Cigarette packers

Claim 1

In a packing machine for rodlike articles such as cigarettes comprising a conveyor having a plurality of containers at least one side of which is open and in which said articles are arranged in predetermined number with ends adjacent said open side, an inspection device comprising a drum rotatable about its central axis and supported laterally of the conveyor and movable at a speed equal to that of said conveyor, and includes an array of sensing pins projected radially from the surface thereof, spring means urging each of said pins outwardly into contact with the ends of said articles as said containers are passed by said drum, said pins being adapted to retract within said drum on contact with an article end, lock means engaging said pins and holding the same in retracted position so that said retracted pin indicates a properly positioned and formed article while said projecting pin indicates an absence of such article, means mounting said drum for rotation adjacent said conveyor with its surface tangent to the open side of said conveyor, said pins corresponding in number and position to that of the articles in said container so as to engage the ends of said article, and signal generating means responsive to selective displacement of said pins in engagement with the ends of said article to emit a signal indicative of the proper position and number of said article.