Apparatus for making grooves in cigarette filters

摘要

An apparatus for, in one advantageous embodiment, concurrently forming a plurality of generally longitudinally extending grooves in a filter rod, and in another advantageous embodiment, for making small apertures in the grooves as the grooves are being formed in the filter rod. The apparatus includes a reciprocating die having an upper and lower die block. Each die block includes protruding, elongated projections which are adapted to be embedded into the filter rod upon closing of the die to impress grooves in the filter rod located in the die. In the embodiment wherein apertures are to be formed in the grooves, aperture forming punches are associated with each of the groove forming projections for punching apertures in the grooves as they are being formed. The apparatus further includes a filter rod conveying device located between the upper and lower die blocks for guiding the filter rods through the die and for positioning the filter rods to be grooved in the reciprocating die.