Gravure printed banded wrapper paper

Abstract

A smoking article includes a tobacco rod comprising a column of filler and a wrapper surrounding the column of filler. The tobacco rod has a circumferential direction, a longitudinal direction, a lit end, and a mouth end. The wrapper includes a base web having generally parallel first and second side edges extending in the longitudinal direction and two ends extending in the circumferential direction wherein the base web is disposed around the column of filler such that the first and second side edges of the base web overlap and form a seam. The base web includes at least one circumferentially extending banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material thereon. The fibrous crystalline cellulosic material is in a condition of having been gravure printed on the base web as a fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry that comprises water, crystalline cellulose, and chalk wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry has a solids content of about 10% or less by weight of the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry.

1 . A smoking article, comprising:
 a tobacco rod comprising a column of filler and a wrapper surrounding the column of filler, the tobacco rod having a circumferential direction, a longitudinal direction, a lit end, and a mouth end;   the wrapper further including a base web having generally parallel first and second side edges extending in the longitudinal direction and two ends extending in the circumferential direction wherein the base web is disposed around the column of filler such that the first and second side edges of the base web overlap and form a seam, the base web having at least one circumferentially extending banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material thereon, the fibrous crystalline cellulosic material having been gravure printed on the base web as a fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry comprising water, crystalline cellulose, and chalk wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry has a solids content of about 10% or less by weight of the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry.   
     
     
         2 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the tobacco rod has a filter attached to the mouth end. 
     
     
         3 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the chalk is calcium carbonate. 
     
     
         4 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the base web includes at least two longitudinally spaced circumferentially extending banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material thereon. 
     
     
         5 . The smoking article of  claim 4 , wherein the base web is free of added fibrous crystalline cellulosic material in regions outside of the at least two longitudinally spaced circumferentially extending banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material. 
     
     
         6 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one circumferentially extending banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material is printed as a single layer. 
     
     
         7 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one circumferentially extending banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material is printed in at least two layers. 
     
     
         8 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the base web has a permeability of greater than about 20 CORESTA and less than about 100 CORESTA in regions outside of the at least one circumferentially extending banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material and a CORESTA of 12 or less in regions within the at least one circumferentially extending banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material. 
     
     
         9 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one circumferentially extending banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material includes microcrystalline cellulose. 
     
     
         10 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one circumferentially extending banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material is free of any binders, modified cellulose, and bacterial cellulose. 
     
     
         11 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic material consists essentially of about 95% microcrystalline cellulose and about 5% chalk. 
     
     
         12 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic material includes microcrystalline cellulose, a binder, and chalk, wherein the binder is included in an amount of about 9% or less by weight of the of the microcrystalline cellulose. 
     
     
         13 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic material includes microcrystalline cellulose wherein at least 90% of the fibers of the microcrystalline cellulose have a size of about 200 microns or less. 
     
     
         14 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material includes up to about 2.5 gsm of added fibrous crystalline cellulosic material. 
     
     
         15 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the Ignition Propensity of the smoking article is no greater than 25% and the Self-Extinguishment of the smoking article is no greater than 50%. 
     
     
         16 . The smoking article of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one banded region of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material includes a first zone, a second zone, and a third zone wherein the first and third zones include about the same amount of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material and the second zone includes less fibrous crystalline cellulosic material than the first or third zones. 
     
     
         17 . A wrapper for smoking articles, comprising:
 a base web having generally parallel first and second side edges extending in a longitudinal direction and two ends extending in a transverse direction and a plurality of longitudinally spaced banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material thereon, the fibrous crystalline cellulosic material having been gravure printed on the base web as a fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry comprising water, crystalline cellulose, and chalk wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry has a solids content of about 10% or less by weight of the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry.   
     
     
         18 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the chalk is calcium carbonate. 
     
     
         19 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the base web is free of added fibrous crystalline cellulosic material in regions outside of the plurality longitudinally spaced banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material. 
     
     
         20 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality longitudinally spaced banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material are each printed as a single layer. 
     
