Electrically operated aerosol generating system with thermal spreading wrap

Abstract

An electrically operated aerosol-generating system is provided, including an aerosol-generating device including an electrically powered heating element; and a heated aerosol-generating article including an aerosol-forming substrate radially encircled by a sheet of thermally-conductive material, which is a thermally conducting flame barrier configured to spread heat and to mitigate against a risk of igniting the substrate by application of a flame to the article, and a plurality of elements, assembled together with the substrate within a wrapper to form a rod having a mouth end and a distal end upstream from the mouth end, the substrate being disposed at the distal end of the rod, the elements including a spacer element disposed within the rod downstream of the substrate and a mouthpiece element extending upstream from the mouth end of the rod, the device being configured to receive the article and the heating element is configured to heat the substrate of the article.

Claims

1. An electrically operated aerosol-generating system, comprising: an aerosol-generating device comprising an electrically powered heating element; and an aerosol-generating article comprising a plug of aerosol-forming substrate radially encircled by a sheet of thermally conductive material, wherein the thermally conductive material is a thermally conducting flame barrier configured to spread heat and to mitigate against a risk of ignition of the plug of aerosol-forming substrate when a flame is applied to the aerosol-generating article, a plurality of elements, assembled together with the plug of aerosol-forming substrate within a wrapper to form a rod, the rod having a mouth end and a distal end upstream from the mouth end, the plug of aerosol-forming substrate being disposed at the distal end of the rod, the plurality of elements comprising a spacer element disposed within the rod downstream of the plug of aerosol-forming substrate and a mouthpiece element extending upstream from the mouth end of the rod, wherein the aerosol-generating device is configured to receive the aerosol-generating article and the electrically powered heating element is configured to heat the plug of aerosol-forming substrate of the aerosol-generating article.

2. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 1, wherein the plug of aerosol-foaming substrate, the spacer element, and the mouthpiece element are co-axially aligned, and wherein the spacer element encloses a channel configured to convey aerosol from the plug of aerosol-forming substrate downstream towards the mouthpiece element.

3. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 1, wherein the wrapper radially encircles the sheet of thermally-conductive material.

4. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 1, wherein the sheet of thermally conductive material radially encircles the wrapper.

5. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system, according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the thermally conductive material covers the distal end of the rod.

6. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 1, wherein the sheet of thermally conductive material comprises a metal foil.

7. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 6, wherein the sheet of thermally conductive material is a co-laminated sheet comprising aluminium foil and a second material.

8. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 6, wherein the sheet of thermally conductive material is a sheet of co-laminated metal foil and paper, or is a sheet of co-laminated metal foil and reconstituted tobacco.

9. The electrically operated aerosol-generating systema according to claim 6, wherein the metal foil is aluminium foil.

10. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 1, wherein the plug of aerosol-forming substrate comprises a gathered sheet of aerosol-forming material.

11. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 1, wherein the plug of aerosol-forming substrate is a rod of cut filler.

12. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 1, wherein the plug of aerosol-forming substrate comprises homogenised tobacco material comprising between 1% and 5% non-tobacco fibres on a dry weight basis.

13. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 1, wherein the plug of aerosol-forming substrate comprises homogenised tobacco material having an aerosol former content of between 5% and 30% on a dry weight basis.

14. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 1, wherein the aerosol-generating device comprises a source of electrical energy configured to supply electrical power to the electrically powered heating element.

15. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 1, wherein the electrically powered heating element is configured to surround the aerosol-generating article.

16. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system according to claim 1, wherein the electrically powered heating element comprises an insertable heating element configured for insertion into the distal end of the rod and to heat the plug of aerosol-forming substrate.

Description

(1) Specific embodiments will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-section of apparatus for forming a rod according to a specific embodiment;

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of an aerosol-generating article as described herein;

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of an aerosol-generating article as described herein;

(5) FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of an aerosol-generating article as described herein;

(6) FIG. 5 illustrates an aerosol-generating system comprising an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device and an aerosol-generating article as illustrated in FIG. 2; and

(7) FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of the electrically-operated aerosol-generating device illustrated in FIG. 5.

