AEROSOL-GENERATING MATERIAL ROD SEGMENT

1 . Process of producing aerosol-generating material rod segments, comprising:

cutting a sheet of aerosol-generating material longitudinally to produce a plurality of aerosol-generating material strands;

gathering the strands together to form an aerosol-generating material rod in which each of the plurality of aerosol-generating material strands is substantially non-coiled; and

cutting the aerosol-generating material rod into segments to produce said aerosol-generating material rod segments.

2 . The process according to claim 1 , wherein the gathering comprises:

gathering the strands together to form the aerosol-generating material rod in which the plurality of aerosol-generating material strands are substantially parallel to one another.

3 . The process according to claim 1 of claim 2 , wherein the gathering comprises:

gathering the strands together to form the aerosol-generating material rod in which each of the aerosol-generating material strands is substantially straight.

4 . The process according to any one of claim 1 to claim 3 , wherein the sheet of aerosol-generating material is a tobacco sheet.

5 . The process according to claim 4 , wherein the tobacco sheet is a reconstituted tobacco sheet.

6 . The process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet of aerosol-generating material comprises glycerol.

7 . The process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet of aerosol-generating material has a substantially constant mass per unit length.

8 . The process according to any one of the preceding claims, the process comprising:

providing the sheet of aerosol-generating material from a bobbin of aerosol-generating material sheet.

9 . The process according to claim 8 , the process comprising:

providing a mother reel of aerosol-generating material sheet; and

slitting the mother reel to produce the bobbin.

10 . The process according to claim 9 , the process comprises:

selecting a mass per unit length for the aerosol-generating material rod segments;

determining, based on a mass per unit area of the sheet of aerosol-generating material, and based on the selected mass per unit length for the aerosol-generating material rod segments, a bobbin width; and

slitting the mother reel to produce a bobbin having the determined bobbin width.

11 . The process according to any one of the preceding claims, the process comprising:

selecting a strand number and/or a strand width for the aerosol-generating material rod segments; and

determining, based on the selected strand number and/or strand width, a cut number and/or a cut spacing;

wherein said cutting the sheet of aerosol-generating material comprises:

cutting the sheet of aerosol-generating material with the determined cut number and/or cut spacing.

12 . The process according to any one of the preceding claims, the process comprising:

feeding the sheet of aerosol-generating material in a sheet feed direction;

wherein said cutting the sheet of aerosol-generating material comprises:

cutting the sheet of aerosol-generating material substantially parallel to the sheet feed direction.

13 . The process according to claim 12 , wherein the gathering comprises:

gathering each of the strands towards an axis that lies in a plane, the plane including the feed direction and being perpendicular to a plane defined by the plurality of strands before they are gathered.

14 . The process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the gathering comprises:

gathering each of the strands towards an axis that lies centrally of the plurality of strands.

15 . The process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the gathering comprises:

gathering each of the strands substantially transversely to form the rod.

16 . The process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the gathering comprises:

feeding the strands through a funnel to gather the strands.

17 . The process according to claim 16 , the process comprising, before said cutting the sheet of aerosol-generating material:

feeding the sheet of aerosol-generating material through the funnel to form an aerosol-generating material rod of non-cut tobacco sheet.

18 . The process according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of the plurality of strands have a width substantially in the range 0.25 mm to 3 mm, or substantially in the range 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm.

19 . The process according to any preceding claim, the process comprising:

wrapping the aerosol-generating material rod in a wrapping material.

20 . The process according to claim 19 , wherein the wrapping material is or comprises one or both of paper and aluminium foil.

21 . The process according to claim 19 or claim 20 , wherein the aerosol-generating material rod segments each have an outer diameter substantially in the range 5.4 mm to 7.8 mm, or substantially in the range 6.7 mm to 7.8 mm.

22 . The process according to any one of claim 19 to claim 21 , wherein the aerosol-generating material rod segments are consumables for an aerosol-generating device.

23 . Apparatus for producing aerosol-generating material rod segments, the apparatus comprising:

a first cutter arranged to cut a sheet of aerosol-generating material longitudinally to produce a plurality of aerosol-generating material strands;

a gatherer arranged to gather the strands together to form an aerosol-generating material rod in which each of the plurality of aerosol-generating material strands is substantially non-coiled; and

a second cutter arranged to cut the aerosol-generating material rod into segments to produce said aerosol-generating material rod segments.

