US2827058A - Method and apparatus for continuously processing tobacco - Google Patents

Description

March 18, 1958 s. BOGATY 2,827,053

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PROCESSING TOBACCO Filed April 4, 1955 "7 Sheets-Sheet 1 24 6'. /9 1 28 43 /5Z AIBLENDER AUTO 33 AUTO. FEED SAND l/ STEAM AUTO. FEED AUTQ SCREEN I CYL. FEED 24 BLENDE FEED 3 FEED r{STEAM H AUTO. DIPPING l Auro. HLLER AUTO- DRYER AUTQ CYL. FEED TANR FEED FEED l? 25 BLENDER AUTO. 30 i AUTO. 1 FEED i STEAM AUTO. FEED AUTO 7 CYL. FEED a R 2FEED 30 47 23 32 42 46 I m I AUTO. STEAM AUTO.

FEED AUTO. CYL FEED 27 BLENDER FEED Z2 4 9 4 57 56 cAsmc AUTO. I l CYL. FEED ROTARYROTARY cooLER DRYER 55 AUTO.

FEED cu'rTER' CUTTER CUTTERCUTTER 5 9/ 4a I oRDER AUTO. S 3; 7 56 CYL. FEEDROTARY ROTARY 52COOLER DRYER 55 55 x CUTTER CUTTER CUTTER CUTTER 3- I 54 53f2 5/ oRDER AUTO. STRIP 7 1 6 ROTARY ROTARY cooLER DRYER 5f CUTTE R CUTTE R CUTTER CUTYE R l sTRP -ORDER AUTO. g

CYL. FEE D BULKING CUT-TO BULK! HG AuTo FEED PACNER MA KE R PACKSR 6 MAKER HQCKER] March 18, 1958 s. BOGATY 2,827,058

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PROCESSING TOBACCO Filed April 4, 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 18, 1958 s. BOGATY 2,827,058

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PROCESSING TOBACCO Filed April 4, 1955 i '7 Sheets-Sheet 3 s. BOGATY 2,827,058

March 18, 1958 '7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 4, 1955 1.1 0 8M s 5/. m7 2 a a A WWW x 4 9 M 1 m WW I" 0 .r T j A L XL 0w iv 0 8 5 5d m w; w r 1 all. l ATLI 1 L \I 0 H W /6 m l n g a A Q -L 5. BOGATY March 18, 1958 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PROCESSING TOBACCO 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 4, 1955 March 18, 1958 s. BOGATY 2 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PROCESSING TOBACCO Filed April 4, 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 s. BOGATY 2,827,058

March 18, 1958 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PROCESSING TOBACCO Filed April 4, 1955 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 NIETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY PROCESSING TOBACCO Stanislaus Bogaty, deceased, late of Philadelphia, Pa., by

Mary S. Bogaty, administratrix, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Proctor & Schwartz, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application April 4, 1955, Serial No. 498,843

Claims. (Cl. 131-108) This invention relates to the processing of tobacco, and especially to the sequence of steps involved in the treatment and handling of tobacco to produce cigarettes. it is concerned with improvement in operations performed upon the tobacco strips between the time they are removed from the hogsheads or bales in which they are aged, and completion of the finished cigarette.

While details of operation differ in diflerent plants, in a characteristic cigarette manufacturing operation tobacco strips from the bales or hogsheads are first blended to produce a composite blend of each individual type, by manual deposit of the strips from separate hogsheads or bales in overlapping relationship on a travelling conveyor belt. The resulting composite blends are in turn blended with each other by similar laminated deposit on a further conveyor belt, and the resulting blended product is softened by steaming, sprayed with casing fluid and then bulked by storing in large piles for substantial lengths of time to accomplish distribution of moisture and flavoring constituents. It is then cut to the desired particle size, dried, cooled and again bulked for a period which may vary between three hours and four days. It may also be redressed by a tumbling operation, before being fed to the individual machines for manufacture into cigarettes. In addition to these steps, the process includes special dipping and drying steps applied to Burley tobacco and a sand screening step to Bright tobacco.

