HK1172800B - Filter rod maker - Google Patents

Description

Filter rod making machine

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a machine for making filter rods for the manufacture of smoking articles, such as filter cigarettes. The machine is configured to insert an object into a filter rod.

Background

Filter rods used in the manufacture of filter cigarettes typically comprise a filter plug of cellulose acetate tow wrapped in filter rod tray paper. Known filter rod making machines include decorators which receive a stream of tow and a strip of filter paper and form a wrapped elongate filter rod which is subsequently cut into filter rod segments. The decorator typically has a tongue that compresses the filter tow as it passes through. Filter-making machines of this type, in particular decorators and tongue elements, are known per se to the person skilled in the art.

EP1833316 describes a machine configured to provide filter media, in particular granular material or pre-measured capsules of film, into the filter material during filter rod manufacture. The machine of EP1833316 has a suction dome which sucks filter media into a plurality of spaced apart recesses formed in the circular face of a rotating concave wheel. Rotation of the pocket wheel positions the pockets filled with filter media in alignment with the inlet of the air transport tube. Once aligned, the vacuum is released and air pressure is applied through the "bottom" of the perforated recess to expel the media into the transport tube. The duct is arranged to enter the tongue of the machine so as to enter the centre of the formed filter rod as the filter medium exits the discharge end of the duct. Subsequently, the filter rods were wrapped with paper.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides an alternative method of inserting objects into filter rod material during filter rod fabrication.

The present invention provides a machine for making articles for smoking, the machine comprising a decorator configured to receive filter plug material and filter wrapper material and form a wrapped elongate filter rod, the decorator comprising a tongue portion configured such that filter plug material is compressed as it passes through the tongue portion; the filter rod maker further comprises a rotatable object transport member arranged to receive objects from the object store and to pass the objects directly into the tongue so that the objects are inserted into filter plug material passing through the tongue, and a cutter configured to cut the elongate filter rod so as to form a filter rod segment having one or more objects therein.

In this way, the object is conveyed directly into the tongue of the decorator without an intermediary. Thereby, the mechanical complexity of the maker is minimized.

Further, the filter plug material follows a stable, controlled path through the tongue, and thereafter and thus the position and/or spacing of the objects in the final rod can be precisely controlled by placing the objects in the proper position of the filter plug material through the tongue.

Preferably, the filter plug material undergoes compression in the tongue so that the filter plug material presses against the objects to secure them in place in the filter plug material passing through the tongue. In this way, undesired position errors between objects are minimized.

Preferably, the filter plug material is cellulose acetate tow.

Preferably, the objects are inserted into the tow in the tongue so that the objects in the wrapped elongate filter rod are evenly spaced. It is further preferred that the objects are inserted into the tow in the tongue such that the object or objects are axially centred within the final filter rod.

The object is preferably a frangible liquid-containing membrane vesicle, but other objects-such as particles, strands, beads or any combination of particles, strands, beads and membrane vesicles-may alternatively or additionally be inserted.

The rotatable object-transporting member preferably penetrates the tongue such that each object received by the rotatable object-transferring member exits the object-transporting member at an exit point within the tongue.

The rotatable object-transporting member is preferably a rotatable wheel having a plurality of recesses arranged around an edge thereof.

Preferably, the machine has a fill jet configured to compress the tow before it passes through the decorator. Advantageously, the filling jet allows a more uniform density tow to be achieved and enables the filter to be made at different densities/pressure drops.

The machine may have a first body portion including a first tongue portion and a second body portion including an object transport member and a second tongue portion, and include a hinge arranged such that the relative position of the first and second body portions is adjustable between a first position in which the first and second tongue portions are spaced such that the interior of the tongues is accessible for cleaning and tow threading, and a second position in which the first and second tongue portions are aligned such that tow may be transferred from one portion to the other.

Drawings

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, embodiments thereof will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a filter rod making machine.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the machine in its operating (use) position.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the machine in a position in which the upper body of the machine is lifted relative to the lower body.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the upper body and shows an exploded view of the inlet tongue portion.

Fig. 5 shows the inlet tongue portion.

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the capsule transport wheel positioned in the inlet tongue portion.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the lower body of the machine.

Fig. 8 is an exploded view of the view of fig. 7.

Fig. 9 shows the router of the inlet tongue portion.

Figure 10 shows a filter rod.

Figure 11 shows an alternative router.

Fig. 12 shows an alternative transport wheel.

Figure 13 shows the filling jet of the machine.

