WO2025163476A1

WO2025163476A1 - Smoking article and its method of detection of one or more properties of the smoking article

Info

Publication number: WO2025163476A1
Application number: PCT/IB2025/050905
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nicholas BUGALOSSI; Massimo Romagnoli; Nicolò BERDOZZI
Original assignee: GD SpA
Current assignee: GD SpA
Priority date: 2024-01-30
Filing date: 2025-01-28
Publication date: 2025-08-07
Anticipated expiration: 2026-07-30

Abstract

What is described is a smoking article and a method for detecting one or more properties of the smoking article. The smoking article has a longitudinal axis and comprises a first component, having a respective first side surface, a second component, having a respective second side surface, wherein one end of the first component is in contact with one end of the second component, wherein the first component and the second component are axially aligned along said longitudinal axis, and wherein one of either the first component or the second component contains an additional element. The smoking article comprises a wrapping sheet configured to at least partly wrap the first side surface of the first component and the second side surface of the second component, the wrapping sheet being provided with adhesive material, for joining the first component and the second component to each other, said adhesive material is applied on the wrapping sheet in an applying configuration which has at least one region without adhesive material. The region without adhesive material corresponds to a zone in the smoking article in which the additional element is positioned, for detecting one or more properties of the additional element in the absence of adhesive material.

Description

SMOKING ARTICLE AND ITS METHOD OF DETECTION OF ONE OR MORE PROPERTIES OF THE SMOKING ARTICLE DESCRIPTION

This invention relates to a smoking article and to a related method for detecting one or more properties of the smoking article

In particular, this invention relates to a smoking article having un longitudinal axis, wherein the smoking article comprises a first component and a second component, preferably rod-shaped, which are in contact and axially aligned along the longitudinal axis, and wherein the smoking article also comprises, a wrapping sheet configured to at least partly wrap the first component and the second component.

For some time now, very complex cigarettes have been widespread on the market, comprising series of components of different nature and composition. For this reason, generically, the term “cigarette” refers to a generic elongate smoking article for the tobacco industry comprising at least one component provided with an active portion for releasing a substance to be inhaled, wherein the active portion may even generate aerosols.

There are at least two of these components, usually rod-shaped, and they are positioned in contact along a longitudinal axis of extension. In detail, there may be a first component and a second component present which may be made with a material selected in the group consisting of: tobacco segment, Hollow Acetate Tube (HAT), PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) filter segment, cellulose acetate filter segment (Mouth Piece Filter).

Usually, the two components are wrapped by a wrapping sheet, typically cellulose-based, on which adhesive material is deposited, which joins the first component and the second component to each other to define a unit. That unit passes through a heating station, which promotes drying of the adhesive material of the wrapping sheet to favour stable joining of the two components and to obtain the smoking article.

One of the two components may also contain an additional element, which has a composition different from that of the material with which the component in which it is inserted is mainly made.

If we consider a component made of tobacco, or of filtering material, the additional element may be a flavouring substance which the consumer can decide to activate, or not, at the moment of use.

A flavouring substance is, for example, menthol which can be supplied in liquid form, filling a mechanically breakable capsule, or in solid form, as a pressed powder capsule. In order to flavour the smoking article, immediately before consumption, the consumer can decide whether or not to crush the capsule.

For example, if the capsule is contained in the filtering material defining a filter of a cigarette, if the first component is the filter and the second component is a tobacco segment, the consumer may decide whether or not to disperse the contents of the capsule in the filter to flavour it at the moment of use.

Alternatively, the additional element may even not be a flavouring substance, instead being a composite portion, although having a composition different from tobacco, or from the filter, in which it may be included.

During the making and packaging of such smoking articles, it is therefore important to carry out quality controls in order to check that the additional elements contained in them, whether capsules or composite portions, meet the necessary quality requirements and predetermined acceptability criteria so as to guarantee that the smoking articles supplied to consumers are always of a high preset quality standard.

For that reason, one or more properties of the smoking article may be detected, so as to check for the presence, or absence of the additional element, correct insertion in a predetermined position, or any defects in the additional element, for example if the capsule broke during production of the smoking article. With regard to checking the properties of the additional element, it is possible to reject defective smoking articles. To carry out these checks, increasingly widespread use is made of an electromagnetic detector capable of detecting a moisture of the smoking article and using that as a starting point to determine the properties of the smoking article.

