Improved smoking article

Abstract

 A cigarette which is assembled by the smoker is provided. It comprises a tobacco rod 10 and a filter plug 12. The rod consists of a wrapped column of tobacco, the wrapping 16 of which extends beyond the end of the column to define a cavity 18. Unsmokeable tipping material 20 circumscribes the cavity. The cavity collapses if a smoker draws on it when empty.
The smoker renders the cigarette smokeable by inserting a filter plug into the cavity in the tobacco rod.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to smoking articles such as cigarettes which are in part constructed by the smoker.

[0002] Hand rolled cigarettes, in which a smoker wraps tobacco in a paper wrapper with or without a hand operated machine to make a cigarette, are well known. A more sophisticated alternative in the form of empty paper sleeves attached to a filter to be filled by the smoker with loose tobacco using a small machine, is also known. More recently, rods of tobacco wrapped in very porous paper have been supplied for use with empty paper sleeves carrying filters. The rods of tobacco cannot be smoked alone, since the wrapper is too porous. The smoker inserts the wrapped rod into the open end of the sleeve to make a filter cigarette. The sleeves, being of ordinary tobacco wrapping paper and having a relatively long unsupported empty portion, are thin and easily damaged. Even when the sleeve is not damaged, it can be difficult to insert the tobacco rod into the sleeve.

[0003] According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a rod of smoking material comprising a wrapped column of smoking material, the wrapper of which extends beyond one end of the column to define a cylindrical cavity for the reception of a filter plug. Preferably, the cavity wall is constructed to collapse if a smoker attempts to draw on the rod through the empty cavity. This can be achieved by an appropriate choice of material and thickness of material for the cavity wall.

[0004] According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a rod of smoking material comprising a wrapped column of smoking material having at one end a cylindrical cavity for the reception of a filter plug, the wall of the cavity being constructed to collapse under the pressure exerted by the mouth of a smoker. This can be achieved by an appropriate choice of material and thickness of material for the cavity wall. In a preferred embodiment of the second aspect, the cavity is formed by an extension of the column wrapper beyond one end of the column.

[0005] In preferred embodiments of either aspect the cavity is circumscribed by tipping material, which is preferably unsmokeable. Preferred tipping material include paper and plastics materials. In the case of a rod in which the cavity is defined by the wrapping of the column, the tipping may extend beyond the mouth end of the cavity.

[0006] The invention also contemplates a kit for making a smoking article comprising a rod having a cavity for the reception of a filter plug and, separately, a filter plug.

[0007] The filter plug of the kit may be of any design and material compatible with the requirement that it can be inserted in the cavity in the rod. For example, the filter may be of cellulose acetate or paper or a combination thereof, and the plug may have a permeable or impermeable surface. The plug may be grooved or of the plug-space-plug configuration, or may be a so-called concentric filter plug having a central core of different filter efficiency from an annular outer layer of filter material. The plug may be the same length as the cavity in the rod, or may be shorter.

[0008] The wall of the cavity in the rod may be permeable or impermeable. The internal surface of the cavity wall may be provided with ridges which, together with the surface of the filter plug when it is inserted, form channels of ambient air. Conventional cigarettes including filters of this type are disclosed in EP-A-0 059 040 and EP-A-0 059 042.

[0009] A particular advantage of the present invention is that in some countries the sale of cigarette components in an unsmokeable form attracts a much lower excise duty than the sale of complete, smokeable cigarettes.

[0010] The invention will be further described by way of example, with reference to the drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a rod according to the invention with a filter plug; and

Figure 2 shows a section on line II-II of Figure 1.

[0011] Figures 1 and 2 show a rod 10 and a filter plug 12. The plug 12 is a cellulose acetate tow plug having a permeable surface, and is of conventional length. The rod 10 comprises a column 14 of tobacco circumscribed by wrapping 16. The wrapping 16 extends beyond the mouth end of the tobacco column 14 to define a cavity 18. The tobacco column 14 is of conventional length, and the cavity 18 is of the same length as the filter plug 12.

[0012] The cavity 18 is circumscribed by tipping material 20, which extends a little way along the wrapped tobacco column 14. The cavity wall, formed of the tipping material 20 and the wrapping 16, is rendered permeable by a line 22 of perforations. These allow ambient air through the cavity wall and into the filter plug 12 when it is in the cavity 18.

[0013] The tipping material 20 is of an unsmokeable plastics material. The cavity wall is sufficiently weak that if a smoker attempts to smoke the rod 10 without a filter in the cavity 18, the cavity wall will collapse. Since the tipping material 20 is unsmokeable, a smoker attempting to smoke the rod 10 by lighting the tipping material and drawing on the end of the tobacco column 14 will be unable to do so.

[0014] In order to make a smokeable cigarette, a smoker inserts a filter plug 12 into the cavity 18 in the rod 10. The plug is held in the cavity by friction, and the resulting cigarette can be smoked normally.

[0015] The rods 10 and the filter plugs 12 will be sold separately. It is envisioned that a smoker will keep several different types of filter plug having different efficiencies, degrees of ventilation and even flavouring for use with one type of tobacco rod. Thus the smoker can choose the organoleptic properties of the cigarette without the need to buy several different packs of cigarettes.

Claims

1. A rod of smoking material comprising a wrapped column of smoking material, the wrapper of which extends beyond one end of the column to define a cylindrical cavity for the reception of a filter plug.

2. A rod of smoking material according to claim 1 in which the wall of the cavity is constructed to collapse under the pressure exerted by the mouth of a smoker.

3. A rod of smoking material comprising a wrapped column of smoking material having at one end a cylindrical cavity for the reception of a filter plug, the wall of the cavity being constructed to collapse under the pressure exerted by the mouth of a smoker.

4. A rod according to claim 3 in which the column wrapper extends beyond one end of the column to form the cavity.

5. A rod according to any preceding claim in which the cavity is circumscribed by tipping material.

6. A rod according to claim 5 in which the tipping material is unsmokeable.

7. A rod according to claim 5 or 6 in which the tipping material is a plastics material.

8. A kit for making a smoking article comprising a rod according to any preceding claim and, separately, a filter plug.

Drawing