BG64687B1 - Tobacco products filter - Google Patents

Abstract

A filter for tobacco products, in particular cigarettes, is made of a cellulose non-woven fabric produced by an air-laid process and spirally rolled.

Description

The invention relates to a biodegradable cigarette filter. The filter is made of cellulose fiber mass produced by the method of air application in a spiral folding.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

From an environmental point of view, cigarette paper filters are an optimal solution. However, the low effect of using paper-only filters is explained by several properties specific to the material of the paper.

The main problem with paper filters is the taste of smoke compared to classic cigarettes with a cellulose acetate filter. Other problems arise from the apparently different retention, from the apparently poorer stiffness at the same retention and the roughly porous structure of the filter surface in section as compared to cellulose acetate filters

These problems cause the smoker to give up cigarettes with paper filters for taste, optical reasons and unpleasant touching.

The main reason for this is the different form of materials. The paper is in the form of a fibrous mass or sheet, and the cellulose acetate is in the form of filaments. All attempts to achieve the optical properties and properties of cellulose acetate by touch, through various techniques of processing, for example, folding or pleating, of fibrous paper of different thickness. Also, there is no known method to modify paper so far as its chemical retention properties are concerned so that it is consistent with the acetate.

As a result of these unresolved issues, double-filter cigarettes containing paper and a cellulose segment are being made today.

This form of implementation, due to both sophisticated production and environmental technologies, is not yet the best solution.

EP 0032044 B1 discloses a method of manufacturing fibrous webs with loosely packed fibers, in which the dry fibers are deposited by means of an air jet in a sieve on a carrier web. The fibers, when passing through and leaving the forming head, are not subjected to transverse jet forces, thereby achieving a substantially uniform base weight in the transverse direction of the fibrous web. In this way, fibrous substrates with a weight per unit area of more than 70 g / m ² can be produced. This known method is also called the air-laying method. However, due to the wavy nature of the cotton material, it was not possible to produce a cigarette filter.

EP-A-0711 512 discloses a cigarette filter consisting essentially of a cellulose ester. In addition, the filter material, therefore the cellulose ester, may also contain other substances which are designated as secondary or secondary components. These other substances, which may additionally be present, include, among other things, natural cellulose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to develop a monofilter subject to a much greater degree of degradation than cellulose acetate, while maintaining the taste, appearance, hardness and retention property of cellulose acetate without the consumer being able to distinguish.

The object of the invention is solved by means of a filter for tobacco products, especially cigarettes, which is made from a cellulose fiber mass produced by the method of air application. The pulp webs of cellulose fiber are folded in a V-shape and are located in the region of their tips about the middle axis of the cigarette filter. The belts are spiral to one another and are twisted (wound) in a cylindrical sheath (casing).

Surprisingly, the paper was produced by the so-called. the method of air-laying and filtering in the manner according to the invention solves the task.

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In the air-laying method, the prepared cellulose fibers are not suspended in water as in the conventional paper production method and are not placed on a permeable sieve to form a sheet, whereby the cellulose fibers, due to grinding and fibrillation, are entangled with each other, but are fed individually into an air stream that passes them through a permeable infinite sieve and indiscriminately scatters them. In this way, a voluminous, almost cotton-like fiber mass is obtained which is not yet mechanically resistant or the fibers are not braided.

Mechanical soldering, and thus the necessary resistance required for further processing, is obtained by adding a binder to the air stream, for example polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate, polymer starch, dextrin or latex. The degree of density (g / cm ³ ) and hence the volume or thickness, respectively, can be established by subsequent calendering.

The weight per unit area (g / m ² ) is adjusted by the speed of the sieve or the flow of fibers into the air stream.

Explanation of the annexed figures

The invention is explained in more detail by way of an exemplary embodiment; the individual figures show the following:

FIG. 1 is a fibreboard with slit lines running in the longitudinal direction produced by the air-laying method; FIG.

Figure 2 shows the type of bending of the cut webs of the fiber web;

3 is a spiral winding of the webs of the fibrous web of FIG. 2.

Examples of carrying out the invention

Figure 1 shows a fiber web 10 made by the method of air deposition, with a weight per unit area of about 40-50 g / m ² , cut - starting from line A-A in a number of strips of fiber web, as in the example shown n = 5 is considered as implementation. Attention is drawn to the fact that η may also be another number, which, however, in terms of helical drawing according to FIG. 3 cannot be displayed well.

