Japan Tobacco Inc.

Tomio Orihara

Takehiro Suzuki

Kazuo Kudoh

A shredded tobacco supplying apparatus for a cigarette manufacturing machine has a supply passage extending toward a conveyor belt, the supply passage is provided with a plurality of air blowing openings arranged at intervals in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor, and a straightening plate having a plurality of straightening fins is mounted at the air blowing opening. The straightening fin extends at a predetermined angle toward the front side of the conveyor with respect-to the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor. The air injected from the air blowing opening is blown into the supply passage at a predetermined angle with respect to the aforementioned axis. The shredded tobacco reaching the supply passage is discharged toward the belt surface of conveyor belt by using an air flow produced by the air blown from the air blowing openings. As a result, a velocity component in the belt running direction is given to the shredded tobacco, so that the attracting property of shredded tobacco to the belt surface is enhanced. Thereupon, the reduction in attracting property caused by the increase in belt running speed, and in turn, the degradation in cigarette quality are prevented.

Shredded tobacco supplying apparatus for a cigarette manufacturing

A shredded tobacco supplying apparatus for a cigarette manufacturing machine has a running speed sensor for detecting the belt running speed of a belt conveyor for conveying shredded tobacco, a blow fan for producing an air flow in a shredded tobacco supply passage extending toward the belt conveyor, and a main controller for driving the blow fan in accordance with the output of the running speed sensor. When the blow fan is driven, air is blown from the blow fan into the supply passage at a blowing velocity matching the belt running speed, by which air flow is produced. The shredded tobacco supplied to the supply passage is delivered to the conveyor belt by the air flow. At this time, a velocity component in the belt running direction, which is substantially equal to the belt running speed, is given to the shredded tobacco. Even when the belt is run at a high speed to increase the production volume of cigarettes, the difference in relative speed between the shredded tobacco and the belt of belt conveyor decreases, so that the attracting property of shredded tobacco to the belt surface is enhanced, by which the degradation in cigarette quality caused by the increase in belt running speed is prevented.

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Tokyo, Japan

Tomio Orihara