EP0233530A1 - Mouthpiece for a cigarette or the like and method for the manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a mouthpiece (2) for a cigarette or the like, in particular a ventilated unfiltered cigarette, substantially comprising a cylindrical sleeve (3) to be attached to an end of the tobacco rod (6) which is wrapped in paper (5), said sleeve having an external diameter substantially corresponding to that of the wrapped tobacco rod, in which sleeve a support member (4) provided with ribs (9) is arranged, whose ribs extend substantially in the longitudinal direction of the sleeve and are supported in each case at their outer edge on the inside wall of the sleeve, each of the ribs consisting of at least two layers (F1, F2) (F3, F4) of a web-shaped material, at least one layer (F2) of one rib in each case being connected to at least one layer (F3) of another rib (Fig. 1).

Description

The invention relates to a mouthpiece for a cigarette or the like., In particular a ventilated, filterless cigarette, consisting essentially of a cylindrical sleeve to be fastened to an end face of the tobacco rod covered with paper and having an outer diameter substantially corresponding to the wrapped tobacco rod, in which a ribbed support body is arranged, the ribs of which extend essentially in the longitudinal direction of the sleeve and are each supported on their outer edge on the inner wall of the sleeve.

If it is mentioned above or below that the mouthpiece for a cigarette "or the like." is determined and suitable, it is to be expressed by this that it can in principle also be used, for example, for a cigarillo, although it is primarily intended for a cigarette, in particular for a ventilated cigarette not provided with a classic filter , the smoke flow of which is thus diluted by air drawn in from the environment when smoking, although the mouthpiece is in principle also suitable for non-ventilated cigarettes, and also for cigarettes which are provided with a conventional filter (section).

It is known that filterless cigarettes are provided with a mouthpiece in various embodiments of cigarettes in order to prevent tobacco particles from getting into the smoker's mouth from the mouth end of the tobacco rod when smoking. For this purpose, for example, from DE-AS 16 32 222 an existing molded plastic, provided with a covering, one-piece mouthpiece is known, which consists of a hollow, cylindrical sleeve and three integrally formed with the sleeve, radially inwardly extending ribs are integrally connected at their inner edge to a tubular, central chamber which connects the tobacco-side end of the mouthpiece to the mouth-side end of the mouthpiece, wherein a filter insert can optionally be provided between the sleeve provided with ribs forming a supporting body and the tobacco rod. The connection of the mouthpiece to the tobacco rod wrapped with cigarette paper takes place by means of a wrapping, also referred to below as covering paper, which extends from the mouth-side end of the sleeve extends over the sleeve and a section of the wrapped tobacco rod and is connected to both (for example by gluing), the covering paper being provided with a perforated opening in a design with a filter insert, through which air sucked in from outside enters the filter when it is smoking and there smoke flowing from the tobacco rod to the smoker's mouth, so that the channels formed by the ribs and the inside of the sleeve lead to air thinned smoke to the smoker's mouth, while practically only undiluted smoke flows through the central, tubular chamber of the mouthpiece to the smoker's mouth, since the air sucked in through the perforation openings does not reach the middle section of the filter insert due to the existing resistances, especially since it is still provided that the actual filter material of the filter is covered with a cover made of perforated or porous paper.

This known mouthpiece is extremely disadvantageous because it consists of plastic, that is, a non-decomposable material and is accordingly correspondingly hostile to the environment, since the mouthpieces of discarded, smoked cigarette butts accumulate in the environment.

Another disadvantage of the known mouthpiece in a filterless version is that the smoker has a clear view of the mouth end of the tobacco rod when looking at the mouth end of the cigarette, which is a dark hole offset inward from the mouth end of the sleeve offers, from which tobacco smoke oozes, which many smokers find mostly unpleasant for aesthetic reasons.

Finally, with this known mouthpiece, optimal smoke guidance cannot be achieved, ie a smoke flow that is too leads to optimal smoking pleasure, as will be explained in more detail below, since the smoke reaches the smoker's mouth parallel to the longitudinal axis of the mouthpiece practically without being influenced by the mouthpiece.

