A Smoking Article with a Heated Segment Comprising a Tobacco Product

Abstract

The invention relates to a smoking article with a distal end and a mouth end, that extends in a circumferential direction and a longitudinal direction to form a cylindrical shape. Along the longitudinal direction from the distal to the mouth end at least one heated segment comprising tobacco or reconstituted tobacco binder (RTB), at least one cooling segment comprising a cylindrically shaped cooler material and a filter segment are arranged. The three sections create a flow path from the distal to the mouth end, wherein the heated segment, the cooling segment and the filter segment are at least in part enclosed by a first wrapper. The heated segment comprises at least one second wrapper. A smoking article is characterized in that the second wrapper is coated with a tobacco product comprising tobacco particles having an average particle size of 30 μm and a dispersion medium for dispersing the tobacco particles.

Claims

1. A smoking article with a distal end and a mouth end, wherein the smoking article has a cylindrical shape and extends in a circumferential direction and a longitudinal direction, along which from the distal to the mouth end at least one heated segment comprising tobacco and/or reconstituted tobacco binder (RTB), at least one cooling segment comprising a cylindrically shaped cooler material and a filter segment are arranged, thereby creating a flow path from the distal end to the mouth end, wherein the heated segment, the cooling segment and the filter segment are at least in part enclosed by a first wrapper, wherein the heated segment comprises at least one second wrapper, wherein the second wrapper includes a coated section coated with a tobacco product comprising tobacco particles having an average particle size of 30 m and a dispersion medium for dispersing the tobacco particles.

2. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco product is arranged on an inner and/or outer surface of the second wrapper.

3. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the second wrapper comprises at least one uncoated section and uncoated sections form a pattern.

4. The smoking article according to claim 4, wherein the pattern comprises circumferential rings with an extent in the longitudinal direction, wherein the circumferential rings are distanced from each other along the longitudinal direction.

5. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the second wrapper has at least in part a consistent thickness extending in the longitudinal and the circumferential direction.

6. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the heated segment comprises at least one carrier material portion comprising the tobacco product.

7. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the cooling segment comprises the tobacco product.

8. The smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the second wrapper comprises a carrier material comprising paper and/or, heat resistant polymers and/or, cellulose based materials, and wherein the second wrapper is circumferentially enclosed by the first wrapper.

9. The smoking article according to claim 8, wherein the heated segment comprises at least one carrier material portion, and wherein the tobacco product is applied at least on one surface of the carrier material portion.

10. The smoking article according to claim 9, wherein the at least one carrier material portion is perforated to improve the flow path in the longitudinal direction.

11. The smoking article according to claim 9, wherein the at least one carrier material portion is arranged in the heated segment in the longitudinal direction or rolled in the circumferential direction.

12. The smoking article according to claim 8, wherein the at least one carrier material portion is soaked with the tobacco product.

13. A method for manufacturing a smoking article with a distal end and mouth end having a cylindrical shape and extending in a circumferential direction and in longitudinal direction, along which from the distal end to the mouth end at least one heated segment comprising tobacco and/or reconstituted tobacco binder (RTB), at least one cooling segment comprising a cylindrically shaped cooler material with a flow path from the distal end to mouth end and a filter segment are arranged, wherein the heated segment, the cooling segment and the filter segment are at least in part enclosed by a first wrapper, wherein the heated segment comprises at least one second wrapper, the method further comprising coating the second wrapper with a tobacco product comprising tobacco particles having an average particle size of 30 m and a dispersion medium for dispersing the tobacco particles before arranging the heated segment in the smoking article.

14. The method for manufacturing a smoking article according to claim 13, wherein the tobacco product is applied to the second wrapper of the heated segment by spraying or printing.

15. The method for manufacturing a smoking article according to claim 14, wherein the tobacco product is applied to the second wrapper in a separate processing step.

Description

[0060] Further advantages, objectives and features of the present invention will be described, by way of example only, in the following description with reference to the appended figures. In the figures, like components in different embodiments can exhibit the same reference symbols.

