AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE WITH COATED SUSCEPTOR ELEMENT

Abstract

An aerosol-generating article is provided for producing an inhalable aerosol upon heating, the aerosol-generating article including: an aerosol-generating element including aerosol-generating substrate including a homogenised tobacco material including aerosol former; and a susceptor arranged within the aerosol-generating element and configured to heat the homogenised tobacco material, the susceptor being coated with a coating composition including at least 20 percent by weight of an aerosol former, the coating composition further including about 0.5 percent by weight to about 10 percent by weight of isolated nicotine or a monoprotic nicotine salt derived from tobacco or both. A method of manufacturing the aerosol-generating article for generating an inhalable aerosol upon heating is also provided.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. An aerosol-generating article for producing an inhalable aerosol upon heating, the aerosol-generating article comprising: an aerosol-generating element comprising aerosol-generating substrate, wherein the aerosol-generating substrate comprises a homogenised tobacco material comprising aerosol former; and a susceptor arranged within the aerosol-generating element and configured to heat the homogenised tobacco material, the susceptor being coated with a coating composition comprising at least 20 percent by weight of an aerosol former, the coating composition further comprising about 0.5 percent by weight to about 10 percent by weight of isolated nicotine or a monoprotic nicotine salt derived from tobacco or both.

16. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the susceptor is surrounded by the homogenised tobacco material.

17. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the susceptor is an elongate susceptor and extends longitudinally within the aerosol-generating element.

18. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the homogenised tobacco material is provided as a gathered sheet of homogenised tobacco material.

19. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the coating composition further comprises at least one gelling agent that forms a solid medium, the aerosol former being dispersed in the solid medium, with the isolated nicotine or monoprotic nicotine salt or both dispersed in the aerosol former.

20. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 19, wherein the gelling agent comprises carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) or hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) or both and the aerosol former comprises glycerol.

21. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the aerosol former accounts for at least about 50 percent by weight of the coating composition.

22. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein the coating composition forms a layer on an outer surface of the susceptor, the layer having a thickness of at least about 1 micrometre.

23. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, wherein a content of aerosol former in the coating composition amounts for at least about 0.25 percent of an overall content of the aerosol former in the aerosol-generating article.

24. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, further comprising a downstream section at a location downstream of the aerosol-generating element, wherein the downstream section comprises a support element located immediately downstream of the aerosol-generating element, the support element being in longitudinal alignment with the aerosol-generating element and comprising a hollow tubular segment.

25. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 24, further comprising a mouthpiece element at a location downstream of the support element.

26. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 15, further comprising an upstream section at a location upstream of the aerosol-generating element, the upstream section comprising an upstream element positioned immediately upstream of the aerosol-generating element and having a resistance to draw (RTD) of less than about 80 millimetres H.sub.2O.

27. A method of manufacturing an aerosol-generating article for generating an inhalable aerosol upon heating, the method comprising: providing an aerosol-generating substrate comprising a homogenised tobacco material comprising aerosol former; providing a protected coated susceptor, wherein the protected coated susceptor comprises a susceptor element coated with a coating composition comprising aerosol former and about 0.5 percent by weight to about 10 percent by weight of isolated nicotine or a monoprotic nicotine salt derived from tobacco or both, and a protective layer applied over the coating composition; removing the protective layer to expose the coating composition and provide an unprotected coated susceptor; and combining the unprotected coated susceptor and the aerosol-generating substrate to form an aerosol-generating element, such that the unprotected coated susceptor is arranged within the aerosol-generating element and configured to heat the homogenised tobacco material.

28. A method of manufacturing an aerosol-generating article for generating an inhalable aerosol upon heating, the method comprising: providing an aerosol-generating substrate comprising a homogenised tobacco material comprising aerosol former; providing a susceptor element; coating the susceptor element with a coating composition comprising aerosol former and about 0.5 percent by weight to about 10 percent by weight of isolated nicotine or a monoprotic nicotine salt derived from tobacco or both to provide a coated susceptor; and combining the coated susceptor and the aerosol-generating substrate to form an aerosol-generating element, such that the coated susceptor is arranged within the aerosol-generating element and configured to heat the homogenised tobacco material.

Description

[0241] In the following, the invention will be further described with reference to the drawings of the accompanying Figures, wherein:

[0242] FIG. 1 shows qualitatively hoe aerosol delivery varies over time during use of an aerosol-generating article in accordance with the present invention;

[0243] FIG. 2 shows a schematic side sectional view of an aerosol-generating article in accordance with the invention; and

[0244] FIG. 3 shows a schematic perspective view of a coated susceptor for use in an aerosol-generating article in accordance with the invention.

[0245] The aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 2 comprises an aerosol-generating element 12 which comprises aerosol-generating substrate, and a downstream section 14 at a location downstream of the aerosol-generating element 12. Further, the aerosol-generating article 10 comprises an upstream section 16 at a location upstream of the aerosol-generating element 12. Thus, the aerosol-generating article 10 extends from an upstream or distal end 18 to a downstream or mouth end 20.

