US2981261A - Cigarette - Google Patents

Description

April 25, 1961 J. P. RUPERT vcmARraTTE Filed Feb. 9, 1959 .5i 4 "15Min BYM A ORNEY Unite States Patent CIGARETTE John Peter Rupert, Toronto, Ontario, 'Canada (Thibault St., Mostertsdrif, Stellenbosch, Cape Province, Umou of South Africa) Filed Feb. 9, 1959, Ser. No. 791,854 'Claims priority, application Canada Oct. 23, 1958 Claims. (Cl. 131-9) This invention relates to cigarettes.

While no conclusive evidence has as yet been presented linking the incidence of cancer and other disorders to cigarette smoking, some authorities hold to the view that excessive smoking carries with it a denite increase in the possibility of contracting cancer or other serious disorders.

Some authorities hold to the view that high tar content in the smoke inhaled when a cigarette is smoked, produces a deleterious effect upon the heavy smoker. Tars can, it has been recognized, be reduced or eliminated by proper filtration, but the degree of filtration which is dependent upon the length and compactness of the filter fibres must be limited to the extent that the cigarette does not become excessively difficult to draw and smoke.

In addition other authorities hold to the view that the temperature of combustion of the fiame or at least the temperature of thesmoke inhaled by the smoker, has a direct bearing upon the injurious effects alleged to be caused by smoking. These authorities feel that a substantial reduction in the temperature of the smoke inhaled, -will greatly reduce or eliminate injurious effects to health. i

Other authorities hold to the view that harmful byproducts are produced in the smoke because of incomplete combustion and that if more oxygen were supplied to the fiame, the alleged deleterious effects of smoking would be reduced or eliminated.

Many attempts have been made to produce a cigarette designed to effect one or more of the above theories and thus theoretically to provide a safer cigarette to smoke. Heretofore, however, it has not been possible to produce a marketable cigarette possessing advantages under all of the theories mentioned above.

It is an important object f this invention therefore to provide a cigarette which will permit more efiicient filtration through the use of a filter more compact and/or longer than has heretofore been deemed compatible with desired drawing characteristics of the cigarette itself.

It is another important object of this invention to provide such a cigarette as will produce a cooler smoke than has heretofore conventionally been the case.

It is yet another important object of this invention to provide a cigarette wherein more oxygen is available at the fiame so as to provide more complete combustion.

It is a further important object of this invention to provide such a cigarette as will be acceptable in. appearance and thus possess a superior marketability to the cigarettes heretofore Yproduced designed in accordance with one or more of the theories above stated.

It is. still a lfurther important object of the invention to providersuch a cigaretteA as may easily and readily be producedon conventional cigarette making machinery,v

without any major modification orvaddition to the equipmentor excessive `capital expense.

so as to form a apparent through a consideration detailed specification.

A specific embodiment is described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of a cigarette made in Iaccordance with the instant invention;

Figure 2 is a greatly enlarged partial sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a greatly magnified sectional view of a portion of a cigarette paper wrapper made in accordance with the instant invention, and

Figure 4 is a view diagrammatically illustrating a suitable means of forming the paper wrapper in accordance with the invention.

The inventionconsists broadly in the provision of a.

cigarette having a wrapper or paper vwhich is embossed plurality of substantially equally spaced bosses or studs thereon, thereby increasing the porosity of the paper as hereinafter described in detail. As shown on Figure l, the cigarette 10 includes a wrapperv 11 which is embossed as described in more detail hereinafter. If desired, the cigarette may be provided with a suitable filter as shown at 12 on Figure l.

In U.S. Patent No. 2,304,009, the inventor sought to increase the flow of oxygen to the flame and permit the entry of air behind the flame to cool the smoke by perforating the paper. Such a cigarette would be completely unmarketable because of its unconventional appearance.

