Aerosol generating article having improved mouth end cavity

Abstract

An aerosol-generating article (10) comprising: an aerosol generating substrate (12); and a mouthpiece (14) disposed downstream of the aerosol-generating substrate (12). The mouthpiece (14) comprises a hollow tubular segment (24) at its downstream end defining a mouth end cavity (40). The hollow tubular segment (24) comprises a hollow tube (31) of crimped fibrous material, and a plurality of non-crimped fibers (35) extending along and affixed to the inner surface (311) of the hollow tube (31).

Claims

1. An aerosol-generating article comprising: an aerosol-generating substrate and a mouthpiece disposed downstream of the aerosol-generating substrate, the mouthpiece comprising: a hollow tubular segment at its downstream end defining a mouth end cavity, the hollow tubular segment comprising: a hollow tube of crimped fibrous material; and a plurality of non-crimped fibers extending along and affixed to the inner surface of the hollow tube, wherein (i) the hollow tube of crimped fibrous material and (ii) the plurality of non-crimped fibers extending along and affixed to the inner surface of the hollow tube together form the hollow tubular segment.

2. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein each of the non-crimped fibers have a colour that is different from the colour of crimped fibers forming the hollow tube of crimped fibrous material.

3. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the non-crimped fibers have a denier per filament of at least 6.

4. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the non-crimped fibers have a total denier of from about 6,000 to about 20,000.

5. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the non-crimped fibers form a substantially continuous layer covering the inner surface of the hollow tube of crimped fibrous material.

6. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 5, wherein the substantially continuous layer covers the entire inner surface of the hollow tube of crimped fibrous material.

7. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 5, wherein the substantially continuous layer has a thickness of from about 300 microns to about 500 microns.

8. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the non-crimped fibers comprise an acetate ester of cellulose.

9. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, further comprising a binder disposed between the plurality of non-crimped fibers and the inner surface of the hollow tube.

10. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 9, wherein the binder comprises an ester of glycerol.

11. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein about 600 to about 800 non-crimped fibers are affixed to the inner surface of the hollow tube.

12. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of non-crimped fibers extend substantially in the longitudinal direction of the aerosol-generating article.

13. A hollow tubular segment for a mouthpiece of an aerosol-generating article, the segment comprising: a hollow tube of crimped fibrous material, and a plurality of non-crimped fibers extending along and affixed to the inner surface of the hollow tub, wherein (i) the hollow tube of crimped fibrous material and (ii) the plurality of non-crimped fibers extending along and affixed to the inner surface of the hollow tube together form the hollow tubular segment.

14. A method of forming a hollow tubular segment for a mouthpiece of an aerosol-generating article, the method comprising: conveying a first continuous band of crimped fibers; conveying a second continuous band of non-crimped fibers; shaping a portion of the first continuous band into a substantially annular shape having an outer surface and an inner surface; conveying the second continuous band into contact with the inner surface of the substantially annular shaped portion of the first continuous band; and affixing the contacted portions together and cutting a segment of the affixed portions from the continuous band to form a hollow tubular segment for a mouthpiece of an aerosol-generating article such that (i) the crimped fibers and (ii) the non-crimped fibers together form the hollow tubular segment.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: spraying a binder onto the annular shaped portion such that at least some binder resides on the inner surface of the annular shaped portion, prior to affixing the contacted portions together.

Description

(1) Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows an aerosol-generating article in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a view of the aerosol-generating article of FIG. 1 with the mouthpiece unwrapped; and

(4) FIG. 3 shows a cross sectional view of the hollow tubular segment of FIG. 2 as taken perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aerosol-generating article.

(5) FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an aerosol-generating article 10 in accordance with a first embodiment the present invention. The article is in the form of a smoking article. The smoking article 10 comprises an aerosol forming substrate in the form of wrapped rod 12 of tobacco cut filler. The rod 12 is attached at one end to a mouthpiece, in the form of axially aligned filter 14. A band of tipping paper 16 circumscribes the filter 14 and a portion 120 of the wrapped rod 12 of tobacco to join together the two portions of the smoking article 10.

(6) As shown in FIG. 2, the filter 14 comprises a hollow tubular segment 24. The hollow tubular segment 24 comprises a hollow tube 31 of crimped fibrous material, in the form of cellulose acetate tow. The hollow tubular segment 24 is at the downstream end of the filter 14, and defines a mouth end cavity 40 of the article 10. Upstream of the hollow tubular segment 24 is a filter segment 30, also formed of fibrous material, such as cellulose acetate tow. The filter segment 30 is adjacent to the hollow tubular segment 24. The filter segment 30 and hollow tubular segment 24 are secured to one another by a circumscribing combining plug wrap 17.

(7) As can be best seen from FIG. 3, in addition to comprising the hollow tube of crimped fibrous material 31, the hollow tubular segment 24 also comprises a plurality of non-crimped fibers 35. The plurality of non-crimped fibers 35 extend along and are affixed to the inner surface of the hollow tube 31. The plurality of non-crimped fibers 35 extend along the entire length of the hollow tube 31 and form a substantially continuous layer covering the inner surface of the hollow tube 31 of crimped fibrous material. This means that the inner surface of the hollow tubular segment 24 is formed by the inner surface 351 of the substantially continuous layer of non-crimped fibers 35. The thickness of the continuous layer of non-crimped fibers 35 relative to the thickness of the hollow tube 31 is not shown to scale in FIG. 3. The continuous layer of non-crimped fibers 35 may be secured to the hollow tube 31 by way of a binder, by way of an adhesive or by way of both a binder and an adhesive. The continuous layer of non-crimped fibers 35 may have a colour that is different to the colour of the hollow tube 31.