Feeding device for feeding segments of tobacco industry material, feeding module for feeding segments of tobacco industry material, and method for feeding rod-shaped products of tobacco industry material

Abstract

The feeding device (30, 40) for supplying segments (A) of tobacco industry material comprises a hopper (21, 41) for storing rods (MA) of tobacco industry material, a receiving drum (22) adapted to receive the rods (MA) from the hopper (21, 41), a conveying drum (23) for conveying the rods (MA) while cutting them into segments (A), and a cutting head (24) for cutting the rods (MA) conveyed on the conveying drum (23). The device according to the invention is characterized in that the feeding device comprises a filling sensor (31) for checking the presence of the rod (MA) in the longitudinal groove (28) of the receiving drum (22), the receiving drum (22) being adapted to perform a rotational movement at an increased speed (ω1), so that when an unfilled longitudinal groove (28) is detected on the receiving drum (22), the receiving drum (22) moves at the increased speed (ω1) so that at the point (X) where the rod (MA) is transferred to the longitudinal groove (29) of the transport drum (23), there is another filled longitudinal groove (28) of the receiving drum (22) and another empty longitudinal groove (29) of the transport drum (23).

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The subject of this application is a feeding device for feeding segments of tobacco industry material, a feeding module for feeding segments of tobacco industry material, and a method for feeding rod-shaped products of the tobacco industry. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, the tobacco industry produces many types of rod-shaped products containing multiple elements, specifically tobacco elements containing tobacco or processed tobacco, filter elements, elements containing aroma substances, isolation elements used to cool tobacco smoke, etc. In this application, these various elements are referred to as "segments," and products containing such segments are referred to as "multi-segment products." A machine for producing multi-segment products is disclosed in Patent Document 1, Published Patent Application No. EP1013181A2, in which a feeding module of the machine includes a feeding device having a cutting head that cuts a rod into individual segments as the rod moves on a transfer drum, and the feeding device feeds groups of individual segments.

[0003] Patent document 2 also discloses a machine for producing multi-segment products, the supply module of which consists of a supply device for supplying groups of individual segments. The expected equipment among manufacturers is that the supply device will fill the longitudinal grooves of the receiving drum as high as possible, preferably 100%. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] European Patent Application Publication No. 1013181A2 [Patent Document 2] British Patent No. 2267021 [Patent Document 3] International Publication No. 2019105813A1 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Devices for filling empty longitudinal grooves of drums are known in the prior art. U.S. Patent No. 5,629,999 discloses a device for receiving rods from a storehouse and placing them in empty longitudinal grooves. A device for placing them in a receiving drum is disclosed. However, no feeding device exists that can maintain a high output without feeding additional rods when the longitudinal groove of the drum is empty. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The subject of the present invention is a feeding device for feeding segments of tobacco industry material, comprising a hopper for storing rods of tobacco industry material, a receiving drum adapted to receive the rods from the hopper, a transport drum for transporting the rods while cutting them into segments, a cutting head for cutting the rods transported on the transport drum, and a filling sensor for checking the presence of the rods in the longitudinal grooves of the receiving drum. The device according to the invention is characterized in that the rotational movement of the transport drum is synchronized with the movement of the receiving drum so that the rods are transferred from longitudinal groove to longitudinal groove of the receiving drum, and the receiving drum is adapted to perform a rotational movement at an increased speed, so that when an unfilled longitudinal groove is detected on the receiving drum, the receiving drum moves at the increased speed so that, at the point where the rod is transferred to the longitudinal groove of the transport drum, there are other filled longitudinal grooves of the receiving drum and other empty longitudinal grooves of the transport drum.

[0007] The device according to the invention is characterized in that the synchronization occurs at or approaching the point of transfer of the rod into the longitudinal groove of the transport drum.

[0008] The device according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a quality control sensor for said rods.

[0009] The device according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a rod sorter adapted to remove said rods.

[0010] The device according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises an extractor for extracting the rods from the longitudinal grooves of the transport drum.

[0011] The present invention also provides a supply module for supplying segments made of tobacco industry material, said supply module comprising a hopper for storing rods of tobacco industry material, a receiving drum adapted to receive said rods from said hopper, a conveying drum for conveying said rods while cutting them into individual segments, a cutting head for cutting the rods conveyed on the conveying drum, a shift drum for varying the position of the segments relative to one another, an alignment drum for generating at least one stream of said segments, and a filling sensor for checking the presence of the rods in the longitudinal groove of the receiving drum. The module according to the invention is characterized in that the rotational movement of the conveying drum is synchronized with the movement of the receiving drum, so that the rod is transferred from the longitudinal groove of the receiving drum to the longitudinal groove of the conveying drum, and the receiving drum is adapted to rotate at an increased speed, so that when an unfilled longitudinal groove is detected on the receiving drum, the receiving drum moves at the increased speed, so that at the point where the rod is transferred to the longitudinal groove of the conveying drum, there is another filled longitudinal groove of the receiving drum and another empty longitudinal groove of the conveying drum.

