Lorillard Tobacco Company

Lorillard, Inc.

Gerald Eisenlohr

David A Grider

James G Williams, Iii

Frank Moorefield

David R Jones

A sortation system for separating products such as returned cigarette packs. A conveyor system moves the products in a predetermined orientation and minimum spacing past a bar code reader. A turnstile device contains a plurality of diverting bars which are selectively rotatable across the conveyor path in either direction to eject selected products either to the right or left as desired. A processor controls the turnstile device based upon bar code information to separate selected products and to allow the remaining products to remain on the conveyor.

Sortation system for recovering tobacco from cigarette packs

Apparatus for cutting cigarette packs transversely in preparation for recovery of the tobacco from the cigarettes therein comprises a first belt conveyor driven at a first velocity, a device for delivering the cigarette packs in collated relation onto the first conveyor with all packs resting on one of their larger sides and oriented lengthwise of the conveyor, and a second belt conveyor arranged coaxially with and adjacent to the downstream end of first conveyor to receive the packs from the first conveyor and driven at a second velocity, the second velocity being higher than the first velocity such that the packs become spaced apart end-to-end on the second conveyor. An indexing conveyor arranged orthogonally to and adjacent to the downstream end of the second conveyor receives each pack from the second conveyor at a receiving station. A photodetector detects the arrival of each pack at the receiving station and produces a signal indicative thereof. A stepper drive advances the indexing conveyor one step to move all packs thereon a selected distance greater than the width of the largest size pack in response to each such signal and then stops the indexing conveyor until the next pack arrives and is detected at the receiving station. A water jet cutter cuts each pack and the cigarettes therein transversely as they move along the indexing conveyor.

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Kernersville, NC, United States of America

Gerald Eisenlohr