WO2024114023A1

WO2024114023A1 - Cherry-red-tobacco cigarette structure having composite filter and manufacturing method therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2024114023A1
Application number: PCT/CN2023/117542
Authority: WO
Inventors: 岳保山; 田阳阳; 王涛; 王浩; 郑晗; 谢姣; 丁海燕; 桂永发; 余婷婷; 沈艳飞; 余江; 李利伟
Original assignee: 云南中烟工业有限责任公司
Priority date: 2022-11-29
Filing date: 2023-09-07
Publication date: 2024-06-06
Also published as: CN115568620A

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of cigarette manufacturing. Provided are a cherry-red-tobacco cigarette structure having a composite filter and a manufacturing method therefor. The cherry-red-tobacco cigarette structure comprises a filter segment and a smoke generation segment. The filter segment comprises a polylactic acid fiber segment and an acetate fiber segment, the outer side of the polylactic acid fiber segment being provided with functional plug wrap paper, the side surface of the functional plug wrap paper being provided with an activated carbon layer, and the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment being not less than the length of the acetate fiber segment. The smoke generation segment is internally provided with cherry-red tobacco leaves. The ratio of the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment to the length of the acetate fiber segment increases as the content of the cherry-red tobacco leaves in the smoke generation segment increases; and the amount of the activated carbon layer increases as the content of the cherry-red tobacco leaves in the smoke generation segment increases. The present invention has a simple configuration; cooperation of different lengths of the polylactic acid fiber segment and the acetate fiber segment ensures the glutinous rice fragrance concentration of cherry-red-tobacco cigarettes having different cherry-red tobacco contents; additionally arranging activated carbon at the polylactic acid fiber segment enables effective adsorption of certain substances by means of using characteristics of the activated carbon, thereby ensuring a good cigarette smoking sensation, and enabling substances in cigarette smoke to meet standard requirements.

Description

A cinnabar smoke structure with a composite filter rod and its preparation method

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of cigarette preparation, and in particular to a cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod and a preparation method thereof.

Background technique

Cinnabar tobacco is a natural variation of fine tobacco varieties during growth. During the baking process, demethylnicotine and quinones react to produce red substances, making the front of the leaves appear red or red leopard spots, resembling "cat's paw prints", commonly known as "Cinnabar" tobacco. It is also called "Cherry-Red" tobacco abroad, and its color is similar to cherries. It is one of the high-quality tobacco raw materials for Chinese cigarettes.

After fully mature tobacco leaves are baked, they have the appearance of cinnabar color of traditional Chinese medicine, and there are cherry red starch granules on the leaf surface. If a layer of cinnabar is sprinkled on it, it has three characteristics: cinnabar red, glutinous rice fragrance, and non-irritation. In terms of appearance quality, the first baked cinnabar tobacco leaves are cinnabar red or cherry red in some areas, with strong color and bright luster. In terms of sensory quality, cinnabar tobacco has more aroma tones, sufficient aroma, less strength, lower irritation, comfortable aftertaste, and a unique "glutinous rice fragrance". In terms of physical properties, cinnabar tobacco leaves are slightly thicker than ordinary tobacco leaves, and the tensile strength and tensile strength are slightly higher than ordinary tobacco leaves, and the processing resistance is better.

However, at present, cinnabar cigarettes still use conventional acetate fiber bundle filter rods for smoke filtration. However, the high filterability of acetate fiber bundle will greatly reduce the glutinous rice aroma in cinnabar cigarettes, resulting in a significant reduction in the taste of smokers. In addition, the smoke characteristics of cinnabar cigarettes with different cinnabar tobacco leaf contents are different. Under the premise of ensuring the tar content and filtering impurity gases, it is difficult to optimize the design of acetate fiber bundle filter rods.

In addition, polylactic acid (PLA) is produced by fermenting starch from renewable plant resources, and then chemically synthesized into a polymer material with good recyclability and biodegradability. Polylactic acid fiber has been developed for use in tobacco tows and other fields. However, due to differences in the molecular structure, polymerization state, and tow morphology of polylactic acid, the filtration effects vary greatly, and the filtration of aroma substances in the mainstream smoke of cigarettes varies even more. In the actual smoking process, it will be found that there are still great differences in sensory quality.

Among them, polylactic acid fiber tow has the characteristic of selective filtration compared with acetate fiber tow. In addition to its low filtration property for tobacco flavor, polylactic acid can increase the smoking taste. Polylactic acid fiber tow has high filtration property for wood gas in smoke, which affects the smoking taste. However, it has a slightly weaker filtering effect on volatile carbonyls, HCN, monophenols and some other gaseous substances in smoke. Such gaseous substances in smoke will increase the irritation of cigarettes, which will not only reduce the smoking taste, but also fail to meet the national standard requirements for smoke substance quality.

