AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE COMPRISING AN AEROSOL-COOLING ELEMENT WITH PERIPHERAL OPENINGS

Abstract

An aerosol-generating article is provided, including: a rod of aerosol-generating substrate including an aerosol former, the substrate having an aerosol former content of greater than 10 percent on a dry weight basis; a hollow tubular support element immediately downstream of the rod; and a first aerosol-cooling element downstream of the support element and including a hollow tubular segment including peripheral and transverse walls at a location between upstream and downstream ends of the tubular segment such that it defines a first cavity upstream of the transverse wall and a second cavity downstream of the transverse wall, the transverse wall including openings establishing fluid communication between the first and second cavities, and the peripheral wall including openings located at longitudinal positions away from the transverse wall so that fluid communication between an exterior of the tubular segment and at least one of the first and second cavities is established.

Claims

1.-15. (canceled)

16. An aerosol-generating article for producing an aerosol upon heating, the aerosol-generating article comprising: a rod of aerosol-generating substrate comprising an aerosol former, the aerosol-generating substrate having an aerosol former content of greater than 10 percent on a dry weight basis; a hollow tubular support element positioned immediately downstream of the rod of aerosol-generating substrate; and a first aerosol-cooling element positioned downstream of the hollow tubular support element, the aerosol-cooling element comprising a hollow tubular segment, the hollow tubular segment comprising a peripheral wall and a transverse wall at a location between an upstream end and a downstream end of the hollow tubular segment, such that the hollow tubular segment defines a first cavity upstream of the transverse wall and a second cavity downstream of the transverse wall, wherein the transverse wall comprises one or more transverse openings establishing fluid communication between the first cavity and the second cavity, and wherein the peripheral wall comprises one or more peripheral openings located at one or more longitudinal positions away from the transverse wall so that fluid communication between an exterior of the hollow tubular segment and at least one of the first cavity and the second cavity is established.

17. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the one or more peripheral openings comprises one or more upstream openings located upstream of the transverse wall so that fluid communication between the exterior of the hollow tubular segment and the first cavity is established.

18. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the one or more peripheral openings comprises one or more downstream openings located downstream of the transverse wall so that fluid communication between the exterior of the hollow tubular segment and the second cavity is established.

19. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the one or more peripheral openings comprises a plurality of peripheral openings, wherein the plurality of peripheral openings comprises one or more upstream openings located upstream of the transverse wall so that fluid communication between the exterior of the hollow tubular segment and the first cavity is established, and wherein the plurality of peripheral openings comprises one or more downstream openings located downstream of the transverse wall so that fluid communication between the exterior of the hollow tubular segment and the second cavity is established.

20. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 19, wherein an axial length of the one or more upstream openings is less than an axial length of the one or more downstream openings.

21. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the one or more peripheral openings comprises one or more circular openings.

22. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 21, wherein a diameter of the one or more circular openings is at least about 0.5 mm.

23. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 21, wherein a diameter of the one or more circular openings is no greater than about 2 mm.

24. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the one or more peripheral openings comprises one or more elliptical openings.

25. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 24, wherein a surface area of the one or more elliptical openings is between about 15 square mm and about 95 square mm.

26. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, further comprising an annular insulating member located between the peripheral wall and the periphery of the transverse wall.

27. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, further comprising a second aerosol-cooling element downstream of the hollow tubular support element, wherein the first aerosol-cooling element is positioned downstream of the second aerosol-cooling element and extends all the way to a downstream end of the aerosol-generating article.

28. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein the second cavity of the first aerosol-cooling element defines a mouth-end cavity at the downstream end of the aerosol-generating article.

29. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein a length of the first cavity of the first aerosol-cooling element is less than a length of the second cavity of the first aerosol-cooling element.

30. The aerosol-generating article according to claim 16, wherein a ratio between a length of the first cavity and a length of the second cavity is at least about 0.15.

Description

[0165] The invention will now be further described with reference to the figures in which:

[0166] FIG. 1 shows a schematic side sectional view of an aerosol-cooling element in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention;

[0167] FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the aerosol-cooling element of FIG. 1 taken along the plane A-A illustrating the transverse wall of the aerosol-cooling element;

[0168] FIG. 3 shows a side view of an aerosol-cooling element in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention;

[0169] FIG. 4 shows a side view of an aerosol-cooling element in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention;

[0170] FIG. 5 shows a schematic side sectional view of an aerosol-cooling element in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention;

[0171] FIG. 6 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the aerosol-cooling element of FIG. 5 taken along the plane B-B illustrating the transverse wall of the aerosol-cooling element;

[0172] FIG. 7 shows a side view of an aerosol-cooling element in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention;

[0173] FIG. 8 shows a side view of an aerosol-cooling element in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the invention;

[0174] FIG. 9 shows a side sectional view of an aerosol-generating article including an aerosol-cooling element in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention;

[0175] FIG. 10 shows a side sectional view of an aerosol-generating article including an aerosol-cooling element in accordance with the third embodiment of the invention; and

[0176] FIG. 11 shows a schematic side sectional view of an aerosol-generating system comprising an electrically operated aerosol-generating device and the aerosol-generating article shown in FIG. 9.

