This invention relates to an apparatus for making smokers' articles.

More specifically, the invention has for an object an apparatus for making cylindrical smokers' articles each of which is composed of a group comprising at least two cylindrical pieces which are joined to each other by gummed sheet material wrapped at least partly around the group itself and in which the surface of the sheet material has connected to it, in the context of each group, at least one strip of web material placed circumferentially round the group itself.

For convenience of description and without limiting the scope of the invention, reference is made herein to the production of cylindrical smokers' articles composed of two or more pieces of filter material juxtaposed end to end or separated by a gap or having, between at least some of them, spaces filled with loose material of any kind. These cylindrical smokers' articles, again by way of example, are then considered as part of further smokers' articles consisting of filter cigarettes comprising one or more pieces which contain filter material and which have to be connected to a piece of cigarette.

More in general, therefore, the smokers' articles this invention refers to comprise a succession of cylindrical pieces of smokers' products of any kind used to make up cylindrical smokers' articles.

In some cases, in the production of smokers' articles, a web which is to be wrapped around cylindrical pieces and glued thereto in order to join the pieces to each other, has to be provided, on one or both sides of its peripheral surface, with one or more strips of suitable material to be glued to the web itself in such a way as to define one or more annular inserts on the surface of the cylindrical smokers' articles obtained by wrapping the web itself round the above mentioned pieces. Depending on circumstances, these annular inserts may have aesthetic functions, in which case, they may be made of foil paper or of plastic material, or they may have a functional purpose, in which case, the strips in question may be used for flavouring purposes.

In manufacturing machines which make smokers' articles of the above mentioned type, it is standard practice to use webs on which the strips have already been provided during the production of the webs themselves. This practice, however, involves relatively high costs because the special rolls of web of this kind are not only very expensive but also create technical problems which call for complex and uneconomical solutions because it means the manufacturing machines have to be provided with somewhat complicated synchronizing systems designed to position the annular inserts properly relative to the cylindrical which are wrapped in the webs themselves.

Moreover a further example of an apparatus for making smokers' articles is disclosed by document WO2013/024263.

The aim of this invention is to provide an apparatus for making smokers' articles which is free of the disadvantages described above with reference to the prior art.

The invention accordingly provides an apparatus for making smokers' articles as set out in the appended claims.

The invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting embodiment of it, and in which:

• Figure 1 is a schematic front view of an apparatus for making smokers' articles according to this invention; and
• Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of smokers' articles in various stages of their production in the apparatus of Figure 1.

Figure 1 shows an apparatus 1 for making smokers' articles, comprising an end or outfeed portion of an apparatus 2 for making filters, which may be of the composite type, that is to say, composed of two or more pieces of filter material of different kinds juxtaposed with each other in axial direction.

Forming part of the apparatus 2 is a unit 4 comprising conveyor means 5 for feeding pieces of smokers' products consisting of filter elements 6 (see also Figure 2) along a first path P1 extending along a feed direction D1. The apparatus 1 comprises a garniture tongue 7 for forming a (at least one) continuous filter rod 8 which, in the embodiment illustrated, comprises filter elements 6 alternated with gaps 9.

More precisely, along the garniture tongue 7, a continuous sequence of filter elements 6 moving along the direction D1 are progressively wrapped in a web 10 of paper (or other sheet material) which is unwound continuously from a roll 11 by feed means of essentially known type denoted in their entirety by the reference 11' and which is fed towards wrapping means schematically represented as a block 12, in such a way as to form the continuous rod 8 which a rotary cutoff device 13 at the outfeed end of the garniture tongue 7 divides into smokers' articles consisting of composite filter pieces 14, each composed (for example) of a central filter element 6 whose two axial ends are separated by gaps 9 and respective halves of further filter elements 6. More specifically, the feed means 11' for the web 10 of sheet material direct the web 10 longitudinally along a second path P2.

The apparatus 2 also comprises, downstream of the cutoff device 13 in the direction of feed of the continuous filter rod 8, a conveyor device 15 of essentially known type, for sequentially feeding the filter pieces 14 towards the infeed of a filter tip attachment machine 16 of known type for applying filters to cigarettes. The filter tip attachment machine 16 is also able to receive cigarette pieces 17 sequentially from a cigarette maker schematically represented as a block 16', divide the filter pieces 14 into two pieces 18 of half the length, axially interpose the pieces 18 between two cigarette pieces 17 and connect the pieces 17 and 18 to each other in known manner to make a double cigarette 19 which is then divided into two half way along the piece 18 to make two finished filter-tipped cigarettes 20.

Located along the second path P2 followed by the web 10 upstream of the unit 4, in the order defined by the direction of feed of the web 10 itself, there are applicator devices 21, 22, 27 for applying strips 23, 24 of web to the web 10 itself and which, at predetermined regular intervals, cut the strips 23, 24 from respective webs 23', 24' unwound from respective rolls 23", 24" and apply a spot of glue on a surface thereof by means of a gluing device of known type, not illustrated. In other words, the applicator device 21, 22, 27 is located along the second path P2 to apply the strips 23, 24 on at least one surface of the web 10 of sheet material in such a way that they are oriented transversely to the second path P2.

The applicator devices 21, 22 are capable of applying on one surface of the web 10 respective transversal strips 23, 24 in such a way that, for example, a strip 23 and a strip 24, spaced from each other by a gap of predetermined length are placed on the web 10 in transit along the garniture tongue 7 which forms the continuous filter rod 8 and are positioned centrally between each pair of filter elements 6, with the strip 24 leading the strip 23. According to the above, the strips 23, 24 of web connected to the web 10 form on each of the finished filter-tipped cigarettes 20 an annular insert 23"', 24"' which surrounds, respectively, a portion of the filter of each of the two cigarettes 20 obtained by cutting in half the double cigarette 19 with the filter in the middle of it.

The strips 23, 24 may be made of any suitable material, for example paper or plastic material, or they may comprise metallic material or hold any substance, such as a flavouring, for example, capable of affecting the properties of the filter pieces 14.

Located along the first path P1 which the web 10 follows after the strips 23 ad 24 have been applied to it, there are preferably two detector devices 25 and 26 (Figure 2) for checking in known manner that the strips 23, 24 are correctly positioned and, if a positioning error is detected, for providing the applicator devices 21, 22 associated with the detector devices 25 and 26, with feedback for independently delaying or advancing the application of the strips 23 and/or 24 to the web 10 in such a way as to cancel the error.

As shown in Figure 1, one or more strips similar to the strips 23, 24 are applied to the surface of the web 10 opposite the surface the strips 23 and 24 are applied to. For this purpose, one or more applicator devices 27 similar to the applicator devices 21 and 22 may be provided (Figure 1 shows one, drawn with a dashed lines) in such a way as to act on the opposite surface. The applicator device 27 is preferably also associated with a detector device (not illustrated) similar to the detector devices 25 and 26. Generally speaking, the detector devices are preferably associated with at least part of the applicator devices 21, 22, 27.

It should be noted that in accordance with the above, the strips 23, 24 can be applied, according to requirements, to a surface of the web 10 which will eventually be on the outside of the continuous rod 8 enclosing the filter elements 6, or to a surface of the web 10 on the inside of the rod 8 or to both of the surfaces.

Obviously, the number of applicator devices 21, 22, 27 which may be used in the apparatus 1 can be selected as needed.

Lastly, it should be noted that using separate applicator devices 21, 22, 27 which can be adjusted independently of each other allows varying the positions of the strips 23 and 24 in order to space them apart according to requirements and/or to vary the spacing in the event of a changeover to pieces 18 of a different size.