Molins Plc

Leonard Richard Wager

Robert William Davies

In a cigarette packing machine bundles of cigarettes are wrapped in metallic foil and fed along two parallel rows. Successive foremost articles in the rows are inserted into holders of pairs of planetary mechanisms. After indexing of the mechanisms in opposite directions, the articles are ejected at a spacing less than that between the rows.

Article conveying mechanisms

Wrappers of metallic foil are formed around groups of articles to be packed, in a machine which comprises a cigarette hopper, a cigarette bundle conveyor, a metallic foil feeding assembly, a foil conveyor, a cigarette compression device, a foil folding and tucking unit, a bundle transfer unit and a bundle orientation and ejection unit. Bundles of cigarettes are fed from the hopper into pockets on the bundle conveyor from which they are removed two at a time, at spaced locations, and pushed into the compression device. A single web of metallic foil is supplied to the foil feeding assembly which produces pieces of foil consisting of two overlapped portions which are fed, in turn, to the foil conveyors. The bundles are removed from the compression device and the pieces of foil are formed around the bundles as they are conveyed through the foil folding and tucking unit. The wrapped bundles are then fed into the bundle transfer unit which brings them closer together, after which the bundles are pushed into pockets on the bundle orientation and ejection unit, which comprises an intermittently rotatable turntable. While on the latter the bundles are orientated on each stepwise movement so that further operations may be carried out, including ejecting the bundles separately, or together, from the turntable at either of two positions.

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Deptford, United Kingdom

Leonard Richard Wager