Perforated cigarette tipping paper

Claim 1

In a cigarette having at one end, an air permeable filter having a defined porosity along the exterior thereof, a cigarette tipping paper receivable on the exterior of the filter to form a filter tip having a porosity approaching that of the filter alone, said tipping paper having a width in excess of the length of the filter and a length which is at least as great as the circumference of the filter, said paper having at least one perforated zone which is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the paper and having a width corresponding to a fraction of the width of the paper, said zone being bordered by first and second unperforated edge strips which receive the tobacco containing portion of the cigarette and the lips of the user, respectively, said perforated zone containing a plurality of minute perforations normally invisible to the naked eye and formed by high tension spark erosion, said perforations being irregular in shape, size and location within said zone and present in a sufficient number to provide a porosity to the zone for establishing the porosity of the filter tip inclusive of the tipping paper at that approaching the porosity of the filter alone.