Cigarette ejecting apparatus of a cigarette packaging apparatus

• US 5,244,075 A
• Filed: 05/06/1992
• Issued: 09/14/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/1991
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Japan Tobacco Inc.
• Original Assignee: Japan Tobacco Inc.
• Inventors: Obara, Koichiro, Etani, Tadao
• Primary Examiner(s): Valenza, Joseph E.
• Application Number:
  US07/878,992
• Time in Patent Office: 496 Days
• Field of Search: 198/370, 198/372, 198/418.3, 198/438, 198/493, 53/54, 53/494, 53/149-151, 131/282, 131/283
• US Class Current: 198/370.11
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 19/30 responsive to presence of faulty articles, e.g. incorrectly filled cigarettes

Abstract

A piling machine of a cigarette packaging apparatus comprises a number of transferring drums disposed between the respective aligning drums of the apparatus for aligning a given number of cigarettes in rows and the piling drum for piling rows of cigarettes into layers in an orderly and staggered manner in the cigarette packaging apparatus. The transferring drums are provided with suction nozzles and ejection nozzles so that the system is capable of holding cigarettes coming from the aligning drums to the transferring drums by negative pressure in the suction nozzles and ejecting the cigarettes on any of the transferring drums of the apparatus by applying compressed air through the ejection nozzles whenever one or more than one defective cigarettes are detected in the row of cigarettes on any of the transfer ring drums or when the row of cigarettes on the transferring drum contains an insufficient number of cigarettes.

Claims

1. A cigarette ejecting device to be incorporated in a cigarette packaging apparatus comprising a piling machine for arranging a plurality of cigarettes in rows and piling the rows of cigarettes to layers in an orderly and staggered manner and a wrapping machine for wrapping the layers of cigarettes, wherein said ejecting system is constituted by:

that said piling machine comprises a plurality of aligning drums, each for aligning cigarettes in a row, and a piling drum for receiving a row of cigarettes from each of the aligning drums and piling the rows of cigarettes to layers in an orderly and staggered manner;

that said device comprises a plurality of transferring drums, each being a hollow cylinder having an outer peripheral surface and an inner peripheral surface, said transferring drums being disposed between the respective aligning drums and the piling drum for receiving from the corresponding aligning drum a row of cigarettes and forwarding the cigarettes to said piling drum, each of said transferring drums being provided on an outer peripheral surface thereof with a plurality of cigarette holding grooves for receiving and holding a row of cigarettes;

that each of said transferring drums is provided with suction nozzles and ejection nozzles, each having an open end on one of said holding grooves and the other open end on the inner peripheral surface of the transferring drum; and

that a stationary sleeve is fitted to the inner peripheral wall of each of the transferring drums with a narrow clearance provided therebetween, said stationary sleeve being provided on an outer peripheral surface thereof with a suction groove and an ejection groove, said suction groove being connected to a negative pressure source and in communication with said suction nozzles for sucking and holding the cigarettes arranged on said holding grooves by negative pressure, said ejection groove being in communication with said ejection nozzles for supplying compressed air to said ejection groove so that the cigarettes held to said holding grooves are ejected when compressed air is forced through the ejection nozzles.

2. The cigarette ejecting device to be incorporated in a cigarette packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said cigarette holding grooves is provided with a plurality of suction nozzles and ejection nozzles, said suction nozzles and ejection nozzles being longitudinally arranged on said holding groove

3. The cigarette ejecting device to be incorporated in a cigarette packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a receiving shoot is disposed close to each of said transferring drums for receiving cigarettes ejected from said drum, said ejection groove being formed on the outer peripheral surface of said stationary sleeve only in the vicinity of said receiving shoot.