Patent Application
20170042217
The invention generally relates to wrapping paper for smoking.
This section describes technical field in detail and discusses problems encountered in the technical field. Therefore, statements in the section are not to be construed as prior art.
The current papermaking process for smoking wrappers comprises four main steps: pulp preparation, modulation, papermaking, and finishing. Pulp preparation includes a collection of non-wood fiber raw materials, including flax, hemp, sisal, rice straw, and esparto and/or similar materials, and converting them into pulp by a mechanical/chemical process. The pulp preparation step separates useful fibers from rest of the raw materials. The chemical process degrades the lignin and hemicellulose into small, water soluble molecules, which can be further treated to yield cellulose fibers without depolymerizing them. One drawback associated with the chemical process includes residual solvent impurities and derivatives that further degrade the final paper quality and may produce undesirable compounds on combustion.
In the mechanical process, fibers are separated from each other by mechanical energy applied to the raw material, which causes the bonds between the fibers to break and gradually release fiber bundles, single fibers, or fragments. The resultant mixture of fibers and fiber fragments provides the pulp desired strength and texture.
The second step in paper manufacturing is the modulation or chemical treatment of pulp, which includes adding various chemical compounds to obtain special characteristics (such as transparency, color, porosity, and flavor) in the paper. Chemical additives such as calcium carbonates are added to influence the permeability, primary smoke dilution, and color of the paper. Magnesium carbonates and titanium compounds are added to improve the ash color. Sodium and potassium tartrate citrate are added as a combustion regulator in cigarette paper during manufacturing. Moreover, polyvinyl alcohols and their derivatives are used as adhesives to enhance user experience. One limitation of the currently available additives or flavoring chemicals is that the chemical flavoring process increases operational complexity and production cost. In addition, available synthetic flavoring substances reduce the product's shelf life due to short storage time and sublimation losses during processing pertaining to those volatile components.
Paper making and finishing usually includes the screening of resulting solution obtained after chemical treatment with the mesh window, which is made from inert materials such as aluminum. The mesh window is coated with the solution to obtain the desired thickness and size. The excess of the water is removed using a variety of methods, along with simultaneous pressure in a controlled manner, to achieve a uniformly distributed sheet. The sheet is further rolled to flatten and refine the surface finish before undergoing the cutting process.
For several years, various flavoring chemicals have been used in wrapping paper. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,733,720 and 2,580,611, disclose variations in the papers to improve the burning rate and modify ash characteristics, but such papers do not have a significant effect on the reduction of undesirable constituents of smoke. Also of note, the layered wrapping paper disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,395,714 has an inner layer made from a plastic sheet material, which decreases the burning zone temperature and lengthens the burning time, along with increase the release of nicotine.
Multiple cigar papers have been suggested in the prior art. For example, US Patent Publication 20030217757 describes a cigar with a paper wrapper overlying tobacco filler, where the paper wrapper is chemically flavored to create taste and flavor on the tongue and palate of the user.
Chinese Patent 101450968B, entitled Cellulose Mint Derivates, Preparation Method and Use Thereof, mentions a cellulosic mint derivative used in tobacco sheets and cigarette paper. The paper uses a low-volatile perfume precursor extracted from chemical treatments for improving the side stream smoke. Such precursor does not have the flavor or aroma until activation conditions are met. Furthermore, the invention describes menthol transformations that directly react with cellulose. Thus, there is a need to manufacture wrapping paper from natural sources and without any chemical pre-treatment.
Chinese Patent 101831836B describes a traditional Chinese medicine paper prepared from mint, cassia, rose, chrysanthemum, rhizoma atractylodis, Ligusticum wallichii, and galangal. The paper is to be used as writing paper, drawing paper, or wrapping paper. Furthermore, the paper manufacturing process uses the semi-chemical pulping method for other ingredients. This medicinal paper when combusted may produces mix-flavored fumes that can cure various health conditions, but cause taste confusion among users. Moreover, active compounds can cross-react with each other to produce undesired flavors.
