In a modern cigarette making factory, a very large number of articles are produced each minute, leading to consequent problems of manipulating the articles and subsequently packaging them. As a result, it has been necessary in the past to provide a number of very complex machines in order to collate the large number of articles produced every minute.

In addition, the complexity of the mechanisms required is considerably increased, by the necessity to group bundles of articles axially in separate pockets, while the articles are approaching the machine continuously at a high speed. This generally implies a requirement for a complex indexing mechanism, so that the articles can be assembled into successive bundles which are then transferred into output conveyor pockets.

Accordingly, the present invention seeks to provide a shuttle mechanism which is capable of receiving a continuous stream of rod shaped articles from a hopper, and transferring them in bundles, into a continuously moving series of pockets.

According to the present invention there is therefore provided an input hopper having internal guides which are adapted to group the articles into a bundle or bundles corresponding to the required packages, a shuttle conveyor means having pockets to receive the or each bundle from the hopper, and a continuously moving conveyor carrying a series of pockets for receiving the bundles from the drum pockets, the shuttle being provided with a drive mechanism which is adapted to move it in an intermittent pattern, comprising (a) a first stage during which the shuttle is stationary so that rods can be transferred from the hopper; (b) a second stage in which the shuttle is accelerated to reach the same speed as the conveyor; (c) a third stage in which the movement of the shuttle is synchronised with the movement of the conveyor so that a collation of cigarettes can be transferred from the shuttle into the conveyor pockets, and (d) a fourth stage in which the shuttle is decelerated to a stationary position ready for a further transfer of rods from the hopper.

The shuttle conveyor means is preferably a drum but may also comprise an alternative conveyor device such as a pocketed belt.

Preferably the apparatus is provided with two diametrically opposed continuously rotating pusher mechanisms for transferring collations from the shuttle, the arrangement being such that one mechanism is being retracted whilst the other is transferring a collation.

Preferably, in order to achieve the required throughput, a plurality of hoppers and shuttle assemblies are provided, which are arranged to feed the same output conveyor.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a pair of shuttle drums are provided, each of which is adapted to receive three bundles at a time, from a respective hopper, the movement of the two drums being synchronised in "anti- phase", so that one drum is stationary for loading with bundles, whilst the conveyor is being loaded from the other drum, which is then moving at the same speed as the conveyor.

In this way, it is possible to fill pockets on the conveyor which would otherwise be left empty by the first drum (because of its stationary "dwell" period) by utilising the output of another drum of the same capacity.

Preferably, the transfers between each hopper and its respective drum are achieved by means of a set of axially movable rod plungers, whilst the transfer from the drum onto the conveyor is achieved by means of at least one set of axially movable bundle pushers, and occurs at a displaced circumferential position from the hopper outlets.

Preferably the pusher mechanisms are mounted in a constant velocity pulley carrying the output conveyor, and their transfer action is guided by means of cam tracks on a fixed cam drum which is co-axially mounted with the shuttle drum.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view from one side, of a shuttle drum assembly in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view from the other side; Figure 3 is a larger scale view of a single drum assembly; Figure 4 is a vertical cross-section through the assembly of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a horizontal part section through the assembly of Figure 3; Figure 6 is a schematic elevational view showing the conveyor path; Figure 7 is a timing diagram; Figure 8 is a perspective view of å pusher assembly; Figure 9 is an axially end view of the pusher assembly of Figure 8; Figure 10 is a side elevation view of the pusher assembly; Figure 11 is a plan view of the pusher assembly; and Figures 12 to 15 are schematic views of the drum and paddle mechanisms in various relative positions during one cycle of system operation.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2, these illustrate a pair of "shuttle drum" assemblies 2 and 4, which are fed with cigarettes by means of respective hoppers 6 and 8. Bundles of cigarettes from the exits of the hoppers are transferred onto each shuttle drum, by rod plungers (not shown) as it rotates with a "stepwise" motion explained in more detail below, for subsequent transfer into pockets 10 carried on a conveyor 12.

Referring to Figures 3 to 5, it will be seen that each shuttle drum assembly comprises three main parts: the shuttle drum 14, which moves, as mentioned above, in a stepwise fashion, a pulley 16 which moves continuously and carries the conveyor 12, and a stationary drum 18 which carries a pair of cam tracks 20 and 22.

In operation, cigarettes are fed into the top of the hopper 6, and directed into three compartments 24, 26, and 28, whose relative positions correspond with those of three adjacent receiving pockets 30 on the shuttle drum 14 (when the drum is suitably aligned with the hopper). During the period that the transfer takes place, the shuttle drum is stationary, as indicated in the region (a) of the timing diagram of Figure 7. In the example illustrated, the speed of rotation is such that this period lasts 149.6 msecs.

The shuttle drum is then accelerated for a period of 35.2 msecs, during which it rotates 10° from the rest position, (this acceleration period is marked as (b) on Figure 7) and at the end of this period the drum speed matches the speed of the constant velocity pulley 16 (pldt (g) on Figure 7). The shuttle drum then rotates in synchronism with the pulley for a further period of 140 msecs (c), and during this time, three collations of cigarettes which were loaded in a previous cycle are transferred into the pockets of the pulley. The collations loaded during the period marked (a) in Figure 7 will then be transferred into pockets of the pulley during the period marked (h) in Figure 7. The shuttle drum is then decelerated for the next 35.2 msecs (period (d) on Figure 6) until it is again stationary, so that the next batch of cigarettes can be supplied to it from the hopper.

