Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES FOR CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D3/00—Tobacco smoke filters, e.g. filter-tips, filtering inserts; Filters specially adapted for simulated smoking devices; Mouthpieces for cigars or cigarettes
  • A24D3/06—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters
  • A24D3/062—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters characterised by structural features
  • A24D3/063—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters characterised by structural features of the fibers
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES FOR CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D3/00—Tobacco smoke filters, e.g. filter-tips, filtering inserts; Filters specially adapted for simulated smoking devices; Mouthpieces for cigars or cigarettes
  • A24D3/02—Manufacture of tobacco smoke filters
  • A24D3/0204—Preliminary operations before the filter rod forming process, e.g. crimping, blooming
  • A24D3/0212—Applying additives to filter materials
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES FOR CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D3/00—Tobacco smoke filters, e.g. filter-tips, filtering inserts; Filters specially adapted for simulated smoking devices; Mouthpieces for cigars or cigarettes
  • A24D3/04—Tobacco smoke filters characterised by their shape or structure
  • A24D3/048—Tobacco smoke filters characterised by their shape or structure containing additives
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES FOR CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D3/00—Tobacco smoke filters, e.g. filter-tips, filtering inserts; Filters specially adapted for simulated smoking devices; Mouthpieces for cigars or cigarettes
  • A24D3/06—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters
  • A24D3/062—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters characterised by structural features
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES FOR CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D3/00—Tobacco smoke filters, e.g. filter-tips, filtering inserts; Filters specially adapted for simulated smoking devices; Mouthpieces for cigars or cigarettes
  • A24D3/06—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters
  • A24D3/08—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters of organic materials as carrier or major constituent
  • A24D3/10—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters of organic materials as carrier or major constituent of cellulose or cellulose derivatives
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES FOR CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D3/00—Tobacco smoke filters, e.g. filter-tips, filtering inserts; Filters specially adapted for simulated smoking devices; Mouthpieces for cigars or cigarettes
  • A24D3/06—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters
  • A24D3/16—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters of inorganic materials
  • A24D3/163—Carbon

Definitions

• the present invention relates to improvements in filters for use in smoking articles, comprising randomly oriented discrete fibres.
• the improvements mainly relate to the loss of additive(s) in said filters and to the manufacture thereof.
• the filter commonly consists of a single segment of filtration material, typically a continuous tow of filamentary cellulose acetate plasticised with triacetin, circumscribed by porous and/or non-porous plug wrap.
• the cellulose acetate is gathered together to form a rod which is cut to form individual filter segments.
• the filter for a smoking article may be made of one segment of filter rod, or may be made from multiple segments.
• the inventors identified particulate additive, e.g. granule, loss during the combining process as a problem in terms of filter quality and machinability for the usage of granulated filters with high loadings of additives like granules and randomly oriented fibres, e.g. randomly oriented acetate (ROA) fibres.
• particulate additive e.g. granule
• ROA randomly oriented acetate
• An exemplary filter has a circumference of 23.9 mm and a filter length of 120 mm, and contains 2.2 mg/mm filter tow. 13mg/mm of charcoal granules are added as additive. This results in a target pressure drop (PD) of 318 mmWG/rod (mm water gauge/rod; 31 18 Pa/rod).
• PD target pressure drop
• a 10 wt.% granule loss in the above exemplary filter results in a pressure drop of 287 mmWG/rod, resulting in a 10% pressure drop loss compared to the target pressure drop. This is not acceptable with regard to cigarette design.
• loose granules can accumulate at the seam of the combiner plug wrap used to attach a plurality of filter segments. This may even prevent seam formation as the loose granules reduce the effective area for the adhesive that is typically applied to form the seam. As a result, the filter may burst open. The inventors have identified that this problem increases with increased loss of granules.
• charcoal contamination around the machine is a problem that can lead to machine stoppage.
