JP3191009U - Smoking filter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a filter element for a smoked product which remarkably improves the flavor of smoke sucked by a smoker. A filter element (12) includes a plug made of a filter material (20) and a thread-like material (10) made of a cigarette that extends substantially in the longitudinal direction through the plug of the filter material (20). The filter element 12 can be used for various types of smoking products. [Selection diagram] Fig. 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a filter for smoking articles.

  It is well known that smoke filtration in smoking articles such as cigarettes can affect the taste and flavor characteristics of the product during smoking. Generally, the filter includes an adsorbent such as activated carbon to reduce certain components of smoke during smoking. However, activated carbon in the filter can adversely affect the taste and / or flavor characteristics of the cigarette.

  Therefore, in the first aspect of the present invention, a filter element for a smoking article is provided, and the filter element is a thread formed of a plug made of a filter material and a tobacco extending substantially longitudinally through the filter material plug. Including tobacco thread.

  The inventors of the present invention have found that providing a tobacco string that extends substantially in the longitudinal direction significantly improves the flavor of the smoke (including gases and particulate matter) inhaled by the smoker.

  The tobacco thread preferably extends substantially longitudinally between the opposite end faces of the filter material plug. The tobacco string preferably extends in a direction substantially parallel to the side surface of the filter material plug, and the side surface is preferably substantially perpendicular to one end surface or both end surfaces. The tobacco filaments preferably extend through the interior of the filter material and are surrounded by the filter material. The tobacco thread preferably extends substantially through the center of the filter material plug.

  Tobacco filaments are placed in close proximity to the flow path of the gas flow through the filter element and thus may affect various properties of the gas flow before it reaches the smoker's mouth. It is advantageous. Furthermore, since the tobacco filament is disposed substantially longitudinally within the filter material plug, it does not adversely affect the direction or velocity of the gas flow, and therefore the smoker has a significant difference in resistance through which smoke is drawn. I don't feel.

  The tobacco thread may include shredded tobacco, powdered tobacco, regenerated tobacco, and / or chopped tobacco. However, the tobacco filaments preferably include tobacco fibers and / or tobacco sheets. Tobacco filaments may be formed using techniques well known in the art. As an example, a slurry containing tobacco particles (eg, tobacco dust and / or tobacco petiole) and preferably further suitable binders may be formed. The slurry may then be spread on a support surface, such as a conveyor, thereby forming a wet tobacco sheet. The wet tobacco sheet is then heated, for example in an oven, to dry the slurry, thereby forming a tobacco sheet. Thereafter, the tobacco sheet is cut to form a tobacco thread having an appropriate size.

  The diameter of the tobacco thread may be 0.2 mm to 5 mm, and is preferably 0.4 mm to 3 mm.

  The tobacco thread may be completely encased by the filter material to produce the filter element of the first aspect when manufactured. The filter material plug may include any suitable filtration medium known to those skilled in the art. The filter material preferably contains cellulose acetate. The diameter of the filter material plug may be 5 mm to 15 mm, preferably 6 mm to 12 mm, more preferably 7 mm to 11 mm, and most preferably 8 mm to 10 mm. The diameter of the plug may be 5 mm to 10 mm.

  The ratio of the plug diameter of the filter material to the diameter of the tobacco thread is preferably 2: 1 to 25: 1, more preferably 4: 1 to 10: 1.

  The filter element may contain a flavoring agent. In embodiments where a flavoring agent is used, the flavoring agent may be incorporated into the filter media plug. However, the flavoring agent is preferably incorporated into the tobacco thread. After the thread is formed, it may be immersed in a container containing a flavoring agent. However, the flavoring agent is preferably included in the slurry prepared when producing the tobacco thread.

  Of course, the filter element according to the first aspect can be used in the manufacture of filters used in smoking articles.

  Therefore, in the second aspect of the present invention, a smoking article filter is provided, and the smoking article filter includes the filter element of the first aspect of the present invention.

  The filter according to the second aspect may include a plurality of filter elements according to the first aspect in which tobacco filaments extend through the filter material plug. For example, the filter of the second aspect may include two, three, four, five or more filter elements according to the first aspect, in which adjacent filter elements are continuous with each other. Or the elements may be separated from each other by another filter element (which may not be a filter element in the first embodiment)).

