US3262456A - Self-lighting cigarette and ignition element therefor - Google Patents

Description

July 26, 1966 F. DE CAPITANI SELF-LIGHTING CIGARETTE AND IGNITION ELEMENT THEREFOR Filed Jan. 14, 1963 INVENTQR.

I 3,262,456 SELF-LlGHTIN G CEGARETTE AND IGNITION ELEMENT THEREFOR Francesco De Capitani, Corso Magenta 83, Milan, Italy Filed Jan. 14, 1963, Ser. No. 251,186 Claims priority, application Italy, Oct. 18, 1954, 13,702/54; Jan. 19, 1962, 1,197/62 8 Claims. (Cl. 1317) The invention pertains to an improved lighting member or element for self-lighting cigarettes of the general type disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 508,621, filed May 16, 1955, now abandoned, the present application being a continuation-in-part of said prior application.

My invention relates generally to self-lighting cigarettes and is concerned "more particularly with cigarettes and the like having an ignition element mounted on and associated with one end portion thereof, so that the cigarette may be lighted by striking and igniting such element on a matching striking surface.

The principal use for the lighting element of the invention is shown in US. Patent No. 2,844,152. An igniting element is provided for insertion into cigarettes and the like, and comprises a substantially cylindrical paper support, the paper of which has been impregnated with an oxygenating compound to ensure the prompt and complete burning thereof. An igniting rib is placed on one .face of said paper support end extends longitudinally thereof. When said paper support has a cylindrical .form, the igniting rib is on the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder.

The igniting element is positioned in one end of the cigarette around the roll of tobacco and inside the cigarette paper which is conventionally wrapped around the roll of tobacco. The igniter rib is exposed through a slot or holein the cigarette paper so that it can be ignited by rubbing it on a matching striking surface, thus igniting the rib and causing the ignition element to burn and ignite the tobacco at the cigarette end portion.

The manufacture of said self-igniting cigarettes ineludes the steps of providing an ignition element-forming strip comprising a strip of paper which is impregnated with the oxygenating compound, the width of the'strip being nearly equal to the circumference of the cylindrical ignition element to be formed therefrom, placing an uninterrupted fillet of igniting rib compound on one face of the strip longitudinally thereof, positioning a roll of the said ignition element forming strip so that it can be fed onto a strip of cigarette paper Whichhas been previously provided with longitudinally aligned and evenly spaced slots, cutting sections .from the said strip, positioning said sections at spaced intervals on the surface of the cigarette paper which is to lie against the roll of tobacco, the igniter fillet portions on each section being aligned with a slot in said cigarette paper, laying a roll of tobacco over and longitudinally of said cigarette paper and spaced ignition element forming sections, wrapping said cigarette paper and sections around said tobacco roll to form a continuous tube of tobacco wrapped with cigarette paper and having lighting elements at intervals along the length thereof, and cutting said continuous tube transversely of its length at regular intervals to form individual cigarettes with a lighting element at one end thereof.

In the actual use of self-lighting cigarettes produced according to my prior invention, and also in the use of self-lighting cigarettes and the like produced by applying prior knowledge of the art to which this invention appertains, such an arrangement has been unsatisfactory because of the fact that the flame provided by the burning ignition element sometimes is not suflicient to properly light the cigarette.

More particularly, it has been found that such a ciga- United States Patent Patented July 26, 1966 rett'e ignition element, which forms, when properly and completely ignited, a burning ring or annulus around the end portion of the tobacco roll enclosed within said element, has in general too short a burning life or duration for properly and safely igniting the tobacco roll end portion.

From another standpoint, it has been found that for proper ignition of the cigarette, the cylindrical ignition element must be compounded so that, when it is ignited upon ignition of the igniting rib thereon at one point on its periphery, the flame must progress as :fast as possible throughout said periphery for promptly forming a nearly complete burning annulus, which has been proved to be essential and critical for proper lighting of the tobacco.

Having the above and other considerations in mind, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the problem is to provide an ignition element of the type referred to above, which is capable of thoroughly and quickly burning so that a very complete burning annulus will be provided around the tobacco within a time as short as possible, and which is capable of continuing its burning for a relatively long time, as required for proper lighting of the tobacco encircled thereby.