From GB-PS 955 639 a mouthpiece consisting only of a cardboard sleeve is known which surrounds the wrapped tobacco rod at its mouth end via a section and is connected to it, and which is between the mouth end of the tobacco rod and the mouth end of the mouthpiece Perforation openings are provided, through which air is sucked in from outside during smoking in order to dilute the tobacco smoke drawn in from the tobacco rod. Although this known mouthpiece is more environmentally friendly than the mouthpiece previously discussed, because it consists of cardboard and thus of rotting paper material, it also has the other disadvantages mentioned above with reference to the mouthpiece according to DE-AS 16 32 222. In addition, it is also disadvantageous because it does not have sufficient strength so that when smoking - especially if it gets wet through the lips or tongue of the smoker - it can be easily deformed and possibly largely or completely compressed. If the sleeve of this known mouthpiece is made of relatively thin material, the strength is still sufficient. not even to insert the perforation into the mouthpiece without deforming it.

From US-PS 3 789 855 a mouthpiece is known which consists of a sleeve provided with perforation openings and a ribbed support body made of plastic (Fig. 1-4), the mouth end portion of the mouthpiece according to the filter of DE-AS 16 32 222 is formed, and the tobacco-side end portion of the mouth piece within the sleeve has a further cylindrical sleeve section which abuts the inside of the outer sleeve and with a conical intermediate section merges into the central tubular tubular smoke channel, which is considerably smaller in diameter, so that the smoke sucked in from the tobacco rod from that present at the tobacco-side end of the mouthpiece inner sleeve and passed over the conical intermediate section into the mouth-side end section of the tubular, central chamber supported by the ribs and having a considerably smaller diameter and from there into the smoker's mouth. The air sucked in through the perforation openings flows into the smoker's mouth when smoking through the outer chambers formed by the ribs and the inside of the sleeve.

This well-known mouthpiece is already made of plastic due to its complicated construction and is accordingly also environmentally harmful. Here too there is no optimal smoke guidance and the smoke flows separately from the dilution air into the smoker's mouth.

US Pat. No. 3,789,855 also discloses a further embodiment (FIG. 8) in which the support body of the mouthpiece can consist of corrugated cardboard. However, there are no essentially radially extending ribs at the mouth-side end of the mouthpiece, but concentric, conical sections, so that the mouthpiece can be correspondingly deformed at the mouth-side end section when smoking through the lips of the smoker and, moreover, the available free flow cross section is considerable is narrowed. Furthermore, in this mouthpiece there is also no optimal smoke guidance and the suctioned ventilation air reaches the smoker's mouth separately from the suctioned smoke, so that this known mouthpiece also resp Manufacturing is extremely expensive.

From DE-OS 34 42 412 a generic mouthpiece is known, the ribs of which, however, in contrast to the mouthpiece according to DE-AS 16 32 222, do not connect with their inner edges to a central, tubular smoke channel, but rather integrally with an air and smoke-tight, cylindrical core part are connected, which fills a significant part of the cross-sectional area of the mouthpiece. Apart from the fact that this known mouthpiece is also integrally made of plastic and is correspondingly hostile to the environment, here, as with the mouthpiece according to DE-AS 16 32 222, there is a clear view from the mouth end of the mouth end of the tobacco rod with those described above Disadvantages are given and the smoke guidance is not optimal, although this known mouthpiece is more advantageous than the mouthpieces known from DE-AS 16 32 222 and US Pat. No. 3,789,855, because - just like the mouthpiece according to GB-PS 955 639 - feeds only thinned smoke to the smoker's mouth.

The mouthpieces discussed above differ fundamentally from mouthpieces such as are described, for example, in DE-AS 16 57 261, in which, in the case of a ventilated version of a cigarette, the smoke flow is supplied to the smoker's mouth separately from the ventilation air sucked in during smoking, which is the case with the mouthpiece according to DE-AS 16 57 261 characterized in that the sleeve is provided on its outside with grooves and surrounded by a further sleeve which is connected to the environment, for example through perforation holes, so that the air sucked in from the outside through the so formed grooves flows into the smokers mouth, while the undiluted smoke flows into the smokers mouth through the hollow interior formed by the sleeve space is supplied. Such a separate smoke and air duct, which leads to a thinning of the smoke only in the smoker's mouth, is however not to be regarded as advantageous.

In general, it should be pointed out here that with filterless, non-ventilated cigarettes, smoke enters the smoker's mouth as it arises when smoking, i.e. without filtering and without the addition of air, so that the nicotine and condensate values are correspondingly high.

Basically, two measures are possible to reduce these values, namely the use of a filter (generally an acetate filter) and the addition of air to the smoke (ventilation), whereby the first step was taken in the course of development and then created cigarettes in which both measures are provided, that is, both a filter and ventilation.

The different variants each have advantages and disadvantages - not only with regard to the manufacturing costs - and enjoy different acceptance among smokers.

