JP2000162087A - Evaluation apparatus for flow of air from cigarette and evaluation method for flow or air from cigarette by using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an evaluation apparatus by which the flow of mainstram smoke flowing out from a cigarette and/or the flow of ventilation air can be observed directly so as to be evaluated by a method wherein a means which evaporates an oil is installed near the cigarette to be evaluated. SOLUTION: A cigarette 1 is attached in such a way that its cigarette tip part is put into a transparent observation box 2. The part between the cigarette 1 and the observation box 2 is sealed with a labyrinth seal 3 in such a way that air is not leaked. A metal wire 4 is attached to a part near the cigarette tip part of the cigarette 1, and it is connected to a power supply 6 by conductors 5. An oil which is coated on the metal wire 4 is evaporated by a pulse current from the power supply 6, and an oil mist 7 is generated so as to be evacuated to the outside at a volume of 7.5 ml/sec from a suction part 8. As a result, air whose volume is identical to that of evacuated air flows into the observation box 2 through the cigarette 1, and the oil mist 7 is moved by the air which flows out from the cigarette 1. The track of the oil mist 7 is observed by a high-speed video camera 9 from the outside of the observation box 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for evaluating the flow of air flowing out of a cigarette and an evaluation method using the same. More specifically, a metal wire coated with oil is arranged near the end of the cigarette, and by flowing a current through the metal wire, the trajectory of the oil evaporated from the metal wire is observed, so that the air flowing out of the cigarette is observed. And / or an apparatus for evaluating the flow of air flowing out of a cigarette for evaluating the flow of mainstream smoke, and an evaluation method using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a material for a cigarette filter, a crimped fiber bundle of cellulose acetate or polyolefin, or a sheet made of paper or pulp has been put to practical use. Generally, a filter made of cellulose acetate fiber having a better flavor and taste is preferred, and is used for most cigarette products. On the other hand, as the tar of cigarette products has been reduced, the demand for cigarette filters with improved filtration performance of cigarette smoke has been increasing. For this reason, while the ventilation resistance which is an index of the filtration performance of the filter is increased,
From the side of the filter, an aperture filter through which ventilation air for diluting mainstream smoke flows is used.

[0003] In addition to the conventional plain filter having a uniform circular rod shape, a molded filter having a special structure obtained by processing a filter material has been used. Conventionally, smoking evaluation of mainstream smoke coming out of a cigarette filter has been performed using the CORESTA method, No. 23. It defines cigarette smoking conditions and a method for collecting particulate components coming out of the filter with a Cambridge filter.

[0004] However, in the case of an apertured filter or a molded filter, the coloring at the outlet of the filter at the end of smoking due to smoke is observed not in the entire filter but in a partial color. In the filter, it is estimated that the mainstream smoke does not uniformly flow out of the entire filter. Therefore, as a method of quantifying the distribution of mainstream smoke at the end of the filter outlet, the mainstream smoke coming out of the cigarette filter is divided and collected in the cross-sectional direction, and the smoke component is collected. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-304371 discloses a method for evaluating mainstream smoke distribution in the cross-section direction of a filter by quantitatively determining the distribution. However, even in the above-mentioned method, it is difficult to evaluate because ventilation air cannot be captured. Also, no method for directly observing mainstream smoke is disclosed.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for directly observing and evaluating the flow of mainstream smoke and / or ventilation air flowing out of a cigarette and an evaluation method using the same. And

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for evaluating the flow of air and / or mainstream smoke flowing out of a cigarette, wherein a means for evaporating oil near an end of the cigarette to be evaluated. It is an evaluation apparatus of the air flow from a cigarette characterized by having. Here, as the means for evaporating, a method of arranging a metal wire coated with oil and applying a current to the metal wire can be used. In addition, a transparent box that covers the end of the cigarette is provided, and a separate suction unit is provided in the box, so that it is easy to observe the trajectory of the evaporated oil. Another aspect of the present invention is a method for evaluating the flow of air and / or mainstream smoke flowing out of a cigarette, comprising means for evaporating oil near an end of the cigarette, wherein the trajectory of the evaporated oil is provided. This is a method for evaluating the air flow from a cigarette, characterized by observing the air flow.

A fine oil mist is generated near the end of the cigarette, and the locus of the oil mist is observed. For this reason, the cigarette is held in a transparent box for observation so that the trajectory can be directly observed from the outside. It is desirable to place the cigarette as close as possible to the metal wire. It is desirable for the cigarette to be located within 10 mm from the metal wire, since the turbulence of the air flow is small.
It is not desirable that the metal wire comes into direct contact with the cigarette because it is affected by the current flowing through the metal wire. Further, the air is exhausted at a volume of 17.5 ml / sec from the suction unit provided in the box so that the same volume of air as the smoking volume in the smoking test of No. 23 of the CORESTA method flows through the cigarette.

