EP2684471B1 - Device for separating foreign bodies from a flow of tobacco - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a device for foreign body separation from a tobacco stream, wherein a first conveying device is provided for the tobacco stream, wherein in the conveying direction downstream of the first conveying device, a foreign body detection device is provided, to which further downstream a Fremdkörperaustoßvorrichtung connects, downstream of the Fremdkörperaustoßvorrichtung a second conveyor for a substantially freed from foreign bodies tobacco stream is provided.

Corresponding devices for foreign body separation are well known. It is for this purpose, for example EP 1 520 488 A1 Reference is made, in which a separating device for dividing the tobacco mass flow is provided in a device for excretion of foreign bodies from a tobacco mass flow, the foreign body substantially containing a first Teiltabakmassestrom and having a second Teiltabakmassestrom substantially freed from the foreign bodies. This device comprises a foreign body separator having, for example, laser detectors for sensing the tobacco mass flow and exhaust nozzles for selecting and rejecting foreign bodies from the mass tobacco stream.

In EP 0 902 732 B1 a conveyor system is described which comprises an optical inspection station and a sorting station. In the processing of a stream of tobacco, in particular for the most complete removal of foreign bodies or extensive removal of foreign bodies, so that a liberated from foreign bodies tobacco stream, it comes through the tobacco dust to contamination. In particular, optical components foul relatively quickly, which is why they are cleaned regularly. However, such components are usually difficult to access, so that the cleaning for the cleaning personnel is tedious and time consuming.

It is the object of the present invention to facilitate the cleaning and the maintenance, repair, control and adjustment of components in a device for foreign body separation from a tobacco stream and with little expenditure of time.

This object is achieved by a device for foreign body separation from a tobacco stream, wherein a first conveying device is provided for the tobacco stream, wherein in the conveying direction downstream of the first conveying device, a foreign body detection device is provided, which is further downstream of a foreign body ejection device, downstream of the foreign body ejection device, a second Conveying device for a substantially freed from foreign bodies Tobacco flow is provided, which is further characterized in that a separation point is provided in the device for foreign body separation between the first conveyor and the second conveyor, wherein the separation point separates the device for foreign body separation in an upstream portion and a downstream portion, wherein the upstream portion with the downstream portion is detachably connectable or connected and the two sections are movable relative to each other.

The device according to the invention for foreign body separation, it is very easy for operators to get to the components to be cleaned, in particular optical components such as windows, mirrors, camera lenses, etc., and without extensive reconstruction measures are necessary and also so that for Operator is a convenient access or a convenient cleaning is possible.

In the context of the invention, a tobacco stream freed from foreign bodies means that the tobacco stream is substantially freed from foreign bodies.

Particularly simple and fast cleaning is possible if, for moving the downstream portion relative to the upstream portion of the downstream portion on a bearing, in particular roller bearings, is stored. For releasable connection, for example snap closures can be provided between the two sections. It can also be provided locking means which are pressed, for example, before releasing the connection to release the locked state.

Preferably, when the separation point between the foreign body ejection device and the second conveying device or between the first conveying device and the foreign matter recognizing device, an operator can directly access the parts to be cleaned of the foreign matter depositing device.

Preferably, the downstream portion is linearly movable. Linear mobility is understood in particular to mean translational mobility or a linear or translatory movement. As a result, the downstream portion can be moved with relatively little effort. Particularly safe is moving the downstream portion relative to the upstream portion when the bearing is level. It should be noted in particular that the downstream section can weigh in the range of 500 kg to 1 t, so that, in order to avoid injury and damage, it makes sense to align the bearing horizontally.

Preferably, the downstream portion has a housing, in which an air extraction hood is integrated. The air exhaust hood serves to discharge conveying air for conveying the tobacco stream, in which case the conveying air is correspondingly separated from the tobacco stream and in particular from the tobacco stream freed of foreign bodies. The discharged conveying air can be correspondingly also returned to the conveying air flow or a part thereof. Thus, the air extraction hood can also be regarded as part of a recirculation system.

Preferably, the air extraction hood can be connected or connected to an air delivery line which leads to an inlet of a fan, wherein the outlet of the fan is connected to an inlet of the first delivery device. As a result, the conveying air conveyed away via the air extraction hood is efficient at least for Part returned to serve again as a conveying air. The air delivery line is preferably linearly connectable at least in the connection region with the air extraction hood or a conveyor line connected to the air extraction hood. The connection between the air extraction hood and the air delivery duct may be moved away from each other simultaneously with the mobility of the downstream portion and the upstream portion. In particular, in a horizontal movement and a horizontal position of the air conveyor line a secure connectivity and separability of the air conveyor line with the air extraction hood is possible. For this purpose, the air extraction hood has, for example, an opening, in particular provided with a circumferential seal, into which the air delivery line can be introduced or introduced.

