CA3212602A1

CA3212602A1 - Smoking article with improved flavor persistence and manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: CA3212602A1
Application number: CA3212602A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Ick Joong KIM; Geon Chang Lee; Kyung Bin Jung; Eun Mi Jeoung; Min Hee Hwang
Original assignee: KT&G Corp
Current assignee: KT&G Corp
Priority date: 2021-04-14
Filing date: 2022-04-12
Publication date: 2022-10-20
Also published as: KR102639269B1; WO2022220529A1; US20240172788A1; CN117136016A; EP4291048A1; KR20220142108A; JP2024514603A

Abstract

Provided are a smoking article having improved flavor persistence and a manufacturing method thereof, the smoking article including: a smoking material portion; a filter portion; and a wrapper wrapping at least a portion of the smoking material portion, wherein flavor persistence of the smoking article is improved by applying a flavoring sheet including a hydrocolloid material and flavoring to the wrapper.

Description

Description Title of Invention: SMOKING ARTICLE WITH IMPROVED
FLAVOR PERSISTENCE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD
THEREOF
Technical Field [1] One or more embodiments relate to a smoking article having improved flavor per-sistence and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a smoking article having improved flavor persistence by applying a flavoring sheet or a com-position thereof to a wrapper portion, and a method of manufacturing the smoking article.
Background Art

[2] Flavoring treatment is performed on smoking articles (e.g., cigarettes) in various methods to satisfy smokers' preferences. An example of a representative flavoring treatment method may include the direct addition (e.g., injection) of a flavoring liquid to a smoking material, such as pipe tobacco, or a filter plug. However, the example methods have various drawbacks, such as a limit to an amount of flavoring liquid added, non-emission of an intended flavor, and a sharp decrease in flavor emission during smoking.
131 In detail, in the method of adding a flavoring liquid to a smoking material, the flavoring liquid may coagulate with the smoking material, and thus it is difficult to add a large amount of flavoring liquid. Also, during smoking, the flavoring liquid may de-teriorate due to a high heating temperature (or a burning temperature), and thus an un-intended flavor may be emitted. The method of adding a flavoring liquid to a filter plug may allow for a larger amount of flavoring liquid than the method described above, but still have a limit to an amount of flavoring liquid added.
14] Meanwhile, in any of the methods, an added flavoring liquid may be rapidly emitted in an early stage of smoking, and thus flavor emission may decrease towards a latter stage of smoking. Also, when an excessive amount of flavoring liquid is added, a wrapper wrapping a filter plug or a smoking material may be wetted, which leads to contamination.
Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem [51 One or more embodiments include a smoking article having improved flavor per-sistence.
[6] One or more embodiments include a method of manufacturing a smoking article having improved flavor persistence.
[7] The technical problems of one or more embodiments are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and unmentioned other technical problems will be clearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art from the description below.
Solution to Problem [8] According to one or more embodiments, a smoking article includes: a smoking material portion; a filter portion; and a wrapper wrapping at least a portion of the smoking material portion. A flavoring (or flavor) sheet including a hydrocolloid material and flavoring may be applied to the wrapper.
[9] According to one or more embodiments, a method of manufacturing a smoking article includes: manufacturing a wrapping material by using a flavoring composition including a hydrocolloid material and flavoring or a flavoring sheet manufactured from the flavoring composition; and manufacturing the smoking article including a smoking material portion by wrapping at least a portion of the smoking material portion via the manufactured wrapping material.
Advantageous Effects of Invention [10] According to one or more embodiments described above, a flavoring (or flavor) sheet or a composition thereof may be applied to a wrapper portion of a smoking article.
Here, the flavoring sheet may be a material manufactured in a solid phase and, unlike a flavoring liquid, may slow down the volatilization of flavoring to effectively prevent most of a flavor from being emitted in an early stage of smoking, thereby significantly improving flavor persistence of the smoking article. Accordingly, an amount of flavoring added, an addition position, and the like may also be precisely adjusted. For example, a method of applying a flavoring sheet to a wrapper may more easily adjust an amount of flavoring added and also more easily adjust a flavor emission position than a method of applying cut pieces of a flavoring sheet to a smoking material portion (e.g., combining cut pieces of a flavoring sheet with pipe tobacco).
[11] Also, a wrapping material of the smoking article may be easily manufactured by laminating wrapping paper of the smoking article and the flavoring sheet or by applying the composition of the flavoring sheet onto the wrapping paper. In addition, when the manufactured wrapping material is used, the smoking article may be manu-factured by intactly using existing manufacturing equipment (i.e., equipment for performing wrapping of the smoking article).
[12] Moreover, by including a hydrocolloid material in the flavoring sheet, the flavoring sheet may be easily attached to the wrapper portion without an adhesive. For example, the flavoring sheet and the wrapping paper may be easily laminated without an adhesive. Accordingly, a manufacturing process of the wrapping material may be

3 simplified, and may be free from a safety issue due to the adhesive.
[13] The effects according to one or more embodiments are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and unmentioned other effects will be clearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art from the description below.
Brief Description of Drawings [14] FIG. 1 is an example view schematically illustrating a smoking article having improved flavor persistence according to one or more embodiments.
[15] FIGS. 2 to 4 are example views illustrating various application methods of a flavoring (or flavor) sheet according to one or more embodiments.
[16] FIG. 5 is an example view schematically illustrating a smoking article having improved flavor persistence according to one or more embodiments.
[17] FIG. 6 is an example view schematically illustrating a smoking article having improved flavor persistence according to one or more embodiments.
[18] FIG. 7 is an example view illustrating a method of manufacturing a wrapping material according to one or more embodiments.
[19] FIG. 8 is an example view illustrating a method of manufacturing a wrapping material according to one or more embodiments.
Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention [20] A smoking article according to one or more embodiments may include a smoking material portion, a filter portion, and a wrapper wrapping at least a portion of the smoking material portion. Here, a flavoring (or flavor) sheet including a hydrocolloid material and flavoring may be applied to the wrapper.
1211 In one or more embodiments, the flavoring sheet may be used as the wrapper.
[22] In one or more embodiments, the flavoring sheet may have a thickness of about 40 [im to about 150 Ittia.
[23] In one or more embodiments, the flavoring sheet may be attached to an inner side of the wrapper.
[24] In one or more embodiments, at least a portion of the wrapper may be made of metal foil, and the flavoring sheet may be arranged on an inner side of the metal foil.
[25] In one or more embodiments, the inner side of the wrapper may be coated with a composition of the flavoring sheet.
[26] A method of manufacturing a smoking article, according to one or more em-bodiments, may include: manufacturing a wrapping material by using a flavoring com-position including a hydrocolloid material and flavoring, or by using a flavoring sheet manufactured from the flavoring composition; and manufacturing the smoking article including a smoking material portion by wrapping at least a portion of the smoking material portion with the manufactured wrapping material.

