Smoking article including a liquid delivery member and a wrapper

Abstract

There is provided a smoking article comprising an aerosol forming substrate, a mouthpiece axially aligned with the aerosol forming substrate, a liquid delivery member and a wrapper surrounding at least a portion of the smoking article. The liquid delivery member is disposed in the aerosol forming substrate or in the mouthpiece, and comprises structural material releasably enclosing liquid. The wrapper includes at least one area permeable to the liquid and at least one area impermeable to the liquid. At least a portion of the at least one permeable area is aligned with or downstream of the liquid delivery member. When the liquid is released from the liquid delivery member, the liquid can migrate to the outer surface of the smoking article via the permeable area or areas of the wrapper.

Claims

1. A smoking article comprising: an aerosol forming substrate; a mouthpiece axially aligned with the aerosol forming substrate; a liquid delivery member disposed in the aerosol forming substrate or in the mouthpiece, the liquid delivery member comprising structural material releasably enclosing liquid; a wrapper surrounding at least a portion of the smoking article, and a coating impermeable to the liquid and partially coating the wrapper, the partially coated wrapper comprising an uncoated area including at least one area permeable to the liquid and a coated area including at least one area impermeable to the liquid, wherein at least a portion of the at least one permeable area is aligned with or downstream of the liquid delivery member.

2. A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the liquid comprises liquid flavourant.

3. A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the liquid delivery member is disposed in the mouthpiece.

4. A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the aerosol forming substrate comprises a tobacco rod, the mouthpiece comprises a filter, and the wrapper comprises tipping material attaching the tobacco rod and the filter.

5. A smoking article according to claim 4, wherein the tipping material comprises perforations upstream of the liquid delivery member and the at least one permeable area.

6. A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the permeable area or areas of the wrapper form a pattern and, when the liquid is released from the structural material of the liquid delivery member, the liquid forms the pattern on an outer surface of the smoking article.

7. A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the wrapper surrounds at least the mouth end of the smoking article and the furthest downstream end of the wrapper is impermeable to the liquid.

8. A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the aerosol forming substrate comprises a tobacco rod, the mouthpiece comprises a filter, the wrapper surrounds the filter and an adjacent portion of the tobacco rod, and the portion of the wrapper surrounding the furthest upstream end of the filter is impermeable to the liquid.

9. A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the aerosol forming substrate comprises a tobacco rod, the mouthpiece comprises a filter, the wrapper surrounds the filter and an adjacent portion of the tobacco rod, and the portion of the wrapper surrounding the tobacco rod is at least partially permeable to the liquid.

10. A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the at least one permeable area comprises between about 5% and about 30% of the surface area of the wrapper.

11. A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is coloured.

12. A filter for a smoking article, the filter comprising: filter material; a liquid delivery member comprising structural material releasably enclosing liquid; a filter wrapper surrounding at least a portion of the filter material, and a coating impermeable to the liquid and partially coating the filter wrapper, the partially coated filter wrapper comprising an uncoated area including at least one area permeable to the liquid and a coated area including at least one area impermeable to the liquid, wherein at least a portion of the at least one permeable area of the filter wrapper is aligned with or downstream of the liquid delivery member.

13. A filter according to claim 12, wherein the filter comprises: an upstream filter segment comprising filter material and an upstream filter wrapper surrounding the filter material; and a downstream filter segment comprising filter material and a downstream filter wrapper surrounding the filter material, wherein the liquid delivery member is disposed in the upstream filter segment, and wherein the filter wrapper surrounds both the upstream and the downstream filter segments.

14. A smoking article comprising, a wrapper surrounding a liquid delivery member comprising structural material releasably enclosing liquid, the wrapper comprising: wrapping material permeable to the liquid; and a coating impermeable to the liquid and partially coating the wrapping material, the partially coated wrapping material comprising an uncoated area including at least one area permeable to the liquid and a coated area including at least one area impermeable to the liquid, wherein the wrapper is configured to surround at least a portion of a smoking article such that at least a portion of the at least one permeable area of the wrapper is aligned with or downstream of the liquid delivery member in the smoking article.

