CN118234391A

CN118234391A - Cigarette filter comprising lyocell tow and method of making same

Info

Publication number: CN118234391A
Application number: CN202380014316.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 河成薰; 马京培; 梁真哲; 李骏熙; 郑奉洙; 徐昇潼; 李廷薰; 郑钟喆; 秦尚佑; 黃永男
Original assignee: Kolon Industries Inc; KT&G Corp
Current assignee: Kolon Industries Inc; KT&G Corp
Priority date: 2022-04-14
Filing date: 2023-02-03
Publication date: 2024-06-21
Also published as: WO2023200091A1; TW202341883A; KR20230147314A

Abstract

The present invention provides a cigarette filter comprising: a lyocell tow made from a plurality of lyocell fibers; and a binder for binding the lyocell fibers to each other. The cigarette filter of an embodiment of the present invention reduces tar and nicotine transferred through tobacco smoke by 70 to 95 weight percent, respectively. A cigarette filter according to an embodiment of the present invention has an inhalation resistance of 80mmWG to 200 mmWG. In a cigarette filter according to an embodiment of the present invention, the lyocell tow is filled into the cigarette filter at a packing density of 0.2g/mL to 0.6 g/mL. The cigarette filter according to an embodiment of the present invention solves the material problems such as the hardness of lyocell tow, and further has excellent filtering function as a filter.

Description

Cigarette filter comprising lyocell tow and method of making same

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a cigarette filter comprising lyocell tow and a method of making the same. In particular, it relates to a cigarette filter and a method for manufacturing the same, which comprises lyocell tow and a binder and has excellent tar and nicotine reducing effects.

Background

Conventionally, in order to manufacture cigarettes, first, the desired flavor and taste are achieved by blending and processing various tobacco leaves (leaf tobaccos). Thereafter, the processed tobacco leaves are cut to produce cut tobacco (cut tobacco leaf), and the cut tobacco is rolled up with a cigarette paper (CIGARETTE PAPER) to obtain a filter-less cigarette. Thereafter, the filter is attached to the unfiltered cigarette as desired.

The cigarette paper may be made of hemp (flag), wood pulp, etc., and when burned, it is required to maintain combustibility and taste of the cigarette. The cigarette filter may include activated carbon, flavoring, etc., may be comprised of a single filter or multiple filters, and is surrounded by a cigarette filter plug wrap (CIGARETTE FILTER WRAPPING PAPER). The tobacco plug portion and the cigarette filter are joined by a tipping paper (TIPPING PAPER), which may include fine holes.

Conventional cigarette filters use cellulose acetate tow (tow) extracted from wood pulp and acetylated as a material in place of it, for example, the following tow is being developed: unlike cellulose acetate, lyocell (lyocell) fibres are used which fibrillate cellulose itself.

In the case of producing a cigarette filter from a tow using the lyocell fiber, the hardness of the cigarette filter is not suitable because of its low hardness, and it is necessary to increase the hardness to a predetermined level or more for use as a cigarette filter. For example, the method of increasing the hardness of the filter includes a method using a curing agent and a method using a plasticizer (plasticizer). The method for using the curing agent comprises the following steps: the method of stiffening the filter by bonding the filaments with a substance of an adhesive nature to impart stiffness to the filter. The method for using the plasticizer is as follows: the fibers themselves are partially dissolved or plasticized with a specific substance to form joints between the fibers, and then plasticized. Conventional cellulose acetate uses plasticizers (glyceryl triacetate (TRIACETIN) and triethyl citrate (TRIETHYL CITRATE)), but lyocell fibers currently have no plasticizer, and therefore, a curing agent is mainly used to improve the hardness.

As described above, in order to solve the problem of insufficient physical properties such as insufficient hardness of lyocell fibers, even if the physical properties are improved by an additional additive or the like, unlike cellulose acetate whose functionality is confirmed as a cigarette filter, when a novel material lyocell fiber is used as an actual cigarette filter, it is necessary to investigate the filtering functionality of the cigarette filter itself.

The present inventors have recognized the technical problem of the filtration functionality of a cigarette filter using lyocell fibers, and have continuously studied a solution which can be more suitably applied to lyocell fibers in order to ensure such functionality, thereby completing the present invention.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

A cigarette filter comprising lyocell tow as an environment-friendly material, which can solve the problems of materials such as the hardness of the lyocell tow, and further improve the filtering function as a filter.

Technical proposal

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a cigarette filter comprising: a lyocell tow made from a plurality of lyocell fibers; and a binder for binding the lyocell fibers to each other.

In one embodiment of the invention, the cigarette filter reduces tar and nicotine transferred through tobacco smoke by 70 to 95 weight percent, respectively.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the cigarette filter has an inhalation resistance of 80mmWG to 200 mmWG.

