JP2011525368A - Smoking filter - Google Patents

Abstract

  A filter element (214) for a smoking article, wherein the filter element is wound around a filter material plug (210) having a longitudinally extending surface (213) and a longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug. Wrapper (220), a longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug and a tobacco product (240) positioned between the wrapper and covering at least a portion of the longitudinally extending surface.

Description

  The present invention relates to a filter for smoking articles.

  As used herein, the term “smoking article” includes cigarettes, cigarettes based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, recycled tobacco or tobacco substitutes, cigarettes such as cigars and cigarillos, and heated non-combustible articles. To do.

  Smoke filtration in smoking articles such as cigarettes can adversely affect the taste and flavor characteristics of the product during smoking. Generally, a filter includes an adsorbent such as activated carbon to reduce specific components during smoking. However, the activated carbon of the filter adversely affects the taste / flavor characteristics of the cigarette.

  The present invention provides a filter for smoking articles, the filter comprising a filter material plug having a longitudinally extending surface, a wrapper wound around the longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug, and the longitudinal direction. And a tobacco product disposed between the longitudinal surface of the filter media plug and the wrapper to cover at least a portion of the surface extending to the surface.

  The tobacco product may be covered only over part of the longitudinal surface of the filter material plug.

  The tobacco product may be provided in a stripe extending in the longitudinal direction between the longitudinal surface of the filter material plug and the wrapper.

  The tobacco product may cover substantially the entire inner surface of the wrapper.

  The tobacco product may contact the longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug.

  The tobacco product may be adhered to the inner surface of the wrapper.

  An adhesive containing tobacco products may be applied to the inner surface of the wrapper.

  The tobacco product may include chopped tobacco.

  The tobacco product may include tobacco powder.

  Tobacco products may include chopped or powdered tobacco.

  The tobacco product may include cut tobacco.

  The present invention also provides a filter for a smoking article comprising one or more filter elements.

  One section of the filter may contain activated carbon, and the area covered by the tobacco product may be limited to the longitudinally extending surface of this section.

  The present invention also provides a filter element for a smoking article, the filter element being wound around a filter material plug having a longitudinally extending surface and a longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug. A wrapper including a recycled tobacco material.

  The recycled tobacco material may be recycled tobacco paper.

  The wrapper may be a plug wrapper.

  The present invention also provides a smoking article comprising the filter element described above.

  The present invention also provides a filter element for a smoking article, the filter element being wound around a filter material plug having a longitudinally extending surface and a longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug. A wrapper, the wrapper including recycled tobacco material.

  The recycled tobacco material may be recycled tobacco paper.

  The wrapper may be a plug wrapper.

  A smoking article comprising the filter element according to claim 12, 13 or 14.

  The invention also provides a method of manufacturing a filter element for a smoking article, the method covering at least part of the longitudinally extending surface between the longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug and the wrapper. Including providing tobacco products.

  The method includes bonding the tobacco product to the inner surface of the wrapper.

  The method also includes limiting the coverage of the tobacco product to only a portion of the longitudinally extending surface.

  The method further includes confining the tobacco product to a longitudinally extending surface of one section of the filter element that includes activated carbon.

  The method also includes applying an adhesive containing tobacco products to the inner surface of the wrapper.

  Several aspects of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is a perspective view of the smoking article containing a smoking material rod, a filter, and the tipping paper which attaches this rod to a filter. It is a perspective view of the filter material plug which has a 1st end surface, a 2nd end surface, and the surface extended in the longitudinal direction. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a filter element including a filter material plug and a plug wrapper shaped wrapper. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a filter element with tobacco products adhered to the inner surface of the plug wrapper. It is a perspective view of the 1st and 2nd filter element which has a contact end face. It is sectional drawing of the 1st and 2nd filter element in which the 1st filter element has the contact end surface containing activated carbon. It is sectional drawing of the end surface of the filter element containing activated carbon. It is a perspective view of the filter containing the 1st and 2nd filter element of the state contact | abutted wound around the outer wrapper. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of first and second filter elements for a filter including tobacco in which a second filter element is bonded to the inner surface of a plug wrapper. It is a perspective view of the filter element in which the adhesive was applied to the inner surface of the plug wrapper in a strip shape. It is the figure which illustrated the process of preparing the plug wrapper for using for a filter element. It is the perspective view which illustrated the packing of the cylindrical filter material tow with the wrapper. It is a figure which shows the process sequence for manufacturing a filter element.

