Patent Application
20070193591
The present invention relates to a device for filling cigarette tubes with tobacco.
A device for filling cigarette tubes with tobacco is known for example from European patent application EP 399 143 A1. This is a device in which loose tobacco which is poured in through a fill opening is compressed into a tobacco rod by means of a compression head. In addition, the device has a pusher to push the tobacco rod into the cigarette paper tube and a bush for attaching the cigarette paper tube. In an embodiment of this device, the tobacco fill opening is allocated above the compression heads a blade or similar separating element the separating movement of which is preferably in advance of the movement of the compression head. A disadvantage of this device is that only loose tobacco can be processed. In addition, it is disadvantageous that the quantity of loose tobacco that is used to fill a cigarette paper tube is not specified.
A further device for filling cigarette tubes with tobacco is disclosed in European patent application EP 584 805 A1. This differs from the device known from EP 399 143 A1 merely by virtue of a magazine for the housing and introduction in part-quantities of pre-portioned tobacco portions. A disadvantage of this device is that pre-portioned tobacco is used. However, it would be desirable if cigarette tubes could also be filled starting from non-pre-portioned tobacco material. It would be particularly desirable if cigarette tubes could be filled with a substantially identical quantity of tobacco.
The object of the present invention is to provide such a device. This object is achieved according to the invention by a device for filling cigarette tubes with tobacco, wherein the device comprises at least one suitable separating means by means of which tobacco, preferably a tobacco portion, can be detached from a tobacco block, and also at least one suitable filling means with which the cigarette tubes can be filled with the tobacco, preferably the tobacco portion, and at least one suitable portioning means for the portioning of a tobacco block.
In the context of the present invention, the term “tobacco portion” denotes the quantity of tobacco that is used to fill a cigarette tube. The term “tobacco block” denotes a unit of compressed tobacco the quantity of tobacco of which exceeds that contained in a tobacco portion and advantageously represents a multiple thereof. The tobacco block can be portioned or unportioned, an unportioned tobacco block being preferred. If a portioned tobacco block is used, its portioning unit must not correspond to the tobacco portion which is specified by the portioning means according to the invention. A portioning means according to the invention is a means which allows the operator of the device to detach in a targeted manner from a tobacco block the quantity of tobacco which corresponds to one tobacco portion.
Such a portioning means can be for example one or more signal transmitters which give the operator an appropriate signal, for example an acoustic, visual or tactile signal, when the tobacco block is in a specific spatial relationship to the device and a tobacco portion can be detached from the tobacco block, or when the tobacco portion is detached from the tobacco block. Portioning means which comprise one, two or three signal transmitters are preferred. Also preferred are signal transmitters that transmit several signals, for example an acoustic and a tactile, or a tactile and a visual signal. The acoustic signal can be for example a noise which is produced when a catch is engaged, an electrically generated beep or a noise produced when a snap disk (“clicker frog”) is bent. The visual signal can be for example a pointer and an allocated marker which act together to display the tobacco portion to the operator. For example, the marker can be a row of numbers, and the pointer can indicate on this row of numbers the number which corresponds to the number of tobacco portions still remaining in the tobacco block or the number of detached tobacco portions. Either the marker or the pointer, or marker and pointer are fixed to the device, say on a wheel or other advance means. The part not fixed to the device can for example be provided on a covering of the tobacco block. If desired, it is also possible to specify in a targeted manner different sizes of tobacco portions by corresponding markers with the portioning means, say to produce cigarettes of different densities if required. Alternatively, the visual signal is for example an electrically generated light signal or a display on a graphic user interface. A further visual signal can be represented for example by the return of a button, a switch or a lever to its starting position. The tactile signal is for example a perceptible resistance which the operator senses when he has brought the tobacco block into a specific spatial relationship to the device.
