KR100587849B1 - Smoking implement - Google Patents

Abstract

A smoking article (10) includes a hollow cylindrical member (11) provided with a heat generating member (13) at its distal end portion and a mouthend portion (17) at its proximal end portion, and a flavor generating member (15) provided adjacent to the heat generating member (13) within the cylindrical member(11). The flavor generating member (15) includes a plurality of granules (151) each containing 65 to 93% by mass of a substantially non-porous inorganic filler material, 1 to 3% by mass of a binder and 6 to 32% by mass of a flavoring substance, on a dry mass basis. <IMAGE>

Description

Smoking article {SMOKING IMPLEMENT}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to smoking articles, and more particularly to smoking articles having flavor generators that generate flavor by heating without involving combustion.

Smoking articles for enjoying tobacco flavor and smoke without burning tobacco leaves have already been known and various types have been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-35468, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-46818, Japanese Patent No. 1681670, Japanese Patent No. 3012253, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 2-84164 have heat generating members provided at the tip. A typical example of a smoking article of the type which generates flavor using the heat which is produced is disclosed. These smoking articles vaporize and release the flavor component when the flavor generator is filled between the heating member and the suction port, for example, in a granular or sheet-like flavor generator and heated by the heat of the heating member.

As the flavor generator, various molded products such as non-combustible porous materials and tobacco raw materials have been proposed. However, since the porous material requires excessive energy to vaporize or desorb the flavor material adsorbed therein, there is a fear of deterioration of vaporization efficiency or thermal denaturation of the flavor material. In addition, when a combustible material such as tobacco material is used as the substrate, combustion or pyrolysis may occur substantially, so that the entrained copper may become very unstable and may adversely affect the delivery flavor.

In addition, the smoking article of this type also has a fundamental problem that the amount of flavor is easily influenced by the heat generation situation of the heat generating member. Fuel elements molded from carbon as the main raw material are most commonly used for the heat generating member, but usually, the maximum value of the heat generation value is shown from the ignition to the first half of the smoking, and after that, the heat generation gradually decreases, resulting in unevenness leading to digestion. It shows one behavior. Therefore, the amount of flavor produced by receiving the heat exhibits the same behavior, and there is a considerable difference between the maximum amount and the amount of smoking in particular. Therefore, it is pointed out that the user feels stress and the satisfaction decreases because of the non-uniform change in the amount of smoke or taste during smoking.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 5-277191 discloses an example of a smoking article made by molding a fuel member and a flavor generator for a predetermined number of puffs in a plate form to enable a certain quality flavor delivery. have. However, since the fuel member and the flavor generator or insulation inclusion are attached, the temperature of the fuel member decreases, so that the combustion is difficult to sustain, and there is a high possibility of extinguishing. There is an easy concern. In addition, it is necessary to match the combustion speed of the fuel member and the timing of smoking, so that the user cannot take the smoking interval according to their preferences, and there is a possibility that the stress may increase, and the structure is complicated, which makes the manufacturing very difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has a simple structure, which emits a stable amount of flavor each time a user smokes while smoking, and does not feel stress caused by uneven changes in the amount of smoke or taste. It aims at providing smoking articles which can enjoy smoking.

MEANS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM In order to solve the said subject, according to this invention, the heat generating body is provided in the front-end | tip, and is provided with the normal body which has a suction port part in the rear end, and the flavor generating body provided in proximity to the said heating body in the said normal body. The flavor generator is based on a dry weight basis (i.e., a ratio in the absence of water), a ratio of 65 to 93% by weight of the substantially non-porous inorganic filler, and a ratio of 1 to 3% by weight of the binder. A smoking article including a furnace and a plurality of granular materials each containing a flavoring material at a ratio of 6 to 32% by weight is provided.

In the present invention, the inorganic filler preferably has a BET specific surface area of 3 m ² / g or less, and is preferably made of calcium carbonate.

The granular material is filled in the most compact state, and the ratio between the filling length of the granular material and the inner diameter of the ordinary body in the axial direction of the ordinary body is in the range of 2 to 4, and the ratio between the inner diameter of the normal body and the representative diameter of the granular material is 4 to 15. It is preferable. The granular material may be pellets, tablets or spherical.

In the present invention, the binder preferably contains methyl hydroxyethyl cellulose.

