Method of making cigarettes by simultaneously forming two side-by-side arranged rods, and cigarette-making machine for carrying out the said method

A cigarette-making machine provided with two rod-forming lines arranged side-by-side, which are associated with only one shredded tobacco-feeding unit, and are fed with only one twofold wide starting paper tape (6), which rod-forming lines comprise each in the rod-forming direction (F), a profiled, stationary, lower paper tape-guiding member (1), and a consecutive, profiled, stationary lower folder belt-guiding member (3), and a rod-forming folder belt (4) which is caused to run on the folder belt-guiding member (3), and means (8,9) for forming and depositing a tobacco strand (7) in correspondence of each rod-forming line, and a successive truncated cone-shaped semitubular tongue (10) for compression of the tobacco strand (7), which is arranged over the rod-forming folder belt (4) in the two rod-forming lines being led about one single driving pulley (5), characterized in that the lower paper tape-guiding member (1) extends transversely across the width of both of the rod-forming lines arranged side-by-side, and the profile thereof which is substantially flat and horizontal at its inlet end, is gradually and smoothly transformed to a profile wherein the rod forming lines are arranged side-by-side and each of said sides are inclined upwardly and are joined at an apex and which is then gradually transformed into a successive undulated profile presenting two side-by-side troughs (101) which are each associated with one rod-forming line, while downstream of the tongues (10) in the two rod-forming lines, means (12) are provided for longitudinally cutting in the middle the twofold wide starting paper tape (6) fed between the lower paper tape-guiding member (1) and two overlying paper tape-guiding tile members (2) having their concave side turned downward.