AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE WITH A CAPSULE PORTION

Abstract

An aerosol-generating article is provided, including: a substrate portion containing an aerosol-forming substrate; and a capsule portion containing a carrier material, one or more breakable capsules being embedded in the carrier material, the one or more breakable capsules containing one or more active agents, at least parts of the one or more breakable capsules being arranged at an outer surface of the aerosol-generating article. An aerosol-generating system, including an aerosol-generating device including a cavity and a heating element, and the aerosol-generating article, is also provided.

Claims

1.-15. (canceled)

16. An aerosol-generating article, comprising: a substrate portion containing an aerosol-forming substrate; and a capsule portion containing a carrier material, one or more breakable capsules being embedded in the carrier material, the one or more breakable capsules containing one or more active agents, wherein at least parts of the one or more breakable capsules are arranged at an outer surface of the aerosol-generating article.

17. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the at least parts of the one or more breakable capsules protrude from the outer surface of the aerosol-generating article.

18. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the aerosol-generating article has a cylindrical shape, the one or more breakable capsules being arranged at an outer circumference of the article.

19. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 18, further comprising a plurality of breakable capsules located around the outer circumference of the article.

20. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the capsule portion comprises a central hollow tubular portion.

21. An aerosol-generating article, comprising: a substrate portion containing an aerosol-forming substrate; and a capsule portion containing a carrier material, one or more breakable capsules being embedded in the carrier material, the one or more breakable capsules containing one or more active agents, wherein the capsule portion further contains at least one stiff element, the stiff element being stiffer than the carrier material, the at least one stiff element being configured to break the breakable capsules upon application of a pressure to the capsule portion.

22. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 21, wherein the at least one stiff element is wedge shaped.

23. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 21, wherein the at least one stiff element is in direct contact with the one or more breakable capsules.

24. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the carrier material is configured to resist pressure applied to the capsule portion.

25. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the capsule portion is wrapped with a capsule wrapper, the capsule wrapper comprising a material that is impermeable for the one or more active agents.

26. An aerosol-generating system, comprising: an aerosol-generating device including a cavity and a heating element; and an aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the cavity is configured to receive the aerosol-generating article.

27. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 26, wherein the aerosol-generating device comprises a deformation member configured to exert a pressure to the aerosol-generating article.

28. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 26, wherein the deformation member is further configured to exert a pressure to the capsule portion of the aerosol-generating article.

29. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 27, wherein the heating element comprises the deformation member.

30. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 26, wherein a minimum inner diameter of the cavity has a diameter smaller than a diameter of the aerosol-generating article.

31. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 26, wherein the cavity comprises a diameter that is tapered towards an interior of the aerosol-generating device.

Description

[0107] The invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0108] FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B show a schematic perspective view of an aerosol-generating article 10 and a close-up view of its capsule portion 14;

[0109] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B show a schematic perspective view of an aerosol-generating article 10 with stiff elements 30 and a close-up view of its capsule portion 14;

[0110] FIG. 3 depicts a schematic cross-sectional view of an aerosol-generating system 11 with the aerosol-generating article 10 received in the cavity 34 of the aerosol generating device 32, showing the broken capsules;

[0111] FIG. 4 depicts a schematic cross-sectional view of an aerosol-generating system 11 with the aerosol-generating article 10 received in the cavity 34 of the aerosol generating device 32, wherein inductive heating is used, wherein the susceptor comprises a thermally deformable element.

[0112] In the following the same elements are marked with the same reference numerals throughout all the figures.

[0113] FIG. 1A shows a schematic perspective view of one embodiment of an aerosol-generating article 10. The aerosol-generating article contains a capsule portion 14, which includes breakable capsules 18 which are embedded in a carrier material 16. The capsule portion 14 is adjacent to a first substrate portion 12A and to a second substrate portion 12B. The first and second substrate portions include an aerosol-forming substrate and optionally also aerosol-former. A hollow tubular article portion 24 is located downstream of the second substrate portion 12B, which serves to cool down the aerosol generated in both substrate portions and in the capsule portion. A filter portion 26 is located further downstream of the hollow tubular article portion. The downstream end of the aerosol-generating article 10 is formed by a connect portion 28, which can serve to connect the aerosol-generating article to a mouthpiece (mouthpiece not shown). FIG. 1B is a close-up view of the capsule portion 14 of the aerosol-generating article 10 of FIG. 1A. This close-up view clearly shows that a plurality of the capsules 18 is located around the outer circumference of the capsule portion 14. The plurality of the capsules 18 protrude from the outer surface of the aerosol-generating article, in particular the capsule portion, and therefore can easily be exposed to pressure from the outside sufficient to break one or more of the capsules. A central hollow tubular portion 20, made of a stiff material is present, which serves to resist any pressure on the capsule portion from the outside, so that the capsules can be broken by sufficient external force. The capsule portion 14 is wrapped in a capsule wrapper 22, the capsule wrapper comprising a material which is impermeable for the one or more active agents released upon the breakage of the capsules. The capsule wrapper 22 may for example be made from anti-staining metals or lacquers. As an alternative to the capsule wrapper 22 being wrapped around the capsules, a single wrapper may be provided wrapped around the capsule portion and covering the capsules. This alternative wrapper may not necessarily directly contact the capsules. The capsule wrapper 22 therefore can prevent contamination or spill-over from the capsule portion 14 into an aerosol-generating device used together with the aerosol-generating article 10.

