Apparatus and method for automated transport of objects such as smoking articles or components thereof

Abstract

A device (10) and method for conveying objects which are smoking articles or elements thereof, said device (10) comprising a plurality of conveying members (12) each configured to convey said objects from an initial position to a final position along a work line. A first guide (22) parallel to said work line is configured to sequentially guide said conveying members (12) from said initial position to said final position, and a second guide (23) parallel to said first guide (22) is configured to sequentially guide said conveying members (12) from said final position to said initial position. Rotary displacement members (38, 39) are configured to selectively displace said conveying members (12) from one of said two guides (22, 23) to the other.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for automatically transporting objects, e.g. smoking articles such as cigarettes, or components thereof, e.g. casings, by movement of a transport member, e.g. in an automated work line or machine where the objects can be positioned using automated members. [Background technology]

[0002] It is known that in the automated production of smoking articles, such as cigarettes, particularly using highly productive machines, one of the aspects to be considered and one of the technical problems to be overcome is the transport of the smoking articles to and from one or more workstations.

[0003] The workstation may include a feed station where a containment material, for example in the form of a casing, perhaps including a filter, typically very thin paper or other suitable material, is placed on or within one or more moving members. Additionally, a loading station may be associated with the workstation where loose material, such as smokable material, for example tobacco, other smokable material, or combinations thereof, may be deposited or inserted into the containment material.

[0004] A packaging station, a distribution station and possibly a station for packaging the smoking articles may also be associated with the filling station.

[0005] With regard to the technical problem of transporting smoking articles, it is known to provide one or more transport members onto which the smoking articles are placed, the transport members containing the smoking articles being then moved between various work stations to complete their manufacture.

[0006] In order to limit the size of known machines used for the automatic manufacture of smoking articles, a conveying device is generally used, which has a working segment, usually from start to finish, and a return segment forming a reverse path, and which is provided with a conveyor belt or other rotating member. Usually, the return segment is located just below the working segment. One of the disadvantages of these known devices is that when the conveying member is in the return segment, i.e. at a lower level, it is used as a target to receive waste resulting from the operation of smoking articles, which falls from one or more workstations, for example a filling station, usually located at an upper conveying level.

[0007] This technical problem is particularly relevant when it is desired to produce, for example, smoking articles comprising leaf materials other than tobacco, which materials have various peculiarities linked, inter alia, but not exclusively, to the chemical and physical properties of said materials.

[0008] Material falling onto a conveying member moving from a higher level to a lower level may not only soil the conveying member, but may also impair the correct functioning of the device to which the conveying member is attached: for example, if the smoking material falling from an upper level is sticky and tacky, this may prevent the correct movement of the conveying member and lead to the blocking of the entire device.

[0009] Therefore, at the current state of the art, no automatic conveying device or method is known for the automatic conveying of objects in a machine for manufacturing smoking articles, aimed at high productivity, for example producing 7000 smoking articles per hour.

[0010] In technical fields other than the packaging of smoking articles, in particular in the technical field of pallet transport, a conveying device is also known that includes an outward branching section and a return branching section that are equipped with a mechanism for transferring the pallet to be transported. An example of this conveying device is described in JP 2021-010956 A. This device is suitable for transporting bulky and heavy objects, but is not optimized for transporting small and light products such as smoking articles. Moreover, it is clear that this device does not achieve the high productivity per hour that is typical for the movement of products with low unit economic value.

[0011] Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a conveying device and a conveying method for automatically conveying objects, preferably smoking articles, which are simple and reliable, and at the same time can achieve a high level of hourly productivity, as described above, by solving the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a conveying device for automatic conveying of objects, preferably smoking articles, using a two-level conveying path, thereby ensuring that offcuts, powder or other operating waste do not impair the proper functioning of the device itself.

[0013] Applicant has conceived, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and to obtain these and other objects and advantages. Summary of the Invention

[0014] The invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claims. The dependent claims describe further features of the invention or variants of the main inventive idea.

[0015] In accordance with the above objectives, a conveying device for conveying objects such as smoking articles or components thereof comprises a plurality of conveying members independent of each other and configured to convey one or more of said objects along a working line from an initial position to a final position, a first guide means parallel to the working line and configured to sequentially guide the plurality of conveying members from the initial position towards the final position, a second guide means parallel to the first guide means and configured to sequentially guide the plurality of conveying members from the final position towards the initial position, and a first displacement means and a second displacement means configured to selectively displace the plurality of conveying members from one of the first guide means and the second guide means towards the other, wherein the first displacement means has a first rotating member provided corresponding to the final position and configured to selectively displace each of the plurality of conveying members from the first guide means towards the second guide means one by one, and the second displacement means has a second rotating member provided corresponding to the initial position and configured to selectively displace each of the plurality of conveying members from the second guide means towards the first guide means one by one.

[0016] According to another aspect of the invention, the first rotating member is configured to selectively rotate between the receiving position and the releasing position by stepwise rotation means about a rotation axis, passing through an exclusion position and an exclusion position different from the exclusion position.