15. A filter according to claim 12, wherein the liquid comprises liquid flavourant.

16. A smoking article according to claim 14, wherein the liquid comprises liquid flavourant.

17. A filter according to claim 12, wherein the at least one permeable area comprises between about 5% and about 30% of the surface area of the wrapper.

18. A smoking article according to claim 14, wherein the at least one permeable area comprises between about 5% and about 30% of the surface area of the wrapper.

19. A smoking article according to claim 11, wherein the coloured liquid contrasts a colour of the wrapper.

Description

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

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a smoking article according to an embodiment of the invention; and

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic cross sectional view of the smoking article of FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a smoking article 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. The smoking article 100 includes an aerosol forming substrate in the form of a generally cylindrical tobacco rod 101 and a mouthpiece in the form of a generally cylindrical filter 103. The tobacco rod 101 and filter 103 are axially aligned in an end-to-end relationship, preferably abutting one another. The tobacco rod 101 includes an outer wrapper 105 circumscribing the smoking material. The outer wrapper 105 may be a porous wrapping material or paper wrapper. The tobacco is preferably a shredded tobacco or tobacco cut filler. The filter 103 includes a filter wrapper 107 circumscribing the filter material. The filter wrapper 107 may be a porous wrapping material or paper wrapper. The tobacco rod 101 has an upstream, lit end 109 and a downstream end 111. The filter 103 has an upstream end 113 and a downstream, mouth end 115. The upstream end 113 of the filter 103 is adjacent the downstream end 111 of the tobacco rod 101. Although not visible in FIG. 1, a liquid delivery member is disposed in the filter 103.

(5) The filter 103 is attached to the tobacco rod 101 by tipping material 117 which circumscribes the entire length of the filter 103 and an adjacent region of the tobacco rod 101. The tipping material 117 is shown partially removed from the smoking article in FIG. 1, for clarity. The tipping material 117 is typically a paper like product. However, any suitable material can be used. The tipping material 117 includes areas 119 which are coated with an impermeable coating and areas 121 which are not coated with the impermeable coating. The coating will be discussed further below. The uncoated areas 121 are arranged in a pattern, in this case a pattern of diamonds. The pattern of uncoated areas is generally aligned with the liquid delivery member (not shown) disposed in the filter 103. In this embodiment, the tipping material 117 also includes a circumferential row of perforations 123 upstream of the uncoated areas 121 and the liquid delivery member (not shown) disposed in the filter. The perforations 123 are provided for ventilation of the mainstream smoke.

(6) In this specification, the upstream and downstream relative positions between smoking article components are described in relation to the direction of mainstream smoke as it is drawn from the tobacco rod 101 and through the filter 103.

(7) FIG. 2 is a schematic cross sectional view of the smoking article of FIG. 1. As described in relation to FIG. 1, the smoking article 100 includes a tobacco rod 101 and a filter 103. The tobacco rod 101 includes an outer wrapper 105 which is shown separated from the tobacco material in FIG. 2, for clarity. The filter 103 comprises an upstream filter segment 201 and a downstream filter segment 203 adjacent to and downstream of filter segment 201. Upstream filter segment 201 includes a liquid delivery member in the form of a flavour capsule 205. The capsule 205 comprises an outer shell and an inner core enclosing liquid flavourant (not shown). In this embodiment, the capsule 205 is embedded in the filter material of the filter segment 201. Upstream filter segment 201 is wrapped with a porous filter wrapper 207, which is shown separated from the filter in FIG. 2, for clarity. Downstream filter segment 203 is wrapped with a standard non-porous filter wrapper 209, which is also shown separated from the filter in FIG. 2, for clarity. The entire filter 103 is then overwrapped with filter wrapper 107 (as also shown in FIG. 1). The filter wrapper 107 is also shown separated from the filter in FIG. 2, for clarity.

