KR20120009500A - Treated tobacco - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an aerosol generating material (8) for a smoking article (5) comprising a porous particulate material infused with a diluent (3), said porous particulate material having a BET specific surface area of at least 1200 m 2 / g. The present invention also provides an aerosol-generating material 8 for smoking article 5 comprising particulate calcium carbonate 1 having a diluent 3 and / or infused with a diluent 3.

Description

Processed cigarettes {TREATED TOBACCO}

materials

The present invention relates to treated tobacco material. In particular, the present invention relates to tobacco having a diluent and a barrier material, a product comprising the same, and a method of making the same.

It is known that smoking articles such as cigarettes include diluents. Diluents are compounds that evaporate during smoking and are delivered to mainstream smoke in the form of aerosols. Such diluents are generally selected such that they are delivered in smoke substantially intact. Thus, other components of the smoke (tobacco-derived components in the case of tobacco-containing smoking rags) are "diluted" by this means.

Cigarettes may include a filter at the mouth end, a tobacco rod comprising smokeable filler material, and a cigarette paper surrounding the rod. If the diluent is present in the smokeable filler material, such diluent may be present in a simple mixture with other components (especially for solid form diluents), or the diluent may be included in one or more of the other components (especially if the diluent is In liquid form). When incorporated into the filler material in a simple mixture, the diluent may be at a disadvantage during manufacture, in particular when such a diluent is in the form of a fine powder, the diluent can be easily removed from the finished product. Thus, it is desirable that the diluent be kept in intimate contact with another component of the filler material.

Diluents are known to be provided in intimate contact with the tobacco itself. For example, WO 2007/012980 and US 2006/283469 describe tobacco containing compositions comprising added diluents which can be supplied by spraying, mixing or dipping tobacco.

While diluents evaporate during smoking in the course of their function, it has been found that evaporation of diluents at lower temperatures can cause problems during storage of cigarettes. In particular, the diluent may migrate during storage, which may later be lost to the atmosphere or interact with other parts of the product, such as cigarette paper. It may also stain or stain the cigarette paper by the compound released by the diluent itself or from the diluent interaction.

Thus, there is a need in the art to avoid diluent migration during storage of cigarettes or other smoking articles.

Accordingly, the inventor has invented the invention as defined in the claims.

1 is a schematic illustration of treated tobacco particles found in treated tobacco according to one embodiment of the invention.

2 is a schematic illustration of treated tobacco particles found in treated tobacco according to another embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a schematic illustration of another treated tobacco particle.

The tobacco used in the present invention may be, for example, stem tobacco, side tobacco, powdered tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or mixtures thereof. Suitable tobacco materials include the following tobacco types: Virginia or flu-cured tobacco, Burley tobacco, Oriental tobacco, or blends of tobacco materials. Tobacco may be expanded, such as dry ice expanded tobacco (DIET), or may be processed by any other means, such as injection. Stem tobacco may be pretreated or untreated, which may be, for example, solid stems, flake dry stems or steamed stems.

Diluents are one or more aerosol formers which may be, for example, polyol aerosol generators or non-polyol aerosol generators, preferably non-polyol aerosol generators. It may be a solid or liquid at room temperature, but is preferably a liquid at room temperature. Suitable polyols include sorbitol, glycerol, and glycol like propylene glycol or triethylene glycol. Suitable non-polyols include monohydric alcohols, high boiling hydrocarbons, acids such as lactic acid, and esters such as diacetin, triacetin, triethyl citrate or isopropyl myristate. Combinations of diluents can be used in equal or different proportions. Triacetin, triethyl citrate and isopropyl myristate are particularly preferred.

Application of the diluent to tobacco is by any suitable method known to those skilled in the art, including washing, dipping, spraying or mixing.

The diluent may be present as a surface covering on the tobacco material and / or at least in part absorbed into the material. However, in the present invention, it is not important that the diluent is in any exact position of the cigarette.

There may be several factors that affect the stability and migration of diluents under ambient conditions. Such factors may include hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity, viscosity, saturated vapor pressure at room temperature, boiling point, molecular structure (eg, hydrogen bonding or van der Waals forces), and absorption / adsorption interactions between the diluent and tobacco. Some diluents will experience greater migration problems than others, for example, it has been found in the present invention that triacetin, isopropyl myristate and triethyl citrate are particularly advantageous for immobilization.

Another related factor is the loading level of the diluent. For example, when a large amount of diluent such as glycerol is included, migration issues can still be important.

The diluent dropping level in the present invention may depend on the particular diluent. However, preferably the treated tobacco of the present invention has at least 0.05 g of diluent per gram of tobacco, more preferably at least 0.1 g of diluent per gram of tobacco, more preferably at least 0.2 g of diluent per gram of tobacco. With respect to the total weight of the tobacco treated, it preferably contains at least 5% by weight diluent, preferably at least 10%, 15%, 20% or 50% by weight diluent.

The barrier material may inhibit migration of the diluent during storage of the smoking article, but may enable release of the diluent during smoking of the smoking article. This may be to dissolve, decompose, react, degrade, swell, or deform to release the diluent at temperatures above room temperature or below a temperature reached inside the smoking article during smoking. For example, physical expansion that occurs with evaporation of a sufficient level of diluent can destroy the structure of the barrier material. In an embodiment of the invention, the barrier material releases abundant amounts of diluent above 50 ° C, preferably above 60 ° C, 70 ° C, 80 ° C or 90 ° C.