  A cigarette-shaped smoking article 100 includes a filter 200 according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a cigarette 100 includes a rod 110 made of a smoking material such as a generally cylindrical cigarette wrapped in paper, and the rod 110 is glued to the filter 200 at one end of the rod and around the filter 200. The paper 300 is attached coaxially. The filter 200 is made of a general cylindrical filter material tow.

  A cylindrical tow made of filter material may include one or more sections, each having a different material composition. As will be described later in this example of the invention, each section corresponds to one of a plurality of generally cylindrical filter media plugs 210 in one of the corresponding plurality of individual filter elements that make up the filter 200. Alternatively, however, the filter 200 may be monolithic so that individual sections correspond to a single continuous filter material plug portion of a single filter element.

  A general example of a filter element 214 for forming a filter 200 according to the present invention is described below with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 2, the filter material plug 210 of the filter element 214 is generally circular in the circumferential or longitudinal direction substantially perpendicular to the first and second end surfaces 211 and 212 and the first and second end surfaces 211 and 212. It has an extended surface 213.

  The filter material plug 210 of the filter element 214 is wrapped in a layer of sheet material such as paper or plug wrapper 220. As shown in FIG. 3, the plug wrapper 220 is wound around a surface 213 extending in the longitudinal direction of the filter material plug 210 with the first and second end surfaces 211 and 212 of the plug 210 being opened. Typically, the plug wrapper 220 is held in place around the filter material plug 210 by gluing along the seam where it overlaps. This may be done using a suitable adhesive 230 such as a PVA material conventionally used as a stripe. Alternatively, the plug wrapper 220 can be directly adhered to the surface 213 of the filter material 210 by, for example, applying a plurality of adhesive stripes 230 directly to the inner surface 221 thereof. Application of the adhesive stripe 230 to the plug wrapper 230 is shown in FIG.

  The plug wrapper 220 may be formed of a conventionally used paper material. However, the plug wrapper 220 may alternatively or additionally include tobacco or recycled tobacco material. Further, the entire plug wrapper 220 may be formed of a regenerated tobacco material such as a sheet of regenerated tobacco paper. The regenerated tobacco material may be of a different color than the filter material plug so that it can be visually identified. For example, the regenerated tobacco material may be a light color such as yellow or blue to clearly contrast with the white cellulose acetate plug of the filter material and brown chipping paper.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the filter element 214 further includes a tobacco product 240 positioned between the longitudinally extending surface 213 of the filter material plug and the inner surface 221 of the plug wrapper 220. The tobacco product 240 may be, for example, chopped or crushed tobacco. The tobacco product 240 is usually cut tobacco. Alternatively, tobacco product 240 may include recycled tobacco or tobacco-containing paper strands or particles or combinations thereof.

  The tobacco product 240 is adhered to the inner surface 221 of the plug wrapper 220 using a suitable adhesive so as to cover all or part of the longitudinally extending surface 213 of the filter material plug 210 as it is wound by the plug wrapper 220. The When the plug wrapper 220 is wound on the filter material plug 210, the tobacco product 240 may contact the longitudinally extending surface 213 of the filter material plug 210.

  Preferably, as shown in FIG. 5 and generally as described above, the filter 200 includes a plurality of filter elements. An example of the filter 200 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In this example of the invention, filter 200 includes a first filter element 214 that includes tobacco product 240 and a second filter element 215 that does not include tobacco, as described above. The shape and manufacturing method of the second filter element 215 simply corresponds to that of the first filter element 214 excluding the tobacco product 240. However, as described below, in a preferred example of the present invention, the first filter element additionally includes an activated adsorbent such as activated carbon.

