EP4374716A1

EP4374716A1 - Smoking product filter and smoking product comprising same

Info

Publication number: EP4374716A1
Application number: EP23846782.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Sooho Kim; Hyeon Tae Kim; Chang Jin Park; Ki-Jin AHN; Wonyoung Ko; Sungmin Moon
Original assignee: KT&G Corp
Current assignee: KT&G Corp
Priority date: 2022-07-26
Filing date: 2023-06-01
Publication date: 2024-05-29
Also published as: CN117858632A; JP7815589B2; WO2024025122A1; TW202404489A; JP2024530229A; EP4374716A4; KR20240014853A; US20240397998A1

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a smoking article filter including two or more filter portions, wherein at least one filter portion among the two or more filter portions includes two to four holes, and provides a smoking article including the smoking article filter.

Description

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a smoking article filter and a smoking article including the same.

Background Art

In general, tobacco refers to a perennial plant belonging to the Solanaceae of the dicotyledonous plant order, and recently, also collectively refers to a product manufactured for the purpose of smoking in which leaves of tobacco are wrapped with cigarette paper and a filter portion is formed at one side. There are thousands of kinds of cigarettes worldwide, and they have been released in various shapes and forms.
A filter is disposed in a mouth end (ME) of a cigarette and functions to filter smoke components by removing particles and a vapor phase of cigarette smoke.
However, since filter wrapping paper surrounding a filter is paper, there are issues in that cigarette smoke passes through the filter during smoking, causing cigarette smell to permeate a portion in which fingers of a smoker directly contact, and a stain is formed on a cross section of the filter during smoking.

Detailed Description of the Invention

Technical Goals

Accordingly, to overcome such a problem and/or limitation of existing technology, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a smoking article filter including two or more filter portions, wherein at least one filter portion among the two or more filter portions includes two to four holes, and provide a smoking article including the same.
However, goals obtainable from the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned goal, and other unmentioned goals can be clearly understood from the following description by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.

