RU2683335C1 - Smoking article - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: tobacco industry.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a smoking article comprising a rod and a filter with a longitudinal axis and a periphery, wherein the rod and the filter are connected by a rim material, which continues around the periphery and has an edge line on the side of the rod, provided with a cut profile along the periphery, wherein the cut profile excludes segments of a straight line extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, wherein the cut profile consists of periodically repeating elements with an element length measured along the periphery, and the ratio of the circumference of the periphery to the length of the element is a natural number, and the rim material comprises an overlap area in which it overlaps itself, and the cut profile is periodically extended on the edge line from the side of the overlap area rod.

EFFECT: technical result is the eliminated discrepancy in the overlap area of the rim material.

10 cl, 4 dwg

Description

The present invention relates to a smoking article comprising a tobacco rod and a filter, and to a method for manufacturing such a smoking article.

Tracing paper is used to attach the filter to the tobacco rod in the manufacture of filter cigarettes. Basically, the rim paper contains or even consists entirely of paper, but since it can also include various materials, the term "rim material" is simply used hereinafter.

Although in most filter cigarettes the rim material has a straight cut perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cigarette, a special decorative effect on the cigarette can be achieved by using a curved or profiled cut along the rim of the rim material, i.e., at the edge line from the side of the rod, along which the rim material is superimposed on the tobacco rod.

Before filter cigarettes became popular, filterless cigarettes were provided with a so-called mouthpiece, i.e., a layer of foil, paper or cork overlaid on top of tissue paper. A method of applying a cut off off-line mouthpiece to obtain an edge zone with an ornament is proposed in GB 252,838A.

GB 430,240A proposes attaching a filter enclosed in a protruding tube to the core of a cigarette. Slots or cloves on the edge of the tube on the side of the rod facilitate insertion of the cigarette rod.

In modern devices for attaching filters, a method different from that proposed in GB 430,240A is used: a double filter having a certain diameter and a double filter length is placed between two tobacco rods of essentially the same diameter. A strip of rim material, the width of which is greater than the length of the double filter, is fed from the bobbin, cut to length, slightly larger than the circumference around the periphery of the double filter and cigarette rods, coated with glue and wrapped around double filters and cigarette rods. Finally, the double cigarette thus obtained is cut in the center to obtain two single filter cigarettes.

GB 2199726A proposes rim paper with a decorative, indirect edge line on the side of the core for use in the manufacture of filter cigarettes. If the edge line of the rim material from the side of the rod (i.e., the cut line) does not contain straight line segments extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the rod, as in some embodiments, there will be a mismatch between different areas of the decorative profile of the line of connection of the rim material, which negatively affects expected decorative effect. WO 03 / 037112A proposes rim material with perforations or holes in an area on the side of the shaft to enhance diffusion of carbon monoxide from tissue paper. An embodiment is presented with perforation along the line of the rim of the rim material from the side of the rod, which causes a similar mismatch, as mentioned above.

In addition, WO 2012 / 045468A proposes section profiles, either within this region or along the edge line from the side of the core of the rim material. When such a rim paper is fed on an endless tape from a bobbin, as described above, the cut profiles are periodically repeated with a repeat length that is slightly longer than the circumference along the periphery of the filter to provide some overlap in the connection area after the strip of rim material is cut, and a separate rim material is laid around the cigarette. The cut should continue through a straight line segment (extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the filter and cigarette) of the rim material edge line from the side of the rod. In this case, the resulting cigarettes will detect the same profile of the rim material in the same position, and there should be no mismatch in the connection region, since the section profile does not extend to the connection region.

However, when an endless strip of rim material is supplied from the bobbin to the filter attachment section of a cigarette manufacturing machine, some means for registering certain positions on the rim strip of material relative to the position of the cutting means for cutting the strip is available only on machines with a special and expensive registration kit. Thus, usually the position of any profile or mark on the rim material relative to the cut line is not determined and will change over time. In particular, it may turn out that the strip of rim material is cut in the position of the profile cutout element. Thus, the cut line moves from areas of the straight linear segment described in WO 2012 / 045468A to the curved part of the cut on the rim material profile. Obviously, in this case, different areas of the profile will overlap at the connection line of the rim material, causing a negative visual impression.

The aim of the present invention is a smoking article comprising a rod and a filter, in which the rim material for connecting the rod and the filter may contain a cut profile that provides a positive visual impression of the finished smoking article, without the need for special tools in the manufacturing method for registering the profile.

