Machine and method for producing a tubular product, preferably made of paper, preferably usable to produce straws

Machine for producing a tubular product starting from one or more strip-shaped elements, comprising:

• a shaping member with a substantially cylindrical oblong shape and which has a longitudinal axis, wherein said shaping member comprises a first portion configured to be directly associated with first support means and a second portion disposed at one free end of said shaping member, on the opposite side with respect to said first support means, said shaping member being configured to allow the winding around it of said one or more strip-shaped elements to produce said tubular product, and
• winding means configured in a closed loop and partly wound around said shaping member in a first intermediate position of the latter, between said first and second portion, to wind said one or more strip-shaped elements in a helical manner around said shaping member and draw them in a shaping direction, applying a determinate first traction force substantially tangent to said shaping member and inclined by a determinate angle (α) with respect to said longitudinal axis, so that said first traction force generates a consequent first component, parallel to said longitudinal axis, suitable to carry out the helical winding of said one or more strip-shaped elements, and a second component, in a direction perpendicular to said longitudinal axis, which tends to flex said shaping member, characterized in that it also comprises second support means comprising a support belt disposed in a closed loop, made of flexible material, only partly wound on the shaping member and configured to support said shaping member in a second intermediate position, positioned downstream of said first intermediate position with respect to the shaping direction of the tubular product, said support belt being configured to apply an additional force on said shaping member, in said second intermediate position, in contrast to said second component of said first traction force, without drawing said one or more strip-shaped elements, so as to keep said shaping member substantially coaxial to said longitudinal axis and at the same time letting said one or more strip-shaped elements slide on said support belt.