British American Tobacco (investments) Limited

Nicoventures Trading Limited

Tobacco Research and Development Institute (proprietary) Limited

Tobacco Research and Development Institute Limited

British American Tobacco Limited

Andrew Jonathan Bray

Steven Holford

Alan Douglas Tearle

Gary Fallon

Adrian Roy Stewart-Cox

Gerhard Malin Le Roux

Sam Whiffen

Paul Hodges

Jeonghwan Park

Paul Gibson

Walid Abi Aoun

Karl Kaljura

Richard Hepworth

John Richardson

Kav Ghanouni

Gerhard Malan Le Roux

John Roger Sampson

Michael Patrick Parker

Stephen John Lewis

Kie Seon Park

William David Lewis

Will England

Allan Douglas Tearle

Julian Dennis White

Frank Beckmann

Kaveh Ghanouni

Winfried Böttcher

Roy Adrian Stewart-Cox

Roger Beck

Martin John Horrod

Gerhard Leroux

Martin Horrod

Julian White

Equipment for the automated assembly of consumable units for use in an inhalation device from components that include a mouthpiece, a container defining a chamber for aerosolisable material, and a closure for the chamber, is disclosed. The equipment comprise at least one assembly line having one or more assembly stations that each comprises tooling for performing an assembly operation on the components, and a transport system for supplying the components to the assembly stations and advancing the components through the assembly stations in a sequence to assemble at least part of the device from the components. A process for the serial production of consumable units for use with an inhalation device is also disclosed.

Equipment and methods for the automated assembly of inhalation devices and components thereof

A modular apparatus for smoking article assembly comprises a plurality of modules and a plurality of respective interface units, and a controller to control said plurality of modules via said interface units. The modular apparatus is configured to cause received rods of smokable material to undergo a first sequence of operations. The modular apparatus can be reconfigured so as to cause received rods of smokable material to undergo a second sequence of operations, different to the first sequence of operations. The first and second sequences of operations respectively form at least part of first and second processes for assembling smoking articles, each smoking article comprising one of said rods of smokable material, which is smoked in use.

Relating to smoking article assembly

There is described a cartridge for use with an apparatus for heating aerosol generating material to volatilize at least one component of the aerosol generating material. The cartridge includes a first body defining a first chamber and aerosol generating material is located within the first chamber. The first body includes a first base including a sheet of heat conductive material and has a first outer surface and at least a major portion of the first outer surface is for contacting a first heating surface of a heater of the apparatus for heating the aerosol generating material within the first chamber.

Apparatus for heating aerosol generating material and a cartridge for the apparatus

Apparatus for producing a rod of aerosol-generating material is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a first feed device adapted to supply a first web of aerosol-generating material to a processing unit, a second feed device adapted to supply a second web of aerosol-generating material, and a web changeover unit arranged to change supply of aerosol-generating material to the processing unit from the first web of aerosol-generating material to the second web of aerosol-generating material. The web changeover unit is configured to position a leading edge of the second web of aerosol-generating material adjacent to a trailing edge of the first web of aerosol-generating material upstream of the processing unit during changeover from the first web of aerosol-generating material to the second web of aerosol-generating material. A method of producing a rod of aerosol-generating material is also disclosed.

Apparatus and method for producing a rod of aerosol-generating material

A conveyor for conveying strands of aerosol-generating material is disclosed. The conveyor comprises a conveying surface, comprising a plurality of openings, on which the strands of aerosol-generating material are conveyed, and an air flow generator for generating a flow of air through the plurality of openings in the conveying surface to provide an air cushion between the conveying surface and the strands of aerosol-generating material. Apparatus for producing a rod of aerosol-generating material comprising a slitting unit arranged to slit a web of aerosol-generating material into a plurality of strands of aerosol-generating material that are received by the conveyor is also disclosed, as well as a method of conveying strands of aerosol-generating material.

Conveyor and method for conveying strands of aerosol-generating material, and apparatus and method for producing a rod of aerosol-generating material

Apparatus for securing a closure to a container of a consumable unit for use with an inhalation device, in which the container comprises a plurality of stakes protruding from the container, is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a device configured to deform the plurality of stakes to secure the closure to the container. A method of securing a closure to a container of a consumable unit for use with an inhalation device, in which the method comprises deforming the plurality of stakes to secure the closure to the container, is also disclosed.