[0114] FIG. 2A shows a schematic perspective view of another embodiment of an aerosol-generating article 10. The aerosol-generating article 10 shown in this figure contains substantially the same elements as the aerosol-generating article 10 of FIG. 1A, except for some differences in the configuration of the capsule portion 14. In FIG. 2A the capsule portion 30 comprises the carrier material 16 and additionally stiff elements 30. The stiff elements 30 are wedge-shaped elements, which can be made of plastic or metal and which may contain sharp edges. At least parts of the stiff elements 30 are located at the outer surface of the capsule portion 14, so that pressure can easily be applied to the stiff elements 30 from the outside. As shown in the close-up view of the capsule portion 14 in FIG. 2B, four stiff elements 30 are arranged concentrically around a breakable capsule 18, which is located centrally within the capsule portion 14. Similarly to the capsule portion 14 of the generating article 10 of FIG. 1A, the capsule portion 14 of the aerosol-generating article in FIG. 2A also includes a capsule wrapper 22, which prevents any spill-over of the one or more active agents which are released when the capsule 18 is broken. The stiff elements 30 are in direct contact with the centrally located breakable capsule 18 and therefore can easily transmit any pressure applied from the outside to the breakable capsule.

[0115] FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of an aerosol-generating system 11. The aerosol-generating system comprises an aerosol-generating device 32 and an aerosol-generating article 10. The aerosol-generating device comprises a heating element 36. The aerosol-generating article 10 is inserted in the cavity 34 of the aerosol-generating device 32. The breakable capsules 18 protrude from the outer surface of the capsule portion 14 and therefore are being broken when the aerosol-generating article 10 is inserted into the cavity 34 of the aerosol-generating device 32. The capsules 18 therefore can reliably be broken without any additional user's action required. The user only needs to put the aerosol-generating article 10 into the aerosol-generating device 32 but not further action is needed for the breading of the capsules 18. The aerosol-generating device 32 furthermore contains electric circuitry 40 controlling the heating element 36, which is a resistive heating element. The electric circuitry 40 and the resistive heating element 36 are powered by the power supply 38. Air inlets 42 are present in the aerosol-generating device 32 and an air-flow path 44 as depicted by the arrow is present in the aerosol-generating system 11. A user drawing on the aerosol-generating article 10 can inhale an aerosol created from the substrate portion (not shown in FIG. 3) and from the capsule portion 14 of the aerosol-generating article.

[0116] FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of an aerosol-generating system 11. The heating element 36 comprises susceptors. Each susceptor 36 has an elongate shape. Each susceptor 36 is made of a thermally deformable element in the form of a bimetallic strip. The bimetallic strip comprises a first material and a second material. The coefficients of thermal expansion of the two materials are different. The material with the lower coefficient of thermal expansion is arranged towards the inside of the cavity 34 formed by the susceptor 12. The cavity 34 is formed as a hollow tubular arrangement.

[0117] The aerosol-generating article 10 is configured to be received in the cavity 34. The aerosol-generating article 10 can be inserted into the cavity 34. When the aerosol-generating article 10 is inserted into the cavity 34, the heating element 36 surrounds a portion of the aerosol-generating article 10, also including the capsule portion 14. The portion of the aerosol-generating article 10 surrounded by the heating element 36 can be heated by means of the heating element 36.

[0118] The portion of the aerosol-generating article 10 surrounded by the heating element 10 is preferably configured as a substrate portion of the aerosol-generating article 16 comprising aerosol-forming substrate (not shown in FIG. 4) and a capsule portion 14 including breakable capsules 18.

[0119] During a heating operation, the heating element 36 is deformed. The deformation is facilitated by the bimetallic strip being heated. The heating of the bimetallic strip results in a deformation of the bimetallic strip. The susceptor 36 is arranged such that the deformation is in the direction of the inside of the cavity 34. In this way, the aerosol-generating article 10 is securely held within the cavity 34 during a heating operation and additionally the breakable capsules 18 are broken due to the deformation of the susceptor 36 in the direction of the inside of the cavity 34 which exerts a pressure on the capsules. Before and after the heating operation, the aerosol-generating article 10 can be easily inserted into the cavity 34 and removed from the cavity.

[0120] To enable insertion and removal of the aerosol-generating article 10, the inner diameter of the heating element 36 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the aerosol-generating article 10, when the heating element 36 is not operated. During operation of the heating element 36, the heating element is deformed and the inner diameter of the heating element 36 is reduced. The reduced inner diameter of the heating element 10 is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the aerosol-generating article 10. Consequently, the heating element 36 is pressed against the aerosol-generating article 10 during the heating operation and the breakable capsules 18 are broken by the pressure of the heating element. The aerosol-generating article 10 is consequently securely held and heating efficiency is increased.

[0121] FIG. 4 further shows a power supply in the form of a battery 38 for powering the heating element 36. The supply of electrical energy from the battery 36 to the heating element 36 is controlled by control circuitry 40.

[0122] The aerosol-generating device or the heating element 36 comprises an induction coil 46. An alternating current is supplied to the induction coil 46 for generating an alternating magnetic field. The susceptor 36 is heated when subjected to this alternating magnetic field. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, two induction coils 46 are provided that are separated by a separator 48. The two induction coils 46 create two separate heating zones that are provided along the longitudinal axis A of the cavity 34.

[0123] Air inlets 42 are provided to enable flow of ambient air into the cavity 34 for aerosol generation. The air inlets 42 are arranged adjacent a base 43 of the cavity 34 to enable airflow into the cavity 34 through or adjacent to the base 43. The base 43 may comprise one or more apertures for allowing airflow through the base 43.

[0124] The aerosol-generating device comprises a distal end 43A and a proximal end 45. The opening of the cavity 34 is arranged in the proximal end 45 of the aerosol-generating device. At the opening of the cavity 34, a sealing ring 35 is provided. The sealing ring 35 is flexible. The sealing ring 35 has a funnel shape. The sealing ring 35 enables insertion of the aerosol-generating article 10. The sealing ring 35 seals the cavity 34, when the aerosol-generating article 10 is inserted into the cavity 34.