Patent ID: 8882647
Filing Date: 2014-11-11
Classification: A24C,A24D,B31D,B31F,Y10S

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for manufacturing cigarette filter rods, the apparatus comprising: (a) means for providing a continuous supply of filter material; (b) means for forming the filter material into a continuous rod; (c) wheel means rotatable in a vertical plane, possessing pockets positioned in its outermost peripheral face, and in operable communication with the filter material; (d) a lower hopper in operable communication with the rotatable wheel means, the lower hopper comprising a front panel, a back wall, two side walls connecting the front panel and the back wall, and an open bottom defined by the front panel, the back wall and two side walls, the open bottom of the lower hopper shaped so as to cooperate with a portion of upper region of the wheel means; (e) an upper hopper in operable communication with the lower hopper, the lower hopper disposed between the wheel means and the upper hopper such that an object may be fed by gravity from the upper hopper through the lower hopper to the rotatable wheel means; (f) means for wrapping an overwrap material around the filter material; (g) means for subdividing the continuous rod at pre-determined intervals.