EP2081452B1

EP2081452B1 - Roll-your-own smokeable product

Info

Publication number: EP2081452B1
Application number: EP07804392A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Richard Fiebelkorn
Original assignee: British American Tobacco Investments Ltd; British American Tobacco Co Ltd
Current assignee: British American Tobacco Investments Ltd
Priority date: 2006-11-07
Filing date: 2007-09-25
Publication date: 2011-04-20
Anticipated expiration: 2027-09-25
Also published as: ES2364593T3; NZ576227A; BRPI0717933A2; GB0622182D0; CA2666403C; WO2008056099A1; AU2007319111B2; CA2666403A1; DE602007014090D1; ATE505961T1; EP2081452A1; AU2007319111A1

Abstract

A roll-your-own smoking article (10) made from a laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) which includes one or more layers of tobacco (2) adhered to one surface of the paper (1). At least two opposing edges (E1, E2) of the paper (1) are free from tobacco. The laminate (1) can be rolled to form a smoking article (10), wherein the smoking article (10) is produced by rolling about one of the tobacco free edges (E2) and where the other tobacco free edge (E1) fixes to the outside surface of the rolled smoking article (10) to retain it in the rolled form.

Description

BACKGROUND

Roll your own cigarettes are routinely prepared by the consumer by metering out cut tobacco, spreading it evenly along the length of the paper, forming a channel with the paper such that the tobacco is contained in the bottom of the channel, manipulating the tobacco by rolling paper between fingers and thumbs to form a substantially cylindrical rod of tobacco, rolling the paper around the tobacco and sticking the free edge of the paper to the outer surface of the cylindrical article that is produced to form a smokeable cigarette. This method of forming a cigarette requires separate handling of tobacco and papers. Each time the consumer prepares a cigarette, it may have a different quantity of tobacco than the previous or the next cigarette produced. Therefore, the smoking experience of the consumer may not be consistent. There is also the risk of losing tobacco through spillage due to the separate handling of the tobacco and papers.
To improve handling and to reduce waste an alternative "roll-your-own" cigarette has been developed wherein the paper is pre charged with a layer of tobacco that is stuck to one side of the paper. Therefore, the consumer need only roll the paper to form a cigarette. GB 617,694 , US 3,385,302 and CA 2,183,825 disclose filter papers having tobacco adhered to them.
Reference is also made to US 1,104,779