• special protections have been installed to ensure that charcoal does not accumulate in problematic areas, such as the plug wrap gluing and guiding system, and frequent machine cleaning is necessary.
• a target for additive loss e.g. granule loss
• an improvement in additive loss i.e. decreased loss of at least one particulate additive, can be achieved by a filter for a smoking article comprising a certain amount of fibres and a certain amount of additive.
• a first aspect of the invention provides a filter for a smoking article comprising randomly oriented discrete fibres and at least one particulate additive, the additive being dispersed within the filter, wherein the value obtained by dividing the volume fraction of the additive (cc/mm) by the volume fraction of the fibres (cc/mm) is less than about 1 100%.
• the invention relates to a smoking article comprising the filter of the present invention.
• Figure 1 shows a graph of exemplary data taken from the Examples.
• randomly oriented discrete fibres refers to a plurality of fibres that can be distinguished from each other and are physically separated, i.e. discrete fibres. They are randomly oriented in three directions, i.e. form a random 3-dimensional fibre network wherein the fibres are directed in any direction, without all fibres being directed in the same direction.
• the fibres can have different lengths or have the same lengths as well as the same diameter or different diameters, and can be uniform or non-uniform with regard to their individual sizes and shapes.
• smoking article relates to all kinds of smokable products like cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, etc.
• the kind of smokable material used e.g. tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco substitutes, non-burnable products, etc., as well as mixtures thereof, is not particularly limited.
• These smoking articles are provided with a filter according to the invention.
• Smoking articles and their formats can be e.g. characterized according to the cigarette length, with “regular” being in the range 68 -75 mm, e.g. from about 68 mm to about 72 mm, “short” or “mini” being 68 mm or less, “king-size” being in the range 75 - 91 mm, e.g. from about 79 mm to about 88 mm, “long” or “super-king” being in the range 91 -105 mm, e.g. from about 94 mm to about 101 mm, and “ultra-long” being in the range from about 1 10 mm to about 121 mm. They can also be characterized by the circumference of the smoking article, e.g.
• a cigarette with "regular” having a circumference of about 23-25 mm, “wide” having a circumference of greater than 25 mm, “slim” having a circumference of about 22-23 mm, “demi-slim” having a circumference of about 19-22 mm, “super-slim” having a circumference of about 16-19 mm, and “micro-slim” having a circumference of less than about 16 mm.
• a cigarette in a king-size, super-slim format will, for example, have a length of about 83 mm and a circumference of about 17 mm.
• Cigarettes in the regular, king- size format have e.g. a circumference of from 23 to 25 mm and an overall length of from 75 to 91 mm.
• a particulate additive is an additive that is present in the form of particles, i.e. particularly in solid form.
• the particulate additive(s) can be e.g. in powder (particle diameter of about 50 to 150 ⁇ ) and/or granular form (particle diameter of about 150 to 1000 ⁇ ).
• the present invention relates to a filter for a smoking article comprising randomly oriented discrete fibres and at least one particulate additive, the (particulate) additive being dispersed within the filter, wherein the value obtained by dividing the volume fraction of the (particulate) additive(s) (cc/mm) by the volume fraction of the fibres (cc/mm) is less than about 1 100 %, for example less than about 1000 %, such as less than about 900 %, e.g. less than about 800 %.
• the volume fraction herein is the ratio of a volume of a certain material, e.g. the particulate additive and/or the randomly oriented discrete fibres, to the total available volume in the filter.
• the volume of a certain material can thereby be calculated using the bulk density of the material and the weight thereof.
• the total volume of a filter can be determined by consideration of the shape of the filter, e.g. - in case of a cylindrical filter - using the diameter and length. Suitable measurement procedures for the bulk density of the particulate additive are known from ASTM D2854-2009 for granular activated carbon, ASTM D1895 test method A for fine granules and powders that can be poured readily through a small funnel (e.g.