In one embodiment of the invention, the lyocell tow is filled into cigarette filters at a packing density of 0.2g/mL to 0.6 g/mL.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the binder is hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, ethylene-vinyl acetate, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyester, or a combination thereof.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the above binder is contained in an amount of 0.1 to 5 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the lyocell filament bundles.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the cigarette filter further comprises a binder solvent, wherein the binder solvent is water, a monohydric alcohol, a polyhydric alcohol, or a combination thereof.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the monohydric alcohol is methanol, ethanol, propanol, or a combination thereof.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the polyol is a glycol having a C1 to C4 alkylene group.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the above polyol is contained in an amount of 0.5 to 25 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the lyocell filament bundles.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing the above cigarette filter, the method comprising the steps of: manufacturing a lyocell tow from a plurality of lyocell fibers; preparing a binder solution by mixing a binder and a solvent; spraying a binder solution on the lyocell tows and drying; and wrapping the lyocell fibers around a bundle of lyocell fibers bonded by an adhesive by using a roll paper to manufacture a cigarette filter.

Effects of the invention

The cigarette filter according to an embodiment of the present invention includes lyocell tow which is an environment-friendly material, overcomes the problems of the conventional lyocell tow, and has excellent hardness.

The cigarette filter according to an embodiment of the present invention has a tar and nicotine reducing effect superior to that of conventional cellulose acetate cigarette filters.

In such tar and nicotine reduction effects, when cigarettes that transfer tar and nicotine to a certain level or less are manufactured according to the preference of smokers, tar and nicotine can be reduced by merely replacing the cigarette filter of one embodiment of the present invention without adjusting other components such as the smoking material portion and the wrapping paper, and therefore, when such products are produced, the workability and the like can be improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic structure of a smoking article according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Specific examples are described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Note that, when reference numerals are given to constituent elements of respective drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same constituent elements as much as possible even when they appear in different drawings. When specific examples are described, if it is determined that specific descriptions about known structures or functions are not included in the understanding of the specific examples, detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted.

When describing the components of the specific example, the terms of the first, second, A, B, (a), (b), and the like may be used. Such terms are merely used to distinguish one component from another, and the nature, order, sequence, etc. of the corresponding components are not limited to the terms thereof. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected," "coupled" or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or other elements can be "connected," "coupled" or "coupled" between the elements.

The components having functions common to those included in one embodiment will be described using the same names in another embodiment. Unless stated to the contrary, the description described in one embodiment is also applicable to other embodiments, and the detailed description will be omitted insofar as repeated.

In this specification, the term "smoking article" refers to something that can produce an aerosol, such as a cigarette (cigarette), cigar, or the like. The smoking article may comprise an aerosol-generating substance or an aerosol-forming substrate. Also, the smoking article may comprise solid materials based on tobacco raw materials, such as lamina, leaf, reconstituted tobacco, and the like. The smoking material may comprise a volatile compound. The smoking article described above may comprise several segments with respective functionalities, such segments being indicated by the "… … portion". In the present specification, the smoking article may be a heated cigarette used together with an aerosol generating device (not shown) such as an electronic cigarette apparatus, as well as a combustion type cigarette.

In the present specification, the terms "upstream" and "downstream" are terms indicating the relative positions of the various segments constituting the smoking article, based on the direction in which air is drawn when the user uses the smoking article. The smoking article comprises an upstream end (i.e. an inlet portion) and a downstream end (i.e. an outlet portion) opposite thereto. When using the smoking article, the user may bite into the downstream end of the smoking article. The downstream end is downstream of the upstream end, and furthermore, the term "end" may also be described by a "tip".

The present invention relates to a cigarette filter applicable to a smoking article, and according to one embodiment of the present invention, the cigarette filter comprises: lyocell tow (tow) made from a plurality of lyocell fibres; and a binder for binding the lyocell fibers to each other. The lyocell fibers are environment-friendly fibers made from cellulose extracted from wood pulp. The lyocell filament bundles are bundles formed by cross-linking adjacent lyocell fibers. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the lyocell fiber may have a denier of 1.0 to 12.0. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the lyocell fiber bundles constituting the lyocell fiber bundles may have a denier of 15000 denier to 45000 denier. The binder solution is prepared by mixing a binder suitable for the lyocell fibers with a solvent, and then spraying the binder solution on the lyocell strands and drying the mixture, whereby the lyocell strands can form a structure having a hardness of a certain level or more.

The cigarette filter according to one embodiment of the present invention has excellent tar and nicotine reduction effects by tobacco smoke transfer. Cellulose acetate is a material used in the art as a cigarette filter material for a long period of time, and the performance of a cigarette filter using cellulose acetate can be one of the criteria for evaluating the performance of a cigarette filter in the art. In the cigarette filter according to the embodiment of the present invention, the tar and nicotine reduction effect is excellent as compared to a cigarette filter using cellulose acetate when manufactured with the same inhalation resistance, and specifically, the tar and nicotine components are less than 90 weight percent based on the content of the cigarette filter using cellulose acetate in the smoke passing through the cigarette filter. The reduction effect of tar and nicotine components of the lyocell fiber material cannot be considered to be certainly superior to that of the cellulose acetate material in terms of the material properties, and therefore, the cigarette filter according to one embodiment of the present invention has technical significance in the art.

