DE2061465A1 - Method and device for moistening tobacco - Google Patents

Description

Patent attorneys Dipl.-Ing. F. Weickmann,

Dipl.-Ing. H.Weickmann, Dipl.-P'hys. Dr-K. Fincke Dipl.-Ing. F. A. Weickmann, Dipl.-Chem. B. Huber

8 MUNICH 86, DEN

PO Box 860 820

MÖHLSTRASSE 22, CALL NUMBER 48 3921/22

Schu / il

WiG Corporation, San Jose, California, USA 1105 Coleman Avenue

Method and device for moistening tobacco

The invention "relates to a method and an apparatus for moistening tobacco.

The adverse effects of tar and nicotine associated with the Cigarette smoking has long been a deterrent Effect on people who would like to smoke but who are concerned about their health or their physical condition Well-being would be impaired as a result. In an attempt, the adverse effects of tar and nicotine when smoking cigarettes It has been suggested to use less tobacco in each cigarette. Because the tobacco in the cigarettes is stuffed into it, the only way to use less tobacco by weight in a cigarette is without the To reduce the size of the cigarette by reducing the volume of each tobacco leaf or strip, as in the case of the

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Manufacture of cigarettes are used, in terms of volume to enlarge.

It has recently been discovered that tobacco can be bulked or expanded in volume by a freeze drying process in which the normally dried and cut tobacco is moistened with water so that it absorbs water, causing it to grow well over its normal dry size State extends beyond. Before the present invention was .gemacht, the tobacco was characterized sawn W moistened or soaked in that a thin layer of tobacco in a tray or bucket placed, the tobacco either sservolumen under atmospheric pressure or in Yakuum with a predetermined Wa is covered and that the tobacco was then allowed to absorb naturally, such as under atmospheric pressure, or the vacuum (in the event that water was added under vacuum) to increase the rate of absorption.

When the tobacco is moistened by placing it in a water trough, the water leaches the soluble ones Solid components of the tobacco from the tobacco from what is made of it fc it can be seen that the dampening water surrounding the tobacco discolored brown. The loss of these soluble components causes a decrease in the body or the body Volume of the tobacco and also affects the quality and taste of the tobacco.

Moistening the tobacco is only the first step in the process of increasing the volume of the tobacco Tobacco. The working process also goes through the further working steps in which the tobacco is frozen the tobacco is then freeze-dried and the tobacco is then moistened to restore it to its original state

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Establish moisture content. When the tobacco through it is moistened so that it soaks in a water trough, so it is extremely expensive and time consuming to the tobacco freeze-drying after being frozen. This "is due to the excess large and unnecessary Volume of crystallized water taken from the frozen tobacco and around the frozen tobacco in the freeze drying operation must be removed.

For the reasons mentioned above, it is desired to develop a method for moistening tobacco in which the water-soluble Solids content of the tobacco is not leached from the tobacco and which does not require such a large volume of water, thereby making the freeze-drying operation less expensive.

The present invention relates generally to an improved method of making the shredded or strip-shaped tobacco to make more voluminous without adversely affecting the quality of the tobacco. In particular, this relates to Invention a method for processing tobacco, in which the tobacco is impregnated by spraying with water, so that it takes on an inflated shape, in which the tobacco is then frozen to form water crystals in the tobacco, in which the tobacco is then freeze-dried to remove the water crystals to remove again, and in which the freeze-dried tobacco is then moistened to put it in its original moisture condition attributed during it remains in its bloated state. An important part of the present invention is the way ± n which the tobacco is soaked in the water and the device with which this process is carried out.

Essentially, in the method according to the invention for Soaking or soaking of tobacco water over the tobacco

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sprayed or oozed through while the tobacco is kept in constant motion. Both different embodiments of the device according to the invention the constant movement is generated by the fact that the shredded or strip-shaped tobacco through a sieve-like Rotary drum is performed, which circulates the tobacco year after year Is sprayed into the drum. In another embodiment the constant movement is produced by the tobacco cascading down a vibrating staircase, which is arranged under several water nozzles.

In all embodiments, the tobacco is soaked through from its original moisture content (approximately 10 to 13 P) to a moisture content of approximately 70 to 30 % without the water-soluble solid constituents being lost or leached from the tobacco in the solution.

Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide an improved one Specify a method for the bulking of dried, shredded or cut tobacco in the form of strips, in which the quality of the tobacco is not adversely affected.

Furthermore, the invention aims to provide a method for volumetric To indicate the enlargement of dried tobacco, in which the tobacco is sprayed with water and the tobacco is sprayed with water to saturate, whereupon the water is removed again by a freeze-drying process.

Furthermore, a method for wetting or soaking tobacco is to be specified in which essentially no water-soluble ones Solids are leached from the tobacco.

Furthermore, the invention seeks a device for wetting tobacco, in which the tobacco in a continuous Movement is maintained while water is sprayed onto the tobacco.

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In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to preferred exemplary embodiments shown in the drawing explained. In the drawing show:

]? ig. 1 is a rare view of an embodiment of one according to of the present invention formed soak contraption,

Fig. 2 is a cross section along line 2-2 through the

Fig. 3 is a partial view in which another cylindrical Drum material for the device shown in Fig. 1 is shown,

FIG. 4 is a cross section similar to that shown in FIG Cross-section showing another embodiment according to the present invention "at the Air atomizers are used to get water into the themselves spraying rotating drum,

Xg. 5 shows a side view of a further embodiment at which the spray heads are arranged in the drum,

Pig. 6 is a side view of a fourth embodiment of the dehydration device according to the invention;

Pig. 7 is a schematic view showing a method for Bulging of tobacco is shown, in which the erfindungogemäße Moisturizing device is used.

In Fig. 1 is an embodiment of one according to the invention Thinning device shown. This gate direction includes a cylindrical rotating drum 10, into which it is dried, shredded or cut into strips

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Tobacco T is introduced through a funnel 12.

The cylindrical wall 14 of the drum 10 is made of a corrosion-resistant steel screen or a perforated sheet metal Ha, like it in Pig. 3 is shown or the like, produced so that water can pass through this wall. Near the ends of the cylindrical wall 14 and on the outside of the wall two annular guide rings 16 are attached. The guide rings 16 cooperate idle pulleys 18 together, which are at an angle at the upper ends of two pairs of support posts 20 and 22 and which hold and guide the drum while it rotates. As can be seen from Fig. 1, the front support supports 20 are shorter than the rear support supports 22, so that the drum from the rear to the front is inclined downward, so that the tobacco that is introduced into the drum via the feed hopper 12, due to the Gravity can run through the drum and get onto a conveyor belt 24 for further processing.

A support 25 attached to the rear support supports 22 is, carries a drive motor 26 and also the Sinführtrichter 12. On the drive shaft of the motor 26, a small gear 28 is provided, which in operation with a ring-shaped ring gear 30 engages, .the drum 10 surrounds and is attached to this, so that the drum with With the help of the motor 26 can be put under pressure.

Above and next to the rotating drum and parallel to its axis of rotation, two pressurized water lines 32 are arranged, which have outwardly widening spray heads 34 which are arranged along their length. The lines 32 are connected to a water supply (not shown) and they are used to distribute a fine water spray S evenly in the pressure under pressure

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spray the rotating drum. It is important that the Spray S is very fine or foggy, since water-soluble solids are leached out of the tobacco by large water droplets will.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, a plurality of inwardly projecting lifters 36 are provided on the inner surface of the drum wall 14 attached, which extend over the entire length of the drum and serve to circulate the tobacco T substantially or fall while it is running through the drum. The jacks also serve to prevent themselves from falling the tobacco agglomerates.

In operation, the tobacco is supplied by any suitable means introduced into the feed hopper 12, from where it flows into the rear, high end of the drum 10. At the When entering the drum, the lifters 3o, which rotate with the drum, roll the tobacco over and keep it in a constant state Move. Water from the spray heads 34 is in a fine Drizzle or a mist over the rotating drum distributed, and the relatively dry tobacco (which usually has a humidity of $ 10 to $ 13) absorbs the water immediately. When the tobacco T leaves the lower front end of the drum 10, it has a moisture content from 70 to 80 wt .-, ί reached, and due to the water absorption it is in proportion to its size or its volume in the dry state is increased considerably or bloated. It has been found that by this method of soaking the tobacco water-soluble solids in the tobacco are prevented from being leached out while the tobacco still has so much water absorb. 'can as if the tobacco were in a volume of water would soak up.

