PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15920217
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-03
Publication Date: 2018-09
Patent Classification: ["414", "810000"]

Abstract:
A method of emptying trays filled with rod-shaped articles produced in the tobacco industry, which consist of the following stages: the trays designated for emptying are conveyed to the input area of a hopper containing adjacent channels separated by dividers; the rod-shaped articles are transferred from the tray to the channels of the hopper using support plates; the channels of the hopper are filled with the rod-shaped articles; the support plates are retracted from the channels of the hopper; the channels of the hopper are successively emptied into a chute adapted to move between channel outlets of the hopper; finally, the rod-shaped articles are transferred from the channels of the hopper and through the chute to the discharge conveyor moving towards the receiving device. The method is further characterized in that during emptying at least one channel ( 7 ) of the hopper ( 2 ), the hopper ( 2 ) moves linearly in the direction (S 2 ) opposite to the direction (T) in which the rod-shaped articles are transported by the discharge conveyor ( 19 ); and after the channel ( 7 ) has been completely emptied, the hopper ( 2 ) moves in the direction (S 1 ) concurrent with the direction (T) in which the rod-shaped articles are transported by the discharge conveyor ( 19 ), until it achieves a position in which the outlet of the next channel filled with rod-shaped articles is aligned with the inlet ( 21 ) of the chute ( 20 ), whereas the hopper ( 2 ) moves at a variable velocity when moving in the direction (S 1 ) concurrent with the direction (T) in which the rod-shaped articles are transported by the conveyor.

Claim (Index 6):
The method according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the direction of movement of the hopper ( 2 ) changes after receiving a signal from the channel fill sensor ( 25 ) indicating a change in the extent to which the hopper is filled with rod-shaped articles, from the direction opposite to the direction in which the rod-shaped articles are transported by the discharge conveyor ( 19 ), to the direction concurrent with the direction in which the rod-shaped articles are transported by the discharge conveyor.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 23.0
- Percentile: 90.0
- Lexical Diversity: 3.0
- Patent Class: 414.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: none
- Component Type: 0
- Foreign Priority: True
- Related Applications: ['15703683', '12991051', '12068080', '15696917', '15132269']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.8617296447313397
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5376847153237713
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.8293251517905829
- Mean Citation Score: 264.899512
- Max Citation Score: 413.54816
- Similarity Product: 277.09125030662534

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 0
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 0
- Combined Label: 0
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test