4 [27] In one or more embodiments, the manufacturing may include laminating the flavoring sheet and the wrapping paper by injecting a liquid having no viscosity or ad-hesiveness.
[28] In one or more embodiments, the manufacturing may include applying the flavoring composition to the wrapping paper and drying the flavoring composition.
Mode for the Invention [29] Hereinafter, example embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The advantages and features of the present disclosure, and a method of achieving the same will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these em-bodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to one of ordinary skill in the art. The spirit of the disclosure is defined only by the scope of claims.
[30] It should be noted that, when adding reference numerals to elements of each of the drawings, the same elements are given the same reference numerals as much as possible even though they are indicated on different drawings. In addition, when de-scribing the present disclosure, if it is determined that the detailed description of related known elements or functions may obscure the subject matter of the present disclosure, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.
1311 Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. The teiminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
[32] In addition, the terms "first", "second", A, B, (a), (b), etc. may be used herein to describe elements of the disclosure. These terms are only used to distinguish one element or component from another element or component, and the essence, order, sequence, or the like of the element or component is not limited by the terms.
It will be understood that, when an element is referred to as being "connected to,"
"coupled to,"
or "accessing" another element, it may be directly connected, coupled to, or access the other element or intervening elements may be present.

5 [331 It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising" when used herein, specify the presence of stated elements, steps, operations, and/or devices, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other elements, steps, op-erations, and/or devices.
[34] Some of the terms used in one or more embodiments will be first clearly described.
[35] In embodiments below, "smoking article" may refer to any product capable of smoking regardless of whether or not the product is based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, or tobacco substitutes, or any product capable of providing a smoking experience. For example, the smoking article may include smokeable products, such as a cigarette, a cigar, and a cigarillo.
As another example, the smoking article may include a combustion-type smoking article and a heating-type smoking article.
[36] In the embodiments below, "smoking material" may refer to a material that generates smoke and/or aerosol, or is used for smoking. For example, the smoking material may include a tobacco material. The tobacco material may include, for example, tobacco leaf pieces, tobacco stems, materials processed therefrom, and the like. As a more detailed example, the tobacco material may include pulverized tobacco leaves, pulverized reconstituted tobacco, expanded cut filler, expanded tobacco stems, a recon-stituted tobacco sheet, or the like. However, the tobacco material is not limited thereto.
[37] In the embodiments below, "upstream" or "upstream direction" may refer to a direction away from a smoker's mouth, and "downstream" or "downstream direction"
may refer to a direction approaching the smoker's mouth. The terms "upstream"
and "downstream" may be used to describe relative positions of elements constituting a smoking article. For example, in a smoking article 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, a filter portion 120 is located downstream or in a downstream direction of a smoking material portion 110, and the smoking material portion 110 is located upstream or in an upstream direction of the filter portion 120.
[38] In the embodiments below, "longitudinal direction" may refer to a direction corre-sponding to a longitudinal direction axis of a smoking article.
[39] In the embodiments below, the term "puff" may refer to a user's (smoker's) in-halation, and the inhalation may refer to a situation in which smoke is drawn into the user's oral cavity, nasal cavity, or lungs through the user's mouth or nose.
[40] In the embodiments below, "sheet" may refer to a thin layer element having a width and length substantially greater than a thickness thereof. In the art, the term "sheet"
may be used interchangeably with the terms, such as a web and a film.
[41] In the embodiments below, "flavoring (or flavor) sheet" may refer to a flavoring-including material manufactured in the form of a sheet.
[42] Hereinafter, one or more embodiments will be described in detail with reference to

6 the accompanying drawings.
[43] FIG. 1 is an example view schematically illustrating the smoking article 100 having improved flavor persistence according to one or more embodiments.
[44] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the smoking article 100 may include the filter portion 120, the smoking material portion 110, and a wrapper 130. However, FIG. 1 only illustrates elements related to an embodiment. Therefore, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains that, in addition to the element il-lustrated in FIG. 1, other general-purpose elements may be further included.
Also, FIG.
1 only illustrates an example of the smoking article 100 according to an embodiment, and the detailed structure of the smoking article 100 may be different from that il-lustrated in FIG. 1. Other examples of the detailed structure of the smoking article 100 will be described later in more detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.
Hereinafter, the respective elements of the smoking article 100 will be described.
[45] The filter portion 120 may perform a filtering function with respect to smoke and/or aerosol generated from the smoking material portion 110. Accordingly, the filter portion 120 may include a filter (i.e., filtration) material. Examples of the filter material may include cellulose acetate fiber, paper, and the like, but the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The filter portion 120 may further include the wrapper 130 wrapping the filter material (e.g., a plug).
[46] The filter portion 120 may be located downstream of the smoking material portion 110 to be connected to a downstream end of the smoking material portion 110.
For example, the filter portion 120 and the smoking material portion 110 may have a cylindrical (i.e., rod) shape, may be arranged in a longitudinal axis direction, and may be connected to each other by a tipping wrapper. The tipping wrapper may wrap at least a portion of the filter portion 120 and at least a portion of the smoking material portion 110 together to connect the filter portion 120 and the smoking material portion 110 to each other. When the filter portion 120 forms a downstream end of the smoking article 100, the filter portion 120 may function as a mouthpiece that contacts a smoker's mouth during smoking.
[47] The filter portion 120 may be manufactured in the form of a rod, and thus may be referred to as a filter rod 120 in some cases. However, the filter portion 120 may be manufactured in various forms such as a cylindrical type, a tube type including a hollow therein, and a recess type.
1481 The smoking material portion 110 may include a smoking material capable of generating smoke and/or aerosol when combusted or heated. The smoking material portion 110 may further include the wrapper 130 wrapping the smoking material.
[49] The smoking material portion 110 may be located upstream of the filter portion 120 to be connected to an upstream end of the filter portion 120. The smoke and/or aerosol

