Process and apparatus for the production of cigarettes

摘要

A process and an apparatus for the production of cigarettes are described, tobacco fibres being combined on a strand conveyor to form a tobacco strand, excess fibres being removed from the tobacco strand, and the tobacco strand being wrapped in a strip of wrapping material and then processed to form cigarettes. The density of the tobacco strand is measured by means of a density-measuring device (22) and a further property of it is measured by means of measuring devices (31, 37 or 9, 16). By means of an actual-value transmitter (26), actual values of the selected cigarette property are formed on the basis of the measured values by means of function equations which are stored in a function generator (27) and which represent a natural relation between the measured quantities and selected cigarette properties. Deviation signals corresponding to the percentage deviations of the actual value from predetermined desired values are generated in a comparison arrangement (41). The deviation signals are added in a summing element (44) to form a sum signal. The excess-reduction device (18) is controlled in such a way that the sum signal assumes a predetermined value. In this way, selected cigarette properties, such as nicotine content, carbon monoxide content, condensate content, etc., can be predetermined and optimised in predetermined value ranges. <IMAGE>