Preferably, the first conveyor device comprises a channel in which a conveying air flow flows. Furthermore, preferably, the first conveying device has a conveyor belt. It is particularly preferred if a channel and a conveyor belt are provided. The conveyor belt also preferably moves at the same speed as the conveying air. The speed here is preferably in a range of 2 to 8 m / s, in particular 5 to 6 m / s.

Preferably, the amount of movement of the downstream section is between 30 cm and 1 m, in particular between 40 cm and 80 cm, preferably at 60 cm. In this case, an operator can easily step between the two sections to clean the parts to be cleaned of the foreign-body separation device. These parts are preferably arranged approximately at eye level of the operator, ie at a height of 1.50 m to 1.80 m from Soil, so that cleaning can be done without much effort.

Preferably, the bearing is mounted on feet, with a vertical axis through the center of gravity of the downstream portion in any position of movement between the feet or passes through the feet. In this way, a secure storage of the downstream portion is allowed on the feet and also this allows the feet are arranged sufficiently far away from the upstream portion, so that an operator can easily pass between the two sections and is not hindered by the feet , For a simplified cleaning of the floor under the machine, the feet have a height of at least 20 cm, preferably 30 cm.

Preferably, the feet, which are upstream in the conveying direction of the tobacco stream and on which the downstream portion is carried, are spaced from the first portion by a distance of at least 50 cm, preferably up to 1.50 m. The distance is preferably 1 m.

Further features of the invention will become apparent from the description of embodiments according to the invention together with the claims and the accompanying drawings. Embodiments of the invention may satisfy individual features or a combination of several features.

Fig. 1

eine schematische Ansicht einer erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung zur Fremdkörperabscheidung im zusammengesetzten Zustand,

Fig. 2

die erfindungsgemäße Vorrichtung zur Fremdkörperabscheidung, bei der zwei Abschnitte getrennt voneinander sind in schematischer Ansicht und

Fig. 3

eine schematische Schnittdarstellung durch einen Teil der erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung zur Fremdkörperabscheidung.

The invention will be described below without limiting the general inventive idea by means of embodiments with reference to the drawings, reference being expressly made to the drawings with respect to all in the text unspecified details of the invention. Show it:

Fig. 1

a schematic view of a device according to the invention for foreign body deposition in the assembled state,

Fig. 2

the inventive device for foreign body separation, in which two sections are separated from each other in a schematic view and

Fig. 3

a schematic sectional view through part of the device according to the invention for foreign body separation.

In the drawings, the same or similar elements and / or parts are provided with the same reference numerals, so that apart from a new idea each.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a device according to the invention for foreign body deposition, comprising two sections 19 and 20, which is on the dividing line 18 ', which is shown in phantom, separable. The foreign body deposition device according to the invention receives tobacco at a tobacco inlet 33. In the tobacco inlet 33 schematically four feed rollers are indicated. Underneath the intake rollers, a tobacco conveyor 34 in the form of a chute, which may also be designed as a shaking chute, is provided, which discharges the inserted tobacco into an inlet region or an inlet 26 into a tobacco conveyor 10. The tobacco conveyor 10 is formed horizontally in this embodiment and comprises in this embodiment, a tobacco conveying channel 41 and a tobacco conveyor belt 40. These two elements are in Fig. 3 to recognize.

Tobacco is further transported in the conveying direction 11 by means of the tobacco conveyor 10 comprising the tobacco conveying channel and the tobacco conveyor belt. This tobacco stream may also contain foreign bodies that are to be removed. For this purpose, at the exit of the tobacco conveyor 10, a foreign body detection device 12 and a foreign body ejection device 13 (see Fig. 3 ), which are housed in the housing 35. By means of the foreign body recognition device 12, foreign objects are recognized. By means of this recognition, a foreign body ejection device 13 is driven, which emits, for example, a blast of compressed air to foreign bodies and thus changes the direction of movement of the foreign body from the tobacco flow, so as to be able to perform a sorting. Details of the foreign-matter recognition device and the foreign-matter discharge device will be described with reference to FIG Fig. 3 ,

