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(11) | EP 4 338 606 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
| published in accordance with Art. 153(4) EPC |
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| (54) | FLAVOR SHEET COMPRISING ACTIVATED CARBON, FILTER COMPRISING SAME, AND SMOKING PRODUCT |
| (57) The present disclosure provides a flavored sheet including a flavor component and
activated carbon, a method of manufacturing the flavored sheet, a smoking article
filter including the flavored sheet, and a smoking article including the flavored
sheet. The flavor component may be included in an amount of 10 to 40 wt% (wt%) and
the activated carbon may be included in an amount of 1 to 10 wt% based on a weight
of the flavored sheet, and the flavored sheet may have an enhanced fragrance retention. |
Technical Field
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a flavored sheet including activated carbon, and a filter and a smoking article that each include the flavored sheet.
Background Art
[0002] In general, tobacco refers to a perennial plant belonging to the Solanaceae of the dicotyledonous plant order, and recently, also collectively refers to a product manufactured for the purpose of smoking in which leaves of tobacco are wrapped with cigarette paper and a filter portion is formed at one side. There are thousands of kinds of cigarettes worldwide, and cigarettes have been released in various shapes and forms.
[0003] In addition, in accordance with various needs of smokers, research on technologies of adding various types of flavors to aerosols generated from cigarettes is being conducted. To generate a specific fragrance that suits the smoker's taste, a method of spraying a specific perfume component in a solution state to a cigarette to conveniently add the specific perfume component or adding a sheet (flavored sheet) containing a perfume to a smoking article is used.
[0004] However, in the case of a transfer jet nozzle system (TINS) that directly injects a perfume component into a cigarette, due to a large amount of flavored liquid discarded around tobacco components, the flavoring efficiency may decrease and contamination around a tube filter due to spraying flavored liquid may occur.
[0005] In addition, an existing flavored sheet has an issue in that a flavor component is released from the sheet due to a heat source when the flavored sheet in a prepared solution is dried, and has a disadvantage in that a fragrance is not uniformly sensed during smoking because the fragrance is rapidly released in an early stage of the smoking and the amount of the fragrance is theoretically reduced in comparison to added fragrance in a later stage of the smoking.
Disclosure of the Invention
Technical Goals
[0006] Therefore, to overcome the problems and/or limitations of existing technologies as described above, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a flavored sheet that may prevent a flavor component from being released out of the flavored sheet as much as possible when the flavored sheet is dried and heated, by applying activated carbon that is a porous material with a large surface area and strong adsorption power, and that may more sustainedly release a fragrance even when the temperature is applied in a smoking process, and to provide a filter and a smoking article that each include the flavored sheet.
[0007] However, goals obtainable from the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned goal, and other unmentioned goals can be clearly understood from the following description by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.
Technical Solutions
[0008] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a flavored sheet including a flavor component and activated carbon.
[0009] The flavor component may be included in an amount of 10 to 40% by weight (wt%) based on a weight of the flavored sheet, and the flavored sheet may have an enhanced fragrance retention.
[0010] According to an aspect, there is provided a smoking article filter including one or more segments.
[0012] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a smoking article including a tobacco medium portion and a filter portion.
[0013] The filter portion may include a flavored sheet including a flavor component and activated carbon.
[0014] The flavor component may be included in an amount of 10 to 40% by weight (wt%) based on a weight of the flavored sheet.
[0015] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of manufacturing a flavored sheet.
[0016] The method includes:
step a) of mixing water and a cellulose-based polymer;
step b) of mixing alcohol with a flavor component and activated carbon;
step c) of mixing solutions obtained in steps a) and b) with each other and pouring and spreading the mixed solutions; and
step d) of performing drying at a temperature of 40 to 70°C.
Effects
[0017] When a smoker uses a smoking article including a flavored sheet according to an aspect of the present disclosure, a larger amount of fragrance may be released in an early stage of smoking in comparison to an existing smoking article, and the fragrance may more slowly decrease in a later stage of smoking, so that an effect of sustainedly releasing the fragrance may be shown.
[0018] In addition, the flavored sheet according to an aspect of the present disclosure may retain a larger amount of fragrance due to a reduction in an amount of perfume components released due to a heat source in a manufacturing process thereof and may allow a smoker to feel the fragrance more strongly, to be excellent in the flavoring efficiency.
