Cigarette Cutting Apparatus with Pressing Ring and Off-Center Disc Knife
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for recovering tobacco from defective or substandard cigarettes often result in incomplete cutting, leading to harmful smoke from filtering materials and inefficient separation of tobacco from wrapper components, particularly in multi-segment filters with granules like activated carbon.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus with a feeder and guiding groove system that uses a revolving disc knife positioned off-center to cut cigarettes linearly, combined with a pressing ring to securely hold the cigarette in place, ensuring a straight cut and preventing damage to capsules or filters, allowing for efficient separation of tobacco from filtering materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a revolving disc knife is used to cut cigarettes, then the wrapper can be cut, but the cigarette may rotate during cutting causing a helical cutting line that does not reach the mouthpiece
Solution Approach 1:
The cigarette is subjected to vibration before cutting to prevent rotation during the cutting process. This preliminary action ensures that the cigarette remains stable and the cutting line is straight and complete from one end to the mouthpiece.
Solution Approach 2:
A vibration mechanism is applied to the cigarette or the cutting apparatus to counteract the rotation of the cigarette during cutting. The vibration stabilizes the cigarette position, ensuring a straight cutting line that reaches the mouthpiece.
2Manufacturing precision
If the cigarette is vibrated for a long time to prevent rotation, then the cutting line becomes straight, but the processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuous long-duration vibration, periodic or pulsed vibration is applied at critical moments before and during cutting. This reduces the total vibration time while still preventing rotation and ensuring straight cutting lines.
Solution Approach 2:
Vibration is applied briefly before cutting to pre-stabilize the cigarette position, reducing the need for prolonged vibration during the actual cutting process.
3Productivity
If the disc knife is positioned close to the cigarette axis, then cutting efficiency is improved, but capsules or filters may be damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The disc knife is positioned asymmetrically relative to the cigarette axis, offset to one side. This asymmetric positioning allows the knife to cut the wrapper effectively while maintaining a safe distance from the capsule or filter, preventing damage to these components.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting action is localized to specific areas of the cigarette wrapper, with the knife path carefully controlled to avoid sensitive regions containing capsules or filters. Different parts of the cigarette receive different treatment - the wrapper is cut while the capsule/filter is protected.
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus for cutting cigarettes comprising a feeder adapted to transport the cigarettes, the feeder comprises at least one guiding groove arranged along the feeder and at least one revolving disc knife, and the guiding groove is provided with at least two walls, and the revolving disc knife for cutting the cigarettes along the axis of the cigarettes is arranged on a rotating shaft arranged above the feeder, and a ring for pressing the cigarettes against the walls of the groove is arranged next to each disc knife on the same shaft, wherein the ring being loosely movable around said shaft. Each disc knife (7) is positioned in a plane (C) spaced from the axis (k) of the cigarette (6) to be cut open, whereas arrangement of the walls (13, 14; 23, 24; 33, 34) of the guiding groove (5) related to each other provides, before cutting each cigarette (6), blocking the cigarette by means of the pressing ring (10, 20, 30) by pushing the cigarette (6) between the walls (13, 14; 23, 24; 33, 34) of the groove (5) with simultaneous deformation of the cigarette (6). The pressing ring (10, 20, 30) and the disc knife (7) are located above a straight section of the feeder (2). A method of cutting the cigarettes by means of the apparatus according to the invention.