7 generated in the smoking material portion 110 may be delivered by puffs to the smoker's mouth through the filter portion 120.
[50] The smoking material portion 110 may also be manufactured in the form of a rod, and thus may be referred to as a smoking material rod 110 in some cases.
[51] The smoking material may include, for example, a tobacco material. The tobacco material may include, for example, tobacco leaf pieces, tobacco stems, materials processed therefrom, or the like. As a more detailed example, the tobacco material may include pulverized tobacco leaves, pulverized reconstituted tobacco, expanded cut filler, expanded tobacco stems, a reconstituted tobacco sheet, or the like.
However, the tobacco material is not limited thereto. Also, the tobacco material may have the form of tobacco cut filler, tobacco particles, a tobacco sheet, tobacco beads, tobacco granules, or tobacco extracts, but is not limited thereto.
[52] In one or more embodiments, the smoking material may further include additives, such as a wetting agent (moisturizer), flavors, and/or organic acid. For example, the wetting agent may include at least one of glycerin, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, and oleyl alcohol. The wetting agent may maintain moisture in the tobacco material at an appropriate level to soften a unique taste and enrich an amount of smoke.
Also, the flavors may include licorice, sucrose, fructose syrup, isosweet, cocoa, lavender, cinnamon, cardamom, celery, fenugreek, cascarilla, sandalwood, bergamot, geranium, honey essence, rose oil, vanilla, lemon oil, orange oil, mint oil, cinnamon, caraway, cognac, jasmine, chamomile, menthol, cinnamon, ylang-ylang, sage, spearmint, ginger, coriander, clove extract (or clove substance), coffee, or the like.
[53] The wrapper 130 may refer to an element wrapping at least a portion of the smoking material portion 110 and/or the filter portion 120. The wrapper 30 may refer to an in-dividual wrapper of the smoking material portion 110 or the filter portion 120, may refer to a tipping wrapper wrapping at least a portion of the smoking material portion 110 and at least a portion of the filter portion 120 together, or may be used as a generic term for all wrappers used for the smoking article 100. The wrapper 130 may be made of porous or non-porous wrapping paper, but the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the wrapper 130 may be formed of metal foil or a laminated form of wrapping paper and metal foil.
[54] According to one or more embodiments, as illustrated, a flavoring material 10 (hereinafter, a flavoring sheet) manufactured in the form of a sheet may be applied to the wrapper 130 of the smoking material portion 110 or the filter portion 120.
The flavoring sheet 10 applied as described above may increase flavor emission and flavor persistence by continuously emitting flavor during smoking. In other words, the flavoring sheet 10 may be a material manufactured in a solid phase and, unlike a

8

9 flavoring liquid, may slow down volatilization of flavoring to effectively prevent most of the flavor from being emitted in an early stage of smoking. However, the detailed application method may vary.
[55] In one or more embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the flavoring sheet 10 may be arranged (e.g., attached by lamination or coating) on an inner side of the wrapper 130.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example in which the flavoring sheet 10 fully wraps the smoking material portion 110, but the example is provided only for convenience of under-standing. The flavoring sheet 10 may be arranged to wrap only a portion of the smoking material portion 110. Also, when at least a portion of the wrapper 130 is made of metal foil, the flavoring sheet 10 may be arranged on an inner side of the metal foil.
In this case, the flavor emission of the flavoring sheet 10 may be further promoted by heat transferred through the metal foil. The process of arranging the flavoring sheet 10 on the wrapper 130 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.
[56] In one or more embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the flavoring sheet 10 may constitute at least a portion of the wrapper 130. In other words, the flavoring sheet 10 may function as the wrapper 130 of the smoking article 100. Here, at least a portion of the wrapper 130 may be made of only the flavoring sheet 10, or the flavoring sheet 10 and wrapping paper may be made in an integrated form. In this case, the process of arranging (e.g., attaching by lamination or coating) the flavoring sheet 10 on the wrapper 130 does not need to be performed, and thus, a manufacturing process of the smoking article 100 may be further simplified.
[57] Meanwhile, according to one or more embodiments, the flavoring sheet

