A substance container assembly includes an outer jacket open at one end, the outer jacket having an internal volume, an inner container having an internal volume, the inner container accessible by opening the container, the inner container fitting into the internal volume of the outer jacket and retained therein through alignment with and seating of at least one form on the inner container or component thereof into at least one opening through the wall of the outer jacket and a compression gap created by material removal of a strategic portion or portions of the inner container beneath the at least one aperture enabling physical depression of the at least one aperture below the inside wall of the outer jacket.

The present invention relates to a tobacco product package that comprises at least two, preferably five or more, cylindrically shaped tobacco products aligned in an alignment direction. A wrapping is sheathed around the tobacco products and covers at least part of the outer surfaces of the aligned tobacco products. A tear strip is disposed in the alignment direction along the wrapping and is configured for tearing apart the wrapping when being pulled by a user. According to the present invention, the tear strip has at least one weakening line positioned in the vicinity of an interface of adjacent tobacco products.

A system for printing on a printable portion of a liner for a package to receive smoking articles includes a package assembler configured to receive an outer blank and fold the outer blank around the liner to create the package. The liner comprises a material configured to absorb ink and a front surface, the front surface configured to be seen by a user when the package is open. The liner also includes a printable portion positioned on the front surface, the printable portion configured to receive ink. The system further comprises a printer coupled to the package assembler, the printer configured to dispense the ink on the printable portion when the package is in an at least partially assembled state.

A method for producing a packet of smoking articles, including the steps of: providing a wrapping sheet having a first layer of first material; removing a portion of the wrapping sheet to define a shaped profile; wrapping a group of smoking articles with the wrapping sheet; arranging a containing frame having an open zone around the wrapping sheet, to contain the group of smoking articles and the wrapping sheet, forming a semi-finished unit, with the open zone facing the shaped profile; supplying a sheet of a heat-sealable material having an opening; providing an adhesive label having a first layer of the first material; attaching the adhesive label onto the opening of the sheet of heat-sealable material; wrapping the semi-finished unit with the sheet of heat-sealable material, so that the layer of first material of the label faces the open zone; sealing the sheet of heat-sealable material, forming a barrier-like envelope.

A spacing support (11) and a spacing kit (10) for packets (100) of smoking articles configured to support in an orderly manner a plurality of packets arranged on two adjacent rows. The spacing support (11) comprises two containing drawers (12) arranged adjacent to each other and each defining a respective housing (13) for a corresponding row of packets, which extends in a longitudinal direction (X), and an access aperture (17) through which the packets (100) can be introduced and extracted from the housing (13). Each containing drawer (12) comprises a bottom wall (14) from which a pair of side walls (15) extends, each of these walls (14, 15) being configured to come into contact with a respective wall (101, 102) of the packet (100), wherein at least one of the side walls (15) comprises a plurality of positioning elements (18) projecting toward the inside of said housing (13), made as pre-cut fins (19) integrated into the side wall (15), and configured to delimit positioning compartments (26), in which each of said packets (100) is stably arranged and held in a static manner, in said longitudinal direction (X), with respect to said housing (13).

A packaging machine for producing packs containing a group of cigarettes, having in a manufacturing flow direction: a forming unit for forming cigarette groups; a first folding unit at which an inner blank composed of a material suitable for forming a dimensionally stable inner pack is folded in certain regions around a cigarette group to form an inner pack with the cigarette group as pack content; adjoining said first folding unit, a sealing inner pack unit in which a sealing inner pack is manufactured from the inner pack, the sealing inner pack is folded into a final state, or one sealing inner pack comprising the inner pack is manufactured; and adjoining said sealing inner pack unit, a second folding unit at which an outer blank composed of a material suitable for forming a dimensionally stable outer pack is folded around the sealing inner pack to form an outer pack.

A packaging machine for producing packs containing a group of cigarettes, having in a manufacturing flow direction: a forming unit for forming cigarette groups; a first folding unit at which an inner blank composed of a material suitable for forming a dimensionally stable inner pack is folded in certain regions around a cigarette group to form an inner pack with the cigarette group as pack content; adjoining said first folding unit, a sealing inner pack unit in which a sealing inner pack is manufactured from the inner pack, the sealing inner pack is folded into a final state, or one sealing inner pack comprising the inner pack is manufactured; and adjoining said sealing inner pack unit, a second folding unit at which an outer blank composed of a material suitable for forming a dimensionally stable outer pack is folded around the sealing inner pack to form an outer pack.

A method of producing a pack of smoking articles includes providing a pre-assembled pack of smoking articles comprising an inner pack having a flexible sheet in which a group of smoking articles is wrapped or enclosed and a re-closable flap movable between a closed position preventing access to the smoking articles and an open position for accessing the smoking articles, and an outer pack comprising a container which holds and substantially encompasses the inner pack, the outer pack having a lid in a closed position preventing access to the inner pack; creating a space or gap between the lid of the outer pack and the inner pack; and attaching the re-closable flap of the inner pack to the lid of the outer pack via and/or through the space or gap. An apparatus for producing a pack of smoking articles per the above method is also provided.

A diagnostic method for analysing the operation of at least part of a production line in the tobacco industry includes feeding through the line a probe having the shape of a smokers' article and provided with an electronic card configured to acquire one or more parameters; the method includes a step of activating the probe with the possibility of temporally synchronizing the data acquired by the probe with the data acquired by the line at the same time.

A diagnostic method for analysing the operation of at least part of a production line in the tobacco industry includes feeding through the line a probe having the shape of a smokers' article and provided with an electronic card configured to acquire one or more parameters; the method includes a step of activating the probe with the possibility of temporally synchronizing the data acquired by the probe with the data acquired by the line at the same time.