Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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UNITED STATES
PATENT APPLICATION
EASY TO ROLL CURVED EDGE CIGARETTE ROLLING PAPER
Inventor
Michael O'Malley
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EASY TO ROLL CURVED EDGE CIGARETTE ROLLING PAPER
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 1 1 9(e) from U.S.
Provisional Patent
Application No. 61/976,036 entitled EASY TO ROLL CURVED EDGE CIGARETTE
ROLLING PAPER filed April 7, 2014.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of The Invention
[002] The present invention relates generally to cigarette rolling papers and,
more particularly, to
a cigarette rolling paper which has a curved edge which serves to facilitate
rolling a cigarette
with the paper, as it eliminates the corners of the traditional rectangular
rolling paper, which
become an obstacle if the top and bottom edges of the paper are not kept
parallel to each other as
the cigarette is rolled, a common problem.
2. The Prior Art
[003] Conventionally cigarette rolling papers are rectangular thin tissue-like
paper. The standard
diameter of a cigarette is generally around 8mm and the length also varies,
but is on the order of
65mm. Hand-rolling cigarettes is an ancient art, hundreds of years old, and
requires some skill.
There have been gadgets developed to make it easier. In both the cases of hand-
rolling without
any equipment, and with the common hand-rolling machines, which are built to
feed common
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rectangular papers, there is a problem that the top and bottom edges of the
paper have to be kept
parallel, or the leading corner will bind up as you start to roll.
[004] One rolling paper design is shown in U.S. Patent 1,289,975 entitled
Cigarette Wrapper.
The main rectangular rolling paper has a closure tongue 12 and a holding strip
14 extending off a
lower corner thereof. The holding strip helps keep the tobacco in place while
the paper is rolled.
The closure tongue then prevents tobacco from coming out into the mouth of the
user. A further
rolling paper design is shown in U.S. Patent 4,114,629 entitled Cigarette
Rolling Paper with
Integral Pouch. A pouch is formed at the lower edge of the rolling paper to
hold the tobacco
during rolling. Tear strips at either end allow the edges of the pouch to be
removed after rolling
to expose the tobacco. Both of these patents utilize extra material which can
increase costs and
detract from the cigarette enjoyment.
[005] When rolling a cigarette, the user takes the flat paper and folds it to
form a pouch in a u- or
v-shape to hold the smoking material. The near and far edges are referred to
hear as the bottom
and top edges, respectively. The near edge is kept short, and has the edge
that is tucked in to start
the roll. The far edge, top, has the edge which seals the cigarette at the end
when it is rolled up.
The user rolls the near edge up into the far edge to form the final
cylindrical cigarette shape. The
top edge is often treated with glue to seal the cylinder, but that is
sometimes omitted, on glueless
papers, which self-seal when activated by moistening, typically with saliva.
[006] Years ago, Zig-Zag, one of the venerable established cigarette rolling
paper companies,
came out with an innovation to address this problem, they produced papers with
the corners cut
off. People had done that for years, and it helped with this problem. It works
well. The Zig-Zag
KutKorners papers are still available. There have been no other successful
designs to address this
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problem, nor many other innovations at all in this stable mature market since
the Zig-Zag
KutKorner papers came out.
[007] There are EZ-wider papers, which are just larger and heavier rectangular
papers, which
allow you to get out of parallel and catch a corner and still just keep
rolling up because there is
so much paper. But smoking more paper is not desirable.
[008] The Zig-Zag KutKorners are good, but the total elimination of the
problem catching the
corner of the rolling paper is desirable, and dramatically extends the
primitive advantage of the
Zig-Zag KutKorners, and individual discoverers of coin coupe as a folkway, cut
corners, as
regards rolling papers.
