Dual Push Reject Station for Cigarette Group Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing reject stations in cigarette packing machines mix different types of cigarettes when rejecting flawed groups, making it difficult to recover tobacco, as they account for a significant portion of rejected cigarettes and are not easily adaptable or cost-effective.
Innovation Solution
A reject station with dual push devices, one mechanical and one pneumatic, that expel different types of cigarettes separately by using complementary shapes and controlled air nozzles to ensure precise expulsion and separation, allowing for differentiated collection and reuse of tobacco.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a single bin is used to collect rejected cigarettes, then the device complexity is reduced, but the tobacco recovery efficiency deteriorates because different cigarette types mix together
Solution Approach 1:
The reject station is divided into multiple independent reject stations (first reject station, second reject station, etc.), each responsible for rejecting a specific type of cigarette. This segmentation allows different cigarette types to be collected separately in different bins, enabling efficient tobacco recovery while maintaining simple individual station designs.
2Force
If a mechanical pusher is used to expel rejected cigarettes, then the expulsion force is sufficient, but the device complexity increases and adaptation to different cigarette types becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The reject station uses a pneumatic system with a nozzle that directs compressed air to blow rejected cigarettes out of the pocket. This pneumatic approach provides sufficient expulsion force while being highly adaptable to different cigarette types and sizes, and simplifies the mechanical structure compared to traditional pusher mechanisms.
3Loss of substance
If multiple reject stations are used to separate cigarette types, then the tobacco recovery efficiency is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each reject station is designed as a universal module that can handle different cigarette types through pneumatic control. The stations share common structural elements and control mechanisms, allowing them to be replicated and configured in series without proportionally increasing overall system complexity. This modular universal design enables efficient separation while maintaining manufacturing simplicity.
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
Enables efficient separation and collection of different cigarette types, facilitating tobacco reuse and being compact, easy to install, and inexpensive to manufacture, addressing the inefficiencies of existing systems.
Implementation Method 1
a second push device (7) which is fixed alongside the group-forming conveyor (4) and is provided with a number of blow nozzles (10) arranged to blow, in an expulsion direction (D), onto the cigarettes (B) in the lower layer
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
Reject station (S2) for expelling a flawed group (2) of cigarettes from a pocket (5) of a cigarette packing machine group-forming conveyor (4); the reject station (S2) comprises: a first push device (6) located alongside the group-forming conveyor (4) and which, to expel the flawed group (2) of cigarettes from the pocket (5), pushes some of the cigarettes in the group (2) in an expulsion direction (D) perpendicular to the feeding path (P) of the group-forming conveyor (4); and a second push device (7) which is located alongside the group-forming conveyor (4), on the opposite side with respect to the first push device (6)and, to expel the flawed group (2) of cigarettes from the pocket (5), pushes the rest of the cigarettes in the group (2) in an expulsion direction (D) opposite to that of the first push device (6).