Field of invention

The present invention relates to flavour release in cigarettes, more particularly the present invention relates to user interactive flavour release mechanism and/or regulating the flavour release profile on user demand while using smoking articles.

Background and prior art
Cigarettes with multi-component filters or cavity filters are well known in the art. Such filters, either comprises sorbent materials such as activated carbon or the like intended for the removal of particulate and gaseous components of the mainstream smoke and/or encapsulated flavour containing materials for the release of flavour.

US 20130206151 teaches a filter for a smoking article comprises a flavour release segment including a plurality of flavour granules.

US 4201234 relates to a new and improved filter for smoking articles, especially cigarettes, of the cavity type for improved filtering capacity.

US 20070000505 relates to a component of a smoking article having tobacco beads. This component can comprise additional flavours, which are released into the mainstream smoke under ambient conditions.

US 7484511 relates to a cigarette comprises a tobacco rod and a multi-component filter comprising a bed of adsorbent and a flavour-releasing filter segment located downstream of the bed of adsorbent.

GB 1132950 relates to cigarette filter, said filter comprising pressure-rupturable capsules each retaining a liquid aromatic substance, the arrangement being such that, when pressure is exerted on said tube, the capsules are ruptured releasing the aromatic substance.

US9282766 relates to a smoking article comprising a flavour release segment including a plurality of flavour granules formed of a compacted herbaceous plant material capable of releasing flavour into the smoke produced by the smoking article.

US7866324 teaches the use of flavour release component and sorbents to remove the gas phase constituents from the main stream smoke.

US2009/0235941 relates to a flavour bead and cigarette filter.

However, by using such filters, consumers cannot increase the flavour amplitude while puffing, if he or she desires. Moreover, said filters, are designed for a consistent flavour release or selectively adsorb at least one smoke constituent from the main stream smoke.

The prior arts teach either, the continuous flavour release and/or adsorbing atleast one smoke constituent from the main stream smoke. None of the prior art teaches the user interactive flavour release mechanism and/or regulating the flavour release profile on user demand or a composition for the same.

Objects of the present invention
An object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a consumer controlled and regulated flavour delivery mechanism.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide flavoured particles that release flavour on applying pressure and/or rolling the filter while smoking.

Other objects of the invention would be evident from the description

Summary of Invention
In an aspect of the present invention is disclosed a user-interactive smoking article, comprising:
a rod of smokeable material circumscribed by an outer wrapper;
a cavity filter circumscribed by a plug wrap abutting said rod of smokeable material;
a tipping paper joining said rod of smokeable material and said cavity filter;
wherein said cavity filter houses flavour particles of size ranging from 5 microns to 30 microns;
wherein release of flavour from the flavour particles takes place only upon application of pressure on said cavity filter; and
wherein quantum of the flavour is amplified atleast by a factor of two upon application of pressure.

In yet another aspect is disclosed a method to release the flavour from a user interactive smoking article of claim 1, said method comprising the steps of:
holding the user-interactive smoking article by the user,
applying pressure upon the cavity filter that houses the flavour particles;
wherein release of flavour from the flavour particles takes place only upon application of pressure on said cavity filter; and wherein quantum of the flavour is amplified at least by a factor of two upon application of pressure.

Brief Description of Accompanying Drawings
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a user interactive smoking article
FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the cavity filter that houses the flavour granules
FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the user controlled flavour release mechanism (“Press and roll” action)

Description of the present invention
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.

It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term "smoking article" includes smokeable products such as cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes and also heat-not-burn (HNB) products. Heat not burn products include, cHNB and eHNB, essentially, the ones which has the filter attachment at the mouth end.

Throughout the specification “flavorants” is used to mean any substance capable of producing an olfactory sensation and includes, but is not limited, to scents, fragrances, perfumes, deodorants and flavourants.
The term, “flavour granules” and “flavour particles” conveys the same meaning and used through the specification towards the intent of producing olfactory sensation to the users.

The present invention provides a consumer controlled increase of flavour by mechanical action. The flavoured particles are incorporated in the cigarette filter and it is found that by rolling the flavour particles of the present invention, flavour is released.

Further, the incorporation of “flavour particles” in cigarette filter material(s) for increasing the flavour release on account of consumer action is preferred since the consumer can release the flavour when required. By such interventions, flavour release profile is regulated by pressing or rolling action. Unless there is a user intervention, there may not be any perceivable flavour release.

As used herein, “amplification” of flavour or amplified flavour in is in reference to the flavour release before and after the press and roll action.

The flavour is released voluntarily on demand. For the purpose the consumer shall apply pressure and/or roll the filter while smoking in order to enhance flavour as a choice. The action of applying pressure and/or roll will engage the smoker to choose the level of intensity of flavour of their preference.

