SHISHA CARTRIDGE WITH ABSORBENT CARRIER

Abstract

A shisha cartridge (200) comprises a body defining a cavity (218). An aerosol-forming substrate (300) and an absorbent carrier (310) forming a sheet impregnated with an aerosol former are disposed in the cavity. The absorbent carrier may be disposed adjacent or in contact with the internal cavity surface, the aerosol-forming substrate, or both the internal cavity surface and the aerosol-forming substrate. As the cartridge is heated, the aerosol former impregnated in the absorbent carrier may improve aerosol formation.

Claims

1. A shisha cartridge comprising: a body comprising a cavity and an internal cavity surface; an aerosol-forming substrate disposed in the cavity; an absorbent carrier disposed in the cavity; and an aerosol former impregnated into the absorbent carrier.

2. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the aerosol former comprises glycerine, propylene glycol, or a combination thereof.

3. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier comprises from 0.1 g to 8 g of the aerosol former.

4. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier is adjacent the internal cavity surface, the aerosol-forming substrate, or both the internal cavity surface and the aerosol-forming substrate.

5. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier is in direct contact with the internal cavity surface.

6. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier comprises refined cellulosic material.

7. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier comprises paper.

8. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier sheet is pleated.

9. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier has a thickness of 0.1 mm to 5 mm.

10. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier has a surface area of 2 cm.sup.2 to 50 cm.sup.2.

11. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier and the aerosol-forming substrate form a spiral of alternating layers of absorbent carrier and aerosol-forming substrate.

12. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier is lined with a thermally conductive or inductive material.

13. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier forms a sheet.

14. A shisha cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent carrier comprises a cylindrical portion disposed along an internal side wall of the cavity.

15. A shisha system comprising: a shisha cartridge according to claim 1; and a shisha device comprising: a receptacle for receiving the cartridge; a heating element for heating the aerosol-generating substrate when the cartridge is received in the receptacle of the shisha device; a vessel having a liquid fill level and defining a head space above the liquid fill level; an aerosol conduit for conveying aerosol from the receptacle to below the liquid fill level in the vessel; and an outlet in communication with the head space.

Description

[0070] Reference will now be made to the drawings, which depict one or more aspects described in this disclosure. However, it will be understood that other aspects not depicted in the drawings fall within the scope and spirit of this disclosure. Like numbers used in the figures refer to like components. However, it will be understood that the use of a number to refer to a component in a given figure is not intended to limit the component in another figure labeled with the same number. In addition, the use of different numbers to refer to components in different figures is not intended to indicate that the different numbered components cannot be the same or similar to other numbered components. The figures are presented for purposes of illustration and not limitation. Schematic drawings presented in the figures are not necessarily to scale.

[0071] FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a shisha device.

[0072] FIG. 2A is a cross sectional side view of a cartridge with aerosol-forming substrate and an absorbent carrier forming a sheet and impregnated with an aerosol former.

[0073] FIG. 2B is a cross sectional top view of a cartridge with aerosol-forming substrate and an absorbent carrier forming a sheet and impregnated with an aerosol former.

[0074] FIG. 2C is a cross sectional top view of a cartridge with aerosol-forming substrate and an absorbent carrier forming a sheet in a rolled configuration, and impregnated with an aerosol former.

[0075] FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic bottom and top views of a cartridge.

[0076] FIG. 4 is schematic perspective view of a cartridge.

[0077] FIG. 5 is a graphical representation of test data from Example 1.

[0078] FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an example of a shisha device 100. The device 100 includes a vessel 17 defining an interior volume configured to contain liquid 19 and defining a headspace outlet 15 above a fill level for the liquid 19. The liquid 19 preferably comprises water, which may optionally be infused with one or more colorants, one or more flavorants, or one or more colorants and one or more flavorants. For example, the water may be infused with one or both of botanical infusions or herbal infusions.