The cigarette filter of an embodiment of the present invention reduces tar and nicotine transferred through tobacco smoke by 70 to 95 weight percent, respectively. The above reduction ratio is a value comparing the weights of tar and nicotine in tobacco smoke before and after passing through a cigarette filter. Specifically, the reduction ratio of tar and nicotine may be 70 weight percent or more, 72 weight percent or more, 74 weight percent or more, 76 weight percent or more, 78 weight percent or more, 80 weight percent or more, 82 weight percent or more, 84 weight percent or more, 86 weight percent or more, and 95 weight percent or less, 94 weight percent or less, 93 weight percent or less, 92 weight percent or less, 91 weight percent or less, 90 weight percent or less. In the case of reducing tar and nicotine in tobacco smoke to the above-described ranges, the composition can be achieved to the extent that a smoker is suitable for smoking.

A cigarette filter according to an embodiment of the present invention has an inhalation resistance of 80mmWG to 200 mmWG. The above-mentioned suction resistance refers to the static pressure difference between the two ends of the sample when the volumetric flow is traversed by the air flow at the discharge end at normal conditions of 17.5mm per second. The above-described inhalation resistance can be measured by the method specified in ISO standard 6565:2002. Specifically, the suction resistance may be 80mmWG or more, 85mmWG or more, 90mmWG or more, 95mmWG or more, 100mmWG or more, and may be 200mmWG or less, 190mmWG or less, 180mmWG or less, 170mmWG or less, 160mmWG or less, 150mmWG or less, or 80mmWG to 200mmWG, 90mmWG to 180mmWG, 100mmWG to 150mmWG. Within the above ranges, the functionality of cigarette filters comprising lyocell tow in reducing tar and nicotine may be further enhanced.

In a cigarette filter according to an embodiment of the present invention, the lyocell tow is filled into the cigarette filter at a packing density of 0.2g/mL to 0.6 g/mL. As the packing density of the lyocell tow increases, the hardness or filtering performance of the filter may increase, but may obstruct the air flow path in the cigarette, and therefore, need to be adjusted to an appropriate level. Specifically, the above-mentioned packing density may be 0.2g/mL or more, 0.22g/mL or more, 0.24g/mL or more, 0.26g/mL or more, 0.28g/mL or more, 0.3g/mL or more, and may be 0.6g/mL or less, 0.58g/mL or less, 0.56g/mL or less, 0.54g/mL or less, 0.52g/mL or less, 0.5g/mL or less, and may be 0.2g/mL to 0.6g/mL, 0.24g/mL to 0.56g/mL, 0.3g/mL to 0.5g/mL. Within the above ranges, the tar and nicotine reducing functionality of cigarette filters comprising lyocell tow may be further enhanced.

The above packing density takes into account not only tar and nicotine reduction effects of the cigarette filter but also inhalation resistance, but at this packing density the hardness of the cigarette filter may be low, and thus a separate hardness enhancer is required. As one of the hardness-improving agents, a binder that imparts a certain level of hardness or more to the lyocell filament bundles by bonding the lyocell fibers to each other may be used. The binder is suitable for application to lyocell fibers, and any binder can be used as long as it is a conventional binder known in the art. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the adhesive may use hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose, HPMC), hydroxypropyl cellulose (hydoroxy propyl cellulose, HPC), polyvinyl alcohol (poly vinyl alcohol, PVA), ethylene-vinyl acetate (ETHYLENE VINYL ACETATE, EVA), polyvinyl acetate (poly VINYL ACETATE, PVAc), polyvinylpyrrolidone (poly vinyl pyrrolidone, PVP), polyester (polyester), or a combination thereof, and in particular, the adhesive may use hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, polyester, or a combination thereof.

The polyester is a synthetic resin obtained by reacting a polyvalent organic acid with a polyhydric alcohol, and has an appropriate resistance to water and various compounds. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the polyester is a copolymer of an aromatic monomer and an aliphatic monomer. The aromatic monomer imparts structural stability to the polyester and the aliphatic monomer imparts structural flexibility to the polyester, and thus the polyester including the aromatic monomer and the aliphatic monomer is easily bonded to other components such as lyocell fiber, and thus can impart functionality as an adhesive. The aromatic monomer may be a polyvalent organic acid or a polyhydric alcohol, and the aliphatic monomer may be a polyvalent organic acid or a polyhydric alcohol.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the aromatic monomer is a dicarboxylic acid having a C5 to C12 arylene or heteroarylene group. By way of example, the above-mentioned dicarboxylic acids having arylene or heteroarylene groups of C5 to C12 may be phthalic acid, terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the aliphatic monomer is a diol having a C1 to C6 alkylene group, a dicarboxylic acid having a C2 to C12 alkylene group, or a combination thereof. As an example, the diol having an alkylene group of C1 to C6 is ethylene glycol, and the dicarboxylic acid having an alkylene group of C2 to C12 is sebacic acid. In the case of polyesters, the carboxylic acid groups and the hydroxyl groups can be condensed in a ratio of 1:1, whereby as monomers having carboxylic acid groups, the above-mentioned dicarboxylic acids having arylene or heteroarylene groups of C5 to C12, dicarboxylic acids having alkylene groups of C2 to C12, or combinations thereof can be used; as the monomer having a hydroxyl group, a diol having a C1 to C6 alkylene group may be used. The arylene, heteroarylene, or alkylene group may be in a substituted or unsubstituted state, and in the substituted state, a substituent commonly known in the art such as an alkyl group of C1 to C4, an alkoxy group of C1 to C4, a halogen group, or the like may be substituted on the main chain of the arylene, heteroarylene, or alkylene group.

