Relating to smoking article assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-RE50435-E
Application number	US-201317896529-A
Country	US
Kind code	E1
Filing date	Dec 6, 2013
Priority date	Dec 6, 2012
Publication date	May 20, 2025
Grant date	May 20, 2025

Abstract

A modular apparatus for smoking article assembly comprises a plurality of modules and a plurality of respective interface units, and a controller to control said plurality of modules via said interface units. The modular apparatus is configured to cause received rods of smokable material to undergo a first sequence of operations. The modular apparatus can be reconfigured so as to cause received rods of smokable material to undergo a second sequence of operations, different to the first sequence of operations. The first and second sequences of operations respectively form at least part of first and second processes for assembling smoking articles, each smoking article comprising one of said rods of smokable material, which is smoked in use.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A modular apparatus for smoking article assembly, comprising:
a plurality of modules having a plurality of respective interface units, and a controller configured to control said plurality of modules via said interface units, wherein the modular apparatus is configured to cause received rods of smokable material to undergo a first sequence of operations, wherein each said module comprises one or more drums and the controller controls said one or more drums of each said module via the interface unit of its module, and wherein the modular apparatus can be reconfigured by replacing at least one of said drums of at least one of said plurality of modules so as to cause received rods of smokable material to undergo a second sequence of operations, different to the first sequence of operations, and wherein the first sequence of operations and the second sequence of operations respectively form at least part of first and second processes for assembling smoking articles, each smoking article comprising a said rod of smokable material, which is smoked in use.

2. The modular apparatus for smoking article assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each said drum has a respective drive mechanism, wherein each of said drive mechanisms is controlled by the controller via the interface unit of its module.

3. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein each of said drive mechanisms comprises an integrated servo drive.

4. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the modules receive electrical power from the controller via the interface units.

5. The modular apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first inserter configured to insert a first rod article between two tobacco rods; a first rod divider configured to divide the first rod article into at least two parts, a separator configured to separate a first group comprising a rod of smokable material and one of said parts from a second group comprising a rod of smokable material and another of said parts, and a second inserter configured to insert a second rod article between the first and second groups.

6. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , further comprising:
a second rod divider configured to divide the second rod article into at least two parts; and a wrapping station configured to wrap a wrapper at least partially around an inserted rod article after the inserted rod article is inserted between the two tobacco rods and before the inserted rod article is divided by a rod divider.

7. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the modular apparatus comprises a first module comprising said first inserter, and a second module comprising said second inserter.

8. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , comprising:
a plurality of inserters, each said inserter being configured to insert a rod article between two tobacco rods; a plurality of rod dividers, each said rod divider being configured to divide a rod article into at least two parts, and a plurality of wrapping stations, each said wrapping station being configured to wrap a wrapper at least partially around an inserted rod article after the rod article is inserted between two tobacco rods and before the inserted rod article is divided by a rod divider.

9. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the modular apparatus includes a plurality of modules of different types having different functions.

10. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the modular apparatus includes two or more modules, each having a separate base unit and one or more drums, wherein each of said two or more modules is configured to receive the same number of drums.

11. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 10 , wherein each of said two or more modules are configured to receive drums in corresponding positions with respect to the respective base unit.

12. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said first process for assembling smoking articles forms a first configuration of smoking article and wherein said second process for assembling smoking articles forms a second configuration of smoking article different to the first configuration.

13. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said first sequence of operations and said second sequence of operations cause rods of smokable material to be respectively combined with one or more rod articles.

14. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a plurality of modules configured to receive said rods of smokable material, said plurality of modules comprising a plurality of functional units configured to conduct said first sequence of operations.

15. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 14 , wherein said functional units comprise a plurality of conveying elements arranged to define a conveyance path through the modular apparatus, along which rods of smokable material are caused to undergo said first sequence of operations.

16. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said
modular apparatus can be reconfigured by repositioning modules relative to one another and/or removing one or more of the modules and/or adding one or more further modules.

17. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said plurality of modules comprise a reconfigurable module, wherein reconfiguration of the modular apparatus comprises reconfiguring said reconfigurable module.

18. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein when
reconfigured, the modular apparatus comprises a plurality of modules, said plurality of modules comprising a plurality of functional units configured to conduct said second sequence of operation.

19. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein modules are arranged in a row to cause said rods of smokable material to undergo said first sequence of operations and said second sequence of operations.

20. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one module is left unchanged when the modular apparatus is reconfigured for said second sequence of operations.

21. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 20 , wherein said at least one module which is left unchanged comprises an in-feed module configured to receive rods of smokable material.

22. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each module comprises one or more servo motors and wherein said servo motors are synchronized.

23. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the modular apparatus comprises a first group-forming apparatus configured to associate a rod of smokable material with a rod article to form a first group, and a second group-forming apparatus configured to associate a rod article with the first group to form a second group.

24. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 23 , wherein the modular apparatus comprises a first module comprising said first group-forming apparatus and a second module comprising said second group-forming apparatus.

25. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , comprising a first wrapping station to apply a first wrapper to the smoking article and a second wrapping station to apply a second wrapper to the smoking article after the first wrapper is applied.

26. The modular apparatus as claimed in claim 25 , wherein the second wrapping station is configured to apply the second wrapper so that it overlaps with the first wrapper.

27. The m

Assignees

• British American Tobacco Investments Ltd
• Tobacco Res & Dev Inst Pty Ltd

Inventors

• Bray Andrew Jonathan
• Le Roux Gerhard

Classifications

• A24C5/47 Primary

  Attaching filters or mouthpieces to cigars or cigarettes, e.g. inserting filters into cigarettes or their mouthpieces (A24C5/52 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A24C5/10

  Machines with wrapping rollers · CPC title

• A24C5/475 Primary

  adapted for composite filters · CPC title

• A24C5/00 Primary

  Making cigarettes; Making tipping materials for, or attaching filters or mouthpieces to, cigars or cigarettes · CPC title