Apparatus for manipulating rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry

Filter cigarettes which are transported sideways at the periphery of a rotating drum-shaped conveyor are engaged by successive rolling surfaces of a pair of coaxial rotary rolling members which rotate at the peripheral speed of the conveyor but in the opposite direction so that the cigarettes are caused to roll about their respective axes and cease to advance with the conveyor. The periphery of the conveyor is formed with flutes which receive the freshly rolled cigarettes, and the rolling of cigarettes is abruptly terminated by arresting members which orbit adjacent the path of movement of the cigarettes at the peripheral speed of the conveyor and in the same direction. A laser is used to make holes in successive cigarettes while the cigarettes roll about their respective axes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to apparatus for manipulating rod-shaped articles, 
especially rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry. More 
particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus for 
rolling rod-shaped articles between moving surfaces so that the articles 
turn about their respective axes. Such movements of articles are necessary 
in several types of cigarette making and like machines, for example, to 
convolute uniting bands around groups of coaxial rod-shaped components to 
form filter cigarettes of double unit length, to rotate finished filter 
cigarettes for the purpose of providing their wrappers with perforations 
for entry of atmospheric air and/or for the purpose of testing the 
wrappers for the presence of holes, open seams and/or other defects. 
It is already known to roll cigarettes and like rod-shaped articles of the 
tobacco processing industry about their respective axes by advancing the 
cigarettes in the axially parallel flutes of a rotary drum-shaped conveyor 
past a cylindrical rolling member which is sufficiently close to the 
periphery of the conveyor to engage the oncoming cigarettes and to 
dislodge the engaged cigarettes from their flutes. The cigarettes roll 
about their respective axes and thus cease to advance with the conveyor, 
i.e., the conveyor moves relative to the rolling cigarette and advances an 
oncoming flute into register with such cigarette. The flute communicates 
with the intake ends of suction ports which enable a suction generating 
device to attract the freshly rolled cigarette in the adjacent flute. 
Reference may be had to commonly owned U.S. Pats. Nos. 4,249,545 to Gretz 
et al. and 4,281,670 to Heitmann et al. which disclose apparatus for 
making holes in rotating rod-shaped articles by means of one or more beams 
of coherent radiation, and to commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,678 to 
Wahle et al. which discloses apparatus for optoelectronic testing of the 
wrappers of rod-shaped articles. The disclosures of these patents are 
incorporated herein by reference. 
A modern cigarette maker turns out very large numbers of articles per unit 
of time. The apparatus for rotating the articles about their respective 
axes must be designed with a view to predictably start and terminate the 
rolling operation and to thus ensure that the articles which have advanced 
beyond the rolling station are in optimum positions for further treatment, 
e.g., for transfer onto a different conveyor. This necessitates an abrupt 
termination of rolling as soon as the articles reach the oncoming flutes 
because, otherwise, the articles would roll beyond such flutes and could 
not be properly advanced to the locus of removal from the conveyor and/or 
to a further processing station. As a rule, presently known apparatus for 
rolling rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry employ 
suction generating devices which draw air from the flutes for freshly 
rolled articles in order to abruptly terminate the rolling step and to 
maintain the articles in optimum positions for further transport and 
processing. This necessitates the establishment of a pronounced pressure 
differential and the provision of a large number of large-diameter suction 
ports which can lead to deformation of the wrappers and to the generation 
of pronounced noise. 
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved apparatus for 
manipulating rod-shaped articles, especially rod-shaped articles of the 
tobacco processing industry, in such a way that the rolling of articles 
can be terminated abruptly, with a high degree of predictability and by 
resorting to simple, compact and inexpensive instrumentalities. 
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which can be 
installed in existing production lines for the making of filter cigarettes 
or other rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry to ensure 
a highly predictable manipulation of articles on their way toward as well 
as at the rolling station. 
A further object of the invention is to provide the apparatus with novel 
and improved means for reliably terminating the rolling of articles in 
optimum positions for further transport by the conveyor. 
An additional object of the invention is to provide the apparatus with 
novel and improved means for synchronizing the movements of its mobile 
components. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide the apparatus with 
novel and improved means for initiating the rolling of successive 
rod-shaped articles. 
An additional object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved 
method of manipulating rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing 
industry during their transport toward, through and past the rolling 
station. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a method of treating the 
articles gently and in such a way that the rolling operation does not 
involve the generation of excessive noise. 