That check is usually carried out in a relative automatic machine in a detecting station positioned almost at the end of a path for making the smoking article, downstream of the heating station, when the first component is already joined to the second component by means of the wrapping sheet.

However, above all relative to an operating speed of the automatic machine, the electromagnetic detector may be disturbed by the residual moisture in the wrapping sheet. In fact, the higher the operating speed of the automatic machine is, the less time the smoking article spends in the heating station and therefore drying of the adhesive material applied to the wrapping sheet may not be ideal. In the latter case, the adhesive material of the wrapping sheet may have a not insignificant moisture content when it is checked by the electromagnetic detector, which may lead to incorrect detection of the properties of the smoking article.

Although it is possible to modify any operating parameters of the heating station relative to the different operating speeds of the automatic machine, this solution is not ideal, since there may in any case be incorrect detection of the properties of the smoking article, due to the high thermal inertia of the heating station which makes it difficult to precisely control.

Document EP3023013A1 describes a method for making smoking articles, in which adhesive material is applied to a web of wrapping material in such a way as to have a plurality of regions provided with adhesive material and another plurality of regions without adhesive material, but the above- mentioned issue of correct detection of the properties of the additional element in the smoking article is not addressed.

Document US 2021/212357 A1 describes a method for making a smoking article. Document US 2019/174816 describes a filter for a smoking article comprising at least a filter element and a transparent wrapper wrapped around the filter element.

The aim of this invention is to make a smoking article and provide a related method for detecting one or more properties of a smoking article, which is free of the problems described above and which at the same time is easy and inexpensive to make.

A further aim of this invention is to make a smoking article and provide a related method for detecting one or more properties of a smoking article, which allows the properties of an additional element in the smoking article to be detected in a reliable way while avoiding structural modifications to the heating station.

Those aims and others are all achieved by a smoking article and by a related method for detecting one or more properties of the smoking article according to this invention as set out in the independent claims below or in any of the claims directly or indirectly dependent on said independent claims.

Further features and advantages of this invention will be more apparent from the indicative, therefore non-limiting description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of an electromagnetic detector, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

- Figure 1 shows a cross-section view of a smoking article, in accordance with this invention, comprising a first component and a second component which are axially aligned along a longitudinal axis and are joined to each other by means of a wrapping sheet, wherein the first component contains an additional element, and wherein the second component has a plurality of ventilation holes distributed circumferentially on its surface;

- Figure 2 shows a portion of a continuous web on which an adhesive material was deposited while the continuous web is fed in a direction of feed, wherein the continuous web is configured to be divided into sections, from which the wrapping sheet of Figure 1 derives, and wherein the adhesive material was deposited in a depositing configuration which has at least one portion without adhesive material;

- Figure 2A shows the wrapping sheet of Figure 1 , deriving from the continuous web of Figure 2;

- Figure 3 shows a cross-section view of a variant of the smoking article of Figure 1 , wherein the first component contains an additional element and also has a plurality of ventilation holes distributed circumferentially on its surface;

- Figure 4 shows a portion of a variant of the continuous web of Figure 2, wherein the continuous web is configured to be divided into sections from which a variant of the wrapping sheet of Figure 3 derives;

- Figure 5 is a schematic cross-section view of a detecting device of the capacitive type, capable of detecting one or more properties of the smoking article of Figure 1 and of Figure 3.

Hereinafter, in the various figures the same elements will be indicated with the same numbers.

Figure 1 shows a smoking article 1 which has a longitudinal axis A.

The smoking article 1 comprises at least a first component 2 having a respective first side surface and at least a second component 3 having a respective second side surface.

Both the first component 2 and the second component 3 may be rodshaped.

It should be noticed that one end of the first component 2 is in contact with one end of the second component 3 and that the first component 2 and the second component 3 are axially aligned along the longitudinal axis A.

The first component 2 has a free end 201 , which is an end delimiting the smoking article 1 towards the outside.

One component, of either the first component 2 or the second component 3, may contain an additional element 4.

In Figure 1 the first component 2 is shown as a filtering material segment, which contains the additional element 4 and is, for example, made of cellulose acetate, whilst the second component 3 is shown as a tobacco segment for making a smoking article 1 such as a cigarette.

