[0001] The present invention pertains generally to methods and apparatus for tipping smoking
articles, and pertains more especially to such methods and apparatus for tipping oval
smoking articles.
[0002] In the manufacture of smoking articles, particularly cigarettes, it is conventional
to make a continuous tobacco rod (a paper tube filled with shredded tobacco or tobacco
substitute) and to cut the continuous rod to the length of individual cigarettes.
A continuous rod of filter material is extruded and cut into lengths. The resulting
filter plugs are collected in trays and placed in the hopper of a tipping machine,
which cuts the filter plugs to twice the length of a single filter, joins each double-length
filter plug to two filterless cigarettes, and severs the resulting assembly to form
two complete cigarettes.
[0003] The filter plugs are gravity-fed from the hopper into flutes or grooves in the periphery
of a rotating drum. The filter plugs are held in place in the flutes by means of vacuum
suction exerted from the drum interior. The filter plugs can be passed from one such
drum to another by proper timing of the rotations of the two drums, and by simultaneously
deactivating the suction applied to a particular groove of the first drum as that
groove comes face-to-face with a groove of the second drum. This permits a filter
plug in the first flute to be pulled over into the opposing flute of the second drum
by the suction applied to the latter. The filter plugs passed in this manner from
one drum to another eventually are transferred to the flutes of a feed drum. In each
flute two previously-deposited cigarette rods flank the filter plug end-to-end.
[0004] A web of cork or other tipping material is drawn from a roll thereof and has glue
applied to one side. The web is cut off in lengths by cork knives, and one edge of
each length is applied to a filter-plug-and-cigarette assembly is such a manner as
to extend over the entire length of the filter plug and to overlie a small portion
of each cigarette rod, the adhesive on the tipping material sticking to the plug and
the rod.
[0005] The resulting double cigarette assembly is transferred to a rolling drum, beside
which is a metallic rolling block. Each cigarette assembly is rolled along the rolling
block by the drum. The rolling action wraps the tipping material around the cigarette
assembly, to which it adheres as a result of the glue. Suitable heating elements in
the rolling block commonly are used to cure the adhesive rapidly.
[0006] The double cigarette assembly is then transferred to a cutter drum, which moves
the assembly past a disc knife that severs it into two complete cigarettes. The cigarettes
are then inspected and moved to a discharge point, from which they are taken to another
machine for packing.
[0007] The conventional tipping machine described above is designed to handle cigarettes
of circular cross section. It would be desirable to be able to adapt a standard cigarette
tipping machine for use in the rapid, economical large-scale manufacture of cigarettes
having an oval cross section, which have hitherto largely been a luxury product requiring
special equipment for virtually every stage of their manufacture. Various problems
arise in making such an adaptation.
[0008] For example, it is difficult to transfer oval filter plugs from the hopper to a drum
of the conventional type in such a manner that every flute will contain a filter plug
and so that each filter plug will have the same predetermined orientation about its
longitudinal axis (hereinafter, "angular orientation"). In addition, it has been found
to be impossible, as a practical matter, to wrap tipping material around a cigarette
assembly having an oval cross section, using standard tipping machine equipment. Related
copending applications Serial No. 480,809, filed March 31, 1983, entitled "Method
and Apparatus for Aligning Oval Cigarette Filters," and Serial No. 584,366, filed
February 28, 1984, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Tipping Smoking Articles," both
assigned in common herewith, are directed to solutions of these problems.
[0009] Another problem arises when it is desired to use a standard tipping machine to wrap
tipping material around an oval cigarette assembly having a circumference smaller
than the circumference of a standard cigarette. The rolling drum of a standard tipping
machine has a particular diameter and a particular number of flutes spaced evenly
about its circumference for transferring cigarette assemblies on and off the drum.
Each cigarette assembly rolls back two flutes along the drum circumference as tipping
material is rolled around it.
[0010] The arc length along the drum circumference between flutes is not critical when rolling
a circular cigarette, because the rolling distance, two flutes, for different circumference
cigarettes is fixed. The number of revolutions necessary for rolling any given circumference
circular cigarette two flutes can be controlled by varying the length of the rolling
block. On one standard cigarette making machine, the distance between flutes is one-and-one-half
times the circumference of a standard cigarette, so that a standard cigarette makes
one-and-one-half revolutions as it rolls from flute to flute. If a circular cigarette
having a smaller circumference is rolled on the machine, it will roll a greater number
of times but, because it is circular, its angular orientation when it reaches the
second and third flutes will be indistinguishable from that of a circular cigarette
of any other circumference.
