WO1995001108A1 - Improvements in or relating to processing of smoking material - Google Patents

Improvements in or relating to processing of smoking material Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1995001108A1
WO1995001108A1 PCT/GB1994/001359 GB9401359W WO9501108A1 WO 1995001108 A1 WO1995001108 A1 WO 1995001108A1 GB 9401359 W GB9401359 W GB 9401359W WO 9501108 A1 WO9501108 A1 WO 9501108A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
smoking material
tobacco
pressure
heated
moisture content
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB1994/001359
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
William Cunningham
Original Assignee
Imperial Tobacco Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority to DE69402316T priority Critical patent/DE69402316T2/en
Priority to PL94312227A priority patent/PL174384B1/en
Priority to AU69786/94A priority patent/AU677343B2/en
Priority to US08/564,235 priority patent/US5740817A/en
Priority to BR9406869A priority patent/BR9406869A/en
Priority to CA002166410A priority patent/CA2166410A1/en
Application filed by Imperial Tobacco Limited filed Critical Imperial Tobacco Limited
Priority to EP94918479A priority patent/EP0706331B1/en
Priority to RO95-02309A priority patent/RO114218B1/en
Priority to JP7503340A priority patent/JPH08511947A/en
Publication of WO1995001108A1 publication Critical patent/WO1995001108A1/en
Priority to BG100235A priority patent/BG100235A/en
Priority to GR970400479T priority patent/GR3022950T3/en

Links

Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
    • A24B—MANUFACTURE OR PREPARATION OF TOBACCO FOR SMOKING OR CHEWING; TOBACCO; SNUFF
    • A24B3/00—Preparing tobacco in the factory
    • A24B3/18—Other treatment of leaves, e.g. puffing, crimpling, cleaning
    • A24B3/182—Puffing

