Patent ID: 7987855

Claim:
An apparatus for delaminating tobacco in the form of slices from a layered parcel, comprising: a conveyor arranged to deliver a parcel of tobacco to a separating location, and a rotatable tine assembly mounted on an axis extending at right angle to the conveyor and parallel the layering of the parcel and including a plurality of tines which are pointed and profiled to extend in the direction of rotation of the tine assembly and adapted to be driven at a speed greater than that of the conveyor, the tines being adapted to enter the parcel at an entering location in a direction substantially parallel to the layering of the parcel and to accelerate a layer away from the parcel for effecting separation of the layer of tobacco from the parcel, wherein the axis of the tine assembly is arranged at a distance above the parcel such that the line from the axis of the tine assembly to the entering location forms an angle between 14 and 24° with the horizontal and the peripheral speed of the tine assembly can be about three to five times the linear speed of the conveyor.