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"That the automobile has practically reached the limit of its development is suggested by the fact that during the past year no improvements of a radical nature have been introduced."
Scientific American ; Jan. 2 edition, 1909
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7762265 | Apparatus for controlling distribution of tobacco strip An apparatus is configured to control the distribution of tobacco strip in a charger of a tobacco packing press. The apparatus includes a housing. A plurality of ducts extend from the housing to the charger. Each duct is configured to direct a portion of the air flo... | 07/27/2010 |
| 7624738 | Product change method for a cigarette manufacturing machine A product change method for a cigarette manufacturing machine, wherein an input hopper receives a first type of shredded tobacco from a supply header, and feeds it to at least one channel for forming, on a conveyor, a bead of tobacco, which is released onto a paper ... | 12/01/2009 |
| 7383840 | Apparatus for scanning and sorting tobacco leaves An apparatus for scanning and sorting tobacco leaves includes a conveyor to convey a flow of tobacco leaves. The flow of tobacco leaves includes acceptable and unacceptable leaves and undesirable particles. An air flow source lifts and accelerates the flow of leaves... | 06/10/2008 |
| 7316348 | Automated banking machine with improved resistance to fraud Apparatus and method for interfering with an unauthorized device attempting to acquire user identification information at a cash dispensing automated banking machine. The apparatus includes an emitter for emitting radiation at one or more frequencies to interfere wi... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7287529 | Cigarette maker In a cigarette maker comprising a descent channel filled with shredded tobacco by a carding unit and with reclaimed tobacco by a conveyor, the shredded tobacco and the reclaimed tobacco are taken up and transferred by a toothed unit toward an ascent channel, from wh... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7240827 | Automated banking machine with improved resistance to fraud An automated banking machine (10) includes a lockable first fascia portion (20) which when unlocked enables access to a chest lock input device (104), inputs to which enable opening a chest door (18) of the machine. Opening the first fasc... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7227148 | Apparatus for detecting impurities in material and detecting method therefor In an apparatus and a method for detecting impurities in a material, infrared rays or a plurality of specific wavelength components of the infrared rays are applied to a material on a conveyor, the respective reflection intensities of the specific wavelength compone... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7176696 | Method of detecting and eliminating foreign bodies in a flow of tobacco In a method of detecting and eliminating foreign bodies in tobacco, a flow of tobacco advances first through a preparation zone where it is gathered into a continuous ribbon of tobacco filler, then through a forming station at which the filler is used to fashion a c... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7004896 | Method and arrangement for producing compound filters A method and arrangement are provided for producing compound filters for products in the tobacco-processing industry. A filter tube, having a filter element in a central region of the filter tube, is supplied to a predetermined position. Predetermined portions of fi... | 02/28/2006 |
| 6877516 | Apparatus and method for processing winnowers at a cigarette maker Size reduction equipment is added at the feed end of a cigarette maker to take separated winnowers and other overages from a tobacco feed to the maker, cut or shred the overages to appropriate size and reintroduce the cut or shred overages into the lamina stream fro... | 04/12/2005 |
| 6840248 | Method of and apparatus for recovering and recycling tobacco dust Tobacco dust which develops in a machine or production line for the making of smokers' products is put to use in that it is gathered and agglomerated into particles having or exceeding a required size. Metered quantities of such particles are admitted into a stream ... | 01/11/2005 |
| 6782890 | Apparatus for building tobacco rods in cigarette making machines The distributor of a cigarette rod making machine employs a zig-zag sifter which receives a mixture of tobacco ribs and shreds from a reservoir by way of a duct or an elevator conveyor. The shreds leave the uppermost stage of the sifter and are conveyed, by a Coanda... | 08/31/2004 |
