Japan Tobacco Inc.

The Japan Tobacco Salt Public Corporation

Japan Tobacco Co.

Mikio Komori

Yutaka Okumoto

Takeshi Matsumura

Takehiro Suzuki

Shigemitsu Inomata

Hideki Kobayashi

Shuichi Sato

Fumio Kubo

Kazuyu Adachi

Masayoshi Saito

Takao Furukawa

Toshiyuki Ozaki

Yukio Kato

Hidenori Muramoto

Tadao Yonai

A device for inspecting the filter end face of a filter cigarette is provided with an optical sensor having an aperture ring for emitting a measuring light toward the filter end face and receiving the light reflected from the filter end face and outputting a detection signal corresponding to the luminous energy of the reflected light, a hood for covering the aperture ring of the optical sensor, a plurality of injection holes for injecting compressed air into the hood, and a processing unit for determining whether the filter end face is normal or not in accordance with the detection signal output from the optical sensor.

Device for detecting a defect in charcoal type filters of manufactured

A control apparatus for a cigarette production machine according to the present invention comprises a density sensor for detecting the filling density of shredded tobacco in a continuously formed tobacco rod, an integrator for integrating the output of the density sensor for a predetermined period of time, an arithmetic device for calculating the unit filling (filling amount of the shredded tobacco corresponding to a predetermined length of the tobacco rod) on the basis of an integral value from the integrator, multiplication-type D/A converter for supplying the integrator with an integral gain proportional to the rod speed of the cigarette production machine, and a trimming device for controlling the feed of the shredded tobacco onto a cigarette paper in accordance with the unit filling calculated by means of the arithmetic device.

Apparatus for controlling the filling amount of shredded tobacco in

A monitoring system comprises an inspection device incorporated in a cigarette manufacturing machine and a server computer connected to the inspection device by means of a communication line. The inspection device includes a measuring circuit for continuously calculating the fill of the cut tobacco in each of a given number of divisions of each cigarette in accordance with a detection signal from a density sensor, an enrollment control section for repeatedly storing calculation data from the measuring circuit in a quantity corresponding to a predetermined number of cigarettes at a time, and a CPU for computing average calculation data for each division of each cigarette in accordance with the stored calculation data. The server computer originates quality data for the cigarettes in accordance with the average calculation data and displays the quality data on a CRT.

System for monitoring the quantity of cut tobacco in cigarettes

A dilution monitoring system for filter cigarettes has pairs of pressure sensors provided individually for left- and right-hand manufactured filter cigarettes, a dilution processor card adapted to receive pressure signals from the pressure sensors through an A/D converter, and a server computer connected to the processor card by means of a communication line and including a CRT. The dilution processor card computes the respective dilutions of the individual filter cigarettes in accordance with the pressure signals, and stores the computation results in a RAM. Thereafter, the processor card obtains quality data, such as the average, frequency distribution, and standard deviation of the stored dilutions, for each group of the left- and right-hand filter cigarettes, also stores the quality data in the RAM. The server computer receives the quality data transmitted from the processor card, and displays them in the form of a graph or table on the CRT.

Dilution monitoring system for filter cigarettes

An apparatus for carrying out a web delivery method is designed so that a web is delivered from a freely rotatable web roll to be supplied to a cigarette manufacturing machine as a pulling roller rotates. This apparatus has a powder brake for applying a braking force to the web roll, a rotary encoder for detecting the number of revolutions of the web roll, a timing sensor for detecting the number of revolutions of the pulling roller, a CPU board for calculating the diameter of the web roll in accordance with detection signals from the rotary encoder and the timing sensor, and a control board for controlling the braking force of the powder brake in accordance with various operation modes of the apparatus and the diameter of the web roll.

Web delivery apparatus for a cigarette manufacturing machine and a

In a method of controlling the air permeability of the hole portion of chip paper in which holes are formed by a laser, the flow rate of permeating air from an air permeable portion of a dummy prepared in advance and the flow rate of permeating air from the hole portion are respectively converted to pressures. An output from the laser is controlled such that the pressure difference between the two pressures becomes zero. Then, an influence caused by variations in suction pressure can be prevented. Accordingly, the air permeability can be detected without being influenced by variations in suction pressure.

Air permeability detecting method and apparatus for the same

In an apparatus for detecting micro-holes of a cigarette having a filtered section, cigarettes are successively carried to a support section which is rotated and each of the cigarettes is supported between pads 14a and 14b. The supported cigarette is moved to a pre-pressuring stage in which one end face of the cigarette is closed and a pre-pressure is applied to other end face of the cigarette from a pre-pressure source. Therefore, the cigarette is reached to a measuring stage in which a measuring pressure is applied to the other end face of the cigarette so that air flows through micro-holes of the filter section and a reduced pressure is appeared in the one end of the cigarette. The measuring and reduces pressures are detected by pressure transducers and electrical signals from the transducers are proceed so that dilution value of the cigarette is calculated.

