Funnelling device for cigarette packing machines
United States Patent [191 Schmermund 51 Apr. 15, 1975 FUNNELLING DEVICE FOR CIGARETTE PACKING MACHINES [76] Inventor: Alfred Schmermund, 62  
 Koernerstrasse, 5280 Gevelsberg, Germany 22 Filed: o.s,1973  
  21 Appl. No.: 403,731  
 [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 26, 1972 United Kingdom 49382/72 [52] US. Cl. 53/151 [51] Int. Cl. B65b 19/10 [58] Field of Search 53/151, 148, 149, 150; 214/301, 302; 198/20 C [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,239,589 4/l94l Chalmers et al 53/151 2,924,356 2/1960 Pollmann et al 53/148 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,168,447 10/1969 United Kingdom 53/151 Primary ExaminerTravis S. McGehee Attorney, Agent, or FirmSughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn &amp; Macpeak [57] ABSTRACT A funnelling device for use in a cigarette packing machine is disclosed. Cigarettes are fed into the mouth of a funnel-shaped housing from a container, which contains cigarettes and is mounted above the inlet mouth of the funnel. A displaceable shutter is disposed between the bottom of the cigarette container and the mouth of the funnel to control the flow of cigarettes. The funnel housing comprises vertically extending walls, which define the inlet mouth at the top of the funnel. A pair of deflector members are pivotably mounted in the funnel housing below the mouth. These deflector members are each pivotably displaceable through a predetermined angular displacement about a respective horizontal axis, and each deflector member &#39;has an exterior surface portion of substantially spiral-shape centered on the respective axis of rotation. In use, the deflector members are pivotably displaced so as to raise them and, thereby, to raise the level of cigarettes remaining in the funnel-shaped housing during periods when an emptied cigarette container is being replaced by a replenished one. In this way the distance, through which cigarettes have to drop from a replenished container before striking the uppermost layer of cigarettes remaining in the funnelshaped housing, is minimised. The deflector members are so shaped and mounted that substantially no risk of crushing cigarettes against the walls of the funnel arises when the deflector members are upwardly angularly displaced. Expediently, the deflector members are angularly displaced by displacement means automatically controlled by sensing means, which is responsive to the level of the uppermost layer of cigarettes in the funnel to generate electrical control signals.  
 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Control PETENTED 1 5|975 877, 201 snmaa z BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in or relating to a funnelling device for cigarette packing machines.  
  Many known cigarette packing machines incorporate a cigarette funnelling device through which cigarettes pass to a cigarette counting and final wrapping station. Cigarettes are fed into the mouth of the funnel from a container which is filled with cigarettes and mounted directly above the mouth of the funnel. In cigarette packing machines incorporating such funnels, a displaceable shutter is arranged between the bottom of the cigarette container and the mouth of the funnel to control the flow of cigarettes from the container into the funnel. In such machines a cigarette container filled with cigarettes and open at the bottom, is pushed into a position in which it is located directly over the mouth of the funnel. The shutter is withdrawn rapidly and a uniform flow of cigarettes from the container into the funnel results. The cigarettes fall in a continuous closely packed stream under the influence of gravity. A monitoring device, for example a device including light responsive sensing means, which controls the exchange of an empty container for a freshly filled container is provided adjacent the mouth of the funnel.  
  On the light responsive sensing means sensing that the funnel is no longer filled to its upper extremity with cigarettes. the shutter is closed, the empty container is removed. and a new container placed in position and, subsequently. the shutter withdrawn to permit the flow of cigarettes into the mouth of the cigarette funnel to be re-started.  
  This change of cigarette containers requires a certain time to complete and, during this interval, the ciga rettes still present in the funnel are still being withdrawn from the exit of the funnel. Thus, in the interval required to enable the cigarette containers to be exchanged. the level of the upper layer of cigarettes in the funnel may fall a considerable distance below the mouth of the funnel. If this distance becomes excessive, some cigarettes in the stream of cigarettes which reenter the funnel may become disorientated and. further, the velocity aquired by the time the falling cigarettes strike the top layer of those already in the funnel may tend to disorientate the latter. Such disturbances in the smooth flow of cigarettes may cause damage to individual cigarettes, jamming of cigarettes in the funnel, and faulty batching of the cigarettes for final packaging.  
