Method of making cigarettes and apparatus therefor

Abstract: This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for stabilizing shredded tobacco leaves at an end of a cigarette to prevent the shredded tobacco leaves from dropping. The method according to the present invention comprising the steps of: applying adhesive (A) to a paper wrapper (5) in the crosswise direction with a pitch identical with the length (l) of the cigarette to form strips of adhering portion (A'); feeding shredded tobacco leaves (T) on the paper wrapper (5) to stick the shredded tobacco leaves (T) with the adhesive (A) on the strips of adhering portion (A'); forming a cigarette rod by winding the paper wrapper (5) to bond both ends of the paper wrapper after applying adhesive to the edges of the paper wrapper (5); and cutting said cigarette rod at the strips of adhering portion (A) to form the single cigarette with the length (l). Further, the cigarette making apparatus for the above method is provided with an adjusting apparatus comprising: an adhesive roller (16) having concave portions (19) on an outer periphery thereof; an accommodating chamber (25) for accommodating pressurized adhesive (A) therein; and an adhesive nozzle (24) having an opening (26), an end of the adhesive nozzle (24A) being in contact with the outer periphery of the adhesive roller (16), position of the adhesive roller (16) is adjusted such that positions that the adhesive (A) transported on the concave portion (19) is put on the paper wrapper (5) on a feed passage coincides with positions cut by a cutting portion (21).

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for making cigarettes in which shredded tobacco leaves at an end of cigarettes each are stabilized to prevent them from dropping. 2. Description of the Prior Art Transportation of cigarette with speed-up of operation in cigarette making machines considerably affects a problem in quality of cigarettes that cigarettes with incomplete end are produced, in which shredded tobacco leaves slide down from the end thereof. Judging from the condition that cigarettes with incomplete end are produced, vibration and impact during the transportation cause shredded tobacco leaves to slide down from inner surface of the paper wrapper, then, the shredded tobacco leaves drop one after another due to no sustainment between the shredded tobacco leaves each other, resulting in production of cigarettes with incomplete end. The sliding down of the shredded tobacco leaves from the inner surface of the paper wrapper is more susceptible than the dropping of the leaves from center of the end. Therefore, it is necessary to diminish cigarettes with incomplete end produced at the transportation of the cigarette in making process as small as possible to improve quality of the cigarettes. As a method for preventing production of the cigarettes with incomplete end, more shredded tobacco leaves are put at a portion adjacent to a cut face of the cigarette than the other portion to increase frictional force between shredded tobacco leaves each other. As a result, the shredded tobacco leaves are prevented from sliding down from the end. That is, as shown in Fig. 9, shredded tobacco leaves pneumatically transported in a feed passage 1 is absorbed on a lower surface of a suction conveyor 2 and the shredded tobacco leaves T is fed to a trimming disk 3. As described in Fig. 10, the trimming disk 3 is provided with two disks 3a and 3b parallel to each other with five concave portions 4 on the outer surface thereof and a feed passage is formed for the shredded tobacco leaves T between the rotating disks 3a and 3b. Since the shredded tobacco leaves T are accommodated and transported, in a heap of the shredded tobacco leaves put on a paper wrapper 5 after passing through the trimming disk 3 is produced portions 6 containing more shredded tobacco leaves than the other portion. The distance l between the portions 6 is identical with the circumferential pitch of the concave portions 4. As a result, when the paper wrapper 5 is wound at the succeeding process to form a cigarette, in the portions 6 is packed more shredded tobacco leaves, increasing frictional force between the shredded tobacco leaves each other. Therefore, when a cigarette rod is cut at the portions 6 to produce a single cigarette having a length l, it is difficult for the shredded tobacco leaves to slide down from the end, preventing the cigarettes with incomplete end from being produced. Although this method is effective to prevent cigarette with incomplete end from being produced, actually, more shredded tobacco leaves should be packed at a portion adjacent the end, resulting in loss of tobacco leaves. Meanwhile, as other prior arts for preventing cigarettes with incomplete end from being produced, Japanese Utility Model Application Pub. Nos. 48-40500 and 60-182796 are disclosed. Prior art disclosed in the former Japanese Utility Model Application Pub. No. 48-40500 is for preventing shredded tobacco leaves from dropping by pasting a piece of paper or the like on an end of a cigarette. On the other hand, in prior art disclosed in the latter Utility Model Application Pub. No. 60-182796, an end of a cigarette is covered by a piece of paper or a tobacco leaf, or an adhesive is sprayed, applied, or impregnated on an end of a cigarette. However, it is not easy to cover an end of a cigarette by a lid while appearance of the cigarette being maintained. Moreover, there is a problem that a new apparatus for applying the lid must be added in the cigarette making process. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION US-A-2,543,277 discloses a method of making cigarettes comprising the features of the preamble of claim 1 and a cigarette making apparatus comprising the features of the preamble of claim 2. However, adhearing portions are applied on the wrapper material by a stationary spray nozzle after a band of tobacco was placed on the wrapper material. This is disadventageous since the area below the band of tobacco will not receive the spray from the nozzle and, therefore the fixing of leaves at the paper wrapper is not sufficient to avoid dropping of the leaves from the end of the cigarette. It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a method of making cigarettes according to the preamble of claim 1 and a cigarette making apparatus according to the preamble of claim 2 wherein shredded tobacco leaves are relyably stabilized and contained within a prepared cigarette. According to the invention, this object is attained by a method comprising characterizing features of claim 1, and by an apparatus comprising characterizing features of claim 2. A further embodiment of the apparatus is characterized in subclaim 3. The method of making cigarettes and the cigarette making apparatus according to the invention for stabilizing shredded tobacco leaves at an end of a cigarette, are explained below. The adhesive pressurized and accommodated in the accommodating chamber is filled in the concave portion on the outer periphery of the adhesive roller rotating while being in contact with the opening of the adhesive nozzle. Meanwhile, the paper wrapper is applied from the paper wrapper bobbin and is in contact with the adhesive roller in the middle of the feed passage where the paper moves. The relation between the circumferential velocity of the adhesive roller and the traveling velocity of the paper wrapper is determined so that the pitch of the adhesive transferred to the paper wrapper becomes equal to the length of the cigarette. Then, the adhesive in the concave portion is transferred to the paper wrapper. The concave portion is parallel to the rotation shaft of the adhesive roller, that is, parallel to the crosswise direction of the paper wrapper. Then, adhering portions each with a shape of strip is formed in the crosswise direction of the paper wrapper. The pitch of the adhering portions are identical with the length of the cigarette. The paper wrapper with adhering portions is transported to the shredded tobacco leaves feed portion to put shredded tobacco leaves on the paper wrapper and only shredded tobacco leaves of the adhering portion are pasted. Then, the paper wrapper is wound like a bar in the winding portion to form a cigarette rod. Then, the roller paper is transported to the cutting portion. The adjusting apparatus adjusts the position of the adhering portion so that the pasting position conform in position with the cutting position of the cutting portion. As a result, the adhering portion is formed at an end of a single cigarette to prevent shredded tobacco leaves being in contact with the inner surface of the cigarette from dropping, preventing cigarettes with incomplete end from being produced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be more apparent from the ensuring description with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a method for stabilizing shredded tobacco leaves of a cigarette at an end thereof; Figure 2 is a front view of an apparatus for stabilizing shredded tobacco leaves of a cigarette at an end thereof; Figure 3 is a perspective view showing primary portions of the adhesive roller and adhesive nozzle; Figure 4 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating the condition that the adhesive is transferred; Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the primary portion of the adhesive nozzle; Figure 6 is a front view of the adhesive roller; Figure 7 is a side view of the adhesive roller of Fig. 6; Figure 8 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the adhesive roller, the rotation shaft, and the like; Figure 9 is a schematic drawing for explaining conventional shredded tobacco leaves feed process; Figure 10 is a perspective view of the trimming disk used for the conventional shredded tobacco leaves feed process; and Figure 11 is a primarily plan view for explaining the condition that shredded tobacco leaves are put on a paper wrapper. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Now, the embodiments of the present invention will be explained in reference with drawings. Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a method for stabilizing shredded tobacco leaves at an end of a cigarette and Fig. 2 shows a front view of an apparatus for stabilizing shredded tobacco leaves at an end of a cigarette. As shown in Fig. 2, a paper wrapper 5 applied from a paper wrapper bobbin is transported in the direction shown by the arrow F1 along a feed passage and then is bent along a roller 7 to be transported to a feed passage shown by the arrow F2. When the paper wrapper passes a printing roller 8, the name of the cigarette and the like are printed and then the paper wrapper is transported to a feed passage F4 between a roller 13 and a cylindrical paper guide 14 after passing through a winding feed passage F3 formed by a paper feed roller 9, a roller 10, a roller 11, and a roller 12. The feed passage F4 is provided with a lift roller 15 and an adhesive roller 16. When the lift roller recedes from the feed passage F4 for the paper wrapper 5, the paper wrapper is in contact with the outer periphery of the adhesive roller. On the other hand, when the lift roller projects from the feed passage F4, the paper wrapper 5 separates from the outer periphery of the adhesive roller 16. As described in Figs. 6, 7,and 8, the adhesive roller 16 is inserted a rotation shaft 18 in a hole at the axis thereof and is provided with four shallow concave portions 19 parallel to the hole 17 on the outer periphery thereof. The rotation shaft 18 is provided with a flange 18a at an end thereof and male screw 18b at the other end thereof. A adjusting device is threadedly fitted to the male screw 18b. The adjusting device 20 synchronizes the rotation of the adhesive roller 16 and cutting operation of the cutter 21 (refer to Fig. 1) installed downstream from the adhesive roller. The adjusting device is locked after the rotation angle of the past roller is fixed so that portions of the paper wrapper 5 overlapping the concave portions 19 coincide with positions cut by the cutter 21 and the adhesive roller 16 is put between spacers 22 to fix the adhesive roller 16 to the rotation shaft 18. Further, fine adjustment of the synchronization with the cutting operation can be performed by adjusting the inclination of a positioning lever 23 having at an end thereof a roller 23a which is in contact with the paper wrapper 5. The outer periphery of the adhesive roller 16 is in contact with a tip 24a of the adhesive nozzle 24 (refer to Fig. 3). As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, a longitudinal cross-sectional view and perspective view respectively, the adhesive nozzle 24 is provided with an accommodating chamber for accommodating adhesive A therein and is provided at the end surface thereof with an opening 26 communicating with the accommodating chamber 25 so that the pressurized adhesive A comes in contact with the outer periphery of the adhesive roller 16. As described in Fig. 1, to the paper wrapper 5 passing through the feed passage F4 are fed shredded tobacco leaves T and the adhesive is applied to the side end of the paper wrapper 5. Then, the paper wrapper 5 is transported to the winding portion, where the paper wrapper 5 is wound, and is further transported to the cutting portion to be cut. Next, the method and apparatus according to the invention will be explained. The adhesive accommodated in the accommodating chamber 25 of the adhesive nozzle 24 is pressurized and is in contact with the adhesive roller 16 under the pressurized state at the opening 26 of the end surface 24a. The adhesive roller 16 rotates while being in contact with the end surface 24a of the adhesive nozzle 24 and the adhesive A is accommodated in the concave portion 19. Meanwhile, the paper wrapper 5 is applied from the paper wrapper bobbin and passes through the feed passages F1, F2, and F3 to be in contact with the adhesive roller 16 during the travel at the feed passage F4 since the lift roller recedes from the passage F4. The circumferential velocity of the adhesive roller 16 is equal to the feed velocity of the paper wrapper 5. Therefore, the adhesive accommodated in the concave portion 19 is transferred to the paper wrapper 5 at a predetermined intervals identical with the length of the single cigarette (refer to Fig. 4). Since the concave portion 19 is parallel to the rotation shaft 18 of the adhesive roller 16, that is, parallel to the crosswise direction of the paper wrapper 5, strips of adhering portion A' are formed in the cross-wise direction of the paper wrapper 5. The paper wrapper 5 is further transported to the shredded tobacco leaves feed portion where the shredded tobacco leaves T is