EP4166013A1

EP4166013A1 - Tobacco pouch

Info

Publication number: EP4166013A1
Application number: EP21203270.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Daniel Lickefeld
Original assignee: JT International SA
Current assignee: JT International SA
Priority date: 2021-10-18
Filing date: 2021-10-18
Publication date: 2023-04-19

Abstract

The present invention relates to a tobacco pouch (100) comprising a first sheet portion (10), a second sheet portion (20) and a third sheet portion (30), wherein the first sheet portion (10) forms a flap, the second sheet portion (20) and the third sheet portion (30) form an open tobacco compartment (55) for accepting tobacco-containing substrate (120), wherein at least one of the sheet portions (10, 20, 30) is made of at least two sheet layers, forming a cavity-comprising sheet portion (44) for accommodating an absorbent material (70) and/or a flavour substance (80), wherein the cavity-comprising sheet portion comprises a plurality of micro-perforations (66).

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of accessories for smokers, more particularly to the field of tobacco pouches. Specifically, the present invention relates to a flavoured tobacco pouch.

Background of the invention

Tobacco pouches have been used by smokers for centuries to hold and transport loose tobacco for rolling cigarettes or preparing a pipe. Tobacco pouches are known in countless different versions, in leather or in plastic, but they all standardly comprise a compartment for holding tobacco.
Some tobacco pouches known in the art comprise on the outer surface of the tobacco compartment means for holding accessories, such as for instance a lighter, filters, or rolling papers. For instance, the German utility model application DE8404373U1 shows a tobacco pouch comprising on the front of the pouch a pocket which has a slot for cigarette rolling paper sheets. Other knowns pouches provide for pockets for holding for instance cigarette filters.
Another patent document US 2017/006913 relates to a tobacco pouch made of flexible flat material with a front panel and a back panel, which are folded against each other on the lower edge around a first lower folding line and are connected with each other at the two lateral edges and include a main compartment for tobacco, which is accessible from the outside through a main compartment opening between the upper edges of the front panel and the back panel. This pouch does not provide a good solution where the user could flavour the tobacco substance in an easy manner.
Patent document US2012/298124 relates to a portion tobacco product includes a tobacco filler containing leaf tobacco or a leaf tobacco component, and a first pouch containing a wrapping material having a function of controlling the permeation of a compound contained in the tobacco filler, wherein the tobacco filler is included in the first pouch. The first pouch can be produced by, for example, sealing a sheet-shaped first pouch material at heat seal part in the longitudinal direction to form the material into a tube-shape, charging the tube-shaped first pouch material with the tobacco filler, and heat-sealing both ends of the first pouch at heat seal parts in the lateral direction.
The above-mentioned tobacco pouches have several drawbacks such as the flavouring capsules (or also the crushed capsules) or flavoured strips or papers may be hard to be separated from the tobacco substance, or the flavourings may be applied unevenly directly on the tobacco substance which may create unpleasant experience to the user.
Therefore, an improved flavour tobacco pouch which could enhance the user's experience is envisaged.

