FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
{39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules, 2003
Complete Specification
(See section 10 and rule 13)
A Novel Bidi With Modified Burning Characteristics
Godfrey Phillips India Ltd.
An Indian company registered under the Companies Act. 1956
Andheri Sahar Road, Chakala,. Andheri (East). Mumbai 400099, Maharashtra
State, India.
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

A Novel Bidi With Modified Burning Characteristics
Field of Invention
The present invention relates to improving the burning characteristics or the non extinguishing property of the smoking articles. More particularly the smoking article is a bidi made by wrapping tobacco in tendu leaves,
Background of the Invention
Bidis (pronounced bee-dees), also spelled as beedis or biris, are typically small hand-rolled smoking sticks or cigarettes manufactured mainly in India and other Southeast Asian countries. These are made by wrapping tobacco in a tendu (that is temburini or Diospyros melonoxylon) leaf.
The currently available bidis which have been marketed for years have a shortcoming in that they extinguish frequently if not puffed at regular interval of time. The bidi tobacco is of different physical as well as chemical characteristics from the cigarettes tobacco:

- Bidi tobacco is typically in the form of flakes rather than the shreads used for cigarettes; the bidi tobacco is also thicker than cigarette tobacco and contains more chloride (1.5 % to 3% w/w) to than the cigarette tobacco (0.5% to 1.5% w/w). Chlorides are known to be natural fire retardants and the bidi tobacco thus requires larger amount of and more contact with oxygen during burning, hence the more frequent puffing.
- Tendu leaves used in the bidi wrapping are a natural agricultural product which are thicker than the paper used in cigarette wrapping having very low air permeability. Sometimes tendu leafs having prominent veins create burning problem as the veins do not burn easily.
- Bidis are manually hand rolled product unlike cigarettes which are machine manufactured with sophisticated tobacco weight controls. Due to manual making/rolling bidis have relatively higher variations in tobacco weights and also non-uniform filling of tobacco across bidis. This typically result in inconsistent and poor bum characteristics, unlike cigarettes which have greately more uniform and consistent burning characteristics. Table 0 shows the results of the burn characteristics tests (Static Bum Rate - SBR) performed on two brands of commercially available cigarettes, carried out on 20 samples of each brand.

Sr.No. SBR for
Cigarette Four
Square King SBR for Cigarette Portman King
(mm/min) (mm/min)
1 5.2 5.6 .
2 5.4 5.6
3 5.2 5.6
4 5.2 5.3
5 5.4 5.3
6 5.2 5.6
7 5.4 5.2
8 5.2 5.1
9 5.4 5.1
10 5.6 5.3
11 5.5 5.5
12 5.3 5.4
13 5.1 5.7
14 4.9 5.4
15 5.0 5.1
16 5.7 5.4
17 5.3 5.5
18 5.3 4.8
19 4.7 5.0
20 4.9 5.0
Avg 5.2' 5.3
Min 4.7 4.8
Max 5.7 5.7
Range 1.0 0.9
STD. Deviation 0.2 0.2
Table 1
To add to this, the bidi industry is fairly unorganised, which is reflected in its generally non-existant or poor state of reseacrh and development. The problem posed by inconsistent and poor burn characteristics in the bidi industry has therefore gone on unattended untreated for decades.

On the whole. Bidi consumers regularly complain improper and inconsistent burning of bidi and dislike this aspect if bidi extinguishes repeatedly while smoking, bidi smokers get irritatted on account of lightinng bidi again and again. Bidi smokers are dissatisfied since they do not get bidis to meet their basic expectations towards smoking pleasure they look for in the product.
All the above characteristics and properties make bidis easily extinguisable or more resistant to burning than cigarettes, thereby providing an inferior smoking experience than other smoking sticks such as cigarettes that burn more easily and consistently. Therefore there is a strong need to manufacture bidis with improved burning characteristics/ having more non extinguising property.
Summary of the Invention
It has been surprisingly found that the burning characteristics of a bidi improves if the different bidi components such as the tendu leaf and tobacco are treated with burn rate modifiers such as acidic anion containing compounds, inorganic salts either alone or in combination, mainly with potassium citrate, along with uniform filling of tobacco without formation of lumps with standardised tobacco weight while rolling.