24 . The apparatus according to claim 23 , wherein the gatherer is arranged to gather the strands together to form the aerosol-generating material rod in which the plurality of aerosol-generating material strands are substantially parallel to one another.

25 . The apparatus according to claim 23 or claim 24 , wherein the gatherer is arranged to gather the strands together to form the aerosol-generating material rod in which each of the aerosol-generating material strands is substantially straight.

26 . The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 to claim 25 , wherein the apparatus is arranged to provide the sheet of aerosol-generating material from a bobbin of aerosol-generating material sheet.

27 . The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 to claim 26 , wherein the first cutter is adjustable so as to adjust the number and/or width of the strands.

28 . The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 to claim 27 , wherein the first cutter is adjustable to either cut said sheet of aerosol-generating material to produce said plurality of aerosol-generating material strands or to not cut said sheet of aerosol-generating material.

29 . The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 to claim 28 , wherein the apparatus is arranged to feed the sheet of aerosol-generating material to the first cutter in a sheet feed direction; wherein the first cutter is arranged to cut the sheet of aerosol-generating material substantially parallel to the sheet feed direction.

30 . The apparatus according to claim 29 , wherein the gatherer is arranged to gather each of the strands towards an axis that lies in a first plane, the first plane including the feed direction and being perpendicular to a second plane defined by the plurality of strands before they are gathered.

31 . The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 to claim 30 , wherein the gatherer is arranged to gather each of the strands towards an axis that lies centrally of the plurality of strands.

32 . The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 to claim 31 , wherein the gatherer is arranged to gather each of the strands substantially transversely to form the rod.

33 . The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 to claim 32 , wherein the gatherer comprises a funnel.

34 . The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 to claim 33 , wherein the first cutter is arranged to cut the sheet of aerosol-generating material longitudinally so as to produce the plurality of aerosol-generating material strands each having a width substantially in the range 0.25 mm to 3 mm, or substantially in the range 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm.

35 . The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 to claim 34 , wherein the apparatus comprises a wrapper arranged to wrap the aerosol-generating material rod in a wrapping material.

36 . The apparatus according to claim 35 , wherein the wrapping material is or comprises one or both of paper and aluminium foil.

37 . The apparatus according to claim 35 or claim 36 , wherein the apparatus is arranged to produce aerosol-generating material rod segments having an outer diameter substantially in the range 5.4 mm to 7.8 mm, or substantially in the range 6.7 mm to 7.8 mm.

38 . The apparatus according to any one of claim 23 to claim 37 , wherein the aerosol-generating material rod segments are consumables for an aerosol-generating device.

39 . A product comprising an aerosol-generating material rod, wherein the aerosol-generating material rod is formed of a plurality of longitudinal strands of aerosol-generating material, wherein each of the plurality of longitudinal strands of aerosol-generating material is substantially non-coiled.

40 . The product according to claim 39 , wherein the plurality of strands are substantially parallel to one another.

41 . The product according to claim 39 or claim 40 , wherein each of the plurality of strands is substantially straight.

42 . The product according to any one of claim 39 to claim 41 , wherein each of the plurality of strands has a width substantially in the range 0.25 mm to 3 mm, or substantially in the range 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm.

43 . The product according to any one of claim 39 to claim 42 , wherein one or more of the strands is or comprises tobacco.

44 . The product according to claim 43 , wherein one or more of the strands is or comprises reconstituted tobacco.

45 . The product according to any one of claim 39 to claim 44 , wherein one or more of the strands comprises glycerol.

46 . The product according to any one of claim 39 to claim 45 , wherein the product comprises a wrapping material wrapped around the aerosol-generating material rod.

47 . The product according to claim 46 , wherein the wrapping material is or comprises one or both of paper and aluminium foil.

48 . The product according to claim 46 or claim 47 , wherein the product has an outer diameter substantially in the range 5.4 mm to 7.8 mm, or substantially in the range 6.7 mm to 7.8 mm.

49 . The product according to any one of claim 39 to claim 48 , wherein the product is a consumable for an aerosol-generating device.