SUMMARY

Aspects of the invention are defined in the accompanying claims.
In one aspect the present invention provides smokeable product made from a laminate of tobacco and paper which includes one or more layers of tobacco adhered to one surface of the paper. At least two opposing edges of the paper are free from tobacco.
The provision of two opposing edges being free of tobacco makes handling the paper easier. In particular, starting to roll a smoking article about one tobacco-free edge is simplified because the-paper which is free from tobacco is easier to manipulate and handle than paper which is loaded with tobacco. In addition, the other tobacco-free edge can be fixed to the outer surface of the paper when rolled to retain the form of a substantially cylindrical smoking article. By improving handling, the consumer benefits from the control they have over the tightness of the rolled smoking article and therefore has at least partial control over the draw resistance (i.e. the effort required by the consumer when smoking) of the smoking article.
One of the tobacco free edges may be reinforced, by applying a rod-like member at the edge to make rolling easier. This feature further improves handling of the paper when starting to roll a smoking article.
Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the accompanying independent claims, other aspects of the invention include any combination of features from the described embodiments and/or the accompanying dependent claims with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the accompanying claims.
As used herein, "paper" is intended to refer to any suitable material for supporting tobacco and capable of being wrapped around itself. Examples include, but are not limited to, standard wrapping paper as used for roll-your-own or pre-formed cigarettes and reconstituted tobacco sheets. The material may have a papery texture, or it may feel rough, moist or be otherwise distinguishable from standard papery textures.
As used herein "tobacco" refers to any smokeable material and includes, but is not limited to any part, e.g., leaves, leaf portions, flowers, roots, and stems, of any member of the genus Nicotiana and blends thereof, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco substitutes, tobacco derivatives, dried fruits or herbs, and the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1a is a plan view of a paper having tobacco adhered to it;
Figure 1b is a cross-sectional side view of a paper having compressed/grooved tobacco adhered to it;
Figure 2 is a plan view of a paper having tobacco and filter material adhered to it;
Figure 3a is an end view of a partially rolled smoking article, including a rod at the centre;
Figure 3b is an end view of a partially rolled smoking article, including a double thickness of paper at the centre; and
Figure 3c is.a perspective view of a smoking article formed from the paper of figure 1 or 2.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description corresponding thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Figures 1a, 1b and 2 illustrate examples of a paper 1 for making smoking articles such as cigarettes. The paper 1 has tobacco 2 adhered to one side/surface. The tobacco 2 is adhered to the surface of the paper with a suitable adhesive. The tobacco 2 may be lamina tobacco, cut tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or a mixture of tobaccos. The tobacco 2 may comprise a compressed and /or ridged tobacco layer.
In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1a and 1b the tobacco 2 covers the whole area of the paper except for two strips E1, E2 which are free of tobacco. Each strip E1, E2 is formed close to the longitudinal edges, hereinafter referred to as tobacco-free edges E1, E2. At least one of the tobacco-free edges E1, E2 may have adhesive applied thereto. When the paper is rolled to form a smoking article the adhesive on the at least one tobacco-free edge E1 sticks that edge E1 to the outside surface of the smoking article 10 to retain the paper 1 in a substantially cylindrical configuration, which is suitable for smoking (Figure 3c).
The other tobacco-free edge E2 is provided to make it easier for the consumer to start rolling the paper 1 to form a smoking article.
Referring to Figure 3a, the tobacco-free edge E2 may be provided with a substantially cylindrical rod 8, for example of combustible material such as paper or reconstituted tobacco, or non-combustible material such as calcium carbonate, which can be placed on or adhered to the tobacco-free edge E2 so that the tobacco loaded paper 1 can be rolled about the rod 8 to form a substantially cylindrical smoking article 10 (Figure 3c). Alternatively, as illustrated in Figure 3b, rolling a smoking article 10 may be facilitated by providing a thicker edge at the tobacco free edge E2. The wrapper may be pre-folded at the tobacco free edge to provide the thicker edge or the consumer could fold the tobacco-free edge E2 over on itself to form at least a double thickness of paper at the edge E2. A crease line or a line of perforations about which the paper can be folded may be provided. The increased thickness at the edge E2 makes rolling the paper 1 into a smoking article easier.
In an embodiment where both of the tobacco-free edges E1, E2 have adhesive applied to them rolling the paper 1 to form a smoking article may be started from either edge E1, E2. The consumer need not know which edge to start rolling from.
In another embodiment, adhesive is only provided on the tobacco-free edge E1 that the paper 1 is rolled towards to form a smoking article. The adhesive sticks the edge E1 to the outer surface of the rolled smoking article. Where adhesive is applied only to one edge, the tobacco-free edges E1, E2 may be marked in such a manner that indicates to the consumer about which edge to roll the paper 1 to form a smoking article 10. For example, where the tobacco free edge E2 carries a rod or is of double thickness the consumer would readily know about which edge to roll the smoking article, so that visual marking the edges in this arrangement may be unnecessary.
Due to the tobacco 2 being compressed the ease of draw is determined by how tightly the smoking article is rolled; air enters the smoking article 10 through the rolls. A very tightly rolled smoking article 10 may require a lot of effort on the part of the consumer to smoke the rolled smoking article 10 due to a tight roll effecting high draw resistance. Therefore, the consumer can adjust the tightness of roll to control the ease of smoking the rolled smoking article 10.
The layer of tobacco 2 applied to the paper 1 may be compressed for storage, but may expand upon removal to provide a more open structure which will allow air to pass through, thereby lowering draw resistance such that reduced effort is required by the consumer to inhale through the smoking article.
Referring-to Figure 1b, the layer of tobacco 2 applied to paper 1 may be ridged or grooved longitudinally, with respect to the cylindrical axis of the final rolled product, to provide a more open structure which will allow air to pass through, thereby lowering draw resistance such that reduced effort is required by the consumer to smoke the smoking article.
The paper 1 may be wider than conventional papers, that is, those where the consumer applies the tobacco prior to rolling. Depending on the tightness of the roll, the cross-sectional dimension of the smoking article 10 as illustrated in Figure 3c may be greater than a conventional rolled cigarette.
The paper 1 may be coloured, for example brown, such that spotting of the paper 1 due to the application of adhesive which bonds the tobacco 2 to the paper is not seen on the surface of the rolled smoking article.
The paper 1 may be a web material such as reconstituted tobacco sheet.
Referring to Figure 2, the paper 1 can comprise an additional tobacco-free edge E3 to which filter material 3 is applied such that when the paper 1 is rolled a filtered smoking article is produced.
The paper 1 may be individually packed for freshness and to avoid the risk of papers sticking together. Alternatively, the paper 1 may be packaged in a similar manner to conventional cigarette papers, wherein adjacent papers are interleaved such that one paper is dispensable from the package at a time, but on removal from the package a part of the adjacent paper is dispensed to make it easier for the consumer to grip and remove subsequent papers from the package. Alternatively, each paper may be joined to an adjacent paper along an edge, for example along a longitudinal edge such that each paper 1 is dispensed by tearing from an adjacent paper. The papers 1, when joined together may be rolled together or concertinaed for dispensing from a package.

Claims

A laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) for a substantially cylindrical smoking article (10) comprising one or more layers of tobacco (2) adhered to one surface of the paper (1), wherein two edges (E1, E2) of the paper (1) are free from tobacco, which edges are opposite one another along the axis of the formed substantially cylindrical smoking article (10); and
wherein one tobacco free edge (E2) is characterised by comprising a rod (8).
A laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) according to claim 1, wherein the rod (8) is made from combustible material such as paper or reconstituted tobacco.
A laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) according to claim 1, wherein the rod (8) is made from non-combustible material such as calcium carbonate.
A laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) according to claim 2, wherein the tobacco free edge (E1) opposite the edge having the rod (8) comprises adhesive.
A laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein one of the tobacco free edges (E1, E2) comprises adhesive.
A laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein both of the tobacco free edges (E1, E2) comprises adhesive.
A laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tobacco (2) is compressed.
A laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tobacco layer (2) is ridged or corrugated longitudinally.
A laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the paper (1) is brown paper.
A laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the paper (1) is a web material such as reconstituted tobacco sheet.
A laminate of tobacco (2) and paper (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising filter material (3) applied to an edge (E3) of the paper (1), which edge is substantially perpendicular to the tobacco free edges (E1, E2).