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to processing of smoking materials, particularly tobacco and tobacco substitutes .
  • organic solvents are used to impregnate the tobacco.
  • the tobacco is then quickly subjected to temperatures at least 30°C above the solvent's boiling point. Again, this quick 5 evaporation causes the cell walls of the tobacco to expand.
  • a further known expansion method involves the impregnation of tobacco with nitrogen under a high pressure which is generally over 10 MPa (100 bar). 0 The tobacco is then decompressed and passed through a steam tunnel in which the temperature rises rapidly to about 90°C thereby causing the tobacco to expand.
  • GB 675292 describes a process for expanding tobacco in which the tobacco is first freed from air 5 and the air replaced by steam or water vapour. The treated tobacco is heated with steam and the pressure is then reduced to expand the tobacco. Pretreatment to remove air from the tobacco appears to be essential to the process.
  • the present invention involves a process for expanding smoking material which does not require a pretreatment step to remove air. It has been found that the presence of air during the process leads to no deleterious effects and, therefore, that no pretreatment to remove air is necessary.
  • a process for treating smoking material comprising heating smoking material having a moisture content of from 5 to 75% by weight at a temperature of from 70 to 220°C at about or above atmospheric pressure in the presence of air and reducing the pressure on the heated smoking material at a rate sufficient to expand the smoking material.
  • the pressure on the smoking material is preferably reduced to from 0.1 to 50 kPa (1 to 500 mbar). This has been found to give good expansion of the smoking material.
  • the term "in the presence of air”, as used herein, means that at least 2% air is present.
  • the atmosphere in which the smoking material is heated may be 100% air or mixtures of from 2 - 100% air with other gases such as steam, carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
  • the smoking material can be heated by direct application of steam, either saturated or superheated.
  • the smoking material is heated to a temperature in the range of from 70 to 220°C under a pressure of from 0.1 to 2 MPa (1 to 20 bar gauge), preferably in the range from 102 to 160°C under a pressure of from 0.11 to 0.5 MPa (1.1 to 5 bar).
  • the smoking material may be heated by exposure to other relatively hot gases or radiant heat such as microwave radiation.
  • the pressure reduction to vacuum conditions is rapid and, typically, takes place in about 0.04 seconds.
  • the process is well suited to expansion of tobacco and the bulk expansion may be in the range 20 to 100%.
  • the smoking material has an initial moisture content of from 20 to 75% (more preferably 30 to 75% by weight) by weight and returns to near or below its original moisture content during the process, such as to a moisture content of up to 15% by weight.
  • the expanded smoking material retains its expanded state without requiring further treatment such as by freeze-drying.
  • the process of the invention is carried out as follows.
  • Smoking material having a water content between 5 and 75% water on a wet weight basis is placed in a heating vessel.
  • the smoking material may require moistening by methods well-known in the art. It may be desirable to include some additives in the water used to wet the smoking material in order to improve performance in terms of improved expansion levels, resilience or the inherent smoking properties of the smoking material; Heat is applied until the desired temperature and pressure are achieved.
  • the smoking material is then subjected to rapid depressurisation to vacuum conditions, either by rapidly reducing the pressure in the vessel or by transferring the smoking material directly to a second vessel under vacuum conditions.
  • the rapid pressure reduction combined with the heat in the smoking material causes rapid evaporation of the water contained within the cell structure of the smoking material and results in its expansion.
  • the smoking material may be subjected to one or more such stages of heating followed by rapid pressure reduction to partial vacuum pressures.
  • Indirect heat may be applied to the smoking material during and/or after the vacuum stage (preferably during the vacuum stage) to accelerate the water evaporation.
  • This can be achieved in a number of ways such as by radiant heat (e.g., microwave or infra-red radiation).
  • radiant heat e.g., microwave or infra-red radiation
  • This aspect of the invention may conveniently be carried out by heating the smoking material using microwave radiation before pressure reduction and continuing the heating in the same vessel after pressure reduction.
  • the resulting dried expanded product has a more stable structure.
  • the expanded tobacco can therefore, when heated in air, be produced without using substances which are expensive and require recovery systems which increase process costs.
  • the expanded tobacco is resilient and is not prone to degradation. In addition water does not tend to leach out constituents of the tobacco.
  • FPI Filling Power Improvement
  • the present expanded tobacco compares very favourably with the known expanded tobaccos in performance whilst at the same time being formed by a process having the distinct advantages described above.
  • FIGS 1 and 2 show, by way of example, schematic diagrams of apparatus which may be used for carrying out the process of the present invention.
  • smoking material enters pressure chamber 10 through a first seal 12 where it is treated with pressurised steam supplied through inlet 14.
  • the treated smoking material then passes through a second seal 16, with air locks as appropriate, into vacuum chamber 18 connected to a vacuum by outlet 20.
  • Heat source 22 provides radiant heat to maintain the temperature of the smoking material at a given value whilst the vacuum is applied.
  • the resulting product, expanded tobacco is removed from chamber 18 via a third seal 24 with appropriate air locks.
  • smoking material 30 is supported in glass bell jar 32 by sample support 34.
  • Smoking material 30 is heated by exposure to microwave radiation from microwave generator 36 via wave guide 38 and mode stirrer 40. With vacuum pump 42 on, valve 46 is opened to reduce the pressure in bell jar 32 via connecting line 44 to expand the smoking material. Heating may be continued to lower the moisture content of the expanded tobacco even further.
  • Cigar filler tobacco was heated in saturated steam at a pressure of 200 kPa (2 bar) for the times shown in Table 1 below. The temperature of tobacco will have reached or nearly reached 133°C, the temperature of the steam. After the steam supply was shut off, the tobacco was depressurised by opening a valve to an attached vacuum source at a pressure of 0.8 kPa (8 mbar) and the temperature allowed to drop only to a given cut off temperature. The results are shown in Table 1.
  • Tests were carried out using a 6 kW microwave oven equipped with a vacuum pump capable of achieving a pressure of about 2.5 kPa (25 mbar).
  • the apparatus used for the tests is the same as that shown schematically in Figure 2.

