A Vapour Generating Article, A Method For Manufacturing The Same, And A Vapour Generating System

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a vapour generating article includes: (i) extruding a plurality of elongate vapour generating components; (ii) aligning the plurality of extruded vapour generating components; (iii) assembling the plurality of aligned vapour generating components to form a band; (iv) binding the band of assembled vapour generating components; (v) cutting the bound band of assembled vapour generating components to form the vapour generating article; (vi) after step (i), drying the plurality of vapour generating components. A vapour generating article and a vapour generating system are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a vapour generating article, the method comprising: (i) extruding a plurality of elongate vapour generating components; (ii) aligning the plurality of extruded vapour generating components; (iii) assembling the plurality of aligned vapour generating components to form a band; (iv) binding the band of assembled vapour generating components; (v) cutting the bound band of assembled vapour generating components to form the vapour generating article; (vi) after step (i), drying the plurality of vapour generating components.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein steps (i) and (ii) comprise extruding a plurality of elongate vapour generating components in parallel to thereby simultaneously align the elongate vapour generating components.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises after steps (i) and (vi) and prior to step (ii): (vii) winding one of the dried elongate vapour generating components on a bobbin; and (viii) unwinding the dried elongate vapour generating component from the bobbin.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises after step (iv), and preferably after step (v), inserting an inductively heatable susceptor into the plurality of bound vapour generating components.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein step (ii) further comprises positioning an inductively heatable susceptor having an elongate part between the plurality of elongate vapour generating components, and preferably with the elongate part in alignment with the elongate vapour generating components.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein step (iii) comprises assembling the plurality of aligned vapour generating components and the inductively heatable susceptor to form a band and step (iv) comprises binding the band of assembled vapour generating components and the inductively heatable susceptor.

7. A vapour generating system comprising: a vapour generating article comprising at least five extruded elongate vapour generating components; and a heating device for heating the vapour generating article; wherein the vapour generating article or the heating device includes a mouthpiece.

8. The vapour generating system according to claim 7, wherein the heating device comprises a heater extending in a heating chamber towards an opening through which the vapour generating article is inserted.

9. The vapour generating system according to claim 8, wherein the heater comprises a needle-shaped heater.

10. The vapour generating system according to claim 8, wherein the heating device comprises at least two of said heaters.

11. The vapour generating system according to claim 8, wherein the direction in which the heater extends is substantially parallel to a direction in which the vapour generating components are oriented.

12. The vapour generating system according to claim 7, wherein the vapour generating article includes an inductively heatable susceptor and the heating device includes an electromagnetic field generator.

13. A vapour generating article comprising: at least five extruded elongate vapour generating components that form a vapour generating substrate; and a mouthpiece.

14. The vapour generating article according to claim 13, further comprising an inductively heatable susceptor positioned in the vapour generating substrate.

15. The vapour generating article according to claim 14, wherein the inductively heatable susceptor comprises at least one of stick-shaped susceptors, a tubular susceptor, strip-shaped or plate-shaped susceptors.

16. The vapour generating article according to claim 13, wherein the extruded elongate vapour generating components comprise solid vapour generating components.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0067] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a first embodiment of a vapour generating system comprising a first example of a heating device and first example of a vapour generating article;

[0068] FIG. 1a is a diagrammatic cross-sectional side view of the first example of the vapour generating article shown in FIG. 1;

[0069] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a second embodiment of a vapour generating system comprising a second example of a heating device and second example of a vapour generating article;

[0070] FIG. 2a is a diagrammatic cross-sectional side view of the second example of the vapour generating article shown in FIG. 2;

[0071] FIGS. 3 to 5 and 3a to 5a are respectively diagrammatic perspective and diagrammatic cross-sectional side views of further examples of vapour generating articles suitable for use with the second example of the heating device illustrated in FIG. 2;

[0072] FIGS. 6a to 6f are diagrammatic views showing example cross-sectional shapes of a vapour generating component; and

[0073] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the steps of one example of a method for manufacturing a vapour generating article.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0074] Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0075] Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 1a, there is shown diagrammatically a perspective view of a first embodiment of a vapour generating system 1. The vapour generating system 1 comprises a first example of a heating device 10 and a first example of a vapour generating article 12. The dimensions of the vapour generating article 12 are exaggerated relative to the dimensions of the heating device 10 for the purposes of illustration and only part of the vapour generating article 12 is shown in FIG. 1.

