AU1511283A - Improved method of blending reconstituted tobacco in filler - Google Patents

Description

IMPROVED METHOD OF BLENDING RECONSTITUTED TOBACCO IN FILLER

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Reconstituted tobacco is conventionally cut or broken (threshed) into pieces several inches square which are then mixed with cured tobacco leaf (strip) for cutting. The shredded product then has to be dried to a level acceptable for further processing.

Proposals have been made for the use of reconstituted sheet in other than shredded form. Further, Eissmann, U.S. 3,084,697, cuts the reconstituted material for direct feed into the rod maker, but no mention or hint of blending this shred with natural leaf shreds is presented.

Parmele et al , U.S. 3,053,259 disclose a process that pressure-forms shreds of reconstituted tobacco directly from tobacco fines, hu ectant, binder, and water. This product is then blended with cut filler for use in smoking product. At the time of blending, the moisture content is about 20% so that the further drying of the whole blend is not avoided, because the making moisture level of about 12% must first be realized.

O PI BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, we are able to avoid a final drying of the portion of the total blend not produced from natural leaf strip. Reconstituted tobacco intended to be blended with strip and other tobacco parts in filler for smoking products is kept separate from the other parts until it has been cut and/or shredded. The reconstituted material then may be blended with cut filler without putting added load on the dryer system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Processing reconstituted tobacco sheet for use in filler for smoking products conventionally goes through the following steps: slitting and cutting or threshing to reach a size comparable with that of natural leaf (strip) from the stemmery, that is, a few inches on a side; holding in a hogshead or other container for transport to the blending location; blending with

-strip; humidifying to cutting level of O.V. (oven volatiles); cutting (i.e., shredding), drying, flavoring, further blending; and making into smoking products. The reconstituted sheet is thus subjected to much the same processing steps as the strip.

By keeping the reconstituted sheet apart from the strip until a later stage, i.e., prior to the application of flavorings or blending preceding the making process, the present invention makes possible one or more advantages: the load on the dryers is reduced; the shreds of reconstituted sheet may be made very uniform in length—consequently maximizing filling power; the shreds may be made wide or narrow to adjust properties; dust from the threshing is eliminated; the reconstituted sheet may be stored in compact rolls, resistant to insects; and the rolled sheet, prior to cutting, may be subjected to special treatment that may be desired (such as coating) as it is unrolled. The reason behind the expectation of reduced dryer load is that reconstituted sheet in general does not need to be as moist as leaf for cutting or shredding, but will necessarily be at the same moisture as leaf when cutting follows blending. Because sheet is quite uniform in

O PI contrast to leaf, it can be made into more uniform shreds, with substantially no "shorts" or "fines" if care is taken.

Some of the treatments which might be contemplated for the whole sheet as it is unrolled are a treatment according to U.S. 3,431,915, to improve its filling power, or a coating with a special casing solution, or with a slurry of pulverized tobacco dust. Thus a material or solution not readily applicable by spray may be applied by roll coating to the continuous sheet, but not as a part of the normal sheet-making and drying operation. It has been shown that blending of the cut fillers, according to the invention, is equally effective in attaining good intermingling when compared with the conventional blending procedure. For present purposes, the following definitions are provided. The term "cylinder volume" is a measure of the relative filling power of tobacco or reconstituted tobacco for making smoking products. Higher cylinder volume means higher filling power, or capacity to make more satisfactory cigarettes with a given unit weight. The term "oven volatiles" describes a measure of the approximate moisture content (or percentage of moisture) in tobacco. As used throughout this application, the values employed to characterize smoking material, in connection with these terms, are determined as follows: Cylinder Volume (CV) Tobacco filler weighing 10.000 g is placed in a 3.358-cm diameter cylinder and compressed by a 1875-g piston 3.335 cm in diameter for five minutes. The resulting volume of filler is reported as cylinder volume. This test is carried out at standard environmental conditions of 75°F and 60% RH; conventionally unless otherwise stated, the sample is preconditioned in this environment for 18 hours. Oven-Volatiles Content (0V)

The sample of tobacco or reconstituted tobacco is weighed before and after exposure for 3 hours in circulating air oven

O PI controlled at 100^βC (212^βF). The weight loss as percentage of initial weight is oven-vol tiles content. Equilibrium 0V and Eqilibration