The current flowing through the metal wire can be either direct current or alternating current. It is preferable to use pulse currents at regular intervals because the trajectory of the oil mist becomes clear. It is desirable to supply a pulse current within 2 seconds, which is the smoking time in the smoking test of No. 23 of the CORESTA method. The metal wire only needs to be conductive. For example, nichrome, stainless steel, tungsten wire or the like having a diameter of 0.05 mm to 0.5 mm can be used.

As the oil, mineral oil, aromatic oil, fat and oil can be used. It is desirable to be liquid at room temperature so that it can be uniformly applied to the metal wire. Further, it is desirable that the amount of impurities is small so that no residue remains after evaporation from the metal wire. The observation box is made of an airtight, non-hygroscopic, chemically inert and transparent material. A transparent resin such as an acrylic resin or a polycarbonate resin can be used.

[0010]

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of the evaluation device of the present invention. The cigarette 1 is attached so that the mouthpiece enters the transparent observation box 2. The labyrinth seal 3 is provided between the cigarette 1 and the observation box 2 so that no air leaks.
Sealed by.

In the vicinity of the mouth of the cigarette 1, a metal wire 4 is attached. The metal wire 4 is connected to a power source 6 by a conductor 5. The oil applied to the metal wire 4 is supplied to the power source 6
The oil mist 7 is generated by evaporation due to the pulse current from the oil. The air is evacuated from the suction section 8 to the outside at a capacity of 17.5 ml per second. Therefore, the same volume of air as the exhaust
The cigarette 1 flows into the observation box 2. The oil mist 7 is moved by the air flowing out of the cigarette 1. This locus is observed from outside the observation box 2 using the high-speed video 9.

(Example 1) A commercially available cigarette was attached to the same device as in FIG. The observation box was made of acrylic resin. 17. From the observation box, with an external suction pump.
Evacuation was performed with a volume of 5 ml.

As the metal wire, a stainless wire having a diameter of 0.2 mm was used. As oil to be applied to stainless wire,
Castrol 2TS, a gasoline engine oil manufactured by Castrol Co., Ltd., was used.

A 24 volt direct current is applied to this stainless wire.
The electricity was supplied for 0.5 seconds. The locus of the oil mist moving by the air flowing out of the mouth of the commercial cigarette was photographed from outside the observation box by high-speed video. High-speed video is manufactured by Photron Co., Ltd., FASTCAM-Rabb
Itmini2 was used.

FIG. 2 shows an image captured by high-speed video. FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the air flow from the cigarette. The white smoke generated by the evaporation of the oil applied to the metal wire 4 is observed as a moving trajectory due to the airflow flowing out of the cigarette 1. Some of the metal wires are
It is protected by an insulating tube 10. From the shape of the oil mist 7 in this image, it is possible to analyze the flow velocity, the velocity distribution at the cigarette outlet, and the like with respect to the flow of mainstream smoke or ventilation air inside the cigarette.

[0016]

The apparatus for estimating air flow from a cigarette according to the present invention can reveal air and / or mainstream smoke flow at the filter outlet which could not be evaluated in the past.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example of an apparatus for evaluating air flow from a cigarette according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of an image obtained by observing an air flow from a commercial cigarette using the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an air flow from a cigarette.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cigarette 2 Observation box 3 Labyrinth seal 4 Metal wire 5 Conductor 6 Power supply 7 Oil mist 8 Exhaust suction part 9 High-speed video 10 Insulation tube

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. air flowing out of the cigarette, and / or
Alternatively, there is provided a device for evaluating the flow of mainstream smoke, wherein the device for evaporating oil is provided near an end of the cigarette to be evaluated, the device for evaporating oil. 2. The apparatus for evaluating the flow of air from a cigarette according to claim 1, wherein the means for evaporating comprises arranging a metal wire coated with oil and applying a current to the metal wire. 3. The apparatus for evaluating the flow of air from a cigarette according to claim 1, further comprising means for observing a trajectory of the evaporated oil. 4. The apparatus for evaluating the flow of air from a cigarette according to claim 1, further comprising a transparent box that covers an end of the cigarette. 5. The apparatus for evaluating the flow of air from a cigarette according to claim 1, further comprising a box for covering the cigarette, wherein the box is provided with a suction unit separately. 6. The apparatus for evaluating the flow of air from a cigarette according to claim 5, wherein the air is exhausted from the suction section at a volume of 17.5 ml per second. 7. The apparatus for evaluating the air flow from a cigarette according to claim 2, wherein the current flowing through the metal wire is a pulse current within 2 seconds. 8. Air flowing out of the cigarette, and / or
Or a method of evaluating the flow of mainstream smoke, having means for evaporating oil near the end of the cigarette,
A method for evaluating airflow from a cigarette, characterized by observing a trajectory of evaporated oil.