[009] Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a simple rolling paper
design that is
relatively economical to produce and facilitates the rolling of cigarettes.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] There is, therefore, provided in the practice of this invention, a
cigarette rolling paper
with a curved shape at the starting edge. The curved edge being opposite the
glued edge or
unglued straight sealing edge in the case of glueless papers. The start and
end points of the curve
are on opposite sides of the paper, at a dimension approximately one-quarter
(1/4) of the target
circumference of the cigarette being rolled from the cut edge. Constraining
the region of the cut
to the first quarter of the circumference minimizes waste paper while still
the smoking material is
well-supported by the full width of the paper as the curved edge is tucked
into the far side of the
pouch of smoking material. The curved edge 22 is then tucked into the bottom
of the paper
surface 20 on the opposite side of the packed cigarette and the roll-up is
begun.
[0011] In a first embodiment of the invention, there is provided a cigarette
rolling paper having
one edge shaped as a convex curve and three straight edges. The curve is a
generally smooth
continuous arc with no significant corners or inflection points. The curve may
be of various
shapes for example a regular arc, an irregular arc, a circular arc, an oval
arc and a complex arc.
[0012] The cigarette rolling paper is adapted to roll into a cigarette having
a circumference,
wherein said curve includes a deflection having a length approximately 1/4 of
the circumference.
The curve deflection is proportional to the size of the rolling paper. The
curve includes a
midpoint that is located in the middle of the cigarette rolling paper. The
curve includes one
deflection at each end of the cigarette rolling paper.
[0013] The paper further includes glue at one end of the cigarette rolling
paper opposite the
curve. The cigarette rolling paper is adapted to roll into a cigarette
beginning at the curve and
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ending at the glue end. The cigarette rolling paper comprises cigarette papers
of any size or
material.
[0014] According to a second embodiment, there is provided an apparatus for
hand rolling a
cigarette including a cigarette rolling paper having a generally rectangular
shape with three
rectilinear sides and a one curved side. The three rectilinear sides form
three sides of a regular
rectangle including (i) a first rectilinear side oriented perpendicular to a
second rectilinear side,
(ii) a third rectilinear side oriented perpendicular to the second rectilinear
side, and (iii) the first
rectilinear side being parallel to the third rectilinear side. The curved side
is an elliptical arc
having an arch height and an arch width that contacts the end points of the
first and third
rectilinear sides to form a closed figure. The cigarette rolling paper has
reflective symmetry
about a central axis that is collinear with the arc height.
[0015] The curved side is devoid of angular edges or sharp corners. The second
rectilinear side
has a width W, and the arc is part of an ellipse having a major axis, wherein
the length of the
major axis is between 1 and 10 times the width W. The first and third
rectilinear sides have a
length L minus deflection, and the arc is part of an ellipse having an arch
height, wherein the
length of the arch height is between 1/5 and 1/8 times the length L. The
cigarette rolling paper is
made from a material suitable for burning and human inhalation. Length L may
also be
considered the overall length of the paper from end-to-end.
[0016] The cigarette rolling paper has a thickness between about 0.25 mm and
about 2.00 mm, a
length L between about 60 mm and about 100 mm, and a width W between about 35
mm and
about 45 mm. The elliptical arc is a geometric segment from an ellipse having
a major axis that
is between about 2 times and about 10 times the length of the minor axis. The
region between
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the elliptical arc and the first and third rectilinear sides comprises a slope
matched transition and
includes a curvature different from the central portion of the elliptical arc.
The cigarette rolling
paper is made from a material selected from cellulose, plant fibers, rice,
flax, hemp and tobacco.
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BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The advantages, nature, and various additional features of the
invention will appear more
fully upon consideration of the illustrative embodiments now to be described
in detail in
connection with accompanying drawings. In the drawings wherein like reference
numerals
denote similar components throughout the views:
[0018] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of rolling a cigarette with a prior art
rectangular rolling
paper.
[0019] FIG. 2 is atop plan view of a prior art rolling paper having a
rectangular shape.
[0020] FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a prior art rolling paper have cut
corners.
