US 3,952,865 A · Transfer apparatus for cigarettes or the like

Abstract

Apparatus which transports cigarettes from a pick-up station where the cigarettes move axially one behind the other to a delivery station where the cigarettes move sideways in one or more rows has one or more carriers which rotate about a horizontal or vertical axis and carry pick-up heads for cigarettes. The carriers are rotatable with as well as relative to a disk which is driven at a constant speed so that the heads move at a high speed during travel past the pick-up station and at a lower speed during movement past the delivery station. The mechanism for moving the carriers relative to the disk includes mating oval gears or bell crank levers which are pivotably mounted on the disk and are coupled to their carriers by means of links. The bell crank levers have followers which track a stationary cam. The carriers may constitute levers which are articulately mounted on a turret rotating in a horizontal plane in response to rotation of holder which moves the turret by means of several crank units. The upper ends of the levers are pivoted to the lower crank pins of the respective crank units and their lower ends carry the pick-up heads. Cams on the turret cause the levers to pivot toward the axis of the turret during movement toward the pick-up station and away from the axis of the turret during movement toward the delivery station. The crank units orient the heads so as to maintain each head in alignment with cigarettes at either station. Analogous orienting devices are provided for the rotating carriers.

Claims35

Dependent claims

Apparatus for transferring cigarettes or analogous rod-shaped articles between first and second stations where the articles respectively move lengthwise in a single file and sideways in at least one row, comprising means for feeding articles to one of said stations;

article-receiving means at the other of said stations;
a carrier rotatable about a predetermined axis;
a pick-up device rotatable relative to said carrier about a second axis located at a fixed distance from said predetermined axis to travel past said stations along a circular path in response to rotation of said carrier;
orienting means for rotating said device relative to said carrier while the carrier rotates to thereby respectively align said device with at least one article at said one station and with said receiving means at said other station so that said device can pick up articles at said one station and deliver the picked up articles to said receiving means at said other station;
and means for rotating said carrier at a plurality of speeds including first and second speeds while said device respectively travels past said first and second stations, including a rotary driving member, means for normally driving said member at a constant speed, and means for driving said carrier at a plurality of speeds in response to rotation of said driving member at said predetermined speed.

2 more elements

article-receiving means at the other of said stations;
a carrier rotatable about a predetermined axis;
a pick-up device movably mounted on said carrier at a point remote from said axis to travel past said stations along a circular path in response to rotation of said carrier;
orienting means for moving said device relative to said carrier while the carrier rotates to thereby respectively align said device with at least one article at said one station and with said receiving means at said other station so that said device can pick up articles at said one station and deliver the picked up articles to said receiving means at said other station;
and means for rotating said carrier at a plurality of speeds including first and second speeds while said device respectively travels past said first and second stations, including a driving member rotatable about said predetermined axis, means for driving said member at a constant speed, and means for driving said carrier at said plurality of speeds in response to rotation of said driving member at said constant speed, said means for driving said carrier including a motion transmitting unit eccentrically mounted on said driving member and connected with said carrier and means for moving said motion transmitting unit relative to said driving member to thereby rotate said carrier relative to said driving member while said carrier rotates about said predetermined axis.

2 more elements

article-receiving means at the other of said stations;
a holder rotatable about a first axis in a plane substantially normal to said axis;
at least one carrier having a first end portion and a second end portion and being movable by said holder so that said first end portion performs a circular movement;
coupling means mounting said first end portion of said carrier for pivotal movement about a second axis which is parallel to said plane and is located at a fixed distance from the center of the circle along which said first end portion moves in response to rotation of said holder;
a pick-up device on the second end portion of said carrier;
means for rotating said holder at a predetermined speed;
means for pivoting said carrier about said second axis in synchronism with rotation of said holder to thereby move said device along an endless path extending past said first and second stations;
and orienting means for maintaining said device in parallelism with at least one article at said one station so that said device can pick up articles at said one station and deliver the picked up articles to said receiving means at said other station.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Transfer apparatus for cigarettes or the like

Life of this patent

Transfer apparatus for cigarettes or the like

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims35