Patent Application
20240156153
The present invention relates to a smoking paper including a sheet or sleeve with a custom shape. The invention also relates to a smoking article including the smoking paper to be rolled by hand by a smoker into the shape of a tube and optionally a filler made of smokable substances, such as smokable herbs, plants, tobacco, homogenized tobacco and/or natural leaf materials.
Smoking articles with tube-shaped sleeves are generally known as cigars, cigarillos or cigarettes. Cigars are formed of a filler, a surrounding wrapper holding the filler together and an exterior cover or wrapper. There is a difference between hand-rolled and machined-manufactured smoking articles. Hand-rolled articles are produced in factories in which rolling by hand is done by workers having a great deal of practice and dexterity. Different filers are used for hand-rolled and machine-manufactured smoking articles. The machine-manufactured products are cigarillos and short cigars which are produced continuously as strands or individually and are cut to length. Cigarettes are formed of a filler placed in a tube-shaped paper sleeve.
Apart from machine-manufactured cigarettes, fillers and cigarette papers in packages have been available for a long time for the smoker to roll cigarettes by hand or by using simple rolling machines. In this way, the smoker rolls a portion of the cigarette filler in a rectangular cigarette paper and then glues the paper along its lengthwise edge. However, the self-rolled cigarettes may not provide the individual with smoking pleasure comparable to ready-made cigarettes in packages and may not be cost-effective.
Cigarette smoking is naturally differentiated from cigar or pipe smoking in that it is not concerned with pure filler consumption. The cigarette paper at least impairs the filler aroma and can, additionally, have other influences which the smoker as well as those exposed to second-hand smoke find objectionable.
There is therefore an incentive for the smoker who rolls his or her own cigarettes to at least replace the cigarette paper with a different. However, it is difficult to manually make a stable cigarette-like product out of fine cuttings for the filler and a sheet or sleeve in the shape of cigarette paper. In particular, in order to permit a leaf to be rolled, it must have a specific moisture content, and when moist, it reacts entirely differently than a leaf of paper. Paper allows itself to be readily rolled by hand in a “dry” condition and lends the necessary stability to the product.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,089 discloses a smoking sleeve with a base part for receiving a filler and a wrapper part to be rolled around the base part. The conventional smoking sleeve is difficult to roll by hand, as described above.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,113,658 and 9,961,935 disclose a smoking product which differs from the above-described smoking sleeve in that it provides a rectangular sheet which may be cut along a diagonal perforation to form the conventional smoking sleeve and an optional cut-off region providing a point to be griped. However, the smoking sleeve is still difficult to roll by hand.
U.S. Publication No. 2015/0282523 provides a cigarette rolling paper with a curved edge that is tucked-in as the user rolls a cigarette. U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,755 discloses a product formed by rolling moistened leaves in a cylindrical casing for drying. Greek Utility Model GR 2016/0200052 teaches a paper for rolling cigarettes having glue covered with a removable strip for sealing the paper. U.S. Publication No. 2021/0352957 shows a rolling paper for rolling a tapered filter tip for a cigarette. French Publication FR 1,109,547 discloses a cigarette paper with cut edges which are covered by a gummed edge, but does not relate to a sheet or sleeve with a wrapper part to be rolled around a base part. Such prior art is even further removed from the subject matter of the present invention.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a smoking paper with a custom shape and a smoking article having the smoking paper, which overcome the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known smoking papers and smoking articles of this general type and which provide the smoking paper with a custom shape which makes it easier to roll.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a smoking paper, comprising a flat sheet or sleeve having a generally rectangular base section and a generally triangular wrapper section defining a dividing line therebetween, the generally rectangular base section having two long sides and two short sides, and the generally triangular wrapper section having a hypotenuse and having a base extending from one of the short sides of the generally rectangular base section to the hypotenuse.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the base optionally has a cut-off region enclosing an acute angle, preferably between 5° and 60°, with the one short side of the generally rectangular base section. The cut-off region makes it easier for the smoker to wind the smoking paper into a spiral for smoking.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the cut-off region is a second cut-off region, and the generally triangular wrapper section has a separate first cut-off region at an intersection of the base and the hypotenuse. The first and second cut-off regions together further enhance the winding ability.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the first cut-off region is disposed at an end of the second cut-off region facing away from the generally rectangular base section. The first cut-off region may be substantially parallel to the dividing line. Once again winding is enhanced by these features.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the sheet or sleeve is formed of smokable herbs, plants, tobacco, homogenized tobacco and/or natural leaf materials. All of these materials may be used in the smoking paper of the invention, according to the wishes of the smoker.
With the objects of the invention in view, there is also provided a smoking article, comprising a smoking paper according to the invention, and a filler disposed on the generally rectangular base section, the sheet or sleeve being rolled into a tube with the generally rectangular base section holding the filler in an interior of the tube and the generally triangular wrapper section being wound into a spiral at an exterior of the tube. In this way, the smoking paper of the invention is formed into a fully smokable article.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the cut-off region is disposed at a mouthpiece end of the tube, and another of the short sides of the generally rectangular base section, located opposite to the one short side, is disposed at an end of the tube to be lighted. This provides an optimal configuration of the smoking article.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, a mandrel is provided around which the tube is wound for ease of winding.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, a band circumferentially surrounds the tube for stability.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, not only is the sheet or sleeve is formed of smokable herbs, plants, tobacco, homogenized tobacco and/or natural leaf materials, but the filler is also formed of smokable herbs, plants, tobacco, homogenized tobacco and/or natural leaf materials.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a smoking paper with a custom shape and a smoking article having the smoking paper, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Referring now to the figures of the drawings in detail and first, particularly, to
The long sides 4, 5 of the generally rectangular base section 2 have a length of approximately 50-150 mm and the short sides 6, 7 have a length of approximately 15-75 mm.
The term “generally rectangular” means that the section 2 is close enough to a purely rectangular shape to permit a filler to be held in place while rolling. The term “generally triangular” means that the section 3 is close enough to a purely triangular shape to permit the section 3 to be spirally would around the section 2.
One corner of the generally triangular wrapper section 3 may have a first cut-off region 10, which is approximately vertical and parallel to the phantom line 4. The first cut-off region 10, which may vary in size, is similar to the cut-off region 243 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 of U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,113,658 and 9,961,935.
According to the present invention, as shown in
It may be seen from
After the sheet or sleeve 1 has been rolled into a smoking article, the cut-off region 12 is disposed at a mouthpiece end of the tube 16, and the short side 6 of the generally rectangular base section 2 is disposed at an end of the tube 16 to be lighted.
