Method and device for manufacturing filter rods for the tobacco industry

Abstract

The subject of the invention is a machine for producing filter rods for the tobacco industry from a continuous filter rod (CR) comprising a repeating sequence of elongated objects (2) and spherical objects (3). The machine comprises a preparation assembly (11) for preparing a strand of filter material (F), a forming assembly (12) for forming a continuous filter rod (CR) from at least one strand of filter material, a wrapping material supply assembly (19) for supplying wrapping material (P), a spherical object supply assembly (14) for supplying spherical objects (3) along a first moving path (R3) to a positioning unit (15) and a wrapping material supply assembly (16) for supplying elongated objects (2) along a second moving path (R2) to the positioning unit (15). The filter apparatus includes a feed assembly (13), a positioning assembly (15) for generating a composite stream (S) of spherical objects (3) and elongated objects (2) in a repeating sequence of spherical objects (3) and elongated objects (2) and moving the composite stream (S) along a third moving path to deposit the generated composite stream (S) into the continuous filter rod (CR) being generated, and a cutting head (17) for cutting the generated continuous filter rod (CR) including filter fibers, spherical objects, and elongated objects into individual filter rods (1), each of which includes an array of spherical objects (3) and elongated objects (2).

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The subject of the present invention is a method and an apparatus for manufacturing filter rods for the tobacco industry.

[0002] The invention is applicable to the engineering industry, and in particular to machines used in the manufacture of filters used in tobacco products.

[0003] In the prior art, solutions are known in which capsules or tubes are inserted into strands of acetate fibre in a process to form endless rods, which are then cut into filter rods.

[0004] Patent document 1 discloses a filter manufacturing apparatus that combines a rotating wheel having a plurality of recesses in the circumferential direction, a means for inserting a tube into each of the recesses, a means for continuously supplying a strand to an insertion station located below the wheel, and a means for inserting each tube into the strand through its respective recess at the insertion station.

[0005] US Patent No. 5,399,633 discloses an apparatus for providing pellet-type objects for use in the manufacture of tobacco moldings, each rod containing individually identical pellets at predetermined intervals along its length, the apparatus including means for continuously supplying rod fill material, means for continuously inserting individual solid pellets into the fill material at predetermined intervals, means for forming a continuous rod having individual pellets disposed at predetermined intervals within the rod, and means for cutting the continuous rod at predetermined intervals into single rods.

[0006] US Patent No. 5,399,633 discloses an apparatus having an acceleration chamber for transporting objects from a storage device to an object feeder, the acceleration chamber including a vortex chamber defining a periphery and an opening on the periphery. A metering drum rotates relative to the vortex chamber, the metering drum including a metering opening offset in line with the opening on the periphery of the vortex chamber. The metering opening receives the objects through an opening on the periphery of the vortex chamber and transports the objects to an insertion wheel. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] German Patent No. 27499 [Patent Document 2] European Patent Publication No. 0295518 [Patent Document 3] European Patent Publication No. 2636322 Summary of the Invention Problem to be solved by the invention

[0008] The problem faced by the invention is to provide a solution for inserting objects of different geometric parameters, in particular different symmetries, such as tubes and capsules, in a single step. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The subject of the invention is a device for producing filter rods for the tobacco industry from a continuous filter rod comprising a repeating sequence of elongated and spherical objects, characterized in that it comprises a preparation assembly for preparing a strand of filter material, a forming assembly for forming a continuous filter rod from at least one strand of filter material, a wrapping material supply assembly for supplying wrapping material, and a spherical object supply assembly for supplying the spherical objects along a first path to a positioning unit, a thin object supply assembly for supplying the elongated objects to the positioning assembly along a second path, a positioning assembly for forming a combined stream of spherical and elongated objects, moving it along a third moving path with a repeating sequence of spherical and elongated objects and arranging the formed combined stream in a formed continuous filter rod, and a cutting head for cutting the formed continuous filter rod comprising filter fibers, spherical and elongated objects into individual filter rods, the individual filter rods comprising a sequence of spherical and elongated objects.

[0010] The apparatus is characterized in that the positioning assembly includes a positioning wheel having a first seat for receiving and transporting elongated objects and a second seat for receiving and transporting spherical objects.

[0011] The apparatus is characterized in that the positioning wheel is adapted to position, in the composite flow, the geometric center of the elongated object within a space surrounded by a spherical object moving along a third moving path.

[0012] The device is characterized in that the positioning wheel is adapted to position the axis of the elongated object in the composite flow substantially tangential to the path of movement (R) of the composite flow.

