Patent Application
20240334965
The present disclosure generally relates to cannabis joints and more specifically to cannabis joint manufacturing systems and processes.
Cannabis joints have long been and are still very often prepared by hands.
However, the legalization of cannabis in many territories have seen the coming of the automatization in the manufacturing of cannabis joints.
Some of the automated processes in the manufacturing of cannabis joints involve inserting paper cones in a cone holding tray and then vibrating the whole tray while it receives cannabis in bulk, the vibrations aiming at evening out the filling of the cones.
A drawback of such vibrating tray is that strong and moderate vibrations have been found to separate the delta-9-tétrahydrocannabinol (THC) from cannabis, thereby decreasing the quality of the product.
Other known processes for manufacturing cannabis joints include moving together in parallel a series of cannabis cones between different stations, each performing a further step towards manufacturing the joints.
A drawback is that it renders tedious the quality control on each joint, considering that a plurality of cannabis joints is finished at a same time.
Also, the machines used to process many cannabis joints in parallel are bulky.
According to an illustrative embodiment, there is provided a cannabis products manufacturing system comprising:
a number S of at least two different cannabis products manufacturing stations, each for performing on one cannabis support at a time a step among a sequence of steps for manufacturing a cannabis product; the number S of at least two different cannabis products manufacturing stations being positioned side-by-side according to the sequence of steps for manufacturing the cannabis product; a first one of the cannabis products manufacturing stations being a cannabis support picking station for performing a first step among the sequence of steps, which is picking a single cannabis support among a plurality of cannabis supports; and
a cannabis support moving device, including a number S minus 1 of cannabis support grippers arranged side-by-side so that each of the cannabis support grippers is operatively paired with a corresponding one of the manufacturing stations for simultaneous reciprocal movement between the corresponding one of the manufacturing stations and a next one thereof; each of the cannabis support grippers being movable between a cannabis support holding position and a cannabis support releasing position.
According to another illustrative embodiment, there is provided a process for manufacturing cannabis products, the process comprising:
According to still another illustrative embodiment, there is provided a cannabis joints manufacturing machine comprising:
According to still another illustrative embodiment, there is provided a cannabis products manufacturing system comprising:
It is to be noted that the term ‘station’ is to be construed herein as including any system, apparatus, machine and/or device that performs a specific task or step among a plurality of such tasks or steps required to achieve a result.
Also, the expression cannabis product is to be construed herein as including all type of product including cannabis in herb or similar form received in a container or provided on a support of any kind.
The expression cannabis support is to be construed herein as including the intrant to the cannabis manufacturing system described and claimed herein and its various transformed form through manufacturing stations/steps and up to the final product, which is the output product of the manufacturing system/method.
The term ‘step’ should be construed broadly herein as including one or more actions towards a specific result.
Other objects, advantages, and features of the process and system for manufacturing cannabis joints will become more apparent upon reading the following non-restrictive description of illustrative embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the appended drawings:
In the following description, similar features in the drawings have been given similar reference numerals, and in order not to weigh down the figures, some elements are not referred to in some figures if they were already identified in a precedent figure. Herein, it shall further be noted that, for avoiding unnecessary details obscuring the invention, only device structures and/or processing steps closely relevant to schemes according to the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings while omitting other details less relevant to the invention.
The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one”, but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more”, “at least one”, and “one or more than one”. Similarly, the word “another” may mean at least a second or more.
As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “include” and “includes”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contain” and “contains”), are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, un-recited elements.
A system 10 for manufacturing cannabis products according to an illustrative embodiment will now be described with reference first to
The system 10 comprises three (3) cannabis products manufacturing stations 12-16, each for performing on one cannabis support 18-20 at a time, a step among a sequence of steps for manufacturing a cannabis product 22, and a cannabis support moving device 25 for simultaneously moving the cannabis support 18-20 between stations 12-16. The stations 12-16 and moving device 25 are all included in a casing 26.