In general, however, the first component 2 and the second component 3 may comprise respective materials selected in the group consisting of: tobacco segment, Hollow Acetate Tube (HAT), PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) filter segment, cellulose acetate filter segment (Mouth Piece Filter), segment for generating aerosols, segment containing a heat source.

The heat source may, for example, be a carbon element capable of igniting and transferring heat to a substrate capable of generating aerosols.

Regarding the additional element 4, in contrast, this has a composition different from that of the material with which the first component 2, or the second component 3, in which it is inserted, is mainly made.

It should be noticed that the additional element 4 is shown in the accompanying Figures as a capsule, which has a spherical shape and is configured to be crushed by a user at the moment of consumption. The capsule may contain a flavouring substance in liquid form, such as menthol, or it may be in solid form, if the flavouring substance is a pressed powder.

It should be noticed that, usually, if the additional element 4 comprises a flavouring substance and has the shape of a capsule, the first component 2 which contains it is made of a fibrous material, such as cellulose acetate, or tobacco, but that is not necessary since the additional element 4, that is to say, the capsule, may even be contained in a non-fibrous material.

However, it is not necessary for the additional element 4 to be made as a flavouring capsule crushable by a user.

In fact, the additional element 4 may even be a composite portion, which has a composition different from that of the material with which the first component 2, or the second component 3, is mainly made.

The smoking article 1 comprises a wrapping sheet 5, shown in Figure 2A, configured to at least partly wrap the first side surface of the first component 2 and the second side surface of the second component 3. The wrapping sheet 5 is provided with adhesive material 8, for joining the first component 2 and the second component 3 to each other.

The adhesive material 8 may be a vinyl-based glue, to be applied cold, or a “hot melt” glue to be applied hot.

A heating station (not illustrated and of the known type) is provided in an automatic machine (not illustrated) along a processing path for the smoking article 1 , for heating the first component 2 joined to the second component 3 by means of the wrapping sheet 5, and thereby promoting drying of the adhesive material 8 applied to the wrapping sheet 5.

It should be noticed that the smoking article 1 is conveyed by a conveying device (not illustrated) along the processing path transversally relative to the longitudinal axis A of the smoking article 1 itself.

Downstream of the heating station, along the processing path, the automatic machine may comprise a detecting station, not illustrated, for detecting one or more properties of the smoking article 1 when the latter passes through the detecting station.

The detecting station may comprise a detecting device 6, shown in Figure 5, which may be of the capacitive type. Alternatively, the detecting device 6 may be of the microwave type.

It should be noticed that, preferably, the smoking article 1 is conveyed in such a way that part of it projects from the conveying device and this projecting part can pass through the detecting device 6, so that the latter can detect one or more of its properties.

Preferably, that projecting part contains the additional element 4 and in this way the detecting device 6 can detect one or more properties of the additional element 4.

The detecting device 6 comprises a conveying channel 601 , through which the smoking article 1 is conveyed. The conveying channel 601 is defined between a first electrode 602 and a second electrode 603 opposite each other, which are electrically conductive and are isolated from a body 605, also metallic, of the detecting device 6 by means of respective dielectric elements 604, which are electrically non-conductive. Respective power lines 606 pass through respective other dielectric elements 607, to isolate the power lines 606 from the body 605 and to power the first electrode 602 and the second electrode 603.

The wrapping sheet 5 has an applying configuration for the adhesive material 8, applied on the wrapping sheet 5, which has at least one region 502 without adhesive material 8.

The region 502 without adhesive material 8 is positioned in the wrapping sheet 5 in such a way that it corresponds to a zone 101 in the smoking article 1 in which the additional element 4 is positioned, for detecting one or more properties of the additional element 4 in the absence of adhesive material 8.

The region 502 without adhesive material 8 has a longitudinal extent D1 , whilst the zone 101 in which the additional element 4, made as a capsule, is positioned extends longitudinally in the smoking article 1 for a longitudinal extent D2.

The expression “the region 502 without adhesive material 8 is positioned in such a way that it corresponds to a zone 101 in the smoking article 1 ” means that there is longitudinal superposing of the region 502 without adhesive material 8 in the wrapping sheet 5 and the zone 101 in the smoking article 1 in which the additional element 4 is positioned, and moreover that the longitudinal extent D1 of the region 502 without adhesive material 8 is greater than or equal to the longitudinal extent D2 of the zone 101 in which the additional element 4 is positioned.

