EP0774212A1 - Method and device for the processing of tobacco leaves for the manufacturing of tobacco cut filler - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves separating unrolled veins from leaf material, conditioning them and then pre-cutting. The separated leaf material is also conditioned. The veins and leaf material are then mixed together and commonly cut and dried. The veins before or after the pre-cut and-or the leaf material, after conditioning, are provided with casing. The veins before pre-cutting are conditioned at a humidity of approximately 24%. The conditioned veins before pre-cutting are stored for approximately 2 hours, in a closed casing. The veins are pre-cut with a cut width of approximately 0.2 mm. The pre-cut veins are expanded. For the production of cigarettes, the leaf material is conditioned at a humidity of approximately 17.5%. For the production of fine cut the leaf material is conditioned at a humidity of approximately 24%.

Description

The invention relates to a method and a plant for the treatment of tobacco leaves for the production of cut tobacco for smokable articles.

Tobacco leaves, from which smokable items, especially cigarettes, and fine cut for the self-production of cigarettes are obtained, consist of leaf material and ribs, which on the one hand have a very different consistency and on the other hand have very different taste properties and therefore both the technique of tobacco preparation and the taste impression of the each smokable article very strongly, but influence differently.

In order to avoid the problems associated with the treatment of ribs and the flavors caused by the ribs, it is therefore customary to separate the ribs from the leaf material and to use only the leaf material for the manufacture of cigarettes. However, due to the proportion of the ribs in the total weight of the tobacco leaves of up to approximately 30% by weight, this process represents a very costly waste of the valuable raw material "tobacco leaf".

It has therefore already been attempted to process whole tobacco leaves by means of certain shear-crushing processes to give a flowable mixture of leaf material particles and rib particles which can be used directly for the production of cigarettes. However, this method, for example described in DE 40 29 566 A1, has not yet been implemented in practice, since the taste properties did not meet expectations.

A mixed solution can be found in DE 40 29 567 A1, in which whole leaves are processed in a shear-crushing process to a mixture of leaf material particles and essentially intact rib pieces; the Ribs must then be separated, whereby the leaf material particles can be fed directly to the manufacture of cigarettes. This method has also not been put into practice because of the taste problem which has not yet been solved.

Another process is known from GB 2,026,298 A, in which tobacco leaves are crushed into particles which are suitable for the manufacture of cigarettes. An air separation process separates the leaf particles into a heavier, rib-containing fraction and a lighter, rib-free leaf material fraction, the heavier fraction being threshed to separate the leaf material from the ribs here as well. The separated leaf material and the lighter fraction originally obtained are mixed to be fed to the manufacture of cigarettes. This process is very complex, which also applies to the similar process according to US Pat. No. 4,696,312.

It is therefore still common practice to split the tobacco leaves into ribs on the one hand and leaf material on the other, which usually takes place shortly after the harvest in the country of origin. Ribs and leaf material are packed separately and transported to the place of use, where the so-called "tobacco preparation" takes place. In this tobacco preparation, the ribs, on the one hand, and the leaf material, on the other hand, are treated separately, namely conditioned, i.e. subjected to a moisture and heat treatment, cut and dried, until they are finally mixed and then subjected to further processing, usually the application of flavoring materials will.

The basic principles of this process, by means of which both fine cuts and cigarettes can be produced, are published in the book "Tobacco Encyclopedia" by Ernst Voges, 1984, in the article "Cigarette Manufacture I and II", in particular under the heading "The Production of Cut Tobacco".

A disadvantage of this generally customary method is that the ribs on the one hand and the sheet material on the other hand have to be moved in the tobacco preparation on two completely separate processing lines, the so-called "rib line" and the so-called "leaf line", each of which has conditioning devices, cutting devices, and sauce devices for applying Casing, warmers and dryers included. A rolling mill is also required on the rib line to roll out the ribs prior to the cutting process in order to produce the "CRS", ie the rolled and cut rib pieces, which are then added to the sheet material immediately before the flavor drum.

