CN1294883A - Cigarette detecting apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

An off-line cigarette detection device (10), comprising at least one device (42, 54) for detecting the amount of shredded tobacco at one end of a cigarette (C) and a rotatable drum (16), which is used for The respective ends of the cigarette are delivered to the or each detection device.

Description

Cigarette detection equipment and detection method

The invention relates to a cigarette detection device and a detection method, in particular, the invention relates to a cigarette offline detection device and a detection method.

Cigarette rolling machines are usually provided with various on-line devices for testing the quality of the produced cigarettes.

One criterion for determining the quality of a filter cigarette is the amount of tobacco present at the end of the cigarette where it is to be lit (the "burning end"). During the manufacture of cigarettes, loose-fill tobacco has the potential to fall out of the burning end, leaving a void at the end of the cigarette wrapper. This phenomenon known as loose end shedding can contribute to the unattractive appearance of the final finished cigarette. If the cut tobacco does not fall out, the problem remains because loose packing of the cut tobacco at the burning end usually results in a poor quality cigarette.

In the cigarette manufacturing industry, the incidence of loose ends is well known, and in addition to setting up on-line inspection devices on the cigarette maker, quality inspectors usually also regularly inspect groups of cigarettes extracted from the product of the cigarette maker. This inspection is generally done by the naked eye, so it is a somewhat subjective test based on the perception of a particular inspector, which changes from day to day.

It is known to use off-line detection equipment to detect loose ends. This equipment takes the form of a rotatable, roller-type wire cage. In use, a group of cigarettes is weighed and the cigarettes are placed in the drum, which then rotates. The rolling of the drum will cause any loose tobacco to fall out of the end of the cigarette. The shredded tobacco is collected in a tray placed under the drum, and at the end of the rolling process, the shredded tobacco collected in the tray is weighed. The numbers obtained by weighing the cigarettes and the collected tobacco are put into a formula that expresses the amount of tobacco falling from the cigarettes produced by the rolling machine. However, this detection device has the following disadvantages: during the rolling process, cigarettes of particularly poor quality may drop a large amount of shredded tobacco, so that the overall quality of the produced cigarettes cannot be accurately represented.

The present invention provides an off-line cigarette inspection device comprising: at least one device for detecting the amount of shredded tobacco in one end of a cigarette and one device for delivering said end of a cigarette to said detection device or each of said devices respectively installation.

The invention also includes a method for detecting the amount of shredded tobacco in one end of a cigarette, said method comprising the steps of: removing a plurality of cigarettes from the stream of cigarettes produced by a cigarette making machine, conveying at least one end of each cigarette to at least one A device for detecting the presence of shredded tobacco at the end of a cigarette.

In this specification, "off-line" refers to equipment that is not integrated with the cigarette maker for quality inspection of groups of cigarettes taken from the stream of cigarettes produced by the cigarette maker. Preferably, the device is a bench testing device. However, for convenience, the device can also be installed on a cigarette rolling machine, and it is foreseeable that in this case, a device for automatically extracting a group of cigarettes for testing from the product of the cigarette rolling machine and conveying them to the detection device. It should also be understood that although the device is off-line, it is possible, if desired, to feed a suitably adjusted signal from the device to the control system of the cigarette maker.

For a better understanding of the present invention, exemplary embodiments are now described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is the plane view of off-line cigarette detection equipment;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through section line III-III of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a detection device provided with a detection device;

Fig. 5 is an end view of a detection device provided with another detection device;

Fig. 6 is a front view of a control unit of the cigarette detection device.

Referring to Figures 1 to 6, an off-line cigarette testing device 10 includes a housing 12 in which a hopper 14 and a cigarette conveyor are installed. The cigarette conveyor is a rotatable drum 16. The drum 16 is provided along its peripheral surface with a series of axially regularly spaced grooves or grooves 18 (Fig. 3). Each trough 18 is capable of receiving a cigarette C, and the drum is arranged to pass through a hole in the lowermost end of the front part of the hopper so that a cigarette can be collected in each trough as it rotates.

The hopper is mounted on a transverse member 20 which is part of the housing 12 . An adjustable guide plate 22 is secured to the cross member 20 by a pair of nuts which are threaded to engage respective studs, the studs protruding from the cross member and passing through respective recesses 24 in the guide plate. . The guide plate is L-shaped and adjustable to allow the device to detect cigarettes of different lengths.