[0017] According to another aspect of the invention, the conveying device further comprises a control device configured to detect possible defects in the object moved along the first guide means, discharge means configured to discharge the object from the conveying member towards an exit conveyor when the conveying member reaches the rejection position, and discard means configured to remove the object detected as defective by the control device from the conveying member when the conveying member reaches the exclusion position.

[0018] The ejection means and the disposal means are configured as drive means arranged to move the object away from the first rotating member at the reject position and the exclusion position, respectively.

[0019] According to another aspect of the invention, the reject position is located upstream of the exclusion position during passage of the carrier member from the receiving position towards the release position.

[0020] According to another aspect of the invention, the second rotating member is configured to selectively rotate at least between the receiving position and the releasing position by incremental rotation about a corresponding axis of rotation. In a preferred embodiment, the first and second rotating members rotate about the same axis of rotation.

[0021] According to another aspect of the invention, the incremental rotation of the first rotating member and the incremental rotation of the second rotating member are performed in angular steps of 90°, ie the positions are separated by angular steps of 90°.

[0022] According to another aspect of the invention, the first rotating member rotates through 270° when rotating between the receiving position and the release position.

[0023] According to another aspect of the present invention, the first and second rotating members rotate about the rotation axis arranged parallel to the first and second guide means, whereby the conveying member is selectively displaced between the first and second guide means with a displacement that maintains the relative orientation of the conveying member with respect to the work line without changing. In other words, the conveying member moves both in the forward path on the first guide means and in the return path on the second guide means while maintaining the same orientation without rotating 180° when displaced from one side to the other.

[0024] According to another aspect of the invention, each of the first and second rotating members comprises a plurality of rotating guides parallel to the first and second guide means, uniformly and angularly spaced from one another and each having substantially the same cross section as the first and second guide means, for temporarily accommodating one of the conveying members, each of the plurality of rotating guides being rotatable about the rotation axis and selectively aligning itself with the first or second guide means, in particular when the first and second rotating members are disposed in the first receiving position and in the release position, respectively.

[0025] According to another aspect of the invention, the second guide means is offset both horizontally and vertically relative to the first guide means.

[0026] According to another aspect of the invention, the carrier member rotates 90 degrees between the receiving position and the rejecting position.

[0027] According to another aspect of the invention, the first ejection means and the disposal means are pneumatic and configured as nozzles capable of selectively emitting a stream of air at a pressure enabling the ejection of the object from the conveying member.

[0028] According to another aspect of the invention, each of the plurality of conveying members comprises a longitudinal guide element, the first and second guide means having corresponding cross-sectional shapes capable of accommodating a guide member configured to cooperate with the longitudinal guide element so that the first and second guide means slide only in the longitudinal direction.

[0029] According to another aspect of the invention, the apparatus further comprises moving means configured to selectively and alternately move a first of the plurality of conveying members along the first guide means from the initial position to the final position and a second of the plurality of conveying members along the second guide means from the final position to the initial position, the moving means performing an alternating cyclic motion.

[0030] According to another aspect of the present invention, the moving means comprises a first thrust means positioned corresponding to the final position and a second thrust means positioned corresponding to the initial position, the first thrust means and the second thrust means being arranged at a constant reciprocating distance from each other and configured to move in coordination so that the reciprocating distance between the first thrust means and the second thrust means is constant.

[0031] According to another aspect of the invention, the ejection means and the disposal means are fixed and disposed adjacent to the first rotating member.

[0032] According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for transporting objects, preferably smoking articles, comprises a transport step in which one or more of the objects arranged on a plurality of transport members are guided by a first guide means parallel to the work line and transported sequentially from an initial position to a final position along a work line, a return step in which a second guide means parallel to the first guide means guides the plurality of transport members sequentially from the final position to the initial position, and a displacement step in which a displacement means, inserted between the transport step and the return step and configured as a rotating member, selectively displaces the plurality of transport members one by one from either the first guide means or the second guide means to the other.

[0033] According to another aspect of the invention, in the displacement step, the conveying member is selectively moved from the first guide means to the second guide means, or vice versa, by rotating the rotating member about a rotation axis arranged parallel to the first guide means and the second guide means, the movement maintaining the relative orientation of the conveying member to the work line.

[0034] According to another aspect of the invention, the rotatable member comprises a first rotatable member configured to selectively rotate between a receiving position and a releasing position through an exclusion position and an exclusion position different from the exclusion position.

[0035] According to another aspect of the invention, the method further comprises a detection step for detecting possible defects in the object moved along the first guide means upstream of the first rotating member, a discharge step for discharging the object from the conveying member which has reached the rejection position towards an exit conveyor, and a disposal step for excluding from the conveying member the object detected as defective by a control device when the conveying member reaches the exclusion position.

[0036] According to another aspect of the invention, in the displacement step, the first rotating member rotates 270° as it passes from the receiving position to the releasing position.

[0037] According to another aspect of the present invention, a machine for automatically manufacturing smoking articles, each having at least one casing, comprises at least one feeding station configured to feed the casing, at least one filling station configured to fill the casing with smokable material, at least one packaging station configured to package the smoking article by closing one end of the casing, and at least one conveying device configured to transport the casing from the feeding station to the filling station or at least one of the packaging stations.