[0011] However, when tipping oval or other non-circular cigarettes, it is desirable to
have all cigarettes in a particular angular orientation on the various drums (except
while they are actually being rolled), especially at the transfer points between drums.
One preferred orientation for all oval cigarette is that in which the major axis
of the cross section of the cigarette is parallel to a line tangent to the drum surface
at the point of contact between the drum and the cigarette.
[0012] If a cigarette has the circumference of a standard cigarette for which the machine
was designed, it will make one-and-one-half revolutions as it rolls between flutes,
even if it is oval. Assuming that it starts at the preferred angular orientation,
it will finish at that orientation. However, if an oval cigarette has a circumference
smaller than the standard circumference and it starts at the preferred angular orientation,
it will finish at an angular orientation other than that which is desired.
[0013] This problem can be solved by making the rolling drum smaller to decrease the distance
between the flutes while maintaining the same number of flutes, or by adding flutes
to the drum. However, implementing either of these alternatives would require changing
the size, location, and/or speed of rotation of some or all of the other drums in
the machine. Further, additional flutes can only be added to the drum without changing
its size in those cases where the ratio of the desired circumference to the standard
circumference is equal to the ratio of the standard number of flutes to the desired
number of flutes, so that the flutes can be spaced evenly about the drum.
[0014] It is therefore the principal object of the invention to provide a method and apparatus
for applying tipping material to a filter plug and tobacco rod of oval cross section
and wrapping the tipping material therearound, while rolling the cigarette assembly
a predetermined number of times to maintain a desired angular orientation, regardless
of the circumference of the cigarette.
[0015] Another object of the invention is to achieve the foregoing objects in a manner which
permits the ready and easy adaptation of existing tipping machines to the production
of oval cigarettes of non-standard circumference.
[0016] According to the invention, there is provided a tipping machine for securing non-circular
filter plugs to non-circular tobacco rods with an adhesive tipping sheet, the apparatus
comprising: a rolling drum provided on its periphery with a plurality of uniformly
spaced apart receiving plates each for receiving an assembly comprising non-circular
filter plugs held in axial alignment with a non-circular rod by an edge of an adhesive
tipping sheet; and a 1st pressure element adjacent the rolling drum defining a rolling
path between the 1st pressure element and the rolling drum; characterised in that
the rolling drum is also provided on its periphery with a plurality of uniformly spaced
apart discharge flutes, whereby by rotation of the rolling drum and the 1st pressure
element in the same angular direction at different but angular speeds about the axis
of the rolling drum, an assembly held in a receiving plate is caused to roll along
the rolling path into a discharge flute counting the tipping sheet to become overlappingly
wrapped around the filter plug and the tobacco rod to secure them together.
[0017] Preferably, the distance between adjacent discharge flutes is the same as the distance
between adjacent receiving flutes.
[0018] According to the invention there is also provided a method for rolling a non-circular
cigarette assembly including a tobacco rod and a filter plug joined by a piece of
tipping material to overlapping wrap the tipping material around the cigarette assembly
to secure the filter plug firmly to the tobacco rod, comprising the steps of: providing
such a cigarette assembly at a feed point, with a first predetermined angular orientation
to a receiving flute on a rolling drum, the peripheral surface thereof having a plurality
of uniformly spaced-apart receiving flutes and a plurality of uniformly spaced-apart
discharge flutes, the discharge flutes being distinct from the receiving flutes, the
distance between adjacent discharge flutes being the same as the distance between
adjacent receiving flutes; applying suction selectively from the interior of the drum
exclusively to the receiving flutes in the region of the feed point; advancing the
drum rotationally until the cigarette assembly contacts a first pressure element;
deactivating the suction on the receiving flute; rotating the rolling drum in a first
direction with a predetermined angular speed about the axis of the rolling drum; simultaneously
moving the first pressure element generally parallel to the peripheral surface of
the rolling drum with a second predetermined angular speed with respect to the axis
of the drum the second angular speed being different from the first angular speed,
to roll the cigarette assembly along the peripheral surface of the rolling drum from
the receiving flute in which it is received toward the first discharge flute following
the said receiving flute; advancing the rolling drum rotationally until the said cigarette
assembly clears the first pressure element; applying suction selectively from the
interior of the rolling drum exclusively to the discharge flutes in the region in
which the said cigarette assembly clears the first pressure element; rotating the
rolling drum until the said cigarette assembly reaches a transfer point; deactivating
the suction on the said discharge flute; and transferring the said cigarette assembly
to a transfer drum.