  The first and second filter elements 214, 215 are separate filter elements 214, 215 that are typically cylindrical and have substantially the same diameter. In this example, the filter material 210 of the second filter element 215 is made of cellulose acetate, and the filter material 210 of the first filter element 214 contains both cellulose acetate and an adsorbent such as activated carbon. The activated carbon may be granular activated carbon 216, which is a “Dalmatian” type known in the art and is uniformly distributed within the volume of the cellulose acetate plug 210. 6 and 7 show this configuration in cross section. Alternatively, activated carbon may be sprinkled on the sticky outer surface 213 of the cellulose acetate plug 210 or adhered to the cotton yarn surrounded by the cellulose acetate plug 210. The activated carbon may be held in a cavity surrounded by the cellulose acetate plug 210.

  Although the first and second filter elements 214, 215 are shown to be substantially the same length in FIGS. 5 and 6, it will be appreciated that the elements 214, 215 may be of different lengths. It will be further appreciated that the filter 200 may include more than two filter elements. For example, the filter 200 may include first and second filter elements made of cellulose acetate and a third filter element including cellulose acetate and activated carbon as described above. In one example, a filter element containing activated carbon may be sandwiched between two elements made of cellulose acetate. However, it will be appreciated that the filter elements 214, 215 may be arranged in a plurality of different orders within the filter 200. At least one filter element includes tobacco product 240 as described above.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the filter elements 214 and 215 are arranged in the longitudinal direction with the end surfaces of the filter elements 214 and 215 in contact with the next one. In FIG. 8, the filter elements 214, 215 are wrapped in an outer wrapper 250 that is held in place around the filter elements 214, 215 by gluing along overlapping seams similar to the plug wrapper 220. The outer wrapper 250 completes the assembly of the filter 200.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the filter 200 is positioned at the mouth end of the smoking article 100 such that the gas stream containing the smoke drawn from the smoker rod 110 moves through the filter 200 before entering the smoker's mouth. ing. The tobacco product 240 is located on one or more filter elements 214, 215 between the inner surface 221 of the plug wrapper 220 and the longitudinally extending surface 213 of the filter media plug as described with reference to FIG. . In this way, the tobacco product 240 is in close proximity to the gas flow path so that the gas flow travels through the filter 200 and can thus affect the characteristics of the gas flow before it reaches the smoker's mouth. is doing.

  Tobacco product 240 may, for example, improve the taste and flavor of the gas stream and affect the overall characteristics of the gas stream so that the gas stream is more preferred by smokers. One application of the tobacco product 240 is to alter the degree of taste and flavor characteristics of the gas stream that is lost as the gas stream moves through the filter media 210. The area covered by tobacco product 240 in this regard is that either activated carbon-containing filter 200 or only one filter element 214, 215, as activated carbon is known to affect the taste and flavor of tobacco smoke. You may limit to the surface 213 extended in the longitudinal direction of the section of the filter material 210. FIG. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, in this example of the invention, tobacco product 240 is present only in filter element 214 that includes activated carbon 216.

  More generally, the tobacco product 240 may be adhered to the plug wrapper 220 so as to substantially uniformly cover the filter material surface 213 of the filter 200. Alternatively, the entire filter 200 or different regions of the surface 213 of the filter material 210 of one filter element 214, 215 may be covered with different filling amounts of tobacco product 240. For example, the tobacco product 240 may be provided as a plurality of stripes as will be specifically described below.

  An adhesive stripe 230 is applied to the inner surface of the plug wrapper 220 sheet as shown in FIGS. The adhesive stripe 230 provides a means for applying the tobacco product 240 to the inner surface 221 of the plug wrapper 220, whereby the tobacco product 240 forms a longitudinally extending stripe on the surface 221 of the plug wrapper 220. The adhesive stripe 230 can be oriented in any direction. Additionally or alternatively, the adhesive 230 may be a means for bonding the plug wrapper 220 to the filter material 210 in order to bond the tobacco product 240 to the plug wrapper 220.

