Powell Manufacturing Company

Donald J Stewart

James D Sturgill

The present invention relates to a method for transferring harvested tobacco leaves from an amorphous mass of harvested tobacco leaves to a bulk curing container component for subsequent transfer to a bulk curing site. According to the method, the bulk curing container component is positioned adjacent a tobacco discharging end of a tobacco transferring system. The transferring system has the discharging end, a tobacco receiving end opposite the discharging end, and a generally upwardly facing tobacco conveying apparatus for supporting and moving the leaves between the discharging and receiving ends. The amorphous mass of harvested tobacco leaves is supplied to the tobacco conveying apparatus at the tobacco receiving end of the transferring system in such a manner that the harvested tobacco leaves of the amorphous mass are randomly arranged and stacked on top of one another in a generally vertical direction. The transferring system is continuously operated under power such that the transferring system (a) conveys the harvested tobacco leaves from the tobacco receiving end thereof to the tobacco discharging end thereof and then subsequently discharges the conveyed tobacco leaves to the bulk curing container component, and (b) separates the leaves from one another and disperses the separated leaves along the tobacco conveying apparatus as the leaves are being conveyed to thereby reduce the aforesaid vertical stacking of the harvested leaves so that substantially all the leaves being discharged into the bulk curing container component from the discharging end thereof are separated from one another. The present invention also relates to a tobacco transferring system.

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Bennettsville, SC, United States of America

Donald J Stewart