阅读说明：本技术 加热式香烟、加热式香烟制品、加热式香烟中的烟杆的制造方法以及制造装置 (Heating cigarette, heating cigarette product, method for manufacturing tobacco rod in heating cigarette, and manufacturing device ) 是由 真锅哲也 植松宏海 时津尚弘 片山和彦 春木溪介 于 2019-03-28 设计创作，主要内容包括：在具备烟杆的加热式香烟即其制造方法中,所述烟杆具有：含有香烟原料以及气溶胶生成基材的香烟充填材料、和卷绕该香烟充填材料的卷纸,提供气溶胶的传送量优越,加热器相对于香烟充填材料能够顺利地插入的技术。加热式香烟具备烟杆,所述烟杆具有香烟充填材料和卷绕该香烟充填材料的卷纸,香烟充填材料具有多个烟丝,所述烟丝含有气溶胶生成基材以及香烟原料并且具有线状,多个烟丝以沿着烟杆的长轴方向延伸的方式排列配置。(In a method for manufacturing a heated cigarette having a tobacco rod, the tobacco rod includes: a cigarette filler comprising a cigarette raw material and an aerosol-generating substrate, and a wrapping paper for wrapping the cigarette filler are provided, which are excellent in aerosol transport amount and enable a heater to be smoothly inserted into the cigarette filler. A heating cigarette comprises a tobacco rod having a cigarette filler and a wrapping paper around which the cigarette filler is wrapped, wherein the cigarette filler has a plurality of tobacco threads which include an aerosol-generating substrate and a cigarette raw material and are linear, and the plurality of tobacco threads are arranged so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod.)

1. A method for manufacturing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette, the method comprising:

a cutting step of conveying the tobacco material sheet along a conveying path and continuously cutting the tobacco material sheet along the conveying path into a plurality of linear tobacco shred continuous bodies;

a forming step of wrapping the cut tobacco continuous body obtained in the cutting step with wrapping paper in a state where the cut tobacco continuous body is aligned along a conveying path thereof, thereby forming a rod-shaped tobacco rod continuous body;

and a cutting step of sequentially cutting the tobacco rod continuous body obtained in the molding step into individual tobacco rods.

2. The method of manufacturing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette according to claim 1,

the cigarette material sheet is obtained by forming a cigarette material containing an aerosol-generating substrate into a sheet.

3. The method of producing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette according to claim 1 or 2,

the sheet of smoking material is wound on a reel, and the sheet of smoking material continuously extracted from the reel is conveyed along a conveying path.

4. A method of manufacturing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein,

in the cutting step, the tobacco material sheet is cut to obtain a plurality of continuous tobacco threads each having a constant width.

5. The method of manufacturing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the method for producing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette further comprises a rolling step of increasing the density of the tobacco material sheet by rolling the tobacco material sheet,

in the cutting step, the rolled tobacco material piece is conveyed along a conveying path, and the tobacco material piece is continuously cut into a plurality of linear tobacco shred continuous bodies along the conveying path.

6. The method of manufacturing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

the method for manufacturing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette further comprises an adding step of adding at least one of a flavor and an aerosol-generating base material to the plurality of cut tobacco continuous bodies obtained in the cutting step.

7. The method of producing a tobacco rod for a heated cigarette according to claim 6, wherein,

the adding step adds at least one of a flavor and an aerosol-generating base material to the plurality of tobacco shred continuous bodies in a process of wrapping the plurality of tobacco shred continuous bodies with the wrapping paper in the forming step.

8. A device for manufacturing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette, the device comprising:

a reel for winding a tobacco material sheet;

a cutting machine which is disposed in a conveying path of a tobacco material piece continuously extracted from the reel, and which continuously cuts the tobacco material piece along the conveying path into a plurality of linear tobacco shred continuous bodies;

a forming machine which is disposed downstream of the cutting machine in the conveying path and forms a rod-shaped continuous tobacco rod by wrapping a plurality of continuous tobacco threads with wrapping paper in a state of being arranged along the conveying path;

and a cutter which is disposed downstream of the forming machine in the conveying path and sequentially cuts the tobacco rod continuous body into tobacco rods having a predetermined length.

9. The apparatus for manufacturing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette according to claim 8,

the cigarette material sheet is obtained by forming a cigarette material containing an aerosol-generating substrate into a sheet.

10. The manufacturing apparatus for a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette as claimed in claim 8 to 9, wherein,

the cutting machine cuts the tobacco material sheet to obtain a plurality of continuous tobacco shreds each having a constant width.

11. The manufacturing apparatus for a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein,

the cutting machine has a cutter arranged in parallel with the conveying path,

the tobacco material sheet passes through the cutter along the conveying path, and is continuously cut into a plurality of continuous cut tobacco bodies by the cutter.

12. A heating cigarette comprises a tobacco rod having a cigarette filler and a wrapping paper for wrapping the cigarette filler,

the cigarette filler comprises a plurality of cut tobacco pieces having a thread shape and containing an aerosol-generating substrate and a cigarette material,

the plurality of tobacco shreds are arranged so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod.

13. The heated cigarette of claim 12 wherein,

the tobacco shreds are arranged in parallel along the long axis direction of the tobacco rod.

14. A heated cigarette according to claim 12 or 13 wherein,

the tobacco shreds are arranged in an extending manner from the front end to the rear end of the tobacco rod.

15. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 14 wherein,

the tobacco shreds are in strip shapes.

16. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 15 wherein,

the cross section of the tobacco shred, which is orthogonal to the long axis direction of the tobacco shred, is rectangular.

17. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 16 wherein,

in the tobacco shred, a width dimension of a cross section orthogonal to a long axis direction is 0.4mm or more and 3mm or less.

18. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 17 wherein,

in the tobacco shred, a thickness dimension of a cross section orthogonal to a long axis direction thereof is 0.02mm or more and 1.3mm or less.

19. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 18,

the cut tobacco has a length dimension along the long axis direction of 10mm to 50 mm.

20. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 19 wherein,

the diameter of the smoke rod is more than 5mm and less than 8 mm.

21. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 20 wherein,

the cross-sectional areas of the tobacco shreds, which are orthogonal to the long axis direction of the tobacco shreds, are equal in the whole length.

22. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 21,

the content of the aerosol-generating substrate in the tobacco rod is 10 wt% or more and 25 wt% or less.

23. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 22,

the heating cigarette has a mouthpiece part coaxially connected to the base end side of the rod,

the mouthpiece portion contains a cooling portion for cooling volatile substances emitted from the aerosol-generating substrate.

24. A heated cigarette as claimed in claim 23 wherein,

the mouthpiece portion is disposed at a connection end connected to a base end side of the tobacco rod, and includes a support portion for suppressing the cut tobacco from being pushed into a region on the mouthpiece portion side.

25. A heated cigarette as claimed in claim 23 or claim 24 wherein,

the mouthpiece portion includes a filter portion disposed on a mouthpiece end side of the mouthpiece portion.

26. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 25 wherein,

the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco occupying the tobacco rod is 50 vol% or more and 80 vol% or less.

27. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 26 wherein,

in the heating cigarette, when the heater of the heating device to which the heating cigarette is applied is an external heating heater, the volume filling rate of the tobacco threads occupying the tobacco rod is 60 vol% or more and 80 vol% or less.