An additional object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved 
method of moving rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry 
during the making of perforations in their wrappers and/or during testing 
of their wrappers for the presence of holes, open seams, the density of 
tobacco at the ends, frayed ends and/or other defects. 
One feature of the present invention resides in the provision of an 
apparatus for manipulating filter cigarettes and/or other rod-shaped 
articles of the tobacco processing industry. The apparatus comprises a 
conveyor which serves to move the articles in a predetermined direction 
and has a series of first rolling surfaces each including a front portion 
and a rear portion (as seen in the predetermined direction), a rolling 
device which includes at least one rolling member having a series of 
second rolling surfaces, first drive means for moving the first surfaces 
at a predetermined speed, means for depositing articles on the first 
portions of successive first surfaces, and second drive means for moving 
the second surfaces at the predetermined speed but counter to the 
predetermined direction. The rolling member is adjacent the conveyor so 
that the articles which advance with the front portions of successive 
first surfaces are engaged by successive second surfaces and roll about 
their own axes while the respective first surfaces advance relative 
thereto. The apparatus further comprises means for terminating the rolling 
of articles when the articles are reached by the rear portions of the 
respective first surfaces. The means for terminating comprises a series of 
spaced-apart arresting members and means for moving the arresting members 
in the predetermined direction and at the predetermined speed so that 
successive arresting members engage successive articles on the conveyor 
and press the articles against the rear portions of the respective first 
surfaces. 
The front and/or rear portions of the first surfaces are preferably 
provided with elongated flutes or analogous article receiving means which 
extend transversely of the predetermined direction. 
The conveyor can include a rotary drum-shaped member whose peripheral 
surface has a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart sections which 
constitute the first surfaces. The conveyor can further comprise means for 
attracting the articles to the front and/or rear portions of the first 
surfaces by suction; such attracting means can comprise suction ports 
whose intake ends are disposed in the respective flutes. 
The rolling member can comprise a rotor whose peripheral surface includes 
circumferentially spaced-apart sections which constitute the second 
surfaces. The means for terminating the rolling of articles can also 
include a rotor and the arresting members can constitute or include 
projections which extend outwardly beyond the periphery of the rotor. The 
rolling device can include two spaced-apart coaxial rotors and the rotor 
of the means for terminating rotation of the articles can be disposed 
between the rotors of the rolling device. 
The second drive means can comprise a shaft and the means for terminating 
the rolling of articles can be rotatably mounted on such shaft. 
The apparatus can comprise means for transmitting motion from the second 
drive means to the means for moving the arresting members, and such motion 
transmitting means can comprise a train of spur gears or a train of bevel 
gears. Alternatively, the second drive means can comprise at least one 
first shaft and the means for moving the arresting members can comprise a 
second shaft; one of these shafts is hollow and the other shaft is 
rotatably received in the hollow shaft. 
Each rolling member can comprise an article entraining element at the front 
end of each second surface. 
The first and second surfaces are preferably convex, and the curvature of 
the first surfaces can deviate from that of the second surfaces. The 
conveyor can comprise ribs which are disposed between the rear portions of 
the first surfaces and the front portions of neighboring first surfaces. 
The rotor or rotors of the rolling device can be coaxial with the rotor of 
the means for terminating the rolling of the articles. 
The apparatus can comprise a laser or other suitable means for making holes 
in selected portions of the articles while the articles roll between the 
respective first and second surfaces. If the conveyor is a rotary 
drum-shaped conveyor, its axis is preferably parallel to the axes of 
rotors of the rolling device and of the means for terminating the rolling 
of articles. The aforementioned article entraining members of the rolling 
member or members can be said to constitute a means for expelling articles 
from the front portions of the first surfaces immediately prior to 
engagement of the thus expelled articles by the respective second 
surfaces. 
Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a method of 
manipulating rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry 
between a succession of first surfaces, each of which has a front or 
leading portion and a rear or trailing portion, and a succession of second 
surfaces. The method comprises the steps of advancing the first surfaces 
in a predetermined direction and at a predetermined speed along a first 
path wherein the front portions of the first surfaces are located ahead of 
the respective rear portions, depositing articles on or in the front 
portions of successive first surfaces so that the articles extend 
transversely of the predetermined direction, advancing the second surfaces 
at the predetermined speed but in a second direction counter to the first 
direction along a second path at least a portion of which is sufficiently 
close to the first path to move the second surfaces into contact with the 
oncoming articles so that successive articles are compelled to rotate 
about their respective axes and the first surfaces advance in the 
predetermined direction relative to the rotating articles (i.e., the rear 
portions of the first surfaces approach the respective articles while the 
articles rotate about their axes as a result of simultaneous engagement by 
a first and a second surface and the articles do not move in either 
direction because the first and second surfaces move in opposite 
directions while advancing at the same speed), and terminating the 
rotation of articles about their respective axes when the articles are 
contacted by the oncoming trailing or rear portions of the respective 
first surfaces. The terminating step includes mechanically pressing the 
articles against the rear portions of the respective first surfaces. Such 
mechanical pressing is resorted to in addition to the possibility of 
attracting the articles to the rear portions of the respective first 
surfaces by suction. 
The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention 
are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved apparatus 
itself, however, both as to its construction and its mode of operation, 
together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best 
understood upon perusal of the following detailed description of certain 
specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown an apparatus which serves 
to roll rod-shaped articles 1 about their respective axes while the 
articles are caused to interrupt their advancement with a rotary 
drum-shaped conveyor 2. The articles 1 are filter cigarettes of double 
unit length each of which has two plain cigarettes of unit length, a 
filter rod section of double unit length between the plain cigarettes, and 
a uniting band which is rolled around the filter rod section and around 
the adjacent end portions of the plain cigarettes in a manner well known 
from the art of making filter cigarettes. Reference may be had to the 
aforementioned U.S. Pats. to Gretz et al., Heitmann et al. and Wahle et 
al. which disclose filter cigarette making machines of the type known as 
MAX (manufactured by the assignee of the present application). The 
peripheral surface of the conveyor 2 has axially parallel projections in 
the form of ribs 3 which divide the peripheral surface into a series of 
convex rolling surfaces 4 (first rolling surfaces) each having a front or 
first portion provided with a first axially parallel article receiving 
flute 7a (note FIG. 3) immediately behind a rib 3 and a rear or second 
portion provided with a second axially parallel article receiving flute 7b 
immediately in front of the next-following rib 3. The direction in which 
the conveyor 2 is driven by a first drive means (refer to the patents to 
Gretz et al., Heitmann et al. and Wahle et al.) is indicated by the arrow 
6. The body of the conveyor 2 is formed with rows of suction ports 8 whose 
intake ends communicate with the flutes 7a and 7b so that the articles 1 
are attracted when they are deposited on the respective surfaces 4 and 
also when the advancement of such surfaces relative to the respective 
articles 1 is completed. In other words, each article 1 is deposited into 
a flute 7a immediately behind a rib 3 and ultimately lands in the 
immediately following flute 7b in front of the next-following rib 3. This 
can be seen by comparing the positions of the article 1a in FIGS. 2 and 6. 
The means for depositing articles 1 into successive flutes 7a comprises a 
rotary drum-shaped conveyor 40. 
The conveyor 2 cooperates with a rolling device having two coaxial 
rotor-like rolling members 9 which are spaced apart from one another in 
the axial direction of the conveyor 2 and have sets of three convex 
rolling surfaces 17 forming part of a composite peripheral surface. The 
rolling members 9 are driven in the direction of arrow 18, i.e., counter 
to the direction of rotation of the conveyor 2, but at the same peripheral 
speed. Thus, the speed of rolling surfaces 4 at the periphery of the 
conveyor 2 matches the speed of rolling surfaces 17 at the peripheries of 
the rolling members 9. The drive means for the rolling members 9 comprises 
a shaft 11 whose axis is parallel to the axis of the conveyor 2 and which 
is journalled in two antifriction bearings 12, 13 carried by a supporting 
beam 16 which is affixed to the housing 14 of the filter tipping machine. 
The minimum distance between the path of the surfaces 4 and the path of 
the surfaces 17 is slightly less than the diameter of an article 1 so that 
an article is compelled to rotate about its axis when it reaches the 
rolling station substantially at the two o'clock position of the conveyor 
2 (as seen in FIG. 2). 
The front portions of the surfaces 17 on the rolling members 9 are provided 
with radially outwardly extending entraining members 22 in the form of 
projections which serve to expel the articles 1 from the respective front 
flutes 7a preparatory to engagement of the expelled articles by the 
respective convex surfaces 17 on the two rolling members 9. 
