Hybrid aerosol-generating element and method for manufacturing a hybrid aerosol-generating element

Abstract

The hybrid aerosol-generating element for use in an aerosol-generating article includes a liquid retention material for holding an aerosol-forming liquid and a solid aerosol-forming substrate arranged next to the liquid retention material. The liquid retention material may entirely surround the solid aerosol-forming substrate. An aerosol-generating system utilizes the hybrid aerosol-generating element.

Claims

1. A hybrid aerosol-generating element for use in an aerosol-generating article, the hybrid aerosol-generating element comprising a liquid retention material holding an aerosol-forming liquid and a solid aerosol-forming substrate in the form of a sheet being a continuous substrate comprising cellulose-containing material, the solid aerosol-forming substrate is arranged next to the liquid retention material, wherein the liquid retention material and the solid aerosol-forming substrate are arranged at least partially at a same longitudinal position of the hybrid aerosol-generating element, wherein the liquid retention material is a tubular element and the solid aerosol-forming substrate is a cylindrical plug element, and wherein the liquid retention material entirely surrounds the solid aerosol-forming substrate, and a liquid impervious wrapper disposed about the liquid retention material, wherein the liquid retention material separates the solid aerosol-forming substrate from the liquid impervious wrapper, and wherein the hybrid aerosol-generating element comprises a susceptor material.

2. The hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 1, wherein the liquid retention material holds a predetermined amount of the aerosol-forming liquid.

3. The hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 1, wherein the solid aerosol-forming substrate comprises a capillary material in contact with the liquid retention material.

4. The hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 3, wherein the capillary material enables the aerosol-forming liquid to be transported into the solid aerosol-forming substrate.

5. The hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 1, wherein the cellulose-containing material comprises tobacco-containing material.

6. The hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 1, wherein the cellulose-containing material comprises reconstituted tobacco.

7. The hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 1, wherein the cellulose-containing material comprises a gathered sheet of homogenised tobacco material.

8. The hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 1, wherein the cellulose-containing material comprises tobacco-containing material and an aerosol-former comprising glycerol or propylene glycol.

9. The hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 1, wherein the liquid retention material is a continuous material or sheet.

10. The hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 3, wherein the capillary material is oriented in the solid aerosol-forming substrate to convey aerosol-forming liquid to a center of the solid aerosol-forming substrate.

11. The hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 1, wherein the susceptor material is a continuous susceptor material extending along the entire length of the hybrid aerosol-generating element.

12. A hybrid aerosol-generating article comprising a plurality of elements assembled in the form of a rod, the plurality of elements comprising the hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 1.

13. The hybrid aerosol-generating article according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of elements further comprise at least one sealing element arranged in an end-to-end relationship with the hybrid aerosol-generating element, the at least one sealing element sealing at least a portion of a distal end of the hybrid aerosol-generating element.

14. An aerosol-generating system comprising the hybrid aerosol-generating article according to claim 12, further comprising: a heating element for heating at least a portion of the hybrid aerosol-generating element of the hybrid aerosol-generating article; a power source to provide energy to the heating element; control electronics configured to control heating of the hybrid aerosol-generating element.

15. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 14, wherein an evaporation temperature of the aerosol-forming liquid provided in the liquid retention material of the aerosol-generating element corresponds to a predefined maximum heating temperature.

16. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 14, wherein the control electronics are programmed to determine a temperature of the at least a portion of the hybrid aerosol-generating element, which temperature is used to control the heating of the at least a portion of the hybrid aerosol-generating element.

17. A hybrid aerosol-generating article comprising a plurality of elements assembled in the form of a rod, the plurality of elements comprising the hybrid aerosol-generating element according to claim 1 and a cylindrical sealing element arranged in an end-to-end relationship with each other, wherein the liquid retention material entirely surrounds the solid aerosol-forming substrate along a longitudinal direction of the article, and the sealing element sealing at least a portion of a distal end of the hybrid aerosol-generating element thereby preventing the aerosol-forming liquid from leaving the liquid retention material in a longitudinal upstream direction of the aerosol-generating article.

18. The hybrid aerosol-generating article according to claim 17, wherein the sealing element is arranged at a most upstream end of the aerosol-generating article.

19. The hybrid aerosol-generating article according to claim 17, wherein a further cylindrical sealing element is arranged in an end-to-end relationship with the cylindrical hybrid aerosol-generating element and the cylindrical sealing element, wherein the further sealing element is arranged to seal at least a portion of a proximal end of the hybrid aerosol-generating element.

