Cigarette forwarding apparatus

Claim 1

An apparatus for advancing cigarettes comprising: a passageway extending in a first direction for receiving pluralities of cigarettes; a pair of hoppers for dispensing cigarettes, said hoppers positioned on opposite sides of the passageway; a pair of channels spaced from one another, each having movable walls extending generally in the direction of said passageway, defining an inlet and an outlet end for each of said channels; a reciprocating frame for mounting said channels; means for moving said frame to align one of the channels with said hopper while aligning the other of said channels with said passageway; first pushing means associated with each hopper for pushing cigarettes from beneath said hopper into the inlet of the channel aligned therewith; second pushing means aligned with said passageway for pushing cigarettes out through the outlet of that channel aligned with the passageway and along the passageway; and means for moving at least one of the walls associated with each channel to compress slightly cigarettes in the channels before the cigarettes are pushed out of the outlets of the channels, said moving means thereafter spreading the walls of the channels tO facilitate pushing cigarettes into the channels when the channels are aligned with the hopper, wherein said moving means includes: means pivoting the walls to the reciprocating frame at locations adjacent to the outlets of the channels; and means for shifting the walls to rotate about said pivots to thereby spread the walls at the outlets of the channels to receive the cigarettes and move the walls toward one another to compress the cigarettes.

Claim 2

An apparatus for advancing cigarettes comprising: a passageway extending in a first direction for receiving pluralities of cigarettes; a pair of hoppers for dispensing cigarettes, said hoppers positioned on opposite sides of the passageway; a pair of channels spaced from one another, each having movable walls extending generally in the direction of said passageway, defining an inlet and an outlet end for each of said channels; a reciprocating frame for mounting said channels; means for moving said frame to align one of the channels with said hopper while aligning the other of said channels with said passageway; first pushing means associated with each hopper for pushing cigarettes from beneath said hopper into the inlet of the channel aligned therewith; second pushing means aligned with said passageway for pushing cigarettes out through the outlet of that channel aligned with the passageway and along the passageway; and means for moving at least one of the walls associated with each channel to compress slightly cigarettes in the channels before the cigarettes are pushed out of the outlets of the channels, said moving means thereafter spreading the walls of the channels tO facilitate pushing cigarettes into the channels when the channels are aligned with the hopper, wherein said moving means includes: means pivoting the walls to the reciprocating frame at locations adjacent to the outlets of the channels; and means for shifting the walls to rotate about said pivots to thereby spread the walls at the outlets of the channels to receive the cigarettes and move the walls toward one another to compress the cigarettes.

Claim 5

An apparatus for advancing cigarettes comprising: a passageway extending in a first direction for receiving pluralities of cigarettes; a pair of hoppers for dispensing cigarettess, said hoppers positioned on opposite sides of the passageway; a pair of channels spaced from one another, each having movable walls extending generally in the direction of said passageway, defining an inlet and an outlet end for each of said channels, and wherein the walls of the channels are arranged in a row with each channel having an outside wall and an inside wall; a reciprocating frame for mounting said channels; means for moving said frame to align one of the channels with said hopper while aligning the other of said channels with said passageway; first pushing means associated with each hopper for pushing cigarettes from beneath said hopper into the inlet of the channel aligned therewith; second pushing means aligned with said passageway for pushing cigarettes out through the outlet of that channel aligned with the passageway and along the passageway; and means for moving at least one of the walls associated with each channel to compress slightly cigarettes in the channels before the cigarettes are pushed out of the outlets of the channels, said moving means thereafter spreading the walls of the channels to facilitate pushing cigarettes into the channels when the channels are aligned with the hopper wherein said moving means includes: a substantially L-shaped link secured by a pin in one arm thereof to each outside wall and pivoted to said reciprocating frame; a first push arm extending over said row of walls and registering with said pin securing said L-shaped links to said walls; link means connecting said inside walls to one another and to the other arms of said L-shaped links by a pin-in-slot connection; second push arm means connected to said link means and extending substantially parallel with said first push arm; and means for reciprocating said first push arm with a greater amplitude than said second push arm to cause the inlet ends of said walls to spread relative to the outlet ends of said walls when said channels are aligned with said hoppers and to bring said outlet ends of said walls together when said channels are aligned with said passageway.