The drive means for the rolling members 9 comprises the aforementioned 
shaft 11, a driver gear 19 which receives motion from the main prime mover 
of the filter tipping machine, and a driven gear 21 which is in mesh with 
the gear 19 and is mounted on the shaft 11. The prime mover also drives 
the shaft for the conveyor 2 at the aforementioned speed, i.e., in such a 
way that the speed of the surfaces 4 matches that of the surfaces 17. 
In accordance with a feature of the invention, the apparatus further 
comprises means for terminating the rolling of articles 1 as soon as they 
reach and enter the respective rear flutes 7b. The means for terminating 
the rolling of articles comprises a rotor 23 which is coaxial with and is 
disposed between the rolling members 9 and has a set of three 
circumferentially spaced-apart arresting members 24 extending radially 
beyond the periphery of the rotor 23. The rotor 23 is rotatable on two 
antifriction bearings which surround the shaft 11 of the drive means for 
the rolling members 9. FIGS. 2-6 show the rotor 23 on a smaller scale so 
as to expose the respective rolling member 9. The direction in which the 
rotor 23 is rotated by a third drive is indicated by the arrow 26, i.e., 
the rotor 23 is driven to rotate in the direction of rotation (arrow 6) of 
the conveyor 2 and at such a speed that the speed of the arresting members 
24 matches the peripheral speed of the conveyor. When an arresting member 
24 advances along the rolling station, its speed not only matches the 
peripheral speed of the conveyor 2 but such arresting member also advances 
in the direction of travel of the adjacent surface 4 and its flutes 7a, 
7b. 
The drive for the rotor 23 comprises a toothed pulley 33 on the rotor and 
means for transmitting motion from the shaft 11 to the pulley 33. The 
motion transmitting means comprises a train of spur gears 27, 28, an 
intermediate shaft 29 which is parallel with the shaft 11, and an endless 
belt transmission including a toothed pulley 31 on the shaft 29 and an 
endless toothed belt 32 which is trained over the pulleys 31, 33. The 
shaft 29 is rotatable in the supporting beam 16, and the gear 27 is 
mounted on the shaft 11. 
The purpose of the apparatus which is shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 is to rotate 
the articles 1 about their respective axes in order to enable a laser 34 
(note FIG. 3) to make in the wrappers of the articles 1 annuli of 
perforations for admission of atmospheric air into the column of tobacco 
smoke which flows toward the mouth of the smoker when a filter cigarette 
forming one-half of an article 1 is lighted. The manner in which the 
wrappers of filter cigarettes can be perforated by means of one or more 
beams of coherent radiation is disclosed in numerous Letters Patent of the 
assignee including the aforementioned patents to Gretz et al. and Heitmann 
et al. 
The mode of operation of the apparatus of FIGS. 1 to 6 is as follows: 
The conveyor 40 deposits filter cigarettes 1 of double unit length into the 
front flutes 7a of successive rolling surfaces 4 ahead of the rolling 
station whereby the deposited articles 1 are attracted by suction in the 
respective ports 8 and remain in their flutes 7a during advancement with 
the conveyor 2 toward the rolling station. FIG. 2 shows a filter cigarette 
1a of double unit length in the flute 7a of the respective surface 4a 
during entry into the rolling station, namely during the initial stage of 
engagement by the oncoming entraining member 22a at the front end of the 
respective rolling surface 17a. The entraining member 22a expels the 
article 1a from the respective flute 7a whereupon the article immediately 
contacted by the oncoming rolling surface 17a to be rotated about its own 
axis while the conveyor 2 continues to move its surfaces 4 in the 
direction of arrow 6, i.e., the article 1a is compelled to roll between 
the respective surfaces 4a and 17a whereby the front flute 7a moves away 
and the corresponding rear flute 7b approaches the rolling article (note 
FIGS. 3, 4 and 5). The article 1a rotates about its own axis without 
sharing the movements of the respective surfaces 4a and 17a in the 
directions which are indicated by the arrows 6 and 18 because the speed of 
the surfaces 4a and 17a is the same and because such surfaces move in 
opposite directions. 
The laser 34 emits radiation during a portion or during the entire interval 
of rotation of the article 1a about its axis at the rolling station so 
that the wrapper of such article is provided with two or more annuli of 
perforations, i.e., at least one annulus of perforations for each half of 
the article 1a (which is thereupon severed midway between its ends to 
yield two filter cigarettes of unit length). 