I have now discovered that the porosity of the paper may be increased in a controllable degree by forming a series of studs or projections onthe paper surface by embossing or lby any other process, these projections `being sufiicient to break the fibres of the paper but insufficient to puncture the paper. A greatly magnified partial sectional View of a cigarette made in accordance with the instant invention is shown on Figure 2. As illustrated in this figure, the cigarette the embossed Wrapper y11 which encloses the cut tobacco filler 13, The porosity of the paper wrapper 11 is increased in accordance With this invention by the embossing action which, as shown, involves forming a series of studs or projections 14, on the wrapper surface. As shown more clearly in the greatly magnified partial sectional view of the wrapper l11 of Figure 3, the studsor improving the These vand otherobjectsof the' inventionjwillfbeconie projections 14 are separated yby valleys 15.

Conventional embossing machinery is well known for appearance of paper, foil and other sheet surfaces. The embossing process consists in the formation of a plurality of closely spaced bosses or studs giving the paper a textured effect which has been adapted here intofore for its aesthetic effect. Figure 4 diagrammatically illustrates the manner in which the paper to be used in forming wrapper 11 may be formed into the desired embossedv state in generally conventional embossing machinery employing two rollers urged together and having the desired design thereon. As shown in this ligure, the paper P is fed into the bite of rollers 20 and 21, which rotate in the direction of the arrows shown. Roller 20 has the surface thereof formed with closely spaced ybosses 22 which are spaced around the periphery and longitudinally of the roller, for the length of the roller required to handle the desired width of the paper P which is to be modified -in accordance with the invention. The rollers 20 and 21 are urged. together under a pressure such that the bosses 22 impress the paperP into the surface of roller 21 which is` made of a suitable material such that the paper is formed into the desired embossed state as shown passing out yfrom between the rollers. ,i y

As shown more clearly in Figure 3, the paper wrapper as a result of the embossing action hasvthe fibres therein thinned out or broken if the -fcuowing 10 is provided with el@ that the Perosity .et .the paper.

is increased at spaced points over its surface without puncturing or perforating the paper.

I have now discovered that if ordinary cigarette paper is embossed, the paper fibres ywill be broken and the porosity of the paper increased thus permitting entry 'of air through the paper tothe flame to improve its efficiency and possibly more importantly, behind the dame to cool the smoke and to reduce the draw required to smoke a conventional cigarette.

It will be appreciated that a cigarette formed with a wrapper or paper embossed accord-ing to the manner of this invention w-ill be easier to draw than a similar cigarette formed of conventional paper' since oxygen enters not only at the end. This being the case, a longer and/ or more tightly packed filter can be used for a cigarette having an embossed Wrapper than could be the case for a conventional cigarette intended to be smoked with the same draw. Thus the reduction in the suction required to smoke the cigarette afforded by this invention permits rnore ecient filtration than Ihas heretofore been thought possible and gives rise 'to one of the principal features of this invention.

The size and ydepth of the bosses will determine the porosity of the paper. The deeper and closer the emb ossing, the greater the porosity will be and the depth, slze and spacing of the bosses may readily Ibe determined for any given cigarette having regard to the length and diameter of the cigarette, the extent to which the tobacco is packed, the cutting width of the tobacco and even, to some extent, the type of tobacco used. The extent of embossing may therefore be determined by the qualities required in the conventional cigarette by way of filtration, temperature of smoke etc.

It is conceivable that it may be desired to vary the porosity of the paper from one end of the cigarette to the other. When only a small piece of the cigarette .has

been smoked, more oxygen may be required than when the cigarette is almost consumed. For this reason the embossing could be made deeper or closer at the end of the cigarette to be lighted and graduated, more or less,

` evenly to the mouth-piece end.

One of the principal advantages of the invention is the appearance of the cigarette. Rather than having a wrapper which embodies this invention detracting from the appearance as has been the case with all such former cigarettes of which I am aware, this invention enhances the cigarette appearance by providing a cigarette with an embossed paper, easily recognizable and aesthetic in itself as has already been pointed out.