The suitable separating means is for example one or more blades, rasps, screws, worms or wheels, into the sphere of action of which the tobacco block can be introduced in order to separate the tobacco portion all at once, in part-quantities or continuously. The one-off separation takes place for example with a blade, wherein the cohesion inside the separated tobacco portion is advantageously not loosened. The tobacco portion is present substantially in one piece, wherein this piece already substantially has the shape of a tobacco rod. The separation of the tobacco portion in part-quantities is carried out with several cuts of the same blade or different blades. The continuous separation can be carried out for example with a rasp or other rotary element.
The at least one filling means is for example a pusher which pushes the tobacco portion into the cigarette tube. A tongue on which the tobacco portion is located can also be used for this purpose. A driver for the tobacco portion can be attached to the end of the pusher or tongue which is not pushed into the cigarette tube.
In an advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the at least one suitable portioning means specifies a portion length unit with the result that one tobacco block per portion length unit contains the quantity of tobacco that corresponds to the tobacco portion. This is particularly advantageous if the tobacco block is a body with a uniform cross-section along one axis, say with a cylindrical or prismatic, in particular cubic body, wherein the portion length unit can be measured along this axis of the body. A tobacco block particularly advantageously has the shape of a flat, cubic body with a short side the dimensions of which correspond substantially to the diameter of the tobacco rod which is poured into the cigarette tube, and a mid-length side the dimensions of which correspond substantially to the length of the tobacco rod which is poured into the cigarette tube, and a long side. The portion length unit can be measured along this long side of the tobacco block.
In an advantageous embodiment, the device according to the invention comprises at least one suitable transport means by means of which the tobacco block can be transported. This at least one suitable transport means serves in particular to transport the tobacco block in the direction of the separating means. The transport means can be pushers, in particular pushers, tooth racks, wedge bars, screws, shafts, wheels that can be pre-tensioned with a spring, e.g. friction wheels or toothed wheels, pulling means, e.g. chains, cable pulls or webs of material. Transportation can be continuous or stepwise, automatic, semi-automatic or manual, for example by moving a lever, pusher, button or wheel. This facilitates the operation of the device, as the operator must not advance the tobacco block with his fingers, and thus also increases the precision of the portioning. The specified portion length unit advantageously corresponds to the distance travelled by the tobacco block to separate a tobacco portion. Furthermore, a transport means advantageously also has at least one suitable guide for the tobacco block. The guide can be the opening of the shaping chamber. Alternatively, lateral guides are attached to the device which guide the tobacco block during transportation. Depending on the embodiment, the tobacco block can be guided on two sides, for example on the narrow sides of the tobacco block, on three sides or on four sides. A covering of the tobacco block can also be part of the guide for the tobacco block.
In an advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device comprises at least one suitable shaping means by means of which the separated tobacco can be shaped into a form in which the tobacco portion can be introduced into the cigarette tube by the filling means. This is for example one or more plungers, toothed wheels or other mechanisms used to bring the tobacco portion into a substantially cylindrical shape. The tobacco of the tobacco portion can advantageously be compacted somewhat more tightly during shaping than the tobacco is later in the cigarette tube. This facilitates the pouring of the shaped tobacco portion into the cigarette tube.
In one embodiment of the device the movement of the at least one suitable shaping means is coupled with the movement of the separating means. For example, the separating means and the shaping means are attached to a common lever. In another embodiment of the device, only one means is provided which both separates and shapes. In a further embodiment, the movement of the shaping means is superimposed on the movement of the separating means. This means that the separating means is moved for example with a lever in a separating movement, wherein the shaping means is moved along during this movement. Following the separating movement, the shaping means performs a further shaping movement independent of the movement of the separating means in order to shape the detached tobacco. The separating means then moves into the starting position and in the process likewise takes the shaping means with it into its starting position.
In an advantageous embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device has at least one suitable fixing means for the tobacco block. For example, the tobacco block can be covered with a suitable covering, wherein the covering is detachably fixable to the device by means of the at least one suitable fixing means. Thus a fixed spatial relationship between the tobacco block and the device can advantageously be created. Guides for the tobacco block or its covering can thereby be dispensed with inside the device, which results in a more compact structure of the device.