When the conveyor 2 and the rolling member 9 reach the angular positions of 
FIG. 6, the article 1a is in register with the trailing flute 7b of the 
rolling surface 4a and is simultaneously engaged by the arresting member 
24a on the rotor 23 which is driven in the direction of the arrow 26. The 
arresting member 24a prevents the article 1a from rotating about its axis 
by causing the article to bear against that portion of the rolling surface 
4a which surrounds the flute 7b. In addition, the arresting member 24a 
rapidly or abruptly accelerates the article 1a in the direction of the 
arrow 6 so that the article 1a again advances with the conveyor 2 while 
being attracted by suction in the respective ports 8. 
It will be noted that the arresting member 24a exerts a mechanical force 
upon the adjacent article 1a as soon as the article enters the respective 
flute 7b so that the article is abruptly held against further rotation 
about its own axis (i.e., the article is prevented from rolling out of the 
flute 7b) and the article is abruptly accelerated in the direction of 
arrow 6 which also contributes to reliable retention of the article in its 
flute 7b. This renders it possible to greatly reduce suction in the ports 
8 which draw air from the flutes 7b because the suction merely serves to 
ensure a retention of article during travel away from the rolling station. 
Consequently, the conveyor 2 can be formed with relatively small and/or 
with a small number of suction ports 8, i.e., the rate of air flow through 
the ports 8 which communicate with the flutes 7b is relatively small; this 
is desirable and advantageous because the apparatus generates little noise 
in contrast with heretofore known apparatus wherein the articles are 
caused to terminate the rolling movement exclusively by suction which is 
achieved by using large suction generating devices and large-diameter 
suction ports which must be closed and exposed more than four thousand 
times per minute. This not only reduces the likelihood of predictable 
transport of articles from the rolling station but entails the generation 
of pronounced noise which affects the attendants. 
The apparatus can be designed for operation with a single rolling member 9 
and with two rotors 23, i.e., with n rolling members and m rotors 23 
wherein n and m are whole numbers including one. The utilization of two 
rolling members 9 at opposite axial ends of the rotor 23 is desirable 
because this reduces the generation of moments acting transversely of the 
longitudinal direction of the articles 1 while the articles are engaged by 
the oncoming arresting members 24. 
The drive for the rotor 23 need not necessarily derive motion from the 
drive for the rolling members 9. For example, the rotor 23 can receive 
motion directly from the prime mover of the filter tipping machine or from 
the drive means for the conveyor 2. 
The entraining members 22 constitute desirable but optional components of 
the improved apparatus. 
FIG. 7 shows a portion of a second apparatus wherein all such parts which 
are identical with or clearly analogous to the corresponding parts of the 
apparatus of FIGS. 1-6 are denoted by similar reference characters plus 
100. The main difference between the two apparatus is that the rotor 123 
of the apparatus which is shown in FIG. 7 receives motion from the drive 
shaft 111 of the drive means for the rolling members 109 by way of a 
motion transmitting unit having a train 136 of bevel gears. A first bevel 
gear 138 is coaxial with and is rigidly secured to the shaft 111 and mates 
with a second bevel gear 137 mounted on the beam 116. The bevel gear 137 
further mates with a bevel gear 139 which forms an integral part of or is 
non-rotatably affixed to the rotor 123 for the arresting members 124. The 
bevel gear 139 is rotatable on one or more antifriction bearings which 
surround the shaft 111. The train 136 ensures that the rolling members 109 
and the rotor 123 for the arresting members 124 rotate in opposite 
directions but at the same peripheral speed. 
Referring to FIG. 8, there is shown a third apparatus wherein all such 
parts which are identical with or clearly analogous to the corresponding 
parts of the apparatus of FIGS. 1-6 are denoted by similar reference 
characters plus 200. The drive means for one of the rolling members 209 
comprises a shaft 211 which is journalled in two antifriction bearings 
(only the bearing 213 can be seen) and is coaxial with and is rotatable in 
a hollow shaft 242 of the drive means for the rotor 223 which carries the 
arresting members 224. The drive means for the other rolling member 209 
comprises a further hollow shaft 241 which is coaxial with the shafts 211, 
242 and contains one or more antifriction bearings for the hollow shaft 
242. The shafts 211 and 241 are rotated in the same direction by the prime 
mover of the filter tipping machine, and the shaft 242 is rotated in the 
opposite direction. The means for rotating the drum-shaped conveyor 202 is 
not shown. 
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of 
the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, 
readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, 
from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential 
characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of our contribution to 
the art and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be 
comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the appended 
claims.