[0038] These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of some of its embodiments, given by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0039] [Figure 1] 1 is a three-dimensional schematic view of a transport device according to the invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a device that includes or is linked to the device shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional view, on an enlarged scale and partially in cross section, of a first detail of the device shown in FIG. 1; [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale of a second detail of the device shown in FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a front view of the device shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 5, shown on an enlarged scale. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 5, shown on an enlarged scale. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a rear view of the device shown in FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control circuit for the device shown in FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 2 is a front view, partially in section, of a third detail of the device shown in FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a front view, on an enlarged scale, of a smoking article that can be processed by the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0040] It must be made clear that in this specification and in the claims, terms such as horizontal, vertical, front, rear, high, low, inside and outside, etc., along with their tendency of expression, are intended to better explain the invention with reference to the drawings, and should in no way be used to limit the scope of the invention itself, or the field of protection defined by the appended claims. For example, the term "vertical" refers to a plane that is perpendicular to the horizon or inclined thereto by a few degrees, e.g. up to 20°.

[0041] Additionally, those skilled in the art should recognize that certain sizes or features in the figures may be enlarged, distorted, or shown in an unconventional or disproportionate manner to provide a more readily understandable version of the present invention.

[0042] In the following description, when sizes and / or values ​​are specified, they are provided for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention, unless such sizes and / or values ​​are stated in the appended claims.

[0043] To facilitate understanding, the same reference numbers have been used wherever possible in the drawings to identify identical common elements, and it will be understood that elements and features of the same embodiment may be combined or incorporated into other embodiments as appropriate without further description.

[0044] Referring to Figure 1, a conveying device 10 according to the present invention is configured to selectively and continuously convey a typical object, e.g. a smoking article 100, from an initial position PI (see Figures 2, 5 and 8) to a final position PF, or vice versa, on a working line LL (see Figure 2), which in the example provided here is horizontal and straight, but which may be inclined and non-straight.

[0045] For example, the conveying apparatus 10 may be associated with or be part of a machine 200 for manufacturing smoking articles, such as cigarettes, as shown generally in block diagram form in FIG.

[0046] The machine 200 comprises, for example, a feed station 201 configured to selectively feed casings 101 for the smoking articles 100 to be manufactured, a filling station 202 configured to fill the casings 101 with loose substances such as smoking products, for example tobacco, other smokable substances, or combinations thereof, a packaging station 203 configured to package the already filled smoking articles 100, for example by appropriately closing the open end (see FIG. 5) of each casing 101, and a delivery station (see FIG. 2) 204, for example corresponding to a final position PF, which transfers the smoking articles 100 towards a packing station 205, which may be, but is not limited to, located outside the machine 200.

[0047] The feed station 201, the filling station 202, the packaging station 203, the delivery station 204, and the packing station 205 may be of any known or later developed type, or the feed station 202 may be of a construction of a type described, for example, in a related patent application for an industrial invention filed by the same applicant as the present patent application.

[0048] Before describing the device 10 in detail, an example of a smoking article 100 will be described by way of non-limiting illustration (see FIG. 11).

[0049] Each smoking article 100 comprises or consists of a casing 101 made of a sheet-like material, such as very thin paper, cellulose, rubber, or other material suitable for manufacturing cigarettes, and is usually provided with a filter 102 of a known type.

[0050] For example, each casing 101 may have a frusto-conical shape and may include a first end 103 that accommodates the filter 102 and an open end 104 opposite the first end 103 and into which smokable material can be inserted for filling. Thus, the first end 103 has a smaller diameter than the diameter of the open end 104. The length LI of each casing 101 may vary depending on the resulting smoking article 100, for example, between about 60 mm and about 150 mm, and preferably between about 60 mm and about 120 mm.

[0051] 1, 5 and 8, the delivery device 10 comprises a number of delivery members 12 (see FIG. 3), each having the shape and function of a shuttle, configured to deliver one or more smoking articles 100 (see FIGS. 4 and 11), and having its own longitudinal axis X1. Each delivery member 12 has a proximal end 14 and an opposite distal end 15 (see FIGS. 5 and 8). In use, the proximal end 14 always faces an initial position PI and the distal end 15 always faces a final position PF.

[0052] In the example given here, each conveying member 12 comprises four through-seats 13, each of which is coaxial with an axis Y perpendicular to the longitudinal axis XI and has a truncated conical shape having a size compatible with the size of the casing 101 / smoking article 100, at least in its lower part, so that the latter can be inserted from top to bottom and protrude downwards by a few millimeters.

[0053] The distance between two adjacent pedestals 13 and the length L2 of each conveying member 12 are determined during the design phase of the device 10 and / or machine 200 and are suitable for managing a plurality of smoking articles 100 to be conveyed and processed.

[0054] It is clear that the number of pedestals 13 may be other than four, even if this has an impact on the hourly productivity of the apparatus 10, as will become more apparent from the remainder of this specification.

[0055] Each conveying member 12 (see FIG. 3) comprises two longitudinal guide grooves 16 which are formed on two side surfaces parallel to each other and perpendicular to the axis Y of the base 13 .

