Method and apparatus for regulating the timing of operation of means for influencing cigarettes or the like

Apparatus for regulating the timing of action upon articles which form part of, constitute or contain smokers' products, comprising means for advancing a succession of articles in a making and/or processing machine along a predetermined path consisting of successive sections each bounded by a pair of neighboring articles and each including that part of said path along which an article must move from its preceding position to occupy the position previously occupied by the adjacent article in the direction of advancement;

• signal-responsive article influencing means adjacent to one of said sections;
• means for generating control signals for at least some selected articles of said succession while such articles advance along a portion of said path ahead of said influencing means;
• means for generating a series of n timing pulses during each interval of advancement of a selected article along a given section following the advancement of such selected article to a predetermined position immediately ahead of said given section, said advancing means being operative to move a selected article through a distance d/n, wherein d is the length of said given section, during each interval between the generation of two successive timing pulses;
• and selector means including means for applying said control signals to said influencing means in response to the generation of a selected one of said series of timing pulses while the respective selected article advances along said one section of said path.

A method of regulating the timing of action upon articles which form part of, constitute or contain smokers' products and are advanced seriatim in a making and/or processing machine along a predetermined path consisting of successive sections, each bounded by a pair of neighboring articles, and extending past a station at which at least some selected articles of said succession are subjected to the action of signal-responsive influencing means, comprising the steps of generating a succession of control signals, one for each of said selected articles, before the respective selected articles reach said station;

• generating a series of timing pulses during the interval of advancement of a selected article along a given section of said path following the advancement of such selected article to a predetermined position immediately ahead of said given section;
• utilizing a selected one of said series of timing pulses for the application of a control signal to the influencing means when the corresponding selected article advances past said station;
• varying the speed at which the articles advance along said path;
• and selecting different pulses of said series of pulses for the application of a control signal at different speeds of advancement of articles along said path.

Apparatus for regulating the timing of action upon articles which form part of, constitute or contain smokers' products, comprising means for advancing a succession of articles in a making and/or processing machine along a predetermined path consisting of successive sections each bounded by a pair of neighboring articles;

• signal-responsive article influencing means adjacent to one of said sections;
• means for generating control signals for at least some selected articles of said succession while such articles advance along a portion of said path ahead of said influencing means;
• means for generating a series of timing pulses during each interval of advancement of a selected article along a given section following the advancement of such selected article to a predetermined position immediately ahead of said given section;
• selector means including means for applying said control signals to said influencing means in response to the generation of a selected one of said series of timing pulses while the respective selected article advances along said one section of said path;
• means for changing the speed of said advancing means;
• and means for adjusting said selector means in response to changes in the speed of said advancing means so as to effect the application of said control signals in response to different pulses of said series at different speeds of said advancing means.

A method of regulating the timing of action upon articles which form part of, constitute or contain smokers' products and are advanced seriatim in a making and/or processing machine along a predetermined path consisting of successive sections, each bounded by a pair of neighboring articles, and extending past a station at which at least some selected articles of said succession are subjected to the action of signal-responsive influencing means, comprising the steps of generating a succession of control signals, one for each of said selected articles, before the respective selected articles reach said station;

• generating a series of timing pulses during the interval of advancement of a selected article along a given section of said path following the advancement of such article to a predetermined position immediately ahead of said given section;
• utilizing a selected one of said series of timing pulses for the application of a control signal to the influencing means when the corresponding selected article advances past said station;
• utilizing another pulse of said series for termination of the application of the corresponding control signal to the influencing means;
• varying the speed at which the articles advance along said path;
• and selecting different additional pulses of said series for termination of the application of the corresponding control signal at different speeds of advancement of articles along said path.

Apparatus for regulating the timing of action upon articles which form part of, constitute or contain smokers' products, comprising means for advancing a succession of articles in a making and/or processing machine along a predetermined path consisting of successive sections each bounded by a pair of neighboring articles;

• signal-responsive article influencing means adjacent to one of said sections;
• means for generating control signals for at least some selected articles of said succession while such articles advance along a portion of said path ahead of said influencing means;
• means for generating a series of timing pulses during each interval of advancement of a selected article along a given section following the advancement of such selected article to a predetermined position immediately ahead of said given section;
• and selector means including means for applying said control signals to said influencing means in response to the generation of a selected one of said series of timing pulses while the respective selected article advances along said one section of said path, said selector means further including means for terminating the application of control signals to said influencing means in response to the generation of another one of said series of timing pulses.

Apparatus for regulating the timing of action upon articles which form part of, constitute or contain smokers' products, comprising means for advancing a succession of articles in a making and/or processing machine along a predetermined path consisting of successive sections each bounded by a pair of neighboring articles;

• signal-responsive article influencing means adjacent to one of said sections;
• means for generating control signals for at least some selected articles of said succession while such articles advance along a portion of said path ahead of said influencing means;
• means for generating a series of timing pulses during each interval of advancement of a selected article along a given section following the advancement of such selected article to a predetermined position immediately ahead of said given section;
• selector means including means for applying said control signals to said influencing means in response to the generation of a selected one of said series of timing pulses while the respective selected article advances along said one section of said path, said selector means further including means for terminating the application of said control signals in response to the generation of a second selected pulse of said series;
• means for changing the speed of said advancing means;
• and means for adjusting said selector means in response to changes in the speed of said advancing means so as to effect the termination of the application of said control signals in response to different second selected pulses at different speeds of said advancing means.