Abstract

A process for treating smoking material, such as tobacco, comprises heating smoking material having a moisture content of from 5 to 75 % at a temperature of from 70 to 220 °C at about or above atmospheric pressure in the presence of air and reducing the pressure on the heated smoking material at a rate sufficient to expand the smoking material.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO PROCESSING OF SMOKING MATERIAL
The present invention relates to processing of smoking materials, particularly tobacco and tobacco substitutes . ι-
J In the tobacco industry it is well known to expand tobacco in order to increase its bulk volume. Increasing the bulk volume of the tobacco increases the filling power of the tobacco and, in addition, smoking articles incorporating a proportion of expanded tobacco produce less tar and contain less nicotine because the weight of tobacco is reduced- There are many known methods of expanding tobacco. One of the methods uses carbon dioxide to expand the tobacco. In this process tobacco is soaked -> in liquid carbon dioxide under pressure, the pressure released to solidify the carbon dioxide and then subjected to a high temperature which sublimes the carbon dioxide. The tobacco cells expand by virtue of a rapid pressure increase in the interior of the 0 cells.
In another method, organic solvents are used to impregnate the tobacco. The tobacco is then quickly subjected to temperatures at least 30°C above the solvent's boiling point. Again, this quick 5 evaporation causes the cell walls of the tobacco to expand.
A further known expansion method involves the impregnation of tobacco with nitrogen under a high pressure which is generally over 10 MPa (100 bar). 0 The tobacco is then decompressed and passed through a steam tunnel in which the temperature rises rapidly to about 90°C thereby causing the tobacco to expand.
GB 675292 describes a process for expanding tobacco in which the tobacco is first freed from air 5 and the air replaced by steam or water vapour. The treated tobacco is heated with steam and the pressure is then reduced to expand the tobacco. Pretreatment to remove air from the tobacco appears to be essential to the process.
The present invention involves a process for expanding smoking material which does not require a pretreatment step to remove air. It has been found that the presence of air during the process leads to no deleterious effects and, therefore, that no pretreatment to remove air is necessary.
According to the present invention, there is provided a process for treating smoking material comprising heating smoking material having a moisture content of from 5 to 75% by weight at a temperature of from 70 to 220°C at about or above atmospheric pressure in the presence of air and reducing the pressure on the heated smoking material at a rate sufficient to expand the smoking material.
The pressure on the smoking material is preferably reduced to from 0.1 to 50 kPa (1 to 500 mbar). This has been found to give good expansion of the smoking material.
The term "in the presence of air", as used herein, means that at least 2% air is present. The atmosphere in which the smoking material is heated may be 100% air or mixtures of from 2 - 100% air with other gases such as steam, carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
Advantageously, the smoking material can be heated by direct application of steam, either saturated or superheated. The smoking material is heated to a temperature in the range of from 70 to 220°C under a pressure of from 0.1 to 2 MPa (1 to 20 bar gauge), preferably in the range from 102 to 160°C under a pressure of from 0.11 to 0.5 MPa (1.1 to 5 bar). Alternatively, the smoking material may be heated by exposure to other relatively hot gases or radiant heat such as microwave radiation.
It is preferred that the pressure reduction to vacuum conditions is rapid and, typically, takes place in about 0.04 seconds. The process is well suited to expansion of tobacco and the bulk expansion may be in the range 20 to 100%.
Good results have been obtained where the smoking material has an initial moisture content of from 20 to 75% (more preferably 30 to 75% by weight) by weight and returns to near or below its original moisture content during the process, such as to a moisture content of up to 15% by weight. Surprisingly, by operating the process in this way the expanded smoking material retains its expanded state without requiring further treatment such as by freeze-drying.
Typically, the process of the invention is carried out as follows. Smoking material having a water content between 5 and 75% water on a wet weight basis is placed in a heating vessel. For water contents at the higher end of this range, the smoking material may require moistening by methods well-known in the art. It may be desirable to include some additives in the water used to wet the smoking material in order to improve performance in terms of improved expansion levels, resilience or the inherent smoking properties of the smoking material; Heat is applied until the desired temperature and pressure are achieved. The smoking material is then subjected to rapid depressurisation to vacuum conditions, either by rapidly reducing the pressure in the vessel or by transferring the smoking material directly to a second vessel under vacuum conditions. The rapid pressure reduction combined with the heat in the smoking material causes rapid evaporation of the water contained within the cell structure of the smoking material and results in its expansion. The smoking material may be subjected to one or more such stages of heating followed by rapid pressure reduction to partial vacuum pressures.
