Tobacco Documents Online

15 4,632,131 16 application of Method A from about 25-35 wL % at the die exit to about 12-15 wt. %. In the applicution of Method B, the water content of the rupe of strands is desirably redue.~[ from about 20-35 wt. % at the die exit to about 12-15 wt. %. After drying, the rope may be wrapped, cut, and tipped with a filter to produce a cigurcttc as shown in FIG. S. Cigarette 34 comprises tobacco rod 38 and fdter FIG. 9 is an end view of tob~coo rod 38 of ~. Passageways 44 lie between strands 32. Th© ciroum- fuence of s~ands 3~ ~ not complexly citcul~ of defonnabon at the po~ts of contact (~nd adherence) of the strands to one another. Bec~me of mJcrovari~tio, in the compo~on and panicle s~.es of tbe mi~t~e e~;ng each hole of tl~ die • -d bec~nse of mJcrov~iafioas in the p~ss~ just ups~e~m of each die hole, the extruded, foa~:d smmds in the prefe~.-d embod~n~ ha~ ~nerally smoo~ but slightly irregular surfaces. The irregularity is typic.~iy random and a principal cause of the randonmess of contact of adjacent strands. Normally, the contact curs almost immad~tely after the strands leave the die, and because of the tackiness of the materi~l, adherence is immediate upon contsc~ If the strands do not expand sufficiency (~g., because of over- or unde~vorking or too much or too little waXer) or if the material does not have sufcient u~kiness (e.g., because the re'ands are too dry, too cold, or the binder is not setisfa~ory), the desired contact and adherence will not occur and the 30 m~icle will not have the desired network of passage- ways without post-cxtro~on processing. "Une holes of the die should not be too far apart, other- wise ~e extruded strands ~ not be able to oon~act on another soon enough aher leaving the die for s~cient 35 adherence to occur. If the velocity of the exiting strands is too high, the strands may cool too much before they can contact and adhere sufficiently to one another. Also, the linear ve]oC~y of the strands exiting the die should be substantially uniform so that there is as little ~0 linear motion of the strands with respect to one another as possible. To achieve this uniform velocity may re- quire the die having holes of different sizes, depending on the particular extruder used and its par~uinr pres. sure profde just up~'weam of the die. In accordance w~th the post-extrasion processing of the strands, the spacing of the holes and the temperature of the strm~ds as exu'uded may be less importer for causing the strands to edhere to encli other because heat sufficient to cause the su~nds to become tacky and adhere is imparted to the product while it is heated in the drying chamber or, in other circumstances, an edhe- sire or other manufacturing condition is applied to cause the adjacent strands to adhere to one another. FIG. I0 is an ealurg~d view of a portion of tobacco rod 38 having wrapping paper ~0, coal 42, and p~sage. 5 ways 44. Arrow 48 indicares the flow of smoke to the end of the ¢igaret~e proximal to the ~moker. When that smoke reaches ~n urea of adherence 46 of one strand to another, the smoke finds passageway 44 blocked and may travel towards the smoker as indicated by arrows Other extruding equipment and conditions were used and, for the same or similar conditions, resulted in poorer resuits as measured by some producx lnrameters. For example, msufficien~ m/xing, inadequate foaming, 15 and a feathe~'ed exterior appearance occurred in some instances. The inventors bcUeve that the results re~'ited herein are exemplary of their invention and that the poorer results occasionally obtmned should be viewed as aberrational results due to equipment llmltanons. 