Tobacco – Tobacco or tobacco substitute product or component part thereof – Cigar or cigarette
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-19
2001-03-27
Derrington, James (Department: 1731)
Tobacco
Tobacco or tobacco substitute product or component part thereof
Cigar or cigarette
C131S365000, C131S360000, C131S331000, C131S336000, C131S358000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06206008
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to a new or improved non-smokable tobacco product, to a method for its manufacture, and to the non-smokable tobacco product in combination with an element which can render it smokable.
There has long been a demand among a certain segment of the smoking population for self-made or roll-your-own cigarettes. Traditionally these have involved the smokers purchasing a supply of fine-cut cigarette tobacco and a supply of wrapping material such as cigarette papers, and making cigarettes by rolling a charge of tobacco onto a cigarette paper, forming the latter into a tubular rod-like form and sealing it around the tobacco. This process when performed manually is quite difficult and in fact it is virtually impossible for the user to fabricate anything approximating a machine-made cigarette.
Over the years various aids have been devised for facilitating the roll-your-own cigarette fabricating process, and while some of these have had a fair measure of success, in terms of the quality of the product even the best of them has scarcely been able to produce an adequate substitute for a machine-made cigarette. Still the demand for roll-your-own cigarette-making supplies persists, this being in part due to the more favourable tax treatment enjoyed by these in comparison to conventional machine-made cigarettes.
One system for self-made cigarettes that has enjoyed a measure of commercial success is that described in Canadian Patent 1,271,389 of EFKA-Werke Frita Kiehn GbmH. In this system a preformed factory made product in the form of a rod of tobacco having an air permeable outer surface is provided for use in combination with a preformed cigarette paper tube having a filter element at one end thereof. To assemble a smokable cigarette the tobacco rod is inserted into the cigarette paper tube, the latter having a diameter corresponding to that of the rod. This system is not entirely satisfactory however since some people have difficulty in inserting the tobacco rod into the paper tube. The empty tubes are of very delicate form and are easily crushed, thus making the insertion step even more difficult. Finally the combined volume of the rod and the tube is approximately twice that of the made-up cigarette so that very capacious packaging is required. Furthermore the packaging must be strong to protect the delicate tubes from crushing.
Other examples of non-smokable tobacco products are shown in DE 93 19 938 U Fabriques de Tabac Réunies S. A. where all or part of the mouthpiece surrounding the filter may be porous, the product being rendered smokable by a flat-shaped sheet or by a casing that can be moved over the most extremely porous part of the filter. Where a casing is to be used for this purpose, there is no disclosure as to how the casing is matched to the circumference of the filter or how air leakage past the casing can be avoided.
The present invention provides a tobacco product comprising: a rod-shaped element of cigarette tobacco coaxially interconnected to a rod-shaped filter element, with respective first ends of said elements adjoining; a tubular wrapper enclosing said tobacco element, said wrapper being of smokable material; the first end of said filter element being wrapped by and adhered to a circumferential strip of material that is carried by said tobacco element; said filter element having a peripheral surface that is highly porous thus rendering said product unsmokable in that when air is drawn from said product through the second free end of said filter element, the major portion of such air is drawn through said highly porous peripheral surface and any air flow drawn longitudinally through said tobacco element is insufficient to propagate combustion at the tip end thereof or to cause any appreciable amount of smoke to flow through said filter element to the second end thereof; in combination with a preformed tubular band of flexible substantially impervious material having a width corresponding to that of the highly porous surface of said filter element, and a circumference corresponding to that of said product, said band being slidable on said product to a position overlying said highly porous peripheral surface to render said product smokable.
The total area of the porous surface is selected to ensure that less than 9% of the air flow drawn from the filter will enter the product through the tip of the tobacco element and preferably 90% or more of such air flow will enter the product through the perforations. As is known, auxiliary ventilation holes may be included in the peripheral surface of the filter element and through which some air will enter when air is drawn through the filter. In the present invention, the total porous area is selected to ensure that the sum total of the air flow through the porous area is 90% or more of the air flow that passes longitudinally through the free second end of the filter element. The porous area provides a permeability of at least 1500 and preferably from 5,000 to 10,000 Coresta units (cc/min/cm
2
). The permeability may vary over a large range provided that in the resultant product the porous area ensures that insufficient air, i.e. less than 9%, can be drawn through the product from the tip end. This ensures that the product cannot be smoked.
When air is drawn through the filter as in the act or simulated act of smoking, although by far the major part of such air will enter through the porous area, some small percentage of air flow may still enter at the tip end of the article and pass longitudinally through the tobacco rod. The amount of such air flow must be minimized to the extent that it is insufficient to propagate the combustion of the tobacco, so that even if the tip end of the tobacco rod is lit, there will be insufficient air flow to propagate combustion during puffing. Such air flow through the tobacco rod can be controlled to some extent by control of the packing density of the tobacco of the rod, and in this connection it is preferred that the packing density be greater in the vicinity of the tip end than elsewhere in the length of the tobacco rod. Alternatively such air flow through the tobacco rod may also be controlled to some extent by controlling the packing density to an extent that will provide an increase in the resistance to flow in the tobacco element relative to that resistance to flow as offered by the porous surface area of the filter element. The porous peripheral surface of the filter element may extend over the entire length thereof, or over a limited region of the length.
The tubular tobacco wrapper is of a smokable material. In a preferred embodiment it is of a burn-retardant cigarette paper which has a limited permeability to the flow of air therethrough. Other materials of course could be used, for example real or reconstituted tobacco leaf etc.
In yet another embodiment there may be an additional short tobacco element positioned between the main tobacco element and the filter element. In all cases the components of the product are secured together by a flexible strip of paper or the like wrapped around their adjoining ends. This strip may be of highly porous material, or may be substantially impervious.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4005717 (1977-02-01), Brackmann et al.
patent: 4984588 (1991-01-01), Stewart, Jr.
patent: 2056699 (1998-12-01), None
patent: 41 07 026 C1 (1992-03-01), None
patent: 93 19 938 U (1994-03-01), None
patent: 44 14 604 A1 (1995-01-01), None
patent: 1047015 (1962-11-01), None
patent: 1216487 (1970-12-01), None
patent: 2 095 532 (1982-10-01), None
patent: WO 92/08377 (1992-05-01), None
Cardone Michael
Champagne Marcel
Duplessis Luc Gaetan
Matteau Robert
Derrington James
Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited
Walls Dionne A.
Wolf Greenfield & Sacks PC
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