According to the illustrative embodiment, the cannabis supports 18-20 are, when inputted in the system, well-known cannabis cones 18 that have been prefilled with cannabis (not shown) and further provided with a filter 28 their bottom end (see on
Also, it is to be noted that the expressions cone and joint are used herein to refer to the same product, but during different phase of its manufacture. More specifically, the expression “cone” will be generally used herein to refer to the product until the cannabis oil is injected therein, whereby, at that point, the product will be referred to as a ‘joint’. This terminology should however not be used in any restraining way.
Each of the components 12-16, 25 and 26 of the system 10 will now be described in further detail.
The casing 26 includes a generally cubic frame 30 mounted on four (4) adjustable legs 32 (only two shown), top, bottom, back and left side walls 34, 36, 38 and 40 respectively, and front and right-side doors 42 and 44, all mounted to the frame 30. The casing 26 further includes a control panel 46 on the front of the casing 26, extending between the front and right-side doors 42 and 44. The control panel 46 is provided with input and output devices in the form of control knobs 48 and 50 and display screens 52 and 54. The control panel 46 defines the front side of control module(s) (not shown) that are accessible from the right-side door 44 and acts as the interface thereto. The manufacturing stations 12-16 are also connected to the control module(s), which acts as their controller for their synchronized operations.
Since control modules and control panels for manufacturing stations are believed to be well-known in the art, they will not be described herein in more detail for concision purposes.
According to another illustrative embodiment, the legs 32 are replaced by wheels (not shown), rendering the system 10 mobile.
The manufacturing stations 12-16 and moving device 25 are secured to the cubic frame 30 and to the back wall 38.
The casing 26 defines an enclosure, which allows controlling the temperature therein, which can be beneficial for some types of intrants 18 and/or products 22 manufactured by the system 10. In such cases, temperature conditioning systems (not shown) are further provided in the system 10.
Illustrative embodiments of a cannabis products manufacturing system are not limited to include a casing as illustrated, which can have other configurations than illustrated herein or omitted.
Also, the manufacturing stations 12-16 and moving device 25 can be mounted to the casing 26 using any mounting elements or assemblies in addition to and/or alternatively to those that will be described hereinbelow in more detail.
According to the first illustrative embodiment, there are three (3) manufacturing stations 12-16:
With references to
The cannabis cone moving device 25 comprises a linear actuator 56, having a base 57 and a slider 58 conventionally mounted to the base 57 for sliding movements therealong, and first and second grippers 60-62 mounted to the slider 58 for sliding movement along the base 57 in unison with the slider 58.
The first and second grippers 60-62 are fixedly mounted to the slider 58 via a U-shaped plate 64. More specifically, the U-shaped plate 64 is defined by a central portion 66 secured to the slider 58 thereunder using fasteners (not shown), and two lateral arms 68 integrally extending from the central portion 66 on opposite lateral side thereof. Each of the first and second grippers 60-62 are secured to a respective arm 68 of the U-shaped plate 64 thereunder using fasteners 70 so that both grippers 60-62 extend substantially perpendicularly from the base 57 for gripping cannabis cones 18-20 and products 22 oriented substantially perpendicular to both the base 57 and grippers 60-62.
The grippers 60 and 62 have respective pairs of gripping jaws 72 and 74 that are shaped for complementary receiving a cannabis cone 18-20 or product 22 therein. While the gripping jaws 72 of the first gripper 60 are substantially straight, the gripping jaws 74 of the second gripper 62 are generally S-shaped, yielding a gripping portion 76 that is lower than the first gripper 60, for a reason that will be explained hereinbelow.
Both grippers 60 and 62 are movable between a cannabis cone holding position, wherein both their gripping jaws 72 and 74 respectively are generally parallel and joined (see for example on
The skilled person will now appreciate that, while in their cone-releasing position, the grippers 60 and 62 minimize their dimension in the direction perpendicular to the base 57 of the actuator 56, maximizing clearance between the base 57 and the stations 12-16, thereby facilitating their displacement along the stations 12-16.
