Patent Application
20250160384
This application claims under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2023-0162880, filed on Nov. 22, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a method for producing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet that reduces a loss of cigarette end and a cigarette containing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced thereby. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for producing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet that reduces a loss of cigarette end by increasing a ratio of thickness to a basis weight and a cigarette containing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced thereby.
Today, in the production of tobacco product, in addition to tobacco leaves, various tobacco materials are added. These tobacco materials are usually produced from parts of tobacco plants that are less suitable for the production of cut fillers, such as tobacco stems or tobacco dust. In addition, the tobacco dust is generated as a by-product during the handling of the tobacco leaves during production.
The most commonly used form of the tobacco material is a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet. The reconstituted tobacco leaves refer to a type of tobacco raw materials that are reprocessed into a paper form (i.e., sheet form) through a certain method based on low-particle tobacco raw materials or the like generated from leaf tobacco processing or tobacco production plants.
The method for producing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet may be largely divided into papermaking, rolling, and slurry methods. Among these, the slurry method may include receiving and loading raw materials, weighing and inputting raw materials according to a mixing ratio of each product, pulverizing the raw materials according to a certain size, mixing the raw materials and process water, extracting and separating cellulose and extracts, mixing cellulose with dilution water, mixing auxiliary materials suitable for characteristics of reconstituted tobacco leaves, mixing a mixed solution and the raw materials to produce a slurry, converting the produced slurry into a fine form easy for injection, injecting the slurry, drying the slurry, cutting the injected slurry into a certain size, and packaging the cut reconstituted tobacco leaves.
Specifically, the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet in the manufacturing step will be described with reference to
The reconstituted tobacco leaves contribute to cost reduction due to their bulky structure properties, reduce harmful components such as tar, and have the advantage of improved combustibility as pores in the tissue structure increase. In addition, the reconstituted tobacco leaves have the advantage of maintaining the quality of the product uniformly.
As described above, the reconstituted tobacco leaves are parts of important raw materials that determine the taste and ingredients of cigarettes along with leaf tobacco and fragrances in the tobacco industry. Accordingly, research and development are actively being conducted to produce reconstituted tobacco leaves of excellent quality. The inventors completed the present invention that it is possible to produce a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet having various physical properties by controlling the producing process of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet, and prevent a loss of cigarette end when the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced through the producing process is applied to the cigarette.
The present invention provides a method for producing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet that reduces a loss of cigarette end by increasing a ratio of thickness to a basis weight and a cigarette containing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced thereby.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a method for producing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet includes a drying step of applying hot air of 80° C. to 150° C. to a reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the hot air in the drying step may be applied at a pressure of 1.5 bar to 3.0 bar.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may include a tobacco raw material having a particle size of 20 μm to 150 μm.
In an embodiment of the present invention, a proportion of particles having a particle size of 80 μm or less based on the total number of particles in the tobacco raw material is 70% to 95%.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may include 50 wt % to 70 wt % of tobacco raw material and 1 wt % to 20 wt % of moisturizing agent based on a total weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry excluding a solvent.
In an embodiment of the present invention, through the drying step, the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet may have a basis weight of 140 g/m2 to 180 g/m2 and a thickness of 240 μm to 280 μm.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may further contain 0.1 wt % to 10 wt % of binder based on the total weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry excluding the solvent.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may contain 15 wt % to 30 wt % of solid content based on the total weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may have a viscosity of 32,000 cPs to 45,000 cPs at 25° C.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may further contain 0.1 wt % to 10 wt % of pulp and 0.1 wt % to 25 wt % of fragrance, based on the total weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry excluding the solvent.
In an embodiment of the present invention, through the drying step, the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet may have a thickness (μm)/basis weight (g/m2) ratio of 1.35 to 1.75.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the method may further include, before the drying step, a pre-drying step of exposing the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry to an atmosphere having a temperature 20° C. to 35° C. lower than a hot air temperature of the drying step.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the method may further include, after the pre-drying step, a separation step of peeling off the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry from a bottom surface supporting the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, There is provided a cigarette containing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced according to the producing method described above.
According to the method for producing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet of one specific example of the present invention, when drying the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry, by applying the hot air to the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry, it is possible to increase the ratio of the thickness to the basis weight. At this time, controlling the pressure of applying the hot air or changing the composition of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry to control the viscosity can help improve the effect.
Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that in giving reference numerals to components of each of the accompanying drawings, the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals even though they are illustrated in different drawings. In addition, in describing embodiments, when it is decided that a detailed description of related known configurations or functions hinders the understanding of embodiments, the detailed description will be omitted.
In addition, the terms ‘first’, ‘second’, A, B, (a), (b), and the like, will be used in describing components of embodiments. These terms are used only in order to distinguish any component from other components, and features, sequences, or the like, of corresponding components are not limited by these terms. When it is mentioned that any component is “connected” or “coupled” to another component, it is to be understood that any component may be directly connected or coupled to another component or may be connected or coupled to another component with the other component interposed therebetween.
Further, the term “unit” or “module” used herein means a software and a hardware component such as FPGA or ASIC, and “unit” or “module” performs predetermined functions. However, the term “unit” or “module” is not meant to be limited to software or hardware. The “unit” or “module” may be configured to be stored in a storage medium that can be addressed or may be configured to regenerate one or more processors. Accordingly, for an example, the “unit” or “module” includes components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, processors, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of a program code, drivers, firmware, a microcode, a circuit, data, a database, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. Functions provided in components and “units” or “modules” may be combined into fewer components, “units,” or “modules” or further separated into additional components, “units,” or “modules”.
Spatially relative terms “below”, “beneath”, “lower”, “above”, “upper”, and the like, may be used in order to easily describe correlations between one component and other components. The spatially relative terms should be understood as terms including different directions of components during use or operation in addition to the directions illustrated in the drawings. For example, in a case of overturning component illustrated in the drawings, a component described as “below” or “beneath” another component may be placed “above” the other component. Accordingly, an illustrative term “below” may include both of a downward direction and an upward direction. Components may be oriented in other directions as well, and thus, spatially relative terms may be interpreted according to orientations.
Also, in this specification, the term “sheet” may mean a thin layer element having a width and length substantially greater than its thickness. In the relevant technical field, the term sheet may be used interchangeably with terms such as a web, a film, etc. Here, “adjacent” and “near” a certain point mean not only a location that is in complete contact with a certain point, but also a location that does not particularly deteriorate the functionality of a specific means even if separated by a certain distance.
Components included in any one embodiment and components having common functions will be described using the same names in other embodiments. Unless described to the contrary, a description in any one embodiment may also be applied to other embodiments, and a detailed description will be omitted within an overlapping range.
The present invention provides a method for producing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet that reduces a loss of cigarette end and a cigarette containing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced thereby. According to a method for producing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet of one specific example of the present invention, the produced reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet has an increased thickness or a decreased basis weight, so the ratio of the thickness to the basis weight increases. When the ratio of the thickness to the basis weight increases, a distance per particle may be reduced when filling the cigarette with a strand of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet, and thus, the strand may be filled more densely. This may hold the strand of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet located at an end portion of the cigarette so that the strand is not separated, so the loss of cigarette end may be reduced. In addition, since the increase in the ratio of the thickness to the basis weight may narrow a distance between particles but means that pores inside the particles become relatively larger, there may not be a significant difference in basic performance of the cigarette such as a weight of a smoking material part, a suction resistance, and smoking components.
According to one specific example of the present invention, a method for producing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet includes a drying step of applying hot air of 80° C. to 150° C. to a reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry. Basically, the hot air may be an effective drying means in that it may evaporate a solvent present in the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry and effectively move the evaporated solvent. It is preferable that the temperature of the hot air is controlled to a level that can increase the drying efficiency without damaging the reconstituted tobacco leaves. For example, the hot air temperature may be 80° C. to 150° C., 85° C. to 140° C., 90° C. to 130° C., 95° C. to 125° C., or 100° C. to 120° C.
The hot air may have functionality other than drying depending on the location to which it is applied. In one specific embodiment of the present invention, the hot air is applied to an upper or lower portion of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry, specifically, to the upper portion. Applying the hot air to the upper portion of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry means that the hot air is applied in the direction of gravity. Applying the hot air to the lower portion of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry means that the hot air is applied in a direction opposite to the direction of gravity. To help understand the location where the hot air is applied,
The hot air may be applied at a pressure of a specific level or higher in order to dry and expand the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 at the same time. According to one specific example of the present invention, in the drying step, the hot air is applied at a pressure of 1.5 bar to 3.0 bar. Specifically, the pressure of the hot air may be 1.5 bar or more, 1.6 bar or more, 1.7 bar or more, 1.8 bar or more, 1.9 bar or more, 2.0 bar or more, and 3.0 bar or less, 2.9 bar or less, 2.8 bar or less, 2.7 bar or less, 2.6 bar or less, 2.5 bar or less, and 1.5 to 3.0 bar, 1.7 to 2.8 bar, and 2.0 to 2.5 bar. In the pressure range of the hot air, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 may be appropriately expanded without being damaged.