[0079] The device 100 also includes an aerosol-generating element 130. The aerosol-generating element 130 includes a receptacle 140 configured to receive a cartridge 200 containing an aerosol-generating substrate and an absorbent carrier forming a sheet and impregnated with an aerosol former. The aerosol-generating element 130 also includes a heating element 160 that forms at least one surface of the receptacle 140. In the depicted embodiment, the heating element 160 defines the top and side surfaces of the receptacle 140. The aerosol-generating element 130 also includes a fresh air inlet channel 170 that draws fresh air into the device 100. In some embodiments, portion of the fresh air inlet channel 170 is formed by the heating element 160 to heat the air before the air enters the receptacle 140. The pre-heated air then enters the cartridge 200, which is also heated by heating element 160, to carry aerosol generated by the aerosol former and the aerosol-generating substrate. The air exits an outlet of the aerosol-generating element 130 and enters a conduit 190.

[0080] The conduit 190 carries the air and aerosol into the vessel 17 below the level of the liquid 19. The air and aerosol may bubble through the liquid 19 and exit the headspace outlet 15 of the vessel 17. A hose 20 may be attached to the headspace outlet 15 to carry the aerosol to the mouth of a user. A mouthpiece 25 may be attached to, or form a part of, the hose 20.

[0081] An exemplary air flow path of the device, in use, is depicted by thick arrows in FIG. 1.

[0082] The mouthpiece 25 may include an activation element 27. The activation element 27 may be a switch, button or the like, or may be a puff sensor or the like. The activation element 27 may be placed at any other suitable location of the device 100. The activation element 27 may be in wireless communication with the control electronics 30 to place the device 100 in condition for use or to cause control electronics to activate the heating element 160; for example, by causing power supply 35 to energize the heating element 140.

[0083] The control electronics 30 and power supply 35 may be located in any suitable position of the aerosol generating element 130 other than the bottom portion of the element 130 as depicted in FIG. 1.

[0084] Referring to FIGS. 2A-2C, a cartridge 200 has body 210 defining a cavity 218 in which an aerosol-forming substrate 300 and an absorbent carrier 310 forming a sheet impregnated with an aerosol former may be disposed. The body 210 includes a top 215, bottom 213, and a sidewall 212. The body 210 may be formed from one or more parts. For example, the top 215 or bottom 213 may be removably attached from the sidewall 212 to allow the aerosol-forming substrate 300 and absorbent carrier 310 to be disposed in the cavity 218.

[0085] The absorbent carrier 310 may be disposed along the side wall 212 and the bottom 213 of the cavity 218. The absorbent carrier 310 may also be disposed along the top 215, or along any combination of the bottom 213, the top 215, or the side wall 212, or may cover any of these surfaces in part. In the example shown in FIG. 2B, the absorbent carrier 310 has pleated sides that surround the perimeter of the aerosol-forming substrate 300. FIG. 2C shows an arrangement where the aerosol-forming substrate 300 and absorbent carrier 310 form a spiral cylinder shape that includes a plurality of alternating layers of absorbent carrier 310 and aerosol-forming substrate 300. The rolled-up cylindrical shape is disposed inside the body 210 of the cartridge 200.

[0086] The cartridge 200 has a heatable surface area inside the cavity 218, which is a surface capable of transferring heat applied to the exterior of the body, for example, by a heating element of a shisha device, to the absorbent carrier 310 and the aerosol-forming substrate 300 in the cavity 218.

[0087] Referring now to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the top 215 and bottom 213 of the body may have a plurality of apertures 217, 216 to allow air flow through the cartridge, when the cartridge is in use. The apertures 216, 217 of the top 215 and bottom 213 may be aligned. The cartridge 200 may also or alternatively include apertures along the sidewall 212. The absorbent carrier 310 may be disposed along the bottom 213, the top 215, the side wall 212, or a combination thereof, covering some or all of the apertures. The apertures 217, 216 may further be blocked by a peelable seal or cover when the cartridge is stored prior to use.

[0088] FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of an exemplary cartridge 200. The sidewall 212 defines a frustroconical shape. The bottom 213 defines a plurality of apertures. The top comprises a flange 219 that extends from the sidewall 212. The flange 219 may rest on shoulder of a receptacle of a shisha device so that cartridge 300 may be readily removed from the receptacle after use by grasping the flange.

[0089] The specific embodiments described above are intended to illustrate the invention. However, other embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims, and it is to be understood that the specific embodiments described above are not intended to be limiting.

[0090] As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” encompass embodiments having plural referents, unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.

[0091] As used herein, “or” is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. The term “and/or” means one or all the listed elements or a combination of any two or more of the listed elements.

