Transfer apparatus for cigarettes or the like

• Main Authors: SCHWENKE; DIETER, RUDSZINAT; WILLY, RINGE; WERNER
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 27.04.1976
• Subjects: CIGARETTES; CIGARS; CONVEYING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL; HUMAN NECESSITIES; MACHINES FOR MAKING CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; PACKING; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS; SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS; SMOKERS' REQUISITES; STORING; TOBACCO; TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING ORTIPPING; TRANSPORTING

Apparatus which transports cigarettes from a pick-up station where the cigarettes move axially one behind the other to a delivery station where the cigarettes move sideways in one or more rows has one or more carriers which rotate about a horizontal or vertical axis and carry pick-up heads for cigarettes. The carriers are rotatable with as well as relative to a disk which is driven at a constant speed so that the heads move at a high speed during travel past the pick-up station and at a lower speed during movement past the delivery station. The mechanism for moving the carriers relative to the disk includes mating oval gears or bell crank levers which are pivotably mounted on the disk and are coupled to their carriers by means of links. The bell crank levers have followers which track a stationary cam. The carriers may constitute levers which are articulately mounted on a turret rotating in a horizontal plane in response to rotation of holder which moves the turret by means of several crank units. The upper ends of the levers are pivoted to the lower crank pins of the respective crank units and their lower ends carry the pick-up heads. Cams on the turret cause the levers to pivot toward the axis of the turret during movement toward the pick-up station and away from the axis of the turret during movement toward the delivery station. The crank units orient the heads so as to maintain each head in alignment with cigarettes at either station. Analogous orienting devices are provided for the rotating carriers.