The moving support 10 at the location where the hot air is supplied may have a porous structure such as a mesh shape so that the hot air or steam may directly contact a lower end portion of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1. When the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 on the porous moving support 10 is too thin, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 may flow through holes of the moving support 10, so it is desirable that the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 have an appropriate viscosity. In order to control the viscosity of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 before passing through the section, a pre-drying step may be performed. The appropriate viscosity of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 and the pre-drying step will be described in detail below.
As illustrated in
In the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 to be dried is basically a tobacco raw material uniformly dispersed in a solvent. However, in order to provide additional functionality, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 includes additional functional materials as well as the tobacco raw material. The tobacco raw material may be tobacco leaves pieces, tobacco stems, or main side strips of tobacco leaves, etc., pulverized into fine particles. In this case, the type of cigarette is not particularly limited, and not only a single type but also two or more types may be used in combination. For example, the tobacco raw material of cigar leaf or Burley type may be used. The tobacco raw material pulverized into the fine particles may have a particle size of 20 μm to 150 μm. Specifically, the particle size may be 20 μm to 150 μm, 25 μm to 100 μm, or 30 μm to 50 μm. In this specification, the particle size means a volume moment mean, which is the size of fine particles occupying most of the volume of the tobacco raw material.
According to one specific example of the present invention, a proportion of particles having a particle size of 80 μm or less based on the total number of particles in the tobacco raw material is 70% to 95%. Specifically, the ratio of the particles may be 70% to 95%, 75% to 94%, or 80% to 95%. As the ratio of the particles exceeds 50% and increases further, the average value of the particle size may be formed at 80 μm or less. When the distribution of the particle size follows the above-described range, it may be advantageous to expand the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry by the hot air applied to the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry.
The content of the components in the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 may be appropriately controlled in consideration of functionality. According to one specific example of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may contain 50 wt % to 70 wt % of tobacco raw material based on the total weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry excluding the solvent. Specifically, the content of the tobacco raw material may be 50 wt % to 70 wt %, 55 wt % to 70 wt %, or 55 wt % to 65 wt %. Since the tobacco raw material is the most important component in the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1, it is contained in a larger amount than other components.
The reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 may contain a moisturizing agent as an additional functional material in addition to the tobacco raw material. The moisturizing agent is a liquid component separate from the solvent and serves to make the tobacco raw material softer. Examples of the moisturizing agent may be glycerin (GLY), propylene glycol (PG), ethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, oleyl alcohol, etc., but is not necessarily limited thereto. According to one specific example of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may contain 1 wt % to 20 wt % of moisturizing agent based on the total weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry excluding the solvent. Specifically, the content of the moisturizing agent may be 1 wt % to 20 wt %, 5 wt % to 20 wt %, or 5 wt % to 15 wt %. When applied in the above-described range, the functionality may be effectively imparted to the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry.
The reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 may contain a binder as an additional functional material in addition to the tobacco raw material. The binder serves to bind the tobacco raw material, and the addition of the binder may increase the viscosity of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry. For example, guar gum, arabic gum, etc., may be used as the binder, but the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. According to one specific example of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may further contain 0.1 wt % to 10 wt % of binder based on the total weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry excluding the solvent. Specifically, the content of the binder may be 0.1 wt % to 10 wt %, 1 wt % to 9 wt %, or 2 wt % to 8 wt %. When applied in the above-described range, the functionality may be effectively imparted to the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry.
The reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 may further include pulp. The pulp serves to crosslink the tobacco raw material so that the reconstituted tobacco leaves may be produced in a sheet form. The pulp may be, for example, cellulose-based pulp, etc., but is not necessarily limited thereto. According to one specific example of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may further contain 0.1 wt % to 10 wt % of pulp based on the total weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry excluding the solvent. Specifically, the content of the pulp may be 0.1 wt % to 10 wt %, 1 wt % to 9 wt %, or 2 wt % to 8 wt %. When applied in the above-described range, the functionality may be effectively imparted to the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry.
The reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 may further include a fragrance. The fragrance agent serves to add various flavors or tastes according to the user's preference to the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet. The fragrances may include, but are not limited to, vanillin, ethyl vanillin, cream, tea, coffee, fruit (e.g., banana, berry, apple, cherry, strawberry, peach, and citrus flavors including lime and lemon), maple, menthol, chocolate, mint, peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen, nutmeg, clove, lavender, cardamom, ginger, honey, anise, sage, cinnamon, sandalwood, jasmine, cascarilla, cocoa, licorice, and cigarette strand, etc., and may contain various forms and properties of fragrances to provide a specific flavor to the user. According to one specific example of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may further contain 0.1 wt % to 25 wt % of fragrance based on the total weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry excluding the solvent. Specifically, the content of the fragrance may be 0.1 wt % to 25 wt %, 1 wt % to 22 wt %, or 2 wt % to 20 wt %. When applied in the above-described range, the functionality may be effectively imparted to the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry.
The reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 may control the content of solid content included in the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry in order to effectively expand the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry by the producing method according to one specific example of the present invention. According to one specific example of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may contain 15 wt % to 30 wt % of solid content based on the total weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry. Specifically, the content of the solid content may be 15 wt % to 30 wt %, 20 wt % to 30 wt %, or 20 wt % to 25 wt %. When applied in the above-described range, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may be effectively expanded.
Controlling the viscosity of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 may be helpful in expanding the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry. According to one specific example of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may have a viscosity of 32,000 cPs to 45,000 cPs at 25° C. Specifically, the viscosity of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may be 32,000 cPs to 45,000 cPs, 35,000 cPs to 44,000 cPs, 38,000 cPs to 43,000 cPs. The viscosity may be measured using a viscosity measuring device generally used in the relevant technical field, and for example, may be measured through a digital rotational viscometer (DV2TLV), (BROOKFIELD). When applied in the above-described range, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry may be effectively expanded.
The reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced by the producing method according to one specific example of the present invention may have a basis weight of, for example, 140 g/m2 to 180 g/m2. Specifically, the basis weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet may be 140 g/m2 to 180 g/m2, 145 g/m2 to 175 g/m2, and 150 g/m2 to 170 g/m2. In addition, the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet may have a thickness of, for example, 240 μm to 280 μm. Specifically, the thickness of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet may be 240 μm to 280 m, 245 μm to 275 m, and 250 μm to 270 μm.
According to a producing method according to one specific example of the present invention, the basis weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet is similar to that of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced by the existing producing method, but the thickness of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet may significantly increase. In order to confirm the degree of expansion of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet, the thickness/basis weight ratio is defined in this specification. In this case, the unit of the thickness may be μm, and the unit of the basis weight may be g/m2. Since the thickness/basis weight ratio is a value obtained by dividing the thickness by the basis weight, it may have a unit of μm-m2/g, but the unit is omitted and expressed in this specification. According to one specific example of the present invention, the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet may have a thickness (μm)/basis weight (g/m2) ratio of 1.35 to 1.75. Specifically, the thickness/basis weight ratio of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet may be 1.35 to 1.75, 1.40 to 1.70, or 1.45 to 1.65. This is a significantly higher value compared to the existing reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet, and the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet having such a thickness/basis weight ratio may significantly reduce the loss of cigarette end when applied to cigarettes.
The method for producing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet according to one embodiment of the present invention may further include a pre-drying step and a separation step before the drying step, together with the drying step. In order to help understand the pre-drying step, the separation step, and the drying step,
The pre-drying device 40 primarily dries the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 to a state in which the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 is preferably supplied to the drying device 30 before the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 is finally dried in the drying device 30. In the pre-drying device 40, like the drying device 30, the hot air is not applied to the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1, but the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 is dried in the high-temperature atmosphere using steam. According to one specific example of the present invention, in the pre-drying step, before the drying step, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry is exposed to an atmosphere having a temperature that is 20° C. to 35° C. lower than the hot air temperature of the drying step. Specifically, the temperature in the pre-drying step may be 20° C. to 35° C., 20° C. to 30° C., or 25° C. to 30° C. lower than that in the drying step. Since the hot air is not applied in the pre-drying step, the moving support 10 having a porous structure such as a mesh shape is not required. The reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 supplied to the pre-drying device 40 may be relatively thin and may not be suitable for the moving support 10 having the mesh structure, and the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry that is primarily dried in the pre-drying step may have physical properties suitable for supply to the drying device 30.
The reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 dried in the pre-drying device 40 may be damaged when the hot air is applied to the moving support 10 and the drying device 30. To prevent this, after the pre-drying step, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 may further include a separation step for peeling off the bottom surface that supports it, i.e., the moving support 10. The peeling off of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 from the moving support 10 may be performed by the knife-shaped peeling means 50 as illustrated in
In addition, the angle in the cross section of one side of the peeling means 50 may be made acute to form an edge-shaped side. That is, when the peeling means 50 is viewed from the side, the peeling means may have a trapezoidal shape. Since the edge-shaped side may scratch the upper surface of the moving support 10, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 may be peeled off more effectively from the moving support 11.
The drying device of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry for implementing the producing method according to one specific example of the present invention may further include a first sensor module 61 for measuring the moisture content of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry. The first sensor module 61 may be positioned to measure the moisture content prior to the peeling means 50 in the drying device. The drying device may be controlled by controlling the vibration of the peeling means 50 according to the measurement result of the first sensor module 61. In one embodiment, when the measured moisture content is greater than or equal to a preset threshold value, the vibration intensity of the peeling means 50 may be increased or the frequency may be increased to effectively peel off the slurry. Conversely, when the measured moisture content is lower than the preset threshold value, the vibration intensity of the peeling means 50 may be lowered or the frequency may be decreased to avoid excessively scraping or damaging the slurry. Through the control mechanism, the uniform thickness and moisture content of the slurry may be maintained. In another embodiment, the angle of the peeling means 50 may be variably controlled according to the measured moisture content. For example, when the measured moisture content is greater than or equal to the preset threshold value, the vertical angle of the peeling means 50 may be increased to peel the slurry. Conversely, when the measured moisture content is lower than the preset threshold value, the vertical angle of the peeling means 50 may be decreased. It goes without saying that the vibration and angle control of the peeling means 50 are possible simultaneously. Meanwhile, the first sensor module 61 may be, for example, an infrared sensor module, and the infrared sensor module may measure the thickness of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry in addition to the moisture of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry.
The drying device may further include a second sensor module 62 for detecting the presence or absence of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1 between the pre-drying device 40 and the peeling means 50. The second sensor module 62 may be, for example, a laser sensor module, and may irradiate a laser to determine whether or not the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry exists. Depending on the result value of the second sensor module 62, the subsequent operation of the peeling means 50 and the drying device 30 may be controlled. For example, when it is detected that there is no reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry 1, the operation of the peeling means 50 may be stopped or switched to minimum vibration to reduce the energy consumption and equipment wear, and the operation of the drying device 30 may be stopped to prevent the energy consumption and equipment overheating. The reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced by the producing method according to one specific example of the present invention may be cut and applied to a cigarette. The cut strand of the above reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet may be applied to the smoking material part of the cigarette. Except for the fact that the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet strand has a large ratio of thickness to basis weight, since the strand of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet does not have the significant difference in the basic performance of cigarettes, such as the weight of the smoking material part, the suction resistance, and the smoking components when applying the strand of the existing reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet, the strand of the existing reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet may be replaced. When the strand of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet having the large ratio of thickness to basis weight is applied, the distance per particle is reduced so that it may be filled more densely, thereby reducing the loss of cigarette end. Since the strand of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet according to one specific example of the present invention may directly replace the strand of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet used in the existing cigarette, the remaining configuration of the cigarette may be applied in the same manner as that well known in the relevant technical field.
Hereinafter, a configuration and an effect of the present invention will be described in more detail through Examples and Comparative Examples. However, these examples are provided in order to describe the present invention in more detail, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to these examples.
A composition for preparing a reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry was prepared by mixing 60 wt % of tobacco raw material, 10 wt % of glycerin, 5 wt % of guar gum, 5 wt % of LBKP pulp (broadleaf bleached pulp, moisture content of 13% or less, tensile index of 55 or more), 20 wt % of invert sugar, and ethyl maltol. The composition and water were mixed in a ratio of 1:2 to prepare a reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry in which a ratio of solid content and liquid is 23:77. Here, the tobacco raw material was prepared by pulverizing a mixture of tobacco leaves pieces, tobacco stems, and major side strips of tobacco leaves to have a particle size of 20 μm to 150 μm. In this case, an average particle size of the tobacco raw material was 31 m, and the proportion of particles having a particle size of 80 μm or less based on the total number of tobacco particles was 93%.
