GB2491356A

GB2491356A - A self-extinguishing smoking article

Info

Publication number: GB2491356A
Application number: GB1109053.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Brady
Original assignee: British American Tobacco Investments Ltd; British American Tobacco Co Ltd
Current assignee: British American Tobacco Investments Ltd
Priority date: 2011-05-31
Filing date: 2011-05-31
Publication date: 2012-12-05
Also published as: GB201109053D0

Abstract

A smoking article 1 comprises a tobacco rod 3 with at least two tobacco portions 4, 5 and a wrapper 6 surrounding the tobacco portions, with the portions being spaced from each other to form a cavity 7 therebetween. The wrapper 6 is formed with a reduced propensity to burning in a region of the cavity 7. This region forms a burn suppressant zone operable to extinguish the smoking article, with the region also being provided with at least one line of weakness 10, 11. The burn suppressant zone in the wrapper 6 may be provided by treatment with material to reduce its propensity for burning and/or providing the wrapper with a section having lower ait permeability compared to the remainder of the wrapper. The smoking article preferably includes an outer tobacco portion 4, an inner tobacco portion 5 and a filter 2, with the line(s) of weakness 10, 11 enabling removal of a burnt end of the outer tobacco portion. The remaining wrapper 6 which originally surrounded the cavity 7 may be used to protect the tobacco in the inner portion 5 for later use (figure 3).

Description

A Smoking Article

Description

The present invention relates to a smoking article.

Conventionally, smoking articles such as cigarettes comprise a tobacco rod in the form of a cylinder of tobacco, or tobacco-based smokeable material, wrapped in a paper wrapper which may be provided with a filter at one end thereof. The filter is typically a cylindrical plug formed from filtration material such as cellulose acetate tow which may be wrapped in a layer of plug wrap which helps maintain the cylindrical shape and structure of the filter. The filter is joined to the tobacco rod using a tipping paper, which is an outer paper layer wrapped around the filter and overlapping the join between the filter and tobacco rod. The tipping paper is glued in place.

Typically, the tobacco rod comprises a continuous length of tobacco or tobacco-based smokeable matetial and so a consumer is committed to smoke the entire length of the tobacco rod at a given time.

It is known from FR2552637 to provide a cigarette which can be smoked in parts. The tobacco rod of the cigarette is divided into parts by an incombustible matetial. The incombustible material may be perforated metal plates which prevent combustion of the tobacco to propagate from one part to another part but enables air to be drawn through the entire length of the cigarette.

A disadvantage with this configuration is that the tobacco smouldeting on one side of the incombustible matetial may accidentally ignite the tobacco on the opposite side of the incombustible matetial due to the incombustible matetial being air-permeable in combination with the incombustible material being relatively thin in a direction of a longitudinal axis of the tobacco rod and the tobacco being located immediately on either side of the incombustible matetial.

It is also known from W02010/143034 to provide a cigarette that is breakable into two discrete portions so as to extinguish the cigarette by breaking off an outer smouldering portion. More specifically, the cigarette comprises two separate tobacco portions that meet in a breaking plane. The paper wrapper is formed with a line of weakness at the breaking plane so as to ease the breaking of the cigarette into said two portions.

Although this configuration efficiently extinguishes the smouldering of the cigarette, the user has to monitor the smouldering of the cigarette so that it does not reach beyond the breaking plane. Furthermore, as the outer smouldering portion is broken off, the remaining tobacco is exposed which may cause the flavour to degrade or for the tobacco to fall out of the tobacco rod.

The present invention seeks to provide a smoking article that overcomes or substantially alleviates the problems mentioned above.

According to the present invention, there is provided a smoking article comprising a tobacco rod having at least two tobacco portions and a paper wrapper surrounding said tobacco portions with said portions spaced from each other to form a cavity therebetween, wherein the paper wrapper is formed with a reduced propensity to burning in a region of the cavity, said region forming a burn suppressant zone operable to extinguish the smoking article, said region also being provided with a line of weakness.

Preferably, the paper wrapper, in the region of the cavity, is treated with a burn suppressant material so as to reduce its propensity to burning.

In one embodiment, the paper wrapper, in the region of the cavity, is formed with lower air permeability compared to the remainder of the paper wrapper so as to reduce its propensity to burning.

The paper wrapper, in the region of the cavity, may be configured to have a greater thickness compared to the remainder of the paper wrapper.

Preferably, the paper wrapper, in the region of the catty, is configured to have a double layer.