While these operations are admirably adapted to attainment of the finished product insofar as basic principle is concerned, they leave much to be desired in the way of uniform control and saving of labor and space. For example, the blending as performed by manual deposit of tobacco on a travelling belt from a number of sources by a number of operators is at best, crude and unreliable, and cannot be corrected in subsequent stages of manufacture, when it has been carelessly or inaccurately done. Any attempt to correct by later blending an error committed at this time is a resort to blind chance.

Furthermore, while certain details and sequences of operation have been performed by continuous operation upon the tobacco in transit, the process has been interrupted at bulking steps for storage of the tobacco for considerable periods of time, and this has created expense on account of both the space and labor utilized. It has also introduced a further erratic factor into the operation by reason of the variable time fact-or involved in bulking in this manner, and has rendered the scientific control of material in the plant very difiicult.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide a process which is continuous, starting with the individual leaves before stemming, but such a process is prohibitive, both because of the labor required and because of the space and equipment requirements. It does not admit of the incorporation of the highly desirable dipped filler Burley tobacco and does not provide for bulking, in the way required in the modern industry.

The necessity for providing prolonged bulking to produce a satisfactory end product has imposed a hitherto atent insuperable obstacle to the development of a commercially satisfactory process in which the flow of tobacco is maintained continuously under close control, from the strips in the bale or hogshead to the finished cigarette. The achievement of this end has been the primary object of this invention.

A further object of the invention has been to provide a process in which the control of the proportions of tobaccos blended and of the amount of time involved in each successive step, especially the bulking, is accurately predetermined and maintained.

A further object has been to provide a process in which the flow of materials may be maintained continuously but in which certain operations are performed in alternate step-wise progression in parallel lines of the system, where prolongation of time is necessary in a particular part of the processing.

Still further objects and advantages of the invention, and the manner in which they have been attained, will be evident from reading of the following detailed description in the light of the attached drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a flow sheet, illustrating in diagrammatic form the steps of handling the tobacco from its removal from the hogshead or bale to its delivery in the form of packaged cigarettes,

Figure 2 is a partly diagrammatic plan view of the apparatus for performing the blending, preliminary treatment and easing steps,

Figure 3 is a similar view of the strip bulking, ordering, cutting, drying and cooling steps,

Figure 4 is a similar view of the cut tobacco bulking, cigarette making and packaging steps,

Figure 5 is a cross section on theline 55 of Figure 2, illustrating the preliminary blending steps,

Figure 6 is a cross section on theline 66 of Figure 2, illustrating the steaming, dipping and drying steps, as performed upon the blended Burley tobacco,

Figure 7 is a cross section on the line 7-7 of Figure 2, illustrating the steps of screening and steaming as performed upon the Bright tobacco,

Figure 8 is an end view of the conveyor system illustrated at the bottom of Figure 2.

Figure 9 is a cross section on the line 9'9 of Figure 3, illustrating the strip bulking, ordering, cutting, drying and cooling steps,

Figure 10 is a cross section on the line Iii-10 of Figure 3 illustrating the feeding system by which tobacco is fed alternately to the strip bulking lines arranged in parallel in the system,

Figure 11 is a cross section on the line ill-11 of Figure 4, illustrating the cut tobacco bulking, cigarette making and packing steps, and

Figure 12 is a cross section on the line 12-12 of Figure 4.

For convenience in understanding the invention, the processing steps will first be described in brief outline in. relation to the flow sheet of Figure l of the drawing and thereafter discussed in greater detail in relation to the other figures.

The various types of tobacco, such as Bright at 15, Burley at 16, Maryland at 17 and Turkish at 18, are delivered in strip form from their respective aging units such as hogsheads or bales toautomatic feed mechanisms 19, 2d, 22 and 23, respectively, by which they are. fed to blendingapparatus 24, 25, 26 and 27, in which leaves of each type are blended with other grades of leaves of that type to obtain a representative composite from a number of bales or hogsheads. A special system of alternate operations is performed in blending lines arranged in parallel, as discussed hereinafter.