[0056] The transport device 10 further comprises a fixed support structure 17 (see Figures 1 and 5), which comprises first guiding means 24, e.g. with a first fixed guide 22, and second guiding means 27, e.g. with a second fixed guide 23. In the embodiment described here, the two fixed guides 22, 23 are identical to each other.

[0057] In particular, the first fixed guide 22 is located on a substantially horizontal first moving plane PM1 (see Figure 5) and is configured to enable sliding of the conveying member 12 including the smoking article 100 between the initial position PI and the final position PF, and thus forward movement of the conveying member 12.

[0058] On the other hand, the second fixed guide 23 is located on a second moving plane PM2 parallel to the first moving plane PM1 and is lower than the first moving plane PM1, so that the two fixed guides 22, 23 are horizontally offset. The second fixed guide 23 is configured to allow the sliding of the conveying member 12 containing the smoking article 100 between the final position PF and the initial position PI, and thus the advancement of the conveying member 12, as will be explained in detail below.

[0059] Furthermore, the second fixed guide 23 is also vertically offset, in this case towards the rear of the device 10 (to the right in FIG. 6) since it lies on a different vertical plane than the vertical plane in which the first fixed guide 22 lies (to the left in FIG. 7).

[0060] Each of the two fixed guides 22, 23 has a length L3 equal to an integer multiple of the length L2 of the conveying member 12.

[0061] Each of the two fixed guides 22, 23 (see FIG. 4) is shaped to have a longitudinal groove 25 extending from one side to the other over the entire length L3 and defines two rails 26 facing each other and parallel to the working line LL. The longitudinal guide grooves 16 of each conveying member 12 cooperate with the two rails 26. Thus, each conveying member 12 can only move parallel to the working line LL, in a manner that will be described in detail below.

[0062] Furthermore, the first fixed guide 22 and the second fixed guide 23 each have a first end 28, 29 close to the initial position PI (see the left side of FIG. 5) and a second end 30, 31 close to the final position PF (see the right side of FIG. 5).

[0063] According to one aspect of the present invention, the first fixed guide 22 has the outer surfaces of the two rails 26 facing upward, and the second fixed guide 23 has the outer surfaces of the two rails 26 facing the rear of the device 10 (see Figures 6 and 7), so that the outer surfaces of the two rails 26 of the second fixed guide 23 are arranged on a plane perpendicular to the second movement plane PM2. Therefore, the two fixed guides 22, 23 are offset from each other by 90°. The reason for designing the arrangement of the second fixed guide 23 relative to the first fixed guide 22 in this way will be explained below.

[0064] In some embodiments of the invention, the lower wall 33 (see FIG. 4 ) of the first fixed guide 22 has one or more through holes 32, the axes of which are equidistant from the two rails 26. In particular, in order to realize functions outside the scope of protection of the invention, the through holes 32 may be formed corresponding to the filling station 202 and / or the packaging station 203, allowing common service members, such as load cells or actuators, to access the first end 103 of the casing 101 from below.

[0065] Corresponding to the second end 30 of the first fixed guide 22, a control device 35 of a type known per se is attached and is connected to an electronic control unit 36 ​​(Fig. 11), for example of a programmable type. The control device 35 may be of an optical arrangement, such as a video camera, and is configured to detect any defects in the smoking article 100 moving along the first fixed guide 22 and to send a corresponding signal to the electronic control unit 36 ​​(see Fig. 9), so that the defective smoking article 100 can be discarded by means of disposal means 57, which will be described in more detail below.

[0066] The device 10 further comprises two rotating members 38, 39, designated first and second, respectively (see Figs. 1, 5 and 8), which are coaxial with each other and arranged on opposite sides of the two fixed guides 22, 23. That is, as will be described in detail below, the first rotating member 38 is located at a final position PF and the second rotating member 39 is located at an initial position PI, and has a function of selectively displacing the conveying member 12 from one of the two fixed guides 22, 23 to the other.

[0067] Each of the two rotating members 38, 39 (see Figures 6 and 7) comprises a central hub 40, 41, respectively, rotatably mounted on a vertical plate 42, 43 of the support structure 17 and is attached to a respective shaft 44, 45 of an electric motor 46, 47 controlled by an electronic control unit 36 ​​(see Figure 11). The rotation axis X2 (see Figures 6, 7 and 8) of the two rotating members 38, 39 is substantially coaxial with and parallel to the two fixed guides 22, 23.

[0068] In particular, the rotation axis X2 is substantially located at the intersection of a vertical plane PV (see Figures 6 and 7) that substantially passes through the center line of the first fixed guide 22 and a horizontal plane PO that substantially passes through the center line of the second fixed guide 23, i.e., at the location where the axis Y of the base 13 (see Figure 3) is located.

[0069] Two central hubs 40, 41 (see Figures 6 and 7) each have a disk 48, 49 mounted thereon, on which four identical rotating guides 50, 51 are mounted in a cantilevered manner. Each of the four rotating guides 50, 51 has the same cross section as the fixed guides 22, 23 and is spaced apart from the adjacent rotating guides at an angle of 90°. The two disks 48, 49 are parallel to the vertical plates 42, 43, and the rotating guides 50, 51 are parallel to the fixed guides 22, 23.

