Rolling Drum Assembly for Use in Smoking Article Manufacture

Abstract

Rolling Drum Assembly for use in Smoking Article Manufacture The rolling drum assembly has a rolling drum ( 4 ) with a peripheral surface adapted to carry a collation of rod articles ( 1, 2 ) and a tipping paper patch ( 3 ). The rolling drum assembly also has a roll hand ( 9 ) adapted to roll the collation of rod articles ( 1, 2 ) between the peripheral surface of the rolling drum ( 4 ) and the roll hand ( 9 ) such that the tipping paper patch ( 3 ) is wrapped around the rod articles to form a smoldng article. The rolling drum assembly is adapted to wrap a tipping paper patch ( 3 ) at least twice around the collation of rod articles ( 1, 2 ).

1 . A rolling drum assembly for use in smoking article manufacture, the rolling drum assembly comprising:
 a rolling drum having a peripheral surface adapted to carry a collation of rod articles and a tipping paper patch; and,   a roll hand adapted to roll the collation of rod articles between the peripheral surface of the rolling drum and the roll hand such that the tipping paper patch is wrapped around the rod articles to form a smoking article;   wherein the rolling drum assembly is adapted to wrap a tipping paper patch at least twice around the collation of rod articles.   
     
     
         2 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the peripheral surface of the rolling drum comprises a plurality of flutes that define segments of the rolling drum. 
     
     
         3 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the roll hand is adapted to roll the collation of rod articles over an odd number of segments of the rolling drum. 
     
     
         4 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the roll hand is adapted to roll the collation of rod articles over three segments of the rolling drum. 
     
     
         5 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the roll hand is adapted to roll the collation of rod articles at least 3.5 times over their circumference. 
     
     
         6 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the roll hand comprises a rolling surface over which the collation of rod articles is rolled. 
     
     
         7 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 2 , wherein each flute comprises a suction hole for retaining a collation of rod articles or a wrapped smoking article. 
     
     
         8 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 7 , further comprising a suction control component adapted to provide suction to said suction hole of each flute. 
     
     
         9 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the flutes comprise first flutes adapted to receive a collation of rod articles upstream of the roll hand, and second flutes adapted to receive a wrapped collation of rod articles downstream of the roll hand. 
     
     
         10 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the first flutes and second flutes are alternately arranged on the peripheral surface of the rolling drum. 
     
     
         11 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the suction control component is adapted to provide suction to at least the first flutes upstream of the roll hand, and the suction control component is adapted to provide suction to at least the second flutes downstream of the roll hand. 
     
     
         12 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 11 , wherein the first flutes comprise first suction holes and the second flutes comprise second suction holes, wherein the first suction holes are axially offset from the second suction holes. 
     
     
         13 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the suction control component comprises a first suction channel that is aligned with the first suction holes upstream of the roll hand, and a second suction channel that is aligned with the second suction holes downstream of the roll hand. 
     
     
         14 . The rolling drum assembly of any of  claim 9 , wherein the first and second flutes are arranged so that the first flutes do not receive a wrapped collation of rod articles downstream of the roll hand. 
     
     
         15 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the peripheral surface of the rolling drum further comprises tipping paper suction holes adapted to retain said tipping paper patches on the peripheral surface upstream of the roll hand. 
     
     
         16 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 15 , further comprising a suction control component adapted to provide suction to the tipping paper suction holes for at least a part of the time that the collation of rod articles is being rolled by the roll hand. 
     
     
         17 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 16 , wherein the suction control component is adapted to provide suction to the tipping paper suction holes for a beginning part of the rolling of the collation of rod articles by the roll hand. 
     
     
         18 . The rolling drum assembly of  claim 17 , wherein the suction control component is adapted to provide suction to the tipping paper suction holes while the collation of rod articles is rolled at least once over its circumference. 
     
     
         19 . Apparatus for assembling smoking articles comprising the rolling drum assembly of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         20 . A method of assembling smoking articles comprising:
 carrying a collation of rod articles and a tipping paper patch on a peripheral surface of a rolling drum; and,   rolling the collation of rod articles between the peripheral surface of the rolling drum and a rolling surface such that the tipping paper patch is wrapped around the rod articles to form a smoking article;   wherein the tipping paper patch is wrapped at least twice around the collation of rod articles.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the collations of rod articles are carried in flutes on the peripheral surface of the rolling drum and suction is applied to retain the collations of rod articles and tipping paper patches on the peripheral surface of the rolling drum. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the collations of rod articles are rolled over an odd number of flutes. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein suction is applied to at least first flutes upstream of the roll hand to retain collations of rod articles, and suction is applied to at least second flutes downstream of the roll hand to retain wrapped smoking articles, wherein the first and second flutes are alternately arranged on the rolling drum. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein suction is applied to retain the tipping paper patch on the peripheral surface of the rolling drum for a time after the collation of rod articles starts to be rolled between the peripheral surface of the rolling drum and the roll hand. 
     
     
         25 . A smoking article assembled using the apparatus of  claim 18 . 
     
     
         26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . A smoking article assembled using the method of  claim 20 .