Compact Automatic Cigarette-Making Machine with Dual-Purpose Control Disk
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cigarette-making machines are either slow and cumbersome for manual use or large, complex, and expensive for automatic operation, often requiring calibration and prone to breakdowns, making them impractical for individual use.
Innovation Solution
A compact automatic cigarette-making machine with a housing, compacting chamber, and electric motor-driven mechanism that includes a reciprocating compacting member and injection spoon for efficiently compacting and injecting tobacco into a cigarette tube, using a dual-purpose control disk and gear system for operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual injector-type cigarette-making machines are used, then the machine is simple and easy to operate, but the machine is slow and cumbersome to use when making a substantial number of cigarettes
Solution Approach 1:
The automatic cigarette-making machine performs compaction, injection, and ejection operations automatically without requiring manual intervention for each cigarette, thereby maintaining simplicity while dramatically increasing productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The machine uses a cyclic operation where the compaction member reciprocates periodically to compact tobacco and the injection member periodically injects compressed tobacco into tubes, enabling continuous high-speed production while keeping the mechanism simple
2Productivity
If complex automatic cigarette-making machines are used, then the machine can produce cigarettes automatically at high speed, but the machine becomes large, expensive, and difficult to use
Solution Approach 1:
The machine divides the cigarette-making process into distinct functional segments: a compaction chamber with a compaction member, an injection member, and a tube holder, each performing a specific function. This segmentation allows for a compact design that is easier to manufacture and maintain while achieving automatic high-speed production
Solution Approach 2:
The control mechanism integrates multiple functions into a unified system that coordinates compaction, injection, and ejection operations through a single control cycle, eliminating the need for separate complex control systems for each function
3Extent of automation
If complex automatic cigarette-making machines are used, then the machine can operate automatically, but the machine requires careful calibration and is vulnerable to breakdown and expensive repairs
Solution Approach 1:
The machine automatically performs all operations including compaction, injection, and ejection without requiring calibration or adjustment during operation, thereby maintaining high automation while improving reliability and reducing maintenance costs
Solution Approach 2:
The design anticipates potential failures by using simple, robust mechanical components with few moving parts that are less prone to breakdown, and positions the ejection member to automatically release completed cigarettes, preventing jamming and other failures before they occur
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The machine consistently and efficiently produces cigarettes without the need for complex adjustments or expensive repairs, offering a practical solution for individual use with its compact design and reliable operation.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure applying member with an elastomeric tip captures a portion of the tube over the nipple during the cigarette filling process
Data Source
AI summary
A cigarette-making machine of the tobacco-injecting type including a housing with an aperture and a compacting chamber in communication with the aperture for receiving loose tobacco, a compacting member mounted for reciprocal up and down motion from an initial position adjacent the top of the compacting chamber toward the bottom of the compacting chamber, an injection spoon mounted for reciprocal lateral movement from a rest position within the compacting chamber across the compacting chamber to transport rod-like compacted tobacco shapes past the ejection side of the compacting chamber, through the nipple and into a hollow cigarette tube, an electrically powered motor, and a dual purpose control disk adapted to be rotated about its axis by the motor to initially move the compacting member up and down in the compacting chamber and then to move the injection spoon across the compacting chamber as the control disk is rotated by the motor.