A pair of precision retaining rails 26 are provided for holding the cigarettes in the groove. As shown in Figure 3, the retaining rails are installed in parallel at intervals near the circumferential surface of the drum, and the retaining rails extend about 200 degrees around the drum.

A curved back plate 30 is mounted between the drum and the cross member. Backing plate 30 includes a tapered lead-in end 32 positioned adjacent the hopper. The guide plate 22 and the back plate 30 are arranged in the following manner: the guide wall 34 ( FIG. 1 ) of the guide plate extends downward into the hopper (as shown in FIG. 1 ) and is positioned slightly to the right so that when the cigarettes C are transported from the hopper , the end of the cigarette directed to the guide wall 34 can be in contact with the introduction end 32 . As the cigarette is moved through the drum along the lead-in end, it generally slides the cigarette axially to the left so that the end engaging the lead-in end engages the datum surface 36 of the back plate as the drum continues to rotate. In this way, the cigarettes can be precisely positioned in known positions within their respective grooves.

An optical fiber detection device 38 is mounted on the back plate 30 for detecting whether there is a cigarette in the slot 18 .

The housing 12 includes a second transverse member 40 on which a first shredded tobacco detection device 42 is mounted. The detection device 42 is specifically shown in FIG. 5 , which includes a cover plate 44 , and a radial groove 47 is arranged on the cover plate. The groove 47 is arranged in such a way that when the drum rotates, the end of the cigarette away from the reference plane 36 can pass through the cover plate and receive the infrared beam from the infrared radiation source 46 . The cover plate 44 accommodates four infrared detectors 48 arranged at intervals of 90 degrees. The detector 48 is capable of receiving infrared light which, in the detected state, has entered the end of the cigarette and passes radially outward through the cigarette wrapper. Such detectors are known to those skilled in the art, and a similar detector has already been used in the cigarette maker of Molins Passim.

Downstream of the detection device 42 there is a second shredded tobacco detection device 54 which is also mounted on the second transverse member 40 . The second detection device is specifically shown in FIG. 4 .

The second detection device 54 includes a hollow cylinder 56 for relatively sliding in a housing 58 . A plunger 60 is mounted within the barrel and includes a coaxial pin 62 projecting from a through hole provided in an end plate 64 which closes the end of the barrel remote from the housing 58 .

The plunger 60 is biased against the end plate 64 by a compression spring 66 and is also provided with a peripherally extending groove 68 formed in the end region of the plunger 60 adjacent the pin 62 .

The barrel 56 is provided with a radially extending bore which accommodates a fiber optic detector 70 for detecting movement of the plunger 60 .

A pneumatic cylinder 72 is mounted on the end of barrel 56 furthest from end plate 64 for selectively axially reciprocating movement of the barrel within housing 56 . The air cylinder 72 is provided with a speed control device 73 to control the speed of reciprocating movement.

An air regulator 74 in combination with a pressure gauge 76 and filter 78 is mounted on the housing 12 and is used to regulate the supply of compressed air to the cylinder 72 .

A container 80 for containing cigarettes is provided at the rear of the housing 12 below the hopper 14 . The device is mounted so that cigarettes C conveyed by the drum 16 beyond the range of the downstream end of the retaining rail 26 can fall into the container 80 .

Another drawer-type container 82 is arranged on the left side of the drum 16 (as shown in FIG. 1 ), and the drawer 82 is provided with a handle 84 to facilitate pulling it out from the housing. Drawer 82 is divided into three compartments 82(1), 82(2) and 82(3).

A cigarette ejection device 90 ( FIG. 2 ) is mounted to the cross member 20 . The discharge device 90 comprises three air nozzles mounted at intervals on the same level for spraying air along the grooves 18 aligned therewith. This arrangement enables the air nozzles to be selectively operated to discharge a single cigarette into one of the compartments 82(1), 82(2) and 82(3).

The device 10 also includes a control unit 100 which can be connected via suitable control cables 102 to various detection devices installed in the housing 12 . In addition to being able to receive output signals from the detection device, the control unit can also send signals to the device installed in the housing to control the operation of the device 10 .

The control unit 100 includes a PLC and a data recording device (both not shown). In addition, the control unit is provided with a rotary switch 104, through which the initial value related to the detection device 42 can be set.