It is therefore an important further object of this invention to provide a new and improved ignition element consisting of a section of a strip of impregnated paper wound around one end portion of the tobacco of the cigarette roll, within the cigarette paper wrapped around said roll, and having an ignition promoting component in the form of an igniting rib, the said impregnated paper including at least an oxygen producing component adapted to cause the flame, starting at the location wherein said ignition promoting component has ignited said paper, to progress quickly throughout the entire surface of said strip section, and a burning control component adapted to control the combustion of said impregnated paper for extending the duration of burning.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the novel features thereof are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, and the mode of carrying out the same will be best understood from the following detailed description thereof, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, forming an essential component of this disclosure, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective fragmentary view, on an enlarged scale, of a self-lighting cigarette produced according to this invention.

FIG. 2. is a perspective view, on a greatly enlarged scale, of the lightingelementassociated with the cigarette.

FIGS. 3 to 6 inclusive are perspective views diagrammatically showing the essential steps of manufacturing self-lighting cigarettes according to the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, elements and components throughout the several figures, in FIG. 1, numeral 10 generally indicates a self-lighting cigarette produced according to the invention and having a fore end portion at 10. 4

The portion 10 is associated with a lighting element 11 having an ignition promoting rib at 12 and forming a substantially cylindrical annulus around the tobacco at the front end portion 13 of the cigarette.

The said element 11 consists of a small portion of a strip of impregnated paper wound in a cylindrical shape and so dimensioned that it is in an are extending around slightly less than the circumference of the cylinder, so that the opposite end portions of such element are slightly spaced, preferably, as shown in FIG. 2. The said ignition promoting rib 12 is located midway between said end portions.

The operation of the ignition element of the invention for correct and complete lighting of the cigarette associated therewith will be readily apparent upon a consideration of FIG. 2. Supposing that the ignition promoting component in the form of rib 12 has been ignited by frictional engagement thereof with a suitable striking surface, in the same manner that a conventional match or a safety match is ignited, the centre portion 11 of the paper element 11 will be ignited, starting the combustion process of such element. Then said combustion process will progress quickly in direction A at both sides of said centre portion 11' to the whole area of said element 11 until a burning annulus is formed around the tobacco 13 (FIG. 1) of the cigarette which latter is located within the burning element. The ignition of said tobacco is caused by inward radial progress (as diagrammatically indicated by arrows B in FIG. 2) of the combustion.

Two features are material and critical for proper ignition of the self-igniting cigarette:

The paper of said ignition element 11 must be compounded so as to include oxidizing agents and readily ignitable matter, so that the combustion process will take place promptly and spread over the whole area of the element to provide the said burning annulus around the tobacco. The time required for spreading the combustion around the whole circumference of the fore portion 10 of the cigarette (FIG. 1) must be quite short, less than two seconds, for example. It has been found that if the spreading of the combustion takes a longer time, the tobacco will be improperly ignited, and in particular the ignition thereof will not be evenly promoted around the whole fore end of the cigarette;

In addition, the said element 11 must burn reliably so that combustion will take place even in unfavorable weather or ambient conditions, such as on windy days, where the cigarette tip is not completely protected from rain, and so on;

Since the incandescent annulus is formed around the cigarette tip or fore portion, it must remain incandescent for a relatively long time, such as four or five seconds, for example, to ensure the proper and complete ignition of the circumscribed tobacco.

As diagrammatically shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 inclusive, for providing cigarettes having a given length L with a lighting or ignition element produced and applied according to the invention, a continuous strip of ignition element forming material is provided, said material consisting of a strip 20 of impregnated paper and of a continuous fillet 21 of a known composition adapted to promote ignition when ignited upon frictional engagement thereof with a suitable matching striking surface, said fillet being placed longitudinally of said strip on the axis of symmetry thereof and on one face thereof.

Strip sections 22 are cut from said strip material, each section being sufficiently large to form two individual ignition elements. Said sections 22 are laid at spaced intervals on the surface of a strip of cigarette wrapping paper 23, which has correspondingly spaced slots 24 therein, and which is to lie against the roll of tobacco 25. The said sections 22 are placed on said paper 23 so that each corresponding section of fillet 21, associated with the individual sections 22, will be aligned with and protrude outwardly through one of said slots 24. The spacing of said slots and of the locations at which said sections 22 are placed on the cigarette paper 23 is twice the desired length L of the cigarettes to be manufactured.

