ITUB20169955A1 - Method and related equipment for the production of a sealed pack of a group of cigarettes - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

Field of application

The present invention relates to a method for producing a sealed wrapping of a group of cigarettes.

The invention also refers to the related equipment intended to carry out this method.

The invention finds useful application in particular in the tobacco industry.

Known art

Cigarettes are traditionally packaged in rigid or semi-rigid packages, inside which they are wrapped in an internal wrapping generally made of aluminum foil.

Although widely adopted, this form of internal wrapping represents a compromise solution between production costs and the need to maintain the aromatic qualities of the tobacco of cigarettes unaltered.

In order to better preserve the organoleptic qualities of the product, it would certainly be preferable to make a sealed internal wrapping, produced starting from a sheet of thermoplastic film welded along the perimeter of the group of cigarettes contained therein.

In order to preserve the organoleptic characteristics of cigarettes for a longer time, cigarette packets have been produced in which the inner wrapping is waterproof, is sealed by heat sealing and comprises an inner wrapping sheet of waterproof material with an opening for extracting the cigarettes, there

which is closed by a reusable closure label.

The realization of the heat sealing is extremely

difficult as the cigarettes placed inside the wrapping of

waterproof material are subjected to mechanical stress

which can cause localized deformation and stress

which can locally deteriorate the tobacco.

To partially overcome this last problem, it is used

a rigid collar, consisting of a reinforcement made of cardboard,

inside the internal wrapping and around the group of cigarettes for

maintain the correct configuration of the internal wrapping and for

protect cigarettes when folding and heat sealing the

internal wrapping sheet of waterproof material.

jj However, arrange and fold the collar around the group of cigarettes before wrapping the paper around the group of cigarettes.

internal wrapping is very complicated in a packing machine

standard; consequently, to accomplish this type of internal wrapping is

need to make changes that can degrade productivity

overall.

Summary of the invention

The technical problem underlying the present invention is,

therefore, that of devising a method for producing a wrapping

sealed of a group of cigarettes that is free of the above drawbacks

described.

The aforesaid technical problem is solved by a method according to claim 1.

The technical problem is also solved by an equipment

according to claim 11, which is advantageously capable of

realize this method.

Additional features and benefits will appear more

from the detailed description given below of a form of

preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the present invention, with

reference to the attached figures given by way of example but not

limiting.

Brief description of the drawings

Figures 1 and 2 schematically show a respective view

perspective of an apparatus for making a wrapping

hermetic according to the present invention;

Figures 3-7, 9, 11-12 show details of the equipment

of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 8 shows a sectional view taken along the line

VIII-VIII of figure 7;

Figure 10 shows a sectional view taken along the line

I X-X of figure 9;

Figure 10A shows a schematic view of a step of

folding shown in Figure 10;

Figure 13 shows a wrapping sealed in accordance with

present invention;

Figure 14 shows a plan view of a wrapping sheet

for forming a wrapper in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 15 schematically shows in succession the representative steps of the method according to the present invention.

Detailed description

With reference to Figure 13, the number 1 indicates as a whole an internal wrapping for a rigid packet of cigarettes preferably made of cardboard or rigid cardboard and shaped like a cup with a reclosable lid.

The internal wrapping 1 encloses a group of parallelepiped-shaped cigarettes 10 and has a cigarette extraction opening at the top and front, delimited by a weakening line 2.

The internal wrapping 1 when enclosing the group of cigarettes 10 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape having an upper wall 3 and a lower wall 4 parallel and opposite to each other, two major side walls 5 and 6 parallel and opposite to each other, and two side walls minors 7 parallel and opposite to each other. In particular, a major side wall 5 defines a front wall of the wrapping 1, while the other major side wall 6 defines a rear wall of the wrapping 1. Between the minor side walls 7 and the front 5 and rear walls 6 are defined four longitudinal edges, while eight transverse edges are defined between the upper and lower walls and the anterior, posterior and minor lateral walls.

