Tobacco filter and method of removing impurities from tobacco smoke
First Claim
1. A filter for tobacco smoke comprising an axially extending hollow body portion, a porous filter tip coaxially carried at one end of said hollow body and intended to be placed into the mouth of a smoker, a cigarette holding part coaxially connected with the other end of said hollow body for receiving and holding a cigarette to be smoked, said cigarette holding part is cylindrically shaped having an inside diameter approximately equal to the outside diameter of a cigarette to be inserted thereinto, said cigarette holding part having an open end for receiving one end of the cigarette, a solid impermeable hit-stick coaxially positioned within said body portion and having an axial length extending for at least a major portion of the axial length of said body portion and an outer diameter less than the inside diameter of said hollow body portion thereby forming a ring-like passage between the inside wall surface of said body portion and the outer surface of said hit-stick, a support projection coaxially extending from one end of said hit-stick and firmly attached to the central part of said porous filter tip, a porous intermediate filter having a shape substantially the same as said ring-like passage and positioned between the ends of said hit-stick, the radially inner wall of said intermediate filter tightly surrounding said hit-stick and the radially outer wall thereof tightly abutting against the inside wall surface of said hollow body portion thereby extending transversely across the entire said ring-like passage and dividing said ring-like passage into first and second interior chambers located adjacent the filter tip side and the cigarette holding part side respectively, and a plurality of nozzle holes formed in the wall of said hollow body portion and extending into said first and second chambers providing means for drawing cool outside air into said ring-like passage in violent jets to engage cigarette smoke passing therethrough for extracting impurities therefrom.
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Abstract
A tobacco filter having a hollow cylindrical body which is preferably transparent, is provided with a plurality of small holes in its outer wall, and with a solid impermeable hit-stick coaxially positioned within the hollow body. A porous annular-shaped filter element surrounds the axial mid-part of the hit-stick. Impurities in tobacco smoke are removed by a process of hit-sticking extraction in the form of numerous black dots on the surface of the hit-stick as well as the result of automatic, rapid self-liquefication of the filter element. At one end of the hollow cylindrical body a filter tip is positioned to be held in the mouth of the smoker, and at the other end is a cigarette holding part for receiving and holding a conventional cigarette. The hit-sticking extraction results from air jets being drawn into an annularly shaped passageway located between the outer surface of the hit-stick and the inside surface of the hollow cylindrical body and through which smoke flows axially as the smoker draws on the filter.
135 Citations
37 Claims
- 1. A filter for tobacco smoke comprising an axially extending hollow body portion, a porous filter tip coaxially carried at one end of said hollow body and intended to be placed into the mouth of a smoker, a cigarette holding part coaxially connected with the other end of said hollow body for receiving and holding a cigarette to be smoked, said cigarette holding part is cylindrically shaped having an inside diameter approximately equal to the outside diameter of a cigarette to be inserted thereinto, said cigarette holding part having an open end for receiving one end of the cigarette, a solid impermeable hit-stick coaxially positioned within said body portion and having an axial length extending for at least a major portion of the axial length of said body portion and an outer diameter less than the inside diameter of said hollow body portion thereby forming a ring-like passage between the inside wall surface of said body portion and the outer surface of said hit-stick, a support projection coaxially extending from one end of said hit-stick and firmly attached to the central part of said porous filter tip, a porous intermediate filter having a shape substantially the same as said ring-like passage and positioned between the ends of said hit-stick, the radially inner wall of said intermediate filter tightly surrounding said hit-stick and the radially outer wall thereof tightly abutting against the inside wall surface of said hollow body portion thereby extending transversely across the entire said ring-like passage and dividing said ring-like passage into first and second interior chambers located adjacent the filter tip side and the cigarette holding part side respectively, and a plurality of nozzle holes formed in the wall of said hollow body portion and extending into said first and second chambers providing means for drawing cool outside air into said ring-like passage in violent jets to engage cigarette smoke passing therethrough for extracting impurities therefrom.