According to present practice in the art, a roll of tobacco 23 is longitudinally fed onto and laid over the cigarette paper strip 23 with the spaced sections 22 juxtaposed thereon, and then the said strip 23 is wrapped about said roll to form a continuous tube 26 (FIG. 4) of tobacco wrapped with cigarette paper and having sections 22 at intervals equal to twice L located inside said paper along the length thereof (FIG. Any individual section 22 inside said tube 26 has a portion of ignition promoting material exposed through and protruding from each slot 24.

This continuous tube 26 is subsequently cut transverse- 'ly of its length at locations so as to transversely out said sections 22, whereby individual cigarettes 10, each having a lighting or ignition element at one end thereof are formed. Such individual cigarettes can be provided with filter means associated at their other end portion, if desired, by methods currently used in cigarette manufacturing.

The composition of batch 40 designed to form the compound of the ignition promoting rib 12 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 6) is not described in detail, as such composition is well known to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, in particular the art of manufacturing matches and safety matches manufacturing. Such rib 12, as a matter of fact, is identical in its composition and in its mode of ignition and operation to the igniting head of conventionally produced matches.

The new and surprising property of the igniting element paper member 11, produced according to the invention, is attained by combining, in such member 11, an impregnated paper support including readily ignitable and combustible components, adapted to form a relatively high temperature incandescent annulus when wholly ignited, oxygenating components adapted to producing oxygen for causing the combustion process of said combustible components to progress readily, and combustion controlling components adapted to prolong the duration of incandescence of said element.

It has been surprisingly found that such combustion control can be obtained by dispersing throughout the paper structure finely divided combustion moderator or inhibitor material, such as light magnesium carbonate, and/ or diatomite, and/ or similar matter, so that the rapid progress of the combustion through the whole area of element 11 will involve the burning of only a part of its components, while the remaining part of such components will complete the combustion process more slowly.

'This property of igniting element 111 can be further improved by adding the said oxygenating components in an amount less than required for complete oxygenation of the associated combustible components, whereby, upon ignition of the element, the flame will promptly spread over the whole of said element, upon the prompt but partial oxygenation of the combustible components, while the excess of said latter components will burn more slowly by taking oxygen from the atmosphere.

According to a preferred embodiment of this invention, the paper material 20 has the following composition, by weight:

Example 1 Percent Cellulose From to r Nitrocellulose Q From 25 to 35 I Light magnesium carbonate From 5 to 10 The magnesium carbonate can be partially or wholly replaced by diatomite. It will be observed that the amount of nitrocellulose in the paper composition is relatively low, and therefore such paper can be safely handled, transported and stored. In addition, such paper can be economically and safely produced by using current procedures and conventional plants for paper manufacture. The production of paper will not therefore be described in detail.

The addition of oxidizing agents can be carried out by immersion of the paper of Example 1 or equivalent in a batch, consisting of an aqueous solution of the following composition, the parts being by weight:

Example 2 Percent Potassium chlorate From 8 to 15 Potassium nitrate From 10 to 15 Ammonium nitrate About 3 When a batch including major amounts of potassium chlorate, such as over to 12%, is used, such batch will be made by dissolving the chlorate at 80 C., while for minor amounts the chlorate can be dissolved at about 60 C.

Greater amounts of dissolved oxidizing agents can be used when impregnating relatively stiff paper, because such paper will absorb the solution in an amount not exceeding 50% of the weight of paper, so that, upon drying of the impregnated paper, the composition thereof will include at least 12% of said agents.

Preferably, lighter and more porous paper is used so as to absorb solution in an amount up to 100 to 150% of its weight. Upon drying and even calendering of such impregnated paper, oxidizing agents in amounts up to to can be found in the composition thereof. In such case, the minor percentages indicated in Example 2 can be used advantageously.

The relatively small amount of ammonium nitrate, included in Example 2 might be considered as an additive only. Such addition has however surprisingly been shown to eliminate the typical and disagreeable taste and smell of combustion.

Although the present invention has been described with respect to specific details of certain embodiments thereof, it is not intended that such details be limitations upon the scope of the invention except insofar as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a self-lighting cigarette having a wrapped tobacco roll including a fore portion, igniter means comprising:

an ignition element consisting of a strip of impregnated paper circumferentially positioned about said fore portion and having an outer surface and an inner surface contacting the tobaccoin said fore portion with the end face of the tobacco roll exposed to the air;

an ignition promoting rib of a composition adapted to ignite and promptly burn upon frictional engagement with a matching striking surface, said rib being secured against a limited area of said outer surface,

the said impregnated paper ignition element consists of paper material including, in its weight, 60 to 65% cellulose; 25 to nitrocellulose; and 5 to 10% essentially incombustible matter taken from the group consisting of light magnesium carbonate and diatomite, and impregnated with a mixture of oxygen producing compounds taken from the group consisting of potassium chlorate and potassium nitrate.