Thanks to the region 502 without adhesive material 8, which is positioned in the wrapping sheet 5 in such a way as to correspond to the zone 101 in which the additional element 4 is positioned, it is guaranteed that the detecting device 6 can carry out optimum detection of the properties of the additional element 4. In fact, in this way, detection of the properties of the additional element 4 cannot be influenced by the properties of the adhesive material 8, which is absent, and therefore it is no longer important whether or not drying of the adhesive material 8, applied to the wrapping sheet 5, is complete.

It should also be noticed that, in this way, it is possible to avoid any modification of the operating parameters of the heating station since detection of the properties of the additional element 4 is completely independent of the heating of the adhesive material 8 itself. The result is simplification of the automatic machine, at the same time guaranteeing always optimal detection.

Circumferentially, the region 502 without adhesive material 8 extends substantially for the entire smoking article 1 , except in edge regions 503 of the wrapping sheet 5 which are opposite each other, which in the smoking article 1 are longitudinally superposed to allow joining of the first component 2 and the second component 3. Circumferentially, therefore, the region 502 without adhesive material 8 extends for 82-85% of the entire circumference.

In contrast, longitudinally, as indicated the region 502 without adhesive material 8 has the longitudinal extent D1 which is greater than or equal to the longitudinal extent D2 of the zone 101 in which the additional element 4 is positioned, as shown in Figure 2A.

Thanks to that, a region 502 without adhesive material 8 of a size such that detection of the properties of the additional element 4 is reliably made possible is guaranteed.

In detail, the longitudinal extent of the region 502 without adhesive material 8 may be greater than or equal to 6 mm and less than or equal to 200 mm. It should be noticed that the free end 201 is the end of the first component 2 that is not in contact with the second component 3.

If we now consider a centre line M of the region 502 without adhesive material 8, it may advantageously be positioned at a distance D3 from the free end 201 of the first component 2 which is greater than or equal to 1 mm and less than or equal to 8 mm. Preferably, that distance D3 is equal to 7 mm. It should be noticed that the smoking article 1 has a further zone 102 in which there are ventilation perforations 103 which, in order to perform their task, must not be blocked by the adhesive material 8, if the wrapping sheet 5 is perforated before wrapping, or which must be made in the absence of adhesive material 8, if the ventilation perforations 103 are made using a laser when the first component 2 is already joined to the second component 3.

For that purpose, the wrapping sheet 5 comprises a further region 504 without adhesive material 8 which is positioned in such a way that it corresponds to the further zone 102 of the smoking article 1 .

The fact that the further region 504 without adhesive material 8 corresponds to the further zone 102 of the smoking article 1 means that there is longitudinal superposing of the further region 504 without adhesive material 8 and the further zone 102.

It should be noticed that in the smoking article 1 of Figure 1 the ventilation perforations 103 are positioned in the second component 3, which is shown as a tobacco segment.

Figure 3 shows a smoking article T which differs from the smoking article

1 only in that it has ventilation perforations 103’ which are positioned in a further zone 102’ in the first component 2, shown as a filtering element, instead of in the second component 3.

As a result, the wrapping sheet 5, configured to wrap the first component

2 and the second component 3 of the smoking article T, comprises a further region, not illustrated, without adhesive material 8 which is positioned in the wrapping sheet 5 in such a way that it corresponds to the further zone 102’ of the smoking article 1 in which the ventilation perforations 103’ are positioned.

Therefore, although it is possible to have a smoking article 1 , or 1 ’, with regard to positioning of the ventilation perforations 103, or 103’, it should be noticed that the positioning of the region 502 without adhesive material 8 in the wrapping sheet 5, which is not correlated with the ventilation perforations 103, or 103’, does not change.

As already indicated, it is necessary to detect one or more properties of the smoking article 1 , in which one of either the first component 2 or the second component 3 contains the additional element 4.

Since the region 502 without adhesive material 8 in the in the wrapping sheet 5 does not change, despite it being possible to change the positioning of the ventilation perforations 103, or 103’, it should be noticed that what was previously said, or will be said below, relative to detecting the properties of the smoking article 1 , also applies to the smoking article 1 ’.

The detecting method comprises the step of detecting one or more properties of the additional element 4 in the absence of the adhesive material 8 by positioning the region 502 without adhesive material 8 in the wrapping sheet 5 in such a way that it corresponds to the zone in the smoking article 1 in which the additional element 4 is positioned.