[0019] The selective application of suction is controlled by a vacuum valve within the rolling
drum. The valve has at least one orifice in the first region which is located to communicate
with a vacuum chamber within the valve and with ports leading exclusively to the receiving
flutes as they pass through that region, and at least one orifice in the second region.
which is located to communicate with the vacuum chamber within the valve and with
ports leading exclusively to the discharge flutes as they pass through that region.
Preferably, there is one orifice in fluid communication with the vacuum chamber and
the ports leading to the receiving flutes and there are two narrow elongated orifices
in fluid communication with the vacuum chamber and the ports leading to the discharge
flutes.
Brief Description of the Drawings
[0020] These and other objects and features of the invention are shown in the following
detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction
with the accompanying figures, in which like reference characters refer to like elements
throughout, and in which:
FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic elevational view of a tipping machine incorporating
apparatus for carrying out the method of the invention;
FIG 2 is a detail of FIG. 1 showing the preferred embodiment of the apparatus for
carrying out the method of the invention;
FIG. 2a is an elevational view of an alternate embodiment of the rolling drum of
FIG. 2;
FIG. 3 is a section view of the rolling drum assembly of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a section view of the rolling drum assembly taken from line 4-4 of FIG.
2;
FIG. 5a is an elevational view of the vacuum valve of the invention seen from the
right side as shown in FIG. 1; and
FIG. 5b is an elevational view of the vacuum valve of the invention seen from the
left side as shown in FIG. 1.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment
[0021] A tipping machine incorporating the invention moves oval filter plugs from a hopper
along a path on which they are cut to twice the length of a single filter and mated
end to end with oval filterless cigarettes supplied from a cigarette maker, in a
predetermined orientation. Tipping material in sheet form, such as cork or tipping
paper, is drawn from a roll and has an adhesive applied to one side of it. The tipping
material is then cut into lengths, or patches, each of which is attached to an assembly
comprising two filterless cigarettes abutting a double-length filter plug between
them end-to-end. The rolling drum assembly of the present invention is used to wrap
the patch of tipping material around the oval cigarette assembly, firmly securing
the filter plug to the tobacco rods. The cigarette assembly is then cut into two oval
cigarettes and delivered to the output point of the tipping machine to be transported
to the next work station.
[0022] FIG. 1 shows an overview of such a tipping machine 10. The tipping machine 10 has
a hopper 12 in which filter plugs two, four times or six times as long as needed for
one cigarette are received. Adjacent the bottom opening of the hopper 12, on one side,
is a continuous belt 14 mounted on two rollers 16, 18, which drive the belt 14 so
as to feed filter plugs downward toward the bottom opening of the hopper 12.
[0023] A plug drum 20, described in detail in copending application Serial No. 480,809,
is mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis below the bottom opening of the hopper
12. The plug drum 20 has evenly spaced flutes (not shown) around its circumference
and includes a conventional mechanism in its interior for applying vacuum suction
to selected flutes. As the filter plugs reach the bottom of the hopper 12, each is
received in a flute on the plug drum 20 and is held there by means of suction. The
rotation of the drum 20 carries the plug out of the hopper 12. To prevent filter plugs
not firmly seated in flutes from leaving the hopper 12, a refuser roller 24 is disposed
adjacent the hopper opening on the side toward which the filter plugs move as they
leave the hopper, i.e., the side opposite the feeder belt 14. The refuser roller 24
rotates in such a direction as to tend to knock filter plugs back into the hopper
12 (clockwise in FIG. 1), and is spaced from the plug drum 20 such a distance that
a filter plug seated in a flute will clear the refuser roller 24 while a filter plug
lying on the periphery of the drum and not in a flute will be kept in the hopper 12
by the refuser roller 24.
[0024] Adjacent the plug drum 20 are two slitter disc knives 26, 28 mounted for rotation
about respective horizontal axes. The knives 26, 28 are positioned so as to cut
each filter plug into three segments of equal length. (If the filter plugs in the
hopper 12 are only four times the length of one filter, only one of the two slitter
knives shown is needed). Grinding wheels 30, 32 adjacent each slitter disc 26, 28
sharpen the knives.