[0013] The device is characterized in that the positioning wheel is adapted to center the spherical objects and the elongated objects within the continuous filter rod.

[0014] The device is characterized in that a first sheet for receiving and transporting elongated objects and a second sheet for receiving and transporting spherical objects have different depths.

[0015] The device is characterized in that it is adapted to work with filter material in paper form.

[0016] The elongated object supply assembly, which supplies the elongated objects to the positioning assembly, is characterized in that it has a projection along which the elongated objects are conveyed axially longitudinally.

[0017] An apparatus characterized in that an elongated object supply assembly for supplying an elongated object to a position setting unit has a recess into which a spherical object transported by the second sheet of the position setting unit is dropped during transport of the elongated object from the elongated object supply unit to the position setting unit.

[0018] The device is characterized in that the supply assembly for supplying the balls or elongated objects comprises a recess for momentarily receiving the balls or elongated objects conveyed on the positioning wheel.

[0019] The device is characterized in that the positioning assembly comprises a seat for momentarily receiving a protrusion adapted for conveying a spherical object or an elongated object in the spherical object supply assembly.

[0020] The present invention also provides a method for producing a cigarette filter rod comprising spherical and elongated objects, the method comprising the steps of preparing a strand of filter material, forming a continuous filter rod from at least one strand of filter material, providing a stream of spherical objects along a first moving path, providing a stream of elongated objects along a second moving path, combining the stream of spherical objects and the stream of elongated objects to form a combined stream of spherical and elongated objects with a repeating sequence of objects, providing the combined stream of spherical and elongated objects along a third moving path, arranging the formed combined stream of elongated and spherical objects into a formed continuous filter rod by a positioning unit, and cutting the formed continuous filter rod into individual filter rods, the filter rods comprising a repeating sequence of spherical and elongated objects.

[0021] The method is characterized in that during formation of the combined flow, the geometric centre of the elongated object is located within a space enclosed by a spherical object moving along the combined flow path.

[0022] The method is characterized in that during conveyance of the composite flow, an axis of the elongated object is positioned substantially tangential to a path of the composite flow.

[0023] The method is characterized in that a compound flow is formed that includes a repeating array of spherical objects, elongated objects, and spherical objects.

[0024] The advantage of the device and method according to the invention is that a device is obtained which combines the possibility of inserting various types of objects with different geometric symmetries and filter properties into the filter strand while maintaining a high placement accuracy. The invention is also characterized by maintaining the reproducibility of the placement point of the objects in the created endless rod and thus in the final cut rod. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0025] The object of the invention will now be explained in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.

[0026] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates an exemplary filter rod. [Figure 1a] 1 illustrates an exemplary filter rod. [Diagram 2] 3 shows individual mouthpieces made from the rods of FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. [Figure 2a] 3 shows individual mouthpieces made from the rods of FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. [Diagram 3] A tube is shown, a fragment of which is placed within the rod of Figs. [Figure 4] 3 shows a machine for manufacturing the filter rods of FIGS. 1 and 2. [Diagram 5] A fragment of the machine of FIG. [Figure 6] Schematic diagram of tube and capsule flow. [Figure 7] 1 shows diagrammatically the position of the capsule and tube on the positioning wheel and in the composite flow. [Figure 8] 1 shows diagrammatically the position of the capsule and tube on the positioning wheel and in the composite flow. [Figure 9] The location where the capsule flow and the tube flow join and form a combined flow is shown. [Figure 10] 13 shows the capsule and tube stream connection locations in another embodiment of the positioning wheel. [Figure 11]4 shows another embodiment of an apparatus for producing filter rods according to the present invention. [Figure 12] 12 shows the location of the tube flow and capsule flow connections for the device according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 11. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] The exemplary filter rod 1, shown in cross section in FIG. 1, consists of two elongated objects 2 (specifically axisymmetric objects 2) and four spherical objects 3. The term axisymmetric objects means an elongated object with a centrally located longitudinal axis, the shape of the side of the object being symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal axis. Examples of axisymmetric objects are thin-walled tubes, thick-walled tubes with a cylindrical inner surface, thick-walled tubes with a non-cylindrical inner surface, solid rods of flexible or rigid material, etc. In the embodiment, the tubes 2 are shown as axisymmetric objects and the capsules 3 are shown as spherical objects, the tubes 2 and capsules 3 being arranged on a strand of filter fibers 6. The tubes 2 and capsules 3 are centrally arranged along the axis X of the filter rod 1, the tubes 2 and capsules 3 being arranged along the axis X in such a way that the filter rod 1 can be cut in half in a plane k perpendicular to the axis X, and each manufactured part can be cut in planes m and n perpendicular to the axis X and away from the plane k from each other. Thus, four mouthpieces 4 can be produced from one filter rod 1, each of which contains one capsule 3 and half of a tube 2. Both the solid tip 4A and the tubular tip 4B (FIG. 2), i.e. the part where the cut tube 2 is visible, may be facing towards the tobacco rod in the cigarette. The mouthpiece 4 may also be used as one segment of a divided mouthpiece. FIG. 3 shows a tube 5 (having a length that is a multiple of the length of the tube 2) that is cut into several tubes 2 during the production of the filter rod, the tube 5 being cut in several planes e perpendicular to the Z axis of the tube 5. The Z axis is the axis of each produced tube 2. FIG. 1a shows another exemplary filter rod 1' consisting of four capsules 3 and two tubes 2, where, like the filter rod 1, the capsules 3 and the tubes 2 are arranged in the center of the filter fiber strand 6. The filter rod 1' can be cut into four mouthpieces 4' (FIG. 2a), each of which contains two capsules 3 and half of a tube 2. A variety of capsules may be used, allowing the smoker to choose between releasing flavour from one of the capsules or from two capsules simultaneously. Other combinations of numbers of tubes 2 and capsules 3 in the filter rod and the location where the rod is cut into the mouthpiece are also possible.