10 may also be applied to a portion other than the wrapper 130. For example, as illustrated in FIG.
4, the flavoring sheet 10 may be applied inside the smoking material portion 110. In more detail, the flavoring sheet 10 may be inserted into the smoking material portion 110 together with a tobacco sheet 20 (e.g., a sheet-shaped tobacco material, such as a reconstituted tobacco sheet). For example, the flavoring sheet 10 may be attached to the tobacco sheet 20 to be inserted into the smoking material portion 110.
[58] A composition material, composition ratio, thickness, manufacturing method, and the like of the flavoring sheet 10 may be designed in various forms, and some examples thereof will be described later.
[59] The smoking article 100 according to one or more embodiments has been described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. According to the above description, the flavoring sheet may be applied to the wrapper 130 of the smoking article 100. The flavoring sheet 10 may be a material manufactured in a solid phase and thus, unlike a flavoring liquid, may slow down volatilization of flavoring to effectively prevent most of a flavor from being emitted in an early stage of smoking. As a result, flavor persistence of the smoking article 100 may be significantly improved. In addition, the method of applying the flavoring sheet 10 to the wrapper 130 may more easily adjust an amount of flavoring added and more easily adjust a flavor emission position, than a method of applying cut pieces of the flavoring sheet 10 to the smoking material portion 110 (e.g., combining the cut pieces of the flavoring sheet 10 with a cut filler).
[60] Hereinafter, smoking articles 200 and 300 having improved flavor persistence according to one or more embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS.
5 and 6. However, for the clarity of one or more embodiments, the same description of the smoking articles 200 and 300 as the above description of the smoking article 100 will be omitted herein.
[61] FIG. 5 is an example view illustrating the smoking article 200 having improved flavor persistence according to one or more embodiments.
[62] As illustrated in FIG. 5, the smoking article 200 may include a smoking material portion 210 and a filter portion 220, and the filter portion 220 may include a plurality of segments (e.g., a first segment 221 and a second segment 222).
[63] The smoking material portion 210 may correspond to the smoking material portion 110 described above. Therefore, the description thereof will be omitted herein.
[64] The filter portion 220 may include the first segment 221 and the second segment 222.
The filter portion 220 may also further include a third segment (not shown).
[65] The first segment 221 may perform a cooling function with respect to smoke and/or aerosol generated from the smoking material portion 210. Accordingly, in some cases, the first segment 221 may be referred to as a cooling segment 221.
[66] The first segment 221 may be manufactured in various forms. As an example, the first segment 221 may be a cylindrical paper tube formed of a paper material and including a hollow therein. As another example, the first segment 221 may be made of a polymer material or a biodegradable polymer material. For example, the first segment 221 may be made of polylactic acid (PLA) fiber, but is not limited thereto. As another example, the first segment 221 may be manufactured as a cellulose acetate filter having a plurality of holes perforated therein. As another example, the first segment 221 may be a tube filter including a hollow therein. For example, the first segment 221 may be a cellulose acetate filter including a hollow therein.
However, the first segment 221 is not limited thereto, and may be manufactured in any other forms capable of performing a cooling function.
[67] In one or more embodiments, the flavoring sheet 10 may be applied to the first segment 221. For example, the flavoring sheet 10 may be arranged in a rolled shape in a hollow of the first segment 221, or may be attached to an inner wall of the hollow. As another example, the flavoring sheet 10, which is processed (e.g., punched) to form a plurality of holes therein, may be arranged in a rolled shape in the hollow.
In this case, an air flow path may be easily secured through the plurality of holes, and a cooling effect may also be improved due to an increase in a contact area between the flavoring sheet 10 and an air flow.
[68] The second segment 222 may perform a filtering function with respect to the smoke and/or aerosol that passed through the first segment 221. Therefore, in some cases, the second segment 222 may be referred to as a filter segment 222. Alternatively, the second segment 222 may be located at a mouthpiece portion, and thus may he referred to as a mouthpiece segment 222.
[69] In one or more embodiments, the second segment 222 may include at least one capsule 240. Here, the capsule 240 may generate a flavor or aerosol. For example, the capsule 240 may have a structure in which a liquid including a flavoring material is wrapped with a film. Also, the capsule 240 may have a spherical or cylindrical shape, but is not limited thereto.
[70] A wrapper 230 may correspond to the wrapper 130 described above.
Therefore, the description thereof will be omitted herein. As described above, the flavoring sheet 10 may be applied to the wrapper 230. Accordingly, flavor persistence of the smoking article 200 may be significantly improved.
[71] Although not illustrated in FIG. 5, the smoking article 200 may further include a plug (not shown) arranged at an end thereof. For example, the plug may be arranged at an upstream end of the smoking article 200, and thus may function to appropriately adjust the entire length of the smoking article 200. Also, when the smoking article 200 is inserted into an aerosol generating apparatus (not shown), the plug may function to adjust the smoking material portion 210 to be arranged at an appropriate position inside the aerosol generating apparatus.
[72] FIG. 6 is an example view schematically illustrating the smoking article 300 according to one or more embodiments.
[73] As illustrated in FIG. 6, the smoking article 300 may include a smoking material portion 310 and a filter portion 320. The smoking material portion 310 may include a plurality of segments 311 and 312 (e.g., a first segment 311 and a second segment 312), and the filter portion 320 may include a plurality of segments 321 and 322 (e.g., a third segment 321 and a fourth segment 322).
[74] As illustrated in FIG. 6, the smoking material portion 310 may include the first segment 311 and the second segment 312. The smoking material portion 310 may also further include a third segment (not shown).
[75] The first segment 311 may include a moisturizer. For example, the first segment 311 may include crimped paper impregnated with the moisturizer. The moisturizer may include, for example, at least one of glycerin, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, and oleyl alcohol.

11 [761 The second segment 312 may include a nicotine generating substrate, such as a tobacco material. The nicotine generating substrate may include, for example, tobacco cut filler, tobacco particles, a tobacco sheet, tobacco beads, and tobacco granules. As another example, the nicotine generating substrate may include crimped paper im-pregnated with a tobacco extract. When the nicotine generating substrate is heated, nicotine may be generated from the nicotine generating substrate, and may be transferred to the filter portion 320.
[77] The filter portion 320 may also include the plurality of segments 321 and 322. For example, the filter portion 320 may include the third segment 321 for performing a cooling function and the fourth segment 322 for performing a filtering function. The above description of the filter portion 220 of FIG. 5 may be equally applied to the filter portion 320, and thus, the description thereof will be omitted herein.
[78] The wrapper 330 may correspond to the wrapper 130 described above.
Therefore, the description thereof will be omitted herein. As described above, the flavoring sheet 10 may be applied to the wrapper 330. Accordingly, flavor persistence of the smoking article 300 may be significantly improved.
[79] The smoking articles 200 and 300 according to one or more embodiments have been described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. Hereinafter, the flavoring sheet 10 and a manufacturing method thereof according to one or more embodiments will be briefly described.
[80] The flavoring sheet 10 may be manufactured via the following operations: manu-facturing a flavoring composition in a liquid phase (e.g., in a slurry state);
forming the manufactured flavoring composition into a sheet form; and drying the flavoring com-position. Here, the liquid phase may include a state (e.g., slurry state) in which a liquid and a solid are mixed, as well as a liquid state. For example, the flavoring sheet 10 may be manufactured by stretching (i.e., casting) the flavoring composition on a certain substrate and drying the flavoring composition. However, the manufacturing method of the flavoring sheet 10 is not limited thereto, and a detailed manufacturing method thereof may vary.
[81] The detail composition of the flavoring composition may be designed in various methods.
[82] In one or embodiments, the flavoring composition may include distilled water, a hy-drocolloid material, and flavoring. The flavoring sheet 10 manufactured from such a flavoring composition may have outstanding flavor retention, and thus may sig-nificantly improve flavor emission and flavor persistence of a smoking article (e.g., the smoking article 100). In addition, due to the hydrocolloid material, the flavoring sheet may be attached to a wrapper (e.g., the wrapper 130) without a separate adhesive, and thus, an arrangement process of the flavoring sheet 10 may be simplified, and the

