초록

A machine for forming, continuously, distinct portions of particulate matter such as smokeless tobacco, i.e., snuff, in a pouch or pocket form, and continuously forming individual pouches or pockets containing the distinct portions of the particulate matter.

대표청구항 ▼

1. Apparatus for producing packets of a flowable material, each of which packets comprises a quantity of said flowable material enclosed within a layer of sheet material, the combination of: fixed means forming a passageway for said flowable material which extends to a discharge opening, means to de

1. Apparatus for producing packets of a flowable material, each of which packets comprises a quantity of said flowable material enclosed within a layer of sheet material, the combination of: fixed means forming a passageway for said flowable material which extends to a discharge opening, means to deliver a series of quantities of said flowable material into said fixed means, said fixed means having an outside surface configuration which is adapted to guide a strip of said sheet material into a tube which has a cross-section area of substantially the cross-section area of each of said packets with the edges of said strip overlapping, means to move a strip of said sheet material onto and thence through said fixed means at a substantially even rate, means to seal said edges of said strip together above the level of said discharge opening thereby to form a filling zone within which said series of said quantities of said flowable material are discharged in a time-separated series into said tube immediately after said tube is formed and means to cross-seal said tube in a predetermined manner away from said discharge opening whereby said tube is adapted to receive each of said quantities of said flowable material enclosed in said tube between two successive cross-sealed portions of said tube. 2. The construction as described in claim 1, wherein said sheet material is heat-sealable and said means to cross-seal comprises two sprocket wheels, which sprockets have flat surfaces which engage the opposite sides of said tube in the area of each cross-seal, with a heated sprocket and another sprocket on a second wheel presenting opposing surfaces which press said tube together to form each cross-seal. 3. The construction described in claim 1, wherein said means to deliver comprises a rotary feed wheel including pockets and wherein said pockets are cylindrical holes spaced the same radius from an axis of said feed wheel, and jet means positioned in axial alignment with said passageway and operative to project a jet through each of said pockets and thence through said passageway into said tube and to insure a delivery of each of said quantities into said tube. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a cutting unit positioned below said means to cross-seal, the cutting unit comprising a cutting wheel that rotates relative to said fixed means at a rate to cut said cross-sealed portions of said tube and produce six to eight packets per second. 5. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising a cutting unit spaced apart and positioned below said means to cross-seal, the cutting unit comprising a cutting wheel that rotates relative to said fixed means at a rate to cut said cross-sealed portions of said tube and produce six to eight packets per second. 6. An apparatus for producing packets of a flowable material, each of the packets comprises a quantity of said flowable material enclosed within a layer of heat-sealable sheet material, the apparatus comprising: a fixed tubular structure forming a passageway for said flowable material which extends to a discharge opening, a movable feeder structure that moves in a continuous manner relative to said fixed tubular structure to deliver a series of quantities of said flowable material into said fixed tubular structure, said fixed tubular structure having an outside surface configuration which is adapted to guide a strip of said heat-sealable sheet material being formed into a tube with edges of said strip overlapping, wherein said strip of said heat-sealable sheet material is moved onto said fixed tubular structure at a substantially even rate, a die structure to seal said edges of said strip together at a level above said discharge opening thereby to form a filling zone within which said series of said quantities of said flowable material are discharged through said fixed tubular structure in a time-separated series into said tube, a set of movable sealer surfaces to engage opposing sides of said tube to cross-seal said tube in a predetermined manner away from said discharge opening such that said tube is adapted to receive each of said quantities of said flowable material enclosed in said tube between two successive cross-sealed portions of said tube, and a cutting unit spaced below and movable relative to said set of movable sealer surfaces so as to cut said tube along said cross-sealed portions. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a hopper positioned above the movable feeder structure and being adapted to receive a supply of said flowable material. 8. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a sensor positioned proximate to said movable feeder structure, the sensor being configured to detect a position of a moving structure indicative of an approaching alignment position between said movable feeder structure and said passageway of the said fixed tubular structure. 9. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a tube forming die retained in a rigid position relative to the fixed tubular structure, wherein the tube forming die folds said strip of said sheet material around said outside surface configuration of said fixed tubular structure. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the tube forming die is positioned around to said fixed tubular structure and is supported in the rigid position independently of said fixed tubular structure. 11. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said set of movable sealer surfaces each rotate about a respective axis of rotation positioned below said fixed tubular structure, said set of movable sealer surfaces rotating relative to said fixed tubular structure to engage and positively pull on said tube so that said tube is converted into a chain of packets while said tube is continuously moved yet receives each of said quantities of said flowable material in an indexed manner. 12. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the cutting unit comprises a cutting wheel that rotates relative to said movable sealer surfaces and relative to said fixed tubular structure at a rate to cut said cross-sealed portions of said tube and produce six to eight packets per second. 13. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a main drive motor coupled with a transmission to drive movements of said feeder structure and said set of movable sealer surfaces.