Therefore, for the glutinous rice-flavored taste of cinnabar cigarettes, it is difficult to ensure the smoking sensation regardless of whether a polylactic acid fiber bundle filter rod or a acetate fiber bundle filter rod is used.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, it is necessary for us to design a reasonable and efficient cinnabar smoke structure with a composite filter rod.

Summary of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod, which has a simple configuration. By coordinating different lengths of polylactic acid fiber segments and acetate fiber segments, the cinnabar cigarette with different cinnabar tobacco leaf contents can be filtered to ensure the concentration of glutinous rice aroma of the cinnabar cigarette. Activated carbon is added to the polylactic acid fiber segment to effectively utilize the characteristics of the activated carbon to adsorb substances that the polylactic acid fiber cannot efficiently adsorb, thereby ensuring that the cigarette has a good smoking sensory experience and that the smoke substances meet the requirements of national standards.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

A cinnabar tobacco structure with a composite filter rod comprises a filter rod segment and a smoking segment, wherein the filter rod segment comprises a polylactic acid fiber segment and a acetate fiber segment arranged at one end of the polylactic acid fiber segment close to the smoking segment, a functional shaping paper is arranged on the outside of the polylactic acid fiber segment, and an activated carbon layer is arranged on the side of the functional shaping paper; the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment is not less than the length of the acetate fiber segment; cinnabar tobacco leaves are arranged in the smoking segment; the ratio of the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment to the length of the acetate fiber segment increases with the increase of the cinnabar tobacco leaf content in the smoking segment; and the amount of the activated carbon layer increases with the increase of the cinnabar tobacco leaf content in the smoking segment.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the activated carbon layer is prepared by coating activated carbon liquid on the side of the functional forming paper.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, flavoring particles are provided in the polylactic acid fiber segment, and the added amount of the flavoring particles decreases as the content of cinnabar tobacco leaves in the smoking segment increases.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the ingredients in the flavored particles include Pu'er tea and fragrant glutinous rice.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a fragrance hole for facilitating the placement of the fragrance particles is provided at one end of the polylactic acid fiber segment away from the acetate fiber segment.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the number of the functional forming paper is at least one.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the functional shaping paper includes an inner shaping paper and an outer shaping paper arranged outside the inner shaping paper, and polylactic acid fiber bundles are arranged inside the inner shaping paper and between the inner shaping paper and the outer shaping paper.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, cigarette paper is arranged outside the smoking section, and at least a part of the cigarette paper is transparent.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the filter rod segment and the smoking segment are connected by tipping paper.

The present invention also provides a method for preparing a cinnabar smoke structure with a composite filter rod, comprising the following steps:

S1: preparing a smoking segment, wrapping the smoking segment tobacco with transparent cigarette paper, and obtaining the content of cinnabar tobacco leaves in the smoking segment;

S2: Selecting a acetate segment; selecting a first predetermined length of acetate segment according to the obtained cinnabar tobacco content;

S3: preparing a polylactic acid fiber segment, selecting a functional forming paper coated with a predetermined content of activated carbon to wrap the polylactic acid fiber tow to form a polylactic acid fiber filter rod, and cutting the polylactic acid fiber segment of a second predetermined length according to the obtained cinnabar tobacco content;

S4: Cigarette piping, piping the polylactic acid fiber segment, acetate fiber segment and smoke segment.

The beneficial effects of the cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod and the preparation method thereof of the present invention are: simple arrangement, and the effect of filtering cinnabar cigarettes with different cinnabar tobacco leaf contents is achieved by coordinating different lengths of polylactic acid fiber segments and acetate fiber segments, thereby ensuring the concentration of glutinous rice aroma of the cinnabar cigarettes, and activated carbon is added at the polylactic acid fiber segment, and the characteristics of the activated carbon are effectively utilized to adsorb substances that the polylactic acid fiber cannot efficiently adsorb, thereby ensuring that the cigarette has a good smoking sensory experience and that the smoke substances meet the requirements of national standards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG1 is an overall schematic diagram of an embodiment of a cinnabar smoke structure with a composite filter rod according to the present invention;

FIG2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a polylactic acid fiber segment in an embodiment of a cinnabar smoke structure with a composite filter rod of the present invention;

FIG3 is a schematic flow diagram of a method for preparing a cinnabar smoke structure having a composite filter rod according to the present invention;

In the figure: 1, filter rod section, 11, polylactic acid fiber section, 111, flavoring particles, 12, acetate fiber section, 13, functional forming paper, 131, inner layer forming paper, 132, outer layer forming paper, 133, activated carbon layer, 2, smoke-generating section.

