TWI399181B - Improvements relating to smoking articles and filters therefor - Google Patents

Description

Smoking objects and their filters

The present invention relates to an improved filter for smoking articles and a smoking article comprising such a filter, and in particular to a filter for cigarettes.

For many years, cigarette manufacturers have attempted to use filtration devices to reduce the amount of smoke constituents delivered to smokers. There have been many achievements in providing a smoking article that has a lower bandwidth during smoking and a lower variation of the single-stream plume component between single-mouth puffs ( Puff profile). The bandwidth of the smoking article is the amount of tar delivered when smoking under the test conditions of International Standards Organization (ISO) and tar when smoking under other conditions (usually more intense conditions). Measure the ratio.

More specifically, the ISO test for smoking is a single-mouth smoking volume of 35 mL, a single-mouth smoking duration of 2 seconds, and a single-mouth smoking interval of 60 seconds. More intense smoking conditions include increasing the volume of single-mouth smoking, increasing the duration of a single-mouth smoking, reducing the time interval between single-mouth smoking, or a combination of these changes. The lower bandwidth corresponds to the composition of the smoke stream of the cigarette delivered during smoking under ISO conditions, and the lesser variation of the smoke component of the cigarette delivered by the same cigarette under more intense smoking conditions. .

The distribution of cigarette smoke in a single mouth is a record of the number of cigarettes transmitted in a single mouthpiece relative to the number of cigarettes smoked. The distribution of single-smoke smoke components has little change between single-mouth smoking, that is, the distribution of relatively flat single-stream smoke components, which means that the smoke components of each single-mouth smoking are more consistent during smoking.

Unfortunately, when pumping conventional cigarettes, it is not always possible to obtain a flat distribution of single-stream smoke components. This problem has been known in cigarette factories for a period of time, that is, during the smoking process, the particulate phase components of the plume, or the total particulate matter (TPM), are inconsistent. The concentration of each single-mouth cigarette obtained by measuring the amount of smoke constituents of each single-mouth cigarette under ISO mechanical smoking conditions, from the first single-mouth smoking to the last single-mouth smoking Smoking has increased dramatically. This increase in particulate matter during the last single-mouth smoking is caused by a number of factors, including: reduced efficiency of the tobacco portion (tobacco rod) and reduced circulation of cigarettes through the cigarette paper (both of which are due to cigarettes) Part of the reason for the shortening of the smoking process, and the increase of the smoke particle phase composition caused by the deposition of the particulate phase components of the initial smoking in the cigarette portion.

Between the first single-mouth smoking and the last single-mouth smoking, the proportion of cigarette smoke components varies based on product design characteristics, including: the total smoke component yield of the product. In general, under ISO mechanical smoking conditions, the ratio of full flavor products (with TPM above 10 mg) is between 2 and 4, and light smoke products (5 to 10 mg TPM) are Between 3 and 5, ultra-light smoke products (less than 5 mg TPM) are between 4 and 6. The high degree of circulation used by light and ultra-light smoke causes an increase in proportion (even if the yield of smoke components is reduced). The imbalance in the production of smoke components between the first and last single cigarette smoking will cause consumers to reject the product because consumers will notice that it is too light or too late in the first few cigarettes. It was too strong when I smoked several times. This problem can exacerbate the production of low-smoke components, as there is a large difference in the content of smoke components in the first and last smoking. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a cigarette that has a flat, single-mouth plume component distribution that provides a similar level of smoke constituents in both the first and last single-mouth smoking.

In addition, it is known that the higher concentration of smoke components transmitted by the last few single-mouth cigarettes represents the majority of the total amount of smoke components produced by the cigarette product, and therefore, by reducing the smoke of the last few single-mouth cigarettes. With the flow component, the total amount of smoke components delivered can also be reduced.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a filter for smoking articles that is effective in reducing the composition of the plume that is delivered to the consumer in use.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a smoking article filter that is capable of reducing the bandwidth of smoking articles and/or that can reduce variations in smoke constituents between individual single-mouth smoking.

The invention includes a filter for smoking articles having at least two distinct portions. The first portion includes an interior region and a surrounding region, and the interior region and the surrounding region include a smoke flow path and a region of material that is less permeable to the smoke stream. The smoke flow resistance of the less smoked material is greater than the smoke flow resistance of the smoke flow path. In one embodiment, the plume flow path and the less smoke-permeable material are configured in a core and an annular shape, and the smoke flow path forms a core portion. In an alternative embodiment, the plume path forms a loop and the less smoke-permeable material forms the core of the first portion.

The second portion includes a smoke flow impingement zone that is axially aligned with the first portion of the plume flow path. The second portion of the filter may include a core containing a high pressure drop filter material and a ring containing a lower pressure drop material (lower than the core pressure drop) and vice versa.

