By way of instance, tobacco stems could also be floor to a fantastic powder and then mixed with tobacco dust, guar gum, and water to form an aqueous slurry. This aqueous slurry may be forged and dried to kind a reconstituted tobacco sheet. As an alternative, suitable tobacco materials may be mixed in an agitated tank with water to obtain a pulp. This web is fed onwards to a press, the place the excess water is squeezed out of the web. Figure 13 illustrates an equipment 30 for the manufacture of a tobacco reduce filler in accordance with the present invention. A internet 32 of reconstituted tobacco having a thickness T is unwound off a bobbin 34 and fed to a shredding system 36.
Sensors forty and mass move controllers 42, 44, if current, are operatively connected with a management unit forty six configured to manage the operation of the equipment. In particular, the control unit forty six adjusts the velocity to the conveyor belt 38 in view of variations within the velocity at which the net of reconstituted tobacco is fed to the shredding gadget 36, in order to prevent any undesirable accumulation of cut strips on the conveyor belt. By finely controlling the size and shape of the strips into which the first tobacco material is reduce or shredded, the features of the first tobacco materials can advantageously be higher preserved whenever the first tobacco material is mixed, in the shredded state, with any other tobacco material. This is particularly advantageous when the primary tobacco materials is a pre-processed tobacco material, similar to a reconstituted tobacco sheet material. The “thickness” of a reduce strip of tobacco materials for incorporation in minimize fillers based on the present invention refers again to the distance between an higher surface and a lower floor of the portion of fabric forming the minimize strip.
Even extra preferably, the primary tobacco materials is shredded into strips from a sheet material having a thickness of at least about zero.2 mm. In addition, or in its place, the primary tobacco material is ideally shredded into strips from a sheet materials having a thickness of less than about 1 mm. More ideally, the first tobacco material is shredded into strips from a sheet material having a thickness of less than about zero.ninety five mm. Even more preferably, the primary tobacco material is shredded into strips from a sheet material having a thickness of lower than about 0.eighty five mm.
In most popular embodiments, the primary tobacco material is shredded into strips from a sheet materials having a thickness from about 0.05 mm to about 1 mm. Even extra preferably, the primary tobacco materials is shredded into strips from a sheet materials having a thickness from about 0.1 mm to about zero.three mm, most preferably from a sheet materials having a thickness of about zero.2 mm. A tobacco reduce filler in accordance with any certainly one of claims 1 to 9, whereby the primary Filling cut tobacco tobacco materials is shredded into strips each comprising at least a first strip structure comprising a branching node from which an additional strip construction branches off, forming an angle with the first strip construction. Figures 10 and 12 show two examples of minimize strips together with one or more V-shaped construction. Each V structure contains two substantially straight components forming an angle.
Without wishing to be certain to theory, it will be appreciated that during any cutting, rolling or extruding operation, the tobacco fibres typically align in a given course, which may thus be recognized because the longitudinal direction of the tobacco material. The “reduce size” of a minimize strip of tobacco material for incorporation in minimize fillers in accordance with the current invention may due to this fact be measured alongside the main direction of fibre alignment, which usually corresponds to the longitudinal course. Thus, the cut length of a person cut strip could be precisely measured utilizing a traditional measuring system under a microscope. In a conventional process, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco stem materials or both are usually blended with threshed tobacco lamina to endure a sequence of therapies, such as conditioning and drying. To this purpose, a reconstituted tobacco sheet is typically ripped into randomly formed sheet-like pieces having a non-uniform size, usually of several sq. centimetres.
A tobacco minimize filler in accordance with declare 1 or 2, wherein the primary tobacco materials is a pre- processed tobacco material. In a third experiment, the reduce specification no. 10 was slightly modified with a view to improving the resistance of the particles to the stresses concerned by the cigarette-making process. In explicit, there was concern that through the cigarette-making process the tobacco particle could be uncovered to excessive tensions and frictions which could cause particles ready in accordance with the minimize specification no. 10 to interrupt. This might have reduced the profit coming from the V-shape and shown by the CCV measurements described above. Figure 13 depicts a schematic view of an equipment for forming a tobacco reduce filler in accordance with the current invention. Figures depict several examples of notably shapes into which tobacco materials for forming a cut filler in accordance with the current invention could also be cut.
More preferably, the first tobacco material is shredded into strips having a reduce width of a minimum of about zero.25 mm. Even more preferably, the primary tobacco material is shredded into strips having a cut width of no much less than about zero.three mm. In addition, or as an alternative, the primary tobacco material is preferably shredded into strips having a minimize width of less than about 1 mm.
Experiments were carried out in order to assess the impact of different shapes and minimize specifications to key parameters of tobacco cut filler particles, such because the filling energy. In more detail, Figure 1 exhibits a zigzag-shaped strip and Figure 2 exhibits a wave-shaped strip. Where the reduce strip is zigzag-shaped or wave- formed, it is attainable to measure a wave length of the reduce strip, which substantially corresponds to the strip cut length divided by the variety of repetitions of the zigzag or wave. For occasion, in the cut strip of Figure 1 the zigzag is repeated 10 occasions. Preferably, a wave size of the sinusoidal form is from about 1 mm to about 15 mm, more preferably from about 2 mm to about 12 mm, much more preferably from 4 mm to 10 mm. Preferably, the tobacco cut filler further includes a second tobacco materials minimize in accordance with a second minimize specification differing from the first minimize specification for a minimum of considered one of cut length and minimize width.