Detailed Description

Figures 1 and 2 show a part of a filter rod making machine 1. In operation, filter plug material in the form of cellulose acetate filter tow is drawn from a source of material, stretched in a set of stretching rollers (not shown) and compressed by the filling jet nozzle 3 and by the tongue 4 of the decorator 5. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the machine 1 has a rotatable capsule transport wheel 6, said rotatable capsule transport wheel 6 being arranged to transport the frangible capsules containing flavourant from the circumferential recess 6a directly into the tongue so that they are in contact with the filter tow passing therethrough. The tow is wrapped in a decorator with paper to form an elongated rod, which is subsequently cut to form filter rod segments, each of which contains a desired number of membrane capsules, for example 1, 2, 3 or 4.

The filter rod segments may then be used in tobacco making to make cigarettes having one or more capsules in a cigarette filter. In one exemplary cigarette making process, a filter rod segment containing two membrane pockets is axially aligned with two paper wrapped tobacco rods positioned at opposite ends of the filter rod. A wrapper, known as tipping paper, is then wrapped around the tobacco rod and filter rod to join them together. The wrapped filter rod is then cut transversely through its centre between two capsules to form a pair of filter cigarettes each having one capsule in its filter.

Preferably, each frangible capsule is substantially spherical, formed of gum and containing a flavorant, such as menthol, spearmint, orange flavour, mint, licorice, eucalyptus oil, one or more of various fruity flavorants or any mixture of flavorants. By applying pressure to the outside of the filter, the capsules can be ruptured, thereby releasing the flavourant which is used to flavour the smoke drawn through the filter of the cigarette with a flavourant.

Turning now to a more detailed description of the machine 1, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the transport wheels 6 are vertically oriented and rotatably mounted to the body 7 of the machine 1 on an axle. The wheel 6 has a disc-shaped portion 8 and a front end portion 9 bolted to said disc-shaped portion 6. The disc portion 8 is disposed between the capsule funnel 10 and the tongue 4 and is configured to sequentially transfer capsules therebetween.

The tongue 4 of the decorator 5 is tapered along its length, compressing the filter tow radially as it passes through the tongue 4. Tow compression in the tongue is the final tow compression stage of the rod making process.

An opening is formed in the top of the tongue 4, said opening being wide enough to accommodate the disc-shaped portion 8 of the transport wheel 6 penetrating into the tongue 4 through said opening as shown in fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 1, as the wheel 6 rotates, capsules fall under gravity from the funnel 10 into a plurality of capsule receiving recesses 6a arranged circumferentially around the edge of the disk portion 8. The clockwise rotating wheel 6 carries the capsules through the opening in the top of the tongue and into the tongue where they exit the wheel 6 and into the formed filter rod. As shown in fig. 2, the housing 7a is positioned around the edge of the disk portion 8 to prevent the capsule from falling off the wheel 6.

The capsules are thus transferred directly into the tongue of the decorator, where the path of the tow remains stable and controlled until the rod is formed.

Furthermore, because the capsules are inserted during compression of the tow, the tow is compressed around the capsules and thereby secures them in place. Accordingly, the position and spacing of the objects in the final rod depends only on the position at which the objects are placed in the tow passing through the tongue. Thus, the machine of the invention allows the position of the capsule to be controlled accurately-with very little error between the capsule and capsule or filter and filter. This is desirable because a consumer may negatively perceive an error in the location of the membrane pouch and may, for example, consider a filter having an off-center membrane pouch to be defective. Preferably, the capsules are positioned in the tow to be axially aligned and centred within the finished filter rod.

The capsules exiting the wheel 6 can fall under gravity from the recesses 6a of the wheel 6 into the tow passing through the tongue 4. Alternatively, the transport wheel 6 may have a capsule ejection mechanism, such as an air jet propulsion mechanism configured to sequentially eject capsules from recesses in the edge portion 8 and into the tow passing through the tongue 4. The transport wheel may alternatively or additionally comprise a suction pump configured to apply suction to the capsules to hold them in place in the recesses prior to spraying.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the machine 1 has a hinge mechanism that allows a part of the tongue 4 to be lifted away from the machine 1. This facilitates the passage of the tow from the filling jet 3 through the tongue 4 before the machine is started and also enables the interior of the tongue 4 to be cleaned easily.

The hinge mechanism comprises a hinge 11 connected to the upper and lower bodies 12, 13 of the machine 1 and a lifting column 14 passing through a hole 15 in the lower body and attached to the bottom of the distal end of the upper body 12.

