Patent Application
20220117290
The present invention belongs to the technical field of heating cigarette manufacturing, and more particularly, to a non-combustible cigarette based on flocking technology and a manufacturing method of the non-combustible cigarette.
In recent years, the sales volume of new heat-not-burn tobacco products on the market represented by IQOS continues to rise, and the recognition and acceptance by consumers are greatly improved. The shape of a heat-not-burn tobacco rod (cigarette) is similar with that of traditional cigarettes. The tobacco filler in the tobacco rod is a filamentous filler, which is arranged along the axial direction of the tobacco rod. The tobacco rod (cigarette) is heated by the central heating piece inserted into the tobacco rod along the axial direction of the tobacco rod to generate inhalable smoke. Another new type of heat-not-burn tobacco products represented by ploom tech adopts the form of cartridge (capsule) between traditional cigarette shape and liquid smoke oil, which contains granular tobacco and generates inhalable smoke by circumferential heating.
Irrespective of the form of filamentous tobacco filler or granular tobacco filler, the above two representative products are much less harmful than traditional cigarettes because there is no combustion, which significantly reduces the release of tar and other harmful substances. Since there is no second-hand smoke, they also improve the impact on the environment and reduce the harm to the health of others. Additionally, because these products contain tobacco, they can meet the physiological needs of consumers for nicotine.
However, there are still shortcomings in terms of product performance and consumer experience as follows.
1. The preheating time of heat-not-burn tobacco rod products is substantial. Since the filamentous tobacco filler, which is tightly filled along the axial direction of the cigarette, blocks the transfer of heat from the central heating piece to the outer peripheral tobacco filler along the radial direction of the cigarette, the central area of the tobacco rod is heated sufficiently, but the outer peripheral area away from the central heating piece is not. As a result, there is a low utilization efficiency of heat and uneven heating of the overall tobacco rod. In addition, since the filamentous tobacco filler arranged along the axial direction is tightly filled and the heating piece is inserted into the tobacco rod along the axial direction of the tobacco rod, the resistance is substantial when inserting and removing the tobacco rod and may damage or break the heating piece.
2. Granular tobacco does not work well with heat-not-burn products, so granular tobacco may only be used with a self-contained cigarette cartridge. The smoke volume is not adequate, and the taste of the tobacco is less robust. Because its appearance is more like traditional e-cigarettes, and it is quite different from rolled cigarettes, some consumers have low acceptance of these products. Although some patents disclose the granular tobacco-type heat-not-burn cigarettes having the appearance similar to traditional cigarette (CN201811489706.3, CN201811487278.0, CN201811488351.6), the cigarettes are mainly made by adding granular tobacco filler into the hollow paper tube, and the granules are loose in these non-rolled cigarettes. In order to prevent the granules from falling from the cigarette, a plugging device must be added at the end of the cigarette opposite the end from which the cigarette is smoked in order to seal the granules. The plug not only increases the complexity of cigarette manufacturing, but also complicates the high-temperature resistance, seal performance and air permeability of the plugging device. The hollow paper tube is formed by bonding multiple layers of papers, with high hardness, poor air permeability and poor heat transfer efficiency. Moreover, due to the use of hollow paper tube, the cigarettes are produced by filling granules, which cannot be performed through the cigarette-rolling process, and the automatic cigarette-rolling equipment cannot be used for assembly line cigarette production.
Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention is provided.
The first aspect of the present invention provides a non-combustible cigarette based on flocking technology. The cigarette includes a cigarette paper layer 31, and the cigarette paper layer 31 is a hollow cylindrical structure. The inner wall of the cigarette paper layer 31 is provided with an adhesive layer 21, and tobacco filler granules 11, tobacco filler filaments or tobacco filler fibers are fixedly bonded on the adhesive layer 21.
Here, the fibers are a substance consisting of continuous or discontinuous filaments.
The cigarette includes a tobacco section, and the tobacco section includes the cigarette paper layer 31 wrapped on the outermost periphery.
Preferably, the tobacco filler granules 11 are arranged circumferentially along the inner wall of the cigarette paper layer 31 to form a tobacco filler granule layer. The number of the tobacco filler granule layer is at least one, and the number of the adhesive layer 21 is at least one.
Preferably, the tobacco filler filaments or the tobacco filler fibers are arranged radially along the circumference of the inner wall of the cigarette paper layer 31, and numerous radial channels are formed in the interior of the cigarette paper layer 31.
Preferably, the interior of the cigarette paper layer 31 is filled with the tobacco filler granules 11 to form a hollow or solid structure.
Preferably, when the number of the tobacco filler granule layer is greater than one, the tobacco filler granule layer and the adhesive layer 21 are alternately arranged in the radial direction of the cigarette.
Preferably, the interior of the cigarette paper layer 31 is filled with the tobacco filler filaments or the tobacco filler fibers to form a hollow or solid structure.