Description

(1) The invention is further described with regard to embodiments, which are illustrated by means of the following drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a hybrid aerosol-generating article;

(3) FIG. 2A-D are schematic illustrations of a manufacturing method of hybrid aerosol-generating elements and articles comprising a susceptor.

(4) FIG. 1 illustrates an aerosol-generating article. The aerosol-generating article comprises five elements arranged in coaxial alignment: a first sealing element 1, a hybrid aerosol-forming element 2, a second sealing element 3 also acting as support element, an aerosol-cooling element 4, and a mouthpiece 5. Each of these five elements is a substantially cylindrical element, each having substantially the same diameter. The five elements are arranged sequentially and are circumscribed by an outer wrapper (not shown) to form a cylindrical rod.

(5) The first sealing element 1 is located at the extreme distal or upstream end 80 of the aerosol-generating article. The first sealing element 1 is shown as a hollow tube, for example a hollow cellulose acetate tube. The hollow tube allows air to pass through the first sealing element 1 and into the hybrid aerosol-forming element 2 arranged adjacent and downstream of the first sealing element 1. The hollow tube of the first sealing element 1 has an inner diameter, which is smaller than the inner diameter of a liquid retention material tube 22 of the hybrid aerosol-generating substrate element 2. The material of the first sealing element is impervious to a liquid held in the liquid retention material tube 22. Thus, the first sealing element 1 prevents liquid to leave the distal end of the retention material tube 22 in an upstream direction.

(6) The hybrid aerosol-generating element 2 comprises a tobacco plug 21 of a solid aerosol-forming substrate material comprising a gathered sheet of crimped homogenised tobacco material. The crimped sheet of homogenised tobacco material comprises glycerol or propylene glycol as aerosol-former. The tobacco plug 21 may have a diameter of about 5.6 mm.

(7) A susceptor blade 23 is located along a radially central axis of the aerosol-forming element 2. The susceptor has about a same length than the length of the aerosol-forming element 2. The susceptor may be a ferritic iron material having a length of 10 mm to 12 mm, a width of 3 mm and a thickness of 1 mm.

(8) A diameter of the susceptor blade 23 is larger than the inner diameter of the first sealing element 1. Thus, the susceptor blade 23 is prevented from dislodging or falling out of the aerosol-generating element 2 by the first sealing element 1.

(9) The liquid retention material tube 22 is arranged around the tobacco plug 21. The liquid retention material is a porous material, for example a plastics material and adapted to retain an amount of aerosol-forming liquid. The aerosol-forming liquid comprises glycerol or propylene glycol as aerosol-former and nicotine. The thickness of the tube wall of the liquid retention material tube is about 0.8 mm.

(10) The hybrid aerosol-forming element 2 is wrapped by an impervious wrapper 24. The wrapper 24 is impervious to the aerosol-forming liquid in the retention material 22.

(11) The second sealing element 3 or support element is located immediately downstream of the aerosol-forming element and abuts the aerosol-forming element 2. In FIG. 1, the second sealing element 3 is identical to the first sealing element 1. The second sealing element is shown as a hollow tube, for example a hollow cellulose acetate tube.

(12) The second sealing element 3 locates the aerosol-forming element 2 in the aerosol-generating article.

(13) The second sealing element 3 allows evaporated substances from or aerosol formed in the hybrid aerosol-forming element 2 to pass through the second sealing element 3 and further downstream into the aerosol-cooling element 4 arranged adjacent and downstream of the second sealing element 3. The hollow tube of the second sealing element 3 has an inner diameter, which is smaller than the inner diameter of the liquid retention material tube 22 of the hybrid aerosol-generating element 2. The material of the second sealing element 3 is impervious to the liquid held in the liquid retention material tube 22. Thus, the second sealing element 3 prevents liquid to leave the proximal end of the retention material tube 22 in a downstream direction.

(14) Thus, liquid in the retention material 22 may leave the retention material only into the direction of the tobacco plug 21. If the same is heated by the susceptor 23, aerosol-forming substances in the tobacco plug 21 are evaporated and aerosol-forming liquid is drawn from the retention material into the tobacco plug 21.

(15) The second sealing element 3 also acts as a spacer to space the aerosol-cooling element 4 from the aerosol-forming element 2.

