AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE COMPRISING AN AEROSOL-COOLING ELEMENT WITH AN ELONGATED PROTRUSION

Abstract

An aerosol-generating article is provided, including a rod of aerosol-generating substrate; an aerosol-cooling element downstream of the rod and including a hollow tubular segment including a peripheral wall, the segment extending along a longitudinal axis and having a downstream end in fluid communication with an upstream end, the segment further including at least one elongated protrusion extending from the peripheral wall into an interior of the segment, the protrusion extending longitudinally from an upstream position on the wall to a downstream position on the wall; and a wrapper circumscribing the rod and the aerosol-cooling element, the protrusion being a deflecting fin configured to change a direction of flow of an aerosol flowing from the upstream to the downstream end the segment, and the fin being twisted along a length of the segment.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. An aerosol-generating article for producing an aerosol upon heating, the aerosol-generating article comprising: a rod of aerosol-generating substrate; an aerosol-cooling element, positioned downstream of the rod of aerosol-generating substrate, the aerosol-cooling element comprising a hollow tubular segment comprising a peripheral wall, the hollow tubular segment extending along a longitudinal axis and having a downstream end in fluid communication with an upstream end, wherein the hollow tubular segment further comprises at least one elongated protrusion extending from the peripheral wall into an interior of the hollow tubular segment, the at least one elongated protrusion extending longitudinally from an upstream position on the peripheral wall to a downstream position on the peripheral wall downstream of the upstream position; and a wrapper circumscribing the rod of aerosol-generating substrate and the aerosol-cooling element, wherein the at least one elongated protrusion is a deflecting fin configured to change a direction of flow of an aerosol flowing from the upstream end to the downstream end of the hollow tubular segment, and wherein the deflecting fin is twisted along a length of the hollow tubular segment.

16. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the at least one elongated protrusion extends along a radial direction from the peripheral wall towards a central axis of the hollow tubular segment.

17. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein a height of the at least one elongated protrusion varies between the upstream position and the downstream position.

18. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 17, wherein the height of the at least one elongated protrusion decreases between one of the upstream position and the downstream position and the other.

19. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the deflecting fin comprises first and second opposing surfaces, and wherein an angle formed between a reference plane, the reference plane being parallel to the longitudinal axis and bisecting the internal volume of the hollow tubular segment, and the first surface of the deflecting fin at the upstream position is different from an angle formed between the reference plane and the first surface of the deflecting fin at the downstream position.

20. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein a circumferential position of the at least one elongated protrusion varies between its upstream position and its downstream position.

21. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein a height of the at least one elongated protrusion is less than a radius of the hollow tubular segment.

22. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the upstream position is located between the upstream end of the hollow tubular segment and a midpoint of the hollow tubular segment, and wherein the downstream position is located between the midpoint of the hollow tubular segment and the downstream end of the hollow tubular segment.

23. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the at least one elongated protrusion extends longitudinally from the upstream end of the hollow tubular segment to the downstream end of the hollow tubular segment.

24. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein a length of the aerosol-generating article is from about 8 mm to about 30 mm.

25. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein a thickness of the at least one elongated protrusion is from about 0.1 mm to about 1 mm.

26. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the at least one elongated protrusion comprises a plurality of elongated protrusions radially distributed on the peripheral wall.

Description

[0134] The invention will now be further described with reference to the figures in which:

[0135] FIG. 1 shows a front perspective view of an aerosol-cooling element in accordance with the invention;

[0136] FIG. 2 shows a schematic side sectional view of an aerosol-cooling element in accordance with the invention;

[0137] FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the aerosol-cooling element of FIG. 2 taken along the plane T-T, which is located at the middle of the aerosol-cooling element;

[0138] FIG. 4 shows a side sectional view of an aerosol-generating article including an aerosol-cooling element in accordance the invention; and

[0139] FIG. 5 shows a schematic side sectional view of an aerosol-generating system comprising an electrically operated aerosol-generating device and the aerosol-generating article shown in FIG. 4.

[0140] An aerosol-cooling element 16 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a hollow tubular segment 8 comprising a peripheral wall 24 having a thickness of about 0.5 millimetres and defining a cavity 28. Further, the hollow tubular segment 8 comprises a plurality of elongated protrusions 26 extending from the peripheral wall 24 into the interior of the hollow tubular segment 22. Each of the elongated protrusions 26 extend from an upstream end of the hollow tubular segment 8 to a downstream end of the hollow tubular segment 8 and into the interior of the hollow tubular segment 23.

[0141] As shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of elongated protrusions 26 comprises four deflecting fins. The four deflecting fins 26 are evenly radially distributed within the interior of the aerosol-cooling element. This means that the deflecting fins 26 are radially, evenly spaced amongst each other. The deflecting fins 26 twist between the upstream end of the hollow tubular segment 8 and the downstream end of the hollow tubular segment 8, as shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the circumferential positions of the elongated protrusions 26 vary along the length of the aerosol-cooling element. As shown in FIG. 2, the circumferential positions of the elongated protrusions at the midpoint of the aerosol-cooling element are different to the circumferential positions of the elongated protrusions at the downstream end of the aerosol-cooling element, as indicated by the cross-sections of the deflecting fins in dotted lines.

[0142] The aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 4 comprises a rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12, a tubular support element 14, and an aerosol-cooling element 16 in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention. These three elements are arranged sequentially and in coaxial alignment and are circumscribed by a wrapper 18 to form the aerosol-generating article 10. The aerosol-generating article 10 has a mouth end or downstream end 20, and an upstream end 22 located at the opposite end of the article to the mouth end 20. The aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 4 is particularly suitable for use with an electrically operated aerosol-generating device comprising a heater for heating the rod of aerosol-generating substrate.

[0143] The rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12 has a length of approximately 12 millimetres and a diameter of approximately 7 millimetres. The rod 12 is cylindrical in shape and has a substantially circular cross-section.

[0144] The tubular support element 14 is provided as a hollow tube of cellulose acetate. It has a length of approximately 8 millimetres. An external diameter of the tubular support element 14 is approximately 7 millimetres. A peripheral wall of the tubular support element 14 has a thickness of about 1.85 millimetres.

[0145] FIG. 5 shows a portion of an electrically operated aerosol-generating system 200 that utilises a heater blade 210 to heat the rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12 of the aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 4. The heater blade 210 is mounted within an aerosol-generating article chamber within a housing of an electrically operated aerosol-generating device 212. The aerosol-generating device 212 defines a plurality of air holes 214 for allowing air to flow to the aerosol-generating article 10, as illustrated by the arrows in FIG. 5. The aerosol-generating device 212 comprises a power supply and electronics, which are not shown in FIG. 5.

[0146] The aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 4 is designed to engage with the aerosol-generating device 212 shown in FIG. 5 in order to be consumed.

[0147] The user inserts the aerosol-generating article 10 into the aerosol-generating device 212 so that the heater blade 210 is inserted into the rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12. The aerosol-cooling element 16 projects outwards from the mouth end of the device 212. Once the aerosol-generating article 10 is engaged with the aerosol-generating device 212, the user draws on the aerosol-cooling element 16 defining a mouthpiece of the aerosol-generating article 10 and the rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12 is heated by the heater blade 210 to a temperature sufficient to generate an aerosol from the rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12. The aerosol is drawn through the aerosol-cooling element 16 and into the user's mouth.

[0148] It will be appreciated that the aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 4 may also be suitable for use with other types of aerosol-generating devices.