The binder may be applied to the lyocell filament bundles in the form of a binder solution together with a solvent, and the binder does not leak out even if the lyocell filament bundles are dried or left for a long period of time after the application of the binder, and the binder is located between the lyocell fibers to increase the hardness of the lyocell filament bundles. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the binder described above is contained in an amount of 0.1 to 5 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the lyocell filament bundles. Specifically, the content of the adhesive may be 0.1 part by weight or more, 0.2 part by weight or more, 0.3 part by weight or more, 0.4 part by weight or more, 5 parts by weight or less, 4.5 parts by weight or less, 4 parts by weight or less, 3.5 parts by weight or less, 3 parts by weight or less, 2.5 parts by weight or less, and 0.1 to 5 parts by weight, 0.2 to 4 parts by weight, and 0.3 to 3 parts by weight. When the above binder is applied in the above range, the function of the lyocell tow as a basic filter can be not reduced, and at the same time, the hardness can be increased to an appropriate level.

The solvent contained in the above cigarette filter is basically contained in the binder solution for dispersing the binder, and if the binder solution is sprayed onto the lyocell tow and dried or left for a long time, a part of the solvent is removed. As the solvent of the above binder solution, basically water can be used. To dissolve the adhesive, a large amount of water may be used relative to the adhesive, but most of the water is dried and removed. Unlike cellulose acetate based on hydrophobicity, the above lyocell fiber is known as a hydrophilic substance, and thus moisture may adversely affect hardness. To compensate for this, the above binder solution may be used together with water, or an alcohol component or the like may be used instead of water.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the solvent comprises a monohydric alcohol, which is methanol, ethanol, propanol or a combination thereof. The monohydric alcohol is a component having higher volatility than water, and a large amount of the monohydric alcohol can be lost after drying, but in the case where the drying process is not performed and the filter is stored at normal temperature, a predetermined level or more of the monohydric alcohol can be detected in the final cigarette filter. The monohydric alcohol may replace water in the solvent of the binder solution and thus not only contributes to increasing the hardness of the cigarette filter, but also has bactericidal properties and thus may exhibit additional functionality when applied to the lyocell tow. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the above monohydric alcohol is contained in an amount of 1 to 500 parts by weight based on 10000 parts by weight of lyocell filament bundles. The content of the monohydric alcohol has a higher volatility than that of the polyhydric alcohol or water, and therefore, the content of the monohydric alcohol has a higher volatility, but in the case of reducing the drying process and storing at room temperature according to one embodiment of the present invention, a monohydric alcohol having a predetermined level or higher can be detected than in the case of not adding the monohydric alcohol, and thus, the lower limit is more significant than the upper limit in the content range.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the solvent comprises a polyol. Wherein the polyhydric alcohol means a compound containing two or more hydroxyl groups. The above polyol functions as a release agent when processed by a mechanical roller or the like in order to apply lyocell tow to a cigarette filter. Specifically, when the lyocell filament bundles are processed by a mechanical roller or the like without a release agent, a phenomenon in which the lyocell filament bundles are caught up by the mechanical roller or the like may occur due to the cohesive force of an adhesive or the like, and the lyocell filament bundles including a polyol may reduce such a phenomenon, so that the processability may be improved. In addition, when the above polyol is applied to the lyocell filament bundles, it is contained between the gaps of the lyocell fibers together with the binder even if it is not dried at a particularly high temperature for a long period of time, thereby contributing to an increase in the hardness of the lyocell filament bundles in a short period of time. Thus, when a solvent containing a polyhydric alcohol is used, the drying time can be significantly shortened, and the productivity of the cigarette filter can be improved.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the polyol is a glycol having a C1 to C4 alkylene group. The above diol refers to a compound having 2 hydroxyl groups, also referred to as glycol. The above 2 hydroxyl groups may be linked by a C1 to C4 alkylene group, wherein the carbon number of the alkylene group means the carbon number directly linked between 2 hydroxyl groups. The above alkylene group is present in a substituted or unsubstituted state, and in the case of substitution, substituents well known in the art, such as a main chain of the alkylene group, a C1 to C3 alkyl group, a C1 to C3 alkoxy group, a halogen group, and the like, may be substituted. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the polyol may be propylene glycol. The propylene glycol is a polyol having a chain of an appropriate length, and may be more preferably a compound having the above-mentioned functionality.