(16) The aerosol-cooling element 4 is located immediately downstream of the second sealing element 3 and abuts the second sealing element 3. In use, volatile substances released from the aerosol-forming element 2 pass along the aerosol-cooling element 4 towards the mouth end 81 of the aerosol-generating article. The volatile substances may cool within the aerosol-cooling element 4 to form an aerosol that is inhaled by the user. The aerosol-cooling element comprises a crimped and gathered sheet of polylactic acid circumscribed by a wrapper (not shown). The crimped and gathered sheet of polylactic acid defines a plurality of longitudinal channels that extend along the length of the aerosol-cooling element 4.

(17) The mouthpiece 5 is located immediately downstream of the aerosol-cooling element 4 and abuts the aerosol-cooling element 4. In FIG. 1, the mouthpiece 5 comprises a conventional cellulose acetate tow filter of low filtration efficiency.

(18) To assemble the aerosol-generating article, the five cylindrical elements described above are aligned and tightly wrapped within an outer wrapper. The outer wrapper may be a conventional cigarette paper.

(19) The aerosol-generating article has a proximal or mouth end 81, which a user inserts into his or her mouth during use, and a distal end 80 located at the opposite end of the aerosol-generating article to the mouth end 81. Once assembled, the total length of the aerosol-generating article 10 is about 45 mm to 53 mm and the diameter is about 7.2 mm.

(20) In use air is drawn through the aerosol-generating article as indicated by arrow 7 by a user from the distal end 80 to the mouth end 81. The distal end 80 of the aerosol-generating article may also be described as the upstream end of the aerosol-generating article and the mouth end 81 of the aerosol-generating article may also be described as the downstream end of the aerosol-generating article.

(21) Upon manufacturing the article, the five elements are prepared, assembled and wrapped by the outer wrapper.

(22) The susceptor 23 may be inserted into the tobacco plug 21 prior to the assembly of the plurality of elements to form a rod. Alternatively, all elements except for the first sealing element 1 may be assembled. The susceptor may then be inserted into the distal end of the assembly such that it penetrates the tobacco plug 21.

(23) The aerosol-generating article of FIG. 1 is designed to engage with an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device preferably comprising an induction coil, or inductor, in order to be smoked or consumed by a user.

(24) In FIG. 2A-D embodiments of a manufacturing method for hybrid aerosol-generating substrate elements and articles comprising such elements is illustrated.

(25) Continuous tobacco material 25, for example a sheet of cast leaf is provided on a reel 44. The tobacco sheet 25 is crimped between crimping rollers 60.

(26) Continuous susceptor material 54, for example a susceptor band material, is provided on another reel. The crimped tobacco sheet and the susceptor band 54 are led together into a garniture tongue 61, where a continuous rod is formed comprising the tobacco material enveloping the susceptor band.

(27) The continuous tobacco rod is enveloped by a high retention material 64, for example a web of retention material, which is provided on a further reel. The retention material 64 may contain liquid before being wrapped around the tobacco rod. Liquid may also be provided to the retention material after being wrapped around the tobacco rod.

(28) The continuous rod is additionally provided with a liquid impervious wrapper, which may be provided on yet another reel (not shown). The final continuous rod 9 is cut with a cutter into rod segments 90 or directly into final-length aerosol-generating substrate elements 2. A cross-section 20 through a rod segment 90 or through the aerosol-generating substrate elements 2 is also shown in FIG. 2A-D.

(29) After the continuous rod 9 or the rod segments 90 have been cut into aerosol-generating substrate elements 2, the elements 2 may be provided to an article assembling machine.

(30) Elements of the article are aligned in a row on the outer wrapper 74 together with an aerosol-generating substrate element 2. The elements or segments are then assembled and wrapped with the outer wrapper 74 forming a hybrid aerosol-generating article adapted for being inductively heated.

(31) In the embodiments shown in the figures, susceptor material is described or shown to be arranged within the solid aerosol-forming substrate or tobacco plug, heating the tobacco plug and the liquid that has seeped into the plug. Thereby heating may mainly be limited to the tobacco plug, while the aerosol-forming liquid in the retention material is not or not significantly heated. However, susceptor material may alternatively or additionally be provided in, for example incorporated into, the liquid retention material. By heating the liquid in the retention material, increased delivery of aerosol-forming liquid may be achieved.