12 flavoring sheet 10 may be free from a safety issue due to the adhesive.
[83] The distilled water may be an element for adjusting the viscosity of a slurry-type flavoring composition.
[84] The hydrocolloid material may be a material for covering and fixing flavoring, and may be a sheet-forming substance for forming a sheet. Examples of the hydrocolloid material may include gelatin, agar, gellan gum, pectin, guar gum, xanthan gum, glu-comannan, hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC), methylcellulose (MC), ethyl-cellulose (EC), carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), starch, and the like, but arc not limited thereto.
[85] Examples of the flavoring material may include menthol, nicotine, nicotine salt, a tobacco leaf extract, a leaf tobacco extract including nicotine, natural plant flavoring (e.g., cinnamon, sage, herbs, chamomile, reeds, sweet tea, clove, lavender, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, bergamot, geranium, honey essence, rose oil, lemon, orange, cinnamon, caraway, jasmine, ginger, coriander, vanilla extract, spearmint, peppermint, cassia, coffee, celery, cascarilla, sandalwood, cocoa, ylang-ylang, panel, anise, licorice, St. John's Bread, plum extract, peach extract, or the like), sugars (e.g., glucose, fructose, isomerized glucose syrup, caramel, and the like), cocoas (e.g., powder, extract, and the like), esters (e.g., isoamyl acetate, linaryl acetate, isoamyl propionate, butyric acid linalyl, and the like), ketones (e.g., menthone, ionone, damaxenone, ethylmaltol, and the like), alcohols (e.g., geraniol, linalol, anetol, eugenol, and the like), aldehydes (e.g., vanillin, benzaldehyde, anisaldehyde, and the like), lactones (e.g., y-undecalactone, y-nonalactone, and the like), animal flavorings (e.g., musk, ambergris, sivet, castrium , and the like), hydrocarbons (e.g., limonene, pinen, and the like), and the like. The flavoring may be used as a solid, or may be used after being dissolved or dispersed in an appropriate solvent, for example, propylene glycol, ethyl alcohol, benzyl alcohol, or triethyl citrate. Also, flavoring that is easily dispersed in a solvent by addition of an emulsifier, for example, hydrophobic flavoring, oil-soluble flavoring, or the like may be used. These flavorings may be used alone, or may be used as a mixture. However, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited by the above-described examples.
[86] In one or more embodiments, the flavoring composition may include modified cellulose from among various types of hydrocolloid materials. Here, the modified cellulose may refer to cellulose where a particular functional group is substituted in a molecular structure. Examples of the modified cellulose may include HPMC, MC, CMC, and EC, but are not limited thereto. For example, HPMC may have a grade within the range of about 4 to about 40000 according to a proportion and molecular weight at which a hydroxypropyl group and a methyl group (or a methoxy group) are substituted. According to grades, the viscosity of the modified cellulose may be de-

13 termined. In more detail, physicochemical characteristics of the HPMC are related to the proportion of the methoxy group, the proportion of the hydroxypropyl group, and the molecular weight. According to the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), types of the HPMC may be classified into HPMC1828, HPMC2208, HPMC2906, HPMC2910, and the like according to the proportions of the methoxy group and hydroxypropyl group. Here, the first two numbers may refer to the proportion of the methoxy group, and the last two numbers may refer to the proportion of the hydroxypropyl group.
According to the results of continuous experiments by the present inventors, the flavoring sheet 10 manufactured from the flavoring composition including the modified cellulose is confirmed to have an outstanding sheet physical property and flavor retention.
1871 Also, in one or more embodiments, the flavoring composition may further include low methoxyl pectin (LM-pectin). Alternatively, the flavoring composition may include the LM-pectin as a sheet-forming substance from among the hydrocolloid materials. The LM-pectin may refer to low-ester pectin or low methoxyl pectin in which relatively little esterification is made. In detail, the LM-pectin may refer to pectin including, in a molecular structure, a carboxyl group less than about 50 %.
Unlike carrageenan, the LM-pectin has a characteristic of not gelating when cooled, and thus may lower the viscosity of a slurry-type flavoring composition (e.g., about 600 cp to about 800 cp). In addition, the slurry-type flavoring composition may be manufactured without an emulsifier, and thus may be free from a safety issue due to the emulsifier.
[88] The LM-pectin may include, within the molecular structure, the carboxyl group of less than about 50%, less than about 40%, less than about 30%, less than about 20%, or less than about 10%. As the carboxyl group content in the molecular structure of the LM-pectin decreases, the viscosity of slurry including the LM-pectin may be lowered.
[89] Also, in one or more embodiments, the flavoring composition may further include a bulking agent. The bulking agent may increase the volume of the flavoring sheet 10 to be manufactured, by increasing the total mass (i.e., dry matter mass) of components other than the distilled water, and may be a material that does not affect a unique function of the flavoring sheet 10. In detail, the bulking agent may have a characteristic that increases the volume of the flavoring sheet 10 but does not adversely affect a flavoring retention function of the flavoring sheet 10 or substantially increase the viscosity of the slurry. The bulking agent may be starch, modified starch, or starch hy-drolyzate. However, the bulking agent is not limited thereto.
[90] The modified starch refers to starch acetate, oxidized starch, hydroxypropyl distarch phosphate, hydroxypropyl starch, distarch phosphate, monostarch phosphate, phosphated distarch phosphate, or the like.