2. The ignition element defined in claim 1, wherein the impregnating mixture further includes ammonium nitrate.

3. The ignition element defined in claim 1, wherein the said impregnated paper material includes, in weight, from 8 to 15% potassium chlorate and from 10 to 15 potassium nitrate.

4. The ignition element defined in claim 1, wherein the said impregnated paper material includes, in weight, from 8 to 15 potassium chlorate, from 10 to 1 5% potassium nitrate, and 3% of ammonium nitrate.

5. In a self-lighting cigarette having a wrapped tobacco roll including a fore portion, igniter means comprising:

an ignition element consisting of a strip of impregnated paper circumferentially positioned about said fore portion and having an outer surface and an inner surface contacting the tobacco in said fore portion with the end face of the tobacco roll exposed to the air; an ignition promoting rib of a composition adapted to ignite and promptly burn upon frictional engagement with a matching striking surface, and said rib being secured against a limited area of said outer surface, said strip of paper being formed from a composition including about 8 parts cellulose, about 4 parts nitrocellulose and about 1 part of an essentially incombustible matter taken from the group consisting of light magnesium carbonate and diatomite, and impregnated with a mixture of oxygen producing compounds taken from the group consisting of potassium chlorate, potassium nitrate and ammonium nitrate.

6. The ignition element of claim 5, wherein its nitrocellulose content is not greater than 35% of the Weight of the paper composition.

7. The ignition element of claim 5, wherein the oxygen producing compounds in the impregnated paper amount from 12 to 25% 0f the weight of said paper.

8. The ignition element of claim 5, wherein the paper composition includes from to cellulose, from 25 to 35% nitrocellulose, and from 5 to 10% essentially incombustible combustion controlling matter, and it is impregnated up to 25% of its weight with the mixture of oxygen producing compounds.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,518,371 12/1924 Traquair 117-69 1,719,794 7/1929 Anchondo l317 11,942,899 l/l934 Parsons 1317 2,013,508 9/1935 Seaman 13l-l5 2,422,277 6/1947 Witt 13 17 2,644,461 7/1953 Witt 131- 7 2,949,382 8/ 1960 Dickelman et al 11769 3,046,995 7/ 1962 Christy l31;-7

FOREIGN PATENTS 646,020 11/1950 Great Britain.

417,326 1/1947 Italy.

442,848 12/1948 Italy.

SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner.

MELVIN D. REIN, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN A SELF-LIGHTING CIGARETTE HAVING A WRAPPED TOBACCO ROLL INCLUDING A FORE PORTION, IGNITER MEANS COMPRISING: AN IGNITION ELEMENT CONSISTING OF A STRIP OF IMPREGNATED PAPER CIRCUMFERENTIALLY POSITIONED ABOUT SAID FORE PORTION AND HAVING AN OUTER SUURFACE AND AN INNER SURFACE CONTACTING THE TOBACCO IN SAID FORE PORTION WITH THE END FACE OF THE TOBACCO ROLL EXPOSED TO THE AIR; AN IGNITION PROMOTING RIB OF A COMPOSITION ADAPTED TO IGNITE AND PROMPTLY BURN UPON FRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH A MATCHING STRIKING SURFACE, SAID RIB BEING SECURED AGAINST A LIMITED AREA OF SAID OUTER SURFACE, THE SAID IMPREGNATED PAPER IGNITION ELEMENT CONSISTS OF PAPER MATERIAL INCLUDING, IN ITS WEIGHT, 60 TO 65% CELLUULOSE; 25 TO 35% NITROCELLULOSE; AND 5 TO 10% ESSENTIALLY INCOMBUSTIBLE MATTER TAKEN FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF LIGHT MAGNESIUM CARBONATE AND DIATOMITE, AND IMPREGNATED WITH A MIXTURE OF OXYGEN PRODUCING COMPOUNDS TAKEN FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF POTASSIUM CHLORATE AND POTASSIUM NITRATE.

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