JP2013243973A - Filter for cigarette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively catch a tar component in a smoke while controlling an amount of nanofiber used without raising inhalation resistance in a filter for cigarette using a nanofiber.SOLUTION: A filter 3 to be integrally fitted to a cigarette body 2 is equipped with a cylindrical filter body 31 and a ventilation body 32. The ventilation body 32 is a nonwoven fabric-like sheet comprising a filament of a nanofiber produced by an electrostatic spinning method and having a fiber diameter of ≥10 nm and <1,000 nm and is fitted to the whole area of a tip surface of the filter body 31 formed in a round shape having the substantially same diameter as that of the filter body 31. The mass of the ventilation body 32 used in the filter 3 is usually ≥0.04 mass% and ≤0.4 mass% of the filter body 31.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cigarette filter, and more particularly to a cigarette filter that is integrally attached to a cigarette body.

  It is well known that smokers have a higher incidence of emphysema and lung cancer than non-smokers. About this, it is thought that one of the causes is that tar components contained in cigarette smoke are deposited in the lungs by smoking. Therefore, for the purpose of reducing the inhalation of tar components into the lung, cigarettes (cigarettes) are provided in which a cylindrical filter made of cellulose acetate, paper, or rayon is integrally attached to the main body. However, with respect to this filter, efforts are being made to further enhance the effect of capturing tar components.

  For example, a filter carrying activated carbon fine particles is known, but only a part of the cigarette smoke is in contact with the activated carbon fine particles, and it does not exhibit a sufficient effect in terms of capturing tar components. It is. In addition, this filter also has a problem of increasing the pungent taste of the cigarette because the activated carbon particles adsorb moisture together with the tar component in the smoke and the like.

  On the other hand, the use of nanofibers in tobacco filters is being studied. For example, Patent Document 1 describes that nanofibers having a fiber diameter of about 200 nm are arranged at a predetermined ratio between ultrafine fibers having a fiber diameter of about 20 μm. However, in this filter, since nanofibers are arranged between ultrafine fibers, only a part of cigarette smoke comes into contact with the nanofibers, and it is difficult to sufficiently capture tar components and the like. Further, this filter is expensive because the amount of nanofiber used is set to a large amount of about 0.5 to 10% of the filter mass in order to increase the chance of contact between the nanofiber and smoke.

  In Patent Document 2, nanofibers having a fiber diameter of 1,000 nm or less are formed in a filter shape by a method similar to the method for producing a normal filter for cigarettes, and this is attached to a normal filter made of microfibers alone. The use as a cigarette filter is disclosed. However, since this filter forms nanofibers in a columnar shape, the amount of use thereof is as high as 50 to 400 g per 1,000 cigarettes, and is expensive.

  Patent Document 3 discloses that electrospun nanofibers are arranged in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the filter and the mainstream smoke direction. This filter has a part of tobacco smoke in contact with the nanofibers. However, it is difficult to sufficiently capture tar components and the like.

  Patent Document 4 discloses a filter in which a cylindrical ventilation body made of nanofibers is inserted in the center of the filter in parallel with the direction of the flue. It is difficult to sufficiently capture tar components and the like.

  In Patent Document 5, a cylindrical ventilation body similar to that of Patent Document 4 is inserted in the center of the filter in parallel with the flue direction, and the center of the end surface is removed so that smoke is sucked through the ventilation body. Although a closed filter is disclosed, this filter may cause discomfort to the smoker due to increased inspiratory resistance.

Special table 2009-512455 gazette WO2005 / 009150A2 Special table 2009-545307 US005826592A EP 0453299A1

  An object of the present invention is to make it possible to effectively capture a tar component in smoke without reducing the amount of nanofiber used and increasing the intake resistance in a tobacco filter using nanofibers.

  The present invention relates to a cigarette filter that is integrally attached to a cigarette body, and the cigarette filter intersects the filter body and the passage direction of smoke from the cigarette body with respect to the filter body. And a sheet-like ventilation body made of nanofiber filaments having a fiber diameter of 10 nm or more and less than 1,000 nm, which is disposed on the entire surface.