Implementation

The following are specific embodiments of the present invention, which further describe the technical solutions of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement and steps of modules and steps set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present invention.

At the same time, it should be understood that for the convenience of description, the processes in the drawings are not just performed separately, but multiple steps are performed in an interlaced manner.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", etc. indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, or the positions or positional relationships in which the product of the present invention is usually placed when in use. They are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", etc. are only used to distinguish the description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.

Technologies, methods, and systems known to ordinary technicians in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail, but where appropriate, the technologies, methods, and systems should be considered part of this specification.

Embodiment 1: As shown in FIG1 , a cinnabar tobacco structure with a composite filter rod comprises a filter rod segment 1 and a smoking segment 2, wherein the filter rod segment 1 comprises a polylactic acid fiber segment 11 and a acetate fiber segment 12 arranged at one end of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 close to the smoking segment 2, a functional forming paper 13 is arranged on the outside of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11, and an activated carbon layer 133 is arranged on the side of the functional forming paper 13; the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 is not less than the length of the acetate fiber segment 12; cinnabar tobacco leaves are arranged in the smoking segment 2; the ratio of the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 to the length of the acetate fiber segment 12 increases with the increase of the cinnabar tobacco leaf content in the smoking segment 2; and the amount of the activated carbon layer 131 increases with the increase of the cinnabar tobacco leaf content in the smoking segment 2.

In the present invention, the overall structure of the cinnabar tobacco still includes a filter rod segment 1 at the inlet of the smoker and a smoke-generating segment 2 for burning to generate smoke, wherein the smoke-generating segment 2 is provided with cinnabar tobacco leaves; and the filter rod segment 1 is a composite filter rod structure, mainly composited with a polylactic acid fiber segment 11 prepared by polylactic acid fiber bundles and a acetate fiber segment 12 prepared by acetate fiber bundles; which is equivalent to using both polylactic acid fiber filtration and acetate fiber filtration in the filter rod segment 1.

In the smoke produced when the smoke section 2 of cinnabar smoke burns, in addition to the aroma that the smoker wants to inhale (here referring to the glutinous rice aroma), there are also woody gases, volatile carbonyls, HCN, monophenols and very small amounts of other gaseous substances that the smoker does not want to inhale.

Among them, the acetate fiber bundle has an average filtering effect on various substances in the smoke; while the polylactic acid fiber bundle has a strong filtering effect on wood gas, and a weaker filtering effect on aroma, volatile carbonyl compounds, HCN and monophenolic substances (relative to the acetate fiber bundle); the present invention also utilizes the filtering characteristics of the polylactic acid fiber bundle on wood gas and aroma, which can effectively enhance the full taste of glutinous rice fragrance in cinnabar smoke and reduce the damage of wood gas to the smoking taste.

It should be noted that acetate tow has a high filtering effect on all substances. In fact, polylactic acid fiber tow has a high filtering effect on these substances. It is just that compared with acetate tow, it has a higher filtering effect on wood gas and a lower filtering effect on aroma.

In the present invention, volatile carbonyls, HCN and phenolic substances still exist in the flue gas after filtration with the polylactic acid fiber bundle, and these substances can be highly selectively removed with the help of activated carbon, so the functional forming paper 13 is coated on the outside of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11, and the side of the functional forming paper 13 is provided with an activated carbon layer 133, which effectively compensates for the filtering characteristics of the polylactic acid fiber bundle, still lets go of the aroma, and adsorbs the volatile carbonyls, HCN and phenolic substances, effectively ensuring that the smoke substances inhaled by the smoker meet the national standard quality requirements while ensuring the smoking taste.

Specifically, the activated carbon layer 131 is prepared by coating activated carbon liquid on the side of the functional forming paper 13 .

It should be noted that the composite filter rod in the present invention is not directly added with the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 on the basis of the original acetate fiber tow filter rod, because the total length of the filter rod segment 1 has national standards, so that the total length of the entire filter rod segment 1 is constant. The lengthening of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 will inevitably shorten the length of the acetate fiber segment 12.

In order to make the taste of cinnabar tobacco with different cinnabar contents best, the cinnabar content of tobacco leaves is generally between 20% and 90%. When the cinnabar content of tobacco leaves is low, since the cigarette contains less aroma, the difference between filtering with polylactic acid fiber bundle and acetate fiber bundle is not much, and the stem content of the smoking section is higher, and some tar and foreign gas substances are more. Polylactic acid still has some gas filtration properties worse than acetate fiber bundle, so the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 does not need to be very long, and the acetate fiber segment 12 should be longer.