The present invention has for its object a or the like for all configurations of .cigarettes. to provide a suitable, inexpensive to produce generic mouthpiece, in particular for ventilated, filterless cigarettes, which is to be produced from an inexpensive, relatively easy-to-process, thin, quickly decomposable material and yet has the strength required for smoking and, if applicable, for making ventilation openings, and above that addition, the possibility should nevertheless be created that the smoker looks at the mouth end the mouthpiece cannot see the mouth end of the tobacco rod and it should be ensured that, in the case of training for a ventilated cigarette, the smoke flowing from the tobacco rod can practically completely mix intimately with the sucked-in air before entering the smoker's mouth and the ribs can not only exert a certain filtering effect on the smoke-air flow, but can also impart a flow behavior which leads to a largely stable outlet flow, so that the smoker can direct the flow entering the mouth into particularly taste-sensitive zones. In addition, a ventilated design of the mouthpiece is intended to ensure that the smoker receives a smoke-air mixture when smoking, which has nicotine and condensate values that actually correspond to the values determined on smoking machines and are not changed due to the smoking habits of the smoker, as can be the case with mouthpieces with peripheral air flow separated from the smoke. In addition, the free flow cross section of the mouthpiece predetermined by the sleeve should be narrowed as little as possible by the support body.

As a solution to this problem it is provided according to the invention that the ribs each consist of at least two layers or sections or layers of a relatively thin, foldable, web-shaped material, at least one layer of one rib being connected to at least one layer of another rib, so that this results in a correspondingly good internal support of the ribs.

It has proven to be particularly expedient if a layer of a rib is connected to a layer of an adjacent rib, since such a Can be configured particularly easily, in particular when at least the interconnected layers of two ribs are integrally formed, as is preferably provided, and / or when, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the layers of all ribs are integrally formed.

It has been shown that it is particularly simple and sturdy in terms of manufacture - even using a relatively thin sheet material - to be particularly expedient or sufficient if the ribs each consist (only) of two layers.

In a most preferred embodiment of the mouthpiece according to the invention, the support body is formed from a leporello-like folded strip, which consists of a relatively thin, web-shaped, rotten material - preferably made of paper - with a pair of adjacent folded sections of the strip forming a rib and the sleeve can also be made of a decomposable material in a manner known per se in order to arrive at an overall decomposable mouthpiece. It is usually Particularly useful if the support body and the sleeve are made of the same material, preferably made of paper.

The layers of a rib preferably abut one another and, in a preferred embodiment, are connected to one another at least at one section, which is expediently made by gluing or the like. can be done. In the case of a mouthpiece, the support body of which is formed from a leporello-like strip, this means that the two mutually facing sides of a pair of folding sections forming a rib are in contact with one another issue.

The ribs of the support body are each connected on their outer edge (at least partially) to the inner wall of the sleeve, or the like in a paper configuration. expediently done by gluing or gluing.

The ribs preferably run in a manner known per se, i.w. radial to the sleeve and can extend over their entire length, preferably extending in their other direction up to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve.

In a preferred embodiment of the mouthpiece according to the invention, the ribs are in each case twisted or twisted on at least one longitudinal section, preferably over the entire length of the support body, in such a way that their free outer edge extends helically to the central axis of the sleeve. Such a twisting of the support body or its ribs leads to various advantages. If one end of the support body is rotated relative to its other end from an initial position in which the ribs run parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve, at least by an angle which, with the same rib pitch, is equal to the pitch angle (360 ° divided by the number of ribs) , there is first the advantage that you can no longer look from the mouth end of the mouthpiece to the tobacco end of the tobacco rod. The smoke therefore no longer comes out of a "dark hole".

Another significant advantage of such a twist is that each line of the sleeve running parallel to the central axis is supported at least at one point by a rib, so that overall a considerably better strength than a non-twisted version of the mouthpiece.

Furthermore, there is an advantage in such a configuration that the smoke emerging from the tobacco rod in parallel strikes the twisted walls of the ribs, which can have a certain filter effect, in particular if the support body consists of a gas-permeable, porous material.

Finally, it should be noted that a mouthpiece with a support body twisted like this gives the smoke flow - in the case of a ventilated cigarette the mixed smoke-air flow - gives a certain twist around the central axis of the mouthpiece or the cigarette, which leads to a certain stabilization of the smoke flow, so that the smoker can direct these particularly sensitive areas of the mouth. This obviously applies in the same way to non-ventilated as well as to ventilated cigarettes, whereby this effect is of particular importance for ventilated cigarettes, since the smoke flow is diluted by the intake air and the smoke-air flow when it hits particularly taste-sensitive zones in the The smoker's mouth tastes particularly intense.

