An apparatus for manufacturing of multi-element rods of the tobacco industry comprising a feeding apparatus designed to feed rod-like elements, a transferring apparatus designed to transfer the rod-like elements or groups of the rod-like elements from the apparatus feeding the rod-like elements to the forming apparatus, comprising rotational elements provided with lugs and notches between the lugs, used to convey the rod-like elements, whereas the notches are adapted to receive and convey the individual rod-like elements or the groups of the rod-like elements, whereas the rotational elements are arranged and adapted to guide the rod-like elements successively through the rotational elements, the apparatus further comprises a forming apparatus, and a cutting apparatus.

There is provided a method of making rods having predetermined values of cross-sectional porosity, and a cross-sectional porosity distribution value for use as an aerosol-forming substrate in a heated aerosol-generating article, including providing a continuous sheet of aerosol-forming material having a specified width and a specified thickness; gathering the sheet transversely relative to a longitudinal axis thereof; circumscribing the gathered sheet with a wrapper to form a continuous rod; severing the rod into a plurality of discrete rods; determining values of cross-sectional porosity and cross-sectional porosity distribution for at least one of the discrete rods; and controlling one or more manufacturing parameters to ensure that the cross-sectional porosity and cross-sectional porosity distribution values of subsequent rods are within the predetermined values.

There is provided a method of making rods having predetermined values of cross-sectional porosity, and a cross-sectional porosity distribution value for use as an aerosol-forming substrate in a heated aerosol-generating article, including providing a continuous sheet of aerosol-forming material having a specified width and a specified thickness; gathering the sheet transversely relative to a longitudinal axis thereof; circumscribing the gathered sheet with a wrapper to form a continuous rod; severing the rod into a plurality of discrete rods; determining values of cross-sectional porosity and cross-sectional porosity distribution for at least one of the discrete rods; and controlling one or more manufacturing parameters to ensure that the cross-sectional porosity and cross-sectional porosity distribution values of subsequent rods are within the predetermined values.

Provided is a filling element used for a flavor inhalation article, the filling element including: a sheet fill section obtained by randomly gathering and reducing the diameter of one sheet in a width direction that intersects the longitudinal direction of the sheet; and, a roll paper wrapped around the sheet fill section. The sheet is a dry nonwoven fabric obtained by bonding plant-derived fibers together with a binder and drying the fibers.

There is provided a method of making rods having predetermined values of cross-sectional porosity, and a cross-sectional porosity distribution value for use as an aerosol-forming substrate in a heated aerosol-generating article, including providing a continuous sheet of aerosol-forming material having a specified width and a specified thickness; gathering the sheet transversely relative to a longitudinal axis thereof; circumscribing the gathered sheet with a wrapper to form a continuous rod; severing the rod into a plurality of discrete rods; determining values of cross-sectional porosity and cross-sectional porosity distribution for at least one of the discrete rods; and controlling one or more manufacturing parameters to ensure that the cross-sectional porosity and cross-sectional porosity distribution values of subsequent rods are within the predetermined values.

An installation is arranged for serially forming a plurality of substrates for aerosol generation, and includes: a feeding means arranged for feeding a continuous web of substrate material, and a rotating cutting wheel having multiple cutting dies arranged circumferentially and for cutting out this continuous web to define a plurality of substrates and then for removing each defined substrate from each cutting die at a chosen instant to make it fall at a chosen position.

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.

Apparatus for producing a rod of aerosol-generating material is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a first feed device adapted to supply a first web of aerosol-generating material to a processing unit, a second feed device adapted to supply a second web of aerosol-generating material, and a web changeover unit arranged to change supply of aerosol-generating material to the processing unit from the first web of aerosol-generating material to the second web of aerosol-generating material. The web changeover unit is configured to position a leading edge of the second web of aerosol-generating material adjacent to a trailing edge of the first web of aerosol-generating material upstream of the processing unit during changeover from the first web of aerosol-generating material to the second web of aerosol-generating material. A method of producing a rod of aerosol-generating material is also disclosed.

A method and apparatus for shredding a sheet of material. The material may be employed as an aerosol generating material in a consumable for use in a non-combustible aerosol provision system. The method includes the steps of perforating the sheet in a first direction with a plurality of parallel lines of perforations to form a perforated sheet, the perforations of adjacent lines being offset from one another, and cutting the perforated sheet in a second direction to form individual strips of material. The first and second directions may be orthogonal, for example machine direction and cross direction.

A method for continuously manufacturing aerosol generating articles includes: (i) providing a continuous web of an aerosol generating substrate; (ii) separating a continuous strip of aerosol generating substrate from the continuous web of aerosol generating substrate provided in step (i), the continuous strip having a substantially flat surface; (iii) applying at least one susceptor patch to the substantially flat surface of the continuous strip of aerosol generating substrate obtained by step (ii); (iv) cutting the continuous web of aerosol generating substrate to form a plurality of aerosol generating strips; and (v) combining the at least one susceptor patch and the continuous strip of aerosol generating substrate obtained by step (iii) with the plurality of aerosol generating strips obtained by step (iv) to form a continuous rod.