The opening of the inner package 1 is centrally arranged and is closed by a reusable closure label 8, which affects a portion of the front wall 5 of the package 1 and a portion of the upper wall 3 of the package 1, as well as possibly a portion of the rear wall 6 of wrapping 1.

The closing label 8 is fixed to the wrapping 1 by means of repositionable adhesive which does not dry, which is applied to the lower surface (the one in contact with the wrapping 1) of the closure label 8 and is arranged all around the opening of extraction to allow the closure label 8 to be partially separated several times from the wrapper 1 and then re-fixed to the wrapper 1. Preferably, the closure tag 8 is provided with a lower gripping tab 8a, which is free of repositionable adhesive, rests on the front wall 5 of the wrapper 1 and is adapted to facilitate gripping of the closing label 8 when lifting the closing label 8 itself; in other words, to lift the closing label 8 a user can easily grasp the gripping tab 8a, which is in no way fixed to the front wall 5 of the wrapper 1.

The wrapping 1 is obtained by folding a wrapping sheet 11, which has a rectangular shape, is made of airtight and heat-sealable plastic material, and is folded around the group of cigarettes 10 in the manner described below. Before folding the wrapping sheet 11 around the group of cigarettes 10, the wrapping sheet 11 itself is pre-scored so as to form the weakening line 2, U-shaped in the example illustrated, which defines the extraction opening ; subsequently, the rubberized closing label 8 is applied to the wrapping sheet 11 at the bottom (on the side that is coupled to the wrapping sheet 11), i.e. provided in its lower surface with the repositionable adhesive which, inside the weakening line 2 determines the permanent gluing of the inner portion of the wrapping sheet 11 to the closing label 8, and outside the weakening line 2 determines a separable gluing of the wrapping sheet 11 to the closing label 8, with the exception of the closing label 8 which is glued to the upper portion of the rear wall 6 of the package 1, where there is a permanent gluing.

In accordance with the present invention, the package 1 comprises a reinforcing element 30, which is made of cardboard or rigid cardboard, is shaped like a "U" and is arranged inside the package 1 in contact with the group of cigarettes 10. The reinforcing element 30 comprises a base wall 31 of rectangular shape, which is arranged in contact with a front wall constituted by the cylindrical side walls of the cigarettes of the group of cigarettes 10, and a pair of lateral fins 32, the which are connected to the longer sides (the longitudinal ones) of the base wall 31 and are arranged in contact with the minor side walls of the group of cigarettes 10 constituted by the cylindrical side walls of the cigarettes. Consequently, the base wall 31 of the reinforcing element 30 is arranged in proximity to the front wall 5 of the wrapping 1 and the side flaps 32 of the reinforcing element 30 are arranged in the proximity of the minor side walls 7 of the wrapping 1 .

Preferably, the base wall 31 of the reinforcing element 30 has an upper U-shaped edge 33 suitable for defining a window, which is arranged in correspondence with the cigarette extraction opening in such a way that the base wall 31 does not obstruct in any way the extraction of cigarettes.

The function of the reinforcing element 30 is to give greater stiffness and greater stability of shape to the package 1 so as to prevent the package 1 from collapsing on itself after having extracted a part of the cigarettes contained in the package 1, making the extraction of the remaining cigarettes complicated and in particular making the opening and subsequent reclosing of the closure label 8 extremely complicated.

The wrapping 1 with internal reinforcement 30 is made by arranging a rigid pocket 20 inside which the U-folded reinforcement is inserted, subsequently the group of cigarettes 10 is inserted into the rigid pocket 20 containing the reinforcement 30, so that the reinforcement 30 is arranged around the group of cigarettes 10, then the U-shaped wrapping sheet 11 is folded outside the rigid pocket 20 containing the group of cigarettes 10 embraced by the reinforcement 30.

