A tobacco industry product component and a method of manufacturing a tobacco industry product component

Abstract

The present invention relates to a tobacco industry product component comprising a wall circumscribing a cavity. A plurality of additive capsules and a plurality of particles are disposed in the cavity. The particles are configured such that, in use, the particles promote breaking of the additive capsules upon the application of an external force to the wall of the tobacco industry product component by a user. The particles may comprise a material having a particle density of at least 1 g/cc. There is also provided a method of manufacturing a tobacco industry product component.

1 . A tobacco industry product component comprising:
 a wall circumscribing a cavity;   a plurality of additive capsules disposed in the cavity; and,   a plurality of particles disposed in the cavity and configured such that, in use, the particles promote breaking of the additive capsules upon the application of an external force to the wall of the tobacco industry product component by a user, wherein the particles comprise a material having a particle density of at least 1 g/cc.   
     
     
         2 . A tobacco industry product component according to  claim 1 , wherein the particles comprise a plasticiser. 
     
     
         3 . A tobacco industry product component according to  claim 1  or  claim 2 , wherein the particles comprise a polymeric material and, preferably, plastic. 
     
     
         4 . A tobacco industry product component according to  claim 3 , wherein the particles comprise cellulose acetate. 
     
     
         5 . A tobacco industry product component according to  claim 4  wherein the particles comprise cellulose acetate chips. 
     
     
         6 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  5 , wherein the particles comprise one or more surface formations configured to promote breaking of the additive capsules. 
     
     
         7 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  6 , wherein the particles have an average surface area of less than 50 square metres per gram and, preferably, less than 30, 20, 10, 5 or 3 square metres per gram. 
     
     
         8 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  7 , wherein the particles are formed from a material having a Rockwell hardness of at least 25 on the R-Scale and, preferably, at least 30, at least 40, at least 50, at least 60, at least 70, at least 80, at least 90, or at least 100 on the R-Scale. 
     
     
         9 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  8 , wherein the particles have a ball-pan hardness of greater than 95% and, preferably, greater than 96%, 97%, 98% or 99%. 
     
     
         10 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  9 , wherein the additive capsules have a diameter of between 0.6 and 1.4 mm and, preferably, a diameter of about 1 mm. 
     
     
         11 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  10 , wherein the particles have a particle size of between 1 and 2.4 mm and, preferably, a particle size of between 1.4 and 2 mm. 
     
     
         12 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  11 , comprising between 20 and 100 additive capsules and, preferably, between 40 and 80 additive capsules. 
     
     
         13 . A tobacco industry product according to any one of  claims 1  to  12 , wherein the additive capsules have an average burst strength of between 3 N and 5 N and, preferably, between 3.5 N and 4.5N. 
     
     
         14 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  13 , wherein the cavity has a length of between 4 and 12 mm and, preferably, has a length of between 6 and 10 mm. 
     
     
         15 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  14 , comprising a body of filtration material that comprises the cavity and, preferably, wherein the body comprises first and second sections of filtration material and the cavity is disposed between the first and second sections. 
     
     
         16 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  15 , further comprising a plug wrap that circumscribes the cavity. 
     
     
         17 . A tobacco industry product component according to  claim 16 , wherein the plug wrap comprises an impermeable coating. 
     
     
         18 . A tobacco industry product component according to  claim 16  or  claim 17 , wherein the plug wrap has a basis weight of at least 60 gsm. 
     
     
         19 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 16  to  18 , wherein the plug wrap has a thickness of at least 35 micrometres. 
     
     
         20 . A tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  19 , further comprising an outer surface comprising an indicator configured to indicate to the user where the external force should be applied to the tobacco industry product component. 
     
     
         21 . A tobacco industry product comprising a tobacco industry product component according to any one of  claims 1  to  20 . 
     
     
         22 . A method of manufacturing a tobacco industry product component comprising:
 providing a plurality of particles comprising a material having a particle density of at least 1 g/cc;   providing a plurality of additive capsules; and,   locating the particles and additive capsules in a cavity.   
     
     
         23 . A method according to  claim 22 , wherein the particles have a particle size of between 1 to 2.4 mm and, preferably a particle size of between 1.4 to 2 mm. 
     
     
         24 . A method according to  claim 22  or  claim 23 , wherein the particles comprise cellulose acetate. 
     
     
         25 . A method according to any one of  claims 22  to  claim 24 , wherein the particles comprise a plasticiser. 
     
     
         26 . A method of manufacturing a plurality of particles for a tobacco industry product component, the method comprising:
 providing a material and;   forming the material into a plurality of particles, wherein the material of the particles has a particle density of at least 1 g/cc.   
     
     
         27 . A method according to  claim 26 , wherein forming the material into a plurality of particles includes extruding the material. 
     
     
         28 . A method according to  claim 26  or  claim 27 , wherein forming the material into a plurality of particles includes cutting or grinding the material. 
     
     
         29 . A method of manufacturing a tobacco industry product component comprising manufacturing a plurality of particles according to any one of  claims 26  to  28 . 
     
     
         30 . The use of a plurality of particles comprising a material having a particle density of at least 1 g/cc in the manufacture of a tobacco industry product component.