Method of Manufacturing Tobacco Medium

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0047864, filed on Apr. 9, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Various embodiments relate to a method of manufacturing a tobacco medium, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a tobacco medium using paper-type reconstituted tobacco leaves.

Recently, there has been an increasing demand for a technology to replace a method of supplying an aerosol by burning a general cigarette. For example, research has been conducted on a method of supplying an aerosol having a flavor by generating an aerosol from a liquid or solid aerosol-generating material, or by generating vapor from a liquid aerosol-generating material and then passing the generated vapor through a solid flavoring medium.

Accordingly, there has been an increasing demand for a system for generating an aerosol by heating a cigarette or an aerosol-generating material by using an aerosol-generating device. Recently, a method of generating an aerosol by low-temperature heating or non-heating has been emerging. Research has been actively conducted to improve nicotine transfer even when low-temperature heating or non-heating is conducted.

As an example of a method of manufacturing a tobacco medium, there is a method using reconstituted tobacco leaves. During the manufacturing process, the reconstituted tobacco leaves are treated with a pH adjustment solution (e.g., a mixture of water and potassium carbonate), which may cause the reconstituted tobacco leaves to clump. It is important to set the moisture content of the reconstituted tobacco leaves to a certain level in order to prevent the reconstituted tobacco leaves from clumping.

The moisture threshold (e.g., the moisture content set by the user) available in the reconstituted tobacco leaves is important. Because the pH adjustment solution includes water, the higher the moisture threshold, the more the reconstituted tobacco leaves may be treated with the pH adjustment solution. When the pH of the reconstituted tobacco leaves is further increased to manufacture the tobacco medium, the nicotine transfer amount of an aerosol-generating article including the tobacco medium may ultimately increase.

Therefore, it is important to use reconstituted tobacco leaves made of a material, in which a high moisture content may be set without causing the reconstituted tobacco leaves to clump during the pH adjustment solution treatment.

Embodiments provide a method of manufacturing a tobacco medium by treating paper-type reconstituted tobacco leaves with a pH adjustment solution.

The technical problems of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described description, and other technical problems may be clearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art from the embodiments to be described hereinafter.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments of the disclosure.

A method of manufacturing a tobacco medium, according to an embodiment, includes providing paper-type reconstituted tobacco leaves containing a tobacco concentrate, and treating the paper-type reconstituted tobacco leaves with a pH adjustment solution until a moisture content of the paper-type reconstituted tobacco leaves is about 9 wt % to about 12 wt % relative to a total weight of the paper-type reconstituted tobacco leaves, wherein the pH adjustment solution includes potassium carbonate (KCO) and water, and an amount of potassium carbonate added is about 8 wt % to about 14 wt % relative to a total weight of the tobacco concentrate.

An aerosol-generating article according to an embodiment includes a front plug configured to introduce outside air into an interior of the aerosol-generating article, a medium portion including a tobacco medium manufactured by the method, and a filter portion arranged at a position facing the front plug with respect to the medium portion.

An aerosol-generating system according to an embodiment includes the aerosol-generating article according to the embodiment described above, and an aerosol-generating device including a storage portion in which an aerosol-generating material is stored, an accommodation portion in which the aerosol-generating article is accommodated, and a heater configured to heat the aerosol-generating material, wherein a primary aerosol generated by heating the aerosol-generating material through the heater is introduced into the front plug of the aerosol-generating article accommodated in the accommodation portion, a secondary aerosol is generated from the aerosol-generating article by the temperature of the primary aerosol while the primary aerosol passes through the aerosol-generating article, and the primary aerosol and the secondary aerosol are mixed and inhaled by a user.

Regarding the terms in the various embodiments, the general terms which are currently and widely used are selected in consideration of functions of structural elements in the various embodiments of the present disclosure. However, meanings of the terms can be changed according to intention, a judicial precedence, the appearance of a new technology, and the like. In addition, in certain cases, terms which can be arbitrarily selected by the applicant in particular cases. In such a case, the meaning of the terms will be described in detail at the corresponding portion in the description of the present disclosure. Therefore, the terms used in the various embodiments of the present disclosure should be defined based on the meanings of the terms and the descriptions provided herein.

