(57) A device for cutting and transferring a contoured tobacco sheet profile, such as
a cigar wrapper, from a sheet of tobacco material, such as a natural tobacco leaf
B or a portion thereof, as the tobacco sheet is supported on a cutting surface 123
at a cut-transfer position comprises a transfer element 30 with a cut-away first portion
530 and adjacent profile receiving second portion 532 is moved in a path M over the
cutting surface 123 so that the first and second portions of the transfer element
are moved in succession to the cut-transfer position at which the cutting operation
is to be performed. A cutter 22 is located at the cut-transfer position for cutting
the profile from the tobacco sheet while the cut-away portion of the transfer element
is at the cut-transfer position. This cutter includes at least one cutting element
300, 302, 304, 306 which is selectively movable between a position extending through
the cut-away portion 530 of the transfer element and into cutting engagement with
the tobacco sheet material B and a retracted position providing clearance for the
transfer element. After a profile has been cut from the tobacco sheet material, it
is captured onto the cutter and moved away from the cutting surface 123 so that the
profile receiving portion 532 of the transfer element can be moved under the cutter
22 and between the cutter and the cutting surface at the cut-transfer position.
Thereafter, the cutter and captured profile are moved against the profile receiving
portion 532 of the transfer element to transfer the cut profile to the transfer element
530. Then, the transfer element 530 is indexed or moved from the cut-transfer position
for conveying the cut profile to a selected remote position for subsequent processing.
Also, the transfer element is provided with a succession of cut-away or clearance
portions 530, 540 and profile receiving portions 532, 542 so that the transfer element
can be indexed successively from position-to- position for successive cutting and
transferring at one location. The transfer element is a low inertia table 500 basically
formed from two surface defining structures with an intermediate honeycomb core.
|
|
