Cutting and arranging rods for tobacco industry products

A tobacco industry product assembly machine (1) comprising an apparatus (2) for cutting and arranging rods for use in a tobacco industry product assembly machine, the apparatus comprising:

• a first cutting mechanism (13) for cutting a four-length rod (11) into first and second axially-aligned double-length rods (16,17), each double-length rod having a near end and a remote end, and
• a positioning mechanism (19) for moving at least one of the first and second double-length rods such that said first and second double-length rods are moved from a first configuration in axial-alignment in which the near ends of the first and second double-length rods are disposed proximal to one another and the remote ends are disposed distally, to a second configuration in which:
• the first and second double-length rods are out of axial alignment,
• the axes of the first and second double-length rods are parallel and spaced apart,
• the remote end of the first double-length rod is disposed proximal to the remote end of the second double-length rod, and
• the near end of the first double-length rod is disposed proximal to the near end of the second double-length rod;
• wherein the positioning mechanism comprises a turning mechanism (19) configured to rotate said first double-length rod (16) into alignment with said second double-length rod (17) so that the first and second double-length rods are arranged in the second configuration,
• the tobacco industry product assembly machine further comprising a second cutting mechanism (21) downstream of the first cutting mechanism for cutting said first and second double-length rods into single-length rods (22,23,24,25).