The ventilation body used here consists of a nonwoven fabric with a basis weight of 1-5 g / m < ² >, for example.

  In one form of the cigarette filter, the filter main body is formed in a columnar shape, and the ventilation body is attached to the entire surface of one of the end faces of the filter main body.

  In the cigarette filter of the present invention, the mass of the ventilation body is usually 0.04 mass% or more and 0.4 mass% or less of the filter body.

  This invention which concerns on another viewpoint is related with the smoking auxiliary filter which can be attached or detached with respect to a cigarette. This smoking auxiliary filter has a mounting portion into which an end of a cigarette can be inserted, a main body having a flue communicating with the mounting portion, and a fiber diameter of 10 nm or more filled in a part of the flue. And a sheet-like ventilation body made of a nanofiber filament of less than 1,000 nm.

  The cigarette filter of the present invention has a sheet-like ventilation body made of nanofiber filaments having a fiber diameter of 10 nm or more and less than 1,000 nm on the entire surface intersecting with the smoke passage direction from the cigarette body. Since it arrange | positions, the tar component in smoke can be capture | acquired effectively, without suppressing the usage-amount of nanofiber and raising suction resistance.

  In the smoking auxiliary filter of the present invention, a sheet-like ventilation body composed of nanofiber filaments having a fiber diameter of 10 nm or more and less than 1,000 nm is filled in a part of the flue of the main body. The tar component in the smoke from the cigarette can be effectively captured without suppressing and increasing the intake resistance.

Sectional drawing of the cigarette provided with the filter which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing of the tobacco provided with the filter which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing of the cigarette provided with the filter which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing of the cigarette provided with the filter which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing of the smoking assistance filter which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the measurement result of the diameter and the number of floating particles in the air used when the trapping effect of floating particles was investigated about the manufactured ventilation body in the experiment example. The figure which shows the measurement result of the diameter and number of floating particles in the air after passing through the ventilation body A manufactured in the experimental example. The figure which shows the measurement result of the diameter and the number of floating particles in the air after passing the ventilation body B manufactured in the experiment example. In an experiment example, the photograph of the filter part end surface after separating the ventilation body A from the test article A after smoking. The photograph of the ventilation body A isolate | separated from the test article A after smoking in an experiment example.

  With reference to FIG. 1, the cigarette provided with the filter which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In the drawing, a cigarette 1 is a cigarette, and includes a cigarette body 2 and a filter 3 in which cigarette leaves are cigaretted into a cylindrical shape. The filter 3 includes a filter main body 31 and a ventilation body 32. In addition, the filter 3 is entirely wrapped with an exterior paper 4 that covers a part of the cigarette body 2, and is attached to the cigarette body 2 by the exterior paper 4.

  The filter main body 31 is a cylindrical member having substantially the same diameter as the cigarette main body 2, and is formed using cellulose acetate, paper, rayon, or the like in the same manner as a commercially available cigarette filter portion. Is in close contact with the end face of the cigarette body 2. And the filter main body 31 has air permeability which can permeate | transmit the smoke from the tobacco main body 2 in parallel with an axial direction at the time of smoking.

The ventilation body 32 is a circular sheet-like member having substantially the same diameter as the filter body 31, and is disposed on the entire front end surface of the filter body 31. The ventilation body 32 is a non-woven fabric made of a nanofiber filament, particularly a monofilament, having a fiber diameter of 10 nm or more and less than 1,000 nm, preferably 10 nm or more and less than 500 nm, more preferably 10 nm or more and less than 400 nm. those 5 g / ^{m 2,} and preferably from 2 to 4 g / ^{m 2.} When the basis weight is less than 1 g / m ² , the tar component in the smoke may easily pass through the filter 3 during smoking. On the other hand, if it exceeds 5 g / m ² , it is uneconomical without improving the trapping effect of the tar component, and the intake resistance of the filter 3 can be increased to give the smoker discomfort. There is sex.