[0028] The machine 10 (FIG. 4) for manufacturing filter rods 1 is a machine for manufacturing filter rods 1 including tubes 2 and capsules 3, and is composed of a preparation assembly 11 for preparing a strand of filter fiber F, a forming assembly 12 for forming a continuous filter rod CR, an elongated object supply assembly 13 for supplying tubes 2, and a spherical object supply assembly 14 for supplying capsules 3, a positioning assembly 15 for placing the tubes 2 and the capsules 3 on the filter fiber strand of the formed filter rod CR, and a cutting head 17 for cutting the formed continuous filter rod CR including the strand of filter fiber F, the tubes 2 and the capsules 3 into individual filter rods 1.

[0029] In the preparation unit 11 for preparing the strand of filter fibre F, the strand of filter fibre F undergoes a stretching process both along the conveying direction and transversely to this direction. Both acetate fibres and paper fibres (crimped paper fibres) can be used. The individual fibres of the fibre strand F are separated in a pre-forming unit 18 for the strand of filter fibre F so that a homogeneous circular rod can be formed, which is gradually thickened so that a continuous circular rod CR can finally be formed at the outlet of the forming unit 12. It is possible to form a continuous rod CR from two or more sub-strands fed from a single fibre-making machine, so that the extruded strand is split into several sub-strands or fed from several machines. The rod-making machine 1 comprises a packaging material feed assembly 19 for feeding the packaging material P.

[0030] The strip feed assembly 13 for feeding the tubes 2 is arranged downstream of the preparation assembly 11 for preparing the strands F of filter fibers and above the inlet to the forming assembly 12. The strip feed assembly 13 (FIG. 5) comprises a flow path 20 adapted to feed the tubes 5 of the tubes 2 of several lengths in the form of a mass flow MF, i.e. a multi-layer flow of tubes 5. The feed assembly 13 comprises a hopper 21 located directly above the cutting assembly 16. The cutting assembly 16 comprises a multi-grooved drum conveyor 22 and a disk knife assembly 23. The tubes 5 are placed in the grooves of the drum conveyor 22, and the individual tubes 2 formed after cutting are received from the grooves of this conveyor to form a flow SF of tubes 2. The tubes 2 are transported along a substantially horizontal flow path 25 as a flow SF of tubes 2. In the illustrated embodiment, the tubes 2 are further transported by a transport drum 26, which comprises a helical member 27 that pushes the tubes 2 as the transport drum 26 rotates. The tube 2 is transported to the transport assembly 30 and further through the transport assembly 30 to the positioning assembly 15 .

[0031] The conveying assembly 30 of the elongated object supplying assembly 13 comprises a conveying wheel 31 with a pusher 32 for conveying the individual tubes 2. The conveying assembly 30 also comprises a supplying wheel 33 with a pusher 34 for receiving the individual tubes 2 from the conveying wheel 31. The tubes 2 move in a stream S2 of individual tubes 2 along a circular path R2 (FIG. 6). The supplying unit 13 delivers the stream S2 of tubes 2 to the positioning unit 15 at point A.

