The invention relates to a mouthpiece lining paper with thermally expandable particles.
The invention relates in particular to mouthpiece lining paper for cigarettes and heat-not-burn consumer articles or, in general, to mouthpieces of aerosol-generating consumer articles.
The mouthpiece lining paper, often referred to as “tipping paper” or “tipping” for short, is that part of the aerosol generating consumer article which is touched by the person's lips when smoking a filter cigarette or when heating the heat-not-burn consumer article. The mouthpiece lining paper envelops the filter part and usually also protrudes slightly in the longitudinal direction of the consumer article into the longitudinal region of the tobacco rod or the aerosol-generating substrate and there envelops the cigarette paper or the wrapping material of the aerosol-generating substrate. The mouthpiece lining paper forms the outermost wrapping material of an aerosol-generating consumer article and, in contrast to cigarette paper, is not burned when the consumer article is used.
The mouthpiece lining paper is in most cases actually a paper, but it can also be a foil or a composite material made of several layers of different materials.
The mouthpiece lining paper often comprises an imprint. For example, this imprint can be an imitation of cork. However, mouthpiece lining papers which are white in the area that is touched by the lips are also used.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,307,789 teaches applying a structure made of lacquer to a mouthpiece lining paper. The structured application of the lacquer requires a precisely operating application device.
The object of the present invention is to provide a structured mouthpiece lining paper and an improved method for producing a structured mouthpiece lining paper.
The mouthpiece lining paper contains thermally expandable particles which can be expanded by the action of heat to produce a raised structure or at least an elevation.
In one embodiment, the thermally expandable particles are contained in the substrate of the mouthpiece lining paper.
The substrate is preferably paper, in particular a so-called base paper with a grammage of 30 to 60 g/m2, particularly preferably 30 to 50 g/m2.
Less preferably, in addition to the base paper, the substrate can comprise a foil, in particular made of cellulose hydrate. Less preferably, the substrate can consist of a foil, in particular of cellulose hydrate, or be present as a laminate of several foils. In these cases, the thermally expandable particles can be contained in a foil.
Preferably, the mouthpiece lining paper is actually a paper and the thermally expandable particles are contained in the paper, in particular in that they are enclosed in the fiber matrix of the paper during the papermaking process.
In a second embodiment, the thermally expandable particles are contained in a print or coating. The thermally expandable particles can be applied with a non-film-forming printing ink or a film-forming clear lacquer or a film-forming colored lacquer.
The particles are preferably expanded by the action of heat when a web of mouthpiece lining paper is transported along a hot cylinder or a hot embossing roller of a hot stamping machine.
In a first embodiment, only heating takes place, so that, contrary to conventional use of the hot stamping machine, no hot stamping foil is transferred.
In a second embodiment, a hot stamping foil is transferred in addition to the heating or with the heating. As a result, there is a hot stamping foil on the raised areas which are formed by the expanded particles. The foil highlights the raised areas optically.
The expansion can also be carried out with other machines which enable targeted or structured heating of the web of the mouthpiece lining paper, for example thermal printers, in particular thermal Braille printers.
In another embodiment, the heating takes place on the mouthpiece lining paper when it is already present on an aerosol-generating consumer product. The mouthpiece lining paper forms the outer layer of the consumer article. The heating is preferably carried out before the consumer article is packaged for sale. In another embodiment, the heating takes place when the consumer article is used by the consumer, for example by heating the consumer article in a heat-not-burn device.
In one embodiment, a printing or coating which comprises thermally expandable particles is applied over a continuous surface to the mouthpiece lining paper, the subsequent structure being formed by heating with a structured heating surface.
In one embodiment, a printing or coating which has thermally expandable particles is applied in a structured manner to the mouthpiece lining paper. In this case, the subsequent structure can also be formed by heating with a flat heating surface or by heating an aerosol-generating consumer article which is provided with the mouthpiece lining paper.
In one embodiment, a continuous area is provided with the printing or coating, which area extends in the form of a band along an entire side of the mouthpiece lining paper so that an annular area with thermally expandable particles is present on the aerosol-generating product.
The expansion is preferably carried out on a continuously moving band of mouthpiece lining paper, which is provided with the thermally expanded structure between two rollers (embossing roller and counterpressure roller) by transferring the embossing structure of the embossing roller to the mouthpiece lining paper by means of heat and pressure.
In one embodiment, the expandable particles are applied with a lacquer and are thus contained in a lacquer layer on the mouthpiece lining paper.
The term lacquer includes all kinds of film-forming substances.
In a first embodiment, the lacquer is a clear lacquer which hardens to form a transparent lacquer layer.
The clear lacquer is particularly preferably a nitrocellulose lacquer.
