RU2477064C2 - Folding paper with pattern with increased chalk level - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: food industry.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a smoking product with desirable characteristics of burning capacity and self-quenching and containing the following components: certain quantity of tobacco; folding paper enveloping the said quantity of tobacco, limiting the tobacco core and having a pair of ends; the folding paper has a cross direction and contains at least one strip-like area positioned between the tobacco core ends; the strip-like area contains at least two layers, the first of them contains a mixture of a starch material and calcium carbonate particles; the calcium carbonate particles content in the first layer is equal to at least nearly 80% of the starch material content in the first layer while the second layer contains a starch material; the first layer is positioned on the folding paper while the second layer is on the first layer; the calcium carbonate content in every stripe is equal to more than nearly 35 wt % of the starch content in each stripe.

EFFECT: exclusion of the possibility of interference with operations carried out using machine vision as well as ensuring the smoking product self-quenching properties.

Description

The present invention relates generally to a smoking article, and specifically to wrapping paper provided with stripes for use in making cigarettes.

The smoking article comprises a tobacco rod with wrapping paper formed from a base web having a nominal permeability. Preferably, zones of added material are formed on the main web such that the zones extend in the transverse direction of the main web and are spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the main web. Each zone is preferably formed on the main fabric of two layers, with one layer preferably containing starch, and the other layer preferably containing a mixture of starch and calcium carbonate.

By applying a starch layer over a layer containing a mixture of starch and calcium carbonate, and this arrangement of layers is simply preferable, the reflectivity of the zones of the added material differs from the reflectivity of the main fabric to such an extent that it improves machine vision based on such a difference, but the enhanced reflectivity of the deposited calcium carbonate, which can lead to disruption of operations performed using machine of view attenuate applied layer of starch deficient in calcium carbonate. Accordingly, the optical control of the zones of added material is improved. In addition, the reflectivity of the front side of the main web is essentially uniform, so that the existence of zones of the added material is visually imperceptible when viewed by the consumer from the opposite side.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Many of the objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to specialists in this field of technology after reading the present description in combination with the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numbers indicate the same elements and which depict:

in FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a smoking article according to this invention;

in FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a wrapping paper according to this invention;

in FIG. 3 is a partial cross section 3-3 in FIG. 2, on an enlarged scale; and

in FIG. 4 is a flow chart for printing and controlling wrapping paper.

Detailed description

In accordance with this description, the smoking article 20 (see FIG. 1) may comprise a tobacco rod 22 formed from brown paper 23. A quantity of tobacco 24 is wrapped with brown paper 23 so as to produce a generally round cylindrical tobacco rod 22, although the tobacco rod 22 may be oval or may have a different cross-sectional shape. One end 28 of the tobacco rod 22 can be ignited, and is sometimes referred to (for reference) as the “ignited end”. The second end 30 of the tobacco rod 22 is sometimes referred to (for reference) as a “tip end” or “mouthpiece end”. If desired, a filter 32 may be located in the region of the mouthpiece end 30 of the tobacco rod 22 to remove certain components from the tobacco smoke during use of the smoking article 20. Typically, the filter 32 is attached to the tobacco rod 22 with paper 32 for attaching the filter.

Between the first and second ends 28, 30 of the tobacco rod 22, the wrapping paper 23 comprises a zone or region 26 of added material. The added material zone 26 preferably extends circumferentially at locations remote from the tobacco rod 22 of the smoking article 20. Although the added material zone 26 is depicted herein as a substantially continuous structure along the circumference, others are also subject to the spirit and scope of the present invention. configurations of the added material. For example, the added material zone 26 may be substantially continuous, as shown in the drawing, or may contain one or more longitudinal gaps extending in such a way that a C-shaped zone or several arcuate portions are generally symmetrically located at viewed in cross section to the longitudinal axis 34 of the tobacco rod 22. In addition, the added material zone 26 can be divided into two or more substantially annular parts spaced apart from one another along the axis 34 by a distance that usually does not exceed the width of the rings, measured in a direction generally parallel to the axis 34 of the tobacco rod 22. By means of a sign of being distant, a “slot” in the strip structure is provided. It also falls within the scope of this invention that zone 26 may comprise a plurality of pads arranged circumferentially around the tobacco rod 22, while the pads of adjacent zones 26 may be circumferentially offset from the pads in adjacent zones according to a predetermined pattern, for example, in accordance with the principles set forth in US Patent Application No. 60/924666, the entirety of which is incorporated in its entirety into this description by reference.