In the case of a mouthpiece for a ventilated cigarette, for which the mouthpiece according to the invention is particularly intended, the sleeve either consists of an air-permeable material or is provided with perforation openings at a distance from its mouth-side end and at a distance from the end of the tobacco rod, which are arranged on an annular path can be provided in one or more rows.

Is the sleeve in a manner known per se with the covering of the tobacco rod connected by a covering paper, as this is preferably provided, which is glued on the one hand to the sleeve and on the other hand to the sheathing of the tobacco rod, so the usually gas-impermeable covering paper or the like is at least at one point by perforation. air-permeable and this air-permeable point is arranged in the region of an air-permeable point of the sleeve, so that when smoking air can enter from outside through the covering paper and the sleeve into their hollow interior - except for the support body - and mix there with the smoke. This mixing is very intimate in the mouthpiece according to the invention, since the air sucked in from the outside enters the interior of the shell essentially radially through the small openings of the covering paper and the shell when a vacuum is applied to the mouth-side end of the mouthpiece, and since the speed of the smoke entering the mouthpiece in the longitudinal direction is relatively slow. It is also not significantly increased because the cross-sectional narrowing of the sleeve is extremely small due to the thin ribs. Moreover, in the case of a mouthpiece with a twisted support body, its twisting still contributes to an intimate mixture of smoke and air, so that ultimately a largely uniformly mixed flow of smoke and air emerges from the mouthpiece and reaches the smoker's mouth.

Further preferred embodiments of the present invention and a method for producing the mouthpiece according to the invention are described in the claims.

• Fig. 1 einen mittleren Längsschnitt durch eine ventilierte, filterlose Zigarette mit einem erfindungsgemäßen Mundstück mit einem nicht geschnitten dargestellten, vierrippigen, nicht gedrillten Stützkörper aus zweischichtigem Papier;
• Fig. 2 eine mundseitige, stirnseitige Draufsicht auf das Mundstück der Zigarette gemäß Fig. 1 in Richtung des Pfeiles II in Fig. 1 gesehen;
• Fig. 3 eine Fig. 2 entsprechende Darstellung für ein Mundstück, dessen Stützkörper um die Mittelachse gleichmäßig so verdrillt ist, daß seine dem Tabakstrang zugekehrte Stirnfläche gegenüber der Ausbildung gemäß den Fig. 1 und 2 um 90° verdreht ist;
• Fig. 4 einen Schnitt durch das Mundstück gemäß den Fig. 1 und 2 in Richtung der Schnittlinie IV-IV in Fig. 1 gesehen;
• Fig. 5 eine verkleinerte perspektivische Darstellung des Mundstückes gemäß den Fig. 1 und 2 ohne Belagpapier;
• Fig. 6 eine perspektivische Darstellung des Stützkörpers gemäß Fig. 5;
• Fig. 7 eine Fig. 6 entsprechende Darstellung eines um 90° verdrillten Stützkörpers;
• Fig. 8 eine Draufsicht auf den Stützkörper gemäß Fig. 6;
• Fig. 9 eine stirnseitige Draufsicht auf das mundseitige Ende des Stützkörpers gemäß Fig. 8 in Richtung des Pfeiles IX in Fig. 8 gesehen;
• Fig. 10 eine stirnseitige Draufsicht auf das ; tabakseitige Ende des Stützkörpers gemäß Fig. 8 in Richtung des Pfeiles X in Fig. 8 gesehen;
• Fig. 11 eine Draufsicht auf den Stützkörper gemäß Fig. 7;
• Fig. 12 eine stirnseitige Draufsicht auf das mundseitige Ende des Stützkörpers gemäß Fig. 11 in Richtung des Pfeiles XII in Fig. 11 gesehen;
• Fig. 13 eine stirnseitige Draufsicht auf das tabakseitige Ende des Stützkörpers gemäß Fig. 11 in Richtung des Pfeiles XIII in Fig. 11 gesehen;
• Fig. 14 einen rechteckigen, ebenen Streifen aus Papier als Zuschnitt zur Bildung eines erfindungsgemäßen Stützkörpers in der Draufsicht;
• Fig. 15 den Streifen gemäß Fig. 14 in einem gefalteten Zwischenzustand in einer Seitenansicht;
• Fig. 16 den Streifen gemäß den Fig. 14 und 15 in einem weiteren Zwischenzustand;
• Fig. 17 den unverdrillten Streifen gemäß Fig. 14 im Endzustand in einer stirnseitigen Draufsicht; und
• Fig. 18 eine Fig. 17 entsprechende Darstellung einer Variante mit zehn Rippen.