[0021] FIG. 4 is a top plan view of an embodiment of a rolling paper with a
curved edge
according to the invention.
[0022] FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the rolling paper according to the
invention with an
adhesive strip opposite the curved edge.
[0023] Fig. 6 a top plan view of the rolling paper according to the invention
with an adhesive
strip opposite the curved edge.
[0024] FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the rolling paper according to the
invention with the
first roll formed.
[0025] FIG. 8 is a front side elevational view of the rolling paper according
to the invention with
the first roll formed.
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[0026] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the geometry of the elliptical arc.
[0027] FIG. 10 is a schematic drawing showing the relationships between the
elliptical arc and
the paper.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0028] This invention relates to cigarette papers having a curved edge which
makes that edge
very easy to tuck in and roll up.
[0029] In a rolling process using a prior art rectangular paper 2 as shown in
FIG. 1, the leading
corner 1 of the bottom edge of rectangular paper 2, has caught and is not
tucking in. FIG. 2
shows this paper laid out flat with the conventional corner 1 having a right
angle. FIG. 3 shows
an improved paper design where a section has been cut from corner 5 thereby
eliminating the
corner at the tucking edge 3. However, corner 5 still has two angular edges or
sharp corners on
each side that can bind if the rolling paper is not perfectly aligned at the
outset of the rolling
process.
[0030] FIG. 4 shows a rolling paper or paper 10, having a curved edge 12
according to an
embodiment of the invention. Note that in the corner region 14 there are no
longer angular edges
or sharp corners. Curved edge 12 is the starting edge or tucking edge, used to
begin the rolling
process. The curved tucking edge 12 is the most elegant solution to provide
the optimal
tolerance for the normal not quite straight hand rollup.
[0031] FIGs. 5 and 6 show a further embodiment of the curved edge 22 of the
invention formed
on paper 20 having a strip of glue 26 at the sealing edge. The presence of
glue is an optional
feature. The curved edge works equally well on both plain and glued papers.
The curved edge is
designed to facilitate the beginning of the rolling process. The glue is used
at the end of the
rolling process.
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[0032] FIG. 7 shows a side view of the initial roll, without tobacco for the
sake of clarity. The
roll forms a cylinder having a circumference. The curved edge 22 is shown as
extending from
the 9:00 position to the 12:00 position. Thus the curved edge 22 extends 1/4
of the
circumference of the cigarette. Any smooth curve in this region will assist to
make rolling
easier, but the 1/4 dimension is optimal. The specific character and
dimensions of the curve are
determined by the overall dimensions of the paper, and this invention works
for any size paper or
material. FIG. 8 shows the middle point of the arc 22 has been tucked into the
far edge of the
paper 20 as the rolling begins. Since the paper curves away from the middle
point toward the
edge of the paper, there is less material present at the troublesome corners,
and the likelihood of
binding is greatly reduced or eliminated. The adhesive 26 will be contacted
when the cylindrical
roll has reached the top of paper 20.
[0033] The paper according to the invention includes a smooth curved edge on
one side of an
otherwise rectangular shape. The curved edge may have a variety of geometries
contemplated
by the invention, for example, circular, oval or arc shaped.
[0034] In one embodiment the curved edge has an elliptical shape. FIG. 9 shows
an ellipse 40
having a major axis 42 across the widest section of the ellipse and a minor
axis 50 across the
narrowest section of the ellipse. The major axis 42 corresponds to a first
arch height of 52
measured orthogonal from the major axis 42 to the top 40a of the ellipse. The
arch width 44
corresponds to a second arch height 54 measured orthogonal from the arch width
44 to the top
40a of the ellipse. The curved edge of the invention may include any shape
from the major axis
42 up to the top 40a of the ellipse.