The blended composite strip stock is fed continuously by one or the other members of pairs ofautomatic feed devices 28, 29, 30, 32, so'that tobacco is discharged continuously from each of the respective blending systems. The tobacco of each type is then subjected, dur

' ing further continuoustransit, to treatment appropriate to'its own type, the -Brig'ht'p'assing through sand-screen 33 andsteam cylinder 34, the Burley throughsteam cylinder 35,automatic feed 36,dipping tank 37,,automatic feed 38 anddryer 39, and the Maryland and [Turkish throughsteam cylinders 40 and 42, respectively, before the four types are combined by passage upon their respectiveautomatic feed conveyors 43, 44, and 46blending units 77 and 78, and in operation conveyor 76 I 7 to aconveyor 47 on which they are laminally deposited V to produce a blend of all four types. 7

From;conveyor 47, the laminated composite product is passed'byautomatic'feed conveyors 48 to casing cylinders' 49, in parallel lines as illustrated, and thence byconveyor 50, to a system ofconveyors 51 by which it is passed in stepped progression to and throughparallel bulking apparatus 52. 'From this bulking apparatus, it passes on through automatic feeding apparatus at 53, ordering at 54, cutting at 55, drying at 56 and cooling at 57. The cutting is in turn performed in separate parallel lines, as illustrated in Figures 1, 3 and 9.

The'cut, dried and cooled tobacco is next-passed byconveyor 58, to-a system ofconveyors 59, and from these conveyors it is passed in stepped progression throughparallel bulking apparatus 60 toconveyor 62. From 7conveyor 62 it is passed byconveyors 63 and 64 to a system ofconveyors 65 by which it is passed to thehoppers 66 of automatic feed devices67 which provide a constant supply for each of the cigarette making machines. V

The tobacco is passed continuously fromhoppers 66 byautomatic feed conveyors 67 to a system, ofconveyors 68, by which each of the hoppers ofcigarette making machines 69 is fed intermittently at a rate suflicient to maintain a supply at each machine to enable it to be run continuously. From the individual cigarette machines (nine as illustrated in Figures 1, 4 and 12), the finished cigarettes are passed to associatedpackaging machines 70, as is conventional in the art.

4 i a description ofunit 25,-as illustrated in Figures 2 and 5, will sufi'ice for all.

As illustrated in broken lines at the top of Figure 2, each of theconveyors 76 is mounted for swinging move ment in which it feedstobacco to one or another of is swung to position inwhich a quantity of tobacco-from a number of bales or hogsheads is fed to blendingunit 77 until a complete blendedi increment is accumulated thereon, and is then swung into the broken line position fortsimilar blending in unit'78. '1 Whileunit 78 is being loaded with a blend of tobaccos in this manner, tobacco blended in the immediately preceding loading ofunit 77 will be fed continuouslyforwardly and through the other steps of the process, and whenunit 78 has been loaded andconveyor 76 swung back into position to load. unit 7'7, tobacco inunit 78 will similarly be fedforwardly.

Thus, while the feed to each ofunits 77 and 78 is intermittent, the delivery of each of the types of tobacco from their respective blenders is continuous,,sincethe paired units alternate between loading and feedingoperationsr j The detailed operation of the blending'units is illustrated in Figure 5. Each such unit may comprise anendless conveyor 79, mounted on rollers onpulleys 80 which are spaced apart about half the length of an'under lyingendless conveyor 82 which is also mounted within the walls ofhousing 83 inwhich'conveyor 79 is mounted. Therollers 80 are mounted and driven for rotation in either direction and also for translatory movement'bebetween the ends ofhousing 83, as illustrated in broken lines in Figure 5.

As discussed above, the process and system of the in- V verition provide important advantages in saving of labor, consistent high quality of the resulting product and economy in use of space and'equipment. They also providea considerabledegree of flexibility'in operation, but before discussingthis aspect it will be best for us to consider the more detailed aspects of the process as applied 7 V in uniformly controlled operation utilizing an established sequence. In 'such' operation, tobacco strips may 'first be transferred from their respective hogsheads or bales and 7 introduced into the hoppers of the automatic feed devices or conveyors '19-23 by operation of slabbing forks 72,which remove the. strips from the upper end of the bale or hogshead while it is;supported and intermittently raised from its lower end on an elevator mechanism 73, as illustrated in Figure}.

