Hot Pressed Tobacco Substrate

Abstract

A method brings an aerosol releasing substrate for use in a heat-not-burn device into a stable shape, wherein the aerosol releasing substrate contains: 20-70% aerosol former as well as tobacco particles and/or an inhalable agent, which contains at least one of a stimulant and/or a flavor. The aerosol releasing substrate also contains a gelling agent for gelling the aerosol releasing substrate and a degradation preventing and/or thickening stabilizer. The method includes the steps of: a) producing the aerosol releasing substrate and b) pressing the aerosol releasing substrate with pressure and heat and by using a mold into a desired shape. An aerosol releasing substrate for use in a heat-not-burn device, is an air permeable compressed mass and includes tobacco particles and/or an inhalable agent, a gelling agent, a degradation preventing and/or thickening stabilizer, as well as 20-70% aerosol former.

Claims

1. A method to bring an aerosol releasing substrate for use in a heat-not-burn device into a stable shape, wherein the aerosol releasing substrate comprises: 20-70% aerosol former, tobacco particles and/or an inhalable agent, which contains at least one of a stimulant and/or a flavor, a gelling agent for gelling the aerosol releasing substrate and a degradation preventing and/or thickening stabilizer, comprising the steps of: a. producing said aerosol releasing substrate, and b. pressing said aerosol releasing substrate with pressure and heat and by using a mold into a desired shape.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: temperatures T above 60° C. and temperatures T below 200° C. are used.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the aerosol releasing substrate is pressed in the mold by press forming the substrate under pressures above 1 bar pressures below 50 bars.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the aerosol releasing substrate is wrapped in paper sheet layer.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the aerosol releasing substrate is pressed into a stably shaped sheet.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: the sheet of aerosol releasing substrate is pressed to a thickness smaller than 5 mm.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein: the step of pressing further comprises forming grooves or recesses on at least one side of the sheet.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the aerosol releasing substrate is a granular or foam material before pressing.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the substrate is produced by adding the gelling agent in an amount greater than 2% and smaller than 12% by weight of the aerosol releasing substrate.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the substrate is produced by adding the degradation preventing and/or thickening stabilizer in an amount greater than 8% and smaller than 30%, by weight of the aerosol releasing substrate.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein: the step of producing includes mixing the aerosol former with the tobacco particles and/or the inhalable agent, the gelling agent and the degradation preventing and/or thickening stabilizer to create a mixture, followed by aging the mixture for at least 4 hours.

12. An aerosol releasing substrate for use in a heat-not-burn device, the aerosol releasing substrate being air permeable and comprising: tobacco particles and/or an inhalable agent, which contains at least one of a stimulant and/or a flavor, a gelling agent for gelling the aerosol releasing substrate, a degradation preventing and/or thickening stabilizer, and 20-70% aerosol former, wherein the aerosol releasing substrate is a compressed mass.

13. The substrate according to claim 12, wherein: the gelling agent is a non-protein containing polysaccharide and/or comprise gellan gum, lecithin, agar and/or mixtures thereof.

14. The substrate according to claim 12, wherein: the aerosol former comprises glycerol, propylene glycol, ethanol and/or water.

15. The substrate according to claim 12, wherein: the aerosol former comprises propylene glycol and glycerol, and a ratio of the propylene glycol to the glycerol is between 80:20 and 20:80.

16. The substrate according to claim 12, wherein: the aerosol releasing substrate has a sheet shape.

17. The substrate according to claim 16, wherein: the sheet comprises grooves or recesses on at least one side of the sheet.

18. The substrate according to claim 12, wherein: the aerosol releasing substrate has a thickness greater than 0.1 mm, and smaller than 5 mm.

19. The substrate according to claim 18, wherein: the aerosol releasing substrate has a width greater than 5 mm, and smaller than 30 mm, and a length greater than 5 mm and smaller than 30 mm.

20. The substrate according to claim 12, wherein: the gelling agent is in an amount greater than 2%, smaller than 12%, by weight of the aerosol releasing substrate.

21. The substrate according to claim 12, wherein: the degradation preventing and/or thickening stabilizer is in an amount greater than 8% and smaller than 30% by weight of the aerosol releasing substrate.

22. A method of using the substrate according to claim 12, comprising: heating the substrate by an oven at volatilization temperatures of the aerosol former in a heat-not-burn device to deliver aerosol.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] Further advantages, objectives and features of the present invention will be described, by way of example only, in the following description with reference to the appended figures. In the figures, like components in different embodiments can exhibit the same reference symbols.