Indirect heat may be applied to the smoking material during and/or after the vacuum stage (preferably during the vacuum stage) to accelerate the water evaporation. This can be achieved in a number of ways such as by radiant heat (e.g., microwave or infra-red radiation). This aspect of the invention may conveniently be carried out by heating the smoking material using microwave radiation before pressure reduction and continuing the heating in the same vessel after pressure reduction. The resulting dried expanded product has a more stable structure.
From the tobacco production point of view the above process could be used for batch - expansion of tobacco or could be incorporated as an on-line, continuous process stage. The latter would of course reduce handling and storage requirements.
The expanded tobacco can therefore, when heated in air, be produced without using substances which are expensive and require recovery systems which increase process costs. The expanded tobacco is resilient and is not prone to degradation. In addition water does not tend to leach out constituents of the tobacco.
It is anticipated that Filling Power Improvement ( FPI ) will be in the range 20 to 100%. With an FPI of 30% the tobacco weight of a smoking article could be reduced by as much as 17%. With a FPI of 60% the tobacco weight could be reduced by as much as 26 % .
Due to the resilience of expanded tobacco produced by the present invention there are no practical limits to the amount that can be used in the production of a smoking article, whether it be a cigarette or a cigar.
The present expanded tobacco compares very favourably with the known expanded tobaccos in performance whilst at the same time being formed by a process having the distinct advantages described above.
Figures 1 and 2 show, by way of example, schematic diagrams of apparatus which may be used for carrying out the process of the present invention.
Referring to Figure 1, smoking material (not shown) enters pressure chamber 10 through a first seal 12 where it is treated with pressurised steam supplied through inlet 14. The treated smoking material then passes through a second seal 16, with air locks as appropriate, into vacuum chamber 18 connected to a vacuum by outlet 20. Heat source 22 provides radiant heat to maintain the temperature of the smoking material at a given value whilst the vacuum is applied. The resulting product, expanded tobacco, is removed from chamber 18 via a third seal 24 with appropriate air locks.
Referring to Figure 2, smoking material 30 is supported in glass bell jar 32 by sample support 34. Smoking material 30 is heated by exposure to microwave radiation from microwave generator 36 via wave guide 38 and mode stirrer 40. With vacuum pump 42 on, valve 46 is opened to reduce the pressure in bell jar 32 via connecting line 44 to expand the smoking material. Heating may be continued to lower the moisture content of the expanded tobacco even further. EXAMPLE 1
Cigar filler tobacco was heated in saturated steam at a pressure of 200 kPa (2 bar) for the times shown in Table 1 below. The temperature of tobacco will have reached or nearly reached 133°C, the temperature of the steam. After the steam supply was shut off, the tobacco was depressurised by opening a valve to an attached vacuum source at a pressure of 0.8 kPa (8 mbar) and the temperature allowed to drop only to a given cut off temperature. The results are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1
Starting Starting Steaming Cut Off Final Final Overall
Moisture Filling Time Temperature Filling Moisture FPI
(%) Value (minutes) (°C) Value (%) (%)
(cm3/g) (cm3/g)
26 5.17 1 + 1* 50 5.79 31.3 22.9
26 5.17 1 30 5.68 34.3 20.6
26 4.99 1 45 5.62 - 23.8
32 5.11 1 50 5.62 - 23.8
30 5.22 1 + 1* 50 5.73 38 21.7
30 5.22 1 30 5.96 33.3 26.5
30 5.22 1 / 1* 50/30 5.79 46 22.9
* +1 indicates that the steam was turned off after the initial steaming time and the tobacco was allowed an additional one minute soak time prior to the vacuum being pulled.
/ indicates multiple cycles with steaming times for each cycle and temperature attained with vacuum before re-steaming or end of test.
EXAMPLE 2
Tests were carried out using a 6 kW microwave oven equipped with a vacuum pump capable of achieving a pressure of about 2.5 kPa (25 mbar). The apparatus used for the tests is the same as that shown schematically in Figure 2.
The basic sequence of the process was as follows: i Place a small sample of tobacco under the glass bell jar.
2 Turn on the vacuum pump with the connecting valve in the closed position.
3 Turn on the microwave source at full power to preheat the tobacco.
4 With the microwave power still on, open the vacuum valve.
5 Allow the microwave cycle to complete. Depressurise the bell jar and remove the sample.
The re s u l t s of the tes t s c arri ed ou t on cigarette cut lamina and cigar filter are shown in Table 2 .
TABLE 2
Heating Vacuum Sample Sample Temp Moisture Moisture Filling Filling FPI Overall
Figure imgf000011_0001
Time Time Weight Weight Out In Out Value In Value Out (%) FPI
(sees) (sees) In (g) Out (g) (°C) (%) (_%] (cm3/g) (cm3/g) (%)
• ***-•• Cigar Filler - Initial Filling Value 5.11
10 10 50 29.4 36 48.1 12.9 5.70 7.21 26. 49 41 .10 5 15 50 29.6 38 48.1 13.5 5.70 7.27 27. 54 42 .27 5 15 50 30.7 38 48.1 14.6 5.70 6.53 14. 56 27 .79 10 10 50 30.2 41 48.1 13.6 5.70 6.58 15. 44 28 .77 20 40 75 28.7 56 67.0 9.0 5.70 6.36 11. 58 24 .46 15 30 75 30.3 46 67.0 14.7 5.70 6.70 17. 54 31 .12
( ii) Cigarette Cut Lamina - Initial Filling Value 3.92
5 15 3x50 av33.2 av 39 50.1 25.6 4 26 4, 74 11.27 20.92 10 10 50 36.4 34 50.1 30.7 4 26 4, 60 7.98 17.35 10 20 3x50 av30.8 av 47 50.1 17.5 4 26 4 82 13.15 22.96 10 20 100 69.6 41 50.1 24.9 4 26 4, 68 9.86 19.39
8 16 2x50 36.2/ 42/46 40.9 16.0 4 31 4 82 11.83 22.96
12 100
Figure imgf000011_0002
41

