Hauni-werke Korber & Co Kg.

Korber Ag

Jurgen Bantien

Gerhard Tolasch

Dietrich Bardenhagen

Horst Base

Johannes Mielke

Friedel Kruse

Erich Staudte

Apparatus for distributing empty and filled trays in a production line wherein the output of a cigarette maker is normally processed by a packing machine has a tray filling unit which withdraws the surplus of cigarettes from the transporting unit between the maker and the packing machine, a tray evacuating unit which admits stored cigarettes from trays into the transporting unit when the requirements of the packing machine exceed the output of the maker, at least one mobile magazine for empty and filled trays, and a transferring device which can advance filled and empty trays directly between the two units or between either of the two units and the magazine. The transferring device has an inclined holder for a filled or an empty tray and motors which can move the holder up or down as well as about a vertical axis. A control circuit receives signals from suitably distributed detectors to store information pertaining to the distribution of empty and filled trays in the tray filling and evacuating units and in the magazine, as well as the locations of empty spots for trays in the magazine.

Apparatus for manipulating empty and filled trays for cigarettes and

Apparatus for converting discrete block-shaped arrays of parallel cigarettes into a continuous mass flow of cigarettes has an elevator which receives discrete arrays from individual trays while in a raised position and which thereupon deposits a freshly received array on the mobile bottom wall in the compartment of a magazine having upright front and rear walls which are movable independently of each other. The compartment receives one array at a time. A conveyor adjacent the front wall of the magazine carries the trailing end of the mass flow, and the array in the compartment can be added to the trailing end of the mass flow in response to movement of the front wall transversely of the direction of transport of the mass flow. At such time, the bottom wall and the rear wall of the magazine are moved forwardly to expel the array from the magazine. The front wall is then returned to its normal position and the rear wall is retracted to provide room for delivery of a fresh array into the magazine. The quantity of cigarettes on the conveyor outside of the magazine is monitored and the signals which are generated by the monitoring means are used to control the operation of the elevator, of the bottom wall and front and rear walls of the magazine, and of a conveyor which receives cigarettes from the front end of the mass flow and delivers them to a processing machine.

Apparatus for converting discrete arrays of rod-shaped articles into a

Apparatus for directly coupling a cigarette maker with a packing machine has a tray filling unit which stores empty trays at an upper level and filled trays at a lower level and receives cigarettes from the maker, a tray evacuating unit which stores empty trays at an upper level and filled trays at a lower level and evacuates the contents of filled trays by simultaneously changing the orientation of cigarettes by 180.degree., and a connecting system which delivers empty trays from the evacuating unit to the filling unit and delivers filled trays from the filling unit to the evacuating unit by simultaneously changing the orientation of the trays so as to compensate for changes in orientation during evacuation of cigarettes from the trays. The connecting system employs one or more upright rotary turrets with tray carriers at two levels and a motor which indexes the turret or turrets and the respective tray carriers through 90.degree. or 180.degree.. A magazine for temporary storage of empty trays at a higher level and for temporary storage of filled trays at a lower level is movable incrementally along the connecting system.

Apparatus for manipulating empty and filled trays for cigarettes or the

Apparatus for transporting rod-like articles in the form of cigarettes or filter rod sections from one or more makers to a packing or other consuming machine has a pair of superimposed surge bins which receive articles from a first transporting unit when the output of the maker or makers exceeds the requirements of the consuming machine, and a second transporting unit which conveys articles from the surge bins to the consuming machine when the requirements of the consuming machine exceed the output of the maker or makers. A control system is provided to effect the filling of the upper surge bin prior to filling of the lower surge bin and to effect evacuation of the contents of the lower surge bin prior to evacuation of the contents of the upper surge bin. Each transporting unit has one or more pairs of endless belts and/or ducts which convey multi-layer streams of articles.

Apparatus for transport and temporary storage of cigarettes or the like

Apparatus which delivers rod-shaped articles, such as cigarettes or filter rod sections, from a producing machine to a consuming machine has a switching unit whose inlet receives articles from the producing machine, one outlet of which can feed articles to a first transporting unit for admission of articles into a surge bin cooperating with a second transporting unit for delivery of articles to one side of the magazine of the consuming machine, and another outlet of which can feed articles to a third transporting unit for direct delivery of articles to another side of the magazine of the consuming machine. The third transporting unit delivers articles to the magazine when the latter is not filled to capacity, and the first transporting unit delivers articles to the surge bin when the magazine is filled to capacity. The third transporting unit transports articles from the surge bin to the magazine when the inlet of the switching unit receives articles at a rate which does not satisfy the requirements of the consuming machine or when the producing machine is idle. An observation station is defined by a conveyor of the third transporting unit or by a conveyor between the inlet of the switching unit and the producing machine to allow for visual inspection of articles. The second and third transporting units deliver multi-layer streams of articles to the respective sides of the magazine.

Apparatus for delivering cigarettes or the like from a maker to a

Apparatus for assembling blocks of parallel cigarettes in formations ready for packing has a magazine for a supply of parallel cigarettes and three groups of downwardly extending ducts whose upper ends communicate with the magazine to admit parallel cigarettes and whose lower end portions are located at a block building station. The end portions of the two outer groups of ducts are located in horizontal planes, one above the other, and the end portion of each duct of one outer group registers with the end portion of a duct of the other outer group. The end portions of the median group of ducts are vertical or nearly vertical and are located between the end portions of the two outer groups of ducts. The rows of parallel cigarettes which accumulate in the end portions of the ducts are expelled simultaneously by a pusher whereby the expelled cigarettes pass through a mouthpiece which completes their conversion into a block. The cigarettes descend in the ducts by gravity and owing to the weight of cigarettes in the magazine. Since the block building station receives cigarettes from more than two discrete groups of ducts, the accumulation of rows which can be converted into a block takes up a short interval of time.

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Hamwarde, Germany

Jurgen Bantien