In other words, the detecting method comprises the step of positioning the region 502 of the wrapping sheet 5 without adhesive material 8 by longitudinally superposing it on the zone 101 in the smoking article in which the additional element 4 is positioned, the region 502 being sized in such a way that the longitudinal extent D1 of the region 502 without adhesive material 8 is greater than or equal to the longitudinal extent D2 of the zone 101 in which the additional element 4 is positioned.

Thanks to the possibility of detecting one or more properties of the additional element 4 in the absence of adhesive material 8, it is guaranteed that, even in the presence of insufficient drying of the adhesive material 8, the latter does not disturb the detection.

The step of detecting one or more properties of the additional element 4 comprises the step of using the detecting device 6, of the capacitive type, and of conveying the smoking article 1 transversally to its own longitudinal axis A through the detecting device 6, as shown in Figure 5.

As already indicated, the wrapping sheet 5, configured to at least partly wrap the first component 2 and the second component 3 is provided with adhesive material 8.

To make the wrapping sheet 5, as shown in Figure 2, a continuous web 7, having a longitudinal axis Y, is fed in a direction of feed T, which is parallel to the longitudinal axis Y. The continuous web 7 may be, for example, unwound from a reel (not illustrated).

While the continuous web 7 is being fed, the adhesive material 8 is deposited on the continuous web 7 in a depositing configuration which has at least one portion 701 without adhesive material 8, and another portion 702 in which the adhesive material 8 is deposited in an even layer.

In detail, it should be noticed that the adhesive material 8 is, in fact, deposited on the web 7 in such a way as to leave a regular series of portions 701 , which are without adhesive material 8, which are separated from each other by the other portions 702 which are provided with adhesive material 8.

Each portion 701 without adhesive material 8 extends along a respective longitudinal axis, which is parallel to the longitudinal axis Y of the continuous web 7, and corresponds to a respective region 502 without the adhesive material 8 in the wrapping sheet 5.

Each portion 701 without adhesive material 8 is shaped like a strip which has a transversal dimension D1 , relative to the longitudinal axis Y of the continuous web 7, which is greater than or equal to the longitudinal extent D2 of the zone 101 in the smoking article 1 in which the additional element 4 is positioned.

It should be noticed that the continuous web 7 is configured to be cut transversally, after the adhesive material 8 has been deposited, relative to the longitudinal axis Y in order to obtain sections 9 comprising two wrapping sheets 5 joined to each other, which have respective applying configurations for the adhesive material 8 which are specular. In fact, each section 9 is configured to wrap a double-length first component 2, interposed between two second components 3 and to make a whole which is then centrally cut in half to obtain two smoking articles 1 .

In this way, in each wrapping sheet 5, which is configured to at least partly wrap the first component 2 and the second component 3, there is longitudinal superposing of the region 502 without adhesive material 8 (obtained from each portion 701 ) and the zone 101 in the smoking article 1 in which the additional element 4 is positioned.

For that purpose, the depositing configuration of the adhesive material 8 in the continuous web 7 is symmetrical relative to the longitudinal axis Y.

In fact, the continuous web 7 has a continuous central area 703 without adhesive material 8 which corresponds to the central cut position of the whole constituted of two smoking articles 1 , and corresponds to an end of the wrapping sheet 5 intended to wrap the free end 201 of the first component 2 in which the additional element 4 is present.

That avoids dirtying the relative cutting tools (not illustrated).

Therefore, the continuous web 7 is double width but that is not necessary, if it is necessary to wrap only the first component 2 and the second component 3.

The continuous web 7 also has continuous side edges 704 without adhesive material 8, since each side edge 704 of the web 7 corresponds to a respective longitudinal end of the wrapping sheet 5, opposite to the free end 201 . That prevents any excess adhesive material 8 from being able to dirty the second component 3.

It should be noticed that the depositing shape may also have at least one further portion 705 without adhesive material 8, which corresponds to the further region 504 of the wrapping sheet 5 without adhesive material 8, in which the ventilation perforations 103 are provided.

In detail, the adhesive material 8 is deposited on the web 7 in such a way as to leave a regular series of further portions 705, which are without adhesive material 8, which are separated from each other by the other further portions 706 which are provided with adhesive material 8. Those further portions 705 are also shaped like respective strips and each of them has a transversal dimension, relative to the direction of feed T, which is greater than or equal to the longitudinal extent of the ventilation perforations 103 in the smoking article 1 .

