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EP-4547049-B1 - AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE HAVING TWO AEROSOL-GENERATING SEGMENTS

EP4547049B1EP 4547049 B1EP4547049 B1EP 4547049B1EP-4547049-B1

Inventors

  • Uthurry, Jerome

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230629

Claims (15)

  1. An aerosol-generating article (10, 110, 210) comprising: an aerosol-generating rod (12, 112, 212) for producing an inhalable aerosol upon heating; a downstream section (14, 214) provided downstream of the aerosol-generating rod (12) and extending to the downstream end (18, 218) of the aerosol-generating article (10); and a ventilation zone (30, 230) at a location along the downstream section (14, 214), wherein the aerosol-generating rod (12, 112, 212) comprises: a first aerosol-generating segment (24, 124, 224) comprising a first aerosol-generating substrate (24, 124, 224), and a second aerosol-generating segment (26, 126, 226) located upstream of the first aerosol-generating segment (24, 124, 224) and comprising a second aerosol-generating substrate (26, 126, 226), wherein the total combined length of the first aerosol-generating segment (24, 124, 224) and the second aerosol-generating segment (26, 126, 226) is at least 20 millimetres, and wherein a ratio of the total combined length of the first aerosol-generating segment (24, 124, 224) and the second aerosol-generating segment (26, 126, 226) to the overall length of the aerosol-generating article (10, 110, 210) is less than or equal to 0.6; and wherein the aerosol-generating article (10, 110, 210) has a ventilation level of at least 40 percent.
  2. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1, wherein the first aerosol-generating substrate (24, 124, 224) comprises one or more aerosol formers, the second aerosol-generating substrate (26, 126, 226) comprises one or more aerosol formers and wherein the aerosol former content of the second aerosol-generating substrate (26, 126, 226) is within 10 percent of the aerosol former content of the first aerosol-generating substrate (24, 124, 224).
  3. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the density of the second aerosol-generating substrate (26, 126, 226) is within 10 percent of the density of the first aerosol-generating substrate (24, 124, 224).
  4. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the length of the second aerosol-generating segment (26, 226) is within 10 percent of the length of the first aerosol-generating segment (24, 224).
  5. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the downstream section (14, 214) comprises a hollow tubular cooling element (20, 220).
  6. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 5, wherein the ventilation zone (30) comprises a plurality of perforations through a peripheral wall of the hollow tubular cooling element (20, 220).
  7. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the hollow tubular cooling element (20) has a length of at least 15 millimetres.
  8. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the downstream section (14, 214) comprises a downstream filter segment (50) located downstream of the hollow tubular element (20, 220), and wherein the downstream filter segment (50) is a solid plug.
  9. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the aerosol-generating article (10, 110) has a ventilation level of at least 60 percent.
  10. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the aerosol-generating article (10, 110) has an overall length of at least 60 millimetres.
  11. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein one or both of the first aerosol-generating substrate (24, 124, 224) and the second aerosol-generating substrate (26, 126, 226) comprises a shredded tobacco material.
  12. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein one or both of the first aerosol-generating substrate (24, 124, 224) and the second aerosol-generating substrate (26, 126, 226) has a density of less than 400 milligrams per cubic centimetre.
  13. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein each of the first aerosol-generating substrate (24, 124, 224) and the second aerosol-generating substrate (26, 126, 226) comprises at least 5 percent by weight of aerosol former, on a dry weight basis.
  14. An aerosol-generating article according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the first aerosol-generating substrate (24, 124, 224) is circumscribed by a first wrapper and wherein the second aerosol-generating substrate (26, 126, 226) is circumscribed by a second wrapper, separate from the first wrapper.
  15. An aerosol-generating system (100) comprising: an aerosol-generating article (10, 110, 210) according to any one of claims 1 to 14; and an aerosol-generating device (1) comprising a heating chamber for receiving at least part of the aerosol-generating article and a heater for heating the aerosol-generating rod (12, 112, 212) of the aerosol-generating article (10, 110, 210) when the aerosol-generating article (10, 110, 210) is received within the heating chamber.

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. Use of an aerosol-generating article in combination with an external heating system is also known. For example, WO 2020/115151 describes the provision of one or more heating elements arranged around the periphery of the aerosol-generating article when the aerosol-generating article is received in a cavity of the aerosol-generating device. 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. WO 2021/123819 A1 describes an article for use with a non-combustible aerosol provisional device which includes a cylindrical rod of aerosol generating material, a hollow tubular element disposed downstream of the aerosol generating material, and a mouthpiece disposed downstream of the tubular element. Ventilation is provided directly into the tubular element via a ventilation area which comprises first and second parallel rows of perforations. The hollow tubular element may include a second aerosol generating material. Known heated tobacco products typically comprise a single tobacco-containing substrate. A variation in the internal structure of the tobacco-containing substrate may affect the resistance to draw of the tobacco-containing substrate and therefore the resistance to draw (RTD) of the tobacco product. Such variations may be as a result of, for example, manufacturing defects or the presence of contaminants. The tobacco products may therefore suffer from one or more drawbacks, such as inconsistencies in the resistance to draw between one tobacco product and another. Such inconsistencies may be particularly pronounced in tobacco products with a single relatively long tobacco-containing substrate. The resistance to draw of the tobacco product may have an impact on the composition and temperature of the aerosol delivered to a user. Inconsistencies in the resistance to draw of the tobacco products may therefore result in variations in the composition and temperature of the aerosol generated by the tobacco products. For example, during manufacturing of the tobacco-containing substate, gravitational settling of the substrate material may result in the formation of some relatively large channels through the tobacco-containing substrate. Upon heating, the tobacco-containing substrate generates an aerosol which may preferentially flow through such channels. The presence of relatively large channels through the tobacco-containing substrate may thereby affect the composition of the aerosol delivered to a user. The presence of relatively large channels through the tobacco-containing substrate may thereby result in aerosol reaching a user with a temperature that could be uncomfortable 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. Some known heated tobacco products comprise a ventilation zone to cool the aerosol generated before it reaches the consumer. Increasing the ventilation level may increase cooling of the aerosol generated. However, increasi