Composite Web and Method of Manufacturing a Smoking Article

Abstract

The present invention relates to composite web for forming a smoking article element wrapper. The composite web comprises a strip of wrapping material and a plurality of thermally conductive patches. The thermally conductive patches are located on a surface of the strip and are spaced along the length of the strip. The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a smoking article component.

1 . A composite web for forming a smoking article element wrapper, comprising a strip of wrapping material and a plurality of thermally conductive patches that are located on a surface of the strip and are spaced along the length of the strip, wherein a first edge of each thermally conductive patch is spaced from an adjacent first longitudinal edge of the strip to define a region of the surface of the strip that is not covered by the thermally conductive patches. 
     
     
         2 . A composite web according to  claim 1 , wherein the first edge of each thermally conductive patch is spaced from the first longitudinal edge of the strip by between 1-10 mm and. 
     
     
         3 . A composite web according to  claim 1 , wherein a second edge of each thermally conductive patch overlies an adjacent second longitudinal edge of the strip. 
     
     
         4 . A composite web according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive patches are adhered and/or laminated to the strip. 
     
     
         5 . A composite web according to  claim 1 , wherein the strip of wrapping material comprises paper. 
     
     
         6 . A composite web according to  claim 1 , wherein the thermally conductive patches comprise metal foil or metalized paper. 
     
     
         7 . A method of manufacturing first and second smoking article components comprising first and second smoking article elements respectively, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a composite web comprising a strip of wrapping material and a thermally conductive patch located on a surface of the strip;   providing first and second smoking article elements on the composite web such that the smoking article elements overlap a first thermally conductive patch of the composite web and are axially spaced to extend axially past opposite edges of the first thermally conductive patch;   wrapping the composite web around the smoking article elements; and,   cutting the composite web to form a tubular structure that comprises the smoking article elements and the portion of the composite web that circumscribes the smoking article elements.   
     
     
         8 . A method according to  claim 7 , wherein the composite web comprises a plurality of thermally conductive patches that are located on a surface of the strip and are spaced along the length of the strip, and the step of providing first and second smoking article elements on the composite web comprises providing a plurality of rods of smoking article element material on the composite web such that distal ends of each rod overlie adjacent thermally conductive patches of the composite web. 
     
     
         9 . A method according to  claim 8 , wherein the step of cutting the composite web to form the tubular structure further comprises cutting one of the rods of smoking article element material in half such that one half thereof forms the first or second smoking article element of the tubular structure. 
     
     
         10 . A method according to  claim 8 , wherein the step of cutting the composite web to form the tubular structure comprises cutting the composite web such that said portion of the composite web circumscribes the first and second smoking article elements and at least one rod of smoking article element material that is disposed between the first and second smoking article elements. 
     
     
         11 . A method according to  claim 7 , wherein the composite web comprises a strip of wrapping material and wherein a first edge of the or each thermally conductive patch is spaced from an adjacent first longitudinal edge of the strip such that said surface of the strip has a region that is not covered by the or each thermally conductive patch, and wherein the step of wrapping the composite wrap around the smoking article elements comprises providing adhesive on said region of the strip and then wrapping the wrapper around the smoking article elements such that the adhesive applied to said region is adhered to an outer surface of the strip. 
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 7 , wherein the step of wrapping the composite web around the smoking article elements comprises feeding the composite web through a tongue. 
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 7 , wherein the first and second smoking article elements are adhered to the composite web prior to the composite web being wrapped around the smoking article elements. 
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 7 , wherein the or each thermally conductive patch comprises metal foil or metalised paper. 
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 7 , comprising providing the first and second smoking article elements on the composite web such that a space is provided between the first and second elements. 
     
     
         16 . A method of manufacturing a smoking article component, comprising the steps of:
 providing a tubular structure comprising a plurality of axially spaced smoking article elements that are circumscribed by a composite web, wherein the composite web comprises one or more thermally conductive patches; and,   cutting the composite web of the tubular structure to form a plurality of wrappers that are wrapped around respective smoking article elements such that a portion of each wrapper extends past the end of the respective smoking article element to form a recess.   
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 16 , wherein the tubular structure comprises first and second smoking article elements at distal ends of the tubular structure and at least one rod of smoking article element material that is disposed between the first and second smoking article elements and is axially spaced therefrom, and wherein the method further comprises the step of cutting the or each rod of smoking article element material in half to form a pair of smoking article elements. 
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 16 , comprising the step of providing a medium in each recess. 
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 18 , wherein the medium comprises a flavourant or substrate of tobacco. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 16 , wherein the tubular structure is manufactured according to the method of any of  claims 7  to  15 . 
     
     
         21 . A method of manufacturing a smoking article, comprising the steps of: manufacturing a smoking article component according to the method of  claim 16 ; and, attaching a tobacco rod to the smoking article component. 
     
     
         22 . (canceled)