As well understood in the art, each of the automatic feed devices 1923, as well'as other devices designated Auto. Feed in Figure 1, comprises in addition to thehopper 71 an upwardly inclined endless conveyor 74 (see Figure 5 having upstanding pins or the like which form bucket-like spaces between which the .tobacco is collected and elevated, and a levellingkicker 75 is rotated in a direction opposed to theupward passage of the tobacco; The conveyorsw of these automatic feed devices are driven at'atcontrolled constant speed by adjustment of the variable speed drive mechanism through which they are driven, and this together with operation of the kicker, results in delivery ,of tobacco from conveyor steadily at V exactly the rate desired. .From the upper end of,conveyor 74, the strip tobacco isdelivered to aconveyor 76 on which it is fed at a uniform rate to, one or the. other ofar pair of blending units. Since the principle of'operation of these units is identical foreach of units 247 -27,

7 In starting up theapparatus,conveyor 79 may first be mounted at the extreme right of Figure 5 and therollers 80 rotated in a clockwise direction while tobacco is fed onto this conveyor byconveyor 76. As tobacco progresses to the right onconveyor 79 until it covers the in the opposite direcion, and tobacco will accumulate on this run to the left as it is received fromconveyor 76.

'As soon asthis tobacco reaches the left end and'begins to spill over, the carriage on whichrollers 80 are mounted will start its movement inthe oppositedirection, and

a layer of tobacco will be deposited on the left half ofconveyor 82. After repetition of this sequence anumber of times during continuous feed of the tobacco ontoconveyor 76 from a number 'of hogsheads or bales, the desiredrepresentative' compositelfrom these bales will have i been depositedonconveyor 82 in successive strata,-and

conveyor 76 will then be swung intoposition to repeat this sequenceincompanion blending unit 78, While the rollers or pulleys 84, :which have heretofore been stationary, are rotated clockwise to .feed the deposited tobacco to other units'of the operation.

' From conveyor82, the Burley tobacco will thus be fed forwardly byconveyor rake 81 and to. automatic feed adevice 29 and thence through the steaming, dipping and drying steps, as heretofore discussed, and the Bright, Maryland andl Turkish tobaccos will similarly be subjected to'their respective screening and steaming treatments as illustrated in Figure l, and understood in the art.

While pairs of automatic'feed devices have been illus trated in Figures 1 and 2 for sequential operation 'in'ti ne with the feed from their associated blending units, it should be understood that the automatic feed from'these units may comprise but a, single feed device operating a continuously and receiving its supply from the blendingunits 77 and 78, as these operate alternately to feed the tobacco forwardly.

Each of theautomatic feed devices 43, 44, and 46 will be provided with a supply of tobacco in sufiicient volume to maintain a continuous feed to the blendingbelt 47 by the features of the process and system as discussed above, even though slight interruptions may occur in one or more of the operations. As illustrated in Figures 2 and 8, each of these devices deposits tobacco continuously on an associated weighingconveyor 85, 86', 87 or 88, and the tobacco passes forwardly on these weighing conveyors for continuous deposit on blendingconveyor 47, to provide laminated deposit of the various types of tobacco onconveyor 47 at the points where the tobacco is received on this conveyor. Each weighing conveyor 85-88 is connected with the variable speed drive control for its associated automatic feed device 43-46, so that the rate of movement of the conveyors of any of these devices is speeded up when its associated weighing conveyor registers less than a predetermined weight and slowed down when the reverse occurs. Tobacco of each type is accordingly fed toconveyor 47 at a uniform rate by weight, regardless of variations in density.

From blendingconveyor 47, the laminated blend of tobaccos is fed throughautomatic feed devices 48 and the casing treatment incylinders 49, in parallel lines. The purpose of dividing the flow at this point is to provide the desired capacity, and tobacco is delivered by conveyor 89 (Figure 8) toconveyor 90, which is reversed in direction as illustrated by the arrows with sufiicient frequency to maintain a supply for continuous feed from both ofvariable speed devices 48 at all times.

