JP2000224978A - Tobacco cutting method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and an apparatus for cutting tobacco, whereby the filling performance of cut tobacco is remarkably and surely improved. A method for cutting cigarettes, wherein:
Tobacco cake (1)
The tobacco cake (1) is fed to a mouthpiece (5) exiting therefrom, and after the tobacco cake exits the mouthpiece (5), by means of a knife cutter (6, 7), more particularly a rotating knife drum (5). 6) wherein the method is characterized in that the tobacco cake (1) is cut off in at least one cutting operation by a substantially wider portion than in other cutting operations. Is the way.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for cutting tobacco, wherein tobacco cake is supplied to a mouthpiece,
After exiting there, it is cut by a knife cutter, especially a rotating knife drum.

[0002]

The usual method in the prior art consists in cutting a flaky leaf blend with a commercially available tobacco cutter having a continuous, smooth knife and a single cutting width. Further, in other known cutting methods, a profiled cutting edge is used.
Knives having s) have utility. In this respect, so-called splined
And chiseled knives (CSL knives) are known, whose cutting edge profile has the shape of a rectangular or triangular pinnacle. When using these knives, the particle size distribution in the tobacco cutter changes as compared to a continuous normal knife. further,
It is known that the filling performance of this cut tobacco is the same or less when cut with this knife.

[0003] By mixing conventional cut tobacco with cut tobacco having a larger cutting width, the particle size distribution can be shifted towards a larger fraction (this can be advantageous in tobacco production). )
Confirmed by testing. In particular, a certain increase in its filling performance can be achieved.

[0004] However, the disadvantages of using separate blends of cut tobacco with different cut widths are, inter alia, the production process, as tobaccos with different cut widths need to be buffer-stored before blending. There is an increase in time. In addition, such blends are further degraded because they need to be buffered and need to be taken out of storage and blended with other cutting widths, and also dust formation in cut tobacco This often occurs when blending of various cut widths is not optimal.
The improvement of the filling performance in such a blending method tends to be slight.

[0005] International application WO 95/07031 (EP-
0 717 600), a rotary cutter for cutting compressed tobacco leaves is known, wherein different knife thicknesses or knife gradients are used on a knife drum to achieve different cutting widths. I have. In this arrangement, the points of action of the knives are equidistant around the circumference of the knife drum.

[0006] Actual practice
It was found that influencing the cutting width in this way did not sufficiently improve the filling performance of the tobacco end product. Tobacco cut at different cut widths in cut tobacco blends produced by the methods and apparatus readable from the literature, the change in tobacco cut width, instead, falls well within the normal bandwidth that can be achieved using an unmodified knife drum. There are no indications.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for cutting tobacco, whereby the filling performance of cut tobacco is significantly and reliably improved. Is to do.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a method of cutting tobacco, wherein the tobacco cake (1) is fed to a base (5) from which the tobacco cake (1) exits. After the tobacco cake exits the mouthpiece (5), it is cut by a knife cutter (6, 7), and more particularly by a rotating knife drum (6), wherein the method comprises: ), Characterized in that at least one cutting operation cuts off a substantially wider portion than in other cutting operations.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above method,
The cutting operations are characterized in that the width difference of the tobacco portions is sequenced such that the difference in width substantially exceeds the nominal or accidental width difference that occurs in such a cutting operation.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above method,
The cutting operations are characterized in that the width differences are sequenced so as to reach at least 20%.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above method,
The large cutting width is characterized in that it is essentially a natural number multiple of the small cutting width, and more specifically, essentially twice that cutting width.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above method,
Two different cut widths result, more particularly characterized by the cut widths being about 0.85 mm and 1.7 mm.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above method,
The tobacco cake (1) is cut by the rotating knife drum (6), on which at least 2
The circumferential distance between two knives (7) is characterized by being greater than at least one other circumferential distance.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above method,
A standard knife drum (6) having a uniform knife arrangement around its circumference is used, from which at least one knife (7) is removed from the fastener (12) of the knife drum (6), preferably It is characterized by being replaced by the offset weight.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above method,
The cigarette cake (1) is moved at least during the at least two cutting operations at a substantially higher speed than during the other cutting operations;
It is characterized by being advanced from the base (5).

