Aerosol-generating system and aerosol-generating article for use in such a system

Abstract

An aerosol-generating article is provided, including a cartridge, the cartridge including: a first compartment including a nicotine source; a second compartment including a second substance source; a first susceptor arranged within the nicotine source in the first compartment and being configured to heat the nicotine source; and a second susceptor arranged within the second substance source in the second compartment and being configured to heat the second substance source.

Claims

1. An aerosol-generating article comprising a cartridge, the cartridge comprising: a first compartment comprising a nicotine source; a second compartment comprising a delivery enhancing compound to react with nicotine vapour in a gas phase to form an aerosol; a first susceptor arranged within the nicotine source in the first compartment and being configured to heat the nicotine source; and a second susceptor arranged within the delivery enhancing compound in the second compartment and being configured to heat the source delivery enhancing compound, wherein the first susceptor and the second susceptor differ in at least one of shape, size, material, Curie temperature, amount, and distribution, and are adapted to heat the nicotine source and the second substance source to vaporize a desired amount of nicotine and a desired amount of the second substance source such as to achieve an efficient reaction stoichiometry.

2. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the first compartment and the second compartment are arranged in parallel within the cartridge.

3. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first susceptor and the second susceptor is arranged in a central portion of the respective first compartment or the second compartment.

4. The aerosol-generating article according claim 1, wherein at least one of the first susceptor and the second susceptor is an elongate susceptor.

5. The aerosol-generating article according claim 4, wherein the elongate first susceptor or second susceptor is in the shape of a susceptor strip.

6. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, the cartridge further comprising a separation wall, separating the first compartment from the second compartment, wherein the separation wall comprises thermally insulating material.

7. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein an outer cartridge wall comprises thermally insulating material.

8. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 6, wherein the separation wall and an outer cartridge wall are made of thermally insulating material.

9. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first or second susceptor is arranged substantially longitudinally within the respective first or second compartment or within the respective source in the compartment.

10. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge further comprises a third compartment comprising an aerosol-modifying agent source.

11. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 10, wherein the third compartment comprises a third susceptor arranged in the third compartment and being configured to heat the aerosol-modifying agent source in the third compartment.

12. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 10, wherein the third compartment is arranged parallel to the first compartment and to the second compartment.

13. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge is substantially cylindrical and one or both of opposed substantially planar end faces of the cartridge is sealed by one or more frangible or removable barriers.

14. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the first susceptor or second susceptor is in direct contact with the respective source.

15. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the first susceptor or second susceptor is embedded in a sorption element arranged in the respective compartment.

16. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein an interior of at least one of the first compartment or second compartment is coated with a thermally conductive material.

17. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, further comprising a mouthpiece.

18. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the first compartment is a first container that comprises the nicotine source inside the first container and the second compartment is a second container that comprises the second substance source inside the second container.

19. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the second substance source is a pyruvic acid or lactic acid source.

20. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the first susceptor is configured to heat the nicotine source to a first temperature and the second susceptor is configured to heat the delivery enhancing compound to a second temperature, wherein the first temperature and the second temperature are different.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention is further described with regard to embodiments, which are illustrated by means of the following drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a two-compartment cartridge with circumferentially arranged inductor coil winding;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal cross section through the cartridge of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a transverse cross section through the cartridge of FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 4 schematically shows an aerosol-generating device for use in the aerosol-generating system according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) In FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 a cartridge with a tubular housing 1 is illustrated. The housing 1 is divided by a separation wall 10 into two chambers of semi-circular transverse cross-section 11,12 disposed on either side of the separation wall 10. The chambers 11,12 extend longitudinally between the opposed substantially planar end faces of the cartridge. One of the two chambers forms the first compartment 11 comprising the nicotine source. The other of the two chambers forms the second compartment 12 comprising the second source, for example lactic acid source.

(7) The separation wall 10 extends along the major axis 15 of the cartridge. The nicotine source may comprise a sorption element (not shown), such as a porous plastic sorption element, with nicotine adsorbed thereon, which is arranged in the chamber forming the first compartment 11. The second substance source may comprise a sorption element (not shown), such as a porous plastic sorption element, with lactic acid adsorbed thereon, which is arranged in the chamber forming the second compartment 12.

(8) A first susceptor 21 is arranged longitudinally along the first compartment 11. A second susceptor 22 is arranged longitudinally along the second compartment 12. Both, the first and the second susceptor 21,22 are shaped as susceptor strips, for example, metal strips. The strips are arranged in a central portion of the respective first or second compartment 11,12. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the first susceptor 21 and the second susceptor 22 have a length, which corresponds to the length of the cartridge, as may best be seen in FIG. 2.

(9) Preferably, the separation wall 10 is made of thermally insulating material, while the tubular housing 1 may be made of thermally conducting or thermally insulating material. Preferably, the separation wall 10 is made of thermally insulating polymer material. Preferably, also the tubular housing is made of thermally insulating polymer material. Housing 1 and separation wall 10 may be formed integrally, for example in a molding process.

(10) The cartridge is surrounded by an inductor in the form of a single induction coil 3 for inducing heat in the first susceptor 21 and in the second susceptor 22 arranged in the first and in the second compartments 11,12, respectively.

(11) Preferably, the induction coil 3 is part of an aerosol-generating device. The cartridge or the susceptors 21,22 of the cartridge, respectively, are brought into proximity with the coil 3 by insertion of the cartridge into a cavity of the device provided for receiving the cartridge.

(12) A schematic longitudinal cross-sectional illustration of an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device 6 is shown in FIG. 4. The aerosol-generating device 6 comprises an inductor 61, for example an induction coil 3. The inductor 61 is located adjacent a distal portion 630 of cartridge receiving chamber 63 of the aerosol-generating device 6. In use, the user inserts an aerosol-generating article comprising a cartridge, for example as described in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, into the cartridge receiving chamber 630 of the aerosol-generating device 6 such that the susceptors 21,22 in the cartridge of the aerosol-generating article are located adjacent to the inductor 61.

(13) The aerosol-generating device 6 comprises a battery 64 and electronics 65 that allow the inductor 61 to be actuated. Such actuation may be manually operated or may occur automatically in response to a user drawing on an aerosol-generating article inserted into the cartridge receiving chamber 63 of the aerosol-generating device 6.

(14) When actuated, a high-frequency alternating current is passed through coils of wire that form part of the inductor 61. This causes the inductor 61 to generate a fluctuating electromagnetic field within the distal portion 630 of the cartridge receiving chamber 63 of the device. When an aerosol-generating article is correctly located in the cartridge receiving chamber 63, the first and second susceptors of the article are located within this fluctuating electromagnetic field. The fluctuating field generates at least one of eddy currents and hysteresis losses within the susceptors 21,22, which are heated as a result. The heated susceptors heat the respective nicotine source and second substance source of the aerosol-generating article to a sufficient temperature to form an aerosol. Different temperatures may be achieved in the first and the second susceptors according to the selection of type of susceptor. The type of susceptor may vary, for example, through size, shape, material or distribution in the respective compartment.

(15) The aerosol generated by heating the two sources is drawn downstream through the aerosol-generating article, for example versus the direction of and trough a mouthpiece and may be inhaled by a user.