Smoking Article Filter Including Solid Flavoring Agent and Method of Manufacturing the Same

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/782,833 filed Jun. 6, 2022, which is a National Stage of International Application No. PCT/KR2021/008432 filed Jul. 2, 2021, claiming priority based on Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0082717 filed Jul. 6, 2020.

The present disclosure relates to a smoking article filter including a solid flavoring agent and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a smoking article filter including a solid flavoring agent using natural wax and a method of manufacturing the same.

Research has been carried out on technologies for adding a flavor to an aerosol provided from cigarettes. For example, in order to add a flavor to an aerosol, a method of spraying a flavoring onto a medium portion or filter portion constituting a cigarette has been utilized in manufacturing cigarettes.

Meanwhile, in the related art where a flavor is dissolved into a solvent, such as water, ethanol, propylene glycol and a medium chain fatty acid triglyceride, and added to a cigarette composition, there are disadvantages in that the retention and persistence of a flavoring component in the cigarette are poor, a flavor is not expressed well when a user smokes the cigarette, and a tobacco taste and flavor expression are not consistent.

In order to overcome such disadvantages, in recent years, technologies for applying solid flavoring agents such as granules, sheets, and capsules to cigarettes have been introduced. However, there is a disadvantage in that applying solid flavoring agents are more complicated than applying liquid flavoring agents. For example, a separate adding device is required to apply solid flavoring agents to cigarettes, and it is difficult to evenly add the solid flavoring agents.

The present disclosure is directed to providing a smoking article filter including a solid flavoring agent and a method of manufacturing the same capable of simultaneously facilitating the application of a flavoring agent to a cigarette and securing the retention and uniformity of the flavoring agent and persistence of flavor expression.

Objectives of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned objectives, and other unmentioned objectives should be clearly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains from the description below.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a smoking article filter including a flavoring agent uniformly distributed in the smoking article filter, wherein the flavoring agent is in a solid state at room temperature and includes at least one natural wax and a flavoring component soaked into the at least one natural wax.

In some embodiments, a melting point of the flavoring agent may be in a range of 30° C. to 80° C., preferably, in a range of 20° C. to 50° C. More preferably, a melting point of the at least one natural wax may be in a range of 30° C. to 50° C., and the melting point of the flavoring agent may be in a range of 25° C. to 45° C.

A total weight of the flavoring agent contained in the smoking article filter may be in a range of 1 mg to 25 mg, preferably, in a range of 1 mg to 15 mg, but the total weight of the flavoring agent contained in the filter may, of course, vary according to the physical dimensions of the smoking article filter.

In some embodiments, a weight of the flavoring agent contained in unit volume (mm) of the smoking article filter may be in a range of 1 μg to 30 μg.

Meanwhile, a weight of the at least one natural wax included in the flavoring agent may be in a range of 20% to 98%, preferably, in a range of 40% to 60%, of the total weight of the flavoring agent.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a smoking article including the smoking article filter and a smoking material portion disposed upstream of the smoking article filter.

In some embodiments, the smoking article may further include a tube filter which is disposed between the smoking article filter and the smoking material portion, has a hollow formed inside, and has the flavoring agent uniformly distributed in the tube filter.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method of manufacturing a smoking article, the method including preparing a flavoring agent in which at least one natural wax and a flavoring component are mixed and melted, adding the melted flavoring agent into a smoking article filter rod, and cutting the smoking article filter rod to manufacture smoking article filters.

In some embodiments, the adding of the melted flavoring agent into the smoking article filter rod may include spraying the melted flavoring agent into the smoking article filter rod using a jet nozzle.

Meanwhile, in the preparing of the flavoring agent and the spraying of the flavoring agent, a temperature of the melted flavoring agent may be in a range of 30° C. to 80° C. Preferably, the temperature of the melted flavoring agent may be in a range of 60° C. to 80° C. in the preparing of the flavoring agent, and the temperature of the melted flavoring agent may be in a range of 50° C. to 70° C. and a viscosity of the melted flavoring agent may be in a range of 10 cP to 35 cP in the spraying of the flavoring agent.

For example, the at least one natural wax may include at least one of cocoa butter and shea butter, and the flavoring component may include L-menthol.

A weight of the at least one natural wax included in the flavoring agent may be in a range of 20% to 98%, preferably, in a range of 40% to 60%, of the total weight of the flavoring agent, and here, a melting point of the at least one natural wax may be in a range of 30° C. to 50° C., and the melting point of the flavoring agent may be in a range of 25° C. to 45° C.

In some embodiments, the at least one natural wax may include 30 wt % to 70 wt % of the cocoa butter and 30 wt % to 70 wt % of the shea butter.

