Back to results
US 4,593,706 AGranted
Producing filler material, particularly for cigarette filters
AssigneeMolins Limited
InventorsEdward G. Preston, David B. Stewart
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeMolins Limited
InventorsEdward G. Preston, David B. Stewart
Estimating the term…
Filler material, particularly for cigarette filters, is produced by feeding a stream of substantially continuous fibres of filter material onto a pin roller having a surface carrying sharp projections in the form of pins and the pin roller is driven at a speed such that the fibres are rapidly accelerated so as to be broken by the pins into irregular lengths and are projected from the roller in random orientations. The broken fibres may be collected as a stream for delivery to a rod-making unit by showering onto a conveyor band, by continuously rolling the fibres between cooperating rollers, or pneumatically. More than one stream could be supplied to the pin roller, so that the broken fibres can comprise a mixture of fibres of different filter materials. The broken fibres may be received on a substantially continuous carrier stream, comprising similar or different filtering material, before the fibres and carrier stream are formed into filter rod.
Apparatus for producing filler material for products of the cigarette industry from a substantially continuous stream of filaments, including a conveyor having a surface carrying sharp projections adapted to engage said filaments, means for feeding and guiding the stream towards the conveyor and into engagement with said sharp projections, means for driving the conveyor at a high speed relative to the stream of filaments such that end portions of the filaments of the stream are rapidly accelerated as they are engaged by said projections so that said filaments are broken into irregular lengths, and means for receiving the broken filaments in a stream in which they are at least initially randomly oriented.
Apparatus for producing filler material for products of the cigarette industry from a substantially continuous stream of filaments, including a conveyor having a surface carrying sharp projections adapted to engage said filaments, means for feeding and guiding the stream towards the conveyor, means for driving the conveyor at a speed such that the filaments of the stream are engaged by said surface and accelerated so as to be broken into irregular lengths, and means for receiving the broken filaments in a stream in which they are at least initially randomly orientated, wherein apertures are provided in said conveyor surface.
Apparatus for producing filler material for products of the cigarette industry from a substantially continuous stream of filaments, including a conveyor having a surface carrying sharp projections adapted to engage said filaments, means for feeding and guiding the stream towards the conveyor, means for driving the conveyor at a speed such that the filaments of the stream are engaged by said surface and accelerated so as to be broken into irregular lengths, and means for receiving the broken filaments in a stream in which they are at least initially randomly orientated, wherein the conveyor is a pin roller.
Apparatus for producing filler material for products of the cigarette industry from a substantially continuous stream of filaments, including a conveyor having a surface adapted to engage said filaments, means for feeding and guiding the stream towards the conveyor, means for driving the conveyor at a speed such that the filaments of the stream are engaged by said surface and acclerated so as to be broken into irregular lengths, and means for receiving the broken filaments in a stream in which they are at least initially randomly orientated, wherein the receiving means includes means for forming a roll from said stream so that the filaments tend to follow a helical path about a longitudinal axis of the stream.
Apparatus for producing filler material for products of the cigarette industry from a substantially continuous stream of filaments including a conveyor having a surface adapted to engage said filaments, means for feeding and guiding the stream towards the conveyor, means for driving the conveyor at a speed such that the filaments of the stream are engaged by said surface and accelerated so as to be broken into irregular lengths, and means for receiving the broken filaments in a stream in which they are at least initially radomly orientated, wherein the receiving means includes pneumatic means for directing filaments of the stream.
Apparatus for producing filler material for products of the cigarette industry from a substantially continuous stream of filaments, including a conveyor having a surface adapted to engage said filaments, means for feeding and guiding the stream towards the conveyor, means for driving the conveyor at a speed such that the filaments of the stream are engaged by said surface and accelerated so as to be broken into irregular lengths, and means for receiving the broken filaments in a stream in which they are at least initially randomly orientated, including a plurality of said conveyors, and a common receiving means so that the stream of filaments received includes filaments from at least two different conveyors.
A method of producing filler material for products of the cigarette industry from a substantially continuous stream of filaments, comprising the step of feeding the stream towards a conveyor carrying a plurality of projections moving at high speed relative to said stream so that each filament is engaged by one or more projections causing that filament to be accelerated and broken and the stream to be thereby converted into filaments of irregular lengths, and forming a stream from the broken filaments in which the filaments are at least initially randomly oriented.
Apparatus for producing filler material for products of the cigarette industry from a substantially continuous stream of filaments, including a conveyor having a surface adapted to engage said filaments, means for feeding and guiding the stream towards the conveyor, means for driving the conveyor at a speed such that the filaments of the stream are engaged by said surface and accelerated so as to be broken into irregular lengths, and means for receiving the broken filaments in a stream in which they are at least initially randomly orientated, including means associated with said receiving means for determining the quantity of broken filaments in said stream, and means responsive to said determining means for controlling said quantity.
Apparatus for producing material consisting of a mixture of long and short filaments from a substantially continuous stream of filaments, including a pin conveyor having a surface carrying sharp projections adapted to engage said filaments, means for feeding and guiding the stream towards the conveyor, means for driving the conveyor at a speed such that the filaments of the stream are engaged by said surface and accelerated so as to be broken into irregular lengths, and means for receiving the broken filaments in a stream in which they are at least initially randomly orientated.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.