Abstract: A package of tobacco articles, having a container; a group of tobacco articles housed inside the container; and a marker, which is housed inside the container, has a resonating body resonating at a given resonance frequency, and is remotely detectable by a shoplifting detector device by means of an electromagnetic field having a frequency substantially equal to the resonance frequency.

Abstract: A method and device for quality controlling packets of cigarettes, whereby, as a packet is fed, in use, through a quality control station, an optical detecting unit acquires data relative to given portions of the packet, which portions are coated with material optically detectable at wavelengths outside the visible range; the data detected by the optical detecting unit is compared with reference data, and the outcome of the comparison is used to determine acceptance or rejection of the packet; in this way, the condition of the packet can be determined regardless of the graphics on the packet.

Abstract: A package of tobacco articles, having a container; a group of tobacco articles housed inside the container; and a marker, which is housed inside the container, has a resonating body resonating at a given resonance frequency, and is remotely detectable by a shoplifting detector device by means of an electromagnetic field having a frequency substantially equal to the resonance frequency.

Abstract: In a method of detecting and eliminating foreign bodies in tobacco, a flow of tobacco advances first through a preparation zone where it is gathered into a continuous ribbon of tobacco filler, then through a forming station at which the filler is used to fashion a continuous cigarette rod, and finally through a cutter device that divides the rod into cigarette sticks; the advancing flow is directed at a given point through a detection device and exposed to electromagnetic radiation of microwave frequency emitted and received in such a way as to generate output signals reflecting any variations in moisture content along the flow of tobacco, caused by the inclusion of foreign bodies and associated with given portions of the flow each coinciding with a singly identifiable cigarette stick.

Abstract: A continuous cigarette rod advancing along a set path is directed through an electro-optical scanning station where its entire cylindrical surface is inspected by a unit comprising an illumination device of which the function is to shed light in substantially uniform manner on a given annular area of the surface, a line scan television camera positioned relative to the path in such a way as to enable acquisition of a direct image from a first portion of the annular area, and a reflecting element located on the side of the path opposite to the camera, embodied and oriented in such a way as to reflect two images back toward the camera which combine with the direct image to make up the entire annular area.

Abstract: A method of measuring the intensity of radiation transmitted through a body of given shape and material, the method including the steps of directing an incident beam of electromagnetic radiation crosswise onto the body to obtain an output beam coaxial with the incident beam; and measuring the energy of the output beam by correcting the energy transmitted by each of the rays of at least one of the two beams as a function of the length (d) of an optical path through the body and aligned with the ray.