HU224871B1 - Biodegradable filter for cigarettes - Google Patents

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to filter tobacco articles, in particular to cigarettes of cigarette wrapped cellulose in a spirally folded form, manufactured by an Air-Laid process.

HU 224 871 Β1

Figure 3

The scope of the description is 6 pages (including 1 page figure)

HU 224 871 Β1

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a filter for tobacco products, particularly cigarettes, made from an air-laid cellulose web.

Paper filters are the best solution for cigarettes from an ecological point of view. However, the success of pure paper filters is nevertheless due to several material specification properties of paper.

The main problem with paper filters is the different taste in smoke compared to conventional cellulose acetate filter cigarettes. Further problems are caused by the significantly different retention properties, noticeably inferior hardness with the same retention, and the coarse-porous structure of the filter cutting surface as compared to cellulose acetate filters.

These problems lead to smokers refusing paper filter cigarettes on the basis of taste, optical and palpation.

The main reason is the different shapes of the materials. Cellulose is available in the form of a veil or sheet, and cellulose acetate is available in a fibrous form. All attempts at different processing methods, such as shrinking or folding paper webs of different strengths to achieve the optical and tactile properties of cellulose acetate, have failed. Similarly, there is no known process to change the chemical retention properties of paper to the degree that it corresponds to acetate.

Due to these unresolved problems, cigarettes are nowadays formed with a dual filter comprising a paper and a pulp segment.

This embodiment is expensive and not yet ecologically optimal due to complicated production techniques.

EP 0 032 044 B1 discloses a process for producing fiber bands by loosely bonded fibers, wherein the dry fibers are applied in a stream of air to a sieve on a carrier belt. The fibers are not subjected to transverse flow forces as they pass through and exit a forming head, thereby maintaining a substantially uniform basis weight across the transverse direction of the fiber band. Thus, fiber beds having an area weight above 70 g / m ² can be produced. This known procedure is also known as the "Air-Laid" procedure. However, due to the fluffiness of the cotton-like material, this method does not produce cigarette filters.

EP-A-0711 512 discloses a cigarette filter which can be produced by the Air-Laid process from a cellulose web. The cellulose web has an area of 35 g / m ² . In addition, the filter material, i.e. the cellulose web, may also contain other materials called secondary or secondary ingredients. These other materials, which may be supplements, include natural cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate, or water soluble (polymer) starch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a one-component filter that is substantially more biodegradable than retaining the taste, appearance, hardness, and retention properties of cellulose acetate and cellulose acetate in a manner that is easily identifiable to the consumer. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide filter tobacco articles, particularly cigarettes, made from an Air-Laid cellulosic web, wherein the V-folded strips of the cellulose web are arranged vertically about their center and centered around a central axis of the cigarette filter to be produced.

As an unexpected result, it has been found that paper produced by the so-called Air-Laid process, which is processed into a filter according to the invention, fulfills the intended purpose.

In the Air-Laid process, the prepared cellulosic fibers are not suspended in water, similar to the classic papermaking process, and are not added to a sheeting filter, whereby the cellulosic fibers are bonded together by grinding and transport it and place it neatly. This results in an almost wadding webbing having no mechanical strength or fiber bonding. The mechanical bonding and thus the required strength required for further processing is achieved by incorporating in the air stream a binder such as polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate, polymer starch, dextrin or latex. added. The degree of density (g / cm ³ ) and thus the bulk and density are adjusted by the subsequent smoothing roller. The area mass (g / m ² ) is controlled either by the screening rate or by the addition of fiber to the air stream.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The attached drawings show

Figure 1 is a view showing cut lines along the length of the fiber strip produced by the Air-Laid process; the

Fig. 2 is a marked way of folding cut strips of fibrous tape; the

Figure 3 is a spiral winding of the fibrous strips of Figure 2.

Fig. 1 shows an Air-Laid process strip 10 having a weight of 40-50 g / m ² and cut from a line AA into "n" strips, where n = 5 in the illustrated embodiment. Note that "n" may be a different number, such as 4 or 6, where, of course, n = 4 is a preferred number which, for the purposes of drawing, is not well represented in the spiral arrangement of FIG.