• ASTM D1895 test method B for coarse granular materials, including dice and pellets, that either cannot be poured or that are poured with difficulty through the funnel described in ASTM D1895 test method A (e.g. tobacco granule, sugar granule), and ASTM D1895 test method C for materials supplied in the form of coarse flakes, chips, cut fibres, or strands (e.g. mint leaf, tobacco leaf).
• ASTM D3887-1995 A suitable measurement procedure for the bulk density of the randomly oriented discrete fibres is known from ASTM D3887-1995.
• the loss weight of the additive(s) - particularly during cutting - is less than 5 %, e.g. less than 4.5 %, e.g. less than 4 %, e.g. less than 3 %, based on the total weight of the additive(s).
• the weight loss can be determined by weighing using usual procedures.
• One example is to determine the weight difference between the weight of a certain filter before cutting and the total combined weight of cut filter segments - cut from this filter - after cutting.
• loss of other components, e.g. filter tows, during cutting is negligible.
• the loss of additive is substantially due to the at least one particulate additive, e.g. due to the at least one particulate additive.
• the present invention also relates to a process of producing a filter for a smoking article according to the present invention, as described below.
• the dispersion of the at least one particulate additive in the filter is not particularly limited and can be in any form. It can for example be a homogeneous or heterogeneous dispersion within the filter, e.g. the randomly oriented discrete fibres, and/or also at other locations between the randomly oriented discrete fibres and another material, e.g. a filter wrapping material.
• the filter of the invention can contain one or more particulate additive(s) which are not particularly limited and can be those particulate additives normally used in filters for smoking articles. Examples of suitable particulate additives include flavourants or sorbents - e.g.
• the particulate additive comprises or is charcoal/activated carbon.
• the at least one particulate additive has a particle size from 50 to 2000 ⁇ , e.g. from 100 to 1000 ⁇ , as determined e.g. using sieve analysis.
• the material of the randomly oriented discrete fibres which can be comprised in or be the filter tow material, is not particularly limited and can include a material that is typically used in filters for smoking articles, e.g. cigarette filters. It can include natural fibre materials which can be e.g. produced from cellulose, herb materials like tobacco, or synthetic materials like polypropylene.
• the material of the randomly oriented discrete fibres can comprise or be cellulose acetate or polypropylene. Also mixtures of two or more fibre materials are possible.
• the filter tow material may have a filament denier in the range of from 3.0 up to 12.0 D, e.g. of between 4.0 and 10.0 D, e.g. of between 5.0 and 8.0 D, e.g. of about 6.0 D.
• the range of the combined loading amount of the additive and the fibre is between 2.4 mg/mm and 19 mg/mm for a filter of any diameter, e.g. having a diameter between the lower limit for a super-slim size and the upper limit of a regular size, i.e. between 16 and 25 mm.
• the range of the combined loading amount of the additive and the fibre is between 3 mg/mm and 18 mg/mm, e.g. between 8 mg/mm and 17 mg/mm.
• the range of the combined loading amount of the additive and the fibre is between 8 mg/mm and 17 mg/mm, particularly for a regular circumference filter, i.e. a circumference of 23 to 25 mm, e.g.
• the range of the combined loading amount of the additive and the fibres is 9 mg/mm to 16 mg/mm, e.g. 10 mg/ mm to 14.5 mg/mm, e.g. 10.5 mg/mm to 14 mg/mm, e.g. 1 1 mg/mm to 13 mg/mm, particularly for a regular circumference filter, i.e. a circumference of 23 to 25 mm, e.g. 23, 23.9, 24 or 25 mm.
• the amount of the additive is between 1 mg/mm and 13.5 mg/mm for a filter of any diameter, e.g. having a diameter between the lower limit for a super-slim size and the upper limit of a regular size, i.e. between 16 and 25 mm.
• the amount of the additive is between 6 mg/mm and 13 mg/mm.
• the amount of the additive is in the range between 7 mg/mm and 12 mg/mm, e.g. in the range between 7.5 mg/mm and 1 1 mg/mm, e.g. in the range of from 8 mg/mm up to 10 mg/mm, particularly for a regular circumference filter, i.e. a circumference of 23 to 25 mm, e.g. 23, 23.9, 24 or 25 mm.