The invention is explained below using exemplary embodiments with reference to a drawing. It shows:

• Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section through a ventilated, filterless cigarette with a mouthpiece according to the invention with a four-rib, non-twisted support body made of two-layer paper, not shown.
• FIG. 2 is a top view of the mouth on the front side of the mouthpiece of the cigarette according to FIG. 1 in the direction of arrow II in FIG. 1;
• 3 shows a representation corresponding to FIG. 2 for a mouthpiece, the support body of which is twisted uniformly about the central axis in such a way that its end face facing the tobacco rod is rotated by 90 ° with respect to the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 and 2;
• Fig. 4 seen a section through the mouthpiece according to Figures 1 and 2 in the direction of section line IV-IV in Fig. 1.
• 5 shows a reduced perspective illustration of the mouthpiece according to FIGS. 1 and 2 without covering paper;
• FIG. 6 shows a perspective illustration of the support body according to FIG. 5;
• 7 shows a representation corresponding to FIG. 6 of a support body twisted by 90 °;
• Fig. 8 is a plan view of the support body according to Fig. 6;
• FIG. 9 is an end plan view of the mouth end of the support body according to FIG. 8 in the direction of arrow IX in FIG. 8;
• Fig. 10 is an end plan view of the; 8 tobacco-side end of the support body according to FIG. 8 in the direction of arrow X in FIG. 8;
• FIG. 11 shows a plan view of the support body according to FIG. 7;
• FIG. 12 is an end plan view of the mouth end of the support body according to FIG. 11 in the direction of arrow XII in FIG. 11;
• FIG. 13 is a frontal top view of the tobacco-side end of the support body according to FIG. 11 in the direction of arrow XIII in FIG. 11;
• 14 is a plan view of a rectangular, flat strip of paper as a blank for forming a supporting body according to the invention;
• FIG. 15 shows the strip according to FIG. 14 in a folded intermediate state in a side view;
• 16 shows the strip according to FIGS. 14 and 15 in a further intermediate state;
• FIG. 17 shows the untwisted strip according to FIG. 14 in the end state in a frontal top view; and
• 18 a representation corresponding to FIG. 17 of a variant with ten ribs.

1 shows a ventilated cigarette, generally designated 1, with a mouthpiece generally designated 2. The mouthpiece 2 consists of a cylindrical sleeve 3 made of 30 g paper and a support body designated overall by 4, which consists of the same material as the sleeve 3. The mouthpiece 2 is attached to the front of the tobacco rod 6 wrapped with conventional cigarette paper 5 by means of a covering paper 7, namely by two ring-shaped glue points 8. It can be seen that the outer diameter of the mouthpiece is equal to the outer diameter of the wrapped tobacco rod 6.

In this exemplary embodiment, the support body 4 is shown with (only) four ribs 9 to illustrate its basic design, although more than four ribs 9 are preferably provided (see preferred exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 18), as will be explained further below. The ribs 9 run parallel to the central axis 10, extend over the entire length L of the sleeve 3 or the mouthpiece 2 and each extend radially from the inner wall 11 of the sleeve 3 to the central axis 10, two ribs 9 each having a pitch angle α of Include 90 °. The ribs 9 are therefore each supported on the inner wall 11 of the sleeve 3 and are glued there. Due to their (double-layered) construction from a relatively thin paper, they hardly narrow the free flow cross section of the sleeve 3 and nevertheless considerably increase the strength of the mouthpiece compared to a ribless design.

The ribs 9 each consist of two layers F ₁ , F ₂ or F ₃ , F ₄ etc. made of paper, as will be explained in more detail below, the two layers forming a rib 9 being glued together and one each Layer (eg F ₂ ) of a rib 9 is connected to a layer (F ₃ ) of an adjacent rib 9. This connection is established in that all layers of all the ribs are integrally formed, that is to say are formed from a coherent paper section 12, as is explained in principle below with reference to FIGS. 14 to 17.