Summary of the invention

Thus, the object of the present invention is to propose a novel tobacco pouch, with which the above-described drawbacks of the known device are completely overcome or at least greatly diminished.
An object of the present invention is to provide a tobacco pouch comprising a first sheet portion, a second sheet portion and a third sheet portion, wherein the first sheet portion forms a flap, the second sheet portion and the third sheet portion form an open tobacco compartment for accepting tobacco-containing substrate, wherein at least one of the sheet portions is made of at least two sheet layers, forming a cavity-comprising sheet portion for accommodating an absorbent material and/or a flavour substance, wherein the cavity-comprising sheet portion comprises a plurality of micro-perforations.
The flavour tobacco pouch according to the present invention has the advantage that the flavouring substance (e.g. flavouring capsules or flavouring strips or papers) are not mixed with the tobacco-containing substrates in the tobacco pouch, hence it eliminates the possibility that the self-rolled cigarette may contain the flavouring material. Moreover, as the flavourings are housed within the pouch itself, it ensures a more hygiene handling and could last longer. A more homogenous distribution of the flavour to the tobacco substance of the pouch is also achieved.
According to some embodiments, at least one perforation is provided to the cavity-comprising sheet portion for introducing the absorbent material and/or the flavour substrate.
Moreover, it is preferably that multiple micro-perforations are provided to the inner surface of the pouch such that an air communication between the tobacco substance of the pouch and the flavour within the wall of the pouch can be achieved so that the tobacco substrates can be flavoured.
According to some other embodiments, the first sheet portion, second sheet portion and/or the third sheet portion comprises at least two sheet layers, joined to form a cavity for accommodating the absorbent material and/or the flavour substance. This allows a cavity to be created.
According to some other embodiments, the cavity extends between all the sheet portions.
According to some other embodiments, the second sheet portion and/or the third sheet portion comprises at least two sheet layers, joined to form a cavity for accommodating absorbent material and/or flavour substance, wherein the plurality of micro-perforations are provided to the sheet portions facing to the open tobacco compartment and/or to the other sheet portions not facing to the open tobacco compartment.
According to some other embodiments, a sealing means is provided to seal the perforations such as the perforations for introducing the absorbent material and/or the flavour substance. The sealing means can be for instance an adhesive, a zipper or magnetic buttons which could be provided with water-proof feature.
According to some other embodiments, a compartment is provided within the cavity-comprising sheet portion to accommodate the flavour substance such as flavour capsules. This allows the flavour substances to be introduced and removed easily from the tobacco pouch.
According to some other embodiments, a holding means for holding at least one cigarette is provided to the third sheet portion of the tobacco pouch, wherein the holding means for holding at least one cigarette have at least one passage comprising a first opening and a second opening for the insertion of a cigarette therethrough.
According to some other embodiments, the holding means for holding at least one cigarette comprises a flexible strap arranged to form a passage with the third sheet portion of the tobacco compartment into which a cigarette is insertable.
According to some other embodiments, the holding means for holding at least one cigarette comprises a flexible strap and wherein an adhering means is provided in between each passage, and between the strap and the third portion to hold each cigarette.
According to some further embodiments, a mesh may be provided on the micro-perforations so that it prevents liquid substance from seeping out through the micro-perforations.
By "about" or "approximately" in relation to a given numerical value, it is meant to include numerical values within 10% of the specified value. All values given in the present disclosure are to be understood to be complemented by the word "about" unless it is clear to the contrary from the context.
The indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality, thus should be treated broadly.
Unless defined otherwise, technical terms and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.
A tobacco-containing substrate can be any compound, mixture, particle matter, material and/or solution that contains and/or carries a constituent of tobacco, either artificially included or naturally contained in tobacco, e.g., tobacco, tobacco particles, tobacco flavour and/or nicotine. The liquid substance according to the present invention may comprises the tobacco-containing substrate.
As used herein, the term "pouch" means a casing that houses tobacco-containing substrates and may be referred to as, for example, the "bag", "housing", or the like.
As used herein, the term "micro-perforation" refers to an opening which has a tiny hole, small enough for allowing air communication but not leakage. The micro-perforation can be provided in any shape but it is most preferably provided in a round or an ovule shape. The micro-perforation can be provided for example in a circular shape having a diameter of less than 2 mm, 1 mm, or even 0.5 mm.
As used herein, the term "perforation" refers to an opening or a hole. The perforation has a surface of usually at least 1 cm². The perforations is preferably provided in a large surface for easy handling such that absorbent material or flavour liquid or flavour capsule can be introduced easily to the cavity-comprising sheet portion 44.
As used herein, the "flavour substance" refers to a flavouring agent which is in form of liquid. The flavour substance may be provided in a lipophilic solvent or a hydrophilic solvent (e.g. water, oil, emulsion). The flavour substance may be a liquid with a viscosity of 0.0091 poise at 25 °C, or 1 centipoise at 20 °C (water) for instance.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a tobacco pouch according to a one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 1B is a schematic top view of a preferred embodiment of the tobacco pouch.
Figures 2A to 2D are several schematic cross-sectional views of a tobacco pouch according to further embodiments of the present invention.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

