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EP-4739154-A1 - AN AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE COMPRISING A DISC

EP4739154A1EP 4739154 A1EP4739154 A1EP 4739154A1EP-4739154-A1

Abstract

There is provided an aerosol-generating article (10; 100) comprising a plug of aerosol- forming substrate (14) having an upstream end and a downstream end. The aerosol-generating article (10; 100) also comprises a downstream segment (20) positioned at a downstream end (22) of the aerosol-generating article (10; 100). The aerosol-generating article (10; 100) also comprises a disc (32) attached to the upstream end of the plug of aerosol-forming substrate (14). The disc (32) is positioned at an upstream end (26) of the aerosol-generating article (10; 100). The disc (32) defines at least one main aperture (34) extending through the disc (32) and at least one airflow aperture (36) extending through the disc (32), wherein each main aperture (34) is larger than each airflow aperture (36).

Inventors

  • BONGIOVANNI, Gianluca
  • HUANG, Houxue

Assignees

  • Philip Morris Products S.A.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240705

Claims (15)

  1. 1. An aerosol-generating article comprising: a plug of aerosol-forming substrate having an upstream end and a downstream end; a downstream segment positioned at a downstream end of the aerosol-generating article; and a disc attached to the upstream end of the plug of aerosol-forming substrate, wherein the disc is positioned at an upstream end of the aerosol-generating article, wherein the disc defines at least one main aperture extending through the disc and at least one airflow aperture extending through the disc, and wherein each main aperture is larger than each airflow aperture.
  2. 2. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1 , wherein a ratio of a maximum cross- sectional area of each main aperture to a maximum cross-sectional area of each airflow aperture is at least 1 .1 to 1 , at least 1.2 to 1 , at least 1.3 to 1 , at least 1.4 to 1 , at least 1.5 to 1 , at least 1.6 to 1 , at least 1.7 to 1 , at least 1.8 to 1 , at least 1.9 to 1 , or at least 2 to 1 , optionally wherein the aerosol-generating article defines a longitudinal direction extending between the upstream end of the aerosol-generating article and the downstream end of the aerosol-generating article, and wherein the cross-sectional area of each main aperture and each airflow aperture is a maximum cross-sectional area in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.
  3. 3. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the disc has a circular shape, and wherein the at least one main aperture comprises a main aperture positioned at the centre of the disc, optionally wherein the main aperture positioned at the centre of the disc is the only main aperture defined by the disc.
  4. 4. An aerosol-generating article according to any preceding claim, wherein the at least one airflow aperture comprises a plurality of airflow apertures, optionally wherein the disc has a circular shape and the plurality of airflow apertures are arranged symmetrically about the centre of the disc, optionally wherein the plurality of airflow apertures comprises a first row of airflow apertures arranged symmetrically about the centre of the disc and a second row of airflow apertures arranged symmetrically about the centre of the disc, and wherein the second row of airflow apertures is positioned between the first row of airflow apertures and a circumferential edge of the disc.
  5. 5. An aerosol-generating article according to claim 4, wherein the second row of airflow apertures is aligned with the first row of airflow apertures in a circumferential direction about the centre of the disc, or wherein the second row of airflow apertures is offset from the first row of airflow apertures in a circumferential direction about the centre of the disc.
  6. 6. An aerosol-generating article according to any preceding claim, wherein each main aperture has a circular cross-sectional shape, and wherein each main aperture has a maximum diameter of at least 3 millimetres, at least 3.5 millimetres, at least 4 millimetres, at least 4.5 millimetres, at least 5 millimetres, at least 5.5 millimetres, or at least 6 millimetres.
  7. 7. An aerosol-generating article according to any preceding claim, wherein each main aperture has a maximum cross-sectional area of at least 7 square millimetre, at least 9 square millimetres, at least 12 square millimetres, at least 15 square millimetres, at least 19 square millimetres, at least 23 square millimetres, at least 28 square millimetres, at least 30 square millimetres, or at least 35 square millimetres.
  8. 8. An aerosol-generating article according to any preceding claim, wherein each airflow aperture has a circular cross-sectional shape, and wherein each airflow aperture has a maximum diameter of less than 3 millimetres, less than 2.5 millimetres, less than 2 millimetres, less than 1.5 millimetres, or less than 1 millimetre.
  9. 9. An aerosol-generating article according to any preceding claim, wherein each airflow aperture has a maximum cross-sectional area of less than 7 square millimetre, less than 6 square millimetres, less than 5 square millimetres, less than 4 square millimetres, less than 3 square millimetres, less than 2 square millimetres, or less than 1 square millimetre.
  10. 10. An aerosol-generating article according to any preceding claim, wherein the disc has a thickness of less than 5 millimetres, less than 4 millimetres, less than 3 millimetres, less than 2 millimetres, less than 1.5 millimetres, less than 1 millimetre, or less than 0.5 millimetres.
  11. 11. An aerosol-generating article according to any preceding claim, wherein the disc is formed from a non-permeable material.
  12. 12. An aerosol-generating article according to any preceding claim, wherein the disc is formed from a polymeric material.
  13. 13. An aerosol-generating article according to any preceding claim, wherein the plug of aerosol-forming substrate is free of a susceptor element.
  14. 14. An aerosol-generating system comprising: an aerosol-generating article according to any preceding claim; and an aerosol-generating device comprising a chamber for receiving at least a portion of the aerosol-generating article and an elongate heater extending into the chamber.
  15. 15. A method of forming an aerosol-generating article, the method comprising: providing a plug of aerosol-forming substrate having an upstream end and a downstream end; providing a downstream segment; providing a disc defining at least one main aperture extending through the disc and at least one airflow aperture extending through the disc, wherein each main aperture is larger than each airflow aperture; and combining the plug of aerosol-forming substrate, the downstream segment, and the disc to form an aerosol-generating article in which the downstream segment is positioned at a downstream end of the aerosol-generating article, and the disc is attached to the upstream end of the plug of aerosol-forming substrate so that the disc is positioned at an upstream end of the aerosol-generating article.

