Apparatus for rolling uniting bands around groups of rod-shaped articles

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I claim: 1.
Apparatus for convoluting adhesive-coated uniting bands around rod-shaped commodities, particularly for convoluting uniting bands around groups of coaxial rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry, comprising a conveyor having a supporting surface arranged to carry and advance a series of uniting bands and a commodity adjacent each uniting band along a predetermined path in a predetermined direction such that the commodities extend substantially at right angles to said direction; and a plurality of devices for rolling commodities along said surface and relative to the respective uniting bands so as to convolute the uniting bands around the respective commodities, including a first device having first rolling means for rolling successive commodities at a lesser first speed and a second device having second rolling means for thereafter rolling successive commodities at a greater second speed.
2.
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said second rolling means includes a second surface adjacent a portion of said path and defining with said supporting surface a gap having a width such that successive commodities entering said gap contact and are rotated by said second surface about their respective axes to thereby roll along said supporting surface.
3.
The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said supporting surface is a convex surface and said second surface is a concave surface, said second device including a rigid stationary rolling member.
4.
The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said gap has an inlet for successive uniting bands and the respective commodities and an outlet, said first device including a rotor adjacent said path upstream of said second device and having a plurality of peripheral projections arranged to frictionally engage successive commodities in the region of said inlet, said conveyor including means for moving said supporting surface at a first speed and said first device further including means for orbiting said projections at a second speed less than said first speed