JP3402918B2 - Hopper type feeder for rod member and filter rod feeder for cigarette - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rod member
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a hopper type supply device for stably supplying one by one and a supply device for supplying a cigarette filter rod using the supply device.

[0002]

2. Related Background Art A filter cigarette manufacturing system is roughly divided into a cigarette line that conveys a cigarette, a plug line that supplies a filter plug, and a paper line that supplies a chip paper piece, and a rod is connected to the plug line. A member, i.e. a hopper type feeder or feeder for the filter rod is incorporated.

A hopper type feeding device generally comprises a hopper for storing a large number of filter rods and a take-out drum with a groove for taking out the filter rods one by one from the hopper. The taken-out filter rods are cigarette lines. And is cut toward individual filter plugs in the process of being conveyed, and the filter plugs are supplied between two single cigarettes that are conveyed on the cigarette line.

In recent years, as the manufacturing speed of filter cigarettes has increased, a large amount of filter rods in the hopper are consumed. Therefore, the hopper tends to have a larger capacity. However, in a large-capacity hopper, the weight of a large amount of filter rods on the upper side is added to the filter rod in the area near the outlet thereof, and the bridge of the filter rod is easily formed. Such bridges of filter rods hinder the uniform flow of the filter rods towards the take-off drum, making the take-out of the filter rods by the take-off drum unstable.

Under such circumstances, the hopper type feeder disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-162162 divides the above hopper into a main hopper and a sub hopper having a smaller capacity than the main hopper and takes them out. The drum is designed to take out the filter rods one by one from the sub hopper. According to this known device, even if the main hopper has a large capacity, the weight of all the filter rods in the main hopper is not added to the filter rods in the sub hopper.

[0006]

However, in the known hopper type feeder, since the filter rod is fed from the main hopper to the sub hopper by utilizing only the weight of the filter rod, The force applied from the hopper side to the filter rod in the sub hopper changes according to the remaining amount of the filter rod in the main hopper. This means that the pressing force of the filter rod with respect to the take-out drum fluctuates in the sub hopper, and such fluctuation of the pressing force also makes the take-out of the filter rod by the take-out drum unstable.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to store a large amount of rod members and to secure a stable supply of the rod members. An object is to provide a member supply device and a cigarette filter rod supply device.

[0008]

The above object is achieved by the present invention, and the rod member supply apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises a rod hopper for storing rod members to a sub hopper having a smaller capacity than the main hopper. The feeding means for feeding the member, the detecting means for detecting the filling pressure of the rod member in the sub hopper and outputting the detection signal, and the feeding amount of the rod member by the feeding means is adjusted based on the detection signal from the detecting means. A control means for maintaining the filling pressure of the rod members within a certain range and a take-out means for taking out the rod members one by one from the sub hopper are provided.

According to the rod member supply device of the first aspect, when the filling pressure of the rod member in the sub hopper detected by the detecting means falls below the allowable range, the feeding amount of the rod member by the feeding means is increased, and conversely. When the filling pressure exceeds the allowable range, the delivery amount of the rod member is reduced. Therefore, the filling pressure of the rod member in the sub hopper is maintained within a certain range regardless of the remaining amount of the rod member in the main hopper.

[0010] The supply device according to claim 1 is provided with a detection lever which is rotationally biased in the state detection means which partially protrudes into the sub-hopper, and a sensor for detecting the amount of rotation of the detection lever ing. According to such a supply device,
The filling pressure of the rod member in the sub hopper is converted into the rotation amount of the detection lever, and the filling amount of the rod member is indirectly measured by detecting the rotation amount by the sensor.

Furthermore, the feeding device according to claim 1, provided with agitator roller in the center of the sub hopper and the sub-hopper is, with the rotation of the agitator roller causes the occurrence of the flow of the rod members around the agitator roller Has capacity. According to such a supply device, the flow of the rod member in the sub hopper prevents the rod member from staying inside the sub hopper.

In the feeding device of the second aspect, the feeding means includes a belt conveyor connecting the outlet of the main hopper and the inlet of the sub hopper, and the number of stacked rod members fed from the belt conveyor to the inlet of the sub hopper. And a limiting means for limiting the fixed amount. According to the supply device of the second aspect, the feed amount of the rod member to the sub hopper is controlled with high accuracy by adjusting the traveling speed of the belt conveyor.

