Method and apparatus for separating tobacco from rejected cigarettes
AssigneePhilip Morris Incorporated
InventorRichard E. Thatcher
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Tobacco in cigarettes rejected in the cigarette manufacturing operation is recovered by subjecting the cigarettes to a series of ripping actions which open the wrappings to expose the tobacco and a series of screening operations which result in effective recovery of 99+% of the tobacco and with almost no presence of wrappings residue material in the recovered tobacco, the wrappings material being separated to a different collection end point than the recovered tobacco.
Claims8
A method for separating shredded cigarette tobacco filler from the wrappings of formed cigarettes to recover such tobacco for further useful processing, said method comprising
- subjecting the cigarettes to a ripping operation to break up said cigarettes and rip the wrappings thereof an thereby loosen the tobacco therein,
- depositing the cigarettes on a vibrating screen unit sized to pass tobacco shreds therethrough but to retain the wrappings and tobacco therein while flowing two air streams in generally horizontally disposed courses from opposite ends of the screening unit, to maintain an aerodynamically induced suction lift condition over said screening unit to float the wrapping materials a distance above the surface of said screening unit, the said two streams having a point of merger intermediate said ends from whence said streams flow vertically codirectionally upwardly to carry off wrapping materials entrained therein, and
- collecting the tobacco passing through said screening unit.
An apparatus for separating shredded cigarette tobacco filler from the wrappings of formed cigarettes to recover such tobacco for further useful processing, said apparatus comprising
- a torous ripper fan unit through which the cigarettes can be passed to effect ripping of same to tear open the wrappings thereof and loosen the tobacco therefrom,
- a tangential separator unit, there being conduit means connecting said separating unit with said torous ripper fan unit for conveying the ripped cigarettes from said fan unit to said separator unit,
- a vibrating screening unit, the separator unit discharging the ripped cigarettes onto said vibrating screening unit, said vibrating screening unit having screen means sized to pass tobacco shreds therethrough but to retain wrapping materials thereon, and
- means for flowing two air streams in generally horizontally disposed courses from opposite directions of said screening unit, for maintaining an aerodynamically induced suction lift above said screen to float the wrappings a distance above the surface of said screen means, and a duct member disposed intermediate the ends of said screening unit, said oppositely directed air stream merging at said duct and flowing in a common upwardly directed flow course therethrough to carry off any wrapping materials entrained in said streams.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.