B.a.t. Cigarettenfabriken Gmbh

Heinz-Werner Masurat

Gerd Schumacher

Meinhard Meyer

Friedrich Walther

Paul-Georg Henning

Horst Gaisser

Manfred Kuhne

In a method and an apparatus for controlling the physical properties of a rod of smokable material the actual values of at least two physical properties, in particular resistance to draw and hardness or deformation of the tobacco rod or of the smokable article, are detected; the differences between said actual values and predetermined desired values are determined and control signals derived therefrom; said control signals are compared with each other and the particular instantaneously largest control signal is supplied to a single actuator, that is an ecreteur or a hopper. An auto-selector circuit with maximum selection is used to compare the control signals.

Method and apparatus for controlling at least two physical properties,

In a process for determining the resistance to draw and the gas permeability of a test piece, for example a cigarette or a cigarette paper, a linearly increasing or decreasing volumetric flow is conveyed through the test piece. The volumetric flow and the pressure drop at the test piece are measured continuously and compared with predetermined reference values. When there is equality between at least one measured value and a reference value, the measured value pair under consideration, volumetric flow/pressure drop, is detected. It is thus possible, on the one hand, to determine the characteristic curve of the test piece, i.e. the change in the pressure drop with the volumetric flow, over a greater range of the volumetric flow, and, on the other hand, to measure pairs of values for accurately defined values of the volumetric flow and/or the pressure drop.

Process for determining the resistance to draw and the gas _permeability

To determine the force acting on a test piece and the resultant change in parameters, the test piece is subjected to linearly increasing force. The resultant change in parameters and the force needed for this purpose are measured continuously and compared with predetermined reference values for these two variables. As soon as equality is determined between at least one measured value and its associated reference value, the value pair under consideration, force/change in parameters, is detected. This process can be used for the measurement of various mechanical variables.

Growing community of inventors

Pinneberg, Germany

Heinz-Werner Masurat