In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the heating element exhibits a thermal conductivity of 1.0 W / m · K or less at room temperature. The heating element is preferably made of a carbonaceous material containing substantially non-porous inorganic filler in a proportion of 15 to 65% by weight, and the inorganic filler included in the heating element is calcium carbonate having a BET specific surface area of 3 m ² / g or less. It is preferable that it is made.

In the smoking article of the present invention, the suction port portion may be composed of a filter having a filtration rate of 20% or less or a hollow filter.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a smoking article according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2A and 2B are graphs showing the results of DSC analysis when mixed with a flavoring material in the case where a substantially nonporous inorganic filler and a porous inorganic filler are used as the inorganic filler;

3 is a graph showing the amount of flavor material collected per pape in the smoking article of Example 1 described below;

4 is a graph showing the amount of flavor material collected per pape in the smoking article of Example 2 described below;

FIG. 5 is a graph plotting the amount of heat flowing into the flavor generator from the carbon molded product heating element per pape in the smoking article of Example 1;

FIG. 6 is a graph showing the amount of flavor collected per pape in the smoking article of Comparative Example 1. FIG.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

The smoking article of the present invention is a so-called non-combustion type smoking article which does not burn the flavor generator, and has a flavor generator that is heated by heat from the ignited heating element and releases the flavor component. The flavor generator has a specific composition and is installed in a normal body. The heat generating element is provided at the front end of the ordinary body, and the rear end of the normal body is composed of the suction port portion.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of the configuration of the smoking article of the present invention. The smoking article 10 shown in FIG. 1 has the normal body 11 which comprises the smoking article main body. The heat generating element 13 is provided in the front-end | tip part of the normal body 11, and the rear end part of the normal body 11 is comprised by the suction port part 17. As shown in FIG. The flavor generator 15 of the present invention is provided in the normal body 11 in close proximity to the heating element 13.

The ordinary body 11 is usually cylindrical in shape, and preferably formed of a thermally stable material such as aluminum or stainless steel, and in order to reduce the heat capacity thereof, the thickness is made thin, for example, 0.03 mm to 0.1 mm thick. desirable. The normal body 11 may have an inner diameter of about 7 mm to 8 mm and a length of about 80 mm to 120 mm like a normal cigarette. Usually, the whole body 11 is packaged by the heat insulating material 12, and the outer side can be removed without a trouble by hand normally.

Flavor generator 15 used in the smoking article of the present invention is a non-porous inorganic filler in a proportion of 65 to 93% by weight, a binder of 1 to 3% by weight, and a flavoring material on a dry weight basis. It consists of the several granular material 151 which respectively contains in the ratio of 6 to 32 weight%.

Flavor substances are substances that generate aerosol (alcohols, sugars, water) by heating by heat from the complexed heating element, substances that produce only flavor (menthol, caffeine, natural extracts), tobacco, tobacco extracts, mixtures thereof, and the like. It includes. As alcohols, glycerol, propylene glycol, or a mixture thereof can be used, for example.

The substantially nonporous inorganic filler, which is one of the components of the flavor generator 15, preferably has a BET specific surface area of 3 m ² / g or less.

Ceramics such as activated carbon, alumina beads or silica, and so-called porous materials having numerous micropores such as molecuraib have a property of sucking by absorbing or absorbing other substances therein. In a smoking article such as the smoking article of the present invention, when the flavor is to be efficiently released by heating, if the flavor substance is trapped in the pores of the substrate, in addition to the thermal energy required for evaporation of the flavor substance, thermal energy for desorption from the pores is In addition, since the vaporization efficiency is not only lowered, but also the heating is continued in the voids, a problem is likely to occur. In the present invention, the flavor substance is only held in the gap between the substrate particles made of the inorganic filler which is substantially nonporous, and does not involve the above problems in the porous substance, and is easily removed from the flavor generator 15 by heating. Is released.

As a substantially nonporous porous inorganic filler, it is particularly preferable to use calcium carbonate particles having a BET specific surface area of 3 m ² / g or less. It is also possible to form granular moldings by tobacco raw materials or alternative plant raw materials and extracts thereof, but since it causes combustion or pyrolysis due to a considerable amount of heating, it is easy to make the flavor of the sending out unstable due to unstable entrained copper and is porous. It is possible to cause the problem of thermal degeneration of flavor as well.

As the binder included in the flavor generator of the present invention, cellulose or various cellulose derivatives, arginic acid, guar gum, chianthan gum, locustvin gum, and the like can be used. In particular, when methyl hydroxyethyl cellulose is used, the retention of the flavor substance is improved, and a good smoking flavor can be provided. The higher the binder, the greater the physical strength of the moldings and the easier it is to handle. However, since most binders often have an adverse effect on flavor when heated at a high temperature, it is preferable that the amount of the binder is in the range of 1 to 3% by weight unless there is a problem in handling.

Granular (molding) constituting the flavor generator of the present invention is extruded by mixing the substantially non-porous inorganic filler, the binder and the flavourant in the above ratio, and then adding an appropriate amount of water necessary for generating the binding force of the binder It can shape | mold to desired size and shape with a machine, a granulator, a tableting machine, etc. In this way, the granular material can be formed into a pellet, tablet or spherical shape.

As shown in Fig. 1, a breathable heat resistant member 16a such as a metal mesh is provided between the heat generator 13 and the flavor generator 15 so that the flavor generator 15 does not directly contact the heat generator 13. It is.

In the smoking article of the present invention, the heating element 13 provided at the tip end of the ordinary body 11 can be formed of a carbonaceous material such as carbon. The carbonaceous material can be molded into a desired shape by an extrusion molding machine, a tablet press, or the like. As a shape of a carbonaceous molded object, it is preferable to make it cylindrical. Such a heating element introduces air into the body 11 through the heating element 13 from the outside by suction from the suction port, and granulates the introduced air heated by the heating element 13 into the flavor generator 15. It passes through the air flow path between the water 151, and installs the air flow path in order to taste the flavor component which generate | occur | produced. The air flow passage may include at least one groove provided in the outer circumferential surface of the carbonaceous columnar body along the long axis of the body 11, or at least one through hole penetrating the carbonaceous columnar body along the long axis of the body 11. Can be configured. In FIG. 1, a through-hole 131 is formed at the center through the heat generating element 13 in the axial direction, and a plurality of through-holes arranged around the through-hole 131 (through holes in FIG. 1). 132 and 133 are displayed).

In the heating element 13, the shape (depth of the groove, the diameter of the through hole) and the number of the air flow paths together with the type and composition of the carbonaceous material, such as the ignition time of the heating element, the combustion rate, the combustion temperature, the amount of combustion products, Affect combustion characteristics. In particular, the ignition time characteristic requires the ignition time characteristic that a user can use without the ignition of a normal cigarette (within about 1 second) and discomfort. According to the present invention, it was found that the ignition time of the carbonaceous molded body within about 1.5 seconds can be achieved by selecting the composition of the carbonaceous material so that the thermal conductivity becomes 1.0 W / m · k or less at room temperature (about 22 ° C.). In addition, according to the present invention, by forming a heating element with a carbon material composition (residual carbon) containing a substantially non-porous inorganic filler in a proportion of 15 to 65% by weight, a substantial reduction in the amount of carbon, resulting in a combustion product amount, In particular, it was found that the reduction of carbon monoxide can be further improved, and at the same time, the amount of combustion, ie, the number of pape can be reduced, and the total amount of combustion products can be reduced. As a substantially nonporous inorganic filler, calcium carbonate having a BET specific surface area of 3 m ² / g or less is particularly suitable. The heat generated by the combustion of the heat generator 13 heats the flavor generator 15 disposed adjacent to the heat generator, and vaporizes and releases the flavor.

The heat generating element 13 is usually surrounded by a heat resistant packaging member 14 at its outer circumference and is press-fitted and fixed in the normal body 11.

In the normal body 11, the flavor supply body 18 can be arrange | positioned downstream of the flavor generator 15. As shown in FIG. In addition to the flavor component produced from the flavor generator 15, the flavor supply body 18 can carry various flavors and the like that are required to be further flavored or preferably not exposed to high temperature. It may be composed of tobacco, recycled tobacco, or may be composed of a carrier such as paper, nonwoven fabric loaded with perfume. In addition, the flavor supply 18 may be provided in the form of a molding containing a flavoring agent.

Inlet 17 may be provided with a cigarette filter 171 generally used in the art. In order to efficiently deliver the amount of flavor that can be finally smoked by the user with respect to the amount of flavor production, a low filtration filter having a filtration rate of 20% or less, or a hollow filter may be used. Moreover, in order to adjust a suction amount and a suction pressure, the inlet part 17 penetrates the heat insulating material 12 and the normal body 11, respectively in the desired position (usually the circumferential direction of the inlet part 17), and a plurality of them. Ventilation hole (VH) of can be formed.

In the present invention, the flavor generator 15 and the flavor supply 18 may be arranged to be in direct contact with each other, but as shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable to provide a gap 19 therebetween. When the air gap 19 facilitates the cooling of the aerosol or flavor produced from the flavor generator 15, and the loss due to condensation in the flavor supply 18 and the suction port 17 can be reduced. There is. The volume of the space | gap part 19 can be set suitably according to these objectives. In the case where the air gap 19 is provided in this way, as shown in FIG. 1, the granular material 151 is provided with a breathable member 16b having the same shape as the breathable member 16a at the downstream end of the flavor generator 15. You can prevent this from moving.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the granular material 151 in the filling container 11 be filled most closely. When the granular material 151 is gently charged, it becomes a charged state biased during use, and the fluid flow path formed between the granular material 151 is also biased, so that the uniformity of the flavor delivery amount is impaired. It is preferable. Here, the closest filling refers to a state in which the granular material is densely charged by vibrating or tapping.

Here, it was found that it is preferable to set the filling length L of the closest-filled granular material 151 and the inner diameter D of the ordinary body 11 so that their ratio L / D becomes 2-4. If the ratio is less than 2, the behavior of the flavor component from the flavor generator 15 tends to be affected by the heat generation pattern of the heat generator 13, while if the ratio is larger than 4, the flavor generator 15 The amount of flavor sent out tends to decrease due to condensation deposition in the shell, and the uniformity of flavor delivery tends to decrease. Therefore, when the inner diameter D of the normal body 11 is about 7-8 mm like a normal cigarette, it is preferable to set the filling length L in the range of about 14-32 mm. In addition, the size of the granular material 151 is preferably set so that the ratio (D / d) of the representative diameter (d) and the inner diameter (D) of the ordinary body 11 is 3.5 to 16, especially 4 to 15. okay. If the ratio is less than 4, the heat capacity of one granular material 151 increases, so that the outgoing flavor amount at the initial stage of inhalation tends to decrease, and if the ratio is greater than 15, the suction resistance increases, which tends to be difficult to suck. Therefore, when the inner diameter (D) of the ordinary body 11 is about 7 to 8 mm, as in a normal cigarette, the representative diameter of the granular material 151 is preferably set in the range of about 2.0 to 0.5 mm. Here, the representative diameter of the granular material refers to the longest diameter in the axial direction or the radial direction.

Hereinafter, although an Example demonstrates this invention, this invention is not limited by these.

Experimental Example 1

2A and 2B show a BET specific surface area of 1 m ² / g calcium carbonate as a nonporous inorganic filler and mixed with a flavourant (FIG. 2A), alumina having a specific surface area of 120 m ² / g as a porous inorganic filler. And the result of DSC analysis in the same flavor and in the same ratio (FIG. 2B). As shown in FIG. 2A, the endothermic peak due to vaporization of the flavoring substance is shown only once in the case of using the non-porous inorganic filler, whereas in the case of using the porous inorganic filler, as shown in FIG. In addition to the endothermic peak 1, a second endothermic peak (endothermic peak 2) in the high temperature region is also shown. This indicates that the flavor material adsorbed on the porous material needs more energy to vaporize, and it can be seen that it is advantageous to use the nonporous material.

Example 1

The smoking article of the structure shown in FIG. 1 was produced with the specification given below.

<Normal body>

Material: Aluminum foil laminate paper

Length: 85mm

Internal diameter (D) 7.5mm

<Flavor generator>

Composition: 80% by weight of calcium carbonate with a BET specific surface area of 1 m ² / g

      1% by weight of methyl hydroxyethyl cellulose

      19% by weight glycerin

Shape: spherical

Representative mirror (d); 1.5mm

Max charging length (L): 15mm

L / D = 2

D / d = 5

<Flavor supply body>

Composition: Yellow Tobacco Flesh

Length: 20mm                 

<Suction part>

filter

Length: 20mm

<Heating element>

Composition: 85 wt% carbon

15% by weight of calcium carbonate with a BET specific surface area of 1 m ² / g

<Gap part>

Length: 15mm

With respect to this smoking article, smoking with a capacity of 50 mL / 2 seconds was carried out every 30 seconds by an automatic smoking machine, and the result of having measured the quantity of the flavor substance collected per pape is shown in FIG. In addition, the uniformity index (described later) of flavor release of the smoking article of the present example was 0.79. The total amount of flavor was about 11 mg.

Example 2

The closest filling length of the granular material constituting the flavor generator was 30 mm (L / D = 4; no void), and the representative diameter of the granular material was 1.0 mm (D / d = 7.5) as in Example 1 Smoking article was produced by the method. With respect to this smoking article, smoking with a capacity of 50 mL / 2 seconds was carried out at an interval of 30 seconds by an automatic smoking machine, and the result of measuring the amount of the flavor substance collected per pape is shown in FIG. Although the uniformity index of the smoking article of the present Example was 0.81, it was high, but the total amount of the flavor-flavored substance was about 7 mg lower than the above-mentioned example due to the large L / D.                 

In the above Example, the uniformity index was computed as follows using the measured value of 2-11 papules.

Uniformity Index = 1- (Coefficient of Variation)

Coefficient of variation = (standard deviation) / (average)

The uniformity index indicates that the closer to 1, the better.

FIG. 5 shows the results of plotting the amount of heat flowing into the flavor generator from the carbon molded product heating element per pape in the smoking article of Example 1. FIG. Based on the evaluation range of the uniformity index from 2 to 11 waves, the heat input to the flavor generator was subject to 50% or more of its maximum value (about 5 pap).

Example 3

A smoking article was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the calcium carbonate content in the heating element was 40% by weight, and the smoking operation was performed in the same manner. As a result, the carbon monoxide production amount was reduced by 55% in the case of Example 1.

Comparative Example 1

When the flavor generator is weak in heat and easily burnable, the state of charge changes due to combustion or the amount of flavor is rapidly increased due to the heat of combustion, resulting in a more uneven behavior than the heating behavior of the heating element itself. To about 30 mm in length a flavor generator containing 40% by weight of a flavourant (e.g. glycerin) in a sheet-like medium made of pulp and tobacco-based materials such as those described in JP-A-6-46818. 6 shows the result of measuring the amount of the flavored substance collected per pape by producing a smoking article as in Example 2. FIG. The total amount of flavors was about 13 mg, which was not significantly different from Example 1, but the uniformity index was very low, 0.31. In addition, after smoking, the smoking articles were dissipated, and as a result, the burning and painting of the sheet pieces were confirmed.

Example 4

The smoking articles of Example 1 and Example 2 and the smoking articles of Comparative Example 1 were actually smoked by a panel for judging professionally trained smoking tastes. As a result, the smoking articles of Examples 1 and 2 according to the present invention had a stable amount of flavor per pape, and in particular, since the amount of flavor in the latter half of smoking did not fall, evaluation of high durability was obtained even if smoking proceeded. Moreover, in the smoking article of the comparative example 1, the specific smoking taste change by the burning of a flavor generator was confirmed late in smoking.

As described above, according to the present invention, with a simple structure, the user can send out a stable amount of flavor per one pape while smoking, and enjoy smoking without feeling stress caused by uneven changes in the amount of smoke or taste. Smoking goods are provided.

Claims (11)

A heating element is provided at the front end, and has a common body having a suction port at the rear end, and a flavor generator provided in proximity to the heating element in the body, wherein the flavor generator is substantially non-porous and 3 m on a dry weight basis. A plurality of inorganic fillers having a BET specific surface area of ² / g or less in a proportion of 65 to 93% by weight, a binder in a ratio of 1 to 3% by weight, and a flavor material in a ratio of 6 to 32% by weight, respectively. Smoking article including prize-winning article. delete The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic filler is calcium carbonate. The granular material according to claim 1, wherein said granular material is filled in the most compact state, and the ratio of the filling length of said granular material and the inner diameter of said normal body in the axial direction of said normal body is in the range of 2-4. Smoking goods with a ratio of 4 to 15 of the inner diameter and the representative diameter of the prized object. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the granular material is in the form of pellets, tablets, or spheres. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the binder contains methyl hydroxyethyl cellulose. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the heating element exhibits a thermal conductivity of 1.0 W / m · k or less at room temperature. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the heating element comprises a carbonaceous material containing a substantially nonporous inorganic filler in a proportion of 15 to 65% by weight. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the inorganic filler contained in the heating element comprises calcium carbonate having a BET specific surface area of 3 m ² / g or less. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the suction port portion is formed of a filter having a filtration rate of 20% or less. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the suction port portion comprises a hollow filter.

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