Manufacturing Page 5

This is a picture of one of our banding and cellophaning machines. The circular plate in the upper left hand corner of the picture holds four cigars. As it goes around, the cigars pick up a band and a length of cellophane or polly film is stretched out over the cigar slot. As the cigar is lifted up, the clear film is wrapped around the cigar and is heat sealed down one overlapping side and then the extra film at each end of the cigars are tucked in and sealed by heat. A small nick is made above and below a little bit of the band that sticks out for tearing open the film wrapper.
The film wrapper is put on the cigars to help keep the moisture in them as well as protect the natural leaf wrappers from rubbing again each other once they are packaged in boxes of pocket packs.