Claims

1 A process for treating smoking material comprising heating smoking material having a moisture content of from 5 to 75% by weight at a temperature of from 70 to 220°C at about or above atmospheric pressure in the presence of air and reducing the pressure on the heated smoking material at a rate sufficient to expand the smoking material. 2 Process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pressure on the heated smoking material is reduced to from 0.1 to 50 kPa.
3 Process as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the smoking material is heated at from 102 to 160°C.
4 Process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the heating is carried out with the smoking material subjected to a pressure of from 0.1 to 2 MPa.
5 Process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the smoking material has a moisture content before heating of from 20 to 75% by weight.
6 Process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to
5, wherein the moisture content of the expanded smoking material is at or below the moisture content of the smoking material before heating.
7 Process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to
6, wherein the moisture content of the expanded smoking material is up to 15% by weight.
8 Process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the smoking material is heated using steam.
9 Process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to
7, wherein the smoking material is heated by exposure to radiant heat or microwave radiation.
10 Process as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the smoking material is heated during and/or after the pressure reduction to accelerate water evaporation.
11 Process as claimed in claim 10, wherein the smoking material is heated during and/or after the pressure reduction by exposure to radiant heat.
12 Process as claimed in claim 11, wherein the radiant heat is provided by microwave radiation.
PCT/GB1994/001359 1993-06-30 1994-06-23 Improvements in or relating to processing of smoking material WO1995001108A1 (en)