In addition, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word “comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising” will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements. In addition, the terms “-er”, “-or”, and “module” described in the specification mean units for processing at least one function and operation and can be implemented by hardware components or software components and combinations thereof.

As used herein, when an expression such as “at least any one” precedes arranged elements, it modifies all elements rather than each arranged element. For example, the expression “at least any one of a, b, and c” should be construed to include a, b, c, or a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b, and c.

In the description of embodiments of the disclosure, certain detailed explanations of the related art are omitted when it is deemed that they may unnecessarily obscure the essences of embodiments of the disclosure. In addition, the accompanying drawings are only intended to facilitate understanding of the embodiments described herein, and the spirit of the disclosure is not limited by the accompanying drawings and should be understood to include all changes, equivalents or alternatives included in the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

While such terms as “first”, “second”, etc., may be used to describe various components, such components must not be limited to the above terms. The above terms are used only to distinguish one component from another.

When an element is referred to as being “connected to” or “coupled to” another element, it may be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element, there are no intervening elements present.

An expression used in the singular encompasses the expression of the plural, unless it has a clearly different meaning in the context.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown such that one of ordinary skill in the art may easily work the present disclosure. The same or similar components will be assigned the same reference numerals regardless of the reference numerals in the drawings, and the same descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

illustrate an aerosol-generating system according to various embodiments.

Referring to, an aerosol-generating systemmay include an aerosol-generating deviceand an aerosol-generating article.

In an embodiment, the aerosol-generating devicemay include at least one of a power supply, a controller, a sensor, and a cartridge. At least one of the power supply, the controller, and the sensormay be arranged inside a bodyof the aerosol-generating device.

The bodymay provide a space opened upwardly so that a stick, which is an aerosol-generating article, may be inserted. The space opened upwardly may be referred to as an insertion space. The insertion space may be formed by being recessed toward the inside of the bodyby a certain depth so that at least a portion of the stickmay be inserted. In this case, a separate accommodation portion (not shown) may be arranged in the recessed portion of the body. Because the accommodation portion includes the insertion space, the stickmay be accommodated in the accommodation portion. The depth of the insertion space may correspond to the length of a region of the stickcontaining an aerosol-generating material and/or medium.

The lower end of the stickmay be inserted into the body, and the upper end of the stickmay protrude outside the body. The user may bite the upper end of the stickexposed to the outside and inhale air.

The cartridgemay contain an aerosol-generating material having one of a liquid state, a solid state, a gaseous state, and a gel state. The aerosol-generating material may include a liquid composition. For example, the liquid composition may be a liquid containing a tobacco-containing material including a volatile tobacco flavoring component, or may be a liquid containing a non-tobacco material.

For example, the liquid composition may include water, solvent, ethanol, plant extracts, flavoring, flavoring agent, or vitamin mixture. The flavoring may include, but is not limited to, menthol, peppermint, spearmint oil, various fruit flavoring ingredients, etc. The flavoring agent may include an ingredient that may provide a variety of flavors or tastes to the user. The vitamin mixture may include, but is not limited to, a mixture of at least one of vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, and vitamin E. In addition, the liquid composition may include an aerosol-forming agent, such as glycerin or propylene glycol.

The cartridgemay be integrally formed with the bodyor may be detachably coupled to the body. For example, the cartridgemay be mounted on the bodyby being inserted into the body. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and the cartridgemay be fixed so as not to be detached by the user.

The remaining configuration of the aerosol-generating deviceexcluding the cartridgemay be referred to as a main body. Accordingly, the main body may include the power supply, the controller, and the sensor, and the cartridgemay be detachably coupled to the main body.