[0012] The module according to the invention is characterized in that the synchronization occurs at or approaching the point of transfer of the rod into the longitudinal groove of the transport drum.

[0013] The module according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a quality control sensor for said rods.

[0014] The module according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a rod sorter adapted to remove said rods.

[0015] The module according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises an extractor for extracting the rods from the longitudinal grooves of the transport drum.

[0016] The present invention also provides a method for feeding rod-shaped products of the tobacco industry, which are rods, between a drum and another drum, the method comprising a step of identifying an empty longitudinal groove on the receiving drum, characterized in that after the step of identifying an empty longitudinal groove on the receiving drum, the speed of the receiving drum is increased relative to the speed of the transport drum, so that at the point where the rod is transferred to the longitudinal groove on the transport drum, there are other filled longitudinal grooves on the receiving drum and other empty longitudinal grooves on the transport drum.

[0017] The method according to the invention is characterized in that the step of identifying empty longitudinal grooves on the receiving drum is carried out by a filling sensor which checks the presence of the rod in the longitudinal groove.

[0018] The method according to the invention is characterized in that the step of identifying empty longitudinal slots on the receiving drum is performed on the basis of a bad rod rejection signal from a quality control sensor for the rods.

[0019] An advantage of the present invention is that it allows checking the quality of each individual rod during the manufacturing process and removing defective rods without reducing the productivity of the manufacturing equipment. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0020] The object of the invention will now be explained in more detail on the basis of an embodiment shown in the drawing. [Figure 1] 1 shows a supply module. [Figure 1a] 1 illustrates the process of forming a stream of segments. [Figure 1b]Shows the process of forming two streams of segments, [Figure 2] shows a group of rods and segments formed after cutting the rods; [Figure 3] 1 shows a supply device for supplying segments in a first embodiment; [Figure 4] Indicates the instantaneous acceleration stage of the receiving drum, [Figure 5] 1 shows a supply device for supplying segments in a second embodiment; [Figure 6] 6 shows the drawer in a top view of the device of FIG. 5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] The feeding module 20 shown in FIG. 1 includes a hopper 21 and a receiving drum 22 with a circumferentially arranged longitudinal groove for receiving the rod MA fed from the hopper 21. The receiving drum 22 transfers the rod MA to a conveying drum 23, which is provided with a cutting head 24 with one or more circular knives 24A for cutting the rod MA. As the rod MA is transported, the conveying drum 23 cuts the rod MA into individual segments A (FIG. 2). The hopper 21, receiving drum 22, conveying drum 23, and cutting head 24 constitute a feeding device 30 that feeds a group G of segments A. The feeding module 20 further includes a shift drum 25 that changes the relative position of the segments A and an alignment drum 26 that forms at least one stream of segments A. The feeding module 20 feeds the segments A as at least one stream. An example of a stream of segments A formed by cutting the rod MA is shown in FIG. 1a. The drums are omitted, and the rod MA and segments A are shown sequentially arranged on a receiving drum 22, a conveying drum 23, a shift drum 25, and an alignment drum 26. The shift drum 25 changes the relative arrangement of the segments A. The shift drum 25 is also called a cascade drum. In the drum 26, the segments A are arranged to move along a single movement path, and move along a single line from the perspective of the side surface of the drum. FIG. 1b shows the formation of two streams of segments A produced by cutting the rod MA. The streams of segments A can be further transferred to a receiving device via a transfer drum 27. The supply module 20 can be used to supply the streams of segments A to an assembly device of a multi-segment product manufacturing machine.

[0022] The rods MA stored in the hopper 21 are loaded into the longitudinal grooves 28 arranged around the periphery of the receiving drum 22 as it rotates. The rods MA are held in the longitudinal grooves 28 by vacuum supplied through holes in the bottom of the longitudinal grooves 28. The receiving drum 22 transfers the rods MA at transfer point X to the longitudinal grooves 29 (FIG. 3) of the transport drum 23, where they are also held by vacuum. During their movement on the transport drum 23, the rods MA are cut into individual segments A. Meanwhile, segments A produced from one rod MA form groups G (FIG. 2). The group G of segments A, which are sequentially fed, is transferred to the next drum and shifted during the movement, forming a stream of individual segments A with their axes perpendicular to the direction of movement. The group of segments A, which are sequentially fed, is received in a direction substantially aligned with the direction of the rotation axis of the transport drum 23, forming a flux of individual segments A whose axes are aligned with the direction of movement as the segments A move.