Alternatively, the paper wrapper, in the region of the tobacco portions, is embossed so as to increase its air permeability compared to the paper wrapper in the region of the cavity.

Preferably, the line of weakness is formed transverse to a longitudinal axis of the tobacco rod.

Conveniently, the tobacco portions comprise an outer tobacco portion and an inner tobacco portion where the line of weakness enables the removal of a burnt end of the outer tobacco portion of the smoking article.

In one embodiment, the line of weakness is spaced from the inner tobacco portion such that after the burnt end of the outer tobacco portion has been removed, a portion of the paper wrapper in the region of the cavity can be folded to cover the inner tobacco portion.

The paper wrapper in the region of the cavity may comprise a second line of weakness.

The tobacco rod may be further wrapped in an outer paper wrapper such that the or each line of weakness is concealed.

Advantageously, each tobacco portion may be individually wrapped in an inner paper wrapper and the paper wrapper surrounds the individually wrapped tobacco portions.

In one embodiment, the smoking article comprises a plurality of tobacco rods with a catty therebetween to form a plurality of burn suppressant zones.

Preferably, the cavity extends between 0.5 to 3 cm in a direction along a longitudinal axis of the tobacco rod.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a cross-section of a smoking article according to the present invention; Figure 2 shows a cross-section of the smoking article shown in Figure 1, wherein the smoking article is extinguished and the butt is pulled off; and Figure 3 shows a cross section of the smoking article shown in Figure 2, wherein the butt has been removed and the wrapping paper has been folded to prevent the remaining tobacco from being exposed.

Referring now to Figures 1 to 3, a smoking article 1 is shown comprising a filter 2 and a tobacco rod 3 which is configured to force a break point in the smoking experience of a consumer.

The tobacco rod 3 comptises two discrete tobacco portions 4, 5 wrapped in a paper wrapper 6 and that are spaced apart by a cavity 7. The inner tobacco portion 5 is located between the filter 2 and the cavity 7. The outer tobacco portion 4 is located at the opposite side of the cavity 7. The cavity 7 is defined by an end face 8, 9 of each tobacco portion and the paper wrapper 6.

The portion of the paper wrapper surrounding the cavity 7 is formed with a first and a second line of weakness 10, 11. Preferably, the lines of weakness 10, 11 are formed by perforation or scoting. The first line of weakness 10 is formed in the portion of the paper wrapper 6 surrounding the cavity 7 close to the end face 8 of the outer tobacco portion 4 and the second line of weakness 11 is formed close to the end face 9 of the inner tobacco portion 5.

The cavity 7 between the two tobacco portions 4, 5 provides a distance or a space between the outer tobacco portion 4 and the inner tobacco portion 5 and so when the outer tobacco portion 4 is ignited the cavity 7 reduces the probability of the inner tobacco portion 5 igniting from the smouldering of the outer tobacco portion 4.

The portion of the paper wrapper 6 surrounding the cavity 7 is also formed with a reduced propensity or proclivity to burning so that it does not burn or, at the very least, burns less or burns more slowly than portions of the paper wrapper surrounding the tobacco. This may be achieved by treating the portion of the paper wrapper 6 surrounding the cavity with a burn suppressant material such as a fire retardant that prevents or reduces the rate of smouldering of the tobacco rod 3 and/or the paper wrapper 6. For example, said portion may be coated with a burn suppressant material.

Alternatively, the air permeability of the paper wrapper 6 may be modified so that the rate of smouldering of the paper wrapper 6 in a region of the cavity is reduced compared to the rate of smouldering of the paper wrapper 6 in a region of the tobacco portions 4, 5. This may be achieved by providing the paper wrapper 6 in the region of the cavity with a greater thickness than the remaining paper wrapper 6 enclosing the tobacco portions 4, 5. The thicker paper wrapper 6 lowers the air permeability into the cavity resulting in reduced the rate of smouldering. It is also intended within the scope of the invention that the whole paper wrapper 6 is made out of a material that has low air permeability and that the paper wrapper 6 in the region of the tobacco portions 4, 5 is embossed so as to increase the air permeability in the specific regions of the tobacco portions 4, 5.

The cavity 7 and the paper wrapper 6 in the region of said cavity 7 being formed with reduced propensity to burning to extinguish the smouldering of the tobacco rod 3 as the smouldeting reaches said cavity 7. This creates a forced break point in the smoking experience of a consumer, in that the tobacco rod 3 self-extinguishes regardless whether the consumer is continuing to draw smoke through the smoking article 1.

