AEROSOL-GENERATING SUBSTRATE COMPRISING AN OIL ADDITIVE

Abstract

A heated aerosol-generating article for producing an inhalable aerosol is provided, the article including a rod of aerosol-generating substrate formed of one or more sheets of a homogenised tobacco material, the material being formed of an agglomeration of particles of tobacco material and including between 1 percent and 10 percent by weight of a medium chain triglyceride oil, on a dry weight basis, the oil having a melting point below 18 degrees Celsius and including one or more triglycerides having at least two fatty acid chains with a chain length of between 6 and 12 carbon atoms, and the one or more sheets being selected from reconstituted tobacco sheet and cast leaf. A rod of aerosol-generating substrate, an aerosol-generating system, and a method of making a homogenised tobacco material for an aerosol-generating article are also provided.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. A heated aerosol-generating article for producing an inhalable aerosol, the heated aerosol-generating article comprising a rod of aerosol-generating substrate, wherein the rod of aerosol-generating substrate is formed of one or more sheets of a homogenised tobacco material, the homogenised tobacco material being formed of an agglomeration of particles of tobacco material and comprising between 1 percent by weight and 10 percent by weight of a medium chain triglyceride oil, on a dry weight basis, the medium chain triglyceride oil having a melting point below 18 degrees Celsius and comprising one or more triglycerides having at least two fatty acid chains with a chain length of between 6 and 12 carbon atoms, and wherein the one or more sheets of homogenised tobacco material are selected from reconstituted tobacco sheet and cast leaf.

16. The heated aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the medium chain triglyceride oil has an iodine value of less than 2.

17. The heated aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the medium chain triglyceride oil has a melting point below 15 degrees Celsius.

18. The heated aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the medium chain triglyceride oil has a melting point below 10 degrees Celsius.

19. The heated aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the medium chain triglyceride oil comprises at least 80 percent triglycerides having at least two fatty acid chains with a chain length of between 8 and 10 carbon atoms.

20. The heated aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein a total content of the medium chain triglyceride oil in the homogenised tobacco material is between 1 percent and 5 percent by weight, on a dry weight basis.

21. The heated aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the homogenised tobacco material comprises at least 70 percent by weight tobacco, on a dry weight basis.

22. The heated aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the homogenised tobacco material further comprises one or more aerosol formers.

23. The heated aerosol-generating article according to claim 22, wherein the total content of aerosol former in the homogenised tobacco material is between 5 percent and 20 percent by weight, on a dry weight basis.

24. The heated aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the homogenised tobacco material further comprises at least 1 percent by weight reinforcement fibres, on a dry weight basis.

25. The heated aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the aerosol-generating substrate is a rod formed from a gathered sheet of the homogenised tobacco material.

26. A rod of aerosol-generating substrate for a heated aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, the aerosol-generating substrate comprising a homogenised tobacco material comprising between 1 percent by weight and 10 percent by weight of a medium chain triglyceride oil, on a dry weight basis, the medium chain triglyceride oil having a melting point below 18 degrees Celsius and comprising one or more triglycerides having at least two fatty acid chains with a chain length of between 6 and 12 carbon atoms.

27. An aerosol-generating system, comprising: an aerosol-generating device comprising a heating element; and an aerosol-generating article for the aerosol-generating device, the aerosol-generating article comprising a rod of aerosol-generating substrate, wherein the rod of aerosol-generating substrate is formed of one or more sheets of a homogenised tobacco material, the homogenised tobacco material being formed of an agglomeration of particles of tobacco material and comprising between 1 percent by weight and 10 percent by weight of a medium chain triglyceride oil, on a dry weight basis, the medium chain triglyceride oil having a melting point below 18 degrees Celsius and comprising one or more triglycerides having at least two fatty acid chains with a chain length of between 6 and 12 carbon atoms, wherein the one or more sheets of homogenised tobacco material are selected from reconstituted tobacco sheet and cast leaf.

28. A method of making a homogenised tobacco material for an aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, the method comprising the steps of: forming an homogenised slurry comprising tobacco material, water, and a medium chain triglyceride oil having a melting point below 18 degrees Celsius and comprising one or more triglycerides having at least two fatty acid chains with a chain length of between 6 and 12 carbon atoms; casting the homogenised slurry onto a moving belt; and drying the cast slurry to form a sheet of homogenised tobacco material, wherein the method is performed without any external heating of the slurry.