The following description of the preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention, its application or uses.
Figure 1A illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of a tobacco pouch 100 according to a first preferred embodiment, wherein the tobacco pouch comprises a first sheet portion 10, a second sheet portion 20 and a third sheet portion 30, wherein those sheet portions are preferably a continuously portion. The second and third sheet portions 20, 30 form an open tobacco compartment 55 for accepting tobacco-containing substrate 120 wherein the first sheet portion 10 forms a flap to close the opening of the pouch, as illustrated in the Figure 1B. According to this embodiment, a cavity-comprising sheet portion 44 exists throughout all the three sheet portions 10, 20, 30, wherein an absorbent material 70 and/or flavour substance 80 can be provided therein.
To this end, it is disclosed that the cavity-comprising sheet portion 44 may also be provided only in one portion such as in the first sheet portion 10, the second sheet portion 20 or in the third sheet portion 30. Alternatively, two out of the three sheet portions may be provided as a cavity-comprising sheet portion 44. It is also disclosed herein that the cavity-comprising sheet portion can be made of two layers of sheet to form the cavity. However, it can be foreseen that any other numbers be used. The plurality of micro-perforations 66 on the sheet portions 10, 20, 30 is preferably provided to the inner layer such that the micro-perforations 66 can be facing towards the content of the open tobacco compartment 55.
When all of the sheet portions 10, 20, 30 are provided with a double layer to form a cavity-comprising sheet portion 44, it has the advantage that the flavouring substance 80 or the absorbent material 70 can be easily introduced through an opening (or protrusion) on the first sheet portion 10. In order to ensure that the flavour substance introduced into the cavity-comprising sheet portion 44 be able to reach to the tobacco-containing substrate 120 in the open tobacco compartment 55, a plurality of micro-perforations 66 is provided to one or more of the sheet portions 10, 20, 30. It is preferably that the plurality of micro-perforations 66 is provided in the second and/or the third sheet portions 20, 30. The plurality of micro-perforations 66 is small enough to avoid liquid from leaking out while allowing air communication between the cavity of the sheet portion 44 and the open compartment portion 55.
To this end, it is disclosed that an absorbent material 70 and/or flavour substance 80 can be provided into the cavity-comprising sheet portion 44. The absorbent material 70 may contain flavour substance on itself. Alternative, the absorbent material 70 may not contain flavour substance initially but once the flavour substance 80 is introduced by the user to the cavity 44, the absorbent material 70 absorbs the flavour substance 80 so that the flavour can be slowly released, reaching the tobacco-containing substrate 120.
Figure 2A shows a further embodiment of the flavour tobacco pouch 100 according to a further variant of the invention. As can be seen in the figure, an absorbent material 70 is provided to the cavity-comprising sheet portion 44, in particular to the second sheet portion 20 and to the third sheet portion 30. In this embodiment, the first sheet portion is provided as a cavity-comprising sheet portion 44 such that the absorbent material and/or flavour substance 80 can be introduced therefrom. This has the advantage that the absorbent material 80 can be replaced when it is needed.
The plurality of micro-perforations 66 is provided to the second sheet portion 20 and the third sheet portion 30 so that the openings allow the flavour substance 80 (in form of droplets or air particles) to reach to the tobacco-containing substrates 120 of the open compartment portion 55. In addition, several sealing means 58 can be provided to the tobacco pouch 100 such that the opening of the compartment can be closed. The sealing means 58 may be for instance a zip, magnetic button with water-proof feature.
Figure 2B demonstrates a further variant of the invention 100. Figure 2B differs to the Figure 2A in that the absorbent material 70 is provided in two separate pieces where the portion connecting the second sheet portion 20 and the third sheet portion 30, instead of the absorbent material 70, it is provided with a number of flavour capsules 80. The flavour capsules 80 can be squeezed whenever needed to release its content. The flavour substance 80 could then be absorbed by the absorbent material 70. Through this way, the tobacco-containing substrate 120 can be flavoured evenly through the plurality of micro-perforations 66 provided on the tobacco pouch 100.
Figure 2C shows another embodiment of the invention. This embodiment differs to the Figure 2A in that one or more compartments 76 are provided to the tobacco pouch 100. In more specific, the compartments 76 are suitable to accommodate a number of flavour capsules 80 and that the compartments 76 forms a communicative channel with the cavity-comprising sheet portion 44 such that the liquid content of the flavour capsules 80, once being released, can reach to the cavity of the cavity-comprising sheet portion 44 and/or to the absorbent material 70. The compartment has the advantage that the capsule shells can be removed easily compared to the embodiment shown in the Figure 2A. According to this embodiment, the compartment is provided on the top area of the second sheet portion 20 and the third sheet portion 30. However, it is foreseeable that the compartment 76 can be provided also at any location, such as in the bottom of the tobacco pouch 100 as illustrated in the Figure 2D.
To this end, it is further disclosed according to all embodiments of the invention 100, the absorbent material 70 acts as a flavour carrier and that it is inert and preferably flavour free. The absorbent material can be made of a cotton, cellulose fabric (natural or synthetic) or even wool. Flavour liquid introduced into the cavity-comprising sheet portion 44 is absorbed by the absorbent material 70 which will subsequently transfer to the tobacco-containing substrate 120 by simple diffusion for example, through the micro-perforations 66 on the pouch.
The absorbent material 70 according to the present invention behaves like a sponge which is capable of absorb the flavour liquid, either provided directed by a user or the liquid is being released from a capsule. Once the flavour liquid is being absorbed, the flavour can be slowly released through the micro-perforations to reach the tobacco-containing substrate, thereby the entire content of the open tobacco compartment is flavoured evenly and effortlessly.

