Apparatus and method for automatically producing tubular elements
AssigneeI.M.A. Industria Macchine Autmomatiche S.P.A.
InventorsAntonio Caporale, Luca Galletti
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for automatically producing tubular elements to make smoking articles and/or products for food use includes at least one forming unit configured to form the tubular elements starting from shaped flat sheets. The forming unit includes one or more forming devices which are moved by movement means along a work path closed in a loop, in order to form the tubular elements.
Claims14
Apparatus for automatically producing tubular elements to make smoking articles and/or products for food use, comprising a feed unit for feeding, in sequence and one at a time, a plurality of sheets in a flat condition, and a forming unit disposed downstream of said feed unit and configured to form said tubular elements starting from said sheets in a flat condition, said forming unit comprising one or more forming devices, each of which in turn comprises both a forming pin rotatable around an axis of rotation thereof and having an external surface with a truncated cone or cylindrical shape, and also holding means for temporarily holding one of said sheets against said external surface;
- movement means configured both to move said one or more forming devices along a work path, and also to make said forming pins rotate around the respective axis of rotation;
- and contrast means disposed in a certain fixed position along said work path to cooperate with said sheets in order to fold them in such a way that they are at least partly wound each one around a corresponding forming pin in order to form one of said tubular elements, wherein said forming device is configured to take said sheet, held by the holding means against the external surface of the forming pin, against the contrast means while the respective forming pin is made to rotate, so as to cause the at least partial winding of the sheet on the external surface of the forming pin during the movement of the forming device along the work path.
Method for automatically producing tubular elements, to make smoking articles and/or products for food use, comprising in sequence a feed step in which sheets in a flat condition are fed, in sequence and one at a time, toward a forming unit configured to form said tubular elements starting from said sheets in a flat condition, a positioning step in which each of said sheets is positioned and temporarily held on an external surface of a forming pin of a forming device, said forming pin being rotatable around an axis of rotation thereof, and a movement step in which said forming device, together with the held sheet, is moved along a work path, and a forming step in which said forming device takes said sheet against contrast means which are disposed in a certain fixed position along said work path, while said forming pin, together with the held sheet, rotates around its axis of rotation so as to cause the folding of two flaps of said sheet in such a way that the latter is at least partly wound on the external surface of the forming pin.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.