WO2019106625A1

WO2019106625A1 - Device and method for the production of smoking article and the smoking article obtained

Info

Publication number: WO2019106625A1
Application number: PCT/IB2018/059522
Authority: WO
Inventors: Antonella Giannini; Alberto Monzoni; Stefano Malossi
Original assignee: Montrade SpA
Current assignee: Montrade SpA
Priority date: 2017-12-03
Filing date: 2018-11-30
Publication date: 2019-06-06
Anticipated expiration: 2020-06-03

Abstract

A smoking article, for example a "heat-not-burn" article made of tobacco-based material, or a filter made of paper, plastic or other suitable material, is obtained by assembling at least one web (2) so as to give it a rod shape (6) after the web has been divided into a plurality of interconnected strips (32). In a first solution, discontinuous cuts are made (3) in the web, in the form of a series of perforations (303) spaced apart, so as to define in the web a plurality of interconnected strips (32). In a second solution, cuts are made in the strip that define a plurality of strips, using cutting tools adapted to give the aforesaid strips knurls and/or corrugations, resulting in interlacing between the strips.

Description

"Device and method for the production of a smoking article and the smoking article obtained"

★★★

DESCRIPTION

[0001] . Field of the invention

[0002] . The present invention refers to smoking articles in general , including in particular "heat-not-burn" smoking articles made of tobacco material or, for example, filters for smoking articles of this type made of various materials, such as paper or plastics

[0003] . In particular, the invention refers to articles of the type obtained by assembling at least one web in such a way as to give it a rod shape. The invention also refers to the equipment and methods for making such articles.

[0004]. State of the art

[0005] . It is known that the rods used to make smoking articles are made by working with a continuous web, for example tobacco web, by carrying out a crimping process or alternatively by cutting it into thin strips and then wrapping the material, thus crimped or cut into strips, in an external wrapping, for example, paper.

[0006] . "Crimping" means a known process of corrugating or folding at an acute or obtuse angle carried out substantially parallel to the axis of travel of the rod (or alternatively substantially parallel to the axis of the cylinder to which a rod may be assimilated) .

[0007] . A method is known from EP 2 713 778 B1 for making a rod of smoking material by assembling a web of smoking material, e.g. reconstituted tobacco (or "cast leaf tobacco") , after the web has undergone a crimping operation, i.e. corrugation or folding along generatrices substantially parallel to the direction of travel of the web and to the longitudinal direction of the rod thus obtained, and according to acute or obtuse folding angles.

[0008] . Alternatively, methods are known that provide for the web to be cut into thin strips parallel to the longitudinal direction of the web. Similar processes are also used to produce filters made of e.g. paper or plastic material.

[0009] . In particular, processes and equipment for producing shreds, filaments or strips of tobacco material are known from the state of the art. Typically, the width of such fragments, supports and strips of tobacco material is about 3 mm.

[0010] . For example, US-A-4 , 000, 748 describes a method and device for shredding a sheet of tobacco reconstituted into strips and for crimping the resulting strips in a substantially simultaneous operation. The sheet of tobacco material is moved between a pair of rotating and intermediate discs that cut the sheet into a plurality of strips of widths between 0.65 and 1.55 mm. The forward movement of the resulting strips is delayed by the engagement with facing surfaces of neighboring discs causing buckling of the strips into a crimped configuration. The crimped strips are manufactured to provide an increase in fill value.

[0011] . US-A-4, 598, 721 describes a method and device for producing pieces of reconstituted fiber from reconstituted tobacco. Tobacco dust and/or tobacco swarf is processed with binders and possibly additives into a plastifiable mixture which is extruded through a special molding head to produce individual curled filiform intermediate products, which are then separated into individual pieces of curled fibers. The pieces of curled fiber have a thickness of 0.1 to 0.3 mm, a width of 0.4 to 3 mm and an elongated length of 5 to 40 mm.

