AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE HAVING BRIDGING ELEMENT WITH REFLECTANCE FACTOR

Abstract

An aerosol-generating article (10) comprising a rod (20) comprising an aerosol-generating substrate (22); a filter (30) in axial alignment with the rod (20); a bridging element (40) comprising a first wrapper (42), the first wrapper circumscribing the rod (20) and the filter and securing the filter to the rod; and a cavity (44) located between the rod and the filter, the cavity (44) being partially delimited by the inner surface of the first wrapper (42) in a first portion of the bridging element (40), wherein the first portion of the bridging element has a reflectance factor of 85 percent or higher.

Claims

1. An aerosol-generating article comprising: a rod comprising an aerosol-generating substrate; a filter in axial alignment with the rod; a bridging element comprising a first wrapper, the first wrapper circumscribing the rod and the filter and securing the filter to the rod; and a cavity located between the rod and the filter, the cavity being partially delimited by the inner surface of the first wrapper in a first portion of the bridging element, wherein the first portion of the bridging element has a reflectance factor of 85 percent or higher; and wherein the inner surface of the first wrapper in the first portion of the bridging element comprises a coating.

2. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the downstream end of the cavity is delimited by rod and the upstream end of the cavity is delimited by filter.

3. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the cavity has a length of at least 1 millimetre.

4. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the first portion of the bridging element extends along the length of the bridging element by a distance of at least 1.2 times the length of the cavity.

5. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the first portion of the bridging element extends a distance of between 4 millimetres and 10 millimetres along the length of the bridging element.

6. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the filter is circumscribed by the first portion of the bridging element.

7. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 6, wherein first portion of the bridging element extends along at least 1 millimetre of the length of the filter.

8. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the bridging element comprises a single wrapper.

9. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the bridging element comprises a second wrapper circumscribing the first wrapper.

10. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the inner surface of the first wrapper in the first portion of the bridging element extends circumferentially around the cavity by a distance of greater than 5 millimetres.

11. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the inner surface of the first wrapper of the first portion of the bridging element has a surface area of greater than 25 millimetres squared.

12. (canceled)

13. (canceled)

14. (canceled)

15. (canceled)

16. A container comprising a plurality of aerosol-generating articles, wherein at least 50 percent of the aerosol-generating articles in the container are aerosol-generating articles according to claim 1.

17. A method of manufacturing an aerosol-generating article comprising: providing a rod comprising an aerosol-generating substrate; providing a filter; providing a bridging element comprising a first wrapper; and securing the filter to the rod using the bridging element such that the first wrapper circumscribes the rod and the filter in a spaced-apart relationship to form a cavity between the rod and the filter, the cavity being partially delimited by the inner surface of the first wrapper in a first portion of the bridging element, wherein the first portion of the bridging element has a reflectance factor of 95 percent or higher; and wherein the inner surface of the first wrapper in the first portion of the bridging element comprises a coating.

Description

[0167] Examples will now be further described with reference to the figures in which:

[0168] FIG. 1 shows an aerosol-generating article in accordance with the disclosure, the aerosol-generating article comprising a bridging element comprising a single wrapper;

[0169] FIG. 2 shows another aerosol-generating article in accordance with the disclosure, the aerosol-generating article comprising a bridging element comprising a first wrapper and a second wrapper;

[0170] FIG. 3 shows the inner surface of a bridging element in an unwrapped state;

[0171] FIG. 4 shows a bridging element as part of an aerosol-generating article, in accordance with the disclosure, but with the bridging element unwrapped to show the inner surface of the bridging element with respect to the other features of the aerosol-generating article; and

[0172] FIG. 5 shows an aerosol-generating article 300 in accordance with the invention, configured to generate an aerosol by heating rather than burning the aerosol-generating substrate.

[0173] FIG. 1 shows an aerosol-generating article 10 having an upstream end and a downstream end and comprising a tobacco rod 20 which is attached at its downstream end to an axially aligned filter 30. Aerosol-generating article 10 is a cigarette which is configured to be consumed by ignition of the tobacco rod 20.

[0174] The tobacco rod 20 comprises a charge of cut filler 22 that is circumscribed by a tobacco rod wrapper 24. The filter 30 comprises a single segment of cellulose acetate tow 32 circumscribed by a filter wrapper 34.

[0175] The aerosol-generating article 10 also comprises a bridging element 40 comprising a single wrapper 42. The single wrapper 42 circumscribes the tobacco rod 20 and the filter 30. The single wrapper comprises adhesive (not shown in FIG. 1) to permanently secure the filter 30 to the tobacco rod 20. The bridging element 40 has a reflectance factor of 85 percent or higher.

[0176] A cavity 44 is located between the tobacco rod 20 and the filter 30. The cavity 44 is delimited by the ends of the tobacco rod 20 and the filter 30 and by the inner surface of the single wrapper 42 of the bridging element 40. The inner surface of the single wrapper extends circumferentially around the cavity 44, extending around the complete circumference of the cavity 44. The cavity 44 being partially delimited by the single wrapper 42 of the bridging element 40 having a reflectance of 85 percent or higher results in the cavity not being visibly discernible through the bridging element when the aerosol-generating article is viewed from the outside and in normal lighting conditions. The cavity 44 has a length of 3 millimeters. In other words, the separation between the tobacco rod 20 and the filter 30 is 3 millimeters.