Technical Solutions

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a smoking article filter including two or more filter portions, wherein at least one filter portion among the two or more filter portions includes two to four holes.
According to an aspect, there is provided a smoking article including the smoking article filter. Effects
Using the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a draw resistance greater than that of a general tube filter according to a related art and possible to increase a removal rate of smoke components in smoke. In addition, by inducing mainstream smoke and air that is introduced through a perforated area into multiple holes, it is possible to prevent cigarette smell from permeating a hand during smoking. Moreover, by reducing stains formed on a cross section of a filter during smoking, the cross section of the filter may remain clean even after smoking, and thus, it is possible to provide a smoker with a sense of satisfaction.
It should be understood that the effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described effects, but are construed as including all effects that can be inferred from the configurations and features described in the following description or claims of the present disclosure.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a smoking article 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram and cross-sectional view illustrating a smoking article filter 10 including two filter portions and in which three holes are included in one of the two filter portions.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a filter portion 11 including the three holes.
FIG. 4 is an image representing the manufactured smoking article filter 10.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, various alterations and modifications may be made to the embodiments. Here, the embodiments are not meant to be limited by the descriptions of the present disclosure. The embodiments should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and replacements within the idea and the technical scope of the disclosure.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. The singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises/comprising" and/or "includes/including" when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly-used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In addition, when describing the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals refer to like components and a repeated description related thereto will be omitted. In the description of embodiments, detailed description of well-known related structures or functions will be omitted when it is deemed that such description will cause ambiguous interpretation of the present disclosure.
In addition, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), and the like may be used to describe components of the embodiments. These terms are used only for the purpose of discriminating one component from another component, and the nature, the sequences, or the orders of the components are not limited by the terms.
A component, which has the same common function as a component included in any one embodiment, will be described by using the same name in other embodiments. Unless otherwise mentioned, the descriptions on the embodiments may be applicable to the following embodiments and thus, duplicated descriptions will be omitted for conciseness.
Throughout the specification, a "smoking article" may refer to an article capable of generating an aerosol, such as a cigarette (tobacco), a cigar, and the like. The smoking article may include an aerosol generating material or an aerosol forming substrate. In addition, the smoking article may include a solid material based on tobacco raw materials such as a reconstituted tobacco sheet, cut tobacco leaves, reconstituted tobacco, and the like. A smoking material may include a volatile compound.
In addition, throughout the specification, "upstream" or "upstream direction" refers to a direction away from a mouth of a user puffing a smoking article, and "downstream" or "downstream direction" refers to a direction toward the mouth of the user puffing the smoking article.
Meanwhile, such phrases as "A or B" and "at least one of A or B" may include all possible combinations of the items enumerated together in a corresponding one of the phrases.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Referring to FIG. 1, a smoking article 100 includes a filter 10 and a tobacco medium portion 20. When a tobacco medium portion is burned, cigarette smoke may be generated, and the generated cigarette smoke may enter lungs of a smoker through a filter.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, two or more filter portions may be included, and specifically, two to four filter portions, or two or three filter portions may be included. In addition, a smoking article filter in which two or four holes, desirably, three holes are included in at least one of the two or more filter portions is provided.
In an example, as shown in FIG. 2, the filter 10 may include a first filter portion 11, and a second filter portion 13. The first filter portion 11 and the second filter portion 13 may be disposed at a mouth end and a tobacco end (TE), respectively. The first filter portion 11 may include multiple holes. An image representing the above filter is shown in FIG. 4.
Specifically, a total length 15 of the filter may be in a range of 25 to 30 millimeters (mm), and desirably, 27 mm. A total length of the first filter portion 11 may be in a range of 5 to 12 mm, and desirably, 9 mm. A total length of the second filter portion 13 may be in a range of 15 to 22 mm, and desirably, 18 mm.
Referring to FIG. 3, in a smoking article filter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a hole diameter 17 of a cross section of the filter portion 11 including multiple holes may be greater than or equal to 1 mm and less than or equal to 2 mm, and may desirably be greater than or equal to 1.6 mm and less than or equal to 1.7 mm.
When the hole diameter is less than 1 mm, a problem may occur in manufacturing of a filter. Specifically, a rod may be inserted under high temperature and high pressure conditions during the manufacturing of the filter, to form a hole in the filter. Here, when a thickness of the rod is reduced to less than 1 mm, it may be difficult to form a hole having a uniform diameter during molding of the filter.
In the smoking article filter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an outer wall thickness 19 of the filter including holes may be greater than or equal to 0.7 mm and less than or equal to 1.3 mm and may desirably be greater than or equal to 1.05 mm and less than or equal to 1.15 mm, and the outer wall thickness may be based on the shortest distance from an outer wall of the filter to a hole. In addition, when a desirable size of a hole is taken into consideration (ex. 1.0 mm), centers of the holes may desirably be formed in positions 1.5 mm or greater away from the outer wall of the filter.
This is because a manufactured filter needs to be cut when a cigarette is manufactured, and a problem may occur in that a wall may break if the outer wall thickness 19 of the filter is thin.
Meanwhile, the second filter portion 13 may be a filter including at least one of cellulose acetate, carbon or paper, or a combination thereof. Desirably, when a first filter portion includes multiple holes, the first filter portion may be a cellulose filter or a polymer molded filter. However, embodiments are not limited thereto.
The filter is surrounded by filter wrapping paper. Tip paper is paper that connects a cigarette and a filter, and includes a perforation formed therein. The perforation functions to dilute smoke components of a product by increasing a tobacco dilution rate. The perforation may be formed at a position 10.5 to 11 mm away from a mouth end. Accordingly, the perforation may be disposed in the second filter portion 13, and filter wrapping paper of the second filter portion 13 may be porous.
A circumference of the smoking article filter 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be greater than or equal to 15 mm and less than or equal to 25 mm, and may desirably be greater than or equal to 16.7 mm and less than or equal to 24.2 mm. For example, a circumference of a filter may be 24.2 mm for a regular cigarette, 21.7 mm for a slim cigarette, and 16.7 mm for an ultra-slim cigarette.
A draw resistance of the smoking article filter 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be greater than or equal to 50 mmH₂O/Tip and less than or equal to 150 mmH₂O/Tip. When the draw resistance is less than 50 mmH₂O/Tip, an effect of filtering may be excessively reduced, and when the draw resistance is greater than 150 mmH₂O/Tip, it may be difficult for a user to inhale an aerosol due to a decrease in suction property.
The filter may include a flavoring agent. The flavoring agent may be at least one selected from a group consisting of mint, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, licorice, coriander, vanillin, ethyl vanillin, maltol, ethyl maltol, eucalyptol, acetic acid, breath freshener flavors, bergamot oil, rosemary, geranium oil, lemon oil, orange oil, lime oil, grapefruit oil, mint oil, ginger oil, isosweet, and fruit flavor ingredients, but is not limited to the types listed above.
Meanwhile, the smoking article 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include the filter 10. Generated cigarette smoke may pass through the filter such that smoke components may be filtered out, and a filter portion disposed at a tobacco end typically has a high ability to remove smoke components.
The smoking article 100 may be a combustion-type cigarette or a heating-type (non-combustion-type) cigarette, but is not limited thereto.
The smoking article may include a tobacco medium portion and a wrapper.
The tobacco medium portion typically includes a tobacco material containing nicotine, such as leaf tobacco, and may additionally include an excipient such as a binder, other additives, the above-described flavoring agent, and the like. In an example, a tobacco medium included in the tobacco medium portion of the present disclosure may be manufactured in the form of granules containing a tobacco material, an excipient, and the like.
Tobacco leaves may be at least one selected from among flue-cured tobacco, burley tobacco, oriental tobacco, cigar leaves, and toasted tobacco, but are not limited thereto.
Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in more detail through examples, however, the present disclosure is not limited to the following examples.