[0070] The length of each of the four rotating guides 50, 51 is equal to the length L2 of the conveying member 12.

[0071] The two rotating members 38, 39 are sized such that when they are stationary, one of the four rotating guides 50, 51 is always aligned with the first fixed guide 22 and the other of the four rotating guides 50, 51 is always aligned with the first fixed guide 23.

[0072] Two vertical plates 52, 53 (see Figures 5 and 8) of the support structure 17 are arranged parallel to the vertical walls 42, 43, respectively, to prevent the conveying member 12 present in the rotating guides 50, 51 from falling out of the rotating guides 50, 51 in an undesirable manner.

[0073] Additionally, two electric motors 46, 47, commanded by the electronic control unit 36, are capable of rotating the two rotating members 38, 39 in opposite directions at angular increments of 90°.

[0074] For ease of explanation, with reference to FIG. 6, in which the first rotating member 38 is shown diagrammatically, the following rest positions corresponding to the possible stopping positions of each conveying member 12 are called as follows: receiving position A, which is the position where the first fixed guide 22 is located, i.e. the top position; ejecting position B, which is a position at the front, i.e. 90° counterclockwise relative to receiving position A and where, for example, the delivery station 204 is located; rejecting position C, which is a position facing downwards, i.e. 90° counterclockwise relative to ejecting position B; and releasing position D, which is a position at the rear and where the second fixed guide 23 is located.

[0075] In Figure 7, where the second rotating member 39 is shown diagrammatically, the release position D is reversed with respect to its position in Figure 6. As will become apparent from the detailed description below, the second rotating member 39 does not have the ejection position B and the discard position C, since the transport members 12 moving on the second rotating member 39 do not carry smoking articles 100 and therefore there is no need to provide ejection and removal positions for these smoking articles.

[0076] Within the first rotating member 38 is an ejection means 56 configured to displace the smoking articles 100 present on the conveying member 12 towards the delivery station 204, shown diagrammatically in Figure 1 as an exit conveyor belt 55.

[0077] In particular, both the ejection means and the disposal means are also configured as actuation members, fixed to the vertical plate 52 and arranged between the four rotation guides 50 so as not to interfere during rotation. In the example provided here, the ejection means can comprise a first plurality of nozzles 56 arranged corresponding to the ejection position B, and the disposal means can comprise a second plurality of nozzles 57 arranged corresponding to the exclusion position C. Each of the nozzles 56, 57 is aligned with the base 13 of the conveying member 12 when the conveying member 12 is in the ejection position B and the exclusion position C.

[0078] Each of the nozzles 56 and 57 is capable of selectively releasing a flow of pressurized air coming from compression means of any known type, not shown, as commanded, for example, by the electronic control unit 36 ​​.

[0079] In particular, the flow of pressurized air emitted by each nozzle 56 allows the corresponding smoking article 100 that may be present in the seat 13 of the conveying member 12 located within the rotating guide 50 to be ejected towards the outside of the latter and thus towards the conveyor belt 55.

[0080] Conversely, each nozzle 57, for example if previously determined by the controller 35 to be defective, can eject the corresponding smoking article 100 downwardly into a suitable receptacle, not shown.

[0081] The apparatus 10 comprises a movement unit 60 (see FIGS. 1, 5 and 8) mounted on a support structure 17 and configured to selectively and alternately move the conveying member 12 on the two fixed guides 22, 23.

[0082] The moving unit 60 comprises an actuator 61, for example of the electrical or hydrodynamic type known per se, controlled by the electronic control unit 36.

[0083] The slider 62 is, for example, connected to an actuator 61 (see FIG. 1) having a central portion 63 , is substantially horizontal, and slides relative to the support structure 17 .

[0084] Two pairs of lateral arms 65 , 66 (see FIG. 6) and 67 , 68 (see FIG. 7) are attached to the lateral ends of the central portion 63 of the slider 62 .

[0085] In particular, the lateral arm 67 is positioned such that one of its ends corresponds to the first end 28 of the fixed guide 22, the lateral arm 68 is positioned such that one of its ends corresponds to the first end 29 of the fixed guide 23, the lateral arm 65 is positioned such that one of its ends corresponds to the second end 30 of the fixed guide 22, and the lateral arm 66 is positioned such that one of its ends corresponds to the second end 31 of the fixed guide 23. Thus, as will be explained in more detail below, the two lateral arms 65, 67 are located at a higher level than the two lateral arms 66, 68, so that the first two can cooperate with a conveying member 12 inserted in the first fixed guide 22 located on the first movement plane PM1, while the second two can cooperate with a conveying member 12 inserted in the second fixed guide 23 located on the second movement plane PM2.

[0086] Furthermore, at the end of each of the four lateral arms 65, 66, 67, 68 there is a thrust head 70 facing the two fixed guides 22, 23.