28. The heated cigarette of any one of claims 12 to 27 wherein,

in the heating cigarette, when the heater of the heating device to which the heating cigarette is applied is an internal heating heater, the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco occupying the tobacco rod is 50 vol% or more and 75 vol% or less.

29. A heated smoking article comprising a heated cigarette according to any one of claims 12 to 25 and a heating device for use with the heated cigarette.

30. A heated smoking article as claimed in claim 29, in which,

the heating device has a rod housing portion to which the tobacco rod in the heated cigarette can be attached and a heater provided in the rod housing portion,

in the case where the heater is an internal heating type heater inserted from the front end side of the tobacco rod when the tobacco rod is mounted in the rod housing part,

in a state where the tobacco rod is mounted in the rod housing part,

the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco occupying the tobacco rod is 60 vol% or more and 80 vol% or less.

31. A heated smoking article according to claim 29 or 30, wherein,

the ratio of the maximum diameter of the heater to the diameter of the cross section of the tobacco rod orthogonal to the long axis direction is 0.3 to 0.6.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a heated cigarette, a heated smoking article, and a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette.

Background

There is known a heated cigarette (for example, see patent document 1) having a tobacco rod formed by filling a cigarette filler containing a cigarette raw material (for example, tobacco shreds, cigarette particles, reconstituted cigarette material, etc.) and an aerosol-generating base material (for example, glycerin, propylene glycol, etc.) into the inside of a wrapping paper. This type of heated cigarette is a type of smoking article in which a cigarette filler is heated by a heater in a heating device without burning, and aerosol generated in the cigarette filler is delivered to a user. As the heater, heaters having various shapes such as a blade shape and a rod shape are put into practical use, and the heater is attached to a heating device by inserting a tobacco rod from a front end surface of the tobacco rod into the heater during use.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent No. 5920744

Patent document 2: japanese patent No. 6000451

Patent document 3: japanese patent No. 6017546

Patent document 4: japanese patent application laid-open No. 62-272962

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem to be solved by the invention

Here, in the tobacco rod of the conventional heated cigarette, the cigarette material in the cigarette filler is randomly oriented, and therefore, when the heated cigarette is attached to the heating device, it may be difficult to smoothly insert the heater into the cigarette filler. In addition, in the case of forming a rod of a heated cigarette using a cigarette filler in which cigarette raw materials are randomly oriented, the aerosol generated by volatilization of the aerosol-generating substrate is exposed to a low-temperature portion of the randomly oriented cigarette raw materials and is condensed or easily filtered by the cigarette raw materials, and the amount of aerosol transferred into the oral cavity may be reduced.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for providing a heated cigarette including a cigarette filler containing a cigarette raw material and an aerosol-generating substrate and a tobacco rod having a wrapping paper wound around the cigarette filler, the technique being excellent in aerosol transport amount and enabling smooth insertion of a heater into the cigarette filler.

Means for solving the problems

The present invention for solving the above-described problems adopts a structure in which a plurality of long tobacco shreds obtained by forming a tobacco material into a linear shape are arranged so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of a tobacco rod.

More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette, characterized by comprising a cutting step of conveying a tobacco material sheet along a conveying path and continuously cutting the tobacco material sheet into a plurality of linear tobacco shred continuous bodies along the conveying path; a forming step of wrapping the cut tobacco continuous body obtained in the cutting step with wrapping paper in a state where the cut tobacco continuous body is aligned along a conveying path thereof, thereby forming a rod-shaped tobacco rod continuous body; and a cutting step of sequentially cutting the tobacco rod continuous body obtained in the molding step into individual tobacco rods.

Here, the cigarette material sheet may be obtained by molding a cigarette material containing an aerosol-generating substrate into a sheet shape.

Further, the tobacco material sheet may be wound around a reel, and the tobacco material sheet continuously extracted from the reel may be conveyed along a conveying path.

In the cutting step, the tobacco material sheet may be cut so as to obtain a plurality of continuous tobacco threads each having a constant width.

The method for producing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette may further include a rolling step of increasing the density of the tobacco material sheet by rolling the tobacco material sheet, and the cutting step may be a step of continuously cutting the tobacco material sheet into a plurality of linear tobacco shred continuous bodies along a conveying path while conveying the rolled tobacco material sheet along the conveying path.

The method for producing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette may further include an adding step of adding at least one of a flavor and an aerosol-generating base material to the plurality of cut tobacco continuous bodies obtained in the cutting step. In this case, the adding step may add at least one of a flavor and an aerosol-generating substrate to the plurality of tobacco shred continuous bodies in the process of wrapping the plurality of tobacco shred continuous bodies with the wrapping paper in the forming step.

Further, the present invention is a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette, comprising: a reel for winding a tobacco material sheet; a cutting machine which is disposed in a conveying path of a tobacco material piece continuously extracted from the reel, and which continuously cuts the tobacco material piece along the conveying path into a plurality of linear tobacco shred continuous bodies; a forming machine which is disposed downstream of the cutting machine in the conveying path and forms a rod-shaped continuous tobacco rod by wrapping a plurality of continuous tobacco threads with wrapping paper in a state of being arranged along the conveying path; and a cutter which is disposed downstream of the forming machine in the conveying path and sequentially cuts the tobacco rod continuous body into tobacco rods having a predetermined length.

Here, the cutting machine may cut the tobacco material sheet to obtain a plurality of continuous tobacco threads each having a constant width.

The cutting machine may include a cutter disposed parallel to the conveying path, and the tobacco material sheet may be continuously cut into a plurality of continuous tobacco shreds by the cutter as the tobacco material sheet passes through the cutter along the conveying path.

The present invention is a heated cigarette including a tobacco rod having a cigarette filler and a wrapping paper around which the cigarette filler is wrapped, the cigarette filler including a plurality of tobacco threads including an aerosol-generating substrate and a cigarette raw material and having a linear shape, the plurality of tobacco threads being arranged so as to extend in a longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod.

Here, the respective tobacco shreds may be arranged in parallel with each other along a long axis direction of the tobacco rod.

In addition, the tobacco shred may extend from the front end to the rear end of the tobacco rod.

In addition, the cut tobacco may have an elongated shape.

In addition, the cross section of the tobacco shred orthogonal to the long axis direction thereof may be rectangular.

In the above tobacco shred, a width dimension of a cross section orthogonal to a long axis direction thereof may be 0.4mm or more and 3mm or less.

In the above tobacco shred, a thickness dimension of a cross section orthogonal to a long axis direction thereof may be 0.02mm or more and 1.3mm or less.

In the above tobacco shred, a length dimension in a long axis direction thereof may be 10mm or more and 50mm or less.

The diameter of the rod may be 5mm to 8 mm.

In addition, the cross-sectional area of the tobacco thread orthogonal to the long axis direction thereof may be equal over the entire length.

The content of the aerosol-generating substrate in the tobacco rod may be 10 wt% or more and 25 wt% or less.

The heated cigarette may have a mouthpiece portion coaxially connected to the base end side of the rod, and the mouthpiece portion may include a cooling portion for cooling the volatile substance emitted from the aerosol-generating substrate.