According to the purposes of this description, the added material zone 26 is introduced into the wrapping paper 23 to achieve improved ignition ability characteristics, as well as to achieve improved self-extinguishing characteristics.

Ignition ability is determined using the standard test method described in ASTM E 2187-04 (ASTM American Standard for Testing Materials), entitled Standard Test Method for Determining the Ignition Power of Smoking Products, which is incorporated in its entirety in this description. through this link. Ignition ability is defined as the likelihood that a smokable article smoldering and laid on a substrate emits sufficient heat to maintain smoldering of the tobacco rod. Low values of the parameter of ignition ability are desirable, since such values correlate with a reduced likelihood that the smoldering of a smoking article unintentionally left unattended will cause a fire of the substrate underneath.

In this description, self-extinguishing is understood to mean the smoldering characteristics of a smoking article under conditions of free combustion. To evaluate self-extinguishing, a laboratory test is carried out at a temperature of 23 ° C ± 3 ° C and a relative humidity of 55% ± 5%, and both parameters should be observed using a recording hygrothermograph. Combustion products formed during testing are removed using a fume hood (s). Before testing, smoking articles to be tested shall be conditioned at a relative humidity of 55% ± 5% and a temperature of 23 ° C ± 3 ° C for 24 hours. Immediately before testing, smoking articles are placed in laboratory glass cups to ensure free air access.

Self-extinguishing tests are carried out in a chamber or in a test box. For ignition of smoking products during testing use a smoking installation with a single hole or an electric lighter. During the tests, an apparatus or “corner holder” is used in which the smoking articles to be tested are held at the end by placing the smoking articles at angles of 0 ° (horizontal position), 45 ° and / or 90 ° (vertical position). Preferably, twenty (20) smoking articles are tested at each position: 0 °, 45 ° and 90 °. If more than one apparatus is used, then the apparatus is preferably positioned so that the smoking articles are turned in different directions from each other to eliminate mutual influence. If the smoking article goes out before the smoldering front of the charred contents reaches the filter paper, then the result is considered “self-extinguishing”; on the other hand, if the smoking article continues to smolder until the smoldering front reaches the paper for attaching the filter, then the result is considered “non-extinguishing”. Thus, for example, a self-extinguishing value of 95% means that 95% of the smoking products used in the tests had the ability to self-extinguish under free-burning conditions; whereas a self-extinguishing value of 20% means that only 20% of the smoking products used in the tests had the ability to extinguish themselves under the same conditions of free burning.

The self-extinguishing value can be presented with the angle of location, for example, “self-extinguishing at an angle of 0 °”, “self-extinguishing at an angle of 45 °” or “self-extinguishing at an angle of 90 °”, each of which defines the value of self-extinguishing at a specific angle during testing . In addition, the value of self-extinguishing can be presented with an average value, which is the average value over three angles of location, namely, the average value of self-extinguishing (i) at an angle of 0 °, (ii) at an angle of 45 ° and (iii) at an angle location 90 °. The parameter “self-extinguishing value” does not characterize self-extinguishing at an angle of 0 °, self-extinguishing at an angle of 45 °, self-extinguishing at an angle of 90 ° or the average value of self-extinguishing and can determine any of these values.

The phrase "self-extinguishing under free burning conditions" used in this description means quenching of the smoldering cigarette in the absence of puffs, when such a cigarette is exposed to free burning conditions or left under free burning conditions.