A cigarette filter rod feeder according to a third aspect of the present invention includes two sets of the feeders according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, and the cigarette filter rods are stored in the main and sub hoppers of these feeders. Has been.
The take-out means of each supply device is provided with a take-out drum that closes the outlet of the corresponding sub hopper with a part of its circumferential surface. A groove is provided. As the take-out drum rotates, the rod members in the sub-hopper can be received in the grooves thereof, and the take-out drum can take out the rod members one by one from the sub-hopper with the rotation. Further, the take-out drums of the respective supply devices are arranged adjacent to each other so as to be rotatable in opposite directions.

According to the cigarette filter rod feeder of the third aspect, the filter rod taken out by the take-out drum of one of the feeding devices is transferred to the take-out drum of the other feeding device, and then the other one. Is conveyed with the filter rod taken out by the take-out drum of the feeding device.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 schematically shows a filter plug feeder incorporated in a filter cigarette manufacturing machine. The feeder is roughly divided into first feeders of a hopper type. 2 and the second supply device 4. Since the first and second feeding devices 2 and 4 have substantially the same structure, first, the first feeding device 2 will be described below.

The first feeding device 2 is provided with a main hopper 6, and this main hopper 6 has a rod feeder 8 at the left end in FIG. The rod feeder 8 has an inlet 10 that opens toward the inside of the main hopper 6,
A filter rod can be put into the main hopper 6 from the inlet 10. Specifically, an air delivery pipe (not shown) is connected to the rod feeder 8, and the filter rod is delivered to the rod feeder 8 through the air delivery pipe. Then, in the filter rods therein having reached the rod feeder 8, the conveying direction is converted, and its axis is transported in the direction you orthogonal reaches the inlet 10, and, in the main hopper 6 from the inlet 10 It is thrown sideways. Thus, in the main hopper within 6, the filter rods are stored in a state of being stacked horizontally. Since the filter rods are aligned in the axial direction within the main hopper 6, the main hopper 6 has a depth substantially equal to the length of the filter rod.

At the upper right end of the main hopper 6, there is provided a holder 12 for mounting a transport tray for filter rods. When the carrying tray is attached to the holder 12, even if the supply of the filter rod by the air delivery tube is temporarily stopped, the supply of the filter rod of the carrying tray can be performed by inserting the filter rod of the carrying tray into the main hopper 6. Become. A belt conveyor 16 is arranged immediately below the lower end outlet 14 of the main hopper 6, and the belt conveyor 16 extends horizontally to form a movable bottom of the main hopper 6. The belt of the belt conveyor 16 is wound around a pair of belt rollers 18, and the belt roller 1 on the left side in FIG.
A sprocket (not shown) is coaxially attached to 8. This sprocket is arranged on the back side of the main hopper 6. On the other hand, on the back side of the main hopper 6, a servo motor 20 is arranged above the main hopper 6, and a sprocket 22 is also attached to the output shaft of the servo motor 20. A chain 24 is wound around the sprocket 22 and the sprocket on the belt roller 18 side, and when the servo motor 20 is driven to rotate by this, the belt conveyor 16 moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG.
The vehicle is traveling to the right as seen in FIG.

Located below the main hopper 6 and on the right side of the belt conveyor 16 is the filter rod sub hopper 2.
6 are arranged. The sub hopper 26 has a smaller capacity than the main hopper 6, and has a left side wall 28 extending obliquely downward from the right end of the belt conveyor 16 and a facing wall 30 facing the left side wall 28. Here, the opposing wall 30 has an arc shape, and the guide 3 is
2 extends to the right end portion of the belt conveyor 16, that is, above the belt roller 18 located on the right side in FIG.
Further, as is apparent from FIG. 2, the guide 32 is folded back in an arc shape so as to be continuous with the right side wall of the main hopper 6.

An inlet 34 of the sub hopper 26 is formed between the guide 32 and the belt conveyor 16, and the inlet 34 is equivalent to several layers of the filter rods stacked on the belt conveyor 16. It has a size that allows passage of the filter rod. In addition, in FIG. 2, the inlet 34 allows passage of three layers of filter rods.