On the contrary, when the content of cinnabar tobacco leaves is high, since the smoke has a full glutinous rice aroma, a too long acetate fiber segment 12 will reduce the concentration of the glutinous rice aroma. It is necessary to reduce the length of the acetate fiber segment 12 and increase the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 to ensure the glutinous rice aroma smoking taste.

In fact, even if the cinnabar content of tobacco leaves is low, the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 should not be lower than the length of the acetate segment 12, and the ratio of the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 to the length of the acetate segment 12 is close to 1; on the contrary, when the cinnabar content of tobacco leaves is high, the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 is much larger than the length of the acetate segment 12, and the ratio of the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 to the length of the acetate segment 12 is close to 2; that is, as the cinnabar content of tobacco leaves changes, the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 changes from half to two-thirds of the total length of the entire filter rod segment 1; and the higher the cinnabar content of tobacco leaves, the longer the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11.

Similarly, when the length of the PLA fiber segment 11 becomes longer, in order to compensate for the filtering properties of the PLA fiber bundle in the PLA fiber segment 11 for volatile carbonyls, HCN and unit phenolic substances, a thicker activated carbon layer 133 should be coated to compensate.

In summary, the ratio of the length of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 to the length of the acetate fiber segment 12 increases with the increase of the cinnabar tobacco content in the smoking segment 2; and the amount of the activated carbon layer 131 increases with the increase of the cinnabar tobacco content in the smoking segment 2.

In summary, in the present invention, the functional forming paper 13 of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 is coated with an activated carbon layer 133 on its side; while the forming paper of the acetate fiber bundle 12 is not necessarily required to be coated with activated carbon; cigarette paper is provided on the outside of the smoking segment 2; and when preparing the smoking segment, it is necessary to obtain the content of cinnabar tobacco leaves in the smoking segment, and when preparing the acetate fiber segment 12 and the polylactic acid fiber segment 11, selection is made based on the content of cinnabar tobacco leaves; finally, the polylactic acid fiber segment 11, the acetate fiber bundle 12 and the smoking segment 2 are connected by the tipping paper.

In one embodiment of the present invention, at least a portion of the cigarette paper is transparent; the cigarette paper can be fully transparent or partially transparent, so that smokers can directly see the cherry red in the cinnabar cigarette, and the entire cigarette structure is more aesthetically pleasing.

The invention discloses a cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod. The structure is simple to set up. By coordinating different lengths of a polylactic acid fiber segment and a acetate fiber segment, the cinnabar cigarette with different cinnabar tobacco leaf contents can be filtered, and the concentration of the sticky rice aroma of the cinnabar cigarette can be ensured. Activated carbon is added at the polylactic acid fiber segment, and the characteristics of the activated carbon are effectively utilized to adsorb substances that the polylactic acid fiber cannot efficiently adsorb, thereby ensuring that the cigarette has a good smoking sensory experience and that the smoke substances meet the requirements of national standards.

Embodiment 2, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, is only one embodiment of the present invention. On the basis of Embodiment 1, in a cinnabar tobacco structure with a composite filter rod of the present invention, flavoring particles 111 are arranged in the polylactic acid fiber segment 11, and the added amount of the flavoring particles 111 decreases as the content of cinnabar tobacco leaves in the smoking segment 2 increases.

Here, the ingredients in the flavoring particles 111 include Pu'er tea and fragrant glutinous rice. The flavoring particles 111 are composite particles prepared from natural plant materials such as Pu'er tea and fragrant glutinous rice, and the addition ratio is 0.5-1 mg/mm. The proportion of plant particles decreases as the proportion of cinnabar tobacco leaves increases, thereby achieving the same glutinous rice fragrance style.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a fragrance hole for facilitating the placement of the fragrance particles 111 is provided at one end of the polylactic acid fiber segment 11 away from the acetate fiber segment 12, and selective fragrance settings can be made according to the personal needs of the smoker; and these fragrance particles 111, in a completely natural state, can be set at one end close to the mouth of the smoker, which makes addition convenient and safety guaranteed.

In addition, the number of the functional forming paper 13 is at least one; a multi-layer structure of the functional forming paper 13 can be provided to achieve a better filtering effect.

Specifically, the functional shaping paper 13 includes an inner shaping paper 131 and an outer shaping paper 132 arranged outside the inner shaping paper, and polylactic acid fiber bundles are arranged inside the inner shaping paper and between the inner shaping paper and the outer shaping paper.