Meanwhile, the method of manufacturing a smoking article may further include combining a smoking material portion with an upstream end of the smoking article filter by wrapping. Here, in the preparing of the flavoring agent and the adding of the flavoring agent, a temperature of the melted flavoring agent may be in a range of 30° C. to 80° C. Preferably, the temperature of the melted flavoring agent may be in a range of 60° C. to 80° C. in the preparing of the flavoring agent, the temperature of the melted flavoring agent may be in a range of 50° C. to 70° C. in the adding of the flavoring agent, and a temperature of the flavoring agent in a solid state may be in a range of 15° C. to 30° C. in the combining of the smoking article filter and the smoking material portion by wrapping.

When a filter including a solid flavoring agent according to embodiments of the present disclosure is applied to a smoking article, retention of a flavoring component in the filter can be improved, and an amount of expressed flavor can also be increased during smoking.

Further, the smoking article including the solid flavoring agent prepared according to embodiments of the present disclosure can minimize the spread of components between different segments during a storage period. In this way, it is possible to reduce an off-flavor, which may occur due to a moisturizer contained in a smoking material portion, a plasticizer contained in the filter, and the like spreading to and reacting with another segment, or to mask the off-flavor with a flavoring component.

Also, the solid flavoring agent according to embodiments of the present disclosure is sprayed into a filter using a nozzle in a liquid state. In this way, it is possible to uniformly distribute the solid flavoring agent into the filter without a separate device for adding the solid flavoring agent, and accordingly, it is also possible to simplify a process of adding the solid flavoring agent and to secure economic feasibility of the process.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Advantages and features of the present disclosure and methods of achieving the same should become clear with embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below and may be implemented in various other forms. The embodiments make the disclosure of the present disclosure complete and are provided to completely inform those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains of the scope of the disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical or scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should not be construed in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Also, in the specification, a singular expression includes a plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises” and/or “comprising” used herein do not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more elements, steps, operations, and/or devices other than those mentioned.

Terms including ordinals such as “first” or “second” used herein may be used to describe various elements, but the elements are not limited by the terms. The terms are only used for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another element.

Throughout the specification, “smoking article” may refer to anything capable of generating an aerosol, such as tobacco (cigarette) and cigars. The smoking article may include an aerosol-generating material or an aerosol-forming substrate. Also, the smoking article may include a solid material based on tobacco raw materials, such as reconstituted tobacco leaves, shredded tobacco, and reconstituted tobacco. A smoking material may include a volatile compound.

Also, in description of a smoking article, “upstream” or “upstream direction” refers to a direction moving away from an oral region of a user smoking the smoking article, and “downstream” or “downstream direction” refers to a direction approaching the oral region of the user smoking the smoking article. For example, in a smoking articleillustrated in, a smoking material portionis disposed upstream of or in an upstream direction from a filter portion.

is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a smoking article filter according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to, the method of manufacturing a smoking article filter may include preparing a flavoring agent (S), melting the prepared flavoring agent (S), adding the melted flavoring agent into a smoking article filter rod (S), and cutting the smoking article filter rod to manufacture smoking article filters (S).

In the preparing of the flavoring agent (S), at least one natural wax and a flavoring component may be mixed and melted to prepare the flavoring agent.

The flavoring agent may be prepared under temperature conditions in a range of about 30° C. to 90° C., preferably, in a range of about 60° C. to 80° C. In the preparing of the flavoring agent, both the at least one natural wax and the flavoring component may be in a liquid state. That is, the at least one natural wax may be in a liquid state instead of a solid state, and the flavoring component may be in a liquid state instead of a gaseous state.

In some embodiments, the flavoring agent may be a mixture of natural wax and a flavoring component, which is in a solid state at a temperature lower than or equal to about 30° C. and is in a liquid state having a viscosity of 50 cP or lower at a temperature higher than or equal to 50° C.

Preferably, the flavoring agent may be a mixture of natural wax and a flavoring component, which is in a solid state at a temperature lower than or equal to about 45° C., is in a liquid state having a viscosity in a range of 10 cP to 35 cP at a temperature in a range of 50° C. to 70° C. (for example, the temperature of the flavoring agent when being added into the filter rod), and is in a liquid state having a viscosity in a range of 1 cP to 15 cP at a temperature in a range of 60° C. to 80° C. (for example, the temperature of the flavoring agent in the preparing step).

In a case in which the flavoring agent has the above state conditions, the natural wax and the flavoring component may be more uniformly mixed in the preparing step (S), the flavoring agent may be uniformly absorbed into the filter while being sprayed without causing an issue of blockage of a jet nozzle in the adding step (S), and the flavoring component may be effectively held in cigarettes in subsequent processes of manufacturing cigarettes using the filter and during a storage period of cigarettes after the cigarettes are manufactured.