(8) The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 generally comprises: supply means for providing a continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco; crimping means for crimping the continuous sheet; rod forming means for gathering the continuous crimped sheet and circumscribing the gathered material with a thermally-conductive aluminium foil wrapper to form a continuous rod; and cutting means for severing the continuous rod into a plurality of discrete rods. The apparatus also comprises transport means for transporting the continuous sheet of material downstream through the apparatus from the supply means to the rod forming means via the crimping means.

(9) As shown in FIG. 1, the supply means for providing a continuous sheet comprises a continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco 2 mounted on a bobbin 4. The crimping means comprises a pair of rotatable crimping rollers 6. In use, the continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco 2 is drawn from the first bobbin 4 and transported downstream to the pair of crimping rollers 6 by the transport mechanism via a series of guide and tensioning rollers. As the continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco 2 is fed between the pair of crimping rollers 6, the crimping rollers engage and crimp the sheet 2 to form a continuous crimped sheet of homogenised tobacco 8 having a plurality of spaced-apart ridges or corrugations substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sheet through the apparatus.

(10) The continuous crimped sheet of homogenised tobacco material 8 is transported downstream from the pair of crimping rollers 6 towards the rod forming means and fed through a converging funnel or horn 10. The converging funnel 10 gathers the continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco 8 transversely relative to its longitudinal axes. The sheet of material 8 assumes a substantially cylindrical configuration as it passes through the converging funnel 10.

(11) Upon exiting the converging funnel 10, the gathered sheet of homogenised tobacco is wrapped in a continuous sheet of aluminium foil 12. The continuous sheet of aluminium foil is fed from a bobbin 14 and enveloped around the gathered continuous crimped sheet of homogenised tobacco material by an endless belt conveyor or garniture. As shown in FIG. 1, the rod forming means comprises an adhesive application means 16 that applies adhesive to one of the longitudinal edges of the continuous sheet of aluminium foil, so that when the opposed longitudinal edges of the continuous sheet of aluminium foil are brought into contact they adhere to one other to form a continuous rod.

(12) The rod forming means further comprises a drying means 18 downstream of the adhesive application means 16, which in use dries the adhesive applied to the seam of the continuous rod as the continuous rod is transported downstream from the rod forming means to the cutting means.

(13) The cutting means comprises a rotary cutter 20 that severs the continuous rod into a plurality of discrete rods of unit rod length or multiple unit rod length.

(14) FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a heated aerosol-generating article 1000 comprising a rod as described herein. The article 1000 comprises four elements; an aerosol-forming substrate 1020, a hollow cellulose acetate tube 1030, a spacer element 1040, and a mouthpiece filter 1050. These four elements are arranged sequentially and in coaxial alignment and are assembled by a cigarette paper 1060 to form the aerosol-generating article 1000. The article 1000 has a mouth-end 1012, which a user inserts into his or her mouth during use, and a distal end 1013 located at the opposite end of the article to the mouth end 1012. The embodiment of an aerosol-generating article illustrated in FIG. 2 is particularly suitable for se with an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device comprising a heater for heating the aerosol-forming substrate.

(15) When assembled, the article 1000 is about 45 millimetres in length and has an outer diameter of about 7.2 millimetres and an inner diameter of about 6.9 millimetres.

(16) The aerosol-forming substrate 1020 comprises a rod formed from a crimped and gathered sheet of homogenised tobacco wrapped in aluminium foil 1222 to form a plug. A user may inadvertently attempt to ignite the aerosol-forming substrate 1020 by applying a flame to the distal end 1013 and simultaneously drawing air through the mouthpiece. Should this occur, the aluminium foil component of aerosol-forming substrate will swiftly spread the applied heat along the radial extremities of the aerosol-forming substrate, thereby making it more difficult to increase the homogenised tobacco component to its ignition temperature. This lowered propensity for ignition may be sufficient for the user to desist in the attempts to ignite the article.

(17) An aerosol-generating article 1000 as illustrated in FIG. 2 is designed to engage with an aerosol-generating device in order to be consumed. Such an aerosol-generating device includes means for heating the aerosol-forming substrate 1020 to a sufficient temperature to form an aerosol. Typically, the aerosol-generating device may comprise a heating element that surrounds the aerosol-generating article 1000 adjacent to the aerosol-forming substrate 1020, or a heating element that is inserted into the aerosol-forming substrate 1020.

