A material handling machine dispenses uniformly metered charges of smoking material from a bulk supply, by means of a metered material feeder that has a first hopper with an opening disposed over a first horizontal chute. The first chute is mounted on slanted springs and has a dispensing end above a second chute also mounted upon slanted springs. The second chute discharges onto a tippable weighing tray above a set of nested hoppers in which one is fixed and the other is vertically movable. A weight sensor may be attached to the tippable tray or the fixed hopper, or both. The move-able hopper may comprise a forming belt indenter to form a trough in a cigarette rolling apparatus. The first hopper may include an agitator that has at least one vertical rod for stirring the bulk material. The dispensing end of the first chute may also include a rotating rake.

A replenishing device for replenishing a flute of a transporter with a rod-like element, wherein the transporter comprises multiple flutes located transversally with respect to a transporting direction and adapted to transport rod-like elements, the replenishing device comprising: a feeding duct for feeding the rod-like element; a rotary replenishing element having an axis of rotation, comprising at least one transferring seat for receiving the rod-like element from the feeding duct in a receiving zone and for transferring the rod-like element to the flute of the transporter in a transferring zone, wherein the rotary replenishing element is adapted to repeatedly pass the same rod-like element through the transferring zone before transferring that rod-like element to the flute of the transporter; and a transferring mechanism for effecting the transfer of the rod-like element from the transferring seat to the flute of the transporter.

A replenishing device for replenishing a flute of a transporter with a rod-like element, wherein the transporter comprises multiple flutes located transversally with respect to a transporting direction and adapted to transport rod-like elements, the replenishing device comprising: a feeding duct for feeding the rod-like element; a rotary replenishing element having an axis of rotation, comprising at least one transferring seat for receiving the rod-like element from the feeding duct in a receiving zone and for transferring the rod-like element to the flute of the transporter in a transferring zone, wherein the rotary replenishing element is adapted to repeatedly pass the same rod-like element through the transferring zone before transferring that rod-like element to the flute of the transporter; and a transferring mechanism for effecting the transfer of the rod-like element from the transferring seat to the flute of the transporter.

A device for rolling cigarettes, filter cigarettes or filters, including a rolling channel delimited, at one end, by a rolling portion of a feed conveyor, and at the other end, by a rolling unit which includes an infeed rolling bed and an outfeed rolling bed located in succession along the travelling direction of the rolling channel and defining an infeed stretch and an outfeed stretch of the rolling channel, respectively. The infeed rolling bed is movable along the travelling direction independently of the outfeed rolling bed to produce different rolling modes along the infeed stretch and along the outfeed stretch.

A smoking article assembly apparatus is disclosed. It comprises a first cutting station configured to cut a filter rod into filter segments, a tipping station configured to join the filter segments to tobacco rods so as to form a smoking article assembly, and a second cutting station configured to cut the smoking article assembly in the region of the filter segments so as to form two smoking articles.

A smoking article assembly apparatus is disclosed. It comprises a first cutting station configured to cut a filter rod into filter segments, a tipping station configured to join the filter segments to tobacco rods so as to form a smoking article assembly, and a second cutting station configured to cut the smoking article assembly in the region of the filter segments so as to form two smoking articles.

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 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.

This filler element is used in a flavor inhaler, and comprises: a folded part in which one sheet composed of a nonwoven fabric has been folded in the width direction intersecting the longitudinal direction thereof, and the diameter thereof has been reduced to a size not greater than the diameter of the filler element; and wrapping paper that is wrapped on the folded part. A section of the folded part in the circumferential direction thereof has an opening that is open along the axial direction of the folded part, and a capsule encapsulating an additive is placed on the interior of the folded part via the opening.

This filler element is used in a flavor inhaler, and comprises: a folded part in which one sheet composed of a nonwoven fabric has been folded in the width direction intersecting the longitudinal direction thereof, and the diameter thereof has been reduced to a size not greater than the diameter of the filler element; and wrapping paper that is wrapped on the folded part. A section of the folded part in the circumferential direction thereof has an opening that is open along the axial direction of the folded part, and a capsule encapsulating an additive is placed on the interior of the folded part via the opening.