[0076] The heating device 10 has a first end 14 and a second end 16 and comprises a device body 18 which includes a power source and a controller. The power source typically comprises one or more batteries which could, for example, be inductively rechargeable. The heating device 10 further includes a button 19 which can be pressed by a user to control the operation of the heating device 10.

[0077] The heating device 10 is generally cylindrical and comprises a generally cylindrical heating chamber 20 formed in the device body 18 at the first end 14 of the heating device 10. The heating chamber 20 is arranged to receive a correspondingly shaped generally cylindrical vapour generating article 12.

[0078] The vapour generating article 12 comprises a plurality of extruded elongate vapour generating components 22 which are all substantially aligned with each other and which together form a vapour generating substrate 24. The vapour generating components 22 are solid (i.e. are not hollow) and typically comprise plant derived material, such as tobacco, and may comprise reconstituted tobacco including tobacco and any one or more of cellulose fibres, tobacco stalk fibres and inorganic fillers such as CaCO3.

[0079] The vapour generating components 22 comprise an aerosol-former such as glycerine or propylene glycol. Typically, the vapour generating components 22 comprise an aerosol-former content of between approximately 5% and approximately 50% on a dry weight basis. Upon heating, the vapour generating components 22 release volatile compounds possibly including nicotine or flavour compounds such as tobacco flavouring.

[0080] The vapour generating components 22 are positioned in a tubular member 26 and are oriented substantially in line with a longitudinal axis of the tubular member 26. The tubular member 26 comprises a material which is substantially non-electrically conductive and non-magnetically permeable and, in the illustrated example, comprises a paper wrapper 28.

[0081] The vapour generating substrate 24 typically comprises between 5 and 100 of the vapour generating components 22 and a plurality of gaps is present between the vapour generating components 22.

[0082] The heating device 10 comprises a resistive heater 30, for example comprising a plurality of needle-shaped heating elements 32, which extend into the heating chamber 20 from the device body 18 as can be clearly seen in the perspective view and the view from the open end of the heating chamber 20 in FIG. 1. The heating elements 32 are arranged in the heating chamber 20 so that they are inserted into the vapour generating substrate 24 when a vapour generating article 12 is positioned in the heating chamber 20. The heating elements 32 extend in a direction substantially parallel to the direction in which the vapour generating components 22 are oriented and the heating elements 32 may advantageously extend into the gaps between the vapour generating components 22, thereby facilitating insertion of the vapour generating article 12 into the heating chamber 20 whilst at the same time minimising or avoiding deformation of the vapour generating components 22.

[0083] During operation of the vapour generating system 1, for example when activated by a user press of the button 19, an electric current is supplied to the heating elements 32 causing them to heat up. The heat from the heating elements 32 is transferred to the vapour generating components 22 of a vapour generating article 12 positioned in the heating chamber 20, for example by conduction, radiation and convection, thereby heating the vapour generating components 22 and producing a vapour which can be inhaled by a user of the vapour generating system 1.

[0084] Although not visible in FIG. 1, either the heating device 10 or the vapour generating article 12 includes a mouthpiece through which the vapour is inhaled by a user. In embodiments in which the vapour generating article 12 includes a mouthpiece, the mouthpiece may typically comprise a filter, for example comprising cellulose acetate fibres.

[0085] Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 2a, there is shown a second embodiment of a vapour generating system 2. The vapour generating system 2 has some features in common with the vapour generating system 1 described above with reference to FIG. 1 and corresponding elements are designated using the same reference numerals.