The step of folding the wrapping sheet 11 onto the pocket 20 can also take place before the insertion of the reinforcement 30 and / or the group of cigarettes 10 in the pocket 20.

The rigid pocket 20 is designed to contain the group of cigarettes to size. In particular, this rigid pocket 20 is shaped like a hollow rectangle parallelepiped, extending along a longitudinal direction X and equipped at its opposite ends with a first opening 21 and a second opening 22 facing each other. In addition to the two opposite openings 21, 22, the parallelepiped which defines the rigid pocket 20 also comprises two minor side walls 24 and two major side walls 25.

The larger side walls 25 have a relatively small thickness.

The folding of the wrapping sheet 11 around the rigid pocket 20 provides for the wrapping sheet 11 to be initially folded into a "U" shape around the rigid pocket 20, covering the first opening 21, where the cigarette filters of the group of cigarettes are placed 10, and the major walls 25 of the rigid pocket 20.

In particular and as can be seen in Figure 14, the rectangular wrapping sheet 11 has a central longitudinal axis y, two major opposite edges 12 (parallel to the longitudinal axis y) and two minor opposite edges 13a and 13b (perpendicular to the longitudinal axis y ) and is folded around the rigid pocket 20 so as to define two parallel flaps of different length (measured along the y axis): a minor flap I la and a major flap l lb which will rest on a respective major wall 25 of the rigid pocket 20. The weakening line 2, which forms the cigarette access window, is placed on the enchantment sheet 11 in such a way as to arrange itself in the U-folded area 27, which occludes the first opening 21.

Preferably, the closing label 8 is put in position on the wrapping sheet 1 1 before the latter is folded into a U shape on the rigid pocket 20.

After folding the wrapping sheet 11 into a U shape, the assembly formed by the group of cigarettes 10, the reinforcement 30 (placed inside the pocket 20) and the wrapping sheet 11 (placed outside the pocket 20) are extracted from the pocket by means of of an extractor 29 which acts on the group of cigarettes 10 by accessing the second opening (where the tips of the cigarettes face) and pushing towards the first opening (where the cigarette filters face), so as to obtain the group of cigarettes 10 and the reinforcement 30 placed directly in contact with the wrapping sheet 11, without the rigid pocket 20 being more interposed between them.

During the step of extracting the group of cigarettes 10 with the reinforcement 30 which drag the wrapping sheet 11, the pocket 20 remains stationary.

Once the group of cigarettes 10 with the reinforcement 30 have been extracted and wrapped by the wrapping sheet 11 without the pocket 20 in between, the minor flap I la and the major flap lb will protrude with their respective minor edges 13a and 13b from the group of cigarettes 10 respectively for a minor section "d" and for a major section "D".

The major flap lb is folded against the lower wall of the group of cigarettes 10, consisting of the tips of the cigarettes of the group of cigarettes 10, so as to bring the free end of the major portion D into contact with the minor portion d of the minor portion I la protruding from the lower wall of the group of cigarettes 10.

After having folded the major flap lb, the overlapping portions of the two flaps 11a, lb are welded so as to form a tubular wrapping having two open ends in correspondence with the minor side walls of the group of cigarettes 10. In particular, the welding in proximity of the minor edges 13a and 13b of the wrapping sheet 11, it takes place keeping the minor edge I la with the minor section d which exceeds the group of cigarettes 10, i.e. arranged perpendicularly to the lower wall of the group of cigarettes 10, along the transverse edge 14 between the lower wall 4 and one of the major walls (in the example illustrated the front wall 5) of the package 1 to be formed.

In this way, a transverse fin 9 is created along the transverse edge 14 between the lower wall 4 and the front wall 5 of the wrapping 1 that will be formed. This transverse fin 9 is placed parallel to the front wall and therefore perpendicular to the lower wall of the wrapping 1 that will be formed.

Thanks to the welding according to the configuration just described, the two flaps I la, lb are welded together without the need to press in any way against the front wall of the group of cigarettes 10.