[0177] An aerosol-cooling element 16 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a hollow tubular segment 8 comprising a peripheral wall 24 having a thickness of about 0.5 millimetres. Further, the hollow tubular segment 8 comprises a transverse wall 26 at a location between an upstream end and a downstream end of the hollow tubular segment 8. As such, the hollow tubular segment 8 defines a first cavity 28 upstream of the transverse wall 26 and a second cavity 30 downstream of the transverse wall 26.

[0178] A transverse central opening 32 is formed into the transverse wall 26 to establish a fluid communication between the first cavity 28 and the second cavity 30. The first, upstream cavity 28 has a length of about 6 millimetres. The second, downstream cavity 30 has a length of about 8 millimetres. Thus, a ratio between a length of the first cavity and a length of the second cavity is about 0.75.

[0179] The central opening 32 is arranged at a central location in the transverse wall 26, and has an equivalent diameter of about 0.5 millimetres. In the embodiments shown in the figures, the transverse wall 26 further comprises a plurality of substantially equally circumferentially spaced apart openings 33 located around the central opening 32.

[0180] In the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the aerosol-cooling element 16 comprises a plurality of upstream peripheral openings 34 located around the first cavity 28 and upstream of the transverse wall 26, and a plurality of downstream peripheral openings 36 located around the second cavity 30 and downstream of the transverse wall 26. The upstream peripheral openings 34 are circular and the downstream peripheral openings 36 are elliptical. In this first embodiment, twelve upstream peripheral openings 34 and twelve downstream peripheral openings 36 are provided.

[0181] In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the aerosol-cooling element 116 comprises a plurality of downstream peripheral openings 36 located around the second cavity 30 and downstream of the transverse wall 26. The downstream peripheral openings 34 are substantially similar to those of the first embodiment, which are elliptical. In this second embodiment, twelve downstream peripheral openings 36 are provided. Wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used to identify components of the article that are present in both embodiments.

[0182] FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 show a third embodiment of the aerosol-cooling element 216. The aerosol-cooling element 216 of the third embodiment has the same features as those of the first embodiment of the aerosol-cooling element 16, but further includes an annular insulating member 38 located between the peripheral wall 24 and the periphery of the transverse wall 26.

[0183] FIG. 8 shows a fourth embodiment of the aerosol-cooling element 316. The aerosol-cooling element 316 of the fourth embodiment has the same features as those of the second embodiment of the aerosol-cooling element 116, but further includes an annular insulating member 38 located between the peripheral wall 24 and the periphery of the transverse wall 26.

[0184] The aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 9 comprises a rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12, a tubular support element 14, and an aerosol-cooling element 16 in accordance with the first embodiment of the invention. These three elements are arranged sequentially and in coaxial alignment and are circumscribed by a wrapper 18 to form the aerosol-generating article 10. The aerosol-generating article 10 has a mouth end or downstream end 20, and an upstream end 22 located at the opposite end of the article to the mouth end 20. The aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 9 is particularly suitable for use with an electrically operated aerosol-generating device comprising a heater for heating the rod of aerosol-generating substrate.

[0185] The rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12 has a length of approximately 12 millimetres and a diameter of approximately 7 millimetres. The rod 12 is cylindrical in shape and has a substantially circular cross-section.

[0186] The tubular support element 14 is provided as a hollow tube of cellulose acetate. It has a length of approximately 8 millimetres. An external diameter of the tubular support element 14 is approximately 7 millimetres. A peripheral wall of the tubular support element 14 has a thickness of about 1.85 millimetres.

[0187] The aerosol-generating article 100 shown in FIG. 10 differs from the aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 9 in that the aerosol-cooling element 216 is in accordance with the third embodiment of the invention. The rest of the components of the aerosol-generating article 100 shown in FIG. 10 are similar to those of the aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 9.

[0188] FIG. 11 shows a portion of an electrically operated aerosol-generating system 200 that utilises a heater blade 210 to heat the rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12 of the aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 9. The heater blade 210 is mounted within an aerosol-generating article chamber within a housing of an electrically operated aerosol-generating device 212. The aerosol-generating device 212 defines a plurality of air holes 214 for allowing air to flow to the aerosol-generating article 10, as illustrated by the arrows in FIG. 11. The aerosol-generating device 212 comprises a power supply and electronics, which are not shown in FIG. 11.

[0189] The aerosol-generating article 10 shown in FIG. 9 is designed to engage with the aerosol-generating device 212 shown in FIG. 11 in order to be consumed. The aerosol-generating article 100 shown in FIG. 10 is also designed to engage with the aerosol-generating device 212 shown in FIG. 11 in order to be consumed.

[0190] The user inserts the aerosol-generating article 10, 100 into the aerosol-generating device 212 so that the heater blade 210 is inserted into the rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12. The aerosol-cooling element 16 projects outwards from the mouth end of the device 212. Once the aerosol-generating article 10, 100 is engaged with the aerosol-generating device 212, the user draws on the aerosol-cooling element 16 defining a mouthpiece of the aerosol-generating article 10, 100 and the rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12 is heated by the heater blade 210 to a temperature sufficient to generate an aerosol from the rod of aerosol-generating substrate 12. The aerosol is drawn through the aerosol-cooling element 16 and into the user's mouth.

[0191] It will be appreciated that the aerosol-generating articles 10, 100 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 may also be suitable for use with other types of aerosol-generating devices.