JP5378402B2 - Filter tow strip, filter rod device, filter tow strip manufacturing method, and filter rod manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a filter tow strip, a filter rod device, a method for manufacturing a filter tow strip, and a method for manufacturing a filter rod having the characteristics described in the preamble of claim 1.

  Prior art includes filter tow strips known from the applicant's patent EP 0 629 722 A1.

  Filters are used in the manufacture of tobacco, which filters are made from crimped bundles of cellulose acetate fibers or continuous strands, so-called filter tows. In the production process of the filter tow, the stretched fiber of cellulose acetate is crimped by a stuffer box, and this crimped structure is fixed by passing through a dryer. Filter tows loosen into a normal shape when filled into cans that are many meters high and placed under constant final humidity. The loose tow layer is then compressed in a bale press to form a filter tow bale and final packaged, which is further fed to the filtering process.

The details of the filter tow manufacturing process are described in the following paper.
Record

  The filter tow is processed into a filter rod on the filter rod device. In the filter rod device, the filter tow is expanded as much as possible in the preparation stage to produce the maximum filling force, which causes the filter tow to agglomerate into the shape of a future cigarette filter and is wrapped in paper. In order to expand the filter tow, the filter tow is peeled off by a spreader nozzle controlled by compressed air and drawn by a stretching roller having a streaky or screw-like surface. Thereafter, the peeled filter tow is put in a triacetin spray box, a solvent acts on the acetate surface, and the surface is made sticky. In the initial processing portion of the filter rod device, the filter tow bundle is cohesively compressed to form the cross section of the future filter rod. In this case, the filaments adhere to each other to form a three-dimensional network structure with further processing and filter hardness desired by the consumer.

  Known as a method for improving productivity is, for example, the method described in the applicant's patent DE 43 20 317, which is a method of manufacturing a filter rod by means of a double filter rod device. In this filter rod apparatus, two filter tow strands are processed simultaneously in parallel. In order to equalize the performance of the two strands, the opening EP 0 629 722 A1 describes the use of multiple-width filter tow strips with the desired tear line. The filter tow strips can be separated into individual strips having the same overall width along the desired tear line. Since it is established to separate an entire or double strip into two individual strips, a double width filter tow strip is also referred to as a twin tow. EP 0 629 722 A1 discloses that in order to separate a multi-width filter tow strip, the strip is configured to divide into a plurality of parts when an extension force is applied in the left-right direction.

  In order to maintain the quality and manufacturing process without problems, it is important to separate the multi-width filter tow strips as uniformly as possible, and to introduce the partial strands into the double rod making machine as uniformly as possible. is there.

  The present invention is a filter tow strip, in particular a twin tow consisting of connected and crimped twin filaments, which can be produced on a filter rod device, in particular on a double filter rod device, with as little trouble as possible. It is an object of the present invention to disclose a filter tow strip that can be continuously produced and separated as uniformly as possible. Furthermore, the present invention discloses a filter rod device, in particular a double filter rod device, and a method for producing a filter tow strip, in particular a twin tow, and a method for producing a filter rod, in which the filter tow strip is separated as resistancelessly as possible. With the goal.

  In the present invention, this object is achieved by claim 1 with respect to the filter tow strip, by claim 7 with respect to the filter rod device, and by claims 13 and 19 with regard to the method.

  The present invention has the advantage that the separation of the filter tow strip can be achieved substantially without problems even in processes under high speed operating conditions. Variations in the tension of the filter rod and the accompanying quality variations can be effectively avoided by fixing the bonding force between the half of the filter tows forming the twin tows. Unlike EP 0 629 722 A1, which merely discloses the longitudinal tear force of the filter tow strip, the filter tow strip of the present invention has a maximum cross-linking separation force of 20 cN or less, specifically at a length of about 20 cm. It is defined. This has the advantage that the separation behavior of the strip can be improved since the separation conditions can be adjusted much more precisely than the strip disclosed in EP 0 629 722 A1.