(18) Once engaged with an aerosol-generating device, a user draws on the mouth-end 1012 of the smoking article 1000 and the aerosol-forming substrate 1020 is heated to a temperature of about 375 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, volatile compounds are evolved from the sheet of cast-leaf tobacco of the aerosol-forming substrate 1020. These compounds condense to form an aerosol. The aerosol is drawn through the filter 1050 and into the user's mouth. FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative configuration of an aerosol-generating article. The article 2000 comprises four elements: an aerosol-forming substrate 2020, a hollow cellulose acetate tube 2030, a spacer element 2040, and a mouthpiece filter 2050. These four elements are arranged sequentially and in coaxial alignment and are assembled by a cigarette paper 2060 to form the aerosol-generating article 2000. The article 2000 has a mouth-end 2012, which a user inserts into his or her mouth during use, and a distal end 2013 located at the opposite end of the article to the mouth end 2012. The aerosol-forming substrate 2020 comprises a rod formed from a crimped and gathered sheet of homogenised tobacco wrapped in filter paper to form a plug. A sheet of aluminium foil 2222 encircles the aerosol-forming substrate externally to the cigarette paper 2060.

(19) FIG. 4 illustrates a further alternative configuration of an aerosol-generating article 5000. The aerosol-generating article 5000 comprises four elements arranged in coaxial alignment: an aerosol-forming substrate 5020, a support element 5030, an aerosol-cooling element 5040, and a mouthpiece 5050. These four elements are arranged sequentially and are circumscribed by an outer wrapper 5060 to form the aerosol-generating article 5000. The aerosol-cooling, element 5040 acts, as a spacer element as described in relation to FIG. 2 as well as an aerosol-cooling element. The aerosol-forming substrate 5020 comprises a rod formed from a crimped and gathered sheet of homogenised tobacco wrapped in aluminium foil 5222 to form a plug. The aerosol-generating 5000 has a proximal or mouth end 5070, which a user inserts into his or her mouth during use, and a distal end 5080 located at the opposite end of the aerosol-generating article 5000 to the mouth end 5070.

(20) FIG. 5 illustrates a portion of an electrically-operated aerosol-generating system 3000 that utilises a heating blade 3100 to heat an aerosol-generating substrate 1020 of an aerosol-generating article 1000, 2000, 5000. The heating blade is mounted within an aerosol article receiving chamber of an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device 3010. The aerosol-generating device defines a plurality of air holes 3050 for allowing air to flow to the aerosol-generating article 1000. Air flow is indicated by arrows on FIG. 5. The aerosol-generating device comprises a power supply and electronics, which are illustrated in FIG. 6. The aerosol-generating article 1000 of FIG. 5 is as described above in relation to FIG. 2.

(21) In FIG. 6, the components of the aerosol-generating device 3010 are shown in a simplified manner. Particularly, the components of the aerosol-generating device 3010 are not drawn to scale in FIG. 6. Components that are not relevant for the understanding of the embodiment have been omitted to simplify FIG. 6.

(22) As shown in FIG. 6, the aerosol-generating device 3010 comprises a housing 6130. The heating element 6120 is mounted within an aerosol-generating article receiving chamber within the housing 6130. The aerosol-generating article 1000 (shown by dashed lines in FIG. 6) is inserted into the aerosol-generating article receiving chamber within the housing 6130 of the aerosol-generating device 3010 such that the heating element 6120 is directly inserted into the aerosol-forming substrate 1020 of the aerosol-generating article 1000.

(23) Within the housing 6130 there is an electrical energy supply 6140, for example a rechargeable lithium ion battery. A controller 6150 is connected to the heating element 6120, the electrical energy supply 6140, and a user interface 6160, for example a button or display. The controller 6150 controls the power supplied to the heating element 6120 in order to regulate its temperature.

(24) The exemplary embodiments described above are not limiting. In view of the above-discussed exemplary embodiments, other embodiments consistent with the above exemplary embodiment will now be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.