Using the zones 26 of added materials, the burning characteristics and the self-extinguishing characteristics of the smoking article 20 are determined and regulated. These zones 26 of the added material are formed on the main web 40 (see Fig. 2) of the wrapping paper 23. The permeability of the main web 40 can be from about 25 to About 100 units of Coresta. Currently, the preferred permeability of the base web is from about 33 to about 65 units of Coresta, and the most preferred permeability is from about 33 to about 60 units of Coresta. The main web 40 has a longitudinal direction 42 extending along the length of the wrapping paper 23 and a transverse direction 44 extending in the transverse direction (in the width direction) of the wrapping paper 23, i.e., generally, perpendicular or transverse to the longitudinal direction 42 .

These zones 26 of added material can be formed on the main web 40, preferably by using printing technology. Although one or more printing technologies selected from the group including direct printing, offset printing, inkjet printing, intaglio printing and the like can be used, it is preferable to use the intaglio printing process to form zones 26. By intaglio printing, a sufficient degree of regulation of the application rates, drawing patterns and the like is provided, and it is suitable for high-speed printing on the main web 40. In this description, the words “high-speed printing” mean printing processes in which the main web 40 is transported through the station printing at a linear speed exceeding about 300 ft / min (91.437 m / min). The printing speeds of the main fabric for making cigarettes are preferably more than 450 ft / min (137.156 m / min) and even more preferably more than 500 ft / min (152.396 m / min) or more. In this regard, it has been established that the application rates of the added material, as well as the quality of the pattern of the applied added material, vary significantly when comparing the processing processes of wrapping paper using high-speed printing and low-speed printing. It has been unexpectedly found that when applying higher-speed printing operations, better results are achieved in that the desired values (characteristics) of the ignition ability and the desired values (characteristics) of self-extinguishing appear essentially simultaneously.

One of the objectives of this invention is the creation of wrapping paper 23 (see Fig. 2), manufactured on an industrial scale using a high-speed process, which, when forming the tobacco rod 22, has values of burning ability not exceeding 25 units, and values of self-extinguishing, not exceeding 50 units. Accordingly, the application speeds and characteristics of the resulting printed areas are in this case important features of high-speed printing. Although these ignition ability values and self-extinguishing values are currently considered adequate, ignition ability values of not more than about 15 units are more preferred for finished smoking articles; and the most preferred value of the burning ability of the finished smoking article is a value not exceeding about 10 units. Lower self-extinguishing values are also desirable. In this regard, a more preferred self-extinguishing value is a value less than about 25 units; although the most preferred self-extinguishing value is a value less than about 10 units.

To achieve these preferred values of ignition ability and self-extinguishing, the zones of added material 26 are preferably formed in two layers 50, 52 (see Fig. 3). One surface of the main web 40 is preferably provided with a first layer 50 of added material at the first gravure printing station. After drying, a second layer 52 of added material is applied to the wrapping paper. The second layer 52 is preferably positioned so that it is superimposed and substantially aligned with the first layer 50.

It was found that the materials used to form the layers 50, 52 are important for providing the characteristics of the ignition ability and self-extinguishing of a smoking article made using wrapping paper provided in this description. More specifically, one of the layers 50, 52 is preferably printed using a starch solution. Although an aqueous solution of starch is currently preferred, since the aqueous component is easy to dry, the use of a non-aqueous starch solution is also contemplated according to the spirit and scope of the present invention. The other of the layers 50, 52 is preferably printed using a solution containing a mixture of particles of calcium carbonate (or chalk) and starch. Like the first layer, the second layer is preferably applied as an aqueous solution, but the use of a non-aqueous starch solution is also contemplated according to the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The relative thickness of these layers does not have to be the same, but preferably it is different. For example, a layer containing starch and calcium carbonate may be at least about 1.5 times thicker than the starch layer. More preferably, the layer containing starch and calcium carbonate may be at least about 2 times thicker than the starch layer. Even more preferably, the starch and calcium carbonate layer may be at least about 2.5 times thicker than the starch layer. And most preferably, the layer containing starch and calcium carbonate may be at least about 3 times thicker than the starch layer.