The mouthpiece portion may be disposed at a connection end connected to a base end side of the tobacco rod, and may include a support portion for suppressing the cut tobacco from being pushed into a region on the mouthpiece portion side.

The mouthpiece portion may include a filter portion disposed on a suction port side of the mouthpiece portion.

In addition, the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco occupying the tobacco rod may be 50 vol% or more and 80 vol% or less.

In the heated cigarette, when the heater of the heating device to which the heated cigarette is applied is an external heating type heater, the volume filling rate of the tobacco threads occupying the tobacco rod may be 60 vol% or more and 80 vol% or less.

In the heating cigarette, when the heater of the heating device to which the heating cigarette is applied is an internal heating type heater, the volume filling rate of the tobacco threads occupying the tobacco rod may be 50 vol% or more and 75 vol% or less.

The present invention may be a heated smoking article comprising any of the above-described heated cigarettes and a heating device to which the heated cigarette is applied.

In the heated smoking article of the present invention, the heating device includes a rod housing portion to which the tobacco rod in the heated cigarette can be attached, and a heater provided in the rod housing portion, and when the heater is an internal heating type heater inserted from a tip end side of the tobacco rod when the tobacco rod is attached to the rod housing portion, a volume filling rate of the tobacco threads occupying the tobacco rod in a state where the tobacco rod is attached to the rod housing portion is 60 vol% or more and 80 vol% or less.

In the heated smoking article of the present invention, the ratio of the maximum diameter of the heater to the diameter of the cross section of the tobacco rod orthogonal to the longitudinal direction may be 0.3 to 0.6.

It is to be noted that means for solving the technical problems in the present invention can be employed in combination as much as possible.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, in a heated cigarette including a tobacco rod, the tobacco rod includes: a cigarette filler containing a cigarette raw material and an aerosol-generating base material and a wrapping paper for wrapping the cigarette filler are provided, which are excellent in aerosol transport amount, capable of smoothly inserting a heater into the cigarette filler, and capable of suppressing the cigarette raw material from being pushed into the heater when the heater is inserted into the cigarette filler.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the internal structure of a heated cigarette according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of tobacco shreds.

Fig. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a heating device to which the heating cigarette is applied.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a modification of the heating device to which the heated cigarette is applied.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a tobacco rod manufacturing apparatus according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating a method of manufacturing a tobacco rod according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a slitter in the cutting machine.

Fig. 8 is a view for explaining rolling treatment of a tobacco starting sheet.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining a method for producing a tobacco starting sheet by a papermaking method.

Fig. 10 is a view for explaining a method for producing a tobacco starting sheet by a casting method.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a tobacco shred according to a modification example.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of a heated cigarette, a method for producing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette, and an apparatus for producing a tobacco rod according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the constituent elements described in the present embodiment are not intended to limit the technical scope of the invention to those unless specifically stated otherwise.

< embodiment 1 >

[ heating type cigarette ]

Fig. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the internal structure of a heated cigarette 1 according to embodiment 1. The heated cigarette 1 is a type of smoking article in which a cigarette filler is heated without burning, and aerosol generated in the cigarette filler is delivered to a user.

The heating cigarette 1 includes a tobacco rod 2 and a mouthpiece portion 3 arranged coaxially in a row. The heating cigarette 1 has a mouth end 1a into which a user inserts in the oral cavity during use and a tip end 1b at an end opposite to the mouth end 1 a. The mouthpiece portion 3 includes a support portion 4, a cooling portion 5, and a filter portion 6 which are coaxially arranged, and these components are arranged in this order from the tip end side of the mouthpiece portion 3. The support portion 4, the cooling portion 5, and the filter portion 6 of the mouthpiece portion 3 are integrally wound with a wrapping paper 7. The tobacco rod 2 and the mouthpiece portion 3 are integrally connected by being wrapped with tipping paper 8. However, the support portion 4, the cooling portion 5, and a part of the filter portion 6 constituting the mouthpiece portion 3 may be integrally wound with a wrapping paper. In this case, the member integrally wrapped with the wrapping paper may be wrapped with one or more pieces of the wrapping paper. Reference CL1 shown in fig. 1 is a central axis of the heated cigarette 1. Here, the tobacco rod 2 and the mouthpiece portion 3 of the heated cigarette 1 are arranged coaxially, and the central axis CL1 can be said to be the central axis of the tobacco rod 2 and the mouthpiece portion 3. In fig. 1, reference numeral 2a denotes the front end surface of the tobacco rod 2, and reference numeral 2b denotes the rear end surface of the tobacco rod 2.

In use of the heated cigarette 1, air is drawn through the heated cigarette 1 from the front end 1b to the mouthpiece end 1a by the user. The front end 1b of the heated cigarette 1 may be regarded as the front end or upstream end of the tobacco rod 2, and the mouthpiece end 1a of the heated cigarette 1 may be regarded as the rear end or downstream end of the mouthpiece portion 3.

The tobacco rod 2 is disposed at the tip 1b of the heated cigarette 1. The tobacco rod 2 is a rod-shaped member wrapped with a wrapping paper 22 so as to cover the side surface of a cigarette filler 21 containing a cigarette raw material and an aerosol-generating substrate. In the present embodiment, the cigarette filler 21 has a plurality of thread-like tobacco shreds 23 as a cigarette material containing an aerosol-generating substrate. The term "linear" as used herein means an elongated shape extending in a longitudinal direction orthogonal to the cross-sectional direction as compared with the cross-sectional direction, and includes, for example, a strip-like shape, a long-like shape, a string-like shape, a rod-like shape, and the like. The "linear shape" is not limited to a linear shape extending in the longitudinal direction, and may be a meandering shape or a wavy shape. The aerosol-generating substrate contained in tobacco shreds 23 of cigarette filler 21 is a substance that generates an aerosol when a volatile substance volatilized and released when heated by a heater is cooled. The type of aerosol-generating substrate is not particularly limited, and the extracted substance from various natural products can be appropriately selected according to the application. Examples of the aerosol-generating substrate include glycerin, propylene glycol, triacetin, 1, 3-butanediol, and a mixture thereof. In addition, the cut tobacco 23 of the cigarette filler 21 may contain a flavoring. The kind of the perfume is not particularly limited. Note that, in the present embodiment, the content of the aerosol-generating substrate in the tobacco rod 2 may be 10 wt% or more and 25 wt% or less.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of tobacco shred 23. In the example shown in fig. 2, the tobacco shred 23 has a long strip shape (for example, a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape). As shown in fig. 2, shredded tobacco 23 can also be regarded as a strip shape. In the cigarette filler 21 of the tobacco rod 2 in the present embodiment, a plurality of (a plurality of) tobacco threads 23 are oriented and arranged, and each tobacco thread 23 is arranged so as to extend along the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2 (the direction of the center axis CL 1). In the tobacco shred 23, a cross section orthogonal to the long axis direction thereof is rectangular.