Design of Filter

Example 1

A smoking article filter including a first filter portion and a second filter portion was manufactured. The first filter portion has a length of 15 mm and includes three holes formed therein and an acetate tow. The second filter portion has a length of 12 mm and includes carbon.

Example 2

A smoking article filter was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a first filter portion had a length of 9 mm and a second filter portion had a length of 18 mm.

Comparative Example 1

A smoking article filter was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a hole was not formed in a first filter portion.

Comparative Example 2

A smoking article filter was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that one hole was formed in a first filter portion.

Comparative Example 3

A smoking article filter was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that one hole was formed in a first filter portion, a length thereof was 9 mm and a second filter portion had a length of 18 mm.

Filter design details of Comparative Examples 1 to 3 and Examples 1 and 2 are shown in Table 1 below.

[Table 1]

Classification	Filter segment				Raw materials												Draw resistance (mmHiO)
	Length (mm) of filter		Draw resistance (mmH₂O/Tip)		Tow (De)		Filter wrapping paper (CU)						Plasticizer (%)		Activated carbon of TE portion
	ME	TE	ME	TE	ME	TE	ME		TE		Complete product		ME	TE	Type	Added amount (mg)
	ME	TE	ME	TE	ME	TE	Type	Porosity	Type	Porosity	Type	Porosity	ME	TE	Type	Added amount (mg)
Comp. Ex. 1	15 (120)	12 (96)	53.75	61.25	3.0/35K	2.5/45K	Porous	24K	General	-	Porous	35K	7±2	6±2	Oxidation	24	460
Comp. Ex. 2	15 (120)	12 (96)	-	70	Appropriate value	2.7/35K	Porous	35K	General	-	Porous	35K	Appropriate value	6±2	Oxidation	24	Appropriate value
Comp. Ex. 3	9 (72)	18 (108)	-	108	Appropriate value	2.7/35K	General	-	Porous	24K	Porous	35K
Ex. 1	15 (120)	12 (96)	-	70	Appropriate value	2.7/35K	Porous	35K	General	-	Porous	35K
Ex. 2	9 (72)	18 (108)	-	108	Appropriate value	2.7/35K	General	-	Porous	24K	Porous	35K

