Apparatus and method for forming of collations of rod shaped articles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9540126-B2
Application number	US-201314416100-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 2, 2013
Priority date	Jul 27, 2012
Publication date	Jan 10, 2017
Grant date	Jan 10, 2017

Abstract

An apparatus for forming a predetermined collation of rod shaped articles, in particular smoking articles, includes a feeder arrangement, and a pocket. The pocket is adapted to house a predetermined number of rod shaped articles in the predetermined collation in a predetermined position within the pocket. The apparatus further includes a hopper with a plurality of hopper vanes, wherein each hopper vane is at least associated to one predetermined position in the pocket. The feeder arrangement includes a first feeder being adapted to provide a first subgroup of rod shaped articles of a first type to a first subset of hopper vanes, a second feeder being adapted to provide a second subgroup of rod shaped articles of a second type to a second subset of hopper vanes, and a third feeder being adapted to provide a third subgroup of rod shaped articles of a third type to a third subset of hopper vanes.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Apparatus for forming a predetermined collation of rod shaped articles, in particular smoking articles, comprising
a feeder arrangement,
a pocket, the pocket being adapted to house a predetermined number of rod shaped articles in the predetermined collation, wherein in the predetermined collation each rod shaped article has a predetermined position within the pocket,
a hopper with a plurality of hopper vanes, wherein each hopper vane is at least associated to one predetermined position in the pocket,
wherein the feeder arrangement comprises:
a first feeder being adapted to provide a first subgroup of rod shaped articles of a first type to a first subset of hopper vanes, the first subgroup of the rod shaped articles being a first part of the predetermined collation,
a second feeder being adapted to provide a second subgroup of rod shaped articles of a second type to a second subset of hopper vanes, the second subgroup of the rod shaped articles being a second part of the predetermined collation,
a third feeder being adapted to provide a third subgroup of rod shaped articles of a third type to a third subset of hopper vanes, the third subgroup of the rod shaped articles being a third part of the predetermined collation,

wherein the second feeder is arranged in between the first feeder and the third feeder, and
wherein at least the first type of rod shaped articles is different from the second type of rod shaped articles and wherein at least the second type of rod shaped articles is different from the third type of rod shaped articles.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first type of rod shaped articles is the same as the third type of rod shaped articles.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined collation comprises a predetermined number of collation layers and collation columns.

4. Apparatus according to 3 , wherein each hopper vane is associated to one collation column or one collation layer.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the number of hopper vanes in the hopper corresponds to the number of rod shaped articles in the predetermined collation such that each hopper vane is associated to a predetermined position for a rod shaped article in the predetermined collation.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein separate transfer locations of hopper vanes provide the different layers of rod shaped articles in the collation, and wherein the subsets of hopper vanes and the transfer locations of hopper vanes are different, such that different types of rod shaped articles are comprised in a layer of rod shaped articles in the pocket.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the pocket is movable between the predetermined number of transfer locations.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the pockets are provided on an endless conveyor and are adapted to stop consecutively at each of the predetermined number of transfer locations, the apparatus being adapted to transfer one layer of rod shaped articles from each transfer location into each pocket.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a vibration generator is provided to enable a smooth transport of the rod shaped articles.

10. Apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the predetermined collation comprises a predetermined number of collation layers and collation columns.

11. Apparatus according to 10 , wherein each hopper vane is associated to one collation column or one collation layer.

12. Apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the pockets are provided on an endless conveyor and are adapted to stop consecutively at each of the predetermined number of transfer locations, the apparatus being adapted to transfer one layer of rod shaped articles from each transfer location into each pocket.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein a vibration generator is provided to enable a smooth transport of the rod shaped articles.

14. Container comprising rod shaped articles, which have been formed to a predetermined collation by the apparatus according to claim 1 , such that the container comprises at least two different types of rod shaped articles, wherein the container comprises columns and rows with different types of rod shaped articles.

15. Method for forming a collation of rod shaped articles, in particular smoking articles, in a pocket, wherein in the predetermined collation each rod shaped article has a predetermined position in the pocket, comprising the steps of:
providing a plurality of hopper vanes, wherein each hopper vane is at least associated to one predetermined position in the pocket,
providing a first subgroup of rod shaped articles of a first type to a first subset of hopper vanes,
providing a second subgroup of rod shaped articles of a second type to a second subset of hopper vanes,
providing a third subgroup of rod shaped articles of a third type to a third subset of hopper vanes, wherein the second subset of hopper vanes is arranged in between the first subset of hopper vanes and the third subset of hopper vanes, and
transferring the rod shaped articles from the first subset of hopper vanes, the second subset of hopper vanes and the third subset of hopper vanes into the pocket, such that each position in the predetermined collation is occupied by a rod shaped article of a predetermined type, wherein at least the first type of rod shaped articles is different from the second type of rod shaped articles and wherein at least the second type of rod shaped articles is different from the third type of rod shaped articles.

16. Method according to claim 15 , wherein the step of transferring the rod shaped articles comprises moving the pocket between transfer locations, wherein each transfer location is associated with a layer or column of rod shaped articles in the predetermined collation.

17. Method according to claim 15 , wherein the step of transferring the rod shaped articles comprises transferring rod shaped article of a first type into the pocket from the first and third subset of hopper vanes and transferring rod shaped article of a second type into the pocket from the second subset of hopper vanes, such that the rod shaped articles of a second type are arranged within at least one layer of the predetermined collation, such that rod shaped articles of the first type are arranged on both sides of the rod shaped articles from a second type within the layer.

18. Method according to claim 15 , comprising the further step of providing the rod shaped articles comprised in the pocket to a container while maintaining their relative positions with respect to each other.

19. Container comprising rod shaped articles, which have been formed to a predetermined collation by the method of claim 15 , such that the container comprises at least two different types of rod shaped articles, wherein the container comprises columns and rows with different types of rod shaped articles.

Assignees

• Philip Morris Products Sa

Inventors

• Virsila Arvydas

Classifications

• B65B19/12

  Inserting the cigarettes, or wrapped groups thereof, into preformed containers · CPC title

• B65G37/00

  Combinations of mechanical conveyors of the same kind, or of different kinds, of interest apart from their application in particular machines or use in particular manufacturing processes (series of co-operating belt conveyor units B65G15/22; series of co-operating chain conveyor units B65G17/26; sequence control of combined conveyors B65G43/10) · CPC title

• B65B19/10 Primary

  Arranging cigarettes in layers each comprising a predetermined number · CPC title

• B65B19/18

  into drawer-and-shell type boxes or cartons · CPC title

• A24F15/00 Primary

  Receptacles or boxes specially adapted for cigars, cigarettes, simulated smoking devices or cigarettes therefor (adaptations for use in vehicles B60N3/12; packages specially adapted for cigarettes B65D85/10) · CPC title