RECONSTITUTED TOBACCO SHEETS AND RELATED METHODS Russian patent published in 2019 - IPC A24B3/14 

FIELD: smoking accessories.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a reconstituted tobacco sheet and a method of manufacturing such a tobacco sheet. Method of manufacturing a reconstituted tobacco sheet comprises steps of providing tobacco stems or tobacco stalks or a mixture thereof; conditioning the tobacco stems or tobacco stalks such that their moisture content is increased to at least about 40 % oven volatiles (OV), wherein % OV is determined by measuring the percentage weight loss of the stems after drying a sample of stem material in an oven at 100 ± 1 degrees Celsius (°C) for 3 hours ± 5 minutes; processing the tobacco stems or tobacco stalks in a twin screw extruder to so as to obtain a pulp suspension having a Schopper-Riegler index of at least about 30 degrees and comprising tobacco stem or tobacco stalk refined fibres having a length of at least about 200 micrometres, wherein the Schopper-Riegler index is defined by the International Standard ISO 5267-1 in the 2014 edition; combining the pulp suspension with tobacco cast leaf material to obtain a slurry; and forming a sheet from said slurry; wherein the step of processing conditioned stems or stalks is carried out in a twin-screw extruder comprising at least a first and a second conveying section adapted to advance the material being processed along an axial direction of the extruder and at least a kneading section adapted to restrict the flow of the material being processed along the axial direction and to exert a kneading and shearing action on the stems, wherein the at least one kneading section is located between the first and the second conveying sections.

EFFECT: technical results of the invention are the creation of a method of manufacturing a reconstituted tobacco sheet with a higher tensile strength compared with reconstituted tobacco sheets obtained using existing methods, without the need to reinforce the sheet with undesirable non-tobacco cellulosic materials, such as binders, so that the finished reconstituted tobacco sheet is better suited for withstanding mechanical stresses during the manufacture of tobacco products from said sheet, which would enable to reduce power consumption compared with existing methods and which would provide the best preservation of aroma sources and thanks to which the finished reconstituted tobacco sheet would have an increased filling capacity.

15 cl, 4 ex