Cigarette monitoring
AssigneeMolins Limited
InventorFrancis A. M. Labbe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A cigarette making machine includes apparatus for determining the internal pressure of an axially moving cigarette rod comprising forming a continuous rod in which a wrapper web surrounds a tobacco filler including an endless impervious flexible tape arranged to be wrapped around at least part of the circumference of the rod, a guide through which the rod and tape are arranged to pass, means for supplying air under pressure to the guide to enter a gap between the guide and the tape; and a monitor for monitoring a physical characteristic of the supplied air. Also included is compensating for the effect which moisture in the tobacco has on the internal pressure of the cigarette rod.
Claims36
A method of determining the internal pressure and thereby the firmness of an axially moving cigarette rod, comprising wrapping an endless impervious flexible tape at least partly around the rod, passing the wrapped rod through a guide, supplying air under pressure to the guide to produce a gap between the tape and the guide, and monitoring a physical characteristic of the supplied air to provide a measurement of the internal pressure of the rod-shaped article.
Apparatus for determining the internal pressure of an axially moving cigarette rod comprising means for forming a continuous rod in which a wrapper web surrounds a tobacco filler including an endless impervious flexible tape arranged to be wrapped around at least part of the circumference of the rod;
- a guide;
- means for causing said rod and tape to pass through said guide;
- means for supplying air under pressure to the guide to enter a gap between the guide and the tape;
- and monitoring means for monitoring a physical characteristic of the supplied air.
A method of monitoring a tobacco stream which, after trimming, is enclosed in a wrapper web to form a continuous cigarette rod, in which the air pressure in the tobacco stream is sensed at a first position spaced from a conveyor carrying the tobacco stream and is compared with the pressure at a second position above or below the tobacco stream.
A cigarette making machine in which a tobacco stream is formed on a suction conveyor and is then trimmed before being enclosed in a wrapper web to form a continuous cigarette rod, characterised in that a channel is formed in a side wall confining one side of the tobacco stream at a position upstream of the trimmer to detect the air pressure in the tobacco stream at a level corresponding approximately to the average level at which the tobacco stream is trimmed by the trimmer.
A method of determining the dry firmness of cigarettes in which the firmness is measured at the time of making the cigarettes, and the signal obtained thereby is compensated by reference to the moisture content of the tobacco and by reference to the specific volume of the tobacco.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.