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US 9,427,019 B2Granted
Smokeless tobacco articles
AssigneeU.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC
InventorsFrank Scott Atchley, James Arthur Strickland, James M. Rossman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Tobacco articles having tobacco disposed in a porous matrix. The tobacco articles can provide tobacco to an adult consumer in the form of particles, liquid, or vapor so as to furnish tobacco satisfaction to the consumer. The tobacco can be integrally molded with a plastic material so that at least a portion of the tobacco is disposed in pores of the matrix.
Claims14
A tobacco article, comprising:
- a porous matrix having a network of pores disposed therein;
- and
- tobacco disposed in the pores of the porous matrix, so that when a fluid is passed through the porous matrix, at least one of noncombusted tobacco or a noncombusted tobacco component is introduced into the fluid,
- wherein the tobacco is integrally molded with the porous matrix, wherein the article comprises a central portion having a first average pore size and a peripheral portion having a second average pore size, the first average pore size being larger than the second average pore size.
1 more element
A tobacco article, comprising:
- a porous matrix having a network of pores disposed therein;
- and
- tobacco disposed in the pores of the porous matrix, so that when a fluid is passed through the porous matrix, at least one of noncombusted tobacco or a noncombusted tobacco component is introduced into the fluid;
- wherein the tobacco is integrally molded with the porous matrix during a plastic sintering process, wherein thermoplastic polymer particles have an average diameter between about 10 microns and about 20 microns are sintered to form the porous matrix.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.