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. An apparatus for forming an article comprising:
a folder assembly including,
a first folder configured to fold a web around a continuous stream of material, and
a first non-contact displacement transducer coupled to the first folder;
a controller configured to determine a variation in density of the continuous stream of material based on an output from the first non-contact displacement transducer;
a cutter configured to cut the continuous stream of material to form an article; and
an ejector configured to eject the article when the variation exceeds a desired value.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first non-contact displacement transducer is directly coupled to the first folder.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein
the folder assembly further includes a first clamp coupling the first folder to the apparatus, and
the first non-contact displacement transducer is directly coupled to the first clamp.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the folder assembly further includes a second folder.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the folder assembly further includes a second non-contact displacement transducer coupled to the second folder.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the second non-contact displacement transducer is directly coupled to the second folder.
7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein
the apparatus further includes a second clamp coupling the second folder to the apparatus, and
the second non-contact displacement transducer is directly coupled to the second clamp.
8. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the second folder is upstream of the first folder.
9. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the second folder is downstream of the first folder.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first non-contact displacement transducer is an eddy current sensor.
11. A method of inspecting an article comprising:
receiving a continuous stream of material;
folding, with a folder, a web around the continuous stream of material to form a continuous rod of material with a folder, the folder including a non-contact displacement transducer;
determining, with a controller, a variation in density of the continuous rod of material based on an output from the non-contact displacement transducer;
cutting, with a cutter, the continuous rod of material into an article; and
ejecting, with an ejector, the article when the variation in density exceeds a desired value.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining whether the variation exceeds the desired value.