Molins Plc

Frank Heybourn

Dennis Hinchcliffe

Eric A Luddington

Desmond W Molins

David C Carter

Raymond G Coyte

Peter A Clarke

Barry G Applegate

George R Bennett

Allen F Griffiths

David L Greenhead

A conveyor system principally for use as a variable capacity reservoir for rod-like articles such as cigarettes in stack formation, comprises a series of partly overlapping wheels (202, 204, 206, 208) supporting a laterally flexible conveyor (200). The wheels define an inclined generally helical path for the conveyor and are partly inclined in the same direction as the conveyor. The inclination of each wheel is set by pairs of rollers (234, 236) which engage the periphery of each wheel.

Conveyor system for rod-like articles

Rod-like articles, such as cigarettes, moving in a transverse stream are decelerated by directing air at the stream from adjustable vanes before the articles reach a slower moving stream formed in a transfer region. The arrangement may be used in a stack former in which a single-layer stream of articles is converted into a multi-layer stream.

Conveying rod-like articles

Packet handling apparatus, particularly for use between a cigarette packing machine and a cigarette packet wrapping machine, includes a main conveyor for moving packets towards a receiving station, and a reservoir for temporarily storing packets when the receiving station cannot accept the full supply from the conveyor. Packets are diverted from the main conveyor onto a secondary conveyor on which transfer to or from the reservoir occurs. The orientation of the packets is changed before loading into the reservoir so that the latter can receive batches of stacked packets. Packets are returned to the main conveyor at a position downstream of the position at which they were diverted, and returned packets have the same orientation as other packets on the main conveyor.

Packet handling apparatus

In a system for making and packing cigarettes, cigarette making and packing machines are arranged in units each including a making machine, a packing machine and a reservoir, each unit being slightly mis-matched as to its making and packing outputs so as to have, on average, a surplus or deficit of cigarettes which is fed away or made up by a transfer conveyor linked to an additional packing or making machine which absorbs the surplus or makes up the deficit of all the units as the case may be.

Cigarette conveyor systems

A buffer reservoir system includes trolleys having vertical compartments for receiving and storing rod-like articles such as cigarettes in stack formation. A stationary conveyor system is arranged with spaced outlets and inlets so that compartments can be in simultaneous registration for loading or unloading at a common station. The outlets are closable by a rolling closure device. The station also includes means for indexing the trolley, for lowering or raising the stack in each compartment on platforms, and for removing and replacing slats at the lower ends of the compartments. A modified arrangement is disclosed having spaced loading and unloading stations so that trolleys can constitute a delay line for articles conveyed by the system.

Handling rod-like articles

A reservoir for use in a conveyor system for cigarettes or similar rod-like articles comprises a laterally flexible conveyor (12) and a number of curved guide members (preferably wheels 14 to 17) having at least two different diameters and arranged to guide the conveyor along a spiral path, in a substantially constant plane, including a loop or partial loop lying within a wider loop or partial loop.

Cigarette conveyor system

Apparatus for conveying rod-like articles transverse to their lengths includes a first conveyor for moving a stack of articles from an inlet to an outlet and a reversible second conveyor connected to the first conveyor at a junction. The first and second conveyors each comprise interconnected horizontal path sections, which respectively lie alongside one another. The stack passing through the inlet may be delivered from a filter rod producing machine, and that passing through outlet may be delivered to a filter cigarette making machine. In this case the first conveyor constitutes a delay line to allow curing of the filter rods, and the second conveyor forms a reversible reservoir to adjust the net flow at the junction under control of a sensor.

Apparatus for conveying rod-like articles

A conveyor system for conveying cigarettes or similar rod-like articles includes means for delivering cigarettes into a junction, and a reservoir including a reversible conveyor for delivering cigarettes to or from the junction to accommodate differences between the rates of supply and demand at the junction, characterized in that the reservoir is formed by a plurality of conveyors defining a zig-zag path extending substantially in a constant plane normal to the axis of the cigarettes and comprising at least two substantially horizontal runs with one or more connecting portions through which cigarettes pass from one run to another.

Reservoirs for cigarettes

A mobile reservoir for rod-like articles is adapted for connection into a static conveyor system, e.g. through a reversible elevator, and includes conveyor means for moving the articles within the reservoir. The conveyor means may be arranged to move and store the articles in the reservoir as a continuous stream. In a preferred arrangement the conveyor means includes a number of conveyors defining at least one zig-zag path extending substantially in a constant plane normal to the axes of the articles. In another arrangement the articles are stored and moved in batches: in this case the articles are also delivered to the reservoir in batches, e.g. by a conveyor provided with divider plates.

Apparatus for handling rod-like articles

A conveyor system for conveying cigarettes or similar rod-like articles includes machinery for delivering cigarettes into a junction, and a reservoir including a reversible conveyor for delivering cigarettes to or from the junction to accommodate differences between the rates of supply and demand at the junction, characterized in that the reservoir is formed by a plurality of conveyors defining a zig-zag path extending substantially in a constant plane normal to the axis of the cigarettes and comprising at least two substantially horizontal runs with one or more connecting portions through which cigarettes pass from one run to another.

Apparatus for conveying filter-tipped cigarettes, comprises means for receiving two streams of such cigarettes with the filters of the two streams facing in opposite directions, means for conveying the two streams side by side while twisting the streams in opposite directions about longitudinal axes of the streams so that the cigarettes of the two respective streams are then parallel, with the filters all facing in the same direction, and means for merging the two streams.

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London, United Kingdom

Frank Heybourn