A PIN-BASED DETECTOR FOR DETECTING THE ENDS OF ARTICLES IN A BUNDLE

摘要

A pin-based detector (10) for detecting the ends of a bundle of cigarettes (62) comprises a pin housing (12) and a plurality of pin assemblies (16) mounted slidably within the housing (12) and being movable between an extended position and a retracted position. The detector (10) further includes first sensing means for sensing if one of the pin assemblies (16) is not fully retracted by the extended cigarette ends (60) and second sensing means for sensing if one of the pin assemblies (16) is not extended when the cigarette ends (60) are withdrawn. The first and second sensing means comprise an optical transmitter (38) for generating an optical beam, an optical receiver (59) for receiving the beam and an optical beam path (50) defined between the optical transmitter (38) and receiver (59), which beam is broken or interrupted when at least one of the pins (18) is not in the fully extended or retracted positions.