The transverse fin 9, formed by the two overlapping and welded flaps, is folded along the transverse edge 14 against the major wall by making a 180 ° rotation, in the example against the front wall 5 of the wrapping 1 that will be formed.

Preferably, the length of the major portion D (along the y axis) is equal to the sum of the length of the minor portion d (along the y axis) and the width of the lower wall of the group of cigarettes 10, the transverse fin 9 having a width equal to the smaller section d.

Once the tubular wrapping has been formed by welding the overlapping portions of the two flaps 11a, lb, the wrapping sheet 11 is closed around the group of cigarettes 10 to define the internal wrapping 1 by folding the two open ends in correspondence with the walls minor side of cigarette group 10.

Finally, the internal wrapping 1 is stabilized by carrying out two longitudinal welds of the overlapping portions of the wrapping sheet 11 along the minor side walls of the group of cigarettes 10.

In the illustrated example, the closing of the open ends of the minor side walls of the package 1 to be formed occurs first by folding the smaller protruding flaps 15 towards each other and against the minor side walls so as to create two folds, then each larger protruding flap 16 is folded against the smaller side wall so as to overlap them against the smaller side wall itself. These flaps folded against the smaller side wall are then joined together by welding.

Basically, an "envelope" type closure was carried out on the sides.

In accordance with the present invention, the apparatus for forming an internal wrapping 1 with reinforcement 30 placed inside and wrapping a group of cigarettes 10 is described below.

The apparatus 100, schematically illustrated as a whole in Figures 1 and 2, comprises a first station 101 for forming the reinforcement and subsequent insertion into the pocket 20, a second station 102 for inserting the group of cigarettes 10 into the pocket 20 , a third station for the application of the U-folded wrapping sheet 11 on the pocket 20, a fourth station 104 for the extraction from the pocket 20 of the group of cigarettes 10 with reinforcement 30 and wrapping sheet 11 wrapped in a U shape, a fifth station 105 for forming the transverse fin 9 along the transverse edge 14 and forming the tubular wrapping, a sixth station 106 for closing the minor side walls of the wrapping 1 to complete the sealing of the wrapping itself.

The first station 101, illustrated in Figure 3, comprises a deformer 34 suitable for giving the U-shape to the reinforcement 30 with the base wall 3 1 having an upper U-shaped edge 33 suitable for defining a window, and the two lateral fins 32 .

A suitable pick-up head 35 picks up the reinforcement 30 in the extended form and rotating it places it in front of the deformer 34, which, once the collar-shaped reinforcement has been formed, passes it to a pusher 36 which pushes the collar 30 into the pocket 20.

The pusher 36 is arranged so as to insert the support 30 along the longitudinal axis X of the pocket 20, in the example the insertion of the collar 30 takes place through the first opening 21 of the pocket 20.

The support 30 is placed inside the pocket 20 with the base wall 31 in contact with the internal face of one of the major walls 25 of the pocket 20 and the fins 32 in contact with the internal face of the minor side walls 24 of the pocket 20.

In the example shown, one of the major walls of the pocket 20 has a window 26.

After inserting the reinforcement 30, in the second station 102, illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, a pusher 23 pushes the group of cigarettes 10 accompanying it into the pocket 20 where the support 30 is already present.

The insertion of the group of cigarettes 10 into the pocket 20 takes place along the longitudinal axis X of the pocket 20, in the example the insertion of the group of cigarettes 10 takes place through the second opening 22 of the pocket 20.

Note that the cigarette group 10 is inserted with the filters directed towards the first opening 2 1.

The group of cigarettes 10 is wrapped by the U-shaped reinforcement 30 within the pocket 20.

Subsequently, the pocket 20 moves to the third station 103, illustrated in Figure 6, where a folding member 28 comprising two parallel and opposite prongs 28a is arranged to slide overlapping the rigid pocket 20 when this is in correspondence with the third station 103.

