Apparatus and process for reclaiming tobacco

A continuous method of reclaiming tobacco from cigarettes having a cigarette body of tobacco surrounded by a cigarette wrapper, which comprises;

• passing the cigarettes into a first treatment zone;
• treating the cigarettes in said first zone with hot water at a temperature sufficient to soften the adhesive forming the glue seam on the wrapper of said cigarettes;
• passing the treated cigarettes into a second treatment zone;
• impacting and agitating simultaneously therewith the cigarettes in the second treatment zone with steam, said impacting and agitating with steam being sufficient to cause an abrupt increase in the vapor pressure within the tobacco portion of the cigarette, whereby the tobacco separates from the wrapper;
• passing the steamed cigarettes to a dryer;
• drying the steamed cigarettes until the tobacco component is separable from the paper wrapper component of the cigarettes;
• and
• separating the dried tobacco from the cigarette residues.

Apparatus for reclaiming tobacco from cigarettes which comprises;

• a rotatable cylinder having a first open end and a second open end and a bore communicating between the ends;
• means of delivering steam within said bore;
• means for rotating said cylinder about its lengthwise axis;
• means for delivering cigarettes into the first open end;
• means for saturating the paper wrappers of said cigarettes with hot water adjacent said first open end;
• said cylinder being positioned at an angle inclined to the horizontal so that cigarettes delivered at the first open end will be carried by gravity out of the second open end;
• dryer means positioned to receive cigarettes discharged from the second open end of the cylinder;
• and
• classifying means associated with the dryer means for separating the dried tobacco from the remaining components of the cigarettes.