14 [91] The starch hydrolyzate refers to a material obtained by a process including a process of hydrolyzing starch. The starch hydrolyzate may include, for example, a material (i.e., dextrin) obtained by directly hydrolyzing starch, or a material (i.e., indigestible dextrin) obtained by thermally treating and then hydrolyzing starch. The bulking agent may be, for example, dextrin, in more detail, may be cyclodextrin.
[92] The starch hydrolyzate may be a starch hydrolyzate having a DE value in the range of about 2 to about 40, for example, a starch hydrolyzate having a DE value included in the range of about 2 to about 20. As the starch hydrolyzate having the DE
value included in the range of about 2 to about 20, for example, PINE DEX #100 (Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.), FINE FIBER (Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.), or TK-16 (Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) may be used.
1931 Here, DE is an abbreviation of a dextrose equivalent, and the DE value indicates the degree of hydrolysis of starch, i.e., a saccharification rate of starch. Here, the DE value may be a value measured by the Willstatter-Schudel method. Characteristics of the hy-drolyzed starch (the starch hydrolyzate), for example, characteristics, such as the molecular weight of the starch hydrolyzate or the arrangement of sugar molecules con-stituting the starch hydrolyzate, are not constant for each molecule of the starch hy-drolyzate, and are present with a certain distribution or variation. Due to the dis-tribution or variation of the characteristics of the starch hydrolyzate, a difference between cut sections, or the like, the starch hydrolyzate may exhibit different physical properties (e.g., a DE value) for each molecule thereof. As described above, the starch hydrolyzate is a set of molecules exhibiting different physical properties, but the result of measurement (i.e., the DE value) by the Willstatter-Schudel method is handled as a representative value indicating the degree of hydrolysis of starch.
[94] The starch hydrolyzate may be selected from the group consisting of dextrin having a DE value of about 2 to about 5, indigestible dextrin having a DE value of about 10 to about 15, and combinations thereof. As the dextrin having the DE value of about 2 to about 5, for example, PINE DEX # 100 (Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) may be used. As the indigestible dextrin having the DE value of about 10 to about

15, for example, FINE FIBER (Matsutani Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) may be used.
[951 Also, in one or more embodiments, the flavoring composition may further include a plasticizer. The plasticizer may improve physical properties of the flavoring sheet 10 by adding appropriate flexibility to the flavoring sheet 10. The plasticizer may include, for example, at least one of glycerin and propylene glycol, but is not limited thereto.
[96] Also, in one or more embodiments, the flavoring composition may further include an emulsifier. The emulsifier may increase flavor retention capacity of the flavoring sheet by allowing fat-soluble flavoring and a hydrosoluble hydrocolloid material to be well mixed. Examples of the emulsifier may include lecithin, but are not limited thereto.
[97] Meanwhile, the flavoring sheet 10 manufactured from the flavoring composition described above may have various content ratios (composition ratios).
[98] In one or more embodiments, the flavoring sheet 10 may include, with respect to total 100 parts by weight, moisture of about 2 parts by weight to about 15 parts by weight, modified cellulose of about 25 parts by weight to about 90 parts by weight, and flavoring of about 0.1 parts by weight to about 60 parts by weight.
[99] Also, in one or more embodiments, the flavoring sheet 10 may include, with respect to total 100 parts by weight, moisture of about 2 parts by weight to about 15 parts by weight, LM-pectin of about 25 parts by weight to about 90 parts by weight, and flavoring of about 0.1 parts by weight to about 60 parts by weight.
[1001 In addition, in one or more embodiments, the flavoring sheet 100 may include, with respect to total 100 parts by weight, moisture of about 2 parts by weight to about 15 parts by weight, a hydrocolloid material of about 1 part by weight to about 60 parts by weight, LM-pectin of about 1 part by weight to about 60 parts by weight, and flavoring of about 0.1 parts by weight to about 60 parts by weight.
[101] In one or more embodiments, the plasticizer may be included in an amount of about 0.1 parts by weight to about 15 parts by weight with respect to total 100 parts by weight of the flavoring sheet 10. A sheet having appropriate flexibility may be formed within the numerical ranges described above. For example, when too little plasticizer is added, a flavoring sheet may be easily damaged during a process due to a decrease in the flexibility of the flavoring sheet. When too much plasticizer is added, the flavoring sheet may not be formed well.
[102] The flavoring sheet 10 and the manufacturing method thereof according to one or more embodiments have been described. Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a smoking article (e.g., the smoking article 100, 200, or 300) according to one or more embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. Hereinafter, for con-venience of description, reference numerals of the smoking article (e.g., the smoking article 100, 200, or 300) and elements thereof will be omitted herein.
[103] The method of manufacturing the smoking article, according to the embodiments, may include: manufacturing a wrapping material; and manufacturing the smoking article by wrapping at least a portion of the smoking article with the manufactured wrapping material. For example, the smoking article may be manufactured by wrapping at least a portion of a smoking material portion with the wrapping material.
[104] The manufacturing the wrapping material may include manufacturing the wrapping material by using the flavoring sheet 10 described above or a flavoring composition that is a raw material of the flavoring sheet 10. However, the detailed manufacturing method may vary according to embodiments.

