Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24C—MACHINES FOR MAKING CIGARS OR CIGARETTES
  • A24C5/00—Making cigarettes; Making tipping materials for, or attaching filters or mouthpieces to, cigars or cigarettes
  • A24C5/47—Attaching filters or mouthpieces to cigars or cigarettes, e.g. inserting filters into cigarettes or their mouthpieces
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES FOR CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D1/00—Cigars; Cigarettes
  • A24D1/02—Cigars; Cigarettes with special covers
  • A24D1/025—Cigars; Cigarettes with special covers the covers having material applied to defined areas, e.g. bands for reducing the ignition propensity
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24C—MACHINES FOR MAKING CIGARS OR CIGARETTES
  • A24C5/00—Making cigarettes; Making tipping materials for, or attaching filters or mouthpieces to, cigars or cigarettes
  • A24C5/47—Attaching filters or mouthpieces to cigars or cigarettes, e.g. inserting filters into cigarettes or their mouthpieces
  • A24C5/471—Attaching filters or mouthpieces to cigars or cigarettes, e.g. inserting filters into cigarettes or their mouthpieces by means of a connecting band
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES FOR CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D1/00—Cigars; Cigarettes
  • A24D1/02—Cigars; Cigarettes with special covers

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method for making smoking articles, smoking articles, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing smoking articles having a reduced ignition propensity.
• One method for making wrappers for smoking articles having reduced ignition propensity is to add bands of paper to the wrapping paper, wherein the composition of the wrapper and the band paper are selected to yield a composite paper having the desired burn rate, as disclosed in EP 0 483998 and EP 0 262550.
• the bands are typically applied to the paper before it is wrapped around a tobacco core, and when the paper is wrapped around the tobacco the bands are on the inside of the paper, facing the tobacco. When the paper is used to manufacture the cigarettes, the bands are randomly situated along the length of the cigarette.
• Another method for making smoking articles having reduced ignition propensity is to apply a burn retardant additive to the smoking article wrapper, for instance cigarette paper.
• the burn retardant additive is typically applied as a solution in a pattern such as bands which, in the final assembled cigarette, extend around the circumference of the cigarette.
• a method for manufacturing a suitable such banded paper is disclosed in W 098/01233.
• the machines used for wrapping cigarettes which may be modified to include a section for applying a burn retardant solution, apply significant tension to the paper and when the paper is damp its tensile strength is significantly reduced so that tearing of the paper easily occurs.
• Various heaters can be included in the machine to assist in drying the paper but to allow time for these to properly dry the paper, the machine must be slowed. The slowing of the machine may also alleviate problems with tearing, but this decreases production efficiency.
• the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a smoking article comprising providing a filter element and at least one rod of smokeable material surrounded by a wrapper, wrapping a section of tipping paper around the filter element and a portion of the at least one wrapped rod and applying one or more patches of material to the outer surface of the wrapper.
• the present invention also provides a smoking article comprising a rod of smokeable material surrounded by a wrapper, a filter element at one end of the wrapped rod, a tipping paper surrounding the filter element and a portion of the wrapped rod and a patch of material applied to the outer surface of the wrapper.
• one or more patches are applied to the outside of the wrapper, such that this can occur online during manufacture of the wrapped rod. This allows the position of the patches relative to the filter in the final smoking article to be determined.
• the step of applying the one or more patches of material to the wrapper of the at least one wrapped rod can be performed in association with the step of wrapping the section of tipping paper around the filter element and an end of the at least one wrapped rod. In this way, modification to existing cigarette manufacturing processes in order to apply the additional patches can be minimised and production rates are not limited by the modification.
• the one or more patches can comprise a low porosity or non porous web material and/ or can comprise a web material having a permeability of approximately 50CU or less, preferably approximately 10CU or less.
• the one or more patches can be bands applied around the full circumference of the at least one wrapped rod, and/ or applied such that the mouth-end side of the band is within the 50% of the length of the rod which is closest to the filter element.
• the application of the bands can include applying a second band to each rod
• the second band can be applied such that the mouth-end side of the second band is within the 50% of the length of the rod which is furthest from the filter element.
• the step of providing a filter element and at least one rod of smokeable material surrounded by a wrapper can comprise providing first and second rods of smokeable material surrounded by wrappers, and a filter element interposed between the first and second rods, and the method can further comprise cutting the filter element to form two smoking articles after application of the one or more patches.