  Before the spreader nozzle, or in front of the spreader nozzle of the filter rod device according to the present invention, the filter tow strip is separated into two independent filter tow strips, so that the twin tow veil comprising the filter tow according to the present invention is separated. It can be changed without problems to two balers of normal filter tow (depending on the filter tow material used).

  Preferred embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the subclaims.

  The invention is disclosed in more detail by means of embodiments with reference to the following schematic drawings.

1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a filter tow strip according to an embodiment of the present invention. The filter toe strip is secured to the clamp to measure the cross separation force. FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a filter tow strip of various embodiments of the present invention. Various connection regions between the partial strips are arranged. 1 shows a schematic view of a dual filter rod device of an embodiment of the invention in the region of a separator.

  An example of a filter toe strip 10 according to the present invention is shown in FIG. Here, the filter toe strip 10 is a so-called twin toe formed of a double-width filter toe strip, that is, a connected filament. The filter toe strip 10 consists of two partial strips 12a, 12b. These partial strips are connected by regions 11 with low crosslink density. The filament 13 connects the two partial strips 12a, 12b in the region 11 with low cross-linking density, and the filament 13 forms an intersection 14 to create a loop and / or hook with each other.

  The present invention is not limited to the double-width filter tow strip 10 but also includes multiple partial strips that are correspondingly connected to each other, eg, multiple-width filter tow strips having three or four partial strips. Include.

  The filter tow strip 10 of FIG. 1 is fixed between two clamps A of the measuring instrument. By moving the two clamps A away from each other, it is possible to see the two partial strips 12a, 12b of the filter tow strip or twin tow and the region 11 with a low crosslink density between them. Clam cleats can be used instead of clamps A, especially when the partial strips are arranged one above the other.

  The bonding region 11 is set so that the cross-linking separation force does not exceed 20 cN at the maximum at a length of about 20 cm because it is necessary to separate the partial strips. In this case, the maximum cross-linking separation force corresponds to a force perpendicular to the long axis direction of the filter toe strip 10. The cross-linking separation force continuously increases until the clamps A are continuously separated from each other until just before the strip is completely separated and the cross-linking separation force decreases again. The maximum crosslinking separation force is 20 cN or less, and may be 15 cN, 10 cN, 7 cN, 5 cN, 4 cN, 3 cN, 2 cN, or 1 cN, for example.

  In this case, the maximum crosslinking separation force can be in the range of 0.5 cN to 20 cN or less, and the above upper limit value and the lower limit of 0.5 cN can be combined. Further possible lower limits are 1cN, 1.5cN, 2cN, 2.5cN.

  As an alternative or addition to the maximum cross-linking separation force, the separation behavior of the filter tow strip 10 can be determined by the number of connecting filaments 13 in the connecting region 11 between the two partial strips 12a, 12b. The detection of the connecting filament 13 is performed, for example, by measuring the cross-linking separation force immediately before complete separation of the two partial strips 12a and 12b, as shown in FIG. During the separation of the two partial strips 12a, 12b or half thereof, the binding filament 13 is partially torn and / or released, and the intervening or binding filament is still in order to determine the separation behavior. Detected immediately before complete separation, that is, when the crosslinking separation force is maximized.

  In order to determine the number of binding filaments 13, the filaments connecting or interposing the respective partial strips 12a, 12b are in each case regarded as one connecting filament. This means that the number of connecting filaments 13 substantially corresponds to the number of intersections 14. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the connection I at the right end of the clamp A consists of two mutually looped filaments 13. These filaments are considered as one filament that determines the number of binding filaments 13 and have one intersection 14. The connection II is the same, and the two filaments 13 are connected to form an intersection 14. In connection III, the four filaments 13 are connected to each other to form two intersections 14. Accordingly, the connection III is composed of two coupling filaments 13. This means having a maximum of 200 intersections at a length of 20 cm when converted to the maximum cross-linking force. The lower limit of the number of intersections per 20 cm may be one. Moreover, it is good also considering the intersection of 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 as a lower limit.

