The present invention relates to a machine for the manufacture of composite filters.
Conventionally, the harmful effects of inhaling cigarette smoke are reduced by tipping cigarettes with composite filters, that is to say with filters obtainable by pairing together two or more filter plugs made of material having different filtration characteristics.
In the case of composite filters incorporating two filter plugs, for example, these are prepared employing machines in which first and second plugs dispensed from separate reservoirs are transferred along a direction transverse to their longitudinal axes, by respective trains of fluted rollers, onto a common take-up roller with peripheral flutes.
Each flute will therefore accommodate a single filter element consisting of two axially aligned plugs having different characteristics.
These composite filter elements, made up of plugs placed in end-to-end contact, are then transferred by rotary transfer means onto a garniture tongue and fashioned into a filter rod. Proceeding singly and in succession on the tongue, more exactly, the filter elements advance in end-to-end contact along a direction parallel with their longitudinal axes and are wrapped in a strip of paper material to form a continuous filter rod.
The rod is divided up subsequently into single composite filters by a rotary cutter operating at the outfeed end of the garniture tongue.
In reality, these machines of conventional type for manufacturing composite filters betray serious limitations in terms of production speed.
More precisely, it has been found that they are not able to match the output speeds generated by cigarette makers and filter tip attachment machines of the latest generation, and therefore cannot be linked up directly to these same machines.
The object of the present invention is to provide a machine for manufacturing composite filters, such as will be unaffected by the above noted drawback.
A further object of the invention is to provide a machine for making composite filters, which in the event of a change in production size, that is to say in the length of the composite filter, will be able to guarantee that the filters are correctly positioned on the garniture tongue.
The stated object is realized according to the present invention in machine for manufacturing composite filters, comprising a unit by which filter plugs having different filtration properties are assembled in axial alignment to form composite groups; conveyor means with flutes, by which the groups of plugs are taken up singly and caused to advance in a direction transverse to their own axes; a garniture tongue with two channels extending parallel one to another and substantially parallel also to the flutes of the conveyor means; rotary cutting means by which two continuous filter rods formed in the channels of the tongue are divided up into single composite filters; and a rotating member, centered on an axis extending transversely to the channels of the tongue and equipped with a plurality of carriers by which pairs of the groups of plugs are transferred from the conveyor means to the two channels, in such a way as to form two continuous successions of groups in the channels.
The invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:
With reference to
The function of the assembling unit 4 is to prepare groups 6 of filter plugs having different filtration properties, disposed in axial alignment and in end-to-end contact one with another.
In the example of
The assembling unit 4 comprises a belt type outfeed conveyor 9 presenting flutes 10 disposed transversely to the conveying direction, denoted D, by which single groups 6 of the aforementioned filter plugs are accommodated and advanced in a continuous flow F toward the runout end of the conveyor 9.
The machine 1 comprises conveyor means denoted 11 in their entirety, carried by a plate 12 occupying substantially the same plane as the bulkhead 5, by which the groups 6 are transferred in a direction transverse to their own axes.
Also forming part of the machine 1 are a rotating member denoted 13, centered on a relative axis 13a and mounted to a bulkhead 14 set at right angles to the main bulkhead 5, a garniture tongue 15 carried by the frame 3, affording two parallel channels 15a along which two continuous filter rods 16 are formed, and rotary cutting means positioned at the outfeed end of the tongue 15, shown schematically in
The conveyor means 11 comprise means by which to divide the flow F of groups 6 running off the belt conveyor 9, embodied as a pair of rotating drums denoted 18 and 19, positioned respectively left and right as viewed in
The drums 18 and 19 are centered on axes 18a and 19a parallel to the flutes 10 of the conveyor 9 and rotatable in opposing directions, anticlockwise and clockwise respectively, revolving substantially tangential one to another at a position denoted 20.
The right hand drum 19 (
The aspirating flutes 22 and 23 are connected to suction means of conventional type, and the shorter pitch flutes 22 can be deactivated selectively by a signal from a control unit of familiar type (not illustrated), in such a way that the flow F from the belt conveyor 9 will be divided beyond the position of tangency 20 to create a first flow F1 on the one drum 18 and a second flow F2 on the other drum 19.
The conveyor means 11 further comprise pitch-adapting means 24 provided by two drums 25 and 26, positioned left and right respectively (
Each drum 25 and 26 is furnished peripherally with a plurality of arms 27 pivoting on axes 28 parallel to the axis 25a and 26a of rotation, each arm 27 in turn being equipped with an aspirating flute 29 at the free end proportioned to admit one group 6 of plugs.
The function of the two pitch-adapting drums 25 and 26 is, through the agency of the arms 27, to transfer the groups 6 from respective positions of tangency with the first drums 18 and 19 to a position 30 of minimum distance between the arms 27 of the two drums 25 and 26, whereupon the groups 6 are transferred to the rotating member 13.
Supported by the relative bulkhead 14 of the frame 3, as shown in
Each carrier 32 comprises a pick-up head 33 with two mutually parallel flutes 34 accommodating two groups 6, mounted to a first end of an arm 35 that presents an inclined portion 35a and is anchored at a second end to a shaft 36 of which the axis 36a lies parallel to the centre axis 13a.
The shaft 36 is insertable freely through the rotating body 31, together with interposed means of familiar type (not illustrated) allowing its rotation.
The free end of each shaft 36 projects toward the bulkhead 14 and is connected by way of a lever 37 to a pin 38 extending parallel with the shaft 36 and supported, together with interposed means of familiar type (not illustrated) allowing its rotation, by a second body 39 set in rotation about a relative axis 39a through the agency of actuator means associated with the frame 3 and indicated schematically by a block denoted 40.
The centre axes 13a and 39a of the two rotating bodies 31 and 39 are offset by a predetermined distance identical to the distance that separates the axis 36a of each shaft 36 from the axis 38a of the relative pin 38.
The mechanism thus described, which in practice constitutes a Schmidt type coupling familiar to a person skilled in the art, is set up in such a way that when the two rotating bodies 31 and 39 turn on their axes, the flutes 34 of the carriers 32, which are cantilevered from the first rotating body 31 and parallel one with another, will be maintained substantially horizontal by the action of the linkage components 36, 37, 38 and 39 described above.
Observing
More exactly, the particular architecture and the arrangement of the rotating bodies 31 and 39 are such that each pick-up head 33 passing through the transfer position 30 is able to interact with two arms 27 presented simultaneously by the respective drums 25 and 26, and pick up two groups 6 of filter plugs.
To avoid interference between the carriers 32 and the arms 27 of the drums 25 and 26, advantageously, the inclined portion 35a of the carrier arms 35 is set at an angle of at least between 50° and 60° relative to the axis 13a of the rotating body 31, and preferably 55°.
In operation, groups 6 of filter plugs with different filtration characteristics emerging from the outfeed belt conveyor 9 in a single flow F are ordered into two flows F1 and F2 by the two dividing drums 18 and 19, and directed by the pitch-adapting drums 25 and 26 to the transfer position 30 of the rotating member 13, remaining parallel with the position occupied on the belt and without deviating from the horizontal.
As the drums 25 and 26 rotate, the respective arms 27, which are made to pivot on their axes 25a and 26a by relative cam means not indicated in the drawings, will adapt the pitch of the respective groups 6 so as to match the distance between the flutes 34 presented by successive pick-up heads 33 of the rotating member 13.
The groups 6 are transferred in pairs by the member 13 to the channels 15a of the tongue 15, in such a way as to form two continuous successions of groups 6 advancing in end-to-end contact.
In the case of a size changeover as illustrated in
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