Although many types of starch are provided, tapioca starch is currently preferred for use as a starch component in layers 50, 52. National Starch & Chemical Co. brand starch is suitable and commercially available starch.

Similarly, many types of calcium carbonate particles are provided as being within the scope of the invention and nature. However, calcium carbonate SOCAL 31 from Solvay Chemicals, Inc. is currently suitable and commercially available. SOCAL 31 brand calcium carbonate is an ultrafine precipitated form of calcium carbonate with an average particle size of about 70 nm (nanometers). It has been observed that calcium particle carbonate with a larger particle size does not work as well as the ultrafine precipitated form in the scope of this patent application, at least in part because larger particles tend to precipitate more rapidly from solution, and at least in part due to the fact that large quantities of such calcium carbonate are required to achieve the favorable results provided herein.

Surprisingly, the CaCO ₃ / starch ratio is a significant factor in providing the burning ability and self-extinguishing characteristics of a smoking article made using wrapping paper of the present invention processed using high-speed printing. The CaCO ₃ / starch ratio is defined as the weight ratio of calcium carbonate to starch for zone 26 of the added material, i.e. for both layers. More specifically, a CaCO ₃ / starch ratio of at least about 35% is preferable to achieve incendiary and self-extinguishing characteristics (0) of less than about 25%. Even more preferred is a CaCO ₃ / starch ratio of at least about 45% to achieve ignition and self-extinguishing (0) characteristics of less than about 20%.

If desired, the layer 50 printed on the main fabric 40 (see FIG. 3) may be a starch layer, and layer 52 may be a layer containing a mixture of starch and calcium carbonate. However, according to the currently preferred technology, the mixture of starch and calcium carbonate is applied in the form of a first layer 50, and on top of it a second layer 52 of starch only is applied.

It has been observed that (i) the optical reflectivity of the base web 40 and (ii) the optical reflectivity of the mixture of starch and calcium carbonate are exactly the same. In fact, these two reflectivity are essentially similar, which can lead to complications in optical monitoring using appropriate equipment. On the other hand, it was observed that (i) the optical reflectance of the main fabric 40 and (ii) the optical reflectance of the starch containing layer are significantly different.

The various reflectivity characteristics of the layers 50, 52 are successfully used to improve the optical control of the wrapping paper according to this invention. The optical control of wrapping paper with a starch layer deposited on top of a starch layer with calcium carbonate is significantly improved. More specifically (see FIG. 4), when transporting the main web 40 supplied from the feed roll 60 through the intaglio printing apparatus 61 to the roll 62, the web 40 can also be passed through the control station 64. At the control station 64, the light source 66 is focused on the movable web 40. A beam of light 70 emitted by the light source 66 is reflected from the surface of the movable main web 40 so that the reflected light is received by the sensor 68. When each zone 26 of the added material is passed through the control 64, the light beam 70 is interrupted in zone 26 and the amount of reflected light incident on the sensor 68 is modulated. Since the reflectivity of the starch layer differs from the reflectivity of the main fabric 40, the sensor 68 can be designed so that it can be used to determine the presence or absence of zone 26. When using a sensor 68 of a higher level that senses the aforementioned light stream, taking into account the relative speed of transportation of the main canvas through the control station, you can also determine dividing the width of zone 26 in the longitudinal direction of the main web 40, as well as the longitudinal distance between such adjacent zones to control product quality and proper operation of the equipment.

It has been unexpectedly found that with increasing levels of calcium carbonate in the strip-like zones 26 conducted through the optical monitoring station or through monitoring devices using machine vision, these installations become less reliable. Obviously, a decrease in reliability occurs due to the increased reflectivity of the surface of the strip-like zones 26. Such increased reflectivity leads to disturbances or "blindness" of the control means - a phenomenon that is likely to occur as a result of the fact that the reflectivity of the strip-like zones 26 with high levels of calcium carbonate is comparable to the reflectivity of the main fabric itself and can be substantially equivalent to it. This reflectivity parity may occur when the level of calcium carbonate in the surface region of the strip-like zones 26 exceeds about 80% of the starch level in the surface region of the strip-like zones 26.

