Apparatus for manufacturing filter cigarettes

Abstract

A filter cigarette-manufacturing apparatus having a filter-supplying drum with grooves cut in its periphery, extending parallel to its axis, and spaced at equal intervals along the periphery. Two tip-bypassing drums are in rolling contact with the filter-supplying drum, and a tip-bypassing drum is in rolling contact with tip-bypassing drum. Each of these drums has similar grooves spaced along the periphery at the same intervals as those of the filter-supplying drum. Filter tips obtained by cutting a filter rod are supplied into one of the grooves of the filter-supplying drum. The tip-bypassing drums cooperate with the filter-supplying drum to bypass all the tips, except one which is transported forward by the filter-supplying drum. The other tips are finally fed from the tip-bypassing drums back to the filter-supplying drum, are spaced from the one tip by different distances defined by different numbers of grooves along the periphery of said filter-supplying drum, and then are transported forward as said filter-supplying drum rotates. As a result, the filter tips and other tips produced by cutting other filter rods are sequentially distributed into those grooves of said filter-supplying drum which are located downstream of said filter tip-bypassing drums.