Reference numeral 23a shown in fig. 2 is a front end surface of tobacco 23, and reference numeral 23b is a rear end surface of tobacco 23. The front end surface 23a of the tobacco shred 23 is an end surface facing the front end 1b of the heated cigarette 1, and the rear end surface 23b of the tobacco shred 23 is an end surface opposite to the front end surface 23a in the longitudinal direction (extending direction) of the tobacco shred 23. In the present embodiment, rear end surface 23b of tobacco shred 23 is disposed opposite to the front end surface of support portion 4 disposed at the front end of mouthpiece portion 3. Note that reference numeral 23c shown in fig. 2 is a side surface of the tobacco shred 23. Shredded tobacco 23 shown in fig. 2 is equal in width and thickness in the range from front end surface 23a to rear end surface 23 b. In other words, the cut tobacco 23 shown in fig. 2 has the same cross-sectional area over the entire length.

As shown in fig. 1, the respective tobacco threads 23 arranged to extend in the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2 are disposed in a state in which the side surfaces 23C thereof face each other. In the example shown in fig. 1, the respective tobacco threads 23 are arranged parallel to each other along the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2. The tobacco shreds 23 extend from the front end surface 2a to the rear end surface 2b of the tobacco rod 2. In addition, reference numeral 25 shown in fig. 1 denotes an aerosol flow path formed by gaps between the respective tobacco threads 23. In the present embodiment, since the respective tobacco threads 23 are arranged parallel to each other along the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2, the aerosol flow path 25 is formed to extend along the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2, for example.

Here, the following description will explain the method of producing the tobacco thread 23 and the tobacco rod 2 provided with the tobacco thread, for example, by cutting a tobacco material piece formed by molding a tobacco material containing an aerosol-generating substrate into a sheet shape by a slitter or the like. The raw cigarette material sheet may be a so-called reconstituted cigarette sheet. The reconstituted tobacco sheet can be obtained by, for example, adding a binder, a gelling agent, a crosslinking agent, a flavor, a viscosity modifier, a humectant, a reinforcing material, and the like to a homogenized cigarette as an additive, kneading the resulting mixture, molding the mixture into a sheet form by an appropriate method such as a paper-making method (paper-making method), a casting method (slurry method), a calendering method, or an extrusion method, and drying the sheet. Homogenized cigarettes are cigarette materials obtained by pulverizing, grinding and mixing tobacco leaves, dry tobacco leaves, cut cigarettes, puffed cigarettes, regenerated cigarettes and the like, for example.

Next, the mouthpiece section 3 will be described. The support portion 4 is located at the front end side of the mouthpiece portion 3, and the mouthpiece portion 3 is a portion located at the connecting end to the tobacco rod 2. The support portion 4 is disposed immediately downstream of the tobacco rod 2 and in contact with the rear end of the tobacco rod 2. The support portion 4 may be a hollow cellulose acetate tube, for example. In other words, the support portion 4 may be formed so as to penetrate through the center hole in the cross section of the cylindrical cellulose acetate fiber bundle. Alternatively, the support portion 4 may be a paper filter or a paper tube filled with cellulose fibers. The paper tube having a certain thickness can effectively function as the support portion 4. The support portion 4 is a portion for preventing the cigarette filler 21 from being pushed into the heated cigarette 1 toward the cooling portion 5 downstream when an electric heater of a heating device to which the heated cigarette 1 is applied is inserted into the cigarette rod 2. The support portion 4 may also function as a spacer for separating the cooling portion 5 of the heated cigarette 1 from the tobacco rod 2.

The cooling portion 5 is disposed immediately downstream of the support portion 4 and in contact with the rear end of the support portion 4. In use of the heated cigarette 1, the volatile substances discharged from the tobacco rod 2 (cigarette filler 21) flow downstream along the cooling portion 5. The volatile substances discharged from the tobacco rod 2 (cigarette filler 21) are cooled by the cooling portion 5 to form an aerosol to be inhaled by the user. In the embodiment shown in fig. 1, the cooling unit 5 is formed of a hollow paper tube having a vent hole 5a through which outside air can be introduced. However, the cooling unit 5 may not have the vent hole 5 a. The cooling unit 5 may have a heat absorbing agent disposed so as not to obstruct the flow of the volatile substance and the aerosol. For example, the cooling unit 5 may be formed of a filter material in which a plurality of flow paths (through holes) are formed along the longitudinal direction (axial direction) of the mouthpiece section 3.

The filter portion 6 is a portion located at the rear end of the mouthpiece portion 3, i.e., the suction end 1a side. The filter unit 6 may be disposed immediately downstream of the cooling unit 5 and in contact with the rear end of the cooling unit 5. In the embodiment shown in fig. 1, the filter unit 6 may include a filter material formed of, for example, cellulose acetate fibers formed into a cylindrical shape. The filter unit 6 may be a center hole filter or a paper filter filled with cellulose fibers, or may be a paper tube containing no filter medium. The filter unit 6 may be formed of any one of a solid filter material having a filter medium, a center hole filter, a paper filter, and a paper tube not having a filter medium, or a plurality of these may be selectively combined.

Fig. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a heating device 100 to which the heating cigarette 1 of embodiment 1 is applied. The heating device 100 has a case 102 as a housing for housing various components. An electric heater 103, a controller (control unit) 104, a power supply 105, and the like are housed in the case 102. The housing 102 has a housing chamber 107, and the housing chamber 107 includes an opening 106 into which the tobacco rod 2 of the heated cigarette 1 is inserted. The housing chamber 107 is a cylindrical hollow portion for housing the tobacco rod 2, and corresponds to a rod housing portion to which the tobacco rod 2 can be attached. It should be noted that the present invention may also be provided as a heated smoking article including a heated cigarette 1 and a heating device 100 to which the heated cigarette 1 is applied.

As shown in fig. 3, an electric heater 103 is provided in the housing chamber 107. The electric heater 103 shown in fig. 3 has a cylindrical shape, and is provided to vertically protrude from the central portion of the bottom portion 107a in the housing chamber 107 toward the opening portion 106 side. However, the shape of the electric heater 103 is not particularly limited. For example, the front end side of the electric heater 103 may be tapered. For example, the electric heater 103 may have a conical shape, and the tip thereof is tapered from a base end portion connected to the bottom portion 107a of the housing chamber 107 toward the distal end portion side. The electric heater 103 may have a truncated cone shape (truncated cone shape) or a blade shape. In addition, the electric heater 103 may have other shapes. Note that the central axis of the electric heater 103 in this embodiment may be coaxial with the central axis of the housing chamber 107. The type of the electric Heater 103 is not particularly limited, and for example, a structure in which Heater wires (e.g., nichrome, ferrochrome, or ferrochrome) are arranged over a steel material, a ceramic Heater, a Sheathed Heater (Sheathed Heater), or the like can be used. Note that the sheathed heater is a heater in which a heating wire and a filler are covered with a metal tube.

The electric heater 103 of the heating apparatus 100 configured as described above is a so-called internal heating type heater. That is, when the tobacco rod 2 is attached to the housing chamber 107 during use of the heated cigarette 1, the electric heater 103 is fitted or inserted into the cigarette filler 21 from the side of the distal end surface 2a of the tobacco rod 2 in the heated cigarette 1, and the cigarette filler 21 is heated from the inside by the electric heater 103 generating heat. The controller (control unit) 104 controls the energization of the electric heater 103 from the power supply 105, and the electric heater 103 generates heat to heat the cigarette filler 21 (tobacco shred 23) of the tobacco rod 2 attached to the housing chamber 107. As a result, the aerosol-generating substrate contained in the cigarette filler 21 (tobacco shred 23) volatilizes to generate an aerosol, and the aerosol is supplied into the oral cavity of the user who has sucked the mouthpiece portion 3.