Further details, features and advantages of the invention follow from the following description in conjunction with the embodiments shown in the Figures. There are shown in:
a an embodiment of the device according to the invention with a spindle-like transport means and a visual signal transmitter;
b a diagrammatic detail side view of the embodiment with filling means;
a a further embodiment of the device according to the invention with a pusher-like transport means with transport lever and tactile and acoustic signal transmitters,
b a detail view of a further embodiment of a transport means and a portioning means;
a a further embodiment of the device according to the invention with a pusher-like transport means;
b a detail view of the further embodiment of a transport means and a portioning means of
The figures diagrammatically show embodiments of the device according to the invention. For simplicity's sake, elements of generic devices known from the state of the art have been omitted, e.g. fixing means, guides, sliding blocks, control systems, drives, bearings, openings, bushes and similar. Recurring elements such as the separating means, the shaping means, shaping chamber and similar are likewise omitted from some figures as they result from the state of the art or can be transferred without difficulty from other embodiments. Although not shown or described, each embodiment comprises all the elements necessary to fill cigarette tubes with tobacco.
In principle, according to the invention the different portioning means can be combined with different transport means, different shaping means, different separating means and different fixing means to encase the tobacco block in different ways in order to arrive at different embodiments. Eight of the large number of possible combinations are described below by way of example. The same elements are given the same reference numbers. Generically identical elements, e.g. the portioning means 190, 290, 390, 391, 490, 491, 590, 690, 691, 692, 790, 791, 891, 892, 893, the separating means 130, 230, 530, 830 or the transport means 140, 141, 142, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 340, 342, 444, 445, 446, 540, 541, 542, 543, 640, 641, 740, 742, 743, 840, 842, 845, 846, 847 have comparable reference numbers.
a shows a device for filling cigarette tubes 100, with a shaping block 110 which is fixed to a base plate 180. Attached to the base plate is a table 181 onto which the tobacco block 1 is placed or pushed. For this, the table can have for example lateral guides. The shaping block 110 comprises a shaping chamber 150 in which a tobacco portion can be made into a substantially cylindrical shape with a shaping means 120. The shaping means 120 is a plunger 120 which has at the bottom end a semicircular recess which extends over the whole length of the plunger 120. The length of the plunger 120 corresponds substantially to the length of the tobacco rod inside the cigarette tube of a finished cigarette. Formed underneath the plunger 120 in the shaping chamber 110 is a tongue 160 with a semicircular cross-section on which the tobacco rod 12 is shaped. The tobacco portion 10 is compacted to a smaller volume than the capacity of the empty cigarette tube 11. As shown in
The shaping chamber 150 has an opening through which the tobacco block 1 can be pushed by a transport means 140. In this case, the transport means is a pusher 140 which can be moved inside the covering 2 of the tobacco block 1 by turning a spindle 142. Before operating the device, the spindle 142 is pushed into the tobacco block 1 as far as a stop, for example the edge of the covering 2. The spindle 142 has at its free end a wheel 141, say a knurling wheel. The wheel 141 has a visual portioning means 190, for example a pointer 190, which can be brought into line with a marker. For example, beside the pointer there is a scale which, in co-operation with the pointer 190, shows how far the pusher 140 has advanced the tobacco block 1. If the pointer 190 and the marker agree, the operator knows that the tobacco block 1 has been advanced by one portion length unit, and he can then activate the separating means 130 and the shaping means 120 in order to fill a cigarette tube with the tobacco portion 10. If the markers differ, it is also possible to specify different sizes of tobacco portions 10 with the portioning means 190, e.g. to produce different cigarettes if required using the same or different cigarette tubes.
