Patent Description:
In the tobacco industry are used machines for making filter rods or tobacco rods. Such machines form a rod from a continuous web of filter material, from a string of segments of finite length or from fibers of a predetermined length, which is then wrapped in a web of a wrapper material. The continuous rod thus formed is cut into single rods of determined lengths.

In order to provide continuous production of tobacco articles, it is necessary to supply both a web of wrapper material and a web of filter material in an uninterrupted manner. This is effected, for example, by using a web changer mechanism of a material of tobacco industry, which has the ability to mount two reels of material of the tobacco industry thereon. In the course of manufacture, the machine takes a continuous material web from the first reel, at that time a second reel of material is in stand by mode and waits for the moment when the trailing end of the material web from the first reel is joined to the leading end of the material web on the second reel.

The joining of these two webs of material on the machine is usually carried out by mechanical through embossing the two ends of the overlapping webs of material, or by gluing them together with double-sided adhesive tape, which is usually stuck to the leading end of material web wound up on a new reel. Articles made from a web containing such a material junction are considered defective and must be rejected from further manufacture.

The process of joining two webs of material during production usually requires the machine to be stopped or slowed down, or alternatively a buffer is used in which a certain length of the material web is stored, the selection of which during the process of joining the webs allows to perform the joining without stopping. It is important to make the splice in such a way that there is as little waste as possible in the form of the end of the web being cut from the splice point to the end of the web, or that the splice point does not require subsequent rejection of the formed articles.

In the state of the art there are known methods and machines of the tobacco industry which use a device for joining material webs.

International publication <CIT> presents a method and device for joining material webs on a machine for manufacturing articles of the tobacco industry. The machine is provided with devices for changing a material web wound on a reel and a buffer for storing a material web. When the first web of material runs out, a second reel with a second web of material is waiting on the changer device. In order to merge the two webs, the feeding speed of the machine is reduced for the web that is about to end or the machine is stopped completely to perform the merge. At this time, in order to maintain the continuity of the manufacturing process, the material web is taken from the buffer.

Patent <CIT> presents a device for joining two webs of tobacco industry material, using a moletting unit while moving them in parallel with each other at the same linear speed. In this solution, a material web is unwound from a new reel parallel to the web of material leading end. The process of joining the webs is based on embossing with the moleskin surface of the joining unit both webs at the same time while moving them simultaneously at the same speed. After the embossing, the web of the end of material is cut off, as well as the initial section of the new web, which was unwound from the reel to match the speed of the web running out.

Patent <CIT> presents a method and apparatus for joining two webs of tobacco industry material using a double-sided adhesive tape. Pieces of double-sided adhesive tape are inserted by means of a feeding device between a web of running out material and a web of new material. After joining the two webs of material, the end of the trailing web is cut off.

Publication <CIT> discloses an unwinding device, to unwind reels of web material to be fed to a production line. In particular it relates to an unwinding device for unwinding reels of tissue paper, of the type commonly used to produce rolls of toilet paper, kitchen towels and the like. Such device has features of the pre-characterizing part of claim <NUM>.

Publication <CIT> discloses web replenishing or web splicing mechanism in which rotatable replenishing web roll is provided with pasted portion and has its speed of rotation accelerated to uniting speed before it is united by its pasted portion to a running web. More specifically it relates to the class of devices in which a shield is rotated at the same speed as the roll and serves to protect the pasted portion thereof while the roll is brought up to the desired speed, said shield being thereafter released from its driving means and retarded to, thereby expose said pasted portion, the paster being made while the roll continues its rotation. Such device has features of the pre-characterizing part of claim <NUM>.

Publication <CIT> discloses a method and apparatus by which the splicing of a fresh web roll to a moving web can be effected so reliably that important savings of material otherwise wasted can be achieved, yet which are so simple and economical to install that existing roll stands can be readily adapted to give the savings. Apparatus disclosed has features of the pre-characterizing part of claim <NUM>.

The known solutions of the state of the art use ways of joining continuous webs of tobacco industry material, where a significant amount of the web is cut off, which is previously unwound from the reel in order to achieve a speed close to the feeding speed of the running out material web during the joining process. All known solutions produce a large waste of material of webs being spliced.

No solution known in the state of the art solves the problem of creating a large waste of material during the web joining process while maintaining full production speed, without the necessity to apply additional storage buffers.

The essence of the invention is a holder unit for use in a changer of a web of tobacco industry material used in manufacture systems for tobacco industry articles, comprising a holder arranged to hold a continuous web of the tobacco industry material on a material reel in the changer and to release the web of the tobacco industry material from the material reel. The holder is positioned on a carrier element the carrier element is rotary mounted about an axis of a mandrel fixing the material reel, wherein the carrier element is adapted to rotate together with the mandrel of the material reel in the changer, when the holder holds the material web. According to the invention the holder unit is characterized in that the carrier element is adapted to move in the axial direction relative to the axes.

