A drying device having a travel path along which a web (W) of paper travels, a plurality of drying ovens arranged side by side along the travel path, a plurality of conveyor rolls provided in each of the drying ovens to convey the web (W) along the travel path, a plurality of roll units each constituted by one or more of the conveyor rolls and separated from each other along the travel path, and a plurality of conveyor motors connected to the respective roll units to rotate the conveyor rolls, wherein a downstream one of the roll units with respect to the travel path is rotated at a lower rotating speed than an upstream one of the roll units.

A cigarette paper is disclosed that contains at least one burn additive the concentration c(x) of which varies along a direction x of the cigarette paper. For the position-dependent concentration c(x) over an interval of length L, for x over the interval [0,L], (x)cc(x)(x)+c. In this regard, 3 cmL11 cm, (x) is monotonic over the interval [0,L], but not a constant function over the entire interval, and c1% by weight, preferably 0.7% by weight and particularly preferably 0.5% by weight, and especially preferably 0.3% by weight and particularly preferably 0.15% by weight and c>0% by weight, each with respect to the mass of the cigarette paper.

The present invention relates to a method for unwinding a bobbin of a coiled sheet, the method comprising: providing a bobbin of a coiled sheet, the bobbin comprising a free portion of the sheet unwound from the bobbin; arranging a blade between the free portion of the sheet and the remaining of the sheet coiled in the bobbin in such a way that the blade is in contact to the sheet coiled in the bobbin; and vibrating the blade while unwinding the sheet from the bobbin. The present invention also relates to an unwinding apparatus for unwinding a bobbin.

A process for reducing the permeability of a paper wrapper used in the construction of a smoking article is disclosed. The paper wrapper is treated with a film-forming composition that forms treated discrete areas on the wrapper. The treated discrete areas have a permeability within a predetermined range sufficient to reduce the ignition proclivity properties of a smoking article made with the wrapper. In accordance with the present invention, the film-forming composition contains a film-forming material. The film-forming material has a relatively low viscosity. In this manner, the film-forming composition can have a relatively high solids content and still be applied to the wrapper using conventional techniques, such as by using a gravure printer.

A method of producing smoking articles, the method comprising a first step of providing a continuous array of first filter members (42), second filter segments (20) and tubular members (40). A tubular member (40) is provided between each pair of consecutive first filter members (42) and a second filter segment (20) is provided between each first filter member (42) and each tubular member (40). Each second filter segment (20) contains one or more breakable capsules, wherein each breakable capsule comprises an outer shell and an inner core containing an additive. The continuous array of first filter members (42), second filter segments (20) and tubular members (40) is then wrapped with a continuous sheet of plug wrap (44) to form a wrapped filter array, wherein the plug wrap (44) has a basis weight of less than 90 grams per square meter. The wrapped filter array is cut at an intermediate position along each first filter member (42) to provide multiple filter rods, each filter rod comprising two first filter segments (18), a tubular member (40) positioned between the first filter segments (18) and a second filter segment (20) provided between each first filter segment (18) and the tubular member (40). Next, a tobacco rod (12) is provided in axial alignment with and adjacent to each first filter segment (18) of one of the filter rods, and the filter rod and a portion of each tobacco rod (12) are wrapped in a tipping wrapper (50). Finally, the tipping wrapper (50) and the filter rod are cut at an intermediate position along the length of the tubular member (40) to form multiple smoking articles (10), each smoking article (10) comprising a tobacco rod (12) connected to a filter (14), wherein each filter (14) comprises a first filter segment (18) downstream of the tobacco rod (12), a second filter segment (20) downstream of the first filter segment (18), and a hollow tube segment (22) positioned between the second filter segment (20) and the mouth end of the filter (14). The hollow tube segment (22) defines a cavity (24) at the mouth end of the filter (14).

A rotary shear cutting apparatus to cut discrete non-rectangular portions from a web of smoking article sheet material, comprises a first rotary carrier provided with a first cutting edge and a second rotary carrier provided with a second cutting edge, wherein said first and second cutting edges are configured to cooperate during rotation of said first and second rotary carriers to cut a non-rectangular portion from the web.

A tray loading and unloading system has a first station with a tray mounted to a tray retainer. The tray retainer is mounted to a tray carriage. The tray carriage slides on a tray retainer rail between a tray retracted position and a tray extended position. The tray starts as an empty tray at the tray retracted position and travels to the tray extended position to receive product tubes at the tray extended position. The tray extended position has a first pushing tamper that pushes product tubes from a first loading cup into the tray. A first loading arm loads product tubes from a first loading tube into the first loading cup

A preparation method of a heat-not-burn cigarette paper with boron nitride as a thermally-conductive filler includes: mixing potassium oleate, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and water, thoroughly stirring under an ultrasonic condition, aging, and filtering until there is no precipitate; thoroughly mixing a resulting mixed solution with a softwood pulp and a hardwood pulp to obtain a coarse pulp; and under stirring, adding boron nitride and calcium carbonate as a filler to the coarse pulp, heating to 60? C., and stirring for thorough mixing to obtain a pulp for sizing and papermaking. The present disclosure effectively improves the stability of a cigarette paper by improving a coefficient of thermal conductivity of the paper. Boron nitride, when used as a thermally-conductive filler in a thin-walled or paper product, enables high heat removal capacity. The preparation method retains the original whiteness and transparency of the cigarette paper, and provides high conductivity.

The present invention relates to an aerosol-generating article (10) for use with an aerosol-generating device comprising a heating element, or with an integral heat source, the aerosol-generating article (10) comprising an aerosol-forming substrate (20), a substantially incombustible wrapper (3) circumscribing the aerosol-forming substrate (20) and comprising inner and outer surfaces, wherein the inner surface of the wrapper (3) has an at least partially textured surface (5) configured to overlap a portion of the outer surface (4) of the wrapper (3) when the wrapper (3) is wrapped around the aerosol-forming substrate (20). The invention further relates to an apparatus and a method for forming an aerosol-generating article (10).

A process for reducing the permeability of a paper wrapper used in the construction of a smoking article is disclosed. The paper wrapper is treated with a film-forming composition that forms treated discrete areas on the wrapper. The treated discrete areas have a permeability within a predetermined range sufficient to reduce the ignition proclivity properties of a smoking article made with the wrapper. In accordance with the present invention, the film-forming composition contains a film-forming material. The film-forming material has a relatively low viscosity. In this manner, the film-forming composition can have a relatively high solids content and still be applied to the wrapper using conventional techniques, such as by using a gravure printer.