The device shown in
a shows a further device for filling cigarette tubes 700. The transport means 740 of this embodiment is a pusher 740 which is driven by a slide rod 742. In this case, the portioning means 790 is a catch 790 which is pivotably attached to a lever 743 and which engages in a sawtooth-like segment of the slide rod 742, and also a stop 791 to limit the lever movement of the lever 743. During the advance, the catch 790 pushes against the steep face of the sawtooth and thus pushes the tobacco block 1 further. Stop 791 gives the operator a tactile signal when the advance movement ends. During a rearward movement, the catch 790 pre-tensioned by a spring 744 against the slide rod 742 slides on the flat face of the sawtooth until an acoustic signal is generated when the catch strikes the face of the next sawtooth. This shows the operator that the rearward movement of the lever 743 has ended.
Alternatively, instead of a lever a button can also be used which ensures the step-wise advance of the slide rod. In such an embodiment, two opposite, offset tooth racks are used. The pusher 740 is then pre-tensioned by a tension spring against the end of the slide rod 742 in the direction of the shaping chamber. If the button is pressed, the catch firstly switches from the first tooth rack to the second tooth rack and the slide rod 742 is pushed further by the spring force by a distance corresponding to half a pitch. If the button is returned to its original position, say by a return spring, the catch switches back to the first tooth rack, but into the next pitch, with the result that the slide rod 742 is advanced a further half pitch by the spring force of the tension spring. By pressing the button, the tobacco block 1 is thus advanced a full pitch. The tension spring is pre-tensioned by the operator, for example when inserting the tobacco block. The pitch corresponds either to the portion length unit or a fraction thereof, with the result that the button is pressed several times to travel a portion length unit.
A further alternative embodiment of such a button is shown in
a shows a further device for filling cigarette tubes 800. The transport means 840 of this embodiment is a pusher 840 which is advanced by a slide rod 842. The portioning means is a button 891 which interacts by means of two wedge-shaped contact elements 892, 893 with a double tooth rack 845, 846. The double tooth rack 845, 846 is part of the slide rod 842 and has a toothing on the top side and on the underside. The tooth racks 845, 846 are advantageously vertically offset relative to each other. Depending on the embodiment, the toothing of the tooth racks 845, 846 can be even or uneven. For example, it can be advantageous to choose a distance between the teeth at the end of the tooth racks 845, 846 that is greater than the distance between the teeth in the middle of the tooth racks 845, 846. This has the effect that the tobacco is more strongly compressed at the beginning and at the end of the processing of the tobacco block 1 than in the middle of the tobacco block 1. The advance of the slide rod 842 is effected by a readjusting spring 847 of the button 891. In this connection, the readjusting spring 847 pushes the wedge-shaped contact element 893 against the lower tooth rack 845, with the result that the flank of the tooth rack 845 slides along the flank of the lower contact element 893, with the result that the pusher 840 is advanced in the direction of the shaping chamber 850. The button 891 can be moved into a middle position in which none of contact elements 892, 893 engages with the tooth racks 845, 846. In this middle position, the slide rod 842 can be pulled out until a filled tobacco block 1 can be deposited on the table 881 or an emptied tobacco block 1 removed from it. Fitted in front of the shaping chamber 850 is a protective flap 851 which prevents fingers from inadvertently being able to be inserted into the shaping chamber 850 when there is no tobacco block 1 resting on the table 881.
The device for filling cigarette tubes 800 furthermore has a lever 821 which moves the shaping means 820 and the separating means 830, and also a housing 850 and a pusher 861 for filling the cigarette tube 11.
In
In the alternative embodiment, not only is the end face of the covering folded over, but in addition also a part of the top 5 and bottom 6 of the covering as well as optionally also lateral surfaces 7 which in turn can be inserted foldable (shown by dotted lines) into fixing means 70 provided for this and can thus be fixed to the device. Further supporting means for the tobacco block 1 can then be dispensed with.
The tobacco block 1 was moved in a horizontal plane in the shown devices 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800. However, it is clear that a diagonal or vertical movement of the tobacco block can be carried out, as the mechanisms shown are substantially independent of gravitation.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06 100 613.6 | Jan 2006 | EP | regional |
