Apparatus for alternately transferring groups of cigarettes to a rotary magazine via intermediate reciprocating chambers

Claim 1

An apparatus for supplying groups of cigarettes to a cigarette packing machine, comprising: a. a pair of adjacent cigarette feed hoppers having spaced discharge ends, b. an intermediate receptacle having two adjacent chambers open at both ends in an axial direction, said receptacle being reciprocable back and forth across the discharge ends of the feed hoppers, c. a rotary magazine positioned adjacent the intermediate receptacle and having a plurality of pockets around the periphery thereof open in an axial direction, d. the relative positioning between the discharge ends of the feed hoppers, the intermediate receptacle and the rotary magazine being such that at each end of the reciprocating travel of the intermediate receptacle one of its chambers is aligned with the discharge end of a feed hopper in receiving relation thereto while the other chamber is aligned with a pocket of the rotary magazine in discharge relation thereto, e. the intermediate receptacle further comprising means for compressing together a group of cigarettes in a chamber of the intermediate receptacle during the movement of such chamber from a position of alignment with the discharge end of one of the feed hoppers to a position of alignment with a rotary magazine pocket, said compressing means comprising two generally parallel members each having a pair of adjacent, chamber defining indentations on the facing sides of such members, and parallel linkage means pivotally mounted between and interconnecting the members, whereby the relative movement of the members in a first direction serves to contract the chambers defined therebetween in both height and width while such relative movement in a second, opposite direction serves to open the chambers, f. a pair of slide ejection members alternately reciprocable in phase opposition for pushing a group of a fixed number of cigarettes from the discharge end of a feed hopper into an aligned chamber of the intermediate receptacle, g. the reciprocating motion of the intermediate receptacle being in a direction perpendicular to that of the slide ejection members, and h. a push rod positioned between the slide ejection members and reciprocable in parallel synchronism therewith at twice the cycle rate thereof for pushing a group of cigarettes from one of the chambers of the intermediate receptacle into an aligned pocket of the rotary magazine, i. whereby while a group of cigarettes is being transferred from one of the feed hoppers to one of the intermediate receptacle chambers another group of cigarettes previously transferred from the other feed hopper to the other intermediate receptacle chamber is being loaded, by the push rod, into a pocket of the rotary magazine.

Claim 2

An apparatus for supplying groups of cigarettes to a cigarette packing machine, comprising: a. a pair of adjacent cigarette feed hoppers having spaced discharge ends, b. an intermediate receptacle having two adjacent chambers open at both ends in an axial direction, said receptacle being reciprocable back and forth across the discharge ends of the feed hoppers, c. a rotary magazine positioned adjacent the intermediate receptacle and having a plurality of pockets around the periphery thereof open in an axial direction, d. the relative positioning between the discharge ends of the feed hoppers, the intermediate receptacle and the rotary magazine being such that at each end of the reciprocating travel of the intermediate receptacle one of its chambers is aligned with the discharge end of a feed hopper in receiving relation thereto while the other chamber is aligned with a pocket of the rotary magazine in discharge relation thereto, e. the intermediate receptacle further comprising means for compressing together a group of cigarettes in a chamber of the intermediate receptacle during the movement of such chamber from a position of alignment with the discharge end of one of the feed hoppers to a position of alignment with a rotary magazine pocket, said compressing means comprising two generally parallel members each having a pair of adjacent, chamber defining indentations on the facing sides of such members, and parallel linkage means pivotally mounted between and interconnecting the members, whereby the relative movement of the members in a first direction serves to contract the chambers defined therebetween in both height and width while such relative movement in a second, opposite direction serves to open the chambers, f. a pair of slide ejection members alternately reciprocable in phase opposition for pushing a group of a fixed number of cigarettes from the discharge end of a feed hopper into an aligned chamber of the intermediate receptacle, g. the reciprocating motion of the intermediate receptacle being in a direction perpendicular to that of the slide ejection members, and h. a push rod positioned between the slide ejection members and reciprocable in parallel synchronism therewith at twice the cycle rate thereof for pushing a group of cigarettes from one of the chambers of the intermediate receptacle into an aligned pocket of the rotary magazine, i. whereby while a group of cigarettes is being transferred from one of the feed hoppers to one of the intermediate receptacle chambers another group of cigarettes previously transferred from the other feed hopper to the other intermediate receptacle chamber is being loaded, by the push rod, into a pocket of the rotary magazine.