The OV after equilibration has significance in comparing properties of smoking materials at the same conditions. Materials are, generally, equilibrated (reordered) at conditions which are well known in the trade. Equilibrating is preferably done at standard conditions, which generally involve maintaining the tobacco at a temperature of 75^βF (24^βC) and 60% RH (relative humidity) for at least 18 hours. Particle Screen Sizes

"Longs" are defined as filler particles held back by 0.075-inch screen openings. "Mediums" are particles which are held back by 0.034-inch screen openings. "Shorts" are held back by 0.020-inch openings. "Smalls" are held back by 0.011-inch openings. "Fines" pass through that screen. Standard Smoking Procedure

Test smoking by machine was done according to the FTC method as described by Pillsbury et al., <3. Assoc. Offic. Anal. Chemists _5 : 458-462 (1969).

The invention may be illustrated by the following Example.

Example Reconstituted tobacco which had been collected as a roll from a papermaking reconstitution process was cut by a Cummins shredder into shreds 7/8 inch long and 1/35 inch wide. The product was blended in a proportion of 23.3% into a commercial blend of cut filler containing no reconstituted tobacco, by introducing it at a point between the dryer and the fl vor cylinder. As a control, reconstituted tobacco which had been threshed in the normal fashion was blended in the same proportion with strip and processed through the cutter in the conventional way. The results of tests and analyses show that uniform blending and no adverse effect on such properties as filling power resulted. Some decrease in sieve fines occurred.

- &EXf OMPI Tabl e I

FILLING POWER

Slit & Shredded Before Blending Control

CV OV CV OV (cc/lOg) (cc/lOg) (%)

39.4 13.56 38.5 13 .67

39.0 13.71 37.6 13, .78

40.7 13.66 38.5 13. .55

39.9 13.70 38.1 13. .69

41.2 13/74 37.6 13. .79

40.7 13.39 39.0 13. ,42

40.3 13.36 38.1 13. ,36

40.7 13.54 39.4 13. 20 Average 40.24 13.58 38.35 13. 56

& 0.75 0.15 0.63 0. 21

Tabl e II

SIEVE ANALYSIS DATA

Average ( .w,

Description Si eve Fraction %

Slit & Shredded Long 48.29 5.92 Before Blending

Med um 40.83 3.82

Short 9.30 1.89

Small 0.79 0.21

Fine 0.79 0.11

Long & Medium 89.12 2.18

Control Long 46.57 5.50

Medi urn 43.25 3.78

Short 8.22 1.44

Smal l 0.92 0.22

Fine 1.03 0.12

Long & Medi um 89.82 1.76

OMPI Tabl e II I

ANALYTICAL DATA CIGARETTES AND SMOKE DELIVERED

Slit & Shredded Description Before Blending Control

Total Particul ate Matter mg/cigt. 19.3 18.6

Nicotine, mg/cigt. 0.91 0.91

HgO, mg/cigt. 4.1 3.4 Tar, mg/cigt. 14.3 14.3

Puff Count, puffs/cigt. 8.8 8.9

Total Resistance to Draw, in. H2O 4.7 4.9

Dilution, % 9 10 Static Burn , mi n/40 mm 7.5 8.1

Tobacco Wt . mg/cigt. 768 772

Coal Strength , % coal removed 36 44

Total Al kaloids, % 1.42 1.48

Total Red. Sugars , % 5.0 6.0

OMPI Table IV

PICKING DATA

Slit & Shredded Before Blending Control

Total Recon "Total Recon % %

22.55 20.00

28.24 18.43

23.11 22.02

, 25.81 22.10

24.34 21.48

29.94 16.80

20.58 18.79

28.54 20.74

26.22 20.46

25.75 17.87

25.21 19.93

24.92 19.25

Average 25.43 19.82

Standard Devi tion < 2.65 1.66

% Relative S.D. 10.42 8.38

OMPI

Claims (5)

1. The method of blending reconstituted tobacco sheet with anothe component of smoking product filler, comprising cutting th tobacco sheet to shreds, separately cutting the other componen to shreds, and then blending the shreds.

2. The method of Claim 1 wherein said other component is dried i shred form prior to said blending.

3. The method of Claim 1, whereby the product of said blending has an average O.V. level of 11 to 15% upon completion of said blending.

4. The method of Claim 1 wherein said sheet of reconstituted tobacco is cut to produce shreds of a different dimension from that of said other cut component.

5. The method of Claim 1 wherein said sheet is specially treated prior to shredding.

OMPI