Preferably, the tobacco rod 3 is extinguished in the area between the end face 8 of the outer tobacco portion 4 and the first line of weakness 10. The consumer can therefore pull off the butt 13 at the first line of weakness (see Figure 2) and twist or fold the remaining portion of the paper wrapper surrounding the cavity 7 so as to protect the inner tobacco portion 5 as seen in Figure 3.

After the smoking article 1 has been extinguished, the consumer can alternatively remove the remaining portion of the paper wrapper surrounding the cavity 7 at the second line of weakness 11 so as to discard any abundant paper wrapper 6. It is envisaged that the tobacco rod 3 will be extinguished prior to the smouldering reaching the first line of weakness 10, however in the event that the smouldering continues past the first line of weakness 10 and extinguishes between the first and second line of weakness 10, 11, the consumer can remove the butt 13 directly from the second line of weakness 11.

After the smoking article 1 has been extinguished at the location of the cavity 7, the consumer has the choice when to smoke the remainder of the smoking article 1. When the consumer chooses to smoke the remainder of the smoking article 1, the consumer ignites the end face 9 of the inner tobacco portion 5 and when the smoking article 1 is fully used extinguishes the smoking article 1 in a usual manner.

It should be appreciated that the paper wrapper 6 may be formed with a single line of weakness or several lines of weakness in the portion of the paper wrapper 6 surrounding the cavity 7 so as to ease the removal of the butt.

It is envisaged that the cavity 7 of the embodiment desctibed with reference to Figures I to 3 is at least 0.5 cm in length in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the smoking article 1 and no longer than 3 cm in length.

The combination of the cavity 7 being located between the two tobacco portions 4, 5 and the paper wrapper 6 in the region of said cavity 7 being configured to have a reduced propensity to burning, provides the smoking article with self-extinguishing io properties at approximately halfway through the consumption of the smoking article 1 such that the consumer can continue smoking the remainder of the smoking article 1 at their convenience. In particular, the combination of these two features provides a more effective forced break point in the smoking experience of a smoking article than what is known from the prior art. This is attributed to the cavity providing a sufficient distance between the outer and inner tobacco portions 4, 5 so as to prevent the inner tobacco portion 5 accidentally igniting from the smouldering outer tobacco portion 4, and because the paper wrapper 6 in the region of the cavity 6 is formed with reduced propensity to burning.

Furthermore, forming the paper wrapper 6 surrounding the cavity 7 with at least one line of weakness provides a convenient method for the consumer to dispose of the butt 13 and to protect the end face 8 of the remaining inner tobacco portion 5 by twisting or folding the remainder of the paper wrapper 6 surrounding the cavity 7. Additionally, as the butt 13 is removed from the remainder of the tobacco rod 3 at the at least one line of weakness re-assurance is provided to the consumer that the smouldeting part of the smoking article 1 is completely removed such that the consumer can place the smoking article I back into its packaging or leave it unattended.

Therefore, the combination of the cavity 7 and the paper wrapper 6 in the region of the cavity 7 being configured to have a reduced propensity to burning, create a burn suppressant zone which is provided with a line of weakness to remove the butt 13.

Preferably the outer and the inner tobacco portions 4, 5 are of similar lengths in the direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the smoking article. However, they may alternatively vary in length so that the smoking expetience of the outer tobacco portion 4 is longer or shorter than the smoking expetience of the inner tobacco portion 5.

Alternatively, the smoking articles may be formed with a plurality of cavities wherein the paper wrapper surrounding said cavities are configured to have a reduced propensity to burning and formed with at a least one line of weakness. This creates a plurality of burn suppressant zones in the smoking article and as a result, a plurality of Jo forced break points in the smoking experience of the consumer. For example, in an un-illustrated embodiment, the tobacco rod comprises three discrete tobacco portions. An inner tobacco portion is located between a filter and a first cavity, the second tobacco portion is located between the first cavity and a second cavity, and the third tobacco portion is located at the opposite side of the second cavity relative to the second tobacco portion, such that the third tobacco portion is at an opposite end of the of the smoking article relative to a mouth end.

Similar to the embodiment described with reference to Figures 1 to 3, the paper wrapper in the regions of the cavities are configured to have a reduced propensity to burning and are formed with at least one line of weakness. Therefore, in this configuration the smoking article has two burn suppressant zones such that there are two forced break points in a consumer's smoking experience.