Preferably the holder unit is characterized in that the carrier element is adapted to rotate freely about the axis of the mandrel when the holder does not hold the material web on the material reel in the changer.

Preferably the holder unit is characterized in that the carrier element is adapted to rotate about the axis together with the mandrel when the holder does not hold the material web on the material reel in the changer. Preferably the holder unit is characterized in that the holder is adapted to release the material web when the carrier moves axially in the direction relative to the axis towards the material reel.

Preferably the holder unit is characterized in that the carrier element is provided with a counterweight placed on the opposite side of the axis of rotation relative to the holder.

Preferably the holder unit is characterized in that the carrier element is provided with circumferentially arranged holes adapted to cooperate with a blocking pin for positioning the carrier element relative to the pin.

Preferably the holder unit is characterized in that the carrier element is provided with a disc with circumferentially arranged holes adapted to cooperate with the blocking pin for positioning the carrier element in relation to the mandrel.

Preferably the holder unit is characterized in that the carrier element is provided with means for electromagnetic coupling the carrier element with the mandrel.

Preferably the holder unit is characterized in that the carrier element is adapted to be driven independently of the mandrel.

Preferably the holder unit is characterized in that the holder is adapted to tilt relative to the carrier element in a direction comprising a radial component relative to the axis of rotation.

Preferably the holder unit is characterized in that the carrier element is an arm.

Preferably the holder unit is characterized in that the carrier element is a disc.

The purpose of the present invention is to ensure that two webs of material are joined at full production speed without necessity to apply a web storing buffer. The advantage of the invention is increasing production efficiency by maintaining a constant production speed while changing material webs.

The object of the invention is closely illustrated in an advantageous embodiment in the drawing in which:.

<FIG> presents a machine <NUM> for manufacturing tobacco articles R from a continuous web of material <NUM>. In this embodiment the machine <NUM> has two changers <NUM> and <NUM> of material webs of the tobacco industry. The web changer <NUM> is arranged to feed a continuous web of tobacco industry material <NUM> from reels 5a and 5b, while the web changer <NUM> is arranged to feed a continuous web of a wrapper material <NUM> from reels 7a and 7b. The continuous web <NUM> of material of the tobacco industry may be paper, processed tobacco, foil or any other material that can be unwound from a reel and can be used in the tobacco industry. The material web <NUM> is supplied to the machine <NUM> in the form of reels 5a and 5b, from which is successively unwound and subjected to a further process on the machine. After the continuous rod has been pre-formed from the material web <NUM> in the forming unit <NUM>, the pre-formed continuous rod is wrapped with a wrapper material web <NUM>. The continuous rod CR thus formed is then cut by a cutting head <NUM> into rods of a predetermined length to form articles R of the tobacco industry.

In order to ensure uninterrupted production, additional second reels 5b and 7b of the material web are located on web changers <NUM> and <NUM>, which wait until the material on the first reels respectively 5a and 7a is used in the production process. When the material wound on the first reels 5a, 7a comes to an end, the web changers <NUM>, <NUM> swap the position of the reels 5a for 5b and 7a for 7b connecting at the same time the trailing end of the material web <NUM> from the first reel 5a with the leading end of the material web <NUM> located on the second reel 5b and the trailing end of the material web <NUM> from the first reel 7a with the leading end of the material web <NUM> located on the second reel 7b. The joining of the material webs is carried out by applying glue paths to the leading ends of the material webs located on the second reels 5b, 7b with the glue nozzles <NUM> and by pressing these webs with the applied glue paths to the trailing end of the material web <NUM>, <NUM> on the first reels 5b, 7b.

<FIG> presents a machine <NUM> in a second embodiment for manufacturing tobacco articles with one web changer <NUM>. The machine <NUM> is adapted for manufacturing tobacco articles in the form of rods R formed by cutting from a continuous rod CR formed from tobacco material <NUM>. In this embodiment the material <NUM> may be tobacco, material of plant origin, materials of organic origin, materials of inorganic origin or other materials not mentioned but approved for use in the tobacco industry. The method of joining the webs of material from the reel 7a with the material web on the reel 7b is analogous to the first embodiment shown in <FIG>. In this embodiment, the machine <NUM> is provided with a forming unit <NUM> which forms a rod from the material <NUM>, which is then wrapped with a web of a wrapper material <NUM> to form a continuous rod CR wrapped with the wrapper material.

