Cooling filter for cigarettes and smoking articles

Abstract

An integral cooling and filtering device designed to be fitted on a smoking end of a cigarette or other smoking article is provided to reduce the temperature of smoke produced by combustion of smoking material and to filter the cooled smoke prior to contact with a smoker's mouth. The device is configured with a receptacle to hold a cigarette or like smoking article and a mouthpiece section that directly contacts the smoker's mouth. A cooling section and a filter section are positioned between the receptacle and the mouthpiece section. Temperature reduction of the smoke is provided by a thermionic cooling means. The filter section can include a substantially permanent cleanable filter or a replaceable filter. The mouthpiece section may be a heat-resistant metal, a plastic, or another appropriate mouth contact material, while the receptacle and cooling and filtering sections are preferably formed of a suitable metal.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.