Segmented smoking article with substrate cavity

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9439453-B2
Application number	US-201514835441-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2015
Priority date	May 6, 2010
Publication date	Sep 13, 2016
Grant date	Sep 13, 2016

Abstract

A cigarette includes lighting and mouth ends. It may include a smokable segment disposed at the lighting end. It also includes a mouth-end segment; an aerosol-generation system disposed between the lighting and mouth ends, which includes (i) a heat-generation segment adjacent the smokable segment, including a heat source and an insulation layer and (ii) an aerosol-generating segment including a substrate, which may include tobacco pellets and aerosol-forming material disposed in a substrate cavity between the heat generation segment and the mouth end; a piece of outer wrapping material that provides an overwrap around at least a portion of the aerosol-generating segment, the heat-generation segment, and at least a portion of the smokable segment and includes a foil strip laminated thereon; those segments being connected together by the overwrap to provide a cigarette rod; that is connected to the mouth-end segment using tipping material.

First claim

We claim:

1. A cigarette comprising:
a lighting end and a mouth end with a mouth end segment disposed at the mouth end;
a tobacco rod disposed between the lighting end and the mouth end segment;
an aerosol-generation system disposed between the lighting end and the tobacco rod, the aerosol-generation system including
a heat generation segment disposed at the lighting end, with a heat source configured to be activated by ignition of the lighting end and an insulation layer of flame-retardant material around a portion of the heat source; and
an aerosol-generating segment including a tobacco pellet substrate that is disposed within a first substrate cavity defined between the heat generation segment and the tobacco rod, where the tobacco pellet substrate directly contacts the heat generation segment at one end of the substrate cavity and directly contacts the tobacco rod at the other end of the substrate cavity;

a wrapping material pre-formed as a paper material tube circumscribes the aerosol-generating segment;
wherein the wrapping material comprises a foil strip laminated to a surface of the paper material tube, which foil strip circumferentially encompasses and extends lengthwise along at least a lengthwise portion of the substrate cavity.

2. The cigarette of claim 1 , where the surface of the paper material tube to which the foil strip is laminated is an inward-facing surface of the paper material tube.

3. The cigarette of claim 1 , wherein the foil strip extends along substantially an entire length of the substrate cavity.

4. The cigarette of claim 1 , wherein the wrapping material contacts the heat generation segment and the tobacco rod.

5. A method for making a cigarette according to claim 1 , said method comprising steps of:
providing the pre-formed paper material tube including the foil strip;
positioning the heat generation segment adjacent a first end of the tube;
delivering the tobacco pellet substrate into the tube adjacent to and directly contacting the heat generation segment and within first substrate cavity; and
delivering the tobacco rod adjacent to and directly contacting the tobacco pellet substrate at an end of the tobacco pellet substrate that is opposite from the heat generation segment.

6. The method of claim 5 , where the pre-formed paper material tube is vertically oriented during at least the step of delivering the tobacco pellet substrate.

7. The method of claim 5 , adapted to form a two-up rod for assembly of the cigarette, said method further comprising steps of:
providing the pre-formed paper material tube, constructed with a greater length than for a one-up rod;
delivering the second tobacco pellet substrate into the tube within the substrate cavity; and
positioning a second heat generation segment adjacent a second end the tube, longitudinally opposite the first end of the tube.

8. The method of claim 7 , where the tube is vertically oriented during at least the step of introducing a second tobacco pellet substrate.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising severing the two-up rod into two intermediate segments.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising steps of assembling a tobacco rod and a mouth-end segment to the tube of each of the two intermediate segments.

11. The method of claim 5 , wherein the step of providing the pre-formed paper material tube comprises a step of forming the pre-formed tube from a paper sheet before the steps of positioning and delivering.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the foil strip is laminated to the paper sheet before the step of forming the tube.