[0023] 3, the feeding device 30, which forms part of the feeding module 20, comprises a filling sensor 31 which checks the presence of a rod MA in the longitudinal groove 28 of the receiving drum 22. Furthermore, the feeding device 30 comprises a quality control sensor 32 which checks the quality of the rod MA being transferred.

[0024] The supply device 30 is equipped with a rod sorting device 33 for removing defective rods MA. The sorting device 33 is equipped with a pressure vessel 34 and a valve 35 in a supply channel 36 to which compressed air is supplied. The rods MA are removed by temporarily supplying compressed air to a removal channel 37. The removal force acting on the rods MA is greater than the force holding the rods MA in the longitudinal grooves 28. In FIG. 3, the removed defective rods are designated MA'.

[0025] The receiving drum 22 is adapted to operate at a variable and adjustable rotational speed, preferably by position control, for example, by connecting the receiving drum 22 to a digitally controlled servo drive equipped with a position encoder. The rotational speed ω1 of the receiving drum 22 is synchronized with the rotational speed ω2 of the conveying drum 23. Synchronization between the receiving drum 22 and the conveying drum 23 is maintained when all longitudinal grooves 28 of the receiving drum 22 are filled. During operation of the feeding device 30, individual longitudinal grooves 28 may become unfilled. An unfilled longitudinal groove 28' may occur due to a temporary inability to effectively receive the rod MA from the hopper 21. An unfilled longitudinal groove 28' may also occur when the quality control sensor 92 detects a defective rod MA' and the sorting unit 93 is activated. If the sensor 92 detects a low-quality rod MA', the sorting unit 93 rejects the defective rod. In Figure 3a, longitudinal groove 28' refers to the longitudinal groove from which defective rods MA' have been removed after operation of sorting unit 93. Hereinafter, longitudinal groove 28' will refer to both the longitudinal groove from which defective rods have been removed and the longitudinal groove that has not been filled with rods MA from hopper 21.

[0026] The supply device 30 is adapted to transport the rod MA from the longitudinal groove 28 of the receiving drum 22 to the longitudinal groove 29 of the transport drum 23 at the transfer point X. The receiving drum 22 rotates at a speed ω1, and the transport drum 23 rotates at a speed ω2 adjusted to the speed ω1, so that the linear velocities of the receiving drum 22 and the transport drum 23 are equal. The supply device 30 is configured to temporarily accelerate the receiving drum 22 before the unfilled longitudinal groove 28' of the receiving drum 22 reaches the transfer point X. That is, the receiving drum 22 is configured to perform a rotational movement at a speed ω1'. Thus, when the unfilled longitudinal groove 28' of the receiving drum 22 is detected, the receiving drum 22 rotates at the increased speed ω1', so that at the transfer point X from the rod MA to the longitudinal groove 29 of the transport drum 23, there is another filled longitudinal groove 28'' of the receiving drum 22 and another empty longitudinal groove 29' of the transport drum 23. The effect of the acceleration of the receiving drum 22 is that all longitudinal grooves 29 of the transport drum 23 are filled, i.e. no “unfilled” longitudinal grooves 28 ′ are transferred to the transport drum 23 .

[0027] FIG. 4 illustrates the successive motion states implemented to eliminate the "unfilled" state of the receiving drum 22. The illustrated motion phases include the acceleration of the receiving drum 22, and the diagram also shows the motion phases of the conveying drum 23 relative to the motion of the receiving drum 22. In state a, the rod MA is transferred to the longitudinal groove 29, and the receiving drum 22 rotates at a rated rotational speed ω1, which is adjusted to the rotational speed ω2 of the conveying drum 23. On the conveying drum, the next longitudinal groove to be filled is designated 29', and the longitudinal groove 28' is in an unfilled state as it approaches the transfer point X. Immediately after transferring the rod MA to the longitudinal groove 29 of the conveying drum 23, the receiving drum 22 begins to move at an increased speed ω1' in the illustrated state b, and the longitudinal groove 28' moves faster than the longitudinal groove 29' to be filled with the next rod MA. In state c, the receiving drum 22 continues to rotate at the increased speed ω1', and the conveying drum 23 rotates at the rated speed ω2. In state d, the filled longitudinal groove 28'' of the receiving drum 22 and the empty longitudinal groove 29' of the transport drum 23 are positioned opposite each other and their movements are synchronized, allowing the rods MA to be transferred between the longitudinal grooves. Meanwhile, the receiving drum 22 reduces its speed to a standard rotational speed ω1, and the transport drum 23 rotates at a standard rotational speed ω2. The receiving drum 22 and the transport drum 23 continue to rotate synchronously at speeds ω1 and ω2, respectively, allowing the continuous transfer of rods MA.

