TOBACCO SACHET FOR USE IN A TOBACCO VAPORIZER

Abstract

A sachet of aerosol-forming substrate for electrically heated aerosol-generating device is provided, including a porous container; and an aerosol-forming substrate within the container, the substrate having a porosity of between about 0.2 and about 0.35, the porosity being the volume fraction of void space within the container. An electrically heated aerosol-generating system is also provided, including a sachet of aerosol-forming substrate; and an aerosol-generating device, the device including an outer housing having a cavity configured to receive the sachet, and an electrical heater including at least one heating element configured to heat the sachet in the cavity to generate an aerosol from the aerosol-forming substrate for inhalation by a user.

Claims

1.-15. (canceled)

16. A sachet of aerosol-forming substrate for an electrically heated aerosol-generating device, the sachet comprising: a porous container; and an aerosol-forming substrate within the container and having a porosity of between about 0.2 and about 0.35, the porosity being the volume fraction of void space within the container.

17. The sachet according to claim 16, wherein the porosity is between about 0.24 and about 0.35.

18. The sachet according to claim 16, wherein the aerosol-forming substrate comprises tobacco and an aerosol-former.

19. The sachet according to claim 18, wherein the tobacco is at least one of: pipe tobacco, cut filler, reconstituted tobacco, and homogenised tobacco.

20. The sachet according to claim 19, wherein the homegenised tobacco material is provided in sheets, which are folded, crimped, or cut into strips.

21. The sachet according to claim 19, wherein the homegenised tobacco material is spheronized.

22. The sachet according to claim 18, wherein the aerosol-former comprises at least one polyhydric alcohol.

23. The sachet according to claim 22, wherein the aerosol-former further comprises at least one of: triethylene glycol, 1,3-butanediol, propylene glycol, and glycerine.

24. The sachet according to claim 16, wherein the aerosol-forming substrate comprises: homogenised tobacco material between about 55% and about 75% by weight, aerosol-former between about 15% and about 25% by weight, and water between about 10% and about 20% by weight.

25. The sachet according to claim 16, wherein the aerosol-forming substrate further comprises a flavourant between about 0.1% and about 10% by weight.

26. An electrically heated aerosol-generating system, comprising: a sachet of aerosol-forming substrate according to claim 16; and an aerosol-generating device, comprising: an outer housing having a cavity configured to receive the sachet, and an electrical heater comprising at least one heating element configured to heat the sachet in the cavity and to generate an aerosol.

27. The electrically heated aerosol-generating system according to claim 26, wherein the electrical heater is disposed adjacent at least one wall of the cavity.

28. The electrically heated aerosol-generating system according to claim 26, further comprising: a power supply configured to supply power to the electrical heater; electrical hardware connected to the power supply and the electrical heater; and a controller configured to control the supply of electrical power from the power supply to the electrical heater.

29. The electrically heated aerosol-generating system according to claim 26, further comprising a detector configured to detect a presence of the sachet in the cavity and to distinguish the sachet from other sachets configured for the system.

30. The electrically heated aerosol-generating system according to claim 29, wherein the electrical hardware is arranged to establish a heating protocol for the electrical heater based on a particular sachet identified by the detector.

Description

[0056] The invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0057] FIG. 1 show a sachet according to the present invention;

[0058] FIG. 2 show an aerosol-generating system according to the present invention; and

[0059] FIG. 3 shows an alternative aerosol-generating system according to the present invention.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 1(a) the sachet 100 according to the invention comprises a container formed from a porous material for containing an aerosol-generating substrate (not shown). In this example, the sachet has a circular cross-sectional profile and is in the form of a cylinder. As shown in FIG. 1(b) the container comprises an aerosol-generating substrate 102. The aerosol-generating substrate comprises homogenised tobacco material between about 55% and about 75% by weight; aerosol-former between about 15% and about 25% by weight; and water between about 10% and about 20% by weight. In this particular example, the aerosol-former is glycerine between about 18.1% and about 20.9% by weight. In this example, the water content is between about 11.4% and about 12.4% by weight. The homogenised tobacco forming the remainder of the aerosol-generating substrate. In a preferred example, the aerosol-generating substrate has a porosity in the sachet of between about 24% and about 35%. The porosity can be altered in dependence on the type of tobacco, or user preference, to alter the characteristics of the generated aerosol. The porosity is defined as the volume fraction of void space within the container. Thus, a porosity of 100% would mean that the container comprised no substrate, and a porosity of 0% would mean that the container was completely full of substrate without any voids.

[0061] Before measuring the samples of aerosol-forming substrate, to determine the composition, they are equilibrated for 48 hours at 50% relative humidity at 22 degrees C. The Karl Fischer technique is used to determine the water content of the homogenised tobacco material.

[0062] The container of the sachet 100 is formed from a porous material, and may be a mesh-like material formed by either weaving or cutting and then extending. Suitable materials include the natural fibres Sisal and Ramie.

[0063] In use, the sachet is heated in an aerosol-generating device to generate an aerosol.

[0064] One example of an aerosol-generating device 200 used to heat the sachet to generate an aerosol is shown in FIG. 2(a) and FIG. 2(b). The device 200 comprises a cavity 202 for receiving the sachet, a lid 204 for covering the cavity 202, a power supply 206, a controller 208, an electrical heater 210 and a mouthpiece 212.

