Cigarette-type article of novel form, and process for producing such article

Abstract

A series of cigarette-type articles contained in a retail package, each comprising a tobacco-filled cylinder having a filter tip attached to each of its opposite ends, whereby each such article can provide two filter tip cigarettes by the user breaking or severing the tobacco-filled cylinder between the two filter tips. The breakage or severing can occur at variable locations between said filter tips to produce cigarettes of varying length. The tobacco-filled cylinder of each said article has a length of between 2 inches and 3½ inches. The invention also includes a process for producing such cigarette-type articles and a procedure for preparing them for smoking.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to cigarettes, and provides a novel cigarette-type article which is more economical in use than conventional cigarettes. The invention also provides a process for making, and a process for using, such articles.

[0003] 2. Prior Art

[0004] A common form of conventional cigarette has a tobacco-filled paper cylinder attached to a filter tip. The filter tip is usually about ⅞ inches long. The tobacco cylinder may be from about 2 inches to 2{fraction (7/16)} inches in length; the latter length provides a so-called “king-size” cigarette with an overall length of 3{fraction (5/16)} inches.

[0005] Nowadays, especially in North America, there are severe restrictions on smoking which often require that smokers have only a very short time to enjoy a cigarette, for example a brief time standing outside a non-smoking venue. This means that cigarettes are often disposed of when only a small fraction of the cigarette has been smoked, which is obviously wasteful. When, as is usual, the cigarettes have filters, they cannot be divided into two cigarettes without losing the benefit of the filters. The present invention provides a novel cigarette type article which overcomes this problem of wastage.

[0006] The invention also provides a means whereby smokers who wish to reduce their nicotine consumption can smoke cigarettes which are smaller than the standard length.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention provides a package, of the type suitable for retail sale, containing a series of cigarette-type articles, wherein each cigarette-type article comprises a tobacco-filled cylinder having a filter tip attached to each of its opposite ends, so that each said article can provide two filter tip cigarettes by breakage or severing of the tobacco-filled cylinder between the two filter tips, and in which this breakage or severing can occur at variable locations between said filter tips to produce cigarettes of varying length.

[0008] The invention also provides a procedure for preparing a cigarette for smoking by utilizing a cigarette type article comprising a tobacco-filled cylinder having a filter tip attached to each of its opposite ends, characterized by the steps of removing the article from a retail package, and breaking or severing the tobacco-filled cylinder between the two filter tips to provide two cigarettes each with a filter tip.

[0009] While it will be usual that the novel cigarette type article of this invention produces two cigarettes of varying lengths, each shorter than a standard cigarette, it is also possible merely to remove the filter from one end of the novel article to obtain a long cigarette similar to a “king size” cigarette.

[0010] Prior Art: Further Comments in Relation to Features of the Present Invention

[0011] Patent searches have shown that cigarette-type articles having a filter tip at each opposite end are known per se as intermediate products in the process of cigarette making; however these articles are not a final product and are not, so far as is known, packaged for retail sale. Rather, they are cut in two across their centers to provide two regular length cigarettes.

[0012] Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,216, which issued Oct. 22, 1985 to Ahern, describes a machine for the manufacture of “double cigarette units” each consisting of a double-length tobacco rod having filters secured to its opposite ends, which are cut in half to provide the eventual retail cigarettes. The cutting is performed by cutting means 44, shown in FIG. 1, immediately prior to packaging.

[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,992, which issued Jun. 22, 1993 to Milins, describes a similar procedure. This patent also describes a different and more usual prior art procedures in its first para., which states that:

[0014] “Filter-tipped cigarettes are commonly made by a filter attachment machine which joins pairs of cigarettes to opposite ends of double-length filter portions to form filter-tipped cigarettes assemblies. These double assemblies are then cut through the middle to form two rows of individual filter tipped cigarettes . . . ”.

[0015] The prior art procedure described in this last paragraph is exemplified by many prior patents, for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,008, which issued Aug. 4, 1992 to Oesterling et al.

[0016] The intermediate product described in the prior Ahern and Milins patents has the following distinctions over the retail product which is the subject of the present invention, namely:

[0017] 1. It is always cut across its center to provide two regular length cigarettes; it appears never to have been divided unequally to provide cigarettes of variable or short lengths;

[0018] 2. The length of the tobacco-filled portion of this intermediate product is twice the length of that of a regular cigarette; and

[0019] 3. It is never packaged for sale as a final retail product.

[0020] By contrast, the cigarette type articles of this invention are enclosed in packages for retail sale. Also, the length of the tobacco-containing cylinder in this invention is usually less than twice that of any conventional cigarette. Typically, the length of the tobacco-filled cylinder in this invention is between 2 and 3½ inches.