  Such a ventilation body 32 can be manufactured, for example, by a spinning method called an electrostatic spinning method (electrospinning method) or a sea-island split spinning method. In the electrospinning method, a nanofiber is usually produced by causing a resin solution dissolved in a solvent to fly to the ground side in a high voltage field and simultaneously evaporating the solvent, and collecting the nanofiber on the ground. According to this method, any resin that can be dissolved in a solvent can be made into nanofibers. For example, a nanofiber can be formed by dissolving polyurethane resin, polyolefin resin, or the like in an organic solvent, and dissolving polyvinyl alcohol resin, polyvinylpyrrolidone resin, polyethylene oxide resin, or the like in water. In addition, since the nanofiber obtained from resin melt | dissolved in water will swell with progress of time, it is preferable to bridge | crosslink resin.

  In the electrospinning method, it is also known to form a nanofiber by flying a resin melted by irradiation with a laser or the like to the ground side in a high voltage field as described above. According to this method, as long as it is a meltable resin such as a polyolefin resin, nanofibers can be formed without preparing a resin solution.

  On the other hand, the sea-island split-spinning method is a method for producing nanofibers by spinning a sea-island structure fiber and then dissolving and removing the portion that hits the sea with a solvent or the like. Can be manufactured.

  The ventilation body 32 can effectively capture particles having a particle diameter of 20 nm or more. Since the particle size of tobacco smoke is known to be about 100 nm to 1 μm, the ventilation body 32 can effectively capture tar components remaining in the smoke that has passed through the filter body 31. .

  In the filter 3, the usage amount of the ventilation body 32 is usually preferably set to be 0.04 mass% or more and 0.4 mass% or less of the filter body 31, and is 0.1 mass% or more and 0.3 mass% or less. It is more preferable to set to be as follows. When the amount used is less than 0.04% by mass, it may be difficult to effectively capture tar components contained in cigarette smoke. On the contrary, when it exceeds 0.4 mass%, the improvement of the trapping effect of the tar component is not seen and it is uneconomical, and the intake resistance of the filter 3 increases to the extent that the smoker feels uncomfortable. there is a possibility.

  The filter 3 can suppress the usage amount of the ventilation body 32 for capturing the tar component contained in the cigarette smoke. Moreover, since the ventilation body 32 produces an effect unique to nanofibers called a slip-flow effect, the intake resistance is unlikely to increase. For this reason, the cigarette 1 provided with this filter 3 can suppress that the tar component in smoke is attracted | sucked in a smoker's body, without giving a smoker a discomfort.

  In the filter 3 according to the above-described embodiment, the ventilation body 32 is disposed over the entire front end surface of the filter body 31, but the ventilation body 32 is configured to prevent smoke from the cigarette body 2 from being emitted from the filter body 31. It suffices if it is disposed on the entire surface intersecting the passage direction D, preferably on the entire orthogonal surface, and the mounting position with respect to the filter body 31 can be appropriately changed if this condition can be satisfied.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the ventilation body 32 can be disposed on the entire end surface of the filter body 31 on the tobacco body 2 side. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 3, the filter main body 31 can also be divided into a cylindrical first piece 31a and a second piece 31b having the same diameter, and a ventilator 32 can be interposed therebetween. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the end surface on the second piece 31b side of the first piece 31a and the end surface on the first piece 31a side of the second piece 31b are inclined so that the ventilation body 32 is sandwiched in an inclined state. You can also.

  With reference to FIG. 5, the smoking assistance filter which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In the figure, the smoking auxiliary filter 40 includes a main body 50 and a ventilation body 60. The main body 50 is a cylindrical member that is made of a synthetic resin molded body and is open at both ends, and has a mounting portion 51 into which one end of the cigarette can be inserted. Further, the main body 50 is formed with a flue 52 communicating with the mounting portion 51 in the axial direction. The ventilation body 60 is the same as the ventilation body 32 used in the filter 3 described above, and is filled so as to close a part of the flue 52.

