Patent GB-1074034-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for producing a continuous tobacco stream or rod
IPC: A24C5/18
Filed: 1964-09-30
Abstract: 1,074,034. Feeding tobacco. K. KÍRBER. Sept. 30, 1964 [Oct.11, 1963; Oct. 12, 1963; Jan. 11, 1964; Jan. 15, 1964], No. 39800/64. Heading A2C. A centrifugal tobacco distributer comprises a rotary unit incorporating a distributer chamber disposed radially of its rotary axis and providing a circular slotshaped tobacco outlet at its periphery to receive tobacco from the chamber, and a screen adapted to receive the tobacco from the chamber and to collect such tobacco for extraction at the tobacco outlet, the screen being in the form of a flat circular ring disposed to one side of the plane of the tobacco outlet. As shown in Figs 1-3 the distributer comprises a funnel 1 rotating about an axis 2 and a rotary coneshaped member 3 projecting into the funnel so as to define a flow space 4 into which a tobacco/air mixture is fed. The funnel 1 is supported in ball bearings 5 and 6 in a stationary case 7 and is driven by a pulley 20. The casing 7 forms an outer closure at 8 for the space 4 consisting of walls 9 and 10. An opening 11 is cut beneath the wall 10 and the outer edge of the cone 3 which opens into a ring duct 12 connected through a suction connection 13 to a suction fan 14. The opening 11 is covered by a flat ring-shaped screen 15 fastened to the periphery of the support 16. The support 16 is supported in ball bearings 17 and 18 on a fixed casing 19 and driven by a pulley 21. A shaft 24 is supported in the carrier 16 in ball bearings 22 and 23 and carries the cone 3. A driving pulley 25 is fastened to the bottom of the shaft 24. Ribs 27 and 28 are provided on the walls of the funnel 1 and cone 3 as shown in Fig. 2. Openings 29 and 30 are provided in the closure 8 and an endless belt 31 extends passed the opening 29 for taking off the tobacco rod formed on the screen 15. A second endless belt 38 passes over a guide roller 36, provided adjacent the screen 15, and through the openings 29 and 30 and bears on the top of the tobacco rod. Cigarette paper 43 is fed over the belt 31 and the rod and paper are fed to a garniture and subsequent rod-cutting devices. The distributer is arranged so as to rotate about a horizontal axis. During operation, the funnel 1 rotates at the highest speed, the cone 3 at a slower speed, and the carrier 16 and screen 15 at the slowest speed all in the same direction. The belts 31 and 38 run in the direction of the arrows 33 and 41 at the rod speed. An airstream passes through the flow space 4 and away through duct 13. Tobacco fibres are loosened by the action of the ribs 27 and 28 and separated and are deposited on the screen 15 in the flow space 35 to form a rod which is led away by the belts 31 and 38. The distributer may be supplied with weighed amounts of tobacco and may deliver a stream of tobacco formed into a second distributer. Alternatively, several distributers may be used operating in parallel and/or in series, those in parallel being supplied alternately with weighed amounts of tobacco. In an alternative form of distributer (Fig. 6) the funnel 1 and cone 3 are replaced by plates 64 and 65 forming a flow space 63. The plates are provided with radial rims 79 and 80 and are corrugated in cross-section.