• the amount of fibres is between 1.4 and 5.5 mg/mm for a filter of any diameter, e.g. having a diameter between the lower limit for a super-slim size and the upper limit of a regular size, i.e. between 16 and 25 mm.
• the amount of fibres is between 2.0 and 4.5 mg/mm, e.g. between 2.0 and 4.0 mg/mm, e.g. between 2.2 mg/mm and 3.8 mg/mm, e.g. between greater than 2.2 mg/mm and up to 3.7 mg/mm.
• the fibre loading amount is in the range of from 2.5 mg/mm to 3.6 mg/mm, e.g.
• the amount of the additive is between 6 mg/mm and 13 mg/mm, and/or the amount of fibres is between 2.0 and 4.0 mg/mm, e.g. between 2.2 mg/mm and 3.8 mg/mm, e.g. between greater than 2.2 mg/mm and up to 3.7 mg/mm, particularly for a regular circumference filter, i.e. a circumference of 23 to 25 mm, e.g. 23, 23.9, 24 or 25 mm.
• the filter of the invention can have any shape and is not particularly limited, but is preferably in a shape commonly used in smoking articles, e.g. in cylindrical shape.
• the filter has a cylindrical shape with a circumference of the cylinder being equal to or smaller than 26 mm, preferably equal to or smaller than 23.9 mm.
• the filter of the invention may optionally include other materials, for example one or more liquid(s) (such as a flavourant, e.g. menthol solution).
• the present filter is also not particularly limited regarding other components of the filter and can include components that are commonly used in filters for smoking articles.
• the filter may be wrapped with a wrapper or plug wrap, for example a wrapper of paper, e.g. an air-permeable paper. Particulate additives as discussed above can also be applied to the wrapper or plug wrap surrounding the filter material.
• the material of the plug wrap is not particularly limited and can comprise paper and/or plastic materials like PE, PP, etc.
• the filter of the present invention does not contain a binder or a plasticizer, making processing and manufacturing of the filter easier.
• a binder may have the disadvantage that it solidifies after application, which leads to contamination in the process and a higher pressure drop.
• a plasticizer like triacetin can, especially at high loading, lead to melt holes in the filter, i.e. dissolve the filter tow, causing defect in the smoking article. Even without using a binder or a plasticizer, additive loss in the present filter can be reduced.
• the filter comprising randomly oriented discrete fibres and the additive is cut into desired lengths in order to form individual filter segments or to be assembled to multiple segments filters.
• the loss weight of the additive can be less than about 5 %, e.g. less than about 4.5 %, e.g. less than about 4 %, e.g. less than about 3 %, based on the total weight of the additive.
• the present invention relates to a smoking article comprising the filter of the present invention.
• the smoking article is not particularly limited and can be e.g. a cigarette, a cigar or a cigarillo in any size and shape.
• two or more of the filters according to the invention can be used, and/or the present filter can be used in combination with another filter, e.g. in a segmented filter.
• the smoking article of the invention is not limited.
• a tobacco containing segment can be contained in the smoking article, wherein the tobacco is not limited, and the smoking article can e.g. be wrapped using usual material, and can also contain other components like a tipping paper.
• the present invention also relates to a method of producing/manufacturing a filter for a smoking article, particularly according to the present invention, wherein at least one particulate additive and randomly oriented fibres are provided and added to a filter for a smoking article, wherein the at least one particulate additive is dispersed in the filter, wherein the value obtained by dividing the volume fraction of the additive (cc/mm) by the volume fraction of the fibres (cc/mm) is less than about 1 100 %.
• the filter of the present invention may be manufactured by known methods, using common equipment, e.g. a Turmalin machine from Hauni, DE.
• the at least one particulate can be, for example added into the filter tow, i.e. the randomly oriented discrete fibres, and then the tow is shapes into e.g. a rod of any desirable circumference.