  When using the smoking assist filter 40, the end of the cigarette 70 is inserted into the mounting portion 51. The cigarette 70 may be either with a filter or cut into both ends. In the case with a filter, the filter part is inserted into the mounting part 51. When the smoker grabs and sucks the opening end of the main body 50, the smoke from the cigarette 70 flows through the flue 52, passes through the ventilation body 60, and then flows from the opening into the smoker's mouth. At this time, the tar component contained in the smoke from the cigarette is captured by the aeration body 60. Further, since the ventilation body 60 is difficult to increase the intake resistance, the smoker can enjoy smoking without receiving the discomfort caused by wearing the smoking auxiliary filter 40.

  The ventilation body 32 and the ventilation body 60 respectively used in the filter 3 and the smoking assist filter 40 according to the above-described embodiment may be composed only of the nanofiber nonwoven fabric as described above, or the nonwoven fabric may be made of polypropylene. What laminated | stacked on the base material which consists of common nonwoven fabrics, such as the product made from a resin fiber, may be used. When a nanofiber nonwoven fabric is manufactured by an electrospinning method, such laminated aerial bodies 32 and 60 usually have a base disposed on the ground side and collect nanofibers on the base. Can be manufactured. Further, the laminated ventilation bodies 32 and 60 may have a form in which a nanofiber nonwoven fabric is sandwiched between the above-described base materials. The laminated ventilation bodies 32 and 60 are easily attached to the filter body 31 because the nanofiber nonwoven fabric is reinforced by the base material. In addition, in the smoking auxiliary filter 40, the inside of the flue 52 of the body 50 is provided. Easy filling.

  Since the cigarette filter 3 and the smoking auxiliary filter 40 according to the present invention can effectively capture a tar component in the cigarette smoke, a smoker develops a disease such as emphysema or lung cancer due to smoking. It is expected that this can be suppressed.

[Experimental example]
Manufacture of aeration body 6 g of polyvinyl alcohol (“Gosefimer Z410” manufactured by Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) was dissolved in 94 g of pure water to prepare an aqueous solution having a concentration of 6% by mass. In this aqueous solution, 6 mg of glyoxal was dissolved as a polyvinyl alcohol crosslinking agent to obtain a raw material aqueous solution.

Using the obtained raw material aqueous solution and manufacturing equipment (“NANOFIBER ELECTROSPINING UNIT” manufactured by Kato Tech Co., Ltd.), an air-permeable body made of a non-woven sheet was produced by electrospinning. Specifically, in production equipment, PP (polypropylene) spunbond (weight per unit area: 20 g / m ² ) manufactured by Asahi Kasei Fibers Co., Ltd. was wound around a target drum (diameter: 100 mm, width: 330 mm), and the raw material aqueous solution was filled. A syringe with a diameter of 25 mm and an internal volume of 25 ml was set. Then, while rotating the target drum at a rotation speed of 1 m / min, the extrusion speed of the syringe pump was set to 0.1 mm / min, and the raw material aqueous solution was extruded from the syringe. At this time, an output voltage was set to 20 kV, and polyfilar alcohol monofilament nanofibers were collected in a sheet form on PP spunbond to produce a ventilation body.

Here, the following two types of ventilation bodies were manufactured by changing the operating time under the above conditions.
<Ventilation body A>
It was operated for 105 minutes under the above conditions, and a nonwoven fabric sheet having a basis weight of about 3 g / m ^{2 made} of uncrosslinked nanofibers having a fiber diameter of about 200 nm was laminated on PP spunbond. The laminated body was heated in a vacuum dryer at 105 ° C. for 20 minutes to crosslink the non-crosslinked nanofibers, thereby obtaining a ventilation body A.

<Ventilator B>
It was operated for 170 minutes under the above-mentioned conditions, and a nonwoven fabric sheet having a basis weight of about 5 g / m ^{2 made} of uncrosslinked nanofibers having a fiber diameter of about 200 nm was laminated on PP spunbond. The laminated body was heated in a vacuum dryer at 105 ° C. for 20 minutes to crosslink the non-crosslinked nanofibers, thereby obtaining a ventilation body B.

  For each ventilation body, the trapping effect of suspended particles was examined. Specifically, the number of suspended particles in the air after passing the air at a flow rate of 0.7 m / min with respect to each aeration body using "SCANNING MOBILITY PARTICLE SIZER MODEL 3936" by TRUST SCIENCE INNOVATION Was measured.