From casing cylinders 49 (Figure 2), the tobacco is fed continuously onconveyors 50 and 92 (Figure 10) to the system ofconveyors 51. Assuming that an increment of tobacco is first to be fed to the bulkingunit 52 at the extreme left of Figure 10, it passes from conveyor 92 onconveyors 93, 94 and 95, and falls fromconveyor 95 onto the top ofconveyor 96, whose rollers or pulleys 97 are rotated clockwise to cause rapid movement of the upper run of this conveyor in discharging tobacco into the bin orhousing 98 of thisunit 52 onto itsconveyor belt 99, which is advanced very slowly and steadily during this loading, so as to distribute the tobacco uniformly along its length. The carriage on which therollers 97 are mounted is also reciprocated slowly as iliustrated in full and broken lines in Figure 10, to distribute the tobacco evenly across the width ofconveyor 99. As an illustration of comparative speeds which may be used in such a loading operation, conveyor runs ofconveyors 96 and '99 may be advanced at rates of the order of 150 feet per minute and 30 feet per hour, respectively, and the carriage on whichconveyor 96 is mounted may be reciprocated simultaneously at a rate in the order of 10 feet per minute.

Loading of each of thesuccessive bins 93 is preferably continued until completed, although the invention may also be practiced by loading each bin successively in increments of parts of its length, and unloading each bin from its opposite discharge end as further increments are added after it is fully loaded. Thus, the successive bins from left to right may be loaded in increments of one-third of the length of their respective conveyor belts, and this sequence repeated through three series of operations until completed, with discharge from each bin progressively during the fourth and succeeding loadings in continued operation, or each bin may receive one complete loading in each increment, with continuous discharge from each successive bin during each loading after the first. In either of these cases, the bulkingbelts 99 will be maintained idle except during loading and unloading in order to obtain full advantage of the capacity of the apparatus.

While the loading and unloading of the bins as discussedabove is'des'irable as an ideal operation to utilize fully the capacity of the apparatus, it has certainpractical disadvantages, especially where some part of the operation may temporarily be interrupted or reduced in throughput capacity. To take care of these situations, it is preferable to supply bulking capacity in thebins 98 which is somewhat in excess of that which would sufiice for an optimum timed operation as discussed above, and to start the movement ofconveyors 99 for feeding of the bulked tobacco forwardly to the other steps of the process after a suitable time interval before the loading of all of the bins has been completed. This is exemplified in Figures 3 and 10, which show five bulking bins to provide excess capacity, as compared to diagrammatic Figure l, in which only three parallel bulking lines are provided. Thus, for example, the process may Well be practiced by a sequence in which the unloading of the endmost bin to the left is commenced after the next two bins have been loaded and the fourth is being loaded, and the unloading of the second may start While the fifth is being loaded, and so on in stepped progression. it should also be noted that the unloading operation may proceed at a slower rate than the loading operation, and that two or more of the bins may be unloaded simultaneously.

Continuing now with discussion of the operations of loading the remainingbulking bins 98, after the bin at the left of Figure 10 has been fully loaded or received a desired increment of loading, a similar load may be delivered to the next bin to the right. To accomplish this, the conveying run movement of conveyor belt is reversed and therollers 100 supportingbelt 102 are rotated in a counter-clockwise direction while the carriage supporting these rollers is reciprocated to distribute the tobacco laterally of thebelt 103. The rotation ofrollers 100 is next reversed and their carriage is reciprocated through a path to deliver a load of tobacco to the third bin from the left.

Theconveyor 94 is next reversed and a similar sequence of steps applied in loading the last two bins from their overlying conveyor 104, the rates of movement of the runs of the conveyors and of translatory reciprocating movement of conveyors 1G2 and 104 being of the same order as discussed above for loading of the first bin.

From the foregoing discussion it will be evident that one or more of the bulking conveyors will be in process of being loaded at all times once the operation of the system has become established and that one or more of these bulking conveyors will similarly be in process of unloading to provide the necessary continuity of supply to other parts of the system.

Theautomatic feed devices 53, orderingcylinders 54 andcutters 55, as illustrated in Figures 1, 3 and 9, operate in a manner familiar to those skilled in the art, as do also the dryingcylinders 56 andcooling cylinders 57. A continuous supply of tobacco is processed through these steps of the system at all times when the conveyor belts on which the tobacco is bulked are operated to feed tobacco forwardly into their respectiveautomatic feed devices 53. As an alternative to the particular combination illustrated in Figures 1 and 3 of the drawing, in which the parallel lines from the respective bulking bins are maintained separate for performance of these steps, various combinations of cross feed and combination of supply lines from the bulking bins may be provided for combining flow of tobacco from these bins for processing by the cutting machines, or by other apparatus operating in this part of the system.