[0012] . US-A-4, 889, 143 describes cigarette rods having a plurality of strands extending substantially longitudinally fed by reconstituted tobacco material, similar to shredded sheet, which is contained in a circumscribing wrapping material. Strips of reconstituted tobacco material, similar to sheet, are shredded into a plurality of strands which are gathered into a rod shape and circumscribed by a paper casing to form a continuous rod. The continuous rod is then separated at regular intervals to provide a plurality of strips of the desired length. To control the loss of volume of the cigarette rod, strands with a longitudinally curled configuration may be produced and positioned so that air may flow longitudinally through the rod into the spaces between the strands. Strands passing through the bar forming means at a slightly lower speed than that at which the strands leave the shredding means may tend to provide curled strands, i.e. folded, bent, corrugated or sinusoidal strands, capable of providing a greater amount of strand material per unit of length of the bar section.

[0013] . Other similar solutions are known from US3299895, US3589373, US4889143, EP3136881, EP20110250571, US5053066, W02013164009, US2005224087.

[0014] . In all the aforesaid cases, the rod thus formed is then wound in a wrapping material, e.g. paper.

[0015] . The known methods mentioned above have a number of drawbacks. In the case of processes that provide for crimping the web, such operation ruins the consistency of the material making up the web, generates dirt and processing difficulties and also produces a tobacco rod of which the resistance to draw (the so- called "pressure drop" or "RTD") is difficult to control, a parameter that determines the taste of the final product.

[0016] . Obj ect of the invention

[0017] . An object of the present invention is to remedy the drawbacks of the prior art.

[0018] . A further object of the invention is to devise a method and a device that allow one to obtain in a repeatable and controllable way a rod with desired functional features (such as resistance to draw) .

[0019] . A further object of the invention is to devise a method and device for obtaining an article of the type indicated above that allows a high production speed.

[0020] . A still further object of the invention is to create a device for the production of an article of the type indicated above that is relatively simple and economical and that involves relatively low production costs.

[0021]. Solution

[0022] . With a view to achieving the aforesaid objects, the invention concerns a method for obtaining a smoking article, in particular an article of the "heat-not-burn" type or a filter, wherein at least one web is assembled in such a way as to assume a rod shape, characterized in that, before being assembled in the shape of a rod, said at least one web is subdivided in whole or in part into one or more strips interconnected with each other.

[0023] . According to a general embodiment, the present invention makes rods of web material, for example tobacco, starting from at least one bobbin and performs a cutting or carving or half-cutting process, meaning a pre-cutting that leads to the breaking of the webs following the subsequent non-continuous processing of the material. The result is that the web material is cut in an orderly manner in the direction of travel while at the same time maintaining a uniform structure due to the points of continuity, or connection, left on the material by the discontinuous cutting.

[0024] . The material thus processed with discontinuous cuts will traditionally be wound with an external material that acts as a wrapp ng . [0025] . The present invention shows a sequence of non-continuous cuts made with knives and/or counter knives, scissor or shear cuts, pressure or blade cuts, with pressure drums or with laser cutting systems; however, the innovative solution lies in the fact that the cutting profile is not continuous but rather discontinuous.

[0026] . According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the knives are circular in shape and have interruptions on the profile which correspond to the points of continuity, or bridges, on the web, for example, of tobacco.

[0027] . Another embodiment is given by a series of knives or a "comb" that moves intermittently.

[0028] . A further embodiment of the invention is the use of fiberizing devices which are typically needle or knife drums or cutting profiles which, on the basis of a speed differential, obtain interruptions on the web material.

[0029] . In addition to the present invention of discontinuous cutting of the web material, it is possible to provide for a crimping transverse to the axis of travel of the "tobacco rod" in order to enhance the "pressure drop" of the finished product.

[0030] . The advantage of the present invention is that it allows a tobacco rod to be manufactured automatically at high speed due to the fact that the tobacco strips remain correctly oriented in the direction substantially parallel to the direction of travel and are held together by the points of continuity left in the material.

[0031] . The rod may be obtained either from a single web material or from narrower width bobbins worked side-by-side or superimposed. In addition, several bobbins of the same or different materials, arranged parallel or superimposed, converge to form said single rod, wherein at least one of the said materials is divided into interconnected strips. Said bobbins, if different, allow the desired blend of tobaccos to be obtained.

[0032] . For example, several bobbins are placed in the machine to flank or superimpose the webs of Virginia and/or Kentucky and/or Burley and/or Oriental tobaccos or sun-cured and/or fire-cured and/or Perique and/or other tobaccos.