The two prongs 28a are spaced apart so as to be able to make the wrapping sheet 11 adhere to the major walls 25 of the pocket 20.

In this phase, the wrapping sheet 11 is prepared stretched between the folding member 28 and the rigid pocket 20 in the area of the first opening 2 1. By making the folding member 28 slide, the wrapping sheet 11 is dragged making it adhere to the first opening 2 1 in contact with the group of cigarettes, preferably with the cigarette filters, and folding the two flaps 11 a and 11 asymmetrically. b, against the two opposite major walls 25 of the rigid pocket 20.

Alternatively, it is possible to fold the wrapping sheet 11 in a symmetrical manner, as clearly visible in Figure 10A.

The movement of the folding member 28 is parallel to the longitudinal axis X of the pocket 20 and involves the wrapping sheet 11 placed perpendicular to the longitudinal axis X before it is wrapped on the pocket 20.

It should be noted that the weakening line 2, which will subsequently allow the opening of the access window to the group of cigarettes 10, is placed on the first opening 21 of the pocket 20, in the U-folded area 27, where the filters of the cigarettes are located. cigarettes.

In practice, the group of cigarettes 10 wrapped by the reinforcement 30 is found inside the rigid pocket 20 while the wrapping sheet 11 is outside the rigid pocket 20, the latter therefore being interposed between the group of cigarettes. 10 and the wrapping sheet 11.

The fourth station 104, illustrated in Figure 7, provides for the use of the extractor 29 to extract the group of cigarettes 10 with the reinforcement 30 from the rigid pocket 20. This extractor 29 has an abutment surface 29a intended to come into contact with the group of cigarettes 10 and the reinforcement 30 so as to exert a thrust on them. During its advancement, along the longitudinal axis x, the extractor 29 is inserted into the rigid pocket 20 from the second opening 22, then comes into contact with the group of cigarettes 10 and the reinforcement 30, which are pushed out of the rigid pocket 20 through the first opening 21 and continues its stroke until the group of cigarettes 10 with the reinforcement 30 in contact with the wrapping sheet 11 is brought.

In order to optimize the production process, a plurality of said rigid pockets 20 are mounted circumferentially to a first rotating drum (not shown in the figures) with an axis of rotation parallel to the longitudinal axis x of the pockets 20. The rigid pockets 20 are mounted with their larger side walls 25 tangentially with respect to the circumference defined by the first rotatable drum.

Thanks to the rotation of the first revolving drum, on which the rigid pockets 20 are mounted, each single rigid pocket 20 can be made to proceed through the first, second, third and fourth stations, which carry out the first steps of the method for the production of the wrapping. 1, according to the present invention.

When the extractor 29 finishes extracting the group of cigarettes 10 with reinforcement 30 from the pocket 20, the thrust continues until it reaches the fifth station 105, illustrated in figure 9, where there is a second rotating drum, not shown in the accompanying figures , having an axis of rotation perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the first drum. In the example shown, the rotation axis of the first drum is placed horizontally, while the rotation axis of the second drum is placed vertically.

The passage from the first to the second drum takes place in the lower area of the first drum.

In the extraction phase, illustrated in Figure 7, the movement of the aforementioned extractor 29 allows the group of cigarettes 10 to be extracted

with the reinforcement 30 from the rigid pocket 20 together with the wrapping sheet 11.

In fact, since the cigarettes 10 are in contact with the wrapping sheet 11 through the first opening 21, in their movement the group of

cigarettes 10 and reinforcement 30 drag the entire wrapping sheet with them

11, the rigid pocket 20 remaining fixed during extraction.

In practice, in the phase of extraction of the group of cigarettes 10

together with the reinforcement 30 from the rigid pocket 20, the group of cigarettes 10 ed

the reinforcement 30 drags with them the wrapping sheet 11, which slides outside the rigid pocket 20 until it comes into direct contact with the

group of cigarettes 10 and reinforcement 30.

