Method and equipment for batch handling and transfer of tobacco products
US7621715B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 3, 2006 |
| Grant date | Nov 24, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 21, 2028 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA24C5/356
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
In a manufacturing system utilizing a cigarette maker linked to a packer, cigarettes temporarily surplus to requirements are stored in containers, each provided with an opening by way of which it can be filled and emptied. A full container is picked up by a first pivoting arm from a magazine and overturned above a bearing surface advancing along a feed direction parallel to this same surface, so as to direct the opening downwards and allow the cigarettes to drop onto the surface. During the step of unloading the cigarettes, the container rests on a hopper and is traversed from a first station toward a second station along a direction parallel and opposite to the feed direction of the bearing surface, so that the cigarettes can be released more quickly from the container. After being emptied, the container is picked up from the second station by a second pivoting arm and put into a magazine with other empty containers.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.