Detail Description of the Invention
It is clear from the foregoing discussion that the burn characteristics of a bidi depend on many factors. These are the physical and chemical nature of the bidi tobacco, bidi wrapper, and the method of constructing a bidi. In one aspect of the present invention a bJend of bidi tobacco treated with burn rate modifying chemicals such as acidic anion containing compounds, inorganic salts either alone or in combination, mainly with potassium citrate is described. The novel blend of the bidi tobacco of the present invention is used for uniform filling of tobacco in a bidi without formation of Jumps with standardised tobacco weight while rolling.
The burn rate modification techniques have been known in the cigarette industry. However, these deal with treating the cigarette wrapping paper rather than cigarette tobacco. Both cigarette wrapping paper and cigarette tobacco are greatly different from their counterparts in the bidi industry, both in their physical and chemical properties. It is therefore not obvious to a person skilled in the cigarette industry or bidi industry to adapt the knowhow from the cigarette industry to the bidi industry.
Potassium citrate is a well known burn rate modifier in the cigarette industry. However, to the applicant's knowledge its use in the bidi industry is hitherto unknown. In fact, the inventor has surprisingly found that the relationship between the burn properties of a bidi when treated with the burn rate modifier

such as Potassium citrate is not a simple one such as a linear relationship. To arrive at the optimum proportion of the potassium citrate is a matter of innovative experimentaion with various bidi tobacco blends and tendu leaves.
In another aspect of the invention sodium citrate was used in combination with potassium citrate.
The burn rate modifiers are prepared in an aqueous solution and applied to bidi components such as tobacco and wrappers. Bidi tobacco is uniformly sprayed with this solution and dried to a required level of moisture content suitable for bidi rolling thereafter. The drying is carried out by any available means such as sun drying, open air drying, or oven drying.
Tendu leaves to be used as a wrapper are treated with the aqueous solution containing the burn rate modifier in the form of potassium citrate or sodium citrate or a combination thereof. In a preferred method, tendu leaves are dipped in the solutions for a suitable period, typically 5-10 minutes, in order for the solution to soak into the leaves. The excess solution is removed from the surface of the leaves and leaves are finally dried in open air or sun light to make them sufficiently pliable for rolling bidis manually.

The bidi tobacco dried to the required moisture level is then rolled in the tenu leaves treated with the burn rate modifier to make bidis.
In a further aspect of the invention, the level of potassium citrate used was low between 0.1 to 0.3% and the burn rate modifier was used on tobacco alone and not the wrapper. Noticeable improvement in burn characteristics was not observed.
In another aspect of the invention the proportion of the burn rate modifier applied in the form of Potassium Citrate was increased to up to 5%. Some improvement in burn characteristics was observed.
In a still further aspect of the invention, a combination of Potassium citrate and Sodium Citrate was used in a proportion of 1:2 by maintaining the proportion of the combination with respect to the tobacco at 1% to 3% w/w. Some improvement in burn characteristics was observed.
In a yet further aspect of the present invention burn modifiers were used on all components of the bidi. that is the tobacco and the wrapper. Some improvement in the burn characteristics was observed.

In another aspect of the present invention, the stems of bidi tobacco (of any kind) were used along with the tobacco and tendu leaves. Some improvement in the burn characteristics were observed.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the bidi wrapper and the tobacco was treated with Potassium Citrate solution. Some improvement in the burn characteristics was observed.
In still another aspect of the present invention, a mixture of cigarette tobacco and bidi tobacco was used in bidi making. The tobacco was untreated with burn rate modifier.
In a further aspect of the invention, effect of variation of water type (hard or soft) on burn rate of bidi was assessed.
In another aspect of the present invention, the burn rate modifier in the form of Potassium Citrate was used in dosages from 6% up to 10% on tobacco alone. The burn characteristics of the product thus treated were worse than that for the control sample.

