# US 4,396,835 A · Conveyor system for the bulk transfer of bar-shaped articles, particularly cigarettes

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- Number: US 4,396,835 A
- Document ID: US4396835A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 06/197,617
- Filed: 1980-10-16
- Granted: 1983-08-02
- Earliest claimed: 1979-10-18
- Assignees: G.D Societa' Per Azioni
- Inventors: Enzo Seragnoli
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US4396835A

## CPC

- A24C 5/35: Adaptations of conveying apparatus for transporting cigarettes from making machine to packaging machine
- B65G 43/08: Control devices operated by article or material being fed, conveyed or discharged {(and controlling the discharging devices B65G47/42)}
- A24C: MACHINES FOR MAKING CIGARS OR CIGARETTES
- B65G: TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS (packaging B65B; handling thin or filamentary materials, e.g. paper sheets or thread, B65H; cranes B66C; portable mobile or lifting or hauling appliances, e.g. hoists, B66D; devices for lifting or lowering goods for loading or unloading purposes, e.g. fork-lift trucks, B66F9/00; emptying bottles, jars, casks, barrels or similar containers, not otherwise provided for, B67C9/00; delivering or transferring liquids B67D; filling or discharging vessels for liquefied, solidified or compressed gases F17C; pipe-line systems for fluids F17D)

## Abstract

Conveyor system particularly suitable for the bulk transfer of cigarettes from one or more manufacturing machines to one or more packaging machines, and comprising at least one device for controlling the quantity of cigarettes at a determined position. The control device comprises a plurality of photoemitter elements disposed at different levels relative to the controlled position, which direct their rays through the controlled position to corresponding photosensitive elements. An electrical circuit controls drive means for the conveyor system by means of a voltage which in terms of absolute value and sign is a function of the number of photosensitive elements illuminated by the corresponding photoemitter elements.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An improved conveyor system for the bulk transfer of articles, such as cigarettes, from a manufacturing machine to a packaging machine, comprising:
conveyor means for supporting and transferring said articles from said manufacturing machine to said packaging machine and in a direction transverse thereto at a predetermined position;
means for controlling the rate of movement of said articles along said conveying means; and
a control device for controlling the quantity of said articles at said predetermined position, said control device including:
a plurality of light emitting elements;
a plurality of light detectors, each spaced from and aligned with a corresponding one of said light emitting elements for receiving a light beam therefrom and for producing an output signal;
two vertical plates extending in the transverse direction and on opposite sides of the predetermined position, one plate having means for supporting at least one array of said light emitting elements and the other plate having means for supporting a corresponding array of light detectors; and
circuit means for controlling said drive means in accordance with the output signals;
whereby the level of said articles in the predetermined position is measured by the number of intercepted light beams, and the output signals are applied to said circuit means to control the flow rate of said articles.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

An improved conveyor system according to claim 1, wherein said one plate includes plural arrays of light emitting elements and the other plate includes corresponding arrays of light detectors, said arrays of light emitting elements and light detectors extending in the transverse direction.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

An improved conveyor system according to claim 1, wherein said one plate includes plural arrays of light emitting elements and the other plate includes corresponding arrays of light detectors, said arrays of light emitting elements and light detectors extending in a direction inclined with respect to the transverse direction.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

An improved conveyor system according to claim 1, wherein said conveying means includes a plurality of channels for conveying articles from a plurality of manufacturing machines to a plurality of packaging machines.