14 shows a plan view of a (paper) section 12 ′ which is flat in the initial state shown, for forming support bodies 4, more precisely first of all a support body strand. The section 12 'has a width b which is equal to the product of the double rib height r of a rib 9 and the number of ribs. The strip-shaped section 12 'is folded like a leporello on parallel fold lines f ₁ , f ₂ etc., as can be seen in FIG. 15, so that between the longitudinal edge f ₀ and the adjacent fold line f ₁ or respectively between adjacent fold lines f ₁ , f2; f ₂ , F ₃ etc. or between the other longitudinal edge f _n and the adjacent fold line f _n-1 each fold sections are formed which run in the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped paper section 12 '. With a distance to the front edge 21 of the strip corresponding to the mouthpiece length _L. 14, a section line 15 running parallel to the front edge 21 is shown in FIG. 14 with a dashed line, and a further section line 15, etc., which in turn divides the strip-shaped section 12 'into strip-shaped sections 12 at a distance L. which later each form a support body 4. These cutting lines 15 'are already introduced at this point by definition, because they divide the folding sections formed when the strip-shaped section 12' is folded into folding sections F1, F ₂ etc., which each form the layers of a rib 9 of a support body 4 as a pair.

To achieve a sufficiently high production speed, the production of a support body 4 in mass production expediently does not take place in each case from a strip-shaped section 12, but the web-like material (paper) forming the support body is removed from a bobbin forming a material stock by means of a corresponding device in the direction of arrow 20 peeled and folded in the longitudinal direction, as described above.

If the strip 12 ′ folded according to FIG. 15 (for example about its longitudinal edge f ₀ ) is pivoted as can be seen from FIG. 16, two fold sections F ₁ and F ₂ , F ₃ and F ₄ that are adjacent to one another thus form etc. a rib 9 consisting of two paper layers, one layer (for example F ₂ ) with a layer (F ₃ ) of an adjacent rib 9 by integrally forming the folded sections or layers (F ₂ , F ₃ ; F ₄ , F ₅ ) etc. are connected at their foot line.

Would the support body 4 in that shown in Fig. 16 Want to leave condition, one would join therefore example, at the folded portion F _8, a dashed line in Fig. 16 shown portion 13 of the folded portion 9 connects the F _8, with the fold portion F ₁ of the adjacent rib (for example by gluing). In fact, the representation according to FIG. 16 corresponds only to an intermediate state during production, since the inside F _1i and _{F2i or F3i} and F _4i etc. of the layers (= folding sections) forming a rib 9 are connected to one another by gluing, so that the support body 4 - or initially a support body strand - is formed with a cross section according to FIG. 17, the ribs 9 of which are therefore each in two layers and are connected to each other through integral training.

17 is then surrounded with sleeve-forming paper 3 ', as is indicated in FIG. 17 with a dash-dotted circular line, the outer edges 14 of the ribs 9 being glued to the inside of the paper 3' will. Sections of a length 1 are then cut off from the mouthpiece strand thus formed, the length of which corresponds to six times the length L of a mouthpiece 2, which are then fed to the customary further processing (e.g. perforation, separation into mouthpiece sections, connecting the mouthpiece sections to wrapped tobacco strands by means of covering paper, if necessary only then perforation of the sleeve material together with the covering paper etc.), whereby it is evident that, in principle, mouthpiece sections of the final length L could also be immediately separated from the sleeve strand created if this is desired.

It should be added that the covering paper 7 connecting the sleeve 3 with the tobacco rod 6 wrapped with cigarette paper 5 is provided with perforation openings 16 and the sleeve 3 is provided with perforation openings 18 aligned therewith, so that when smoking according to the arrow 18 (see FIG. 1 ) Air can enter the mouthpiece 2 from the outside through the openings 16, 17 and mix there with the tobacco smoke which, according to the arrows 19, enters the mouthpiece 2 from the tobacco rod 6 essentially parallel to the central axis 10.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, when the mouthpiece 2 is designed according to FIGS. 1 to 6, the mouth-side end of the tobacco rod 6 is visible from the mouth-side end of the mouthpiece 2. Since it is offset inwards from the mouth-side end of the mouthpiece 2, the tobacco-side end of the tobacco rod 6 presents itself to the smoker as a "dark hole" from which tobacco smoke (mixed with air) oozes out when smoking. A not inconsiderable number of smokers apparently find this unsatisfactory for aesthetic reasons. In a variant of the mouthpiece according to the invention 2 (s. Fig. 7, 11 to 13) of the support body 4 about its longitudinal axis 10 twisted 90 ^0, so that, for example, from the central axis 10 in accordance with the formation of FIGS. 1 to 6 radially rib 9 running upwards only runs vertically upwards at its mouth-side edge and is pivoted along its length by the twisting in such a way that its outer edge 14 extends essentially helically to the central axis 10, so that the radially running edge of this rib facing the tobacco rod 9 runs horizontally. The same applies to the remaining ribs 9 of the support body 4 according to FIGS. 7 and 11. Such a twisting generally takes place before the Support body 4 or support body strand is surrounded with sleeve material 3, however, can optionally also take place here and can be realized in manufacturing technology without problems by appropriate conditioning of the paper material forming the support body 4.

