A method of manufacturing a compressed rod of web material for the filter rod of a aerosol-generating article, comprising: supplying a feed of web material (140) from a supply apparatus (110); drawing the web material (140) through a filter rod manufacturing apparatus; introducing a curved ridge (146B) into the central portion of the width wise cross-section of the web material (140) as it approaches contact with the interior of a folding funnel (120), by drawing the web material (140) across a forming surface (130 A) of a former (130) that contacts a central portion of the web material (140), in which the forming surface (130A) deflects the central portion of the web material (140) from a line extending between where the web material (140) leaves the supply apparatus (110) and the centre of an outlet (120B) of the folding funnel; and folding the web material (140) in the folding funnel (120) to form a compressed rod of web material.

A reconfigurable wrapping mechanism (100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600) for forming a substantially cylindrical wrapped element by wrapping a core (160, 560) within a web material, comprising: a reconfigurable garniture bed (110, 210, 310, 410) having an elongate formation channel (212) that has an elongate open side; a conveying belt (120, 220, 320, 420, 520) extending along the length of the elongate formation channel (212) for entraining the web material; a drive mechanism for driving the conveying belt (120, 220, 320, 420, 520) along the length of the elongate formation channel (212).

A reconfigurable wrapping mechanism (100) for forming a substantially cylindrical wrapped element by wrapping a core (160) within a web material (162), comprising a reconfigurable garniture bed (110) having an elongate formation channel (112) for supporting a conveying belt (120) extending along the length of the elongate formation channel (112) for entraining the web material (162), and wherein the elongate formation channel (112) has an elongate open side.

A method of forming a wrapped article, comprising the steps of: forming a continuous stream of material such as an agricultural product; moving the continuous stream of material along an elongated path; compressing the continuous stream of material to reduce the cross-sectional area thereof until a predetermined cross-sectional dimension is achieved; drawing the compressed continuous stream of material through a rod-forming arrangement, the rod-forming arrangement having a non-contact displacement transducer associated therewith; folding at least one web longitudinally around the compressed continuous stream of material to form a continuous rod of material; and detecting variations in rod density within the rod-forming arrangement from a signal obtained from the non-contact displacement transducer.

An inductively heatable aerosol-forming rod for an aerosol-generating article is provided, including a first cylindrical core portion including at least one of a first aerosol-forming substrate and a first flavoring material; a second cylindrical core portion separate from the first core portion including at least one of a second aerosol-forming substrate and a second flavoring material; at least one elongate susceptor laterally abutting the first and the second core portions in a non-bond manner such that the susceptor is sandwiched between the first and the second core portions; a sleeve portion arranged around the first and the second core portions and the susceptor, and including at least one of a filler material, a third aerosol-forming substrate, and a third flavoring material. A shaping device for manufacturing of the rods is also provided, including a core-forming device, a first sleeve-forming device, a second sleeve-forming device, and a longitudinal guide.

There is disclosed a method of manufacturing a corrugated polymeric material web for an aerosol-generating article. Polymeric material pellets are first heated to form a p polymeric material melt. A polymeric material web is formed from the polymeric material melt, and the polymeric material web is then worked at an elevated temperature to form a corrugated polymeric material web. The corrugated polymeric material web is then wound onto a bobbin. A preferred polymeric material is polylactic acid.

An inductively heatable aerosol-forming rod for an aerosol-generating article is provided, including one cylindrical core portion including a first aerosol-forming substrate; at least one elongate susceptor laterally abutting the cylindrical core portion in a non-bonded manner along a longitudinal axis of the aerosol-forming rod; and a sleeve portion arranged around the cylindrical core portion and the susceptor, the sleeve including at least one of a filler material and a second aerosol-forming substrate. A shaping device for manufacturing the inductively heatable aerosol-forming rods is also provided, the shaping device including a core-forming device, a sleeve-forming device, and a longitudinal guide.

A method of producing cigarettes in a cigarette machine provides that separated tobacco is sucked to a lower side of an air-permeable conveyor belt. A suction bar is above the conveyor belt, which is connected to an air suction, the tobacco being formed into a tobacco rod at the lower side of the first conveyor belt, by being compressed at the lower side of the conveyor belt by the suction flow. The tobacco rod is transferred from the conveyor belt to a second conveyor belt, on which upper side a cigarette paper band is arranged. The cigarette paper band is glued along the longitudinal direction of the rod and the tobacco rod is cut into cigarettes. A smokable additive substance is metered into the suction stream mixed with tobacco and the tobacco rod is formed from the tobacco and the additive substance at the lower side of the first conveyor belt.

A conveyor for conveying strands of aerosol-generating material is disclosed. The conveyor comprises a conveying surface, comprising a plurality of openings, on which the strands of aerosol-generating material are conveyed, and an air flow generator for generating a flow of air through the plurality of openings in the conveying surface to provide an air cushion between the conveying surface and the strands of aerosol-generating material. Apparatus for producing a rod of aerosol-generating material comprising a slitting unit arranged to slit a web of aerosol-generating material into a plurality of strands of aerosol-generating material that are received by the conveyor is also disclosed, as well as a method of conveying strands of aerosol-generating material.

The invention relates to a method for adjusting the diameter of an elongated rod, said method comprising: providing an elongated rod having a preliminary diameter; selecting a desired final diameter of the elongated rod; providing a diameter adjusting device including a first tubular element having an inlet and an outlet and a channel connecting the inlet and the outlet; adjusting the diameter of the outlet as a function of the desired final diameter of the elongated rod, wherein the diameter of the inlet is bigger than the diameter of the outlet when adjusted; and inserting the elongated rod in the diameter adjusting device from the inlet and outputting it from the outlet so that said elongated rod is compressed to the desired final diameter when outputted from the outlet of the first tubular element.