In the above table, ME represents a first filter portion at a mouth end, and TE represents a second filter portion at a tobacco end.
In comparison to the draw resistance of Comparative Example 1, the draw resistance of Example 1 was increased by 8.75 mmH₂O/Tip, and the draw resistance of Example 2 was increased by 47.75 mmH₂O/Tip. In other words, the draw resistance of Example 2 has a value greater than the draw resistance of Example 1, which indicates that the draw resistance increases in a system with the first filter portion and the second filter portion of 9 + 18 mm, in comparison to a system with the first filter portion and the second filter portion of 15 + 12 mm. Unlike Example 1, in Example 2, since the length of the first filter portion is 9 mm and a perforation is typically positioned 10.5 to 11 mm away from the mouth end, the perforation is disposed in the second filter portion. Thus, it is expected in Example 2 that the draw resistance increases as air flowing in from the perforation passes through the second filter portion and the first filter portion sequentially.

Physical Properties of Filter

Physical properties of the filters of Comparative Examples 1 to 3 and Examples 1 and 2 were measured and are shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2

Classification	System (ME+TE)	Circumference	Draw resistance	Roundness	Hardness
Classification	System (ME+TE)	mm	mmH2O	%	%
Comp. Ex. 1	15+12	24.21	463.2	95.5	93.6
Comp. Ex. 2	15+12	24.16	326.8	90.6	95.7
Comp. Ex. 3	9+18	24.22	462.9	95.2	92.5
Ex. 1	15+12	24.19	308.3	91.8	94.6
Ex. 2	9+18	24.26	437.8	94.4	94.3

Design of Smoking Article Prototype

Design details of smoking articles to which Comparative Examples 1 to 3 and Examples 1 and 2 were applied are shown in Table 3 below.

[Table 3]

Classific ation	Physical properties of product							Selection conditions			Note (tip paper)
	Wt			UPD (unencap sulated pressure drop)	EPD (encapsu lated pressure drop)	VR	Circu mfere nce	Total weig ht	EPD	VR
	Tota 1 wei ght	Mat erial	Cut tob acc o lea ves	UPD (unencap sulated pressure drop)	EPD (encapsu lated pressure drop)	VR	Circu mfere nce	Total weig ht	EPD	VR
	mg	mg	mg	mmWG	mmWG	%	mm	±10 mg	±5 mm WG	±2 %
Comp. Ex. 1	906	294	611	63	153	79	24.7	866	82		1700
Comp. Ex. 2	979	365	613	26	123	86	24.6	957	82		3500
Comp. Ex. 3	922	347	576	47	144	85	24.5	938	82		2500
Ex. 1	945	366	579	22	111	85	24.4	957	82		3500
Ex. 2	924	347	577	41	132	85	24.5	938	82		2500

Experimental Example 1: Analysis of Components of Mainstream Smoke of Smoking Article

Results obtained by analyzing components of mainstream smoke of the smoking articles to which Comparative Examples 1 to 3 and Examples 1 and 2 were applied are shown in Table 4 below.

[Table 4]

Classification		TPM	Tar	Nicotine	Puff No.	Moisture
Classification	System (ME+TE)	mg/cig	mg/cig	mg/cig	Number of times	mg/cig
Comp. Ex. 1	15+12	2.07	1.56	0.17	8.87	0.28
Comp. Ex. 2	15+12	1.87	1.38	0.15	8.80	0.32
Comp. Ex. 3	9+8	1.56	1.20	0.15	8.44	0.22
Ex. 1	15+12	1.99	1.60	0.17	8.72	0.22
Ex. 2	9+8	1.48	1.18	0.14	9.06	0.18

A TPM value, a tar value, and a nicotine value in Example 2 were reduced by 0.59 mg/cig, 0.38 mg/cig, and 0.03 mg/cig, respectively, in comparison to Comparative Example 1.
In the system with the first filter portion and the second filter portion of 9 + 18 mm, amounts of TPM, tar, and nicotine to be transferred were significantly reduced in comparison to the system with the first filter portion and the second filter portion of 15 + 12 mm. In particular, in the case of tar and nicotine, the system with the first filter portion and the second filter portion of 9 + 18 mm showed significant results indicating decreases by 23.1 to 24.4% and 11.8 to 17.6%, respectively, in comparison to Comparative Example 1. This is because the draw resistance of the system of 9 + 18 mm is greater than the draw resistance of the system of 15 + 12 mm, and the second filter portion, which is typically disposed at the tobacco end, has a great smoke component removal ability.