[0028] FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of a feeding device 40. The feeding device 40 includes a hopper 41, a receiving drum 22, a conveying drum 23, and a cutting head 24. The feeding device 40 further includes a feeding channel 42 for feeding the rod MA, and the feeding of the rod MA to the hopper 41 is assisted by two conveyors 43 and 44. The feeding device 40 is used to cut the rod MA and feed a group G of segments A. The receiving drum 22 is provided with a circumferentially arranged longitudinal groove 28 for receiving the rod MA from the hopper 41. The receiving drum 22 transfers the rod MA to the conveying drum 23, where a cutting head 24 with one or more circular knives 24A for cutting the rod MA is disposed. The conveying drum 23 cuts the rod MA into individual segments A while conveying the rod MA (FIG. 2).

[0029] The rods MA stored in the hopper 41 are loaded into the longitudinal grooves 28 arranged on the periphery of the receiving drum 22 as it rotates. The rods MA are held in the longitudinal grooves 28 by vacuum supplied through holes in the bottom of the longitudinal grooves 28. The receiving drum 22 transfers the rods MA at transfer point X to the longitudinal grooves 29 of the transport drum 23, where they are held by vacuum. The rods MA are cut into individual segments A, and the segments A produced from one rod MA form groups G. The segments A of the groups G are sequentially supplied and shifted during the movement to form a stream of individual segments A. In this embodiment, the groups G are extracted in a direction substantially parallel to the rotation axis k of the transport drum 23, i.e., perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. The extraction unit for extracting the groups G is described below.

[0030] 5, the feeding device 40 comprises a filling sensor 31 which checks the presence of the rod MA in the longitudinal groove 28 of the receiving drum 22. Furthermore, the feeding device 40 comprises a quality control sensor 32 which checks the quality of the conveyed rod MA.

[0031] As in the first embodiment, the supply device 40 includes a rod sorting device 33 for removing defective MA rods. The sorting device 33 is composed of a pressure vessel 34 and a valve 35 arranged in a supply channel 36 for supplying compressed air. The removal of the rods MA is achieved by temporarily supplying compressed air to a removal channel 37. The force acting on the rods MA is greater than the force holding the rods MA in the longitudinal grooves 28. In FIG. 5, the removed defective rods are designated as MA'.

[0032] During operation of the feeding device 40, individual longitudinal grooves 28 may become empty. As in the first embodiment, when an empty longitudinal groove 28' appears, the receiving drum 22 is accelerated as described in the first embodiment.

[0033] 6 shows a pull-out unit 50 which pulls out a group G of segments A from the longitudinal groove 29 of the transport drum 23 in a direction substantially corresponding to the rotation axis k of the transport drum 23. The pull-out unit is arranged in the lower part of the transport drum 23. The pull-out unit 50 is provided with lugs 51 which are equally spaced along a chain 52. The movement path of the chain 52 is designed so that the lugs 51 can pass through the longitudinal groove 29'' when they are in their lowest position, as shown in FIG. 5. The movement of the chain 52 and the transport drum 23 is synchronized with one another. Usually, the movement path of the lugs 51 is offset from the axis k by a small angle in a top view, i.e. as shown in FIG. 6.

[0034] The above-described embodiments show specific examples of the general method of feeding rod-like objects, in particular rods MA, between drums in an apparatus according to the invention.

[0035] A method for feeding rod-shaped articles (rods MA) for the tobacco industry between a receiving drum 22 and a conveying drum 23 includes a step of identifying empty longitudinal grooves 28' on the receiving drum 22. Identifying empty longitudinal grooves 28' includes detecting empty longitudinal grooves 28' by observing the longitudinal grooves of the receiving drum 22 and verifying the presence of rod-shaped objects MA in the longitudinal grooves 28 using a filling sensor 31. Such sensors are known in the art and include optical sensors operating in different wavelength ranges of visible light, optical sensors operating in different axes, and vision sensors using computer image analysis.

