AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE COMPRISING UPSTREAM ELEMENT

Abstract

An aerosol-generating article is provided including an aerosol-generating substrate and an upstream element located upstream of the aerosol-generating substrate, the upstream element including: a tubular portion defining an inner region of the upstream element, and a convoluted paper sheet defining a plurality of longitudinally extending channels in the inner region, the convoluted paper sheet having a basis weight of less than or equal to about 100 grams per square metre, the sheet having a width of at least about 50 millimetres, and the convoluted paper sheet having a weight of at least about 20 milligrams.

Claims

1.-15. (canceled)

16. An aerosol-generating article comprising an aerosol-generating substrate and an upstream element located upstream of the aerosol-generating substrate, wherein the upstream element comprises: a tubular portion defining an inner region of the upstream element, and a convoluted paper sheet defining a plurality of longitudinally extending channels in the inner region, wherein the convoluted paper sheet has a basis weight of less than or equal to about 100 grams per square metre, wherein the sheet has a width of at least about 50 millimetres, and wherein the convoluted paper sheet has a weight of at least about 20 milligrams.

17. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the convoluted paper sheet has an average weight per unit volume of the inner region of less than or equal to about 500 micrograms per cubic millimetre.

18. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the convoluted paper sheet has an average weight per unit volume of the inner region of at least about 100 micrograms per cubic millimetre.

19. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the convoluted paper sheet has a thickness of less than or equal to about 300 micrometres.

20. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the convoluted paper sheet has a cross-sectional area of at least about 5 square millimetres.

21. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the convoluted paper sheet has a surface area per unit length of at least about 50 square millimetres per millimetre.

22. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the convoluted paper sheet has a length of between about 2 millimetres and about 10 millimetres.

23. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the convoluted paper sheet has an average weight per unit length of at least about 2 milligrams per millimetre.

24. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the convoluted paper sheet has an average weight per unit length of less than or equal to about 20 milligrams per millimetre.

25. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the convoluted paper sheet has a surface area of at least about 250 square millimetres.

26. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the plurality of longitudinally extending channels have a maximum cross-sectional area of less than or equal to about 4 square millimetres.

27. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the upstream element has a resistance-to-draw of less than or equal to about 3 millimetres H.sub.2O per millimetre length of the upstream element.

28. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the aerosol-generating substrate comprises a plurality of shreds of tobacco material having a width of less than or equal to about 2 millimetres.

29. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the upstream element further comprises less than or equal to about 1 percent by weight of aerosol-former on a dry weight basis of the upstream element.

30. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, further comprising a susceptor arranged within the aerosol-generating substrate.

Description

[0618] The present invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0619] FIG. 1 shows a schematic side perspective view of an aerosol-generating article comprising an upstream element in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0620] FIG. 2 shows a schematic side perspective view of the upstream element of the aerosol-generating article shown in FIG. 1.

[0621] FIG. 1 shows an aerosol-generating article 10 having an upstream end 12 and a downstream end 14. The aerosol-generating article 10 comprises an aerosol-generating substrate 16 and an upstream element 18 located upstream of the aerosol-generating substrate 16. As shown in FIG. 1, a downstream end of the upstream element 18 abuts an upstream end of the aerosol-generating substrate 16. The aerosol-generating article 10 further comprises a hollow tubular element 20 located downstream of the aerosol-generating substrate 16, and a mouthpiece element 22 downstream of the hollow tubular element 20. The upstream end 12 of the aerosol-generating article 10 corresponds to the upstream end of the upstream element 18.

[0622] The downstream end 14 of the aerosol-generating article 10 corresponds to a downstream end of the mouthpiece element 22.

[0623] The aerosol-generating article 10 has a total length of about 45 millimetres and an external diameter of about 7.1 millimetres.

[0624] The aerosol-generating substrate 16 comprises a plurality of shreds of tobacco material circumscribed by a plug wrap (not shown). The aerosol-generating substrate 16 comprises about 150 milligrams of tobacco material. The tobacco material comprises from about 13 percent by weight to about 16 percent by weight of glycerine. About 80 percent of the shreds of tobacco material have a width of greater than about 1 millimetre, and about 90 percent of the shreds of tobacco material have a width of greater than about 0.5 millimetres. The density of the aerosol-generating substrate 16 is about 300 milligrams per cubic centimetre.

