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US 8,991,404 B2Granted
Process for shredding a tobacco sheet and apparatus
AssigneePhilip Morris USA Inc.
InventorsLeonard W. Lipscomb, Ricky L. Bowman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process and apparatus for shredding tobacco sheets, especially tobacco sheets formed of reconstituted tobacco particles with guar and sugar comprises rotating opposing sets of cutter discs in a partially overlapping relation so as to establish a nip. The cutter discs have notches at spaced locations along a peripheral portion of the cutter discs. Adjacent pairs of cutter discs are spaced apart by a spacer disc with a stripper plate interposed between adjacent pairs of spaced apart cutter discs. A tobacco sheet which is fed into the nip of the sets of cutter discs is shredded by the discs.
Claims16
A tobacco shredder comprising:
- mixing apparatus operable to form a slurry from tobacco particles, tobacco dust, a binder, a liquid volatile flavorant, and optional additional ingredients;
- drying apparatus operable to dry the slurry and produce a substantially continuous tobacco sheet;
- a first set of cutter discs including adjacent pairs of cutter discs, each adjacent pair being separated by one of a plurality of spacer discs, provided on a first shaft, the cutter discs having notches at spaced locations along a peripheral portion thereof and each pair of cutter discs spaced apart according to a first thickness of one of the plurality of spacer discs;
- a second set of cutter discs including adjacent pairs of cutter discs, each adjacent pair being separated by one of the plurality of spacer discs, provided on a second shaft and positioned alongside said first set of cutter discs, the cutter discs having notches at spaced locations along a peripheral portion thereof and each pair of cutter discs spaced apart according to the first thickness of one of the plurality of spacer discs, the substantially continuous tobacco sheet being received between the first set of cutter discs and the second set of cutter discs;
- and
- an internal stripper plate between each adjacent pair of cutter discs of the first set and the second set, said internal stripper plate having a second thickness less than said first thickness, and including a circular opening corresponding generally to an outer surface of the spacer discs,
- wherein each of the plurality of spacer discs cooperates with one of the internal stripper plates that does not rotate with the spacer discs, each of the internal stripper plates including an arm, which is carried by a keyed shaft so as to prevent the internal stripper plates from rotating with the first shaft and the second shaft.
4 more elements
A tobacco shredder comprising:
- mixing apparatus operable to form a slurry from tobacco particles, tobacco dust, a binder, a liquid volatile flavorant, and optional additional ingredients;
- drying apparatus operable to dry the slurry and produce a substantially continuous tobacco sheet;
- a first set of cutter discs including adjacent pairs of cutter discs, each adjacent pair being separated by one of a plurality of spacer discs,
- provided on a first shaft, the cutter discs having notches at spaced locations along a peripheral portion thereof and each pair of cutter discs spaced apart according to a first thickness of one of the plurality of spacer discs;
- a second set of cutter discs including adjacent pairs of cutter discs, each adjacent pair being separated by one of a plurality of spacer discs, provided on a second shaft and positioned alongside said first set of cutter discs, the cutter discs having notches at spaced locations along a peripheral portion thereof and each pair of cutter discs spaced apart according to the first thickness of one of the plurality of spacer discs, the substantially continuous tobacco sheet being received between the first set of cutter discs and the second set of cutter discs;
- and
- an internal stripper plate between each adjacent pair of cutter discs, said internal stripper plate having a second thickness less than said first thickness, and including a circular opening corresponding generally to an outer surface of the spacer discs;
- wherein said notches of said first set of cutter discs and said second set of cutter discs are alternately brought into superposed relation with said nip during rotation of said cutter discs;
- wherein the tobacco sheet has a linear speed;
- and
- wherein the surface speed of the first set of cutter discs is greater than the speed of the tobacco sheet,
- wherein each spacer disc cooperates with one of the internal stripper plates that does not rotate with the spacer disc, each of the internal stripper plates including an arm, which is carried by a keyed shaft so as to prevent the internal stripper plates from rotating with the first shaft and the second shaft.
9 more elements
A tobacco shredder comprising:
- mixing apparatus operable to form a slurry from tobacco particles, tobacco dust, a binder, a liquid volatile flavorant, and optional additional ingredients;
- drying apparatus operable to dry the slurry and produce a substantially continuous tobacco sheet;
- a first set of cutter discs including adjacent pairs of cutter discs, each adjacent pair being separated by one of a plurality of spacer discs, provided on a first shaft, the cutter discs having notches at spaced locations along a peripheral portion thereof and each pair of cutter discs spaced apart according to a first thickness of one of the plurality of spacer discs;
- a second set of cutter discs including adjacent pairs of cutter discs, each adjacent pair being separated by one of a plurality of spacer discs, provided on a second shaft and positioned alongside said first set of cutter discs, the cutter discs having notches at spaced locations along a peripheral portion thereof and each pair of cutter discs spaced apart according to the first thickness of one of the plurality of spacer discs, the substantially continuous tobacco sheet being received between the first set of cutter discs and the second set of cutter discs;
- internal stripper plates arranged to strip out shreds of tobacco from between each adjacent pair of cutter discs and having a second thickness less than said first thickness;
- and
- external stripper plates arranged to clean shreds of tobacco from the peripheral portion of said cutter discs,
- wherein said internal stripper plates and said external stripper cooperate with each of the spacer discs, the internal and external stripper plates being carried by a keyed shaft so as to prevent the internal stripper plates and the external stripper plates from rotating with the spacer discs.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.