[0033] . This solution allows the desired blend to be obtained inside the machine, allowing maximum flexibility, instead of making a fixed blend outside the machine. The composition of the blend by putting together the desired webs of the tobacco bobbins allows for an extreme flexibility of production and a reduced and simplified magazine to be obtained, a magazine allowing a simplified supply of material .

[0034] . In a further solution, the method according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises the step of obtaining one or more discontinuous cuts in said at least one web of smoking material, before assembling it in the form of a rod, so as to define in the web one or more interconnected strips.

[0035] . In a still further solution, the method according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises the step of obtaining in said at least one web, before assembling it in the form of a rod, a plurality of cuts that define in the web a plurality of strips. Preferably, said cuts are formed through the use of cutting tools, which give the aforesaid strips such a configuration (e.g. knurls and/or transverse corrugations) that enables the interlacing of the strips.

[0036] . In the case of the first solution, a plurality of strips is made in the web, joined together by the portions of material that separate the cuts. In this way, the web may be effectively assembled in the form of a rod ensuring the correct orientation of the strips in the final product.

[0037] . In the case of the second solution, the transverse knurls or corrugations imparted to the strips give rise to interlacing which constitute interconnecting bridges between the strips.

[0038] . In both cases, the strips are not completely independent of each other, but are interlaced by bridges or interwoven, forcing the strips themselves to maintain a desired orientation in the rod, which ensures the product obtained is of high quality.

[0039] . At the same time, the aforesaid processing allows for very high production speeds and relatively low production costs.

[0040] . The invention also has as its object the device for the execution of the method defined above and the smoking article thus obtained.

[0041] . Naturally, according to the conventional art, the rod thus assembled is wound in a sheet of wrapping material.

[0042] . Further preferred features of the invention are indicated in the accompanying claims.

[0043] . By virtue of the proposed solutions, it is possible to have independent strips. The connections provided between the pairs or triplets of strips in independent bundles allow the strips to assume a twist that is a configuration that swells in space, voluminosity being provided by the strong geometric dissimmetry created by the temporary and short widening of the transverse width of the strips that in pairs or triplets widens by widening the localized width in the short stretch of the bridge that locally joins two or three parallel strips in a single strip.

[0044] . This spatial three-dimensional twist creates a significant voluminosity of the wrapped rod assembly, while maintaining a dense weave of strips that creates a voluminous smoking article but with reduced material content.

[0045] . Figures

[0046] . Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description that follows, made with reference to the accompanying drawings, provided by way of non limiting example, wherein:

[0047] . - figure 1 is a schematic view of a device according to the invention,

[0048] . - figure 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a step in the method according to a first embodiment of the invention,

[0049] . - figure 3 is a partial view of a web of smoking material at an intermediate step of the method according to the first embodiment,

[0050] . - figures 4 to 6 are schematic perspective views of cutting devices capable of performing the cutting operation that is provided in the method according to the first embodiment of the invention, and

[0051] . - figures 7 and 9 are a perspective view and a front view of a cutting device used in a second embodiment of the method according to the invention, and

[0052] . - figure 8 is an enlarged scale view of one of the strips obtained with the device in figures 7,9;

[0053] . - figure 10 illustrates, in a front and schematic view, a flat web after cutting into independent strips or groups of pairs or triplets joined by small bridges, or portions of material intact from cuts, which locally double or triple the width of the single strip, according to a first cutting design where, to better highlight the pairs or triplets, adjacent pairs or triplets are shaded differently, highlighting the independent bundles of pairs or triplets .

[0054] . - figure 11 represents in front and schematic view, a flat web after cutting into independent strips or groups of pairs or triplets joined by small bridges, or portions of material intact from cuts, which locally double or triple the width of the single strip, according to a first cutting design where, to better highlight the pairs or triplets, adjacent pairs or triplets are shaded differently, highlighting the independent bundles of pairs or triplets ;

[0055] . - figure 12 shows a schematic axonometric view of a part of the device for processing a plurality of bobbins of the same or different material where the continuously unwound web is fed into a longitudinal cutting station by placing the webs of the different bobbins side by side or superimposed.