[0025] Each double length filter plug is transferred from the plug drum 20 to a grading
drum 34, which staggers the two or three filter plugs cut from one original plug.
Two guide blocks 36, 38 between the plug drum 20 and the grading drum 34 are used
to give each oval filter plug the same angular orientation, as disclosed in detail
in copending application Serial No. 480,809. After staggering the plugs, the grading
drum 34 transfers them in a known manner to a shifting drum 40, where vacuum suction
is used in known manner to draw each filter plug toward the middle portion of the
surface of the drum 40, thus combining the two or three staggered parallel series
of filter plugs into a single series. The filter plugs are then transferred in the
known manner to an accelerating drum 42, which accelerates them to the desired speed
and passes them conventionally to the feed drum 44.
[0026] At the same time, oval tobacco rods cut to the length of individual cigarettes are
received from a cigarette maker. The maker feeds the filterless tobacco rods individually
in staggered relationship, longitudinally onto a take-off drum 46. The single-length
filterless tobacco rods then pass in the known way to the grading drums 48, where
the individual tobacco rods are transferred to permit alignment for transfer to the
feed drum 44. The grading drums 48 then transfer them in a known fashion or manner
to the feed drum 44, on which the filter plugs are placed in the manner described.
The resulting combination of filter plug and tobacco rods is moved to the swashplate
drum 50, on which the tobacco rods are moved toward each other so that they abut the
filter plug end-to-end. While on this drum 50, the resulting double cigarette assembly
(the combination of double length filter plug and tobacco rods) receives a piece of
adhesive-coated tipping material.
[0027] The tipping material is supplied in the following known manner. A roll 52 of tipping
material is mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis. (Two rolls 52 are shown.
As one is used up, the second is spliced to the first.) the material is pulled from
the roll 52 and is led along a path defined by various rollers 54, past a bath 56
of adhesive, which is preferably heat-activatable. A roller 58 partially immersed
in the bath 56 and rotating about a horizontal axis coats an adjacent applicator roller
60 with adhesive. The tipping material web is passed along the surface of the applicator
roller 60 so that one surface of the web is coated with the adhesive. The tipping
material is then transported to the cork drum 62, which serves as a platen to permit
the tipping material, held against the drum 62 by suction, to be cut into lengths
by means of knives 64 mounted on a rotating knife drum 66. Rotary brushes 68, 70 adjacent
the cork knife drum 66 remove debris, dust and the like from the cork knives 64.
[0028] The rotation of the cork drum 62 brings each patch of tipping material (not shown),
with the adhesive side exposed, into contact with a cigarette assembly on the swashplate
drum 50. The cork drum suction on the tipping material is terminated at the moment
of contact with the cigarette assembly, to which the adhesive sticks. The material
contacts and adheres to the assembly along a single line, and extends from the assembly
like a tab (not shown). The tipping material is then wrapped around the assembly by
the rolling drum 71 of the invention, as described below.
[0029] After completion of the wrapping process, the cigarette assemblies are passed to
a transfer drum 72 and thence to a cutting drum 74 adjacent which is a slitter disc
knife 76. The slitter knife 76 cuts each double cigarette assembly into two cigarettes.
A grinder wheel 78 adjacent the slitter disc knife 76 maintains its sharpness. The
cigarettes are then moved by an additional transfer drum 80 to a turning drum 82,
which reverses one of the two parallel mirror-image series of cigarettes so that all
the cigarettes have the same orientation. The cigarettes proceed to an inspection
drum 84, thence to an ejection drum 86 that removes any cigarette identified as defective,
and finally to a catcher drum 88 that places the remaining cigarettes on two catcher
belts 90 to be taken to the next machine. A guide wheel 92 above the belts 90 decelerates
the cigarettes as they are placed on the belts 90.
[0030] FIG. 2 shows the apparatus of the invention in greater detail. A belt 94 runs over
rollers 96, 98, 100 and 102. In the absence of cigarette assemblies 104 around the
periphery of drum 71, belt 94 rests against drum 71.
[0031] On a standard cigarette tipping machine, drum 71 might have 22 flutes spaced evenly
around the circumference. Each flute would be spaced 37.2 mm from the next, which
is one-and-one-half times the standard cigarette circumference of 24.8 mm.