In an embodiment of the filter of one aspect of the invention, the first and second portions are separated from one another by a gap therebetween.

In one embodiment of the invention, the filter is designed such that the first portion of the plume path and the core of the second portion are axially aligned. In this embodiment, the core of the second portion is made of a high pressure drop filter material as compared to the filter material of the second portion of the annulus. In use, the plume exits the first portion of the plume path, causing most of the plume (especially the heavier plume component) to be embedded in the second portion of the high pressure drop core. Alternatively, in this embodiment, the plug of the less smoke-permeable material is located in the second portion and is axially aligned with the first portion of the smoke flow path outlet, whereby most of the smoke flow (especially It is a heavier smoke stream component) that is embedded in the plug of the second portion of the less smoke-permeable material. Embedded filtering occurs when the smoke particles strike the material and are retained by the material. Therefore, in the above embodiment, the smoke component embedded in the smoke embedding zone of the second portion is retained therein.

In another embodiment, the invention further includes a flow aperture surrounding the second portion or a space or gap between the first and second portions. When the cigarette is smoked, the first portion of the smoke flow path is filled with the particulate component of the smoke stream, and concentrated and deposited in the smoke flow path, the flow system through which the flow is restricted is limited, and the restriction causes the pressure drop of the first portion. Elevated, when the pressure drop rises, more air passes through the flow hole and enters the filter, whereby the subsequent single-port smoking causes a decrease in the change of the smoke component delivery of the single-mouth smoking, and this change occurs in It is known that the delivery of smoke components in a single mouthpiece of smoking articles is increased.

The flow system can be provided by means known in the art, such as laser or mechanical perforation.

The filter may further include additional portions, while the additional filter portion includes conventional filter materials such as cellulose acetate, polypropylene or paper. The additional filter portion may also optionally or additionally include a carbonaceous material such as activated carbon, a resin material (eg, amberlite, duolite, or other similar) And/or catalytic materials.

The invention further provides a smoking article comprising a smokable material rod, a wrapper around the smokable material rod, and a filter attached to the smokable material rod in accordance with the present invention.

The first portion of the filter according to the present invention is preferably attached to the smokable material rod of the smoking article adjacent the first end and spaced apart from the second portion of the filter at the opposite end.

The filter and the smokable material rod of the present invention are joined to each other by conventional means, such as tipping paper. As is generally known, tipping paper surrounds the filter along its length and partially overlaps the rod of smokable material. The tipping paper can be attached to the wrapper of the rod of smokable material by conventional means such as an adhesive.

In the smoking article of the present invention, the filter and the rod of smokable material are preferably arranged coaxially with each other.

In accordance with an embodiment of the smoking article of the present invention, the filter can include one or more additional filter portions. An additional filter portion is located between the smokable material rod and the first filter portion and/or at the mouth end of the second filter portion.

The embodiments and advantages of the present invention will be better understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

The present invention has many different forms of embodiments, and a plurality of embodiments are shown in the drawings and are described in detail herein. The present invention is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments shown.

Referring to "FIG. 1", the present invention includes a cigarette filter 1 and a cigarette 3 which are designed to reduce the delivery bandwidth of the cigarette in use. The cigarette 3 includes a cigarette portion 18 and a filter 1. The filter 1 comprises a first portion 2, which in turn comprises an inner region 4 and a first peripheral region 6. In one embodiment, the first portion 2 is located at one end of the cigarette 3 that is closest to the cigarette portion 18. The inner region 4 preferably has a diameter of 0.5 to 3.0 mm and a length of 5 to 10 mm. It should be understood that the length of the plume path depends on the length of the filter 1. However, the length of the smoke path in the first portion 2 will be equal to the length of the first portion 2.

In order for the filter 1 to function properly, the inner region 4 and the surrounding region 6 should include a smoke flow path and a relatively less smoke flow region. In the preferred embodiment, the interior region 4 is a smoke flow path and the surrounding region 6 is a region that is relatively impervious to smoke flow. In this embodiment, the plume moves through the plume path at high speed and exits the cigarette. However, in another embodiment, the plume path may be formed by the surrounding area 6, while the inner area 4 is formed of a material that is impermeable to the plume.

The plume path can have a variety of embodiments, for example, the plume path includes a tube 30 (as shown in Figure 2) or a pressure drop material 40 having a lower pressure drop relative to the surrounding area 6. (As shown in "Fig. 3"), for example, cellulose acetate.