According to the heated cigarette 1 of the present embodiment, the respective tobacco threads 23 in the tobacco rod 2 are oriented so as to extend along the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2 (the direction of the center axis CL 1), and the respective tobacco threads 23 are arranged so as to extend along the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2 (the direction of the center axis CL 1). In the tobacco rod 2 of the present embodiment, the aerosol flow path 25, which is a gap between the tobacco threads 23, is formed to extend along the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2. Therefore, the aerosol generated by volatilization of the aerosol-generating substrate contained in tobacco shreds 23 when heated by electric heater 103 can be guided to mouthpiece section 3 through aerosol flow path 25. This makes it difficult for the aerosol generated in the tobacco rod 2 to be coagulated by contact with the tobacco thread 23 and to be filtered by the tobacco thread 23. Therefore, according to the heated cigarette 1 of the present embodiment, the amount of aerosol delivered to the oral cavity of the user can be increased compared to the conventional one.

In addition, according to the heated cigarette 1 of the present embodiment, since the respective tobacco threads 23 in the tobacco rod 2 are aligned along the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2 (the direction of the center axis CL 1), the operation of inserting or inserting the electric heater 103 from the side of the tip end 1b of the tobacco rod 2 is easier than the conventional case of randomly orienting the cigarette material. This facilitates insertion or insertion of the electric heater 103 into the cigarette rod 2, and provides the user with a hand-weighed heated cigarette 1. As described above, according to the rod 2 of the heated cigarette 1 of the present embodiment, the aerosol transport amount is excellent, and the electric heater 103 can be smoothly inserted into the cigarette filler 21.

Note that the heating device applied to the heated cigarette 1 in the present embodiment may be provided with an external heating type heater as shown in fig. 4, instead of the internal heating type heater shown in fig. 3. The heating apparatus 100 shown in fig. 4 has the same structure as the heating apparatus 100 shown in fig. 3, except that the electric heater 103 is an external heating type. The electric heater 103 shown in fig. 4 is an annular external heating type heater formed along the cavity-side peripheral wall 107b in the housing cavity 107. The electric heater 103 shown in fig. 4 may be disposed along the cavity-side peripheral wall 107b so as to be coplanar with the cavity-side peripheral wall 107b, for example. When the heated cigarette is applied to the heating apparatus 100 including the external-heating electric heater 103 shown in fig. 4, the cigarette filler 21 is heated by the electric heater 103 from the outside of the tobacco rod 2 attached to the housing chamber 107 during use of the heated cigarette 1.

Here, a preferred range of the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco 23 occupying the tobacco rod 2 will be described. The volume filling ratio of the cut tobacco 23 as used herein refers to a ratio of the sum of the volumes of all the cut tobacco 23 contained in the tobacco rod 2 to the volume of the tobacco rod 2. If the volume filling rate of the tobacco shreds 23 is too high, the ventilation resistance of the tobacco rod 2 (cigarette filler 21) may be too high. As a result, aerosol generated on the tobacco rod 2 in use may be filtered (captured) by the cut tobacco 23 in the tobacco rod 2 before being introduced into the mouthpiece section 3, resulting in a reduced amount of aerosol delivered. On the other hand, if the volume filling rate of tobacco thread 23 is too low, the efficiency of heat transfer to tobacco thread 23 may be reduced when heated by electric heater 103, resulting in a decrease in the amount of aerosol delivered. For example, in the case of using the electric heater 103 of an internal heating type shown in fig. 3, in a state where the electric heater 103 is inserted into the tobacco rod 2, contact between the electric heater 103 and the tobacco thread 23 may be insufficient, resulting in insufficient heating of the tobacco thread 23.

In view of the above circumstances, the present inventors have intensively studied to obtain the following findings: the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco 23 occupying the tobacco rod 2 is preferably 50 vol% or more and 80 vol% or less. This can suppress the excessively high ventilation resistance of the tobacco rod 2 (cigarette filler 21) and the decrease in heat transfer efficiency from the electric heater 103 to the tobacco shreds 23. As a result, the amount of aerosol to be delivered can be suppressed from decreasing during use. If the volume filling rate of tobacco thread 23 is less than 50 vol%, the heat transfer efficiency from electric heater 103 to tobacco thread 23 may be reduced, and the manufacturing suitability of tobacco rod 2 may be lowered. When the volume filling rate of the tobacco thread 23 exceeds 80 vol%, it is difficult to insert the electric heater 103 into the tobacco rod 2, and the ventilation resistance tends to be high, and in addition, the aerosol is trapped (captured) in the middle, which may cause a decrease in the aerosol transfer efficiency. For the above reasons, the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco 23 occupying the tobacco rod 2 is preferably in the range of 50 vol% or more and 80 vol% or less.

Here, the preferable range of the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco 23 occupying the tobacco rod 2 differs depending on the heating method (internal heating type heater, external heating type heater) of the electric heater 103 of the heating device 100 to which the heating cigarette 1 is applied. In the case where the electric heater 103 is of an internal heating type, the preferred range of the volume filling rate of the tobacco threads 23 differs depending on whether or not the electric heater 103 is in a state of being inserted into the tobacco rod 2 (a state of being attached to the heating device 100). For example, when the electric heater 103 of the heating device 100 to which the heating cigarette 1 is applied is an external heating type heater, the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco 23 occupying the tobacco rod 2 is preferably 60 vol% or more and 80 vol% or less.

In the case where the electric heater 103 of the heating device 100 to which the heating cigarette 1 is applied is an internal heating type heater, the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco 23 occupying the tobacco rod 2 is preferably 50 vol% or more and 75 vol% or less, and more preferably 60 vol%. The above-described volume filling ratio is a preferable range of the volume filling ratio of the tobacco shreds 23 before the tobacco rod 2 is attached to the housing chamber 107 of the heating device 100. When the electric heater 103 is an internal heating type heater, the electric heater 103 is inserted into the tobacco rod 2, whereby the tobacco thread 23 in the tobacco rod 2 is pushed toward the outer peripheral side of the tobacco rod 2 by the electric heater 103. When this point is calculated, the preferable range (50 vol% or more and 75 vol% or less) of the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco 23 in the case where the electric heater 103 of the heating device 100 to which the heated cigarette 1 is applied is lower than the preferable range (60 vol% or more and 80 vol% or less) of the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco 23 in the case where the electric heater 103 is an external heating type heater.

Note that, in the case where the electric heater 103 of the heating device 100 to which the heated cigarette 1 is applied is an internal heating type heater, the volume filling rate of the cut tobacco 23 in a state where the tobacco rod 2 is attached to the housing chamber 107, that is, in a state where the internal heating type heater is inserted into the tobacco rod 2 is preferably 60 vol% or more and 80 vol% or less. Here, the volume filling ratio of the tobacco threads 23 in a state where the tobacco rod 2 is attached to the housing chamber 107 is a ratio of the total volume of the tobacco threads 23 to a volume calculated by subtracting the volume of the tobacco rod 2 occupied by the electric heater 103 from the volume of the tobacco rod 2.