The barrier material may be, for example, a polysaccharide or cellulose barrier material, gelatin, gums, gels or mixtures thereof. Suitable polysaccharides include alginate, dextran, maltodextrin, cyclodextrin and pectin. Suitable cellulosic materials include methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, and cellulose ethers. Suitable black gum Arabic, gum ghatti, gum tragacanth, karaya, locust bean, acacia, guar, queen's seed (quince seed) and xanthan gum. Suitable gels include agar, agarose, carrageenan, furoidan and furcellaran.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the barrier material comprises a polysaccharide. Alginates are particularly preferred because of their encapsulation properties. The alginate can be, for example, a salt of alginic acid, esterified alginate or glyceryl alginate. Salts of alginic acid include ammonium alginate, triethanolamine alginate, and group I or II metal ion alginates such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium alginate. Esterized alginates include propylene glycol alginate and glyceryl alginate.

In one embodiment, the barrier material is sodium alginate and / or calcium alginate. Calcium alginate provides greater inhibition of diluent migration at ambient temperature than sodium alginate, but it can also release the diluent at higher temperatures than sodium alginate.

The barrier material is applied to the tobacco before or simultaneously with the diluent. In one embodiment, the barrier material is applied to the tobacco after the diluent is applied. Preferably, the diluent is in intimate contact with the tobacco.

Application of the barrier material is by any suitable method known to or described herein by those skilled in the art that does not cause complete loss of diluent during processing. Preferably, the step of applying the barrier material results in substantially no loss of diluent. In one embodiment, the method of the present invention comprises spraying a barrier material or precursor thereof.

For example, an aqueous sodium alginate solution may be sprayed onto the tobacco and dried to form a water-soluble film on the surface. Calcium ions from the tobacco itself may gel at least partially sodium alginate with calcium alginate. Calcium ions may be added to tobacco prior to alginate treatment to enhance its effect. Alternatively, sodium alginate may be sprayed onto the tobacco and then the calcium ion source may be treated to form a water-insoluble film or gel sheath of calcium alginate.

In the manufactured product of the present invention, the diluent is surrounded by barrier material, and the movement of the diluent is inhibited at ambient conditions. A schematic illustration of the treated tobacco particles found in one embodiment of the present invention is provided in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the treated tobacco particles 1 are tobacco particles 2 which contain a diluent 3 in the first coating and optionally also in their cellular structure. A "pore" 5 or air gap between the tobacco fibers is shown, where the diluent 3 is shown to coat the pore, which can completely fill the pore. The barrier material 4 forms an outer coating around the tobacco particles. Indeed, the boundary between the barrier material layer and the diluent layer need not be a clear boundary, but the barrier material will be found substantially external to the diluent.

Another treated tobacco particle 10 of the present invention is shown in FIG. 2, where the barrier material and diluent are applied together in the tobacco, present in a porous structure and / or as a coating layer 31 on the surface of the particle. . In one embodiment, an additional coating of barrier material 4 is then applied, providing an additional barrier to migration.

In one embodiment, the present invention excludes treated tobacco, in which the diluent is precoated with a barrier material prior to application to tobacco. This is illustrated by the tobacco particles 100 in FIG. 3, where the diluent 3 is precoated with the barrier material 4 prior to application to the tobacco, and thus is not in intimate contact with the tobacco.

In the present invention, the treated tobacco contains as many barrier materials as necessary to perform the function. This will depend on the type of cigarette used. For example, when flake dry stems are used, the treated tobacco may contain 1 to 10% by weight of barrier material, optionally 3 to 8% by weight, optionally 4 to 6% by weight of barrier material. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the amount of barrier material based on the weight of the expanded tobacco will be, for example, greater than the flake dry stem.

The processed tobacco can be incorporated into the smoking article by conventional means. It may be a single cigarette used in a smoking article, or may be combined or blended with other tobacco materials. The term "smoking article" as used herein includes smokeable products such as cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos. The term also includes so-called "heat-not-burn" products that generate smoke or produce aerosols similar to smoke. Smoking articles may be provided with filters for particulate and gas flows that are inhaled by the smoker. Preferably the smoking article is a cigarette.

Claims (13)

Tobacco (2) having a diluent (3) and a barrier material (4), wherein the diluent (3) is applied to the cigarette (2) before the barrier material (4). 2. The processed tobacco (1) according to claim 1, wherein the diluent (3) is in intimate contact with the tobacco (2). 3. The treated tobacco (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least some of the barrier material (4) is present outside the diluent (3) and optionally forms a coating outside the diluent (3). 4. The treated tobacco (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the barrier material (4) comprises alginate. The treated tobacco (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, containing 1 to 10% by weight of barrier material (4). The treated tobacco (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, containing at least 0.05 g of diluent (3) per 100 g of tobacco (2). The treated tobacco (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, containing at least 5% by weight of diluent (3). 8. The treated tobacco (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the diluent (3) is triacetin, triethyl citrate or isopropyl myristate. Smoking article containing the treated tobacco (1) according to any one of the preceding claims. Treated tobacco 1 for smoking articles comprising treating the tobacco 2 with a diluent 3 prior to or at the same time as treating the barrier material 4 on the tobacco 2. ) Method of making). The method according to claim 10, wherein the diluent (3) is applied to the tobacco (2) prior to the application of the barrier material (4). 12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the diluent (3) is sprayed with tobacco (2). 13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the barrier material (4) is sprayed with tobacco (2).

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