Examples:
Five grams of Potassium Citrate was added to 30ml of water and stirred well to dissolve completely. The solution was sprayed uniformly on 100 g of bidi tobacco. The tobacco is turned a number of times while application of the spray. This then provides application of Potassium Citrate in an amount 5% (w/w) on bidi tobacco. The sprayed tobacco was dried in open air till such time that the moisture content of the tobacco is closer to 10%. The tobacco thus treated was rolled into bidis using tendu leaves.
It should be noted that there's a great deal of variation in the tobacco. Therefore the 'control' batch for one experiment cannot be directly compared with that for another experiment. For each experiment a control batch was developed and results for any particular aspect of the invention were compared with the control batch for that experiment alone.
Results of the various experiments carried out are listed in Tables 1-8.
The following observations are made based on the test results:
It is not at all obvious to establish a relationship between the proportion and type of burn rate modifiers used in bidis and the burn characteristics of the bidis made using them.

Burn rate modifiers do modify the burn characteristics of a bidi, however^ the treatment has to be carefully adminsitered. - The best bum characteristics are obtained by using a burn rate modifier of potassium citrate used in an aqueous mixture

Sample Preparation % of burn rate modifier SBR
mm/min
Control batch (tobacco not treated with modifier) 0.99
Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco 2 1.64
Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco 3 2.44
Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco 5 2.58
Table 2: Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco

Sample Preparation % of burn rate modifier SBR
mm/min
Control 1.80
Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco 6 1.59
Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco 7 1.67
Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco 8 1.39
Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco 9 1.18
Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco 10 1.11
Table 3: Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco

Sample Preparation % of burn rate modifier SBR
mm/min
Control batch (tobacco not treated with modifier) 1.89
Sodium Citrate (SC) + Potassium Citrate (PC) applied to bidi tobacco ' 0.6,0.3 2.86
Sodium Citrate (SC) + Potassium Citrate (PC) applied to bidi tobacco 1.2,0.6 2.81
Sodium Citrate (SC) + Potassium Citrate (PC) applied to bidi tobacco 1.8,0.9 2.49
Table 4: A mixture of Sodium Citrate and Potassium Citrate (2:1) applied to Bidi Tobacco

Sample Preparation
% of burn rate modifier SBR mm/min
Proportion of Sodium Citrate and Potassium Citrate 1:1
Control batch (tobacco not treated with modifier) 1.62
Sodium Citrate (SC) + Potassium Citrate (PC) applied to bidi tobacco 2,2 1.88
Sodium Citrate (SC) + Potassium Citrate (PC) applied to bidi wrapper 2,2 2.42
Sodium Citrate (SC) + Potassium Citrate (PC) applied to bidi tobacco & wrapper 2.2 2.66
Table 4A: A mixture of Sodium Citrate and Potassium Citrate (1:1) applied to Bidi Tobacco

Sample Preparation % of burn rate modifier SBR
mm/min

Control batch (tobacco not treated with modifier) 1.62
Sodium Citrate (SC) applied to bidi tobacco 2 2.3
Sodium Citrate (SC) applied to bidi wrapper 2 1.63
Sodium Citrate (SC) applied to bidi tobacco & wrapper 2 1.7
Table 4B

Sample Preparation % of burn rate modifier SBR
mm/min

Control batch (tobacco not treated with modifier) 1.62
Potassium Citrate (PC) applied to bidi tobacco 2 2.02
Potassium Citrate (PC) applied to bidi wrapper 2 2.17
Potassium Citrate (PC) applied to bidi tobacco & wrapper 2 2.59
Table 4C
Tables 4B and 4C - Sodium Citrate and Potassium Citrate Alone Applied to Various Parts Of The Bidi

Sample Preparation
% of burn rate modifier SBR
Control 2.15
Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco as well as wrapper 2 1.73
Potassium Citrate applied to tobacco containing 10% bidi tobacco stems as well as wrapper 2 2.47
Table 5: Bidi Tobacco Stems Used In The Bidi Tobacco Blend