The effect of this reflectivity parity problem can be reduced by creating a structure of strip-like zones 26, in which the surface region has a reflectivity that differs significantly from the reflectivity of the main fabric, so that with the help of control means it is possible to reliably determine the reflectivity fluctuations to determine the parameters related to strip-like regions 26, including, for example, the presence of fluctuations in reflectivity (at the beginning or end of the polo the crescent region 26), the absence of fluctuations in reflectivity (the absence of the strip region 26 or the incorrect location of the strip region 26) and the longitudinal length of the strip region 26 or the distance between the strip regions 26 (for example, the duration of a particular reflection case at a certain speed of movement of the main web through the control station) . One way to create the desired structure of the strip-like zones 26 is to provide an enlarged layer of calcium carbonate at a position farther from the control system than a layer containing essentially starch. In a different arrangement, by applying a starch layer to a layer containing calcium carbonate, the sensitivity of the optical control systems does not deteriorate, but remains effective.

With this method of forming layers in the strip-like region 26, another unusual and favorable hallmark of the wrapping paper is provided. When the first layer in the strip-like region 26 deposited on the main fabric contains calcium carbonate and starch, the presence of the strip-like region 26 is less obvious when viewed or viewed from the side of the main fabric, the opposite side from which the strip-like region 26 is applied, i.e. from the side opposite to the side from which the machine vision control unit operates. In fact, if the levels of calcium carbonate approach high levels that are the subject of this invention, then the presence or existence of the strip-like region 26 becomes less visible to the consumer and can actually become essentially invisible to the average consumer.

So, visual masking is important, as consumers of smoking products are accustomed to products in which the wrapping paper has a uniform, homogeneous appearance. Through the preferred arrangement of the layers 50, 52 (see FIG. 3) give additional significant advantages to a smoking article made using wrapping paper according to this invention.

When reviewing the above description and the attached drawings, those skilled in the art can understand that the method for manufacturing wrapping paper provided with stripes for smoking articles is described above. In this process, the strip-like regions 26 (see FIG. 2) are formed from layers added by layers as distant places on one side of the main web 23. The pitch between these strip-like regions 26 can be chosen so that it is substantially larger than the width of these strip-like regions 26 in the longitudinal direction 42 of the main web 40. The width of the strip-like regions 26 can be selected so that it is in the range from about 5 mm to about 10 mm; and so that the distance between these strip-like regions 26 is in the range of about 12 mm to about 40 mm.

To form the strip-like regions 26, the first layer 50 (see FIG. 3) of the added material can be applied to one side of the main web 40, the added material containing a reflective substance. This reflective material may be selected from calcium carbonate or chalk and may be an ultrafine precipitated form of calcium carbonate. The strip-like regions 26 are then formed by adding or applying a second layer substantially free of reflective material in the form of a layer deposited on top relative to the first layer. This step of applying the second layer 52 to the first layer 50 can be performed so that the second layer 52 is substantially aligned with the first layer 50. Both layers — the first layer 50 and the second layer 52 — preferably contain starch, for example tapioca starch, in an aqueous solution wherein the starch has a reflectivity substantially different from that of calcium carbonate. As discussed above, a starch and calcium carbonate layer composition can be formed by mixing starch and calcium carbonate in substantially the same proportion.

When applying strip-like regions 26 to the main web 40, a control operation 64 is performed (see FIG. 4) based on the reflectivity of the surface of the main web 40 on which the added material was applied. When performing a control operation 64 based on reflectivity, a feature is used that consists in various reflectances of the main web 40 and the second layer 52, expressed in providing information about the strip-like regions 26, including, for example, but without limitation, information about the presence of the strip-like region 26 , about the beginning of the strip-like region 26, the end of the strip-like region 26 and the width of the strip-like region 26 in the longitudinal direction of the web 40. This control is carried out at a time when the main web 40 is controlled through the control station 64 at an industrial production rate.