The above polyol can be applied to the lyocell tow in the form of a binder solution together with a binder and other solvents, and remain in the lyocell tow or a cigarette filter to which it is applied without any change before and after drying, whereby the above functionality including improvement in the workability including hardness and the like can be imparted. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the above polyol is contained in an amount of 0.5 to 25 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the lyocell filament bundles. Specifically, the content of the above polyol may be 0.5 parts by weight or more, 0.6 parts by weight or more, 0.7 parts by weight or more, 0.8 parts by weight or more, 0.9 parts by weight or more, 1 part by weight or more, and may be 25 parts by weight or less, 20 parts by weight or less, 15 parts by weight or less, 10 parts by weight or less, 5 parts by weight or less, and may be 0.5 parts by weight to 10 parts by weight, 0.7 parts by weight to 7 parts by weight, 1 part by weight to 5 parts by weight. When the above polyol is used in the above range, additional functionality can be imparted to the cigarette filter without degrading the performance of the lyocell tow as a basic filter.

A cigarette filter comprising lyocell tow according to one embodiment of the present invention has excellent hardness by bonding with an adhesive. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the cigarette filter has a hardness of 85% or more. Specifically, the hardness of the cigarette filter may be 85% or more, 86% or more, 87% or more, 88% or more, or 89% or more. The hardness of the cigarette filter is a value obtained by digitizing the degree of retention of the diameter of the cigarette filter when the cigarette filter is pressed with a constant horizontal force in the vertical direction, and specifically, the hardness can be calculated by the following expression 1.

Calculation formula 1:

Filter hardness (%) = [ D-a ]/d×100

Where D represents the filter diameter (mm) and a represents the distance (mm) from 300g of weight down (filter pressed). When calculating the hardness of the cigarette filter described above, the desired measurement can be obtained using means commonly used in the art, for example, the DHT 200 ^TM available from Filtrona corporation. The force applied when measuring the hardness takes into account the force applied when the actual smoker grips the cigarette. The hardness values of 85% or more obtained by the cigarette filter according to an embodiment of the present invention are technically significant in the following respects: the hardness is ensured by using lyocell tow which is an environment-friendly material at a level that can replace a cigarette filter made of conventional cellulose acetate. Further, the cigarette filter according to one embodiment of the present invention can achieve an excellent hardness value of 85% or more even after the binder is allowed to stand for a certain period of time under normal temperature conditions without performing a drying process under high temperature conditions, and thus can significantly improve the workability in manufacturing the product.

The cigarette filter can be manufactured by the following manufacturing method. The manufacturing method comprises the following steps: manufacturing lyocell tows by using lyocell fibers; preparing a binder solution by mixing a binder and a solvent; spraying a binder solution on the lyocell tows and drying; and wrapping the lyocell fibers around a bundle of lyocell fibers bonded by an adhesive by using a roll paper to manufacture a cigarette filter. The above-described manufacturing method basically relates to a method of manufacturing the above-described cigarette filter, and therefore, a portion specified in the above-described matters will be omitted, and the features of the manufacturing method will be described in more detail below.

First, lyocell filament bundles are produced using a plurality of lyocell fibers. The manufactured lyocell filament bundles have bundle shapes formed by cross-linking between adjacent lyocell fibers. At this time, a step of expanding the tow by blooming (blooming) is additionally performed. When the tow is expanded by the above-described blooming step, the binder solution sprayed thereafter easily penetrates between the lyocell fibers constituting the lyocell tow.

Thereafter, an adhesive solution is prepared by mixing an adhesive and a solvent. The binder solution is sprayed on the lyocell filament bundles to improve the functionality such as the hardness of the lyocell filament bundles. After spraying, a portion of the components of the binder solution may be lost through the drying process, and thus, the components of the binder solution may be different from the components that make up the cigarette filter. The above binder can be embodied according to the above, and the ingredients are not particularly lost even after drying, so that the amount of the filaments supplied to the lyocell tow by spraying remains almost unchanged in the final cigarette filter. The solvent contains water, and a part of the water is lost during the drying process. In the case where the binder solution is prepared from only the binder and water, the portion other than the content of the binder in the binder solution is the content of water. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned binder is contained in an amount of 5 to 40 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the binder solution. Specifically, the content of the binder may be 5 parts by weight or more, 6 parts by weight or more, 7 parts by weight or more, 8 parts by weight or more, 9 parts by weight or more, 10 parts by weight or more, 40 parts by weight or less, 35 parts by weight or less, 30 parts by weight or less, 25 parts by weight or less, 20 parts by weight or less, 5 parts by weight to 40 parts by weight, 7 parts by weight to 30 parts by weight, and 10 parts by weight to 20 parts by weight. When the binder solution is formed in the above range, the above binder can be easily applied to the lyocell tow by spraying.

In the case where the solvent contains a polyol, the solvent contains a polyol and water. In the case where the entire solvent is composed of a polyol, the viscosity is too high to disperse the adhesive easily. Water can be contained in the same amount as the balance of the proportion of the solvent such as polyol and the like, and a part is lost during drying. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the above polyol is contained in an amount of 5 to 50 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the binder solution. Specifically, the content of the polyhydric alcohol may be 5 parts by weight or more, 6 parts by weight or more, 7 parts by weight or more, 8 parts by weight or more, 9 parts by weight or more, 10 parts by weight or more, and may be 50 parts by weight or less, 45 parts by weight or less, 40 parts by weight or less, 35 parts by weight or less, 30 parts by weight or less, and may be 5 parts by weight to 50 parts by weight, 7 parts by weight to 40 parts by weight, 10 parts by weight to 30 parts by weight. When the above polyol is used in the above range, additional functionality can be imparted to the cigarette filter without degrading the function of the lyocell tow as a basic filter.

