Cigarette end testing
AssigneeMolins Limited
InventorReginald C. Bolt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A testing device for testing the ends of cigarettes, particularly to detect any tobacco ends which are inadequately filled with tobacco, comprises a light source arranged to direct a beam of light onto the ends of successive cigarettes, and a light detector which responds to a light signal which results from the beam of light and is dependent upon the quantity of tobacco in the ends of successive cigarettes (in the case of tobacco ends) or on the presence of a filter in the case of a test on the filter ends of filter-tipped cigarettes.
Claims12
A testing device for testing the ends of cigarettes, particularly to detect any tobacco ends which are inadequately filled with tobacco, comprising a nozzle for directing a jet of air onto the cigarette wrapper near the end of the cigarette which is being tested, a light source arranged to direct a beam of light onto the wrapper at or near the position where the air jet hits the cigarette, so that the beam of light is reflected from the surface of the cigarette at an angle which depends upon the amount of inward deformation of the wrapper by the air jet, and a light detector responsive to light reflected from the cigarette for detecting the quantity of tobacco in the end of the cigarette (in the case of a tobacco end) or the presence of a filter in the case of a test on the filter end of a filter-tipped cigarette.
A testing device for testing the tobacco ends of cigarettes to detect cigarettes of which the tobacco ends are inadequately filled with tobacco, comprising means for conveying a succession of cigarettes sideways to a test station, a plurality of light sources at the test station for directing beams of light substantially radially towards each cigarette in turn at the test station along paths spaced around the cigarette and lying substantially in a plane which is normal to the axis of the cigarette and is inwardly spaced from the end of the cigarette, so that the light passes through the cigarette wrapper before it reaches the tobacco filler, the entire area of the cigarette which each beam strikes being inwardly spaced from the adjacent end of the cigarette, and including a light detector and means for directing only the light from the end face of the cigarette at the testing station to said light detector to detect cigarettes with inadequately filled tobacco ends.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.