[0056] . - figure 13 shows a schematic axonometric view of a length of web 2 according to the invention with continuous longitudinal cuts and inclined cuts, in this case meaning cuts that begin and end offset from each other so as to have a scalarity in their distribution transverse to the longitudinal extension of the web.

[0057] . Description of some of the preferred embodiments

[0058] . Figure 1 illustrates in a schematic way, purely by way of example, a first embodiment of the device according to the invention. The device comprises at least one bobbin 1 from which at least one web 2 is unwound, e.g. smoking material intended for making "heat-not-burn" tobacco rods. According to the prior art, the web 2 consists, for example, of reconstituted/homogenized tobacco ("cast leaf tobacco") . Alternatively, the web may be made of, for example, paper, plastic or other material suitable for making a filter rod.

[0059] . The web 2 is fed in the longitudinal direction thereof (indicated by arrow A in figure 1) by means of any known type of conveyor device, for example comprising counter-rotating rollers 302 and a conveyor belt 301. The web 2 is subjected to a cutting operation in one or more cutting stations 4 (figure 1 shows, by way of example, a single cutting station, but there may be more than one) , before being assembled and fed through a cone 5, or forming cone, possibly preceded by a twisting device, with or without the provision of air injection to facilitate travel, so as to form a longitudinal rod 6, of a substantially circular cross-section, which is divided into pieces of a predetermined length by means of a cutting device 7 or a rod cutting device 7.

[0060] . According to an embodiment, before the strips enter the forming beam, the material is detected by a presence sensor for a predefined amount of material, in order to assess a possible breakage of the assembly of strips or a partial entry into the forming area. The same sensor may also be provided alternatively downstream of the forming process.

[0061] . According to an initial embodiment of the invention, the operation carried out in the station 4 is arranged in such a way as to form a series of discontinuous linear cuts 303 in the web 2 (figure 2) . In the example shown, the discontinuous cuts 3 are aligned in directions substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of travel A of the web 2, corresponding to the longitudinal direction of the rod 6 obtained by assembling the web 2.

[0062] . Alternatively, discontinuous cuts 3 are made in one or more directions incident or angled relative to the longitudinal direction of travel A.

[0063] . As shown in detail in figure 3, each discontinuous cut 3 defines in the web 2 a series 303 of cuts 3 aligned in the single series 303 along a direction which in the example shown is parallel to the longitudinal direction A. The direction of the cuts may also not be parallel to the direction A and the cuts may not all be parallel .

[0064] . The cuts 3 of each series 303 are spaced from each other by portions of material 31 or bridges 31.

[0065] . As a result of such operation, therefore, in the material web 2 are defined a plurality of continuous strips 32 or small ribbons 32 (which in the example are parallel to the longitudinal direction A of the web 2) that are interconnected by bridges consisting of the portions of material 31 that separate the cuts 3 of each aligned series 303.

[0066] . As is evident, such process, on the one hand, allows one to give the web the necessary flexibility in order to be able to assemble it in the form of a rod and, at the same time, to ensure that the longitudinal strips of material 32 are kept correctly oriented and parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rod, a condition that is essential for a proper operation of the smoking article .

[0067] . As is well evident, by virtue of the aforementioned device, the rod may be obtained with or without the use of the crimping operation that is envisaged in the prior art, which allows the drawbacks that derive from such operation to be eliminated. The invention is also advantageous compared to the known solutions that provide for a complete cutting of the web into a plurality of separate strips, as it is much more reliable from the point of view of obtaining a correct orientation of the strips in the final product obtained.

[0068] . The cutting means provided in the station 4 may be of any known type. By way of example, figure 4 shows a cutting device 4 of the type used to make a scissor or shear cut, with rotating knives and counter-knives (of any type, for example, in the form of assemblies of blades or drums with straight or oblique teeth) forming part of a rotor 40 and a counter-rotor 41 between which the web 2 advances (the figure shows for simplicity a single disk knife forming part of the rotor 40, with teeth 40A cooperating with a corresponding circular blade of the rotor 41, but embodiments are provided having a plurality of knives, for example, arranged parallel to each other) .

[0069] . Alternatively (figure 5) it is possible to provide, for example, a cutting station 4 suitable for pressure cutting by means of a rotor 40 (of which only one disc blade is shown, with teeth 40A, where, for example, a plurality of blades may also be provided) cooperating with a pressing cylinder 41 that may also be conical or of another shape.