[0087] The internal distance L4 between the thrust faces of the thrust heads 70 of each of the two pairs of transverse arms 65,66 is equal to the sum of the length L2 of the carrier member 12 and the length L3 of the fixed guides 22,23.

[0088] The slider 62 can move linearly in both directions parallel to the working line LL between a first operating position in which the slider 62 is completely displaced to the left in Fig. 5 and the side arms 67, 68 are outside the second rotating member 39 and the side arms 65, 66 interfere with the first rotating member 38, and a second operating position in which the slider 62 is completely displaced to the right in Fig. 5 and the side arms 67, 68 interfere with the second rotating member and the side arms 65, 66 are located outside the first rotating member 38. The amount of movement S of the slider 62 between the two operating positions is equal to the length L2 of the transport member 12.

[0089] The functions of the device 10 described so far, which also correspond to the method according to the present invention, are as follows:

[0090] To describe the functioning of the entire apparatus 10, for ease of explanation, the feed cycle of a single conveying member 12 will be described since all other conveying members 12 present in the apparatus 10 operate in the same manner.

[0091] Let us assume that in order to produce a similar number of smoking articles 100, the conveying member 12 has to convey a number of casings 101 along a work line LL of the machine 200 (see FIG. 2) from a feed station 201 to the subsequent filling station 202, a packaging station 203 and a delivery station 204. Various operations are performed here, which will not be described in detail here as they are outside the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0092] Before starting various work processes, a plurality of conveying members 12 are inserted so as to completely occupy both the first fixed guide 22 and the second fixed guide 23 .

[0093] Furthermore, one free conveying member 12, i.e. a conveying member 12 without any casing 101 attached thereto, is also inserted into each of the rotating guides 50 of the first rotating member 38 in the discharge position B and in the reject position C, and into the rotating guide 51 of the second rotating member 39 in positions corresponding to positions A, B, C previously defined with reference to the first rotating member 38. With reference to these positions of the second rotating member 39, it is understood that positions A and C correspond respectively to the receiving position and the discharge position of the first rotating member 38, being respectively located at the top and bottom, while position B is the front position of the device 10, inverted with respect to the discharge position of FIG.

[0094] In the initial state, the slider 62 is in the first operating position, i.e., it is fully displaced to the left in Fig. 5, and the side arms 67, 68 are outside the second rotating member 39, and the side arms 65, 66 interfere with the first rotating member 38. In this initial state, the two rotating members 38, 39 are stationary.

[0095] Next, the moving step is started and all the conveying members 12 are simultaneously displaced along the first fixed guide 22 from the initial position PI to the final position PF, or along the second fixed guide 23 from the final position PF to the initial position PI by a constant pitch P equal to the length L2 of each conveying member 12.

[0096] To do this, the electronic control unit 36 ​​keeps the electric motors 46, 47 stationary and instructs the actuator 61 to displace the slider 62 by pitch P towards its second operating position, so that the slider 62 is displaced fully to the right in FIG. 5 and the lateral arms 67, 68 interfere with the second rotating member 39 and the lateral arms 65, 66 are located outside the first rotating member 38.

[0097] By pushing in the first conveying member 12, i.e., the conveying member 12 located on the rotating guide 51 of the second rotating member 39, all other conveying members 12 located on the first fixed guide 22 are displaced simultaneously toward the first rotating member 38.

[0098] Due to this displacement at pitch P, the conveying member 12, which was initially positioned corresponding to the second end 30 of the first fixed guide 22 (see Figure 5), enters the corresponding rotating guide 50 located at the receiving position A at the top (see Figure 6).

[0099] Next, the electronic control unit 36 ​​operates the electric motor 46 to rotate the first rotating member 38 counterclockwise through 90 degrees (see FIG. 6).

[0100] This 90° rotation causes the conveying member 12 in the rotating guide 50, which was located at the receiving position A, to move to the discharge position B at the front, while at the same time the two conveying members 12 which were at positions B and C (which are the discharge position and the exclusion position, respectively) move to positions C and D, i.e., the disposal position and the release position, respectively.

[0101] At this point, the electronic control unit 36 ​​keeps the electric motors 46, 47 stationary and instructs the actuator 61 to reverse displace the slider 62 by pitch P towards its first operating position, thereby displacing the slider 62 fully to the left in FIG. 5.

[0102] Due to this reverse displacement, the side arm 66 pushes the conveying member 12, which was in the release position D of the first rotating member , to the left, and causes it to enter the second fixed guide .

[0103] As a result, all conveying members 12 located in the latter position are displaced towards the initial position PI, and in particular the conveying members 12 located near the first end 29 of the second fixed guide 23 enter the corresponding rotating guide 51 of the second rotating member 39 in position D.

[0104] The electronic control unit 36 ​​then actuates the electric motor 47 to rotate the second rotating member 39 counterclockwise by 90° (see FIG. 2).

[0105] With this 90° rotation, the conveying member 12 in the rotating guide 51 that was located at position B moves to the upper position A, and at the same time, the two conveying members 12 that were at positions C and D move to positions B and C, respectively.

[0106] In this way, the forward movement cycle of the first transport member 12 under consideration is completed, and the first transport member 12 is positioned corresponding to the leading feed station 201 (see FIG. 2) of the first fixed guide 22.

