Automatic cigarette stacker

June 26, 1934.

1,964,084

R. E. RUNDELL

AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE STACKER

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ATTORNEY

June 26, 1934.

1,964,084

R. E. RUNDELL automatic cigarette stacker

Filed Nov. 4, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2

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ATTORNEY

Patented June 26, 1934

1,964,084

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

1,964,084

AUTOMATIC CIGARETTE STACKER

Rupert E. Rundell, Rockville Center, N. Y., assignor to American Machine &amp; Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey

Application November 4, 1930, Serial No. 493,432

Claims. (Cl. 226—5)

This invention relates to automatic cigarette stackers for cigarette machines, its main object being to continuously stack the cigarettes delivered from the cutoff of a cigarette machine, layer 5 by layer, into suitably shaped trays fed to the cigarette machine, and to automatically transfer the filled trays to a packaging machine arranged to receive their contents directly into its magazine or hopper. With this and other^- ob10 jects not specifically mentioned in view, the invention consists in certain constructions and combinations which will be hereinafter fully described and then specifically set forth in the claims hereunto appended.

To serve a high speed cigarette packaging machine efficiently, it has been found expedient to stack several thousands Of the cigarettes at a time in suitable trays and to continuously feed these trays by a conveyor to the magazine or 20 hopper of the packaging machine. The employment of these trays, while greatly expediting the feeding of the packaging machine and thus increasing its production, requires at least one and usually two additional operators if the trays are 25 filled manually. The present improved mechanism is therefore designed to stack the cigarettes in the trays automatically as they issue from the cigarette machine.

For this purpose, the cigarettes delivered from 30 the cutoff of the cigarette machine, after their travel has been changed from the lengthwise to the sidewise direction on a cross-belt and caused to pass over a pair of inclined parallel bars which permit all short or damaged cigarettes to fall out, 35 are collected on a pair of carrier bands running continuously in the same direction as the said cross belt. From these bands, a predetermined number of them are intermittently transferred to an endless steel stacker belt running in front 40 of a stand on which a tray is held m proper position, each group thus advanced forming one layer in the tray, where they are engaged by a cam-operated plunger reciprocating in the axial direction of the cigarettes and pushing each 45 group across and off the stacker belt into the tray. . . ..

The trays are supported upon a pair of vertically inclined endless chains on which they are •lowered continuously at constant speed as each 50 layer of cigarettes is stacked. When a tray is filled, a dog attached to the tray support on the chain trips a lever which automatically shifts a clutch, thereby moving the chains for a short period at high speed so that the next following 55 tray is in position for receiving its first layer of cigarettes when the stacking plunger makes its next forward stroke, after which the chains again resume their slow continuous motion.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and in which like characters of reference indicate the same or like parts:

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the improved automatic stacking mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the arrangement ⁶⁵shown in Fig. 1;

Figs. 3-6 are detail sectional views showing the successive steps of transferring a group of cigarettes from the stacker belt into a tray;

Fig. 7 is an end elevation taken on line 7—7 ⁱ⁰of Fig. 2, showing the mechanism for stacking the cigarettes in the trays; and

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 7. _ly_

In carrying the invention into effect there is ⁰provided means for collecting cigarettes, means for continuously moving a tray past said collecting means, and means for inserting the collected cigarettes into said tray. In the best construetions contemplated, the collecting means includes a stacker belt and the inserting means includes a horizontally reciprocating plunger provided with an overhanging lip overlying the rear end of the cigarettes to prevent tilting thereof while they are being inserted into the tray on the forward stroke of the plunger. In the preferred form of construction, the means for moving the tray includes spaced chains adapted to support a plurality of trays and a clutch drive for said chains adapted to continuously move the trays past the collecting means at one speed for filling the trays and at another speed for moving the filled tray out of filling position and following tray into filling position. These various means and parts may be widely varied in con- ⁰struction within the scope of the claims, for the particular machine selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many possible concrete embodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the specific construction shown and described.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the cigarettes C, issuing in a row from the catcher belt 10 of the cigarette machine, are guided by the guard rails 11, 12 onto a cross belt 13 which causes them to advance in a transverse direction and carries them to a pair of inclined parallel bars 14, so spaced that short or damaged cigarettes will fall through between them into a receptacle 15 provided for that purpose. The perfect ciga2

1,964,084 rettes are collected on the spaced carrier bands 16 which, moving continuously, deliver them under a rotating brush 17 by which they are properly aligned and propelled over the bridge plate δ 18 onto the endless stacker belt 19, which is preferably made of steel to hold its shape better. Top guides 20 and 21 overlying the carrier bands and stacker belt respectively, assist in the alignment of the cigarettes and prevent them from 10 crowding on top of one another while being advanced. When a number of cigarettes, sufficient for one layer of the tray, has arrived on the stacker belt 19, a finger 22, mounted on a shaft 23 having a crank lever 24 actuated by a rod 25 op15 erated from a cam, not shown,, comes down and arrests the following cigarette on the carrier bands 16 so that the layer on the bands is compact when the finger 22 moves up to permit the next group of cigarettes to advance. The belt 20 19 travels over pulleys 71 supported by shafts 69 from the frames 28, and the pulleys of the catcher and cross belts and carrier bands may be supported from suitable frames not shown.