[0021] The present invention also provides a process for producing a package of cigarette-type articles, wherein each said article comprises a tobacco-filled cylinder with a filter tip attached to each of its opposite ends, characterized by the step of placing said cigarette-type articles into a retail-type package without any severing of the tobacco-containing cylinder between the filter tips, whereby the severing or breakage of the cylinder between the filter tips can be performed by the eventual smoker.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;

[0023] FIG. 1 shows a cigarette type article in accordance with this invention; and

[0024] FIG. 2 shows a package of said articles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] As shown in FIG. 1, the novel cigarette-type article 10 of this invention has a tobacco-filled paper cylinder 12, and to each opposite end of this is attached a filter tip 14. The tobacco-filled cylinder or rod 12 is similar in nature and diameter to that of a normal cigarette, although the length may be longer (see below), and each filter is the same as that for a conventional cigarette and is the same length, about ⅞ inches, as that of a conventional cigarette.

[0026] The term “tobacco” in this specification is intended to include any smokable material or mixture of such materials. The term “filter” is intended to cover any mouthpiece that may be required to be attached to cigarettes.

[0027] In the preferred embodiment, the length of the tobacco-filled cylinder, shown at L1 in FIG. 1, is 2{fraction (7/16)} inches, which is the same length as the tobacco-filled cylinder of a “king-size” cigarette. With the two filters 14, each with a length L2 of ⅞ inches, attached to its ends the total length L3 of the article is 4{fraction (3/16)} inches. By contrast, the “double-length tobacco rod” of the Ahern patent, for example, would need to be at least about 4¼ inches to provide two standard length cigarettes, giving a total length to the “double-cigarette units” of Ahern of 6 inches. While the length of the articles in accordance with this invention will vary, they will usually have a tobacco-filled cylinder of between about 2 and 3½ inches, and preferably between 2 and 3 inches, and most preferably between about 2 and 2½ inches; all these lengths are significantly shorter than what would be the length of the “double cigarette units” of Ahern.

[0028] FIG. 2 shows the cigarette type articles in accordance with this invention contained in a typical retail cigarette package P. This is similar to a standard package, in having 20 or 25 cigarettes, but is longer due to the need to accommodate the two filter tips 14. Unlike with prior art “double cigarettes”, the articles of this invention are placed in the package without any severing of the tobacco cylinder.

[0029] The cigarette-type articles of this invention can be produced by a process generally similar to the processes described in the above-mentioned Ahern and Milins patents, except that for this invention the cigarette-type articles will be shorter than the double cigarettes of the prior patents, and they will be placed in retail packages without being severed.

[0030] In use, the cigarette-type article an be prepared for smoking in one of two ways. If the user wishes to enjoy a long smoke, he can remove an article from the package, and break or cut off a filter 14 at one end, giving an amount of tobacco similar to that of a “king size” cigarette. If the user needs a quick smoke, he will cut or break the tobacco cylinder 12 at a suitable point between the filter tips to provide two short cigarettes, this point being indicated at B in FIG. 1, and return one of these to the package before smoking the other. Point B is variable and can be at any position between the filters. The tobacco-filled cylinder 12 does not need any modification from that of a conventional cigarette to make it suitable for the invention; the cylinder or rod of a conventional cigarette is easily breakable.

Claims

1. A package, of the type suitable for retail sale, containing a series of cigarette-type articles,

wherein each cigarette-type article comprises a tobacco-filled cylinder having a filter tip attached to each of its opposite ends,

whereby each said article can provide two filter tip cigarettes by breakage or severing of said tobacco-filled cylinder between the two filter tips,

and in which said breakage or severing can occur at variable locations between said filter tips to produce cigarettes of varying length.

2. A package according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco-filled cylinder of each said article has a length of between 2 inches and 3½ inches.

3. A package according to claim 1, wherein the tobacco-filled cylinder of each said article has a length of between 2 inches and 3 inches.

4. A package according to claim 1, wherein said package contains 20 or 25 of said articles.

5. A series of cigarette-type articles wherein each cigarette-type article comprises a tobacco-filled cylinder having a filter tip attached to each of its opposite ends,

whereby each said article can provide two filter tip cigarettes by breakage or severing of said tobacco-filled cylinder between the two filter tips, and in which said breakage or severing can occur at variable locations between said filter tips to produce cigarettes of varying length;

and wherein the tobacco-filled cylinder of each said article has a length between 2 and 3½ inches.

6. A series of articles according to claim 5, wherein the tobacco-filled cylinder of each article has a length between 2 and 3 inches.

7. A series of articles according to claim 5, wherein the tobacco-filled cylinder of each article has a length between 2 and 2½ inches.

8. A process for producing a package of cigarette type articles, wherein each said article comprises a tobacco-filled cylinder with a filter tip attached to each of its opposite ends, characterized by the step of placing said cigarette-type articles into a retail-type package without any severing of the tobacco-containing cylinder between the filter tips, whereby severing or breakage of the cylinder between the filter tips can be performed by the eventual smoker.

9. A procedure for preparing a cigarette for smoking by utilizing a cigarette type article comprising a tobacco-filled cylinder having a filter tip attached to each of its opposite ends, characterized by the steps of removing the article from a retail package, and breaking or severing the tobacco-filled cylinder between the two filter tips to provide two cigarettes each with a filter tip.