Abstract: Apparatus for transferring partly formed soft packs of cigarettes, the adhesive in whose folded bottom ends may not have fully set, comprises a pair of air cylinders 54,56 which are pivotally mounted for alternately swinging into successive open-sided pockets 20 of a drying drum 12. As a soft pack 16 on a pack-forming drum 10 is stripped off its mandrel 14 by a pusher 62, one of the two cylinders engages its bottom end and maintains slight compression of the end during transfer. Meanwhile the other cylinder is extended in readiness for the next pack to be transferred.

Abstract: A hinged lid packet has an integral inner frame comprising a recessed panel extending upwardly from the front wall of the body of the packet, and a pair of side flaps extending backwards from the sides of the recessed panel. A cut-away part is formed at the top of each side flap to provide access for securing each outer flap of the lid of the packet to the respective inner flap. Each inner flap may be of a shape corresponding to the cut-away part, so that with the lid closed the inner flap and the respective side flap are substantially contiguous.

Abstract: A packing machine for cigarettes, in particular for soft packs, with a plurality of pack-forming assemblies 1-16, has at least one operating member 21-23 in each assembly which is movable, e.g. to clamp a sheet of foil 300 or a paper lable 400 against a packet mandrel 20. The assemblies are each indexed past a number of stations at each of which a drive shaft 33 (FIG. 3) engages a coupling shaft 35 connected to the respective operating member. The shafts lie perpendicular to the direction of movement of the assemblies and they engage with one another through a tongue 34 and fork 36 coupling.The coupling shaft 35 may be connected to the operating member through an eccentric 52 or, where the operating member has to be moved linearly, through a rack and pinion 61.

Abstract: Overlapped foil wrappers are formed by feeding a foil web (1 or 21) at uniform speed from an upper pair of rollers (2 or 22) to a lower pair of rollers (5,6 or 25,26) rotating at a uniform slower speed. A first cutter (3,4 or 23,24) between the upper and lower rollers cuts the web at intervals of the overall length of a wrapper, and such that an overlap is formed by the time the newly cut leading end of the web is engaged by the lower rollers. A second cutter below the lower rollers cuts the web downstream of the overlap to form the short wrapper piece (loose front foil). The lower roller (6) may move away from the other roller (5) while the overlap is forming, allowing the distance between upper and lower rollers to be reduced.

Abstract: A hinged lid packet for cigarettes has an integral inner frame consisting of an inwardly recessed panel extending from the front wall. A pair of side flaps extends perpendicularly from the sides of the recessed panel, and the lower portions of the side flaps are partly sandwiched between the inner and outer flaps which form the side walls of the packet.