[0047] The figures show:

[0048] FIG. 1A method to bring an aerosol releasing substrate into a stable shape illustrated in a chart.

[0049] FIG. 2A schematic view of a compressed aerosol releasing substrate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] In FIG. 1 a method M to bring an aerosol releasing substrate into a stable shape 4 is illustrated. In first step 1, the aerosol releasing substrate is produced. Preferably the aerosol releasing substrate contains between 30% and 60%, ideally between 40% and 50% aerosol former by weight of the aerosol releasing substrate. The aerosol former ideally comprises between 2% and 6% water as well as between 10% and 20% propylene glycol and between 20% and 30% glycerol by weight of the substrate. The aerosol former further comprises water in an amount greater than 1%, preferably greater than 2%, preferably greater than 3% and/or smaller than 20%, preferably smaller than 10%, preferably smaller than 6% and ideally between 2% and 5% by weight of the aerosol releasing substrate.

[0051] Preferably, the aerosol releasing substrate contains a gelling agent, in particular in the form of gellan gum, in an amount greater than 2%, preferably equal to or greater than 4% and/or smaller than 12%, preferably smaller than 10%, preferably smaller than 8% and ideally between 5% and 8% by weight of the aerosol releasing substrate. For relatively high tobacco content such as above 45 wt. %, for example of about 50 wt. %, the gellan gum may be present in an amount of about 3 to 6 wt. %, preferably of about 3.5 to 5.5 wt. %.

[0052] The aerosol releasing substrate further comprises a degradation preventing and/or thickening stabilizer, especially based on cellulose and in particular based on a cellulose derivate, in an amount greater than 8%, preferably greater than 10%, preferably equal to or greater than 12%and/or smaller than 30%, preferably smaller than 25%, preferably smaller than 20% and ideally between 14% and 18% by weight of the aerosol releasing substrate. For relatively high tobacco content such as above 40 wt. %, such as about 50 wt. %, the stabilizer may be present in an amount of about 8 to 15 wt. %, preferably of about 10 to 13 wt. %.

[0053] Ideally, a content of tobacco and/or inhalable agent in the aerosol releasing substrate is greater than 5%, preferably greater than 10% and preferably greater than 20% and/or smaller than 70%, preferably smaller than 60%, preferably smaller than 40% and ideally, between 30% and 40% by weight of the aerosol releasing substrate. The sizes of tobacco particles are preferably below 800 μm, preferably below 700 μm and ideally, below 600 μm.

[0054] After the ingredients of the aerosol releasing substrate have been mixed and processed to provide the aerosol releasing substrate, the aerosol releasing substrate is preferably brought into a granular form 1a with preferred granular sizes between 1 mm and 3 mm. It is also possible, that the aerosol releasing substrate has a foam structure 3b before pressing.

[0055] In a second step 2, the aerosol releasing substrate is pressed into a solid and stable form. A mold with a male and a female part is used to press the aerosol releasing substrate into its desired shape. The mold provides slots, with which the aerosol generating substrate is pressed into a sheet shaped form with grooves and/or recesses. Preferably the slots are arranged in air-flow direction. Ideally, the aerosol releasing substrate is pressed together with paper layers W, wherein each paper layer preferably has a grammage between 10 g/m.sup.2 and 15 g/m.sup.2, a thickness between 40 μm and 45 μm, an air permeability below 1.100 I/m.sup.2 and/or a moisture below 7%. Preferably, the substrate is pressed together with at least a first paper layer on a first side and, in particular a second paper layer on an opposing second side of the pressed substrate.

[0056] The aerosol releasing substrate is pressed under conditions with a temperature T that is in the range of between 90° C. and 120° C. and/or a pressure P that is between 5 and 15 bars.

[0057] After pressing the aerosol releasing substrate to a desired thickness of between 1 mm and 2 mm, it is cut in a third step 3 to a desired final shape 4 shown in FIG. 2. Ideally, the compressed aerosol releasing substrate 4 in its final shape has a weight greater than 50 mg, preferably greater 100 mg, preferably greater than 150 mg and/or lower than 400 mg, preferably lower than 350 mg, preferably lower than 300 mg.

[0058] After cutting 3 the compressed aerosol releasing substrate 4 is rectangular with a width 4b and/or length 4c between 10 mm and 20 mm (see FIG. 2). Preferably, the compressed aerosol releasing substrate 4 has grooves 4a and/or recesses, which extend in length 4c or width 4d direction of the sheet shaped substrate 4. The grooves and/or recesses are arranged on a first and/or second side, which opposes the first side. Ideally, the thickness of the compressed aerosol releasing substrate is smaller than the width 4b and/or the length 4c of the aerosol releasing substrate. Preferably, the width 4b is equal to, larger or smaller than the length 4d of aerosol releasing substrate.