Another important feature of this invention rests in the ease by which the invention may be applied to conventional cigarette making machinery. To emboss convent1onal cigarette paper it is merely necessary to pass it between two pressurized rollers having the desired design thereon. These rollers ymay be added to any conventional cigarette machine prior to or after the printing stage and immediately prior to the formation of the cigarette itself. No modification of existing equipment is required other than the addition of the two simple embossing rollers and some tensioning means to ensure uniform embossing.

Most conventional cigarette machines are synchronized with the printing of the paper. Thus were it desirable to employ a graduated embossing effect asdiscussed above, this could easily be synchronized with the cutting operation in the same Way as the printing is at present synchronized.

The invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments.- It is to be understood, how-- ever, that theinvention is not to be construed as limited to the precise embodiments shown nor to details thereof. For example I have referred to the formation of the studs or bossesvvhichform the subject Vof the invention as being achieved by embossing It will` 'DeV appreciated, however,'that any other' process in WhiCh'idell tions, studs or bosses are formed in the cigarette paper with the effect of vincreasing porosity of the paper by breaking the libres thereof without perforating the paper may be used, and where here and elsewhere in the specification and claims I use the term embossing or embossed it is to be construed in the broad sense as including any method or process designed to produce the effect in the paper which forms the subject of this invention. All embodiments of the invention which fall within the scope and purview of the appended claims are to be considered as part of this invention. An actual specific example of the invention of the subject application is given as follows: a standard commercially available cigarette paper commercially known as Ecusta 153 made by the Ecusta Paper Division of Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation, Pisgah Forest, North Carolina, was embossed by engagement with a generally conventional embossing roller provided with sixty-six bosses per linear inch, the bosses being .005 inch high. The ernbossed roller was urged under a pressure of pounds against a backup roller of Lucite. The embossed roller had a diameter of 21/2 inches and the backup roller had a. diameter of 41/2 inches. The standard commercially available paper was passed between the embosses roller and the backup roller with the bosses forming closely spaced studs on the surface of the paper due to the bosses pressing the paper into the relatively resilient surface of the backup roller. VThe porosity of the paper after embossing, in accordance with this invention as hereinabove described, when subjected to a porosity test was found to have an average porosity of 20.2 seconds relative to the average porosity of the paper before embossing of 43.5 seconds.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A cigarette including a fibrous wrapper enclosing a quantity of tobacco, said Wrapper having a plurality of closely spaced studs projecting outwardly from the surface of the wrapper, said studs being distributed over substantially lthe entire area of said wrapper, first portions of said wrapper being of higher resistance to air ow and being formed as a part of said studs, and second portions of said wrapper of lower resistance to air tiow separating and intermediate said first portions, said wrapper thereby having increased porosity without puncturing the wrapper.

2. A cigarette as claimed in claim 1 wherein the studs are substantially equally spaced.

3. A cigarette as claimed in claim 1 wherein the depth of the studs is progressively increased from the mouthpiece end to .the opposite end of the cigarette.

4. A cigarette as claimed in claim 1 wherein the spacing between the studs is progressively decreased from the mouthpiece end to the opposite end of the cigarette.

S. A cigarette as claimed in claim 1 wherein both the size of the studs is progressively increased and the spacing between the studs is progressively decreased from'the mouthpiece end to the opposite-end of the cigarette thereby imparting progressively increased porosity to the cigarette wrapper from the mouthpiece end to the opposite end thereof.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 439,004 Harris Oct. 2l, 1890 1,338,827-v Goodfellow May 4, 1920 2,316,785 Galdeck Apr. 20, 1943 i 2,667,170 Lebert Ian. 26, 1954 2,834,809 Schutte et al. May 13, 1958 y FOREIGN PATENTS 510,067 VGreat Britain July 26, 1939 758,429 Great Britain Oct. l3, 1956 998,557 France Sept. 26, 1951 OTHER REFERENCES l Washington Bost-Times Herald, page'17, MarclrSO,

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