| 6701933 | Apparatus for making a stream of tobacco shreds A device for creating a spread-out stream of tobacco fibers includes a concave-curved guide track along which the fiber stream of tobacco fibers are conveyed. The guide track has a generatrix based on a uniform generating curve. At least one air jet has a... | 03/09/2004 |
| 6701935 | Incorporation of smoke-modifying agents in smoking material rods A method of incorporating fibriform smoke-modifying material in smoking material rod, wherein fibriform smoke-modifying material is fed longitudinally thereof to a rod making machine (1). The longitudinal feed path in the machine is in a travel direction ... | 03/09/2004 |
| 6634365 | Method of and apparatus for homogenizing streams of particulate fibrous material A shower of tobacco particles is fed into the upper end of a downwardly sloping and downwardly tapering funnel-shaped part of a conveyor wherein the particles gather into a flow of interlaced particles. Successive increments of the flow are acted upon by ... | 10/21/2003 |
| 6516810 | Pipe junction for pneumatic transfer of rod-shaped smokers' products Apparatus for pneumatically conveying filter rod sections from a sender to a remote cigarette filter tipping machine has a first switching device which receives filter rod sections from a single outlet of the sender, a second switching device which delive... | 02/11/2003 |
| 6435191 | Tobacco separator Apparatus for separating particles contained in threshed leaf tobacco includes a plurality of separating chambers, each including a separation chamber and having a fan system for establishing a generally upward air flow. A covered, high speed conveyor of ... | 08/20/2002 |
| 6273093 | Incorporating smoke-modifying agents in smoking material rods A method of, and apparatus for, incorporating particulate smoke-modifying agent in a smoking material rod, wherein said agent is introduced into a flow of filamentary smoking material to the suction band of a rod making machine, the location of introducti... | 08/14/2001 |
| 6170489 | Tobacco distributor for cigarette rod making machine The carding at the periphery of a driven wheel in the distributor of a cigarette rod making machine receives tobacco particles from the lower portion of a substantially upright duct the upper portion of which can receive tobacco particles from a magazine ... | 01/09/2001 |
| 6053174 | Method and apparatus for the enhancement of tobacco A tobacco enhancement apparatus and a method of enhancing tobacco using the apparatus comprising a tunnel (12) having a vibratory conveyor floor (18), and an inlet (14) for receiving unexpanded tobacco shreds. A steaming and swirling station (32) is locat... | 04/25/2000 |
| 5967146 | Shredded tobacco supplying apparatus for a cigarette manufacturing machine A shredded tobacco supplying apparatus for a cigarette manufacturing machine has a supply passage extending toward a conveyor belt, the supply passage is provided with a plurality of air blowing openings arranged at intervals in the direction perpendicula... | 10/19/1999 |
| 5806531 | Method and apparatus for automatic and continuous pneumatic feeding of tobacco A continuous pneumatic tobacco conveyance system is described which automatically controls the rate at which tobacco is fed into the conveyance system and automatically controls the velocity of the tobacco which is pneumatically conveyed. The system utili... | 09/15/1998 |
| 5746044 | Product wrapping method A method of wrapping products, whereby gripping assemblies, each for receiving a respective product and a respective sheet of wrapping material, are fed successively in steps and in a given traveling direction along a path extending through a loading stat... | 05/05/1998 |
| 5743275 | Cigarette making machine A cigarette making machine comprises a channel (104; 106/228; 230/319; 320) through which tobacco is showered onto the inside surface of a suction band (100; 102/232; 234/309; 310) passing around a number of pulleys having approximately vertical axes of r... | 04/28/1998 |
| 5687747 | Method of and apparatus for assembling accumulations of particulate materials Particles of comminuted smokable material are loosened in a downwardly converging compartment defined by a funnel-shaped array of intermittently driven endless flexible belts. The outlet at the lower end of the compartment delivers flows of loosened mater... | 11/18/1997 |
| 5666975 | Method of fabricating cigarettes in a dispensing-type machine operated by a user person A method of fabricating cigarettes through a dispensing-type machine and from a predetermined quantity of tobacco leaves selected by a user person. The method comprises storing predetermined quantities of tobacco leaves in hermetically sealed bags wherein... | 09/16/1997 |
