Apparatus for testing groups of cigarettes or like rod-shaped articles

Abstract

Apparatus for testing the contents of successive cells in a chain which transports arrays of cigarettes in or to a packing machine has a support for reciprocable sensing pins, each of which is caused to engage a discrete cigarette when the support is moved toward a cell. The pins are shifted relative to the support as the latter continues to move toward the array whereby the shanks, heads or collars of the pins at least partially seal openings which connect a pneumatic monitoring unit with the atmosphere. If all of the openings are properly sealed or nearly sealed, the array of cigarettes which are engaged by the pins contains a requisite number of articles and all of the cigarettes have satisfactory tobacco-containing ends. If at least one of the cigarettes is missing or has a soft tobacco filler or is empty at that end which is engaged by the respective pin, the monitoring unit generates a signal which results in segregation of the tested array so that such array cannot be admitted into a pack or cannot be processed with packs containing satisfactory arrays. A second monitoring unit determines whether or not all of the pins return to their starting positions as soon as they become disengaged from the cigarettes of an array. The second unit communicates with the atmosphere by way of apertures which are provided in the support for the pins and whose effective cross-sectional areas are reduced by the respective pins when the pins allow the effective cross-sectional areas of the corresponding openings to increase, or vice versa.