Compact Cigarette Manufacturing Machine for Small-Scale Operations

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current cigarette manufacturing machines are large and inefficient for small-scale operations, resulting in significant waste and inefficiency in using cut tobacco and other materials.

Innovation Solution

A compact cigarette manufacturing machine with a simple mechanical structure that utilizes a housing with a material chamber, filling pipe, loading element, presser, and power source to efficiently pack cut tobacco or other materials into a cigarette tube with minimal waste, suitable for domestic use.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If current cigarette manufacturing machines are used, then large-scale production is achieved, but device size and material waste increase for small-scale operations

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveproduction efficiencyVSAvoidmachine size
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSVolume of moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The machine is divided into separate functional modules: a material chamber for holding cut tobacco, a filling pipe for delivering material to the cigarette tube, a presser for compacting the material, and a holder for supporting the cigarette tube. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and enables a compact overall design suitable for small-scale operations while maintaining production efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Productivity

If current cigarette manufacturing machines are used, then large-scale production is achieved, but material waste increases in small-scale operations

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveproduction efficiencyVSAvoidcut tobacco waste
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSLoss of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The material chamber is designed to hold a limited, pre-measured amount of cut tobacco that corresponds to the quantity needed for one or a few cigarette tubes. The loading element and presser work together to compact this predetermined amount of material efficiently, ensuring that only the necessary amount is used and minimizing waste during small-scale production operations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Volume of moving object

If compact machine design is implemented, then device size is reduced, but manufacturing precision may be compromised

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemachine sizeVSAvoidpacking uniformity
Core Design Contradiction:
Volume of moving objectVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The presser is designed with a specific pressing surface that contacts the cut tobacco in the filling pipe and applies localized pressure to compact the material uniformly. The holder supports the cigarette tube at a precise position to ensure proper alignment with the filling pipe. These localized quality controls maintain manufacturing precision despite the compact overall machine size.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP4005404B1Cigarette manufacturing machine and method
Publication Date: 2024.03.27 LIU JIANDONG
  • EP4005404B1 patent drawingFigure 1A~1B
  • EP4005404B1 patent drawingFigure 1C~1D
  • EP4005404B1 patent drawingFigure 1E~1F

AI summary

A compact cigarette manufacturing machine comprises a housing, a filling pipe, a loading element, a presser, and a push spoon. The housing encloses a material chamber having a bottom surface and an open end for receiving cut tobacco or other materials. The filling pipe is disposed on the housing to define a filling tip, and extends into a filling cavity in communication with the material chamber through an opening of the bottom surface of the material chamber. The loading element is assembled with the housing and is operable to load the materials into the filling cavity through the opening of the bottom surface of the material chamber. The presser is assembled with the housing and is operable to press the materials loaded in the filling cavity. A push spoon slidably disposed inside the filling cavity is operable to deliver the materials in the filling cavity into a cigarette tube loaded on the filling tip.