The five strips of fibrous webs 1 -5 obtained by longitudinal sections along the fibrous web 10 of Figure 1 according to the invention are first folded by means of a suitable V-shaped device, as shown in Figure 2. Thereafter the free edges of the V-folded webs 1-5 of the fibrous web are stacked side by side, and the tapes are assembled using a suitable device in such a way that the tips 14 of the V-folded webs of the fibrous web are arranged within the range of the middle axis of the future the ignition filter and the spiral winding of each other in the form of a cylindrical casing, as shown schematically in section 3. In reality, the individual strips of the fibrous web 1 5 by pre-pressing due to the helical winding according to figure 3 are so tightly one to another that this gives the impression of a homogeneous whole filter that looks from the mouth like the end of a filter made from cellulose acetate. In other words, due to the wavy nature of the material, it no longer appears that only a few layers of fiber webs are twisted, as shown in Figure 3.

The strips of the fibrous web 1-5 are wound in the usual manner with the filter paper 12, so that the paper filter according to the invention, after its final fabrication, has the appearance of a cellulose acetate filter.

Examples of carrying out the invention

The cigarette samples described in the following table were made and compared between them:

646S1

U. lean Blend with SO% BT * 1 E E o> W) 25 mm 7.80 mm Air laying method 70dLP * 1.1 mm thick. tn χτ co cn b ~ σ> XT o I 0 * 89 I | 62 I w 1 Ameri Acetate 2.1 in / 36.000 SK about xG V— 8 00 co 0.40 I 67,3 I I 09 | Q ία) * ο co V TK p I 59 mm 1 I 25 mm EE Toddler air pagination - 50 g / m ² 10,8 mm thick. about see co CD V I 99′0 I and T- 1P I 38 | Oh 1 American Ble SJ b ~ ' Acetate Me 3.0in / 35000nc by. CO CM NO tn CD L · 7.1 -J I 0.64 j I 51,2 | I 40 | W : ap Blend 1 63 mm 1 1 mm 0 mm SEE Well £ 3 about § f I®. ®§о Fr. V t— in and cn cm 'V in co o ' T " 8 co < In Έ «F < CM co b- ' * X about 8 3 * ° <CO το t- ~ co in b- CM 'O' XT and co co Cigarette Mix 1 j Length of the bar j Filter length 10 cigarettes Filter material 1 Filter Weight (mg) Filter drag resistance when towing (mmWS) | Tar (mg / Cig) I Nicotine (mg / Cig.) | I Filter retention (%) £ ei • θ- α ζ κ £ & m

BT = expanded tobacco

Filter materials of the following specifications were used.

Acetate 3.0 µg / 35000 NK with 7% triacetin loading.

Acetate 2.1 y / 36000 SK with 7% triacetate load.

Air application B + D 48 g / m ² , binder and about 0.8 mm thick.

It is 70 g / m ² , latex binder and about 1.1 mm thick.

Here abbreviations mean NK = strongly curled and SK = excessively curly.

Result:

Analytical and physical data were obtained in accordance with valid DINISO requirements and have no differences in measurement accuracy. The taste evaluation was performed by 15 trained smokers, with no significant differences in the pairwise comparison.

The biological degradation of the cigarette filter material according to the invention takes place within a comparable period of time as with conventional commercially available (cigarette) cellulose filter material. This means a clear improvement over cellulose acetate. The biodegradation assessment is carried out according to the industry-standard Sturm test described by R.N. Sturm in 'J. Americ. Oil Chemists' Soc. 50 (1973) Mai, pp. 159-167 in the article “Biodegradability of nonionic surfactants: a screening test for predictive rate and ultimate biodegradation”.

Claims (14)

Claims A filter for tobacco products, in particular cigarettes, which is made from a cellulose fiber mass by the air-laying method, characterized in that the fiber webs (1-5) of the pulp fiber fiber are folded into a V-shape. They are arranged in the region of their tips (14) around the middle axis of the cigarette filter, spiral-shaped relative to each other and wound in a cylindrical sheath (koh). Filter according to claim 1, characterized in that the weight per unit area of the cellulose fiber mass varies between 20 and 100 g / m ² . Filter according to claim 2, characterized in that the weight per unit area of the cellulose fiber mass varies between 40 and 70 g / m ² . Filter according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the thickness of the cellulose fiber mass ranges between 0.5-1.5 mm. Filter according to claim 4, characterized in that the thickness of the cellulose fiber mass ranges between 0.7-1.2 mm. Filter according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that 5-30% binder is added to the cellulose fiber mass. A filter according to claim 6, characterized in that the cellulose fiber mass contains a 20% binder. A filter according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the binder is latex. A filter according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the binder is polyvinyl alcohol. A filter according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the binder is polyvinyl acetate. A filter according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the binder is a copolymer of vinyl acetate and ethylene. A filter according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the binder is water-soluble starch. A filter according to claim 12, characterized in that the binder is a water-soluble polymer starch. A filter according to claim 13, characterized in that the binder is dextrin.