Sample Preparation % of burn
rate modifier SBR
Control 1.91
Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco and wrapper 2.17
Potassium Citrate applied to bidi tobacco and wrapper 5 2.26
Table 6: Potassium Citrate Applied To Bidi Tobacco And Wrapper

Sample Preparation % of burn
rate modifier SBR
Control 1.8
Potassium Citrate solution prepared using soft water and applied to bidi tobacco and wrapper 5 2.01 after 24 Hrs
1.52 after 48 Hrs
■ 1.41 after 72 Hrs

Control 2.33
Potassium Citrate solution prepared using hard water and applied to bidi tobacco and wrapper 5 1.81 after 24 Hrs
1.33 after 48 Hrs
1.55 after 72 Hrs
Table 7: Effect Of Water Type On Burn Characteristics

Normal bidi - Tar in mg per bidi 43.8
Normal bidi - Nicotine in mg per bidi 3.26

Bidi with burn rate modifier in the form of 5% PC - Tar in mg per bidi 36.5
Bidi with burn rate modifier in the form of 5% PC - Nicotine in mg per bidi 3.03

Percentage reduction in Tar in mg per bidi using bidi of the invention 16.66
Percentage reduction in Nicotine in mg per bidi using bidi of the invention 7.06
Table 8: Smoke Quality Analysis
From the foregoing discussion it is evident that the present invention comprises a novel bidi with modified burning characteristics.
In a first aspect of the present invention, the burn characteristics are modified through treating the bidi tobacco with either potassium citrate or sodium citrate or a combination thereof. It can be seen from Tables 2 and 3 that the combination described here provides better static Burn Rates (SBR) than the conventional bidis. When the bidi tobacco was treated with 3% aqueous solution of Potassium Citrate, the burn characteristics (measured in terms of SBR) was observed to improve by over 140% over the control sample. Whereas when the bidi tobacco was treated with a 2% and 3% aqueous solution of Potassium citrate, while the SBR showed significant improvement over the control sample, the improvement in the SBR was greatest with the application of a 5% solution. In fact, when

solutions with higher concentrations of the modifier were applied, the burn rate surprisingly deteriorated compared with the control sample.
In another aspect of the present invention, the burn characteristics of a bidi are improved by treating the bidi wrapper either by potassium citrate or sodium citrate or a combination thereof. It can be seen from Tables 4, 4A, 4B> and 4C that the combination disclosed here provides a better Static Burn Rate (SBR) than the conventional bidis. Test results show that the SBR of the bidis of the invention had superior SBR to that of the control sample, the improvement being up to 50%. In general it was observed that a combination of sodium citrate and potassium citrate used in an aqueous solution in a proportion of 2:1 (w/w) provided more superior results.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, the burn characteristics of a bidi are improved by trreating both the bidi tobacco and the bidi wrapper by either potassiun citrate or sodium citrate or a combination thereof. It can be seen from Tables 4, 4A, 4B, 4C and 6 that the combination disclosed here provides a better Static Burn Rate (SBR) than the conventional bidis. Test results show that the SBR of the bidis of the invention had superior SBR to that of the control sample, the improvement being up to 50%. In general it was observed that a combination

of sodium citrate and potassium citrate used in an aqueous solution provided superior results when used in a proportion of 1:1 (w/w).
In still another aspect of the present invention, the burn characteristics of a bidi are improved by applying Potassium Citrate to bidi tobacco that contains stems of bidi tobacco leaves, as well as to the bidi wrapper. The results are incorporated in table 5 and show improvement in the SBR over the control sample. This is an important aspect as it allows utilisation of material that would otherwise be wasted.
In another aspect of the present invention, the burn characteristics of a bidi are improved by applying Potassium Citrate to bidi tobacco as well as to the bidi wrapper, and wherein the potassium citrate solution isprepared by using hard or soft water. The results are incorporated in table 7 and show improvement in the SBR over the control sample. It was however observed that the results when using hard or soft water were more or less comparable with each other.
It is also observed from the smoke quality tests performed on bidis of th epresent invention treated with potassium citrate that the levels of nicotine and tar are lower than those for the control sample.