- 30. A tobacco smoke filter comprising an axially elongated hollow cylindrical body, a solid impermeable body coaxially positioned within said hollow cylindrical body with the outer surface of said solid body spaced inwardly from the inner surface of said hollow body and forming therebetween a ring-shaped smoke passage within said hollow body, said passageway having a cross-sectional area which is less than the cross-sectional area of a conventional cigarette filter tip, an annular porous filter element positioned within and filling the entire transverse cross-sectional area of said ring-shaped passageway and encircling said solid impermeable body whereby the amount of smoke passing through said porous filter element per unit of cross-sectional area and per unit of time is larger than that for the conventional cigarette filter tip, said porous filter element having an axial length less than 15 mm which is the length of conventional cigarette filter tips whereby the volume of said porous filter element is less than the volume of conventional filter tips and because of the shorter length the mean density of a given amount of impurities trapped inside said porous filter element is higher than a comparable amount of that within a conventional filter tip after diffusion, a plurality of holes formed in said hollow cylindrical body opening into said ring-shaped passage and said holes located along the axial length of said hollow body on both sides of said porous filter element, whereby ambient air drawn through the holes into said ring-shaped passage produces air jets which violently engage tobacco smoke within said ring-shaped passage before it passes through said porous filter element causing the temperature of the air-smoke mixture to instantaneously cool down to a point where a portion of the component substances of the tobacco smoke including tars, nicotine and water vapor reach their dew points and liquefy, enabling the liquefied components to be trapped easier within said porous filter element than when they are in the gaseous state.
- 33. A method of extracting undesirable impurities from tobacco smoke comprising the steps of passing the tobacco smoke through an annularly shaped passageway in the axial direction thereof, arranging a solid impermeable hit-stick forming the inner surface of the annularly shaped passageway so that the smoke passing through the passageway flows axially therethrough over the surface of the solid impermeable hit-stick and arranging the surface of the hit-stick to provide optimum deposition thereon, drawing ambient air into the passageway in the direction extending transversely of the axial direction thereof for forming violent jets of air through a plurality of holes in the outside wall of the passageway and adjusting the number, shape and size of the holes to provide jets of air for striking the smoke in an effective and powerful manner and directing the jets of air inwardly toward the surface of the solid impermeable hit-stick, hitting the smoke in the passageway with the jets of air and depositing impurities in the smoke on the surface of the solid impermeable hit-stick so that the impurities deposit on the surface in the form of clearly visible black colored dots.
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36. A method of filtering impurities out of a gaseous substance comprising the steps of forming an axially extending passageway, positioning a solid impermeable member coaxially within said passageway with the outer surface thereof radially inward of the outer surface of the passageway so that the passageway is annular in shape, flowing a gaseous substance containing gaseous impurities axially through the annular passageway, introducing jets of air flowing into the annular passageway transversely of the axial direction thereof for violent mixing with the gaseous substance, cooling the gaseous substance with the air so that at least certain of the gaseous impurities liquefy, depositing impurities from the gaseous substance on the surface of the solid impermeable member, flowing the liquefied impurities and the air-gaseous substance through a dry filter substance which completely fills the annular passageway for liquefying the filter substance whereby the ability of the filter increases exponentially owing to the presence of the trapped liquefied impurities in the filter.
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37. A method of extracting undesirable impurities from tobacco smoke comprising the steps of passing the tobacco smoke through an annularly shaped passageway in the axial direction thereof, arranging a solid impermeable hit-stick forming the inner surface of the annularly shaped passageway so that the smoke passing through the passageway flows axially therethrough over the surface of the solid impermeable hit-stick and arranging the surface of the hit-stick to provide optimum deposition thereon, drawing ambient air into the passageway in the direction extending obliquely of the axial direction thereof for forming jets of air through a plurality of holes in the outside wall of the passageway and adjusting the number, shape and size of the holes to provide jets of air for striking the smoke in an effective and powerful manner and directing the jets of air inwardly toward the surface of the solid impermeable hit-stick for striking the surface of the hit-stick obliquely of the axial direction thereof, hitting the smoke in the passageway with the jets of air and depositing impurities in the smoke on the surface of the solid impermable hit-stick so that the impurities deposit on the surface in the form of clearly visible black colored dots.
Specification