The solvent may further comprise a monohydric alcohol. The monohydric alcohol is a component having higher volatility than water, and a large amount of the monohydric alcohol can be lost after drying, but when stored at normal temperature without drying, a certain level or more can be detected in the final cigarette filter. The monohydric alcohol is a component that can replace water in the solvent of the binder solution, and the water content of the final cigarette filter can be adjusted. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the monohydric alcohol is methanol, ethanol, propanol, or a combination thereof. Specifically, the monohydric alcohol may be ethanol.

In place of water, the above monohydric alcohol may be contained at a level or more. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the above monohydric alcohol is contained in an amount of 5 to 60 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the binder solution. Specifically, the content of the monohydric alcohol may be 5 parts by weight or more, 6 parts by weight or more, 7 parts by weight or more, 8 parts by weight or more, 9 parts by weight or more, 10 parts by weight or more, and may be 60 parts by weight or less, 55 parts by weight or less, 50 parts by weight or less, 45 parts by weight or less, 40 parts by weight or less, 35 parts by weight or less, 30 parts by weight or less, and may be 5 parts by weight to 60 parts by weight, 7 parts by weight to 45 parts by weight, 10 parts by weight to 30 parts by weight. When the above monohydric alcohol is used in the above range, the water content in the cigarette filter can be reduced by an effectively meaningful value.

The binder solution prepared according to the above was sprayed into the lyocell filament bundles. The binder solution is sprayed onto the lyocell tow to such an extent that the problems of hardness and the like of the lyocell tow in terms of materials can be solved without deteriorating the function of the basic filter of the lyocell tow. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the binder solution is sprayed to the lyocell filament bundles in an amount of 5 to 30 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the lyocell filament bundles. Specifically, the amount of the binder solution sprayed may be 5 parts by weight or more, 6 parts by weight or more, 7 parts by weight or more, 8 parts by weight or more, 9 parts by weight or more, 10 parts by weight or more, and may be 30 parts by weight or less, 28 parts by weight or less, 26 parts by weight or less, 24 parts by weight or less, 22 parts by weight or less, 20 parts by weight or less, and may be 5 parts by weight to 30 parts by weight, 7 parts by weight to 24 parts by weight, 10 parts by weight to 20 parts by weight. When the binder solution is sprayed in the above range, the functionality such as the hardness of the lyocell yarn can be improved. The method of spraying the above binder solution may use methods generally used in the art, and is not particularly limited. For example, the above-mentioned spraying of the adhesive solution may be performed by nozzle spraying, brush spraying, electric spraying, or the like.

After the binder solution is sprayed onto the lyocell tows, drying is performed in such a manner that the binder adheres and bonds the lyocell fibers to each other by the binder. Such a drying process may be performed by a conventional method in the art under normal temperature or high temperature conditions. The cigarette filter is manufactured by wrapping a bundle of lyocell fibers, which is formed by bonding lyocell fibers with an adhesive, with a roll paper. According to the requirements, the lyocell tow can be processed by using a mechanical roller or a cutter and the like to be suitable for the specifications of the cigarette filter tip. The degree to which the cigarette filters are filled with lyocell tow may be adjusted in accordance with the foregoing.

The cigarette filter described above can be applied to smoking articles. Fig. 1 provides a diagram showing a brief structure of a smoking article according to an embodiment of the present invention. The smoking article 100 includes a smoking material portion 10 and a filter portion 20, and the cigarette filter is applied to the filter portion 20 of the smoking article 100. In the above-described smoking article 100, the smoking material section 10 is located upstream with respect to the filter section 20.

The smoking material part 10 may be filled with a smoking material such as raw tobacco leaves, platy leaves, or a mixture of tobacco leaves and platy leaves. The processed smoking material may be filled into the smoking material section 10 in sheet form or tobacco form. The smoking material portion 10 may have a rod shape extending long, and the length, the circumference, and the diameter thereof are not particularly limited, but may be adjusted to a size commonly used in the art in consideration of the filling amount of the smoking material, the preference of a user, and the like. The smoking material part 10 may include an aerosol-generating substance of at least one of glycerin, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, and oleyl alcohol. The smoking material portion 10 described above may contain other additives such as flavoring agents, humectants and/or acetate compounds. The aerosol-generating substance and the additive substance may be contained in a smoking substance.

The filter portion 20 is located downstream of the smoking material portion 10, and functions as a filter through which a user passes before inhaling the aerosol generated in the smoking material portion 10. The filter portion 20 described above may be manufactured from a variety of materials or forms. The filter portion 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention basically includes the above-described cigarette filter including a bundle of lyocell fibers bonded by an adhesive. The cigarette filter comprising lyocell tow described above may replace all or a portion of the filter portion 20 of an existing smoking article, and in the case of replacing a portion of the filter portion 20 of an existing smoking article, filter materials that have been used heretofore may be used together. As the conventional filter material, for example, a cellulose acetate filter, a hollow tube filter, or the like can be used.