[0032] In order to produce non-circular cigarettes of smaller circumferences, drum 71 of
this invention has two distinct sets of flutes which are offset from each other. Receiving
flutes 106 are each 37.2 mm from each other, as are discharge flutes 108. The two
sets of flutes 106, 108 are in turn offset from each other by a distance Q, which
is one-and-one-half times the circumference of the cigarettes to be tipped. Although
the distance Q in FIG. 2 is such that the discharge flute 108 of each flute pair 106,
108 is immediately adjacent the receiving flute 106 of the next flute pair 106, 108,
FIG. 2a shows that if a cigarette with a still smaller circumference is desired, the
flutes 106, 108 of each pair can be separated by a smaller distance Qʹ, so that the
discharge flute 108 of one flute pair is further from the receiving flute 106 of
the next pair. However, the size of drum 71 is the same in FIGS. 2 and 2a, and each
receiving flute is separated from its adjacent receiving flutes by 37.2 mm, as is
each discharge flute from its adjacent discharge flutes, in both figures.
[0033] In operation, swashplate drum 50, rolling drum 71 and transfer drum 72 rotate as
shown by the arrows in FIG. 2. Belt 94 is driven by roller 102 in the same direction
as the surface of drum 71, but at a slightly slower angular speed, so that an object
between belt 94 and drum 71 will roll counterclockwise along the surface of drum
71 while it is being advanced clockwise by the rotation of the drum. Suction is applied
from within drum 71 to those receiving flutes 106 which are present in the region
between swashplate drum 50 and roller 96, but not to the discharge flutes 108 in that
region. Similarly, suction is applied to those discharge flutes 108 which are present
in the region between roller 102 and transfer drum 72, but not to the receiving flutes
106 in that region. No suction is applied to any flutes in other regions of drum 71.
The reason for this selective application of suction, and the valve system by which
it is accomplished, will be described below in connection with FIGS. 3-5b.
[0034] Cigarette assemblies 104 are aligned in flutes (not shown) on swashplate drum 50
such that the major axis of the cross section of each is parallel to a line tangent
to drum 50 at the point where the cigarette assembly 104 meets the drum 50. At the
point where each assembly 104 is transferred from swashplate drum 50 to rolling drum
71, the same relationship exists between the major axis of the cross section of the
assembly 104 and a line tangent to drum 71. Each assembly 104 is held in its respective
flute by suction. At the transfer point, the suction on the flute on drum 50 is deactivated
and suction is applied to receiving flute 106 of drum 71.
[0035] The cigarette assembly 104 remains aligned in receiving flute 106 until the rotation
of drum 71 brings it to the nip between roller 96 and drum 71. The assembly 104 enters
between belt 94 and drum 71. The suction on receiving flute 106 is deactivated, which
allows cigarette assembly 104, while continuing to advance, to roll backwards along
the surface of drum 71, as described above, toward discharge flute 108. This rolling
motion wraps the piece of tipping material around the assembly 104. Nip roller 110,
which is adjustably positioned in radial slot 112, is positioned so that the cigarette
assembly 104 passes between it and drum 71 after the assembly 104 has rolled 360°,
so that nip roller 110 can exert pressure along the tipping material overlap seam
to seal it. Assembly 104 continues to roll backwards as it advances, completing 540°,
or one-and-one-half full revolutions, by the time it reaches drive roller 102, at
which point it has rolled into the first discharge flute 108 following the receiving
flute 106 in which it started, and is at the desired angular orientation. Suction
is applied to discharge flute 108 at that point and holds cigarette assembly 104 in
place in the flute 108 until the assembly 104 is transferred to transfer drum 72,
at which point the suction on discharge flute 108 is deactivated, and suction is applied
to a flute (not shown) on drum 72.
[0036] By substituting a rolling drum made according to the present invention for the standard
drum of a cigarette machine, an oval or any other non-circular rounded cigarette
having any desired circumference less than or equal to the standard circumference
can be made by choosing the offset distance Q properly.
[0037] Suction is applied selectively to flutes 106, 108 as follows: No suction is applied
to the flutes in the arc between drums 72 and 50, where no cigarette assemblies 104
are present. Suction is also not applied to the arc between rollers 96 and 102 because
the cigarette assemblies 104 are held against drum 71 by belt 94, and because in the
absence of cigarette assemblies between the drum 71 and the belt 94, the belt would
be sucked against the drum, causing it to override drive roller 102. In the arc between
swashplate drum 50 and roller 96, suction is applied only to receiving flutes 106.