[0070] . Alternatively, it is also possible to provide one or more fiberizing devices (figure 6), each comprising a needle drum 40 cooperating with counter-rollers 41. A speed differential between the web and roller 40 is used to cut the web 2 with the needles.

[0071] . Still alternatively, a laser cutting station or cutting devices with a series of knives or a comb that move intermittently may also be provided.

[0072] . It is quite clear, in any case, that the device or devices used to make the cuts in the web may be of any type known per se.

[0073] . In one variant, in addition to the execution of discontinuous cuts in the web 2, a crimping operation may also be provided, but performed according to crimping lines transverse to the longitudinal direction A of the web to obtain an enhancement of the "pressure-drop" of the finished product.

[0074] . In a second embodiment, the cutting station 4 uses, for example, a cutting device of the type shown in figures 7 and 9, with two counter-rotating rotors 40,41 between which the web is fed, each comprising a series of disc blades adapted to make scissor cuts that divide the web into a number of strips parallel to the longitudinal direction of the web. As shown in figures 7,9, the rotors 40,41 have cutting discs 42 with teeth (straight or helical teeth) configured in such a way as to define the knurls and/or corrugations of the strips 32 (see also the detail of figure 8) that determine the interlacing between the strips and give volume to the resulting rod.

[0075] . The rod may be obtained from a single web, or even from two or more webs 2, 2’ placed side by side and/or superimposed.

[0076] . The device of the invention has the following features:

[0077] . device for obtaining a rod of smoking material (6), for example a "heat-not-burn" type rod or a rod of filter material, the equipment comprising a conveying device (302,4) for feeding a web of smoking material (2) in a longitudinal direction (A), and a forming device (5) for assembling said web (2) during its travel, giving it the shape of an elongated rod (6) in the aforesaid longitudinal direction of transport (A) . Advantageously, the device comprises at least one cutting station (4) located upstream of the forming device (5) and configured to divide said belt into a plurality of independent and/or interconnected strips (32) .

[0078]. According to an embodiment, said cutting station (4) is configured to obtain in said web of smoking material (2) a plurality of discontinuous cuts (3), so as to define in the web of smoking material (2) a plurality of strips (32) independent and/or interconnected,

[0079] . According to an embodiment, the aforesaid cutting station (4) is configured to obtain discontinuous cuts (3) in the form of series of perforations (303) spaced and aligned substantially according to directions parallel to the direction of transport (A) .

[0080] . According to an embodiment, said at least one cutting station (4) is configured to form each aligned series of perforations (303) with the perforations in longitudinally offset positions relative to the perforations of a series (303) of adjacent perforations .

[0081] . According to an embodiment, said at least one cutting station (4) is configured to make perforations in the form of linear cuts (30) elongated in the longitudinal direction (A) of the rod (6) .

[0082] . According to an embodiment, said at least one cutting station (4) is configured to make, in a central portion of the sheet, a series of perforations (303) aligned according to directions parallel to the longitudinal direction of transport (A) and to form in two side portions of the web series of perforations (303) aligned according to directions that are slightly inclined with respect to said longitudinal direction (A) and converging towards said central portion.

[0083] . According to an embodiment, said at least one cutting station (4) is configured to form in the web a plurality of cuts that define in the web a plurality of strips (32) .

[0084]. According to an embodiment, said at least one cutting station comprises cutting tools capable of imparting to the aforesaid strips (32) such a configuration (e.g. knurls and/or corrugations) that give rise to interlacing between the strips.

[0085] . According to an embodiment, the cutting station comprises at least one pair of counter-rotating rotors carrying cutting discs (42) with teeth configured to impart said knurls and/or corrugations to the strips (32) .

[0086] . Naturally, without altering the principle of the invention, the details of construction and implementation may vary widely with respect to those described and illustrated without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0087] . According to an embodiment, each aligned series of perforations (303) is formed with the perforations (3) in longitudinally offset positions relative to the perforations (3) of a series (303) of adjacent perforations.