• the method can also comprise splitting tipping paper from a roll to form both the patches and the section to be applied to the filter element and the ends of the wrapped rods.
• the one or more bands can be spaced from an edge of the tipping paper and/ or have a width of at least 4mm.
• the material for the patches can be the same as the tipping paper material, although additional printing may be used on the section of material used on the tipping paper or bands.
• Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a method of manufacturing a smoking article according to an embodiment of the present invention
• Figure 2 shows a smoking article according to an embodiment of the present invention
• Figure 3 shows a smoking article in which a window in a patch exposes a region of underlying wrapper
• Figure 4 shows another smoking article in which a window in a patch exposes a region of underlying wrapper.
• Figure 1 illustrates a method and apparatus for manufacturing smoking articles in the form of cigarettes, according to an embodiment of the invention.
• a continuous wrapped rod of tobacco 20 is supplied from a garniture region of a cigarette making machine to cutting means 21 A and 21 B which cut the rod 20 into lengths required for a single cigarette.
• the first cutting means 21A cuts the rod 20 into double length rods, each having a length required to make two cigarettes, and then second cutting means 21B cuts the double length rods into single length rods 30.
• Each pair of single length rods 30 is separated and a double length filter 40 is positioned between the ends of the two wrapped rods 30 such that each end of the double length filter 40 abuts an end of one of the single length rods 30.
• Tipping paper is supplied from a reel 13 of tipping paper mounted on a bobbin.
• the tipping paper is split longitudinally into three sections, comprising a wider central section 12A and two narrower edge sections 12B l 5 12B 2 and adhesive 14 is applied to the tipping paper.
• the adhesive could be applied before splitting with dry lines provided on the gummer roller positioned to allow a clean cut to take place after application of adhesive.
• the sections 12A, 12B l 5 12B 2 are then cut laterally into individual segments, each of which is applied to a double cigarette assembly.
• the wider central section 12A is wrapped around the centre of the double cigarette assembly such that it covers the entire double length filter 40 and overlaps an end of each of the wrapped rods 30.
• the central section 12A forms a tipping paper section 12A which attaches the double length filter to the pair of wrapped rods 30.
• Each of the edge sections 12B l 5 12B 2 comprises a patch which is wrapped around a respective one of the wrapped rods 30, spaced from a respective edge of the central section 12A to form a circumferential band.
• the patches 12B 1 , 12B 2 may alternatively be applied so that they only partially circumscribe the wrapped rod 30, thereby forming a partial band.
• the double length cigarette assembly is subsequently cut by third cutting means 50 at the centre of the double length filter 40 to form a cigarette pair.
• the patch sections 12B 1 and 12B 2 form an LIP band on each wrapped rod 30 and are applied to the wrapped rods 30 online during cigarette manufacture, in a process step associated with the step of applying the tipping paper section 12A to connect the filter to the wrapped rods 30.
• the patch sections 12B j and 12B 2 can be applied simultaneously to applying the tipping paper section 12A or can be otherwise applied in the same phase of manufacture as that in which the tipping paper section 12A is applied, for instance after formation of the wrapped rods 30.
• the cigarettes manufactured by the method illustrated in Figure 1 include only a single LIP patch spaced from an edge of the tipping paper.
• the patch is positioned in the first 50% of the exposed length (i.e. the 50% closest to the filter end) of the wrapped rod. This is because it is desirable that the cigarette self extinguish towards the end of the smoking.
• a wider reel 13 of tipping paper may be provided, wherein the paper is split into further longitudinal ribbons. For example, if two bands are required, the paper may be split into five ribbons.
• FIG. 2 shows a smoking article in the form of a cigarette, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, having two LIP bands A, B.
• the cigarette comprises a wrapped rod 30 and a filter attached to the wrapped rod 30 by tipping paper 2 which covers the filter and overlaps the wrapped rod 30.
• the wrapped rod 30 comprises a tobacco core surrounded by a paper wrapper.
• the length of the tipping paper 2 is L T and the exposed length of the wrapped rod 1 (before the LIP bands A, B are applied) is L w .
• a first LIP band A has a first width W A and is positioned spaced from an edge of the tipping paper 2 by a first distance a.
• a second LIP band B has a second width W B and is spaced from an edge of the tipping paper 2 by a second distance b, which is longer than the first distance a.
• the tipping paper 2 is formed from the half of the central tipping section 12A shown in Figure 1, and the first band A is formed from one of the edge patch sections 12B l5 12B 2 .
• the second band B can be formed from a further patch section of tipping paper split from the reel 13.
• the first band A is positioned within the first 50% of the exposed length of the wrapped rod 1 ie (W A +a)/ L w ⁇ 0.5.
