Tobacco delivery system

• US 5,477,869 A
• Filed: 05/23/1994
• Issued: 12/26/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Cardwell Machine Company
• Original Assignee: The Cardwell Machine Company
• Inventors: Cross, Wiley E. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): BAHR, JENNIFER DOYLE
• Application Number:
  US08/247,772
• Time in Patent Office: 582 Days
• Field of Search: 131/108, 131/109.1, 131/109.3, 222/14, 222/56, 222/196.3, 222/275
• US Class Current: 131/108
• CPC Class Codes: A24C 5/391 feeding to several cigarette making machines

Abstract

An exhaust fan draws air and entrained tobacco through delivery pipes from a tobacco feeder to the respective dischargers of a group of cigarette making machines, where the tobacco is screened out and the air passes on through exhaust pipes. When a discharger is to release tobacco to its making machine the feeder stops delivery of tobacco to that discharger and, after a delay to clear the delivery pipe, a valve bypasses the air around the discharger so that a constant air flow is maintained. The feeder supplies tobacco in a separate and independently controlled stream to each discharger, and has oscillating vanes to separate and keep the tobacco moving.

Claims

1. Apparatus for feeding a loose fibrous material to a plurality of machines, comprising means to conduct a column of loose fibrous material downwardly, several members having spaces therebetween extending upwardly to engage the lower end of such column of material in said conducting means and to divide it into separate portions entering said spaces, and means to move the upper ends of the members back and forth in a manner which breaks up bridging of the material across the upper ends of the members.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means mounting the members to swing about their lower ends.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for withdrawing material from each of their said spaces between said members, a separate driving connection to each said withdrawal means, and means to selectively activate said driving connections whereby the material may be withdrawn from selected ones of said spaces while not being withdrawn from the others.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, in which the means to move the members is operable to move all of them while the material is withdrawn from less than all of the spaces between them.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a separate set of means for receiving material from each of said spaces between said members, each said set of means comprising a pair of pin wheels and a delivery belt to receive and support the material coming from said pair of pin wheels, and means to drive all of said sets of pin wheels and belts, comprising a common drive shaft and separate clutches independently engageable with the drive shaft and each engageable with the drive shaft to drive a pair of pin wheels and the associated delivery belt.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a plurality of machines adapted to use said material, a plurality of hoppers each adapted to receive the material and discharge it into an adjacent one of said machines, a plurality of pneumatic supply conduits each connected at one end to draw in material from said delivery belts and at the other end to deliver it into one of said hoppers, means in each hopper for retaining said material and releasing air, an exhaust fan, a plurality of exhaust conduits connected between the hoppers and exhaust fan, an air valve connected to each supply conduit and exhaust conduit connected to the same hopper, each air valve being operable to direct air flow through the connected hopper while it is receiving said material, and means to reset each valve to bypass air from the connected supply conduit to the connected exhaust conduit without passing through the connected hopper.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which a part of each supply conduit extends next to a part of the exhaust conduit connected to the same hopper, and in which the air valve connected to said supply and exhaust conduits is connected between said parts.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which the air flow induced by the fan through said parts is in opposite directions.

9. Apparatus according to claim 6, in which a portion of each air valve is rotatable between a position in which the valve directs air flow through the corresponding hopper and a position in which the air valve bypasses air from the supply conduit to the exhaust conduit.

10. Apparatus according to claim 6, further a control system for each hopper and its connected air valve and connected supply conduit and the supply belt for the connected supply conduit, said control system comprising means to determine when the hopper is substantially full, means responsive to such determination to disengage from said drive shaft the clutch which drives said delivery belt, and means responsive to such determination to cause said connected air valve to move to its bypass position after a predetermined delay following said disengagement of the clutch, whereby material in said connected supply conduit is blown into the hopper before air is drawn by the exhaust fan from the connected supply conduit directly into the connected exhaust conduit.

11. Apparatus according to claim 5, comprising means mounted for movement to and from a position between said members and said pin wheels and in said position being effective to prevent said material from falling from between said members onto said pin wheels, means for moving said mounted means to and from said position, and means to detect absence of material in said means to conduct a column of loose fibrous material downwardly, said detection means being connected to said moving means to cause it to move said mounted means to said position when said detection means detects said absence of material.