Tobacco rack

Aug. 4, 1964

Filed May 11, 1962

T. J, DANFORD ETAL

TOBACCO RACK

3,143,370

Sheets-Sheet 1

<img file="US3143370A_D0001.tif" />

T. J. DANFORD ETAL

TOBACCO RACK

Aug. 4, 1964

Filed May 11, 1962

3,143,370

Sheets-Sheet 2

<img file="US3143370A_D0002.tif" />

Aug. 4, 1964,

3,143,370

T. J. DANFORD ETAL

TOBACCO RACK

Filed May U, 1962 . _x

Sheets-Sheet 3

<img file="US3143370A_D0003.tif" />

<img file="US3143370A_D0004.tif" />

3,143,370

T. J. DANFORD ETAL

TOBACCO, rack:

Aug. 4, 1964

Filed May H, 1962

Sheets-Sheet 4

<img file="US3143370A_D0005.tif" />

<img file="US3143370A_D0006.tif" />

FIG.8

United States Patent Office

3,143,370

Patented Aug. 4, 19S4

143 370 TOBACCO RACK

Tfe'as J. Danford, 1127 Rosewood Ave., Rocky Mount, N.C., and Joseph J. Harrington, Lewiston, N.C.

Filed May 11,1962, Ser. No. 193,953

Claim. (Cl. 294—5.5)

This invention generally relates to a new and improved tobacco rack. More particularly this invention relates to a novel tobacco rack which maintains tobacco leaves in a 10 packed as opposed to a loose condition.

For a hundred years the most common method of drying and curing tobacco leaves has been to arrange the tobacco leaves in loose arrays (e.g. tied to a stick) and then suspend these arrays in a barn-like structure for a substantial period of time so that warm or heated air (under natural or forced draft) could pass through, around and into intimate contact wtih such leaves. However, this method is slow, requires considerable hand labor and is difficult to control. 20

Within recent years considerable experimentation has been carried out to find ways and means for simplifying the tobacco curing process. One method which has been developed involves packing a fairly large quantity of leaves closely together in bundles and then forcing suitably conditioned air or gas through the leaves. This method holds promise of numerous efficiencies, economies and advantages in the curing of tobacco. However, the different techniques involved in the preparation of tobacco leaves for such process have created the need for special apparatus which will expedite the implementation of the process. For example, the leaves must be retained in very close contact; they must be protected from excessive handling after curing has been effected; and they must be easily removable from the curing chamber. In response 33 to these requirements the invention has been developed.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a tobacco rack which is adapted to retain tobacco leaves in a closely packed relationship.

It is another object of this invention to provide a 40 tobacco rack which is particularly adapted to hold tobacco leaves along the wider portion of the leaves, thereby allowing them to be held in a more compact relationship than if held together by the bulkier stems.

It is another object of this invention to provide a to- 45 bacco rack which allows the tobacco leaves to be retained in a vertical position and in substantially close contact with each other.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a tobacco rack which may be easily filled with tobacco leaves in an orderly fashion by even casual and unskilled labor. More particularly, this object is facilitated by the arrangement wherein leaves need not be individually placed on the rack nor secured in selected groups prior to being placed in the rack. 55

It is also an object of this invention to provide a tobacco rack which is particularly adapted for use in forced draft tobacco curing or drying processes.

In general, this invention has as its object the provision of a rack which is durable, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to maintain and conveniently handled.

In its broadest concept, the present invention relates to a rack for tobacco leaves comprising in combination:

(a) Two spaced apart end sections disposed in a substantially parallel relationship;

(Z>) Each of said end sections having a substantially rectangular configuration, comprising two upper corners and two lower corners;

(c) Two elongated connecting members extending between the opposed lower corners of said two. end sections;

(d) A plurality of leaf piercing fingers arranged in substantially the same plane and each piercing finger being long enough to pierce all tobacco leaves disposed on said elongated connecting members and between said two end sections;

(e) The upper ends of said plurality of leaf piercing fingers all being joined to a common elongated rod;

(f) Each end of said elongated rod being normally seated in portions of said end sections which are intermediate the upper corners and in approximately the same plane therewith; and (g) Means for detachably engaging the ends of said elongated rod with portions of said end sections.

The invention may be more clearly understood by referring to the drawings wherein one specific embodiment of the rack of this invention is shown and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of this embodiment showing one tobacco leaf arranged in the rack;

FIGURE 2 is a cross section of the elongated rod shown in FIGURE 1, and one preferred locking means;

FIGURE 3 is an elevation view shewing how the assembled rack would appear when mounted in a curing chamber;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of several of the assembled racks as they will appear when placed within a curing chamber;

FIGURE 5 is an end view showing how three tobacco racks would appear when placed within a curing chamber and filled with tobacco leaves;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of this invention;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view illustrating one possible type of pivotal means for the end section of the rack;

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic sketch illustrating the “three point” arrangement used in the construction of the rack of this invention;

FIGURES 9 and 10 are endwise cross sectional views of racks filled with tobacco leaves illustrating how adjacent racks cooperate with one another when placed in abutting relationship in a tobacco drying chamber.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, the bottom portion of the tobacco rack is seen to consist of two elongated connecting members 16 and 18 (e.g. channel sections) which are parallel to each other and form a supporting surface for a tobacco leaf T. The ends of members 16 and 18 are connected to the lower corners of end sections 10 and 12, as by welding. Sections 10 and 12 each have an essentially rectangular configuration and are substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to the members 16 and 18.

The end sections 10 and 12 have perpendicularly extending flange portions 40, 42, 36 and 38 extending from the lower corner to the upper corner. These flanges extend outwardly away from the area between the end sections. The function of these flanges will be explained in greater detail in conjunction with FIGURES 3 and 4.

Along the upper edges of end sections 10 and 12 there are provided seats or notches 52 and 54. Holes 44, 46, 48 and 50 are provided below or adjacent to the perimeter of seats or notches 52 and 54. Seats or ¢0 notches 52 and 54 are adapted to receive an elongated rod which as shown in FIGURE 2 consists of a pipe 14 having a plurality of downwardly extending leaf piercing fingers 20 which are parallel to each other and positioned in a plane extending diametrically through the pipe 14. The pipe 14 preferably is provided with a plate 26 which is located adjacent one end of the pipe and which may be welded or attached by other suitable means. This plate 26 extends laterally far enough so that it contacts the upper edge of the end section 10 on γθ both sides of the seat or notch 52, thereby preventing rotation of the pipe 14 relative to the end section 10. While a plate 25 is shown on one end of the pipe only, it

3,143,370 should be understood that if conditions so warranted, it would involve no invention to fix a similar plate at the corresponding location on the other end of the pipe 14. A means for detachably engaging the ends of the elongated rod with the end sections is shown, by way of example, in FIGURE 2. It essentially consists of axially movable hooks 22 and 24 which are adapted to engage holes 44, 46, 48 or 50. Limited axial or longitudinal movement of the hooks 22 and 24 with respect to the pipe 14 is achieved by connecting the inner ends of hooks 22 and 24 to springs 28 and 30 respectively, and springs 28 and 30 are in turn connected bj' a wire 32. By the use of this construction the hooks 22 and 24 may be manually pulled outwardly (against the force of springs 28 and 30) to the positions 22α and 24α, thereby allowing the pipe 14 to more easily fit into the seats or notches 52 and 54. After the pipe 14 has been properly positioned within the seats 52 and 54, the hooks may be released from the positions indicated by positions 22α and 24α and the inwardly turned ends of hooks 22 and 24 can then be engaged with two of the holes 44, 46, 48, 50. Such engagement prevents the pipe 14 from moving the seats or notches 52 and 54. When the pipe 14 is fastened in this position the fingers 20 will be extending downwardly until their points are about midway between members 16 and 18.

To use the rack, the piercing assembly shown in FIGURE 2 is of course removed so that the tobacco leaves can be stacked on the members 16 and 18 and between the end plates 10 and 12 until this area is substantially filled. The tobacco leaves are preferably placed so that all of the stems will protrude from the same side of the rack, but it does not matter which side is chosen. The tobacco leaves may be stacked somewhat above the level of the upper edges of end stections 10 and 12 if desired, since they can later be compressed downwardly. It is preferred that the stems be allowed to protrude beyond beyond the edge of one of the members (16 or 18) by approximately three inches. When a sufficient number of leaves have been stacked in the rack the piercing assembly shown in FIGURE 2 is then utilized to secure the leaves within the rack. As the piercing assembly is manually pushed downwardly the sharp ends of fingers 20 are forced through the leaves until the fingers extend more or less completely through the bed of leaves. The ends of pipe 14 are then positioned within the seats or notches 52 and 54. The inwardly turned ends of hooks 22 and 24 are then secured within either the holes 44 and 48 or 46 and 50 and a compact portable mass of tobacco leaves is thus formed. After the rack has been filled with tobacco leaves and the leaves secured in place as described above, the rack is then rotated by 90 degrees so that the tobacco stems are extending upwardly and the flanges 40, 42, 38 and 36 are in a horizontal rather than a vertical position. When the flanges 40, 42, 38 and 36 are in a horizontal position, the entire loaded rack of tobacco leaves can be placed on or slid upon supporting brackets located within a curing chamber. This is illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4 wherein supporting brackets 34 and 35, located on curing chamber walls 37 and 39, are seen to support flanges 36 and 40. The horizontally extending support brackets 34 and 35 also permit longitudinal sliding of the tobacco rack.

A plurality of loaded racks may be placed on the support brackets 34 and 35 as is shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. It should be noted that during the course of the rack filling operation the stem ends of the tobacco leaves can be placed on either side of the rack but once one leaf is placed in the rack, all other leaves should be inserted so that all stems point in the same direction. With such a choice, either flanges 36 and 40 or flanges 38 and 42 may be utilized to support the rack so that all of the stems in the curing chamber will be extending upwardly.

Since the tobacco leaves in a rack will be compressed along the intermediate portion which is enclosed within the rack, the opposite end portions of the tobacco leaves will have a limited tendency to diverge outwardly. As can be seen from FIGURE 5, this tendency to diverge is of value because when a plurality of racks are placed together in a curing chamber the diverging leaf portions of the racks will in effect press into contact with each other so that a rather uniform “bed” of tobacco leaves is established and maintained. All of the tobacco leaves throughout the bed are thus substantially in contact with one another with no open areas which might adversely affect the operation of a forced air draft curing operation. (See FIGURE 5.)

While one specific embodiment of the invention has been shown, it will be understood that numerous variations are possible without departing from the basic principles of the invention.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGURE 6. The bottom portion of the tobacco rack is seen to consist of two elongated connecting members 116 and 118 (e.g. a channel section) which are parallel to each other and form a supporting surface for a tobacco leaf. The ends of members 116 and 118 are connected to the lower portions of end sections 110 and 112. Sections 110 and 112 each have an essentially rectangular configuration and are substantially parallel to each other and perpendicular to the members 116 and 118 (as shown) when the rack is filled with tobacco leaves. End sections 110 and 112 preferably have perpendicularly extending flange portions 140 and 142 so that they can perform essentially the same function as flange portions 36, 38, 40 and 42 described in connection with FIGURES 1-5.

Notches are also provided in the embodiment of FIGURE 6 corresponding to the notches shown in FIGURES 1-5, such notches being adapted to receive an elongated rod 114 having a plurality of downwardly extending leaf piercing fingers 120 which are parallel to each other and positioned in a plane which preferably extends diametrically through the pipe 114. It will be seen that the pipe 114 has a different means for engagement with end sections 110 and 112. This engagement means comprises a downwardly extending notched member 115 which is designed to fit downwardly within notch receiving member 117. This type of interlocking arrangement is well known in other arts and the notched member is preferably somewhat springy and biased in an outward direction so that (1) automatic engagement will occur by simply pressing pipe 114 downwardly when the rack is full of tobacco leaves and (2) disengagement can readily be effected by pressing inwardly on the notched end of notched member 115. Such engagement prevents the pipe 114 from moving from the notches. When the pipe 114 is fastened in this position the fingers 120 will be extending downwardly until their points are about midway between members 116 and 118.

The embodiment shown in FIGURE 6 essentially differs from the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1-5 in that one or both of the end sections 110 and 112 can be pivoted through an arc of 90, 180 or even 360 degrees. This is indicated by the arrows and dotted lines in FIGURE 6. FIGURE 7 shows one way in which this arcuate movement can be achieved, namely by joining member 118 and flange portion 142 by means of a pivot pin 160 which permits any desired degree of relative rotation. The members 142 and 118 can be held in any desired position with respect to each other by inserting a pin, bolt or the like through aligned holes 150 in members 142 and 118. Only one hole 150 is needed in member 118 while a plurality of holes are provided in member 142. A number of other equivalent means will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. Providing for pivotal movement of one or both of end members 110 and 112 permits more compact transportation, stacking, feeding and storage of a plurality of racks.

3,1 §

The rack of FIGURE 6 otherwise operates to hold tobacco in the same manner as the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1-5.

FIGURES 8, 9 and 10 illustrate how the novel construction of the rack of this invention permits more efficient and uniform drying of the tobacco· leaves in a drying chamber. For example, FIGURE 10 is a cross sectional view of two tobacco filled racks, each rack consisting of four members 400, 401, 402 and 403, spaced as at corners of a rectangle. Members 492 and 403 usually are provided with spikes extending toward members 400 and 401. It will be noted that the top adjacent members 402 and 400 of the two racks and the bottom adjacent members 403 and 481 of the two racks will be difficult to push closely enough together that the formation of a gas-tight seal will be insured at all times. So long as there is an upward passage between members 403 and 401 and then between members 402 and 400, drying gas will take this route since it is the path of least resistance as compared to passing upwardly through the bunched tobacco leaves. Channeling of the drying gas will thus inevitably occur. In addition, the type of racks shown in FIGURE 10 suffer from the disadvantage that they compress the tobacco leaves between directly opposed parallel members producing a flat final product having creases or at least an undesirable “pressed look.” In addition, the type of rack shown in FIGURE 10 presses the tobacco so tightly (as between members 409 and 482 and members 401 and 403) that it is difficult for the drying air to pass upwardly through the compacted tobacco leaves. A further disadvantage of this prior art type of construction is that it results in wasted space in the drying chamber.

In contrast, reference to FIGURES 8 and 9 readily reveal that the “three point” arrangement of the racks in accordance with the present invention avoids the aforementioned difficulties. With the racks of the present invention the tobacco is securely compressed but not between directly opposed parallel members. The compression members are parallel but not diametrically opposite. There is less local compaction for a given density of bale. Furthermore, there is metal-to-leaf contact for sealing between adjacent racks when the racks are placed in the bulk curing chamber. More specifically, FIGURE 9 shows a cross sectional view of three adjacent racks as they might be arranged in a bulk curing chamber. It will be observed that the rack comprising members 214A, 216A and 218A closely abuts the rack member consisting of members 214B, 216B and 218B. None of the metallic frame members of rack A abuts against metallic frame members of rack B. Instead, member 216B and member 218B of rack B are pressed against the tobacco leaves in rack A while the metallic member 214A of rack A is pressed against the tobacco in rack B. This construction insures that there will be little or no gas channeling between adjacent rack members and furthermore the drying gas will rise through the leaves in the arrangement shown in FIGURE 9 more readily and more uniformly than they will with the arrangement shown in FIGURE 10.

The arrangement shown in FIGURE 9 has the further advantage that the leaves in each rack are only obliquely clamped in the rack as indicated by the line of force arrows extending between member 314 and members 316 and 318 in FIGURE 8. The final dried product of the racks shown in FIGURE 9 will therefore not have the

370 undesirable crease marks that will be present when a rack of the type shown in FIGURE 10 is employed. Additionally, the three member bulk rack of FIGURE 9 utilizes less material and is therefore less expensive to manufacture and not as heavy as a four member rack of the type shown in FIGURE 10. Further, the single row of spikes in the rack of the present invention involves less effort to penetrate the tobacco bale and thereby facilitates loading of the rack. With the type of units shown in FIGURE 10 spikes are usually provided on both members 402 and 493 and these spikes extend toward members 480 and 401 respectively. These and other advantages exist with the rack of the present invention.

It will be appreciated that the end sections may be either permanently attached to the elongated member or only temporarily attached with bolts, pins, springs or the like. Also one end section may be permanently attached (pivoted or not pivoted) and the other end section may be readily detachable to facilitate shipping, storage, etc.