In a preferred embodiment, in the above method,
The knife drum (6) rotates at a substantially lower speed during at least two cutting operations than during other cutting operations.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above method,
The wide cutting is a profiled cutting edge.
d cutting edge) (CSL knife).

The present invention also relates to a device for cutting tobacco, comprising a feeder for a tobacco cake (1), a mouthpiece in the feeder from which the tobacco cake (1) exits. 5), and a knife cutter at the mouthpiece (5), and more particularly a rotating knife drum (6), wherein the device comprises at least one cutting operation from the tobacco cake (1). , Characterized by being shaped such that a substantially wider portion is cut away than in other cutting operations.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above apparatus,
The circumferential distance between at least two knives (7a, 7b) on the rotating knife drum (6) is substantially larger than other circumferential distances.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above apparatus,
The large circumferential spacing is at least 20% larger than the other circumferential spacing.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above apparatus,
The large circumferential interval is essentially a natural number multiple of the small circumferential interval, more specifically, twice as large.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above apparatus,
Knife fasteners evenly distributed around its circumference (12)
Characterized in that at least one knife is removed from the fastener (12) of the knife drum (6) and is preferably replaced by a counterweight.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above apparatus,
Means for advancing said cigarette cake (1) from said mouthpiece (5) by means of a drive control at a substantially higher speed during at least two cutting operations than during the other two cutting operations ( 2, 3, 4).

In a preferred embodiment, in the above apparatus,
The high speed is at least 20% lower than the low speed
High, more specifically a natural number times higher, preferably 2
It is characterized by being twice as expensive.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above apparatus,
The knife drum (6) includes a dynamic drive, whereby the knife drum (6) has at least two
It is characterized in that it rotates at a substantially lower speed during one cutting operation than during another cutting operation.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above apparatus,
The low speed is at least 20% higher than the high speed
Low, more particularly, is characterized by being a natural number of the high speed, preferably half of the high speed.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above apparatus,
The knife (7) on the cutter is characterized in that it has a smooth cutting edge throughout, or a cutting edge with a staggered profile on the knife in sequence.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above apparatus,
The cutting edge of the knife (7) is characterized in that it cooperates with a cove having a profiled surface area.

In a preferred embodiment, in the above apparatus,
The substantially wide part is cut off using a knife (7) having a profiled cutting edge, and the small part is a knife (7) having a smooth cutting edge throughout.
It is characterized by being separated using

This object is achieved by the features of the characterizing features in claims 1 and 11. Preferred embodiments of the invention are defined by the dependent claims.

The marked improvement in the filling performance of cut tobacco is
In accordance with the present invention, in a continuous cutting method that includes a series of cutting operations, a portion is separated from the tobacco cake in at least one cutting operation, which is substantially wider than the other cutting operations. Is achieved. In other words, in this continuous process, the width portions are alternately or at least sequentially cut off from the narrow and wide tobacco cakes, so that this cutting operation automatically blends the tobacco with different cut widths. Occurs in the future. What is important in this context is that tobacco parts having a wide cut width are manufactured much wider than those having a narrow cut width. In one preferred embodiment, wide cutting (preferably of 1 mm cutting width) is performed using a so-called CSL knife, which, due to its defined cutting edge geometry, has a large cut tobacco. Shortening the fiber length improves the processability and blend uniformity of the tobacco.

An advantage of the present invention is, as mentioned above, in particular the fact that the filling performance of such cut tobacco material is substantially greater than that achievable with conventional cutting methods or devices. is there. By setting an appropriately large difference in the cut width, this filling performance can be approximately 9
% Higher.