<FIG> presents a material web changer <NUM>, <NUM> with holder units <NUM> arranged to hold the ends of material webs wound on reels (not shown) by holders <NUM>. The holder <NUM> is rotary swing mounted on a support member <NUM>. In this embodiment, the function of the carrier element <NUM> of the holder <NUM> is performed by an arm. In other embodiments of the invention, the carrier element <NUM> may be realized in the form of a disc. The function of the carrier element <NUM> is to hold the holder <NUM> in a corresponding radial position relative to the axis of rotation Xa, Xb. The swing movement of the holder <NUM> in this embodiment is forced by a spring element <NUM>, e.g. a spring, and a positioning element <NUM>. The positioning element <NUM> forces the swing movement of the holder <NUM> in a direction away from the mandrel 15a, 15b by performing a reciprocating movement S towards the holder unit <NUM>, specifically towards the cooperating element <NUM> located at the other end of the holder unit <NUM> on the opposite side of the holder <NUM>. Once the holder <NUM> is in the waiting position, the protective layer of the material web is removed from the second reel 5b, 7b by means of the reel opening element (not shown in the figure). It is also possible to use, instead of the spring element <NUM>, an actuator or a linkage which will force the holder <NUM> to move in the direction towards the mandrel axis Xa, Xb. The carrier element <NUM> and the disc <NUM> are rotatably mounted relative to the axis Xa, Xb of the mandrel 15a, 15b, on which reels (5a, 5b, 7a, 7b) with a wound material web are located. The disc <NUM> has positioning holes <NUM> allowing to appropriately adjust and block the position of the holder <NUM> relative to the leading end of the web <NUM> located on the material reel. The holes <NUM> in the disc <NUM> are advantageously circumferentially arranged. Advantageously, the holders <NUM> are coupled to the disc <NUM>. However, when the holder <NUM> releases the material web, the holder <NUM> is decoupled from the disc <NUM> and moves freely on the mandrels 15a, 15b until it reaches its rest position. Advantageously, the holder <NUM> is provided with a counterweight (not shown) located on the opposite side of the axis of rotation Xa, Xb of the carrier element <NUM> with respect to the holder <NUM>. In the example of the embodiment in which the carrier element is in the form of a disc, the holes <NUM> are made in the disc acting as the carrier member <NUM>.

Alternatively, each of the mandrels 15a, 15b has its own drive (not shown in the figure) to bring the reel 5a, 5b, 7a, 7b with the material into a rotational motion. Also alternatively, each holder <NUM> may have its own independent drive to put the holder <NUM> into a rotational motion about the axis Xa, Xb of the mandrel 15a, 15b.

<FIG> presents the changer <NUM>, <NUM> during production, when taking a material web <NUM>, <NUM> from the first reel 5a, 7a. The material web in this embodiment is a wrapper material web, but any other material in the form of a web wound on a reel and approved for use in the tobacco industry may be used. Before changing the position of the disc <NUM>, a second material reel 5b, 7b is located on the mandrel 15b, from which the top protective layer of the web of material is automatically cut off (by a mechanism not shown in the figure) or manually by an operator.

After cutting off the protective layer, the mandrel 15b together with the positioned second material reel 5b, 7b performs a rotational movement in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation R<NUM> (shown in <FIG>) in order to wind up on the reel 5b, 7b the remaining part of the material web unwound from the reel 5b, 7b and suitable for further use in production. The reel 5b, 7b can make the required number of turns, or a rotation of a certain angle until the leading end of the web <NUM> is at least partially adjacent to the outer circumferential surface <NUM> of the reel 5b, 7b. After the web has been wound onto the second reel 5b, 7b, the positioning element <NUM> releases the cooperating element <NUM> of the holder unit <NUM> thereby causing the swing movement of the holder <NUM> in the direction to the axis Xb of the mandrel 15b and holding the leading end of the web <NUM> with the holder <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>.