[0246] The aerosol-generating article has an overall length of about 45 millimetres.

[0247] The downstream section 14 comprises a support element 22 located immediately downstream of the aerosol-generating element 12, the support element 22 being in longitudinal alignment with the aerosol-generating element 12. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the upstream end of the support element 18 abuts the downstream end of the aerosol-generating element 12.

[0248] The support element 22 comprises a hollow tubular segment 24. The hollow tubular segment 24 is provided in the form of a hollow cylindrical tube made of cellulose acetate. The hollow tubular segment 24 defines an internal cavity 26 that extends all the way from an upstream end 30 of the hollow tubular segment to a downstream end 32 of the hollow tubular segment 20. The internal cavity 26 is substantially empty, and so substantially unrestricted airflow is enabled along the internal cavity 26. The hollow tubular segment 24and, as a consequence, the support element 22does not substantially contribute to the overall RTD of the aerosol-generating article 10. In more detail, the RTD of the first hollow tubular segment 24 (which is essentially the RTD of the support element 22) is substantially 0 millimetres H.sub.2O.

[0249] The hollow tubular segment 24 has a length of about 16 millimetres, an external diameter of about 7.25 millimetres, and an internal diameter of about 1.9 millimetres. Thus, a thickness of a peripheral wall of the first hollow tubular segment 26 is about 2.67 millimetres.

[0250] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the downstream section 14 further comprises a mouthpiece element 42 at a location downstream of the support element 22. In more detail, the mouthpiece element 42 is positioned immediately downstream of the support element 22. As shown in the drawing of FIG. 2, an upstream end of the mouthpiece element 42 abuts the downstream end of the support element 22.

[0251] The mouthpiece element 42 is provided in the form of a cylindrical plug of low-density cellulose acetate.

[0252] The mouthpiece element 42 has a length of about 12 millimetres and an external diameter of about 7.25 millimetres. The RTD of the mouthpiece element 42 is about 12 millimetres H.sub.2O.

[0253] The aerosol-generating element 12 comprises a sheet of homogenised tobacco material gathered to form a rod having an external diameter of about 7.25 millimetres and a length of about 12 millimetres.

[0254] The aerosol-generating article 10 further comprises an elongate susceptor 44 within the aerosol-generating substrate 12. In more detail, the susceptor 44 is arranged substantially longitudinally within the aerosol-generating substrate, such as to be approximately parallel to the longitudinal direction of the aerosol-generating element 12. As shown in the drawing of FIG. 2, the susceptor 44 is positioned in a radially central position within the rod and extends effectively along the longitudinal axis of the aerosol-generating element 12.

[0255] The susceptor 44 extends all the way from an upstream end to a downstream end of the aerosol-generating element 12. In effect, the susceptor 44 has substantially the same length as the aerosol-generating element.

[0256] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the susceptor 44 is provided in the form of a metallic strip and has a length of about 12 millimetres, a thickness of about 60 micrometres, and a width of about 4 millimetres.

[0257] The upstream section 16 comprises an upstream element 46 located immediately upstream of the aerosol-generating element 12, the upstream element 46 being in longitudinal alignment with the aerosol-generating element 12. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the downstream end of the upstream element 46 abuts the upstream end of the aerosol-generating element 12. This advantageously prevents the susceptor 44 from being dislodged. Further, this ensures that the consumer cannot accidentally contact the heated susceptor 44 after use.

[0258] The upstream element 46 is provided in the form of a cylindrical plug of cellulose acetate circumscribed by a stiff wrapper. The upstream element 46 has a length of about 5 millimetres. The RTD of the upstream element 46 is about 30 millimetres H.sub.2O.

[0259] The susceptor 44 is shown in more detail in FIG. 3. The outer surface of the metallic strip is coated with a layer 48 of a coating composition, the layer 48 having a thickness of about 30 micrometres.

[0260] An example of a suitable coating composition is shown below in Table 1:

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Coating composition Amount Component (% by weight) Water 20 Glycerol 73.5 Nicotine 1.5 Gelling agent 3 Lactic acid 1 Divalent cations 1

[0261] As shown in FIG. 3, both a top side 50 and a bottom side of 52 the strip of the susceptor 44 are coated with a respective layer 54, 56 comprising the coating composition. Further, FIG. 3 shows how in accordance with one of the manufacturing methods described above, the susceptor 44 may be provided with protective layers 58, 60 applied over the layers 54, 56 comprising the coating composition.

[0262] For the purpose of the present description and of the appended claims, except where otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing amounts, quantities, percentages, and so forth, are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term about. Also, all ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein. In this context, therefore, a number A is understood as A10% of A. Within this context, a number A may be considered to include numerical values that are within general standard error for the measurement of the property that the number A modifies. The number A, in some instances as used in the appended claims, may deviate by the percentages enumerated above provided that the amount by which A deviates does not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimed invention. Also, all ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein.