KR102085772B1 - Smoking Article - Google Patents

Abstract

The smoking article comprises a smoking compliant tobacco rod 2 comprising a cigarette and a wrapper and a filter 3 having a first end 4 and a second end 5. The filter 3 extends to the first end 4 of the filter 3 and to the first filter segment 11 located at the end of the tobacco rod 2 and to the second end 5 of the filter 3. And a second filter segment 12. The first filter segment 11 comprises plant material in the form of cut or piece. The second filter segment 12 comprises a cellulose material as the filter material and has a length in the range of 3 mm to 12 mm. The filter 3 is biodegradable according to OECD 301 B.

Description

Smoking Article {Smoking Article}

The present invention relates to a smoking article having a biodegradable filter.

Smoking articles, such as cigarettes, usually have a filter attached to the rod by means of a smokeable tobacco rod and tip paper wrapped in a wrapper (such as a cigarette paper). Include. Perforations may be applied to the layers surrounding the filter material to configure the filter ventilation to dilute the mainstream smoke with air.

Filters for smoking articles often consist of two or more segments aligned along an axis to achieve particular filter characteristics. Depending on the number of filter segments, such filters are known as dual, triple, or other filters.

Cellulose acetate is the most commonly used filter material for smoking articles. However, cellulose acetate has low biodegradability either in a mixed environment or in a standardized test such as OECD 301B. Paper or other nonwovens (such as, for example, air-laid) cellulose fibers, or recycled fibers such as lyocells or viscose, are known as filter materials with improved biodegradability.

The problem with the latter filter materials above is that they have a very high filtration efficiency for the particulate matter (tar) of mainstream smoke compared to cellulose acetate. Since the amount of carbon monoxide in the mainstream smoke is not affected by filtration, the generation of carbon monoxide (mg per smoking article) and the rate of particulate matter increase with increasing filtration rate. The particulate material herein is measured with PMWNF (Particulate Matter (Water and Nicotine Free)). Such filter materials limit PMWNF levels because there are upper limits on the generation of carbon monoxide and PMWNF in various national and EU regulations. The use of so-called LIP (low ignition propensity) papers further contributes to this situation, as these papers tend to increase CO emissions at constant PMWNF levels.

The use of tobacco as filter material is known in the art and is known, for example, from cigarettes of the brand FR 1 270 093 or Gitanes Mais. Cigarette filters are mainly used to influence the taste of smoking articles or to achieve a special appearance of a cigarette mouse tip that mimics (similar to) a filter-free cigarette. However, with the increasing use of filter cigarettes, today's consumer tendency has turned to visual white filter tips.

WO 02/45531 A1 discloses a smoking product comprising a tobacco filter with a hollow mouthpiece. Optionally, a cellulose-based filter portion can be disposed between the tobacco rod of the smoking product and the tobacco filter.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a smoking article having a biodegradable filter having a white appearance at the mouse-side end and having a sufficiently low filtration efficiency for particulate matter, comparable to conventional cellulose acetate filters. .

It is an object of the present invention to provide a biodegradable smoking article according to OECD 301 B.

The object of the present invention is achieved by providing a smoking article having the features of claim 1. In addition, claim 11 relates to a filter for self-production of a smoking article, wherein the self-production results in making the smoking article as defined in claim 1. Further advantages of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

Smoking articles according to the invention comprise a smoking compliant tobacco rod comprising a wrapper wrapped cigarette and a filter having first and second ends. Preferably, the smoking article is a cigarette and the wrapper is a cigarette paper, but other types of smoking articles, for example small cigarillos, are likewise contemplated. The filter includes a second filter segment extending to the first end of the filter and extending to the second end (mouse-side filter portion) of the filter, including a first filter segment disposed at the end of the tobacco rod (rod-side filter portion). Include. The first filter segment comprises a plant material that is cut or shredded. The second filter segment comprises a cellulose material as the filtering material. In the sense used in the present invention, a cellulose material means a material based on natural cellulose or regenerated cellulose, and does not correspond to a cellulose derivative such as cellulose acetate. The length of the second filter segment is in the range of 3 mm to 12 mm. In addition the filter of the smoking article according to the invention is biodegradable according to OECD 301 B.

OECD 301 is an OECD guideline (adopted by the council on 17 July 1992) for testing compounds and a number of tests that allow the testing of chemicals for easy biodegradability in aerobic water-soluble media (solvents). The method is disclosed. One such method is referred to as OECD 301 B. In this test, the carbon dioxide change due to the test sample in an aqueous medium under aerobic conditions is measured and compared with the theoretical carbon dioxide production of the test compound assuming complete degradation. In general, if the ratio of measured carbon dioxide to theoretical carbon dioxide increases from 10% to 60% or more within a 10-day cycle, the test will be considered passed. For further information, reference is made to the OECD 301 Guidelines, which include the description of OECD 301 B.

The second, that is, the mouse-side filter segment comprises a cellulosic material, so that its appearance becomes white or white tint similar to the mouse-side end of a typical cigarette with a cellulose acetate filter as a whole. This filter segment is rather short in order not to make the overall filtration efficiency of the second filter segment too high per unit length of the cellulose material, generally due to the high filtration efficiency. The first, that is, the rod-side filter segment generally does not contribute much to the overall filtration efficiency of the filter, but the first, that is, the rod-side filter is slightly longer in length, so that the overall length of the filter is consumer friendly. It is easy to see and handle the filter during production. In addition, the plant material in the cut or flake form of the first filter segment may affect the taste of the smoking article.

Preferably, the filter is a dual filter. It does not comprise additional segments other than the first filter segment and the second filter segment, where each filter segment may be of a uniform configuration along the longitudinal axis of the smoking article as a whole.

The configuration of each filter segment as a whole can have a configuration that is generally uniform, ie unchanged, along the axis and cross-sectional area in the longitudinal direction.

Examples for the cellulose material of the second filter segment are paper, air-laid cellulose or regenerated cellulose such as lyocells or viscose. Mixtures or blends of such materials are also possible. The second filter segment further comprises a mixture of adsorbents, preferably as a constituent of the paper material, to reduce the gas-phase composition of the mainstream smoke. For example, paper containing activated carbon.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the first ie rod-side filter segment comprises chopped tobacco or chopped (or in pieces) herbs such as mint, eucalyptus and / or tea. Mixtures or blends of tobacco and chopped or chopped herbs (mint, eucalyptus and / or tea) may likewise be considered. There are a variety of ways to influence the overall taste of a smoking article by selecting a suitable plant material, such as a suitable blend, for the first filter segment.

The first filter segment may have a density in the range of 0.20 g / cm ³ to 0.35 g / cm ³ . This is rather large compared to the density of the tobacco in the tobacco rod of the smoking article as a whole. By adjusting the density, the filtration efficiency and taste provided by the first filter segment can be affected. In addition, denser filters feel tighter and are similar to common cellulose acetate filters, which are more robust during the manufacturing process, where the tendency for plant particles to escape from the end of the first filter segment is reduced. do.

According to recent regulations, in particular, if the smoking article is a cigarette, the wrapper of the smoking article may be a cigarette paper comprising at least one area having a small permeability compared to the basic permeability of the cigarette paper. have. This means that the initial or basic permeability of the cigarette paper is reduced in some areas, for example by applying a coating. The low-permeability regions may for example be arranged in a ring shape. In this way a low ignition propensity (LIP) of the smoking article can be obtained, whereby the smoking article can preferably meet the requirements of ASTM E2187 and / or EN 16156: 2010. Generally low-combustion smoking articles are known in the art.

As already mentioned above, the carbon monoxide production (yield) or level of smoking articles is hardly affected by the filter (except by ventilation), while the PMWNF production ( Level) can be controlled via a filter, for example. According to the invention, the latter can be made, for example, through the density or type of cellulose material in the second filter segment or through the length of the second filter segment. If the smoking article has a PMWNF greater than or equal to 8 mg, the ratio of CO / PMWNF is preferably less than 1.3 if smoking according to ISO conditions. If a smoking article has a PMWNF level that is less than 8 mg, the ratio of CO / PMWNF may preferably be small compared to 1.1 if smoking according to ISO conditions. CO / PMWNF is expressed herein as the total production of mg CO per smoking article divided by the total production of mg PMWNF per smoking article. The relevant standard is ISO 4387.

The filters described so far can be used in filter tubes for self-production of smoking articles comprising wrappers suitable for wrapping tobacco. The only difference between a smoking article according to the invention and such a smoking article filter tube is that in the latter the cigarette is taken off the rod while sold and the consumer fills the rod himself. The filter of the smoking article filter tube may have all the characteristics (characteristics) of the filter of the smoking article according to the invention.

Smoking articles according to the invention allow the low-combustion propensity (LIP) of smoking articles to be achieved while meeting the requirements of ASTM E2187 and / or EN 16156: 2010. In addition, smoking articles according to the invention can be used in filter tubes for self-production of smoking articles comprising wrappers suitable for use in tobacco.

In the following the invention is further described by an embodiment. The figure shows the following.
1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a smoking article according to the present invention.
2 is a graph of the decomposition of cigarette filter segments (paper, tobacco and cellulose) as a function of time as measured by the method described in OECD 301B.

Smoking articles according to the invention can be produced, for example, in the following manner.

The filter base rod for the second filter segment is made by a standard cigarette manufacturer from paper webs, plug wraps and glue. As is known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the pressure drop and retention of such a member may result in the width of the paper web and the selective embossing or crimping of the web. Can be controlled. Depending on the intended form of filter venting, the plug wrap can be either porous or non-porous.

Tobacco filter base rods for the first filter segment are made by standard cigarette manufacturers from tobacco blends, wrappers and adhesives in cut or flake form. Such tobacco blends usually include truncated Virginia, Burley, and / or oriental tobacco leaves. The tobacco blend may further comprise cut tobacco stems. All tobacco materials can be expanded using processes familiar to those skilled in the art. The wrapper may be a porous or non-porous filter plug wrap paper.

From such filter base rods, dual filter rods can be made using a second porous or non-porous wrapper and adhesive and using standard filter bonding machines.

Combustion tobacco rods are made by standard filter cigarette manufacturers from tobacco, cigarette paper and adhesives. The dual filter is attached to the rod by tipping paper covering the filter as well as part of the smoking compliant tobacco rod,

As such, in this embodiment, each filter segment comprises a plug wrap, both filter segments are joined by an additional wrapper, and the resulting dual filter is attached to the burnable tobacco rod by the tip paper.

1 illustrates an embodiment of a smoking article in the form of a perspective view.

The smoking article is a cigarette 1 comprising a smokeable tobacco rod 2 (tobacco wrapped in cigarette paper) and a dual filter 3. The dual filter 3 is attached to the smoking compliant tobacco rod 2 by tipping paper (not shown in FIG. 1). The dual filter 3 has a first end 4 adjacent the tobacco rod 2 and a second end 5 as a mouse-side filter end.

The dual filter 3 comprises a rod-side first filter segment 11 and a mouse-side second filter segment 12. The first filter segment 11 comprises plant material (in the tobacco of the embodiment) in cut or flake form, while the second filter segment 12 is made of cellulose from the filter material (in the paper of the embodiment). ) Contains the material. Each filter segment 11, 12 comprises a plug wrap, and both filter segments 11, 12 are joined by an additional wrapper (not shown in FIG. 1).

In an embodiment, the dual filter 3 is vented by ventilation holes arranged in rows circumferentially extending in the region of the first filter segment 11.

In the examples, cigarette samples were produced according to the parameters of Table 1 listed and listed below. The columns "Reference" and "Reference 2" each refer to a sample having a known cellulose acetate (Mono-AC) filter or paper filter for comparison purposes. The remaining four columns (tobacco-paper filter samples) relate to the samples according to the invention.

All cigarettes included in Table 1 are standard king size cigarettes having a total length of 21 mm filter, a total length of 62 mm smoking compliant tobacco rod and a diameter of 7.88 mm. In all cases, the tip length (the length of the tip paper) is 25 mm. In tobacco rods, all cigarettes in Table 1 contain a standard American blend with a rod weight of 670 mg. In all aeration samples, the filter aeration is located 13 mm from the mouth-side end of the filter. In addition, all samples included LIP cigarette paper having a basic porosity of 70 CU (Coresta Units). The smoke production of the cigarettes in Table 1 was tested according to ISO 4387. Ventilation perporations were opened for the measurement of pressure drop (PD); 1 mmWG = 9.8 Pa.

In the sample according to the invention, the tobacco used for the tobacco filter segment (tobacco filter plug) is a dark air-cured tobacco blend comprising 60% of the expanded stem.

The last column of Table 1 (“+ 25% Mint”) relates to a sample containing mint leaves inside the tobacco filter segment. In this case, 25% of the lamina part of the tobacco blend in the filters of Samples 1-3 was replaced by fresh mint leaf.

1.3 The aim to provide the CO / NFDPM ratio below is achieved by all samples according to the invention.

The biodegradability of the paper filter segments, tobacco filter segments and cellulose acetate filters of the samples according to Table 1 were tested according to the OECD 301 B method. The results are shown in FIG. The graphical display shows the amount of decomposition over time (in days) of progress. As described in detail in the OECD 301 guidelines, degradation is expressed as the CO ₂ yield from each test sample relative to the theoretical CO ₂ yield of the test sample assuming complete degradation.

As is apparent from FIG. 2, tobacco and paper passed the test while cellulose acetate appeared to fail.

     TABLE 1 Cigarette Data and Cigarette Data According to the Invention with Dual Filters Comprising Cigarette and Paper Segments

1: cigarette 2: tobacco rod
3: dual filter 4: first end
5: 2nd end 11, 12: filter segment

Claims (12)

A smoking article comprising a smoking compliant tobacco rod 2 comprising a cigarette and a wrapper and a filter 3 having a first end 4 and a second end 5.
The filter 3 comprises a plant material in cut or flake form, extending to the first end 4 of the filter 3 and positioned at the end of the tobacco rod 2, and
A filter material comprising a second filter segment 12 having a length in the range of 3 mm to 12 mm and extending to the second end 5 of the filter, including the cellulosic material,
The filter (3) is characterized in that it is bio-degradable according to OECD 301 B,
The second filter segment 12 comprises a smoking article comprising at least one cellulosic material selected from the group consisting of paper, paper with adsorbents, paper with activated carbon, air laminated cellulose, regenerated cellulose, lyocells, viscose . The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the filter is a dual filter (3). delete A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the first filter segment comprises cut tobacco. 2. A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the first filter segment is at least one selected from the group consisting of chopped or flake shaped herbs, chopped or flake shaped mint leaves, eucalyptus, tea. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the first filter segment has a density in the range of 0.20 g / cm ³ to 0.35 g / cm ³ . The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the wrapper comprises at least one region having a small permeability relative to the basic permeability of the cigarette paper and is a cigarette paper made to provide a low-ignition tendency to the smoking article. article. delete The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the smoking article (1) has a PMWNF level greater than or equal to 8 mg and a ratio of CO / PMWNF less than 1.3 when smoked according to ISO conditions. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the smoking article has a PMWNF level of less than 8 mg and a ratio of CO / PMWNF of less than 1.1 when smoked according to ISO conditions. A smoking article filter tube for self-manufacturing a smoking article according to claim 1 comprising a wrapper suitable for use in a cigarette providing a smoking compliant tobacco rod and a filter having a first end and a second end,
A first filter segment comprising plant material in cut or flake form, extending to the first end of the filter and positioned at the end of the tobacco rod;
A filter material comprising a cellulose material and having a length in the range of 3 mm to 12 mm, comprising a second filter segment extending to the second end of the filter,
The filter is characterized in that it is biodegradable according to OECD 301 B,
The second filter segment 12 comprises a smoking article comprising at least one cellulosic material selected from the group consisting of paper, paper with adsorbents, paper with activated carbon, air laminated cellulose, regenerated cellulose, lyocells, viscose Filter tube. 12. A smoking article filter tube according to claim 11, wherein the smoking article has a characteristic configuration of any one of claims 2 and 4-7.

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