Method and apparatus for manufacturing flavor capsule of tobacco

1 . An apparatus for manufacturing a flavor capsule of a cigarette, the apparatus comprising:

a capsule manufacturer including a membrane tank configured to store a membrane, a flavored liquid tank configured to store a flavored liquid, and a nozzle connected to the membrane tank through a membrane supply line and the flavored liquid tank through a flavored liquid supply line, and configured to form an initial form of the flavor capsule by discharging the membrane transferred from the membrane tank and the flavored liquid transferred from the flavored liquid tank such that the membrane wraps the flavored liquid;

wherein the membrane tank includes a temperature adjuster configured to decrease a temperature of the membrane tank to a preset temperature based on time to maintain a viscosity of the membrane;

a first hardener configured to first harden the flavor capsule manufactured by the capsule manufacturer, and

a membrane manufacturer configured to manufacture the membrane by weighing an amount of each substance included in the membrane, dissolving each substance, and measuring a viscosity of the formed membrane, and to supply the manufactured membrane to the capsule manufacturer,

wherein a temperature maintainer is provided in the membrane supply line to maintain a temperature of the membrane supply line to be a temperature of the membrane tank, the temperature maintainer being configured to decrease the temperature of the membrane supply line to the corresponding degree in response to the decrease of the temperature per hour by the temperature adjuster so that the temperature of the membrane supply line is not less than the preset temperature,

wherein by setting a thickness of the membrane of the flavor capsule manufactured by the capsule manufacturer to be 0.5 to 0.8 millimeter (mm), a crush strength of the flavor capsule is adjusted to 0.8 to 2.0 kilograms-force (kgf),

wherein the membrane manufacturer is configured to manufacture the membrane with agar, pectin, and sodium alginate, which constitute 45 to 55%, 35 to 45%, and 5 to 15%, respectively, of the membrane, excluding water and plasticizer,

wherein the membrane manufacturer includes a gelation temperature maintainer configured to maintain a gelation temperature of the membrane so as to prevent the membrane from hardening before being discharged from the nozzle, and

wherein the gelation temperature of the membrane by the gelation temperature maintainer is 48° C. to 50° C.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a second hardener configured to secondarily harden the flavor capsule dried by a dryer after being hardened by the first hardener.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the second hardener is configured to harden the flavor capsule using an ethanol (EtOH) solution prepared by mixing distilled water and EtOH at a preset ratio.

4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the distilled water is an aqueous 0.1% to 5.0% calcium chloride solution, and the preset ratio of the distilled water to the EtOH is 4:6 to 7:3.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first hardener is configured to harden the flavor capsule manufactured by the capsule manufacturer by immersing the flavor capsule in a prepared 70% to 100% ethanol (EtOH) solution for 3 to 5 minutes.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein an optimal viscosity of the membrane manufactured by the membrane manufacturer is 400 to 700 centipoise (cps).