AEROSOL-GENERATING DEVICE HAVING A VENTILATION CHAMBER

Abstract

An aerosol-generating device to receive an aerosol-generating article is provided, the device including: distal and mouth ends; a housing including a peripheral wall defining a device cavity to removably receive the article at the mouth end; and a heater to heat the article when the article is received within the device cavity, the housing including a ventilation chamber defined within the peripheral wall, the chamber configured to be in fluid communication with an exterior of the device and the article received within the device cavity, and with the exterior of the device through a chamber inlet defined within a thickness of the peripheral wall, the chamber inlet having a cross-sectional area smaller than a cross-sectional area of the chamber and extending between the chamber and the mouth end, and in which a length of the chamber is less than or equal to 8 mm.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. An aerosol-generating device configured to receive an aerosol-generating article, the aerosol-generating device comprising: a distal end and a mouth end; a housing comprising a peripheral wall defining a device cavity configured to removably receive the aerosol-generating article at the mouth end of the aerosol-generating device; and a heater configured to heat the aerosol-generating article when the aerosol-generating article is received within the device cavity, wherein the housing further comprises a ventilation chamber defined within the peripheral wall, wherein the ventilation chamber is configured to be in fluid communication: with an exterior of the aerosol-generating device and the aerosol-generating article received within the device cavity, and with the exterior of the aerosol-generating device through a chamber inlet defined within a thickness of the peripheral wall, the chamber inlet having a cross-sectional area that is smaller than a cross-sectional area of the ventilation chamber and extending between the ventilation chamber and the mouth end of the aerosol-generating device, and wherein a length of the ventilation chamber is less than or equal to 8 mm.

16. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 15, wherein the ventilation chamber is located at a longitudinal position away from the mouth end of the aerosol-generating device.

17. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 15, wherein the length of the chamber inlet is between about 1 mm and about 6 mm.

18. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 15, wherein the chamber inlet has a cross-sectional area that is less than or equal to 50 percent of a cross-sectional area of the ventilation chamber.

19. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 15, wherein a thickness of a portion of the peripheral wall defining the ventilation chamber is different than a thickness of a different portion of the peripheral wall.

20. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 19, wherein the thickness of the portion of the peripheral wall defining the ventilation chamber is less than the thickness of the different portion of the peripheral wall.

21. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 20, wherein the thickness of the portion of the peripheral wall defining the ventilation chamber varies along a longitudinal direction.

22. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 15, wherein the ventilation chamber is annular.

23. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 15, further comprising an extractor configured to extract the aerosol-generating article received in the aerosol-generating device, and to be movable within the device cavity.

24. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 23, wherein the extractor is further configured to expose the ventilation chamber when the extractor is in an operating position, the operating position being defined by the heater being in contact with an aerosol-forming substrate of the aerosol-generating article.

25. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 23, wherein an air-flow path is defined between the peripheral wall of the housing and an external surface of the extractor, and wherein the ventilation chamber is in fluid communication with the air-flow path.

26. An aerosol-generating system, comprising: an aerosol-generating article comprising: a rod of aerosol-forming substrate, a filter disposed downstream of the rod, wherein the rod and the filter are assembled within a wrapper, and a ventilation zone located on the wrapper, the ventilation zone comprising a plurality of apertures extending through the wrapper; and an aerosol-generating device according to claim 15, wherein the aerosol-generating system is configured so that, when the aerosol-generating article is received within the device cavity, the ventilation zone of the aerosol-generating article is located within the device cavity such that the ventilation chamber overlies the ventilation zone of the aerosol-generating article.

27. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 26, wherein the filter of the aerosol-generating article comprises: a mouthpiece segment comprising a plug of filtration material disposed downstream of the rod of aerosol-forming substrate, and a hollow tubular segment located between the mouthpiece segment and the rod of aerosol-forming substrate, wherein the ventilation zone is located at a position along an upstream half of the hollow tubular segment.

28. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 26, wherein the heater comprises an elongate heating element configured to penetrate the rod of aerosol-forming substrate when the aerosol-generating article is received within the aerosol-generating device.

Description

[0170] Specific embodiments will now be described with reference to the figures, in which:

[0171] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a comparative aerosol-generating device and a comparative aerosol-generating system; and

[0172] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of an embodiment of an aerosol-generating system.

[0173] FIG. 1 illustrates an aerosol-generating system 100 comprising a comparative aerosol-generating device 10 and an aerosol-generating article 1. The aerosol-generating device 10 comprises a housing 4, extending between a mouth end 2 and a distal end (not shown). The housing 4 comprises a peripheral wall 6. The peripheral wall 6 defines a device cavity for receiving an aerosol-generating article 1. An extractor 8 is located within the device cavity defined by the peripheral wall 6 and is configured to receive and extract the aerosol-generating article 1 from the device cavity. The extractor 8 comprises a body having an open, mouth end and a closed end. The closed end of the extractor 8 body is defined by an end-wall. The device cavity is further defined by a closed, distal end and an open, mouth end. The mouth end of the device cavity is located at the mouth end of the aerosol-generating device 10. The aerosol-generating article 1 is configured to be received through the mouth end of the device cavity and is configured to abut either the closed end of the device cavity or a closed end of the extractor 8. The closed end of the extractor 8 is configured to substantially abut, or to be in proximity of, the closed end of the device cavity.