[0019] It should be understood that the effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described effects, but are construed as including all effects that can be inferred from the configurations and features described in the following description or claims of the present disclosure.
Brief Description of Drawings
[0020]
FIG. 1 is a graph illustrating a comparison of an amount (%) of fragrance to be released according to the number N of times heating is performed on a menthol sheet containing activated carbon according to an embodiment of the present disclosure and a menthol sheet without activated carbon, using solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPME-GC/MS).
FIG. 2 is a photograph showing a sheet to which 5% by weight (wt%) of activated carbon is added based on a weight (solid content) of a flavored sheet.
FIG. 3 is a photograph showing a sheet to which 10 wt% of activated carbon is added based on a weight (solid content) of a flavored sheet.
FIG. 4 is a photograph showing a sheet to which 15 wt% of activated carbon is added based on a weight (solid content) of a flavored sheet.
FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a smoking article including a flavored sheet according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
[0021] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, various alterations and modifications may be made to the embodiments. Here, the embodiments are not meant to be limited by the descriptions of the present disclosure. The embodiments should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and replacements within the idea and the technical scope of the disclosure.
[0022] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. The singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises/comprising" and/or "includes/including" when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.
[0023] Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly-used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
[0024] When describing the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals refer to like components and a repeated description related thereto will be omitted. In the description of embodiments, detailed description of well-known related structures or functions will be omitted when it is deemed that such description will cause ambiguous interpretation of the present disclosure.
[0025] In addition, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), and the like may be used to describe components of the embodiments. These terms are used only for the purpose of discriminating one component from another component, and the nature, the sequences, or the orders of the components are not limited by the terms.
[0026] A component, which has the same common function as a component included in any one embodiment, will be described by using the same name in other embodiments. Unless otherwise mentioned, the descriptions on the embodiments may be applicable to the following embodiments and thus, duplicated descriptions will be omitted for conciseness.
[0027] Throughout the specification, a "smoking article" refers to an article capable of generating an aerosol, such as tobacco (cigarettes), cigar, and the like. The smoking article may include an aerosol generating material, or an aerosol forming substrate. In addition, the smoking article may include a solid material based on tobacco raw materials such as a reconstituted tobacco sheet, cut tobacco leaves, reconstituted tobacco, and the like. A smoking material may include a volatile compound.
[0028] In addition, throughout the specification, the term "upstream" or "upstream direction" refers to a direction away from a mouth of a user puffing a smoking article, and the term "downstream" or "downstream direction" refers to a direction toward the mouth of the user puffing the smoking article. For example, in a smoking article 1 shown in FIG. 5, a tobacco medium portion 10 is disposed upstream or in the upstream direction of a filter portion 20.
[0029] In the present disclosure, the term "aerosol generating system" may refer to a device that generates an aerosol using an aerosol forming material to generate an aerosol that may be inhaled through the mouth of a user directly to the lungs of the user. The aerosol generating system may be a non-combustion-type tobacco article that indirectly performs heating using electrical energy rather than direct combustion, and the non-combustion-type tobacco article may include a heating type tobacco article and a non-heating type tobacco article. In the present disclosure, a heating type tobacco article may desirably be used. The heating type tobacco article may be an article that allows smoking to be performed by generating an aerosol by sucking surrounding air heated with electrical energy so that a user inhales the aerosol and then exhales. For example, a hybrid type aerosol generating device using both a liquid cartridge and a cigarette may be included, and various types of aerosol generating devices may be further included, and thus the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the examples described above.
[0030] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a flavored sheet including a flavor component and activated carbon.
[0031] The flavor component may be included in an amount of 10 to 40% by weight (wt%) based on a weight of the flavored sheet, and the flavored sheet may have an enhanced fragrance retention.
[0032] As the flavor component according to an aspect of the present disclosure, all components capable of imparting a flavor and/or flavor characteristics or enhancing a flavor and taste of smoking and applicable to a smoking article, and the like may be applied without particular limitation. For example, specific examples thereof may include at least one selected from a group consisting of rosemary, eucalyptol, licorice, sucrose, 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, mandarin oil, catechin, grapefruit, caraway, cognac, jasmine, cacao, menthol, cinnamon, ylang-ylang, salvia, spearmint, ginger, coriander and coffee.