The produced reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry was supplied onto a moving support, and the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry was dried by a pre-drying device and a drying device, thereby producing a reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet. The pre-drying device primarily dried the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry in a high-temperature atmosphere through steam (upper and lower) of 85° C., and the drying device secondarily dried the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry in a high-temperature atmosphere through the hot air (upper) and steam (lower) of 110° C. After the primary drying, the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry was peeled off with a knife so that it did not stick to the moving support, and then secondary drying was performed. In the secondary drying, the steam was allowed to directly contact a lower portion of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry through the moving support having a mesh structure. In the drying device, the hot air was applied to the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry at a pressure of 2.0 bar.
The reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet was produced by the same method as Example 1, except that the average particle size of the tobacco raw material was 33 μm, the proportion of particles with a particle size of 80 μm or less based on the total number of tobacco particles was 97%, and the hot air was applied to the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry at a pressure of 1.1 bar in the drying device.
In producing the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry, the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet was produced in the same method as in Example 1, except that the ratio of solid content and liquid was adjusted to 22:78. The reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry in Example 2 was measured to have a viscosity of 39,773 cPs at 25° C.
In producing the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry, the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet was produced in the same method as in Example 1, except that the ratio of solid content and liquid was adjusted to 21:79 without using the guar gum. The reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry in Example 2 was measured to have a viscosity of 33,237 cPs at 25° C.
The thickness and basis weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheets produced according to Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 were measured using a physical property measuring device (Manufacturer: FRANK-PTI, Product Name: Micrometer S16502), and were shown in Table 1 below.
According to the above Table 1, Comparative Example 1 had a similar tobacco raw material to Example 1, or rather, even under the condition that the average particle size of the tobacco raw material was larger than Example 1, and that the proportion of particles with a particle size of 80 μm or less was higher and thus the thickness may be thicker, the thickness of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet was measured to be significantly lower than that of Example 1. It can be seen that the pressure of the hot air in the drying device greatly affects the thickness of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet. Example 1 applied hot air at a pressure of 2 bar, and thus, could obtain the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet that is much thicker and has a larger thickness/basis weight ratio than Comparative Example 1 which applied hot air at a pressure of 1.1 bar.
Based on the sample tobacco product, the cigarette was produced by filling the strand of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheets of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 with the same conditions so that the smoking material part had a suction resistance of 110 mmH2O. For the cigarettes of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 above, the loss of cigarette end and smoking components were measured and shown in Table 2 below. The loss of cigarette end was measured using an E44 device from Korber company according to the KS H ISO 3550-2 method. In addition, the smoking components were measured using the LX20 20-port smoking machine from Korber company according to the Coresta recommended method 81 (CRM 81) method.
According to Table 2 above, the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced according to Example 1 did not have a significant difference in the content filled in the tobacco rod and the smoking components when smoking, compared to the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced according to Comparative Example 1. However, the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced according to Example 1 showed a significant improvement in the loss of cigarette phenomenon when filled in the cigarette, compared to the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced according to Comparative Example 1.
The thickness and basis weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet produced according to Examples 2 and 3 were measured using the physical property measuring device, and were shown in Table 3 below.
According to the above Table 3, it can be seen that the viscosity of the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry affects the thickness and basis weight of the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet. Example 2, in which the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry has a relatively high viscosity had a thicker thickness and a smaller basis weight than Example 3, in which the reconstituted tobacco leaves slurry has a relatively low viscosity, thereby obtaining the reconstituted tobacco leaves sheet having the large thickness/basis weight ratio.
As described above, although the embodiments have been described by the limited embodiments and drawings, various modifications and alternations are possible by those of ordinary skill in the art from the above description. For example, even though the described technologies is performed in an order different from that of the described method and/or components of the described system, structure, device, circuit, and the like, may be coupled to or combined with each other in a form different from that of the described method, or are replaced by other components or their equivalents, appropriate results may be achieved.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2023-0162880 | Nov 2023 | KR | national |
