Web delivery apparatus for a cigarette manufacturing machine and a delivery method therefor

An apparatus for supplying a cigarette manufacturing machine with a web to be used for the manufacture of cigarettes in a manner such that the web is delivered from a freely rotatable web roll as a pulling roller rotates, comprising:

• braking means for applying a braking force to the rotation of the web roll, said braking means being capable of adjusting the braking force;
• detecting means for detecting the diameter of the web roll;
• and
• control means for controlling the braking force applied to the web roll by said braking means, in accordance with operation modes corresponding to the operating conditions of the cigarette manufacturing machine and the diameter of the web roll detected by said detecting means, wherein the operation modes include a running mode in which the web is delivered from the web roll at constant speed, a stopping mode during which the web delivery is stopped following the running mode, and a suspension mode in which the web delivery is in suspension, the running mode includes a high-speed mode in which the web is delivered from the web roll at high speed and a low-speed mode in which the web is delivered from the web roll at low speed, said control means includes;
• braking force reduction patterns determined individually for the operation modes in accordance with the diameter of the web roll,
• setting means for setting the braking force of said braking means in accordance with the reduction pattern for the current operation mode and the detected diameter of the web roll,
• braking force reduction patterns corresponding to the high- and low-speed modes, the reduction patterns for the running mode and the suspension mode have characteristics, individually, such that the braking force of said braking means is reduced by stages as the diameter of the web roll decreases;
• and the reduction pattern for the high-speed mode provides a smaller braking force to be set than the one provided by the reduction pattern for the low-speed mode when the diameter of the web roll is larger than a predetermined value.