Description

[0108] The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0109] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an aerosol-generating article according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0110] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an aerosol-generating system comprising an aerosol-generating device and an aerosol generating article according to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1; and

[0111] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the electrically heated aerosol generating device of FIG. 2.

[0112] The aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 1 comprises four elements arranged in coaxial alignment: an aerosol-generating substrate 20, a support element 30, an aerosol-cooling element 40, and a mouthpiece 50. Each of the four elements is circumscribed by a corresponding plug wrap (not shown). These four elements are arranged sequentially and are circumscribed by an outer wrapper 60 to form the aerosol-generating article 10. The aerosol-generating 10 has a proximal or mouth end 70, which a user inserts into his or her mouth during use, and a distal end 80 located at the opposite end of the aerosol-generating article 10 to the mouth end 70.

[0113] In use air is drawn through the aerosol-generating article by a user from the distal end 80 to the mouth end 70. The distal end 80 of the aerosol-generating article may also be described as the upstream end of the aerosol-generating article 10 and the mouth end 70 of the aerosol-generating article 10 may also be described as the downstream end of the aerosol-generating article 10. Elements of the aerosol-generating article 10 located between the mouth end 70 and the distal end 80 can be described as being upstream of the mouth end 70 or, alternatively, downstream of the distal end 80.

[0114] The aerosol-generating substrate 20 is located at the extreme distal or upstream end of the aerosol-generating article 10. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, aerosol-generating substrate 20 comprises a gathered sheet of crimped homogenised tobacco material circumscribed by a wrapper. The crimped sheet of homogenised tobacco material comprises glycerin as an aerosol former. The aerosol-generating substrate 20 also comprises at least 1 percent by weight of a medium chain triglyceride oil, based on the total dry weight of the aerosol-generating substrate 20. Suitable formulations for the homogenised tobacco material are provided in Table 1 below.

[0115] The support element 30 is located immediately downstream of the aerosol-generating substrate 20 and abuts the aerosol-generating substrate 20. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the support element is a hollow cellulose acetate tube. The support element 30 locates the aerosol-generating substrate 20 at the extreme distal end 80 of the aerosol-generating article 10 so that it can be penetrated by a heating element of an aerosol-generating device. As described further below, the support element 30 acts to prevent the aerosol-generating substrate 20 from being forced downstream within the aerosol-generating article 10 towards the aerosol-cooling element 40 when a heating element of an aerosol-generating device is inserted into the aerosol-generating substrate 20. The support element 30 also acts as a spacer to space the aerosol-cooling element 40 of the aerosol-generating article 10 from the aerosol-generating substrate 20.

[0116] The aerosol-cooling element 40 is located immediately downstream of the support element 30 and abuts the support element 30. In use, volatile substances released from the aerosol-generating substrate 20 pass along the aerosol-cooling element 40 towards the mouth end 70 of the aerosol-generating article 10. The volatile substances may cool within the aerosol-cooling element 40 to form an aerosol that is inhaled by the user. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the aerosol-cooling element comprises a crimped and gathered sheet of polylactic acid circumscribed by a wrapper 90. The crimped and gathered sheet of polylactic acid defines a plurality of longitudinal channels that extend along the length of the aerosol-cooling element 40.

[0117] The mouthpiece 50 is located immediately downstream of the aerosol-cooling element 40 and abuts the aerosol-cooling element 40. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the mouthpiece 50 comprises a conventional cellulose acetate tow filter of low filtration efficiency.

[0118] To assemble the aerosol-generating article 10, the four elements described above are aligned and tightly wrapped within the outer wrapper 60. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the outer wrapper 60 is a conventional cigarette paper. As shown in FIG. 1, an optional row of perforations is provided in a region of the outer wrapper 60 circumscribing the support element 30 of the aerosol-generating article 10. A distal end portion of the outer wrapper 60 of the aerosol-generating article 10 is circumscribed by a band of tipping paper (not shown).

[0119] The aerosol-generating article 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 is designed to engage with an aerosol-generating device comprising a heating element in order to be consumed by a user. In use, the heating element of the aerosol-generating device heats the aerosol-generating substrate 20 of the aerosol-generating article 10 to a sufficient temperature to form an aerosol, which is drawn downstream through the aerosol-generating article 10 and inhaled by the user.