The ejected foreign matter, together with co-ejected tobacco, reaches a conveyor belt 31 and is conveyed in the region of a suction pipe 30 by which some foreign matter and also tobacco are sucked out. The heavy foreign bodies are not sucked off, but are conveyed on and discharged into a discharge vessel. The correspondingly sucked through the suction pipe 30 foreign body plus the expelled by the Fremdkörperausstoßvorrichtung 13 with tobacco particles get into a separator which is formed in this embodiment as a cyclone 32, in which the tobacco and the foreign body are separated from the suction air and back to the input of the Tobacco conveyor 10 arrive. In this case, these materials get into a Fig. 1 The back of the conveyor belt 40 is not shown. The materials also pass back into the area of the foreign body detection device 12 and the foreign body ejection device 13, after which a corresponding foreign body ejection is again performed, however additional tobacco, which would otherwise be lost, passes to a freed of foreign bodies tobacco stream. The materials now ejected a second time reach a conveyor belt or a conveyor, which is arranged below the conveyor belt 31 and has an outlet which also ends in the discharge vessel. Instead of a conveyor belt 31 may be provided at this point a vibrating chute or another conveyor.

The liberated or substantially freed from material, wherein in the present invention, a tobacco material stream, which is substantially freed from foreign bodies, is referred to as a liberated from foreign material tobacco material flow, then passes to a conveyor belt, which is arranged in the housing 22. The housing 22 is mounted on a roller bearing 21 which is mounted on feet 27 and 27 '. In the housing 22, an air extraction hood 23 is integrated, which is arranged above the conveyor belt. This serves to separate the conveying air from the tobacco. The separated conveying air passes back again via an air conveying line 24 to a fan 25, which delivers conveying air to the inlet 26 of the tobacco conveyor 10. In this way, a recirculation system is generated, for example, about 50% of the conveying air is recovered. As in Fig. 1 is shown, there is a separation point 18 'shown as a dotted line, which is arranged in this case between the housing 22 and the housing 35. In addition, the separation point 18 'is also provided between the air delivery line 24 and the air exhaust hood 23.

The downstream portion 20 may be separated from the upstream portion 19 by allowing the downstream portion 20 to be moved away from the upstream portion 19 on the roller bearing 21. This results in a translational movement. After moving away, there is a constellation, as this example in Fig. 2 is shown. It should be noted here that the center of gravity of the second section 20, which is designated by 28 or whose vertical axis 29 is preferably always between or on or above the two feet 27 and 27 ', to provide a stable storage. An operator can then easily step into the gap between the two sections 19 and 20 in order to clean any parts or components in the housing 35 or else components which are arranged in the housing 22.

For a better illustration, see Fig. 3 schematically a sectional view of a portion of the device according to the invention for foreign body separation shown.

A tobacco stream 15 comprising tobacco particles and foreign matter 16 is conveyed in the conveying direction 11 in a tobacco conveyor 10. The tobacco conveyor 10 comprises a tobacco conveying channel 41 and a tobacco conveyor belt 40. In the tobacco conveying channel 41, a conveying air flow 52 is used for conveying the tobacco. Further, the conveyor belt 40 also serves to convey the tobacco. In order to allow the most uniform possible delivery of the tobacco stream 15 and the foreign body 16 contained in the tobacco stream, the tobacco conveyor belt 40 moves at the same speed as the conveying air flow 52.

On the output side of the tobacco conveyor 10, a foreign body detection device 12 is provided, which in this embodiment comprises a camera 45, a light source 46 and two windows 44 and 44 '. By means of the camera 45 foreign bodies can be distinguished from tobacco particles. Once a foreign object is detected, a control signal to the foreign object ejection device 13th given so that the compressed air nozzle 47, which is part of the foreign body ejection device 13, a compressed air blast 48 discharges into the tobacco stream 15, so that substantially the foreign body 16 are removed from the tobacco stream 15. As a result, however, tobacco particles are removed with this tobacco stream.

In order to allow a smooth and undisturbed flight of the tobacco stream 15, below the tobacco conveyor 10, an air conveying channel 42 is provided, which is nozzle-like and emits an air stream 43 below the tobacco stream 15 to at the output side of the tobacco conveyor 10, the uniform promotion of tobacco flow with to allow the foreign bodies.

The separated materials are conveyed away via a conveyor belt 31. In order to evenly absorb the tobacco stream freed of the foreign bodies and to collect it on a conveyor belt 14, distribution plates 49 are provided which, for example, can be staggered, in a cross-section to the conveying direction of the tobacco stream. In addition, a separating sieve 51 is provided, by means of which air can be separated efficiently, so that no or as little turbulence as possible is provided in the region of the foreign body separation from the tobacco product stream or the tobacco stream, which is freed of foreign bodies.