16 [1051 In one or more embodiments, the wrapping material may be manufactured via a process of laminating the flavoring sheet 10 and wrapping paper. The embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 7 to provide convenience of further understanding.
[106] As illustrated in FIG. 7, wrapping paper may be supplied via a first bobbin 410 around which the wrapping paper is wound, and at the same time, the flavoring sheet may be supplied via a second bobbin 420 around which the flavoring sheet 10 is wound. Also, the supplied wrapping paper and the flavoring sheet 10 may be laminated by press rollers 440. Here, when the flavoring sheet 10 is made of a hydrocolloid material, a certain liquid may be injected via an injector 430. Due to the injected liquid, the flavoring sheet 10 may have adhesiveness, and thus may be strongly laminated with the wrapping paper without a separate adhesive. Accordingly, a wrapping material 450 of the smoking article may be easily manufactured. The manufactured wrapping material 450 may be cut to an appropriate size and used as a wrapper of the smoking article.
[107] The certain liquid may be, for example, water (distilled water), ethanol, or the like, but is not limited thereto.
[108] Also, the flavoring sheet 10 supplied via the second bobbin 420 may have a thickness of about 10 to about 150 for example, may have a thickness of about 30 [tm to about 150 [cm, about 40 [cm to about 150 about 60 [cm to about 150 [Am, or about 60 um to about 1201.tm. Within the numerical ranges mentioned above, the flavoring sheet 10 may be easily laminated to the wrapping paper, and the wrapping material 450 may be prevented from being excessively thick, thereby securing appropriate flexibility. In addition, flavor retention of the flavoring sheet 10 may also be improved.
[109] In one or more embodiments, a wrapping material may be manufactured via a coating process of applying a liquid flavoring composition onto wrapping paper and drying the liquid composition. The embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 8 to provide convenience of further understanding.
[110] As illustrated in FIG. 8, wrapping paper may be supplied via a bobbin 510 around which the wrapping paper is wound. Also, a flavoring composition 530 in a liquid phase (e.g., in a slurry state) may be applied onto the supplied wrapping paper via an applicator 520 (e.g., a nozzle). The flavoring composition 530 may be naturally dried during a transfer process 540 of the wrapping paper, or may be dried inside separate drying equipment. As a result, the wrapping paper may be coated with the flavoring composition 530, and a wrapping material 550 may be manufactured. The manu-factured wrapping material 550 may be cut to an appropriate size and used as a wrapper of a smoking article.
[111] Here, the coated flavoring composition 530 may occupy a thickness less than or

17 equal to about 100 [tm, for example, less than or equal to about 90 [,tm, 80 [tm, 70 [tm, 60 tm, or 50 tm. Within the numerical ranges as described above, the wrapping material 550 may be prevented from being excessively thick, and appropriate flexibility may be secured.
[112] The methods of manufacturing the wrapping materials 450 and 550 and the smoking article according to one or more embodiments have been described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. According to the methods described above, the wrapping paper of the smoking article (e.g., the smoking article 100) and the flavoring sheet 10 may be laminated, or a composition of the flavoring sheet 10 may be applied onto the wrapping paper. As such, the wrapping material of the smoking article (e.g., the smoking article 100) may be easily manufactured. In addition, when the manufactured wrapping material is used, the smoking article (e.g., the smoking article 100) may be manufactured by intactly using existing manufacturing equipment (i.e., equipment for performing wrapping of the smoking article).
[113] Hereinafter, the structure and effects of the flavoring sheet 10 described above will be further clearly described via embodiments and experimental examples.
However, the following embodiments are only some examples of the flavoring sheet 10, and thus, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited by the following embodiments.
[114] Embodiments 1 to 7 [115] A wrapper of a smoking material portion may be manufactured by manufacturing a flavoring sheet having a content ratio as described in Table 1 below, and laminating the manufactured flavoring sheet and wrapping paper (or coating a flavoring com-position on the wrapping paper). Also, a cigarette is manufactured by using the manu-factured wrapper.

18 [116] [Table 11 Compone Content(wt%) nts Embodim Embodi Embodim Embodim Embodim Embodim Embodim ent 1 ment 2 ent 3 ent 4 ent 5 ent 6 ent 7Embodi ment 7 LM-Pecti - - - 37 -n Gellan - - - 45 Gum-Gelatin - - - - -Dextrin 12 25 15 15 20 99 13-cyclo - - 10 - -Dextrin Menthol 25 30 30 20 30 20 Moisture 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 Sum 100 100 100 100 100 100 [117]
[118] Experimental Example 1: Ease of Manufacture and Characteristic Evaluation [119] An experiment is conducted to comprehensively evaluate ease of manufacture of a composition liquid (i.e., a flavoring composition), ease of manufacture, quality charac-teristics, such as appearance, a flavoring retention characteristic, and sensory charac-teristics during smoking, with respect to a flavoring sheet, a wrapper, and a cigarette according to Embodiments 1 to 7. The evaluation of the sensory characteristics is performed with respect to a panel with a smoking experience of more than five years, the evaluations are performed according to the following three grades, and the results of the evaluations are shown in Table 2 below.
[120] 0: Superior [121] A: Fine [122] X: Inferior

19 [123] [Table 21 Evaluated Embodim Embodim Embodim Embodim Embodim Embodim Embodim Items ent 1 ent 2 ent 3 ent4 ent 5 ent 6 ent 7 Ease of 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Manufact ure of Composit ion Liquid Ease of A 0 0 0 0 0 0 Manufact ure of Sheet and Wrapper Quality 0 0 0 0 0 A A
Character istics such as Appearan ce Flavoring A A 0 A 0 0 0 Retention Character istic Sensory 0 0 0 X 0 X X
Character istics During Smoking [124]
[125] Referring to Table 2 above, all of the flavoring sheets according to the embodiments are evaluated to be superior in terms of the ease of manufacture of the composition liquid, the sheet, and the wrapper.Also, the flavoring sheet according to Embodiments 6 and 7 is evaluated to have somewhat inferior quality characteristics compared to the other embodiments. In other words, the flavoring sheet manufactured based on gellan gum and gelatin is evaluated to have somewhat inferior quality characteristics

