Tongue and tongue assembly with injection port for rod forming apparatus, rod forming apparatus with tongue assembly and method of installing tongue assembly on rod forming apparatus

A tongue assembly, comprising:

• a tongue, the tongue including
• a shaft, the shaft being hollow,
• the shaft including a first end and a second end, the first end defining a first opening with a first radius of curvature, the second end defining a second opening with a second radius of curvature, the first radius of curvature being larger than the second radius of curvature,
• the shaft defining at least one injection port that traverses through an inner surface of the shaft, and
• a first plate connected to the shaft, the first plate including an engaging structure configured to mount the tongue onto a lower plate and align the shaft with a groove defined by the lower plate, the first plate including a first protrusion on a first side of the first plate and a second protrusion on the first side of the first plate, the first protrusion and the second protrusion defining a notch, the first protrusion running along at least part of an upper portion of a longitudinal length of the shaft;
• and
• a lower mounting plate connected to a lower portion of the tongue, the lower mounting plate including a shelf, the shelf extending from an inner side of the lower mounting plate toward the shaft, the shelf including an inclined surface, the inclined surface being upwardly facing and inclined away from the shaft from a lower elevation to an upper elevation of the lower mounting plate,
• the inclined surface being configured to at least partially assist in folding a lap edge of at least one covering of a rolled consumer product toward an upper surface of the shaft, as the lap edge of the at least one covering travels through a third opening defined by the tongue assembly.

A tongue assembly, comprising:

• a tongue, the tongue including
• a shaft, the shaft being hollow,
• the shaft including a first end and a second end, the first end defining a first opening with a first radius of curvature, the second end defining a second opening with a second radius of curvature, the first radius of curvature being larger than the second radius of curvature,
• the shaft defining at least one injection port that traverses through an inner surface of the shaft, and
• a first plate connected to the shaft, the first plate including an engaging structure configured to mount the tongue onto a lower plate and align the shaft with a groove defined by the lower plate, the first plate including a first protrusion on a first side of the first plate and a second protrusion on the first side of the first plate, the first protrusion and the second protrusion defining a notch, the first protrusion running along at least part of an upper portion of a longitudinal length of the shaft;
• a lower mounting plate connected to a lower portion of the tongue;
• and
• an upper mounting plate, a first surface of the upper mounting plate mating with an upper surface of the first plate and a second surface of the lower mounting plate mating with a lower surface of the first plate, the upper surface, the lower surface, the first surface, and the second surface each being substantially flat.

A rod forming apparatus, comprising:

• an in-feed section configured to convey a column of tobacco in a downward direction;
• a finishing section configured to receive the column of tobacco, the finishing section being configured to roll the column of tobacco into a wrapped tobacco rod, the finishing section including a tongue assembly, the tongue assembly including,
• a tongue, the tongue including
• a shaft, the shaft being hollow,
• the shaft including a first end and a second end, the first end defining a first opening with a first radius of curvature, the second end defining a second opening with a second radius of curvature, the first radius of curvature being larger than the second radius of curvature,
• the shaft defining at least one injection port that traverses through an inner surface of the shaft, and
• a first plate connected to the shaft, the first plate including an engaging structure configured to mount the tongue onto a lower plate and align the shaft with a groove defined by the lower plate;
• and
• a lower mounting plate connected to a lower portion of the tongue, the lower mounting plate defining a shelf with an inclined surface that faces the shaft, the inclined surface being inclined away from the shaft from a lower elevation to an upper elevation of the lower mounting plate.