Smoking article with improved delivery profile

• US 20070186945A1
• Filed: 12/20/2006
• Published: 08/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Philip Morris USA Incorporated (Altria Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Philip Morris USA Incorporated (Altria Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Olegario, Raquel, Braunshteyn, Mike, Yoss, Gail, Lyons-Hart, Jim
• Granted Patent: US 8,240,315 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 131/362
• CPC Class Codes: A24D 1/00 Cigars; Cigarettes
• CPC Class Codes: A24D 1/045 with smoke filter means A24D1/047 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A24D 3/06 Use of materials for tobacco smoke filters
• CPC Class Codes: A24D 3/163 Carbon

Abstract

A smoking article, which provides lower amounts of total particulate matter in a latter portion of its puff count, includes a cylinder of smoking material, a combustible hollow tube within the cylinder of smoking material, and a heat sink at a downstream end of the hollow tube. The smoking article also includes a filter system attached to the cylinder of smoking material having a sorbent material and at least one downstream segment of filtering material.

Claims

1. A smoking article comprising:

a cylinder of smoking material;

a hollow tube within the cylinder of smoking material;

a heat sink at a downstream end of the hollow tube; and

a filter system attached to the cylinder of smoking material, the filtering system comprising a sorbent material and at least one downstream segment of filtering material.

2. The smoking article of claim 1, further comprising a gap between the downstream end of the hollow tube and the heat sink.

3. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the sorbent material is an activated carbon material.

4. The smoking article of claim 3, wherein the activated carbon material comprises an activated carbon composition mixed with cellulose acetate fibers.

5. The smoking article of claim 1, further comprising a segment of cellulose acetate tow on an upstream side of the sorbent material.

6. The smoking article of claim 1, further comprising a substrate containing an aerosol former on an upstream side of the sorbent material.

7. The smoking article of claim 6, wherein heat from the hollow tube distills the aerosol former.

8. The smoking article of claim 6, wherein the aerosol former is encapsulated within an impermeable material.

9. The smoking article of claim 6, wherein the aerosol former is selected from a group comprising glycerin, propylene, glycol, triacetin citrate, propylene carbonate and triethyl.

10. The smoking article of claim 6, wherein the substrate is a fibrous material.

11. The smoking article of claim 10, wherein the fibrous material is selected from a group comprising crimped paper, modified celluloses, carbon felts and foams, or encapsulated aerosol formers.

12. The smoking articles of claim 1, wherein the hollow tube has an inner diameter of about 2.0 and 3.0 millimeters.

13. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the filtering material is cellulose acetate tow.

14. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the sorbent material is surrounded by a segment of cellulose acetate tow on each side of the sorbent material.

15. The smoking article of claim 1, further comprising smoking material between an upstream end of the hollow tube and an upstream end of the cylinder of smoking material.

16. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the heat sink is a substrate containing an aerosol former.

17. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein heat is convectively transferred with smoke from a lit end of the cylinder of smoking material through the hollow tube to a mouth end of the cylinder of smoking material in each puff.

18. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the sorbent material has an upstream air gap and a downstream air gap between the heat sink and the at least one downstream segment of filtering material.

19. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the heat sink is a segment of smoking material.

20. A smoking article comprising:

a cylinder of smoking material;

a hollow tube within the cylinder of smoking material and having a heat sink at a downstream end thereof; and

a filter system attached to the cylinder of smoking material, the filtering system comprising a substrate containing an aerosol former.

21. The smoking article of claim 20, further comprising a gap between the downstream end of the hollow tube and the heat sink.

22. The smoking article of claim 20, further comprising a sorbent material on a downstream side of the substrate containing the aerosol former.

23. The smoking article of claim 22, wherein the sorbent material is an activated carbon material.

24. The smoking article of claim 23, wherein the activated carbon material comprises an activated carbon composition mixed with cellulose acetate fibers.

25. The smoking article of claim 20, wherein the aerosol former is selected from a group comprising glycerin, propylene, glycol, triacetin, propylene carbonate and triethyl.

26. The smoking article of claim 20, wherein the substrate is a fibrous material.

27. A smoking article comprising:

a tobacco rod ignitable to form a coal;

a filter in cooperative relation with said tobacco rod;

said tobacco rod comprising;

a fully filled rod portion adjacent a free end of said tobacco rod; and

a hollow, partially filled, rod portion located between said free end and said filter;

such that tar delivery per puff is reduced as a coal progresses from said fully filled rod portion into said hollow, partially filled, rod portion.

28. A method of making a smoking article, comprising:

forming a tobacco rod portion of the smoking article by placing smoking material between a hollow tube and an outer layer of wrapper paper;

forming a filter system of the smoking article having a plurality of segments comprising a heat sink segment and at least one filtering material segment; and

joining said tobacco rod portion in end-to-end relationship with the filter system.

29. A method of generating from a smoking article a smoke of enhanced perceived strength by altering the puff count profile of the smoking article to have stronger per puff delivery along one or more first puffs by spacing a hollow tobacco rod portion in a spaced relation away from a fully filled tip portion of the smoking article.