  Depending on the manufacturing method, the filament 13 may only be looped. That is, the individual filaments 13 form stitches or loops and engage with each other to form a connection. Alternatively, the filament 13 may be hooked and at least one end of at least one connected filament pair forms a free end and may be connected by stitches, loops or hooks of further filaments. Furthermore, a combination of looped and hooked filaments 13 is also possible. In this case, the connecting filament 13 forms the intersection 14. That is, the filaments on opposite sides of the two partial strips 12a, 12b face each other and crosslink.

  With regard to the maximum cross-linking separation force, it is sufficient that 95% of the samples measured for the maximum cross-linking separation force of such a filter tow strip satisfy the upper limit condition of 20 cN for the maximum cross-linking separation force per about 20 cm length. . This means that the present invention also includes filter tow strips whose maximum bridge separation force exceeds the upper limit of 20 cN in some sections, unless the continuous operation of the filter rod apparatus for processing the filter tow strips is significantly impaired. To do. The 95% tolerance mentioned above is more preferably 99%, but in this case 95% has proven to be an appropriate range. Also, for 95% of the twin tow samples, an advantageous effect is obtained if the number of connections by bridging hooks or bridging loops of the filaments per 20 cm of the two tow halves or partial strips is less than 50 in the joining region. It has been proven. Also, for 99% of twin tow samples, the number of cross-linking hooks or cross-linking loops per 20 cm of the two partial strips 12a, 12b may be less than 100.

  It is clear that the standard length of 20 cm of the filter tow strip portion may be a different length to measure the maximum cross-linking separation force, for example, a longer one may be selected. If the criterion is longer, the maximum crosslink separation force increases accordingly.

  Filter tow strips are optimized in longitudinal elongation, or longitudinal tension, in contrast, filter tow strips in embodiments of the present invention, in terms of cross-linking separation force, are connected regions, i.e. cross-linked. It is optimized in the region 11 where the bond density is low or low. As a result, improved reliable separation of the partial strips 12a, 12b is achieved when the optimized parameter, i.e. the crosslinking separation force, is applied in the separation direction. The separation direction is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the filter tow strip 10.

  A tension measuring device with a clamping device is used to measure parameters relating to the quality of the twin tow. Such a device has a set of clamps that fix a length of 20 cm. In order to measure the cross-linking separation force, a filter tow piece having a length of 20 cm is fixed to the clamp along the longitudinal direction by fixing its end to both clamp parts. The clamps A in the tension measuring device are slowly separated from each other, and the twin tow is first expanded. The force required for this is measured. The connected crimped filaments of fiber strands form a nonwoven structure. In the connection region between the strip portions, i.e. the region with a low crosslink density, the seam between the two twin toe portions opens. For example, such open areas are characterized, for example, by the number of filaments bridging hooks or bridging loops forming the connection pattern. The clamp A moves further in the direction of separation, and such a bridging separation force passes through its maximum point where the filament connecting the two tow halves is under maximum tension. The number of cross-linked hooks or cross-linked loops of the filament is then detected.

  As the clamp moves further away, the mutual hooks or loops due to the binding filaments of the two toe halves of the twin tow are torn and the bridging separation force is reduced.

  Various embodiments of the arrangement of the partial strips 12a, 12b of the filter tow strip 10 are shown in FIGS. According to FIG. 2a, the partial strips 12a, 12b are arranged in parallel and the connecting region 11 and the partial strip 12a are arranged in the same plane. For example, in the arrangement of FIG. 2a, the two partial strips 12a, 12b are produced by being simultaneously crimped, and the crosslink density of the connection region 11 is adjusted so that the maximum crosslink separation force is 10 cN.

  2b-2f, the two partial strips 12a, 12b are arranged at least partially or completely overlapping. The connection of the two strip parts can be formed by mechanical needling or needling by air jet or water jet means. In the embodiment of FIG. 2b, the strip portions are arranged overlapping each other in the region of the ends. According to FIG. 2c, the partial strips 12a, 12b are arranged completely overlapping each other and the filament 13 is arranged in a common central track part. In the embodiment of FIG. 2d, the connecting filament 13 or the connecting region 11 is formed in the end track. As shown in FIG. 2e, it is possible to provide the connecting filament 13 over the entire width where the partial strips 12a, 12b overlap. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2f, the connecting filaments 13 can be arranged in an irregular manner in the longitudinal direction between the two strip portions 12a and 12b.