Such a twisting first of all has the effect that the smoker can no longer look at the tobacco-side end of the tobacco rod 6 with a top view of the mouthpiece 2 on the mouth side, since this is covered by the twisted ribs. Furthermore, such a twisting, which is preferably at least as large as the preferably the same pitch angle α between two adjacent ribs, means that each line of the sleeve 3 running parallel to the central axis 10 is radially supported at at least one point, which increases the strength of the mouthpiece. Finally, such a twisting also has an advantageous effect on the smoking properties of a cigarette equipped with such a mouthpiece. This is because the smoke emerging from the tobacco rod 6 parallel to the central axis 10 in accordance with the arrows 19 cannot flow freely through the mouthpiece 2, but rather hits the ribs 9 which are spatially curved due to the twisting. The ribs 9 can exert a certain filter effect, and in particular if they consist of a gas-permeable paper. In addition, the twisted ribs 9 give the smoke flowing out of the tobacco rod 6 and the ventilation air flowing in through the openings 16, 18 a certain swirl about the central axis 10, whereby there is an intimate mixing of the smoke with the air and at the outlet end of the mouthpiece 2 there is an intimately mixed flow of smoke and air which, if desired, the smoker can direct to particularly taste-sensitive areas in the mouth in order to obtain a particularly intense smoking experience.

It should be noted that the support body 4 in the illustrations according to FIGS. 1 to 17 is provided (only) with four ribs 9 for reasons of illustration, but that a preferred embodiment according to FIG. 18 consists in the support body 4 having ten ribs 9 is provided, each having the same pitch angle OC. of .36 ° to an adjacent rib 9 in order to give the mouthpiece 2 the strength required for smoking and making the perforation openings 18 with a relatively thin starting material made of, for example, 30 g paper, the ribs 9 of the support body 4 according to FIG 18 are preferably twisted by an angle of (at least) 36 ° in order to obtain the advantages described above. An apprenticeship with ten. Ribs 9 is also advantageous over a design with only four ribs because a twist angle of approximately 36 ° for a support body 4 can be achieved more easily with the material used than a larger angle of e.g. 90 °. Nevertheless, the support body 4 does not significantly narrow the flow cross section of the sleeve 3 even in an embodiment with ten ribs 9, so that the smoke flow entering the mouthpiece 2 from the tobacco rod 6 flows through the mouthpiece 2 correspondingly slowly and an intimate mixture with the suctioned ventilation air takes place can.

It can be seen that with the mouthpiece according to the invention not only a possibility has been created for creating a quickly decomposable filter, but at the same time a possibility that is inexpensive and therefore economical to realize, and at the same time considerable advantages are achieved over comparable mouthpieces are described in detail above.

REFERENCE SIGN LIST (LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS)

• 1 cigarette 1
• 2 mouthpiece 2
• 3 sleeve 3 'sleeve-forming paper
• 4 support body 4
• 5 cigarette paper 5
• 6 tobacco rod 6
• 7 covering paper 7
• 8 _L eimstellen 8
• 9 ribs 9
• 10 central axis 10
• 11 inner wall (of 3) 11
• 12 'strip-shaped section 12
• 13 Section 13
• 14 outer edges (of 9) 14
• 15 cutting lines 15
• 16 openings (in 7) 16
• 17 openings (in 3) 17
• 18 arrow 18
• 19 arrows 19
• 20 arrow 20
• 21 leading edge (from 12 ') 21
• 22 22
• 23 23
• 24 24
• 25 25
• 26 26
• 27 27
• 28 28
• 29 29
• 30th

Claims (27)