[0086] The vapour generating system 2 comprises a second example of a heating device 40 and a second example of a vapour generating article 42.

[0087] The vapour generating article 42 is similar to the vapour generating article 12, with the only difference being that it comprises a plurality of inductively heatable susceptors 44 positioned in the vapour generating substrate 24. The inductively heatable susceptors 44 are substantially I-shaped or pin-shaped and extend in substantially the same direction as the elongate vapour generating components 22.

[0088] The heating device 40 includes an electromagnetic field generator 45 which is configured to operate at high frequency. The electromagnetic field generator 45 includes a helical induction coil 46 which has a circular cross-section and which extends around the heating chamber 20. The induction coil 46 is visible in the perspective view of the heating device 40 in FIG. 2 but is not shown in the view from the open end of the heating chamber 20. The induction coil 46 can be energised by the power source and controller. The controller includes, amongst other electronic components, an inverter which is arranged to convert a direct current from the power source into an alternating high-frequency current for the induction coil 46.

[0089] As will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, when the induction coil 46 is energised, for example due to activation of the heating device 40 by a user press of the button 19, an alternating electromagnetic field is produced. This couples with the induction heatable susceptors 44 of a vapour generating article 42 positioned in the heating chamber 20 and generates eddy currents and/or magnetic hysteresis losses in the induction heatable susceptors 44 causing them to heat up. The heat is then transferred from the induction heatable susceptors 44 to the vapour generating components 22, for example by conduction, radiation and convection.

[0090] The induction heatable susceptors 44 can be in direct or indirect contact with the vapour generating components 22 such that, when the susceptors 44 are inductively heated by the induction coil 46, heat is transferred from the susceptors 44 to the vapour generating components 22, to heat the vapour generating components 22 and thereby produce a vapour which can be inhaled by a user of the vapour generating system 2 through a mouthpiece associated with the heating device 40 or the vapour generating article 42.

[0091] Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 3a, there is shown a third example of a vapour generating article 52 which is similar to the vapour generating article 42 illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 2a and in which corresponding elements are designated using the same reference numerals. The vapour generating article 52 can be used with the heating device 40.

[0092] The vapour generating article 52 is identical to the vapour generating article 42 illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 2a in all respects except that the inductively heatable susceptor 44 is tubular. The vapour generating components 22 are positioned both inside and outside of the tubular inductively heatable susceptor 44 to maximise heat transfer to the vapour generating components 22 and to thereby maximise the amount of aerosol that is generated whilst at the same time maximising energy efficiency.

[0093] In preferred embodiments, the tubular inductively heatable susceptor 44 and the tubular paper wrapper 28 are concentric, thereby ensuring that the vapour generating components 22 are uniformly heated.

[0094] Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 4a, there is shown a fourth example of a vapour generating article 54 which is similar to the vapour generating article 42 illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 2a and in which corresponding elements are designated using the same reference numerals. The vapour generating article 54 can be used with the heating device 40.

[0095] The vapour generating article 54 is identical to the vapour generating article 42 illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 2a in all respects except that the inductively heatable susceptor 44 is substantially U-shaped, comprising two elongate parts 47 which extend fully or partially through the vapour generating substrate 24 and a connecting part 48 positioned at an and of the vapour generating article 54 which connects the elongate parts 47.

[0096] Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 5a, there is shown a fifth example of a vapour generating article 56 which is similar to the vapour generating article 42 illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 2a and in which corresponding elements are designated using the same reference numerals. The vapour generating article 56 can be used with the heating device 40.

[0097] The vapour generating article 56 is identical to the vapour generating article 42 illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 2a in all respects except that the inductively heatable susceptors 44 are substantially strip-shaped or plate-shaped.