In fig. 1, a single filter in which the filter portion 20 is made of a single filter is shown, but is not limited thereto. For example, the filter portion 20 may be provided by a double filter or a triple filter having 2 acetate filters, or the like, in order to improve the filtering efficiency. Further, although not shown, a breakable capsule (not shown) having a structure in which a coating film surrounds a content liquid containing a flavor may be included in the filter portion 20.

The outside of the smoking material part 10 and the filter part 20 may be wrapped with wrapping paper 30a or wrapping paper 30 b.

The smoking material part 10 may be wrapped with a smoking material part wrapper 30 a. Some of the cigarette smoke generated during the combustion of the conventional smoking material segment 10 is released into the atmosphere through the smoking material segment wrapper 30a before passing through the cigarette filter, and the sidestream smoke gives an unpleasant sensation to the indirect smoker. In order to reduce such sidestream smoke, attempts have been made to add fillers such as magnesium oxide, titanium oxide, cerium oxide, aluminum oxide, calcium carbonate, zirconium carbonate, etc. to conventional cigarette paper, but when such fillers are simply applied to reduce sidestream smoke, smoke feeling is reduced, or combustion extinction, soot integrity reduction, etc. occur, it is difficult to solve the above problems by appropriately combining substances added to the fillers. In order to reduce sidestream smoke and prevent smoke from being perceived, soot from being reduced in integrity, and combustion from being extinguished, the smoking material portion wrapper 30a of one embodiment of the present invention employs a filler of mixed magnesium oxide (MgO and/or Mg (OH) ₂) and calcium carbonate (CaCO ₃).

The filter 20 may be wrapped with filter wrapper 30 b. The filter wrapper 30b may be made of roll paper having oil resistance, and an aluminum foil may be further included on the inner side surface of the filter wrapper 30 b.

The smoking material portion 10 wrapped with the above-described smoking material portion wrapping paper 30a and the filter portion 20 wrapped with the filter portion wrapping paper 30b may be combined and wrapped with the tipping paper 40. As shown in fig. 1, the tipping paper 40 may surround at least a portion (e.g., a downstream partial region) of the smoking material section wrapper 30a and the outer periphery of the filter section wrapper 30 b. In other words, at least a part of the smoking material section 10 and the filter section 20 are also wrapped with the tipping paper 40 and can be physically joined. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the tipping paper 40 may be manufactured from a non-porous roll paper that has not been subjected to oil resistance treatment, but is not limited thereto. The tipping paper 40 may also prevent the filter portion 20 from burning by containing a non-combustible substance, but is not limited thereto.

The smoking article of one embodiment of the invention has a tar transfer of less than 3.7mg and a nicotine transfer of less than 0.36mg. This is lower than the tar and nicotine transfer levels of cellulose acetate filters. Specifically, the tar transfer amount may be less than 3.7mg, 3.6mg or less, 3.5mg or less, 3.4mg or less, 3.3mg or less, 3.2mg or less, and the nicotine transfer amount may be less than 0.36mg, 0.35mg or less, 0.34mg or less, 0.33mg or less, 0.32mg or less, 0.31mg or less, 0.3mg or less, or 0.29mg or less. The smoking article of one embodiment of the invention is of interest in terms of tar and nicotine reduction benefits over cellulose acetate filters.

The constitution of the present invention and effects according to the constitution will be described in more detail below with reference to examples and comparative examples. However, the present examples are intended to more specifically explain the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Examples

Example 1

Lyocell tow having tow fiber bundles of about 35000 denier was made and used with 1 lyocell fiber having a fiber bundle of about 3.0 denier. And, a binder solution as a mixture of a binder and a solvent was prepared. Specifically, the above adhesive solution is prepared by adding 15 weight percent of polyester (copolymer of phthalic acid and sebacic acid and ethylene glycol), weight average molecular weight (M _w) =3000-6000) to 85 weight percent of solvent (mixed solvent of 30 weight percent of propylene glycol, 55 weight percent of water), based on the total weight of the adhesive solution. The prepared binder solution was sprayed to the lyocell tows by spray nozzle spraying. The binder solution was sprayed at 15 weight percent based on the weight of the lyocell filament bundles and stored at normal temperature for 6 hours, thereby producing lyocell filament bundles including a binder. The thus-produced lyocell tow was wrapped with a wrapping paper, whereby a cigarette filter having an axial length of about 27mm and a circumference of about 23.7mm was produced. In the above cigarette filter, the lyocell tow has a packing density of about 0.4g/mL, and in this case, the lyocell tow means a state of not containing a binder. The measured inhalation resistance of the above cigarette filter was about 112.5mmWG when measured by an inhalation resistance measuring device (manufacturing company: KARDIEN, product name: BWSPtHT-1).