  FIG. 6 shows the measurement results of the diameter and the number of suspended particles in the air that have been passed through each ventilation body. FIG. 7 shows the measurement results of the diameter and number of suspended particles in the air after passing through the ventilation body A, and FIG. 7 shows the measurement results of the diameter and number of suspended particles in the air after passing through the ventilation body B. It is shown in FIG. Since the particle size of the tobacco smoke is about 100 nm to 1 μm, it can be seen from FIGS. 7 and 8 that the vents A and B can almost completely capture the tobacco smoke.

Preparation of Cigarette Test Product The following test product was prepared by attaching the ventilation body A or B to the entire filter end surface (end surface on the side where a smoker was able to receive) of a commercial cigarette “KENT1 100 mm”.

<Test article A>
A ventilation body A attached to the filter end face of the cigarette. The amount of crosslinked nanofibers used in this test product is 0.24 g per 1,000 cigarettes, and 0.12% by mass with respect to 0.2 g of filter mass per cigarette.

<Test article B>
A ventilation body B attached to the filter end face of the cigarette. The amount of the crosslinked nanofiber used in this test product is 0.4 g per 1,000 cigarettes, and 0.2 mass% with respect to 0.2 g of filter mass per cigarette.

The following tests were performed on the test products A and B.
(Ventilation resistance)
Set the test product in a polyethylene tube with an inner diameter of 10 mm, change the air flow rate to 1,000 mL / min, 2,000 mL / min, and 3,000 mL / min, and use a U-shaped manometer to adjust the differential pressure before and after the test product. It was measured. For comparison, the same test was carried out for only the cigarette (KENT1 100 mm) not equipped with a ventilator and only the filter part of the cigarette. The results are shown in Table 1.

  The test products A and B had slightly higher ventilation resistance than the cigarette alone and its filter part alone, but did not bother discomfort or discomfort when actually smoking.

(Status of capturing tar components during smoking)
After smoking the test product A to the vicinity of the end of the cigarette body, the filter part and the ventilation body A were separated, and the state of the filter part and the ventilation body A was observed. A photograph of the end face of the filter part is shown in FIG. 9, and a photograph of the ventilation body A is shown in FIG.

  9 and 10, it can be seen that components such as tar are trapped in the filter portion, but a considerable amount of tar components are also trapped in the ventilation body A.

(Sensory evaluation of test products)
Sensory evaluation was conducted on the situation when 10 people smoked the test products A and B. At the time of smoking, no cigarette smoke was observed during the smoker's breath and almost no odor of breath was felt. In addition, 8 out of 10 smokers evaluated that they did not feel throat irritation or mussels in the mouth when smoking.

2 Cigarette body 3 Filter 31 Filter body 32 Ventilation body 40 Smoke auxiliary filter 50 Body 51 Mounting portion 52 Flue 60 Ventilation body

Claims (5)

A cigarette filter that is integrally attached to the cigarette body,
A filter body;
A sheet-like ventilation body made of filaments of nanofibers having a fiber diameter of 10 nm or more and less than 1,000 nm, disposed on the entire surface intersecting with the direction of smoke passage from the cigarette body with respect to the filter body,
Filter for cigarettes. The cigarette filter according to claim 1, wherein the ventilation body is made of a nonwoven fabric having a basis weight of 1 to 5 g / m ² .   The tobacco filter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the filter body is formed in a columnar shape, and the ventilation body is attached to the entire surface of one of the end surfaces of the filter body.   The filter for cigarettes in any one of Claim 1 to 3 whose mass of the said ventilation body is 0.04 mass% or more and 0.4 mass% or less of the said filter main body. A smoking auxiliary filter detachable from the cigarette,
A main body having a mounting portion into which an end of the cigarette can be inserted, and a flue communicating with the mounting portion;
A sheet-like ventilation body made of nanofiber filaments having a fiber diameter of 10 nm or more and less than 1,000 nm, which is filled in a part of the flue;
Smoking aid filter with.