[0174] An air-flow path 32 is defined around the external surface of the extractor 8 and between the peripheral wall 6 of the aerosol-generating device housing 4 and an external surface of the extractor 8. Air is allowed to enter the extractor 8 via an aperture (not shown) present at the closed end of the extractor 8 body. This enables air to flow through the rod of aerosol-forming substrate 12 and further downstream through the rest of the aerosol-generating article 1 upon suction being created by user at the mouth end of the article 1.

[0175] The aerosol-generating device 10 further comprises a heater (not shown) and a power source (not shown) for supplying power to the heater. A controller (not shown) is also provided to control such supply of power to the heater. The heater is configured to heat the aerosol-generating article 1 during use, when the aerosol-generating article 1 is received within the device 10.

[0176] The aerosol-generating article 1 comprises a rod of aerosol-forming substrate 12, a hollow support segment 14, a hollow tubular segment 16 and a mouthpiece segment 18. These four elements are arranged in an end-to-end, longitudinal alignment and are circumscribed by a wrapper 22 to form the aerosol-generating article 1. The aerosol-generating article 1 shown in FIG. 1 is particularly suitable for use with an electrically operated aerosol-generating device 1 comprising a heater for heating the rod of aerosol-forming substrate 12.

[0177] The rod of aerosol-forming substrate 12 has a length of about 12 millimetres and a diameter of about 7 millimetres. The rod 12 is cylindrical in shape and has a substantially circular cross-section. The rod 12 comprises a gathered sheet of homogenized tobacco material. The hollow cellulose acetate tube (hollow support segment) 14 has a length of about 8 millimetres and a thickness of the tube wall is about 1.75 millimetre.

[0178] The mouthpiece segment 18 comprises a plug of cellulose acetate tow of 8 denier per filament and has a length of about 12 millimetres.

[0179] The hollow tubular segment 16 is provided as a cylindrical tube having a length of about 13 millimetres and a thickness of the tube wall is about 175 micrometres.

[0180] The aerosol-generating article 1 comprises a ventilation zone 26 provided at least about 5 millimetres from an upstream end of the mouthpiece segment 18. Thus, the ventilation zone 26 is at about 18 millimetres from the downstream end of the aerosol-generating article 1. Thus, the ventilation zone 26 is at least about 21 millimetres from a downstream end of the rod 12. The ventilation zone 26 comprises a series or line of perforations extending through the wrapper 22.

[0181] As shown in FIG. 1, the ventilation zone 26 of the aerosol-generating article 1 is exposed when the aerosol-generating article 1 is received within the device cavity.

[0182] FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of an aerosol-generating system 200 comprising an aerosol-generating device 20 and the aerosol-generating article 1. The aerosol-generating device 20 comprises an extractor 8.

[0183] The aerosol-generating device 20 further comprises a ventilation chamber 28 configured to circumscribe the ventilation zone 26 of the aerosol-generating article 1 when received within the aerosol-generating device 20. The device cavity has a total length of 30 mm and the ventilation chamber 28 has a length of 5 mm. The ventilation chamber 28 has a longitudinal cross-sectional shape that is rectangular. The ventilation chamber 28 is also annular such that the ventilation chamber 28 extends around the entire inner periphery of the peripheral wall 6. During use, the ventilation chamber 28 circumscribes the outer periphery of the aerosol-generating article 1.

[0184] The ventilation chamber 28 is configured to be in fluid communication with the ventilation zone 26 of the article 1 and the exterior of the aerosol-generating device 20 via the mouth end of the device 10. The ventilation chamber 28 is also configured to be in fluid communication with the air-flow path 32 defined around the extractor 8. As shown in FIG. 2, the ventilation chamber 28 is defined within the thickness of the peripheral wall 6.

[0185] As shown in FIG. 2, the ventilation chamber 28 is located away from the mouth end 2 of the aerosol-generating device 20. The ventilation chamber 28 is not in direct fluid communication with the exterior of the aerosol-generating device 20. The ventilation chamber 28 is in fluid communication with the exterior of the aerosol-generating device 20 through a plurality of chamber inlets 24. Each chamber inlet 24 extends between the ventilation chamber 28 and the mouth end 2 of the aerosol-generating device 20 so as to establish fluid communication between the ventilation chamber 28 and the mouth end 2 of the aerosol-generating device 20.

[0186] Each chamber inlet 24 has a circular cross-section. The diameter of each chamber inlet 24 is substantially smaller than the depth (that is, the radial depth) of the ventilation chamber 28. As shown in FIG. 2, the depth of the ventilation chamber 28 is more than five times the diameter of the chamber inlet 24.

[0187] During use of the above described aerosol-generating system 200, when the aerosol-generating article 1 is received within the cavity of the aerosol-generating device 20, the ventilation zone 26 of the aerosol-generating article 1 cannot be directly blocked by a consumer. This is a result of the overlap of the peripheral wall 6 with the ventilation zone 26.