[0061] The figures show:

[0062] FIG. 1 a general view of a smoking article 8 with a tobacco product 11 on a second wrapper 6, the carrier material portions 7 and a cooling segment 2;

[0063] FIG. 1a an embodiment of a smoking article 8 with a tobacco product 11 on a second wrapper 6;

[0064] FIG. 1b an embodiment of a smoking article 8 with a tobacco product 11 on a second wrapper 6 and a cooling segment 2;

[0065] FIG. 1c an embodiment of a smoking article 8 with a tobacco product 11 on the carrier material portions 7 and a cooling segment 2;

[0066] FIG. 1d an embodiment of a smoking article 8 with a tobacco product 11 on a second wrapper 6 and the carrier material portions 7;

[0067] FIG. 2 a detailed view of a second wrapper 6;

[0068] FIG. 3a a schematic view of a rolled out second wrapper 6 or carrier material portion 7;

[0069] FIG. 3b a schematic view of a convolute second wrapper 6 or carrier material portion 7;

[0070] FIG. 3c a schematic view of a perforated carrier material portion 7;

[0071] FIG. 4a a view of the embodiments of the different pattern 17;

[0072] FIG. 4b a view of the embodiments of the different pattern 17 and color density 29;

[0073] FIG. 5 a flow chart of the method for manufacturing a smoking article 8;

[0074] FIG. 1 shows a general view of a smoking article 8 with a heated segment 1, a cooling segment 2 and a filter segment 3. The mentioned three segments 1-3 are connected with each other and are enclosed at least in part with a first wrapper 4, wherein the segments 1-3 are arranged along a longitudinal direction 25 from the distal end 22 to the mouth end 23 of the smoking article 8. The segments 1-3 create a flow path 10, which has a start at the distal end 22 and extends through the whole smoking article 8 along the longitudinal direction 25 to the mouth end 23. It is possible that there are further segments or components, which are comprised in the smoking article 8. It is therefore conceivable that the cooling segment 2, heated segment 1 and filter segment 3 comprise another wrapper. In the shown embodiment all segments 1-3 are cylindrically shaped. It is conceivable that the smoking article 8 is shaped with a different basic shape, for example square, hexagon, or oval.

[0075] The heated segment 1 comprises a second wrapper 6, the smokable material, preferably RTB 5, and the carrier material portions 7, which are coated at least in part with a tobacco product 11. The second wrapper 6 is wrapped around the RTB 5 in the circumferential direction 24. The cooling segment 2 is wrapped in the first wrapper 4 and comprises a cooler material 9, which is coated with tobacco product 11. It is possible that the cooling segment 2 comprises a cooling wrapper (not shown here). The filter segment 3 comprises a filter material 27 and is wrapped in the first wrapper 4. It is conceivable that the filter segment 3 comprises at least one further wrapper, which encloses the filter material 27 in circumferential direction 24.

[0076] The tobacco product 11 comprises tobacco particles 12, wherein the tobacco particles 12 in the cooling segment 2, the tobacco particles 12 on the outer surface of the second wrapper 6 and the tobacco particle on the carrier material portion 7 may differ from each other. The combination of the different tobacco products 11 comprising different tobacco particles 12 preferably results in a special tobacco taste. The tobacco product 11 on the outer surface of the second wrapper 13 is arranged in such a way that a pattern 17 is formed.

[0077] In the shown embodiment, the first wrapper 4 does not comprise the tobacco product 11 but it is very well conceivable to apply the tobacco product 11 on inner or outer surface of the first wrapper 4. It is also conceivable that the second wrapper 6 comprising the tobacco product 11 is visibly applied on the heated segment 1, wherein the heated segment 1 is wrapped with the first wrapper 4 only in part.

[0078] FIG. 1a shows an embodiment of a smoking article 8 with a tobacco product 11 on a second wrapper 6. The cooling segment 2 does not comprise the tobacco product 11. The heated segment 1 does not comprise the carrier material portions 7. FIG. 1b shows an embodiment of a smoking article 8 with a tobacco product 11 on a second wrapper 6 and a cooling segment 2. The heated segment 1 of the smoking article 8 does not comprise the carrier material portions 7. FIG. 1c shows an embodiment of a smoking article 8 with a tobacco product 11 on the carrier material portions 7 and a cooling segment 2. The second wrapper 6 of the heated segment 1 does not comprise the tobacco product 11. FIG. 1d shows an embodiment of a smoking article 8 with a tobacco product 11 on a second wrapper 6 and the carrier material portions 7. The cooling segment 2 does not comprise the tobacco product 11.

[0079] FIG. 2 shows a detailed view of a second wrapper 6. The second wrapper 6 is coated in part with the tobacco product 11 comprising tobacco particles 12. The outer surface of the second wrapper 13 comprises coated 15 and uncoated 16 sections, which form a pattern 17. The pattern 17 on the outer surface of the second wrapper 13 is formed as circumferential rings 26, wherein the coated sections 15 comprise the tobacco product 11 and the uncoated sections 16 comprise a surface of the RTB 28. The circumferential rings 26 are preferably spaced to each other by a distance d. The distance d is preferably at least as thick as one circumferential ring 26. It is conceivable that the distance d between the circumferential rings 26 is variable. In this case the distance d is thinner or thicker as one circumferential ring 26. It is also conceivable that the distance d is inconstant. In this case the distance d expands or decreases between the circumferential rings 26 expending from the distal 22 to the mouth end 23 (not shown). It is possible that the inner surface of the second wrapper 14 is also coated with the tobacco product 11 at least in part.

