Patent GB-820845-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to cigarette-making machinery
IPC: A24C5/354
Filed: 1955-03-01
Abstract: 820,845. Filling cigarette containers. MOLINS D. W., PEMBROKE, G. F., WILLIAMS, H., and MOLINS MACHINE CO. Ltd. Feb. 22, 1956 [March 1, 1955 ; June 3, 1955 ; June 3, 1955], Nos. 6048/55, 15994/55 and 15995/55. Class 94(1). [Also in Groups VI and XXX] The catcher bands 3, 4 and 5, 6, Fig. 1, of two side-by-side continuous-rod cigarette-making machines 1, 2 extend in opposite directions to deliver cigarettes to automatic collecting mechanism at a common delivery station. Cigarette-tray filling means.- Cigarettes passing from the catcher bands 4, 6, Fig. 4, are fed into trays T, Fig. 1, by a hopper formed of sets of feeder bars 105, 121 operated by eccentrics so that alternate bars of each set are 180 degrees out of phase, fixed guides 104, 112 also being provided. A further guide 111 which leads to a guide 106 distributing cigarettes to the tray bottoms is pivotable to permit tray passage, as are also eccentric-operated rubber-toed members 113 when their pivot bar 117 is moved by a lever 123 acting in a slot 124. The members 113 maintain a level 119 in the trays and when pivoted as described sweep clean of cigarettes members 102 bridging the gap between adjacent tray ends 101 except where these are slotted to clear the guide 106. The cigarette level 107 in the hopper acts via a photo-electric cell or detector, lever 120 to control tray speed. Cigarette-tray conveying and transferring means.-Empty trays from a trolley 10, Figs. 1 and 2, are passed by hand to a flat chain conveyer 9 which transfers them to rollers 11 on which they are slid sideways by crank mechanism 30, 31 into the reach of lugs 22 of a chain conveyer 19 which deposits them at the filling station from which they are pushed by succeeding trays over rollers 13 back to the trolley. The cranks 30, 31 are constantly rotated but are slidably keyed to their driving shafts X so that only when they are periodically raised by a cam 48 operating through linked levers 36, 37 do their roller crankpins 35 engage a tray, the succeeding tray being at such times held stationary on the conveyer 9 by a stop 85 pivoted into its path by a cone 80 rising with the crank 30 and acting on an extension 81 of the stop lever 84. The lugs 22 of the conveyer 19 are spring loaded to fold back out of operative position, being held up to their work over their operative travel by a guide 27 acting on lug rollers 25. To position it for successive empty tray delivery and full tray reception, the trolley 10 is moved in steps by hand operation of a lever 162, Fig. 9, linked to a lever 154 mounting a pawl 153 acting on a rack 151 on the trolley, the end 159 of the bed of the conveyers 9, 19, being pivoted upwards during pawl operation, by a toggle 168, 169 linked to the lever 154, so that locking projections 161 on the trolley are freed from slots 160 in the end 159. The pawl 153 is raised at the right-hand end of its stroke, by co-action between its tail 156 and a stop 157, to allow rearward wheeling of a fresh trolley into starting position. The various power-driven mechanisms of the cigarette-tray conveying means are driven from an electric motor via gearing described in detail. According to the first Provisional Specification sideways movement of the trays on the rollers 11 may be effected jointly by a fixed guide which deflects the front ends of the trays and a lever which moves their rear ends sideways. Specifications 649,467 [Group XXX], 820,846, 820,847 and 820,848 [Group XXX] are referred to.