Method and apparatus for detecting micro-holes or examining the state of

In an apparatus for forming micro-holes on a cigarette, a laser beam is divided into first and second laser beams by a two-dividing mirror. Parts of the laser beams are detected by photo detectors, respectively and the other parts of the laser beams are guided to polyhedron mirrors through first and second optical paths and divided into segment beams by the mirrors, respectively. The segments beams are focused on the corresponding cigarette so that micro-holes are formed on the cigarette. The cigarette is transferred to a dilution detection stage and the dilution is detected in mode, detection signals from the photodetector are processed and a first driving signal is generated. Thus, the two-dividing mirror is driver by a driving mechanism in accordance with the first driving signal so that the intensity of the laser beams guided in the first and second optical paths are maintained in substantially equal level. In an stable driving mode, a second driving signal which is determined in accordance with the detected dilution is applied to the driving mechanism in stead of the first driving signal so that the two-dividing mirror is a driven in accordance with the second driving signal.

Apparatus for forming micro-holes on cylindrical objects

A stocker in a reel supply apparatus can support and deliver various kinds of reels having different outer peripheral diameters. It has a housing mounted on a reversely revolvable cylindrical body. At the both sides of the housing, reel supporting frames are provided in such a manner as to extend toward the opposite directions. Within the reel supporting frame structures, revolvable threaded shafts are disposed. Pushers are engaged with the revolvable threaded shafts in order to move along the supporting frame structures, respectively.

Stocker in reel supply apparatus

A method and apparatus for inspecting cigarette paper of eventual cigarette bar unit, which permit further improvement of the precision of inspection, is provided. According to the method and the apparatus, the mean, variance and standard deviation are obtained statistically through a detected pressure signal, then transformation of their normal distribution into a standard normal distribution of N(0,1) where the mean with respect to the probability density function .PHI.(t) is 0 and variance with respect to thereto is 1, is obtained. And the estimation of population standard deviation with setting of a significance level is done with the value of t with respect to the probability determined solely by determining the probability in the normal distribution, thereby effecting a decision as to whether the inspected product is non-defective or defective.

Method of and apparatus for inspecting cigarette paper

A tobacco manufacturing machine including a cover which covers the whole of the machine, a plurality of openable doors disposed in positions corresponding to various portions of the machine which require a manual correction by an operator, power sources for opening and closing those doors, a plurality of sensors attached to various portions of the machine for detecting states which require such a correction and a door opening and producing signals, and control means for logically processing the signals provided from those sensors and producing an operating signal for operating the power source corresponding to the door to be opened. Since the whole of the machine is covered, it is possible to greatly reduce noise during high-speed operation. Because the doors corresponding to various portions of the machine are opened automatically, the troublesome work involved in manual operation is eliminated.

Tobacco manufacturing machine

A reel attaching and detaching device which is to be employed in a cigarette rolling machine is disclosed. It includes a travelling carrier adapted to travel on a pair of rails extending in parallel relation, a pair of revolvable threaded shafts mounted on the travelling carrier and extending in the normal direction with respect to the rails, a motor mounted on the travelling carrier and adapted to revolve the threaded shafts, a pair of clamps engaged with the threaded shafts and adapted to clamp a reel, the clamps being simultaneously moved outward or inward by the motor, two limit switches, one for setting a waiting position of the clamps in order to clamp the reel from inside and the other for setting a waiting position of the clamps in order to clamp the reel from outside, a box mounted on the travelling carrier in such manner as to move in the transversing direction with respect to the travelling direction of the carrier, and a pusher having a generally H configuration disposed at the front of the box in such a manner as to move transversing the clamps.

Reel attaching and detaching device

A tobacco filter tip attaching apparatus including a filter tip attaching portion for rolling and pasting a tip paper onto both one end portion of a cigarette and a filter tip disposed adjacent thereto, a filter tip feed portion disposed in the vicinity of the filter tip attaching portion for feeding filter tips to the filter tip attaching portion, a tip paper feed portion disposed in the vicinity of the filter tip attaching portion for feeding a tip paper from a tip paper roll to the filter tip attaching portion, a filter tip sensor for detecting that the feed of filter tip from the filter tip feed portion to the filter tip attaching portion is discontinued, a tip paper cutting sensor for detecting a cutting accident of the tip paper during feed from the tip paper feed portion to the filter tip attaching portion, and a roll diameter sensor for detecting that the diameter of the tip paper roll in the tip paper feed portion has become smaller than a predetermined value. The whole of the apparatus is covered. The cover is provided with openable doors in positions corresponding respectively to the filter tip feed portion, filter tip attaching portion and tip paper feed portion. Provided in corresponding relation to those doors are power sources, which are operated selectively in accordance with output signals provided from the above sensors to open one or more of the doors automatically.

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Tokyo, Japan

Mikio Komori