Filter rod making machine

Abstract

A filter rod making machine wherein the two is withdrawn from a bale by a first pair of driven rolls which form part of a tow stretching device. The rolls are preceded by a braking device having a fixed plate-like guide at one side of the path for the tow and an elastic spring-biased tongue which is located at the opposite side of the path and urges successive increments of the tow against the guide to thereby uniformize or eliminate the crimp of filamentary filter material of the tow. The tongue is pivotable about a fixed axis and can be reciprocated back and forth transversely of the direction of movement of the tow to thereby contribute to loosening of filter material before such material advances beyond the first pair of rolls and is stretched to the elastic limit by a second pair of rolls whose peripheral speed exceeds the peripheral speed of the first pair of rolls. The tension upon the filaments of the tow is thereupon relaxed before the filaments are caused to pass across a spray of atomized plasticizer which causes portions of neighboring filaments to adhere to each other.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.