There is no smoking article wrapping paper that is completely made from biodegradable and natural ingredients for flavoring purpose. Other key challenges include production of harmful compounds on combustion, taste confusion or dysgeusia, cross-reactivity, residual solvent impurities due to chemical treatment, operational complexity, production cost, and reduced shelf life.
The present invention describes a wrapping paper, and method to manufacture organic wrapping paper from pulp.
The objective of the invention is to provide an organic wrapping paper made from mint-based fiber pulp for rolling of narcotic or herbal substance (tobacco) in smoking articles including cigars, cigarettes, and cigarillo. The wrapping paper of the present invention adds flavor to smoking articles during consumption.
The wrapping paper is a homogenized mint sheet with pulp containing, but not limited to, herbal mint (60%), cellulose fiber (18%), methylcellulose (10%), guar gum (10%), and glycerol (2%).
The method to manufacture wrapping paper consists of the following sequential steps to achieve the desired flavored wrapping paper: acquiring of mint leaves, grinding mint leaves into the powdered form, adding powder into the mixture to obtain a paste of water and binding agents, smearing the said paste on the heat plate and allowing it to dry, sending the paste through rollers to form a sheet, rolling sheet through machines rollers to acquire desired thickness, and cutting the desired length to manufacture the wrapping paper for smoking articles. Alternatively, the grinding process can be augmented through various physical processes, which include, but are not limited to, application of pressure, heat, and magnetic waves.
In another embodiment, the wrapping paper for smoking articles allows user to experience the mint flavor during consumption and burns very slowly, coolly to offer pleasure and enhanced taste of smoking article. Additionally, the present invention reduces the risk of toxic substance exposure and smoking substance addiction even after prolonged use.
Various aspects of the invention and its embodiment are better understood by referring to the following detailed description. To understand the invention, the detailed description should be read in conjunction with the drawings, in which:
While reading this section (An Exemplary Embodiment, which describes the exemplary embodiment of the best mode of the invention, hereinafter referred to as “exemplary embodiment”), one should consider the exemplary embodiment as the best mode for practicing the invention during filing of the patent in accordance with the inventor's belief. As a person with ordinary skills in the art may recognize substantially equivalent structures or substantially equivalent acts to achieve the same results in the same manner, or in a dissimilar manner, the exemplary embodiment should not be interpreted as limiting the invention to one embodiment.
The discussion of a species (or a specific item) invokes the genus (the class of items) to which the species belongs as well as related species in this genus. Similarly, the recitation of a genus invokes the species known in the art. Furthermore, as technology develops, numerous additional alternatives to achieve an aspect of the invention may arise. Such advances are incorporated within their respective genus and should be recognized as being functionally equivalent or structurally equivalent to the aspect shown or described.
A function or an act should be interpreted as incorporating all modes of performing the function or act, unless otherwise explicitly stated. For instance, sheet drying may be performed through dry or wet heat application, or by using microwaves. Therefore, the use of the word “paper drying” invokes “dry heating” or “wet heating” and all other modes of this word and similar words such as “pressure heating”.
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, conjunctive words (such as “or”, “and”, “including”, or “comprising”) should be interpreted in the inclusive and not the exclusive sense.
As will be understood by those of the ordinary skill in the art, various structures and devices are depicted in the block diagram to not obscure the invention. In the following discussion, acts with similar names are performed in similar manners, unless otherwise stated.
The foregoing discussions and definitions are provided for clarification purposes and are not limiting. Words and phrases are to be accorded their ordinary, plain meaning, unless indicated otherwise.