Both the investment costs for these two separate lines and the operating costs for operating these two lines are high.

A problem similar to the processing of tobacco stems occurs with the so-called "winnowings". These are tobacco particles, mainly also tobacco main or secondary ribs, which occur during the preparation of tobacco and are separated from the cut tobacco material before the cut tobacco is formed into a continuous tobacco rod in the cigarette machine.

These winnowings are also tobacco, so an attempt is made to use them for the manufacture of cigarettes.

Various methods for processing winnowings are known, for example processing to reconstituted tobacco or recycling. The material obtained in this way is added to normal cut tobacco in the course of tobacco preparation.

All of these processes are complex and cumbersome, so that better solutions are constantly being sought to reintroduce these winnowings into tobacco processing.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a method and a system for treating tobacco leaves for the production of cut tobacco for smokable articles in which the disadvantages mentioned above do not occur.

In particular, a method and a system are to be proposed which enable the production of cut tobacco which can be either cigarettes, cigarillos, in a simple and therefore inexpensive manner both in terms of investment costs and in terms of operating costs, including tobacco stems or winnowing or cigars or can be processed into fine cuts.

This object is achieved for the rib material by the features specified in claims 1 and 11, while a solution for winnowings is defined by the features of claims 17 and 20, respectively.

Appropriate embodiments of these methods and systems are described by the respective subclaims.

With regard to the processing of the ribs, the advantages achieved with the invention are based on the fact that only a relatively small part of the previously known "rib line" has to be used, namely a short rib line with a conditioning device and a rib pre-cutter, while on the rolling mill, the Humidification and heating devices and the dryer for the ribs can be dispensed with. The result The savings made in terms of both investments and operating costs, particularly for the staff, are considerable.

In addition, the measures claimed enable a more homogeneous mixing of leaf and rib material, so that a very uniform taste impression is created.

Furthermore, there is a higher raw tobacco yield, because due to the sharp shortening of the rib line there is much less dust, i.e. the valuable raw material "tobacco leaf" is used much more effectively. This also means that no dryer is required on the short rib line, which experience has shown to contribute to tobacco degradation.

At the same time, this is associated with further cost savings, since winnowings and dust are usually collected, processed and then returned to the tobacco preparation. These steps can be omitted due to the extremely low amount of winnowing and dust on the short rib line.

The tobacco ribs and / or the leaf material are usually provided with a casing. Although the corresponding sauce device can in principle be arranged at any suitable point in the tobacco preparation and both the ribs and the leaf material can be cased, it has proven to be particularly expedient if only the leaf material is provided with the casing. The casing application is preferably carried out after sheet conditioning by means of a sauce device.

It has proven to be expedient if the ribs are conditioned to a moisture content of approximately 22% to approximately 26%, in particular approximately 24%, prior to pre-cutting. The specified values for the moisture are% by weight on a wet basis. The Moisture determination method is oven drying, 3 hours at 80 ° C. The moisture values according to the invention represent a significant improvement compared to a rib moisture of about 30%, as mentioned in the "Tobacco Encyclopedia", since on the one hand the relatively high moistening is problematic and on the other hand the low humidification required here also Reduced effort for later drying. In addition, you can only leave the pre-moistened ribs relatively slightly longer without their properties changing noticeably, while the storage time of ribs with a moisture content of about 30% is severely limited.

It has proven to be expedient if the conditioned ribs are covered for at least 1.5 hours, in particular about 2 hours, prior to the pre-cutting, that is to say they are stored in a closed casing in order to ensure uniform dampening.

The ribs can also be given a casing. This can be done either before the rib conditioning or after leaving the cutter using a sauce device.

The ribs are precut with a cutting width of approximately 0.1 to approximately 0.3 mm, in particular approximately 0.2 mm.