[0177] FIG. 2 shows an aerosol-generating article 100. The aerosol-generating article 100 comprises a bridging element 50 comprising a first wrapper 52 and a second wrapper 53. In all other respects, the aerosol-generating article 100 is the same as the aerosol-generating article 10 of FIG. 1.

[0178] The first wrapper 52 of the bridging element 50 circumscribes the tobacco rod 20 and the filter 30. The first wrapper 52 comprises adhesive (not shown in FIG. 2) to permanently secure the filter 30 to the tobacco rod 20. The second wrapper 53 circumscribes the first wrapper 52.

[0179] The bridging element 50 has a reflectance factor of 85 percent or higher. Both the first wrapper 52 and the second wrapper 53 contribute to the reflectance factor of bridging element 50. The cavity located between the tobacco rod 20 and the filter 30 is delimited by the ends of the tobacco rod 20 and the filter 30 and by the inner surface of the first wrapper 52.

[0180] It is not necessary for the entire length of each bridging element 40, 50 of the aerosol-generating articles shown respectively in FIGS. 1 and 2 to have a reflectance factor of 85 percent higher. FIG. 3 shows an example of a bridging element where a portion of the bridging element having a reflectance of 85 percent or higher does not extend along the full length of the bridging element.

[0181] FIG. 3 shows a bridging element 60 comprising a single wrapper 62. The bridging element 60 is shown separately to any aerosol-generating article and from the perspective of the inner surface of the single wrapper 62. The bridging element 60 comprises a first portion 64 having a reflectance factor of 85 percent or higher.

[0182] The single wrapper 62 comprises a coating on the inner surface which demarks the first portion 64. The coating is printed on to the inner surface of the single wrapper with a coverage density of between 1 and 5 grams per centimetre squared. The coating comprises opaque pigments. The opaque pigments comprise white and black pigments in a ratio of 80 percent white pigments to 20 percent black pigments. The coating also comprises nitrocellulose and an ethanol or ethyl acetate solvent. The coating contributes to the reflectance factor of the first portion 64 being 85 percent or higher.

[0183] The single wrapper 62 also comprises lines of adhesive 66. These lines of adhesive 66 are used to permanently secure the bridging element 60 to a tobacco rod 20 and filter 30.

[0184] FIG. 4 shows the bridging element 60 as part of an aerosol-generating article 200 but unwrapped to show the inner surface of the single wrapper 62 with respect to the other features of the aerosol-generating article 200. FIG. 4 shows how the first portion 64, as demarked by the coating on the inner surface of the single wrapper 62, is aligned with cavity so that the cavity 44 is delimited by the first portion 64 when the aerosol-generating article 200 is fully assembled.

[0185] The cavity 44 has a length of 3 millimeters. The first portion 64 extends along the length of the single wrapper 62 by a distance of 7 millimetres. Therefore, the first portion extends along the bridging element 60 by a distance, which is greater than the length of the cavity 44. This ensures that cavity 44 is delimited by the first portion 64 of the bridging element 60 along the entire length of the cavity 44, even if manufacturing tolerances cause the bridging element 60 and the cavity 44 to not be centrally aligned. As a result, the first portion 64 of the bridging element 60 circumscribes a portion of the tobacco rod 20 and a portion of the filter 30. In a properly aligned aerosol-generating article, the first portion 64 of the bridging element 60 extends a distance of 2 millimetres along the length of the filter and 2 millimetre along the length of the rod.

[0186] FIG. 5 shows an aerosol-generating article 300 configured to generate an aerosol by heating rather than burning the aerosol-generating substrate. The aerosol-generating article 300 comprises a rod 70 at an upstream end. The rod 70 comprises an aerosol-generating substrate 72. The aerosol-generating article 300 also comprises a filter 80 at a downstream end. The filter 80 comprises an aerosol-cooling element 76 and a segment of filtration material 78 downstream of the aerosol-cooling element 76. The filter 80 and rod 70 are in axial alignment with one another and each of the components of the filter 70 are in axial alignment.

[0187] The aerosol-generating article 300 also comprises a bridging element 82 comprising a single wrapper. The single wrapper comprises adhesive (not shown in FIG. 5) to permanently secure the filter 80 to the rod 70. The bridging element 82 has a reflectance factor of 85 percent or higher.

[0188] A cavity 84 is located between the rod 70 and the filter 80. The cavity 84 is delimited by the ends of the rod 70 and the filter 80 and by the inner surface of the single wrapper of the bridging element 80. The inner surface of the single wrapper extends circumferentially around the cavity 84, extending around the complete circumference of the cavity 84. The cavity 84 being partially delimited by the single wrapper of the bridging element 82 having a reflectance of 85 percent or higher results in the cavity not being visibly discernible through the bridging element 82 when the aerosol-generating article 300 is viewed from the outside and in normal lighting conditions.

[0189] It should be clear to the skilled person that the bridging element 40, 50 and 60, as described above in relation to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, can be applied to the heated aerosol-generating article of FIG. 5.