  In a known attempt to solve this problem it was proposed to provide the funnel with pivotably displaceable side walls which, before the shutter is withdrawn to permit the cigarettes from a freshly charged container to commence to flow into the mouth of the funnel, are displaced inwardly towards one another to lift up the cigarettes remaining in the funnel and thereby reduce the extent of the free fall of the cigarettes subsequently released into the mouth of the funnel from the new container. After the withdrawal of the shutter to re-open the mouth of the funnel. the side walls are slowly displaced outwardly and away from one another so as to gradually restore the funnel to its normal cross-section.  
  However, the known funnel assembly referred to above suffers from the disadvantage that, during the inward movement of the pivotably mounted side walls of the funnel, the cigarettes are subjected to forces having a substantial horizontal component which tends to crush the cigarettes against one another and the mutually approaching side walls of the funnel, thereby distorting the shape of the cigarettes.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a funnelling device comprising a funnel housing having vertically extending walls defining a planar inlet opening at the top of the funnel, at least one deflector member pivotably mounted in the funnel below the inlet opening and displacement means for angularly displacing the or each deflector member about a respective horizontal axis between a retracted position and a nonretracted position. the or each deflector member having an outer surface portion which is so generally spirally disposed relative to the or the respective axis of rotation that angular displacement of the respective deflector member from the retracted to the non-retracted positions reduces the cross-section of a passage portion of the funnel housing defined between the outer surface portion of the respective deflector member and the plane of the inlet opening.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An embodiment of the invention will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-  
  FIG. 1 shows an elevational view, partly in section, of a double-limbed funnel assembly for use in a cigarette packing machine and including a pivotably displaceable deflector member in each limb;  
 FIG. 2 shows a section on the line 2-2 in FIG. 1;  
  FIG. 3 shows one limb of the funnel shownin FIG. I, wherein cigarettes falling from a cigarette container are filling the funnel limb whilst theres p ective deflector member is located in its fully clock-wise position;  
  FIG. 4 shows the funnel limb shown in FIG. 3, wherein the cigarettes in the funnel have reached such a level that sensing means controlling pivotable displacement of the deflector member is activated; and  
  FIG. 5 shows the funnel limb shown in FIG. 3, wherein the deflector member has been pivotably displaced in a anti-clockwise direction to raise the level of the cigarettes in the limb.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the accompanying drawings, vertically extending wall members of a cigarette funnel housing or hopper are indicated by the reference numerals 21 and 21a in FIG. 1. A filled cigarette container (not shown in FIG. I but indicated in FIG. 3 by the reference 27) is positioned directly above the mouth 20 of the funnel housing and, after a displaceable shutter (not shown in FIG. 1 but indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5 by the reference numerals 25) which extends across the mouth 20 of the funnel housing immediately below the bottom of the cigarette container has been withdrawn, cigarettes fall freely under gravity into the mouth 20 of the funnel; As shown in FIG. 1 the inlet opening formed by the mouth 20 is contained in a horizontal plane. The funnel housing shown in FIG. 1 directs the cigarettes falling in a continuous stream through the funnel into a left-hand cigarette shaft 6 or into a right-hand cigarette shaft 7. The cigarette shafts 6 and 7 communicate with cigarette counting means (not shown) disposed in counting shafts 8 and 9 for batching the cigarettes for final packaging.  
  The rear wall of the funnel is indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 by the reference numeral 1. The wall 1 is connected to a stationary guide member 22 having an upper portion, which distributes the stream of cigarettes into a right-hand stream and a left-hand stream. Thus, the guide member 22 divides the funnel into right-hand and left-hand passages and is provided with mutually divergent respective slotted portions dependent from the upper portion. Two horizontal bearing shafts 2 and 3 are journalled in the rear wall 1 and a front wall la (FIG. 2) of the funnel housing. Each of these shafts carry respective spur gear wheels, which are indicated in FIG. 1 by the references 10 and 11 respectively.  
  The spur gears 10 and 11 mesh with one another and, as indicated in the drawing, the spur gear 11 meshes with a worm wheel 12 mounted on a shaft 23. The shaft 23 is rotatably displaceable by drive means in the form of an electric motor which is represented schematically by a block M in FIG. 1.  
  The level of cigarettes in the funnel 21 is sensed by cigarette level indicator means comprising a light source indicated generally by the reference letter S in FIG. 1 and photo-electric means Z responsive to light received from the source. As shown in FIG. 1, the light source comprises an electric light bulb mounted in a housing 26 provided with an optical lens system to direct light from the bulb into a beam, which passes through two slots in the walls 21 and 21a of the funnel and which when the beam is not interrupted by the presence of cigarettes on its path is incident on photoelectric meansZ. An electrical signal derived from the photo-electricmeans Z is connected as shown in FIG. 1 to a control unit, which provides an electrical control signal controlling the electric motor M. In the absence of cigarettes in the path of the light beam, the control unit provides an electrical signal which energizes the motor M to cause the shaft 23 to be rotatably displaced. i  
  A deflector member 4 having a generally spirally disposed exterior surface portion is rigidly attached to the shaft 2 to rotate therewith and a similar deflector member is mounted on the shaft 3. The spiral configuration of the respective exterior surface portions of each of the deflector members 4 and 5 are centred on the axis of rotation of the shafts 2 and 3, respectively. On energisation of the motor M, the shafts 2 and 3 are angularly displaced in mutually opposite directions, together with the deflector members 4 and 5, through an angle of 90. This angular displacement occurs as a result of the rotating motor shaft 23 being coupled, via the worm gear 12 and the spur gear and 11, to the shafts 2 and 3.  
  Each of the deflector members 4 and 5 is angularly displaceable between a retracted position and a nonretracted position. Thus, as a result of the energisation of the motor M, the deflector member 4 is displaced until it occupies the position indicated in broken lines and denoted by the reference 4a in FIG. 1, and the deflector member 5 is displaced until it occupies theposition indicated by the reference 50 in FIG. 1.  
  The deflector members 4 and 5 are each of comb-like construction and each comprise a plurality of mutually spaced strips which, on the deflector members being raised towards positions indicated by the references 4a and 5a, respectively. pass through slots in the slotted portions of the guide member or partition 22 see FIG. 2.  
  The simultaneous upward displacement of the deflector members 4 and 5 gently lifts those cigarettes which are disposed in parts of the funnel above the respective deflector members towards the mouth 20 of the funnel, and thereby raises the level of the upper layer 15 (FIG. 3) of cigarettes so as to reduce the distance through which cigarettes from a replenished container 27&#39; (FIGS. 4 and 5) mounted directly above the mouth 20 have to fall before striking the upper layer 15 (FIG. 4) of the cigarettes already in the funnel. Because of the spiral shape of the outer surface of each of the deflector members 4 and 5, the force exerted on the cigarettes by the upward displacement of the deflector members acts mainly in the vertical direction. Thus. since the horizontal component of this force is small, there is little tendency for the cigarettes to be crushed against one another. Also, the arcuate profile of the deflector members causes cigarettes to slip over the approaching surface of the deflector members and thus avoid being trapped between the deflector members and the walls of the funnel. Thus, on the deflector members 4 and 5 being angularly displaced from their respective retracted or lowered positions to their nonretracted or raised positions, the cross-section of the respective passage portions of the funnel housing de-v fined between the exterior surface of the respective deflector member and the plane of the inlet opening or mouth 20 is reduced.  
