British-american Tobacco Company Limited

Donald B Naylor

Wladyslaw H Krywiczanin

Richard R Baker

Tobacco leaf stem is separated into large-stem and small-stem fractions, the large-stem fraction is cut in a stem cutter and the small-stem fraction is shredded in a mill, whereafter the cut and shredded materials are mixed.

Processing tobacco leaf stem

A liquid-spraying device, particularly for applying an additive to a moving bed of smoking material. The device includes a body and an elongate narrow unshrouded tubular spray tip carried by the body. First and second ducts are in the body through which the liquid and an atomizing medium respectively can be supplied to the tip. A third duct is provided for supplying a cleaning medium such as air. A jet structure is located remotely from the discharge end of the spray tip, is connected to the third duct and is arranged to direct the cleaning medium along and around the outside of the freely extending tip to the discharge end thereof. The spray tip may be mounted on and extend from a nozzle head connected to the body. The jet structure is provided in the nozzle head, for example, in the form of a plurality of jet orifices equi-angularly spaced around the spray tip. The spray tip and jet can be used in a method of applying a liquid additive to a moving bed of smoking material.

Spraying devices

A smoking article comprises a rod of smoking material, wrapped in a wrapper, in which rod the packing density of the smoking material varies continuously along at least a major portion of the overall length of the rod, but is constant across any section, within said portion, in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. The smoking material may be of homogeneous constitution throughout the rod. Preferably the density decreases continuously along the said portion of the rod in the direction away from the end of the rod to be lit, from which end the said portion may extend to substantially the other end of the rod. There may be between a 5% and a 40% weight difference between the more dense half of the length of the rod and the less dense half thereof. The density at the less dense end of the rod may be in the range of 170 to 240 mg cm.sup.-3 and that at the denser end in the range of 290 to 350 mg cm.sup.-3.

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Southampton, United Kingdom

Donald B Naylor