Apparatus and method for combining tobacco sheets
AssigneePhilip Morris Products S.A.
InventorsPierre-Yves Gindrat, Alessandro Metrangolo
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Abstract
The apparatus for combining tobacco sheets comprises a first shaft for carrying a first bobbin of tobacco sheet and a second shaft for carrying a second bobbin of tobacco sheet. The apparatus also comprises a splicing unit for combining an end portion of tobacco sheet from the first bobbin to a head portion of tobacco sheet from the second bobbin. The splicing unit comprises a cutting device for cutting the tobacco sheets such as to provide complementary cuts to the tobacco sheets from the first bobbin and from the second bobbin, a dispensing device for dispensing water to at least one of the tobacco sheets, and a combining device for applying force onto the tobacco sheets thereby producing a spliced tobacco sheet.
Claims17
Method for combining tobacco sheets, the method comprising the steps of:
- providing a first tobacco sheet and providing a second tobacco sheet;
- aligning and cutting the first and the second tobacco sheets such as to provide the first and the second tobacco sheets with complementary cuts;
- dispensing water to at least the first or the second tobacco sheet;
- aligning the complementary cuts of the first and of the second tobacco sheet such that the complementary cuts rest against each other;
- and
- applying pressure onto the first and the second tobacco sheets in a cut area thereby combining the first and the second tobacco sheets and form a spliced tobacco sheet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.