Preferably, one end of the tobacco filler filaments or the tobacco filler fibers is fixedly bonded with the adhesive layer 21, and the other end of the tobacco filler filaments or the tobacco filler fibers extends out of the adhesive layer 21.
Preferably, the adhesive layer 21 is formed by coating an adhesive.
The second aspect of the present invention provides a manufacturing method of the non-combustible cigarette described in the first aspect. The manufacturing method includes a flocking process and a cigarette-rolling process. The flocking process includes a flocking step, and the flocking step is performed by flocking a tobacco filler 1 on a surface of a cigarette paper 3.
Preferably, the flocking process includes a cloth-rolling step, an adhesive-coating step 8, the flocking step, a drying step 9 and a washing step 10 in sequence.
Preferably, the flocking step adopts electrostatic flocking, mechanical flocking, or a combination of the electrostatic flocking and the mechanical flocking.
Preferably, the specific operation of each step of the flocking process is as follows:
cloth-rolling step: placing a reel of the cigarette paper 3 in a paper feeding system; adhesive-coating step 8: spraying and coating the adhesive 2 on the inner surface of the cigarette paper 3;
flocking step: embedding and fixing the tobacco filler 1 in the adhesive 2 coated on the inner wall of the cigarette paper 3 of the cigarette;
drying step 9: drying and solidifying the adhesive 2 on the surface of the cigarette paper 3 flocked with the tobacco filler 1 at a predetermined temperature to enable the adhesive 2 to be fixedly bonded on the inner surface of the cigarette paper 3 and the tobacco filler 1 to be fixedly bonded on the adhesive 2 at the same time; and
washing step 10: removing the excess tobacco filler 1 on the surface of the cigarette paper 3.
Preferably, a method of the electrostatic flocking includes: enabling the charged tobacco filler 1 to move orderly and directionally towards the surface of the cigarette paper 3 coated with the adhesive 2 under an action of an electrostatic field and to be embedded in the adhesive 2 to form a flocking layer 20 on the surface of the cigarette paper 3.
Preferably, the electrostatic field is a direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) high-voltage electrostatic field. A depth of the tobacco filler 1 embedded in the adhesive 2, a flocking density, and an orientation of the tobacco filler 1 on the adhesive 2 are regulated by regulating an electric field strength of the electrostatic field, a distance between electrodes, a flocking time, or a water content of the tobacco filler 1.
Preferably, a method of the mechanical flocking includes: enabling the cigarette paper 3 coated with the adhesive 2 to pass through a group of polygonal rollers 7, and enabling the rollers 7 to rotate to vibrate the cigarette paper 3 and drive the tobacco filler 1 dropped from a hopper 4 into the adhesive 2, and bonding the tobacco filler 1 on the surface of the cigarette paper 3 to form a flocking layer 20.
Preferably, the tobacco filler 1 is the tobacco filler granules 11, the tobacco filler filaments, or the tobacco filler fibers.
Preferably, the adhesive 2 is selected from an emulsion-based pressure-sensitive adhesive including acrylates, natural and synthetic rubbers, and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA).
Preferably, total dissolved solids (TDS) of the adhesive 2 is 40 wt %-65 wt %.
The adhesive has the advantages of low toxicity, no organic solvent, no peculiar smell, no heterochromaticity, fast bonding, solidification and firm bonding at an appropriate temperature, good wetting and penetration for porous cigarette paper, good air permeability, moisture resistance, high-temperature resistance and pollution resistance.
Preferably, the tobacco filler filaments include reconstituted tobacco leaf filaments, tobacco leaf filaments, tobacco stalk filaments, or non-tobacco plant filaments. The tobacco filler fibers include tobacco plant fibers or non-tobacco plant fibers. The tobacco filler granules 11 include tobacco granules or non-tobacco plant granules.
The tobacco filler filaments, the tobacco filler fibers or the tobacco filler granules 11 may be filamentous, fibrous or granular materials made from any existing cigarette filler. The cigarette filler may employ a tobacco or non-tobacco raw material.
When the cigarette is filled with the tobacco filler granules 11, the number of flocking layers and the granule layout of the tobacco filler granules 11 in the cigarette are adjusted randomly according to the requirements of a cigarette design size, a granule filling rate, a heating mode and smoking sense. The granules may be arranged in a single-layer hollow arrangement, a multi-layer hollow arrangement or a multi-layer solid arrangement along the circumference of the inner wall of the cigarette. In order to form a multi-layer arrangement of granules, the adhesive-coating step 8 and the flocking step may be repeatedly performed on a single layer of granules. Here, the number of flocking layers is the number of tobacco filler granule layers.
