Aerosol generating article having water dispersible filter component

Abstract

An aerosol generating article (10) comprises: an aerosol generating substrate (12); a filter (14) in axial alignment with the aerosol generating substrate, the filter (14) comprising at least one water dispersible filter component (16), wherein the filter component is water dispersible under the test conditions of EN 14987:2006; and a tipping wrapper (20) wrapped around the filter (14) and at least a portion of the aerosol generating substrate (12). The tipping wrapper (20) comprises: a first weakening line (22) extending around at least a portion of the tipping wrapper (20); a removable tipping wrapper portion (26) extending downstream from the at least one weakening line (22) and at least partially overlying the water dispersible filter component (16); and an upstream tipping wrapper portion (24) extending upstream from the first weakening line (22), wherein the upstream tipping wrapper portion (24) is attached to a downstream portion of the aerosol generating substrate (12) and an upstream portion of the filter (14).

Claims

1. An aerosol generating article comprising: an aerosol generating substrate; a filter in axial alignment with the aerosol generating substrate, the filter comprising at least one water dispersible filter component, wherein the filter component is water dispersible under the test conditions of EN14987:2006; and a tipping wrapper wrapped around the filter and at least a portion of the aerosol generating substrate, the tipping wrapper comprising: a first weakening line extending around at least a portion of the tipping wrapper; a removable tipping wrapper portion extending downstream from the at least one weakening line and at least partially overlying the water dispersible filter component; and an upstream tipping wrapper portion extending upstream from the first weakening line, wherein the upstream tipping wrapper portion is attached to a downstream portion of the aerosol generating substrate and an upstream portion of the filter, wherein the removal of the removable tipping wrapper portion at least partially exposes the underlying water dispersible filter component.

2. The aerosol generating article according to claim 1 wherein the at least one water dispersible filter component is formed of a water dispersible sheet material.

3. The aerosol generating article according to claim 2 wherein the at least one water dispersible filter component comprises a plug formed of the water dispersible sheet material.

4. The aerosol generating article according claim 2 wherein the at least one water dispersible filter component comprises a wrapper formed of a water dispersible sheet material which circumscribes at least a portion of the filter.

5. The aerosol generating article according to claim 2 wherein the water dispersible sheet material comprises cellulosic fibres and a water soluble binder.

6. The aerosol generating article according to claim 5 wherein the cellulosic fibres comprise wood pulp fibres, cellulose acetate fibres or combinations thereof.

7. The aerosol generating article according to claim 6 wherein the cellulosic fibres comprise wood pulp fibres and cellulose acetate fibres in a ratio of between 40:60 and 70:30.

8. The aerosol generating article according to claim 5 wherein the water soluble binder comprises carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), or a salt or a derivative of CMC.

9. The aerosol generating article according to claim 5 wherein the water soluble binder comprises an alkali metal salt of an anionic polymer.

10. The aerosol generating article according to claim 1 wherein the at least one water dispersible filter component comprises a fibrous tow segment formed of a plurality of fibres combined with a water soluble binder.

11. The aerosol generating article according to claim 1 wherein the at least one water dispersible filter component has a biodegradability in soil medium of at least 45 percent.

12. The aerosol generating article according to claim 1 wherein the at least one water dispersible filter component has a biodegradability in aqueous medium of at least 45 percent.

13. The aerosol generating article according to claim 1 wherein the tipping wrapper has a water contact angle of at least 80 degrees.

14. The aerosol generating article according to claim 12 wherein the tipping wrapper comprises a hydrophobic coating layer on the outer surface.

15. The aerosol generating article according to claim 1 wherein the tipping wrapper has a wet tensile strength of at least 2 Newtons per 15 millimetres when measured according to ISO 1924-2 except for the dipping of a test sample in 2 millilitres of liquid for 3 seconds, after conditioning for at least 24 hours at 22±2 degrees Celsius and 60±5% relative humidity and after cutting the test sample to size.

16. The aerosol generating article according to claim 7, wherein the cellulosic fibres comprise wood pulp fibres and cellulose acetate fibres in a ratio of 50:50.

Description

(1) The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows an aerosol generating article in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

(3) The aerosol generating article 10 shown in FIG. 1 is a filter cigarette comprising an aerosol-generating substrate 12 in the form of a wrapped tobacco rod and a filter 14 comprising a single filter segment 16 axially aligned with the tobacco rod. A downstream end of the tobacco rod abuts an upstream end of the filter 14 along the line 18 shown in FIG. 1.