20 compared to the flavoring sheets, based on the other sheet forming substances (e.g., HPMC, MC, LM-pectin, and the like).Also, the flavoring sheets according to Em-bodiments 4, 6, and 7 are evaluated to have inferior sensory characteristics during smoking compared to the other embodiments. In more detail, the flavoring sheet including HPMC, gellan gum, and gelatin is evaluated to generate off-flavor during smoking, and the generated off-flavor is confirmed to have a negative effect on tobacco taste (refer to Experimental Example 2).
[126] Experimental Example 2: Sensory Evaluation [127] For a panel having a smoking experience of more than five years, an experiment is conducted to evaluate detailed sensory characteristics of cigarettes according to Em-bodiments 1 to 7. In detail, tobacco's unique taste, menthol's refreshing feeling, off-flavor, and the cleanliness of tobacco's taste are set as evaluation items, and sensory evaluation is performed on a scale of one to seven points. The results of the evaluation are shown in Table 3 below. For reference, a higher score in the off-flavor indicates negative evaluation, and a higher score in the other items indicates positive evaluation.
[128] [Table 31 Evaluated Embodim Embodim Embodi Embodi Embodim Embodi Embodim Items ent 1 ent 2 ment 3 ment 4 ent 5 ment 6 ent 7 Tobacco's 5.3 5.2 5.2 3.8 5.1 4.5 3.3 unique taste Menthol's 3.5 4.0 5.5 3.5 5.6 3.5 3.5 Refreshin g Feeling Off-flavo 3.2 3.1 3.1 5.1 3.5 4.6 6.2 Cleanline 5.0 5.2 5.5 3.3 4.8 3.8 2.5 ss of Tobacco's Taste [129] Referring to Table 3 above, the cigarettes according to Embodiments 4, 6 and 7 are evaluated to generate relatively more off-flavors due to HPMC, gellan gum, and gelatin.Also, the cigarettes according to Embodiments 2, 3, and 5 are evaluated to have relatively superior menthol's refreshing feeling. The relatively superior menthol's re-freshing feeling of the cigarettes may indicate that flavor emission is sufficiently improved even when the flavoring sheet is applied to the wrapper, and that the

21 flavoring sheet manufactured based on MC and LM-pectin has superior performance in terms of flavor retention and flavor emission.
[130] Experimental Example 3: Ease of Manufacture and Evaluation of Characteristics According to Thickness of Sheet [131] An experiment is conducted to evaluate the ease of manufacture of a sheet and a wrapper, flavor retention characteristics, and ease of manufacture of a cigarette by varying the thickness of the flavoring sheet according to Embodiment 3. The evaluation is carried out according to three grades in the same method as in Ex-perimental Example 1 above, and the results of the evaluation are shown in Table 4 below. For reference, the thickness of the sheet may refer to the thickness of the flavoring sheet or a coating thickness after the flavoring composition is dried.
11321 [Table 41 Evaluated Sheet Thickness on Dry Basis ([1m) Items 10 40 60 80 100 150 200 300 Ease of Man- 0 0 0 0 0 A A
X
ufacture of Sheet and Wrapper Flavoring A A 0 0 0 0 0 Retention Characteristic Ease of Man- 0 0 0 0 0 ufacture of Cigarette 11331 Referring to Table 4 above, when the flavoring sheet has the thickness greater than or equal to about 150 [cm, the ease of manufacture of the sheet and wrapper and the ease of manufacture of the cigarette are evaluated to be somewhat inferior. This is because the flexibility of the sheet decreases with an increase in the thickness thereof.When the flavoring sheet has a thickness less than or equal to about 4011m, the flavoring retention characteristic is evaluated to be somewhat inferior. Accordingly, the flavoring sheet may be manufactured to have a thickness of about 40 [tm to about 150 [im to simultaneously secure the flavoring retention characteristic and ease of man-ufacture.The structure and effects of the flavoring sheet 10 described above have been described in more detail via the embodiments and experimental examples.
[134] Although embodiments of the present disclosure have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains will understand that the present disclosure may be implemented in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof.
Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are il-lustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The protective scope of the present disclosure should be interpreted by the following claims, and all the technical spirits within the equivalent scope thereof should be construed as being included in the scope of the technical spirit defined by the present disclosure.

Claims

[Claim 1] A smoking article comprising:
a smoking material portion;
a filter portion; and a wrapper wrapping at least a portion of the smoking material portion, wherein a flavoring sheet including a hydrocolloid material and flavoring is applied to the wrapper.
[Claim 21 The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the flavoring sheet is used as the wrapper.
[Claim 31 The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the flavoring sheet has a thickness of about 40 um to about 150 um.
[Claim 41 The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the flavoring sheet is attached to an inner side of the wrapper.
[Claim 51 The smoking article of claim 4, wherein the flavoring sheet is attached to the inner side of the wrapper without an adhesive.
[Claim 61 The smoking article of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the wrapper is made of metal foil, and the flavoring sheet is arranged on an inner side of the metal foil.
[Claim 71 The smoking article of claim 1, wherein an inner side of the wrapper is coated with a composition of the flavoring sheet.
[Claim 81 The smoking article of claim 7, wherein the composition has a coating thickness less than or equal to 70 urn.
[Claim 91 The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the hydrocolloid material includes methylcellulose.
[Claim 101 The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the hydrocolloid material includes low methoxyl pectin (LM-pectin), wherein the LM-pectin is a material including a carboxyl group of less than 50% and having a characteristic of not gelating when cooled.
[Claim 111 A method of manufacturing a smoking article, the method comprising:
manufacturing a wrapping material by using a flavoring composition including a hydrocolloid material and flavoring, or by using a flavoring sheet manufactured from the flavoring composition; and manufacturing a smoking article including a smoking material portion by wrapping at least a portion of the smoking material portion with the manufactured wrapping material.
[Claim 121 The method of claim 11, wherein the manufacturing the wrapping material comprises laminating the flavoring sheet and wrapping paper by injecting a liquid having no viscosity or adhesiveness.
[Claim 131 The method of claim 11, wherein the manufacturing the wrapping material comprises applying the flavoring composition onto wrapping paper and drying the flavoring composition.