In the continuous process according to the invention, the blending of the various tobacco cut widths is, so to speak, automatically achieved, so that the tobacco of the various cut widths is simply buffered (buf).
Ferring and the losses resulting from blending them are excluded here. It is for this reason that the improvement in filling performance achievable according to the invention is also considerably greater than with such conventional blending methods.

In order to achieve as large and significant a filling performance improvement as possible, the difference in the width of the cut-off portions is substantially greater than the nominal or accidental difference in width that occurs in a normal cutting operation. The cutting operations need to be ordered.
It is for this reason that the difference in width should advantageously reach at least 20%.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wide cut width of the cut tobacco is essentially a natural number times the smaller cut width, more preferably approximately twice this cut width. Two different cutting widths in the range of approximately 0.85 mm to 1.7 mm have been found to be particularly advantageous.

According to the present invention, there are various possibilities to achieve substantially different cutting widths. One possibility consists of cutting the tobacco cake with a rotating knife drum, on which the circumferential spacing between at least two knives is greater than its at least one other circumferential spacing. As a result, it takes a longer time between one cutting operation and a subsequent cutting operation than between the other cutting operations, and as a result, the cigarette cake can be pushed out of the base to some extent. This, of course, results in a wider cutting width that can be achieved in at least one cutting operation in a continuous cutting process, so that the tobacco portion can be cut with substantially different cutting widths in this continuous cutting method. Can be manufactured. In a device according to the invention, a large circumferential spacing is advantageously at least two times greater than other circumferential spacings.
0% greater, which is more specifically essentially a natural number multiple of the smaller circumferential spacing, and preferably twice that number. A particularly simple (and therefore very cost-effective) device according to the invention comprises a standard knife drum having knife fasteners uniformly distributed around its circumference, from which fasteners: At least one knife is removed and preferably replaced by a counterweight. This results in a particularly simple (and therefore cost-effective) knife arrangement according to the invention, wherein the circumferential distance between the two knives is greater than the remaining circumferential distance. The effect of the present invention can be achieved by simple removal of the knife from the fastener. This offset weight can be used to prevent any balancing errors of the knife drum.

A second possibility of achieving the gist of the present invention is
Consisting of advancing the tobacco cake out of the mouthpiece during at least two cutting operations at a substantially higher speed than during the other cutting operations. The knife drum can cut the tobacco at uniform time intervals; if the tobacco cake advancement is alternately dynamically accelerated and slowed, this method will also reduce the difference in cutting width. Also achieved. It is common practice in drive technology to make the drive increasingly dynamic and able to decelerate and accelerate with minimal delay, thereby giving the possibility to provide a suitable cutting width difference in the cutting operation It is great progress. In a variant of the method and the device according to the invention, the maximum speed at which the tobacco cake is to be advanced should preferably be at least 20% higher than the low speed, more particularly a natural number times higher, preferably Should be about twice as high.

A third possibility of the invention for achieving a suitable distribution of the cutting width consists in equipping the knife drum with a dynamic drive, whereby the drum can be moved between at least two cutting operations. And rotate at a substantially lower speed than during other cutting operations. In this case, the knife drum therefore rotates at a continuously variable speed, whereby different cutting widths are achieved. Again, low speed
At least 20% lower than the high speed, more particularly a natural number of this high speed, and preferably
If it is about half that, good results are achieved.

In a further preferred aspect, the device according to the invention can comprise a knife on a cutter having a smooth cutting edge throughout, which likewise includes a cutting edge having a staggered profile. There may be. Also, the cutting edge is the profile surface area (prof
It is also advantageous to use a knife in cooperation with a cove having an illuminated surface area. Such a cove is located behind the knife edge and, due to its profiling, may contribute to yet another shape of the cut tobacco.

