APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DIVIDING CUT TOBACCO INTO PACKAGE-SIZE WEIGHTS

• US 3,585,774 A
• Filed: 03/03/1969
• Issued: 06/22/1971
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/1969
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Lorne A. Rowell, Roger Lafleur
• Original Assignee: Lorne A. Rowell, Roger Lafleur
• Inventors: Rowell, Lorne A., Lafleur, Roger
• Application Number:
  US04/803,795
• Time in Patent Office: 841 Days
• US Class Current: 53/435
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 1/36 by volumetric devices or methods checking volume of filled material B65B1/48

Abstract

Loose cut tobacco is fed via a feeder, a tower separator and a special tangential separator to the upper end of an upright conduit to form a column of substantially uniform density therein, a conveyor conducting a substantially uniform stream of tobacco from the lower end of said conduit to cutter means for cutting off the proper length of said stream equivalent to a predetermined weight of tobacco, wiper means wiping said cut length off the conveyor to a packaging machine.

Claims

1. Apparatus for automatically dividing cut tobacco into package-size weights, said apparatus comprising an upstanding conduit of uniform cross sectioN, feed means for feeding loose tobacco of substantially uniform density to the upper end of said conduit, said feed means including a vertical tower, means for introducing tobacco laterally into said tower, means for producing upward current of air in said tower to carry upwards only tobacco particles of a desired density, and a tangential separator adapted to receive said particles and deliver them to the upper end of said conduit, means for observing the level of tobacco in said conduit, means for controlling the rate of feed of tobacco into said tower to maintain said level within predetermined limits, a conveyor disposed beneath the lower end of said conduit, means for driving said conveyor to conduct a substantially uniform stream of tobacco from said conduit along a substantially horizontal path, and cutter means for cutting from said stream predetermined lengths representing package-size weights.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and including wiper means for wiping a cut length transversely from said conveyor for feeding to packaging means.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said cutter means includes a vertically disposed cutting blade, means for vertically reciprocating said blade, a horizontal presser-plate movable with the cutter blade and adapted to contact and compress loose tobacco immediately upstream of the cutter blade, and resilient means yieldingly urging said presser-plate downwardly.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein said wiper means wipes the cut length of the tobacco from the downstream side of the cutter means while said cutter means remains in a down position.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, including check weighing means for checking the weight of packages discharged from the packaging means and responsive to excessively overweight or underweight packages to alter the speed of the conveyor.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tangential separator is designed to utilize the tobacco in the upstanding conduit as an air seal to prevent ingress of air while at the same time providing discharge means for the material from the tangential separator.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said feed means further includes a bulk tobacco conveyor, a plurality of helical rod rotors for removing tobacco from said bulk conveyor, an upwardly inclined, tined conveyor for receiving tobacco from said rotors, a tined rotor adjacent said tined conveyor for brushing excess tobacco on said conveyor downwardly and combing out agglomerates on said conveyor, a brush roller adjacent the upper end of the return run of said tined conveyor for stripping tobacco from said tined conveyor, and means for impelling tobacco stripped from said tined conveyor into said tower at a predetermined velocity.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, including vibrating screen-conveying means for receiving the tobacco stripped from said tined conveyor and removing fines therefrom before the tobacco is impelled into the tower.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, including means for returning agglomerates from said tower to the lower end of said tined conveyor.

10. A method of dividing cut tobacco into package-size weights which comprises the steps of feeding cut tobacco into a tower separator, subjecting it in said tower separator to an upward flow of air of predetermined velocity to convey tobacco of a desired density upwardly away from material of greater than the desired density, conducting the upwardly conveyed tobacco through a tangential separator, guiding the tobacco leaving the tangential separator into a vertical tube of uniform cross section, observing the level of tobacco in said tube and controlling the rate of feed to the tower separator to maintain the level within predetermined limits, conveying the tobacco from the lower end of said tube as a mat of substantially uniform density and cross-sectional area and cutting from said mat predetermined lengths representing package-size weights.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the mat of tobacco is compressed before the cutting step.

12. A method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the tobacco mat is conveyed by a horizontal conveyor to be cut and the cut lengths are wiped transversely off the conveyor for feeding to packaging means.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12, wherein a cutter blade for cutting the mat of tobacco is held in a down position while the wiping step is being carried out.