  A possible method of applying the tobacco product 240 to the plug wrapper 220 is to mix the tobacco product 240 and the adhesive 230 prior to application to the plug wrapper 220. As shown in FIG. 11, this is a sheet of flat plug wrapper 220 glued in the direction of arrow A where applicator nozzle 500 applies a plurality of strips of adhesive in parallel along the inner surface 221 of plug wrapper 220. Pass through station 400. The stripe adhesive 230 is applied from the tank 600 through the nozzle 500. When the tobacco product 240 is mixed with the adhesive 230 as described above, the nozzle 500 is also responsible for applying the tobacco product 240 to the inner surface 221 of the plug wrapper 220. If the tobacco product 240 is not mixed with the adhesive 230, the tobacco product 240 may be applied to the inner surface of the plug wrapper 220 by another application means. For example, the tobacco product 240 may be sown or sprayed onto the plug wrapper 220 such that it is adhered to the inner surface 221 of the plug wrapper.

  Alternatively, the adhesive 230 may be applied to the inner surface 221 of the plug wrapper 220 by another suitable application method. For example, the adhesive 230 may be sprayed on the inner surface of the plug wrapper 220.

As shown in FIG. 12, a generally cylindrical tow made of a flat sheet of plug wrapper 220 and a suitable filter material is fed to the lapping station 700 in the direction of arrow B to form a filter element 214. Here, the plug wrapper 220 is wound around the tow of the filter material and glued by the glue nozzle 800 so that the plug wrapper 220 completely wraps around the longitudinal surface 213 of the filter material. The filter material and the surrounding plug wrapper are then cut to length to form a plurality of filter elements 214, 215 suitable for use in individual cigarettes 100. This is shown schematically by the dashed line 1000 in FIG. The steps of the method for forming a filter element according to the present invention are indicated by S1 to S6 in FIG.

The invention also encompasses further variations and modifications within the scope of the claims.

Claims (23)

A filter material plug having a longitudinally extending surface;
A wrapper wound around the longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug;
A filter element for a smoking article comprising a tobacco product provided between the longitudinal face of the filter material plug and the wrapper to cover at least a portion of the longitudinally extending surface.   2. The filter element according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco product covers only a part of the longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug.   3. The filter element according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco product is provided in a stripe shape extending in a longitudinal direction between a longitudinal surface of the filter material plug and a wrapper.   The filter element according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco product covers substantially the entire inner surface of the wrapper.   The filter element according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the tobacco product is in contact with a longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug.   The filter element according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the tobacco product is bonded to an inner surface of the wrapper.   The filter element according to claim 1, wherein an adhesive containing the tobacco product is applied to an inner surface of the wrapper.   8. The filter element according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco product includes chopped tobacco.   A filter for smoking articles comprising one or more filter elements according to any one of claims 1 to 8.   10. A filter according to claim 9, characterized in that one section of the filter contains activated carbon and the area covered by the tobacco product is limited to the longitudinally extending surface of this section.   A smoking article comprising the filter element according to any one of claims 1 to 8. A filter material plug having a longitudinally extending surface;
A filter element for a smoking article comprising a wrapper wound around a longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug, wherein the wrapper comprises recycled tobacco material.   The filter element according to claim 12, wherein the recycled tobacco material is recycled tobacco paper.   14. The filter element according to claim 12, wherein the wrapper is a plug wrapper.   A smoking article comprising the filter element according to claim 12, 13 or 14.   A method for producing a filter element for a smoking article, comprising providing a tobacco product so as to cover at least part of the longitudinally extending surface between the longitudinally extending surface of the filter material plug and the wrapper.   The method of claim 16, comprising adhering a tobacco product to the inner surface of the wrapper.   18. A method according to claim 16 or 17, comprising limiting the area covered by the tobacco product to only a portion of the longitudinally extending surface.   19. A method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, comprising limiting the tobacco product to a longitudinally extending surface of one section of a filter element comprising activated carbon.   20. A method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, comprising applying an adhesive comprising the tobacco product to the inner surface of the wrapper.   A method of manufacturing a filter element for a smoking article comprising providing a wrapper around a longitudinally extending surface of a filter material plug, wherein the wrapper comprises recycled tobacco material.   The method of claim 21, wherein the recycled tobacco material is recycled tobacco paper.   23. A method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the wrapper comprises a plug wrapper.

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