the various components of a rejected cigarette mixture 10 containing any combination of large trash , small trash , loose tobacco shreds and rejected cigarettes are separated by metering the mixture 10 onto a vibrating trash removal conveyor 20 , which separates the components . in a typical cigarette manufacturing facility , the composition of the mixture 10 will vary from batch - to - batch or from cigarette maker - to - cigarette maker , depending on the nature of the rejected cigarette flow and the composition of the extraneous trash that gets mixed in with the collection of rejected cigarettes from the cigarette manufacturing areas . in the present invention , the mixture may contain any proportion of each of the components ( i . e . large and small trash , loose tobacco and cigarettes ). the mixture 10 may be metered onto the trash removal conveyor . 20 using any means , including without limitation funnels , vibrating conveyors , transport belts and shovels . in the embodiment depicted in fig1 the mixture is collected from the cigarette makers and transferred to a storage bin 30 . the mixture 10 is then transferred by an inclined conveyor belt 40 to a metering apparatus 50 . any type of metering apparatus may be used . as shown in fig1 the mixture 10 can be fed from the inclined conveyor belt 40 to a hopper 60 . since the trash removal system of the present invention may be used in conjunction with ripper operations or other tobacco and cigarette processing operations , it may be desired ( for the benefit of those other operations ) to raise the moisture content of the mixture 10 from the 12 . 5 % ov that is common in rejected cigarette tobacco . moisture may be injected into the mixture in order to raise the moisture content . in a preferred embodiment , the hopper 60 feeds the mixture 10 into a steam tube chamber 70 . steam is injected into the mixture 10 in the steam tube chamber 70 in order to raise the moisture level of the mixture 10 to a desired level . preferably , a level of 13 . 5 %- 14 . 5 % ov is attained although other ov levels may be used . the amount of moisture absorbed by the mixture 10 may be regulated by adjusting the amount of time in which the mixture is in the steam tube chamber 70 and the steam pressure . as steam pressure increases , the amount of moisture absorbed also increases . likewise , as the amount of time increases , the moisture level typically increases . one way to adjust the amount of time in which the mixture 10 remains in the steam tube chamber 70 is to control the height of the mixture present in the steam tube chamber 70 ( as measured from the bottom 80 of the steam tube chamber ). one way to control the height of the mixture is to use a control mechanism that senses the height using a vertical array of photo - electric cells 90 ; then , when & amp ; he height is too low , the rate at which the inclined feeder belt 40 feeds mixture 10 into the hopper 60 is increased ; and , conversely , when the height is too high , the rate at which the inclined feeder belt 40 feeds mixture 10 into the hopper 60 is decreased . it also has been observed that if the height of the mixture is too low , condensation can occur on the walls of the steam tube chamber and the mixture can get wet . in addition to the components described above , the metering apparatus 50 shown in fig1 contains a metering belt 100 and a feeder belt 110 . preferably , the speed of the metering belt 100 can be adjusted in order to control the rate at which the mixture 10 is fed onto the feeder belt 110 and the trash removal conveyor 20 . the feeder belt transports the metered mixture 10 to the trash removal conveyor 20 . other means of conveyance also may be used to perform the functions of the metering belt 100 and the feeder belt 110 , such as vibrating conveyors or hand conveyors such as barrels or trucks . preferably a metal removal system 120 operates to remove metallic objects that are in the mixture 10 before the mixture is fed onto the trash removal conveyor 20 . the metal removal system may be located anywhere in the metering apparatus . in the preferred embodiment , it is located near the end of the feeder belt 110 . although metallic objects can be removed manually , it is preferred that a magnet be used . one drawback of using a magnet is that it will only remove ferrous objects . however , it is generally more economical to use a magnet . as shown in fig1 - 5 , the trash removal conveyor of the present invention generally has a number of parallel vertically oriented plates 130 separated by spaces of a predetermined width , a screen 140 below the plates , a surface 150 for collecting materials that fall through the screen , a receptacle 160 for collecting large trash , another receptacle 170 for collecting and conveying material from surface 150 , a density separator 180 , and a means 190 for vibrating the trash removal conveyor 20 . in operation , the mixture 10 is metered onto the trash removal conveyor 20 , which is vibrating . the vibrating means 190 causes the trash removal conveyor 20 to vibrate . the vibrating action causes materials on the conveyor ( including any of its parts ), including the components of the mixture 10 , to move along the trash removal conveyor from the first end where the mixture 10 is metered onto the conveyor towards the opposite end . the operation of vibrating conveyors is widely known . any vibrating means may be used , including any of the widely used means . in the preferred embodiment , the vibrating means 190 causes the trash removal conveyor 20 to move in a concentric motion with a 7 / 8 in . stroke . this causes the mixture 10 and its components to move along the conveyor at approximately 60 ft ./ min . the plates 130 are vertically oriented and may be held in place by any means , such as mounting rods 200 that pass through each plate and are attached to at least one of the two sidewalls 210 , 220 of the trash removal conveyor . the mounting rods 200 may be attached to the sidewalls 210 , 220 by any means , as long as they cannot move vertically . slippage , such as in the horizontal or axial directions , may be tolerated , but preferably the mounting rods 200 are immovably attached to the sidewalls 210 , 220 . the top surfaces of the plates 130 are