While the grippers 60 and 62 are configured for gripping cannabis supports in the form of a cannabis cones 18-20 and products in the form of cannabis joints 22, grippers according to another illustrative embodiment (not shown) are configured for gripping cannabis supports and products having another form.
Also, the linear actuator 56 is not limited to the illustrated embodiment and may take any other form allowing to controllably move the grippers 60-62 from stations 12-16 to stations 12-16.
As can be seen in comparing
Further characteristics of the cannabis joints moving device 25 will become more apparent further in with reference to further detail on its operation thereof.
Turning now to
The station 12 comprises a cannabis tray-receiving and moving device 78 that is configured for receiving a tray 79 of cannabis cones 18 and a cannabis cone picking device 80 for picking a cannabis cone 18 therefrom.
The cannabis tray-receiving and moving device 78 comprises a first linear actuating mechanism 84, having a base 86 and a slider (not shown), conventionally mounted to base 86 for sliding movement along a first axis (see arrows 90), that fixedly receives a tray-receiving table 82, and a second linear actuating mechanism 92 that receives the first linear actuating mechanism 84 for reciprocal movement along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis (see arrow 92), rending the tray-receiving table movable in two dimensions.
The tray-receiving table 82 includes a rectangular opening 96 for complementary rectangular-shaped protrusion 97 under the tray 79. According to another illustrative embodiment, the table 82 is provided with other attachment parts or mechanisms (not shown) that are adapted to fixedly receive the tray 79 or a tray having another configuration (not shown) so that the tray 79 can move in unison with the table 82.
The tray-receiving table 82 is attached to the slider of the actuating mechanism 84 for solidary movements therewith using fasteners or other well-known fastening means or method. According to another illustrative embodiment, the tray-receiving table 82 is integral to the slider.
The second linear actuating mechanism 92 includes a linear actuator 98, having a base 100 and a slider 102, a first sliding member in the form of a track 104 positioned in front of the linear actuator 98, parallel thereto having a second sliding member, in the form of cursor 105 mounted thereto, for reciprocating movement therealong (see arrow 92). Each of the base 100 and track 104 are secured respectively to the back and front wall 38 and 42 of the casing 26, via an L-shaped bracket 106. Fasteners 107 (only two shown) or other attachments are used for securing the base 100 and track 104 to the bracket 106 and the bracket 106 to the bottom wall 36.
The longitudinal ends 108 and 110 or the base 86 of the first actuating mechanism 92 are secured to the cursor 105 and slider 102 respectively via an L-shaped bracket 112.
In operation of the cannabis tray-receiving and moving device 78, both actuating mechanisms 84 and 92 are precisely controlled to position the tray-receiving table 82, and therefore any tray 79 of cones 18 thereon, so that a specific cone 18 is appropriately positioned to be picked by the cannabis cone picking device 80. Since the configuration of the tray 79 and the positions of the cones 18 therein is provided to the controller (not shown) of the cannabis tray-receiving and moving device 78, the position of the cannabis cones 18 are indexed and the cannabis tray-receiving and moving device 78 can be operated for their precise displacement relative to the picking device 80.
The cannabis cone picking device 80 comprises a rod-style actuator 114, that is secured to a mounting plate 115 on the back wall 38 via a mounting bracket 116, a rotary actuator 118 mounted to the linear actuator 114, and a small gripper 120 mounted to the rotary actuator 118.
The rotary actuator 118 is secured to the sliding rod 122 of the rod-style actuator 114 via a mounting plate 124.
