Cone staging apparatus and related methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11596170-B2
Application number	US-201916391434-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2019
Priority date	Apr 23, 2018
Publication date	Mar 7, 2023
Grant date	Mar 7, 2023

Abstract

A cone staging apparatus for production of smoking articles includes (a) a frame, and (b) a cone pallet releasably supported by the frame. The cone pallet includes a plurality of cavities. Each cavity has an open upper end for receiving a cone therein. The apparatus further includes (c) a cone magazine adjacent the frame for holding a supply of cones. The cone magazine includes at least one escapement alignable over the open upper end of a respective cavity of the cone pallet to facilitate transferring a single cone from the supply of cones to the respective cavity.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A cone staging apparatus for production of smoking articles, comprising:
a. a frame;
b. a cone pallet releasably supported by the frame, the cone pallet including a plurality of cavities, each cavity having an open upper end for receiving a cone therein; and
c. a cone magazine adjacent the frame for holding a plurality of stacks of cones, the cone magazine including a plurality of escapements, each escapement configured for dispensing the cones from a respective stack of cones, each escapement being alignable over the open upper end of a respective cavity of the cone pallet when the cone magazine is positioned above the cone pallet to facilitate transferring a single cone from the respective stack of cones through the escapement downward to the respective cavity, and wherein the plurality of escapements are configured so that the cones transferred through the respective escapements all move in the same direction through the respective escapements downward to the respective cavities.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of escapements includes a first escapement and a second escapement, the first and second escapements alignable simultaneously over the open upper ends of a first cavity and a second cavity, respectively, of the plurality of cavities.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the quantity of the escapements is equal to the quantity of the cavities of the cone pallet.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the cavities are arranged in a circular array.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the pallet comprises a pallet body, and the cavities are of unitary, integral construction with the pallet body.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the pallet comprises a pallet body, and each cavity is defined by an inner surface of a respective nest, the nests removably secured to the pallet body.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the single cone from the respective stack of cones is, prior to transfer, a lowermost cone of the respective stack of cones, and each escapement is configured to apply a retaining force against the lowermost cone of the respective stack of cones to prevent unwanted release of the lowermost cone from the respective stack of cones.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the magazine comprises a plurality of tubes, each tube having a tube diameter sized for slidably receiving a respective stack of cones in sliding fit, wherein each escapement is positioned at a lower end of a respective tube, and wherein each escapement comprises at least one restricting member protruding radially inwardly of the tube diameter of the respective tube for engaging a lowermost cone of the respective stack of cones.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising an actuator for applying a transfer force on the single cone from the respective stack of cones to urge the single cone past the respective escapement and into position in the respective cavity.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the actuator comprises a vacuum source in fluid communication with each escapement via the respective cavity aligned with the escapement when the cone magazine is positioned above the cone pallet, the vacuum source applying the transfer force in the form of suction.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein each cavity includes an open lower end opposite the open upper end, and wherein the vacuum source is in fluid communication with the open lower end.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the frame comprises a housing having a chamber for providing fluid communication between the vacuum source and the open lower end of each cavity.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising transfer automation adjacent the frame for transferring an empty pallet onto the frame and transferring a loaded pallet off the frame.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a lift supporting the magazine, the lift operable to vertically translate the magazine relative to the frame between a raised position for facilitating movement of the pallet into and out from the frame, and a lowered position for engagement between the magazine and the pallet to facilitate transfer of the cones to each cavity via a transfer force.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of a conveyor, a robotic device, a Cartesian robot with two or more linear axes, an articulating robot, a delta robot, or a SCARA robot, the at least one conveyor, robotic device, Cartesian robot, articulating robot, delta robot, or SCARA robot adjacent the frame and configured to transfer an empty pallet onto the frame and transfer a loaded pallet off the frame.

16. A cone staging apparatus for production of smoking articles, comprising:
a. a frame;
b. a cone pallet releasably supported by the frame, the cone pallet including a plurality of cavities, each cavity having an open upper end for receiving a cone therein; and
c. a cone magazine disposed above the cone pallet, the cone magazine including a plurality of tubes, each tube for holding a stack of the cones, the magazine further including a plurality of escapements each at a lower end of a respective tube for dispensing the cones one-by-one from a bottom of a respective stack, each escapement in alignment with an open upper end of a respective cavity; and
d. a vacuum source in fluid communication with the escapements through respective cavities for applying a suction force to draw the bottom-most cone from each stack downward through the escapements and into the respective cavities, and wherein the plurality of escapements are configured so that the cones drawn from each of the respective stacks all move in the same direction through the respective escapements downward and into the respective cavities.

17. A cone staging apparatus for production of smoking articles, comprising:
a. a frame;
b. a cone pallet releasably supported by the frame, the cone pallet including a plurality of cavities, each cavity having an open upper end for receiving a cone therein;
c. a cone magazine adjacent the frame for holding a supply of cones, the cone magazine including at least one escapement alignable over the open upper end of a respective cavity of the cone pallet to facilitate transferring a single cone from the supply of cones to the respective cavity, wherein the single cone is, prior to transfer, a lowermost cone of the supply of cones, and the escapement is configured to apply a retaining force against the lowermost cone to prevent unwanted release of the lowermost cone from the supply of cones; and
d. an actuator for applying a transfer force on the single cone to urge the single cone past the escapement and into position in the respective cavity, wherein the actuator comprises a vacuum source in fluid communication with the escapement via the respective cavity, the vacuum source applying the transfer force in the form of suction, wherein each cavity includes an open lower end opposite the open upper end, wherein the vacuum source is in fluid communication with the open lower end, and wherein the frame comprises a housing having a chamber for providing fluid communication between the vacuum source and the open lower end of each cavity.

Assignees

• Canopy Growth Corp

Inventors

• Boucher Luc
• Sirois Mike

Classifications

• A24C5/12

  Cutting the ends of filled and rolled cigarettes · CPC title

• A24C5/44

  Pocket cigarette-rollers · CPC title

• A24C5/06 Primary

  with pressing-chamber · CPC title

• A24C5/54

  Folding the ends of cigarette paper tubes after filling them with tobacco · CPC title