The invention can be understood better by examining the
In
The pulp preparation step includes a harvesting of non-wood fiber raw materials 102 and grinding them into pulp 104 by mechanical processes. The Pulp preparation step separates useful fibers from the rest of the raw materials. In the mechanical pulping process, fibers are separated from each other by mechanical energy applied to the raw material, which causes the bonds between the fibers to break and gradually release fiber bundles, single fibers, or fragments. The resultant mixture of fibers and fiber fragments provides the pulp desired strength and texture. Moreover, it enhances resistance to ageing and discoloration.
The mechanical process can be a simple mechanical pulping method, such as groundwood pulping (GW), pressure groundwood pulping (PGW), or hybrid mechanical pulping, which combines two principles such as thermo-mechanical pulping (TMP) or chemi-thermo-mechanical pulping (CTMP), to treat raw materials. The mechanical process yields high amount of cellulose and retains larger proportion of lignin due to relatively less chemical requirement and higher bond strength; this results in better optical and surface properties of the paper. Furthermore, uniform application of mechanical energy equally distributes the fiber quantity and yields homogenized sheets that are biodegradable and do not contain any chemical premixes. In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the pulp is prepared using GW, refiner pulp method, or a combination, where the raw material is pressed between either turning stones or disks to release fibers.
The pulping process starts with the raw material or crop harvesting using a pulping system 200 as shown in
Powder obtained from the grinder 206 is transported to the screening station 208, where a batch of the powder is passed through a sieve to obtain the uniform size of the raw material. The process removes impurities from the powder and carries it to a separate collection chamber 212. In the alternative embodiment, the powder may undergo various processes, including, but not limited to, dissolving, cooking, and repeated washing, in a predefined sequence or random sequential manner to obtain cellulose. The processed powder is finally stored in the pulp tank 210.
In the alternative embodiment of this invention, mint including flavoring mint is harvested from other plants belonging to genus Mentha and accounts for 58.5-61.5% of the composition. Moreover, the mint obtained from the plant can be harvested from alternative sites on the plant such as root, stem, and flower. Harvested mint raw material is processed to extract natural aromatic compounds, including, but not limited to, menthol, menthone, and menthyl acetate, along with the fibers. In other embodiments of this invention, the mint raw material is combined with other thin and lightweight non-wood rag plant fibers such as flax, hemp, sisal, rice straw, and esparto.
The second step in manufacturing wrapping paper is the modulation of pulp, which includes the addition of various compounds to obtain special characteristics in the paper. Such characteristics include, but are not limited to, transparency, color, porosity, and flavor of the paper. Pulp powder from pulp tank 210 is further added with suitable solvents, thickner, binding agents, and modifier to prepare a homogenized mixture or paper stock.
The solvent is utilized to increase the solubility of lignin and hemicellulose present in the powder. Solvents used in the preferred embodiment according to the invention include water, which breaks down the cellulose structure by hydrolytic cleavage of alpha aryl-ether links into fragments that are soluble in the solvent system. In alternative embodiments, the solvent may include solvents such as acetone, methanol, ethanol, butanol, ethylene glycol, formic acid, and acetic acid, in combination with water and suitable proportion. In alternative embodiment, the solvent is made up of a mixture of water and organic solvent selected from any of the above and concentration ranges from 40% to 80%.
Thickening agents are used as additional raw materials for base ‘papers’ and help in the binding of fibers. They improve the surface properties, thickness and resistance to aging. They are natural or synthetic products such as starch, starch derivative, or plant polysaccharides and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), which is used to improve water retention and rheology of the coating. Natural thickeners are used to reduce the production cost. In preferred embodiments, Natural thickners such as methylcellulose thicken the solution, and also allows the paper to retain more moisture than others. This eases the process of rolling of smoking article by user. The proportion of thickening agent is in the proportion of 10%.
Binding substances improve sheet formation and folding, and provide denser surface for printing. The hydroxyl structure in the binders forms cross-linkages, which gives high viscosity and improves adhesiveness of fibers in the paper. Natural gum substances (such as guar gum, gellan gum, and xanthan gum) or other resin compounds are used as binders. Natural gum creates a fast and strong bond due to high solubility while user is finishing rolling by licking the paper to create a seal. Guar gum and Methylcellulose quickly react with saliva and forms the strong bond that retains the moisture. In preferred embodiment, gaur gum is added to the paper stock or mixture in the proportion of up to 10%.
