Japan Tobacco Inc.

Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

The Japan Tobacco Salt Public Corporation

Japana Tobacco Inc.

Hisao Suzuki

Takatomo Izume

Yasuharu Ujiie

Etuo Minamihama

Yoshinobu Ishikawa

Yutaka Okumoto

Tadashi Munakata

Kazuhiro Tokitu

Fumio Kubo

Syozo Horikawa

Koji Taira

Makoto Kasahara

Kouichi Yumita

Masamichi Kato

Kiyoe Imai

Kazuhiro Tokitsu

Hiroshi Okamoto

Makoto Ueda

Kaoru Watanabe

Takayuki Irikura

Mamoru Nagano

Shigenobu Kushihashi

Kouji Hiraiwa

Shozo Horikawa

Junichi Nagai

Motonobu Horie

Shunsuke Ogiya

Hiroshi Hohrai

Shouichi Watanabe

Kenji Koshiba

Shuji Sato

Tadashi Munaakata

Akira Sawakata

Koichi Yumita

Susumu Simada

Hiroyuki Yoshinari

Katasuga Sano

Shingo Sekiguchi

Toshiyasu Hirabayashi

A web material feeding apparatus has a suction plateprovided near an outlet of a reservoir box. The suction platecan be shifted in the direction across a feeding path for tip paper C, by operation of a motor. The feeding apparatus also has a sensor unitprovided at the upstream side of a receiving drum. The sensor unitsupplies a detection signal to a controller. When the controllerdetects meandering of the tip paper C on the basis of the detection signal supplied from the sensor unit, the controlleractuates the motorto shift the suction plateto thereby correct the meandering of the tip paper C.

Web material feeding apparatus

A double-faced splicing tape of the present invention splices a first web used for forming a tobacco rod and a second web in a stand-by state to and has a plurality of perforations extending in a longitudinal direction of the webs. Furthermore, the present invention provides a feeding device for making the double-faced splicing tape hang toward a feeding position located in between a main delivery path of the first web and a sub-delivery path of the second web.

Splicing tape for splicing webs used as wrapping material for rod-like article together and feeding device of the same

An automatic splicing system is provided that includes a motor ( ) for rotating an active roll (R ) while a web (P ) is drawn from the roll (R ) toward a cigarette rod-manufacturing machine, a motor ( ) for rotating a standby roll (R ) when a residual of the roll (R ) reaches a predetermined amount or less so that a web (P ) is fed from the roll (R ), a splicing section ( ) splicing the webs (P ; P ) and changing over the feeding of web from the roll (R ) to the roll (R ) when feed speeds of the webs match each other, and suction casings ( ) disposed on feed paths of the webs, respectively, the suction casings drawing the webs thereinto temporarily. The rotational speeds of the motors ( and ) are controlled so as to maintain drawn amounts of the webs in the respective suction casings ( ) within a predetermined range.

Automatic web splicing system

A belt-type compression molding apparatus for a tobacco stream includes a compression belt integral with a tobacco band for forming the tobacco stream, and the compression belt extends from the tobacco band toward a wrapping section of a cigarette manufacturing machine. The compression belt defines a compression molding passage for the tobacco stream in cooperation with a molding groove of a molding bed for guiding wrapping paper. The compression belt travels at the same speed as the tobacco band and serves as a movable ceiling wall of the compression molding passage.

Belt-type compression molding apparatus for a tobacco stream

In a cigarette manufacturing machine, a device for compressive molding a stream of filler comprises a forming mold having a tongue and a shoe being integrally formed with each other, and a forming surface formed at a lower surface of the tongue, and a compression molding passage for the stream is defined between the forming surface and paper. The forming surface of the tongue has a movable surface formed of a part of an endless belt, and the movable surface moves in the same direction as a flow of the stream.

Device for compressive molding stream of filler for tobacco rod

A method and an apparatus for carrying a workpiece for improving efficiency in a workpiece carrying operation. In the apparatus, a moving member having a workpiece holding member is driven with a linear motion in a horizontal plane along a carrier passage, and the workpiece holding member is driven with a revolutional motion in a vertical plane around a revolution axis displaced from a center of the workpiece holding member, while the workpiece holding member maintains an orientation in which a holder holding the workpiece points downwards. The holder of the workplece holding member is controlled to sequentially carry out holding of the workpiece and releasing of the workpiece at lowest positions of the workpiece holding member in the revolutional motion, so as to realize a continuous workpiece carrying operation.

Method and apparatus for carrying workpiece by continuous workpiece

A work mounting apparatus according to the present invention comprises a rotating drum divided into upper and lower drums, a head unit arranged on the outer periphery of the rotating drum or the lower drum, a circular work head attached to the head unit, and a suction nozzle protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the work head toward a workbench. While the lower drum is rotating, the suction nozzle of the work head repeats cycloid motion along the workbench with its posture or orientation kept fixed with respect to the workbench. While repeating the cycloid motion, the nozzle receives a work from a work feeder of the workbench by suction, and mounts the work on a printed board on the workbench. The work mounting apparatus further includes a balance weight for the work head, and a friction brake for applying a frictional force to the turning shaft of the work head, to thereby stabilize the turning motion of the work head.