In comparison under the condition that the volumes of the tobacco threads 23 contained in the tobacco rod 2 are equal in the present embodiment, the larger the surface area of the tobacco threads 23 is, the higher the aerosol transport amount is. When the width of each tobacco shred 23 is large, when the electric heater 103 of an internal heating type is inserted into the tobacco rod 2, the volume filling rate of the tobacco shred 23 may be easily uneven in the cross section of the tobacco rod 2, and the aerosol transfer characteristic may be easily fluctuated. Therefore, from the viewpoint of increasing the amount of aerosol to be transported and making the transport characteristics of the aerosol uniform, it is preferable to dispose more tobacco threads 23 having a small cross-sectional area on the tobacco rod 2. However, when the cross-sectional area of tobacco shred 23 is too small, the tensile strength of tobacco shred 23 may become too small, and the manufacturing suitability of tobacco rod 2 may be degraded. Therefore, from the viewpoint of ensuring a good balance among improvement in the amount of aerosol to be conveyed, uniform conveyance of aerosol, and improvement in the manufacturing adaptability of tobacco rod 2, the width dimension of the cross section in tobacco thread 23 is preferably 0.4mm or more and 3mm or less, and the thickness dimension of the cross section in tobacco thread 23 is preferably 0.02mm or more and 1.3mm or less. Note that the length dimension in the longitudinal direction of the cut tobacco 23 may be, for example, 10mm or more and 50mm or less. As described above, since the cut tobacco 23 in the present embodiment has a uniform cross-sectional area over the entire length, fluctuation in the amount of aerosol generated in the longitudinal direction of the cut tobacco 23 is less likely to occur when heated by the electric heater 103.

In the present embodiment, the dimensions of the tobacco rod 2 are not particularly limited, and for example, the length of the tobacco rod 2 in the longitudinal direction may be 10mm to 50mm, and the diameter of the cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2 may be 5.0 mm to 8.0 mm. In the heating device 100 to which the heating cigarette 1 is applied, for example, the maximum diameter of the electric heater 103 may be 2.5mm or more and 3.2mm or less. Further, the ratio of the maximum diameter of the electric heater 103 to the diameter of the cross section of the tobacco rod 2 may be, for example, 0.3 or more and 0.6 or less. The length of the cut tobacco 23 disposed on the tobacco rod 2 in the longitudinal direction may be, for example, substantially the same as the length of the tobacco rod 2 in the longitudinal direction.

< manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method of tobacco rod >

Next, a manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method of the tobacco rod 2 in the heated cigarette 1 will be described. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a tobacco rod 2 manufacturing apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "rod manufacturing apparatus") 1000 according to embodiment 1. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a method of manufacturing the tobacco rod 2 in the heated cigarette 1.

The rod manufacturing apparatus 1000 includes a first reel 1100 for winding the tobacco starting sheet 200 into a roll, a cutting machine 1200, a forming machine 1300, a cutting machine 1400, and the like. The smoking material sheet 200 wound around the first bobbin 1100 is a sheet material obtained by forming a smoking material containing an aerosol-generating substrate into a sheet shape. Examples of the cigarette material include tobacco shreds, cigarette particles, reconstituted cigarette material, and the like. In the present embodiment, an example in which a product obtained by molding a reconstituted cigarette into a sheet shape is used as the cigarette raw material sheet 200 will be described. The tobacco material pieces 200 are cut by a cutting machine 1200 and cut by a cutting machine 1400 to become the cut tobacco 23 of the tobacco rod 2.

In the rod manufacturing apparatus 1000, the first reel 1100 is rotatably held by the reel stand 1110. The tobacco material sheet 200 wound around the first reel 1100 is continuously unwound by the feeding roller disposed at an appropriate position and fed along the conveying path P. As shown in fig. 5, the cutting machine 1200 in the rod manufacturing apparatus 1000 is disposed in the middle of the conveying path P. In the present specification, the front is defined as "downstream" and the rear is defined as "upstream" in the flow direction along the conveying path P. In the arrangement example shown in fig. 5, a forming machine 1300 is arranged on the downstream side (rear stage) of the cutting machine 1200, and a cutting machine 1400 is arranged on the further downstream side (rear stage) of the forming machine 1300. Note that, in the sheet-like tobacco material sheet 200, a direction along the conveying path P is referred to as a "sheet length direction (longitudinal direction)", and a direction orthogonal to the conveying path P is referred to as a "sheet width direction". In the rod manufacturing apparatus 1000, a direction perpendicular to the conveying path P is referred to as an "apparatus width direction". The mark 1500 shown in fig. 5 is a conveyance tray extending along the conveyance path P. The sheet-like smoking material pieces 200 are guided into the cutting machine 1200 while traveling on the conveying tray 1500 along the conveying path P.

The cutting machine 1200 is a unit that continuously cuts the tobacco material piece 200 into a plurality of linear tobacco shred continuous bodies 300 along the conveying path. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a detailed structure of slitter 1210 in cutting machine 1200, and shows a state where slitter 1210 is viewed from above. The slitter 1210 includes a plurality of circular cutter disks 1220. Centers of the plurality of circular cutter disks 1220 are connected by a rotating shaft member 1230. The rotary shaft member 1230 is rotatably supported by the base of the rod manufacturing apparatus 1000, and the cutter discs 1220 are integrally rotatable about the rotary shaft member 1230. Here, the rotary shaft member 1230 of the longitudinal cutter 1210 extends in the horizontal direction along the device width direction, which is a direction orthogonal to the conveying path P in the rod manufacturing device 1000. As shown in fig. 7, each cutter head 1220 of the slitter 1210 is arranged in parallel to the transport path P in a direction orthogonal to the rotary shaft member 1230. Further, the cutter heads 1220 of the slitter 1210 are arranged at a constant interval in a direction (apparatus width direction) orthogonal to the conveyance path P.

In the method of manufacturing the tobacco rod 2 according to the present embodiment, the tobacco material sheet 200 obtained by forming the tobacco material containing the aerosol-generating substrate into a sheet shape is conveyed from the first reel 1100 along the conveying path P, and in the cutting step (S101 in fig. 6), the tobacco material sheet 200 is continuously cut into a plurality of linear tobacco shred continuous bodies 300 along the conveying path P. That is, the tobacco material pieces 200 are passed through the cutter 1200 (cutter discs 1220 arranged in parallel with the conveying path P) along the conveying path P, and the tobacco material pieces 200 are continuously cut into a plurality of continuous tobacco shreds 300 by the cutter discs 1220.

In slitter 1210 of cutting machine 1200, cutter heads 1220 are arranged at constant intervals along a direction orthogonal to conveying path P. Therefore, in the cutting machine 1200, the tobacco material pieces 200 are cut into the plurality of continuous tobacco threads 300 having a constant width. The continuous tobacco rod 300 is a long strip of cigarette material extending along the conveying path P. Note that, the slitter 1210 may be configured to cut the tobacco material pieces 200 by a member different from each cutter head 1220 as long as it is a continuous cut tobacco body 300 that continuously cuts the tobacco material pieces 200 into a plurality of linear shapes along the conveying path P. For example, stringer 1210 may have a roller cutter having comb-shaped blades arranged at constant intervals in the device width direction.