The folded portion of the guide 32, that is,
A rocker roller 36 is rotatably arranged immediately above the entrance 34 of the sub hopper 26. The rocker roller 36 has a lower end of the main hopper 6 so that a part of its outer peripheral surface forms a guide surface to the entrance 34 of the sub hopper 26. Exit 14
It projects slightly inside. Shallow grooves 38 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rocker roller 36 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the rocker roller 36 has the outer peripheral surface protruding into the main hopper 6 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. It is rotated so that it moves upward. The rotation of the rocker roller 36 pushes upward the filter rods stacked above the inlet 34 of the sub hopper 26. Such pushing up of the filter rod is performed by the belt conveyor 1
6, the load applied from above to the filter rods of three layers on the belt conveyor 16 which is about to enter the inlet 34, that is, the weight load of the filter cigarette stacked above the filter rods is reduced. The filter rods for three layers can be stably fed into the inlet 34 of the sub hopper 26.

The sub hopper 26 has a lower end opening 40 formed between the lower ends of the left side wall 28 and the opposing wall 30, and a take-out drum 42 is arranged so as to close the lower end opening 40. ing. That is, the take-out drum 42 is provided with a part of the outer peripheral surface of the sub-hopper 26.
The lower end opening 40 is closed. A large number of grooves 44 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the take-out drum 42 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and these grooves 44 have a size capable of receiving one filter rod at a time. Further, the groove 44 of the take-out drum 42 is provided at the lower end opening 40 of the sub hopper 26.
When in the grooves 44, the take-off drums 4
The suction pressure is supplied from a suction path (not shown) secured in the inside 2. The suction pressure is supplied by a groove 44 having a predetermined rotation angle described later as the take-out drum 42 rotates. It is maintained until the position is reached.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the groove 44 of the take-out drum 42 in the lower end opening 40 of the sub hopper 26 is supplied with suction pressure to suck and receive the filter rod in the sub hopper 26. The filter rods can be sucked and held in the respective grooves 44 one by one. Then, as the take-out drum 42 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2, that is, in the clockwise direction, the grooves 44 that suction-hold the filter rods are sequentially withdrawn from the sub hopper 26, so that one filter rod is removed from the sub hopper 26. Will be taken out.

In the gap between the lower end of the facing wall 30 of the sub hopper 26 and the take-out drum 42, a diffuser roller 46 is rotatably arranged so as to close the gap. The outer peripheral surface of the diffuser roller 46 is formed in a wavy shape, and the diffuser roller 46 rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2, that is, in the clockwise direction. It is possible to prevent the user from being bitten by.

An agitator roller 48 is rotatably arranged in the center of the sub hopper 26. Similar to the rocker roller 36, shallow grooves 50 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the agitator roller 48 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the agitator roller 48 moves in the arrow direction in FIG. 2, that is, in the counterclockwise direction. Is rotated. Here, the sub-hopper 26 rather is sufficiently smaller capacity than the main hopper 6 as described above, with the rotation of the agitator roller 48, the filter rod as indicated by hollow arrows in FIG. 2 around the agitator roller 48 It has a capacity enough to cause the flow of. Specifically, between the inner wall (28, 30) of the sub hopper 26 and the outer peripheral surface of the agitator roller 48, or between the agitator roller 48 and the take-out drum 42.
And a distance of 3 to 5 times as large as the diameter of the filter rod is secured between the two, and the stirring action due to the rotation of the agitator roller 48 effectively acts on the filter rod in the sub hopper 26.

On the opposing wall 30 of the sub hopper 26, a detector 52 is arranged above the agitator roller 48. As is apparent from FIG. 3, the detector 52 includes a detection lever 54, and one end of the detection lever 54 is rotatably supported by a support pin 56 in a casing 55 that forms the facing wall 30 of the sub hopper 26. Has been done.
An arcuate slot 58 centered on the support pin 56 is formed at the other end of the detection lever 54, and a guide pin 60 is inserted through the slot 58. Similarly to the support pin 56, the guide pin 60 is also disposed in the casing 55 at a horizontal level similar to that of the support pin 56. Therefore, in this case, the detection lever 54 is attached in a horizontal posture, and the other end thereof partially projects into the sub hopper 26. That is, although not clearly shown, the opposing wall 30 of the sub hopper 26 is provided with a slit-shaped opening that allows the other end of the detection lever 54 to project. Further, a torsion coil spring 62 is attached to the support pin 56 of the detection lever 54. One end of the torsion coil spring 62 is locked to the detection lever 54 and the other end is locked to the casing 55. Torsion coil spring 6
2 biases the detection lever 54 downward, that is, in a direction in which the other end projects into the sub hopper 26, whereby the guide pin 60 causes the guide pin 60 to move to the slot 5 of the detection lever 54.
It is located at one end of 8.