When using the main fabric 40 with strip-shaped regions 26 to form the tobacco rod 22 (see FIG. 1), the main fabric 40 can be cut longitudinally into parts with a transverse width corresponding to the circumference of the tobacco rod plus the width of the glue line. Using conventional equipment, such as a cigarette machine, the main fabric 40 is fed into the machine, and the cut tobacco filling is placed on one side of the paper fabric 40 (see Fig. 3), on which the strip-like regions 26 were applied so that they were located inside the resulting as a result of the tobacco rod 22. Also, in a conventional manner, wrapping paper is wrapped around a cut tobacco filling and sealed with a longitudinal seam. With the manufacturing technology described above, any visual inspection of the tobacco rod is directed to the side of the paper web 40, free from added material. Thus, the presence of the strip-like regions 26 of the added material is visually hidden from being determined by the consumer, and the appearance of the wrapping paper is more uniform. For this reason, when a part of the calcium carbonate in the mixture approaches a part of the starch in the mixture, the presence of the strip-like regions 26 becomes less and less visible from the side of the tobacco rod observed by the consumer, and when the content of these two components becomes substantially the same, detection of the presence of strip-like regions 26 with visual inspection becomes difficult or almost impossible.

The preferred method of forming layers of added material, thus, allows you to use the optical characteristics of the strips of material to improve or perform machine control of wrapping paper containing strip-like areas 26 on its main fabric 40. When the composition of one layer has optical characteristics comparable to those of the main fabric 40 , then this one layer is protected from the apparatus for monitoring by machine vision with a second layer deposited on the first layer, and the second layer has optical characteristics different from those of the main web 40. The controlled optical characteristics may be reflectivity, whiteness or other reflective characteristics of the paper.

When the word about is used in this description together with a numerical value, it is assumed that the value includes not only a numerical value, but also a tolerance or range value of ± 5% of the exact numerical value associated with the word “about”.

Now, for specialists in this field of technology should be clear that in this description a new, useful and non-obvious smoking article is disclosed. It should also be understood by those skilled in the art that there are many modifications, embodiments, substitutes for embodiments and equivalents of various aspects of a smoking article, described in detail in the above description. In accordance with this, the authors with all certainty believe that all such modifications, versions, replacing versions and equivalents fall under the essence and scope of the invention defined in the attached claims, and are covered by it.

Claims (7)

1. A smoking article having the desired characteristics of burning ability and self-extinguishing, containing: a certain amount of tobacco; wrapping paper wrapping a specified amount of tobacco and bounding a tobacco rod having a pair of ends, the wrapping paper having a transverse direction and containing at least one strip-like region located between the ends of the tobacco rod; moreover, the strip-like region contains at least two layers, of which the first layer contains a mixture of starch material and particles of calcium carbonate, and the content of particles of calcium carbonate in the first layer is at least about 80% of the content of starch material in the first layer, and the second layer contains starchy material, the first layer being on brown paper and the second layer on the first layer; however, the content of calcium carbonate in each strip is more than about 35 wt.% of the starch content in each strip. 2. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the weight of the second layer is greater than the weight of the first layer. 3. A smoking article according to claim 1, having an incendiary ability of less than about 25%. 4. A smoking article according to any one of claims 1 to 3, having self-extinguishing at an angle of 0 ° of less than about 25%. 5. Wrapping paper for a smoking article according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. A method of manufacturing striped wrapping paper according to claim 5, comprising: forming a strip-like region with a layer of added material at locations remote from each other on one side of the main fabric, this step comprising applying a first layer containing a mixture of starch material and calcium carbonate particles moreover, the content of particles of calcium carbonate in the specified layer is at least about 80% of the content of starch material in this layer; adding a second layer containing starchy material substantially free of calcium carbonate, superimposed on said first layer, and performing a control operation based on determining the reflectivity directed to said second layer. 7. A method of manufacturing a tobacco rod by orienting striped wrapping paper obtained by the method according to claim 6, for laying the tobacco filling on one side on which the additional material was applied, and wrapping the tobacco filling so that the consumer sees only the side during a visual inspection main canvas free from added material.

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