Referring again to "FIG. 1", the filter 1 further includes an axially aligned second portion 8 including a core 10 surrounding a ring 12. The inner core 10 of the second portion 8 is axially aligned with the inner region 4 of the first portion 2. As can be seen in detail in Fig. 2, the filter 1 further comprises a space or gap 14 between the first portion 2 and the second portion 8. The length of the gap 14 is 0.0001 mm to 4 mm, but in various embodiments of the invention, it may also be between 0.5 and 3.5 mm or 1 to 3 mm, or 1.5 to 2.5 mm, and in a particular embodiment It is about 2 mm. If the gap 14 is too wide, the heavier smoke component will diffuse to the gap 14 between the first and second filter portions before the second portion 8 is impacted, which will result in the effectiveness of the filter 1. Negative impact. In order to engage the filter 1, the gap 14 is wrapped in a plug wrap and attached to the rest of the cigarette with conventional tipping paper.

The core 10 or the annulus 12 of the second portion 8 must form an impaction zone that is less permeable to the plume material. If the smoke flow path of the first portion 2 is the inner region 4, the embedded region of the second portion 8 is the core 10 region. The smoke flow embedding portion may extend along the entire length of the second portion 8, as shown in "Fig. 1 to 3", or as shown in "Fig. 4", which may be attached to the general filter portion 34. A small disc 32 that is impervious to the material of the smoke at one end. In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the plume will diffuse to the point behind the impervious material, but the heavier components of the plume will first be removed by embedding into the small disc 32.

If the smoke path of the first portion 2 is the surrounding area 6, the embedded area of the second portion 8 is the area of the ring 12. As shown in "1 to 3", the embedding zone may be a ring 12 of a relatively impervious tobacco material along the entire length of the second portion 8, or may be fixed to the general filter as shown in "Fig. 5". An annular disk 36 of the same material at one end of portion 34.

When the core 10 is used as the embedding zone, the outer ring 12 preferably has a diameter of 40% of the total diameter of the filter 1, but the filter can still function normally, however, as long as the core 10 is smaller than the first portion 2 of the plume path The outlet diameter is wide. Similarly, when the ring 12 acts as an embedding zone, its width should be greater than the path of the plume formed by the surrounding zone 6.

The length of the second portion 8 can be any length to form the desired overall length of the filter 1, which is typically about 5 to 50 mm. The second portion 8 is typically the mouth end of the cigarette filter.

In an embodiment, the filter 1 further includes a flow aperture 20, which may be located at the second portion 8 or gap 14.

Filter 1 reduces the transmission bandwidth in two ways. First, when smoking a cigarette, the plume passes through the smoke path of the first portion 2 at a high velocity and enters the gap 14. Due to the short distance between the first portion 2 and the second portion 8 of the filter 1, and the high velocity of the smoke flow, most of the smoke particles are embedded in and trapped in the second portion 8 of the high pressure drop material (relative to the first portion) 2 smoke flow path) will not be dispersed before. Heavier smoke particles are less dispersed than lighter particles to cause less total particulate matter leaving the cigarette. As cigarette smoking is more difficult, the smoke flow is less dispersed and more filtration can be performed.

The second method of reducing the bandwidth is to use a flow-through hole. When the cigarette is smoked, the tube 30 of the first portion 2 is gradually filled with the particulate component of the smoke stream, which increases the resistance of the smoke flow through the tube 4. This causes an increase in pressure drop through the first portion 2 such that more dilution air is drawn through the flow aperture 20 as the smoker draws. The dilution air enters the gap 14 or the second portion 8 through a flow aperture 20 that surrounds the gap 14 or the second portion 8. This will concentrate more of the smoke flow in the middle of the gap 14, thus causing most of the smoke stream to be embedded in the core 10, which in the preferred embodiment includes the embedded area of the second portion 8.

However, the present invention has been described above by way of a preferred embodiment, and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modification and refinement made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention should still belong to the technology of the present invention. category.

Example

Four different embodiments of the present invention were tested to determine the amount of total nicotine-free granules in a single mouth smoking and to determine if there was a change in delivery as the number of single mouth smoking increased. In Examples A and B, the lengths of the first and second portions were 11 and 14 mm, respectively, and there was a gap of 2 mm between the two portions. In Examples C and D, the first portion was 11 mm long and the second portion was 16 mm long with a gap of 0.001 mm between the two portions. All of the examples have a tube having an inner diameter of 2 mm in the first portion. In Examples A and C, the second portion of the annulus was made of a high pressure drop material, while in Examples B and D, the second portion of the annulus was made of a lower pressure drop material.