Other natural occurring substances are added to the mixture to modify ignition properties; such compounds include, but are not limited to humectants, coloring agents and flame retardants. Compounds such as glycerol, polyol, sugar alcohols, or their mixtures control combustion to prolong the smoking article consumption period. Additionally, glycerol not only acts as a humectant/freshener but also as a stable smoke thickener, similar to electronic cigarettes, where it creates a very thick white smoke on combustion. In preferred embodiment of this invention, the modifier substance glycerol in the proportion of 2% is used to modify the ignition properties.
Mixture homogenization is a common treatment method in the paper manufacturing process. Homogenization improves microstructural stability and the texture of wrapping paper due to increased strength of the fiber network. According to one aspect of the invention, the mixture in the pulp tank is subjected to pressure treatment, heat application, or mechanical agitation, or their combination to obtain the homogenized solution. Furthermore, the homogenization process can be controlled in alternative embodiments by modifying the process parameters such as pressure, hold time, agitator speed, mixture volume, or additive compounds by a control unit 214 to obtain the wrapping paper with desired characteristics. Thus, a mint wrapping paper that burns slowly, coolly, and smoothly is obtained by homogenization of mixture 112 in the pulp tank.
In the alternative embodiment, the compositions can be modified to safe and effective amounts as required and are not limited to any specific limits. In the preferred embodiment, the quantity of herbal mint is in the range of 58.5-61.5%, cellulose fiber 17.5-18.5%, methylcellulose 9.5-10.5%, guar gum in 9.5-10.5%, and glycerol 1.5-2.5%. Furthermore, the herbal mint is derived from, but is not limited to, leaves of the plant such as stem, root, as well as flavor paper.
The papermaking step involves manufacturing continuous uniform sheets from homogenized mixture of paper stock obtained from the above step. The papermaking system comprises three main functional sections that form a base sheet, smears the base sheet 114, and dries the paper sheet 116. In the first section, the system components agitate the homogenized mixture to prevent clumping. The mixture is continuously spread or passed through the rollers on a manufacturing surface at high speed using a dispensing head or headbox. The manufacturing surface may include, but is not limited to, screen mesh, forming screen, and plate. The homogenized mixture is further condensed on the manufacturing surface prior to base sheet formation. The condensed base sheet is processed at desired parameters without damaging the fibers. The process parameters, which include pressure, temperature, pH, and surface patterns, are controlled by a separate control unit 214 operatively connected to the system. Pressure is commonly applied to the mixture during condensation and sheet formation. The pressure applied allows the fiber to be anisotropic in the plane, i.e., fibers in the machine direction, which further improves tensile strength, dimension stability, and rigidity.
After condensing and processing the base sheet as per desired parameters, the resulting paper sheet is dried 116 in the corresponding section to achieve uniform thickness. The paper sheet is dried using various methods such as simple air drying, vacuum drying, or thermal drying. These methods accelerate water evaporation by air circulation, decreasing atmospheric pressure, or increasing temperature, respectively. Thermal methods utilize hot air at 105° C., wet air up to 60° C., or microwaves sources to increase the temperature.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the mixture is passed through the rollers on a plane plate manufacturing surface. Furthermore, the mixture is condensed at the desired pressure to achieve uniform thickness, and is heated either continuously or intermittently to remove water content from the homogenized mixture or paper stock.
