Tobacco reconstitution
First Claim
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1. A method of handling an extruded reconstituted tobacco filament downstream of die means through which said filament is being extruded, wherein said filament is transferred in a direction longitudinal of said filament away from said die by pneumatic conveyance means, said conveyance means effecting draw down of said filament such that the cross-sectional dimensions of said filament are reduced.
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Abstract
The invention relates to the extrusion of filamentary strands of reconstituted tobacco through a die plate and the downstream handling thereof. The die plate is configured such that each filament is of a square or rectangular cross-section, the downstream handling of which effects draw down of the extruded filament.
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46 Claims
- 1. A method of handling an extruded reconstituted tobacco filament downstream of die means through which said filament is being extruded, wherein said filament is transferred in a direction longitudinal of said filament away from said die by pneumatic conveyance means, said conveyance means effecting draw down of said filament such that the cross-sectional dimensions of said filament are reduced.
- 24. An extruder die plate comprising die orifices, said die orifices being of a generally square or rectangular configuration, and the sides of the square or rectangle being concave.
- 28. An extruded reconstituted tobacco filament, wherein said filament is of a substantially rectangular or square cross-section.
- 32. A filamentary reconstituted tobacco product consisting of lengths of a filament comprising a cellular interior and an integral skin extending over, when the filament is of a square or oblong cross-section, at least the four longitudinal sides of the filament.
- 40. An extruded filamentary tobacco pneumatic conveyance means comprising in combination gaseous medium transfer means and duct means, the transfer means being operable to cause transfer of gaseous medium, as a continuous flow thereof, through the duct means, and an extruder comprising a die plate arranged to produce a plurality of filaments, wherein the inlet end of said duct means is positioned adjacent to said extruder die plate such that when said filaments emerge from the die orifice, said filaments are readily transferred in a direction longitudinal of said filaments away from said die plate under the action of said continuous flow of gaseous medium through said duct means, wherein a plurality of filaments are able to travel side-by-side of one another through said duct, said conveyance means effecting draw down of said filament such that the cross-sectional dimensions of said filament are reduced.
Specification