In another -ius guide form i, which is the one shown in FIG. 1, 2 and 3 are similar to the execution forms shown, the spray heads 34 can be replaced by air atomizers 33, such as it can be seen from Fig. 4, so that the into the drum 10b

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blown water is completely atomized into a fine mist and yet is dispensed under pressure so that any tobacco Tb adhering to the cylindrical wall 14b of the drum hangs, is blown away. The air atomizers are conventional and essentially consist from a slightly pressurized water line 40, the tubular outlets 42 standing upright along its length (only one of which is shown). Air jets 44, which communicate with a line 46 for compressed air stand, and each of which is associated with an outlet 42, blow air substantially horizontally over the open upper ends of the outlets 42, whereby water is withdrawn from the line 40. Venturi tubes 48 near the Ends of the air jets 44 facilitate the atomization of the water, so that this in the drum in the form of a fine Spray or mist Sb is blown in and gently deposited on the tobacco.

It is not necessary that the water spray be generated on the outside of the rotating drum. It could just as well be a water pipe disposed inside of the drum 10c, 50 (FIG. 5), whereby it would not be necessary to apply a perforated or sieve-like cylindrical drum wall to comparable ψ. In this embodiment, the drum wall 14c is preferably made of a non-perforated sheet metal with a sieve-shaped lower end so that excess water can be drained from the drum without flowing onto the discharge conveyor belt 51.

Another embodiment of the tobacco wetting device according to the invention is in Pig. 6, and this embodiment includes a resiliently arranged, stepped shape Structure 54 'which at its upper end through a feed funnel 56 or other suitable feed device tobacco Td can be fed.

The stepped member 54 comprises an inclined solid

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Back plate 58 to which a plurality of slightly downwardly inclined steps 60 are attached at a distance from one another. The lowest Step 60 lies above a conveyor belt 62 on which the tobacco Td can be transported away from the barrel device.

The back plate 58 is held from below by punches 63, which have coil springs 64 which connect the upper ends of the punches to the underside of the back plate 58 in such a way that the plate is free within certain limits, which is determined by the stiffness of the springs 64 can vibrate. The upper end of the back plate 58 is operatively connected to a vibrator 66 such as that manufactured by the Syntron Division of IMG Corporation and sold under the name Vibra-Flo-Feeder. The vibrator 66 shakes the plate 58 substantially in a reciprocating motion so that the tobacco lying on the downwardly inclined steps 60 falls onto the next step and then onto the conveyor belt 62 by which it falls out of the hosing device is discharged.

Above the stepped arrangement 54 is a pressurized one Water pipe 68 similar to that in the Pig. 1 shown Embodiment, arranged with .a (not shown) Water supply is connected. The line 68 comprises several spray heads 70, which are evenly distributed over their length, so that a uniform fine spray of water Sd is formed over the stepped arrangement 54 and the tobacco lying on this arrangement.

When operating the embodiment shown in FIG dried tobacco Td fed via a hopper 56 of the uppermost step 60 of the step-shaped arrangement 54, the by connecting the vibrator 66 to the step-shaped Arrangement vibrates. The combined effect of the incline of the steps 60 and their vibrating motion causes the tobacco to fall cascading down the stairs while being sprayed with water, like that. that the tobacco absorbs water while it

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continuously, from the top step down to the discharge conveyor belt 62 is moved.

Since the tobacco Td is kept in constant motion while it is the fine water spray from the spray heads 70 is exposed, the water-soluble solids in the tobacco are not leached but, on the contrary, remain in the tobacco, while the tobacco barrels the one sprayed on it absorbed.

The embodiments described above for the tobacco wetting device can serve to wet or soak strip-shaped or comminuted tobacco. In each embodiment, the tobacco is soaked evenly derait or soaked that its moisture content of 10 to 13 ^carbon p to a moisture content of 70 to 80 ^a / o increases, be leached without any water-soluble Peststoffe in the tobacco. The tobacco expands accordingly in terms of size or volume without losing its taste or, in other words, without adversely affecting the quality of the tobacco.

After the tobacco according to the above work process has been soaked or soaked, it is ready for another processing operation to put it back in its Due to the state of moisture that he had before the soaking operation exhibited. This is done without the tobacco shrinking to its size or volume that it had before the wetting operation can be achieved by three additional operations that are set out in Pig. are shown schematically.