The small gripper 120 is secured to the output of the rotary actuator 118 and includes a pair of generally L-shaped jaws 126 that are movable between open and close positions, wherein a cannabis cone 18 can be held between the jaws 126 while in their close position (see
The operation of the cannabis cone picking station 12 will now be described with reference to
The rotary actuator 118 of the cannabis cone picking device 80 is first actuated to pivot the small gripper 120 so that the opening side of the jaws 126 are aligned with the direction that the next available cone 18′ that will be presented thereto (see
The rod-style actuator 114 is then operated to push its rod 122 to a position where the gripper 120 is operationally levelled with the upper portion of the cones 18 in the tray 79 (see arrow 127 in
The cannabis tray-receiving and moving device 78 is then actuated as described hereinabove so that the next available cannabis cone 18 in the tray 79 is moved within the jaws 126 of the gripper 120 of the cannabis cone picking device 80. As described hereinabove, the positions of the cone 18 in the tray 79 is indexed relative to the gripper 120. More specifically, the tray 79 is moved (see arrows 90 and 92) to position the next available cone 18′ from the left of the gripper 120, in front thereof (see
The gripper 120 is then actuated to move in its close position, where its jaws 126 precisely close onto the presented cone 18′.
With reference to
In a next step of the system 10, the first gripper 60 is closed onto the cannabis cone 18′ and is then moves the cannabis cone 18′ to the next station 14 (see arrow 134).
This operational cycle of the station 12 is repeated for each further cannabis cone 18 in the tray 79. Of course, this cycle is synchronized with the operation of the other stations 14-16.
In an embodiment wherein the inputs of the system 10 is a cannabis cone similar to the cone 18, but wherein the top end thereof is open, and therefore not twisted, a person skilled in the art will appreciate that the rotary actuator 118 can be further used to rotate the top, while it is squeezed by the gripper 120, to form a twisted tip as illustrated.
The first and second linear actuating mechanisms 84 and 92 are not limited to the first illustrative embodiment and can take other forms allowing to move the table 82 within a plane.
Also, the table may be adapted to receive other cannabis cone support than the illustrated tray 79. The cannabis cone picking device 80 is not limited to the illustrative embodiment and may take another form allowing to pick cannabis cones or other cannabis supports.
Also, the sequence of operation of the station 12 may be different than illustrated and described.
The cannabis cone forming station 14 will now be described in more detail with references first to
According to the first illustrative embodiment, the cannabis cone forming station 14 receives as input from the cannabis cone picking station 12, a cannabis cone 18 including cannabis therein, the cone including a filter 28 at its bottom end, and a twisted top 134 at its top end. As can be seen in
The cannabis cone forming station 14 comprises a tip cuter 136 and a tip flattener 138 and a cannabis cone gripper 139.
The tip flattener 138 comprises a rod-style actuator 140, having a base 142, and a rod 144 operatively mounted therein, an impact tip 146, secured to the rod 144 at the bottom end 148 thereof, and a course stopper 150, secured at the upper end 152 thereof.
The impact tip 146 has an impacting portion 154 that has diameter slightly less than the diameter of the top portion 156 of the cannabis cone 18 and an integral connecting portion 158 that is mounted to the rod 144. According to the first illustrative embodiment, the bottom end 148 of the rod 144 and the connecting portion 158 are configured for complementary connection, for example by including complementary threaded portions. According to another illustrative embodiment, the rod the impact tip 146 is integral to the rod 144. According to another illustrative embodiment, the end of the tip 146 is pointed, allowing to pre-piercing of the cone 18 from the top, to ease the further insertion of the injection needle in the next station.
The course stopper 150 is secured to the upper end 152 of the rod 144 similarly to the mounting of the impact tip 146 to the rod 144. According to another illustrative embodiment (not shown) one or both of the impact tip 146 and course stopper are mounted to the rod 144 so that their distance to the base 142 can be adjusted.