This is done because cigarette assemblies are present only in those flutes in that
arc. If suction were applied to discharge flutes 108 in that arc, there would be a
loss of vacuum in the vacuum system because the discharge flutes 108 in that arc are
open to the atmosphere, and there would also be a possibility that some of the cigarette
assemblies would fall from the drum 71 at production speed. For the same reasons,
in the arc between roller 102 and transfer drum 72, suction is applied only to discharge
flutes 108 and not to receiving flutes 106.
[0038] The vacuum valve system for applying suction selectively as explained above is described
with reference to FIGS. 3-5b.
[0039] Suction ports 114 and 116 extend from receiving flutes 106 and discharge flutes 108,
respectively, to the interior 118 of drum 71. As can be seen in FIG. 4, each flute
has a pair of suction ports, one for each half of a double cigarette assembly 104.
[0040] Within drum 71 is a cylindrical vacuum valve 120, connected at 122 to a source of
vacuum (not shown). Valve 120 is a hollow cylinder, enclosing a vacuum chamber 124.
In the arc between swashplate drum 50 and roller 96, valve 120 has a receiving flute
suction orifice 126 in its cylindrical wall. Receiving flute suction orifice 126 is
positioned and dimensioned to that receiving flute suction ports 114 pass over it,
but discharge flute ports 116 do not, thereby applying suction only to the receiving
flutes 106 in the arc between swashplate drum 50 and roller 96. In the arc between
roller 102 and transfer drum 72, valve 120 has two narrow, elongated discharge flute
suction orifices 128 in its cylindrical wall. Discharge flute suction orifices 128
are positioned and dimensioned so that discharge flute suction ports 116 pass over
them, but receiving flute ports 114 do not, thereby applying suction only to the discharge
flutes 108 in the arc between roller 102 and transfer drum 72. As shown in FIG. 4,
receiving flute suction ports 114 are bored at an angle to increase the separation
distance between them and discharge flute suction ports 116 on the inner surface of
drum 71. This is necessary because although the clearance between the inner surface
of drum 71 and the outer surface of valve 120 is sufficient to allow the drum 71 to
rotate freely about the valve 120, it is not small enough to prevent bleed-over of
vacuum between ports 114 and ports 116.
[0041] The present invention thus enables the production of non-circular cigarettes having
any circumference smaller than the circumference of a standard cigarette by providing
separate receiving and discharge flutes on the rolling drum of a standard cigarette
machine, and a vacuum system for selectively applying suction to desired sets of flutes.
[0042] With the present invention, it has been found possible to wrap oval cigarettes at
rates (up to 5,000 cigarettes per minute) comparable to those attained with round
cigarettes using conventional machinery.
[0043] Although the invention has been particularly described with reference to the preferred
embodiments thereof, many modifications and variations thereof will now be apparent
to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be determined
not by the details of the illustrated embodiment described herein, but only by the
terms of the appended claims.
1. A tipping machine (10) for securing non-circular filter plugs to non-circular tobacco
rods with an adhesive tipping sheet, the apparatus comprising: a rolling drum (71)
provided on its periphery with a plurality of uniformly spaced apart receiving flutes
(106) each for receiving an assembly (104) comprising a non-circular filter plug held
in axial alignment with a non-circular tobacco rod by an edge of an adhesive tipping
sheet; and a first pressure element (94) adjacent the rolling drum defining a rolling
path between the first pressure element (94) and the rolling drum (71); characterised
in that the rolling drum (71) is also provided on its periphery with a plurality of
uniformly spaced apart discharge flutes (106), whereby, by rotation of the rolling
drum (71) and the 1st pressure element (94) in the same angular direction but at different
angular speeds about the axis of the rolling drum (71), an assembly (104) held in
a receiving flute (106) is caused to roll along the rolling path into a discharge
flute (108), causing the tipping sheet to become overlappingly wrapped around the
filter plug and the tobacco rod to secure them together.
2. A tipping machine according to claim 1 in which the spacing between adjacent discharge
flutes (108) is the same as the spacing between adjacent receiving flutes (106).