[0080] The length l of the heated segment 1 is preferably 20 mm measured along the longitudinal direction 25. It is also conceivable that the length l of the heated segment 1 varies depending of the embodiment of the smoking article 8. It is conceivable that the length l of the heated segment 1 is adapted to the other segments of the smoking article 8. In such case it is possible that the length l of the heated segment 8 is identical to the cooling segment 2 or the filter segment 3.

[0081] FIG. 3a shows a schematic view of a rolled out second wrapper 6 or a carrier material portion 7. FIG. 3b shows a schematic view of a convolute second wrapper 6 or carrier material portion 7. The second wrapper 6 and the carrier material portion 7 comprise preferably the same carrier material 19 as a base. Preferably the carrier material 19 comprises the RTB 5. The tobacco product 11 is applied on the first surface of the carrier material 20 or the outer surface of the second wrapper 13.

[0082] The tobacco product 11 is preferably applied in sections 15, wherein the coated sections 15 are distanced to each other by the distance d. It is conceivable that the coated sections 15 differ in the thickness in such a way, that the thickness 18 of the whole second wrapper 6 or the whole carrier material 19 is inconstant. It is also possible that the thickness 18 of the whole second wrapper 6 or the whole carrier material 19 is constant. It is also possible that the inner surface of the second wrapper 14 or the second surface of the carrier material 21 are also coated with the tobacco product (not shown). Preferably the thickness of the coated section t is constant. Also preferably the thickness of one coated section t is in range 0.5-5 mm. It is conceivable that the thickness of the coated section t varies dependent on the desired tobacco taste enhancement. The carrier material portion 7 as shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b is arrangeable in the heated section 1. The convolute carrier material portion 7 is preferably placed centrically in the heated section 1. It is also conceivable that the convolute carrier material portion 7 is placed non-centrically in the heated section 1, preferably in the area of the distal 22 or mouth 23 end of the heated section 1 measured along the longitudinal direction 25.

[0083] FIG. 3c shows a schematic view of a perforated carrier material portion 7. The perforations 30 are arranged chaotically on the carrier material portion 7. The perforations 30 are through holes which connect the first 20 and second 21 surfaces. It is possible that the perforations 30 are sorted on the surface 20 according to a certain scheme. The perforations 30 depicted in the FIG. 3c are round. It is conceivable that the perforations 30 are oval, square or hexagonally shaped. The perforations 30 have preferably a size in the range of 35 μm-1000 μm, also preferably 900 μm-10 mm. The carrier material portion 7 is preferably arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 25. In this case the perforations 30 improve the flow path 10 in the heated segment 1.

[0084] FIG. 4a shows further embodiments of patterns 17 in which the tobacco product 11 can be deposited on the inner 14 and outer 13 surfaces of the second wrapper 6 or on the first 20 or second 21 surface of the carrier material portion 7. In FIG. 4a the black lines represent the tobacco product 11, wherein the white underground represents the surfaces 13, 14, 20 and 21. The patterns may include hexagonal shapes, concentric squares, rectangles, or circles, zig-zagging or meandering lines and/or parallel straight or curved lines. In alternative or in addition to the different thickness 18 of the second wrapper 6 or the carrier material portion 7 depicted in FIG. 3a, it is also conceivable to increase or decrease the amount of tobacco product deposited per unit area of the surfaces 13, 14, 20, 21 by increasing or decreasing the density of the pattern 17. FIG. 4a shows different patterns 17 each shown with different densities. In particular, the density of the patterns 17 increases from left to right in FIG. 4a. This results in more tobacco product 11 per area unit of the surfaces 13, 14, 20, 21 for higher pattern densities. Accordingly, this results in a lower amount of tobacco product 11 per area unit of the surfaces 13, 14, 20, 21 for lower pattern densities.