As described below, the detection means 42, 54 perform tobacco inspection tests on the burning ends of the cigarettes C, and based on those test results, the cigarettes may be discharged through the air nozzles of the discharge means 90 into the respective compartments 82(1), 82(2) and 82(3). The control unit includes four display devices 108 , 110 , 112 and 114 . Based on the detection results made by the detection means 42, the display means 108 indicates the number of cigarettes that have entered the compartment 82(1). Similarly, the display means 110 indicates the number of cigarettes that have entered the compartment 82(2) based on the detection results made by the detection means 54. The display means 112 indicates the number of cigarettes that have entered the compartment 82(3), the cigarettes that have entered the compartment 82(3) being the cigarettes that have failed all detection means. Display unit 114 indicates the total number of cigarettes that have been detected.

In use, an operator, usually a quality control inspector, periodically removes a batch of cigarettes from the product of the cigarette maker. The cigarettes are placed in the hopper 14 with the filter ends of the cigarettes resting against the guide wall 34 . Next, the operator will press the start button 116 to start the test. When the start button is pressed, the control unit will transmit the required signal to make the device work, and then the detection procedure is carried out automatically under the control of the control unit, without further input signal from the operator.

The drum is moved in a clockwise direction by a stepping motor (not shown). Cigarettes from the hopper are picked up into the groove 18 as the drum rotates.

When leaving the hopper, the optical fiber detection device 38 will detect whether there are cigarettes in the groove, and the optical fiber detection device 38 can send a suitable signal to the control unit 100 . The control unit activates the detection means 42, 54 by means of a signal from the detection means 38, so that each detection means is capable of performing a cut tobacco detection when the cigarette support groove is rotated into a position in line with the detection means. The detection operation is not performed on empty trenches. The signal from device 38 can also be used to direct display device 114 to indicate the number of cigarettes detected

When the first shredded tobacco detection device 42 faces the cigarette support groove, the infrared source 46 will emit an infrared beam, and the infrared beam is directed into the cigarette along the axial direction at the burning end. Depending on the amount of tobacco in the cigarette, a certain amount of infrared radiation will pass through the cigarette wrapper and this radiation will be detected by the infrared detector 48 which will develop a voltage signal proportional to the detected infrared radiation. This voltage signal is sent to the control unit, and compared with the initial value set by the rotary switch 104, it is determined whether the quality of the cigarette C is acceptable or not. For example, if the initial value is set to 7 volts, and the voltage signal from the detection device is 7 volts or less, then the cigarette is qualified; if the voltage signal from the detection device is greater than 7 volts, then the cigarette is qualified Does not meet the requirements. The acceptability of cigarettes can be recorded by the control unit.

When the second shredded tobacco detection device 54 is facing the cigarette support slot, the pneumatic cylinder 72 will deliver air to the back of the hollow body 56 to cause the body to slide axially away from the valve member towards the drum 16 . The body slides a predetermined distance, and if tobacco is present at the end of the cigarette and is sufficiently tight, plunger 60 will push spring 66 back so that groove 68 moves past fiber optic detector 70 . The detector 70 responds by producing a signal which is registered by the control unit to indicate that tobacco is present at the end of the cigarette and therefore the cigarette is acceptable. If there is no tobacco at the end of the cigarette, the plunger is not deflected and the fiber optic detector will not signal detection of tobacco. The control unit determines whether the cigarette is qualified according to whether the detecting device sends out a signal of detecting shredded tobacco.

The control unit records the acceptability of each cigarette, and causes the discharge device 90 to discharge cigarettes deemed unacceptable into one of the drawer compartments 82(1), 82(2) and 82(3): The signal that device 42 produces thinks that the unqualified cigarette is discharged in the compartment 82 (1); According to the detection that the detection device 54 is done, think that the unqualified cigarette is discharged in the compartment 82 (2); Passing cigarettes are discharged into compartment 82(3).

Whenever a cigarette is discharged into one of the compartments 82(1), 82(2) and 82(3), the control unit will point to the associated display unit 108, 110 and 112 so that the discharge can be seen. To the number of cigarettes in each compartment.

Neither detection means 42, 54 considers the cigarettes as defective will be moved by the drum and pass through the discharge means 90, and when the trough for transporting the cigarettes moves past the downstream end of the retaining rail 26, the cigarettes will fall from the drum into the container 80 Inside.

It should be understood that: the control unit and the connection between the control unit and the detection device, and the connection between the discharge device and the stepping motor can be in any suitable form. Suitable connecting devices including signal conditioning means are known to those skilled in the art and are therefore not described in detail in this description. It should also be understood that the control unit does not have to include data storage and sequencing means, and that the device of the invention can also be connected to a PC computer if desired. Various devices for processing the signal output from the shredded tobacco detection device are also well known to those skilled in the art, and therefore are not described in detail in this specification.

