Method and apparatus to feed and form organized groups of smoking articles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10954012-B2
Application number	US-201716091511-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 3, 2017
Priority date	Apr 4, 2016
Publication date	Mar 23, 2021
Grant date	Mar 23, 2021

Abstract

Method to feed and form organized groups of smoking articles, providing to feed a plurality of pockets of a transfer conveyor with pockets moved step-wise, thrusting said organized groups of smoking articles, by means of thrusters actuated independently from each other, in a direction of transfer and through respective forming drawers, into said pockets on the basis of a predefined production rhythm. The method provides, in the event of obstruction, stoppage or blockage of a forming drawer, to vary the operating speed of the thrusters associated with the other forming drawers in coordination and in synchrony with the step-wise feed speed of said transfer conveyor with pockets, in order to obtain an effective production rhythm equal or near to said predefined production rhythm.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method to feed and form organized groups of smoking articles, comprising:
providing a transfer conveyor having a plurality of pockets;
arranging the transfer conveyer to move the pockets in steps at a step-wise speed;
feeding the plurality of pockets using thrusters to thrust the organized groups in a direction of transfer through associated forming drawers;
arranging the thrusters to be actuated independently from each other;
moving the organized groups into the pockets on the basis of a predefined production rhythm; and
when an obstruction, stoppage or blockage creates a blocked forming drawer, varying an operating speed of the thrusters associated with one or more unblocked forming drawers in coordination with and in synchrony with the step-wise feed speed of the transfer conveyor, so as to vary the speed at which the smoking articles are fed and transferred by the thrusters to the unblocked forming drawers;
thereby obtaining an effective production rhythm.

2. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the varying of the operating speed of the thrusters is performed during a period when the blocked forming drawer is not supplying the organized groups to the transfer conveyor.

3. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the varying of the operating speed of the thrusters increases the operating speed of the thrusters associated with the one or more unblocked forming drawers.

4. The method as in claim 1 , including providing each forming drawer with a sensor, and wherein the sensor in the blocked forming drawer generates a signal, and wherein said signal is received by an electronic system controller which manages the varying of the operating speed of the thrusters.

5. The method as in claim 4 , and further including starting a cleaning cycle for the blocked forming drawer in response to the signal being received by the electronic system controller.

6. The method as in claim 5 , wherein each of said forming drawers has an upper wall and a bottom wall, and wherein in a first condition of use, each of said forming drawers operates to transfer the organized groups in a direction of transfer from a feed location to the pockets of the transfer conveyor, and wherein said cleaning cycle activates a second maintenance condition of said transfer device in which the upper wall of the blocked forming drawer is kept in a fixed position and at least the bottom wall of the blocked forming drawer is automatically opened to allow the removal of a blockage from said blocked forming drawer.

7. The method as in claim 6 , wherein the smoking articles, in the first condition of use, move in said direction of transfer in a passage channel provided inside each of the plurality of forming drawers, wherein said passage channel is kept aligned to said direction of transfer both in the first condition of use and in the second maintenance condition.

8. The method as in claim 7 , wherein, in said second maintenance condition, at least one of the lateral walls delimiting laterally said passage channel is automatically moved laterally outward with respect to the passage channel in a direction of movement transverse to the direction of transfer.

9. The method as in claim 7 , wherein, in said second maintenance condition, after the bottom wall has been opened, a thruster of smoking articles is activated for a cleaning travel inside the passage channel.

10. The method as in claim 7 , wherein, in said maintenance condition, after the bottom wall has been opened, a jet of compressed air is introduced inside the passage channel.

11. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the operating speed of the thrusters is varied until the blocked forming drawer is cleaned.

12. An apparatus to feed and form organized groups of smoking articles, wherein said apparatus comprises:
a transfer conveyor with pockets moved step-wise and provided with a plurality of pockets,
forming drawers associated with said pockets,
a plurality of thrusters configured to be actuated independently from each other, in order to thrust said organized groups of smoking articles, thus feeding said groups of smoking articles, in a direction of transfer and through respective forming drawers, into said pockets on the basis of a predefined production rhythm,
an electronic system controller configured for commanding and controlling a variation of an operating speed of the plurality of thrusters, the variation of the operating speed arranged to, in the event of an obstruction, stoppage or blockage creating a blocked forming drawer, vary the operating speed of thrusters associated with one or more unblocked forming drawers so as to vary the operating speed at which the organized groups are fed and transferred by the thrusters to the unblocked forming drawers in coordination and in synchrony with the step-wise feed speed of said transfer conveyor, thereby obtaining an effective production rhythm equal or near to said predefined production rhythm.

13. A method to feed and form organized groups of smoking articles, comprising:
providing a transfer conveyor having a plurality of pockets;
arranging the transfer conveyer to move the pockets in steps at a step-wise speed;
feeding the plurality of pockets using thrusters to thrust the organized groups in a direction of transfer through associated forming drawers;
arranging the thrusters to be actuated independently from each other;
moving the organized groups into the pockets on the basis of a predefined production rhythm; and
in the event of a blocked forming drawer, varying an operating speed of the thrusters associated with one or more unblocked forming drawers in coordination with and in synchrony with the step-wise feed speed of the transfer conveyor;
providing each forming drawer with a sensor, and wherein the sensor in the blocked forming drawer generates a signal;
starting a cleaning cycle for the blocked forming drawer in response to the signal being received by an electronic system controller; and
wherein each of said forming drawers has an upper wall and a bottom wall, and wherein, in a first condition of use, each of said forming drawers operates to transfer the organized groups in a direction of transfer from a feed location to the pockets of the transfer conveyor, and wherein said cleaning cycle activates a second maintenance condition of said transfer device in which the upper wall of the blocked forming drawer is kept in a fixed position and at least the bottom wall of the blocked forming drawer is automatically opened to allow the removal of a blockage from the blocked forming drawer.

14. The method as in claim 13 , including electronically varying the operating speed of the thrusters.

Assignees

• Ima Spa

Inventors

• Draghetti Fiorenzo

Classifications

• B65B57/14

  and operating to control, or stop, the feed of articles or material to be packaged · CPC title

• B65B39/007

  Guides or funnels for introducing articles into containers or wrappers · CPC title

• B65B19/32 Primary

  responsive to incorrect grouping of articles or to incorrect filling of packages · CPC title

• B65B19/04

  Arranging, feeding, or orientating the cigarettes · CPC title

• B65B2210/10

  Means for removing bridges formed by the material or article, e.g. anti-clogging devices · CPC title