[0036] The identification of an empty longitudinal groove is alternatively or additionally performed by a bad rod MA removal signal sent from the rod MA quality control sensor 32. This removal signal is assigned to a specific MA rod and therefore to a specific longitudinal groove 28, which after removal becomes an empty longitudinal groove 28'.

[0037] The essence of the inventive method is that, after identifying an empty longitudinal groove 28' on the receiving drum 22, the speed ω1 of the receiving drum 22 is increased so that at the transfer point X where the rod MA transfers to the longitudinal groove 29 of the transport drum 23, there is another filled longitudinal groove 28' on the receiving drum 22 and another empty longitudinal groove 29' on the transport drum 23. By increasing the speed ω1 of the receiving drum 22, the receiving drum 22 accelerates sufficiently so that at the transfer point X, the empty longitudinal groove 29' on the transport drum 23 meets another filled longitudinal groove 28'' on the receiving drum 22.

[0038] The essence of this solution is to change the relative rotation speed between the receiving drum 22 and the transport drum 23, so that the same effect can be achieved by reducing the rotation speed ω2 of the transport drum 23.

Claims

1. 1. A feeding device for feeding segments of tobacco industry material, comprising: a hopper for storing rods of tobacco industry material; a receiving drum adapted to receive the rod from the hopper; a transport drum for transporting the rod while cutting the rod into segments; a cutting head for cutting the rods conveyed on the conveying drum; a fill sensor for checking the presence of the rod in the longitudinal groove of the receiving drum; Equipped with the rotational movement of the transport drum is synchronized with the movement of the receiving drum so that the rods are transferred from the longitudinal grooves of the receiving drum to the longitudinal grooves of the transport drum; the receiving drum is adapted to perform a rotational movement at an increased speed, whereby when an unfilled longitudinal groove is detected on the receiving drum, the receiving drum moves at the increased speed so that at the point where the rod is transferred to the longitudinal groove of the transport drum, there is another filled longitudinal groove of the receiving drum and another empty longitudinal groove of the transport drum, An apparatus characterized in that

2. 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein synchronization occurs at or approaching the point at which the rods pass into the longitudinal groove of the transport drum.

3. 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises a quality control sensor for the rod.

4. 4. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a rod sorter adapted to remove the rods.

5. 5. The device according to claim 1, further comprising an extractor for extracting the rod from the longitudinal groove of the transport drum.

6. a supply module for supplying segments made of tobacco industry materials, a hopper for storing rods of tobacco industry material; a receiving drum adapted to receive the rod from the hopper; a conveying drum for conveying the rod while cutting the rod into individual segments; a cutting head for cutting the rods transported on the transport drum; a shift drum for varying the relative positions of the segments; an alignment drum for generating at least one stream of said segments; a fill sensor for checking the presence of the rod in the longitudinal groove of the receiving drum; Equipped with The rotational movement of the transport drum is synchronized with the movement of the receiving drum, thereby transferring the rod from the longitudinal groove of the receiving drum to the longitudinal groove of the transport drum; the receiving drum is adapted to rotate at an increased speed, so that when an unfilled longitudinal groove is detected on the receiving drum, the receiving drum moves at the increased speed so that at the point where the rod is transferred to the longitudinal groove of the transport drum, there is another filled longitudinal groove of the receiving drum and another empty longitudinal groove of the transport drum, 10. A supply module comprising:

7. 7. A supply module according to claim 6, characterized in that synchronization occurs at or approaching the point at which the rods pass into the longitudinal groove of the transport drum.

8. 8. A supply module according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that it comprises a quality control sensor for the rods.

9. 9. The supply module of claim 8, further comprising a rod sorter adapted to remove the rods.

10. 10. A supply module according to claim 6, further comprising an extractor for extracting the rods from the longitudinal grooves of the transport drum.

11. 1. A method for feeding rod-like objects from the tobacco industry, which are rods, between a drum and another drum, comprising the steps of identifying an empty longitudinal groove on a receiving drum, after the step of identifying an empty longitudinal groove on the receiving drum, the speed of the receiving drum is increased relative to the speed of the transporting drum, so that at the point where the rod is transferred to the longitudinal groove on the transporting drum, there are other filled longitudinal grooves on the receiving drum and other empty longitudinal grooves on the transporting drum; A method characterized by:

12. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of identifying empty longitudinal slots on the receiving drum is performed by a fill sensor that checks for the presence of the rod in the longitudinal slot.

13. 13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the step of identifying empty longitudinal slots on the receiving drum is performed based on a bad rod rejection signal from a quality control sensor for the rods.

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