Perforated capsule filter

Abstract

The present invention is a capsule that has a perforated outer shell that is substantially filled with a filtering media which has been pressurized to remove air pockets resulting in more effective and consistent filtration. The media may be activated carbon or other filtering media and may include other flavorants, aromatic substances, or a combination thereof. The present invention, thus, also provides an insert for a smoking article. The insert is the capsule of the present invention, namely, a perforated shell with media filling the cavity (without “air pockets”) formed by the shell. The capsule is placed within the smoking article at a point between the tobacco and the point of inhalation (the mouthpiece) such that, upon inhalation, the tobacco smoke is drawn completely and consistently through the media. Alternatively, the capsule may be integrated into a cigarette holder, pipe, or the like at a point in-line between the tobacco charge and the smoker.

1 . A capsule for use as a filter for a smoking article comprising: 
 an outer shell that defines a cavity;    a plurality of perforations through at least a portion of the outer shell; and    a filter media substantially filling the cavity and tamped to eliminate air pockets;    wherein the outer shell is configured to be received within the smoking article.    
   
   
       2 . The capsule of  claim 1  wherein the outer shell is comprised of gelatin, polysaccharide, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, a cellulosic material, or a combination thereof.  
   
   
       3 . The capsule of  claim 1  wherein the perforations are individually of such a diameter that a substantial portion of the filter media cannot readily pass therethrough.  
   
   
       4 . The capsule of  claim 1  wherein the media is carbon.  
   
   
       5 . The capsule of  claim 1  wherein the media is a flavor-modifier or aroma-modifier.  
   
   
       6 . The capsule of  claim 1  wherein the outer shell is oblong.  
   
   
       7 . The capsule of  claim 6  wherein the oblong outer shell has a diameter of approximately 8 mm and a length between about 3 mm and about 12 mm.  
   
   
       8 . The capsule of  claim 7  wherein the oblong outer shell is substantially filled with about 200 mg to about 300 mg of substantially air pocket free carbon.  
   
   
       9 . The capsule of  claim 1  wherein the outer shell is circular.  
   
   
       10 . The capsule of  claim 9  having a diameter of approximately 8 mm.  
   
   
       11 . The capsule of  claim 1  wherein the perforations are about 0.05 mm to about 1.0 mm in diameter.  
   
   
       12 . The capsule of  claim 1  wherein the capsule includes ends having end surface areas, and the perforations comprise approximately 45 percent of the end surface areas of the capsule.  
   
   
       13 . In a machine for filling and closing two-piece capsules formed as an outer shell with each capsule piece having a plurality of perforations, the machine of the type on which a plurality of segment blocks are secured to a movable table and are circumferentially movable to different stations, the segment blocks including a lower segment block and an upper segment block each designed to hold separate capsule parts and movable against and away from each other, the improvement comprising: the lower segment block having individual capsule holding recesses each of which extend upwardly away from the lower segment block and, when filled with media form a bump and the upper segment block contoured to cooperatively receive each of the upwardly extending media bumps wherein the upper and lower segment blocks nest and prevent the escape of media as the air pockets are expelled through the perforations in the capsule pieces.  
   
   
       14 . An insert for a smoking article, the smoking article having tobacco and a first end, the insert comprising: 
 (a) an outer shell that defines a cavity;    (b) a plurality of perforations through the outer shell; and    (c) a media substantially filling the cavity and tamped to eliminate air pockets,    wherein the insert is placed within the smoking article at a point between the tobacco and the first end.    
   
   
       15 . The insert of  claim 13  wherein the media is tobacco smoke-filtering media.  
   
   
       16 . The insert of  claim 14  wherein the media is activated carbon.  
   
   
       17 . The insert of  claim 13  wherein the media is flavor-modifying media.  
   
   
       18 . The insert of  claim 16  wherein the flavor-modifying media is menthol.  
   
   
       19 . The insert of  claim 13  wherein the media is aromatic-modifying media.  
   
   
       20 . The insert of  claim 13  wherein the media is a combination of tobacco smoke-filtering and flavor-modifying media.  
   
   
       21 . The insert of  claim 13  wherein the capsule shell is comprised of gelatin, polysaccharide, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, a cellulosic material, or a combination thereof.  
   
   
       22 . The insert of  claim 13  wherein the perforations are individually of such a diameter that the media cannot readily pass therethrough.  
   
   
       23 . The insert of  claim 13  wherein the smoking article is a cigarette.  
   
   
       24 . The insert of  claim 22  wherein the cigarette further comprises a mouthpiece having a filter and a tobacco charge, whereby the insert is placed between the tobacco charge and the mouthpiece filter.  
   
   
       25 . A cigarette comprising: 
 (a) a tobacco charge; and    (b) a filter, the filter further comprising: 
 (i) an outer shell that defines a cavity;  
 (ii) a plurality of perforations through the outer shell; and  
 (iii) a tobacco-smoke filtering media tamped to eliminate air pockets and deposited in and substantially filling the cavity,  
 wherein the filter is placed at an effective location to the tobacco charge for the filtration of tobacco smoke through the media.  
   
   
   
       26 . The filter of  claim 24  wherein the media is capable of filtering undesired components selected from the group consisting of tars, nicotine, volatiles, mutagens, carcinogens, saturated and unsaturated aliphatic aldehydes, polycylcic aromatic hydrocarbons, and nitrosamines.  
   
   
       27 . A method for manufacturing a filter comprising: 
 (a) feeding and aligning empty capsule shells;    (b) perforating the shells to form a gas flow path through each shell;    (c) separating the empty capsule shells into shell halves (d) dosing the shell halves with filtering media;    (e) pressurizing the filtering media to remove air pockets while reassembling the shell halves to form a perforated air pocket-free media-filled capsule filter.    (f) reassembling the shell halves to form a perforated, media-filled capsule filter.    
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 27  wherein perforating the shells comprises forming openings in the shells with a laser.  
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 27  wherein the capsule shells include opposed ends having end surface areas, and perforating the shells is completed over approximately 45% of the end surface areas of the shells.  
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising dosing the shell halves with an aromatic media or flavor-modifying media.  
   
   
       31 . A method for manufacturing a filter comprising: 
 (a) forming capsule shell halves from a shell material comprising a foaming agent, the formed capsule shell halves having pluralities of open-cell perforations therethrough;    (b) feeding and aligning empty capsule shell halves;    (c) dosing the shell halves with a filtering media;    (d) pressurizing the filtering media to remove air pockets while assembling the shell halves to form a perforated, media-filled capsule free of air pockets.    
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 31  further comprising dosing the shell halves with an aromatic media or flavor-modifying media.