• the e.g. cylindrical rod formed to any desired size and shape may be wrapped in a plug wrap and sealed with an adhesive by means that are well-known in the prior art, e.g. using spiral anchor glue.
• the filter rod can further be cut into desired lengths using known methods.
• Other additives, if included, can be introduced at suitable times in the filter production process.
• a smoking article can be produced, e.g. by combining one or more filters of the invention with a tobacco rod and optionally other filters, and wrapping the resultant, e.g. by methods known in the art.
• Example 1 The present invention will now be described with reference to examples thereof, without limiting the scope of the invention to these particular examples.
• Example 1
• filters for cigarettes were produced with different loadings of additive and different loadings and sizes of randomly oriented discrete fibres (hereinafter also referred to as filter tow).
• controllable parameters were herein as follows:
• Filter tow cut length 10 - 20 mm
• Cylindrical base filters were produced with a circumference of 23.9 mm and a length of 120 mm length, which were then wrapped with a non-porous plug wrap. After wrapping, the base filter was cut 19 times to obtain equal cut filters, each with a final length of 6 mm.
• anchor glue application a spiral glue application was used for anchor glue application.
• Charcoal was supplied from JacobiCarbons (Sweden). It had a bulk density of 603 kg/m 3 , a CCI 4 adsorption of 60 - 70 %, and an ASTM Mesh size of 30 x 60 (595 ⁇ x 250 ⁇ ). For the present charcoal, the bulk density was determined by ASTM D2854-2009.
• Filter tow i.e. randomly oriented discrete fibres, was obtained from Celanese. It had the following properties: Denier per Filament (g/9000m) was 6.0 D, and total Denier (g/9000m) was 17000 D, with the cross Section being Y. The bulk density was 1255 kg/m 3 measured according to ASTM D3887-1995.
• a wrap from Delfort with a porosity (cm 3 /cm 2 /min) of 0 (i.e. without pores), a basis weight of 27 g/m 2 , and a thickness of 43 ⁇ was used.
• Base rod making of base filter rods was carried out with a Turmalin base rod maker, supplied by Hauni, DE, at a machine speed of 200 m/min, to obtain base filter rods /base filters with a length of 120 mm. These base filters were then introduced into a combining process, using a Solaris
• the base filter rods were then introduced into the combining process and processed, wherein the base filter rods were cut from the original length of 120 mm to a target length of 6 mm.
• FIG. 1 Selected values from Table 1 are shown in FIG. 1 , wherein the x-axis represents the ratio of the volume fraction of charcoal ⁇ t> c divided by the volume fraction of fibres ⁇ J> F , and the y-axis represents the charcoal loss L c .
• Examples with a fibre length of 10 mm are represented with an empty circle, whereas examples with a fibre length of 20 mm are represented with a rhombus.
• a significant reduction in charcoal loss was observed when keeping the ratio ⁇ t>J ⁇ ⁇ below a certain value, e.g. less than about 1000 % if the charcoal loss is to be limited to about 5 % or less, based on the total weight of the charcoal.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Cigarettes, Filters, And Manufacturing Of Filters (AREA)
• Filtering Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=57629324

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 2017
  • 2017-12-08 WO PCT/EP2017/082022 patent/WO2018114395A1/en unknown
  • 2017-12-08 JP JP2019522279A patent/JP2020513731A/ja not_active Withdrawn
  • 2017-12-08 EP EP17818483.4A patent/EP3506770A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2017-12-08 CA CA3039585A patent/CA3039585A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2017-12-08 EA EA201991150A patent/EA201991150A1/ru unknown
  • 2017-12-08 CN CN201780066384.9A patent/CN109890226A/zh active Pending
  • 2017-12-08 KR KR1020197017703A patent/KR20190091469A/ko active Search and Examination
  • 2017-12-08 US US16/340,917 patent/US20200037659A1/en not_active Abandoned

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