Patent ID: 9474287
Filing Date: 2016-10-25
CPC Classification: A22C,A47G,B65G

Claim Text:
1. A separation device for separating a rod-like element, like a smoking rod, from a plurality of rod-like elements, like smoking rods, stored in a storage space, comprising: a housing configured to enclose an internal storage space thereof; a first wall and a second wall arranged in the internal storage space of the housing and having an approximately V-shaped cross section with a V-shaped bottom juncture between the first and second walls to form a central surface section thereof, the storage space being configured for storing a plurality of at least approximately horizontally aligned rod-like elements wherein the housing includes at least a front wall, a rear wall and two side walls, the storage space further having a bottom section and a top section, a first opening in the housing to an upper region of the storage space configured for feeding the plurality of rod-like elements to be stored in the storage space, from the top section toward the bottom section of the storage space, in an approximately vertically downwardly directed feeding direction, and a first discharge unit configured for discharging a single rod-like element out of the plurality of rod-like elements stored in the storage space, along a moving path through the V-shaped bottom juncture adjacent to the central surface section thereof to generally bisect the V-shaped bottom juncture between the first and second wall elements, in a discharge direction directed at least approximately opposite to the feeding direction in a discharge area being located in the upper region of the storage space in the housing, wherein the first discharge unit is configured for engaging an arbitrary single rod-like element of the plurality of rod-like elements while being moved through the plurality of rod-like elements and configured for moving the arbitrary single rod-like element upwardly out of the plurality of rod-like elements in the discharge direction.