In the cutting machine 1200, the plurality of cut tobacco continuous bodies 300 cut from the tobacco material pieces 200 are fed to the subsequent molding machine 1300 along the conveying path P in a state of being arranged in a grid in the width direction of the conveying tray 1500.

The forming machine 1300 has a second reel 1310 for winding the long roll sheet 400 into a roll shape. The web sheet 400 is a long sheet material to be the web 22 of the tobacco rod 2. The molding machine 1300 further includes a bundling unit 1320, a packing mechanism 1330, an adhesive applicator 1340, and the like. The bundling unit 1320 is disposed near an inlet of the molding machine 1300, and bundles and shapes the plurality of continuous tobacco threads 300 fed from the upstream side into a cylindrical shape (i.e., a rod shape). The constriction 1320 may be, for example, a combination of a tongue member and a horn, a constriction funnel, a delivery jet, or the like.

The packing mechanism 1330 of the molding machine 1300 is provided at the rear stage of the binding portion 1320. The packaging mechanism 1330 has an endless holding belt (ガニチャベルト) 1350. The holding belt 1350 is made of a textile material, a textile sheet, or the like, and travels at a constant speed in the direction of an arrow in the drawing by a drive drum 1360. The long web sheet 400 wound from the second reel 1310 is continuously fed to the holding belts 1350 in the molding machine 1300.

On the other hand, a plurality of continuous tobacco threads 300 shaped into a rod shape are stacked on the long rolled sheet material 400 on the holding belt 1350 in the bundling unit 1320 of the molding machine 1300. With regard to the plurality of tobacco continuous bodies 300 overlapped with the long roll sheet 400 on the grip belts 1350 in this manner, the roll sheet 400 is wound around the outer periphery of the plurality of tobacco continuous bodies 300 arranged in a rod shape while being conveyed along the conveying path P by the grip belts 1350, and the plurality of tobacco continuous bodies 300 are wrapped by the roll sheet 400. Then, an adhesive (for example, a hot melt adhesive, CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose), PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer resin), or the like) is applied to a seam formed by both edge portions of the roll paper sheet 400 overlapped with each other in an adhesive applicator 1340. Thereby, a rod-shaped and long cigarette rod continuous body 500 is molded (molding step, S102 in fig. 6).

Note that the method of manufacturing the tobacco rod 2 in the present embodiment may further include an adding step of adding at least one of the flavor and the aerosol-generating base material to the plurality of cut tobacco continuous bodies 300 obtained in the cutting step (cutting machine 1200). For example, in the adding step, at least one of the flavor and the aerosol-generating substrate may be added to the plurality of tobacco shred continuous bodies 300 while the plurality of tobacco shred continuous bodies 300 are wrapped with the roll paper (roll paper sheet 400) in the forming step (forming machine 1300). The method of adding the flavor or the aerosol-generating base material to the plurality of tobacco continuous bodies 300 is not particularly limited, but the flavor or the aerosol-generating base material may be added to the tobacco continuous bodies 300 by ejecting the flavor or the aerosol-generating base material from an addition nozzle. Of course, the addition nozzle for adding the fragrance and the addition nozzle for adding the aerosol-generating substrate may be provided separately. The flavor may be menthol or the like, but other flavors may be added. When a flavor or aerosol-generating base material is added to tobacco shred continuous body 300 in the process of wrapping a plurality of tobacco shred continuous bodies 300 with wrapping paper (paper web sheet 400) in the forming process (forming machine 1300) as described above, an addition nozzle may be provided at an appropriate position of forming machine 1300. The addition nozzle for adding the flavor or the aerosol-generating substrate to the tobacco continuous body 300 may be provided at any position between the cutting machine 1200 and the molding machine 1300 in the conveying path P.

The tobacco rod continuous body 500 obtained in the molding machine 1300 (molding process) is fed to a cutter 1400 located at the rear stage of the molding machine 1300. The cutter 1400 has a cutting means such as a rotary cutter or a knife, and the long tobacco rod continuous body 500 is cut to a constant length by the cutter 1400. That is, in the cutting step (S103 in fig. 6), the tobacco rod continuous body 500 obtained in the molding step (S102 in fig. 6) is sequentially cut into individual tobacco rods, thereby obtaining tobacco rods of the heated cigarette 1. Note that, as described above, the plurality of continuous cut tobacco pieces 300 cut from the tobacco material sheet 200 by the cutting machine 1200 are continuously connected in the conveying direction in the conveying path P until cut in the axial direction by the cutting machine 1400.

As described above, according to the method for producing the tobacco rod 2 and the rod producing apparatus 1000 of the present embodiment, the tobacco rod 2 of the heated cigarette 1 can be suitably produced. In particular, the method of manufacturing tobacco rods 2 and the rod manufacturing apparatus 1000 according to the present embodiment are characterized in that after a plurality of continuous tobacco shreds 300 are continuously cut from a tobacco material sheet 200 by a cutting machine 1200, and before the continuous tobacco shreds 300 are cut short by a cutting machine 1400, the continuous tobacco shreds 300 aligned along a conveying path P are wrapped with a roll paper (roll paper sheet 400) by a forming machine 1300 and formed into a long continuous tobacco rod 500. Thereby, the plurality of tobacco threads 23 can be arranged so that the plurality of tobacco threads 23 extend in the axial direction of the tobacco rod 2. That is, the tobacco rod 2 in which the plurality of tobacco shreds 23 are arranged parallel to each other in the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2 can be easily manufactured.

Note that, in the rod manufacturing apparatus 1000, the cut tobacco 23 having a desired thickness can be obtained by adjusting the thickness of the smoking material sheet 200 wound around the first reel 1100. Further, by adjusting the interval between cutter discs 1220 disposed in slitter 1210 of cutting machine 1200, tobacco shred 23 having a desired width can be obtained. In the present embodiment, since the plurality of continuous tobacco threads 300 having a constant width are cut in the cutting machine 1200 (cutting step) when cutting the raw tobacco material piece 200, the cross-sectional area (width dimension) of each of the tobacco threads 23 disposed on the tobacco rod 2 can be made uniform. This makes it easy to suppress the occurrence of uneven aerosol transfer characteristics in the cross section of the tobacco rod 2 during use of the heated cigarette 1, and enables stable supply of aerosol to the user.

The method for manufacturing the tobacco rod 2 according to the present embodiment may further include: the rolling step of previously rolling the cigarette material sheet 200 used for manufacturing the tobacco rod 2 to increase the density of the cigarette material sheet 200, and the winding step of winding the rolled cigarette material sheet 200 around the first bobbin 1100.

Fig. 8 is a view for explaining rolling processing of the tobacco starting sheet 200. The rolling process is performed, for example, by pressing the tobacco starting sheet 200 by continuously passing the tobacco starting sheet 200 between a pair of pressing rollers 600, 600 shown in fig. 7. By subjecting the cigarette material sheet 200 to the rolling treatment, the cigarette material sheet 200 becomes dense and the density thereof can be increased. As a result, the weight of the tobacco thread 23 can be increased while suppressing an excessively high volume filling rate of the tobacco thread 23 contained in the tobacco rod 2 after the production and an excessively high ventilation resistance of the tobacco rod 2. As a result, the amount of aerosol to be delivered in the tobacco rod 2 can be further increased.