The "Table 1" and "Figure 6" below show that the advantages of the present invention are a gentle distribution of single-stream smoke components (compared to the control group of cigarettes):

Further, "Table 2" and "Fig. 7" show the case where the bandwidth is lowered when the embodiment of the present invention - the embodiment D - is sucked under various conditions. The more stringent the conditions, the better the performance of Example D relative to the control group of cigarettes. Under ISO conditions (single mouth smoking volume is 35 mL, single mouth smoking duration is 2 seconds, and the interval between single mouth smoking is 60 seconds), the difference in the amount of granules is quite small. However, as the total intensity of a single mouth smoking increases, the filter efficiency of the present invention also increases, which can be seen by the large difference in TPM between the control group and Example D.

Various embodiments of the present invention have a measurable beneficial effect that reduces broadband, lowers TPM, and smoothes the distribution of single-stream components of the cigarette as it is being pumped. It will be apparent that the location of the high pressure drop material and the width of the gap will alter the performance of the present invention, but still use the concepts of the present invention, and such variations are still considered to fall within the scope of the present invention.

1. . . filter

2. . . first part

3. . . cigarette

4. . . Internal area

6. . . Surrounding area

8. . . the second part

10. . . core

12. . . Ring

14. . . gap

18. . . Cigarette part

20. . . Flow hole

30. . . tube

32. . . disc

34. . . Filter section

36. . . Annular disc

40. . . Pressure drop material

1 is a perspective view of a cigarette in which a selected portion is cut away to show its structure; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the cigarette shown in FIG. 1; and FIG. 3 is a first view Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the cigarette; Figure 4 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the cigarette shown in Figure 1, and Figure 5 is a view showing another embodiment of the cigarette shown in Figure 1. FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the effect of several embodiments of the present invention on reducing total particulate matter; and FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing an effect of reducing bandwidth in an embodiment of the present invention.

1. . . filter

2. . . first part

3. . . cigarette

4. . . Internal area

6. . . Surrounding area

8. . . the second part

10. . . core

12. . . Ring

14. . . gap

18. . . Cigarette part

20. . . Flow hole

Claims (16)

A filter for a smoking article, comprising: a first portion comprising a smoke impervious material having a longitudinally extending smoke path through one of the first portions; a second portion The second portion is axially spaced from the first portion by an empty gap of 4 mm or less, and the second portion is axially aligned with the first portion, the second portion including a core surrounded by a ring portion a portion, wherein a proximal end surface of the first portion and a distal end surface of the second portion cooperate to define a substantially cylindrical gap that promotes smoke impinging on the high pressure drop material in the second portion; a hole, the flow holes being positioned in or in the second portion; wherein one of the core portion and the annular portion comprises a high pressure drop filter material and the other comprises a lower pressure drop material; The plume path is longitudinally aligned with the portion of the annulus or the core portion containing the high pressure drop material. A filter for a smoking article, comprising: a first portion comprising a moisture impermeable material having a longitudinally extending smoke path through one of the first portions; a second portion, the second portion Separating from the first portion by an empty gap of 4 mm or less, and the second portion is axially aligned with the first portion a column, wherein a proximal end surface of the first portion and a distal end surface of the second portion cooperate to define a substantially cylindrical gap that promotes smoke impinging on the high pressure drop material in the second portion, wherein the The second part comprises a mouth end and a gap end; a flow hole, the flow hole is located in the second part or in the gap; and an impervious flow blocking piece, the impervious flow blocking piece is attached Attached to the gap end of the second portion; wherein the smoke flow path is longitudinally aligned with the barrier sheet. The filter of claim 1 or 2, wherein the smoke flow path is an opening disposed at a center of the first portion. The filter of claim 3, wherein the plume path comprises passing a tube. The filter of claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow path comprises a lower pressure drop material having a lower pressure than the impervious material. The filter of claim 5, wherein the lower pressure drop material is disposed at a center of the first portion. The filter of claim 5, wherein the lower pressure drop material is The impervious tobacco material is surrounded by a ring/core relationship. The filter of claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow holes surround the second portion. The filter of claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow holes are located between the first portion and the second portion. The filter of claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow holes allow external air to enter the filter. The filter of claim 4, wherein the amount of air drawn through the flow holes increases as the tube is filled with tar. The filter of claim 1 or 2, wherein the length of the smoke path is between 5 and 10 mm. The filter of claim 1 or 2, wherein the diameter of the plume path is between 0.5 and 3 mm. The filter of claim 1 or 2, wherein the core of the second portion has a diameter of about 60% of the diameter of the filter. The filter of claim 1 or 2, wherein the gap between the first portion and the second portion is 2 mm. A smoking article comprising: a smokable material rod; a wrapper around the smokable material rod; and the filter according to any one of claims 1 to 15; The first portion of the filter has a first end and an opposite end, the first end is attached to the rod of smokable material, and the second portion of the filter is separated from the first portion by the empty gap Opened, and the second portion is axially aligned with the opposite end of the first portion.