt (34) having an upper side (36) and a lower side (38), the upper side (38) facing the suction beam (22) and the tobacco (16) being formable into a tobacco rod (40) on the lower side (38) of the first conveyor belt (34) - a second conveyor belt (42), on the upper side (44) of which a cigarette paper band (46) can be arranged and on the upper side (44) of which the tobacco rod (40) can be transferred from the first conveyor belt (34), - a mouthpiece (48) at which the tobacco rod (20) can be wrapped with cigarette paper tape (46), and - a metering device (50) with a feed line (56), which feed line (56) opens out below the lower side (38) of the first conveyor belt (34) and with which metering device (50) a smokable additional substance (13) can be metered into the suction stream (28) mixed with separated tobacco (16), wherein the metering device is a vibrating conveyor device (50), further characterized in that the vibrating conveyor device (50) comprises a vibrating hopper (54) with which a spiral pot (58) can be filled as a function of the filling level (63) of the additional substance (13) in the spiral pot (58).

11. The cigarette machine according to claim 10, characterized in that the feed line (56) is arranged substantially in the middle of the length (24) of the suction bar (22).

12. The cigarette machine according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the oscillating conveyor (50) comprises a spiral conveyor (52) having a spiral pot (58), which spiral pot (58) is caused to oscillate, whereby the additive substance (13) is conveyable in the direction of the suction flow (28).

13. The cigarette machine according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that the oscillating conveyor (50) comprises a laser (64) with which the level (63) in the spiral pot (58) can be measured.