• the second band B is spaced from the first band A and positioned within the last 50% of the exposed length of the wrapped rod 1 ie (L w -b)/ L w ⁇ 0.5.
• the base material used for the LIP bands is the same as that used for the tipping paper (although different printing may be used on each section) and preferably has a porosity of approximately 5 Coresta Units (CU).
• each section may be provided from a separate reel.
• the outer patch sections 12B l 5 12B 2 need not be formed from the same material as the central tipping section 12A.
• the outer patch sections 12B l 5 12B 2 may be formed from the same material as the wrapper of the wrapped rods 30.
• the outer patch sections 12B l 5 12B 2 may be formed from an alternative material, such as a plugwrap paper or a cigarette paper having a different weight or permeability to the cigarette paper forming the wrapping of the wrapped rods 30.
• An example porosity is
• the specific values chosen for the widths W A , W B and sizes of the LIP patches, for the porosity of the LIP patches and for their position on the wrapped rod can be adjusted as appropriate to achieve a required reduction in ignition propensity and the location at which this will be effective.
• LIP band widths above approximately 4mm could be used, preferably between 4mm and 25mm and more preferably between approximately 4mm and 10mm.
• the porosity of the paper can be less than approximately 50CU, preferably less than 10CU and more preferably less than or equal to 5CU.
• LIP-compliant cigarettes were manufactured having a single 5CU porosity LIP band applied per cigarette in a 6mm or 8mm width and with the mouth-end edge of the band being 50mm from the mouth end of the cigarette.
• the banding material was adhered to the tobacco rod with water-based glue.
• the width of the LIP patch 12B l5 12B 2 may optionally be substantially equal to the length L ⁇ , of the region of wrapped tobacco rod 30 which is not covered by the sheet of tipping paper 2 connecting the wrapped rod 30 to the filter.
• Figure 3 shows an LIP patch C which extends substantially from the edge of the tipping paper 2 which is furthest from the mouth end of the smoking article to the opposite end of the wrapped tobacco rod 30.
• the LIP patch C comprises one or more windows 3 which expose the underlying wrapped tobacco rod 30 to the surrounding atmosphere.
• Each window 3 comprises a hole in the patch C of LIP material.
• the windows 3 may be cut-out from the LIP sheet material before the material is applied to the wrapped rod 30.
• the windows 3 can be cut-out from the material before the material is wound onto the bobbin or reel 13.
• the regions of the patch C between the windows 3 fully circumscribe the wrapped tobacco rod 30. Therefore, the regions of the patch which do not align with a window 3 can be considered as corresponding to the LIP bands A, B described above.
• the patch C thus provides the same LIP effect as the LIP patches A, B previously referred to. Specifically, burning of the wrapped tobacco rod 30 is hindered in the regions of the rod 30 which are covered by the LIP patch A, B, C whilst burning of the rod 30 is less hindered in the regions of the rod 30 which are not covered by the patch A, B, C.
• the rate of gaseous transfer between the tobacco and the surrounding environment, for example the surrounding air, through the windows 3 in the patch C mirrors the rate of gaseous transfer through the un-banded regions of the wrapped rod 30 shown in Figure 2 and as previously described.
• the location of the windows 3 may be opposite to the location of the LIP bands A, B described above.
• a first window 3 in the LIP patch C may extend between a location which is a distance of (a+W ⁇ from the edge of the tipping paper 2 and a location which is a distance b from the edge of the tipping paper 2.
• the width of the first window is therefore ⁇ -(a+W ⁇ ).
• a second window 3 may extend between a location which is a distance of (b+W B ) from the edge of the tipping paper 2 and a location which is a distance of L 3 ⁇ 4 , from the edge of the tipping paper 2.
• the width of the second window 3 is therefore This is also shown in Figure 3.
• Figure 4 shows another example, in which a window 3 extends between a location which is a distance of (a+W ⁇ from the edge of the tipping paper 2 and a location which is a distance of L 3 ⁇ 4 , from the edge of the tipping paper 2.
• the width of the window 3 is therefore ( ⁇ -(a+W ⁇ ).
• circumferential regions of LIP material are provided around the same regions of the wrapped tobacco rod 30 in both the embodiment shown in Figure 2 and the embodiments shown in Figures 3 and 4. Similarly, the wrapped tobacco rod 30 in between the circumferential regions of LIP material is largely exposed.
• windows 3 may be provided in a circumferential band around the tobacco rod 30 so that two or more windows 3 are provided at the same longitudinal location on the rod 30.
• the windows 3 can be of any suitable shape.
• the LIP patch material comprises the same material that is used for the tipping paper 2
• a sheet of the material can optionally be applied over the whole length of a double length cigarette of the type shown in Figure 1 before cutting the double length filter in half.
• the windows 3 should be cut-out from the LIP material beforehand.
• tipping paper 2 and patch C are shown using a different pattern in order to allow the reader to clearly distinguish between the two.
• the tipping paper 2 and patch C may in practice be made of the same type of material.

