The object of the invention is a method and a device for opening cigarettes constituting cigarette waste rejected from the process of production and packaging of cigarettes.
An important issue related to a cigarette production process is reclaiming tobacco from the cigarettes constituting the production process waste generated during start-up of machines for production and packaging of cigarettes. The cigarette waste is constituted by finished cigarettes which do not meet quality requirements. The cigarette waste may also include the cigarettes meeting the quality requirements but packed into defective packs. The tobacco reclaimed from the waste cigarettes is reused in the production process. An initial step of the tobacco recycling process is opening the waste cigarettes which can be preceded for example by perforating or cutting the cigarette paper wrappers. In the case of cutting non-filter cigarettes, the cigarette paper wrapper is cut along the whole length of a cigarette. In the case of filter cigarettes, the paper wrapper should only be cut along the tobacco portion, while in the filter portion the paper wrapping the filter must remain unimpaired. The reclaimed tobacco is added to the shredded tobacco which is fed to the machines for the production of cigarettes. Since the smoke from burnt filtering material can be harmful to smokers, quality of the cigarettes is significantly lowered if the tobacco used for the production comprises particles of filtering material. While designing devices for reclaiming tobacco from the defective cigarettes it has to be taken into account that contemporarily produced cigarettes are provided with more and more complex, and thus increasingly longer, multi-segment filters comprising various kinds of filtering materials and flavour additives. Individual components of the multi-segment filters are not bonded with one another so the filter structure is protected only by the paper wrapper of the filter, which makes the multi-segment filters particularly sensitive to accidental local impacts causing their breakage or deformation. Additional weakness of such filters is caused by the spaces which are not filled or which are only partially filled with for example carbonaceous granulate, these spaces being located between hard filter segments.
Document GB 327 765 presents a cylindrical rotating drum sieve, into which the cut open cigarettes are fed in order to separate the shredded tobacco from the tobacco paper. Bars are provided inside the drum along its generatrices designed to move the defective cigarettes upwardly so as to make them fall from a substantial height onto the lower part of the sieve. The cigarettes fed into the drum having an inclined axis of rotation are repeatedly lifted and deformed while dropping down onto the lower part of the sieve on their way from the drum inlet to the outlet thereof. This process enables reclaiming tobacco from the cigarettes.
Document DE 567 059 discloses a prism-shaped rotational drum sieve. The cigarettes fed into the drum repeatedly strike against the drum walls while also coming under the action of non-moving elements which press them against the drum walls, which enhances extraction of tobacco from the cigarettes. Similarly to the solution presented in the previous document, the axis of rotation of the sieve is inclined.
Document DE 1 632 241 presents various apparatuses for opening cigarettes provided with many cigarette striking elements. The cigarettes moving through the drum chambers are repeatedly struck, deformed and broken. It should be noted that the cigarettes being struck at random due to the presence of numerous striking elements. The spaces between the working elements are chosen so as to prevent tearing the paper wrapper apart so as the filters are not impaired during tobacco extraction. However, this solution is not applicable in the case of the contemporarily used long multi-segment filters because it would lead to breakage of such filters causing extraction of the filter segments or filtering materials.
The object of the invention is to provide an improved method and a device for opening cigarettes constituting cigarette waste, which would eliminate the possibility of the cigarettes being struck against at random. Another object of the invention is to provide a new device which is more efficient than the known devices of that type, while keeping its dimensions relatively small.
According to the invention a method is provided for opening cigarettes constituting cigarette waste in a device comprising a rotational drum the inner wall of which is equipped with at least one scraping away element extending generally along the drum, and at least one rotational beater located inside the drum striking against the cigarettes, wherein the cigarettes fed into the rotating drum and being lifted by means of at the least one scraping away element and falling by gravity, are struck against by means of the at least one rotational beater in a direction substantially perpendicular to the axes of the cigarettes with a force enabling their opening.
Preferably, the cigarettes are struck against along their whole length.
Each beater preferably rotates in the same direction as the drum or in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the drum.
Preferably, the cigarettes are cut or perforated before being fed into the drum.
According to the invention a device is provided for opening cigarettes constituting cigarette waste, comprising a rotational drum having a rotation axis inclined to the horizontal, the inner wall of which being provided with at least one scraping away element extending substantially along the drum, with at least one rotational rod-shaped beater striking against the cigarettes located inside the drum.
The device is characterised in that the said at least one beater is pivotally mounted on an axis directed along the axis of the drum and is rotatable in a space between the axis of the drum and the at least one scraping away element in such a way that each beater is oriented substantially along the drum.
Preferably, the said at least one beater extends substantially along the at least one scraping away element.
The axis of rotation of the at least one beater is preferably parallel to the axis of the drum but is not aligned with the said axis.
Two beaters may be mounted opposite to each other in relation to their axis of rotation.
The device preferably comprises two or four scraping away elements arranged in pairs opposite to each other in relation to the axis of the drum.
The at least one beater may have a form of a rod oriented in parallel to the axis of the drum.
In a variant, the at least one beater may have a form of a rod having a diameter corresponding to the cigarette diameter.
In another variant the at least one beater has a form of a rod having a rectangular cross section.
Preferably, the device may comprise a rotatable cylindrical surface limiting the working space of the beaters from the inside, the surface being located between the at least one beater and the axis of the drum, the axis of rotation of the surface being preferably aligned with the axis of rotation of the beaters.
The cylindrical surface is preferably extended at one side by a conical surface.
The distance between the cylindrical surface and the scraping away element may correspond to three diameters of a cigarette, preferably two diameters of the cigarette.
The at least one scraping away element preferably protrudes radially or in a non-radial direction inward from the inner wall of the drum.
The at least one scraping away element is preferably oriented obliquely to the drum axis.
In the device according to the invention, the opening of the cigarettes is performed within a small space while the device is highly efficient.
Owing to the special construction of the device and to the orientation of the beaters along the drum as well as the orientation of the cigarettes along the scraping away elements, the cigarettes may be struck against over its entire length in a direction perpendicular to the axes of the cigarettes. Such an arrangement reduces the risk of damaging the filter possibly leading to extraction of filtering material, in particular the segments of multi-segment filters comprising untypical filtering elements and flavour additives. Striking by the working surface of the beater against the filter in a direction perpendicular to the filter axis does not result in separation of the filter components because there are no forces which could make the filter segments move apart or make the filter break.
The device operates efficiently enough to enable opening of the cigarettes that have not been perforated before.
The preferred embodiments of the device according to the invention are presented in a drawing, wherein:
The device according to the first embodiment of the invention consists of a cylindrical rotational drum 1 (
The cigarettes 6 are delivered to the open space of the drum 1 on the side of this end of the drum which is located higher (on the right side in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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P-393944 | Feb 2011 | PL | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/PL12/50006 | 2/15/2012 | WO | 00 | 8/16/2013 |