Molins Plc

Wm. R. Stewart & Sons (hacklemakers) Limited

Edward G Preston

Francis A Labbe

David B Stewart

Jan A Rakowicz

Robert E Williams

Ivan Yehudi Hirsh

Derek H Dyett

Eryk Stefan Doerman

Godfrey A Wood

John G Dowding

Clifford R Marritt

David J Farrar

Clifford Russell Marritt

Brian A Hodsall

Michael E DeAlto

Paul Dingli

Joseph D DiGiacomo

Hugh M Arther

Ralph W Beck

Filler material, particularly for cigarette filters, is produced by feeding a stream of substantially continuous fibres of filter material onto a pin roller having a surface carrying sharp projections in the form of pins and the pin roller is driven at a speed such that the fibres are rapidly accelerated so as to be broken by the pins into irregular lengths and are projected from the roller in random orientations. The broken fibres may be collected as a stream for delivery to a rod-making unit by showering onto a conveyor band, by continuously rolling the fibres between cooperating rollers, or pneumatically. More than one stream could be supplied to the pin roller, so that the broken fibres can comprise a mixture of fibres of different filter materials. The broken fibres may be received on a substantially continuous carrier stream, comprising similar or different filtering material, before the fibres and carrier stream are formed into filter rod.

Producing filler material, particularly for cigarette filters

Filler material, particularly for cigarette filters, is produced by feeding a first stream of substantially continuous filaments of filler material onto a pin roller which is driven at a speed such that the filaments are broken by the pins into irregular lengths and are projected from the roller in random orientations. The broken filaments are collected on a carrier stream, also comprising filamentary material, for delivery to a rod-making unit. More than one stream could be supplied to the pin roller so that the broken filaments can comprise a mixture of filaments of different filler materials. The carrier stream may comprise filler material which is different from that in the first stream and may comprise a fibrillated web.

Feeding particulate material, especially tobacco

An apparatus and a method for making ventilated cigarettes. Either the cigarettes are perforated after assembly or the tipping paper is perforated before assembly. The position of the perforations as a group relative to the mouth end of the cigarette is adjustable to select a required degree of ventilation of the assembled cigarette. Automatic selection is effected by measuring the dilution of the assembled cigarettes and causing the perforator to be controlled accordingly. Perforation may be effected by pins mechanically, by spark discharge by laser or by electron beam.

Cigarette ventilation control

A cutting head for a filter attachment machine comprises a drum carrying a number of knives each of which is urged radially outwards by at least one spring against an adjustable retaining device by which the normal distance of the cutting edge from the axis of the drum can be adjusted.

Cutting head for filter assembler

A device for perforating or cutting a moving web of paper by means of pins, especially uniting paper for use in a cigarette filter attachment machine, comprises a roller carrying pins for perforating the paper in cooperation with a backing roller arranged to support the paper while it is being perforated, the backing roller being driven so that its peripheral speed equals that of the perforating roller, and having a deformable surface formed with indentations corresponding to the positions of the pins, the deformable material forming the surface of the backing roller being such that the indentations are formed by the pins when the rollers are first operated. The surface portion or portions of the backing roller aligned with the pins may comprise a thin metal portion in the form of a sleeve which covers recesses in the main body of the backing roller. The sleeve is perforated by the pins when the rollers first operate.

Perforation of web material, especially uniting paper for making

Cigarettes, as they are grouped in batches to be packed, have their ends detected for firmness or for missing filter tips, by having an array of individually actuated plungers (9) applied to their ends. Each plunger is actuated by air pressure acting on a piston (13) integral with the plunger. If a cigarette (C) is faulty a protuberance (21) on the plunger engages a common impingement plate (20), whose oscillation causes a piezoelectric transducer (22) to emit a fault signal, enabling that cigarette group subsequently to be rejected.

Detection of rod-like articles

Ventilated cigarettes are made by perforating the wrapper of each filter over an area which lies within pre-formed perforations in the uniting band joining the filter to the tobacco rod. The filter wrappers may be perforated by pins on a rolling plate and fluted drum between which filter portions cut from longer filter rods are rolled to stagger the portions so that they can then be pushed into a single row.

Ventilated cigarettes

A device for staggering and aligning filter portions cut from multiple-length filter rods includes a first fluted drum which conveys the filter rods (already cut) to a second fluted drum with a rolling plate for rolling at least one portion of each filter rod into a staggered position with respect to another portion of the same rod, at least one stationary finger being arranged to hold adjacent filter portions out of the flutes until they have been rolled to their staggered positions at least some of the filter portions along the flutes of the second drum are then displaced to align all the filter portions.

Filter attachment machines

A cutting device for cutting sheets of material wherein a cutting member co-operates with a bed of upstanding pins which support the sheet. Although the cutting member may be a knife, it is preferably composed of a line of upstanding pins which are sufficiently long to penetrate through the material to be cut and to enter the bed of upstanding pins. The cutting device may comprise two drums mounted for rotation in opposite senses about parallel axes, one drum carrying the cutting member and the other the bed of pins, the tips of the pins being aligned with the cylindrical surface of their associated drum.

Cutting device

A cigarette making machine comprises a suction band, means for showering tobacco onto the band to build up a tobacco stream on the band, a first suction wheel which receives the tobacco stream from the band, and a second suction wheel which receives the tobacco stream from the first wheel and deposits it onto a continuous wrapper web in which the tobacco stream is enclosed to form a cigarette rod.

Cigarette-making machines

A cigarette filter attachment machine with a wrapper testing facility includes means for feeding pieces of tipping paper each of which is wrapped around associated tobacco and filter portions to join those portions to one another; means for testing the wrappers of the cigarettes for leaks; an upsetting device for momentarily upsetting the filter tipping operation to produce at least one cigarette with a deliberate leak in the joint between the tobacco and filter portions; and an ejection device arranged automatically to eject the deliberately faulty cigarette or cigarettes regardless of whether or not the wrapper tester detects the deliberately faulty cigarettes.

Testing of cigarettes

A cigarette filter attachment machine comprises means for joining filter portions to cigarette portions by rolling adhesive-coated paper around adjacent parts of corresponding filter and cigarette portions, a conveyor for conveying the completed assemblies at regular intervals, a stationary pressure chamber adjacent to the conveyor and arranged to communicate successively with ports in the conveyor which are closed by the completed assemblies, a source of pressure connected to the pressure chamber, and a detector for monitoring the pressure in the chamber to detect the absence of any assembly.

Particularly to the manufacture of filter-tipped cigarettes

A filter-attachment machine comprises a drum and a cooperating rolling plate between which assemblies of cigarette and filter portions are rolled in order to wrap connecting sheets around them to join the cigarette portions to the associated filter portions, including means for monitoring the regular passage of assemblies through the rolling area between the drum and the plate and for producing a fault signal when assemblies stop passing a given point in the rolling area at regular predetermined intervals.

Manufacture of filter-tipped cigarettes

A cigarette machine hopper comprises a first spiked band having an operative run; means for feeding tobacco onto the operative run of the first band; a second spiked band having an operative run adjacent to and approximately parallel to the operative run of the first band and arranged to move at a speed different from that of the first band, the spikes of the two bands being arranged to intercalate and to tease the tobacco and/or stretch lumps in the tobacco as the tobacco is fed forwards between the bands.

Growing community of inventors

London, United Kingdom

Edward G Preston