[0059] In general, the substrate weight is correlated with TPM (Total Particle Matter) and with heat up time before the first puff. The higher the weight the more TPM released and the longer the heat-up time. The shape has no significant impact on TPM but slotted substrate required less heat-up time. However, for a same amount substrate and same heating conditions, the TPM of the substrate of the invention is higher than the TPM of a standard tobacco reconstituted substrate.

EXAMPLES

[0060] The following two examples show preferred embodiments of the aerosol releasing substrate. The following numbers are given in wt. % calculated with respect to the overall weight of the complete mixture.

Example 1

[0061] A preferred embodiment of the aerosol releasing substrate comprises:

[0062] 33.0% tobacco particles,

[0063] 6.8% gellan gum,

[0064] 16.4% binder,

[0065] 3.8% water,

[0066] 24.0% glycerin,

[0067] 16.0% propylenglycol.

[0068] The tobacco particles comprise nicotine as the stimulant. The tobacco particle size in this example is preferably 600 μm. The water is used to activate the binder, which together form the thickening stabilizer. Preferably, the binder is carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), more preferred Ceroga 4550 C.

Example 2

[0069] Another preferred embodiment of the aerosol releasing substrate comprises:

[0070] 49.0% tobacco particles,

[0071] 4.7% gellan gum,

[0072] 11.7% binder,

[0073] 2.8% water,

[0074] 19.3% glycerin,

[0075] 12.5% propylenglycol.

[0076] The tobacco particles comprise nicotine as the stimulant. Due to the higher amount of tobacco particles, the nicotine release is higher in comparison to example 1 together with a higher sensorial impact than example 1. The tobacco particle size in this example is preferably 600 μm. The water is used to activate the binder, which together form the thickening stabilizer. Preferably, the binder is carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), more preferred Ceroga 4550 C. The aerosol releasing substrates of examples 1 and 2 comprise the same visual and tactile properties.

[0077] In the following an example of a preferred embodiment of the method to produce the aerosol releasing substrate is presented. This preferred embodiment of the method is preferably combined with one of the above given examples 1 and 2.

[0078] First the propylene glycol, the glycerin and the water are mixed in a mixing bowl of a Kenwood mixer and mixed for 3 minutes with a mixing speed on level 5. Subsequently, the gellan gum is added to the mixture at a minimum mixing speed and then mixed with the other ingredients for 3 minutes with a mixing speed on level 5. Next, the tobacco particles are added to the mixture at a minimum mixing speed and then mixed with the other ingredients for 3 minutes with a mixing speed on level 5. Subsequently, the binder is added to the mixture, preferably at a minimum mixing speed, and then mixed with the other ingredients for 1 minute with a mixing speed on level 5. Afterwards, the mixing bowl is removed from the mixer and the mixture is further mixed by hand, or in alternative to that in the mixer at a minimum mixing speed, until a homogeneous color of the mixture is achieved. Next, the mixture is stored in a closed container for 24 hours. Subsequently the mixture is sieved through a 1.7 mm sieve for 5 minutes at 280 rpm. This sieving step is repeated until all of the mixture is sieved. Now the aerosol releasing substrate is finished. The aerosol releasing substrate now preferably comprises a moisture content of 15.94%. Subsequently, the aerosol releasing substrate is pressed with pressure and heat and by using a mold into the desired shape.

[0079] The applicant reserves his right to claim all features disclosed in the application document as being an essential feature of the invention, as long as they are new, individually or in combination, in view of the prior art. Furthermore, it is noted that in the figures features are described, which can be advantageous individually. Someone skilled in the art will directly recognize that a specific feature being disclosed in a figure can be advantageous also without the adoption of further features from this figure. Furthermore, someone skilled in the art will recognize that advantages can evolve from a combination of diverse features being disclosed in one or various figures.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0080] 1. Step 1

[0081] 1a. Granular aerosol releasing substrate

[0082] 1b. Foam structured aerosol releasing substrate

[0083] 2. Step 2

[0084] 3. Step 3

[0085] 4. Compressed aerosol releasing substrate

[0086] 4a. Grooves/Recesses

[0087] 4b. Width

[0088] 4c. Length

[0089] M. Method to bring an aerosol releasing substrate into a stable shape

[0090] P. Pressure

[0091] T. Temperature

[0092] W. Paper layer