3. A tipping machine according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a second pressure
element (110) urging the first pressure element (94) toward the rolling drum (71)
at one point along the rolling path to exert momentary slightly increased pressure
along the line of overlap of the tipping sheet.
4. A cigarette tipping machine according to any preceding claim further comprising
means for selectively applying suction from the interior of the rolling drum (71)
exclusively to the receiving flutes (106) in a first region of the drum (71) and exclusively
to the discharge flutes (108) in a second region of the drum (71).
5. A rolling assembly for a cigarette tipping machine (10), the rolling assembly comprising:
a rolling drum (71) having: a plurality of uniformly spaced-apart receiving flutes
(106) on the periphery thereof for receiving cigarette assemblies (104); and a plurality
of uniformly spaced-apart discharge flutes (108) on the periphery thereof for discharging
cigarette assemblies; the discharge flutes (108) being distinct from said receiving
flutes (106); the distance between adjacent discharge flutes (108) being the same
as the distance between adjacent receiving flutes (106); and the rolling assembly
further comprising means (120) for selectively applying suction from the interior
(118) of the rolling drum (71) exclusively to the receiving flutes (106) in a first
region of the drum (71), and exclusively to the discharge flutes (108) in a second
region of the drum (71).
6. A cigarette tipping machine according to claim 4 or 5, in which the drum (71) is
hollow, and the means for selectively applying suction comprises: at least one port
(114) communicating between each of the receiving flutes (106) and the interior (118)
of the drum (71); at least one part (116) communicating between each of the discharge
flutes (108) and the interior (118) of the drum (71); and a cylindrical vacuum valve
(120) disposed within the interior (118) of the drum (71) and having an interior vacuum
chamber (124); the valve (120) having at least one receiving flute suction orifice
(126) extending over the first region of the drum (71) in fluid communication with
the vacuum chamber (124) and with the ports (114) which communicate with the receiving
flutes (106); and the valve (120) having at least one discharge flute suction orifice
(128) extending over the second region of the drum (71) in fluid communication with
the vacuum chamber (124) and with the ports (116) which communicate with the discharge
flutes (108).
7. A cigarette tipping machine according to claim 6 in which the valve (120) has two
narrow elongated discharge flute suction orifices (128).
8. A method for rolling a non-circular cigarette assembly including a tobacco rod
and a filter plug joined by a piece of tipping material to overlappingly wrap the
tipping material around the cigarette assembly to secure the filter plug firmly to
the tobacco rod, comprising the steps of: providing such a cigarette assembly at a
feed point, with a first predetermined angular orientation, to a receiving flute on
a rolling drum, the peripheral surface thereof having a plurality of uniformly spaced-apart
receiving flutes and a plurality of uniformly spaced-apart discharge flutes, the discharge
flutes being distinct from the receiving flutes, the distance between adjacent discharge
flutes being the same as the distance between adjacent receiving flutes; applying
suction selectively from the interior of the drum exclusively to the receiving flutes
in the region of the feed point; advancing the drum rotationally until the cigarette
assembly contacts a first pressure element; deactivating the suction on the receiving
flute; rotating the rolling drum in a first direction with a predetermined angular
speed about the axis of the rolling drum; simultaneously moving the first pressure
element generally parallel to the peripheral surface of the rolling drum with a second
predetermined angular speed with respect to the axis of the drum, the second angular
speed being different from the first angular speed, to roll the cigarette assembly
along the peripheral surface of the rolling drum from the receiving flute in which
it is received toward the first discharge flute following the said receiving flute;
advancing the rolling drum rotationally until the said cigarette assembly clears the
first pressure element; applying suction selectively from the interior of the rolling
drum exclusively to the discharge flutes in the region in which the said cigarette
assembly clears the first pressure element; rotating the rolling drum until the said
cigarette assembly reaches a transfer point; deactivating the suction on the said
discharge flute; and transferring the said cigarette assembly to a transfer drum.
9. A method according to claim 8, further comprising, at a predetermined point around
the peripheral surface of the rolling drum, exerting slight additional pressure against
the said cigarette assembly substantially only at the line of overlap of the tipping
material.
10. A method according to claim 8 or 9 wherein the rotating and moving steps are performed
continuously for a sufficient total length of time to roll the said cigarette assembly
along the peripheral surface of the rolling drum until the said cigarette assembly
has revolved one-and-one half times about its own axis.