The number of flavoured particles provided onto the filters according to the present invention and the amount of flavour particles contained therein is such that by manually rupturing the flavour particles the consumer releases sufficient flavorants to produce an olfactory sensation.
The present invention provides a user-interactive smoking article, comprising:
a rod of smokeable material circumscribed by an outer wrapper;
a cavity filter circumscribed by a plug wrap abutting said rod of smokeable material;
a tipping paper joining said rod of smokeable material and said cavity filter;
wherein said cavity filter houses flavour particles of size ranging from 5 microns to 30 microns; wherein release of flavour from the flavour particles takes place only upon application of pressure on said cavity filter; and wherein quantum of the flavour is amplified at least by a factor of two upon application of pressure.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the flavour particles are present in a range of 0.1 g to 0.2 g in said cavity filter. In a preferred embodiment, the 0.15 g flavour particles are present in said cavity filter.

Unlike prior art where flavours are released voluntarily on lighting the cigarette, whereas in the present case the release of flavour is at the will of the consumer. The flavour granules of the present invention release flavour due to friction and /or other mechanical forces when applied on them. The advantage of such a composition is that the consumer does not have to use the flavour in case he does not wish to. It depends on the user and the mouth feel he/she wishes to desire.

The flavour granules embedded in the cigarette filters, may be capable of being manually ruptured / introduce friction by the consumer applying a physical force thereto using their hands/fingers.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the flavour particles are incorporated in the filter of the smoking article in a manner so as to cause the release of flavour with pressing, rolling or twisting or application of other mechanical means.

By rupturing the flavour particles provided onto the filters, rather than, for example, through combustion of the smoking article, the consumer is advantageously able to release the flavour granules embedded therein in a controlled manner into the air surrounding the smoking article before, during and/or after smoking.

Smoking articles comprising such flavour granules according to the present invention thereby provide the consumer with an enhanced olfactory sensation, without modifying the flavour characteristics of the mainstream smoke produced while smoking / combustion thereof.

The said flavours are released at will and flavour lingers for adequate time and gives adequate mouth feel.

The flavour particles or flavour granules may be imitation, synthetic or natural ingredients or blends thereof. They may be in any suitable form, for example, oil, liquid, or powder which is soluble in oil. As used herein, the terms "flavour" and "flavourant" refer to materials which, where local regulations permit, may be used to create a desired taste or aroma in a product consumption. The flavour particles may be natural or synthetic and they can be selected from a group consisting of vanilla, coffee, chocolate, cream, mint, spearmint, menthol, peppermint, wintergreen, lavender, cardamon, nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, cascarilla, sandalwood, honey, jasmine, ginger, anise, sage, licorice, lemon, orange, apple, peach, lime, cherry, eucalyptus, strawberry, extracts (e.g., licorice, hydrangea, Japanese white bark magnolia leaf, chamomile, fenugreek, clove, menthol, Japanese mint, aniseed, cinnamon, herb, wintergreen, cherry, berry, peach, apple, Drambuie, bourbon, nicotine, spearmint, peppermint, lavender, cardamon, celery, cascarilla, nutmeg, sandalwood, coconut oil, bergamot, geranium, honey essence, rose oil, vanilla, lemon oil, orange oil, cassia, caraway, cognac, jasmine, ylang-ylang, sage, fennel, piment, ginger, anise, coriander, coffee, or a mint oil from any species of the genus Mentha), flavour enhancers, sugars and/or sugar substitutes (e.g., sucralose, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, saccharine, cyclamates, lactose, sucrose, glucose, fructose, sorbitol, or mannitol), and other additives such as charcoal, chlorophyll, minerals, botanicals, or breath freshening agents and the like.

For the purpose of the present invention, only synthetic/artificial flavours have been used.

The flavour particles are selected from the group consisting of granules, micro granules, pellet, grain and the like.

Preferably, the flavour particles have a diameter of between about 5 microns and about 30 microns. The said flavour granules of any such desired size is commercially available as well. The flavour granules are preferably in a coarse, abrasive, grainy corrugated, crenelated, ridged, and grooved form other than smooth because when the pressure is applied it should facilitate the friction effortlessly. The flavour granules can also be spherical with rough edges/surfaces.
The present invention also provides a method to release the flavour from a user interactive smoking article the present invention, said method comprising the steps of:
holding the user-interactive smoking article by the user,
applying pressure on the cavity filter that houses the flavour particles;
wherein release of flavour from the flavour particles takes place only upon application of pressure on said cavity filter; and
wherein quantum of the flavour is amplified at least by a factor of two upon application of pressure.

Description of preferred embodiments with exemplary drawings
The invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, such exemplary diagrams and examples are provided for the illustration purpose for better understanding of the present disclosure and should not be construed as limitation on scope of the present disclosure.

The filter cigarettes according to the first, second, third and fourth embodiments of the invention shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 respectively, have several components in common; these components have been given the same reference numerals throughout.

As shown in Fig 1, each filter cigarette generally comprises an elongate, cylindrical, wrapped, tobacco rod 1 attached at one end to an axially aligned cylindrical filter 5 circumscribed by a plug wrap (3). The wrapped tobacco rod 1 and the filter 5 are joined in a conventional manner to form the filter cigarette by tipping paper 2, which circumscribes the entire length of the filter 5 and an adjacent, mouth-end portion of the wrapped tobacco rod 1. The flavored granules are embedded onto the filter by conventional methods or by using a cavity filter, the granules are deposited onto the filters which is also known in the art.