The hinge 11 is arranged so that the upper body 12 of the machine 1 can be pivoted upwards with respect to the lower body 13 from the operating position shown in fig. 2 to the raised position shown in fig. 3 and vice versa. In the operating position, as shown in fig. 2, the upper body 12 is placed on the lower body 13 and the outlet of the filling jet nozzle 3 is aligned with the tongue inlet 4. In the lifted position shown in fig. 3, the inlet portion 16 of the tongue is positioned away from the filling jet nozzle so that the operator can access the tongue interior for cleaning and tow threading. The machine can be selectively positioned in either position by raising or lowering the lifting rams 14, the lifting rams 14 preferably being hydraulically actuated.

Referring to fig. 4, the upper body 12 includes the hopper 10, the transport wheels 6, and a tongue inlet portion 16 shown in an exploded perspective view. As shown in fig. 4, 5 and 6, the entrance portion 16 of the tongue includes left and right side walls 17, 18, a router 19 and a deflector 20. The router 19 and the deflector 20 are positioned at opposite ends of the entrance portion 16 of the tongue and between the side walls 17, 18, with a gap between the deflector 20 and the router 19. As shown in fig. 4, the side walls 17 and 18 and the router 19 have upwardly extending attachment portions with threaded holes aligned with each other through which a set of bolts are tightened to clamp the side walls 17, 18 and the router 19 together at one end of the entrance portion 16 of the tongue. As shown in fig. 5, the guide plate 20 is bolted between the side walls 17, 18 at the opposite end of the entrance portion 16 of the tongue and to said side walls 17, 18. As shown in fig. 5, the side walls 17, 18 and the gouging 19 define an inlet tube 21 at the inlet end of the inlet portion 16 of the tongue, through which inlet tube 21 the tow enters the tongue 4 and the tow exits the inlet portion 16 of the tongue through an outlet 22. Referring to fig. 5(b), a bottom view of the tongue inlet portion 16 is shown with an elongated opening 23, the elongated opening 23 extending from the outlet 22 to the inlet tube 21 along the bottom of the tongue inlet portion 16.

As shown in fig. 5(a), the left and right side walls 17, 18 define an opening 24 at the top of the entrance portion 16 of the tongue, and as shown in fig. 6, the wheel 6 passes into said opening 24. As shown in fig. 6, the router 19 and the deflector 20 have arcuate surfaces 25, 26, which arcuate surfaces 25, 26 face the wheel 6 and are arranged such that, in operation, the wheel 6 rotates in particular close to said surfaces 25 and 26. The surface 25 of the router 19 prevents the capsules from undesirably falling off the clockwise rotating wheel 6, while the surface 26 of the guide plate serves to scrape off any tow attached to the wheel 6, thereby preventing the tow from being carried out of the opening 24 by the wheel. As shown in fig. 5(d), a gap 27 is defined between the bottom end of the surface 25 and the bottom end of the surface 26, and the bottom end of the surface 25 is lower than the bottom end of the surface 26.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, a filling jet nozzle 3 (which may also be referred to as a "delivery nozzle") is mounted to the lower body 13 and arranged to deliver the tow directly into the inlet tube 21 of the tongue 4. Advantageously, the filling jet nozzles 3 allow a more uniform tow density in the final filter to be achieved and enable the filter to be fabricated at a selected density/pressure drop. The filling jet 3 is shown in more detail in fig. 13. The length L of the body of the filling jet is preferably between 100mm and 120mm, further preferably 107.5 mm.

As shown in fig. 3, 7 and 8, the lower body 13 has a decorator inlet passage 28 that tapers from its upstream end to its downstream end. In operation, the decor band runs along the bottom surface of the channel 28, while the band of filter plugwrap is in frictional contact with the decor band, which is drawn over the decor band through the channel 28 and thereby pulled from a spool (not shown) along a series of rollers and into the decorator. The feature of the decorator belt in decorator wrapping filter rod paper progressively around the filter tow to form a filter rod is well known in the art and will not be described in detail here.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the inlet portion 16 of the tongue is adapted to fit into and cover the channel 28 in the operative position shown in fig. 2. In operation, the tow passes through the inlet tube 21 and through the elongated opening 23 in the bottom of the inlet portion 16 of the tongue onto the moving web in the channel 28. The tow is then drawn along the channel 28 by frictional contact with the paper tape.

Referring to fig. 3, the tongue 4 further comprises a fixed tongue portion 29 positioned just downstream of the inlet portion 16 of the tongue. In use, the tow in the channel 28 passes directly from the outlet 22 of the inlet portion 16 of the tongue and through the outlet 22 of the inlet portion 16 of the tongue into the fixed tongue portion 29. As shown in fig. 3, inlet 16 and fixed tongue portion 29 are tapered to taper along the length of tongue 4 to compress the tow as it passes through.