The clear lacquer preferably comprises nitrocellulose or ethyl cellulose, the thermally expandable particles and one or more solvents selected from the group of solvents comprising: ethanol, ethyl acetate, isopropanol. The solvents mentioned can be present in the form of an aqueous solution, so that the paint comprises thermally expandable particles, nitrocellulose or ethyl cellulose, an organic solvent and water. The clear lacquer can also comprise effect pigments.
The clear lacquer composition is preferably applied in an amount of 0.25 g/m2 to 2 g/m2, particularly preferably 0.5 g/m2 to 1 g/m2.
In a second embodiment, the lacquer is a colored lacquer which hardens to form a colored lacquer layer.
The colored lacquer comprises nitrocellulose or ethyl cellulose, the thermally expandable particles and color pigments and one or more solvents selected from the group of solvents comprising: ethanol, ethyl acetate, isopropanol. The solvents mentioned can be present in the form of an aqueous solution, so that the colored lacquer comprises nitrocellulose or ethyl cellulose, color pigments and an organic solvent and water. The colored lacquer can also contain additives and/or fillers.
The colored lacquer can also comprise effect pigments.
The colored lacquer composition is preferably applied in an amount of 0.25 g/m2 to 8 g/m2, particularly preferably 1 g/m2 to 4 g/m2.
The colored lacquer is applied to the surface in the form of a single-colored coating. The coating can be present as a band or a plurality of bands that are spaced apart from one another. The colored lacquer composition preferably has a viscosity of 8 to 16 seconds, in particular 10-14 seconds. The viscosity value is determined using a flow cup test with a cup diameter of 4 mm (ISO cup 4 mm according to EN ISO 2431 version 1993-02-15).
The clear lacquer or colored lacquer is preferably applied by gravure printing, in particular rotogravure printing.
The lacquer layer is preferably applied in 1, less preferably 2, layers.
The lacquer is preferably applied directly on the base paper of the mouthpiece lining paper.
The base paper preferably has a grammage of 30 to 60 g/m2, particularly preferably 30 to 50 g/m2.
The lacquer is preferably applied to an untreated surface of the base paper. The base paper is therefore preferably not coated.
In one embodiment, the coating takes place in the form of one or more bands of colored lacquer, which are present on white base paper. The coated mouthpiece lining paper preferably has at least one white area and one area with a colored layer, these preferably running in the form of a band in the circumferential direction of the aerosol-generating consumer article.
In one embodiment, the expandable particles are applied with a water-based printing ink and are thus included in the printing on the mouthpiece lining paper.
The water-based printing ink preferably has a viscosity of 15 to 60 seconds, particularly preferably 16-35 seconds, in particular 16-21 seconds.
The water-based printing ink is preferably applied in an amount of 0.25 g/m2 to 8 g/m2, particularly preferably 1 g/m2 to 4 g/m2.
The mouthpiece lining paper preferably comprises a color imprint which mimics the appearance of cork.
As already described, the color imprint is a colored lacquer layer in one embodiment.
In a second embodiment, the color imprint can be a non-film-forming coating or printing, for example in the form of a colored ink or printing ink. A clear lacquer can be applied over the colored coating as described above. The clear lacquer layer is preferably present continuously over the entire mouthpiece lining paper or registered to one or several band-shaped colored layers. The expandable particles can be contained in the colored ink or printing ink and/or in the clear lacquer layer.
The application of the colored ink and/or the lacquer takes place on a continuously moving material web of the base paper. After the application, the material web is preferably moved through a drying device.
Heating dryers, in particular hot air dryers and/or heated rollers, are preferably used as drying devices. Less preferably, infrared emitters can also be used in addition or as an alternative.
The drying is preferably carried out at temperatures which are below the expansion temperature of the particles.
If the expandable particles are contained in a print or lacquer layer applied in limited areas or in a structured manner, drying can also take place above the expansion temperature, so that the elevation is formed during drying.
After the lacquer layer has dried, the material web is rolled up on a bobbin or fed directly to an embossing device or hot foil machine to produce the thermally expanded structure. After the structure has been produced, the material web is rolled up on a bobbin or the structured material web is fed to a cigarette production machine.
The mouthpiece lining paper can be provided with foil elements, in particular metallic foil elements, in the hot foil machine. These are in particular applied as thin bands or logos.
The hot stamping is carried out according to known methods, in that the foil elements are applied to the mouthpiece lining paper by means of pressure and heat from a transfer element. The areas of the mouthpiece lining paper that are provided with the foil elements are heated more intensely in the hot stamping process, so that the thermally expandable particles located under a foil element expand.
The invention also comprises a plant for the production of a mouthpiece lining paper, comprising:
a machine for printing or coating the mouthpiece lining paper with printing ink or lacquer and a machine for hot stamping the mouthpiece lining paper.