arranged in a predetermined pattern to promote separation of the various components of the mixture 10 . it has been determined that a sinusoidal arrangement , as depicted in fig3 and 6 , achieves the best results . in such an arrangement , there are three or more levels at which the top surfaces of the plates 130 are set . they are arranged such that a plate with its top surface being at the highest level has next to it at least one plate with a lower top surface , with a space in - between . the top surfaces of the next plates are succeedingly lower until a plate with its top surface at the lowest level is reached . then the top surfaces get higher until a plate with its top surface being at the highest level is reached . this pattern is repeated until the area between the two side walls 210 , 220 of the trash removal conveyor is populated with plates 130 and spaces between the plates . fig3 and 5 depict the preferred embodiment in which there is a sinusoidal arrangement of plates 130 having three top surface levels . fig6 shows an alternative embodiment in which there is a sinusoidal arrangement of plates 130 having four top surface levels . other arrangements of plates 130 in which the plates have various levels also may be used . the screen 140 is located below the plates 130 . in operation , the screen 140 functions to separate loose tobacco from the mixture 10 . the mesh size of the screen therefore may be any size that is large enough to allow loose tobacco shreds to pass through . as the mesh size selected increases , the likelihood that all loose tobacco shreds will be able to pass through increases . however , as the mesh size increases , the likelihood that some small trash , such as loose filters and cigarette paper can pass through also increases . preferably , the mesh size also is sufficiently small such that most small trash , such as loose filters and cigarette wrapper , cannot pass through in the preferred embodiment , a 31 / 2 mesh per linear inch screen is used . a surface 150 , such as a trough , is located below the screen 140 such that any material that passes through the screen is retained on the surface 150 . the surface 150 is constructed such that the material that passes through the screen 140 does not adhere to the surface 150 . in operation , it is desired that material on the surface the caused by the vibrating action of the trash removal conveyor to move along the surface 150 from the first end ( where the mixture 10 is metered onto the trash removal conveyor ) towards the opposite ( second ) end . a receptacle 170 is located such that material that is conveyed along the surface 150 falls into the receptacle 170 . in operation , the material that has fallen through the screen , primarily loose tobacco shreds , moves along the surface 150 until it reaches a slot in the surface 150 , which it falls through . the material then may be collected from the receptacle 170 by any means and transferred for further processing . in one embodiment , the receptacle 170 is a trough having vertical side walls and a belt conveyor as its bottom surface . in a preferred embodiment , the receptacle 170 is a trough having an angled bottom surface 172 and a front wall 174 and a rear wall 176 . the front and rear walls 174 , 176 may be vertical or angled . in this preferred embodiment the material that falls through the slot and into the trough 170 is caused by the vibrations of the trash removal conveyor to be conveyed in the direction of the angled bottom surface 172 . large trash , which is defined as trash that is too large to fit between the vertical plates 130 , is collected in a large trash receptacle 160 . in operation , the large trash is conveyed along the top surfaces of the plates 130 until it reaches the large trash receptacle 160 . the large trash then may be collected from the receptacle 160 by any means and transferred for further processing or for disposal as waste . in one embodiment , the receptacle 160 is a pan having vertical side walls and a belt conveyor as its bottom surface . in a preferred embodiment , the receptacle 160 is a pan having an angled bottom surface 162 and a front wall 164 and a rear wall 166 . in this preferred embodiment the large trash in the pan 160 is caused by the vibrations of the trash removal conveyor to be conveyed in the direction of the angled bottom surface 162 . a density separator 180 is located at the second end of the trash removal conveyor . in operation , materials in the mixture 10 that are small enough to fall between the plates 130 , but are too large to pass through the screen 140 , are conveyed along the top surface of the screen 140 from the first end to the density separator . generally , these materials that are conveyed into the density separator 180 are rejected cigarettes and small trash including , inter alia pieces of loose wrapper and filters . generally , the rejected cigarettes have a higher density than the other materials . the density separator 180 separates the rejected cigarettes from the other material . in the preferred embodiment , the density separator is a pneumatic air leg . in such a pneumatic air leg , an air stream is directed upwards ; material enters into the air stream ; materials with a higher density tend to fall downwards if the force of gravity is greater than the upward force caused by the drag created by the airstream ; and materials with a lower density rise in the direction of the airstream if the force of gravity is less than the drag created by the airstream . in operation , the cigarettes fall downwards and are collected and transferred for further processing . the small trash , such as wrapper paper and filter plug wrap filters , rises with the airstream and is collected for further processing ( such as recycling or further separation ) or disposal . in a preferred embodiment , the airstream velocity is at least 300 ft ./ min .
a trash removal system for separating trash and loose tobacco shreds from cigarettes that are rejected in cigarette manufacturing and packaging operations . a mixture comprising cigarettes , cigarette wrapper , trash and loose tobacco is metered onto a vibrating trash removal conveyor comprising a plurality of vertical plates arranged in a sinusoidally varying pattern .