  Three embodiments of the dual filter rod device are shown in FIGS. 3a-3c. In any form, it has two spreader nozzles 20a and 20b. In addition, the mechanical part which exists generally, for example, a design mechanism, a spray mechanism, and a format part, is not illustrated. As shown in FIG. 3a, a separation mechanism 21 in the form of a separation wedge 23 is arranged upstream of the two spreader nozzles 20a, 20b, and the separation mechanism 21 is arranged between the two application nozzles 20a, 20b. ing. In this case, the separation blade of the separation wedge 23 is arranged so as to face the transport direction of the filter toe strip 10, and the filter toe strip 10 is separated by the separation blade. For better orientation, the two guide rings 22a, 22b are arranged downstream of the split wedge 23 and the guide ring 24 is arranged upstream thereof. In the embodiment of FIG. 3a, the guide rings 22a, 22b are mounted so that they exert a moderate force on the partial strips 12a, 12b.

  The two spreader nozzles 20a and 20b are themselves used as the separation mechanism 21 (FIG. 3b). The two application nozzles 20a and 20b are arranged so that their entrances are not in a single row, and an appropriate force acts on each partial strip 12a, 12b. In this embodiment, the spreader nozzles 20a and 20b are arranged apart from each other, and the branch point of the filter toe strip 10 is arranged upstream of the spreader nozzles 20a and 20b. In order to enhance the effect of branching in FIG. 3b, as shown in FIG. 3c, a split wedge 23 similar to the example of FIG. 3a is provided in the region of the branch point of the spreader nozzles 20a, 20b arranged apart from each other. Also good.

  A tension measuring device for measuring the tension of the separated partial strips 12a, 12b can be arranged directly downstream of the separating mechanism 21 (not shown). Furthermore, a control mechanism may be provided that controls the transport speed of the individual partial strips 12a, 12b according to the tension in the partial strips 12a, 12b.

  In the method of manufacturing the filter tow strip, the crosslink density in the connection region between the two partial strips 12a, 12b is adjusted such that the maximum crosslink separation force of the partial strip is less than 20 cN per 20 cm length. . This can be achieved, for example, by placing the partial strips parallel to each other and crimped together, and the crosslink density is controlled by the distance between the partial strips during crimping. Also, if the partial strips 12a, 12b are arranged partially or completely overlapping each other, the crosslinking density can be controlled by mechanical needling or by needling by air jet or water jet means. .

  The filter tow strip 10 can be separated into partial strips 12a, 12b prior to bale packaging, and the separated partial strips 12a, 12b can be separated cans or separated cans with multiple filling regions or Put in a single can. A filter tow strip that is not divided into cans may be filled and packaged to form a bale. In the latter case, the separation of the filter tow strip into the partial strips 12a, 12b is performed at the time of manufacture of the filter rod, and the maximum cross-linking separation force when separating the filter tow strip 10 is 20 cN or less per 20 cm length. . A double filter rod device is preferably used to separate the filter tow strip 10, and the machine has a separation mechanism upstream of the spreader nozzle, as shown in FIGS. 3a, 3b, 3c.

  The filter tow (twin tow) produced according to the present invention was measured for separation force at a desired tear line in a region having a low cross-linking density, and 7 to 12 cN in one example, and 2.5 in another example. -4 cN. These values correlate with the lower and upper limits of the measurement range. In still other examples, maximum crosslink separation forces of 1 cN to 10 cN and 0.5 cN to 5 cN were measured. When the maximum crosslinking separation force was 1 cN to 10 cN, the number of connected filaments or the number of intersections was 2 to 20. The values shown above are average values for the number of connected filaments (of random samples, up to half show values below average and up to half show values above average).

  In still another example, when the average maximum cross-linking separation force / number of connected filaments was measured and calculated, the following numerical values were obtained. 8cN / 80, 7cN / 25, 2cN / 4 and 4cN / 8.