The base 142 is secured to the back wall 38 of the casing 26 via a mounting assembly 160. The mounting assembly 160 includes a first L-shaped bracket 162, having a first flat portion 164 secured to the wall 38 using fasteners 166, and a second elongated flat portion 168 extending perpendicularly from the first portion 164. The mounting assembly 160 further includes a U-shaped bracket 170, secured to the L-shaped bracket using fasteners 172. The actuator 140 is secured to the U-shaped bracket 170 using fasteners 174. For that purpose, the top wall 176 of the bracket 170 is provided with an aperture (not shown) to allow passage for the rod 144, and the bottom wall 178 of the bracket 170 includes a notch 180 to allow passage for the impact tip 146 therethrough.
The tip cuter 136 comprises first and second rod-style actuators 182, each having a base 184, a piston rod 186 that is operatively mounted to the base 184 therein, and a flat head 188 integrally mounted to the piston rod 186 at the distal end 190 thereof.
The tip cutter 136 further comprises a cutter 192, including a blade 194, that is secured to one of the flat head 188 via an L-shaped blade support 196, and a stopper 198, that is secured to the other flat head 188 so as to come into contact with the blade 194 when the tip cutter 136 is actuated.
Each of the L-shaped blade support 196 and stopper 198 are secured to the corresponding head 188 using fasteners (not shown) or welding for example.
Each of the first and second rod-style actuators 182 are secured to the bottom wall 178 of the bracket 170 thereunder on opposite sides of the notch 180 via a mounting plate 185 using fasteners 200 and 201.
The cannabis cone gripper 139 is secured to the one of the two actuators 182 via a mounting bracket 202 and is movable between an open position (shown in
The operation of the cannabis cone forming station 14 will now be described with references to
In the next step, the cannabis cone moving device 25 is actuated to move both grippers 60-62 one step to the left (see arrow 204) moving each of the cannabis cones 18 and 20 respectively to stations 14 and 16.
Turning now to
As shown in
The operation of the flattener 138 will now be described with references to
In operation of the tip flattener 138, the actuator 140 is operated to move the rod 144 downwardly (see arrow 214) until the impact tip 146 flatten the top portion 156 of the cannabis cone 18. The penetration distance of the impact tip 146 beyond the upper portion of the cannabis cone 18 is limited by the position of the course stopper 150, which comes into contact with the top wall 176 of the U-shaped bracket 170, and more specifically with washers 216 installed on the wall 176 around the rod 144 to minimize wear on the wall 176.
According to another illustrative embodiment, such penetration distance of the impact tip 146 is further or alternatively determined by a controlled operation of the actuator 140.
According to another illustrative embodiment (not shown), the cannabis cone forming station 14 includes only one of the tip flattener 138 and cannabis cone gripper 139 and or another cannabis support forming mechanism. Also, other mechanisms than illustrated may be used to cut the tip 208 of a cannabis cone 18 or flat its top portion 156.
The cannabis oil injecting station 16 will now be described in more detail with reference first to
The cannabis oil injecting station 16 comprises a syringe 222 having a needle 223, a cannabis oil reservoir 224 that is operatively coupled to the syringe 222 and that is configured to feed a predetermined single dose of cannabis oil thereto, a cone gripper 226 for holding a cannabis cone 20 presented by the second gripper 62 of the cannabis cone mover 25, and a linear actuator 227 for moving the cone gripper 226 and the cannabis cone 20 in the gripper 226 so that the cone 20 is penetrated by the injection needle 223 of the syringe 222.
The gripper 226 comprises a pair of claws 228-230 that are mounted to a mounting plate 232 for sliding movement towards and away each other via a motorized rack and pinion or another similar mechanism (not shown). The pair of claws 228-230 are shaped for complementary receiving the upper portion of a cannabis cone 20 when they are closed. According to another illustrative embodiment, the grippers 226 takes another form than illustrated. According to still another embodiment, the gripper 226 is replaced by another mechanism allowing to take and support the cannabis cone 20.
The linear actuator 227 includes a base 234, secured to the back wall 38 of the casing 26 via a mounting assembly 236, a shaft 238 operatively mounted in the base 234, and a rectangular plate 240 secured at the distal end 242 of the shaft 238.
