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EP-4110100-B1 - AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE WITH PREDETERMINED INSERTION DIRECTION

EP4110100B1EP 4110100 B1EP4110100 B1EP 4110100B1EP-4110100-B1

Inventors

  • NESOVIC, Milica

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20210224

Claims (12)

  1. An aerosol-generating article (10) for producing an inhalable aerosol upon heating, the aerosol-generating article extending from a mouth end to a distal end upstream from the mouth end, and comprising: a rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate; a downstream section (14) at a location downstream of the rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate, wherein the downstream section (14) comprises a mouthpiece element (42) positioned downstream of the rod (12) and in longitudinal alignment with the rod (12), the mouthpiece element (42) extending all the way to the mouth end of the aerosol-generating article (10); and an upstream section (16) located upstream of the rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate, the upstream section (16) comprising an upstream element (46) comprising a segment of filtration material and extending all the way to a distal end of the article (10); wherein a diameter (D ME ) of the aerosol-generating article (10) at the mouth end is greater than a diameter (D DE ) of the aerosol-generating article (10) at the distal end, a ratio (D ME /D DE ) between the diameter of the aerosol-generating article (10) at the mouth end and the diameter of the aerosol-generating article (10) at the distal end being at least 1.005, wherein the aerosol-generating article (10) comprises a first band of tipping paper at least partially circumscribing the mouthpiece element (42) and affixing the mouthpiece (42) to an immediately adjacent, upstream component of the aerosol-generating article (10), and a second band of tipping paper circumscribing the first band of tipping paper.
  2. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the ratio (D ME /D DE ) between the diameter of the aerosol-generating article (10) at the mouth end and the diameter of the aerosol-generating article (10) at the distal end is at least 1.05.
  3. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a difference between the diameter (D ME ) of the aerosol-generating article (10) at the mouth end and the diameter (D DE ) of the aerosol-generating article (10) at the distal end is at least 100 micrometres.
  4. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of the preceding claims, the article further comprising an elongate susceptor (44) arranged longitudinally within the rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate.
  5. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a diameter of the upstream section (16) is greater than a diameter of the rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate.
  6. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the downstream section (14) further comprises a support element (22) positioned immediately downstream of, and in longitudinal alignment with, the rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate.
  7. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 6, wherein the downstream section further comprises an aerosol-cooling element (24) positioned immediately downstream of the support element (22), the aerosol-cooling element (24) comprising a hollow tubular segment (34) defining a cavity (36) that extends all the way from an upstream end of the hollow tubular segment (34) to a downstream end of the hollow tubular segment (34).
  8. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 7, further comprising a ventilation zone (60) at a location along the hollow tubular segment (34).
  9. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 8, wherein the article (10) has a ventilation level of at least 10 percent.
  10. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the diameter of the article (10) is substantially constant over a distal portion of the article (10) extending from the distal end for at least 5 millimetres.
  11. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the diameter of the article (10) tapers over a distal portion of the article (10) extending from the distal end for at least 5 millimetres.
  12. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the aerosol-generating substrate comprises at least 10 percent by weight of an aerosol former on a dry weight basis.

Description

The present invention relates to an aerosol-generating article comprising an aerosol-generating substrate and adapted to produce an inhalable aerosol upon heating. Aerosol-generating articles in which an aerosol-generating substrate, such as a tobacco-containing substrate, is heated rather than combusted, are known in the art. Typically, in such heated smoking articles an aerosol is generated by the transfer of heat from a heat source to a physically separate aerosol-generating substrate or material, which may be located in contact with, within, around, or downstream of the heat source. During use of the aerosol-generating article, volatile compounds are released from the aerosol-generating substrate by heat transfer from the heat source and are entrained in air drawn through the aerosol-generating article. As the released compounds cool, they condense to form an aerosol. A number of prior art documents disclose aerosol-generating devices for consuming aerosol-generating articles. Such devices include, for example, electrically heated aerosol-generating devices in which an aerosol is generated by the transfer of heat from one or more electrical heater elements of the aerosol-generating device to the aerosol-generating substrate of a heated aerosol-generating article. For example, electrically heated aerosol-generating devices have been proposed that comprise an internal heater blade which is adapted to be inserted into the aerosol-generating substrate. As an alternative, inductively heatable aerosol-generating articles comprising an aerosol-generating substrate and a susceptor arranged within the aerosol-generating substrate have been proposed by WO 2015/176898. US 2018/116275 A describes an aerosol-generating article comprising a removable cap, a combustible carbonaceous heat source, an aerosol-forming substrate, a transfer element, an aerosol-cooling element, a spacer element, and a mouthpiece in abutting coaxial alignment. The removable cap, the combustible heat source, the aerosol-forming substrate and the transfer element are circumscribed by a co-laminated wrapper. The aerosol-generating article further comprises a band of tipping paper circumscribing the mouthpiece, the spacer element, the aerosol-cooling element and a downstream end portion of the co-laminated wrapper. Aerosol-generating articles in which a tobacco-containing substrate is heated rather than combusted present a number of challenges that were not encountered with conventional smoking articles. First of all, tobacco-containing substrates are typically heated to significantly lower temperatures compared with the temperatures reached by the combustion front in a conventional cigarette. This may have an impact on nicotine release from the tobacco-containing substrate and nicotine delivery to the consumer. At the same time, if the heating temperature is increased in an attempt to boost nicotine delivery, then the aerosol generated typically needs to be cooled to a greater extent and more rapidly before it reaches the consumer. However, technical solutions that were commonly used for cooling the mainstream smoke in conventional smoking articles, such as the provision of a high filtration efficiency segment at the mouth end of a cigarette, may have undesirable effects in an aerosol-generating article wherein a tobacco-containing substrate is heated rather than combusted, as they may reduce nicotine delivery. Secondly, a need is generally felt for aerosol-generating articles that are easy to use and have improved practicality. Further, it would be desirable to provide one such aerosol-generating article that can be manufactured efficiently and at high speed, preferably with a satisfactory RTD and low RTD variability from one article to another. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a new and improved aerosol-generating article adapted to achieve at least one of the desirable results described above. The present disclosure relates to an aerosol-generating article comprising a rod of aerosol-generating substrate, wherein the aerosol-generating article extends from a mouth end to a distal end upstream from the mouth end. The aerosol-generating article may comprise a downstream section at a location downstream of the rod of aerosol-generating substrate. The downstream section may comprise a mouthpiece segment positioned downstream of the rod and in longitudinal alignment with the rod. The mouthpiece segment may extend all the way to the mouth end of the aerosol-generating article. A diameter (DME) of the aerosol-generating article at the mouth end may be greater than a diameter (DDE) of the aerosol-generating article at the distal end. A ratio (DME/DDE) between the diameter of the aerosol-generating article at the distal end and the diameter of the aerosol-generating article at the mouth end may be at least about 1.005. According to the present invention, there is provided an aerosol-generating article extending from a mouth end to a distal