| 5657771 | Process and apparatus for tobacco batch preparation and expansion A tobacco expansion apparatus is provided to form a tobacco batch having a predetermined amount of tobacco, contact the batch with steam, load the batch onto a spool assembly, and impregnate the batch with an expansion agent. A double conduit apparatus is... | 08/19/1997 |
| 5645086 | Apparatus for evacuating surplus air for the distributor of a tobacco processing machine The distributor of a cigarette rod maker has a chamber bounded at least in part by a concave guide for a flow of fragments of smokable material in a stream of transporting fluid, such as air. The stream contains a surplus which is withdrawn from a central... | 07/08/1997 |
| 5582192 | Method and apparatus for diagnosing mechanical problems, particularly in cigarette makers In a machine having rotating components, in which a substance is processed in continuous form, a sensor generates signals representative of the instantaneous supply rate of the substance at one or more selected locations in the machine. A processor perfor... | 12/10/1996 |
| 5582191 | Method and machine for simultaneously producing two continuous cigarette rods A method and machine whereby a stream of shredded tobacco is fed through a dividing device for dividing the stream into two substreams and feeding the two separate substreams to a forming device downstream from the dividing device; the dividing device pre... | 12/10/1996 |
| 5533528 | Method and apparatus for elevating tobacco temperature Cigarettes are formed from tobacco filler which is at a temperature in excess of approximately 35° Celsius and having an elevated moisture content. For example, particles of tobacco filler having an elevated moisture content of approximately 13.5% to app... | 07/09/1996 |
| 5531234 | Apparatus for controlling the filling amount of shredded tobacco in cigarettes A control apparatus for a cigarette production machine according to the present invention comprises a density sensor for detecting the filling density of shredded tobacco in a continuously formed tobacco rod, an integrator for integrating the output of th... | 07/02/1996 |
| 5515873 | Cigarette making machine A hopper for a cigarette making machine has a carded roller (14;52;54;60) arranged to feed a carpet of tobacco, a generally horizontally extending conveyor band (32) for receiving the tobacco from the carded roller, and means for removing the tobacco from... | 05/14/1996 |
| 5511566 | Distributor for particles of tobacco and the like A tobacco distributor wherein a flow of tobacco particles is delivered to a rotary carded drum by a duct which is at least substantially horizontal so that the overall height of the distributor can be reduced accordingly. The duct comprises or cooperates ... | 04/30/1996 |
| 5505213 | Load control doffer A tobacco threshing apparatus, and related method, including a plurality of tobacco threshers, each thresher including a housing having an inlet and an outlet, a rotor adapted to be rotated at a constant speed; conveyor for conveying a stream of tobacco l... | 04/09/1996 |
| 5477869 | Tobacco delivery system An exhaust fan draws air and entrained tobacco through delivery pipes from a tobacco feeder to the respective dischargers of a group of cigarette making machines, where the tobacco is screened out and the air passes on through exhaust pipes. When a discha... | 12/26/1995 |
| 5476108 | Method and apparatus for detecting foreign matter within a layer of tabacco The invention is directed to a method and apparatus for detecting foreign matter including small particles of organic materials such as plastics within a layer of tobacco. The tobacco is irradiated with a plurality of selected NIR radiation wavelength ban... | 12/19/1995 |
| 5413121 | Cigarette making machine In a cigarette making machine, tobacco is arranged to be showered towards two suction bands to form tobacco sub-streams on the respective bands which are then merged to form a single cigarette filler stream which (possibly after trimming) is enclosed in a... | 05/09/1995 |
| 5370136 | Cigarette making machine A cigarette making machine includes a suction band which is arranged to carry a cigarette filler stream towards a rod forming device in which the filler stream (possibly after trimming)is enclosed in a continuous wrapper, characterized by means (for examp... | 12/06/1994 |
| 5337762 | Apparatus for storing and distributing comminuted tobacco An apparatus for temporarily storing and distributing comminuted tobacco to a plurality of consuming machines (particularly for distributing cut tobacco to cigarette rod making machines) has a circular tray which receives batches of comminuted tobacco at ... | 08/16/1994 |