Of course, the activated carbon layer 133 is provided on both the inner and outer sides of the inner layer forming paper 131, and the activated carbon layer 133 is preferably provided only on the inner side of the outer layer forming paper 132; in the case where the tipping paper is provided on the outer side of the forming paper 13, the activated carbon layer 133 can also be provided on the outer side of the outer layer forming paper 132.

Embodiment 3, as shown in FIG3, the present invention also provides a method for preparing a cinnabar smoke structure having a composite filter rod in all the above embodiments, comprising the following steps:

The present invention discloses a cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod and a preparation method thereof. The structure is simple to set up. By coordinating different lengths of a polylactic acid fiber segment and a acetate fiber segment, the cinnabar cigarette with different cinnabar tobacco leaf contents can be filtered, and the concentration of the glutinous rice aroma of the cinnabar cigarette can be ensured. Activated carbon is added at the polylactic acid fiber segment, and the characteristics of the activated carbon are effectively utilized to adsorb substances that the polylactic acid fiber cannot efficiently adsorb, thereby ensuring that the cigarette has a good smoking sensory experience and that the smoke substances meet the requirements of national standards.

The present invention is not limited to the above specific implementations, and the present invention may have various modifications and variations. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made to the above implementations based on the technical essence of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

A cinnabar tobacco structure with a composite filter rod, characterized in that it comprises a filter rod section (1) and a smoke-generating section (2), the filter rod section (1) comprising a polylactic acid fiber section (11) and a acetate fiber section (12) arranged at one end of the polylactic acid fiber section (11) close to the smoke-generating section (2), a functional shaping paper (13) being arranged on the outside of the polylactic acid fiber section (11), and an activated carbon layer (133) being arranged on the side of the functional shaping paper (13); the length of the polylactic acid fiber section (11) is not less than the length of the acetate fiber section (12); cinnabar tobacco leaves are arranged in the smoke-generating section (2); the ratio of the length of the polylactic acid fiber section (11) to the length of the acetate fiber section (12) increases as the content of cinnabar tobacco leaves in the smoke-generating section (2) increases; and the amount of the activated carbon layer (131) increases as the content of cinnabar tobacco leaves in the smoke-generating section (2) increases.
The cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod according to claim 1 is characterized in that: the activated carbon layer (131) is prepared by coating activated carbon liquid on the side of the functional forming paper (13).
According to the cinnabar tobacco structure with a composite filter rod as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that: flavoring particles (111) are arranged in the polylactic acid fiber segment (11), and the added amount of the flavoring particles (111) decreases as the content of cinnabar tobacco leaves in the smoking segment (2) increases.
The cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod according to claim 3 is characterized in that the ingredients in the flavoring particles (111) include Pu'er tea and fragrant glutinous rice.
According to the cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod as claimed in claim 4, it is characterized in that: a flavoring hole for facilitating the placement of the flavoring particles (111) is provided at one end of the polylactic acid fiber segment (11) away from the acetate fiber segment (12).
The cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod according to claim 1, characterized in that the number of the functional forming paper (13) is at least one.
According to claim 6, a cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod is characterized in that: the functional shaping paper (13) includes an inner layer shaping paper (131) and an outer layer shaping paper (132) arranged outside the inner layer shaping paper, and polylactic acid fiber bundles are arranged on the inner side of the inner layer shaping paper and between the inner layer shaping paper and the outer layer shaping paper.
The cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod according to claim 1 is characterized in that: cigarette paper is arranged on the outside of the smoking section (2), and at least a part of the cigarette paper is transparent.
The cinnabar cigarette structure with a composite filter rod according to claim 1, characterized in that the filter rod segment (1) and the smoking segment (2) are connected by means of tipping paper.
The method for preparing a cinnabar smoke structure with a composite filter rod according to any one of claims 1 to 9 is characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

S1: preparing a smoking segment, wrapping the smoking segment tobacco with transparent cigarette paper, and obtaining the content of cinnabar tobacco leaves in the smoking segment;

S2: Selecting a acetate segment; selecting a first predetermined length of acetate segment according to the obtained cinnabar tobacco content;

S3: preparing a polylactic acid fiber segment, selecting a functional forming paper coated with a predetermined content of activated carbon to wrap the polylactic acid fiber tow to form a polylactic acid fiber filter rod, and cutting the polylactic acid fiber segment of a second predetermined length according to the obtained cinnabar tobacco content;

S4: Cigarette piping, piping the polylactic acid fiber segment, acetate fiber segment and smoke segment.