US 12,225,928 B2
Apparatus and method for producing a rod of aerosol-generating material
Sam Whiffen, London (GB); and Andrew Jonathan Bray, London (GB)
Assigned to BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO (INVESTMENTS) LIMITED, London (GB)
Appl. No. 17/414,610
Filed by British American Tobacco (Investments) Limited, London (GB)
PCT Filed Dec. 11, 2019, PCT No. PCT/GB2019/053513
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 16, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/141301, PCT Pub. Date Jul. 9, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 1900138 (GB), filed on Jan. 4, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0053819 A1, Feb. 24, 2022
Int. Cl. A24C 5/18 (2006.01); A24B 3/14 (2006.01); A24C 5/20 (2006.01); A24D 1/20 (2020.01)
CPC A24C 5/1828 (2013.01) [A24C 5/1857 (2013.01); A24C 5/20 (2013.01); A24B 3/14 (2013.01); A24D 1/20 (2020.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. Apparatus for producing a rod of aerosol-generating material, the apparatus comprising:
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 as supply of the first and second webs of aerosol-generating material towards the processing unit continues;
wherein 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 such that said leading and trailing edges do not overlap, during changeover from the first web of aerosol-generating material to the second web of aerosol-generating material, and
wherein the leading edge of the second web of aerosol-generating material and the trailing edge of the first web of aerosol-generating material are complementarily shaped, and wherein the leading edge of the second web of aerosol-generating material and the trailing edge of the first web of aerosol-generating material are diagonal relative to the direction of travel of the leading edge of the second web of aerosol-generating material and the first web of aerosol-generating material,
wherein the changeover unit is configured such that the first web of aerosol-generating material and the second web of aerosol-generating material are not attached during change of supply of aerosol-generating material.