put on the paper wrapper and only shredded tobacco leaves T on the adhering portions are stuck inner surface of the paper wrapper 5. Then, the paper wrapper 5 is applied the adhesive on the side end thereof and is further wound there to form a cigarette rod. Then, the paper wrapper 5 is transported to the cutting portion to be cut by the cutter 21. The position to be cut by the cutter 21 is adjusted so as to coincide with the adhering portion A' where the adhesive is transferred. Therefore, the adhering portion A' is positioned at the end of the single cigarette and the shredded tobacco leaves being in contact with the inner surface of the paper wrapper 5 at the end portion thereof. As a result, the stuck shredded tobacco leaves T prevents the shredded tobacco leaves inside the paper from dropping, preventing cigarettes with incomplete end from being produced. Since the cigarette making apparatus according to the present invention has the structure described above, following effect will be obtained. Adhesive applied to inner surface of a paper wrapper of the cigarette sustains shredded tobacco leaves which are in contact with the inner periphery of the paper wrapper, to prevent other shredded tobacco leaves from dropping by the shredded tobacco leaves sustained by the adhesive, which makes it possible to prevent shredded tobacco leaves from dropping with minimum quantity of the adhesive. Therefore, the cigarettes produced by the present invention are smoked while maintaining taste, smell and appearance of cigarettes conventionally smoked, and health of smokers, and with minimum quantity of adhesive similar to a conventional method. The apparatus for stabilizing shredded tobacco leaves at an end of a cigarette has advantages such as a few parts, simple structure, compactness, easy built-in performance to conventional cigarette making process, and economical cost for installation.

Claims: A method of making cigarettes, wherein cigarettes of a determined length are cut from a cigarette rod, which is formed by winding a paper wrapper around shredded tobacco leaves fed on said paper wrapper during transport thereof, said paper wrapper having applied thereon strip-like tobacco adhering portions extending cross-wise to the direction of transport of said paper wrapper with a pitch according to the cutting length of the cigarette characterized in that said strip-like tobacco adhering portions are applied prior to the feeding of shredded tobacco by contact of an adhesive roller and that further adhesive is applied to a side end of said paper wrapper prior to the forming of said cigarette rod. A cigarette making apparatus comprising a shredded tobacco leaves feed portion; a feed passage for transporting a paper wrapper (5) applied from a paper wrapper bobbin to said shredded tobacco leaves feed portion; a winding portion for winding said paper wrapper with said shredded tobacco leaves thereon, which is positioned downstream from said shredded tobacco leaves feed portion, to produce a cigarette rod; a cutting portion for cutting said cigarette rod into cigarettes each having a prescribed length; adhesive applying means; and an adjusting apparatus for adjusting positions of said adhesive applying means such that adhesive, which is applied on tobacco adhering portions on said paper wrapper prior to the forming of a cigarette rod, is put on said paper wrapper (5) to coincide with positions cut by said cutting portion; characterized in that said adhesive applying means putting adhesive on the paper wrapper on said feed passage includes: a cylindrical adhesive roller (16) having an insert rotation shaft (18) at the center thereof positioned in a path (F4) of the paper feed; concave portions (19) provided in parallel with said shaft (18) on an outer periphery of said adhesive roller (16); an adjusting member engaged with the rotation shaft (18) for synchronizing the circumferential velocity of the adhesive roller (16) with the feed velocity of the paper wrapper (5) and for locking of the adhesive roller (16) in an angular position; an accomodation chamber (25) for accommodating pressurized adhesive therein; and an adhesive nozzle (24) having an opening (26) communicating with said accomodating chamber (25) at one end thereof and with said outer periphery of said adhesive roller (16) at the other end thereof. The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said adjusting apparatus comprises several means for performing a fine adjustment of the synchronization of the cutting operation including a positioning lever (23) having at one end a roller (23a) which is in contact with the paper wrapper (5).

Inventors: IMAI KUNIO C O JAPAN TOBACCO I, KEIRA KATSUTOSHI C O JAPAN TOB, IMAI, KUNIO, C/O JAPAN TOBACCO INC., KEIRA, KATSUTOSHI, C/O JAPAN TOBACCO INC.
Applicants: JAPAN TOBACCO INC, JAPAN TOBACCO INC.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: A24C5
IPC codes: A24C5