  Accordingly, the filter of the second aspect may include a plurality of filter elements, at least one of which is a filter element according to the first aspect of the present invention. For example, in one embodiment, the filter of the second aspect includes an adsorbent in addition to including one or more filter elements according to the first aspect (ie, including tobacco filaments). A second aspect of the filter is also envisioned that also includes an adsorption filter element. Adsorption filter elements are provided to adsorb or reduce certain components of smoke during smoking. The adsorption filter element may include a plug of filter material in which an adsorbent is dispersed. The filter material may be cellulose acetate. The adsorbent is preferably activated carbon. The activated carbon may be granular and is preferably dispersed throughout the plug of the filter material. It is preferable that the adsorption filter element does not contain tobacco filaments.

  In another embodiment, the filter of the second aspect includes, in addition to including one or more filter elements according to the first aspect (ie, including tobacco thread) (such as cellulose acetate). ) It may contain filter elements that contain filter material but no tobacco thread or adsorbent.

  The filter may comprise at least two, preferably three filter elements, at least one of which is provided with a first filter element. The filter preferably includes the filter element of the first aspect, an adsorption filter element containing an adsorbent, and a filter element containing no adsorbent or tobacco thread. The plurality of filter elements are preferably arranged in the longitudinal direction such that the end face of each filter element and the end face of the adjacent filter element are adjacent to each other. The plurality of filter elements are preferably substantially similar in diameter. Of course, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the various filter elements may be arranged in any manner.

  The filter element of the first aspect or the filter of the second aspect can be incorporated into a smoking article.

  Accordingly, in a third aspect of the present invention, a smoking article is provided, the smoking article comprising the filter element of the first aspect or the filter of the second aspect.

  The smoking article of the third aspect preferably includes a section of a smokable material such as tobacco. As used herein, the term “smoking article” refers to smokeables such as cigarettes, cigarettes, cigarettes derived from tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, recycled tobacco or tobacco substitutes and products that do not burn with heat. Includes products.

  The section of smokable material and the filter may be connected by tipping paper.

  In a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for producing a filter element for a smoking article, the method comprising the step of providing a tobacco thread passing through a filter material plug, wherein the tobacco thread is a filter material. It extends through the plug and extends substantially longitudinally.

  The method of the fourth aspect of the present invention preferably includes the step of incorporating tobacco filaments substantially into the center of the filter material. The method may include the step of using guide means for guiding the tobacco thread such that a tow of filter material is formed surrounding the tobacco thread. The guide means may be a guide tube accompanied with tobacco thread. It is preferred that the tobacco thread is surrounded by the filter material when the tobacco thread leaves the guide means.

  All features described herein (including the appended utility model registration claims, summaries and figures), and / or every step in the method or process disclosed herein, are such features. In addition, any of the above aspects may be combined in any manner except that at least a part of the steps is a combination that contradicts each other.

  In order that the present invention may be clearly understood and the aspects readily implemented, it will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings for illustrative purposes only.

1 is a perspective view of a smoking article including a smoking material rod, a filter according to the present invention, and chipping paper interconnecting the rod and filter. FIG. It is sectional drawing of the filter of the 1st embodiment by this invention. It is sectional drawing of the filter of the 2nd embodiment by this invention. It is sectional drawing of the filter of the 3rd embodiment by this invention.

  FIG. 1 shows a smoking article 2 in the form of a cigarette including a filter 4 according to the invention. Although all the accompanying drawings show the smoking article 2 as a cigarette, it will be appreciated that the smoking article 2 may take other forms, such as a cigar or cigarillo, including a filter 4 according to the present invention. A smoking article 2 shown in FIG. 1 includes a general cylindrical rod 6 in which a smokable material such as tobacco is wrapped with paper, and a tipping paper that is glued around one end of the rod 6 and the periphery of the filter 4. The rod 6 and the filter 4 are coaxially attached by 8.

  FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the filter 4 attached to the tobacco rod 6. In this embodiment, the filter 4 is composed of a single filter element 12 having a length of about 27 mm, and the filter element 12 is composed of a plug made of a continuous filter material 20 (for example, cellulose acetate) having a diameter of 9 mm. . The filter element 12 has first and second end faces 22, 24 that are generally circular and side faces 26 that extend circumferentially or longitudinally, the side faces 26 being the first and second end faces 22, 24. It is substantially vertical. As shown in FIG. 2, a thin tobacco thread 10 having a diameter of 0.8 mm extends between the two end faces 22 and 24 through a plug of the filter material 20. The tobacco thread 10 is substantially parallel to the longitudinally extending side surface 26 and extends substantially through the center of the plug of the filter material 20, thus forming a core.

