Patent GB-669557-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to machines for making cigarettes having filter or like plug or other mouthpieces
Inventor: MOLINS DESMOND WALTER
IPC: A24C5/52
Filed: 1948-10-11
Abstract: 669,557. Cigarette-making machines. MOLINS MACHINE CO., Ltd. Oct. 10, 1949 [Oct. 11, 1948], No. 26421/48. Class 130. In a continuousrod cigarette-making machine, stubs inserted in flutes 7 in an intermittently rotatable drum 6 are ejected by a continuous tobacco filler fed by a conveyer 2 through a guide 5 so that it passes through a flute whilst the drum is stationary, the section of filler remaining in the flute being sheared off on rotation and replaced by a stub carried by the succeeding flute; the resulting composite rod of alternate tobacco lengths and stubs passes through a guide 31 on to a cigarette paper web 34. Lengths of mouthpiece material, delivered from a hopper 9 into grooves in a rotating drum 11, are cut into three double-length stubs by knives 10 and delivered into grooves 26, Fig. 5, in a member 25 by fingers 19, actuated by a cam 23, co-operating with a stepped guide 15 surrounding the drum 11, the end stubs in each groove being moved axially simultaneously into adjacent flutes 7 by plungers 28-30 carried by a member 27 reciprocated by cam-operated levers 62, 63. The drum 6 moves three steps for each reciprocation. The guides 5, 31 are brought flush with the sides of the drum 6, preferably provided with hard metal inserts on the edges, to provide the shearing action on rotation, and a plate 32 guiding the filler while passing through the flute is preferably made narrow to allow dust and shorts to escape. The tobacco lengths in the flutes either fall or are positively ejected therefrom, the flutes being cleaned by an air blast from a nozzle 36, by a brush, or by centrifugal action. The drum 6 is intermittently rotated by a worm 86 on a shaft 45 driven from a gear 44 through a clutch comprising a wheel 97 keyed to the shaft 45 and carrying a spring- loaded pawl 98 engaging a slot 100 in a wheel 99 keyed to the hub 91 of the wheel 44. A wheel 92 rotatable on the hub 91 carries a pin 102 moving in an arcuate slot 101 in the wheel 44 and connected to the wheel by a spring 104. During running the spring 104 is tensioned and pin 102 contacts the rear end of slot 101, in which position a slot 96 aligns with the slot 100 to allow the pawl 98 to engage therein. To stop the drum 6 a lever 107 is raised to trip the pawl 98, and a spring 109 moves a lever 108 forward to apply a brake 197 to the rim of the wheel 97. The spring 104 then advances the wheel 92 with respect to the wheel 44 and moves the slots 96, 100 out of alignment, whereby the pawl 98 cannot re-engage in the slot 100. To re-start the drum 6, the lever 108 is pulled back, which releases the brake 197 and applies a brake 94 to retard the wheel 92, whereby the spring 104 is tensioned and the grooves 96, 100 are re-aligned to allow the pawl 98 to engage therein. The lever 108 is then released and is held by the lever 107 in a position in which the brake 94 is released. In a modification the stubs are fed radially into the flutes 7. Specifications 664,690 and 669,566 are referred to.