An inspection device for the quality control of rod-shaped smoking articles includes a drum and an inspection assembly. Each transfer drum has a succession of peripheral retaining portions, each having a retaining groove aligned with the axis of rotation of the transfer drum and configured to receive a respective smoking article to be inspected. Each inspection assembly, which is rotatable about the axis of rotation of the transfer drum, is equipped with a succession of detectors. Each detector has a cavity configured to insertably receive an end portion of the respective smoking article to be inspected and is equipped with a sensor adapted to detect an internal structure within the smoking article. The inspection device also comprises a movement device configured to move each peripheral retaining portion and the corresponding detector reciprocatingly towards and away from each other during the rotation of the transfer drum.

A manufacturing machine and method for the production of a cartridge for an electronic cigarette can include a first assembling drum which is mounted rotatable around a first rotation axis and has at least one first seat which is designed to house a tube and a second seat which is axially aligned with the first seat and is designed to house a support of a heating device; a first feeding station in which a tube is fed into the first seat; a second feeding station in which a support of a heating device is fed into the second seat; and a first welding station which is arranged downstream of the first feeding station and of the second feeding station and is provided with a first welding device, which, through a welded joint, connects a tube carried by the first seat to a support carried by the second seat.

A rotating drum for use in manufacturing vapor-generating articles may include a drum body. A plurality of grooves may be disposed in an outer face of the drum body. A seat may be tractably-mounted in each one of the plurality of grooves. The seat may include a seat groove that is structured and arranged to receive and hold a rigid casing of a vapor-generating article. The seat may be composed of a material that is softer than a material of the rigid casing.

A system for manufacturing cigarettes is provided. The system can include an easily removable and/or replaceable metering device that use a cavity drum to dispense a filler material, a modular garniture format parts bank that can be removed and replaced as a single unit from the cigarette manufacturing machinery, and a cutter head having components operated with a single motor that turns a spline shaft.

A filling unit, configured to fill a succession of tubular wrappers of the tobacco industry. The tubular wrappers extend along a main axis of extension and internally define respective containment chambers adapted to contain a filling material of the tobacco industry and have an access opening on at least one of its ends for access to the containment chamber. The unit also includes a filling station configured to insert the filling material into respective containment chambers of the succession of tubular wrappers through a filling end of them and a closing station disposed downstream of the filling station and comprising a plurality of closing means configured to make respective walls which close the filling ends and which are transverse to the respective main axes of extension.

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 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.

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.

A method for manufacturing rod-like articles for tobacco industry, the rod-like articles comprising longitudinal inserts located in a filling material, the method comprising: feeding a continuous tape-like wrapper; feeding a strand of the filling material onto the moving wrapper; feeding an insert material, in a form of a tape having weakenings, into the strand of the filling material; forming a continuous rod by wrapping the wrapper around the strand of the filling material with the insert material; cutting the moving continuous rod into discrete rod-like articles by a cutting head at a cutting plane that traverses the weakening in the tape of the insert material; the method being characterized by: inspecting ends of the insert in the rod like article cut from the continuous rod and comparing the ends with a predefined model to obtain a measure of similarity; and depending on the similarity, adjusting the action of the cutting head with respect to the movement of the continuous rod such as to increase the similarity between the ends of the insert to the model in a following rod like article.

Machine and method for producing a substantially cylindrical article, which comprises a tubular body, a container element, arranged in the area of one end of the tubular element, a heat generating element, partially housed inside the container element, and loose material for generating flavour; in use, the loose material is inserted into the container element, vertically oriented, and the heat generating element is partially inserted into the container element by being moved downwards, so as to obtain a combined element; subsequently, the combined element is at least partially inserted into the tubular body.