While the cigarettes on the carrier bands 16 are 25 arrested, a plunger 26 operated by means, hereinafter described, pushes the cigarettes on belt 19 (which is supported by the stationary plate 27) across and off the belt into the tray T. The forward edge of the plunger 26 is provided with an 30 overhanging lip to overlie the rear end of the cigarettes to prevent tilting thereof while they are being delivered to the tray. The successive steps of this transfer are shown in Figs. 3 to 6. After a layer of cigarettes C has arrived on belt 35 19, as shown in Fig. 3, the plunger 26 moves forward as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, thereby stripping the cigarettes off the belt 19 and delivering them to the tray. The plunger 26 moves back into its starting position, as shown in Fig. 6, ready for 40 the next group of cigarettes which arrives on belt 19 while the tray T is lowered the thickness of one cigarette layer by means, hereinafter described.

Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, the trays T are 45 traversed on a separate stand having the end frames 28 spaced the proper distance apart by the tie rod 29 and the tie plate 30. On the frames 28 are journalled the shafts 31 and 32 on which are mounted two pairs of sprockets 33 carrying 50 the vertically inclined chains 34 and 35. At equally spaced intervals, these chains have links 36 projecting to form a support for the trays T. The chains 34 and 35 are continuously advanced by a sprocket 37 mounted on shaft 32, this sprock55 et being driven by a chain 38 running over a sprocket 39 mounted on countershaft 40. The shaft 40 has a gear 41 meshing with gear 42 on shaft 43 which, in turn, has the sprocket 44 driven by chain 45 from sprocket 46 on motor 60 47. The speed at which shaft 32 is driven is so adjusted that during the period of each stroke of the plunger 26 the chains 34 and 35 are lowered by the exact thickness of one layer of cigarettes in the tray T. When one tray is filled, the 65 next tray must be in position when the next group of cigarettes is being discharged, hence the chains 34 and 35 must travel a distance equal to the space between the top layer of one tray and the bottom layer of the next tray during the 7° period of one stroke of the plunger 26. To accomplish this result, the tray supports 36 on the chain 34 carry an adjustably mounted projecting dbg 48 which at the proper moment engages and trips a lever 49 pivoted on. a bracket supported in 7- the end frame 28 and held in engagement with a shift lever 50, also pivoted on said bracket, by a. spring 51. The tripping of lever 49 permits a spring 52 to turn lever 50, thereby shifting the clutch 53 into engagement with the gear 54 idling on shaft 43. Gear 54 meshes with the small spur 80' gear 55 on shaft 40 and thus, through sprocket 39, chain 38, and sprocket 37, drives the shaft 32 with its chain sprockets at high speed until a cam 56 mounted adjustably on the clutch projection 57 of gear 54 engages an arm 58 of shift 85 lever 50, thereby restoring the latter to its normal position in which it is again held by the trip lever 49. In the normal position of lever 50 the clutch member 59 which, like the clutch 53, is attached to or integral with the shifter 60 sliding on a key 90 61 in shaft 43, is in engagement with the clutch member 62 of gear 42, thus driving the shaft 32 at its normal low speed through gear 41, chain 38, and sprocket 37.

A sprocket 63 on shaft 43, by means of chain 95 64 and sprocket 65, drives a shaft 66 journalled in frames 28 and carrying a cam 67 with the track of which engages the cam lever 68, which, is fixed to the shaft 72, thereby actuating the gear segment 70 fixed on said shaft. Segment 70 10G meshes wth gear 74 on shaft 75 at the ends of which are mounted the gears 76 engaging with the racks 77 attached to plunger 26. The brackets 81 fixed to the frame support the plate 27 in a position underlying the upper run of the belt 105 19 to prevent the same from sagging.

At the bottom of one of the frames 28 is journalled a shaft 82 on which is mounted the pulley 83 guiding the transverse conveyor 84 on which the filled tray comes to rest when an empty tray 110 arrives at the tray filling position. The conveyer 84, which is preferably operated from the drive of the machine served by it, transfers the filled trays to the magazine of the cigarette packaging machine along the supporting rails 85, thus com- 115 pleting the cycle of delivery of the stacked cigarettes from the cigarette machine to the packaging machine.

In view of the foregoing a detailed description of the mode of operation of the device is deemed 120 unnecessary and accordingly omitted in the interest of brevity.