[0120] During the heating of the aerosol-generating substrate, the medium chain triglyceride in the aerosol-generating substrate acts to improve the nicotine emitted from the tobacco in the aerosol-generating substrate, as demonstrated in the example below.

[0121] FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of an aerosol-generating system 100 comprising an aerosol-generating device 110 and an aerosol-generating article 10 according to the embodiment described above and illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0122] The aerosol-generating device 110 comprises a heating element 120. As shown in FIG. 2, the heating element 120 is mounted within an aerosol-generating article receiving chamber of the aerosol-generating device 110. In use, the user inserts the aerosol-generating article 10 into the aerosol-generating article receiving chamber of the aerosol-generating device 110 such that the heating element 120 is directly inserted into the aerosol-generating substrate 20 of the aerosol-generating article 10 as shown in FIG. 2. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the heating element 120 of the aerosol-generating device 110 is a heater blade.

[0123] The aerosol-generating device 110 comprises a power supply and electronics (shown in FIG. 3) that allow the heating element 120 to be actuated. Such actuation may be manually operated or may occur automatically in response to a user drawing on an aerosol-generating article 10 inserted into the aerosol-generating article receiving chamber of the aerosol-generating device 110. A plurality of openings is provided in the aerosol-generating device to allow air to flow to the aerosol-generating article 10; the direction of air flow is illustrated by arrows in FIG. 2.

[0124] The support element 40 of the aerosol-generating article 10 resists the penetration force experienced by the aerosol-generating article 10 during insertion of the heating element 120 of the aerosol-generating device 110 into the aerosol-generating substrate 20. The support element 40 of the aerosol-generating article 10 thereby resists downstream movement of the aerosol-generating substrate 20 within the aerosol-generating article 10 during insertion of the heating element 120 of the aerosol-generating device 110 into the aerosol-generating substrate 20.

[0125] Once the internal heating element 120 is inserted into the aerosol-generating substrate 20 of the aerosol-generating article 10 and the heating element 120 is actuated, the aerosol-generating substrate 20 of the aerosol-generating article 10 is heated to a temperature of approximately 350 degrees Celsius by the heating element 120 of the aerosol-generating device 110. At this temperature, volatile compounds are evolved from the aerosol-generating substrate 20 of the aerosol-generating article 10. As a user draws on the mouth end 70 of the aerosol-generating article 10, the volatile compounds evolved from the aerosol-generating substrate 20 are drawn downstream through the aerosol-generating article 10 and condense to form an aerosol that is drawn through the mouthpiece 50 of the aerosol-generating article 10 into the user's mouth.

[0126] As the aerosol passes downstream thorough the aerosol-cooling element 40, the temperature of the aerosol is reduced due to transfer of thermal energy from the aerosol to the aerosol-cooling element 40. When the aerosol enters the aerosol-cooling element 40, its temperature is approximately 60 degrees Celsius. Due to cooling within the aerosol-cooling element 40, the temperature of the aerosol as it exits the aerosol-cooling element is approximately 40 degrees Celsius.

[0127] In FIG. 3, the components of the aerosol-generating device 110 are shown in a simplified manner. Particularly, the components of the aerosol-generating device 110 are not drawn to scale in FIG. 3. Components that are not relevant for the understanding of the embodiment have been omitted to simplify FIG. 3.

[0128] As shown in FIG. 3, the aerosol-generating device 110 comprises a housing 130. The heating element 120 is mounted within an aerosol-generating article receiving chamber within the housing 130. The aerosol-generating article 10 (shown by dashed lines in FIG. 3) is inserted into the aerosol-generating article receiving chamber within the housing 130 of the aerosol-generating device 110 such that the heating element 120 is directly inserted into the aerosol-generating substrate 20 of the aerosol-generating article 10.

[0129] Within the housing 130 there is an electrical energy supply 140, for example a rechargeable lithium ion battery. A controller 150 is connected to the heating element 120, the electrical energy supply 140, and a user interface 160, for example a button or display. The controller 150 controls the power supplied to the heating element 120 in order to regulate its temperature.