A proximity sensor 64 is provided above the detection lever 54.
Is arranged, and the proximity sensor 64 detects the detection lever 5
4, the proximity sensor 64 and the detection lever 54
A detection signal is output according to the distance between and. The proximity sensor 64 is a controller 66 as shown in FIG.
Of the belt conveyor 16 is electrically connected to its input side, and its output side is electrically connected to the servo motor 20 of the belt conveyor 16 described above. Therefore, the controller 66 can control the traveling speed of the servo motor 20, that is, the belt conveyor 16, based on the detection signal output from the proximity sensor 64.

The traveling speed control of the belt conveyor 16 will be described in detail. Now, the amount of the filter rod fed into the sub hopper 26 is larger than the amount of the filter rod discharged by the take-out drum 42, and the filter rod is filled in the sub hopper 26. When the pressure is increased, the detection lever 54 is rotated against the rotational urging force so as to be pushed up by the filter rod. By this rotation, the separation distance between the detection lever 54 and the proximity sensor 64 is reduced, and a detection signal corresponding to the reduction is output from the proximity sensor 64 to the controller 66. Here, the controller 6
6, the sub hopper 26 based on the received detection signal.
When it is determined that the filling pressure in the inside exceeds the allowable range, the controller 66 outputs a deceleration signal to the servo motor 20 of the belt conveyor 16 to cause the belt conveyor 16 to move.
Reduce the running speed of. As a result, the belt conveyor 1
The feed amount of the filter rod into the sub hopper 26 by 6 is reduced.

On the other hand, when the feeding amount of the filter rod into the sub hopper 26 is smaller than the discharging amount thereof, the filling pressure of the filter rod in the sub hopper 26 decreases, and the detection lever 54 rotates downward due to its rotational urging force. The amount of protrusion into the sub hopper 26 increases. By this rotation,
As the distance between the detection lever 54 and the proximity sensor 64 is increased, the detection signal corresponding to the increase is output from the proximity sensor 64 to the controller 66. Then, the controller 66 determines the sub hopper 2 based on the detection signal.
When it is determined that the filling pressure in 6 has decreased beyond the allowable range, an acceleration signal is output to the servo motor 20 of the belt conveyor 16 to increase the traveling speed of the belt conveyor 16. As a result, the feed amount of the filter rod into the sub hopper 26 is increased.

When the traveling speed of the belt conveyor 16 is controlled as described above, the weight of the filter rod in the main hopper 6 remains in the sub hopper 26 regardless of the remaining amount of the filter rod in the main hopper 6. Since it does not apply to the filter rod, the filling pressure of the filter rod in the sub hopper 26 can be constantly maintained within the allowable range. Therefore, the filter rod in the sub hopper 26 can receive a certain range of pressing force toward the take-out drum 42, and the filter rod can be reliably received in the groove 44 of the take-out drum 42 in the lower end outlet 40 of the sub-hopper 26. As a result, the filter rods can be stably taken out one by one.

Further, since the agitator roller 48 in the sub hopper 26 stirs the surrounding filter rod by its rotation, the filter rod in the sub hopper 26 does not form a bridge. The rotation of the agitator roller 48 and the capacity of the sub hopper 26 are equal to the flow of the filter rod in the sub hopper 26, that is,
The sub-hopper 2 is set in such a relationship as to cause a flow in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the take-out drum 42, and is also assisted by the rotation of the diffuser roller 46.
The filter rod does not stay in the inside of No. 6. As a result, the filter rod whose quality is deteriorated due to the retention in the sub hopper 26 is
There is no such thing as 6 supply.

The second supply device 4 has the same structure as the first supply device 2 described above. Therefore, in order to avoid duplication of description, in the second supply device 4, the first supply device 2
Members and parts having the same functions as those of the constituent members and parts are given the same reference numerals with a dash added, and their explanations are omitted. Therefore, in the following, the second feeding device 4
Is different from the first supply device 2, and the mechanism related to the supply device will be described.