Each further portion 705 is positioned in the continuous web 7 in such a way that it corresponds to the further zone 102 in the smoking article 1 , which is positioned in the second component 3.

With regard to that, it should be noticed that Figure 4 shows a continuous web 7’ which differs from the continuous web 7 only in that it has further portions 705’ without adhesive material 8, wherein each further portion 705’ corresponds to the further zone 102’, in which the ventilation perforations 103’ are present, which is positioned in the first component 2, instead of in the second component 3.

Therefore, the continuous web 7’ is configured to make the smoking articles T of Figure 3, which only differ in terms of the position of the ventilation perforations 103’ but not in terms of the positioning of the region 502 without adhesive material 8.

If we now consider a longitudinal centre line of each portion 701 , without adhesive material, it is positioned at a distance D3’ from the central area 703 of the web 7 which is greater than or equal to 1 mm and less than or equal to 8 mm, preferably equal to 7 mm. The distance D3’ corresponds to the distance D3 of the wrapping sheet 5.

That central area 703 of the web 7 corresponds to an end of the wrapping sheet 5 intended to wrap a free end 201 of the first component 2 in which the additional element 4 is present.

The method for making the smoking article 1 therefore comprises the step of:

- making the wrapping sheet 5 in the applying configuration which has at least the region 502 without adhesive material 8;

- at least partly wrapping the first side surface of the first component 2 and the second side surface of the second component 3 using the wrapping sheet 5 provided with the adhesive material 8 for joining the first component 2 and the second component 3 to each other;

- detecting one or more properties of the additional element 4 in the absence of the adhesive material 8, as indicated above, by positioning the region 502 without adhesive material 8 in the wrapping sheet 5 in such a way that it corresponds to the zone 101 in the smoking article 1 in which the additional element 4 is positioned.

The method for making the smoking article 1 , or T also comprises the step of:

- while the continuous web 7 is being fed in a direction of feed T, which is parallel to the longitudinal axis Y of the continuous web 7, depositing the adhesive material 8 on the continuous web 7 in a depositing configuration which has at least one portion 701 without adhesive material 8 which corresponds to the region 502 without the adhesive material 8 in the wrapping sheet 5.

The method for making the smoking article also comprises the step of positioning a longitudinal centre line of each portion 701 , at a distance D3’ relative to a central area 703 of the web 7 which is greater than or equal to 1 mm and less than or equal to 8 mm, preferably equal to 7 mm, which corresponds to an end of the wrapping sheet 5 intended to wrap the free end 201 of the first component 2 in which the additional element 4 is present.

Thanks to the method for making the smoking article 1 which comprises depositing adhesive material 8 in such a way that there is at least the portion 701 without adhesive material 8, which corresponds to the region 502 without adhesive material 8, which in turn is positioned in the wrapping sheet 5 in such a way that it corresponds to the zone 101 in the smoking article 1 , or T, in which the additional element 4 contained in the first component 2 is positioned, it is possible to carry out detection of the properties of the smoking article 1 , or T, in the absence of the adhesive material 8 and thereby to improve that detection, in that way considerably reducing the number of smoking articles 1 for which the detection is inexact.

Claims

1. A smoking article (1 ; 1 ’) having a longitudinal axis (A), wherein the smoking article (1 ; 1 ’) comprises:

- a first component (2) having a respective first side surface;

- a second component (3) having a respective second side surface, wherein one end of the first component (2) is in contact with one end of the second component (3) and wherein the first component (2) and the second component (3) are axially aligned along said longitudinal axis (A), and wherein one of either the first component (2) or the second component (3) contains an additional element (4) which has a composition different from that of the material with which the first component (2), or the second component (3), is mainly made;

- a wrapping sheet (5) configured to at least partly wrap the first side surface of the first component (2) and the second side surface of the second component (3), and wherein the wrapping sheet (5) is provided with adhesive material (8), for joining the first component (2) and the second component (3) to each other, the adhesive material (5) being applied on the wrapping sheet (5) in an applying configuration which has at least one region (502) without adhesive material (8); and wherein

- a said region (502) without adhesive material (8) is positioned in the wrapping sheet (5) in such a way that it corresponds to a zone (101 ) in the smoking article (1 ; 1 ’) in which the additional element (4) is positioned, for allowing detection of one or more properties of the additional element in the absence of adhesive material (8).

