Patent GB-328747-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to packing machinery
IPC: B65B19/14
Filed: 1929-03-22
Abstract: 328,747. Molins, W. E. March 22, 1929. Packeting cigarettes and the like in cartons; unpacking.-A machine for packeting cigarettes, &c. is arranged so that the open end or ends of the shell or carton are disposed parallel to the axis of the cigarettes. The cigarettes may be previously enveloped in a strip of foil, one end of which is secured to a broad face of the shell so that the other end may be moved to bring the contents successively to the mouth. In one form, the cigarettes are removed from a hopper 1, Fig. 3, by a plunger 17, into the path of an endless conveyer 19 travelling at right angles to the path of the plunger and the axis of the cigarettes. The plunger 17 remains momentarily in its forward position to act as a guide for the further movement of the cigarettes. The conveyer 19 thrusts the cigarettes laterally against a strip of foil delivered by apparatus 4, which is folded around them so that a length 20, Fig. 8, trails behind on the bed of the cigarette. A packet is shown in Fig. 6, and the cigarettes are thrust therein through a spring mouthpiece 21 carried on a hinged arm 22, a spring controlled stop 23 holding the lowermost packet in position, as described in Specification 166,406. until the insertion is effected, and then rising to allow the filled packet to be transferred into the path of another conveyer 27, Fig. 3. A guide 24, Fig. 8, prevents the cigarettes from rising during the insertion. The closing of the packet takes place while the packet is being forwarded by the conveyer 27, and is illustrated in Fig. 7. A folder 28 first turns the overlapping length of foil vertically upwards, in which position it is prevented from contacting with the outermost cigarette by a spring 29. A gumming wheel 30 applies adhesive to the flap 20a and the foil is bent downward by the spring 29 secured to the gummed flap by a pressure roller 31. A final folder 32 turns up the two flaps simultaneously to complete the packet. A heated rail may be used to dry the gum. The loose end of the foil may be seized by the thumb slot shown in Fig. 6 for the purpose of raising a cigarette for removal, or it may be sufficiently long to project above the edge. In another form of machine, the cigarettes are introduced, moving in the direction of their axes, through the side of the carton shown in Fig. 2, the flaps 11, 12 are closed, and the cigarettes may be removed past the unsealed cover flap 16. In the form shown in Figs. 11 and 12, the cigarettes are thrust laterally, with a strip of foil, into a shell 33 open at both ends, shown in half-section in Fig. 14. The flattened shells 32 are fed from a magazine 34, Fig. 12, by a reciprocating needle pad 35 between pairs of rollers 36, 37 and positioned by a finger 38 between a fixed sucker 42 and a movable sucker 41. The latter moves from the position shown in broken lines to the position in full lines to open the shell. The cigarettes and foil are introduced by a pusher 43, Fig. 11, hollowed to accommodate the last one of the batch. Before insertion is complete, a gumming roll 46 applies adhesive to the portion of foil supported on the pusher 43, which then pushes the charge in and causes the gummed portion to adhere to the inner surface of the shell. The projecting flap 32 of foil is then folded down. In cases where the cigarettes are to be introduced into a carton already lined with foil, the central portion 57<a>, Fig. 18, of the introducing plunger 55, is formed separately and is held in the advanced positions while the remainder return, to prevent retraction of the cigarettes. Any of the forms of packet may be subsequently enveloped in an outer wrapper. Double packets, in being filled according to the invention, may be folded with the component halves back to back to facilitate simultaneous filling.