After the drying process, the paper sheet 306 is automatically transported to the reeling device, which wounds the paper sheet and is used to smoothen it 118. In the other aspect of the invention, the paper is coated with color pattern 302, adhesives, or binding agents, or adhesive area 304 to improve its surface texture. Moreover, the finishing process improves the printing suitability of the paper. Reeled sheets are further cut at desired lengths to yield wrapping paper for smoking articles. Alternatively, the reeled paper can be pulled out and cut at required lengths 120 during consumption. Thus, the paper manufactured from this method is 100% biodegradable and inexpensive, and contains no harmful chemicals, which allows a smoker to taste what they are smoking. Additionally, the flavored and homogenized wrapping paper manufactured using this method is made from natural mint plant source and does not expose users to toxic effects or addiction risk.
Manufacturing Smoking Article from Homogenized Mint Wrapping Paper
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the smoking article is manufactured by disposing the smoking substance in the central position and positioning the wrapping paper, as covered under the scope of this invention, in such a way that it is substantially around and overlies the smoking substance.
The nature of the present invention will be clear from the following examples, which, although specific, are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, except as such limitation may appear in the claims.
The homogenized pulp mixture is prepared from the following ingredients:
Herbal mint leaves—60%
Cellulose fiber—18%
Methylcellulose—10%
Guar gum—10%
Glycerol—2%
The herbal mint is harvested from the leaves of the plant and dried to remove water from them. Using a grinder, the leaves are powdered to granular form. The mint powder is added to the water solution (which acts as a solvent), methylcellulose (acts as a thickening agent), gaur gum (binding agent), and glycerol (modifier and humectant) to prepare the homogenized mixture.
The mixture is passed through machine rollers to form a base sheet with the desired thickness, and the said base sheet is dried on a heat plate to obtain the paper sheet. Thereafter, the paper sheet is cut into the desired length to manufacture the wrapping paper for smoking articles.
The homogenized pulp mixture is prepared from the following ingredients:
Flavoring agent from a plant belonging to genus Mentha and contributing 58.5-61.5% to the composition; it enhances the flavor of the side smoke in the smoking article during consumption.
Cellulose fiber sourced from any fibrous leaf in the range of 17.5-18.5; it binds fiber with glue to reduce combustion speed.
Naturally occurring fiber thickening agent in the range of 9.5-10.5%; it binds fibers to hold paper.
Naturally occurring binding substances in the range of 9.5-10.5%; they provide strength and slow combustion.
Naturally occurring modifier and humectant substance in the range of 1.5-2.5%; it controls the combustion properties.
The flavoring agent is harvested from the leaves, roots, and stems, and dried in shadow places to yield higher amount of mint. The dried mint is powered by the mechanical pulping apparatus. The mixture is added with the water solution and other ingredients as mentioned above to prepare a homogenized paste.
The mixture is smeared uniformly on the hot plate, and the sheet is obtained by water condensation. The sheet is further processed into rollers and cut into the desired shape and length.
Sample smoking cigarettes were prepared from mint-flavored wrapping paper containing the following composition:
Mint flavor extracted from dried leaves, and contains menthol, menthone, and menthyl acetate—60%
Cellulose fiber from tobacco plant—18%
Starch as natural thickening agent—10%
Natural gum as binder—10%
Natural sugar alcohols as modifiers and humectant—2%
The above ingredients are mixed in a solvent to obtain a homogenized mixture, which is further spread on the hot plate. The base sheet is prepared after condensing the mixture and dry heating. The sheet is cut into the desired shape and length for the smoking substance. The sheet is printed on the external surface and a filtering means is added at one end.
The invention discloses a homogenized mint wrapping paper, different compositions for the paper, and a method for manufacturing the paper that provide the advantages mentioned above. Although the invention has been described and illustrated with specific illustrative embodiments, it is not intended that the invention be limited to those illustrative embodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is intended to include within the invention, all such variations and departures that fall within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.
This utility patent application is related to and claims priority from pending U.S. Patent Application No. 62/204,262 filed on Aug. 12, 2015 entitled Homogenized mint sheets made from mint to create a wrapper, to common inventor Layth Samarah.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62204262 | Aug 2015 | US |