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[0035] FIG. 10 illustrates the section above arch width 44 to top 40a as
comprising the curved
edge 22 of paper 20. Curved edge 22 represents the bottom of the paper where
the tobacco is
placed and the rolling process begins. The left side of paper 20 optionally
includes adhesive 26
to seal the cigarette once the rolling process is complete. A minor axis
segment 50a, which
represents the largest dimension of the curve is located in the center of
paper 20. More
particularly, minor axis segment 50a extends collinear to line 60 which
represents an axis of
symmetry for paper 20. In other words, if paper 20 is folded along line 60,
the two halves will
have an identical shape. It is axiomatic that the central angle 44a of the
arch width 44 is 180
degrees. The first arch width segment 44c extending orthogonal from line 60 to
the right edge of
paper is equal in length to the second arch width segment 44d extending
orthogonal from line 60
to the opposite left edge of paper 20.
[0036] Paper 20 includes a width W. The curved edge is a section from an
ellipse. The ellipse
includes a major axis. The major axis 42 has a length that is between I and 10
time longer than
width W. Note the relationship of width W is in comparison to the major axis,
even when a
narrower arch width is used on the actual paper. Ellipses may be selected from
the group having
a major axis that is between 2 and 10 time the length of the minor axis. The
region between the
elliptical arc 22 and the first and third rectilinear sides may have a smooth
rounded transition
which may be slope shaped or filleted. This rounded transition or fillet may
have a curvature
different than the central portion of the elliptical arc.
[0037] Paper 20 includes a length L. In general, the length L will be greater
than the width W.
At the shortest, assume W is five units in width, and the paper will be rolled
one and one-quarter
revolutions, with one revolution taking up four units. The resulting cigarette
will have a
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circumference of 4 units, with a one unit overlap. Arch height 54, following
the formula of 1/4
the circumference, would be 1 unit long, or 1/5 of width W. At the longest,
assume W is eight
units in width, and the paper will be rolled two complete revolutions, with
each revolution taking
up four units. The resulting cigarette will have a double wall and a
circumference of 4 units.
Arch height 54, following the formula of 1/4 the circumference, would be 1
unit long.
Accordingly, arch height 54 will be between 1/5 and 1/8 of width W. The arch
height 54 is also
referred to as the curve deflection.
[0038] This invention relates to the configuration of a rolling paper, and can
be applied to rolling
papers of any type. By way of example only, rolling papers are made from
cellulose, plant
fibers, rice, flax, hemp and tobacco. When made from cellulose, a synthetic or
natural polymer
may be selected. Several patents disclose the composition of rolling papers as
follows: U.S.
Patent 5,060,675 and U.S. Patent 5,450,862 and U.S. Patent 5,878,754 and U.S.
Patent 6,138,684
and U.S. Patent 8,701,681 the contents of which are incorporated herein by
reference thereto.
Rolling papers have a thickness on the order of several millimeters, or less
than one millimeter,
for example between 0.25 and 0.75 mm. The rolling papers may be manufactured
in a sheet or
web of indefinite length. The rolling papers may be cut from the web by die-
cutting, stamping or
any other suitable means. The length L can range between about 60 mm and about
100 mm, and
the width W can range between about 35 mm and about 45 mm. The curved edge can
be formed
by trimming a rectangular paper.
[0039] Having described preferred embodiments for (which are intended to be
illustrative and
not limiting), it is noted that modifications and variations can be made by
persons skilled in the
art in light of the above teachings. The curved edge can be of various
geometries as long as the
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central portion is longer than the end portions. Oval or elliptical shapes are
ideally suited, but
other regular, irregular or compound curves may be employed as long as the
transition between
the curved edge and the rectilinear side edges is smooth without sharp
corners. The use of any
rolling paper material, composition and manufacturing methods are intended to
be included
within the scope of the invention. It is therefore to be understood that
changes may be made in
the particular embodiments of the invention disclosed which are within the
scope and spirit of
the invention as outlined by the appended claims. Having thus described the
invention with the
details and particularity required by the patent laws, what is claimed and
desired protected by
Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims
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