[0032] The spherical object supply assembly 14, which supplies the capsules 3, comprises a transport wheel 35 to which the capsules 3 are supplied by a supply assembly 36. The capsules 3 move in a stream S3 of individual capsules 3 along a circular path R3 (FIG. 6). The spherical object supply assembly 14 transfers the stream S3 of capsules 3 to a positioning assembly 15 at point B, whereby the streams S2 and S3 join at point A.

[0033] The positioning assembly 15 supplying the tubes 2 and the capsules 3 comprises a positioning wheel 40 which receives the flow S2 of the tubes 2 at a point A and the flow S3 of the capsules 3 at a point B, the combined flow S formed by the union of the flow S2 of the tubes 2 and the flow S3 of the capsules 3 moving along a circular path R. An embodiment is envisaged in which the positioning wheel 40 is adapted to be arranged in the combined flow path S such that the axis Z of the elongated object 2 is substantially tangential to the movement path R of the combined flow path S.

[0034] The function of the positioning assembly 15 is to position the tubes 2 and capsules 3 in the continuous cylindrically shaped strand of filter fibre F formed by the positioning wheel 40 at point C. The insertion of the tubes 2 and capsules 3 is carried out when the fibres are sufficiently loosely preformed, so that during the insertion of the tubes 2 and capsules 3 the fibres of the strand F break apart and during further forming the fibres of the strand F surround these objects, resulting in a uniform density of the filter material around these objects. Since the density of the strand of filter fibre F is at this stage very small and uniform in the cross section of the strand, a high accuracy of the central positioning of the tubes 2 and capsules 3 by the positioning wheel 40 in the strand of filter fibre F is maintained in the continuous rod CR. The rotational movement of the positioning wheel 40, which determines the position of the tubes 2 and capsules 3 in the rod CR, is synchronized with the movements of the wrapper material P and the strand of filter fibre F, so that the longitudinal positioning of the tubes 2 and capsules 3 in the formed continuous rod CR is repeatable and determined with a high accuracy. In the presented embodiment, the positioning wheel 40 has a horizontal axis of rotation Y and the filter material fibers are provided in the form of three partial strands F1, F2, F3, which connect in front of the tube 2 and the capsule 3 are fed. By feeding several sub-strands, it is possible to distribute the filter material fibers evenly around the object placed inside. The positioning wheel 40 may be positioned at any angle, in particular horizontally, i.e. with a vertical axis of rotation. The feeding of the partial strands F1, F2, F3 is each time angularly adapted to the position of the positioning wheel 40.

[0035] FIG. 7 shows the position of the capsules 3 and the tubes 2 on the positioning wheel 40 in the flow S. The capsules 3 are arranged on the second sheet 43 so that their center 3X moves along the circular movement path R. The capsules 3 moving along the movement path R occupy a certain circular space in the form of a torus assembly, the dotted circle in the figure shows the outer diameter 45 and the inner diameter 46 of such a torus. The diameter of the tubes 2 may be different, as well as the diameter of the capsules 3, depending on the parameters of the product to be manufactured. It is important that the capsules 3 and the tubes 2 are arranged in the center of the continuous shaft CR along the axis of symmetry h, so that due to the different diameters and due to the high speed at which the capsules 3 and the tubes 2 are arranged in the filter material, the second sheet 43 for the capsules 3 has a depth e different from the depth f of the first sheet 42 for the tubes 2. The condition to be met in order to ensure the centering of the capsules 3 and the tubes 2 in the continuous rod CR is that the geometric center 2X of the tubes 2 moves within the space assembly occupied by the capsules 3 while moving along the third movement path R. Another condition to be met with regard to the movement of the tube 2 is shown in FIG. 8, in which the axis Z of the tube 2 is tangential to the path of movement R while it moves on the positioning wheel 40 .

[0036] Figure 9 shows, for an embodiment of the wheel 33 and the positioning wheel 40, where the flow S3 of capsules 3 and the flow S2 of tubes 2 are joined to form the flow S. In the presented embodiment, the tubes 2 are conveyed on the wheel 33 to a seat 44 formed in a protrusion 48. The protrusions 48 and the recesses 49 located between adjacent protrusions 48 ensure that the capsules 3 conveyed on the positioning wheel 40 are not crushed at point A during the joining of the flows S3 and S2. In other words, the capsules 3 are momentarily received in the recesses 49.