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the main hopper 6'of the second feeding device 4 is disposed adjacent to the lower left of the main hopper 6, and the sub hopper 26 ' is also adjacent to the lower left of the sub hopper 26. It is arranged. Therefore, the belt conveyor 1 that closes the lower end outlet 14 'of the main hopper 6'
6'is longer than the belt conveyor 16 and extends horizontally below the belt conveyor 16. Belt conveyor 1
The servo motor 20 'of 6'is arranged not below the main hopper 6', but below the belt conveyor 16 '.

As is apparent from FIG. 2, the sub hopper 26 '.
The left side wall 28 'has an arc shape similar to that of the opposite wall 30', and the detector 52 'is incorporated in the left side wall 28'. That is, the detector 52 'is the agitator roller 48'.
Is arranged not on the upper side but on the left side, and in this case, the detection lever 54 'is rotationally biased in a substantially vertical posture. As shown in FIG. 4, the detector 52 '
The proximity sensor 64 'is electrically connected to the input side of the controller 66 described above, and the output side of the controller 66 is also electrically connected to the servomotor 20' of the belt conveyor 16 '. Therefore, the controller 66
Is based on the detection signal output from the proximity sensor 64 ', and the belt conveyor 16' via the servomotor 20 '.
The traveling speed of can be controlled. Therefore, the second supply device 4 also has the same advantages as the first supply device 2 described above.

On the other hand, the take-out drum 4 of the first feeding device 2
2 is equipped with a rotary knife 65. The rotary knife 65 moves along with the rotation of the take-out drum 42.
The filter rods in the grooves 44 taken out one by one from the sub hopper 26 are cut into equal parts to form two half rods. A guide cowl 68 is arranged on the lower outer peripheral surface of the take-out drum 42, and the guide cowl extends along the outer circumference of the take-out drum 42 and extends along the rotary knife 65.
To the vicinity of the take-out drum 42 '. That is, as is clear from FIG. 2, the take-out drum 42 ′ is arranged so as to be in rolling contact with the take-out drum 42.

[0035] Then, the supply of the suction pressure to the groove 44 of the take-out drum 42, the groove 44 guides the cowl 68
Stops when entering the area of the guide cowl 68
At, the suction holding of the half rod in the groove 44 is released. However, even if the suction holding is released, the groove 4
Since the guide rod 68 prevents the half rod in 4 from falling off, the half rod is further transported toward the take-out drum 42 ′ as the take-out drum 42 rotates. In the process of transporting the half rods, the two half rods are separated from each other in the groove 44 in the groove direction.
That is, the guide cowl 68 has a separate function for separating the two half rods, and although this separate function is not shown, a separator rail is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the guide cowl 68 or a guide rail is provided. It can be obtained by providing a blow hole or a suction hole for compressed air in the cowl 68.

The take-up drum 42 'rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2 and is in the opposite direction to the take-out drum 42, but its peripheral speed is the take-out drum 42'.
Is set to the same as the peripheral speed of. As a result, the groove 44 ′ of the take-out drum 42 ′ becomes the groove 4 ′ of the take-out drum 42.
It will rotate while conforming to 4 sequentially. And, in the groove 44 'of the take-out drum 42', when viewed in the rotation direction,
Extraction drum 42, 42 'just before the position near one another, i.e., the guide from the end of the cowl 68 sub hopper 26' to the predetermined rotational angle position beyond the bottom outlet 40 'of, so the suction pressure is supplied There is.

Therefore, the two half rods that have reached the take-out drum 42 'together with the groove 44 thereof as the take-out drum 42 rotates rotate from the groove 44 of the take-out drum 42 to the groove of the take-out drum 42' at the close position. Four
4'is aspirated and received so that the half rod can be transferred from take-off drum 42 to take-off drum 42 '. In order to ensure the transfer of the half rod, the opposing wall 3 in the sub hopper 26 'is
A cowl portion 70 extends from the lower end of 0 ′ so as to cover the outer peripheral surface of the take-out drum 42 ′, and the tip of the cowl portion 70 is formed in a fork shape and enters the take-out drum 42. That is, the take-out drum 42
A plurality of circumferential grooves that allow the fork to enter the cowl portion 70 are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the.

