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 compressed continuous stream of material;
folding, with a folder, a web longitudinally around the compressed continuous stream of material to form a continuous rod of material, the folder having a non-contact displacement transducer; and
detecting a variation in a density of the continuous rod of material based on an output from the non-contact displacement transducer.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming the compressed continuous stream of material comprises:
forming a continuous stream of material; and
compressing the continuous stream of material to reduce a cross-sectional area thereof.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether the variation in density exceeds a threshold; and
rejecting a wrapped article if the variation exceeds the threshold.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether the variation in density exceeds a threshold;
cutting the continuous rod of material to form a wrapped article; and
rejecting the wrapped article if the variation exceeds the threshold.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the folder is a short folder.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 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 substitutes, or any combination thereof.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the material includes shredded tobacco.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the web includes a binder, a wrapper, or both a binder and a wrapper.
11. An apparatus for forming a wrapped article, the apparatus comprising:
a conveyor configured to convey a compressed continuous stream of material along a path;
a folder configured to fold a web longitudinally around the compressed continuous stream of material to form a continuous rod of material, the folder having a non-contact displacement transducer; and
a controller configured to detect a variation in a density of the continuous rod of material based on an output from the non-contact displacement transducer.
12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the variation in density exceeds a threshold.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising:
a cutter configured to cut the continuous rod of material to form a wrapped article.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising:
an ejector configured to eject the wrapped article if the variation exceeds the threshold.
15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the folder is a short folder.
16. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the folder is a finishing folder.
17. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the non-contact displacement transducer is an eddy-current sensor.
18. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the material includes tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco substitutes, or any combination thereof.
19. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the material includes shredded tobacco.
20. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising:
a tobacco feed section configured to provide a stream of tobacco; and
an upper compression belt and a pair of squeeze bars configured to compress the stream of tobacco to create the compressed continuous stream of material.