(8) As described in relation to FIG. 1, the filter 103 is attached to the tobacco rod 101 by tipping material 117. The inner surface of the tipping material 117 is partially coated with an impermeable coating 211, shown schematically in FIG. 2. As already described, areas 119 of the tipping material are coated with the impermeable coating 211 and areas 121 are not coated with the impermeable coating 211. The uncoated areas 121 are arranged in a pattern which is generally longitudinally aligned with the capsule 205 disposed in the filter segment 201. The tipping material 117 also includes a circumferential row of perforations 123 upstream of the capsule 205, although this is not shown in FIG. 2, for clarity.

(9) In use, the capsule 205 releases at least a portion of the liquid flavourant enclosed in its inner core when the smoking article 100 is subject to external force, for example by a consumer squeezing the filter 103. This is shown schematically in FIG. 2. When the liquid flavourant is released, it is able to migrate through the porous filter wrapper 207 and through filter wrapper 107. The impermeable coating 211 is any coating which renders the tipping material 117 impermeable to the liquid flavourant. Thus, the coated areas 119 of the tipping material 117 are impermeable to the liquid flavourant, but the uncoated areas 121 are permeable to the liquid flavourant. Thus, the liquid flavourant is able to migrate only through uncoated areas 121 to the outer surface of the smoking article 100. The flavour may then be transferred to the consumer's fingers whenever the consumer touches the uncoated areas of the tipping material 117 on the outer surface of the filter 103. The external force may be applied, and hence the liquid flavourant released, before, during or after smoking.

(10) In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the liquid flavourant is red and the tipping material 117 is white. Therefore, when the liquid flavourant migrates to the outer surface of the smoking article 100 (once the consumer has squeezed the filter 103), a diamond pattern of red staining, corresponding to the diamond pattern of uncoated areas 121 on the tipping material 117, appears on the outer surface of the smoking article 100. The pattern provides a new and stimulating visual experience for the consumer, and also provides a well defined, clear indication of where flavour may be optimally transferred to the consumer's skin. Any suitable pattern of uncoated areas may alternatively be provided.

(11) In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upstream filter segment 201 is 12 mm in length, the diameter of the capsule 205 is 3.5 mm and the downstream filter segment 203 is 15 mm in length. The tipping material 117 is 32 mm in length so circumscribes the entire length of the filter 103 and a 5 mm adjacent region of the tobacco rod 101. The uncoated areas 121 of the tipping material 117 may extend across any length, but preferably have a total length less than that of the upstream filter segment 201. Preferably, the furthest upstream end of the filter segment 201 is circumscribed by a coated area 119 of the tipping material 117. This prevents undesired migration of the liquid flavourant to the outer surface of the smoking article at the interface between filter segment 201 and tobacco rod 101. This prevents the liquid flavourant affecting adhesive securing the tipping material 117 to the tobacco rod 101. In addition, the portion of the tipping material 117 which extends over the tobacco rod 101 is preferably not coated. This prevents the coating affecting adhesive securing the tipping material 117 to the tobacco rod 101. In addition, preferably, the furthest downstream end of the filter segment 201 is circumscribed by a coated area 119 of the tipping material 117. This prevents undesired migration of the liquid flavourant to the outer surface of the smoking article at the interface between filter segment 201 and filter segment 203. This prevents the liquid flavourant affecting any adhesive securing the filter segments 201, 203 to one another. In addition, the mouth end of the tipping material 117 is coated with the impermeable coating 211. This prevents undesired transfer of flavour onto the consumer's lips during smoking of the smoking article. Finally, because the perforations 123 are upstream of capsule 205, there is little chance of the liquid flavourant leaking out of the perforations. Thus, the location of the liquid transfer areas on the outer surface of the smoking article are predetermined and well defined.