Cigarette machine comprising a suction belt conveyor
A cigarette machine comprises a suction belt conveyor including a rod guide channel, wherein the rod guide channel is delimited on one side by a material-conveying suction belt. Two channel cheeks are positioned opposite one another and configured to adjoin the rod guide channel An electromagnetic measuring apparatus comprises a resonator. The resonator comprises a first resonator half positioned on the side of the rod guide channel with the conveying suction belt, and a second resonator half of which is provided on the side which is situated opposite the first resonator half. The first resonator half is connected to the suction belt conveyor.
1 . A cigarette machine comprising:
a movably mounted suction belt conveyor including a rod guide channel, wherein the rod guide channel is delimited on one side by a material-conveying suction belt;
two channel cheeks positioned opposite one another and configured to adjoin the rod guide channel; and
an electromagnetic measuring apparatus comprising a resonator, wherein the resonator comprises,
a first resonator half positioned on the side of the rod guide channel with the movably mounted suction belt conveyor, and
a second resonator half which is provided on the side which is situated opposite the first resonator half and is fixedly attached to the cigarette machine,
wherein the first resonator half is connected to the movably mounted suction belt conveyor and is configured to be movable along with the movably mounted suction belt conveyor.
2 . The cigarette machine according to claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic measuring apparatus is a microwave resonator comprising a resonator cavity defined by the first resonator half and the second resonator half.
3 . The cigarette machine according to claim 2 , wherein microwave signals are coupled and decoupled at the second resonator half.
4 . The cigarette machine according to claim 1 , wherein the first resonator half is positioned adjacent to the movably mounted suction belt conveyor.
5 . The cigarette machine according to claim 1 , wherein the second resonator half is positioned adjacent to the rod guide channel.
6 . The cigarette machine according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a rod formation zone; and
one or more trimming discs,
wherein the electromagnetic measuring apparatus is positioned between the one or more trimming discs and the rod formation zone.
7 . The cigarette machine according claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic measuring apparatus is configured to heat at least one of the first resonator half and the second resonator half.
8 . The cigarette machine according to claim 1 , further configured to clean the first resonator half and the second resonator half.
9 . The cigarette machine according to claim 1 , wherein the electromagnetic measuring apparatus is configured to measure at least one of: (1) a mass; (2) a density; and (3) a moisture content of material conveyed on the movably mounted suction belt conveyor.
10 . The cigarette machine according to claim 9 , wherein measurement results from the electromagnetic measuring apparatus are used to measure a tobacco mass in relation to a reference length.
11 . The cigarette machine according to claim 10 , wherein the tobacco mass is regulated using the measurement results.
12 . The cigarette machine according to claim 10 , wherein a taring measurement is configured to be carried out on an empty movably mounted suction belt conveyor.
13 . The cigarette machine according to claim 12 , wherein a closing of the rod guide channel is configured to initiate the taring measurement.
14 . The cigarette machine according to claim 12 , wherein the taring measurement is performed in at least one position of the movably mounted suction belt conveyor and is compared with one or more previously measured values, wherein the taring measurement is discarded if a deviation by more than a predetermined minimum amount occurs.
15 . The cigarette machine according to claim 12 , wherein the taring measurement is carried out in at least two positions on the movably mounted suction belt conveyor and the measured values are compared with one or more previous measured values, and wherein a measured value with a smallest deviation from the previous measured values is adopted as the measured value.
16 . The cigarette machine according to claim 1 , further configured to detect a joint of the movably mounted suction belt conveyor using a peak detection in measurement signals.
17 . The cigarette machine according to claim 16 , wherein a mass value of the joint is determined during an empty measurement and is used to correct a measured mass signal at the joint.
18 . The cigarette machine according to claim 16 , further configured to detect the joint when measuring an empty movably mounted suction belt conveyor by one of: (1) a rise in a measurement signal that is indicative of a mass; and (2) a lack of a rise in a measurement signal that is indicative of moisture.
19 . The cigarette machine according to claim 16 , wherein the evaluation apparatus is configured to detect the joint when measuring a filled movably mounted suction belt conveyor by one of: (1) a rise in a measurement signal that is indicative of a mass; and (2) a decline in a measurement signal that is indicative of moisture.
20 . The cigarette machine of claim 1 , wherein the movably mounted suction conveyor comprises a suction belt, and wherein the movably mounted suction conveyor and the first resonator half are configured to be mechanically moved together relative to the second resonator half in order to replace the suction belt.