[0088] . According to an alternative embodiment of the method for obtaining a smoking article, for example, a "heat-not-burn" article or a filter, a web (2) is assembled in such a way as to take the form of a rod ( 6) .

[0089] . According to an embodiment, said article is assembled by winding a bundle of strips 32 in a spiral.

[0090] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, before being assembled in the form of a rod, said web (2) is totally divided into one or more pluralities of strips (32) arranged substantially in the longitudinal direction (A) of the web.

[0091] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, before being assembled in the form of a rod, said web (2) is partially divided into one or more pluralities of strips (32) arranged substantially in the longitudinal direction (A) of the web.

[0092] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, before being assembled in the form of a rod, said web (2) is divided partially into one or more pluralities of strips (32) wherein said web is pre-cut by creating a weak union between the strips (32) so that in a subsequent processing step of assembly in rod (6) the weak unions break, at least partially or totally separating, even completely, the strips between them.

[0093] . "Longitudinal direction" A refers to the direction of travel of the continuous web. "Direction transverse to the strips or web" means a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, or web width or strip width. "Thickness" means a dimension of the web or of the transverse strip in said longitudinal direction and said transverse direction.

[0094]. According to a possible embodiment of the method, at least some of the said plurality of strips (32) are configured in such a way as to be interconnected with each other.

[0095] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, at least some of said strips (32) are kept joined in twos and/or in threes to form a bundle of pairs (200) and/or triplets (300) of independent strips . [0096] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, at least some of said strips (32) are kept joined in twos and/or in threes to form a bundle of pairs (200) and/or triplets (300) of strips totally or completely independent.

[0097] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, after the cutting station 4, the strips not collected in bundles of pairs 200 or triplets 300 are completely independent.

[0098] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, said pairs (200) or triplets (300) of interconnected strips (32) are joined by bridges (31) having a longitudinal extension of variable magnitude from half to double the width, or extension of the strip measured transversely to the longitudinal extension, of the single strip ( 32 ) .

[0099] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, said pairs (200) or triplets (300) of interconnected strips (32) are completely separated by adjacent pairs (200) or triplets (300) of interconnected strips (32) .

[00100] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, said strips (32) of a pair (200) or triplet (300) of strips are divided into sections of greater longitudinal extension at a distance 10 and 100 times the longitudinal extension of a bridge (400) .

[00101] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, said division of the web (2) makes it impossible to identify a path substantially transverse to the longitudinal extension A that continuously prevents material from going from one edge of the web (2) to another as they were defined before cutting. [00102] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, said web (2) is initially continuous and, after cutting, said strips (32) are continuous and extend in the longitudinal direction at least to the forming station 5.

[00103] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, the bridges (31) of two pairs and/or triplets (200; 300) adjacent to each other are offset with respect to the same line transverse to the longitudinal direction.

[00104]. According to a possible embodiment of the method, the bridges (31) of two pairs and/or triplets (200; 300) adjacent to each other are not aligned on the same line transverse to the longitudinal direction A.

[00105] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, to form said individual rod 6, multiple bobbins 1, 1 ' of the same or different materials 2, 2 ' , arranged parallel or superimposed, are combined, wherein at least one of said materials is divided into strips as described above in any one of the methods.

[00106] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, before said separation of the web 2 into strips 32 a flavor and/or lubricant is added to said web 2.

[00107] . According to a possible embodiment of the method, after said separation of the web 2 into strips 32, an aroma and/or a lubricant is added to said strips 32.

[00108] . The present invention also refers to a smoking article, for example a "heat-not-burn" article made of tobacco-based material, or a filter made of paper, plastic or other suitable material, obtained by assembling at least one web (2) so as to give it a rod shape (6) after the web has been divided into a plurality interconnected strips (32) .

[ 00109 ] . In one solution, discontinuous cuts are formed (3) in the web, in the form of a series of perforations (303) spaced apart, so as to define in the web a plurality of interconnected strips (32) .

[00110] . In a further solution, cuts are formed in the strip that define a plurality of strips, by using cutting tools that give the aforesaid strips knurls and/or corrugations, resulting in interlacing between the strips.