[0033] The flavor component may be included in the amount of 10% to 40 wt% as described above, or in an amount of 10 to 30 wt% and in an amount of 10 to 20 wt%, based on the weight of the flavored sheet. When the amount of the flavor component is within the above range, persistence of a flavor and/or tobacco taste that spread during smoking may be provided, the flavor component may be applied at a high concentration, and an intensity of a fragrance and/or flavor may also be controlled based on a concentration of a flavor component to be added.
[0034] Meanwhile, when the amount of the flavor component is less than 10 wt%, the degree to which the flavor component is perceived during smoking may be reduced due to a slight flavoring effect, and it may be difficult to expect a great effect due to the activated carbon.
[0035] In addition, when the amount of the flavor component exceeds 40 wt%, when a prepared solution of the flavored sheet is dried, a complete sheet may not be generated due to poor physical properties of the sheet. Due to limitations in an amount of collectible flavor components of the sheet and introduced activated carbon, the degree of expression of the flavor component may be relatively strong in the initial puff during smoking and may then rapidly decrease, which may result in a great difference in the degree of perception of a fragrance during overall smoking.
[0036] Thus, in conclusion, adding of an appropriate amount of flavor components (e.g., an amount of 10 to 40 wt% based on the weight of the flavored sheet) based on a blend of all raw materials of the flavored sheet may have a more positive influence on flavor expression and the physical properties of the flavored sheet.
[0037] Meanwhile, the flavored sheet may include activated carbon in addition to the flavor component, and the activated carbon may desirably be included in an amount of 1 to 10 wt% based on the weight of the flavored sheet. Since an existing flavored sheet has a problem in that a flavor component is lost to the outside of the sheet due to a heat source when the sheet is dried in a manufacturing process thereof, the present inventors add a predetermined amount of activated carbon, which is a porous material with a large surface area and strong adsorption in a manufacturing of a flavored sheet, to prevent the flavor component from being released out of the flavored sheet and to allow a fragrance to continue to be released even in a later stage of smoking, so that the fragrance retention may be enhanced.
[0038] Meanwhile, when the amount of activated carbon is less than 1 wt% based on the weight of the flavored sheet, it may be difficult to obtain excellent fragrance retention due to an insignificant effect of adding activated carbon. When the amount of activated carbon exceeds 10 wt%, a shape of the flavored sheet may be shrunk, as shown in FIG. 4, in comparison to a flavored sheet including activated carbon in an amount of 10 wt% or less, and accordingly, it may be difficult for the flavored sheet to function as a sheet included in a smoking article filter.
[0039] Meanwhile, the flavored sheet according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be formed of a binder material that provides a polymer matrix capable of retaining the flavor component, being flexible, and forming a shape of a sheet. For example, the flavored sheet may include a cellulose-based polymer.
[0040] Types of the cellulose-based polymer may include, for example, at least one selected from a group consisting of methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, carboxyethyl cellulose, hydroxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, hydroxyethylmethyl cellulose, and agar, and may desirably correspond to methylcellulose (MC) and/or hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC).
[0041] In addition, the cellulose-based polymer constituting the flavored sheet may be included in an amount of about 20 to 60 wt% based on the weight of the flavored sheet. When the amount of the cellulose-based polymer is less than 20 wt%, it may be difficult to form a sheet itself.
[0042] Meanwhile, when the amount of the cellulose-based polymer exceeds 60 wt%, a phenomenon in which a manufactured sheet is broken or cracked may occur, so that a fragrance of a flavor component in the sheet may not be easily expressed, and it may be difficult to obtain enhanced fragrance retention. In addition, an increase in the amount of the cellulose-based polymer in the sheet may also lead to a decrease in an amount of other flavor components, and accordingly the degree of expression of a fragrance may decrease.
[0043] In addition, the flavored sheet according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a plasticizer, a bulking agent, other additives, and the like within the scope that does not impair the effects of the present disclosure. Examples of the plasticizer may include glycerin, propylene glycol (PG), and the like, and the bulking agent may include, for example, dextrin, and the like.