Optionally, a machine for coating the mouthpiece lining paper with ink can be arranged upstream of the machine for coating the mouthpiece lining paper with lacquer, or the machine for coating the mouthpiece lining paper with lacquer can also comprise means for coating with an additional printing ink.
Optionally, there can also be a machine for printing the mouthpiece lining paper, which prints multicolored logos on the mouthpiece lining paper.
The mouthpiece lining paper is moved as a band through the respective machine, the application of printing ink or lacquer and the hot stamping preferably taking place continuously in the longitudinal direction of the band.
In an advantageous embodiment, the band of the mouthpiece lining paper is not transferred from one machine to the next, but rather wound up on a bobbin after the respective machine and transferred to the next machine.
The band, which is moved through the machine for coating the mouthpiece lining paper with printing ink or lacquer, is composed of several mouthpiece lining papers aligned transversely to the direction of movement, wherein the direction of the mouthpiece lining paper which is transverse to the direction of movement, that is, along the width of the band, is later aligned in the longitudinal direction of the consumer article.
The machine for printing or coating the mouthpiece lining paper with printing ink or lacquer preferably comprises a cutting device, which cuts the band in the longitudinal direction after it has been provided with the printing ink or lacquer layer, so that at least two narrower bands of mouthpiece lining papers coated with printing ink or lacquer are obtained. Each of the narrower bands is wound up on a bobbin.
These bobbins of narrower bands are preferably fed to the machine for hot stamping the mouthpiece lining paper.
Particularly suitable thermally expandable particles are expandable microspheres which, when exposed to heat, expand to form hollow spheres with a larger volume. The expandable microspheres can contain a gas or a liquid, which gas expands under the action of heat or which liquid evaporates with an increase in volume. The deformation is irreversible and persists after cooling.
The thermally expandable particles are preferably thermoplastic polymer particles or gel particles.
The particles are preferably expanded using contact technology. A raised structure of a hot surface is transferred as a raised structure to the mouthpiece lining paper. This is in contrast to conventional embossing processes in which the raised structure of a surface is transferred to the mouthpiece lining paper as depressions.
The expansion of the particles can also take place without contact, for example by heating the partial area to be expanded with a laser beam.
The expandable particles preferably have an expansion temperature of between 100 and 250 degrees Celsius.
Preferably the expandable particles in the unexpanded state have an average particle size of 1 μm to 50 μm. When expanding, their diameter preferably increases by five to fifteen-fold.
In addition to hollow microspheres made of polymer, inorganic particles such as expanded mica, expandable graphite or perlite can be used.
In one embodiment, the mouthpiece lining paper is heated selectively by means of a laser beam. As a result, the mouthpiece lining paper can be provided with a structured surface directly after printing or coating or on the cigarette machine or on the finished cigarette by means of a laser before packaging. The laser can be used to create fine lines, logos, codes, QR codes or company symbols (coats of arms, identification marks, etc.) as a raised structure in areas of the mouthpiece lining paper that comprise thermally expandable particles. The laser can be moved line by line over the surface of the mouthpiece lining paper, wherein the laser beam strikes or is turned on only on the subsequently raised surfaces. The laser beam can also be moved over the surface of the mouthpiece lining paper according to a predefined path along two coordinates. If the laser beam is irradiated onto a continuously moving web of the mouthpiece lining paper, a movement of the laser beam transverse to the transport direction of the mouthpiece lining paper can be sufficient.
The path of the laser beam and/or the on-off pattern of the laser beam can be programmed individually so that differently shaped elevations on the mouthpiece lining paper can be made. In one embodiment, the elevations of mouthpiece lining papers following one another in the web direction can differ from one another in terms of their shape or position or, if a code is present, in terms of their meaning. In one embodiment, the elevations of mouthpiece lining papers aligned transversely to the web direction can differ from one another in terms of their shape or position or, if a code is present, in terms of their meaning.
In another embodiment, the mouthpiece lining paper is provided with a lacquer or a water-based printing ink only in limited areas, the thermally expandable particles being contained in the lacquer or in the printing ink. As a result, the expandable particles are only present in limited areas on the mouthpiece lining paper, so that the mouthpiece lining paper has at least one area with expandable particles and at least one area without expandable particles. At least one of the areas can be present as a symbol, code or pattern. The lacquer or the water-based printing ink can be transparent or in the color of the background or in the color of the area of the mouthpiece lining paper that is not provided with this lacquer or this water-based printing ink. As a result, the area which has expandable particles cannot be distinguished optically from the area which has no expandable particles. Only by heating do the areas become tactile and consequently perhaps also visually distinguishable, since after heating the areas which have expandable particles stand out as a relief from the other areas.
The heating can take place on the web material of the mouthpiece lining paper, on the cigarette machine or on a finished aerosol-generating consumer article before, during or after use.