1. mouthpiece for a cigarette or the like., In particular a ventilated, filterless cigarette, consisting essentially of a to be attached to an end face of the tobacco rod covered with paper; cylindrical sleeve with an outer diameter substantially corresponding to the wrapped tobacco rod, in which a support body provided with ribs is arranged, the ribs of which extend essentially in the longitudinal direction of the sleeve and are each supported on their outer edge on the inner wall of the sleeve, characterized in that the ribs (9) each consist of at least two layers (eg F ₁ , F ₂ ; F ₃ , F ₄ , ...) of a web-like material, at least one layer (eg F ₂ ) of a rib (9) with at least one layer (F ₃ ) another rib (9). connected is. 2. Mouthpiece according to claim 1, characterized in that in each case one layer (eg F ₂ ) of a rib (9) is connected to a layer (F ₃ ) of an adjacent rib (9). 3. Mouthpiece according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that at least interconnected layers (eg F ₂ , F ₃ ; F ₄ , F ₅ , ...) of two ribs (9, 9) are integrally formed. 4. Mouthpiece according to one or more of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the layers (F ₁ , ..., F _n ) all Licher ribs (9) are integrally formed. 5. Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ribs (9) each consist of two layers (F ₁ , F ₂ ; F ₃ , F ₄ ; ...). 6. Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the support body (4) is formed from a leporello-like folded strip (12), with a pair of adjacent folding sections (F ₁ , F ₂ ; F ₃ , F ₄ ; ...) of the strip (12) forms a rib (9). 7. Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the support body (4) consists of paper. 8. Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the support body (4) and the sleeve (3) consist of the same material. 9. Mouthpiece according to one or more of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the strip (12) forming the support body (4) is rectangular in a developed state corresponding to the flat, web-shaped initial state. 10. Mouthpiece according to one or more of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that the width (b) of the strip (12) in the web-shaped initial state is equal to the product of the double rib height (r) of a rib (9) and the number of ribs (9) is. 11. Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that each of the layers (eg F ₁ , F ₂ ; F ₃ , F ₄ ; ...) of a rib (9) to one another; issue. 12. Mouthpiece according to claim 11, characterized in that the layers (F ₁ , F ₂ ; F ₃ 0 F ₄ ; ...) of a rib (9) are glued together at least in one section. 13. Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ribs (9) extend in a manner known per se essentially to the sleeve (3) or to the central axis (10). 14. Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ribs (9) are each at least partially glued to the inner wall (11) of the sleeve (3) on their outer edge (14). 15. Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ribs (9) extend over the entire length (L) of the sleeve (3). 16. Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ribs (9) each extend up to the central axis (10) of the sleeve (3). 17. Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ribs (9) are in each case twisted on at least one longitudinal section in such a way that their outer edge (14) extends essentially helically to the central axis (10) of the sleeve (3). 18. Mouthpiece according to claim 17, characterized in that the one end of the support body (4) is rotated relative to its other end at least by an angle (α) which is equal to the pitch angle between two adjacent ribs (9). ₁ 9. mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pitch angle ( _C t _C ) between two adjacent ribs (9, 9) is the same size. _20th Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the support body (4) has ten ribs (9). 2 ₁ . Mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims for a ventilated cigarette, characterized in that the sleeve (3) is air-permeable in at least one place (18) in a manner known per se. 22. Mouthpiece according to claim 21, characterized in that the sleeve (3) with the covering (5) of the tobacco rod (6) is connected in a manner known per se by a covering paper (7) which on the one hand with the sleeve (3) and on the other hand is glued to the wrapping (5) of the tobacco rod (6), the covering paper (7) being air-permeable at least at one point (16) and the air-permeable point (16) in the region of the air-permeable point (18) of the sleeve (3) is arranged. 23. Mouthpiece according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that the air-permeable points (16 or 18) of the covering paper (7) or the sleeve (3) are designed as perforation openings. 24. A method for producing a mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that a strip-shaped section made of a web-shaped material on fold lines running parallel to its longitudinal edges, the mutual spacing of which is substantially equal to the height of the ribs, leporello-like is folded; that the mutually facing surfaces of two mutually adjacent folding sections are connected to one another to form a rib, while the opposite surfaces of these folding sections are not connected to surfaces of adjacent folding sections; that the ribs are pivoted about their base lines so that two adjacent ribs each enclose essentially the same pitch angle; that the rib strand thus formed is encased with a web-like material forming a sleeve strand; that the outer edges of the ribs are connected to the inside of the sleeve-forming material when wrapping the rib strand; that sections are separated from the ₅₀ mouthpiece strand formed, the length of which is equal to one or more times the length of the mouthpiece. 25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that the rib strand is twisted about its longitudinal axis before being connected to the sleeve material. 26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that the rib strand is twisted in each case over a section corresponding to the length of the mouthpiece by an angle which is at least as large as the angle between two adjacent ribs. 27. Cigarette, characterized by a mouthpiece according to one or more of the preceding claims.

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