2O F.xample I To illustrate preparation of smoking articles within this invention, the preferred extruding composition was prepared and ex~'uded in ancord~qce with Method 25 That composition was made by fws~ dry blending 90 wL %: Tobacco dust 5 w~. %: Hydroxypropyl cellulose (Khicel(~ HF from Hercules, Inc.) 2.5 w~. %: C.arboxymethy! ce~ulose (CMC ? HF from Hercules, Inc.) 2.5 v,,~. %: S~arch (Lincoln pre-gelatinized corn ce- real binder #20IF. from Lincoln Grain, Inc. in Atchison, Kan.) and }oading that mixture into the teed hopper of a pre- ferred extruder, the Wenger X20 unit described above. The tobacco dns~ was a mixture of barley, brighh and oriental tobacco particles, essentially all of which were less than 80 mesh in size. The extruder feeder speed was set ~t rpm, wh/¢h corresponds to about 136 pounds per hour of dry mix. rare, and the mixing cylinder speed was set at 300 rpm. To show the effect on product properties of the mount of water used in making the wet blend, the effvcl of extruder harr~ ~emper~mre, and the eff~c~ o~r variations i~ extruder speed (working of the mixture), compara- tive runs were also pedormed. I~ all rims the Wenger X20 unit, the preferred die, and a | inch spacer betwee~ Zone 6 ~ the die were The extracted ropes (if formed) were dried, wrapped (if possible), cut to rods 63 nun in length, and joined to a fdter (ff potable). "i'be run conditions and results are shown in the table below. TABLE I ~91 $91A .591B 59|C 591~ 591E $91F 5910 ~91H 5911 ZOne 2 |21 10g 10~ ~1 IOI 10l I I I I~ l~ 114 ~ 3 129 125 I~ 142 In2 142 In3 143 143 tat ~ ~ I~ 192 I~ Ill I~l I~l I~ J~ I~ J~ ~ 57.5 ~ ~ ~4 ~ ~ fl~ 62 ~ ~8 ~ ~ ~ ~ 19 19 19 19 19 19 ~ ~e of cx~ ~.4 27.9 .... 36.5 ~0 29.6 35.5 R~ 8~ d~ ~ l~r I~ 126 .... !~ 135 132 126

17 4,632,131 TABLE I-c~nfiflu~d 18 Zone2 il6 tl6 !n~ |~3 158 Ze~e $ 11~ I~ i~ 131 J~ 08 ~4 112 ll6 I~ i~ 113 ~ (~ O~ m ~ Y~ -- Y~ Y~ -- y~ ~ht (8) Q.9S9 -- 1J)53 ~ (m~) 7.3.61 -- 24.18 ~3.~ RTD with moeptal~? Yes -- Yes Yes No Yes 136 IlO 24S ~8 32.5 Runs $91 and $91A-I show that e~the~ t~3 much ($91C, D, D) ~ ~ U~e w~ (S91B) ~ ~e ~ m ~e ~e f~ ~ m ~r~~r~ ~ of ~e ~ s~ ~n .of R~ ~91 ~ ~91J-N ~ow ~ ~ m~h ~g (591K) of ~e ~ m ~e ~ p~ ~ ~ ~- /or ~on of ~e ~. A mo~ p~ ~ ~ ~ ~y av~- The scows were rotated se ~smbe 9~" out of plmse to prevont inter~efln8 with es~h other and to provide a mlermu:e between the screws ¢~" about S0/64 nm~ The MPF~OD (or MPF5OL). Baker-Perk~ is located in ~,5 Baker.Perkim crinkle: bat mullipie feed ports 81on8 its The following e~amples were ex~uded in n Baker- a~rew leag~ measured from theextrmion end (die), the Perkins twin scre~ extrude~, Model MPF-~0D, havi~g ~0 water used m prehydrate the binder was added at a n 1263.6 mm long extrusion chamber, wherein the two distance 12:1 (L/D) from the die, and the toba~o dust 0