REFERENCE LIST

1 bobbin

1 ' second bobbin

2 web

2 ' second web

3 discontinuous cuts

4 one or more cutting stations or web cutting station or device

5 cone or forming cone

6 rod

7 rod cutting device

30 continuous cuts

31 portions of material or bridges

32 continuous strips or ribbons

40 rotor or roller and/or circular rotor blade

40A teeth

41 counter-rotor and/or counter-blade and/or pressure cylinder or counter-rollers or counter-rotor

42 cutting discs with teeth adapted to form knurls and/or

corrugations

200 pairs of interconnected strips

300 triplets of interconnected strips

301 conveyor belt

302 counter-rotating rollers

303 series of cuts or perforations

A longitudinal direction

Claims

1. A method for obtaining a smoking article, for example a "heat- not-burn" article or a filter, wherein at least one web (2) is assembled in such a way as to take the form of a rod (6) , characterized in that before being assembled in the form of a rod said at least one web is divided partially or totally into one or more pluralities of strips (32) and at least some of said plurality of strips (32) are configured in such a way as to be interconnected.

2. A method according to claim 1, which comprises the step of said strips (32) are substantially arranged in the longitudinal direction (A) ;

and/or comprising the further step of

making in said at least one web (2), before assembling it in the form of a rod (6), a plurality of cuts that define in at least one web a plurality of strips,

and wherein

at least some of said strips (32) are kept joined in twos and/or threes to form a bundle of pairs (200) and/or triplets (300) of strips (32) and wherein

said bundles of pairs (200) and/or triplets (300) of strips (32) are independent of each other.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein

said pairs (200) or triplets (300) of interconnected strips (32) are joined by bridges (31) having a longitudinal extension of varying magnitude approximately from half to twice the width, or extension transverse to the longitudinal direction (A) of the individual strip (32) ;

and/or comprising the step of

said pairs (200) or triplets (300) of interconnected strips (32) are completely separated from adjacent pairs (200) or triplets (300) of interconnected strips (32);

and/or comprising the step of

obtaining in said at least one web of smoking material (2), before it is assembled in the form of a rod (6), one or more discontinuous cuts (3) , in such a way as to define in at least one web of smoking material (2) one or more interconnected strips (32);

and/or comprising the step of

said discontinuous cuts (3) are in the form of series of perforations (303) spaced apart from each other.

4. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said strips (32) of a pair (200) or triplet (300) of strips are divided into sections of longitudinal extension greater than 10 times the longitudinal extension of a bridge (400) .

5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said interconnections are made by means of bridges (31) between two pairs and/or triplets (200; 300); and wherein said bridges (31) of two pairs and/or triplets (200; 300) adjacent to each other are made offset from each other relative to a same line transverse to the longitudinal direction.

6. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one web of smoking material is subjected to a crimping operation in lines longitudinal or transverse to the direction of travel (A) of at least one web (2);

and/or wherein

before said separation of the web (2) into strips (32) a flavor and/or lubricant is added to said web (2);

and/or wherein

after said separation of the web (2) into strips (32), a flavor and/or lubricant is added to said strips (32) .

7. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that

to form said single rod (6), several bobbins (1, 1') of the same or different materials (2, 2') arranged parallel or superimposed on each other are combined, wherein at least one of said materials is divided partially or totally into one or more pluralities of said strips ( 32 ) .

8. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said cuts are formed by the use of cutting tools capable of imparting to the aforesaid strips a configuration such as to bring about interlacing of the strips (32);

and/or wherein

said cuts are half cuts, or pre-cuts that lead to the breaking of the strips (32) following the subsequent processing.

9. A device to obtain a rod of smoking material (6), for example a rod of the "heat-not-burn" type or a rod of filtering material, the equipment comprising a transport device (3,4) to feed at least one web of smoking material (2) in a longitudinal direction (A), and a forming device (5) to assemble said at least one web (2) during its travel, by giving it the shape of an elongated rod (6) in the aforesaid longitudinal direction of transport (A) , the device being characterized in that it comprises at least one cutting station (4) located upstream of the forming device (5) and configured to divide totally or partially said at least one web into one or more pluralities of interconnected strips (32).

10. Smoking article, e.g. of a "heat-not-burn" type of smoking article made of tobacco-based material, or a filter made of paper, plastic or other suitable material, characterized in that it is obtained by a method according to any one of the claims 1 to 9.