In the example shown, the total period of 360 msecs covers a shuttle movement of 900, and the constant velocity pulley 16 rotates through 1800 in the same period. In the arrangement shown, there are 12 pockets on the shuttle drum, and since it rotates in 90" "steps", as explained above, each adjacent group of three pockets 30 is filled and emptied in succession.

Because of the above mentioned overall speed relationship between the shuttle drum 14 and the constant velocity pulley 16, it will be appreciated that 24 pockets of the output conveyor will have traversed the loading position, in the same time as the shuttle drum which has 12 pockets rotates one revolution, i.e. only three adjacent pockets out of every six on the conveyor will be filled by a single shuttle drum assembly. Accordingly, two adjacent assemblies are provided, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, whose movement is synchronised so that they feed alternate groups of three conveyor output pockets. Thus the movements of the two shuttle drums must be synchronised in "anti- phase".

Figures 8 to 11 illustrate in more detail, the plunger mechanism for the paddle assembly which is used to transfer the bundles of rods from the pockets 30 of the shuttle drum 14, into the pockets 10 of the output conveyor.

The paddle assembly comprises three pushers 34 which are spaced apart and oriented by a support bar 36 which is in turn mounted by a pair of lever arms 38 and 40 on a carriage 42. The carriage 42 is in turn slidably mounted in a housing 44, which in turn is fixed to the interior of the constant velocity drum 16, as best seen in the partial view of Figure 5. It will therefore be appreciated that the mounting of the plunger mechanism is such that the plungers 34 can be moved linearly, i.e. in an axial direction, in order to achieve the required movement of the bundles between the pockets of the shuttle drum 14, and the corresponding positions of the conveyor belt pockets 10, again as best seen in the partial view of Figure 5.

The required linear movement is achieved by means of a pair of cam track rollers 46 and 48 which engage with the inner cam track 20 of the drum 18 (Figure 4) and the cam tracks are formed in such a way that, as seen in Figure 2 for example, the regions in the "nine o'clock" position are furthest from the hopper side, whilst the regions in the "three o'clock" position are closest to the hopper side.

Consequently, these two diametrically opposite positions represent the extremes of the range of linear movement of the pushers 34.

Because the pushers are mounted on the pulley 16 which is rotating at twice the average speed of shuttle drum 14, it is necessary to provide two sets of diametrically opposite pusher mechanisms, and it is also necessary to be able to retract the pushers in a radial direction, to allow the cigarettes to be loaded from the hopper outlets 24, 26 and 28 (which is achieved by means of separate rod plungers, not shown). The movements of the paddles are illustrated in the two upper timing plots of Figure 7 (see below).

In order to achieve the required radial movement, the mounting bar 36 of the pushers has an upwardly extending arm 50, Figures 8 and 10, which is pivotally connected to one end of a bell crank 52 which is in turn pivotally mounted at 54, onto the slidable carriage 42. The other end of the bell crank is connected to a link arm 56 whose opposite end is in turn pivotally connected to a pivotal carriage 60, at the other end of the mechanism, carrying a further pair of cam track rollers 62 and 64. These cam track rollers engage on the outer cam track 22, Figure 4, which runs parallel to the path of the inner cam track 20, (see Figure 2), with the result that the pushers occupy their radially outermost position at the same time as they are in their linearly innermost position, as shown in Figure 5, and vice versa on the diametrically opposite side of the assembly.

The upper plots (e) and (f) of Figure 7 are timing diagrams for the paddle assembly plot (e) illustrating the linear movement of the paddles, under the control of the inner cam track, whilst the plot (f) illustrates the pattern of radial displacement of the pusher head, under the control of the outer cam track. It will of course be appreciated that because the constant velocity pulley is rotating at twice the average speed of the shuttle drum, every 1800 movement of the shuttle drum implies a 360" movement of the constant velocity pulley, and thus two diametrically opposite paddle assemblies are required to transfer every set of three bundles received from the hopper, onto the output conveyor.

The movement of the paddle assembly relative to the shuttle drum, during the different parts of the cycle of Figure 7, are illustrated in more detail in Figures 12 to 15. Figure 12 illustrates the position of the paddles at the "0°" position in Figure 7, in which the indexing drum of the shuttle assembly is dwelled, so that cigarettes can be transferred from the hopper into the drum at the lowermost position of the group of three pockets 70, 72 and 74 illustrated in the drawing.

At this point, the paddle assembly 76 is in its axially retracted position, nearest to the hopper, and is also being radially retracted towards the axis of the drum.

By the time the constant velocity drum has rotated through 900, carrying the paddle assembly to the position shown in Figure 13, the paddles are in their fully radially retracted position and are being moved axially towards the output side of the drum, while the pockets 70, 72 and 74 of the indexing drum are accelerating towards the position in which they were synchronised with pockets 70', 72' and 74' of the output conveyor 76.

When the constant velocity drum has rotated through 225°, as illustrated in Figure 14, the paddles have reached the output side of the drum and are extending radially outwards, whilst the indexing drum is in its next dwell position, having moved a total of 90" from the position illustrated in Figure 12.

In Figure 15, the paddle assembly has reached the 3000 position, and the paddles are in their radially outermost position, in engagement with the collations in the three pockets 70, 72 and 74. They are also being moved axially to push the three collations into the corresponding pockets 70', 72' and 74' on the conveyor, whilst the indexing drum, the constant velocity drum, and the output conveyor belt 76 are all moving in synchronisation.

It will be appreciate that in the arrangement shown, the diametrically oppositely mounted paddle mechanism will be operating in anti-phase to the one illustrated, i.e. it will be on a feed stroke while mechanism 76 is on a return stroke and vice-versa.