Holding the leading end of the material web <NUM> is supposed to maintain its unchanged position relative to the second reel 5b, 7b. By holding the leading end of the web <NUM>, it can be understood, inter alia that the leading end of the web <NUM> is pressed against the outer circumferential surface <NUM> of the second reel 5b, 7b with the holder13 so that the material web does not unwind from the second reel 5b, 7b during the change of the position of the disc <NUM> from the first position to the second position, which will occur during the change of the web, as well as during the acceleration of the second reel 5b, 7b. When the sensor <NUM> detects the approaching end of the material web <NUM>, <NUM> on the first reel 5a, 7a, the changer <NUM>, <NUM> performs a rotational movement of the disc <NUM> on which the holders <NUM> are placed together with the material reels 5a, 5b, 7a, 7b, in the direction indicated by the arrow R<NUM> from the first position to the second position, assuming the arrangement shown in <FIG>. Before starting the change of position of the disc <NUM>, the second reel 5b, 7b is put into a rotational movement in the direction R<NUM> around the X axis of the mandrel 15b. Together with the second reel 5b, 7b, a holder unit <NUM> with a holder <NUM> is put into rotary motion, as shown in <FIG> in side view. The holder unit <NUM> in this position is moved towards the second reel 5b, 7b, positioned and interlocked with the blocking element <NUM>, which cooperates with the positioning holes <NUM> located in the disc <NUM>. The positioning consists in adjusting the holder unit <NUM> in such a way that the position of the holder <NUM> coincides with the position of the leading end of the web <NUM>, i.e. the holder <NUM> is located at the same place on the outer circumferential surface of the second reel 5b, 7b as the leading end of the web <NUM>. The blocking element <NUM> may be a blocking pin <NUM> cooperating with the positioning holes <NUM> as shown in this embodiment or it may be an electromagnet, a gearbox, an electronic lock of a synchronized drive <NUM> of the pin 15a, 15b and an independent drive <NUM> of the holder unit <NUM>, or any other solution allowing to temporarily maintain a constant position of the holder13 relative to the leading end of the web <NUM>.

At the same time, the material web <NUM>, <NUM> is taken from the first reel 5a, 7a while moving along the outer surface <NUM> of the second reel 5b, 7b whose rotational speed is VR. The rotational velocity VR of the second reel 5b, 7b measured at its outer circumference corresponds to such a linear velocity that is substantially equal to or close to the linear velocity VL of the taken material web <NUM>, <NUM> along the section where the material web <NUM>, <NUM> is displaced tangentially to the outer circumferential surface <NUM> of the second reel 5b, 7b. Due to the fact that both speeds are substantially equal, the slippage between the material web <NUM>, <NUM> and the outer circumferential surface <NUM> of the second reel 5b, 7b is minimal or is completely eliminated.

<FIG> presents the changer <NUM>, <NUM> in top view while holding the leading end of the web <NUM> on the second reel 5b, 7b. In this embodiment a web of material of much greater width relative to, for example, a web of a wrapper material is wound on the second reel 5b, 7b. In the top view, it can be seen that the holder <NUM> holds the leading end of the web <NUM> which is cut at an angle from the edge side <NUM> of the second reel 5b, 7b. The angle at which the leading end of the web <NUM> is cut may contain within the range of <NUM>-<NUM>°, more preferably in the range of <NUM>-<NUM>°.

After the signal from the sensor <NUM>, the taken web <NUM>, <NUM> of the first reel 5a, 7a is cut off by the cutting unit <NUM> and an adhesive path is applied to the outer surface <NUM> of the second reel 5b, 7b by the glue nozzle <NUM> so that the end <NUM> of the taken web <NUM>, <NUM> is glued to the leading end of the material web <NUM> on the second reel 5b, 7b shown in <FIG>. For the gluing process, a fast-drying adhesive should be used, which allows the gluing process to be carried out in a very short time. After gluing the end <NUM> of the taken web <NUM>, <NUM>, it is also possible to tighten the area where the web is joined, for example, by means of pressing rollers <NUM>.

When the two webs are glued together, the blocking element <NUM> is released and the holder unit <NUM> together with the holder <NUM> is withdrawn from its operating position in the axial direction T along the axis Xb of rotation of the mandrel 15b, as shown in <FIG> in side view. Alternatively, the holder <NUM> may be withdrawn from the operating position by performing a movement with a radial component relative to the direction away from the axis Xb.

After the gluing process has been carried out, the material web <NUM>, <NUM> is taken from the second reel 5b, 7b (<FIG>) and the core of the first reel 5a, 7a, on which the used material was wound, is removed from the mandrel 15a.

Claim 1:
A holder unit (<NUM>) for use in a changer (<NUM>, <NUM>) of a web of tobacco industry material used in manufacture systems for tobacco industry articles, comprising:
a holder (<NUM>) arranged to hold a continuous web of the tobacco industry material (<NUM>, <NUM>) on a material reel (5a, 5b, 7a, 7b) in the changer (<NUM>, <NUM>) and to release the web of the tobacco industry material (<NUM>, <NUM>) from the material reel (5a, 5b, 7a,7b),
the holder (<NUM>) is positioned on a carrier element (<NUM>)
the carrier element (<NUM>) is rotary mounted about an axis (Xa, Xb) of a mandrel (15a, 15b) fixing the material reel (5a, 5b, 7a, 7b), wherein
the carrier element (<NUM>) is adapted to rotate together with the mandrel (15a, 15b) of the material reel (5a, 5b, 7a, 7b) in the changer (<NUM>, <NUM>), when the holder (<NUM>) holds the material web (<NUM>, <NUM>), and characterized in that
the carrier element (<NUM>) is adapted to move in the axial direction (T) relative to the axes (Xa, Xb).