Rod forming apparatus and method
A method of forming a wrapped article, comprising the steps of: forming a continuous stream of material such as an agricultural product; moving the continuous stream of material along an elongated path; compressing the continuous stream of material to reduce the cross-sectional area thereof until a predetermined cross-sectional dimension is achieved; drawing the compressed continuous stream of material through a rod-forming arrangement, the rod-forming arrangement having a non-contact displacement transducer associated therewith; folding at least one web longitudinally around the compressed continuous stream of material to form a continuous rod of material; and detecting variations in rod density within the rod-forming arrangement from a signal obtained from the non-contact displacement transducer.
1. A method of forming a wrapped article, comprising:
forming a continuous stream of material;
moving the continuous stream of material along an elongated path;
compressing the continuous stream of material to reduce a cross-sectional area thereof until a cross-sectional dimension is achieved;
drawing the compressed continuous stream of material through a rod-forming arrangement;
folding, with a folder, at least one web longitudinally around the compressed continuous stream of material to form a continuous rod of material, the folder having a non-contact displacement transducer disposed therein;
measuring folder displacement with the non-contact displacement transducer; and
detecting variations in density of the continuous rod of material within the rod-forming arrangement based on an output from the non-contact displacement transducer.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether the variation in density exceeds a desired limit;
cutting the continuous rod of material to form a wrapped article; and
rejecting the wrapped article if the variation exceeds the desired limit.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rod-forming arrangement comprises a tongue, the folder, and an additional folder.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the folder is a short folder.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the folder is a finishing folder.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the folder is a short folder, and the additional folder is a finishing folder.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-contact displacement transducer is an eddy-current sensor.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the material includes tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco substitute, a sub-combination thereof, or a combination thereof.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the material includes shredded tobacco.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one web includes a binder, a wrapper, or both the binder and the wrapper.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the folder displacement includes displacement in the folder.
12. An apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
a conveyor configured to transport a continuous stream of material along an elongated path;
an upper compression belt and a pair of squeeze bars configured to compress the continuous stream of material; and
a rod-forming arrangement including,
a tongue configured to-receive the compressed continuous stream of material, and
a folder configured to fold a wrapper material around the compressed continuous stream of material so as to form a continuous rod of material, the folder having a non-contact displacement transducer for measuring folder displacement.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising:
a cutter configured to cut the continuous rod of material into individual wrapped articles.
14. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising:
a cutter configured to cut the continuous rod of material into individual wrapped articles;
a controller configured to detect variations in rod density from an output of the non-contact displacement transducer and identify articles of the individual wrapped articles having variations in rod density that exceed a limit; and
an ejector configured to eject the articles of the individual wrapped articles having variations in rod density that exceed the limit.
15. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the folder includes a short folder.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the folder is a finishing folder.
17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the non-contact displacement transducer is an eddy-current sensor.
18. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the material includes tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, a tobacco substitute, a sub-combination thereof, or a combination thereof.
19. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the material comprises shredded tobacco.
20. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising:
a feed section configured to provide a stream of material to form the continuous stream of material.
21. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the folder displacement includes displacement in the folder.