Cycloid motion work mounting apparatus

In a parts mounting apparatus, suction nozzles are mounted on a rotating carrier driven by a motor. With rotation of the rotating carrier, parts are sucked by the nozzles at a feed station and carried to a mounting station where the parts such as electronic parts are mounted on substrates, for example. A counter counts output pulses from an encoder mounted in the motor driving the rotating carrier. A microcomputer determines the rotational speed and rotational position of the rotating carrier from the count value of the counter. Based on the result of the determination, the microcomputer calculates a timing for delivering a signal for switching the nozzles between two different pneumatic states.

Parts mounting apparatus

A work mounting apparatus or component mounting apparatus according to the present invention comprises a lower drum of a rotating drum, a head unit arranged on the outer periphery of the lower drum, a circular work head or component head attached to the head unit, and a suction nozzle protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the work head toward a workbench. While the lower drum is rotating, the suction nozzle of the work head repeats cycloid motion along the workbench with its posture kept fixed with respect to the workbench. While repeating the cycloid motion, the nozzle receives a work or component, such as an electronic component from a work feeder of the workbench by suction, and mounts the work on a printed board on the workbench. The work head is rotated for a predetermined rotational angle during the process in which the suction nozzle moves from the work feeder toward the printed board after the work is received, or in the process in which the nozzle moves from the printed board toward the work feeder after the work is mounted. Thus, the region for the cycloid motion of the suction nozzle is upwardly separated from the workbench.

Electronic component mounting apparatus

In a parts mounting apparatus, a suction nozzle is caused to perform a cycloid movement. A part such as an electronic part is sucked into the nozzle at one of bottom dead points of the cycloid movement and mounted onto another component such as a circuit substrate at the other or another bottom dead point. In compensation of the position of the nozzle at the bottom dead point, the nozzle is also caused to perform the cycloid movement. The position of the nozzle at the bottom dead point is monitored by a monitoring camera so that an amount of deviation of the position of the nozzle from the bottom dead point is obtained. The phase of the cycloid movement is compensated so that the amount of deviation of the nozzle is rendered zero. Alternatively, the part sucked in the nozzle positioned at the bottom dead point is monitored by the monitoring camera.

A work or component mounting apparatus according to the present invention comprises a rotating drum arranged above a workbench and divided into upper and lower drums, a head unit detachably mounted to the lower drum of the rotating drum, a circular work head (or, in other words, a component head) attached to the head unit, a suction nozzle protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the work head toward the workbench, and a controller housed in the upper drum of the rotating drum for controlling the turning motion of the work head and the supply of suction pressure to the suction nozzle. While the lower drum is rotating, the suction nozzle of the work head repeats cycloid motion along the workbench with its posture kept fixed with respect to the workbench. While repeating the cycloid motion, the nozzle receives a work from a work feeder of the workbench by suction, and mounts the work on a printed board on the workbench.

A method and an apparatus for workpiece installation capable of carrying out workpiece installation operation without a stopping of a rotational motion of a rotatable table member. In the apparatus, rotatable drum is continuously rotated while workpiece carrier member, provided along a circumference of the rotatable drum, for carrying a workpiece from a workpiece supply station to a workpiece installation station, which is capable of spinning on the circumference while carrying the workpiece, is controlled such that the workpiece carrier member spins while the rotatable drum rotates so as to move along a prescribed trajectory which is preferably a cycloidal or quasi-cycloidal trajectory, and that the workpiece is picked up by the workpiece carrier member at a prescribed pick-up position on the workpiece supply station and released at a prescribed installation position on the workpiece installation station.

Method and apparatus for workpiece installation

A fuel assembly for a nuclear reactor includes a number of fuel rods filled with a fuel material. A water rod having a cross sectional area larger than that of each fuel rod is disposed at substantially the central portion of the fuel assembly. The fuel rods include first fuel rods having a whole effective fuel zone filled with a fuel material throughout the entire length thereof and second fuel rods each having an interposed zone in which enrichment of a fissile nuclide is significantly reduced or the fissile nuclide does not exist at all. The second fuel rods are arranged so as to surround the water rod so that the interposed zones are positioned on an axial level including a portion at which subcriticality is made small at a period in which maintenance of reactor shut-down margine is made difficult during the reactor operation period. The water rod may be provided with a lower portion having a cross sectional area smaller than that of an upper portion and short fuel rods are disposed so as to surround the lower portion of the water rod.

Fuel assembly for nuclear reactor

A cigarette reversing apparatus comprises a rotating transfer drum having a plurality of openings arranged equidistantly along the circle on the end surface of the drum, the openings being communicated with suction holes formed at the bottom of slots which are formed in the peripheral surface of the drum. A control ring faces the openings in the drum and has a suction distribution chamber spanning a cigarette overturning section of the drum. A rotating ring is slidably and rotatably interposed between the transfer drum and the control ring, the rotating ring being eccentric with respect to the drum and having a plurality of communication holes communicating with both the openings and the suction chamber. The communication holes are arranged equidistantly along a circle at intervals or pitches two times those of openings, the number of communication holes being half of the even number nearest to the odd number of the openings; whereby as the transfer drum makes a complete turn, the rotating ring is rotated at a speed corresponding to 1/2 pitch of the communication holes faster or slower than the drum so that suction is applied only to the every other slot where the cigarettes are installed so as to overturn the cigarettes efficiently.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Hisao Suzuki