A method for producing a diffusion-optimized tipping paper for tobacco products, especially filter cigarettes, by plasma perforation of the web of tipping paper for the purpose of maximum carbon monoxide reduction, wherein the diffusivity and the permeability P of the perforated tipping paper are measured in-line and diffusivity is maximized by controlling the perforation parameters, the definable target permeability P.sub.soll being maintained at all times.

A device for automated loading and forming smoking articles has a pre-rolled cone holder holding a plurality of pre-rolled cones. A loading mechanism loads individual pre-rolled cones in the pre-rolled cone holder with a predefined amount of material. A filling mechanism deposits the predefined amount of material in the loading mechanism. The filling mechanism monitors an amount of material loaded in the filling mechanism and sends a signal to stop loading the filling mechanism with the material when a predefined amount has been loaded. A dispensing mechanism sends the material to the filling mechanism. The dispensing mechanism stops sending of material when the filling mechanism sends the signal to stop loading the filling mechanism with the material when a predefined amount has been loaded. A hopper is in communication with the dispensing mechanism and stores the material. A shaker is coupled to the hopper shaking the material in the hopper preventing the material from sticking together.

A cigarette injection machine may include: a cigarettes tubes chamber configured to store an empty cigarette tube; a tobacco chamber configured to store tobacco, wherein the cigarettes tubes chamber and the tobacco chamber are arranged in a horizontal direction; a tobacco feed nozzle disposed between the cigarettes tubes chamber and the tobacco chamber in the horizontal direction, to guide and feed the tobacco into the empty cigarette tube; a cigarette tube loader barrel configured to load the empty cigarette tube from the cigarettes tubes chamber, rotate to a position of the tobacco feed nozzle, and move in the horizontal direction to a requested cigarette size position; and a tobacco feeder spiral rod configured to push the tobacco into the tobacco feed nozzle until the empty cigarette tube is filled with the tobacco when the cigarette tube loader barrel is at the requested cigarette size position.

A cigarette wrapper includes transversely extending banded regions applied by a printing technique, such as gravure printing. The banded regions may be applied in a one or more application of a printing composition that may be an aqueous starch solution also containing an anti-wrinkling agent such as propylene glycol, and calcium carbonate. The pattern of banded regions may be bands or stripes and the like along and/or around the tobacco rod. The banded regions may be solid or contain any number of cross-web and/or longitudinal discontinuities. The pattern may be configured so that when a smoking article is placed on a substrate, at least two longitudinal locations along the length of the tobacco rod have film-forming compound located only on sides of the smoking article not in contact with the substrate.

A rod and a method of forming a rod are provided. The rod includes a gathered sheet of material circumscribed by a wrapper, in which the sheet of material is a co-laminated sheet comprising a layer of an aerosol-forming material and a layer of a thermally-conductive material and in which the wrapper is a metal foil. The method includes providing a continuous co-laminated sheet including an aerosol-forming material and a thermally-conductive material; gathering the co-laminated sheet transversely relative to its longitudinal axis; circumscribing the gathered co-laminated sheet with a metal foil wrapper to form a continuous rod; and severing the continuous rod into a plurality of discrete rods.

A wrapper of a smoking article includes a base web and at least one transverse banded region. The banded region includes a first zone, a second zone and a third zone of add-on material. The second zone has about 25% to about 75% less add-on material than the first zone and the third zone. The banded region is about 5 mm to about 9 mm wide and the second zone is centrally located between the first zone and the third zone. The second zone includes a plurality of dots of the add-on material spaced from adjacent dots in the second zone by a distance greater than a distance between adjacent dots in the first zone and the third zone.

A disposable double-channel cigarette includes a tobacco unit, a heat source unit and a filter unit; wherein the tobacco unit includes a tobacco unit channel, a suction end and an ignition end; the heat source unit includes a heat source unit channel; and the filter unit includes a filter unit channel, and the filter unit is arranged at the suction end of the tobacco unit. A pneumatic device and a tobacco component are arranged in the tobacco unit channel; an air extraction device and a fuel component are arranged in the heat source unit channel; a linkage device is arranged between the pneumatic device and the air extraction device, and the linkage device transfers power between the pneumatic device and the air extraction device. A method for preparing the disposable double-channel cigarette described above is further provided.

An aerosol-generating article is provided, including: a rod of aerosol-generating substrate; and a paper wrapper wrapped around at least a portion of the aerosol-generating article, the paper wrapper including an embossed portion circumscribing the rod of aerosol-generating substrate along at least 80 percent of the length of the rod and having a basis weight of from 50 grams per square meter to 100 grams per square meter. A method of producing an aerosol-generating article is also provided.

An aerosol generating article (100) having a proximal end (102) and a distal end (104), comprising an inner tubular element (105) having a mouthpiece end (107) and an opposed heat source end positioned at the distal end of the aerosol generating article, and an outer tubular element (130) extending from the proximal end of the aerosol generating article towards the distal end thereof. The inner tubular element comprises an inner wrapping sheet (109) circumscribing, in a co-axial arrangement: a combustible heat source (115) positioned towards the distal end of the aerosol generating article; an aerosol-forming substrate (120) downstream of the combustible heat source; and, typically, a void space (125) between the aerosol-forming substrate and the mouthpiece end. The outer tubular element typically circumscribes at least the mouthpiece end of the inner tubular element and the void space and terminates downstream of the heat source. The inner wrapping sheet includes a pre-twisted portion (109b) at least in the region circumscribing the void space. The arrangement provides that the distal end including the combustible heat source and the aerosol-forming substrate is readily slideable relative to the outer tubular element from an extended position having a first article length (L1), to a retracted position having a second article length (L2) that is less than the first article length and in which the void space is at least partially collapsed to an axially contracted configuration.

A diagnostic method for analysing the operation of at least part of a production line in the tobacco industry includes feeding through the line a probe having the shape of a smokers' article and provided with an electronic card configured to acquire one or more parameters; the method includes a step of activating the probe with the possibility of temporally synchronizing the data acquired by the probe with the data acquired by the line at the same time.