If necessary - in modern cigarettes increasingly expanded tobacco is used for cost reasons, which take up a larger volume per unit weight - the ribs should be expanded. This is expediently carried out after cutting the ribs, it being possible to use an expansion device such as is known, for example, from German Patent No. 37 10 677.

While the short rib line according to the invention for cigarettes as well as for fine cut essentially with the working with the same values, a distinction must be made between the fine material and cigarettes when conditioning the sheet material. For the manufacture of cigarettes, the leaf material is conditioned to a moisture content of about 17 to about 25%, in particular 17.5%, while for the production of fine cuts, the leaf material is conditioned to a moisture content of about 23 to about 25%, in particular about 24%, is conditioned.

The mixing ratio between sheet material and cut ribs can be varied depending on the requirements for the smokable article to be produced. For example, you will add a higher proportion of ribs to cheaper product variants. For branded cigarettes, the rib percentage of 30%, based on the total mass, is usually not exceeded, in particular it is in the range of about 5% to 25%.

When cutting the mixture of leaf material and ribs, a distinction must again be made between the production of fine cuts and the production of cigarettes. When producing cigarettes, the mixture has to be cut with a cutting width of approximately 0.5 to 2 mm, in particular approximately 0.85 mm, while for the production of fine cuts the cutting width is in the range from approximately 0.35 mm to approximately 0 , 5 mm, in particular should be about 0.45 mm.

After cutting together, the mixture of ribs and sheet material is heated and moistened, preferably in a so-called preheating drum, which works with water and water vapor, in order to achieve a moisture content in the range from about 18 to 39%, in particular from about 19.5 to about 24% , preferably about 22.5%.

The mixture is then dried, expediently in a hot air dryer, which brings the moisture of the mixture to about 14%.

Then the usual further processing of the material takes place depending on the intended use, i.e. cigarette or fine-cut manufacture.

With regard to the processing of the winnowings, the advantages achieved by the invention are based on the fact that a simple process, namely the conditioning and subsequent rolling of the winnowings, produces a tobacco material which is mixed with the leaf material and then cut without any further processing step and can be dried. In this way, the valuable raw material "Winnowings" is fed into tobacco processing with little investment and operating costs.

According to an expedient embodiment, the conditioned winnowings are rolled as flat as possible, that is to say with a gap width of less than 0.1 mm, in particular with a gap width of approximately 0 mm, so that small, flat pieces of tobacco are formed which can be mixed with the leaf material without problems can.

The rolled winnowings expediently have a moisture content of approximately 25% to approximately 40%, in particular approximately 30 to approximately 35%.

A combination of these processing methods is also possible, ie three parallel lines can be installed in a tobacco preparation plant, namely a leaf line, a rib line and a Winnowings line. The three different materials obtained in this way are then combined in one Sheet mixing box mixed and cut together before they are sent for further processing.

Fig. 1

eine erste Ausführungsform einer Anlage zur Herstellung von Schnittabak für Cigaretten aus Rippen und Blattmaterial,

Fig. 2

eine etwas modifizierte Ausführungsform der Anlage nach Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

eine zweite Ausführungsform einer Anlage zur Herstellung von Schnittabak für Cigaretten aus Winnowings und Blattmaterial, und

Fig. 4

eine dritte Ausführungsform einer Anlage zur Herstellung von Schnittabak für Cigaretten aus Rippen, Blattmaterial und Winnowings.

The invention is explained below using exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1

a first embodiment of a plant for producing cut tobacco for cigarettes from ribs and sheet material,

Fig. 2

a slightly modified embodiment of the system of FIG. 1,

Fig. 3

a second embodiment of a plant for producing cut tobacco for cigarettes from Winnowings and leaf material, and

Fig. 4

a third embodiment of a plant for producing cut tobacco for cigarettes from ribs, sheet material and winnowings.

