Cigarette transfer apparatus for changing direction and reducing velocity of cigarettes

Claim 1

Apparatus for transferring cigarettes from a first path along which the cigarettes move longitudinally at a relatively high speed to a second path along which the cigarettes move laterally at a relatively low speed, comprising: a. a crank drum mounted on a fixed shaft for rotation about a central axis; b. a plurality of cigarette carriers; c. means supporting said carriers on said crank drum, comprising, for each carrier: 1. a second shaft mounted in said drum for rotation about a second axis radially spaced from said central axis; 2. first planetary gear means for rotating said second shaft concurrently with rotation of the drum; 3. a crank fixed on said second shaft for rotation therewith; 4. means on said crank supporting said carrier, said carriersupporting means being rotatable on said crank about a third axis radially spaced from the second axis; and 5. second planetary gear means operatively connecting said carrier supporting means and said crank drum for rotation in opposite senses and with equal angular velocities so that said carrier-supporting means maintains its orientation as the crank drum rotates; 6. said second planetary gear means including a gear concentric with the third axis and fixed on said carrier-supporting means; d. means for rotating the drum about said central axis, said rotating means cooperating with the carrier-supporting means to move the carriers in a cycloidal path with a velocity varying along said path from a maximum at a first point to a minimum at a second point, said cycloidal path being tangential to said first path at said first point and tangential to second path at said second point; e. pickup and release means on each said carrier and operable to pick up a cigarette from said first path as the carrier passes said first point and to release the cigarette to the second path as the carrier passes the second point; wherein the improvement comprises: f. in said second planetary gear means: 1. a sun gear; 2. a spider rotatable about the axis of the sun gear; 3. a planet gear rotatably mounted on the spider; and 4. idler gear means rotatably mounted on the spider and providing a driving connection between the sun and planet gears.