[0107] Tests carried out by the applicant have shown that each cycle of advancement can be carried out in a very short time, of the order of 2 seconds, so that four casings 101 can be processed at a time and attached to each conveying member 12, resulting in a very high hourly productivity of the order of about 7000 smoking articles 100.

[0108] In this position, an empty casing 101 is loaded into each of the four seats 13 of the carrier member 12 in any known manner.

[0109] There is another conveying member 12 now on the rotating guide 51 in position A of the second rotating member 39 (see FIG. 7), and the forward movement cycle is repeated for the latter, and so on for all other conveying members 12 successively.

[0110] In this way, each conveying member 12 carrying a casing 101 is advanced stepwise along the first fixed guide 22 to the final position PF, while at the same time the empty conveying member 12 is advanced stepwise back from the final position PF to the initial position PI along the second fixed guide 23. During the outward movement the smoking article 100 is completed by the workstations 202, 203 of the machine 200.

[0111] At the end of these operations, the electronic control unit 36, based on a signal provided by the control device 35, regulates the ejection of the smoking article 100 loaded on the conveying member 12 which has reached the first rotating member 38 in the final position PF.

[0112] In particular, smoking articles 100 deemed non-defective by the controller 35 are discharged onto the conveyor belt 55 (see Figures 1 and 5) of the delivery station 204 by means of a first plurality of nozzles 56 (see Figure 6) located corresponding to discharge position B of the first rotating member 38. At the same time, smoking articles 100 deemed defective by the same controller 35 are discharged downwards by a second plurality of nozzles 57 located corresponding to reject position C of the first rotating member 38.

[0113] It should be noted that in the embodiment described here, when each conveying member 12 arrives at the final position PF, it rotates by 270° relative to the receiving position A in which the first fixed guide 22 is located, before reaching the release position D in which it is inserted into the second fixed guide 23.

[0114] The positioning of the second fixed guide 23 at substantially 90° to the first fixed guide 22 towards the rear of the apparatus 10 advantageously allows for a significant reduction in the overall size of the apparatus 10 and, in some cases, the overall size of the machine 200 with which it is associated or into which it is inserted.

[0115] Furthermore, the transport member 12 moved on the second fixed guide 23 is protected from dust and waste flying from the workstations 201 , 202 , 203 located on the first fixed guide 22 .

[0116] Another advantage resulting from the particular arrangement of the second fixed guide 23 relative to the first fixed guide 22 is that all conveying members 12, before being inserted into the second fixed guide 23, pass from position C of the first rotating member 39, so that their seats 13 are positioned facing downwards, and any possible working residues are drained from the latter in a natural way by the effect of gravity.

[0117] It will be apparent that modifications and / or additions to components may be made to the apparatus 10 hereinbefore described without departing from the field and scope of the present invention as defined by the claims.

[0118] It is also clear that although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person skilled in the art will certainly be able to realise many other equivalent forms of devices and / or methods for transporting smoking articles, all of which are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0119] In the following claims, the sole purpose of the symbols in parentheses is to facilitate readability; they shall not be considered as limiting elements with regard to the field of protection claimed in the claims themselves.

Claims

1. A conveying device (10) for conveying an object (100), wherein the conveying device (10) comprises: a plurality of conveying members (12) that are independent of each other and are each configured to convey one or more of the objects (100) from an initial position (PI) to a final position (PF) along a work line (LL); a first guiding means (24) configured to be parallel to the work line (LL) and sequentially guide the plurality of conveying members (12) from the initial position (PI) toward the final position (PF); a second guiding means (27) configured to be parallel to the first guiding means (24) and sequentially guide the plurality of conveying members (12) from the final position (PF) toward the initial position (PI); a first displacement means (38) and a second displacement means (39) configured to selectively displace the plurality of conveying members (12) from one of the first guiding means (24) and the second guiding means (27) to the other; and the first displacement means (38) is provided corresponding to the final position (PF) and has a first rotating member (38) configured to selectively displace each of the plurality of conveying members (12) one by one from the first guiding means (24) toward the second guiding means (27); the second displacement means (39) is provided corresponding to the initial position (PI) and has a second rotating member (39) configured to selectively displace each of the plurality of conveying members (12) one by one from the second guiding means (27) toward the first guiding means (24); the first rotating member (38) is configured to selectively rotate between a receiving position (A) and a releasing position (D) by passing through an excluding position (B) and an excluding position (C) different from the excluding position (B) by means of a stepped rotating means centered on a rotation axis (X2); the conveying device (10) further comprises: a control device (35) configured to detect possible defects of the object (100) moved along the first guiding means (24); a discharging means (56) configured to discharge the object from the conveying member (12) toward an outlet conveyor (55) when the conveying member (12) reaches the excluding position (B). When the conveying member (12) reaches the exclusion position (C), a waste disposal means (57) configured to exclude the object (100) detected as a defect by the control device (35) from the conveying member (12); A conveying device (10), characterized by comprising the above. **Claim 2** The conveying device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the exclusion position (B) is located upstream of the exclusion position (C) while the conveying member (12) passes from the receiving position (A) toward the release position (D). **Claim 3** The conveying device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the first rotating member (38) rotates 270° when rotating between the receiving position (A) and the release position (D). **Claim 4** The conveying device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the first rotating member (38) and the second rotating member (39) rotate about the rotation axis (X2) arranged parallel to the first guiding means (24) and the second guiding means (27), so that the conveying member (12) is displaced in a manner that maintains the relative orientation of the conveying member (12) with respect to the working line (LL) without change, and is selectively displaced between the first guiding means (24) and the second guiding means (27). **Claim 5** Each of the first rotating member (38) and the second rotating member (39) is provided with a plurality of rotating guides (50, 51) that are parallel to the first guiding means (24) and the second guiding means (27), uniformly and angularly spaced from each other, and each has a substantially same cross-section as the first guiding means (24) and the second guiding means (27) for temporarily accommodating one of the conveying members (12). The conveying device (10) according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of rotating guides (50, 51) is rotatable about the rotation axis (X2) and is selectively aligned with the first guiding means (24) or the second guiding means (27). **Claim 6** The conveying device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the second guiding means (27) is offset from the first guiding means (24) in both the horizontal and vertical directions. **Claim 7** The conveying device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the conveying member (12) rotates 90° between the receiving position (A) and the exclusion position (B).

