Did You Know...
...that the x-ray was discovered purely by accident? When German physicist Wilhelm Konrad von Roentgen was experimenting with cathode rays in 1895, he put an activated Crookes tube in a book and went out to lunch. When he returned, he discovered that a key that had also been placed in the book showed up as an image on the developed film!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7380554 | Pressure-conditioning device The invention relates to a continuous method for pressure-conditioning material for food and/or semi-luxury consumables, wherein said material (12) is introduced through an entrance (4) into a hyperbarically pressurized conditioning chamber (2),... | 06/03/2008 |
| 6779527 | Device for conditioning comminuted tobacco material The invention relates to a method and a device for conditioning comminuted tobacco material by heating and moistening with water vapor, wherein the comminuted tobacco material free-falls down through a chamber operating in a continuous process and is treated during ... | 08/24/2004 |
| 6752156 | Humidification cylinder and method of humidifying material A humidifying cylinder includes a first rotatable cylinder having an inlet end and an outlet end and a plurality of first blades extending substantially radially outwardly from an exterior surface of the first cylinder. The humidifying cylinder further includes a se... | 06/22/2004 |
| 6718988 | Pressurized tobacco drying process This invention describes a pressurized drying process particularly useful for changing the aroma of Burley tobacco, and the taste and flavor of cigarettes comprising such processed tobacco. Burley tobacco is treated in a pressurized dryer at temperatures of 120° C.... | 04/13/2004 |
| 6591840 | Apparatus for applying a conditioning agent to tobacco A shower of tobacco particles is admitted into the inlet at the top of and descends by gravity and/or under the action of a driven cell wheel in a generally upright duct. The particles are moisturized prior to admission into the duct or due to contact wit... | 07/15/2003 |
| 6581608 | Apparatus for applying conditioning agent to tobacco A shower of tobacco particles is admitted into the inlet at the top of and descends by gravity and/or under the action of a driven cell wheel in a generally upright duct. The particles are moisturized prior to admission into the duct or due to contact wit... | 06/24/2003 |
| 6502581 | Method and device for regulating the output humidity of tobacco The invention relates to a method and device for regulating the output moisture content of tobacco conditioned by a loosening/conditioning and optionally casing (saucing) drum comprising injecting a throughflow of water into the infeed region of the drum ... | 01/07/2003 |
| 6286515 | Humidification cylinder A humidifying cylinder includes a first rotatable cylinder having an inlet end and an outlet end and a plurality of first blades extending substantially radially outwardly from an exterior surface of the first cylinder. The humidifying cylinder further in... | 09/11/2001 |
| 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 |
| 6227205 | Method for treatment of tobacco fine cut The invention relates to a method of treating tobacco fine cut in which the cut tobacco is preheating and moistening is moistened to a moisture content of a maximum of 18 to 18.5%, after which it is supplied without any further drying to a screening and c... | 05/08/2001 |
| 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 |
| 5515775 | Apparatus for treatment of solid material An apparatus is provided that comprises a self-stacking spiral conveyor that traverses through a circulating atmosphere. The atmosphere is manipulated by one or more chambers having an open side adjacent to the perforated sides of the spiral conveyor. Add... | 05/14/1996 |
| 5339837 | Drying process for increasing the filling power of tobacco material In a drying process for increasing the filling power of tobacco material, the cut and moistened tobacco material is conveyed in a drying gas flow, dried within a tubular drying section and subsequently separated from the drying gas. The drying gas has at ... | 08/23/1994 |
| 5335590 | Apparatus for treatment of solid material An apparatus is provided that comprises a self-stacking spiral conveyor that traverses through a circulating atmosphere. The atmosphere is manipulated by one or more chambers having an open side adjacent to the perforated sides of the spiral conveyor. Add... | 08/09/1994 |
| 5299583 | Method of and apparatus for separating fragments of tobacco ribs from shredded tobacco A mixture of unsatisfactory fragments of tobacco ribs and shreds of tobacco leaf laminae and/or tobacco ribs which are bonded to each other and/or are clumped together and/or crimped is treated to loosen the coherent and/or clumped shreds and/or uncrimp i... | 04/05/1994 |
| 5203354 | Restructured tobacco dryer An apparatus and method for manufacturing reconstituted tobacco sheet in which a tobacco containing slurry is metered on to the outer surface of a rotating heated cylindrical dryer and then, after sufficient drying, is removed from the cylindrical dryer.... | 04/20/1993 |
| 5161548 | Method of conditioning tobacco and apparatus therefore A method of conditioning tobacco including the steps of: a) vibrating tobacco particles by means of a vibratory conveyor to produce a continuous stream to be transferred along a predetermined path, the conveyor being vibrated in such a manner that the str... | 11/10/1992 |
| 5141005 | Tobacco sample transfer apparatus and method A method of and an apparatus for automatically taking a cored sample of tobacco from a bale of tobacco and pneumatically transferring the sample to a remotely located receiving station, such as a stem content analyzer, are disclosed. A sample canister wit... | 08/25/1992 |
| 5076293 | Process and apparatus for the treatment of tobacco material Process and apparatus for the treatment of tobacco material and other biological materials includes a mechanism comprising a dynamic seal having components having cooperating movable surfaces for sealing a treatment chamber that substantially prevents the... | 12/31/1991 |
| 5025813 | Method and apparatus for making tobacco shreds Bales or portions of bales of relatively dry compressed tobacco leaf laminae or ribs are heated microwaves, or in an to a temperature not less than 50° C., and are immediately admitted into a shredding machine without previous cooling and/or breaking up.... | 06/25/1991 |