[0040]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows the basic shape of a tobacco cutting device, which is generally designated by the reference numeral 1;
Recognized by 0. The tobacco enters the device at the position identified by arrow I and, at the bottom of this position, takes the shape of a tobacco cake 1 which is moved to the right by the upper and lower supply chains 2,3. Going further, it is compacted. The supply chains 2 and 3 are driven by a drive motor 4 via belts 11,9. After consolidation, the tobacco cake reaches the die 5 of the cutting device, from which it exits.

A knife 7 of a knife drum 6 extends past the base 5 and is housed in a knife drum housing 8. The knife drum 6 rotates in the direction of this arrow so that the portion where the cigarette cake comes out is cut off each time the knife passes through the mouthpiece 5. The separated tobacco then leaves the housing at the location identified by arrow II.

Referring now to FIG. 2, one possibility of implementing the invention is illustrated, which will now be discussed first.

The knife drum 6 is a drum having three knife fasteners, which is also called a three knife drum.

Obtaining a substantially different cutting width for this tobacco is achieved by removing the third knife while leaving the two knives 7a and 7b in place in the knife drum 6, as shown in FIG. Is achieved in various embodiments. In FIG. 2, the empty knife fastener 12 can be seen.

When the knife drum 6 now rotates at a constant speed, the cigarette cake is such that the circumferential spacing between the knives 7a and 7b on the side shown at the top of this figure is only half of the side shown at the bottom. Since there is no time to advance between the cutting of knife 7a and the subsequent cutting of knife 7b,
It only takes half the time between the cutting of the knife 7b and the subsequent subsequent cutting of the knife 7a. The fastener 12 itself
Do not cut this cigarette.

In this way, two different tobacco cut widths are easily obtained in a continuous manner, ie a smaller cut width and almost twice as wide.

The filling performance of the tobacco thus obtained is as follows:
It is much higher than the value obtained on average for conventional cut tobacco. The tobacco cut width is therefore such that the tobacco is suitable for subsequent steps in tobacco processing.
Can be set individually. In this regard, cut tobacco having a narrow particle size distribution, and more particularly a very small (less than 1 mm) particle size distribution, is suitable, and tobacco fiber separation (unb
It is very well adapted to pneumatic conveying equipment and tobacco making machines so that lending and further deterioration of the tobacco can be limited. This can be achieved according to the present invention. No further blending of individual tobacco of different cut widths into the final tobacco blend and degradation of the resulting tobacco occurs.

In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.
The mass fraction of tobacco fiber width for the three knife drum downstream of this cutter is given in Table 1 below: Table 1

[0049]

[Table 1]

Of course, it is readily apparent that embodiments of the present invention involving knife removal can also be performed using a knife drum having a greater number of knives. Tables 2 and 3 below list the cutting width and mass ratio for 6 knife drums and 8 knife drums for different numbers of removal knives.

Table 2

[0052]

[Table 2]

Table 3

[0054]

[Table 3]

The more knives that can be mounted on the knife drum, the greater the number of possible cutting widths and the flexibility of the mass fraction.

Of course, to achieve the above-described embodiment according to the present invention, the customized assembly of the knife drum also requires that at least one circumferential spacing between the two knives be greater than the other circumferential spacing. As long as it can be used, it will be readily apparent.

Referring again to FIG. 1, yet another embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail. In a first alternative embodiment of the invention, the motor 4 is a motor with a dynamic drive control (ie via the belts 9 and 11), and the cigarette cake is sometimes
Sometimes you can move forward slowly and intermittently. In this arrangement, when the knife drum 6 rotates at a continuous speed, the corresponding small and large tobacco cutting widths are cut off in a continuous cutting operation, so that again the tobacco in the width of the cut off strips. Tobacco distribution is achieved according to the present invention, as well as obtaining the desired improvement in filling performance. This cut tobacco blend can be manufactured in a variety of ways with regard to particulate fiber distribution, mass proportions, filling performance and processability. In commercial cutters, the drive system of the feeder for the tobacco web (tobacco cake 1) to the spinneret 5 is such that the speed of the feeder is to achieve a wide range of cutting widths which are substantially different in the process sequence. It is improved so that it can be changed step by step with a freely adjustable program. For this purpose, the feeder accepts a very dynamic angle and speed synchronous drive, and in this fast cutting operation,
The change in cutting width can be obtained step by step, and there is no problem in achieving this with the very sophisticated dynamic drive systems currently achievable.