     
         21 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality longitudinally spaced banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material are each printed in at least two layers. 
     
     
         22 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the base web has a permeability of greater than about 20 CORESTA and less than about 100 CORESTA in regions outside of the plurality longitudinally spaced banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material and a CORESTA of 12 or less in regions within the plurality longitudinally spaced banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material. 
     
     
         23 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality longitudinally spaced banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material includes microcrystalline cellulose. 
     
     
         24 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality longitudinally spaced banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material are free of any binders, modified cellulose, and bacterial cellulose. 
     
     
         25 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic material consists essentially of about 95% microcrystalline cellulose and about 5% chalk. 
     
     
         26 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic material includes microcrystalline cellulose, a binder, and chalk, wherein the binder is included in an amount of about 9% or less by weight of the of the microcrystalline cellulose. 
     
     
         27 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic material includes microcrystalline cellulose wherein at least 90% of the fibers of the microcrystalline cellulose have a size of about 200 microns or less. 
     
     
         28 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality longitudinally spaced banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material each include up to about 2.5 gsm of added fibrous crystalline cellulosic material. 
     
     
         29 . The wrapper of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality longitudinally spaced banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material each include a first zone, a second zone, and a third zone wherein the first and third zones include about the same amount of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material and the second zone includes less fibrous crystalline cellulosic material than the first or third zones. 
     
     
         30 . A method of making banded wrapper paper for smoking articles, the method comprising:
 advancing a base web to a first printing station;   printing a first layer of a fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry on the base web, the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry comprising water, crystalline cellulose, and chalk wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry has a solids content of about 10% or less by weight of the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry, said printing comprising applying the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry to a patterned gravure roller, and contacting the advancing base web with the patterned gravure roller to apply bands of the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry on the base web; and   forming banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material on the base web by drying the bands of the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry.   
     
     
         31 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry is not heated when applied to the gravure roller. 
     
     
         32 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein the drying comprises passing the base web over at least one steam can. 
     
     
         33 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein only the first layer of fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry is printed on the base web. 
     
     
         34 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , including a step of printing a second layer of the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry on top of the first layer. 
     
     
         35 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein the amount of fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry applied to the base web is sufficient to form banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material having a weight of about 2.5 gsm. 
     
     
         36 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 34 , wherein the second layer is printed with a coat weight that is at least 1% greater than a coat weight of the first printed layer. 
     
     
         37 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein permeability of the banded wrapper paper in regions outside of the banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material is about 20 CORESTA to about 100 CORESTA, and permeability of the banded wrapper paper within the banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic material is about 12 CORESTA or less. 
     
     
         38 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry comprises water, crystalline cellulose, and chalk. 
     
     
         39 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 38 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry includes at least 90% by weight water, up to 10% microcrystalline cellulose and up to 1% chalk. 
     
     
         40 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 38 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry consists essentially of water, microcrystalline cellulose, and chalk. 
     
     
         41 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry is continuously agitated before applied to the gravure roller. 
     
     
         42 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 39 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry includes a binder. 
     
     
         43 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 34 , including drying the base web between printing of the first and second layers. 
     
     
         44 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein the gravure roller is configured to apply a quantity of the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry in a single pass sufficient to provide self-extinguishment of a smoking article incorporating the banded wrapper paper. 
     
     
         45 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry includes up to 9.5 weight % cellulosic fibrous crystalline material and up to 5.5 weight % chalk. 
     
     
         46 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry includes microcrystalline cellulose with a fiber size of less than 200 microns. 
     
     
         47 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein the gravure roller has hexagonal cells separated by cell walls having a thickness of 12 to 20 microns. 
     
     
         48 . The method of making the banded wrapper paper of  claim 30 , wherein printing the plurality longitudinally spaced banded regions of fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry includes applying the fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry of each banded region in a first zone, a second zone, and a third zone wherein the first and third zones include about the same amount of fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry and the second zone includes less fibrous crystalline cellulosic slurry than the first or third zones.