[0037] 10 shows where the streams S3 and S2 are joined and another embodiment of the wheel 33. The wheel 33 is provided with a recess 50. The capsule 3 is dropped into the recess 50 just before the stream S is formed and is subsequently withdrawn from the recess 50 while remaining therein, so that the capsule 3 is not crushed when passing the point A. The recess 50 is adapted to receive the capsule 3 momentarily.

[0038] Fig. 11 shows an embodiment of an apparatus for manufacturing filter rods, in which first the tubes 2 are fed into a positioning assembly 15, followed by the capsules 3. The elongated object feeding assembly 13 for feeding the tubes 2 and the spherical object feeding assembly 14 for feeding the capsules 3 are constructed similarly to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1. The flow S2 of the tubes 2 moves along the circumference of the positioning wheel 40, and the flow S3 of the capsules 3 is combined with the flow S2 to form a combined flow S.

[0039] FIG. 12 shows the location of the joining of the flow S2 of tubes 2 and the flow S3 of capsules 3 on the device shown in FIG. 11. The feed wheel 35 comprises, for example, a protrusion 52 with a seat 53 for carrying the capsules 3. The positioning wheel 40 comprises a first seat 42 for carrying the tubes 2 and a second seat 43 for carrying the capsules 3, the second seat 43 being provided on both sides with recesses 54. During the transfer of the capsules 3 from seat 53 to seat 43, the tip 55 of the protrusion 52 momentarily drops into the recess 54. The recess 54 allows the transfer of the capsules 3 from the seat 53 to the second seat 43. The recess 54 serves to momentarily receive the protrusion 52 adapted for carrying the spherical objects 3 or the elongated objects 2 in the feed assembly 14.

Claims

1. An apparatus for manufacturing a filter rod for the tobacco industry from a continuous filter rod comprising a repeating sequence of tubes and capsules, comprising: a preparation assembly for preparing strands of filter material; a forming assembly for forming a continuous filter rod from at least one strand of filter material; a packaging material supply assembly for supplying packaging material; a capsule supply assembly for supplying capsules to a positioning assembly along a first path; a tube supply assembly for supplying tubes to the positioning assembly along a second path; a positioning assembly for generating a composite stream of capsules and elongated objects to form a repeating sequence of capsules and tubes and moving the generated composite stream along a third path and providing the generated composite stream into the continuous filter rod being generated; a cutting head for cutting the generated continuous filter rod comprising filter fibers, capsules, and tubes into individual filter rods comprising a sequence of capsules and tubes; wherein the positioning assembly comprises a positioning wheel having a first sheet for receiving and transporting tubes and a second sheet for receiving and transporting capsules; wherein the capsule supply assembly for supplying capsules to the positioning assembly or the tube supply assembly for supplying tubes to the positioning assembly comprises recesses for instantaneously receiving the capsules or the tubes transported on the positioning wheel; An apparatus, characterized by the above.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the positioning wheel is adapted such that in the composite stream, the geometric center of the tube is located inside a space surrounded by the capsules traveling along the third path.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the positioning wheel is adapted such that in the composite stream, the axis of the tube is set at a position substantially tangential to the path of the composite stream.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the positioning wheel is adapted to position the capsules and the tubes at the center within the continuous filter rod.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the first sheet for receiving and transporting tubes and the second sheet for receiving and transporting capsules have different depths respectively.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that it is adapted to operate on a filter material in the form of paper.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the tube supply assembly for supplying the tube to the positioning assembly has a protrusion along which the tube is conveyed in the axial longitudinal direction.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the positioning assembly comprises a sheet that instantaneously receives a protrusion suitable for conveying capsules or tubes within the capsule supply assembly.

9. An apparatus for manufacturing a continuous filter rod including tubes and capsules, preparing a strand of filter material; forming a continuous filter rod from at least one strand of filter material; supplying a flow of capsules along a first travel path; supplying a flow of tubes along a second travel path; generating a composite flow of capsules and tubes in a repeated series of capsules and tubes by combining the flow of capsules and the flow of tubes; supplying the composite flow of capsules and tubes along a third path; providing the generated composite flow of capsules and tubes into the generated continuous filter rod; cutting the generated continuous filter rod into individual filter rods including a repeated series of capsules and tubes, which has a method.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that during the generation of the composite flow, the geometric center of the tube is located inside the space surrounded by the capsules moving along the path of the composite flow.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that during the conveyance of the composite flow, the axis of the tube is set at a position substantially in contact with the path of the composite flow.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that a composite flow including capsules, tubes, and a repeated series of capsules is generated.

Images