Tobacco – Cigar or cigarette making – Molding or forming
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-23
2002-05-21
Derrington, James (Department: 1731)
Tobacco
Cigar or cigarette making
Molding or forming
C131S084100, C131S084200, C131S084300, C131S906000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06390100
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods of and to apparatus for making rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in methods of and in apparatus for making rod-shaped articles (such as plain or filter cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or the like and hereinafter referred to as cigarettes for short) of the type wherein the so-called filler (i.e., the rod-shaped body which is surrounded by a tubular wrapper of cigarette paper or the like) contains at least two different materials, e.g., two different types of shredded and/or otherwise comminuted tobacco leaves.
It is known to produce cigarettes with fillers wherein a centrally located longitudinally extending portion (hereinafter called core for short) is made of a first material and is surrounded by an elongated tubular portion (hereinafter called tube for short). The filler is draped into a continuous web of cigarette paper or other suitable wrapping material, and the resulting continuous cigarette rod it severed by a cutoff at desired intervals to yield a series or file of successive cigarettes of unit length or multiple unit length. Cigarettes of unit length constitute plain cigarettes which can be admitted into a packing machine. On the other hand, cigarettes of multiple unit length (and, in certain instances also cigarettes of unit length) are or can be admitted into a so-called tipping machine wherein the cigarettes are assembled with filter rod sections to yield filter cigarettes.
Heretofore known proposals to make rod-like fillers of the type wherein a core of a first smokable material is surrounded by a tube of a different second smokable material include the utilization of a cigarette rod maker which turns out a continuous core and advances it lengthwise along a path extending through a station wherein a second maker confines successive increments of the core in successive increments of the tube. The resulting composite filler is advanced through a mechanism which drapes a continuous web of cigarette paper around the tube, and the thus obtained continuous cigarette rod is caused to advance into the range of the aforementioned cutoff which is operated to sever the leader of the advancing cigarette rod at desired intervals to convert the rod into a file of plain cigarettes of unit length or multiple unit length.
The core can constitute an elongated empty cylindrical body or a cylindrical body which is filled with comminuted tobacco. For example, the cylindrical body can be made of a higher-quality tobacco and can be filled with tobacco of a lower quality (or vice versa).
French patent No. 998 556 discloses the making of so-called coaxial cigarettes wherein the core of the filler consists of lower-quality tobacco and is embedded in a tube consisting of or containing tobacco of a higher quality.
German patent No. 36 02 846 C2 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,888) discloses the making of a composite cigarette rod wherein the core consists of a standard cigarette rod (in which a rod-like filler of tobacco is confined in a tubular envelope of cigarette paper); the core is confined in a tubular body of tobacco which, in turn, is confined in a second tubular envelope of cigarette paper or the like. The particulate material of the core and/or of the tubular body can be natural tobacco, reconstituted tobacco and/or artificial tobacco.
German patent No. 37 43 597 C1 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,004) discloses a coaxial cigarette wherein the tobacco-containing (smokable) part is similar to that disclosed in German patent No. 36 02 846 C2, and which further comprises an inner filter mouthpiece aligned with one end of the core and an outer filter mouthpiece disposed at one end of the tubular tobacco-containing component and surrounding the inner mouthpiece.
German patent No. 20 15 387 C2 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,804) proposes to place a cigarette rod onto a first layer of tobacco particles, to provide a second layer of tobacco particles which overlies the cigarette rod and the marginal portions of the first layer at both sides of the cigarette rod, and to thereupon drape the two layers and the cigarette rod between them into an outer envelope to form a composite cigarette rod which is ready to be severed at intervals to yield coaxial cigarettes.
A drawback of heretofore known so-called coaxial cigarettes is that they are likely to lose tobacco shreds or other forms of comminuted tobacco at their tobacco-containing ends. To the best of the inventors' knowledge and belief, the coaxial cigarettes lack the feature which is known in connection with the making of cigarettes having a simple rod-like filler of natural, artificial and/or reconstituted tobacco, namely to reinforce (such as densify) the tobacco-containing ends of the fillers and to thus prevent the escape of tobacco particles.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a method of making high-quality rod-shaped articles, such as plain or filter cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars or the like, wherein rod-shaped fillers consisting of two or more different materials are confined in tubular envelopes of cigarette paper or the like.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method which renders it possible to densify the ends of fillers in rod-shaped smokers' products wherein each filler consists of or contains two or more different smokable and/or other materials.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method of densifying the ends of fillers in plain or filter cigarettes in a novel and improved way.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved mode of monitoring the density and/or other parameters of composite fillers which are utilized for the making of rod-shaped smokers' products.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved method of preventing or at least reducing the likelihood of escape of particulate material from the ends of cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos and/or other rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry of the type wherein the filler consists of or contains two or more smokable or tobacco smoke filtering materials.
A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved apparatus for the practice of the above outlined method.
Another object of the invention is to provide the apparatus with novel and improved means for densifying the ends of fillers in cigarettes or analogous rod-shaped smokers' products of the type wherein the fillers contain two or more different types of smokable or tobacco smoke filtering material.
An additional object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which can be readily, such as automatically, adjusted when the quality of rod-shaped smokers' products which are produced therein, departs from a desired or prescribed quality.
Still another object of the invention is to provide the above outlined apparatus with novel and improved means for generating, processing and/or otherwise utilizing signals which denote the characteristics of the ingredients of rod-shaped fillers which contain different types of smokable and/or tobacco smoke filtering materials to be confined in the wrappers of cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos and/or other rod-shaped smokers' products.
A further object of the invention is to provide the improved apparatus with novel and improved means for reducing the number of rejects, to enhance the quality of fillers of cigarettes or the like, and to reduce the likelihood of escape of particulate material at the ends of plain or filter cigarettes or analogous rod-shaped smokers' products wherein the fillers contain two or more different types of smokable and/or smoke filtering material.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a method of making a series of successive elongated rod-shaped smokable articles wherein longitudinally extending central core portions are surrounded by tube portions which, in turn, ar
Herburg Andreas
Jung Thomas
Naebian Manouchehr
Schumacher Peter
Derrington James
Hauni Maschinenbau AG
Kinberg Robert
Venable
Walls Dionne A.
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