Method and apparatus for manufacturing flavor capsule of tobacco

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10694777-B2
Application number	US-201615562705-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 30, 2016
Priority date	Mar 31, 2015
Publication date	Jun 30, 2020
Grant date	Jun 30, 2020

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a flavor capsule of tobacco according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may comprise: a membrane manufacturing step for manufacturing a membrane of a flavor capsule by a membrane manufacturing part that manufactures a membrane; a capsule manufacturing step for manufacturing the flavor capsule using an apparatus for manufacturing a capsule with the membrane manufactured during the membrane manufacturing step and a flavored liquid to be held in the membrane; and a hardening step for hardening the flavor capsule.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing a flavor capsule of a cigarette, the method comprising:
manufacturing a membrane of the flavor capsule by a membrane manufacturer configured to manufacture a membrane;
wherein manufacturing the membrane comprises;
weighing an amount of each substance included in the membrane; and
forming the membrane by dissolving the substances included in the membrane;
wherein the substances included in the membrane and to be weighed include agar, pectin, glycerin, and sodium alginate, and
wherein a weight percentage of the agar is 1.5% to 3.0%, a weight percentage of the pectin is 1% to 3%, a weight percentage of the glycerin is 2.0% to 10.0%, and a weight percentage of the sodium alginate is 0.2% to 0.7%;

manufacturing the flavor capsule by an apparatus for manufacturing the flavor capsule, using the manufactured membrane and a flavored liquid to be contained in the membrane; and
hardening the flavor capsule.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in the forming of the membrane, the agar is injected into hot water and dissolved therein, the glycerin is dissolved therein, the pectin is dissolved therein, and then the sodium alginate is dissolved therein.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the manufacturing of the membrane further comprises measuring a viscosity of the formed membrane to check whether the viscosity of the formed membrane is within a set range of 500 to 650 centipoise (cps).

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus for manufacturing the flavor capsule comprises:
a membrane tank in which the membrane is stored, a flavored liquid tank in which the flavored liquid is stored, and a coolant tank in which a coolant is stored;
a membrane supply line connected to the membrane tank, a flavored liquid supply line connected to the flavored liquid tank, and a coolant supply line connected to the coolant tank;
a nozzle connected to the membrane supply line and the flavored liquid supply line, and configured to form an initial form of the flavor capsule by discharging the membrane and the flavored liquid such that the membrane wraps the flavored liquid; and
a flavor capsule transfer line connected to the nozzle to transfer the flavor capsule discharged from the nozzle by each unit, and connected to the coolant supply line to allow the flavor capsule to be transferred by the coolant supplied by the coolant supply line,
wherein the manufacturing of the flavor capsule comprises:
supplying the membrane, the flavored liquid, and the coolant through the supply lines;
forming the flavor capsule by allowing the flavored liquid to be wrapped by the membrane by the nozzle; and
transferring the flavor capsule to a capsule storage using a flow of the coolant formed along the flavor capsule transfer line.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the forming of the flavor capsule further comprises:
defoaming air bubbles from the manufactured membrane before the supplying,
wherein, in the supplying, a steady velocity of the flavored liquid, the membrane, and the coolant is changed in an order of the flavored liquid, the membrane, and the coolant, starting from the flavored liquid.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hardening comprises:
hardening the flavor capsule by mixing the formed flavor capsule with a prepared ethanol (EtOH) solution,
wherein the prepared EtOH solution includes 70 to 100% ethanol and
the mixing is performed by mixing the flavor capsule and the prepared EtOH solution at a ratio of one to one (1:1) to one to two (1:2).

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
drying the flavor capsule using a dryer after the hardening; and
additionally hardening the flavor capsule to prevent moisture absorption after the drying.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
cleaning, by a stirring cleaner, the additionally hardened flavor capsule;
sorting, by a size sorter, the cleaned flavor capsule; and
packing the sorted flavor capsule.

9. The method of claim 2 , wherein, in the forming of the membrane, the agar is dissolved in the hot water at a temperature of 85° C. to 100° C., the glycerin is dissolved in the hot water in which the agar is dissolved at a temperature of 80° C. to 85° C., the pectin is dissolved in the hot water in which the agar and the glycerin are dissolved at a temperature of 80° C. to 85° C., and the sodium alginate is dissolved in the hot water in which the agar, the glycerin, and the pectin are dissolved at a temperature of 75° C. to 80° C.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the manufacturing of the membrane further comprises transferring the formed membrane to a membrane tank of the apparatus for manufacturing the flavor capsule.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein, in the additional hardening of the flavor capsule, an EtOH solution is prepared by mixing ethanol and distilled water at a ratio of four to six (4:6) to seven to three (7:3), and the distilled water includes 0.1% to 5.0% calcium chloride.

Assignees

• Kt & G Corp

Inventors

• Kim Ick Joong
• Bang Mi Jeong
• Hwang Jung Seop
• Nam Sang Jin
• Lee Jae Gon
• Chung Han Joo

Classifications

• A24D3/02 Primary

  Manufacture of tobacco smoke filters · CPC title

• A24D3/048 Primary

  containing additives · CPC title

• A24D3/0216 Primary

  the additive being in the form of capsules, beads or the like · CPC title

• A24D3/062

  characterised by structural features · CPC title

• A24D3/067

  characterised by functional properties · CPC title