Application US20190320708

CONE STAGING APPARATUS AND RELATED METHODS
[+] Show Details

US20190320708

1. A cone staging apparatus for production of smoking articles, comprising: (8) (3)

a. a frame;

b. a cone pallet releasably supported by the frame, the cone pallet including a plurality of cavities, each cavity having an open upper end for receiving a cone therein; and

c. a cone magazine adjacent the frame for holding a supply of cones, the cone magazine including at least one escapement alignable over the open upper end of a respective cavity of the cone pallet to facilitate transferring a single cone from the supply of cones to the respective cavity.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one escapement includes a first escapement and a second escapement, the first and second escapements alignable simultaneously over the open upper ends of a first cavity and a second cavity, respectively, of the plurality of cavities. (0)

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the quantity of the escapements is equal to the quantity of the cavities of the cone pallet. (0)

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cavities are arranged in a circular array. (0)

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pallet comprises a pallet body, and the cavities are of unitary, integral construction with the pallet body. (0)

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pallet comprises a pallet body, and each cavity is defined by an inner surface of a respective nest, the nests removably secured to the pallet body. (0)

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the single cone is, prior to transfer, a lowermost cone of the supply of cones, and the escapement is configured to apply a retaining force against the lowermost cone to prevent unwanted release of the lowermost cone from the supply of cones. (2) (0)

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the magazine comprises at least one tube having a tube diameter sized for slidably receiving a stack of the cones in sliding fit, and wherein the escapement comprises at least one restricting member protruding radially inwardly of the tube diameter for engaging a lowermost cone of the stack of cones. (0)

9. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising an actuator for applying a transfer force on the single cone to urge the single cone past the escapement and into position in the respective cavity. (1) (0)

13. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising transfer automation adjacent the frame for transferring an empty pallet onto the frame and transferring a loaded pallet off the frame. (0)

14. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a lift supporting the magazine, the lift operable to vertically translate the magazine relative to the frame between a raised position for facilitating movement of the pallet into and out from the frame, and a lowered position for engagement between the magazine and the pallet to facilitate transfer of the cones to each cavity via the transfer force. (0)

15. A cone staging apparatus for production of smoking articles, comprising: (0) (4)

a) a frame;

b) a cone pallet releasably supported by the frame, the cone pallet including a plurality of cavities, each cavity having an open upper end for receiving a cone therein; and

c) a cone magazine disposed above the cone pallet, the cone magazine including a plurality of tubes, each tube for holding a stack of the cones, the magazine further including an escapement at a lower end of each tube for dispensing the cones one-by-one from a bottom of the stack, each escapement in alignment with an open upper end of a respective cavity; and

d) a vacuum source in fluid communication with the escapements through respective cavities for applying a suction force to draw the bottom-most cone from each stack through the escapements and into the respective cavities.

16. A method for production of smoking articles, comprising: (2) (2)

a) positioning a first pallet under a cone magazine, the first pallet having a plurality of first cavities, and the cone magazine holding a supply of cones; and

b) applying a suction force through each of the first cavities to draw a respective cone from the supply into each of the first cavities.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the cone magazine includes a plurality of escapements, each escapement for dispensing the cones one-by-one from the supply, and wherein step (a) includes aligning each escapement above an open upper end of a respective first cavity, and step (b) includes applying the suction force through each of the first cavities simultaneously for transferring a single cone through each escapement and into respective first cavities. (1) (0)

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: (0) (3)

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising, after each first cavity has received a respective cone, filling each of the cones in the first pallet with an amount of smokeable product through an open upper end of each cone. (3) (0)

View Abstract and Specification Size

PDF with Images and Document Face >

Full Text Publication >

Application US20190320708

CONE STAGING APPARATUS AND RELATED METHODS

Patent Matrix® Search