In the aforementioned embodiments, the tobacco portions 4, 5 and the cavity 7 or cavities are wrapped in a single outer paper wrapper 6. Alternatively, the tobacco portions 4, 5 can be individually wrapped in inner paper wrapper ptior to being wrapped in the outer paper wrapping 6. In this embodiment, the inner paper wrapper individually wrapping the tobacco portions 4, 5 and/or the outer paper wrapping 6 in the region of the individually wrapped tobacco portions 4, 5, are treated to have an enhanced air permeability, for example, by embossing. In yet another alternative embodiment, the tobacco rod, including the tobacco portions and the cavity, are wrapped in two layers so as to form a double layer. The two layers forming the double layer can both be formed with aligned lines of weakness so as to ease the removal of the butt from the smoking article. However, it should also be appreciated that the double layer of the paper wrapper may also be configured such that the at least one line of weakness is invisible. This may be achieved by only providing an inner layer of the double paper wrapper with the at least one line of weakness in the area surrounding the cavity or cavities. This provides a more aesthetically pleasing appearance of the smoking article. In this embodiment, either one or both layers of the paper wrapping is treated to have an enhanced air permeability, for example, by embossing, in the areas of the tobacco portions 4,5. Alternatively, the paper wrapper 6 in the region of the cavity(s) is so treated with a burn suppressant matetial.

It is also intended within the scope of protection that each tobacco portion 4, 5 may comprise different blends of tobacco so that the taste profile can be altered throughout the smoking experience.

It is envisaged that the filter can be any type of filter. In an alternative embodiment, the smoking article is formed without a filter.

Although embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those persons skilled in the art that the foregoing description should be regarded as a description of preferred embodiments only and that other embodiments that fall within the scope of the appended claims are considered to form part of this

disclosure.

Claims

-10 -Claims 1. A smoking article comprising a tobacco rod having at least two tobacco portions and a wrapper surrounding said tobacco portions with said portions spaced from each other to form a cavity therebetween, wherein the wrapper is formed with a reduced propensity to burning in a region of the cavity, said region forming a burn suppressant zone operable to extinguish the smoking article, said region also being provided with a line of weakness.
2. A smoking article according to claim 1, wherein the wrapper, in the region of the cavity, is treated with a burn suppressant material so as to reduce its propensity to burning.
3. A smoking article according to claim I or 2, wherein the wrapper, in the region of the cavity, is formed with lower air permeability compared to the remainder of the wrapper so as to reduce its propensity to burning.
4. A smoking article according to claim 3, wherein the wrapper, in the region of the cavity, is configured to have a greater thickness compared to the remainder of the wrapper.
5. A smoking article according any preceding claim, wherein the wrapper, in the region of the cavity, is configured to have a double layer.
6. A smoking article according to claim 3, wherein the wrapper, in the region of the tobacco portions, is embossed so as to increase its air permeability compared to the wrapper in the region of the cavity.
7. A smoking article according to any preceding claim, wherein the line of weakness is formed transverse to a longitudinal axis of the tobacco rod.
8. A smoking article according to any preceding claim, wherein the tobacco portions comprise an outer tobacco portion and an inner tobacco portion where the -11 -line of weakness enables removal of a burnt end of the outer tobacco portion of the smoking article.
9. A smoking article according to claim 8, wherein the line of weakness is spaced from the inner tobacco portion such that after the burnt end of the outer tobacco portion has been removed, a portion of the wrapper in the region of the cavity can be folded to cover the inner tobacco portion.
10. A smoking article according to any preceding claim, wherein the wrapper in the region of the cavity comprises a second hne of weakness.
11. A smoking article according to any preceding claim, wherein the tobacco rod is further wrapped in an outer wrapper such that the or each line of weakness is concealed.
12 A smoking article according to any of claims I to 11, wherein each tobacco portion is individually wrapped in an inner wrapper and the wrapper surrounds the individually wrapped tobacco portions.
13. A smoking article according to any preceding claim, wherein the smoking article comprises a plurahty of tobacco rods with a cavity therebetween to form a plurality of burn suppressant 2ones.
14. A smoking article according to any preceding claim, wherein the cavity extends between 0.5 to 3 cm in a direction along a longitudinal axis of the tobacco rod.
15. A smoking article according to any preceding claim, wherein each tobacco portion comprises a different blend of tobacco.