Patent GB-828615-A (GB)
Title: Cigarette making machine
IPC: A24C5/18
Filed: 1956-03-19
Abstract: 828,615. Making mouthpiece cigarettes. AMERICAN MACHINE & FOUNDRY CO. March 19, 1956 [March 30, 1955; May 3, 1955], No. 8461/56. Class 130. To form mouthpiece cigarettes, lengths of cigarette rod are caused to travel in jaws 208, 210, Fig. 8, of a rotary conveyer 204 from a receiving station B via a plunger-inserting station G and a mouthpiece-inserting station H to a discharging station K. General arrangement.-Fig. 1 gives a plan view of the apparatus which includes a hand or conveyer fed rod supply drum 142, rod-transfer drums 164, stepped plungers 260, mouthpiece supply discs 116, 118, mouthpiece insertion plungers 328 and a catcher band 66 for discharged cigarettes. The drive of these elements from a single motor (not shown) is described in detail and includes crank and swinging-pivot lever mechanisms which cause the plungers 260, 328 to reciprocate with a long dwell when retracted to worm and roller drive 87 which gives intermittent rotation to the conveyer 204 and to the elements 142, 164, 116, 118 geared to it as shown, rotary detent mechanisms 146, 148 which positively lock the discs 116, 118, and the elements geared thereto, between their movement periods, and an eccentric drive 202, Fig. 15 (not shown), which oscillates a cigarette-severance knife 350 and cam plates 170, 238 free on the elements 164, 204 respectively and referred to below. Cigarette rod conveyance and transfer.-The transfer drums 164 have plungers 166 projected at a station A, Fig. 8, against spring loading to grip endwise between them doublelength cigarette rod portions C lying in flutes of the supply drum 142, and transfer them to a station B where the plungers are retracted, the portions C being held temporarily between opposed spring fingers 248 on the drums 164 whilst being gripped between fixed jaws 208 and movable jaws 210 of the conveyer 204. The reciprocation of the plungers 166, the raising of the fingers 248 into operative position, and the actuation of the movable jaws 210 are respectively controlled by face cams on the camplates 170, cam-fingers 246 of the cam-late 238, and cam-tracks 236 in the plate 238, all the actual operative movements being produced, when the members 164, 204 are stationary, by reciprocation of the cam-plates 170, 238 as set out above. The cam-tracks 236 control the movable jaws 210 via cam-follower arms 232 on shafts 218 each of which is normally connected to its surrounding bush 214, Fig. 13, of the jaw arm 212 through one diametrically opposed pair of four flats 228, on a shoulder 226 of the shaft 218, engaging flat faces of insert portions 230 of a bush sleeve 216 at an end thereof which is pinned to the bush. Upon jaw blockage, however, the insert portions 230 ride over on to the previously disengaged pair of flats 228, torque being stored up in the members 218, 216 which are pinned together at their remote ends. The jaws 208, 210 have circumferential gripping recesses 258, Fig. 25. Applying mouthpieces.-At the station G, stepped plungers 260 are simultaneously advanced into the ends of the portions C to effect axial compression of the tobacco filler in the manner of Specification 737,779, the plungers having spring-loaded coned collars 262, Fig. 19, to engage the cigarette paper ends. After retraction of the plungers 260 the portions C pass to a first mouthpiece-receiving station H where filter plugs N which have been previously inserted in replaceable bushes 330 in the disc 118 are placed in one end of each portion by the respective plunger 328. The bushes 330 have bores slightly less than those of the paper ends of the portions, and axial bore ribs 334 which compress the plugs slightly, so that they enter the portions cleanly but expand therein for retention. The portions C then pass to a second mouthpiece-receiving station I where their other ends are similarly filled from the disc 116. Finally, the portions C, after being severed into individual filter-tip cigarettes at a station S by the knife 350, reach the discharging station K where they fall into a shoot 364 leading to the conveyer 66, their positive disengagement from the then-opened jaws 208, 210 being ensured by plungers 366 projected from the jaw surfaces against spring loading by cross-over arms 372, each connected to the opposed jaw. Making mouthpieces.-The discs 116, 118 may be fed with separate filter plugs but, as shown, each disc is fed by mouthpiece material M which passes from a reel or reels through a former 115 and feed rollers 119 before being severed by a knife 117 ; alternatively, at a first station of the disc a tube formed from cardboard or thick paper strip is inserted and severed and, at a consecutive station, filler material from a continuous source is placed in the tube. To accommodate different cigarette rod portion lengths and diameters the jaws 208, 210 are replaceably mounted, the discs 116, 118 are adjustable along their shafts, and the plungers 260, 328 have adjustable driving connections 278, 336. Reference is made to manufacture of cigarettes one at a time and to continuous instead of intermittent machine operation.