Regardless of the particular arrangement of the ordering, cutting, drying and feeding steps of the process as discussed above, a substantially continuous supply of tobacco will be maintained to theconveyor 58, and this supply of tobacco will be fed in turn by the system of conveyors 59 (Figure 4), alternately to the respective ing bins, in that it includes aconveyor 105 which under- 7 lies the tdischarge end of theconveyor 58 and overlies, at

its discharge end, the receiving end of anunderlying conveyor 106. When moved in one direction while receiving tobacco fromconveyor 105, the conveying run ofconveyor 106 delivers it.to a conveyor 197 by which it is fed to thebin 60 at the left in Figure 4, and when the direction of feed ofconveyor 106 is reversed, the tobacco will similarly be fed to conveyor 108 'byrwhich thecenter bin 60 is loaded. By reversing the direction ,of feed ofconveyor 105, theconveyor 109 will receive tobacco for loading of thethird bin 60. i

'5 Each of conveyors 107-109 is oscillated between the broken line positions illustrated in :Figure 4' ,so' that the tobacco will be distributed laterally of theconveyors 110 inthebulking'bins 60,"as it is delivered to these bins, and as it is moved'forwardly in these bins by conveyors '110. The same principles discussed above in regard to the bulking bins and conveyors for the strip tobacco are also applicable to the processing of the cut tobacco at this stage, the tobacco being fed alternately into the respective cut tobacco bulking lines in stepwise progression, and also being fed forwardly from these lines in stepwise progression so as to maintain asubstantially continuous supply of tobacco fed toconveyor belt 62. The feed, of this tobacco'by conveyors 62, 63 and 64 to the hoppers 660f theautomatic feeding devices 67 is accomplished in substantially the same manner discussed above in regard tothe strip tobacco and cut tobacco bulking feed units, conveyor 112 (Figure 11) serving first to deliver tobacco forwardly on toconveyor 113 while this tobacco is delivered byconveyor 113 to thebin 66 at the left of Figure 11. When this bin has received its desired increment of tobacco,conveyor 113 is reversed and themiddle hopper 66 of Figure 11 then receives its'incr ement 'of tobacco.Conveyor 112 is then reversed to feed an increment of'tobacco to thehopper 66 at the right of Figure 11, and the sequence is then repeated, at a sufficient rate and withsuflicient frequency in the incremental feeding steps to maintain a desired supply of tobacco in each of thehoppers 66 at all times. Automatic feed devices 67 (Figures 4 and 12) may be operated continuously tofsupply tobacco from therespective hoppers 66 into the hoppers of each of the respectivecigarette making machines 69, which are also continuously supplied in this manner. a j

Referring to Figure12'f0r an illustration of this feed, it will be understood thatconveyors 114, 115 and 116 maybe used'to keep each'of thecigarette makingmachines 69 automatically supplied with sufficient tobacco at all times to maintain their continuous and uniform operation, by utilizing these conveyors 114-116 in exactly the same manner discussed above with regard to conveyors '64, 112 and 113 'of Figure ll; Since the opera ation ofthe cigarette making machines and packaging machines "may be in accordance with principles well established in'theart, no detailed description of this part of the operation is necessary.

and not to strict geometric parallelism. These units-may be arranged in vertically, instead of horizontally, spaced relation and functionally paired units may be,separated considerably in location so long as theiroutput passes .to

a common discharge stream as may be required, The number of associated similar unitsr'nay also be varied, as for example by providing three or more identical units with alternating timed feed and discharge cycles in place of the pairs of coupledunits 77 and 78 for the intitiai blending. V V U The variable speed devices used at critical parts of the system introduce advantages both of flexibility of Op ima tion and of accurate control; By adjusting the ,speeds'of these devices, a desired change in ratio of tobaccos to be blended may be obtained, and their controlled speed of delivery of tobacco insures accurate proportioning and supply regardless of minor interruptions and fluctuations of the supply of tobacco to these devices.