[0044] The flavored sheet according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may have a thickness of about 1 millimeter (mm) or less, for example, a thickness of 0.1 to 1 mm, 0.2 mm to 0.8 mm, or 0.3 to 0.5 mm. When the thickness of the flavored sheet exceeds 1 mm, the fragrance of the flavor component in the flavored sheet may not be easily expressed due to a thick thickness, and it may be difficult to use the flavored sheet in a smoking article filter because it is difficult to realize characteristics of the sheet. In addition, the flavored sheet may include multiple layers as well as a single layer.
[0045] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a smoking article filter including one or more segments is provided.
[0047] Meanwhile, the smoking article filter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include a cooling filter as one of a plurality of segments, and the cooling filter may correspond to, for example, a paper tube filter.
[0048] In this case, the flavored sheet may be included in the paper tube. More specifically, the flavored sheet may be disposed on an inner surface or an outer surface of the paper tube to simultaneously exhibit a cooling effect and a fragrance expression effect.
[0049] Furthermore, in addition to the paper tube filter, the smoking article filter may also include a tube filter, or a cellulose acetate filter having a porous matrix structure.
[0050] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a smoking article including a tobacco medium portion and a filter portion is provided.
[0051] The filter portion may include a flavored sheet including a flavor component and activated carbon.
[0052] The flavor component may be included in an amount of 10 to 40 wt% based on a weight of the flavored sheet.
[0053] Here, the activated carbon may be included in an amount of 1 to 10 wt% based on the weight of the flavored sheet, and the smoking article may correspond to a combustion-type cigarette or a non-combustion-type electronic cigarette.
[0054] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of manufacturing a flavored sheet is provided.
[0055] The method includes:
step a) of mixing water and a cellulose-based polymer;
step b) of mixing alcohol with a flavor component and activated carbon;
step c) of mixing solutions obtained in steps a) and b) with each other and pouring and spreading the mixed solutions; and
step d) of performing drying at a temperature of 40 to 70°C.
[0056] The drying may be performed, for example, at a temperature of 40 to 60°C, desirably 50°C, in addition to a temperature of 40 to 70°C.
[0057] The flavored sheet in the above-described smoking article filter, the above-described smoking article, and the above-described method of manufacturing the flavored sheet may be regarded as substantially the same as the flavored sheet that has been described in detail above, and further description thereof is omitted to avoid repetition.
[0058] Hereinafter, the configuration of the present disclosure and effects thereof will be described in more detail through examples and comparative examples. However, the examples are merely for describing the present disclosure in more detail, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the examples.
<Examples>
Example 1 (Manufacturing of Menthol Sheet containing Activated Carbon)
[0059] The present inventors conducted experiments by the following methods 1) to 5) to prepare a flavored sheet.
- 1) Dextrin was added to a beaker filled with water and stirring was performed until the dextrin dissolves.
- 2) Subsequently, after methylcellulose is added to the solution, stirring was performed until methylcellulose is completely dissolved.
- 3) Menthol was added to another beaker containing ethyl alcohol and dissolved, activated carbon was then added, and stirring was performed for about 5 to 10 minutes so that the menthol is collected in the activated carbon.
- 4) A solution containing the activated carbon was slowly added to a solution containing the methylcellulose and stirring was performed so that the solutions are sufficiently mixed.
[0060] 5) An appropriate amount of the solutions mixed in step 4) was poured onto release paper, the prepared solution was thinly pushed with an applicator, put into an oven, and then dried at about 50°C for about 1 hour, to obtain a menthol flavored sheet containing activated carbon.
Comparative Example 1 (Manufacturing of Menthol Sheet)
[0061] The present inventors obtained a menthol sheet in the same manner as in Example 1 (method of manufacturing a menthol sheet containing activated carbon), except that activated carbon was not added.
Measurement of Amount of Fragrance to be Released according to Number of Times Heating is Performed
[0062] Each of the flavored sheets prepared in Example 1 and Comparative Example 1 was heated "20" times using solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPME-GC/MS), to confirm the degree to which menthol is released, and the results are shown in FIG. 1.
[0063] Accordingly, it can be found that in the menthol sheet of Comparative Example 1, to which activated carbon was not added, the amount of menthol tends to rapidly decrease in an early stage and tends to noticeably decrease in a later stage.