Note that the rolled smoking material sheet 200 is wound around the first winding shaft 1100 in the winding process. The smoking material sheet 200 wound around the first reel 1100 is continuously drawn out along the conveying path P as described in fig. 5 and 6, and used for manufacturing the tobacco rod 2.

Note that, as a method for producing the cigarette raw material sheet 200, an appropriate method such as the paper making method (paper making method), casting method (slurry method), calendering method, or extrusion method can be used as described above.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating a method for producing a cigarette raw material sheet 200 by a paper-making method (paper-making method). As shown in fig. 8, first, in step S201, a tobacco material containing tobacco veins, tobacco leaves, tobacco shreds, tobacco powder, and the like is extracted with water (extraction step). In the extraction step, for example, water in an amount of 10 times the amount of the raw material for cigarette is added, and the mixture is heated at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time while stirring. Then, in step S202, the mixture obtained in the extraction step is pressed by, for example, a screw press dehydrator or the like to separate the mixture into an aqueous cigarette extract (liquid) and insoluble cigarette residue (solid) (separation step). Next, in step S203, water and pulp (cellulose fibers) are added to the insoluble cigarette residue obtained in the separation step, and then the insoluble cigarette residue is beaten, for example, by using a refiner, to adjust the fiber length and fluff the fibers to be fiberized (beating step).

Next, in step S204, the insoluble cigarette residue and the pulp fiberized in the beating step are sheeted by a paper machine, and the resulting sheet is dried to obtain a base sheet (paper making step). Next, in step S205, a concentrated solution containing the aqueous cigarette extract obtained in the above separation step, and an additive solution containing an aerosol-generating base material such as glycerin or propylene glycol are added to the base sheet (perfuming step). Note that the concentrated solution of the aqueous cigarette extraction liquid added to the base sheet in the flavoring step is obtained by, for example, concentrating the aqueous cigarette extraction liquid by an evaporator. Next, in step S206, the perfumed substrate obtained in the perfuming step is dried (drying step).

By the above-described manufacturing method, the cigarette raw material sheet 200 can be manufactured by a paper-making method (paper-making method). However, the above-described manufacturing method is exemplary, and addition, omission, and replacement of the steps can be appropriately performed. Note that, in the cigarette material sheet 200 produced by the paper making method (paper making method), the embodiment in which the content of the aerosol-generating substrate is 15.0 wt%, the content of the cigarette material is 79.05 wt%, and the content of the pulp is 5.95 wt% is exemplified, but it is needless to say that the invention is not limited thereto. Note that the content of the aerosol-generating substrate in the cigarette raw material sheet 200 produced by the paper-making method (paper-making method) is preferably 10 wt% or more and 25 wt% or less.

Fig. 9 is a view for explaining a method of producing a smoking material sheet 200 by a casting method (slurry method). As shown in fig. 9, first, in step S301, a tobacco raw material including tobacco veins, tobacco leaves, tobacco shreds, tobacco powder, and the like is pulverized, and then a small amount of a binder (binder) and a reinforcing agent (unwoven fabric of pulp, and the like), a predetermined amount of an aerosol-generating base material (glycerin, propylene glycol, and the like) and water are mixed in, for example, a stirring tank to obtain a slurry (suspension) (slurry obtaining step). Examples of the binder (binding agent) include guar gum, xanthan gum, and CMC (hydroxymethyl cellulose).

Next, in step S302, the slurry obtained in the slurry obtaining step is cast (spread) in a sheet form on, for example, a steel belt (support body) to obtain a slurry web (casting step). Next, in step S303, the slurry web stretched into a sheet shape is dried (drying step). Through the above steps, the cigarette raw material sheet 200 is obtained. Note that, in the smoking material sheet 200 produced by the casting method (slurry method), the mode in which the content of the aerosol-generating substrate (for example, glycerin) is 15.0 wt%, the content of the smoking material is 76.0 wt%, the content of the pulp is 6.0 wt%, and the content of the binder is 3.0 wt% is exemplified, but not limited thereto.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the heated cigarette product, and the method and apparatus for producing a tobacco rod in a heated cigarette according to the present invention are not limited to these. For example, although the linear tobacco threads 23 arranged on the tobacco rod 2 have been described as an example of a linear form having no curved portion in fig. 1 and 2, the tobacco threads 23 may have other shapes as long as they have a long and thin shape extending in the longitudinal direction. Fig. 11 is a diagram showing tobacco shred 23A in a modification. The tobacco shred 23A shown in fig. 11 has a meandering shape (zigzag shape). The tobacco threads 23A extending in a meandering shape in this manner are arranged in the tobacco rod 2 so that the longitudinal direction (extending direction) thereof extends along the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2. Even if the cut tobacco 23A having such a meandering shape (zigzag shape) is pressed by the electric heater 103 when the electric heater 103 in the heating device 100 is inserted into the tobacco rod 2, the position of the cut tobacco 23A in the longitudinal direction of the tobacco rod 2 is less likely to be displaced. As a result, when the electric heater 103 is inserted into the tobacco rod 2, the tobacco thread 23A can be appropriately prevented from coming off the tobacco rod 2.

It can be said that the tobacco thread 23A shown in fig. 11 is relatively more likely to obstruct the flow path of the aerosol generated in the tobacco rod 2 by being heated by the electric heater 103 than the linear tobacco thread 23 shown in fig. 1 and 2, but compared to the conventional case where the cigarette material is randomly oriented, the aerosol generated in the tobacco rod 2 is relatively less likely to be coagulated or filtered, and the aerosol transport amount can be increased compared to the conventional case.

Note that, in the case of having a meandering shape (zigzag shape) shown in fig. 11, the width of the tobacco thread 23A is preferably uniform from the front end surface 23A to the rear end surface 23 b. That is, as shown in fig. 11, the width W1 of the portion parallel to the longitudinal direction of the tobacco shred 23A and the width W2 of the portion extending in the direction orthogonal to the shape axis direction are preferably equal to each other. This makes it possible to make the cross-sectional area uniform over the entire length of the tobacco shred 23A. Accordingly, fluctuation in the amount of aerosol generated in the longitudinal direction of tobacco shred 23A when tobacco shred 23A is heated by electric heater 103 can be suppressed satisfactorily. Note that cut tobacco 23A shown in fig. 11 has a meandering shape (zigzag shape), but may have a wavy shape or other shapes.

Description of the reference numerals

1: heating cigarettes;

2: a tobacco rod;

3: a mouthpiece portion;

4: a support portion;

5: a cooling section;

6: a filtering part;

21: a cigarette filler material;

22: rolling paper;

23: tobacco shreds;

25: an aerosol flow path;

100: a heating device;

103: an electric heater;

200: a sheet of smoking material;

300: a tobacco shred continuum;

500: a tobacco rod continuum;

1000: a rod manufacturing device;

1100: a first reel;

1200: a cutting machine;

1300: a forming machine;

1400: a cutting machine.