EXAMPLE

[0130] Homogenised tobacco sheets were formed based on each the compositions A-D shown below in Table 1, using a method as described above:

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Sheet A Sheet B Sheet C Sheet D Component % by weight % by weight % by weight % by weight Tobacco 75 75 75 75 Glycerin 20 19 17.5 15 MCT oil 0 1 2.5 5 Guar 3 3 3 3 Cellulose 2 2 2 2 fibres

[0131] The MCT oil used for Sheets B, C and D was Grindsted MCT 60 X from Danisco. For each tobacco sheet, the tobacco sheet was formed into an aerosol-generating substrate, using conventional techniques. An aerosol-generating article as described above with reference to FIG. 1 was then assembled. The aerosol-generating articles incorporating Sheets B, C and D are according to the present invention, with medium chain triglyceride oil in the homogenised tobacco sheet. The aerosol-generating article incorporating Sheet A, which does not include the medium chain triglyceride oil, is a control sample for the purposes of comparison.

[0132] Each aerosol-generating article was subjected to the heating test defined above, at both 350 degrees Celsius and 300 degrees Celsius. The nicotine level in the aerosol delivered from each aerosol-generating article were measured, with the results shown below in Table 2.

[0133] As can be seen from Table 2, an increase in the delivery of nicotine from the aerosol-generating substrate was observed for the majority of the aerosol-generating articles incorporating medium chain triglyceride in the homogenised tobacco material, relative to the control sample. In the case of the aerosol-generating article incorporating Sheet D, with 5 percent by weight of medium chain triglyceride oil, an increase in the nicotine delivery of over 10 percent was observed relative to the control sample. When the temperature was reduced to 300 degrees Celsius, this increase in nicotine relative to the control sample went up to 25 percent.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Level of MCT oil in Nicotine Nicotine aerosol-generating delivery at % delivery at % substrate (%) 350 C. (mg) increase 300 C. (mg) increase 0 1.27 0 0.80 0 1.0 1.27 0 0.82 2.5 2.5 1.29 1.6 0.87 8.7 5.0 1.42 12.0 1.00 25.0

[0134] The homogenised tobacco sheets formed according to the example above, or any other homogenised tobacco material can be analysed in order to determine the content of medium chain triglycerides using the example test method described below.

Example Test Method for Determining Medium Chain Triglyceride Content

[0135] In a first step, the homogenised tobacco material is ground to reduce the size, using cryogenic grinding with liquid nitrogen.

[0136] In a second step, the homogenised tobacco material is extracted in methanol. In this step, 100 mg of the ground tobacco material is diluted with 5 millilitres LC-MS grade methanol containing the internal standards isophorone-d8 (10.62 micrograms per millimetre) and decanoic-d19 acid (20.52 micrograms per millimetre), both available from CDN Isotopes Inc. This is followed by vortexing of the liquid extract for 5 minutes and centrifugation of the liquid extract for 5 minutes at 10 degrees Celsius to separate the solid particles from the liquid extract. 200 microlitres of the remaining liquid extract is diluted with 800 microlitres of methanol and mixed for 5 minutes at 5 degrees Celsius and 2000 rpm, for example in ThermoMixer.

[0137] In a third step, the resultant sample is subjected to a chromatographic analysis using a reversed phase separation. A suitable apparatus for conducting a chromatographic analysis is a Hypersil GOLD column (1502.1 millimetres, 1.9 micrometres; available from ThermoScientific, Waltham, Mass., USA) equipped with a UHPLC guard filter cartridge (102.1 millimetres, 0.2 micrometres; available from ThermoScientific, Waltham, Mass., USA) operating at 50 degrees Celsius with 1.5 microlitre injection volume with maintained autosampler temperature of 5 degrees Celsius.

[0138] In a fourth step, the separated components from the chromatographic column are transferred to a mass spectrometer, for example, a Thermo QExactive mass spectrometer operated in both full scan and data dependent MS.sup.2 modes using heated electrospray ionization (HESI) in positive and negative mode.

[0139] In a final step, the data from the mass spectrometric detection is analysed to identify the compounds present. Compound identification is performed using a semi-automatic stepwise approach comparing the detected constituents with reference compounds in an experimental MS.sup.2 fragmentation database and in-silico predicted fragmentation of chemicals from public databases. All putative hits are scored using Progenesis QI algorithms. Semi-quantification of the compounds can be carried out using peak volume abundance.