[0065] The controller 208 is configured to provide power to the electrical heater 210 from the power supply 206 to heat the sachet to the operating temperature. As can be seen, the electrical heater is provided around the periphery of the cavity to improve the heat conduction from the heater to the cavity wall and then to the sachet.

[0066] As shown in FIG. 2(b), the sachet 100 can be received in the cavity 202. In use, the user inserts a sachet into the cavity 202, replaces the lid 204 to close the cavity, and then activates the device. The controller then provides power to the electrical heater to increase the temperature of the sachet to the operating temperature. In a preferred embodiment, the operating temperature is about 200 degrees C.

[0067] Once the sachet reaches the operating temperature the user draws on the mouthpiece, and air is drawn through the device from an air inlet (not shown), through the cavity 202, along an airflow pathway adjacent the power supply 206 and out of an air outlet in the mouthpiece.

[0068] The mouthpiece may be removable for cleaning, or replacement as may be necessary.

[0069] In an alternative example of the sachet 100 described above, the container comprises a taggant, or has information printed thereon. The taggant is incorporated in the container material during manufacturing of the material. Where the container comprises printed information, the information may be printed before or after the material is formed into a container.

[0070] The taggant has an identifiable spectroscopic signature. The use of the taggant incorporated within the material prevents the taggant from being removed after manufacture. In this way, the tamper resistance, and difficulty of counterfeiting, of the sachet are improved.

[0071] The taggant material can be selected to control the optical properties such that it can absorb a specific wavelength of light to enable identification and/or emit light at a shifted wavelength as compared to a wavelength of light used to excite the taggant.

[0072] FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of an electrically operated aerosol-generating system 300 according to the invention. The electrically operated aerosol-generating system 300 is a smoking system having similar components to the system 200 described above.

[0073] The electrically heated smoking system 300 further comprises a detector 302 positioned adjacent the cavity 202. The detector is able to detect the presence of a sachet in the cavity and is also able to identify the various sachets which may be usable with the system.

[0074] The detector comprises means for determining the spectroscopic signature of the taggant. The means for determining the spectroscopic signature comprises a light source and a light sensor.

[0075] In use, when the user inserts the sachet 100 into the aerosol-generating device 300 the detector 304 determines the type of sachet being inserted by emitting light, and detecting the response received by the light sensor.

[0076] When the user draws on the mouthpiece, the control circuitry, in dependence on the type of sachet 100 detected, provides power to the heater 210 to generate an aerosol. The power supplied may be optimised in accordance with the brand of aerosol-generating article, or in accordance with pre-determined user preferences, and so on. Alternatively, or in addition, if the sachet 100 is not recognised by the detector, the control circuitry may prevent power being supplied to the heater 210 to prevent the use of unauthorised aerosol-generating articles.

[0077] In a similar example to that shown in FIG. 3, the detector 302 of the aerosol-generating device 300 may be adapted to detect printed information on the sachet.

[0078] The sachet may comprise a plurality of printed lines and spaces of varying width. These may be encoded as a simple one dimensional barcode, according to appropriate barcode encoding standards (see below). Alternatively, the lines may comprise a plurality n of lines and spaces of the same width for encoding the information related to the sachet type. For example, with n=3, the following codes are possible: 000, 001, 010, 100, 011, 110, 101, 111, where 1 represents a line, and 0 represents a space. 001, 010 and 100 may not be distinguishable from each other (unless a marker line is provided to indicate to the detector where the encoding begins). Similarly, 011 and 110 may not be distinguishable from each other. Thus, five possibilities are provided with n=3. If 000 is used to indicate that no article is present, only four possibilities are provided. In general, unless a marker line is provided, 2.sup.n−1+1 possibilities are provided or, if 000 is used to indicate that no article is present, only 2.sup.n−1 possibilities are provided.

[0079] There are a number of barcode standards that might be suitable for use with the sachets of the invention. One barcode type that may be useful for the present invention is the “Interleaved 2 of 5” (I2/5) barcode, which is a high-density, continuous two-width barcode symbology. The code has bars (black lines) and spaces (white lines), each of which can be wide or narrow. I2/5 encodes a pair of digits per five bars and spaces: the first digit is encoded in the five bars, while the second digit is encoded in the five spaces interleaved with them. Two out of every five bars or spaces are wide. Alternatively, another standard barcode symbology may be used, or a custom code specifically for this application might be developed.

[0080] In this example, the detector in the electrically heated smoking system comprises a source of suitable light (IR, UV or visible, depending on the ink used on the article) and at least one photosensor that detects the reflected light. The detector may comprise a single sensor that detects the reflected light. In that case, detection of the sachet may be performed as the sachet is being inserted into the cavity, by measuring the time for the various lines to pass the detector. Or, the detector may comprise a plurality of sensors that detect the reflected light. In that case, detection of the sachet may be performed once the sachet has been inserted into the cavity. Because the lines extend around substantially the sachet's entire circumference, if a plurality of sensors are used, they only need extend in one dimension along the longitudinal axis of the sachet. Also, there is no need for the user to manually align the printed information on the sachet with the detector.

[0081] The operation of the device, once the sachet is detected, is similar to that of the device when the sachet is detected using a taggant.

[0082] The exemplary embodiments described above illustrate but are not limiting. In view of the above discussed exemplary embodiments, other embodiments consistent with the above exemplary embodiments will now be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.