Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES OF CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D3/00—Tobacco smoke filters, e.g. filter tips or filtering inserts; Filters specially adapted for simulated smoking devices; Mouthpieces of cigars or cigarettes
  • A24D3/06—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters
  • A24D3/08—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters of organic materials as carrier or major constituent
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES OF CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D3/00—Tobacco smoke filters, e.g. filter tips or filtering inserts; Filters specially adapted for simulated smoking devices; Mouthpieces of cigars or cigarettes
  • A24D3/06—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters
  • A24D3/062—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters characterised by structural features
  • A24D3/063—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters characterised by structural features of the fibers
  • A24D3/064—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters characterised by structural features of the fibers having non-circular cross-section
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES OF CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D3/00—Tobacco smoke filters, e.g. filter tips or filtering inserts; Filters specially adapted for simulated smoking devices; Mouthpieces of cigars or cigarettes
  • A24D3/06—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters
  • A24D3/067—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters characterised by functional properties
  • A24D3/068—Biodegradable or disintegrable
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES OF CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D3/00—Tobacco smoke filters, e.g. filter tips or filtering inserts; Filters specially adapted for simulated smoking devices; Mouthpieces of cigars or cigarettes
  • A24D3/06—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters
  • A24D3/16—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters of inorganic materials
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24D—CIGARS; CIGARETTES; TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS; MOUTHPIECES OF CIGARS OR CIGARETTES; MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO SMOKE FILTERS OR MOUTHPIECES
  • A24D3/00—Tobacco smoke filters, e.g. filter tips or filtering inserts; Filters specially adapted for simulated smoking devices; Mouthpieces of cigars or cigarettes
  • A24D3/06—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters
  • A24D3/16—Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters of inorganic materials
  • A24D3/163—Carbon

Definitions

• the present invention relates to degradable cigarette filters, and more particularly to shaped fibers made from degradable materials and the use of such shaped fibers in cigarette filters.
• Conventional cigarette filter plugs are made of cellulose acetate fibers bonded to each other by triacetin. After smoking, the spent filters are sometimes discarded in the environment. The cellulose acetate filaments therein tend to degrade slower than tobacco and/or the paper parts of the cigarettes, often contributing to the litter in the environment. To reduce such litter, there is a need to replace cellulose acetate filaments in cigarette filters with materials that degrade faster than cellulose acetate in the environment. At the same time, there is also a need to retain the filtration chemistry, smoke characteristics and consumer acceptability from the cellulose acetate triacetin systems.
• a cigarette filter produced from biodegradable materials formed into fibers with designed cross sectional shapes.
• Another object of the present invention is a cigarette filter of biodegradable shaped fibers with increased surface area and reduced overall material per filter.
• Still another object of the present invention is a cigarette filter of biodegradable shaped fibers having micro cavities therein for retaining flavorants and adsorbents for favor delivery and selective filtration.
• a biodegradable cigarette filter comprises shaped fibers of PHBV.
• the fibers may have designed shapes in cross section that include Y, V, C, Triad, 4-DG and JC shapes.
• the shaped fiber may include micro cavities with adsorbents and/or flavorants in the cavities.
• Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of a shaped biodegradable fiber having a Y shape
• Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of a shaped biodegradable fiber having a V shape
• Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of a shaped biodegradable fiber having a C shape
• Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of a shaped biodegradable fiber having a Triad shape
• Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of a shaped biodegradable fiber having a 4-DG shape
• Figure 6 is a cross sectional view of a shaped biodegradable fiber having a JC shape.
• the cigarette filters of the present invention may be made of sheets, films, fiber bands, yarns, or non-wovens from biodegradable materials such as paper (wood pulps), wool, cellulose acetate with lower acetylating levels, starch, and starch based polymer composites, cotton, polyactic acid, polyvinyl alcohol, polyhyroxyalkanoates, polyesters, polyesteramides, polycaprolactones, un-stabilized polypropylene, micro-glass materials, and their combinations.
• the biodegradable materials can be spun into fibers by melt spinning, dry spinning, wet spinning, electro spinning or any other known process into fibers.
• PHBV Polyhydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate
• aliphatic aromatic polyester such as Ecoflex, PBS (poly butylenes succinate), d-, 1-, and dl- PLA (polyactic acid) and starch composites
• Ecoflex poly butylenes succinate
• d-, 1-, and dl- PLA polyactic acid
• starch composites have been successfully spun into round cross section fibers by melt spinning process.
• the filter fibers herein have improved cross sectional shapes. These shaped fibers are formed into filters and used in reduced litter cigarettes.
• the cross section of the fibers may be controlled by the shapes of the die used in the spinning processes.
• the cross section of the fibers may be modified to Y, V, C, Triad, 4-DG, or JC by using appropriate dies in the melt spinning process.
• Other fiber cross sections that have been reported in the literature such as those in U.S. Patent 6,907,895 are included herein by reference.
• single or multi-strands of these shaped fibers from single or multiple components may be drawn and crimped into tow bands, or the strands of these shaped fibers made of faster degradable materials can be combined with cellulose acetate fibers to form a joint tow bands during the cigarette filter making process.
• nonwovens from the above fibers can be produced from melt-blown, spun bonded, needle punched/felt, wet-laid, air-laid and other processes and then processed into cigarette filters by processes of rolling, folding or shredding.
• Appropriate amounts of a bonding/hardening agent may be applied onto the fibers in the filters as needed for firmness and smoke subjective adjustment.
• Adsorbents such as carbon granules and flavorants such as menthol can be impregnated into the micro cavities of the shaped fibers as well.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Biodiversity & Conservation Biology (AREA)
• Cigarettes, Filters, And Manufacturing Of Filters (AREA)
• Artificial Filaments (AREA)
• Nonwoven Fabrics (AREA)
• Filtering Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=40304985

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (11)

Families Citing this family (33)

Family Cites Families (12)

• 2008
  • 2008-07-31 MX MX2010001248A patent/MX2010001248A/es not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2008-07-31 CN CN200880024688A patent/CN101742932A/zh active Pending
  • 2008-07-31 KR KR1020097027544A patent/KR20100045412A/ko not_active Withdrawn
  • 2008-07-31 WO PCT/IB2008/002793 patent/WO2009016513A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2008-07-31 US US12/183,470 patent/US20090032037A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2008-07-31 AU AU2008281436A patent/AU2008281436A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2008-07-31 JP JP2010518776A patent/JP2010535024A/ja active Pending
  • 2008-07-31 BR BRPI0815065-6A2A patent/BRPI0815065A2/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2008-07-31 EA EA201070199A patent/EA201070199A1/ru unknown
  • 2008-07-31 EP EP08826746A patent/EP2170110A2/en not_active Withdrawn
• 2010
  • 2010-03-01 CO CO10024065A patent/CO6160279A2/es unknown

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events