It now collects a liberated from foreign bodies tobacco stream 17 on the conveyor belt 14 and is conveyed away transversely to the previous conveying direction of the tobacco stream 15. In addition, a separation of the conveying air takes place, namely the fact that an air flow 50 is sucked up through the air extraction hood 23.

In order to easily reach the components according to the invention, which are to be cleaned by the operating personnel, such as the windows 44 and 44 'and also the separating screen 51, it is now possible for the first section, ie the downstream section 19, of the second section , that is, the downstream portion 20, to be simply separated by the downstream portion 20, which is supported on the schematically indicated roller bearing 21, in the Fig. 3 is pulled away to the right. The separation point may in this case be the separation point 18, which is shown in phantom and between the conveyor belt 40 and the foreign body detection device 12 or as in the previous example of Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 the separation point 18 ', which is located between the foreign body ejection device 13 and the tobacco conveyor belt 14. In both cases, it is easy for the operator to get to these locations and perform a cleaning or cleaning.

For a better understanding, it should be noted that the devices subject matter of the invention may for example have a height of 4 m and weigh several tons. The wegzubewegende section 20 can weigh between 500 kg and 1 ton or more. For this reason, it is expedient to provide the guide with steel rollers on a rail. That is, the roller bearing preferably comprises steel rollers and a steel rail. Due to the invention, it is no longer necessary to build a pedestal, which also leads to increased costs. In addition, it is very easy for the operator to clean the corresponding parts to be cleaned.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

10

tobacco conveyor

11

conveying direction

12

Foreign body detection device

13

Foreign body ejection device

14

Tobacco conveyor belt

15

tobacco stream

16

foreign body

17

tobacco stream

18, 18 '

separation point

19

upstream section

20

downstream section

21

roller bearing

22

casing

23

Air hood

24

Air feed line

25

fan

26

entrance

27, 27 '

stand

28

main emphasis

29

vertical axis

30

suction tube

31

conveyor belt

32

cyclone

33

tobacco intake

34

tobacco conveyor

35

casing

40

Tobacco conveyor belt

41

Tobacco conveying duct

42

Air conveying duct

43

airflow

44, 44 '

window

45

camera

46

light source

47

compressed air nozzle

48

Blast of compressed air

49

diffuser plate

50

airflow

51

separating screen

52

Conveying air stream

Claims (11)

1. Device for separating foreign bodies from a flow of tobacco (15), wherein a first conveying device (10) is provided for the flow of tobacco (15), wherein a foreign body detection device (12) is provided downstream of the first conveying device (10) in the conveying direction (11), a foreign body ejection device (13) being located next to and downstream of said foreign body detection device, wherein a second conveying device (14) for a flow of tobacco (17) that is substantially free of foreign bodies (16) is provided downstream of the foreign body ejection device (13), characterised in that a separating location (18, 18') is provided between the first conveying device (10) and the second conveying device (14) in the device for separating foreign bodies, wherein the separating location (18, 18') divides the device for separating foreign bodies into an upstream section (19) and a downstream section (20), wherein the upstream section (19) can be or is detachably connected to the downstream section (20) and the two sections (19, 20) are movable relative to one another.
2. Device according to claim 1, characterised in that, for the movement of the downstream section (20) relative to the upstream section (19), the downstream section (20) is mounted on a bearing (21), in particular a roller bearing.
3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the separating location (18, 18') is located between the foreign body ejection device (13) and the second conveying device (14) or between the first conveying device (10) and the foreign body detection device (12).
4. Device according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the downstream section (20) is movable in a linear manner.
5. Device according to any of claims 2 to 4, characterised in that the bearing (21) is oriented horizontally.
6. Device according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the downstream section (20) has a housing (22) in which an air extraction hood (23) is integrated.
7. Device according to claim 6, characterised in that the air extraction hood (23) can be or is connected to an air conveying line (24) which leads to an inlet of a fan (25), the outlet of the fan (25) being connected to an inlet (26) of the first conveying device (10).
8. Device according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the first conveying device (10) comprises a channel (41) in which a conveying air stream (52) flows.
9. Device according to any of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that the first conveying device (10) comprises a conveyor belt (40).
10. Device according to any of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the extent of the movement of the downstream section (20) is between 30 cm and 1 m, in particular between 40 cm and 80 cm, and is preferably 60 cm.
11. Device according to any of claims 2 to 10, characterised in that the bearing (21) is mounted on feet (27, 27'), wherein a vertical axis (29) through the centre of gravity (28) of the downstream section (20) in each movement position is located between the feet (27, 27') or passes through the feet (27, 27').

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