Claim 8

An apparatus for supplying groups of cigarettes to a cigarette packing machine, comprising: a. a pair of adjacent cigarette feed hoppers having spaced discharge ends, b. an intermediate receptacle having two adjacent chambers open at both ends in an axial direction and having displaceable end walls, said receptacle being reciprocable back and forth across the discharge ends of the feed hoppers, c. a rotary magazine positioned adjacent the intermediate receptacle and having a plurality of pockets around the periphery thereof open in an axial direction, d. the relative positioning between the discharge ends of the feed hoppers, the intermediate receptacle and the rotary magazine being such that at each end of the reciprocating travel of the intermediate receptacle one of its chambers is aligned with the discharge end of a feed hopper in receiving relation thereto while the other chamber is aligned with a pocket of the rotary magazine in discharge relation thereto, e. the intermediate receptacle further comprising means for compressing together a group of cigarettes in a chamber of the intermediate receptacle during the movement of such chamber from a position of alignment with the discharge end of one of the feed hoppers to a position of alignment with a rotary magazine pocket, f. stop members coooperable with the chamber end walls, during the reciprocating movement of the intermediate receptacle, to thereby implement the compression function, g. a pair of slide ejection members alternately reciprocable in phase opposition for pushing a group of a fixed number of cigarettes from the discharge end of a feed hopper into an aligned chamber of the intermediate receptacle, h. the reciprocating motion of the intermediate receptacle being in a direction perpendicular to that of the slide ejection members, and i. a push rod positioned between the slide ejection members and reciprocable in parallel synchronism therewith at twice the cycle rate thereof for pushing a group of cigarettes from one of the chambers of the intermediate receptacle into an aligned pocket of the rotary magazine, j. whereby while a group of cigarettes is being transferred from one of the feed hoppers to one of the intermediate receptacle chambers another group of cigarettes previously transferred from the other feed hopper to the other intermediate receptacle chamber is being loaded, by the push rod, into a pocket of the rotary magazine.

Claim 9

An apparatus for supplying groups of cigarettes to a cigarette packing machine, comprising: a. a pair of adjacent cigarette feed hoppers having spaced discharge ends, b. an intermediate receptacle having two adjacent chambers open at both ends in an axial direction and having displaceable end walls, said receptacle being reciprocable back and forth across the discharge ends of the feed hoppers, c. a rotary magazine positioned adjacent the intermediate receptacle and having a plurality of pockets around the periphery thereof open in an axial direction, d. the relative positioning between the discharge ends of the feed hoppers, the intermediate receptacle and the rotary magazine being such that at each end of the reciprocating travel of the intermediate receptacle one of its chambers is aligned with the discharge end of a feed hopper in receiving relation thereto while the other chamber is aligned with a pocket of the rotary magazine in discharge relation thereto, e. the intermediate receptacle further comprising means for compressing together a group of cigarettes in a chamber of the intermediate receptacle during the movement of such chamber from a position of alignment with the discharge end of one of the feed hoppers to a position of alignment with a rotary magazine pocket, f. stop members coooperable with the chamber end walls, during the reciprocating movement of the intermediate receptacle, to thereby implement the compression function, g. a pair of slide ejection members alternately reciprocable in phase opposition for pushing a group of a fixed number of cigarettes from the discharge end of a feed hopper into an aligned chamber of the intermediate receptacle, h. the reciprocating motion of the intermediate receptacle being in a direction perpendicular to that of the slide ejection members, and i. a push rod positioned between the slide ejection members and reciprocable in parallel synchronism therewith at twice the cycle rate thereof for pushing a group of cigarettes from one of the chambers of the intermediate receptacle into an aligned pocket of the rotary magazine, j. whereby while a group of cigarettes is being transferred from one of the feed hoppers to one of the intermediate receptacle chambers another group of cigarettes previously transferred from the other feed hopper to the other intermediate receptacle chamber is being loaded, by the push rod, into a pocket of the rotary magazine.