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• Cigarettes, Filters, And Manufacturing Of Filters (AREA)
• Carbon And Carbon Compounds (AREA)

Priority Applications (12)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=42270671

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (17)

Cited By (5)

Families Citing this family (9)

Citations (11)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 2010
  • 2010-04-22 GB GBGB1006730.4A patent/GB201006730D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2011
  • 2011-03-31 WO PCT/EP2011/054982 patent/WO2011131465A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2011-03-31 CA CA2796913A patent/CA2796913A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2011-03-31 MX MX2012012134A patent/MX2012012134A/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2011-03-31 KR KR1020127030662A patent/KR20130050940A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2011-03-31 RU RU2012149551/12A patent/RU2012149551A/ru unknown
  • 2011-03-31 US US13/642,457 patent/US20130118510A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2011-03-31 BR BR112012027042A patent/BR112012027042A2/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2011-03-31 AU AU2011244545A patent/AU2011244545A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2011-03-31 JP JP2013505386A patent/JP2013524793A/ja not_active Withdrawn
  • 2011-03-31 EP EP11711351A patent/EP2560511A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 2011-03-31 NZ NZ603134A patent/NZ603134A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2011-03-31 CN CN2011800308252A patent/CN102939020A/zh active Pending
  • 2011-04-20 AR ARP110101375A patent/AR084382A1/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2011-04-21 TW TW100113826A patent/TW201201717A/zh unknown
• 2012
  • 2012-10-22 CL CL2012002946A patent/CL2012002946A1/es unknown
  • 2012-11-05 ZA ZA2012/08316A patent/ZA201208316B/en unknown

Patent Citations (11)

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