This embodiment makes it possible to implement a security feature which is initially not recognizable and which can be made detectable by heating in order to detect counterfeit products which do not have this security feature.
The invention is illustrated with the aid of drawings:
A conventional filter cigarette further comprises a cigarette paper 3, which envelops a rod 4 of aerosol-generating substrate, which in the case of a filter cigarette is usually referred to as a tobacco rod. A conventional filter cigarette further comprises a filter paper 5 which envelops the filter 6. The subject mouthpiece lining paper 1 can also be provided on cigarettes without a filter.
A conventional heat-not-burn consumer article further comprises a rod 4 of aerosol-generating substrate, a hollow section 7, a cooling section 8 and a filter 6. These sections may or may not each include their own wrapping materials.
Since the rod 4 of the heat-not-burn consumer article is heated without burning the wrapping material, the mouthpiece lining paper 1 can extend over the entire length of the heat-not-burn consumer article. The mouthpiece lining paper 1 can be designed in multiple layers and, for example, have an internal aluminum layer, at least in the area of the rod 4. In contrast to what is shown, a mouthpiece lining paper 1 that only extends over a partial area of the heat-not-burn consumer article can also be attached to the heat-not-burn consumer article, in which case an additional wrapping material for the rod and optionally also the other components 6, 7, 8 may be present.
The heat-not-burn consumer article can be heated with an electronic device (heat-not-burn device), wherein the heat-not-burn consumer article with the rod 4 is introduced into the device first, so that the mouthpiece lining paper 1 and the imprint or lacquer layer 2 are exposed for the user's lips. As shown, there is no printing or lacquer layer 2 in that area in which the rod 4 is present, or in that area which is fed into the device.
In another known embodiment of a heat-not-burn consumer article, the heat-not-burn consumer article has a heat source in front of the rod 4, in particular in the form of carbon.
A print or lacquer layer 2 containing thermally expandable particles can be located in the area of the heat source or in the area of the rod 4, so that the raised structure is created when the consumer article is used, if the imprint or lacquer layer 2 is only present in limited areas or in a structured manner.
As shown in
The mouthpiece lining paper 1 can comprise perforations which can be present in the area that is not provided with a print or lacquer layer 2, or can run through the print or lacquer layer 2 and the base paper.
In another embodiment, the mouthpiece lining paper 1 can be provided with the printing or lacquer layer 2 over the entire surface, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The printing or lacquer layer 2 can be a clear lacquer layer or a colored lacquer layer or a color imprint of a non-film-forming printing ink.
In the case of a clear lacquer layer, this can be on white base paper or on color-printed or color-coated base paper. The clear lacquer layer can cover a larger area than the colored printing or colored coating.
In the case of a colored lacquer layer, the colored lacquer layer itself forms the colored coating or the colored area of the mouthpiece lining paper.
In
Because the base paper of the mouthpiece lining paper 1 or the printing or lacquer layer 2 contains thermally expandable particles, a structure that is tactilely perceptible on the surface can be produced. In
In the example in
In the example in
In
In
A regular pattern of elevations 10 or Braille characters as elevations 10 can of course also be present in the substrate or base paper of the mouthpiece lining paper 1 in the embodiments of
As illustrated in
Instead of a laser beam, the raised structure or the at least one elevation 10 could be formed by a hot stamp or by heating through the openings of a template.
As illustrated in
The mouthpiece lining paper 1 in the sense of the outermost wrapping material of an aerosol-generating consumer article which is not burned during consumption can be attached to a heat-not-burn consumer article in such a way that it is present in the area of the rod 4. The mouthpiece lining paper 1 preferably has an area with printing or a lacquer layer 2 containing thermally expandable particles, which is surrounded or interspersed by an area without thermally expandable particles, this area with thermally expandable particles being heated by a heat-not-burn device during heating.
The examples are to be understood as purely explanatory. The mouthpiece lining paper 1 with elevations 10, which are formed by thermally expanded particles, can be present on any type of aerosol-generating consumer article, for example as wrapping material for cigars or cigarillos or as sheets of wrapping material for roll-your-own cigarettes.
The mouthpiece lining paper 1 is to be arranged on the aerosol-generating consumer article in such a way that the printing or lacquer layer 2 is located on the outside of the aerosol-generating consumer article. If the printing or lacquer layer 2 is only present in a partial area, this can be arranged facing away from the rod 4, or in the area of the rod 4 of a heat-not-burn consumer article.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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A 50370/2021 | May 2021 | AT | national |
The present application is a national phase application of PCT Application No. PCT/AT2022/060153, filed May 4, 2022, entitled “TIPPING PAPER WITH THERMALLY EXPANDABLE PARTICLES”, which claims the benefit of Austrian Patent Application No. A 50370/2021, filed May 12, 2021, each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/AT2022/060153 | 5/4/2022 | WO |