Tobacco – Cigar or cigarette making – Molding or forming
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-14
2003-02-11
Griffin, Steven P. (Department: 1731)
Tobacco
Cigar or cigarette making
Molding or forming
C131S031000, C131S084300, C131S084400, C131S309000, C131S084200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06516809
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED CASES
This application claims the priority of German patent application Serial No. 198 57 296.4 filed Dec. 14, 1998. The disclosure of the above-referenced German patent application, as well as that of each US and foreign patent and patent application mentioned in the specification of the present application, is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to improvements in methods of and apparatus for making rod-shaped articles of the tobacco processing industry. Such articles include plain and filter cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos and analogous smokers' products. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in methods of and apparatus for making a continuous rod wherein a tubular wrapper of cigarette paper or the like surrounds a rod-like filler consisting at least in part of a smokable material. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in methods of and in apparatus for making a continuous rod wherein a tubular wrapper surrounds a rod-like filler containing comminuted smokable material (such as shreds or other fragments of natural, reconstituted and/or substitute tobacco) as well as one or more additives. Typical examples of rod-shaped smokers' products which can be made in accordance with the method of and in the apparatus of the present invention are plain or filter cigarettes and, therefore, the following disclosure will refer primarily to the making of a rod which can be divided into plain cigarettes; however, it is to be understood that the improved method and apparatus can be resorted to with equal or similar advantage in connection with the making of all or practically all other rod-shaped smokers' products.
It is already known to contact a rod-like filler of tobacco with an additive prior to draping of the filler into a web of cigarette paper or other suitable wrapping material, i.e., prior to completion of the making of a cigarette rod which is ready to advance through a suitable severing device (known as cutoff) which repeatedly cuts across the leader of the advancing cigarette rod to thus form a file of plain cigarettes of unit length or multiple unit length. Plain cigarettes of unit length are or can be transported directly to a packing machine. Plain cigarettes of multiple unit length are transported to a so-called tipping machine which serves to turn out filter cigarettes.
The aforementioned additive is or can be a liquid additive which is sprayed onto or otherwise contacted with the running rod-like filler of shredded and/or otherwise comminuted natural, reconstituted and/or artificial tobacco. As a rule, a liquid additive can constitute an aerosol or an aromatic substance such as menthol. If the additive is a volatile substance, it is preferably caused to contact the smokable material shortly or immediately prior to draping of the filler into cigarette paper or other suitable wrapping material; this reduces the likelihood of evaporation of high percentages of such substances.
It is also known to make the smokable constituent (i.e the fibrous filler or the fibrous part of the filler) of two or more combustible smoke-generating constituents. Reference may be had, for example, to commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,764 granted Nov. 3, 1987 to Siegfrid Marquardt et al. for “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ROD-LIKE FILLERS FROM SEVERAL TYPES OF FIBROUS MATERIAL”.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved method of introducing into the smokable part of a rod-like filler for the making of cigarette rods or the like one or more additives in such a way that each additive is uniformly distributed from end to end of each individual cigarette or an analogous rod-shaped smokers' product embodying a portion of the filler.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved method of introducing volatile additives into a rod-like filler which is to form part of a cigarette rod or the like.
A further object of the invention is to prevent evaporation of volatile additives (such as one or more aerosols and/or aromatic substances) prior to confinement of a rod-like filler, which contains such additive(s); in a wrapper of cigarette paper or the like.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a method which renders it possible to alter the quantities of one or more additives per unit length of a rod-like filler which is to form part of a continuous cigarette rod or the like.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method which exhibits the above-enumerated advantages but can be practiced by resorting to relatively simple and inexpensive yet reliable apparatus.
A further object of the invention is to provide the apparatus with novel and improved means for manipulating volatile additives which are to influence the characteristics (such as aroma) of rod-shaped smokers' products.
Another object of the invention is to provide the above outlined apparatus with novel and improved means for feeding and manipulating the combustible tobacco smoke generating constituents of a cigarette rod filler in a plurality of stages preparatory and subsequent to introduction of one or more volatile additives.
An additional object of the invention is to provide the apparatus with novel and improved means for manipulating encapsulated volatile additives.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a cigarette rod making machine which embodies one or more apparatus of the above outlined character.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which is constructed and assembled in such a way that it can reliably confine evaporable liquid additives by guaranteeing that those characteristics of the rod-shaped smokers' products which are attributable to the presence of one or more additives remain at least substantially unchanged irrespective of the duration of storage prior to actual lighting of the products.
Another object of the invention is to provide rod-shaped smokers' products which are produced in accordance with the above outlined method.
A further object of the invention-is to provide the above outlined apparatus with novel and improved means for manipulating spherical capsules for evaporable additives prior to confinement in comminuted smokable material.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a method of making a smokable filler, e.g., a filler which is ready to be draped into a web of cigarette paper or other suitable wrapping material and to be thus converted into a cigarette rod adapted to be subdivided into plain cigarettes of unit length or multiple unit length.
The improved method comprises the steps of building a first flow (e.g., a relatively thin layer) of a smokable first particulate material and advancing the first flow lengthwise in a predetermined direction along a predetermined path wherein the flow has a side which is accessible in a first (upstream) and in a second (downstream) portion of the predetermined path, delivering to the aforementioned side of the advancing first flow particles of a second particulate material in the first (upstream) portion of the predetermined path, applying to the aforementioned side of the advancing first flow a second flow (e.g., a relatively thin layer) containing the first material (i.e., a material which is smokable) and overlying the particles of the second material (the applying step is carried out in the aforementioned second (downstream) portion of the predetermined path), and converting the first and second flows (and the particles of second material between such flows) into a rod-like filler wherein the particles of second material are at least substantially surrounded by the first material.
The first particulate material contains (or can contain) comminuted tobacco, e.g., shredded natural tobacco leaves, shredded and/or otherwise comminuted sheets of reconstituted tobacco and/or fragments of artificial tobacco.
The second particulate material ca
Anderson Chad C.
Griffin Steven P.
Hauni Machinenbau AG
Kinberg Robert
Venable
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