Method and apparatus for manufacturing a consumable unit for an inhalation device, and a consumable unit for an inhalation device

An apparatus for use in the manufacture of tobacco industry products (TIPs), including a rotatable drum having a plurality of flutes formed in a curved outer surface of the drum to receive axially-aligned components of a TIP, a roll hand having a contact surface facing and spaced from the outer surface of the drum to define a space, between the contact surface and the outer surface, within which space components of a TIP are rollable upon rotation of the drum, and a kicker bar disposed adjacent to the roll hand and having a contact edge facing and spaced from the outer surface of the drum, where at least one of the roll hand contact surface, kicker bar contact edge and drum outer surface includes a groove extending in a substantially circumferential direction of the drum and configured to least partially receive one or more of the TIP components as the drum rotates.

Apparatus and method for manufacturing tobacco industry products

Apparatus for providing a dose of aerosolisable material to a container of a consumable unit for use with an inhalation device is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a hopper for receiving aerosolisable material, the hopper comprising an opening in a lower end of the hopper; and a doser disposed below the hopper, the doser comprising a dosing cavity. The doser is movable between a first position in which the dosing cavity is aligned with the opening such that aerosolisable material is movable from the hopper into the dosing cavity, and a second position in which the dosing cavity is aligned with a container such that the aerosolisable material is movable from the dosing cavity into the container. A method of providing a dose of aerosolisable material to a container of a consumable unit for use with an inhalation device is also disclosed.

An apparatus and associated methods for cutting and arranging rods for use in a tobacco industry product assembly machine, the apparatus including a first cutting mechanism for cutting a four-length rod into first and second axially-aligned double-length rods where each double-length rod has respective remote ends, a positioning mechanism 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, to a second configuration in which the first and second double-length rods are out of axial alignment and the axes of the first and second double-length rods are parallel and spaced apart, and the remote ends of said first and second double-length rods are substantially aligned with each other.

Cutting and arranging rods for tobacco industry products

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to an apparatus () for use in the manufacture of tobacco industry products. The apparatus () comprises a rolling unit () comprising: &#x2022;a rotatable drum () having a plurality of flutes () formed in a curved outer surface () of the drum () to receive axially-aligned components () of a tobacco industry product; &#x2022;a roll hand () having a contact surface () facing and spaced from the outer surface () of the drum () to define a space, between the contact surface () and the outer surface (), within which space components of a tobacco industry product are rollable upon rotation of the drum (); and &#x2022;a kicker bar () disposed adjacent to the roll hand () and having a contact edge () facing and spaced from the outer surface () of the drum (). At least one of the roll hand contact surface (), kicker bar contact edge () and drum outer surface () includes a groove () extending in a substantially circumferential direction of the drum () and configured to least partially receive one or more of the tobacco industry product components as the drum () rotates.

An inner frame blank for a pack of tobacco industry products, where the inner frame blank is foldable to form an inner frame for holding a group of tobacco industry products, and the inner frame blank has a first major panel and a second major panel joined to opposing edges of a central panel such that the first and second major panels are foldable relative to the central panel to form opposing sides of the inner frame, and where the inner frame blank also has an aperture in at least the central panel that defines an extraction opening for removing tobacco industry products from within the inner frame when the inner frame blank is folded to form the inner frame.

Inner frame blank for a pack of tobacco industry products

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to an apparatus () for manufacture of tobacco industry products (). The apparatus () comprising a rolling unit () comprising: &#x2022; a rotatable drum () having a plurality of recesses formed in an outer surface of the drum () to receive tobacco industry product components (); &#x2022; a roll hand () spaced from the outer surface of the drum () to define a space between the outer surface of the drum () and the roll hand (), within which space tobacco industry product components () are rollable upon rotation of the drum (); and &#x2022; a kicker bar () disposed adjacent to the roll hand (). &#x2022; The kicker bar () is moveable relative to the roll hand () and in a direction towards and away from the drum () during operation of the apparatus (), and the kicker bar () is biased towards the drum ().

A pack having a group of tobacco industry products wrapped in a laminate to form a bundle is disclosed. The pack has a base containing the bundle, and a lid mounted to the base for rotation between open and closed positions. The laminate has an outer layer having a first cut that defines an outer layer region bounded by said first cut and, an inner layer having a second cut that defines an inner layer region bounded by said second cut. The inner layer region lies within the outer layer region. A part of the outer layer region is attached to an inside surface of the lid such that, as the lid is rotated into its open position, the inner and outer layer regions are lifted causing the inner and outer layers to delaminate in a peripheral region between the first and second cuts and an opening to be created in the laminate.

Growing community of inventors

London, United Kingdom

Andrew Jonathan Bray