  For example, by changing the spacing of the partial strips in the crimping device, the cross-linking separation force and the number of connected filaments can be adjusted as indicated above.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Filter tow strip 11 ... Area | region with low cross-linking density 12a, 12b ... Partial strip 13 ... Filament 14 ... Intersection 20a, 20b ... Spreader nozzle 21 ... Separation mechanism 22a, 22b ... Guide ring 23 ... Separation wedge 24 ... Induction ring A ... Clamp

Claims (13)

A filter tow strip (10), a twin tow comprising connected and crimped filaments,
The crimped filaments form at least two partial strips (12a, 12b), the two partial strips are connected by a region of low crosslink density (11), and the connecting filament (13) is a mutual loop and / or Or the intersection (14) is formed by a mutual hook,
The maximum cross-linking separation force of the partial strips (12a, 12b) is not more than 20 cN per 20 cm length of the filter tow strip (10), and
The number of cross-linking hooks and / or cross-linking loops of the connecting filament (13) per 20 cm length of the filter tow strip (10) when the maximum cross-linking separation force is applied;
Filter tow strip, characterized by satisfying both or either. The filter tow strip (10) of claim 1, wherein the maximum cross-linking separation force is 15 cN or less . The filter tow strip (10) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the number of cross-linking hooks and / or cross-linking loops of the filament (13) in the region (11) having a low cross-linking density is 150 or less.   Filter tow strip (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the partial strips (12a, 12b) are arranged in parallel.   The filter tow strip (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the partial strips (12a, 12b) are arranged to overlap each other at the ends. Partial strips (12a, 12b) are disposed to overlap the coupling filaments (13) of the strip (12a, 12b) definitive in the area of the portion overlapping, in the center track common, the end track, on the entire width, 4. The filter tow strip (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the filter tow strip (10) is irregularly distributed in the lateral direction. It is a manufacturing method of the filter tow strip (10) of any one of Claims 1-6, Comprising:
At least two partial strips (12a, 12b) of connected and crimped filaments (13) are connected via a region (11) with low crosslink density;
The filament (13) in the region (11) having a low crosslinking density has a crosslinking loop and / or a crosslinking hook,
The maximum cross-linking separation force per 20 cm length of the filter tow strip (10) is 20 cN or less, and
The number of cross-linking hooks and / or cross-linking loops of the filament (13) per 20 cm length of the filter tow strip (20) when maximum cross-linking separation force is applied;
A method for producing a filter tow strip (10) satisfying both or any one of the above. A method of manufacturing a filter tow strip as claimed in claim 4, partial strips (12a, 12b) are arranged in parallel, characterized in that it is crimped together, according to claim 7 Method. 6. A method for producing a filter tow strip according to claim 5, wherein the partial strips (12a, 12b) are guided to partially overlap each other and are bound by a needling, air jet or water jet. The method according to claim 7 , characterized in that it is mechanically processed to be manufactured. 7. A method of manufacturing a filter tow strip according to claim 6, wherein the partial strips (12a, 12b) are induced to completely overlap each other and a bonded filament is produced by needling, air jet or water jet. 8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the method is processed mechanically. The filter tow strip is separated into partial strips (12a, 12b), and the separated partial strips (12a, 12b) are placed in separate cans or in separate cans or multiple cans with multiple filling areas 11. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 10 , wherein: 11. A method according to any one of claims 7 to 10 , characterized in that an undivided filter tow strip (10) is placed in a can. A method of manufacturing a filter rod from a filter tow strip consisting of connected and crimped filaments, comprising:
The twin tow filter tow strip (10) is transported via the pre-processing part and the formatting part,
The filter tow strip (10) has at least two partial strips (12a, 12b) connected via a low crosslink density region (11),
The filament (13) in the region (11) having a low crosslinking density forms an intersection (14) by a mutual loop and / or a mutual hook,
The partial strips (12a, 12b) are separated with a maximum cross-linking separation force before the format part, the maximum cross-linking separation force being 20 cN or less for a 20 cm long filter tow strip. A method for manufacturing a filter rod.

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