The soaked tobacco is first frozen in a freezer so that the water in the tobacco crystallizes. Bs it is clear that in this freezing operation, the tobacco does not shrink in size, but that he due to the

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Expansion of the water when it is from the liquid state is transformed into a solid state, normally itself stretching a little. The frozen tobacco is then freeze-dried in a conventional manner under a high vacuum, to remove the water crystals from the tobacco without the tobacco being able to decrease in volume. The tobacco could too Freeze-dried at atmospheric pressure if appropriate the working procedure would be dealt with as described in the US patent application filed in December Filed in 1969 by Abbott under the title "Method and Apparatus for Continuous Processing of Tobacco" became. After the water crystals have been removed from the tobacco, it has a lower moisture content on than before the wetting process. Therefore, the tobacco is passed through a controlled humidifier in order to bring the moisture content to a level substantially equal to that of the tobacco prior to the wetting process and which was approximately $ 10 to $ 13 moisture content.

Through the above operations, an enlarged in volume, cut into strips or made from leaves Obtain existing tobacco that has the same composition and quality as the tobacco before it has been processed. This enlarged or puffed up tobacco is used to make cigarettes or the like, which are the same size as the conventional cigarettes, but less tobacco and therefore less Contain tar and nicotine, and which are therefore preferred by the smoking public. It can also Freeze-dried tobacco can be blended with conventionally treated tobacco, thereby reducing the overall degree of bloating of the tobacco can be enlarged to a lesser extent in a cigarette.

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Claims (15)

206U65 Claims (Q- "A method for soaking tobacco with water, characterized ^^ characterized in that the tobacco is moved continuously and that water is sprayed onto the tobacco at the same time. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that that the tobacco is continuously moved by tumbling in a rotating drum. 3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that that the tobacco is continuously moved by cascading down a vibrating staircase is left. 4. Apparatus for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-3 »characterized by a Moving device (10, 10b, 10c, 54) »to move the tobacco continuously, and by a spray device (32, 34; 38), which cooperates with this movement device, in order to apply a liquid to the constantly moving tobacco spray on. 5. Apparatus according to claim 4 »characterized that the moving device is a rotating drum (10, 10b) through which a liquid is sprayed and means (26) for rotating the drum. 6. Apparatus according to claim 5 »characterized in that the rotating drum according to inwardly extending tobacco lifters (36) to create a greater agitation effect and to prevent the tobacco clumps together. 109851/0904 - 13 - 7. Apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that k e η η ζ e i c hn e t that the rotating drum opposite is inclined to the horizontal, so that the tobacco that is circulated in this rotating drum, due to the Gravity is transported through the drum. 8. Device according to one of claims 4 to 7, d a du r c h characterized in that the spray device (32, 34) is arranged outside the rotating drum and has a conduit (32) with spray devices (34) which over the length of the line are distributed to "a uniform Spraying the tobacco to reach the drum. 9. Device according to one of claims 4 to 7 »characterized marked chnet that the spray device in the Inside the rotating drum is arranged and has a line with Sprühvorriohtungen over the length the line are distributed in order to achieve an even spraying of the tobacco in the drum. 10. Device according to one of claims 4 to 9 »d a d u r c h g e k e η η ζ ei without t that the rotating drum is cylindrical and that the cylindrical longitudinal wall the drum is made of a corrosion-resistant steel screen. -.:--:_—_ .. 11. Device according to one of claims 4- 9 »thereby g e k e η η ζ e i e h η e t that the rotating drum is cylindrical, and that the cylindrical longitudinal wall of the drum is made of a perforated sheet metal is. 12. Device according to one of claims 4 to 9 »thereby characterized in that the rotating drum is cylindrical and that the cylindrical longitudinal wall of the drum is made of a non-perforated sheet metal is. - 14 -109851/0904 206H65 13. Device according to one of claims 4 "to 12, characterized in that the movement device a staircase (54) which is in operative connection with a vibrator (66) through which the staircase can be set in continuous vibration, so that the tobacco cascades down the stairs. 14. Apparatus according to claim 13, characterized that the vibrating staircase is resilient. 15. Device according to one of claims 4 to 14 »thereby characterized in that the spray means (68, 70) is arranged above the vibrating staircase and one Has line (68) with spray devices (70) which are arranged distributed over the length of the line, so that the tobacco is evenly sprayed on the stairs. 109851/0904