None of the products disclosed here are presently available to a smoker. The inventor has found that the burn rate of the bidis of the present invention is surprisingly significantly improved from that of the conventional bidis This is evident from the foregoing discussion and analysis. This provides a far superior smoking experience to the users.
ft is obvious from the above discussion that the present invention has following embodiments.
1. A novel Bidi with modified burning characteristics wherein said bidi comprises bidi tobacco wrapped in a bidi wrapper characterised in that at least one of said bidi tobacco and bidi wrapper is treated with a burn modifier selected from a group comprising an aqueous solution of potassium citrate, an aqueous solution of sodium citrate or a combination thereof.
2. A novel bidi as described in embodiment no. 1 wherein said bidi tobacco contains between 0.5% to 12% w/w stems of leaves of tobacco.
3. A novel bidi as described in embodiments 1 and 2 wherein the percentage of potassium citrate in said aqueous solution of potassium citrate is between 0.5% to 10% w/w.

4. A novel bidi as described in embodiments 1 to 3 wherein the percentage of said potassium citrate in said aqueous solution of potassium citrate is between 2% to 7% vv/w.
5. A novel bidi as described in embodiments 1 to 4 wherein the proportion of sodium citrate (w/w) to potassium citrate (w/w) is between 2:1 and 1:1.
6. A novel bidi as described in embodiments 1 to 5 wherein the percentage of said sodium citrate in said aqueous solution of sodium citrate is between 0.2% to 10%.
7. A novel bidi as described in embodiments 1 to 6 wherein the percentage of said potassium citrate is 4% to 6% w/w.
8. A novel bidi as described in embodiments 1 to 7 wherein said bidi tobacco and said tendu wrappers are applied with an aqueous solution containing potassium citrate in the amount of 4% to 6% w/w.
9. A novel bidi as described in embodiments 1 to 8 wherein the proportion of said stems of tobacco leaves is 9% to 11% w/w.
10. A novel bidi as described in embodiments 1 to 9 wherein the percentage of said sodium citrate in said aqueous solution of sodium citrate is between 0.2% to 2.5%.

While the above description contains much specificity, these should not be construed as limitation in the scope of the invention, but rather as an exemplification of the preferred embodiments thereof. It must be realized that modifications and variations are possible based on the disclosure given above without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

We claim:
1. A novel Bidi with modified burning characteristics wherein said bidi comprises bidi tobacco wrapped in a bidi wrapper characterised in that at least one of said bidi tobacco and bidi wrapper is treated with a bum modifier selected from a group comprising an aqueous solution of potassium citrate, an aqueous solution of sodium citrate or a combination thereof.
2. A novel bidi as described in claim 1 wherein said bidi tobacco contains between 0.5% to 12% w/w stems of leaves of tobacco.
3. A novel bidi as claimed in claims 1 and 2 wherein the percentage of potassium citrate in said aqueous solution of potassium citrate is between 0.5% to 10% w/w.
4. A novel bidi as claimed in claims 1 to 3 wherein the percentage of said potassium citrate in said aqueous solution of potassium citrate is between 2% to 7% w/w.
5. A novel bidi as claimed in claims I to 4 wherein the proportion of sodium citrate (w/w) to potassium citrate (w/w) is between 2:1 and 1:1.
6. A novel bidi as claimed in claims 1 to 5 wherein the percentage of said sodium citrate in said aqueous solution of sodium citrate is between 0.2% to 10%.

7. A novel bidi as claimed in claims 1 to 6 wherein the percentage of said potassium citrate is 4% to 6% w/w.
8. A novel bidi as claimed in claims 1 to 7 wherein said bidi tobacco and said tendu wrappers are applied with an aqueous solution containing potassium citrate in the amount of 4% to 6% w/w.
9. A novel bidi as claimed in claims 1 to 8 wherein the proportion of said stems of tobacco leaves is 9% to 11% w/w,
10. A novel bidi as claimed in claims 1 to 9 wherein the percentage of said sodium citrate in said aqueous solution of sodium citrate is between 0.2% to 2.5%.