Method and device for spreading out tobacco leaves and for enabling them to be retrieved, flat, after having been spread out
AssigneeService d'Exploitation Industrielle des Tabacs et des Allumettes
InventorsRobert Caffoz, Claude Juston, Claude Boutron
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Abstract
A method for spreading out tobacco leaves and for enabling them to be retrieved, flat, after having been spread out, comprising: placing each leaf on a support generally in the form of a deformable dihedron, the central vein of the leaf extending on the edge of said dihedron; causing a flux of fluid to flow on either side of the edge, so that gravity conducts this fluid along the lines of greatest slope of said faces; then deforming said support so as to return the spread out leaf to a flat position.
Claims12
A method for spreading out tobacco leaves which comprises,
- placing each leaf on a support having a central portion and a pair of downwardly disposed wings pivotably joined to said central portion so as to define a truncated dihedron, the midline of the leaf being aligned along said central portion,
- causing a flux of fluid to flow by gravity over said wings so as to spread said leaves, and
- thereafter deforming said support so as to bring said wings into substantially coplanar relationship with said central portion.
A device for spreading out and retrieving a tobacco leaf comprising a support, said support comprising a central portion operable to receive the midline of said leaf and a pair of wings pivotably joined on either side of said central portion and operable to receive the remainder of said leaf, means for deforming said support from a first truncated dihedron configuration in which said wings are disposed downwardly to a second flat configuration in which said wings and central portion are substantially coplanar, and means for conducting a flux of fluid over both faces of said leaf when said support is in said first configuration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.