| 4977907 | Tobacco block slicing machine A slicing machine comprises a frame having a support surface (10) onto which the block of material to be sliced is placed, a cutter assembly (14) for moving in a cutting plane transversely of said support surface, said cutter assembly being movable betwee... | 12/18/1990 |
| 4967769 | Combined feeder/conditioner An apparatus for feeding and conditioning tobacco which includes a housing into which steam is supplied to treat tobacco being uniformly conveyed therethrough and wherein the inlet and outlet to the housing include rotating vanes for allowing for the pass... | 11/06/1990 |
| 4945930 | Apparatus for expanding and/or drying particulate material Apparatus for the expansion of tobacco includes a substantially cylindrical container (10), conveyors for feeding tobacco into the container and jet nozzles or slits for introducing a heating medium in the form of steam and/or humid air into the container... | 08/07/1990 |
| 4922932 | Tobacco feeder A tobacco feeder assembly utilizes a column of tobacco and a rotary conveyor to feed tobacco particles to a treatment zone which is maintained at above atmospheric pressure. The column of tobacco is maintained in the feed tube by control of the rotational... | 05/08/1990 |
| 4790335 | Tobacco curer A method and apparatus for curing tobacco is provided wherein each leaf is conveyed through a dual chamber curer. The stem of the tobacco leaf is disposed within the upper chamber while the leaf is disposed within the lower chamber. A pre-determined tempe... | 12/13/1988 |
| 4733676 | Sliced bale conditioning Apparatus for slicing tobacco bales for conditioning in which the bales are moved from a conveyor (2) onto an adjacent lift device (16) by a first pusher (6), and are then sliced by a slicing blade (20) which is moved horizontally into engagement with the... | 03/29/1988 |
| 4730627 | Method and apparatus for treating particulate material An improved method and apparatus for treating particulate material with a liquid additive in a rotatable cylinder involves the use of a pressurized fluid such as steam directed obliquely against the inner wall of the cylinder to effect a cleaning action o... | 03/15/1988 |
| 4709709 | Process for the moistening of comminuted smoking materials For the moistening of comminuted, more particularly overdried, smoking materials, the requisite quantity of water is applied in at least two spraying sections situated one in succession to the other, in which the water is divided into tiny droplets by mea... | 12/01/1987 |
| 4664131 | Apparatus for transporting, storing and blending small bales of tobacco An arrangement for transporting, storing, and blending tobacco employs a plurality of ventilated containers, each containing bales of a designated grade of tobacco. Containers are stored side-by-side and stacked several containers high, and rows of stacke... | 05/12/1987 |
| 4640299 | Drying and conditioning apparatus for tobacco An apparatus for drying and conditioning tobacco leaves, including a heater for heating conditioning air for conditioning tobacco leaves after drying, a temperature controller for controlling the heater so that the temperature of the conditioning air beco... | 02/03/1987 |
| 4628948 | System, apparatus, and method for preparing a quantity of tobacco for primary processing A system, apparatus and method is proposed according to which a tobacco mass is proportioned for primary processing. The system and method provide for a controlled selection handling and proportioning of the tobacco mass, and for conditioning of the tobac... | 12/16/1986 |
| 4625736 | Method and apparatus for expanding tobacco with water A method and preferred apparatus for expanding moisture containing tobacco. Tobacco is very rapidly heated by a stream of heated gas, by contacting a high speed downdraft flow of said gas with said tobacco while said tobacco is in transit on a gas porous ... | 12/02/1986 |
| 4583559 | Reordering of tobacco A method and apparatus for reordering hot, dry expanded tobacco comprises a first reordering step in which the tobacco moisture content is raised to a first value, an intermediate cooling stage in which the tobacco is cooled to about ambient temperature (... | 04/22/1986 |
| 4573484 | Charging device for opening and delivering leaf-type material A charging device for opening and delivering leaf-type material which includes a conveyor having an upper surface along which leaf-type material moves in a downstream direction of travel toward a discharge end, an opening mechanism adjacent the discharge ... | 03/04/1986 |
| 4554933 | Tobacco opening and conditioning apparatus Apparatus for opening and pre-conditioning a case or hogshead of tobacco in which the tobacco is a laminated body, comprises a chamber for receiving the laminated tobacco body and device for emitting an air/moisture jet stream in said chamber capable of b... | 11/26/1985 |
| 4546780 | Apparatus for air drying tobacco leaves An apparatus for air drying tobacco leaves is provided. The apparatus comprises a vertical hopper section disposed beneath the discharge end of a tobacco leaf supply conveyor, an air-permeable conveyor to transport supplied tobacco leaves oriented in para... | 10/15/1985 |
| 4519407 | Method and apparatus for treating tobacco A method and apparatus for treating tobacco leaves by impregnating them with liquid carbon dioxide under high pressure. Tobacco leaf containers, in the form of open buckets, are mounted on a turntable which rotates intermittently step by step. In the pref... | 05/28/1985 |
| 4517992 | Tobacco conditioning apparatus A tobacco treating apparatus including an outer, rotatable, hollow drum having a tobacco inlet at one end and a tobacco outlet at the opposite end with an inner, hollow drum extending through the tobacco inlet end, generally coaxial with the outer drum an... | 05/21/1985 |
| 4513758 | Method and apparatus for increasing the volume of tobacco Tobacco ribs, whose moisture content is at least 38 percent and which are heated to a temperature of at least 60 degrees C., are admitted into a cylindrical chamber containing a centrally located nozzle which is surrounded by a driven impeller having arcu... | 04/30/1985 |
| 4498486 | Tobacco bale steam injection A method and apparatus for steam injection of tobacco bales for use in the opening process. In the apparatus, at least one orificed steam injection plate is brought in flush contact with a tobacco bale that is stationary or in motion and steam is caused t... | 02/12/1985 |