For the granule layout of the single-layer or multi-layer hollow arrangement, the size of a central cavity of the cigarette may be adjusted according to the width or diameter of the central heating piece or heating needle, so that the heating piece or heating needle is easily inserted into the central cavity of the cigarette without causing travel resistance or knocking off granules.
For the granule layout of the multi-layer solid arrangement, a peripheral heating method may be employed.
Flocking is a method for fixing a flocking material made into fibers, filaments and granules, such as cotton, artificial fiber, acrylic fiber, nylon or polyester, on a substrate coated with an adhesive. Flocking may be performed on the surface of various substrates such as cloth, leather, paper, plastic, glass, metal, rubber, sponge, ceramic, and resin. Mechanical flocking, electrostatic flocking or a combination of the mechanical flocking and the electrostatic flocking may be performed on the surface of various substrates. The flocking material moves towards and is embedded in the substrate coated with the adhesive under the action of static electricity or gravity. Flocking is widely used in textile industry, handicraft industry, packaging industry, automobile industry and other fields.
The present invention has the following advantages.
The present invention proposes a non-combustible cigarette based on flocking technology and a manufacturing method of the non-combustible cigarette based on flocking technology for the first time. The present invention adopts the flocking process to automatically flock the filamentous, fibrous or granular tobacco to the surface of the cigarette paper, and then connects to the cigarette-rolling process to obtain the non-combustible cigarette.
When the flocking material, i.e., the tobacco filler 1, is the tobacco filler granules 11:
1. Since the granules are tightly bonded to the adhesive on the inner wall of the cigarette paper, the tobacco filler granules of the cigarette obtained by the method of the present invention will not fall from the cigarette in the process of cigarette-rolling, packaging, transportation and smoking, thus eliminating the complex process of using a plugging device at the open end of the cigarette.
2. In the present invention, the tobacco filler granules are flocked onto the cigarette paper by a flocking process and followed by cigarette-rolling. The latter part of the flocking process is seamlessly connected to the cigarette-rolling process, thus forming a direct-connected machine unit of the flocking equipment and cigarette-rolling machine to complete the cigarette-rolling. The present invention replaces the traditional non-automatic production mode of filling granules into the hollow paper tube, and establishes a foundation of the automatic production mode of using cigarette-rolling manufacturing technology.
3. The number of flocking layers and granule layout of the tobacco filler granules in the cigarette may be adjusted randomly according to the requirements of the cigarette design size, granule filling rate, heating mode and smoking sense. The cigarette filled with tobacco filler granules may be heated by a central heating or peripheral heating method according to the layout of granules in the cigarette. Regardless of whether the central heating or peripheral heating method is used, because the granules are tightly attached to the inner wall of the cigarette paper through the adhesive or tightly bonded to each other, and the adhesive used has good thermal stability, the filled granules are avoided to sink to the open end of the cigarette due to the failure of the adhesive and the effect of the gravity, and avoided to agglomerate together at a high temperature during the smoking process. Therefore, the present invention avoids the changes of granule filling state and layout, and overcomes the shortcomings of the granule-type cigarette, such as the local uneven heating, poor smoking experience and odor change caused by the change of original granule layout in the process of smoking.
4. The heat can be transferred smoothly through the adhesive and the gap between and the granules in the heating process of cigarette due to the good air permeability of the adhesive.
When the flocking material, i.e., the tobacco filler 1, is the tobacco filler filaments or tobacco filler fibers:
1. The tobacco filler filaments or fibers in the cigarette obtained by the method of the present invention are arranged radially along the circumference of the cigarette, forming numerous channels in the radial direction of the cigarette in the same direction as the heat transfer direction. These channels are short and straight, which greatly reduce the thermal resistance of heat transferring in the radial direction of the cigarette, and overcome the shortcomings of the existing heat-not-burn cigarette (the tobacco fillers are mostly arranged axially or disorderly), such as large thermal resistance, slow heat transfer rate and uneven heating.
2. The length and flocking density of the tobacco filler filaments or fibers may be adjusted randomly to suit cigarettes with different specifications, filling rate, heating mode and smoking requirements. Short fiber and long fiber tobacco filler as a flocking raw material may form a short fiber hollow arrangement, a long fiber hollow arrangement or a long fiber solid arrangement. No matter central heating or peripheral heating method, this cigarette can be suitable, and the heat transfer rate and heat utilization efficiency in the radial direction of the cigarette are greatly improved. The filling rate may be changed by regulating the fiber length and flocking density to suit to heating devices with different sizes, thereby increasing the variety of cigarette specifications and heating methods.
In the Figures:
1. tobacco filler; 11. tobacco filler granule; 12. tobacco filler short fiber; 13. tobacco filler long fiber; 2. adhesive; 3. cigarette paper; 4. hopper; 5. electrode; 6. grounding electrode; 7. roller; 8. adhesive-coating step; 9. drying step; 10. washing step; 20. flocking layer; 21. adhesive layer; 31. cigarette paper layer.
