GB1245016A - Cigarette loose end detector-rejector mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

1,245,016. End-testing cigarettes. R. J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO. 5 Aug., 1969 [19 Aug., 1968], No. 39024/69. Heading A2C. In an apparatus for inspecting cigarette ends comprising means for conveying cigarettes in individual holders through an inspection station; means for inspecting the cigarettes for defective ends; and means for rejecting cigarettes found to be faulty; the inspecting means comprises a plurality of inspecting devices, each mounted on said conveying means at an individual holder for travel with and spaced from the end of a cigarette held therein as it moves through said station. The cigarettes S are carried in flutes 9 of a rotating inspection drum 4 which comprises a central body portion 10 and end plates 11, 21. Sets of ports 12, 13, 14 in the end plate 11 are each aligned with each flute 9, and communicate, via a stationary shoe 15, with lines 30, 31, 32 when in the inspection region. The cigarettes S are held in the flutes 9 by a guide rail 6 when passing through the inspection region, satisfactory cigarettes being then allowed to drop out of the flutes 9 onto a conveyor (5) at a transfer station (C) while faulty cigarettes are retained in the flutes 9 by vacuum applied through spool valves 16 to openings 18a in the flutes 9. The faulty cigarettes are subsequently rejected by centrifugal forces overcoming the vacuum for collection in a receptacle (40) at a point beyond the transfer station (C). In the inspection region test air is supplied from a control unit (P) through a line 30 to the port 13. The port 13 leads to a chamber 13a which also communicates with the port 12 which latter acts as a sensor. Abnormal air pressures detected by the sensor port 12, due to the presence of cigarettes S with defective ends, are passed by line 31 to the control unit (P) where they initiate a signal in the form of a compressed air pulse which is fed via the line 32, the port 14 and a passage 14a into an appropriate passage 19 to move the spool valve 16 associated with the particular cigarette being tested to the position shown in the top half of the figure, thereby providing communication between the associated openings 18a and an associated conduit 18. The conduit 18 is then connected via a stationary shoe 24 to a vacuum source and then, after the faulty cigarette has been rejected, to a purging air source to clear any residual vacuum and remove any defective cigarettes that have not been previously removed. Just beyond the purging point, a further compressed air signal is applied through a port 23 in the shoe 24 into passages 20 associated with each spool valve 16 to reposition those of the latter that have been displaced.