13. The method of claim 11 , where the paper sheet is sized and shaped to circumscribe the at least a portion of the heat generation segment, the aerosol-generating segment, and the at least a portion of the tobacco rod.

14. The method of claim 13 , where—before being formed into the pre-formed tube—the paper sheet is substantially rectangular in shape.

15. A cigarette comprising:
a lighting end and a mouth end;
an aerosol-generation system disposed between the lighting end and the mouth end, the aerosol-generation system including
a heat generation segment disposed at the lighting end, with a heat source configured to be activated by ignition of the lighting end and an insulation layer of flame-retardant material around a portion of the heat source; and
an aerosol-generating segment including a tobacco pellet substrate that is disposed within a substrate cavity defined at one end by the heat generation segment and at an opposite end by a tobacco rod, where the tobacco pellet substrate contacts the heat generation segment and contacts the tobacco rod;

a pre-formed paper wrapping material tube that circumscribes at least a portion of the heat generation segment, the aerosol-generating segment, and at least a portion of the tobacco rod;
a foil strip laminated to an interior surface of the paper wrapping material tube, which foil strip circumferentially encompasses and extends along at least a lengthwise portion of the substrate cavity and overlaps a lengthwise portion of the heat generation segment;
wherein,
a first lengthwise portion of the wrapping material comprises unlaminated paper material not covered by the foil strip,
an intermediate second lengthwise portion of the wrapping material extends from the first lengthwise portion wherein the foil strip directly contacts and circumferentially encompasses the tobacco pellet substrate, and
a third lengthwise portion also comprises unlaminated paper material not covered by the foil strip.

16. A cigarette comprising:
a lighting end and a mouth end with a mouth end segment disposed at the mouth end;
a tobacco rod disposed between the lighting end and the mouth end segment;
an aerosol-generation system disposed between the lighting end and the tobacco rod, the aerosol-generation system including
a heat generation segment disposed at the lighting end, with a heat source configured to be activated by ignition of the lighting end and an insulation layer of flame-retardant material around a portion of the heat source; and
an aerosol-generating segment including
a pre-formed paper material tube to which a foil material is laminated on an inward-facing surface of the paper material tube that defines a first substrate cavity so that the foil material circumferentially encompasses and extends lengthwise along at least a lengthwise portion of the substrate cavity; and
a tobacco pellet substrate disposed within the first substrate cavity, further defined at one longitudinal end by the heat generation segment and at an opposite longitudinal end by the tobacco rod, where the tobacco pellet substrate directly contacts the heat generation segment and directly contacts the tobacco rod.

17. The cigarette of claim 16 , further comprising heat conductive material extending from the heat source to around the aerosol-generating segment.

18. The cigarette of claim 17 , wherein the heat conductive material provides a heat exchange relationship between the heat source and the tobacco pellet substrate disposed within the aerosol-generating segment.

19. The cigarette of claim 16 , wherein the tobacco pellet substrate comprises tobacco blend powder, glycerol, and calcium carbonate.

Assignees

• Reynolds Tobacco Co R

Inventors

• Conner Billy Tyrone
• Sebastian Andries Don
• Crooks Evon Llewellyn
• Thomas Timothy Frederick
• Stone James Richard
• Banerjee Chandra K
• Chang Yi-Ping
• Barnes Vernon Brent
• Gonzalez-Parra Alvaro
• Mcclanahan David Neil
• Carpenter Carolyn R
• Nestor Timothy B
• White Jackie L

Classifications

• A24C5/00

  Making cigarettes; Making tipping materials for, or attaching filters or mouthpieces to, cigars or cigarettes · CPC title

• A24F47/006

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A24D1/08 Primary

  with lighting means · CPC title

• A24B15/165

  comprising as heat source a carbon fuel or an oxidized or thermally degraded carbonaceous fuel, e.g. carbohydrates, cellulosic material · CPC title

• A24D1/22

  Cigarettes with integrated combustible heat sources, e.g. with carbonaceous heat sources · CPC title