2. The smoking article (1 ; T) according to claim 1 , wherein said region (502) without the adhesive material (8) has a longitudinal extent (D1 ) and wherein the zone (101 ) in which the additional element (4) is positioned has a longitudinal extent (D2); and wherein there is longitudinal superposing of the region (502) without adhesive material (8) and the zone (101 ) in the smoking article (1 ) in which the additional element (4) is positioned; the longitudinal extent (D1 ) of said region (502) without the adhesive material (8) being greater than or equal to the longitudinal extent (D2) of the zone (101 ) in which the additional element (4) is positioned.

3. The smoking article (1 ; T) according to claim 1 , or 2, wherein the region (502) without the adhesive material (8) extends longitudinally for a length greater than or equal to 6 mm and less than or equal to 200 mm.

4. The smoking article (1 ; T) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the component (2) which contains the additional element (4), of either the first component (2) or the second component (3), has a free end (201 ), which is not in contact with the other component (3), the region (502) without adhesive material (8) having a centre line which is positioned at a distance (D3) from the free end which is greater than or equal to 1 mm and less than or equal to 8 mm, preferably equal to 7 mm.

5. A method for detecting one or more properties of a smoking article (1 ; T) having a longitudinal axis (A), wherein the smoking article (1 ; T) comprises a first component (2), preferably rod-shaped, having a respective first side surface and a second component (3), preferably rod-shaped having a respective second side surface, wherein one end of the first component (2) is in contact with one end of the second component (3) and wherein the first component (2) and the second component (3) are axially aligned along said longitudinal axis (A); and wherein one of either the first component (2) or the second component (3) contains an additional element (4), which has a composition different from that of the material with which the first component

(2), or the second component (3), is mainly made; the smoking article (1 ; T) comprising a wrapping sheet (5), configured to at least partly wrap the first side surface of the first component (2) and the second side surface of the second component (3), the wrapping sheet being provided with adhesive material (8) for joining the first component (2) and the second component

(3) to each other, the adhesive material (8) being applied on the wrapping sheet (5) in an applying configuration which has at least one region (502) without adhesive material (8); the method comprising the step of

- detecting one or more properties of the additional element (4) in the absence of adhesive material (8) by positioning said region (502) without adhesive material (8) in the wrapping sheet (5) in such a way that it corresponds to a zone (101 ) in the smoking article (1 ; 1 ’) in which the additional element (4) is positioned.

6. The detecting method according to claim 5, wherein the step of detecting one or more properties of the additional element (4) comprises the step of using a detecting device (6) of the capacitive type and also the step of conveying the smoking article transversally to its own longitudinal axis (A) through the detecting device (6).

7. A method for making a smoking article (1 ; T) comprising the detecting method according to claim 5, or 6, and also comprising the steps of

- making the wrapping sheet (5) in which the adhesive material (8) is applied in the applying configuration, which has at least the region (502) without adhesive material (8);

- at least partly wrapping the first side surface of the first component (2) and the second side surface of the second component (3) using the wrapping sheet (5) provided with the adhesive material (8) for joining the first component (2) and the second component (3) to each other.

8. The method for making a smoking article according to claim 7, wherein the step of making the wrapping sheet (5) also comprises the step of

- depositing the adhesive material (8) on a continuous web (7; 7’) in a depositing configuration, while the continuous web (7; 7’) is unwound in a direction of feed (T), wherein the depositing configuration has at least one portion (701 ) without adhesive material which extends along a respective axis, parallel to a longitudinal axis (Y) of the continuous web (7; 7’) and corresponds to the region (502) without adhesive material (8) in the wrapping sheet (5); wherein said portion (701 ) without adhesive material (8) is shaped like a strip having a transversal dimension, relative to the longitudinal axis (Y) of the continuous web (7; 7’), which is greater than or equal to a longitudinal extent of the zone (101 ) in the smoking article (1 ; T) in which the additional component (4) is positioned.

9. The method for making a smoking article according to claim 8, and comprising the step of positioning a centre line of said portion (701 ), transversally relative to the longitudinal axis (Y) of the continuous web (7; 7’) at a distance (D3’) relative to a central area (703) of the continuous web (7) which is greater than or equal to 1 mm and less than or equal to 8 mm, preferably equal to 7 mm.