  After the shutter 25 (FIG. 5) has been withdrawn and the cigarettes have commenced to flow evenly into the mouth 20 of the funnel, the deflector members 4 and 5 are slowly retracted towards their lowered positions. The lowered position of the deflector member 5 is shown in broken lines in FIG. 5. The upward movement of the deflector members 4 and 5 is initiated by electrical control signals derived from the control unit which, as shown in FIG. 1, is connected to the photo-electric device Z. Such an initiating control signal is generated when the level of the topmost layer of cigarettes in the funnel housing falls below the light beam transmitted by the light source S, as indicated in FIG. 4. On the shutter 25 being withdrawn from beneath the replenished container 27 to cause the cigarettes to flow evenly into the mouth of the funnel housing as indicated in FIG. 5 the light beam is again interrupted. The control unit is so arranged that, in response to such an interruption of the light beam, a further electrical control signal is generated by the control unit. The electric motor M is responsive to this further electrical control signal to cause the deflector members 4 and 5 to be slowly retracted towards their lowered positions. The retracted position of the deflector member 5 is indicated in broken lines in FIG. 5. The arcuate shape and the angular displacement of the deflector members may, of course, be varied to suit the geometry of different funnels.  
  Also. although in the preferred embodiment the application of a matched pair of deflector members to a double-limbed funnel has been described, more than two such deflector members or only one such member may be provided in multi-limbed or a single-limbed funnel.  
  Further, although the invention has been described with reference to its application to cigarette packing machines, it is not limitted to such applications but may be applied to packing machines for packing any objects where the problem of reducing the distance through which the objects may fall arises. Thus. the invention may find application to packaging machines for packing rod-shaped objects other than cigarettes. or indeed fragile objects such as eggs.  
 l claim:  
 1. A funnelling device comprising, in combination:  
 vertically extending wall members defining a generally funnel-shaped housing, uppermost extremities of said wall members defining a planar inlet openmg;  
 two deflector members each pivotably mounted to be angularly displaceable about respective horizontal axes disposed below said opening at the same level in said housing;  
 a stationary guide member having an upper portion mounted in Said housing below said inlet opening to divide said housing into two passages and having mutually divergent respective slotted portions dependent from said upper portion, one of said deflector members&#39;defining a movable wall portion of one of said passages and the other of said deflector members defining a movable wall portion of the other of said passages, and each of said deflector members being of comb-like construction to enable said deflector members on being pivotably displaced to pass through the slots in said respective slotted portions of said stationary guide member; and  
 displacement means to effect substantially equal and opposite angular displacements of each of said deflector members between retracted and nonretracted positions thereof, each said deflector member having an exterior surface portion generally spirally disposed relative to its axis, whereby angular displacement of each said deflector member from said retracted to said non-retracted positions reduces the cross-section of a passage portion of said housing defined between said exterior surface portion and the plane of said inlet opening.  
  2. A device as defined in claim I, wherein the range of said angular displacement imparted to said deflector member is between and 3. A device as defined in claim 1, comprising sensing means responsive to the presence of articles in a portion of the housing above said deflector member to control the operation of said displacement means.  
  4. A device as defined in claim I, wherein each said deflector member is rigidly mounted on a respective shaft journalled in said wall members of said housing. said shafts are intercoupled by meshing spur gears mounted on said respective shafts to rotate therewith, and one of said spur gears is coupled via a worm gear to said displacement means.  
  5. A device as defined in claim 1, comprising sensing means mounted above said upper portion of said stationary guide member and responsive to the presence of articles in a portion of said housing above said guide member to control the operation of said displacement means.  
  6. A device as defined in claim 5, wherein said sensing means comprises a light source arranged to transmit a beam of light through said portion of the interior of said housing, photo-electric means responsive to light from said source to generate electrical signals indicative of the level of articles in said housing. and control means responsive to said electrical signals to generate control signals to control said displacement means.  
  7. A device as defined in claim 6, wherein said control signals are electrical signals, and said displacement means comprises an electric motor.