4,632,131 19 2O • 'a°', made in accordencc with M,.thod A0 could not produce a uuisfactor7 product with a le~er amount of water or a lesser amount of binder than used in examp|c. We claim: 1. An extruded, coherent, mu]tistrand, tobacco-con- ~*ini~g, genera/ly cylindrical smoking article compm- inS a plurality of cc~xtn~ed strands that extend gener- ally along the longitude of the smoking article and are adhered to one ,nother so m to leave flow pamageways berween ~e ~r~d~, which pasmgeways exte~ ally along thc Jong~2de of the ~mokin8 article, the co~iguration of the 8wands and passageway~ pro',,~dmg sufficient heat u'amfer inca or su~cient residence l~ne or both for the hot gamin drawn toward~ the proximul end of the smoking article by a ~moker to cool sad to exit the proximaJ end at a comfortable mmperamre for the smoker, the smoking article also comprising (a) from about 5 to about 98 wt. % of tobacco panicles having aJ~ficl© size of up to about 5 me~h, (b) from 0 to.~.._~xm~2~t. % of a filler having a particle size of up to ~bout3~JU ~ (¢) from 0 to ab<mt I w~ % of, resid* ua] foaming agent other than water, (d) from abcmt 2 to about 40 wt. % of a binder selected from the group cons~sfag of cellulosic bmden, aatur~ binders, modi. ~ ~atural binder, synthetic binders, and mixtures thereof, and (e) from about 5 to ~oout 20 w~ % water, the an~c]e having a demity with/n the range of from about 0.05 to about 1.$ g/cc. 2. The smoking art/cle of claim 1 wherein the f~er is selected from the group comi.~ing of calcium carbon. aw., magnesium carbom~, calcium o~le, oxide, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, me- talfic siuminum, ~umin~ hydmmd tlumim, clay, tilica, 3. The smoking article of claim 1 wherein the |mi¢ binder included in the mixture in m amouat from about 0 to about 40 wt. ~, is selected from the group consisting of hydroxypmpy] celluk~se, carboxymethyl ce.llu|me and its ammonium, sodium, and potsminm sal~, crces-linked carboxymethyl cellulose and its am. mon/um, sodimn, and potassium salts, hydroxyethyl e.~.l]~o~, ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, ethyl ce.llulos¢, and mixr~es thereof. 4. The smok/ng article of claim I wherein the natural binde~ modified m~ b~de~ ~d synthetic binders included in the mixture in an tmoun! from 0 to about 40 w~_ % are selected from the group consist/rig of pectin and i~ sodium, po**_uium, and ammon/um salt~ 8wr and derivat/ves thereof, hemk~lulme, xanthan. potassium, and tmmoninm salts, micr0crymlltue 25 I~ dext~, dex~, fi~m ~, ~f. S. ~e ~o~g ~ of ~ 1 ~ ~ b ~mc ~d or a ~ 35 f~ a~ut 0.1 to ~u~ ~ ~ % of a ~g ~: ~ ~ ~ ~up ~ of ~, ~t~ relume ~ ~f, ~ ~ ~. 9. ~o~ of~ I w~ ~ ~lm ~p~ a~ut 25 w ~t 98 ~g~e ~d m~ ~e ~m~ve mw~ ~e ~ ~ of ~ ~o~g ~e by fo~le ~ f~ ~ mo~, (a) ~g tog~ ~ ~ut ~ 0 m a~m ~ ~. % ~ a f~ ~y ~lv~t or v~ o~ ~ ~, f~ ~ut 2 ma~ut ~ ~ %ofa~~ of wa~

21 4,632,131 (b) e~oding the wet bk~d from sup (a) through • ~ ~ a pl~ of~i~ W f~ a pl~ of ~ a ~ ~ 1.5 ~ ~ ~ ~ of m~t ~ ~ ~ou~ ~ ~ m ~ ~W ~e~g ~of~e hot ~ ~of~ 10w~~) ~ ~p~~~bl~~ ~e ~ 14.~m~~ ~w~e~" ~. ~ of~ 10 w~ ~) ~ ~ ~g ~ ~ bi~ ~ ~ (a) 17. ~ m~ of~ 16 wh~ !~. ~ m~ ofc~ 10 ~g ~e ~ ~ o~ ~ 4~ ~. ~~ 10 w~~ ~ ~ ~ ~e ~~of~~ ~. ~ ~ 21.~~ 10w~~- im~ d~ dextri~ fibrous cetlul¢~ aad thereof. Z~. The method of claim 10 wherein in step (a), from about 0.1 mabom40wt %of a c~-linkiag or stiffen- ing ageat selected from the group ¢xmahliag of alginic a~id, casboxymethy| chitin, pectini~ acid, chJto~n, water soluble salts the~of, aad nfi~m~ thereof, is ~. The method of claim 10 wherein in step (a) from about 2 to about 40 wt % of an ak:ohol selected from the group comisting of ethanol, methanol, iscpmptnol, n-propenol, and ~ thet~eof is included in the mi~- ~t. The me,hod of claim I0 when~n in ~p (a) the tobacco particle~ comp~e from about ~0 to about 98 w~ % of the mixtm~ ~. A smoking article predeced acc~ling to the method of c.]