[0085] FIG. 4b shows three different embodiments of further possible patterns 17. The topmost pattern 17 comprises a checkerboard pattern. The lowest pattern 17 shown in FIG. 4b also comprises a checkerboard pattern. The pattern 17 shown in the middle of FIG. 4b comprises a chaotic distribution of squares or pixels. Again, the black color represents the coated sections 15 with the tobacco product 11 wherein white color represents the uncoated sections 16. All three patterns 17 shown in FIG. 4b comprise a decreasing color density 29 of the tobacco product 11 per unit area of the surfaces 13, 14, 20, 21 from left to right. In contrast to FIG. 4a in which the patterns 17 from left to right show distinct grates of density, the patterns 17 in FIG. 4b show a gradual change of the tobacco product 11 density per unit area of the surfaces 13, 14, 20, 21. This is carried out by gradually decreasing the size of the squares coated with a tobacco product 11 of the checkerboard pattern or by gradually decreasing the density of pixels which are coated with the tobacco product 11 in case of the chaotic arrangement of squares coated with the tobacco product 11. With these patterns 17 it is not only conceivable to realize a decreasing or increasing density of the pattern 17 along the flow path 10 but it is also conceivable to create an alternating density of the tobacco product 11 of the surfaces 13, 14, 20, 21 by decreasing the density with subsequently increasing the density and repeating this cycle as often as desired. In this way, the amount of tobacco product 11 deposited per unit area of the surfaces 13, 14, 20, 21 can be adapted very precisely to the desired tobacco enhancement of the heated segment 1.

[0086] FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of the method for manufacturing a smoking article 8. The method may start with coating 100 the second wrapper with tobacco product 100. In particular, the tobacco product 11 is coated 100 onto an outer 13 and/or an inner 14 surface of the second wrapper 6. This can be done either by spraying or by printing 101. For the spraying 101, the tobacco product 11 is applied to the inner 14 and/or the outer 13 surface of the second wrapper 6 with a spraying nozzle. If the tobacco product 11 is arranged 100 on the surfaces 13 and/or 14 in a pattern 17, the pattern 17 is either achieved by placing a mask between the spraying nozzle and the surface 13 and/or 14 or by moving the spraying nozzle with respect to the surface 13 and/or 14, following the desired pattern 17. If the tobacco product 11 is coated 100 on the surface 13 and/or 14 by printing 101, the tobacco product 11 is applied to the surface 13 and/or 14 of the second wrapper 6 preferably with a print roller. The print roller may comprise recessed surface parts. Preferably, the recessed surface parts form a negative of the pattern 17 in which the tobacco product 11 is desired to be coated 100 onto the surface 13 and/or 14.

[0087] The method for coating 100 the carrier material portion 7 with tobacco product 11 is identical to the method for coating 100 the second wrapper 6 of the heated section 1. It is conceivable that the processing step with applying step 102 of the tobacco product 11 to the second wrapper 6 and/or carrier material portion 7 is a separate processing step. Preferably the applying step 102 takes place before the standard manufacturing process of the smoking article 8. It is also conceivable that the applying step 102 in the manufacturing process takes place after the standard manufacturing process of the smoking article 8.

[0088] The applicant reserves his right to claim all features disclosed in the application document as being an essential feature of the invention, as long as they are new, individually or in combination, in view of the prior art. Furthermore, it is noted that in the figures features are described, which can be advantageous individually. Someone skilled in the art will directly recognize that a specific feature being disclosed in a figure can be advantageous also without the adoption of further features from this figure. Furthermore, someone skilled in the art will recognize that advantages can evolve from a combination of diverse features being disclosed in one or various figures.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0089] 1 heated segment [0090] 2 cooling segment [0091] 3 filter segment [0092] 4 first wrapper [0093] 5 RTB [0094] 6 second wrapper [0095] 7 carrier material portion [0096] 8 smoking article [0097] 9 cooler material [0098] 10 flow path [0099] 11 tobacco product [0100] 12 tobacco particles [0101] 13 outer surface of the second wrapper [0102] 14 inner surface of the second wrapper [0103] 15 coated section [0104] 16 uncoated section [0105] 17 pattern [0106] 18 thickness of the second wrapper/the carrier material [0107] 19 carrier material [0108] 20 first surface of the carrier material [0109] 21 second surface of the carrier material [0110] 22 distal end [0111] 23 mouth end [0112] 24 circumferential direction [0113] 25 longitudinal direction [0114] 26 circumferential rings [0115] 27 filter material [0116] 28 surface of the RTB [0117] 29 color intensity [0118] 30 perforations [0119] d distance between the circumferential rings [0120] t thickness of one circumferential ring/coated section [0121] l length of the heated segment [0122] l1 length of the carrier material portion [0123] w width of the carrier material portion [0124] 100 coating the second wrapper with the tobacco product [0125] 101 applying the tobacco product to the second wrapper by spraying or printing [0126] 102 applying the tobacco product to the second wrapper in separate processing step