While the invention relates primarily to the system and its process features, it'will be evident that it may'advantageously be controlled by timing apparatus and other automation features by'which it may be partly or completely mechanized, in any manner available ,to the engineering profession. Since these and many; other features may be adapted in implementation of the invention, it should be understood that the only restrictions to be imposed on its scope arev those contained in the following claims:

What is claimed, is:

1. In the manufacture of cigarettes, the'processcomi blends of each of said other tobacco types at said other.

blending locations, then performing similar individual feeding steps of each of said types from said pluralaging units at a second different set of blending locations to establish separate bodies of blends of the respective types at said second set of blending location s, feeding the to:

bacco forwardly from said first set of blendinglocationsduring said feeding of tobacco to said second set of locations, thereafter feeding tobacco forwardly from said second set of blending locations while feeding it to said first set of blending locations in repetition of said first set of blending operations, and continuing the sequence of establishing blends of the respective types atone of said locations while feeding forwardly in separate streams the blends established at the other of said locations and establishing a substantially continuous forwardlyfiowing stream of each of said types of tobacco frorn said pairs of blending locations, feeding said separately established flowing streams continuously at controlled rates at spaced 7 locations onto a travelling conveyor and thereby establish- While the invention has been discussed above in relation to a single illustrated embodiment with certain available rriodification's' and refinements,persons skilled in the art will be aware that it may be modified or refined in a variety of ways within the principles established of maintaining a substantially continuous feediby providing a plurality of locations for blending and bulking, and

feeding from certain of'these locations while feeding to others; j

i. As" examples of available modifications, it should be pointedout that the relative locations and numbers of the units designed for sequential parallel operation may arrangement r lates to their functioning in the system T r fer e lpa el i ing'a blend of the tobacco of said types, feeding, the blend of strip tobacco 'of said types established on'said travelling conveyor continuously forward to a plurality of bulking locations arranged in parallel in stepwise progression, and maintaining at each of said locations the body of tobacco therc deposited in depth for a suflicient time period to accomplish the bulkingfunction, feeding vforward in stepwise cyclic progression tobacco bulked at said bulking locations and thereby establishing a sub-" ,stantially'continuous flow of tobacco to and from said bulking locations, cutting said tobacco continuously during its continued forward'feed from .said bulking locations, feeding said cut tobacco continuously forwardly to s ,a second set of bulking locations arranged in parallel there performing bulking and further feeding in stepped progression as defined above forsaid strip tobacco bulking operations, and feeding the substantially continuous 9 stream of tobacco received from said cut tobacco bulking operations in stepped progression to a plurality of cigarette making machines at a rate suflicient to maintain a supply at each of said machines during their operation.

2. A process as defined in claim 1 in which tobacco of certain of said types is continuously subjected to screening, steaming and dipping operations during passage from the initial blending operations to the blending operations in which said types are blended with each other.

3. A process as defined in claim 1, in which the blend of types of strip tobacco is continuously cased during passage from the operation of blending of said types to the cyclic stepped parallel strip bulking operations.

4. A process as defined in claim 1 in which said strip bulked and cut tobacco is continuously dried and then cooled during passage from said cutting operation to the cyclic stepped parallel cut tobacco bulking operations.

5. In the manufacture of cigarettes, the process comprising feeding strip tobacco from a plurality of aging units each containing tobacco of one type in successive strata to a blending location in a first set of blending locations and thereby establishing a composite blend of that type of tobacco at said location, simultaneously performing similar feeding steps individually upon other types of tobacco at other blending locations in said first set of blending locations to establish separate composite blends of each of said other tobacco types at said other blending locations, then performing similar individual feeding steps of each of said types from said plural aging units at a second difierent set of blending locations to establish separate bodies of blends of the respective types at said second set of blending locations, feeding the tobacco forwardly from said first set of blending locations during said feeding of tobacco to said second set of locations, thereafter feeding tobacco forwardly from said second set of blending locations while feeding it to said first set of blending locations in repetition of said first set of blending operations, and continuing the sequence of establishing blends of the respective types at one of said locations while feeding forwardly in separate streams the blends established at the other of said locations and establishing a substantially continuous forwardly flowing stream of each of said types of tobacco from said pairs of blending locations, and feeding said separately established flowing streams continuously at controlled rates at spaced locations onto a travelling conveyor and thereby establishing a blend of the tobacco of said types.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,089,680 Sloan Mar. 10, 1914 1,984,980 Muller Dec. 18, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 314,950 Great Britain May 1, 1930 564,040 Germany Nov. 12, 1932 599,726 Germany July 7, 1934 1,048,914 France Aug. 12, 1953

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