[0625] The hollow tubular element 20 is a hollow cylindrical tube made of cardboard. The hollow cylindrical tube defines an internal cavity that extends from an upstream end of the hollow tubular element 20 to a downstream end of the hollow tubular element 20. The internal cavity of the hollow tubular element 20 is substantially empty, and so substantially unrestricted airflow is enabled along the internal cavity of the hollow tubular element 20. The hollow tubular element 20 does not substantially contribute to the overall RTD of the aerosol-generating article 10.

[0626] The hollow tubular element 20 has a length of about 21 millimetres, an external diameter of about 7.1 millimetres, and an internal diameter of about 6.7 millimetres. Thus, a thickness of a tubular wall of the hollow tubular element 20 is about 0.2 millimetres.

[0627] The aerosol-generating article 10 comprises a ventilation zone at a location along the hollow tubular element. The ventilation zone comprises a circumferential row of perforations 24 extending through the tubular wall of the hollow tubular element 20, in order to allow air flow into the internal cavity of the hollow tubular element 20 from the exterior of the aerosol-generating article 10.

[0628] An upstream end of the mouthpiece element 22 abuts from a downstream end of the hollow tubular element 20. The mouthpiece element 22 has a length of about 7 mm and an external diameter of about 7.1 mm. The mouthpiece element 22 comprises a segment of low-density, cellulose acetate tow circumscribed by a plug wrap (not shown).

[0629] As shown in FIG. 1, the aerosol-generating article 10 comprises an upstream wrapper 26 circumscribing the upstream element 18, the aerosol-generating substrate 16 and the hollow tubular element 20. The ventilation zone comprises a circumferential row of perforations 28 extending through the upstream wrapper 26. The circumferential row of perforations 28 extending through the upstream wrapper 26 overlies the circumferential row of perforations 24 extending through the tubular wall of the hollow tubular element 20.

[0630] The aerosol-generating article 10 further comprises a downstream tipping wrapper 30 circumscribing the hollow tubular element 20 and the mouthpiece element 22. The tipping wrapper 30 overlies the portion of the upstream wrapper 26 that overlies the hollow tubular element 20. This way the tipping wrapper 30 effectively joins the mouthpiece element 22 to the other components of the aerosol-generating article 10. The ventilation zone may comprise a circumferential row of perforations (not shown) extending through the tipping wrapper 30. The circumferential row of perforations extending through the tipping wrapper 30 may overlie the circumferential row of perforations 28 extending through the upstream wrapper 26 and the circumferential row of perforations 24 extending through the tubular wall of the hollow tubular element 20.

[0631] In FIG. 1, the upstream wrapper 26 and the downstream tipping wrapper 30 of the aerosol-generating article 10 are shown partially unwrapped in order to show the upstream element 18, the aerosol-generating substrate 16 and the hollow tubular element 20 of the aerosol-generating article 10.

[0632] As shown in FIG. 2, the upstream element 18 of the aerosol-generating article 10 comprises a tubular portion 32 defining an inner region of the upstream element 18, and a convoluted sheet 34 defining a plurality of longitudinally extending channels 36 in the inner region. The convoluted sheet 34 and the plurality of longitudinally extending channels 36 extend along the entire length of the upstream element 18.

[0633] The tubular portion 32 is formed from a paper wrapper that circumscribes the convoluted sheet 34. The paper wrapper forming the tubular portion 32 has a thickness of about 50 micrometres.

[0634] The convoluted sheet 34 has a basis weight of about 30 grams per square metre and a surface area of about 850 square millimetres.

[0635] The convoluted sheet 34 is a convoluted paper sheet. The paper sheet used to form the convoluted sheet 34 is rectangular in shape and has a width of about 170 millimetres and a length of about 5 millimetres.

[0636] The convoluted sheet 34 is a crimped and gathered sheet. The convoluted sheet 34 has a plurality of substantially parallel ridges 38 that extend substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis (shown using a dashed and dotted line in FIG. 2) of the upstream element 18. Adjacent ridges 38 are separated by a distance of about 0.5 millimetres.

[0637] The upstream element 18 has a length of about 5 millimetres, an external diameter D of about 7.1 millimetres, and an internal diameter of about 7 millimetres.

[0638] The upstream element 18 is substantially free of aerosol former.

[0639] The specific embodiments and examples described above illustrate, but do not limit, the invention. It is to be understood that other embodiments of the invention may be made and the specific embodiments and examples described herein are not exhaustive.