1 processes ribs on the one hand and sheet material on the other hand, which have been separated from one another in a preliminary stage, not shown, often in the country of origin of the tobacco leaves and are now fed to the rib line on the one hand and the leaf line on the other hand to this system. The optional aggregates are indicated by dotted rectangles.

The ribs go into a sauceing device in which they are cased and then into a steaming tunnel which serves as a conditioning device and works with water and water vapor, so that the ribs leave the conditioning with a moisture content of about 24%.

The conditioned ribs are stored covered for about 2 hours and then fed to a rib cutter. The preferred cutting width is 0.2 mm.

If necessary, the pre-cut ribs are provided with casing again, only one of the two sauceing devices being required as a rule.

The pre-cut ribs are then placed on a feed trough which leads to a mixing container (sheet mixing box), to which preconditioned sheet material is also fed. A steaming drum for the sheet material is connected upstream of this mixing container as a conditioning device, in which sheet material for cigarette manufacture a moisture content of about 17.5% and sheet material for fine cut manufacture a moisture content of about 24%.

A saucer for the sheet material is provided between the conditioning device and the mixing container.

The proportion of the ribs in the mixture in the mixing container is approximately 14% of the ribs, based on the total mixture.

The mixture of ribs and sheet material from the mixing container is cut with a cutting width of approximately 0.85 mm for the production of cigarettes and a cutting width of approximately 0.45 mm for the production of fine cuts, the moisture of the mixture practically not changing.

The cut mixture of sheet material and ribs goes into a preheating drum, where it is moistened with water and steam and heated so that it leaves the preheating drum with a moisture content of about 22%.

This mixture is then dried in a hot air dryer, from which it emerges with a moisture content of about 14.5% and is then fed to the further steps of tobacco preparation, for example a cooling and sieve drum and a flavor drum.

The modified embodiment according to FIG. 2 differs from the embodiment according to FIG. 1 only in that the conditioned, rolled and cut ribs are still subjected to an expansion process, as is known, for example, from German Patent No. 37 10 677. The expanded ribs are fed from the expanding device to a separator, which separates the fluid used for expanding. For example, the separator according to European Patent No. 0 301 217 can be used for this purpose.

Then these expanded ribs get into the mixing container (sheet mixing box), so that the sheet material on the one hand and expanded ribs on the other hand are subjected to the following processing steps already described above.

In the plant shown in FIG. 3, a "winnowing line" is provided parallel to the leaf line, which has the same structure as the leaf line according to FIGS. 1 and 2, to which the winnowings produced in the course of tobacco preparation are fed. These winnowings are conditioned in a steam tunnel, which works with water and steam, so that the winnowings leave the conditioning with a humidity of about 30% to 35%.

The conditioned winnowings are stored covered for about 2 hours and then rolled in a roller which has a gap width of about 0 mm.

The rolled and conditioned winnowings are then fed via a feed channel to the mixing container (sheet mixing box), which also receives the preconditioned and cased sheet material. The conditioning conditions correspond to those of the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The mixture of winnowings and leaf material from the leaf mixing box is processed further in the same manner as described above for the mixture of ribs and leaf material, that is to say cut, preheated and finally dried.

4 finally shows an embodiment in which the two embodiments according to FIGS. 2 and 3 are combined with one another, i.e. the leaf mixing box receives the conditioned, pre-cut and cased ribs, the conditioned and cased leaf material as well as the conditioned and rolled winnowings. This mixture is then cut, preheated and finally dried.

The same operating conditions as explained above apply to the systems according to FIGS. 3 and 4.

The modification according to FIG. 1, that is to say without expansion of the ribs, is also possible.