The third possibility of the present invention affecting the cutting width can also be explained with reference to FIG. If the knife 6 shown has a dynamic drive, likewise:
A rapid acceleration and deceleration of this rotation is possible, and a substantial difference in the cutting width can of course also be achieved in the case of constant tobacco cake advancement as in the second embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a comparison of the filling performance experimentally achieved for different tobacco cutting methods. In this graph, it can be seen that normal cutting is a method according to the prior art, where the various individual cutting widths are achieved with a smooth knife. "Blend ex TP"
Refers to the test results for blending tobacco of different cut widths after passing through tobacco preparation (ie, tobacco cut to different cut widths with various cutters is buffered and subsequently mixed). Finally, the term "double cutting with a cutter" refers to the cutting method according to the invention, ie the first cutting method described above, which is detailed with reference to FIG. It is also called control disconnect according to method 1.

The unit of filling performance is the number of ml of tobacco per gram of tobacco, which is measured using a Borgwald densitometer at 12% tobacco moisture.

The test results plotted on the graph shown in FIG. 3 clearly demonstrate the superiority of the cutting method according to the invention (method 1), where 0.85 mm
A significantly improved filling performance over the normal cut is achieved for a mass fraction of 33% of the cut width and 66% of the cut width of 1.7 mm. This is particularly evident from the line showing an equal cutting width of 1.4 mm. Here, a normal cut (that is, cut tobacco cut with a cut width of only 0.85 mm) has the lowest filling performance (approximately 4.5).
(Line connecting test result points in rhombus)).

Furthermore, the filling performance achievable with method 1 according to the invention can be achieved with the help of subsequently blended tobacco at different cutting widths (blend ex TP), which is the filling performance of a normal cut. Than already slightly preferred).

Overall, it can be said that with the method and the device of the present invention, a filling performance up to 9% higher than that obtained with conventional tobacco cutting can be achieved.

The present invention relates to a method for cutting tobacco. In this method, the tobacco cake (1) is fed to a base (5) from which the tobacco cake (1) exits,
After the tobacco cake (1) exits the mouthpiece (5), it is cut by a knife cutter (6, 7), more particularly by a rotating knife drum, wherein the method comprises the steps of: Is characterized in that at least one cutting operation cuts off a substantially wider part than in other cutting operations. The present invention also provides
An apparatus for performing the method.

[0065]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method and apparatus for cutting tobacco, whereby the filling performance of cut tobacco is significantly and reliably improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a tobacco cutting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cutting device according to the invention, comprising a knife drum from which one knife has been removed.

FIG. 3 is a graph plotting differentiated cutting width versus achievable filling performance.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tobacco cake 2 Upper supply chain 3 Lower supply chain 4 Drive motor 5 Base 6 Knife drum 7 Knife 8 Knife drum housing 9, 11 Belt 10 Tobacco cutting device 12 Fastener

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (71) Applicant 596148364 1500 Brown & Williams on Tower, P.S. O. Box 35090, Louisville, KY 40232, U.S.A. S. A. (72) Inventor Thomas Jung, Germany 95448 Beirus, Gottfried Semper Weg 10 (72) Inventor, Wi-Peter Corner, Germany 95339 Newmarkt, Clostersteig 1 (72) Inventor, Wolfgang Metzner, Germany 21035 Hamburg , Callus Sherman-Strasse 10 Tse

Claims (22)

[Claims] 1. A method of cutting tobacco, wherein tobacco cake (1)
Is supplied to a mouthpiece (5) from which the tobacco cake (1) exits, and after the tobacco cake leaves the mouthpiece (5), by means of a knife cutter (6, 7), more particularly a rotating knife. Cut by a drum (6), where
The method is characterized in that the tobacco cake (1) is severed in at least one cutting operation from a substantially wider portion than in other cutting operations. 2. The cutting operation is sequenced such that the difference in width of the tobacco portion substantially exceeds the nominal or accidental width difference that occurs in such a cutting operation. The method of claim 1, wherein 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cutting operations are ordered such that the difference in the width amounts to at least 20%. 4. The large cutting width is essentially a natural number multiple of the small cutting width, and more specifically, is essentially two times the cutting width.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method is doubled. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein two different cutting widths are produced and, more particularly, the cutting widths are approximately 0.85 mm and 1.7 mm. 6. The tobacco cake (1) is cut by the rotating knife drum (6) on which the circumferential spacing between at least two knives (7) is at least one other circumference. Characterized by being larger than the interval,
The method according to claim 1. 7. A standard knife drum (6) having a uniform knife arrangement around its circumference is used, from which at least one knife (7) is removed from a fastener (12) of said knife drum (6). 7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that it is replaced by a compensating weight. 8. The cigarette cake (1) is advanced from the base (5) during at least two cutting operations at a substantially higher speed than during other cutting operations. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein 9. The knife drum according to claim 1, wherein said knife drum rotates at a substantially lower speed during at least two cutting operations than during another cutting operation.
9. The method according to any one of items 8. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wide cutting comprises a profiled cutting edge (CS).
The method according to claim 1, wherein the method is performed using an L-knife. 11. An apparatus for cutting tobacco, comprising: a feeder for a tobacco cake (1); a mouthpiece (5) in the feeder from which the tobacco cake (1) exits; And a knife cutter in the mouthpiece (5), more particularly a rotating knife drum (6), wherein the device is capable of cutting the cigarette cake (1) in at least one cutting operation with another An apparatus characterized by being shaped such that a substantially larger portion is cut away than in a cutting operation. 12. The device according to claim 11, wherein a circumferential distance between at least two knives on the rotating knife drum is substantially greater than another circumferential distance. An apparatus according to claim 1. 13. The method of claim 13, wherein the large circumferential spacing is at least 20% greater than the other circumferential spacing.
An apparatus according to claim 12. 14. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the large circumferential spacing is essentially a natural number multiple of the small circumferential spacing, more particularly twice. 15. A standard knife drum (6) having knife fasteners (12) evenly distributed around its circumference, wherein at least one knife fastener (12) of said knife drum (6) is provided. Apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 14, characterized in that the knife is removed, preferably replaced by a counterweight. 16. The tobacco cake (1) is driven by the drive control at least two times during the cutting operation at a substantially higher speed than between the other two cutting operations. Device according to claim 11, characterized in that it comprises means (2,3,4) for advancing from. 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the high speed is at least 20% higher than the low speed, more particularly a natural number times higher, preferably twice as high.
An apparatus according to claim 1. 18. The knife drum (6) includes a dynamic drive, whereby the knife drum (6)
Rotate at a substantially lower speed during at least two cutting operations than during other cutting operations,
An apparatus according to claim 11. 19. The low speed is at least 20% lower than the high speed, and more particularly, is a natural number of the high speed, preferably half the high speed. Apparatus according to claim 18. 20. The knife (7) on the cutter
Device according to any of claims 11 to 18, characterized in that it has a smooth cutting edge throughout or has a cutting edge with a staggered profile on the knife in sequence. 21. The cutting edge of the knife (7) may be a profiled surface area.
Apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 18, characterized in that it cooperates with a cove having an area. 22. The substantially wide portion is cut using a knife (7) having a profiled cutting edge, and the small portion using a knife (7) having a smooth cutting edge throughout. Apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 18, characterized in that it is cut off.