Drum elevator system

US6123201A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Philip Morris Inc. · US

Inventors

• Charles Gary Atwell · Mechanicsville, US
• Ricky N. Cooper · Midlothian, US
• Martin T. Garthaffner · Midlothian, US
• Andrew Gillespie · Richmond, US
• Ronald D. Honaker · Powhatan, US
• William H. Pettigrew · Richmond, US
• William H. Smick, III · Richmond, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 17, 1998
• Grant date: Sep 26, 2000
• Expiry date: Sep 17, 2018

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S209/925
• WIPO field: Other consumer goods
• WIPO sector: Other fields

Abstract

A drum elevator and method of elevating cigarettes, the apparatus having a series of rotatable cigarette transferring drums including a first plurality of horizontally disposed drums at a first elevation and a second plurality of vertically disposed drums extending to a second elevation, the second plurality of vertically disposed drums receiving output from the first plurality of drums, the series of drums adapted to receive a procession of cigarettes at the first elevation and to elevate the cigarettes along a transfer path to the second elevation while maintaining the cigarettes arranged substantially in the procession; a rejection station at a location along the transfer path; a controller operative to selectively actuate the rejection station; and a stack former at the second elevation, the stack former receiving output of the second plurality of vertically disposed drums.