[0064] In contrast, it can be found that the menthol sheet to which activated carbon was added in Example 1 exhibits a tendency that an amount of menthol released in the early stage is greater than that of the menthol sheet of Comparative Example 1 to which activated carbon was not added and continues to slowly decrease in the later stage.
[0065] Based on the above results, the menthol sheet to which activated carbon was added exhibits an effect of preventing menthol from being released out of a sheet due to a heat source during drying of the prepared solution in a sheet manufacturing process, and thus, it may be expected that a large amount of menthol may be retained and that a smoker can more strongly feel a fragrance in the early stage of smoking due to the activated carbon if the menthol sheet is used as a flavored sheet.
Analysis of Physical Properties of Sheet according to Amount of Activated Carbon included
[0066] The menthol sheets containing 5 wt%, 10 wt%, and 15 wt% of activated carbon, respectively, based on the weight of the flavored sheet (solid content) were manufactured using the method of Example 1, and the results are shown in FIGS. 2 to 4.
[0067] As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, a shape of a sheet (FIG. 4) to which 15 wt% of activated carbon was added is greatly shrunk in comparison to sheets (FIGS. 2 and/or 3) to which 5 wt% and/or 10 wt% of activated carbon were added, which may indicate that if the amount of activated carbon exceeds 10 wt% and increases, the amount of other solid contents such as cellulose and dextrin decreases, and accordingly, the shape of the sheet is not complete. In other words, it can be found that adding of 10 wt% or less of activated carbon is desirable in the manufacturing of a flavored sheet.
[0068] While the embodiments are described with reference to drawings, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various alterations and modifications in form and details may be made in these embodiments without departing from the scope of the claims and their equivalents. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents.
1. A flavored sheet comprising a flavor component and activated carbon,
wherein the flavor component is included in an amount of 10 to 40% by weight (wt%) based on a weight of the flavored sheet and the flavored sheet has an enhanced fragrance retention.
wherein the flavor component is included in an amount of 10 to 40% by weight (wt%) based on a weight of the flavored sheet and the flavored sheet has an enhanced fragrance retention.
2. The flavored sheet of claim 1, wherein the activated carbon is included in an amount
of 1 to 10 wt% based on the weight of the flavored sheet.
3. The flavored sheet of claim 1, wherein the flavor component comprises at least one
selected from a group consisting of rosemary, eucalyptol, licorice, sucrose, 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, mandarin oil, catechin, grapefruit, caraway, cognac, jasmine,
cacao, menthol, cinnamon, ylang-ylang, salvia, spearmint, ginger, coriander and coffee.
4. The flavored sheet of claim 1, wherein the flavor component comprises menthol.
5. The flavored sheet of claim 1, wherein the flavored sheet comprises a cellulose-based
polymer.
6. The flavored sheet of claim 5, wherein the cellulose-based polymer comprises at least
one selected from a group consisting of methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl
cellulose, carboxyethyl cellulose, hydroxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose,
hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, hydroxyethylmethyl cellulose,
and agar.
7. A smoking article filter comprising one or more segments, wherein at least one of
the one or more segments comprises the flavored sheet of claim 1.
8. The smoking article filter of claim 7, wherein the smoking article filter comprises
a paper pipe, and the flavored sheet is included in the paper pipe.
9. A smoking article comprising a tobacco medium portion and a filter portion, wherein
the filter portion comprises a flavored sheet comprising a flavor component and activated carbon, and
the flavor component is included in an amount of 10 to 40% by weight (wt%) based on a weight of the flavored sheet.
10. The smoking article of claim 9, wherein the activated carbon is included in an amount
of 1 to 10 wt% based on the weight of the flavored sheet.
11. The smoking article of claim 9, wherein the smoking article is a combustion-type cigarette
or a non-combustion-type electronic cigarette.
12. A method of manufacturing the flavored sheet of claim 1, the method comprising:
step a) of mixing water and a cellulose-based polymer;
step b) of mixing alcohol with a flavor component and activated carbon;
step c) of mixing solutions obtained in steps a) and b) with each other and pouring and spreading the mixed solutions; and
step d) of performing drying at a temperature of 40 to 70°C.