Patent ID: 7165668

Claim:
An apparatus for transferring rod-like articles from a longitudinal conveyor that longitudinal-axially conveys the articles onto a transverse conveyor that transverse-axially conveys the articles, comprising: a conveyor that receives the articles from the longitudinal conveyor and delivers the articles to the transverse conveyor, the conveyor comprising at least a first conveying element and a separate second conveying element which are configured to be in functional connection with one another; the first conveying element being structured and arranged to rotate the articles by a predetermined angle; and the second conveying element being structured and arranged to reduce the transport speed of the articles, wherein: the first and second conveying elements are each structured and arranged as a rotational conveying body that comprises one of a drum and disc configured to be driven to rotate about a rotational axis; the first conveying element comprises a plurality of trough segments, each of the plurality of trough segments comprising a plurality of receiving elements configured to at least one of remove and deliver the rod-like articles, each of the plurality of trough segments being arranged to be rotatable, by said predetermined angle, about a rotational axis other than the rotational axis about which the first conveying element rotates; the second conveying element comprises at least one trough segment comprising a plurality of receiving elements configured to at least one of remove and deliver the rod-like articles.