[0098] In all of the examples described above, the vapour generating components 22 have a substantially circular cross-sectional shape, as shown in FIG. 6a. The vapour generating components 22 may, however, have any suitable cross-sectional shape, including rectangular or square as shown in FIG. 6b, triangular as shown in FIG. 6c, polygonal as shown in FIG. 6d or comprising a plurality of lobes as shown in FIGS. 6e and 6f. Irrespective of the cross-sectional shape, it may be preferred that the cross-sectional area of the vapour generating components 22 has a maximum dimension (denoted by the arrow in FIGS. 6a to 6f) of between 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm in the case where the vapour generating article 12, 42, 52, 54, 56 has a diameter between 4.0 mm and 10.0 mm.

[0099] Referring now to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 7, the vapour generating articles 12, 42, 52, 54, 56 can be manufactured by extruding in step S1 a plurality of elongate vapour generating components 22 through an aperture having a cross-sectional area with a maximum dimension between 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm, to provide extruded elongate vapour generating components 22 having a corresponding cross-sectional area and maximum dimension. The vapour generating components 22 can be extruded in parallel to simultaneously align them (i.e. steps S1 and S2 are performed simultaneously), or alternatively the alignment of the vapour generating components 22 can be carried out separately, after the vapour generating components 22 have been extruded (i.e. step S2 is performed after step S1).

[0100] The aligned vapour generating components 22 are assembled in step S3 to form a band before the band of aligned vapour generating components 22 is bound in step S4. Typically, the band of aligned vapour generating components 22 is bound in step S4 by wrapping the band of aligned vapour generating components 22 with a paper wrapper 28. The bound band of assembled vapour generating components 22 can then be cut in step S5 at appropriate positions along its length to form a plurality of individual vapour generating articles.

[0101] The manufacturing process further comprises drying in step S6 the vapour generating components 22. The drying step can be performed at any suitable point in the manufacturing process, as denoted by the dashed lines in FIG. 7. For example, the extruded vapour generating components 22 could be dried (i.e. step S6 could be performed) immediately after they have been extruded in step S1 or at a later point in the process.

[0102] In some instances, it may be advantageous to bobbinize the extruded vapour generating components 22 by winding them onto individual bobbins. In such instances, the drying step (step S6) is performed immediately after extruding the vapour generating components 22 in step S1. After the drying step (step S6) has been performed, each of the vapour generating components 22 can be wound onto an individual bobbin. The vapour generating components 22 can then be unwound from the individual bobbins and, in the manner described above, the vapour generating components 22 can then be aligned in step S2, assembled to form a band in step S3, bound in step S4 and finally cut in step S5 to form a plurality of individual vapour generating articles.

[0103] In examples in which the vapour generating article comprises one or more inductively heatable susceptors 44, for example as described above with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5, the inductively heatable susceptor(s) 44 is/are inserted into the vapour generating substrate 24 formed by the elongate vapour generating components 22 at an appropriate point during the manufacturing process.

[0104] In one implementation, one or more inductively heatable susceptors 44 is/are inserted into the plurality of bound vapour generating components 22 after they have been bound in step S4 to form a band by wrapping with a paper wrapper 28, and the bound band is cut in step S5 to form individual vapour generating articles.

[0105] In another implementation, one or more inductively heatable susceptors 44 having an elongate part is/are positioned between the extruded vapour generating components 22 during the step of aligning (step S2) the extruded vapour generating components 22, with the elongate part of the one or more inductively heatable susceptors 44 aligned with the vapour generating components 22. In this implementation, the aligned vapour generating components 22 and inductively heatable susceptor(s) 44 are assembled to form a band in step S3 before the band is bound in step S4 by wrapping with a paper wrapper 28 and thereafter cut in step S5 at appropriate positions to form individual vapour generating articles.

[0106] Although exemplary embodiments have been described in the preceding paragraphs, it should be understood that various modifications may be made to those embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. Thus, the breadth and scope of the claims should not be limited to the above-described exemplary embodiments.

[0107] Any combination of the above-described features in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the present disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

[0108] Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise”, “comprising”, and the like, are to be construed in an inclusive as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to”.