Meanwhile, in order to secure a good flavor retention characteristic of cigarettes during storage thereof and a good flavor expression characteristic of the cigarettes during smoking thereof as will be described below, the above state conditions of the flavoring agent should be satisfied in a state in which the flavoring agent contains the at least one natural wax in the amount of at least 20 wt % or more (preferably, about 40 wt % to 60 wt %). Here, a melting point of the at least one natural wax may be in a range of about 30° C. to 80° C. (preferably, in a range of 35° C. to 45° C.), and a melting point of the flavoring agent may be in a range of about 20° C. to 80° C. (preferably, in a range of 25° C. to 40° C.).

Meanwhile, types of the natural wax and flavoring component included in the flavoring agent are not limited as long as the natural wax and flavoring component are able to satisfy the above state conditions of the flavoring agent.

In some embodiments, the at least one natural wax may include at least one of a long chain fatty acid, a fatty acid ester, a fatty acid diester, and a fatty acid triester.

For example, the at least one natural wax may include cocoa butter, shea butter, beeswax, white wax, lanolin, shellac, spermaceti, palm oil, palm kernel oil, mango oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, coconut oil, carnauba wax, candelilla wax, bayberry wax, sugar cane wax, castor wax, esparto wax, Japan wax, jojoba wax, ouricury wax, rice bran wax, soy wax, ceresin wax, montan wax, ozokerite wax, peat wax, or a combination thereof.

For example, the flavoring component may include menthol, licorice, saccharose, fructose syrup, isosweet, cocoa, lavender, cinnamon, cardamom, celery, fenugreek, cascarilla, white sandalwood, bergamot, geranium, honey essence, rose oil, vanilla, lemon oil, orange oil, mint oil, cinnamon, caraway, cognac, jasmine, chamomile, cinnamon, ylang-ylang, sage, spearmint, ginger, cilantro, coffee, or a combination thereof.

Preferably, the at least one natural wax may include at least one of cocoa butter and shea butter, and the flavoring component may include L-menthol. As a more specific example, the at least one natural wax may be configured to include 30 wt % to 70 wt % of the cocoa butter and 30 wt % to 70 wt % of the shea butter, and the flavoring agent may include 20 wt % to 98 wt % (preferably, 40 wt % to 60 wt %) of the at least one natural wax and 40 wt % to 60 wt % of the flavoring component.

In the melting of the prepared flavoring agent (S), in order to add the flavoring agent into a filter which will be described below, the flavoring agent, which is stored at room temperature and present in a solid state, may be melted to a liquid state.

Meanwhile, although the preparing of the flavoring agent (S) and the melting of the prepared flavoring agent (S) are described as separate processes in the present specification, alternatively, the preparing of the flavoring agent (S) and the melting of the prepared flavoring agent (S) may be substantially performed in a single process. That is, the liquid-state flavoring agent in the preparing of the flavoring agent (S) may be added to the filter rod (S) without an intermediate process in which the liquid-state flavoring agent is solidified after being prepared.

In the adding of the flavoring agent into the smoking article filter rod (S), the flavoring agent may be uniformly distributed into the smoking article filter rod.

The adding of the flavoring agent (S) may be performed in various ways such as causing the flavoring agent to freely fall onto the filter rod and then permeate thereinto or spraying the flavoring agent into the filter rod using a jet nozzle.

Preferably, the flavoring agent may be sprayed into the filter rod using a jet nozzle. In order to spray the flavoring agent, which is in a solid state at room temperature, using the jet nozzle, the flavoring agent in the adding of the flavoring agent (S) may be heated to a temperature higher than or equal to the melting point thereof so that the flavoring agent reaches a liquid state.

In some embodiments, a temperature of the flavoring agent in the preparing of the flavoring agent (S) and the adding of the flavoring agent (S) may be in a range of about 30° C. to 80° C. Alternatively, a temperature of the flavoring agent in the adding of the flavoring agent (S) may be higher than the melting point of the flavoring agent but lower than a temperature of the flavoring agent in the preparing of the flavoring agent (S). For example, the temperature of the flavoring agent in the preparing step (S) may be in a range of about 60° C. to 80° C., and the temperature of the flavoring agent in the adding step (S) may be in a range of about 50° C. to 70° C.

In the adding of the flavoring agent (S), the amount of added flavoring agent may be in a range of about 50 μg to 1,000 μg per unit length (mm) of the filter rod in a direction in which the filter rod extends. For example, in a case in which a length of a single filter rod is 80 mm, the amount of flavoring agent added into the single filter rod may be in a range of about 4 mg to 135 mg. For example, in a case in which a length of a single filter is 15 mm, the amount of flavoring agent added into the single filter may be in a range of about 0.75 mg to 25 mg.