[0092] As used herein, “have,” “having,” “include,” “including,” “comprise,” “comprising” or the like are used in their open-ended sense, and generally mean “including, but not limited to”. It will be understood that “consisting essentially of,” “consisting of,” and the like are subsumed in “comprising,” and the like.

[0093] The words “preferred” and “preferably” refer to embodiments of the invention that may afford certain benefits, under certain circumstances. However, other embodiments may also be preferred, under the same or other circumstances. Furthermore, the recitation of one or more preferred embodiments does not imply that other embodiments are not useful, and is not intended to exclude other embodiments from the scope of the disclosure, including the claims.

[0094] The term “substantially” as used here has the same meaning as “significantly,” and can be understood to modify the term that follows by at least about 90%, at least about 95%, or at least about 98%. The term “not substantially” as used here has the same meaning as “not significantly,” and can be understood to have the inverse meaning of “substantially,” i.e., modifying the term that follows by not more than 10%, not more than 5%, or not more than 2%.

[0095] Any direction referred to herein, such as “top,” “bottom,” “left,” “right,” “upper,” “lower,” and other directions or orientations are described herein for clarity and brevity are not intended to be limiting of an actual device or system. Devices and systems described herein may be used in a number of directions and orientations.

EXAMPLES

Example 1

[0096] The effect of the absorbent carrier impregnated with an aerosol former on aerosol formation was evaluated. An absorbent carrier forming a sheet (cellulosic paper) with a surface area of 40 cm.sup.2, impregnated with about 1.5 g of a 1:1 mixture of vegetable glycerine and propylene glycol was disposed inside a cartridge. The absorbent carrier had a cylindrical shape that was positioned adjacent the inside walls of the cartridge. The cartridge was then filled with 10 g of commercially available molasses (Al-Fakher) inside the cylinder of porous material. A control sample was prepared without the absorbent carrier impregnated with the aerosol former.

[0097] The cartridge was inserted into a testing shisha device, where the cartridge was heated using a ceramic resistive heating element with a set point temperature of 200° C. The set point temperature of the heater is selected to bring the molasses (between puffs) to a similar temperature as a charcoal operated shisha.

[0098] In order to improve the aerosolization process, a finned nozzle made of aluminum with an exit orifice of about 3 mm in diameter is placed at about 55 mm from the heating engine.

[0099] The generated aerosol is collected using a total of five Cambridge pads, and the weight of the pads is recorded before and after testing. At any given moment during the testing, only one of the pads collects the generated aerosol.

[0100] The total duration of the smoking test corresponds to 105 puffs. In order to achieve the desired puffing experience, four programmable dual syringe pumps (PDSP, available from Pomac B.V. in Tolbers, Netherlands) were used simultaneously to create the puffing regime. The puffing regime was as follows: the sample and the control are tested for 105 puffs. The number of puffs is divided into five consecutive parts of 21 puffs each, where the aerosol from each part is collected in a separate Cambridge pad. After every 21 puffs, a valve ensures that the aerosol is diverted to the correct Cambridge pad. As a consequence, the production of aerosol may be monitored as a function of time.

[0101] The results of total aerosol mass (TAM) collected over the first 21 puffs, and the total 105 puffs for the control and the sample are shown in TABLE 1 below and in FIG. 5. The results for the first 21 puffs are calculated as mg/per puff, and the results for the total duration of the test (15 puffs) are given as an accumulated total mass in mg.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 TAM Results. Control (no absorbent Sample (with absorbent carrier impregnated carrier impregnated with an aerosol with an former) aerosol former) TAM (mg/puff), 9.6 mg/puff 23.8 mg/puff first 21 puffs TAM (mg), 105 puffs 1980 mg 2670 mg

[0102] It was observed that a significant increase in aerosol generation was achieved during the first 21 puffs as well as throughout the experiment by the use of the absorbent carrier impregnated with an aerosol former. The total accumulated TAM during the test was also greater with the absorbent carrier impregnated with an aerosol former.

[0103] Thus, cartridges for shisha devices are described. Various modifications and variations of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Although the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the invention which are apparent to those skilled in the mechanical arts, chemical arts, and aerosol generating article manufacturing or related fields are intended to be within the scope of the following claims.