8. The discharging means (56) and the discarding means (57) are pneumatic, and are configured as nozzles capable of selectively discharging an air flow having a pressure enabling the discharge of the object from the conveying member (12), the conveying device (10) according to claim 1.

9. Each of the plurality of conveying members (12) includes a longitudinal guide element (16), The first guide means (24) and the second guide means (27) have corresponding cross-sectional shapes capable of accommodating a guide member (26) configured to cooperate with the longitudinal guide element (16) so that the first guide means (24) and the second guide means (27) slide only in the longitudinal direction, the conveying device (10) according to claim 1.

10. The conveying device (10) further comprises moving means (60) configured to selectively and alternately move the first plurality of conveying members (12) along the first guide means (24) from the initial position (PI) to the final position (PF) and the second plurality of conveying members (12) along the second guide means (27) from the final position (PF) to the initial position (PI), The moving means (60) is characterized by performing an alternating periodic motion, the conveying device (10) according to claim 1.

11. The moving means (60) comprises first thrust means (65, 66) positioned corresponding to the final position (PF) and second thrust means (67, 68) positioned corresponding to the initial position (PI), The first thrust means (65, 66) and the second thrust means (67, 68) are arranged at a fixed reciprocating distance from each other and are configured to move in cooperation such that the reciprocating distance between the first thrust means (65, 66) and the second thrust means (67, 68) is constant, the conveying device (10) according to claim 10.

12. The discharging means (56) and the discarding means (57) are fixed and arranged in proximity to the first rotating member (38), the conveying device (10) according to claim 1.

13. A method of conveying an object (100), preferably a smoking article, The method comprises One or more of the objects disposed on the plurality of conveying members (12) are guided by first guiding means (24) parallel to the work line (LL) along the work line (LL) and sequentially conveyed from an initial position (PI) to a final position (PF). A return step in which second guiding means (27) parallel to the first guiding means (24) sequentially guides the plurality of conveying members (12) from the final position (PF) to the initial position (PI). A displacement step inserted between the conveying step and the return step, in which displacement means configured as rotating members (38, 39) selectively displaces the plurality of conveying members (12) one by one from one of the first guiding means (24) and the second guiding means (27) to the other. In the displacement step, by rotating the rotating members (38, 39) about a rotation axis (X2) arranged parallel to the first guiding means (24) and the second guiding means (27), the conveying members (12) are selectively moved from the first guiding means (24) to the second guiding means (27) or vice versa by a movement that maintains the relative orientation of the conveying members (12) with respect to the work line (LL). The rotating members (38, 39) include a first rotating member (38) configured to selectively rotate between a receiving position (A) and a release position (D) and pass through an exclusion position (B) and an exclusion position (C) different from the exclusion position (B). The method further includes A detection step of detecting possible defects of the object (100) moving along the first guiding means (24) upstream of the first rotating member (38). A discharging step of discharging the object from the conveying member (12) that has reached the exclusion position (B) toward an outlet conveyor (55). A method characterized by further comprising a disposal step of excluding the object (100) detected as defective by a control device (35) from the conveying member (12) when the conveying member (12) reaches the exclusion position (C).

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that in the displacement step, when rotating from the receiving position (A) to the release position (D), a rotation of 270° is performed.

15. A machine (200) for automatically manufacturing smoking articles, each having at least one casing (101). The machine (200) is configured to: feed at least one feed station (201) configured to feed the casing (101); fill at least one filling station (202) configured to fill the smoking article material into the casing (101); package the smoking article by closing one end of the casing (101) using at least one packaging station (203); include at least one conveying device (10) configured to convey the casing (101) from the feed station (201) to at least one of the filling station (202) or the packaging station (203). The conveying device (10) is characterized in that it is described in claim 1, and the machine (200).

Images