Comparative example 1

Instead of lyocell tows, cellulose acetate tows of the same denier condition were used. Triethyl citrate (TRIETHYL CITRATE, TEC) as a plasticizer was used instead of the binder as a hardness enhancer. Spraying the plasticizer to the cellulose acetate tow through a nozzle. The plasticizer solution was sprayed at 7 weight percent based on the weight of the cellulose acetate tow, thereby producing a cellulose acetate tow containing a plasticizer. Cigarette filters having an axial length of about 27mm and a circumference of about 24.2mm were produced by wrapping the produced cellulose acetate tow with a wrapping paper. In the above cigarette filter, the cellulose acetate tow has a packing density of about 0.36g/mL, and at this time, the cellulose acetate tow means a state of not containing a plasticizer. The measured inhalation resistance of the above cigarette filter was about 112.5mmWG when measured by an inhalation resistance measuring device (manufacturing company: KARDIEN, product name: BWSPtHT-1).

Experimental example

The tobacco leaves of 580mg cigarettes were used to manufacture smoking material parts. Cigarettes were produced by combining each of the cigarette filters produced in example 1 and comparative example 1 with a smoke-absorbing material portion. The cigarettes made of the smoking material part alone were used as cigarettes of "experimental example 1", cigarettes made by joining the cigarette filter manufactured in example 1 and the smoking material part were used as cigarettes of "experimental example 2", cigarettes made by joining the cigarette filter manufactured in comparative example 1 and the smoking material part were used as cigarettes of "experimental example 3", and the cigarettes were smoked by a smoking device (manufacturing company: BORGWALDT, product name: RM2 OH) and smoke was collected, and then the components thereof were analyzed by gas chromatography (Gas Choromatography, GC). The results of the component analysis are shown in table 1 below.

TABLE 1

	Cigarette filter tip	Tar (mg/root)	Nicotine (mg/root)
				Experimental example 1	Without any means for	24.4	2.1
Experimental example 2	Example 1	3.2	0.29
				Experimental example 3	Comparative example 1	3.7	0.36

From table 1, it was confirmed that even when the cigarette filter of example 1 was applied (experimental example 2), the effect of reducing tar and nicotine was superior to the case of applying the cigarette filter of comparative example 1 (experimental example 3), even though the inhalation resistance was the same. In the case of the cigarette filter of example 1, which is excellent in tar and nicotine reduction effect, the tar and nicotine may be required to be removed to a certain level or less depending on the preference of smokers, and the tar and nicotine may be reduced more easily without adjusting other components such as the smoking material portion and the wrapping paper, and thus, the workability in producing the product may be improved.

While the embodiments have been described with reference to the above-described embodiments and drawings, various modifications and variations can be made by those skilled in the art from the above description. For example, the described techniques may be performed in a different order than the described methods, and/or constituent elements of the described systems, structures, devices, circuits, etc. may be combined or combined in a different manner than the described methods, or substituted with other constituent elements or equivalent technical solutions, as appropriate.

Claims

1. A cigarette filter is characterized in that,

Comprising the following steps:

Lyocell tow made of a plurality of lyocell fibers, and

A binder for binding the lyocell fibers to each other;

The cigarette filter described above reduces tar and nicotine transferred through tobacco smoke by 70 to 95 weight percent, respectively.

2. The cigarette filter of claim 1 wherein the filter is a filter-tip filter,

The cigarette filter has an inhalation resistance of 80 to 200 mmWG.

3. The cigarette filter of claim 1 wherein the filter is a filter-tip filter,

The lyocell tow is filled into cigarette filters at a packing density of 0.2g/mL to 0.6 g/mL.

4. The cigarette filter of claim 1 wherein the filter is a filter-tip filter,

The binder is hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, ethylene-vinyl acetate, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyester or their combination.

5. The cigarette filter of claim 1 wherein the filter is a filter-tip filter,

The above binder is contained in an amount of 0.1 to 5 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the lyocell filament bundles.

6. The cigarette filter of claim 1 wherein the filter is a filter-tip filter,

The above-described cigarette filter further comprises a binder solvent,

The binder solvent is water, a monohydric alcohol, a polyhydric alcohol, or a combination thereof.

7. The cigarette filter of claim 6 wherein the filter is a filter-tip filter,

The monohydric alcohol is methanol, ethanol, propanol or a combination thereof.

8. The cigarette filter of claim 6 wherein the filter is a filter-tip filter,

The above polyol is a diol having a C1 to C4 alkylene group.

9. The cigarette filter of claim 8 wherein the filter is a filter-tip filter,

The above polyol is contained in an amount of 0.5 to 25 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the lyocell filament bundles.

10. A method of manufacturing a cigarette filter according to claim 1, comprising:

A first step of manufacturing lyocell tows using a plurality of lyocell fibers;

a second step of preparing a binder solution by mixing a binder and a solvent;

A third step of spraying a binder solution onto the lyocell filament bundles and drying the bundle; and

And a fourth step of producing a cigarette filter by wrapping a bundle of lyocell fibers, which is formed by bonding lyocell fibers with an adhesive, with a roll paper.