As shown in Fig 2, the cavity portion of the filter holds the flavored granules (4).
As shown in Fig 3, the user controlled flavour release mechanism (“Press and roll” action) is illustrated by arrows. Upon lighting the cigarette, as such the user may not feel the flavour released by the flavour granules embedded onto the filter. Only upon applying the pressure and when the friction is introduced between the flavored particles, the user is able to sense the flavour release. The quantum of flavour release depends on the pressure that is applied onto the flavoured granules.

Example
The following example demonstrates the flavour release mechanism of the smoking article containing flavour particles, upon mechanical disruption of the flavour particles.

Method:

1. Cigarette samples (Set 1, Set 2 and Set 3) with cavity filter that embodies flavour granules were used for analysis of odor intensity. The three different sets contain three different sets of flavour granules. Set 1 comprises peppermint, Set 2 is filled with cooling fresh mint which is a combination of menthol, peppermint/spearmint as a fixed flavours and Set 3 is filled with black currant.

2. The equipment used for testing was SHINUEI OMX-SRM Odor Meter (a known, conventional technique)

3. The probe of OMX-SRM was positioned at the mouth end of the filter rod for measurement of odor intensity.

4. Six readings were recorded for each sample before and after mechanical disruption of the flavour granules on account of applying pressure on the filter.

5. The average was recorded to demonstrate flavour release post mechanical disruption of flavour granules ["press and roll" action].

The following tables Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3 illustrate the flavour release from the different cigarette samples Set 1, Set 2, and Set 3, respectively.

Further table 4, shows the average of the three sets of user controlled flavour release mechanism.

Table 1- Favour release from Set 1 samples
Set 1 Before Mechanical Disruption of Flavour Granules Post Mechanical Disruption of Flavour Granules
1 20 44
2 21 44
3 23 45
4 24 46
5 25 44
6 22 44

Table 2- Favour release from Set 2 samples
Set 2 Before Mechanical Disruption of Flavour Granules Post Mechanical Disruption of Flavour Granules
1 0 6
2 0 6
3 0 6
4 0 6
5 0 6
6 0 6

Table 3- Favour release from Set 3 samples
Set 3 Before Mechanical Disruption of Flavour Granules Post Mechanical Disruption of Flavour Granules
1 3 13
2 5 13
3 4 12
4 4 14
5 4 13
6 4 12

Table 4: Average of all three sample tests
Sample Code Before Mechanical Disruption of Flavour Granules Post Mechanical Disruption of Flavour Granules
Set 1 23 45
Set 2 0 6
Set 3 4 13

Based on the above data, it has been demonstrated that flavour release can be controlled by the user based on the pressure applied onto the filter which embodies the flavour particles. The said flavour release is increased atleast by the factor of two.

The flavour amplification is demonstrated with three different sets of flavour granules as used in the present invention, that is, Set 1 comprises peppermint, Set 2 is filled with cooling fresh mint which is a combination of menthol, peppermint/spearmint as a fixed flavours and Set 3 is filled with black currant.

The data as shown in Table 2 with respect to Set 2 shows that the flavour before the mechanical disruption of the flavour granules on application of pressure is ‘zero’ because, it contained fixed flavours which unless disrupted, does not emit any fathomable flavour. The user is not able to perceive any release in flavour unless flavour granules are disrupted. Whereas in Set 1 and Set 3, there is an inherent flavour even before disruption of the flavour granules.

The above data clearly demonstrates that only upon disruption of the flavour granules, the flavour release is made possible and there is an amplification of flavour after the disruption of the flavour granules.
,CLAIMS:1) A user-interactive smoking article, comprising:
a rod of smokeable material circumscribed by an outer wrapper;
a cavity filter circumscribed by a plug wrap abutting said rod of smokeable material;
a tipping paper joining said rod of smokeable material and said cavity filter;
wherein said cavity filter houses flavour particles of size ranging from 5 microns to 30 microns; wherein release of flavour from the flavour particles takes place only upon application of pressure on said cavity filter; and
wherein quantum of the flavour is amplified atleast by a factor of two upon application of pressure.

2) The user-interactive smoking article as claimed in claim 1, wherein flavour particles are present in a range of 0.1 g to 0.2 g in said cavity filter.

3) The user-interactive smoking article as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pressure can be applied by a user by various means including pressing, rolling, twisting, and application of other mechanical means.

4) The user-interactive smoking article as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flavour particles are in various forms selected from the group consisting of coarse, abrasive, grainy, corrugated, crenelated, ridged, grooved form and the like.

5) The user-interactive smoking article as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flavour particles are selected from the group consisting of granules, micro granules, pellet, grain and the like.

6) A method to release the flavour from a user interactive smoking article of claim 1, said method comprising the steps of:
holding the user-interactive smoking article by the user,
applying pressure upon the cavity filter that houses the flavour particles;
wherein release of flavour from the flavour particles takes place only upon application of pressure on said cavity filter; and
wherein quantum of the flavour is amplified atleast by a factor of two upon application of pressure.