MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, AND METHODS FOR MANUFACTURING CIGARETTES

摘要

Cigarettes are manufactured using modified automated cigarette making apparatus. Those cigarettes possess smokable rods having paper wrapping materials having additive materials applied thereto as patterns. The additiv e materials, which can have the forms of liquid or paste formulations (e.g., aqueous formulations incorporating starch or modified starch), are applied t o a continuous paper web on the cigarette making apparatus. The formulation is applied to the paper web using application apparatus possessing rollers. For example, additive material is applied to the roll face of a transfer roller due to roll interaction of that transfer roller with a pick-up roller; roll interaction of the transfer roller with an application roller causes transfe r of the additive material from the transfer roller to the application roller; and additive material from the application roller is transferred to the pape r web that passes between the application roller and a back-up roller. The garniture components of the automated cigarette making apparatus, including a finger rail assembly and an entrance cone, can be modified to include air fl ow distribution to prevent the paper web and the additive material from contacting the finger rail. A radiant dryer is used to dry the additive material that has been applied to the paper web. The radiant dryer is locate d on one component of a two component assembly that is used to manufacture cigarettes. A first component of the two component assembly provides a sourc e of paper web, applies additive material to that web in a pattern and dries t he paper web; while a second component receives the paper web, supplies tobacco filler, and manufactures a cigarette rod from the paper web and tobacco filler. An alternate assembly system provides a source of paper web, applies additive material to that web in a pattern, dries the paper web, and winds t he treated paper web onto a bobbin; and that bobbin is later used to provide a source of paper web on a cigarette making machine that unrolls the bobbin, receives the treated paper web from that bobbin, supplies tobacco filler, an d manufactures a cigarette rod from the paper web and tobacco filler. Spectrometric techniques are used to ensure proper registration of the additive material on the cigarette rods so manufactured, and to ensure prope r quality of those cigarettes.