The five strips 1-5 obtained by longitudinal cutting of the fiber strip 10 of Figure 1 are preferably folded into a V-shape using a suitable device, as shown in Figure 2. Then 1-5 fibers2 are folded into a V shape

The free ends of the strips are superimposed and the strips are joined by means of a suitable device by placing the tops 14 of the V-folded strips of strips in the middle axis of the cigarette filter to be produced and wrapping them in a spiral shape, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view.

In reality, the individual strips 1-5 of fiber strips, after being wound in a spiral shape as shown in Figure 3, are so tightly pressed against each other that they give the impression of a homogeneous closed filter, which is like the mouth end of a cellulose acetate filter. In other words, due to the fluffiness of the material, it is not recognizable that only a few layers of fiber strips are wound together to form a spiral as shown in Figure 3.

As shown in Figure 3, the fiber strips 1-5 are generally held together by a coating filter paper 12 and thus act as a cellulose acetate filter after making the paper filter of the present invention.

The cigarette samples shown in Table 1 were prepared and compared.

Table 1

Cigarette THE B C D E F Mix American mix American blend with 30% BT * American blend with 50% BT * filling length 63 mm 59 mm 59 mm filter length 21mm 25 mm 25 mm cigarette Diameter 7.80 mm 7.80 mm 7.80 mm filter Material acetate 3.0 y / HK $ 35,000 Air-Laid 50 g / m ² 0.8 mm thick acetate 3.0 y / HK $ 35,000 Air-Laid 50 g / m ² 0.8 mm thick acetate 2.1 y / 36,000 SK Air-Laid 70 g / m ² 1.1 mm thick Filter weight (mg) 107 110 123 120 140 145 Filter suction resistance (mm WS) 58 55 65 63 105 98 Tar (Mg / cig.) 12.7 12.9 7.1 7.1 3.8 3.7 Nicotine (mg / cig.) 0.87 0.85 0.64 0.66 0.40 0.41 Filter Withholding (%) 35.4 36.1 51.2 51.5 67.3 68.0 Ventilation filters (%) 18 18 40 38 60 62

* BT: Textured tobacco

The following specifications were used as the filter material:

Acetate: 3.0 y / 35,000 HK with 7% w / w triacetin

Acetate: 2.1 y / 36,000 SK with 7% w / w triacetin

Air-Laid B + D 48 g / m ² latex binder and about 0.8 mm thickness 45 E 70 g / m ² latex binder and about 1.1 mm thickness

HK = highly corrugated (curled)

SK = very strongly wavy (curled).

The analytically and physically determined data have been determined in accordance with valid DIN / ISO standards and do not differ within the limits of measurement accuracy. The taste evaluation was conducted with 15 trained smokers and showed no significant difference in paired comparisons. The biodegradation of the cigarette filter material of the present invention occurs within a time period comparable to commercial (cigarette) cellulose filter materials. This represents a significant improvement over cellulose acetate. The biodegradation assessment was performed according to the "Sturm assay" used in industry as described by R. N. Sturm in J. Americ. Oil Che40 Mists' Soc., Vol. 50, May 1973, pp. 159-167. pages, under the heading "Biodegredability of nonionic surfactants: screening test for predictive rate and non-organic biodegredation".

Claims (14)

Filtering tobacco products, in particular for cigarettes, made from an air-laid cellulosic web of 50 coats, characterized in that the V-folded strips (1-5) of the cellulose web are wrapped around their central axis, with their peaks (14), and spirally superimposed on a cylindrical shell. A filter according to claim 1, characterized in that the cellulose web has an area weight between 20 and 100 g / m ² . A filter according to claim 2, characterized in that the cellulosic web is preferably of a weight per unit area. 60 ranges from 40 to 70 g / m ² . HU 224 871 Β1 4. A filter according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the thickness of the cellulose web is between 0.5 and 1.5 mm. A filter according to claim 4, characterized in that the thickness of the cellulose web is preferably between 0.7 and 1.2 mm. 6. A filter according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that 5-30% of binder is added to the cellulose web. 7. A filter according to claim 6, characterized in that 20% binder is preferably added to the cellulose web. Filter according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the binder is latex. Filter according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the binder is polyvinyl alcohol. Filter according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the binder is polyvinyl acetate. Filter according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the binder is a copolymer of vinyl acetate and ethylene. The filter of claim 6 or 7, wherein the binder is water soluble starch. 13. The filter of claim 12 wherein the binder is a water soluble polymer starch. 14. The filter of claim 13, wherein the binder is dextrin.