Description

AN AEROSOL-GENERATING ARTICLE COMPRISING A DISC The present disclosure relates to an aerosol-generating article comprising a disc attached to an upstream end of a plug of aerosol-forming substrate. The present disclosure also relates to a method of forming the aerosol-generating article. Aerosol-generating articles in which an aerosol-forming substrate, such as a tobaccocontaining 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 heating element to a physically separate aerosol-forming substrate or material, which may be located in contact with, within, around, or downstream of the heating element. During use of the aerosol-generating article, volatile compounds are released from the aerosol-forming substrate by heat transfer from the heating element and are entrained in air drawn through the aerosol-generating article. As the released compounds cool, they condense to form an aerosol. The aerosol-generating article may be configured for insertion of a portion of the aerosol-generating article into a chamber of an aerosol-generating device. Some aerosol-generating devices known in the art comprise an electric heater comprising a resistive heating element that is received within a portion of the aerosol-generating article when the article is inserted into a chamber of the device. Inserting an electric heater into an aerosolgenerating article may provide direct contact between the electric heater and an aerosol-forming substrate of the aerosol-generating article. Direct contact between the heater and the substrate may facilitate rapid generation of an aerosol when the heater is energised. The release of volatile compounds from the aerosol-forming substrate during heating may result in shrinkage of the aerosol-forming substrate, which may loosen the aerosol-forming substrate within the aerosol-generating article. Therefore, in embodiments in which the electric heater is received within the aerosol-forming substrate during use, shrinkage of the aerosolforming substrate may increase the risk of the aerosol-forming substrate, or a portion of the aerosol-forming substrate, being removed from the aerosol-generating article when the article is withdrawn from the electric heater. Removal of the aerosol-forming substrate from the aerosolgenerating article results in contamination of the aerosol-generating device and creates a need to clean the aerosol-generating device. Cleaning the aerosol-generating device may impose a burden on the user and increases the risk of damaging the aerosol-generating device. Some aerosol-generating articles known in the art have attempted to overcome such problems by modifying aerosol-generating articles to include a plug of porous material upstream of the aerosol-forming substrate. For example, some known articles include a plug of cellulose acetate tow at an upstream end of the aerosol-generating article. However, the addition of an upstream plug of cellulose acetate tow introduces a number of additional problems. Firstly, the addition of an upstream plug of cellulose acetate tow significantly increases the total length of the aerosol-generating article, which requires significant modification of existing manufacturing processes and packaging. Secondly, the addition of an upstream plug of cellulose acetate tow prevents correct positioning of the aerosol-forming substrate within the chamber of existing aerosol-generating devices, which are designed for use with aerosol-generating articles in which the aerosol-forming substrate is positioned at an upstream end of the aerosol-generating article. Therefore, the addition of an upstream plug of cellulose acetate tow prevents use of the aerosolgenerating article with existing aerosol-generating devices. Thirdly, the addition of an upstream plug of cellulose acetate tow may significantly increase the resistance to draw of the aerosolgenerating article, which may diminish the user experience. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an aerosol-generating article that reduces or eliminates the risk of contaminating an aerosol-generating device with loose aerosol-forming substrate while also avoiding the problems posed by the addition of an upstream plug of cellulose acetate tow. According to the present disclosure there is provided an aerosol-generating article. The aerosol-generating article may comprise a plug of aerosol-forming substrate. The plug of aerosolforming substrate may have an upstream end. The plug of aerosol-forming substrate may have a downstream end. The aerosol-generating article may comprise a downstream segment. The downstream segment may be positioned at a downstream end of the aerosol-generating article. The aerosol-generating article may comprise a disc attached to an upstream end of the plug of aerosol-forming substrate. The disc may be positioned at an upstream end of the aerosolgenerating article. The dis