This goal is achieved through a smoking article described in paragraph 1 of the claims. Clause 11 relates to a method for manufacturing such smoking articles. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are apparent from the dependent claims.

The smoking article of the present invention comprises a rod and a filter substantially having the same longitudinal axis and the same circumference around the periphery. The rod and the filter are connected by a rim material that extends around the periphery and has an edge line on the side of the rod provided with a cut profile along the periphery. The profile consists of periodically repeating elements with the length of the element, measured along the periphery. The ratio of the circumference of the periphery to the length of the element is a natural number, preferably 1 or 2.

The rim material may contain an overlay area in which it is superimposed on itself, i.e., an interlayer region. If the profile is periodically repeated on the edge line from the rod side of the overlay area, profile matching will be achieved at that join area even when the profile does not include, at least in the join area, straight line segments extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis (as suggested in WO 2012 / 045468A). This is the result of choosing the element length as 1 / n of the circumference along the periphery of the rod and filter, n = 1, 2, 3, etc.

The present invention proposes a special kind of rim material, which creates the impression of an attractive profile without mismatch in the connection area, for example, a profile with an inclined edge, wave or angle. There is no need for straight linear segments of the profile extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cigarette. Two embodiments include either a sinusoidal or a triangular (zigzag) profile, but the present invention is not limited to these options.

In the method for manufacturing smoking articles of the present invention, the rim material is supplied from an endless strip of rim material with an endless cut profile along the longitudinal edge. This endless profile consists of periodically repeating elements with an element length equal to the circumference of the periphery of the smoking article divided by a natural number, which is preferably chosen to be 1 or 2. In the usual manufacturing method, double filters are placed between two tobacco rods and wrapped with double rim material, fed from an endless ribbon of double-width rim material, before the double cigarettes obtained in this way are cut in the middle of the double filters, such as It is shown above. In this case, both longitudinal edges of the strip of rim material of double width can be provided with a cut-out profile made up of periodically repeating elements that satisfy the above criterion relating to the ratio of the circumference of the circumference on the periphery to the length of the element. The profiles on the two longitudinal edges do not need to be the same.

In addition, an important advantage of the present invention is that it is not necessary to cut the corresponding rim material (or double rim material) from an infinite strip of rim material (or from an infinite strip of rim material of double width) in accordance with the profile. Even the length of the cut-off rim material (or double rim material) measured in the peripheral direction is unimportant, since any excess length will simply increase the overlay area without affecting the appearance of the overlay area due to mismatch of the profile. To achieve this, it is important that the above criterion relating to the ratio of the circumference of the circumference on the periphery to the length of the element is satisfied.

Since cigarettes are manufactured under air conditioning conditions including humidity control, tolerances regarding circumference around the periphery of smoking articles or the length or width of the wrapping paper are generally small. For example, a typical tolerance for a circumference around the periphery of a cigarette filter is 0.1 mm or less. This means that the above ratio of the circumference of the circumference of the periphery to the length of the element can be determined quite accurately, and the deviation from the given natural number, respectively, is small.

In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the rim material is superimposed on the shaft by no more than 8 mm. This number provides the use of standard smoking analysis, even when the distance between the edge line from the rod side of the rim material and the filter edge from the rod side changes. The method for evaluating the “joint length” for a standard smoking machine is determined according to DIN ISO 4387: 2011-01, maximum 23 mm, filter length + 8 mm or rim length + 3 mm. The smoking article of the present invention should have a defined joint length regardless of the position in which the length of the rim material is measured if no part of the rim material extends more than 8 mm beyond the end of the filter from the rod end.

In addition, along the profile, the maximum / minimum amplitude (i.e., its maximum total deviation), measured in the direction of the longitudinal axis, can be no more than 6.5 mm. To ensure a reliable and tight connection between the filter and the rod, a minimum overlay of 1.5 mm is required. This criterion will be satisfied if the maximum / minimum amplitude of the cut profile is 6.5 mm or less, provided that the rim material extends far enough (but not necessarily more than 8 mm) beyond the filter end from the rod end.

In other preferred embodiments, the implementation of the present invention, at least one additional structural element with an edge segment is imprinted on the rim material, in which at least part of the edge segment extends parallel to the cut profile. Thus, the rim material printed with a certain profile, for example, lines or regions, and parts of this printed profile extend parallel to the edge line from the side of the rim material defined by the cut profile, which can enhance the visual appeal of the smoking article.

