The present invention relates to a machine for the production of a component for an aerosol generating article, the machine including: a buffer station, the buffer station including: # fixed sheet guides; # movable sheet guides which are movable in a reciprocating manner in a direction towards the fixed sheet guides and in a direction away from the sheet fixed guides; # an actuator for moving the movable sheet guides, wherein the fixed and movable sheet guides together define a zig-zag trajectory for the sheet having a variable length for varying the total length of the sheet of material in the buffer station; # supports for the sheet, the supports being arranged so that, when the movable sheet guides are moved towards the fixed sheet guides, at least one of the movable sheets guides is interposed between two different supports of the plurality; # an air system; # wherein the each of the supports defines an outer surface, at least one of the outer surfaces having a first portion in which a sucking action is exerted by the air system to attract the sheet towards the outer surface and a second portion in which a blowing action is exerted by the air system to push the sheet away from the outer surface.

The invention relates to a method for the ultrasonic welding of a strip consisting of a plastic material for the production of cigarette products, in which method the strip has two free ends which are heated in a connection region by means of ultrasound and joined together to form a closed strip. Ultrasound at a frequency of more than 22 kHz is used.

The present application relates to a rod article distribution apparatus (10) for distributing rod articles (50) between at least two storage columns. The apparatus (10) has a rod article infeed (20), a rod article distributor (30) having an epicyclic drum arrangement, and at least two rod article receiving channels (41). The rod article distributor (30) is configured to distribute rod articles (50) between the at least two rod article receiving channels (41). The present application also relates to a rod article making apparatus and a method of distributing rod articles between at least two storage columns.

The present application relates to a rod article distribution apparatus (10) for distributing rod articles (50) between at least two storage columns. The apparatus (10) has a rod article infeed (20), a rod article distributor (30) having an epicyclic drum arrangement, and at least two rod article receiving channels (41). The rod article distributor (30) is configured to distribute rod articles (50) between the at least two rod article receiving channels (41). The present application also relates to a rod article making apparatus and a method of distributing rod articles between at least two storage columns.

The present invention relates to a method to fold a sheet (11) of material into a rod for an aerosol generating article, the method comprising: providing a central element and plurality of spaced apart walls (14), the spaced apart walls radially extending outwardly from the central element (12) following one another in a circumferential direction, each spaced apart wall defining an end surface (15) separated from the end surfaces of the adjacent walls; transporting the sheet of material and putting it in contact with the end surfaces of the plurality of spaced apart walls so that the sheet of material can partly fold within spaces defined between the spaced apart walls; and inserting the sheet of material into a funnel (16) to form a rod. The present invention also relates to an apparatus (10) to fold a sheet of material into a rod for an aerosol generating article.

The present invention relates to a method to fold a sheet (11) of material into a rod for an aerosol generating article, the method comprising: providing a central element and plurality of spaced apart walls (14), the spaced apart walls radially extending outwardly from the central element (12) following one another in a circumferential direction, each spaced apart wall defining an end surface (15) separated from the end surfaces of the adjacent walls; transporting the sheet of material and putting it in contact with the end surfaces of the plurality of spaced apart walls so that the sheet of material can partly fold within spaces defined between the spaced apart walls; and inserting the sheet of material into a funnel (16) to form a rod. The present invention also relates to an apparatus (10) to fold a sheet of material into a rod for an aerosol generating article.

A rod for use in a smoking article comprises a gathered sheet of homogenised tobacco material circumscribed by a wrapper. The sheet of homogenised tobacco material may comprises one or more aerosol-formers and have an aerosol former content of greater than 5% on a dry weight basis or of between 5% and 30% by weight on a dry weight basis. The rod may comprise a continuous element to which one or more additives have been applied, which is incorporated into the gathered continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco material. A method of forming the rod comprises the steps of: providing a continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco material; gathering the continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco material transversely relative to the longitudinal axis thereof; circumscribing the gathered continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco material with a wrapper to form a continuous rod; and severing the continuous rod into a plurality of discrete rods. The sheet of homogenised tobacco material is preferably crimped or otherwise textured.

A rod for use in a smoking article comprises a gathered sheet of homogenised tobacco material circumscribed by a wrapper. The sheet of homogenised tobacco material may comprises one or more aerosol-formers and have an aerosol former content of greater than 5% on a dry weight basis or of between 5% and 30% by weight on a dry weight basis. The rod may comprise a continuous element to which one or more additives have been applied, which is incorporated into the gathered continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco material. A method of forming the rod comprises the steps of: providing a continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco material; gathering the continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco material transversely relative to the longitudinal axis thereof; circumscribing the gathered continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco material with a wrapper to form a continuous rod; and severing the continuous rod into a plurality of discrete rods. The sheet of homogenised tobacco material is preferably crimped or otherwise textured.

The invention relates to an apparatus (1) for the production of a rod component (100) of an aerosol generating article, said apparatus comprising: .sup. a first mover (4) adapted to transport a first sheet (2) along a first direction; .sup. a second mover (5) adapted to transport a second sheet (3) along a second direction; .sup. a third mover (6) adapted to transport a susceptor strip (10) along a third direction, said third mover being adapted to position said susceptor strip between the first and the second sheet during transport; and a rod forming device (20) being adapted to form a rod from the first and the second sheets and the susceptor strip and having an inlet (21) and an outlet (22), wherein said first and second sheets and said susceptor strip are introduced in said inlet and said rod is outputted from said outlet.

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing inductively heatable aerosol-forming rods (100). The method comprises supplying a first substrate web (31) and a second substrate web (32) separately to a continuous multiple-stage rod-forming process which comprises at least a first and a subsequent second stage. The method further comprises supplying a continuous susceptor profile (20) to the rod-forming process such that the susceptor profile passes through at least the second stage. Furthermore, the method comprises passing the first and second substrate web separately through the first stage. Thereby, the first and the second substrate web are separately pre-gathered transversely with regard to a respective transport direction of each of the substrate web through the first stage. The method further comprises passing the susceptor profile and the pre-gathered substrate webs through the second stage. Thereby, the separately pre-gathered substrate webs are jointly gathered into a rod shape around the susceptor profile. The invention further relates to a multi-stage rod-forming device (10) comprising at least a first stage (11) and a second stage (12) downstream of the first stage. The first stage is configured for separately pre-gathering a first and a second substrate web (31, 32) respectively as each of them passes through the first stage. The second stage is configured for jointly gathering the pre-gathered substrate webs into a rod shape around a susceptor profile (20) as the susceptor profile and the pre-gathered substrate webs pass through the second stage.