~m ~. The method of clai~ 10 wherein uep (*) fun~ comprises: (1) dry blending (i) frma about 5 to about 9~ wt %of tobw.co p~c~ hav~ • pmicle me of up to about ~ mesh and an OV value of from about 3 to about 20% with ('fi) from 0 to about 60 wt. % of a filler havi~ a partic~ ~i~e of up to about 3~0 ~tm, (fii) from 0 to about ~0 w~. % of • foaming agent incledi~ ray mlveat or vehicle othe~ than watt, and (iv) from about 2 to about 40 wt. % of a bind~ ~.lec~d from the group cemisting of cellulmic *ynthetk: biade~ and mixtures thereof; tad (2) admim8 the d~ bleed from ~tep (a) with w~er to form a wet blend comainia$ from about 15 to about ~0 w~ % of water. 27. The method of claim ~6 when~ in ~ep (1) from aboot 0.1 to abou, i~ wt. % ofa polyflmctioeal acid or it~ ammonimn, ~E~m, ~md po~um ~u i~ ~. T~¢ ~ of ~ 27 w]~'~ ~ polyhmoo 6onal ~id is ~ric scid o~ a citra~ ~. The method of ~ ~ whe~in the ~ acid b phosphoric acid or a phosphate. 3e. The method of clabn ~ wherein in ~-p (1), from about 0.I to about 40 w~ % ofa cm~-liaking or stiffea- i~ aSent ~ted from the ~roup ~ of water soluble ~ thereof, mui mixtere~ thereof, is SL The method of claim ~ wherein in ~p (l) from about 2 to about 40 wt. % of an alcohol telected from the Ooep ~ of ettm~ol, me~aol, impropaaol, blead. SZ The method of claim ~ whenda ia ~ep (a) the wt. ~ of the d~ blind. method of ckim ~. ~4. The method of ekim le wherein ~-p (a) furthe~ (1) d~ t/~adiag from about 5 to about 95 w. % of about 5 mmh and aa OV value of fvma about 3 to about 20~ with from O to abom ~ wt % of a filler haviag • l~rticJe me of up to about 350 ~n and

4,632,131 from 0 to about 50 wt. % of a foaming agent includ- ing any solvent or v~e o~ ~ wa~ (2) ~y~g ~m ~ut 2 ~ ~ut ~ ~. % of n ~ ~ ~ ~e ~p ~g of ~llu- l~c ~de~ ~ ~d~ ~ ~t~ (3) ~g ~e d~ bl~d fr~ ~ (l) ~ ~e ~ehydm~ b~der f~ ~ (2) to fo~ a wet bl~d ~ f~ ~ut 15 to a~ut ~ ~. ~ of ~t~. ~, ~e ~ ofc~ ~ wh~ k ~ (1) ~ ~t 0.1 m ~at 15 ~. ~ of~ ~~ ~d or • e ~ ~1~. ~, ~e m~ ~ ~ 3S w~ ~e ~l~c- ~ ~ k p~ho~ ~ or a p~p~. ~. ~e ~ ofc~ ~ wh~ k ~ (I), f~ a~ut O.! m a~m ~ ~, % of a ~8 ~ ~, ~x~¢~yl, ~ ~c ~ ~ water soluble salts therenf, ~nd mixtures thereof, is included in the dry blend. 39. The method of claim ~ whenfin in step (1) from about 2 to about 40 wt. % of an alcohol selected from ~ the group consisting of ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, n-propaaol, and mixtures thereof is included in the dry blend. 40. The method of claim 34 wherein in step (I) the tobacco pa~cles compme from about ~0 to about 98 10 wL % of the dry blend. 41. A s~oklng a~ide pr~uc~d acoording to the method of claim ~4. 42. The method of c]a~ 34 whe~i~ ~ re, flyby ¢,~" portio~ of the martials in ~ (2) in ~ uahydrat~l t~ state, is ~ldod to and dry b]cadod with the dry b]agl of step (~) to reduce the ~ of the pre, hydr~t~d ~d~ from ~ (2) ~d to reduce th~ tead~cy of the prehyd~ted binder to stick to the ~g ~ menL 20 43. The m~hod of ~ishn 34 whe~in step (2) fm'ther includes adding from about 0 to about $.0 wt. % of the 3S 4~ $$

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT N0. : 4,632,131 DATED : December 30, 1986 INVENTOR(S): Burnett et al. It is certified that error appear~ in the above-identified patent and that said Letter~ Patent is hereby corrected as shown below: Column 15, line 34, "on" should be --one--; Column 16, line 39, before "RPM" insert --i0--; Column 17, line 37, "(591C, D, D)" should be --(591C, D, E)-~ Column 18, line 46, "auxillary" should be --auxiliary--. Signed and Sealed this Seventh Day of July, 1987 DONALD J. "QUI~ O O