The smoking article may be provided in the form of a filter cigarette, in which the core comprises tobacco-containing material wrapped in tissue paper. The tobacco-containing material may be, for example, a conventional tobacco blend or a blend of tobacco with some flavoring material.

In other embodiments, the core comprises a hollow tube for filling with loosened tobacco. Such smoking articles, sometimes called "filter tubes", are used by the consumer to make their own cigarettes from cut tobacco, taken from a separate pack.

Further, the present invention is further illustrated by means of embodiments and drawings, in which:

In FIG. 1 schematically shows a standard method for attaching filters to cigarette rods, which can also be modified for use with the present invention,

In FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a filter cigarette taken across the filter,

In FIG. 3, parts (a), (b) and (c) show plan views of parts of embodiments of the infinite strips of double-width rim material used with the present invention, and

In FIG. 4, parts (a) and (b) show views of two embodiments of the filter cigarettes of the present invention.

In FIG. 1 schematically shows how filters are attached to rods of smoking articles by means of a modern device for attaching filters. To do this, an endless strip (web) of 1 rim material (usually paper) 2⋅b wide is fed from the bobbin. The double filter 2, i.e., the insertion of the filter rod of the double filter length of the finished smoking article, is placed between the rods 3 of the two smoking articles, which in the present embodiment are tobacco rods containing the tobacco mixture wrapped in tissue paper. Both the double filter 2 and the rods 3 have a diameter d. To attach the double filter 2 to the rods 3, the insert of the material designated as double rim material 4 is cut off from the strip 1 of rim material, glued and wrapped around the double filter 2 and rods 3. The length of the double rim material 4, indicated by L in FIG. 1 and measured in the direction along the periphery of the double filter 2 and the rods 3, is slightly larger than the circumference along the periphery π⋅d of the double filter 2 and the rods 3 so that the double rim material 4 completely covers the side region of the double filter 2 and provides an overlap area along the line connections. In addition, since 2⋅b is longer than the length of the double filter 2, measured in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the double filter 2 and the rods 3, the double filter 2 is securely attached to both rods 3. Finally, the cigarette obtained in this way is cut in the center, as indicated in FIG. 1 line c to get two single filter cigarettes.

In FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of a filter cigarette manufactured by this method in a plane passing through the filter and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the filter cigarette. The filter is designated 10, the rim material is 12, and the overlay area is 14. The width of the overlay area 14 is indicated e. Then L = π⋅d + e.

The described method can be used in the manufacture of conventional smoking articles, as well as in the manufacture of smoking articles of the present invention. However, in the present invention, the band 1 of the rim material in FIG. 1, which has straight longitudinal edges, is replaced by a strip of rim material, in which the corresponding longitudinal edges are provided with an endless cut profile, which consists of periodically repeating elements. In FIG. 3 (a), 3 (b) and 3 (c) three embodiments are shown in which the respective strips of rim material of double width are designated 20, 20 'and 20' ', respectively, and the corresponding endless cut profiles are 22, 22' and 22 '', respectively.

Corresponding elements have a length measured in the direction indicated by a double vertical arrow in FIG. 3 (a). The length of the element refers to the diameter d of the filter and the rod, as

Element Length = π⋅d / n

where n is a natural number. In FIG. 3 (a) n = 2, and in FIG. 3 (b) and 3 (c) n = 1.

Profiles 22 and 22 'in FIG. 3 (a) and 3 (b), respectively, are triangular (in zigzag shape), and the profile 22 ″ in FIG. 3 (c) is sinusoidal. The corresponding maximum / minimum amplitudes are indicated by a, a 'and a' ', respectively.

When the rim material cut off from the bands 20, 20 ′ and 20 ″ of rim material is wrapped around the filter and the rod of the smoking article, the corresponding cut profile 22, 22 ′ and 22 ″ extends along the periphery of the smoking article and forms an edge line from the rod side of the corresponding rim material. Due to the above ratio of the element length = π⋅d / n, the profile corresponds to the circumference along the periphery of the smoking article, and there is no mismatch in the overlay area (14 in Fig. 2) of the rim material. This is maintained regardless of the actual value of L (see FIG. 1) or e (see FIG. 2). In other words, the cutting step for preparing a double rim material (4 in Fig. 1) from an infinite double strip (1 in Fig. 1; 22, 22 ', 22''in Fig. 3) does not require any alignment with the cut profile . Width e may even vary during manufacture.