(4) The filter segment 16 comprises a plug formed of a gathered water dispersible sheet material comprising cellulose fibres, cellulose acetate fibres and an alkali metal salt of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The plug is circumscribed by a water dispersible plug wrap formed of a sheet material comprising wood pulp and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The filter segment 16 as a whole, with the plug wrap in place, is water dispersible according to the test method of EN 14987, as described above.

(5) A tipping wrapper 20 comprising a row of perforations that form a weakening line 22 is wrapped around the filter 14 and a portion of the tobacco rod so that an upstream tipping wrapper portion 24 extends upstream from the weakening line 22, and a removable tipping wrapper portion 26 extends downstream from the weakening line 22. Only the upstream tipping wrapper portion 24 is glued to the underlying portions of the tobacco rod and the filter 14. The removable tipping wrapper portion 26 is not glued to the underlying filter 14 and is secured to the aerosol generating article 10 only along the weakening line 22 where it is secured to the upstream tipping wrapper portion 24.

(6) The longitudinal edge 28 of the tipping wrapper 20 forms a seam extending in a longitudinal direction along the filter 14. A curved tear tab 30 is provided at the longitudinal edge 28, at a distance downstream of the first weakening line 22.

(7) Before, during or after smoking the aerosol generating article 10, the consumer can remove the removable tipping wrapper portion 26, if desired, to expose the underlying filter segment 36. To remove the removable tipping wrapper portion 26 the consumer can grasp the tear tab 30 on the removable tipping wrapper portion 26 and can then peel the removable tipping wrapper portion 26 away from the filter 14 by breaking the row of perforations forming the weakening line 22.

(8) The removal of the removable tipping wrapper portion 26 in this way exposes the underlying portion of the filter segment 16 so that after the filter has been discarded, the filter segment can more readily come into contact with environmental water. The speed at which the filter segment 16 disperses in water is therefore significantly increased due to the removal of the removable tipping wrapper portion 26. Upon contact with environmental water, the water dispersible plug wrap will initially breakdown, which will in turn expose the underlying plug of water dispersible sheet material to come into contact with water and disperse. This effect of the water dispersible filter segment 16 in combination with an removable tipping wrapper portion 26 is demonstrated in the example below.

EXAMPLE

(9) The following test to measure degradability of a filter in soil is conducted on a sample of 10 of each of the cigarettes below: Cigarette A: A cigarette having a conventional cellulose acetate tow Cigarette B: A cigarette according to the present invention as shown in FIG. 1 and described above, with the removable tipping wrapper portion intact Cigarette C: A cigarette according to the present invention as shown in FIG. 1 and described above, with the removable tipping wrapper portion removed

(10) For each sample, the cigarettes are smoked and any remaining tobacco is removed from the filters. The filters are conditioned for 3 hours at 105 degrees Centigrade and subsequently for 48 hours at about 22 degrees Centigrade and about 60 percent relative humidity. The samples are then weighed to provide an initial weight (t=0), placed in a container of soil, covered by a metallic net and then left outside.

(11) After 6 months, the samples are removed from the soil, cleaned and then conditioned as described above before being weighed (t=6 m). The samples are then returned to the soil for a further 6 months before being removed, cleaned and weighed again (t=12 m).

(12) A comparison of the weight of each sample at t=6 months and t=12 months relative to the starting weight at t=0 is shown in the table below:

(13) TABLE-US-00001 Cigarette A Cigarette B Cigarette C % % % % Weight % Weight % Weight Time Weight loss Weight loss Weight loss t = 0 100 0 100 0 100 0 t = 6 m 83 17 84 16 68 32 t = 12 m 81 19 69 31 45 55

(14) The results in the table above can be used to provide a comparison between the rate of degradability in soil of a conventional filter comprising a plug of cellulose acetate tow and a filter of a smoking article according to the invention. The higher the percentage weight loss, the more the filter has degraded during the test period and therefore the higher the rate of degradability.

(15) It can be seen that for the filters of the cigarettes according to the invention, Cigarettes B and C, the weight of the filter is reduced by over 30 percent over the 12 month test period compared with only 19 percent for the conventional filter from Cigarette A.

(16) When the removable tipping wrapper portion is removed prior to the test, as for the filter of Cigarette C, it can be seen that the percentage weight loss increases significantly to above 50 percent. This clearly demonstrates the advantageous effect that the combination of the water dispersible filter component and the removable tipping wrapper portion provide on the rate of degradation of the filter. In particular, it can be seen that such a combination significantly increases the rate of degradation of the filter compared to the conventional filter.