  Tobacco filament 10 is formed from tobacco fibers and / or tobacco sheets using materials available from LTR industries in France or Deli-HTL in the Netherlands using techniques well known in the art. Is done. For example, a wet slurry containing tobacco dust, chopped tobacco petal and binder is first prepared and spread on a stainless steel conveyor to form a wet tobacco sheet. The conveyor is transported into an oven and heated until the fed slurry is dried, thereby forming a band cast recycled tobacco sheet. For example, heating is preferably performed at about 70-100 ° C. for about 6-8 minutes. The tobacco sheet may then be cut to the appropriate dimensions (0.8 mm diameter) by a cutter to produce tobacco thread 10 and fed onto a reel ready for use. A flavoring agent may be added to the sheet prior to forming the tobacco thread 10. In another example, the tobacco filament 10 is prepared by closely twisting tobacco plant fibers in a manner similar to that used to prepare cotton.

  The tobacco filament 10 thus obtained has a diameter of about 0.8 mm and is then introduced into the center of the filter material 20. One method for incorporating the tobacco thread 10 into the filter material plug 20 during manufacture of the filter element 12 will be described below. The method includes entraining the tobacco thread 10 through a lumen of a guide tube having a diameter of about 1.5 mm. At the same time, fibrous filter material 20 (eg, cellulose acetate) is fed through a series of blooming rollers to stretch the shrinkage. The tow of the filter material 20 with the crimped stretch formed on the periphery of the tobacco thread 10 when the tobacco thread 10 exits the guide tube, thereby forming a rod comprising the continuous filter material 20 surrounding the tobacco thread 10. Is formed. The rod is then cut into sections to produce a finished filter element 12 as shown in FIG. The length of the filter element 12 depends on the type of filter 4 required. For example, the length of a standard cigarette filter 4 is about 27 mm. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the total length of the filter 4 comprising the filter element 12 is 27 mm, and the tobacco thread 10 extends over the entire length of the filter element. However, FIGS. 3 and 4 show alternative embodiments in which the filter 4 is constructed by combining a shorter section of filter element 12 containing tobacco thread 10 with another section. The points will be described below.

  FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the filter 4 attached to the tobacco rod 6. The filter 4 includes a plurality of different separate filter elements 12, 14, 16, each filter element may have a different material composition. In this embodiment, the filter 4 includes three different filter elements 12, 14, 16. Each filter element 12, 14, 16 has a generally cylindrical shape with substantially equal diameters. Each filter element 12, 14, 16 is encased by a layer of a thin sheet of wrapping material known as a plug wrap (not shown), which may be formed by a conventional paper material. The filter element 16 located farthest from the tobacco rod 6 (and closest to the smoker's mouth when smoking) includes a generally cylindrical tow made of a filter material 20 such as cellulose acetate. The filter material 20 provides a filter that allows smoke to pass when a smoker inhales a cigarette. Filter element 12 disposed adjacent to filter element 16 includes a plug comprising a continuous filter material 20 provided with tobacco thread 10 extending substantially longitudinally therethrough. The filter element 12 is similar to the filter element 12 shown in FIG. 2 except that it does not extend over the entire length of the filter 4.

  The third filter element 14 disposed between the filter element 12 provided with the tobacco thread 10 and the tobacco rod 6 includes a plug made of a filter material 20, and an adsorbent such as activated carbon 18 is dispersed therein. Has been. The activated carbon 18 may be granular and is evenly distributed throughout the plug of cellulose acetate 20 in a “Dalmatian” manner as is known to those skilled in the art, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, the activated carbon 18 may be scattered over the sticky outer surface 26 of the plug of cellulose acetate 20 and may be attached to the inner surface of the plug wrap surrounding the cellulose acetate 20, or It may be attached to a cotton thread (not shown) surrounded by a plug of cellulose acetate 20. Activated carbon 18 can also be held in a cavity surrounded by a plug of cellulose acetate 20. Activated carbon 18 is provided to remove harmful chemicals and improve the properties of the smoke whose smoke is inhaled by the smoker.

  FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment of the filter 4 attached to the tobacco rod 6. In this embodiment, the filter 4 includes the same three filter elements 12, 14, and 16 as described in the second embodiment, except that the order of arrangement of the filter elements is changed. As shown in FIG. 4, the filter element 16 is located farthest from the tobacco rod 6 and includes a filter material 20 such as cellulose acetate, as described in the second embodiment. However, in the third embodiment, the filter element 14 disposed adjacent to the filter element 16 includes a plug of filter material 20 in which particles of activated carbon 18 are dispersed. Finally, the third filter element 12 is disposed between the filter element 14 and the tobacco rod 6 and includes a plug of continuous filter material 20 provided with a tobacco thread 10 extending longitudinally therethrough. Yes. Accordingly, the positions of the filter elements 12, 14 are interchanged in the second and third embodiments.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the filter elements 12, 14, 16 are arranged longitudinally with respect to each other such that their end faces 22, 24 are adjacent to the end face of the adjacent filter element. Although the three filter elements 12, 14, 16 are shown with substantially equal lengths in FIGS. 3 and 4, it will be appreciated that they may be of different lengths. For example, in FIGS. 3 and 4, the length of the filter element 12 containing the tobacco thread 10 is 12 mm, the remaining filter elements 14 and 16 are each 7.5 mm, and the total length of the filter 4 is 27 mm. You may do it. Furthermore, the filter 4 may be composed of only two filter elements. For example, the order of the arrangement of the filter elements in the filter 4 is not limited, but the filter element 12 (about 15 mm in length) including the tobacco thread 10 and the filter element 16 (about 12 mm in length) including only the filter material 20 You may comprise. Apart from this, the order of the arrangement of the filter elements is not limited, but the filter 4 may be composed of a filter element 12 containing tobacco filaments 10 and a filter element 14 containing activated carbon 18.

  The filter 4 may also include more filter elements than the three filter elements 12, 14, 16. For example, as described above, the filter 4 includes the first and second filter elements 16 made of cellulose acetate, the third filter element 14 made of cellulose acetate and activated carbon 18, and the longitudinal direction. The fourth filter element 12 may be configured to include a tobacco filament 10 extending in the middle as a core. Of course, the various filter elements 12, 14, 16 may be arranged in the filter 4 in various different orders. However, in each embodiment, the filter 4 includes at least one filter element 12 configured to include the tobacco thread 10.

  Referring again to FIG. 1, the filter 4 is located at the mouth end of the smoker 2 of the smoking article 2, and a gas stream containing smoke drawn from the tobacco rod 6 of smokable material enters the smoker's mouth. It is made to move through the filter 4 before doing. As described with reference to FIG. 2, the tobacco string 10 is located in one or more filter elements 12, and is provided extending in the longitudinal direction between both end faces 22 and 24 of the plug of the filter material 20. In this way, the tobacco filament 10 is positioned so that it is in close proximity to the flow path of the gas stream as it moves through the filter 4, and therefore before the gas stream reaches the smoker's mouth, It is possible to influence various properties of the gas flow.

  For example, the tobacco filament 10 can affect the overall characteristics of the gas stream so as to improve the taste and flavor of the gas stream. One application for tobacco filament 10 is that certain gas flows may be lost when moving through filter material 20 or activated carbon 18 known to affect the taste and flavor of tobacco smoke. To restore the taste and flavor characteristics of the gas stream in proportion. The inventor surprisingly found that the arrangement of the thin tobacco thread 10 extending in the longitudinal direction through the plug of the filter material 20 provides the smoke flavor without degrading the smoke flow characteristics. I found it to improve.

  The present invention also encompasses further improvements and various modifications within the scope of the utility model registration claim.

Claims (17)

  A filter element for a smoking article, comprising: a plug made of a filter material; and a thread-like material made of tobacco extending substantially longitudinally through the plug of the filter material.   2. The filter element according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco thread extends substantially in a longitudinal direction between opposite end surfaces of the filter material plug.   3. The filter element according to claim 2, wherein the tobacco string extends substantially parallel to a side surface of the filter material plug, and the side surface is substantially perpendicular to one end surface or both end surfaces.   The filter element according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tobacco string extends through the inside of the filter material and is surrounded by the filter material.   5. The filter element according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco string extends substantially through the center of the filter material plug.   The filter element according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the tobacco string includes shredded tobacco, powdered tobacco, regenerated tobacco, and / or chopped tobacco.   The filter element according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the tobacco string includes tobacco fiber and / or tobacco sheet.   The filter element according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the tobacco thread has a diameter of 0.2 to 5 mm.   The filter element according to claim 1, wherein the filter material plug includes cellulose acetate.   The filter element according to claim 1, wherein the filter material plug has a diameter of 5 to 15 mm.   The filter element according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising a flavoring agent.   It is a filter for smoking goods, Comprising: The filter characterized by including the filter element of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 11.   The filter according to claim 12, comprising a plurality of filter elements, at least one of which is the filter element according to any one of claims 1 to 11.   14. The filter according to claim 12, further comprising an adsorption filter element containing an adsorbent.   The filter according to claim 14, wherein the adsorbent is activated carbon.   The filter according to any one of claims 12 to 15, further comprising a filter element containing a filter material and containing no tobacco thread or adsorbent. A smoking article comprising the filter element according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or the filter according to any one of claims 12 to 16.

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