In this way, the rigid pocket 20 which was previously interposed between the wrapping sheet 11 and the group is removed

10 cigarettes with 30 reinforcement.

The wrapping sheet 11 which wraps the group of cigarettes 10 in a U shape

with reinforcement 30 passes through the extractor 29 on the second drum

swivel.

In particular, the extractor 29 pushes the group of cigarettes 10

with reinforcement 30 U-wound from the wrapping sheet 11 towards a member of

U-shaped socket 40 having a pair of opposing planes of

socket 41 and 42 arranged parallel to the major side walls 25

of pocket 20, when the latter is stationary to allow extraction

of the group of cigarettes 10 with reinforcement 30.

In practice, the group of cigarettes 10 with reinforcement 30 pass

! from the pocket 20 to the gripping member 40, when the gripping member 40 faces the pocket 20 on which the extractor 29 acts.

The distance between the gripping surfaces 4 1, 42 of the gripping member 40 is fixed and substantially equal to the distance between the larger side walls 5 and 6 of the wrapping 1 being formed.

In the example illustrated, the gripping surfaces 41, 42 have a different longitudinal extension, in which the lower gripping surface, which we will call the lower gripping surface 42, is longer than the upper gripping surface, which we will call the upper gripping surface 4 1.

Furthermore, one of the two gripping surfaces must have a length less than the longitudinal extension of the group of cigarettes 10.

In the example shown, the upper gripping plane 41 has a shorter length than the longitudinal extension of the group of cigarettes 10, while the lower gripping plane 42 has a length substantially equal to the longitudinal extension of the group of cigarettes 10.

In order to keep compact the assembly formed by the group of cigarettes 10 wrapped by the reinforcement 30 arranged in a U shape to embrace the group of cigarettes 10, the gripping member 40 has two arms 42a placed at the sides.

These arms 42a also fold two transverse flaps so as to form a lateral fold on each minor side wall of the group of cigarettes 10, in the passage from the pocket 20 to the gripping member 40.

Furthermore, the lower gripping plane 42 is crossed by a longitudinal slot 43 to allow the passage of a thrust member not shown in the figures.

After receiving the group of cigarettes 10 with reinforcement 30 wrapped in the wrapping sheet 11, the second drum (Fig. 9) rotates, in the direction of the arrow, to heat-seal along the transverse edge 14 placed between the front wall 5 and the lower wall 4 of wrapping 1.

The heat sealing along the transverse edge 14 takes place by means of sealing blocks 51, 52 which weld near the shorter ends 13a, 13b of the wrapping sheet 11.

In particular, as illustrated in Figure 10, a first sealing block 51 is positioned at the top along the transverse edge 14 holding the minor edge I la stationary, with the end arranged perpendicular to and exiting the lower wall of the group of cigarettes 10, coinciding with the lower wall 4 of the wrapping 1 being formed. A second sealing block 52 folds the major flap 11b against the lower wall of the group of cigarettes 10 until it comes into contact against the minor flap 11a, so as to couple them to form a transverse fin 9 placed along the transverse edge 14, perpendicular to the lower wall 4 of the group of cigarettes.

The second sealing block 52 abuts against the first sealing block 51 with interposed the major and minor edges lb, I la of the wrapping sheet 11 mating together to form the transverse fin 9, so as to seal it, forming a wrapping tubular.

In practice, the transverse fin 9 is formed by the coupling between the minor flap 1 la and the major flap 1 lb.

The transverse fin 9 is then folded 180 ° against the front wall 5 of the wrapping 1 being formed by means of a curved cylindrical bar 53 placed circumferentially and arranged so as to act on the transverse fin 9 while the second drum rotates.

After having folded the transversal fin 9 by 180 °, we move on to the sixth station 106 where the folding and subsequent welding of the open ends of the tubular wrapping takes place.