Priority Applications (11)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PL94312227A PL174384B1 (en) 1993-06-30 1994-06-23 Improvements related to treatment of smoking material
AU69786/94A AU677343B2 (en) 1993-06-30 1994-06-23 Improvements in or relating to processing of smoking material
US08/564,235 US5740817A (en) 1993-06-30 1994-06-23 Processing of smoking material
BR9406869A BR9406869A (en) 1993-06-30 1994-06-23 Smoking material treatment process
CA002166410A CA2166410A1 (en) 1993-06-30 1994-06-23 Improvements in or relating to processing of smoking material
DE69402316T DE69402316T2 (en) 1993-06-30 1994-06-23 TREATMENT OF SMOKING MATERIAL
EP94918479A EP0706331B1 (en) 1993-06-30 1994-06-23 Improvements in or relating to processing of smoking material
RO95-02309A RO114218B1 (en) 1993-06-30 1994-06-23 Smoking material expanding process
JP7503340A JPH08511947A (en) 1993-06-30 1994-06-23 Improvement of smoking material processing method
BG100235A BG100235A (en) 1993-06-30 1995-12-20 Improvement of method for smoking material treatment
GR970400479T GR3022950T3 (en) 1993-06-30 1997-03-27 Improvements in or relating to processing of smoking material

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB939313431A GB9313431D0 (en) 1993-06-30 1993-06-30 Improvements in or relating to processing of smoking material
GB9313431.0 1993-06-30

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1995001108A1 true WO1995001108A1 (en) 1995-01-12

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PCT/GB1994/001359 WO1995001108A1 (en) 1993-06-30 1994-06-23 Improvements in or relating to processing of smoking material

Country Status (20)

Country Link
US (1) US5740817A (en)
EP (1) EP0706331B1 (en)
JP (1) JPH08511947A (en)
CN (1) CN1041892C (en)
AT (1) ATE150625T1 (en)
AU (1) AU677343B2 (en)
BG (1) BG100235A (en)
BR (1) BR9406869A (en)
CA (1) CA2166410A1 (en)
CZ (1) CZ396A3 (en)
DE (1) DE69402316T2 (en)
DK (1) DK0706331T3 (en)
ES (1) ES2101541T3 (en)
GB (1) GB9313431D0 (en)
GR (1) GR3022950T3 (en)
HU (1) HU214448B (en)
PL (1) PL174384B1 (en)
RO (1) RO114218B1 (en)
RU (1) RU2114537C1 (en)
WO (1) WO1995001108A1 (en)

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EP0895721A1 (en) * 1997-08-08 1999-02-10 Hauni Maschinenbau Aktiengesellschaft Method and apparatus for applying a conditioning agent to tobacco material
DE10038114A1 (en) * 2000-08-04 2002-02-21 Bat Cigarettenfab Gmbh Method and device for conditioning shredded tobacco materials
US9833021B2 (en) 2014-10-02 2017-12-05 Digirettes, Inc. Disposable tank electronic cigarette, method of manufacture and method of use

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GB9922746D0 (en) * 1999-09-24 1999-11-24 Rothmans International Ltd Tobacco processing
DE10304629B4 (en) * 2003-02-05 2008-10-30 British American Tobacco (Germany) Gmbh Pressure conditioning process
JP2005087212A (en) * 2003-09-16 2005-04-07 Hauni Maschinenbau Ag Apparatus and method for simultaneously producing many cigarette rods
BR112015021211A2 (en) * 2013-03-14 2017-07-18 Celanese Acetate Llc associated apparatus, systems and methods for forming organic porous masses for flavored smoking filters
WO2017091624A1 (en) 2015-11-24 2017-06-01 Insulet Corporation Wearable automated medication delivery system
CN108244690B (en) * 2017-12-30 2020-09-08 广州昊然微波设备有限公司 Tobacco puffing production process
GB202002796D0 (en) * 2020-02-27 2020-04-15 British American Tobacco Investments Ltd Methods of treating tobacco and treated tobacco

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GB675292A (en) * 1948-06-23 1952-07-09 Guardite Corp Improvements in or relating to puffing of cellular products
US3823722A (en) * 1970-10-07 1974-07-16 Smitherm Industries Method for expanding tobacco
GB1381203A (en) * 1971-12-17 1975-01-22 Bat Cigarettenfab Gmbh Process for improving the filling capacity of tobacco
US4211243A (en) * 1977-02-22 1980-07-08 Kikkoman Shoyu Co., Ltd. Process for producing expanded tobacco stems
GB2193076A (en) * 1986-08-01 1988-02-03 American Tobacco Co Expansion of tobacco