Claims (20)

Process for the treatment of tobacco leaves for the manufacture of cut tobacco for smokable articles, in which a) uncured ribs are conditioned and pre-cut separately from the sheet material, b) sheet material is conditioned separately from the ribs, c) ribs and sheet material then mixed and then d) sheet material and ribs are cut together and dried. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the ribs before or after the pre-cutting and / or the sheet material, in particular after the conditioning, are provided with casing. Method according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the ribs are conditioned to a moisture content of about 22 to about 26%, in particular of about 24%, before pre-cutting. Method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the conditioned ribs are stored in a closed casing for at least 1.5 hours, in particular about 2 hours, before the pre-cutting. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the ribs are precut with a cutting width of approximately 0.1 to 0.3 mm, in particular approximately 0.2 mm. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pre-cut ribs are expanded. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sheet material is conditioned to a moisture of about 17 to about 25%, in particular of about 17.5%, for the production of cigarettes, while the sheet material is conditioned to a for the production of fine cut Moisture of about 23 to 25%, in particular of about 24%, is conditioned. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a maximum of 30% pre-cut ribs, in particular approximately 5 to 25%, pre-cut ribs, in each case based on the total amount, are added to the sheet material. Method according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that for the production of cigarettes sheet material and ribs with a cutting width of about 0.5 to 2 mm, in particular about 0.85 mm, are cut, while for the production of fine cut sheet material and ribs with a cutting width of about 0.35 mm to about 0.5 mm, in particular about 0.45 mm, are cut. Method according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that sheet material and ribs after cutting to a moisture content of about 18% to about 39%, in particular from about 19.5% to about 24%, preferably about 22%, and then dried to a humidity of about 13 to about 16%, in particular about 14%. Plant for the treatment of tobacco leaves for the production of cut tobacco for smokable articles a) with a conditioning device for the ribs of the tobacco leaves separated from the leaf material, b) with a conditioning device for the leaf material of the tobacco leaves, c) with cutting devices for the ribs and the sheet material, and d) with dryers for the ribs and the sheet material, marked by e) a cutter for a mixture of the conditioned, rolled, pre-cut ribs and the conditioned and uncut sheet material, and by f) at least one dryer for the cut mixture of sheet material and ribs. Plant according to claim 11, characterized by a mixing container (sheet mixing box) for the conditioned, uncut sheet material, to which the conditioned, unrolled, pre-cut ribs are fed. Installation according to one of claims 11 or 12, characterized in that a sauceing device is provided for applying casing to the ribs and / or the sheet material, the sauceing device for the ribs being connected upstream of the device for conditioning the ribs or downstream of the rib cutting device, while the sheet material sauceing device is disposed between the sheet material conditioning device and the mixing container. Plant according to one of claims 11 to 13, characterized by a preheating device, in particular a preheating drum, for the cut mixture of sheet material and ribs. Installation according to claim 14, characterized in that the preheating device is followed by a dryer, in particular a hot air dryer. Installation according to one of claims 11 to 15, characterized in that an expanding device for the ribs is provided, which is arranged between the cutting device for the ribs and the mixing container for the sheet material and the ribs. Method for the treatment of tobacco leaves for the production of cut tobacco for smokable articles, in particular according to one of claims 1 to 10, in which a) Winnowings are conditioned and rolled separately from the sheet material, b) leaf material is conditioned separately from the winnowings, (c) the rolled winnowings and sheet material are then mixed; and d) leaf material and winnowings are cut together and dried. Method according to claim 17, characterized in that the conditioned winnowings are rolled with a gap width of less than 0.1 mm, in particular with a gap width of approximately 0 mm. Method according to one of claims 17 or 18, characterized in that the rolled winnowings are moist from about 25% to about 40%, especially from about 30 to about 35%. Plant for the treatment of tobacco leaves for the production of cut tobacco for smokable articles, in particular according to one of claims 11 to 16, a) with a conditioning device for winnowings, b) with a roller device for the conditioned winnowings, c) with a conditioning device for the leaf material of the tobacco leaves, d) with a cutter for the mixture of the conditioned, rolled winnowings and the conditioned and uncut sheet material, and e) with at least one dryer for the cut mixture of leaf material and winnowings.

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