On the other hand, also in the take-out drum 42 ',
The filter rod is sucked and received in the groove 44 'in the lower end outlet 40' of the sub hopper 26 ', while the filter rod from the sub hopper 26' is positioned in the groove 44 'between the half rods described above. To be Therefore, as the take-out drum 42 'rotates, the sub hopper 2
The filter rod from the sub hopper 26 'and the half rods from the take-out drums 26 located on both sides of the filter rod are received in the groove 44' which is pulled out from 6 '. Further, the take-out drum 42 'is also provided with a plurality of rotary knives 72, and these rotary knives 72 move the filter rod in the groove 44' and the half rods on both sides thereof as the take-out drum 42 'rotates. Cut into equal parts.

Here, charcoal filter rods are stored in the main and sub hoppers 2 and 6 of the first feeding device 2,
When acetate filter rods are stored in the main and sub hoppers 2 ′ and 6 ′ of the second supply device 4, as shown in the rod flow shown on the left side of FIG.
With the rotation of the take-out drum 42 ', the rotary knife 7
In the groove 44 'passing through 2, two acetate half rods AHR obtained by cutting the acetate filter rod AFR into equal parts, and these acetate half rods AHR
The two charcoal quarter rods CQR obtained by cutting the charcoal half rod CHR into equal parts are positioned on both sides of each. In FIG. 5, the charcoal-side rod is shaded to facilitate identification of the charcoal-side and acetate-side rods.

Although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the take-out drum 42 'is formed by a first grading drum, an assembly drum, a second grading drum, and an aligning drum, which are successively adjacent to each other to form a drum row. ing. Therefore, the acetate half rod AHR and the charcoal quarter rod CQR on the take-out drum 42 'are sequentially transferred from the take-out drum 42' to the adjacent drum while being conveyed. More specifically, when the acetate half rod AHR and the charcoal quarter rod CQR are transferred from the take-out drum 42 'to the first grading drum, the adjacent rods on the take-out drum 42' are transferred back and forth to the first grading drum, as shown in FIG. As is apparent, the two acetate half rods AHR and the two charcoal quarter rods CQR are separated from each other in the transport direction,
In the first grading drum, charcoal quarter rods CQ on both sides of one acetate half rod AHR.
Rs are transported one by one, and these are simultaneously transferred from the first grading drum to the assembly drum.

The assembly drum is equipped with a plurality of rotary knives which cut the rods into equal parts into acetate chips AT and charcoal chips CT, after which the acetate and The charcoal chip transfers to the aligning drum via the second grading drum having the same function as the first grading drum. On this aligning drum, a charcoal chip CT is closely attached to both sides of one acetate chip AT to form a dual type filter plug FP,
These filter plugs FP are sequentially supplied between the two single cigarettes SC conveyed on the cigarette line of the filter cigarette manufacturing machine.

After that, the two single cigarettes SC and the filter plug FP conveyed on the cigarette line.
Is molded into a double filter cigarette through a process of winding and adhering a piece of chip paper in a rolling section, and the double cigarette is cut into equal parts from the center thereof to form a dual filter type filter cigarette.

On the other hand, when the acetate filter rod is supplied from each of the first and second supply devices 2 and 4,
These acetate filter rods become a plane type filter plug FP composed of the acetate half rod AHR according to the rod flow on the right side in FIG. 5, and this filter plug is supplied to the cigarette line. In this case, the rotary knife of the assembly drum has been removed.

According to the above-described filter plug feeder, in each feeder, the filter rod is fed from the main hopper to the sub hopper via the belt conveyor, so that the installation of the main hopper is not restricted. The degree of freedom of the layout of these main hoppers can be increased. Further, since the sub hoppers 26, 26 'of the first and second feeding devices 2, 4 can be arranged close to each other by using the belt conveyor, the take-out drums 42, 42' of the sub hoppers should be in rolling contact with each other. Can be arranged. Therefore, by adding the rotary knife 65 and the separator function of the half rod to the take-out drum 42 as described above, the half rod can be transferred from the take-out drum 42 to the take-out drum 42 '.