The fixed tongue portion 29 is shown in more detail in fig. 7 and 8. As shown in fig. 7 and 8, the fixed tongue portion 29 is formed as a tapered half-tube that fits in a tapered channel 30 formed in the lower body 13. In the operative position, the channel 28 is provided in one piece with the channel 30, while the inlet portion 16 of the tongue is aligned with the inlet of the fixed tongue portion 29.

As shown in fig. 7 and 8, the fixed tongue portion 29 is held in place in the channel 30 by a mounting assembly 31, said mounting assembly 31 comprising first, second and third mounting brackets 32, 33, 34. As shown in fig. 7 and 8, the mounting bracket 32 is integrally formed with the top of the tongue portion 29 and is bolted to the mounting bracket 34. The mounting bracket 32 is bolted to the mounting bracket 34 and to the lower body 13 of the machine 1, thereby mounting the fixed tongue portion 29 in place.

The gouging 19 of the tongue 4 is shown in more detail in fig. 9. As shown in fig. 9, the router 19 has an attachment portion 35 and a tow separation edge 36 positioned on the opposite side of the arcuate surface 25. In operation, tow passing through tongue 4 contacts tow separation edge 36, which tow separation edge 36 separates the tow into 2 streams on each side of router 19. In this way, a groove is formed in the tow, into which the capsule is received from the wheel 6. This groove extends beyond the length of the router 19 to the point where the movement of the tow stream closes the groove. During capsule transport, the capsules are carried in the recesses 6a of the wheel 6 through the openings 24 and to an exit point where they exit the wheel and pass through a gap 27 between the router and the guide plate and into the grooves in the tow. The trench is then closed around a film bladder that is carried by the tow through the remainder of the decorator. The paper wrapped tow is then fully wrapped by the action of the decorator to form a rod of elongate paper wrap which is then cut to form individual filter rod segments.

Fig. 10 shows different filter rods 37, 38, 39, which different filter rods 37, 38, 39 can be made using the machine 1. As shown in fig. 10, each rod comprises one or more uniformly spaced capsules 40 of gelatin film surrounded by a filter plug of cellulose acetate tow 41, the tow being wrapped in a wrapper 42. The first, second and third rods 37, 38, 39 comprise one, two and four capsules, respectively. The second bar 38 is twice as long as the first bar 37, and the third bar 39 is twice as long as the second bar 38. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a variety of different rod configurations having different lengths and different numbers of capsules may be produced by the machine 1.

Fig. 11(a) shows an alternative router 43a of router 19, which alternative router 43a has a capsule guide 44a arranged to receive a capsule from wheel 6 and guide the capsule into the trench. The capsule guide 44a facilitates capsule positioning such that once the rod is fully formed, the capsules are axially centered and axially aligned with one another. As shown in fig. 11(a), the capsule guide 44a is configured to guide the capsule exiting the guide in a direction generally parallel to the direction of travel of the tow. In this way, the impact force on the capsule is minimized, thereby avoiding capsule damage. Further, because the capsules need not have a substantially vertical velocity component, vertical deflection caused by interaction with the disintegration of the tow is minimized. Fig. 11(b) shows another alternative router 43(b) with an alternative capsule guide 44 (b).

Many other modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, although the machine 1 has been described as inserting frangible liquid-containing membrane vesicles into filter rods, other objects-such as particles, strips, beads or any combination of particles, strips, beads and membrane vesicles-can alternatively or additionally be inserted.

Furthermore, the filter rod may be suitable for the manufacture of any smoking article including cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos (whether tobacco-based or not), tobacco derivatives, tobacco in general, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes as well as heated but non-combustible products.

Fig. 12 shows an alternative transport wheel 45. As shown in fig. 12, the transport wheel 45 has a front end portion 46, a transfer drum 47, and a grip plate 48. As shown in fig. 12, positioning pins 49 connect the front end portion 46 to the transfer drum 47. The clamping plate 48 is forced against the transfer drum 47 by a clamping screw 50, said clamping screw 50 being bolted to the front end portion 46. The transport wheels 45 can be conveniently disassembled by removing the clamping screws 50, allowing for easy cleaning of the components. In addition, the locating pin 49 may be used as a marker to identify the angular position of the wheel 45 relative to the shaft. Thus, before removing the wheel 45 for cleaning, the operator can record the rotational position so that the wheel can be loaded to the same rotational position on the shaft after cleaning.

The funnel 10 may comprise deflectors or rollers arranged to carry the weight of certain capsules in the funnel so that they do not break up in the funnel. The hopper 10 may further comprise a vibrating plate to agitate the capsules to facilitate their transfer into the wheel 6. An air injection unit may be installed in the funnel 10 to assist the movement of the capsules. The wheel 6 may include raised indentations to further agitate the capsules in the funnel.