The gripper 226 is so mounted to the actuator 227 via the plates 232 and 240 that i) the opening defined by the claws 228-230 when they are closed, ii) the needle 223 of the syringe 222, and iii) the second gripper 62 are all operationally aligned when the second gripper 62 is moved to the station 16.
The syringe 222 includes a plunger 244 that is operatively coupled to a linear actuator 246 for its actuation. The actuator 246 and syringe 222 are so secured to the mounting assembly 236 as to provide the above-mentioned alignment.
The cannabis oil injecting station 16 further includes a heated casing 248 that is configured to heat tubing 250 between the oil reservoir 224 and the needle 223 and therefore the oil therein to a predetermined temperature, so that the physical properties of the oil, such as its viscosity, remain, even when the distribution of oil to the syringe 223 is stopped.
The expression ‘cannabis oil’ should be construed herein and in the claim as including, without limitations, CBD (cannabidiol), THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), terpenes, cannabis resin or other component in oil form.
The heated casing 248 includes elements or another heat-generating device or mechanism.
The operation of the cannabis oil injecting station 16 will now be described with references to
The gripper 226 is longer than the grippers 60-62 mainly to yield a better grip on the cannabis cone 20′ during its injection. This has been found to prevent the cannabis cone 20′ from being damaged during injection, and to maintain in place the cone 20′, thereby forcing the course of the needle 223 centered therethrough.
The actuator 227 is then activated to lower the gripper 226 so that it positioned on the portion of the cannabis cone 20′ above the filter (see arrow 252 in
When the gripper 226 is positioned for gripping the cone 20′, it is actuated to close thereon (see arrows 254). The grippers 60-62 then open.
With references to
During the insertion of the needle 223, the operation of the plunger 244 is synchronized, via the actuator 246 (see arrow 260), with the insertion of the needle 223 in the cannabis cone 20′. This allows to better spread the cannabis oil in the cannabis cone 20′
As described hereinabove, after it has been injected with cannabis oil, the cannabis cone 20′ is referred to herein as the cannabis joint 22.
With references to
The gripper 226 then opens (see arrows 263, 263′) to release the resulting product 22, which falls in a bin 262 (see on
With references to
During these steps (shown in Figured 5D and 5E), the first and second grippers 60 and 62 of the cannabis cone moving device 25 are registered respectively in stations 12 and 14, each holding cannabis cones 18 and 20 respectively, ready to be moved in the next stations 14 and 16 (see
It is to be noted that the cannabis oil injecting station 16 is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. For example, the gripper 226 can be modified or replaced by another cannabis product holding mechanism (not shown). The relative positions of the syringe 222, needle 223 and or reservoir 224 relative to the gripper 226 or to one another can be different than illustrated. Anyone or both linear actuators 227 and 246 can be replaced by another mechanism allowing to move the gripper 226 and/or syringe 222.
According to another illustrative embodiment, the station 16 is configured so that the syringe 222 is moved towards the gripper 226, instead of the opposite.
Since actuators and grippers and their operation are believed to be well-known in the art, they will not be described herein in more detail for concision purposes.
The overall operation of the system 10 is summarized in
It is to be noted that the actuators described hereinabove are connected to one or more of the control modules described hereinabove, so that their operations are triggered and synchronized thereby. All the connectors between such controller(s) and the actuators have been omitted in the drawings to alleviate the views.
While the actuators mentioned hereinabove and illustrated in the drawings are of the pneumatic type, they can also be of another type, including without limitations hydraulic or electric.
It is to be noted that many modifications could be made to the illustrative system 10 and process 300 described hereinabove and illustrated in the appended drawings. For example:
Although a system and process for manufacturing cannabis products have been described hereinabove by way of illustrated embodiments thereof, they can be modified. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that the scope of the claims should not be limited by the preferred embodiment but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.