In this respect, when the sub hoppers 26, 26 'of the first and second feeding devices 2, 4 are arranged separately, the half rods are transferred between the take-out drums 42, 42'. An intermediate drum is needed. The present invention is not limited to the one embodiment described above, and various modifications are possible. For example, the detector 52 uses a combination of the detection lever 54 and the proximity sensor 64, but a liquid chamber that receives the internal pressure of the sub hopper through the diaphragm is provided outside the sub hopper, and the internal pressure of this liquid chamber is used as the pressure sensor. It is also possible to detect the filling pressure of the filter rod by measuring the filling pressure.

The procedure for manufacturing the filter plug is not limited to that shown in FIG.
2'does not necessarily require a rotary knife. Furthermore,
It goes without saying that the present invention is applicable not only to the cigarette filter rod but also to the supply of various rod members.

[0047]

As described above, according to the hopper type feeder of claim 1 of the present invention, since the sub hopper having a small capacity different from the main hopper is provided, a large capacity of the main hopper is secured. Above, the rod member can be taken out from the sub hopper, and the feed amount of the rod member from the main hopper to the sub hopper is controlled so that the filling pressure of the rod member in the sub hopper is maintained within a certain range. Therefore, the rod member can be stably taken out of the sub hopper regardless of the remaining amount of the rod member in the main hopper.

Further, according to the hopper type supply device according to claim 1, to convert the charging pressure of the internal rod to rotation of the detection lever sub hopper, the filling pressure in the sub hopper easily from the amount of rotation Can be detected. Furthermore, according to the hopper type supply device according to claim 1, it can be because by rise to flow of rod member about the agitator roller in the sub-hopper, to prevent the retention of the rod member in the sub hopper.

According to the hopper type feeding device of the second aspect, regarding the feeding from the main hopper to the sub hopper, since the rod members for a certain stack are fed from the belt conveyor to the sub hopper, the traveling speed of the belt conveyor is adjusted. Thus, the feeding amount of the rod member into the sub hopper can be controlled with high accuracy. According to the cigarette filter rod feeder of the third aspect , not only the degree of freedom regarding the installation of the main hopper of each hopper type feeder is improved, but also a take-out drum for taking out the filter rod from each sub-hopper is provided adjacently. It is possible to dispose the rod members, and it is possible to transfer the rod member from one take-out drum to the other take-out drum without disposing an intermediate drum between these take-up drums.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a feeder for a cigarette filter plug.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a detector.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration for controlling a traveling speed of a belt conveyor.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a manufacturing procedure of a dual filter plug and a plain filter plug.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 First supply device 4 Second supply device 6,6 'main hopper 16,16 'Belt conveyor (feeding means) 20, 20 'servo motor 26,26 'Sub hopper 32, 32 'guide (restriction means) 34,34 'entrance 36,36 'Rocker roller (limiter) 42, 42 'take-out drum (take-out means) 48,48 agitator roller 52,52 'detector (detection means) 54 Detection lever 64 Proximity sensor 66 controller

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A main hopper for storing a rod member, a sub hopper having a smaller capacity than the main hopper, a feeding means for feeding the rod member from the main hopper to the sub hopper, and a filling pressure of the rod member in the sub hopper. A control means for outputting the detection signal, and a control for adjusting the delivery amount of the rod member by the feeding means based on the detection signal from the detection means and maintaining the filling pressure of the rod member within a certain range. Means and a take-out means for taking out the rod members one by one from the sub hopper , wherein the detecting means has a state in which a part thereof is projected into the sub hopper.
The detection lever that is urged to rotate in the
The sub hopper has an agitator roller in the center thereof.
And as the agitator roller rotates,
Produces rod member flow around the agitator roller
A hopper type feeding device for a rod member having a capacity . 2. The feeding means limits a stacking number of a belt conveyor connecting an outlet of the main hopper and an inlet of the sub hopper and a rod member fed from the belt conveyor to the inlet of the sub hopper to a constant value. A hopper type feeding device for a rod member according to claim 1 , further comprising a limiting means. 3. Two sets of the hopper type feeding device according to claim 1 or 2 are provided, and the take-out means of each feeding device closes the outlet of the corresponding sub hopper with a part of the peripheral surface thereof. It has grooves formed at equal intervals on its peripheral surface, and includes a take-out drum that receives and takes out the filter rod for cigarette stored in the sub-hopper as a rod member in the groove with the rotation thereof, and each feed A cigarette filter rod feeder, wherein the take-out drums of the apparatus are arranged adjacent to each other and rotatably in opposite directions.