Further, although the capsule-receiving recesses are preferably arranged evenly around the circumference of the wheels 6, 45 in order to achieve an even spacing between capsules in the elongate filter rod, the capsule-receiving recesses may alternatively be arranged according to different patterns, thereby providing different spacing between different pairs of capsules in the elongate filter rod.

For example, the capsule-receiving recesses 6a may be arranged such that the spacing between a first pair of capsules is 24mm, while the spacing between adjacent pairs of capsules is 12 mm. Figure 10(d) shows a filter rod 51 produced by a machine having capsule receiving recesses arranged in this manner. The spacing between the capsules in the pair 52 is 24mm and the spacing between the capsules in the adjacent pair 53 is 12 mm. The filter rods 51 were 108mm long. The spacing between the edge of the rod 51 and the first capsule was 6 mm.

Many other modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art, which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (18)

1. A machine for making filter rods for use in the manufacture of smoking articles, the machine comprising:

a decorator configured to receive filter plug material and filter wrapper material and form a wrapped elongate filter rod, the decorator comprising a tongue portion configured such that filter plug material is compressed when passing therethrough;

a rotatable object-transporting member arranged to deliver objects directly into the tongue such that objects are inserted into filter plug material passing through the tongue; and

a cutter configured to cut the elongate filter rod to form filter rod segments, each filter rod segment having one or more objects therein.

2. The machine of claim 1, wherein the rotatable object-transporting member penetrates the tongue such that each of the objects exits the object-transporting member at an exit point within the tongue.

3. The machine of claim 1 or 2, further comprising a router configured to open a channel in the filter plug material passing through the tongue, wherein the object is inserted into the channel.

4. A machine according to claim 3, wherein the router comprises guide means arranged to guide objects from the rotatable object transport means into the trench.

5. The machine of claim 4, wherein the guide member is configured to guide objects into the channel in a direction substantially parallel to a direction of movement of filter plug material passing through the tongue.

6. The machine of claim 1 or 2, further comprising a fill jet nozzle configured to compress the tow prior to the tow entering the decorator.

7. The machine of claim 1 or 2, having:

a first body portion including a first tongue portion;

a second body portion comprising the object-transporting member and a second tongue portion; and

a hinge arranged such that the relative position of the first and second body portions is adjustable between a first position in which the first and second tongue portions are spaced such that the interior of the tongue is accessible for cleaning and tow threading, and a second position in which the first and second tongue portions are aligned such that tow can pass from one portion to the other.

8. The machine of claim 7, wherein the first body portion is an upper body portion and the second body portion is a lower body portion, and wherein in the second position the upper body portion rests on the lower body portion.

9. The machine of claim 8, further comprising a positioning mechanism configured to selectively raise or lower the upper body portion relative to the lower body portion to adjust the position of the upper body portion relative to the lower body portion between the first and second positions.

10. The machine of claim 1, wherein the object is a frangible liquid-containing capsule.

11. A decorator tongue of a machine for making filter rods for the manufacture of smoking articles, the decorator tongue having an inlet for filter plug material and an opening adapted to receive a rotatable object-transporting member such that an object can be received directly into the tongue from the rotatable object-transporting member, wherein the decorator tongue is configured such that filter plug material is compressed when passing through the tongue.

12. The decorator tongue of claim 11, further comprising a router configured to open a channel in filter plug material passing through the tongue such that an object may be inserted into the channel.

13. The decorator tongue of claim 12, wherein the router includes a guide member arranged to guide an object from a rotatable object transport member into the channel.

14. The decorator tongue of claim 13, wherein the guide member is configured to guide an object into the channel in a direction substantially parallel to a direction of movement of filter plug material passing through the tongue.

15. A method of making a filter rod for use in the manufacture of a smoking article, the method comprising:

receiving a filter plug material and a filter wrapper;

pulling the filter plug material through a tongue of a decorator of a filter rod maker;

compressing a filter plug material as it passes through the decorator tongue;

transferring an object from a rotatable object-transporting member directly to the decorator tongue such that the object is inserted into the filter plug material passing through the tongue;

forming a wrapped elongate filter rod;

the elongate filter rod is cut into filter rod segments, each filter rod segment having one or more objects therein.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising opening a groove in the filter plug material passing through the tongue, wherein the object is inserted into the groove.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising directing objects from a rotatable object transport member into the trench.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein directing the object comprises directing the object into the groove in a direction substantially parallel to a direction of movement of filter plug material passing through the tongue.