Patent ID: 7377097

Claim:
A chain link for a conveying chain of a storage device for a rod-shaped tobacco product, comprising: a hinge pin; and a chain link body having a longitudinal axis and including: a carrying element having an upper carrying surface to carry the tobacco product and a lower side; a side wall; a guide wing having an upper side; the lower side of the carrying element, the side wall, and the upper side of the guide wing being arranged to define a U-shaped profile; a holder for the hinge pin which defines a first hinge axis; and a hinge pin bearing defining a second hinge axis for connecting the chain link to an adjacent chain link, the carrying surface being arranged substantially parallel to a hinge plane defined by the first and second hinge axes; wherein the side wall is adapted to cooperate with a deflection plate of the storage device that rotates about a vertical axis or an axis inclined to the vertical, the chain link being adapted, when cooperating with the deflection plate, to pivot about a longitudinal pivot axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the chain link body, the side wall including a friction-generating pivotal guide element, comprised of a groove arranged to pivotally engage the deflection plate so that a pivot movement of the chain link about the longitudinal pivot axis is counteracted by a frictional force exerted by the deflection plate on the guide element, wherein an inside width of the groove in the side wall is smaller than the distance between the lower side of the carrying element and the upper side of the guide wing.