Rod Manufacturing Strand Width Adjustment for Bead Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for manufacturing continuous rods with embedded objects, such as beads, in the tobacco industry fail to maintain precise object positioning without stopping the machine, leading to production losses due to uncontrolled bead movement caused by fiber compression forces.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that adjust the position of objects within the continuous rod by adaptive forming of the material bundle strands, using a cutting unit to adjust the width of partial strands and a sensor to ensure accurate placement without altering the inserting unit, allowing for online adjustments during production.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the position of the inserting wheel is adjusted to control bead placement, then the position of the object can be controlled, but the machine must be stopped for adjustment which reduces productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the strand width adjustable during operation. The cutting unit can dynamically change the width of material strands being fed to the compressing unit, allowing online adjustment of object position without stopping production. This transforms a static system into a dynamic one where parameters can be changed during operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameter of strand width through the cutting unit to control object positioning. By varying the width of partial strands fed to the compressing unit, the system can adjust where objects end up in the final rod without mechanical adjustment of the inserting wheel position.
2Ease of manufacture
If crushing fibres to make a groove for bead insertion, then the bead can be inserted into the strand, but the crushed fibres cause uncontrolled bead movement after decompression
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the continuous material strand into multiple partial strands using the cutting unit. These separated partial strands are then fed to the compressing unit where they form grooves naturally without crushing. The segmentation allows objects to be placed in controlled positions between the strands.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the groove-making function from the bead insertion process. Instead of crushing fibres to create a groove, the cutting unit separately creates grooves by separating partial strands before compression, eliminating the harmful crushing effect while maintaining the beneficial groove formation for object insertion.
3Ease of manufacture
If using a feeding wheel to insert beads into compressed fibres, then beads can be placed in the strand, but the position repeatability is poor leading to defective rods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces partial strands as intermediaries between the object insertion process and the final rod structure. These partial strands act as guides and positioning elements that ensure objects are placed at consistent, repeatable positions. The separating elements create controlled pathways that improve positioning repeatability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical adjustment system of the inserting wheel with a strand width control system. Instead of mechanically adjusting the wheel position to control object placement, the system uses the cutting unit to control strand width, which indirectly but more precisely controls object position through the compression process.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for manufacturing of rods of a continuous material strand comprising a feeding unit for feeding material strand, a guiding unit for guiding material strand, a compressing unit for compressing the strand and forming a continuous rod of the material strand, and an object feeding unit for feeding an object to the compressing unit. The apparatus is characterised by being provided with a cutting unit for lengthwise cutting of the material strand into at least two partial strands, whereas the partial strands are fed through the guiding unit to the compressing unit. It is provided with a system for adjusting the position of at least one cutting element in the cutting unit so as to adjust the widths of the partial strands thus determining the point of insertion of the object being inserted.