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US1789435A (en) * 1929-01-28 1931-01-20 American Mach & Foundry Expanding tobacco
GB675292A (en) * 1948-06-23 1952-07-09 Guardite Corp Improvements in or relating to puffing of cellular products
US3823722A (en) * 1970-10-07 1974-07-16 Smitherm Industries Method for expanding tobacco
GB1381203A (en) * 1971-12-17 1975-01-22 Bat Cigarettenfab Gmbh Process for improving the filling capacity of tobacco
US4211243A (en) * 1977-02-22 1980-07-08 Kikkoman Shoyu Co., Ltd. Process for producing expanded tobacco stems
GB2193076A (en) * 1986-08-01 1988-02-03 American Tobacco Co Expansion of tobacco

Cited By (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0895721A1 (en) * 1997-08-08 1999-02-10 Hauni Maschinenbau Aktiengesellschaft Method and apparatus for applying a conditioning agent to tobacco material
US6158441A (en) * 1997-08-08 2000-12-12 Hauni Maschinenbau Ag Method of and apparatus for applying a conditioning agent to tobacco
US6581608B1 (en) 1997-08-08 2003-06-24 Hauni Maschinenbau Ag Apparatus for applying conditioning agent to tobacco
US6591840B1 (en) 1997-08-08 2003-07-15 Hauni Maschinenbau Ag Apparatus for applying a conditioning agent to tobacco
DE10038114A1 (en) * 2000-08-04 2002-02-21 Bat Cigarettenfab Gmbh Method and device for conditioning shredded tobacco materials
US6779527B2 (en) 2000-08-04 2004-08-24 British American Tobacco (Germany) Gmbh Device for conditioning comminuted tobacco material
US9833021B2 (en) 2014-10-02 2017-12-05 Digirettes, Inc. Disposable tank electronic cigarette, method of manufacture and method of use
USD805687S1 (en) 2014-10-02 2017-12-19 Digirettes, Inc. Vaping device tank
USD805686S1 (en) 2014-10-02 2017-12-19 Digirettes, Inc. Vaping device
US10278428B2 (en) 2014-10-02 2019-05-07 Digirettes, Inc. Disposable tank electronic cigarette, method of manufacture and method of use
US10299513B2 (en) 2014-10-02 2019-05-28 Digirettes, Inc. Disposable tank electronic cigarette, method of manufacture and method of use
USD857985S1 (en) 2014-10-02 2019-08-27 Digirettes, Inc. Vaping device
USD863676S1 (en) 2014-10-02 2019-10-15 Digirettes, Inc. Vaping device tank

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HU9503970D0 (en) 1996-03-28
US5740817A (en) 1998-04-21
JPH08511947A (en) 1996-12-17
HU214448B (en) 1998-03-30
HUT73339A (en) 1996-07-29
ATE150625T1 (en) 1997-04-15
BG100235A (en) 1996-07-31
GR3022950T3 (en) 1997-06-30
CN1041892C (en) 1999-02-03
PL174384B1 (en) 1998-07-31
EP0706331A1 (en) 1996-04-17
DK0706331T3 (en) 1997-04-28
RU2114537C1 (en) 1998-07-10
PL312227A1 (en) 1996-04-01
AU6978694A (en) 1995-01-24
BR9406869A (en) 1996-03-26
DE69402316T2 (en) 1997-07-03
CN1127464A (en) 1996-07-24
ES2101541T3 (en) 1997-07-01
CZ396A3 (en) 1996-10-16
EP0706331B1 (en) 1997-03-26
AU677343B2 (en) 1997-04-17
DE69402316D1 (en) 1997-04-30
CA2166410A1 (en) 1995-01-12
RO114218B1 (en) 1999-02-26
GB9313431D0 (en) 1993-08-11

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