Experimental Example 2: Sensory Evaluation of Effect of Reducing Hand Odor by Applying Filter

To determine an effect of reducing hand odor by applying the filter of the present disclosure, cotton gloves were used on fingers during smoking, and a sensory evaluation was performed to determine an intensity of cigarette odor felt after one hour when smoking was completed. The cotton gloves were sealed immediately after smoking and stored in a sample bag. The intensity of smell was compared to regular cloth.
The sensory evaluation was performed by a panel of fifteen evaluators using the smoking articles to which the filters of Comparative Example 1 and Example 2 were applied, based on a total scale of 9 points.

Results of the sensory evaluation are shown in Tables 5 and 6 below. Table 5 shows paired sample statistics and Table 6 shows paired sample test results.

[Table 5]

Classification	N	Mean of off-odor intensity	Standard deviation	Standard error mean
Comp. Ex. 1	15	5.033	2.3939	.6181
Ex. 2	15	2.600	1.6605	.4287

[Table 6]

Paired differences						t	Degree of freedom	Significance probability (both sides)
	Mean	Standard deviation	Standard error mean	95% confidence interval of difference
	Mean	Standard deviation	Standard error mean	Lower limit	Upper limit
Off-odor intensity	2.4333	3.2286	.8336	.6454	4.2213	2.919	14	.011

As a result obtained by analyzing sensory characteristics after completion of smoking, the smoking article to which Example 2 was applied showed a significant result indicating a decrease in an off-odor intensity by 48.3% in comparison to the smoking article to which Comparative Example 1 was applied. It can be found that in the case of the smoking article to which Example 2 was applied, mainstream smoke escapes through three holes such that hand odor may be reduced, because mainstream smoke is typically driven to a center of a filter when air enters through a perforation.
Therefore, according to Experimental Examples 1 and 2, it may be expected that when multiple holes and the system of 9 + 18 mm are applied to a smoking article as in Example 2, hand odor may be reduced and smoke components such as tar, nicotine, and the like may also be reduced.
While the embodiments are described with reference to drawings, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various alterations and modifications in form and details may be made in these embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents.
Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims are also within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

A smoking article filter, comprising:
two or more filter portions,

wherein at least one filter portion among the two or more filter portions comprises two to four holes.
The smoking article filter of claim 1, wherein the at least one filter portion comprises three holes.
The smoking article filter of claim 1, wherein a diameter of the holes is greater than or equal to 1 millimeter (mm) and less than or equal to 2 mm.
The smoking article filter of claim 1, wherein a shortest distance from an outer wall of the smoking article filter to a hole is greater than or equal to 0.7 mm and less than or equal to 1.3 mm.
The smoking article filter of claim 1, wherein the smoking article filter has a total length of 25 to 30 mm.
The smoking article filter of claim 1, wherein
the filter portions comprise a first filter portion disposed at a mouth end and a second filter portion disposed at a tobacco end, and

the first filter portion comprises multiple holes.
The smoking article filter of claim 6, wherein
the first filter portion has a length of 5 to 12 mm, and

the second filter portion has a length of 15 to 22 mm.
The smoking article filter of claim 6, wherein the first filter portion is a cellulose filter or a polymer molded filter.
The smoking article filter of claim 6, wherein a perforation is disposed in the second filter portion, and filter wrapping paper of the second filter portion is porous.
The smoking article filter of claim 1, wherein a circumference of the smoking article filter is greater than or equal to 15 mm and less than or equal to 25 mm.
The smoking article filter of claim 1, wherein a draw resistance of the filter portions is greater than or equal to 50 mmH₂O/Tip and less than or equal to 150 mmH₂O/Tip.
A smoking article including the smoking article filter of one of claims 1 to 11.
The smoking article of claim 12, wherein the smoking article is a combustion-type cigarette or a heating-type cigarette.