The folding step of each of the open ends of the tubular wrapping takes place by means of folding elements 61 (Fig. 11) which fold the transverse flaps 15 so as to form a lateral fold on each minor side wall of the group of cigarettes 10.

After folding the transversal flaps 15 against the smaller side wall of the group of cigarettes 10, the facing side flaps 16 of the wrapping sheet 11 are folded against the smaller side wall of the group of cigarettes 10 so as to overlap them against the side wall smaller than cigarette group 10.

In the example illustrated there are three folding elements for each side, the first of them folds the transverse flap 15, the second folding element, placed centrally, folds the lower side flap 16 and finally, the third folding element folds the upper side flap 16 .

Subsequently, the edges superimposed on the minor side wall are subjected to heat sealing by means of further welding blocks 72 (Fig. 12).

In this way, the sealed internal wrapping 1 is formed.

As can be appreciated from what has been described, the method and the apparatus according to the present invention allow to meet the needs and to overcome the drawbacks mentioned in the introductory part of this description with reference to the known art.

Obviously, a person skilled in the art, in order to meet contingent and specific needs, may make numerous modifications and variations to the invention described above, all of which are contained within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims (11)

CLAIMS 1. Method for producing a sealed package (1) of a group of cigarettes (10), comprising the steps of: arranging a group of cigarettes (10) forming a lower wall consisting of the tips, two major side walls and two minor side walls consisting of the cylindrical side walls of the cigarettes; arrange a rectangular wrapping sheet (11) having a weakening line (2) to create access to the group of cigarettes (10); provide a rigid pocket (20) suitable to contain inside it the group of cigarettes (10), said rigid pocket (20) having a longitudinal extension along a longitudinal axis (X), and comprising two smaller walls (24) opposite and two opposite major walls (25), a first opening (21) and a second opening (22) which open at the opposite ends; introduce a reinforcement element (30) inside said rigid pocket (20) through one of said openings (2 1, 22) introducing the group of cigarettes (10) inside said rigid pocket (20) through one of said openings (22, 21) with the reinforcing element (30) that embraces the group of cigarettes (10); U-fold the wrapping sheet (11) outside the rigid pocket (20) so as to define two parallel flaps (I la, l lb), the weakening line (2) coming to be in the U-folded area (27 ), which occludes the first opening (21); extract the group of cigarettes (10) with the reinforcing element (30) from the rigid pocket (20) by means of an extractor (29) which acts on the group of cigarettes (10) and the reinforcing element (30) by moving from one of said openings (22, 21) towards the other opening (21, 22), so as to obtain the group of cigarettes (10) embraced by the reinforcing element (30) and by the wrapping sheet (11) without that the rigid pocket (20) is more interposed between them; keep a first of the two flaps (I la) extended on the greater wall of the group of cigarettes (10), so as to protrude perpendicularly from the lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10) without the first flap (I la) being folded over the wall bottom of the cigarette group (10); fold a second of the two flaps (1 lb) against the inner lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10) until reaching the transverse edge (14) between the lower wall and the greater wall of the group of cigarettes (10) on which and the first flap (I la) stretched, so as to bring the second flap (l 1b) to mate with the first flap (I la) and form a transverse fin (9) along said transverse edge (14); carrying out a first sealing step by welding said transversal fin (9), while said transversal fin (9) is placed perpendicularly to the lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10), so as to create a tubular wrapping open on two opposite sides; carry out a final sealing phase, in which the tubular wrapping is sealed on the open sides, so as to obtain a complete sealing of the wrapping (1) containing the group of cigarettes (10) with the reinforcement (30) inside. Method according to claim 1, wherein the wrapping sheet (11) is folded in a U shape outside the rigid pocket (20) asymmetrically, so that two flaps which rest on the respective major wall (25) of the pocket rigid (20), have a different length: a minor flap (I la) and a major flap (l lb), the major flap (l lb) being the one that is folded against the lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10) until to mate with the first flap (I la) which is the one that protrudes from the lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10) without however touching the lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10). Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at the end of the first sealing step the transverse fin (9) is folded by 180 ° against the major wall of the group of cigarettes (10). Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the group of cigarettes (10) is introduced into the rigid pocket (20) with the respective filters facing into contact with the U-shaped portion (27) of the wrapping sheet (11) at the line of weakening (2). 5. Method according to any of the previous claims, in which the reinforcement element (30) is introduced inside said rigid pocket (20) along the direction of the longitudinal axis (X). 6. Method according to any of the preceding claims, in which the group of cigarettes (10) is introduced inside said rigid pocket (20) along the direction of the longitudinal axis (X). Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wrapping sheet (11) when folded in a U shape on the pocket (20) has the second flap (1 1b) which extends beyond the lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10) to a portion equal to the sum between the portion that the first flap (Ia) surpasses the lower wall of the group of cigarettes and the width of the lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10). Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transverse fin (9) is folded around the transverse edge (14) against the major wall (5) which will form the front wall of the sealed inner package (1). Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which a reusable closure label (8) is applied to the wrapping sheet (11), which involves a portion of the front wall (5) of the wrapping (1) and a portion of the upper wall (3) of the wrapping (1), as well as possibly a portion of the rear wall (6) of the wrapping (1). Method according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the final sealing step on the open sides takes place first by folding the smaller protruding flaps (15) against the minor side walls, then each larger protruding flap (16) is folded. against the minor side wall so as to overlap them against the minor side wall itself. 11. Apparatus for producing a sealed package (1) of a group of cigarettes (10), comprising: a first drum rotatable about an axis of rotation and comprising a plurality of rigid pockets (20) to temporarily accommodate the group of cigarettes (10) to size, said rigid pockets being circumferentially disposed on the first drum, each rigid pocket (20) having a longitudinal extension along a longitudinal axis (X) arranged parallel to the axis of rotation of the first drum, and comprising two opposing minor walls (24) and two opposing major walls (25), a first opening (21) and a second opening (22) which open at the opposite ends; a first pusher (36) that pushes a reinforcement (30) into the pocket (20) along the longitudinal axis (X); a second pusher (23) which pushes the group of cigarettes (10) into the pocket (20) along the longitudinal axis (X); a folding member (28) comprising two parallel and opposite prongs (28a) arranged to slide overlapping the rigid pocket (20) and able to fold a U-shaped wrapping sheet (11) outside said rigid pocket (20) wrapping sheet (11) having a weakening line (2) to create an access to the group of cigarettes (10) in the U-folded area (27), said wrapping sheet (11) forming a first flap (I la) and a second flap (lb) which protrudes from the lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10); an extractor (29) adapted to extract the group of cigarettes (10) with the reinforcement (30) from the rigid pocket (20) by acting on the group of cigarettes (10) and on the reinforcing element (30), moving from one of said openings (22, 21) towards the other opening (21, 22), so as to obtain the group of cigarettes (10) embraced by the reinforcing element (30) placed directly inside the wrapping sheet (11) without the rigid pocket (20) is more interposed between them; first sealing means (51, 52) arranged to keep the first flap (I la) extended on the major wall of the group of cigarettes (10) and to prevent the first flap (I la) from bending against the lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10) cigarettes (10), so as to protrude perpendicularly from the lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10), said welding means (51, 52) being also arranged to fold the second flap (1 lb) against the internal lower wall of the group of cigarettes (10) until reaching the transverse edge (14) between the lower wall and the greater wall of the group of cigarettes (10) on which the first flap (I la) is stretched, so as to bring the second flap (l lb ) to mate with the first flap (I la) and form a transverse fin (9) along said transverse edge (14); second sealing means (72) for providing a final seal in which the open sides of the wrapping sheet (11) are sealed.