Patent GB-1166236-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for and Method of Producing Soft Packs of Cigarettes.
Inventor: FOCKE HEINZ
IPC: B65B19/24
Filed: 1968-01-08
Abstract: 1,166,236. Packaging Cigarettes. H. FOCKE. 8 Jan., 1968 [7 Jan., 1967], No. 1171/68. Heading B8C. Apparatus for packaging cigarettes in soft packs comprises a rotary press assembly for receiving and compressing groups of cigarettes, and a rotary packer on which double-walled packets are formed from blanks. The groups are pushed from the press assembly into the packets on the packer and the packs are sealed. At least two packs are produced simultaneously at each stage. Forming cigarette groups.-Cigarettes are collected in a magazine 10 and formed into two groups 13 by channels 11. Each group consists of three rows formed at each side of stops 14, Fig. 3, and the groups are pushed by a double pusher 15, Fig. 4, into pairs of pockets 17, 18 in the press assembly 19 at station a, Fig. 1. The assembly 19 rotates intermittently, and at stations b-d the groups 13 are compressed by movable walls 22, 24 in the pockets 17, 18. At stations e and f the groups are checked for soft cigarettes by detectors 30, 31 (see also Fig. 6 not shown), which cause unsatisfactory packs to be ejected later. At station i, the groups are inserted into hollow mandrels 35, 36 in the packer 20, which have already had packets p formed on them. The pockets 17, 18 are opened slightly and a double pusher (32), Fig. 11 (not shown), makes the transfer. Formation of packets.-The packer 20 rotates intermittently through stations A-R. At A, a foil blank 33 is fed (at right angles to the plane of the drawing, Figs. 1 and 7) by rollers 37, 38, pushed between the two mandrels 35, 36 by an arm 39, and severed by a knife 40 to make two foils 33a, 33b. The foils are held in position by elements 44, 45 (see also Fig. 8 (not shown)), and are folded into U-shape by fixed tools 46 as the packer rotates. At station E, flaps 42, 43, 47, 48 are folded by movable folders 49, 50, 51, and these flaps are held by further elements 52, 53. The foils are now tubed about the mandrels. End tucks and side flaps 59, 60, which form the bottom of the inner packet, are folded in at stations F and G by tools 61, 62 and ploughs 63-65, and at station H, paper blanks are fed in to form the outer walls of the packets. The feed is the same as for the foils, but hot-melt glue is previously applied at 70 and 96, Fig. 2. The folding is also similar, but a heating plunger 69 seals the bottom flaps at station M. Discharge of packs.-After the cigarette groups have been received at station P, the packs are pushed out of the packer 20 at station R by a double pusher 71, Fig. 2, and the folding in of the top flaps is done at station S on a discharge track 72 by folders (77, 78), Fig. 13 (not shown), and 79, 84, Fig. 2. Packs are pushed along the track 72 by a pusher 89 and then by reciprocating jaws 90a, 90b, and are delivered individually into openings 85-88 in a rotary distributer 21, Fig. 2, which turns through 90 degrees between each insertion. A pusher 91 delivers satisfactory packs on to a track 92, but if a pack was earlier detected as faulty, the pusher 91 does not operate and the pack is carried round further by the distributer 21 to be ejected by a second pusher 93 on to a further track 94.