Claims

Tobacco pouch (100) comprising a first sheet portion (10), a second sheet portion (20) and a third sheet portion (30), wherein the first sheet portion (10) forms a flap, the second sheet portion (20) and the third sheet portion (30) form an open tobacco compartment (55) for accepting tobacco-containing substrate (120), wherein at least one of the sheet portions (10, 20, 30) is made of at least two sheet layers, forming a cavity-comprising sheet portion (44) for accommodating an absorbent material (70) and/or a flavour substance (80), wherein the cavity-comprising sheet portion comprises a plurality of micro-perforations (66).
The tobacco pouch (100) according to claim 1, wherein at least one perforation (88) is provided to the cavity-comprising sheet portion (44) for introducing the absorbent material (70) and/or the flavour substrate (80).
The tobacco pouch (100) according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the first sheet portion (10), second sheet portion (20) and/or the third sheet portion (30) comprises at least two sheet layers, joined to form a cavity for accommodating the absorbent material (70) and/or the flavour substance (80).
The tobacco pouch (100) according to claim 3, wherein the cavity extends between all the sheet portions.
The tobacco pouch (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second sheet portion (20) and/or the third sheet portion (30) comprises at least two sheet layers, joined to form a cavity for accommodating absorbent material (70) and/or flavour substance (80), wherein the plurality of micro-perforations (66) is provided to the sheet portions facing to the open tobacco compartment (55) and/or to the other sheet portions not facing to the open tobacco compartment (55).
The tobacco pouch (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a sealing means is provided to seal the perforations (88) such as the perforations for introducing the absorbent material (70) and/or the flavour substance (80).
The tobacco pouch (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a compartment is provided within the cavity-comprising sheet portion (44) to accommodate the flavour substance (70) such as flavour capsules (80).
The tobacco pouch (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a holding means for holding at least one cigarette is provided to the third sheet portion of the tobacco pouch (100), wherein the holding means for holding at least one cigarette have at least one passage comprising a first opening and a second opening for the insertion of a cigarette therethrough.
The tobacco pouch (100) according to the claim 8, wherein the holding means for holding at least one cigarette comprises a flexible strap arranged to form a passage with the third sheet portion of the tobacco compartment into which a cigarette is insertable.
The tobacco pouch (100) according to the claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the holding means for holding at least one cigarette comprises a flexible strap and wherein an adhering means is provided in between each passage, and between the strap and the third portion to hold each cigarette.
The tobacco pouch (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a mesh is provided on one or more of the micro-perforations (66) so that liquid is prevented from seeping out through the one or more of the micro-perforations (66).