Endless bands of rim material like 20, 20 ', 22' 'with the desired cut profile like 22, 22', 22 '' can be made of endless bands of rim material with straight (even) edges (like 1 in Fig. 1), for example due to laser cutting. They can be fed in a twisted state on a bobbin, ready for use by the method described in the context of FIG. 1. It is also possible that the profiles at the two longitudinal edges of the strip of rim material are different. In addition, the method is not limited to the use of double filters and strips of rim material of double width, but basically it is also possible to assemble single filters by means of single rim materials cut from a strip of rim material of single width.

In FIG. 4 (a) and 4 (b) show embodiments of finished smoking articles, i.e., filter cigarettes 30 and 30 '. The filter cigarettes 30 and 30 'comprise a wrapped tobacco rod 32 and 32', respectively, attached to the filter 34 and 34 ', respectively, with the rim material 36 and 36', respectively.

The rim material 36 has an edge line 37 from the side of the rod provided with a zigzag cut profile 38. In addition, the element 40 with the edge segment 42 is imprinted in the rim material 36. The edge segment 42 runs parallel to the edge line of the rim material 36 defined by the cut profile 38, cm Fig. 4 (a).

In FIG. 4 (b) the edge line 37 'from the side of the rod is provided with a sinusoidal cut profile 38'. The printing element 40 'consists of two lines, one of which is indicated 42', which is an edge segment extending parallel to the cut profile 38 '.

Claims (10)

1. A smoking article comprising a rod (32; 32 ') and a filter (34; 34') with a longitudinal axis and periphery(π⋅d),wherein the rod (32; 32 ') and the filter (34; 34') are connected by a rim material (36; 36 '), which extends around the periphery and has an edge line (37; 37') from the side of the rod provided with the cut profile (38; 38 ') along the periphery, characterized in that the cut profile (38; 38'; 22; 22 '; 22' ') excludes segments of a straight line running perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, while the cut profile (38; 38') consists of periodically repeating elements with the length of the element, measured along the periphery, and the ratio of the circumference of the circumference of the periphery(π⋅d)to the length of the element is a natural number, and the rim material (12) contains an overlap region (14) in which it is superimposed on itself, and the cut profile (22; 22 '; 22' ') periodically continues on the boundary line with side of the core overlay area (14). 2. A smoking article according to claim 1, characterized in that the ratio of the circumference of the circumference on the periphery (π⋅d) to the length of the element is selected from the set consisting of 1 and 2. 3. A smoking article according to any one of paragraphs. 1 and 2, characterized in that the cut profile is selected from the following list: zigzag profile (22; 22 '; 38), sinusoidal profile (22' '; 38'). 4. A smoking article according to any one of paragraphs. 1-3, characterized in that the rim material (36; 36 ') is superimposed on the shaft (32; 32') no more than 8 mm. 5. A smoking article according to any one of paragraphs. 1-4, characterized in that along the cut profile (38; 38 '; 22; 22'; 22``), the maximum / minimum amplitude (a; a '; a' '), measured in the direction of the longitudinal axis, is not more than 6.5 mm. 6. A smoking article according to any one of paragraphs. 1-5, characterized in that at least one additional element (40; 40 ') with the edge segment (42; 42') is imprinted in the rim material (36; 36 '), and at least part of the edge segment (42; 42 ') runs parallel to the cut profile (38; 38'). 7. A smoking article according to any one of paragraphs. 1-6, characterized in that the smoking article is a cigarette (30; 30 ') with a filter, and that the core (32; 32') contains tobacco-containing material wrapped in tissue paper. 8. A smoking article according to any one of paragraphs. 1-7, characterized in that the core contains a hollow pipe designed to fill loose tobacco. 9. A method of manufacturing a smoking article according to any one of paragraphs. 1-8, in which the rim material is fed from an endless strip (20; 20 ';22'') of rim material with an endless cut profile (22; 22'; 22 '') along the longitudinal edge, the cut profile (22; 22 '; 22 '') consists of periodically repeating elements with an element length equal to the circumference of the periphery (π⋅d) of smoking articles divided by a natural number. 10. The method according to p. 9, characterized in that the natural number is selected from the set consisting of 1 and 2.

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