After receiving from the detector 38 the signal that the last cigarette has been detected, the stepper motor will continue to rotate the drum for a predetermined number of times to ensure that all the cigarettes placed in the hopper have been detected.

It will be appreciated that the apparatus of the present invention provides a method and apparatus for inspecting the burning ends of a batch of cigarettes simply and easily, with consistent results and independent of operator feel.

It should be noted that when the device 10 is loaded with a group of cigarettes and the testing process has started, there is no need to count or weigh the cigarettes or dropped tobacco. Instead, the inspection process is fully automated.

It should also be noted that the two-stage inspection process performed by the device 10 has the advantage of careful inspection, eg the second inspection means 54 may identify defective cigarettes which were not identified by the first inspection means 42 . Since the tobacco at the end of the cigarette is very loose, and although there is enough tobacco to block enough infrared radiation to comply with the detection device 42, it may not be enough to reliably move the plunger 60 against the spring 66, so this is still the case. can happen. Such cigarettes should meet the requirements of the online infrared detection device on the cigarette machine, but in the subsequent processing procedures, these cigarettes are very likely to have loose ends falling off, so that they will be scrapped at the packaging stage. Usually, one unqualified cigarettes will lead to the scrapping of the entire package. It should be understood that an inspection process that more accurately and reliably identifies quality problems at the manufacturing stage is very good if it reduces the number of cigarettes that are rejected at the packaging stage. It should also be understood that the second shredded tobacco detection device is not suitable for in-line use on a cigarette maker, and that if a similar device is already used on a packaging machine, its application to device 10 cannot be relied upon for the detection of cigarettes produced by the cigarette maker. Cigarettes undergo quality inspection. In the latter case, it is impossible to know whether the detected non-conforming product was introduced downstream of the cigarette making machine through rough processing.

It is well known in the cigarette manufacturing industry to first make double length cigarettes and then cut the double length cigarettes in half to form two complete cigarettes. It is foreseeable that modifications can be made to the apparatus of the present invention to allow the burning end of double length cigarettes to be inspected by the device in the same gate, and preferably simultaneously. In this way, it is preferable to arrange multiple pairs of relative detection devices, and the cigarette conveyor is installed between the relative detection devices.

It will be appreciated that the apparatus may be modified to include means for other inspections of the cigarette, for example diameter inspection equipment if desired.

Claims (15)

1. An off-line cigarette testing device comprising: at least one device for detecting the amount of shredded tobacco in one end of a cigarette and means for delivering each of said ends of a plurality of cigarettes to the or each testing device. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said detection means or at least one of said detection means comprises an infrared shredded tobacco detection means. 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said detection means or at least one detection means comprises a means movable into said end and deflected by the tobacco at said end and a means for detecting the device for deflection. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of said testing devices arranged to perform a multi-pass testing process of shredded tobacco at each of said ends. 5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said cigarette delivery means comprises a conveyor for moving a plurality of cigarettes past said or each said detection means. 6. 5. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said conveyor comprises a rotatable drum provided with a plurality of spaced apart cigarette receiving locations. 7. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a cigarette ejection means for ejecting a cigarette which has been detected to be free of tobacco at said end. 8. The device according to claim 7, characterized in that it also includes a plurality of detection devices, wherein the discharge device can discharge the unqualified cigarettes to multiple detection devices according to different detection devices that detect that there is no shredded tobacco in the cigarettes. within a cigarette containment area. 9. Apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that said containment area is formed by a plurality of containers for receiving defective cigarettes from said discharge means. 10. 3. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, further comprising means for recording the output signal of the or each detection means. 11. Apparatus according to claims 2 to 10, when dependent on claim 2, further comprising means for converting the output signal from said infrared detection means into a pattern. 12. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: means for indicating the cigarettes as defective products on the basis of the output signal of the or each detecting means and a display for indicating the number of defective cigarettes indicated device. 13. An off-line method for detecting the amount of shredded tobacco in an end of a cigarette, said method comprising the steps of removing a plurality of cigarettes from a stream of cigarettes produced by a cigarette making machine, and conveying at least one said end of each cigarette to The step of giving at least one means for detecting the amount of shredded tobacco in one end of the cigarette. 14. A method according to claim 13, characterized in that the cigarettes are delivered to the or each testing device one after the other. 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of placing said plurality of cigarettes in a container and removing said cigarettes from said container by a conveyor, wherein said conveyor For delivering cigarettes to the or each testing device.

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