The content of the present invention is further described by specific embodiments.
A manufacturing method of a non-combustible cigarette based on flocking technology includes a flocking process and a cigarette-rolling process. Specifically, the flocking process includes a cloth-rolling step, the adhesive-coating step 8, a flocking step, the drying step 9 and the washing step 10 in sequence. The flocking step adopts the electrostatic flocking method.
As shown in
Cloth-rolling step: a reel of the cigarette paper 3 is placed in a paper feeding system.
Adhesive-coating step 8: the adhesive 2 is sprayed and coated on the inner surface of the cigarette paper 3.
Flocking step: the tobacco filler 1 is embedded and fixed in the adhesive 2 coated on the inner wall of the cigarette paper 3 of the cigarette.
Drying step 9: the adhesive 2 on the surface of the cigarette paper 3 flocked with the tobacco filler 1 is dried and solidified at a predetermined temperature, so that the adhesive 2 is fixedly bonded on the inner surface of the cigarette paper 3, and the tobacco filler 1 is fixedly bonded on the adhesive 2 at the same time.
Washing step 10: the excess tobacco filler 1 on the surface of the cigarette paper 3 is removed by suction, brushing, beating, etc.
The equipment used in the electrostatic flocking step may be current electrostatic flocking equipment, and the mechanical and electrical parameters of the equipment are adjusted only according to the characteristics of the cigarette paper and the tobacco filler.
The electrostatic flocking is that the charged tobacco filler 1 moves orderly and directionally towards the surface of the cigarette paper 3 coated with the adhesive 2 under an action of an electrostatic field and is embedded in the adhesive 2.
The specific operation of the electrostatic flocking method is as follows.
The tobacco filler 1 is placed in the hopper 4. The tobacco filler 1 is charged by the electrode 5 placed at the lower part of the hopper 4. The grounding electrode 6 is arranged under the cigarette paper 3, and is configured to attract the tobacco filler 1 to the cigarette paper 3. The electric property of the electric charge carried on the grounding electrode 6 is opposite to that of the electrode 5, so that the tobacco filler 1 with the same electric property as that of the electrode 5 is attracted to move towards the grounding electrode 6. The tobacco filler 1 is vertically bonded on the surface of the cigarette paper 3 under the action of the electric field to form the dense piled flocking layer 20.
The electrostatic field is a DC or AC high-voltage electrostatic field. The depth of the tobacco filler 1 embedded in the adhesive, the flocking density, and the orientation of the tobacco filler 1 on the adhesive are related to the electric field strength of the electrostatic field, the distance between electrodes, and the flocking time.
The tobacco filler 1 belongs to hydrophilic fibers, and is capable of carrying and maintaining the charges. The tobacco filler 1 has one end carrying positive charges and the other end carrying negative charges, and thus moves in the direction of potential gradient. By controlling or regulating the water content or humidity of the tobacco filler 1, the tobacco filler 1 can be ensured to move freely in the electrostatic field and keep the electrostatic activity without bunching or bonding together, so as to be evenly flocked in the adhesive 2 on the surface of the cigarette paper 3.
The subsequent cigarette-rolling processes may employ the conventional cigarette-rolling processes.
A manufacturing method of a non-combustible cigarette based on flocking technology, which is only different from Embodiment 1 in that the flocking step adopts the mechanical flocking method.
The equipment used in the mechanical flocking step may be currently available standard mechanical flocking equipment, and the mechanical and electrical parameters of the equipment are adjusted only according to the characteristics of the cigarette paper and the tobacco filler.
The specific operation is as follows.
The cigarette paper 3 coated with the adhesive 2 passes through a group of the polygonal rollers 7, and the rollers 7 rotate rapidly to vibrate the cigarette paper 3 and drive the tobacco filler 1 into the adhesive 2. The tobacco filler 1 is applied to the cigarette paper 3 from the hopper 4 by gravity. The tobacco filler 1 is bonded on the surface of the cigarette paper 3 to form the dense piled flocking layer 20.
As shown in
The number of the tobacco filler granule layers is three. The tobacco filler granule layers and the adhesive layers 21 are alternately arranged in the radial direction of the cigarette. The interior of the cigarette paper layer 31 is filled with the tobacco filler granules 11 to form a hollow structure.
As shown in
The tobacco filler granule layers and the adhesive layers 21 are alternately arranged in the radial direction of the cigarette. The interior of the cigarette paper layer 31 is filled with the tobacco filler granules 11 to form a solid structure. The adhesive layers 21 coated on the tobacco filler granule layers are not shown.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The above only describes the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any modifications or replacements easily made by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention shall all fall within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention shall be governed by the protection scope of the claims.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2020/085362 | 4/17/2020 | WO | 00 |