Claim 6

An apparatus for advancing cigarettes comprising: a passageway extending in a first direction for receiving pluralities of cigarettes; a pair of hoppers for dispensing cigarettess, said hoppers positioned on opposite sides of the passageway; a pair of channels spaced from one another, each having movable walls extending generally in the direction of said passageway, defining an inlet and an outlet end for each of said channels, and wherein the walls of the channels are arranged in a row with each channel having an outside wall and an inside wall; a reciprocating frame for mounting said channels; means for moving said frame to align one of the channels with said hopper while aligning the other of said channels with said passageway; first pushing means associated with each hopper for pushing cigarettes from beneath said hopper into the inlet of the channel aligned therewith; second pushing means aligned with said passageway for pushing cigarettes out through the outlet of that channel aligned with the passageway and along the passageway; and means for moving at least one of the walls associated with each channel to compress slightly cigarettes in the channels before the cigarettes are pushed out of the outlets of the channels, said moving means thereafter spreading the walls of the channels to facilitate pushing cigarettes into the channels when the channels are aligned with the hopper wherein said moving means includes: a substantially L-shaped link secured by a pin in one arm thereof to each outside wall and pivoted to said reciprocating frame; a first push arm extending over said row of walls and registering with said pin securing said L-shaped links to said walls; link means connecting said inside walls to one another and to the other arms of said L-shaped links by a pin-in-slot connection; second push arm means connected to said link means and extending substantially parallel with said first push arm; and means for reciprocating said first push arm with a greater amplitude than said second push arm to cause the inlet ends of said walls to spread relative to the outlet ends of said walls when said channels are aligned with said hoppers and to bring said outlet ends of said walls together when said channels are aligned with said passageway.

Claim 7

An apparatus for advancing cigarettes comprising: a passageway extending in a first direction for receiving pluralities of cigarettes; a pair of hoppers for dispensing cigarettes, said hoppers positioned on opposite sides of the passageway; a pair of channels spaced from one another, each having movable walls extending generally in the direction of said passageway, defining an inlet and an outlet end for each of said channels and wherein the walls of the channels are arranged in a row with each channel having an outside wall and an inside wall; a recriprocating frame for mounting said channels; means for moving said frame to align one of the channels with said hopper while aligning the other of said channels with said passageway; first pushing means associated with each hopper for pushing cigarettes from beneath said hopper into the inlet of the channel aligned therewith; second pushing means aligned with said passageway for pushing cigarettes out through the outlet of that channel aligned with the passageway and along the passageway; and means for moving at least one of the walls associated with each channel to compress slightly cigarettes in the channels before the cigarettes are pushed out of the outlets of the channels, said moving means thereafter spreading the walls of the channels to facilitate pushing cigarettes into the channels when the channels are aligned with the hopper, wherein said moving means includes: a first push arm linked pivotally by pin means to the outside walls adjacent to the inlets of said channels; a second push arm extending parallel to said first push arm and having a pair of bell cranks mounted thereon, said bell cranks being connected to said walls at the inlet of said channels by said pin means; and means for reciprocating said first push arm with greater amplitude than said second push arm to cause the inlet ends of said walls to spread relative to the outlet ends of said walls when said channels are aligned with said hoppers and to bring said outlet ends of said walls together when said channels are aligned with said passageway.

Claim 8

An apparatus for advancing cigarettes comprising: a passageway extending in a first direction for receiving pluralities of cigarettes; a pair of hoppers for dispensing cigarettes, said hoppers positioned on opposite sides of the passageway; a pair of channels spaced from one another, each having movable walls extending generally in the direction of said passageway, defining an inlet and an outlet end for each of said channels and wherein the walls of the channels are arranged in a row with each channel having an outside wall and an inside wall; a recriprocating frame for mounting said channels; means for moving said frame to align one of the channels with said hopper while aligning the other of said channels with said passageway; first pushing means associated with each hopper for pushing cigarettes from beneath said hopper into the inlet of the channel aligned therewith; second pushing means aligned with said passageway for pushing cigarettes out through the outlet of that channel aligned with the passageway and along the passageway; and means for moving at least one of the walls associated with each channel to compress slightly cigarettes in the channels before the cigarettes are pushed out of the outlets of the channels, said moving means thereafter spreading the walls of the channels to facilitate pushing cigarettes into the channels when the channels are aligned with the hopper, wherein said moving means includes: a first push arm linked pivotally by pin means to the outside walls adjacent to the inlets of said channels; a second push arm extending parallel to said first push arm and having a pair of bell cranks mounted thereon, said bell cranks being connected to said walls at the inlet of said channels by said pin means; and means for reciprocating said first push arm with greater amplitude than said second push arm to cause the inlet ends of said walls to spread relative to the outlet ends of said walls when said channels are aligned with said hoppers and to bring said outlet ends of said walls together when said channels are aligned with said passageway.