The cartridgemay be mounted on the bodywhile containing an aerosol-generating material. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and an aerosol-generating material may be injected into the inside of the cartridgewhile the cartridgeis coupled to the body.

Referring to, the cartridgemay be integrally formed with the bodyand communicate with the insertion space through an airflow channel CN.

Referring to, a space is formed on one side of the body, and at least a portion of the cartridgemay be inserted into the space formed on one side of the bodyand thus the cartridgemay be mounted on the body. The airflow channel CN may be defined by a portion of the cartridgeand/or a portion of the body, and the cartridgemay communicate with the insertion space through the airflow channel CN.

In the aerosol-generating deviceof, components thereof are arranged in a row. In the aerosol-generating deviceof, the cartridgeand the stickare arranged in parallel. However, the internal structure of the aerosol-generating deviceis not limited to those illustrated in the drawings. In other words, depending on the design of the aerosol-generating device, the arrangement of the power supply, the controller, the sensor, and the cartridgemay be changed.

Referring to, the cartridgemay be mounted on the bodyas in. In this case, the cartridge, not the main body, may provide the insertion space. That is, in, the stickmay be inserted into the inside of the cartridge.

For example, the cartridgemay include a storage portion, an accommodation portion, and a heater. The main body may include a cartridge coupling portion to which the cartridgeis detachably coupled. The power supply, which is a component of the main body, may supply power to the cartridgecoupled to the cartridge coupling portion, and the controller, which is a component of the main body, may control the operation of the cartridge.

The bodymay have a structure in which outside air may be introduced into the inside of the bodywhile the cartridgeis inserted. In this case, the outside air introduced into the bodymay pass through the cartridgeand flow into the user's mouth.

The cartridgemay include a storage portion Ccontaining an aerosol-generating material and/or a heaterthat heats the aerosol-generating material in the storage portion C. A liquid delivery means impregnated with (containing) an aerosol-generating material may be arranged inside the storage portion C. In this case, the liquid delivery means may include a wick, such as cotton fiber, ceramic fiber, glass fiber, or porous ceramic. An electrically conductive track of the heatermay be formed as a coil-shaped structure that winds the liquid delivery means or a structure that contacts one side of the liquid delivery means. The heatermay be referred to as a cartridge heater.

The cartridgemay be operated by an electric signal or a wireless signal transmitted from the body, thereby performing a function of converting the phase of the aerosol-generating material inside the cartridgeinto a gaseous phase to generate an aerosol. In this case, the aerosol may refer to a gas in which vaporized particles generated from the aerosol-generating material and air are mixed.

As the liquid delivery means and the liquid composition absorbed therein are heated by the heater, an aerosol may be generated. Because the aerosol-generating devicedoes not include a heater for heating the stick, direct heating of the stickby a heater or the like is not performed (this refers to non-heating). However, steam may be generated from the stickas a hot aerosol generated from the heaterpasses through the stick.

Therefore, while the aerosol (a primary aerosol) generated by the heaterpasses through the stick, tobacco material may be added to the aerosol, and a secondary aerosol may be generated from the stickby the high-temperature aerosol. The primary aerosol and the secondary aerosol may be mixed, and the aerosol to which the tobacco material is added may be inhaled into the user's mouth through one end of the stick.

The embodiment is not limited to omitting the heater. In another embodiment, the heatermay heat the stickat a relatively low temperature to generate the aerosol (this refers to low-temperature heating).

The aerosol-generating devicemay include a cap (not shown). The cap may be detachably coupled to the bodyto cover at least a portion of the cartridgecoupled to the body. The stickmay be inserted into the bodyby passing through the cap.

The power supplymay supply power to operate components of the aerosol-generating device. The power supplymay be referred to as a battery. The power supplymay supply power to at least one of the controller, the sensor, and the heater.

The controllermay control all operations of the aerosol-generating device. The controllermay be mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB). The controllermay control the operation of at least one of the power supply, the sensor, and the cartridge. The controllermay control the operations of a display, a motor, etc. installed in the aerosol-generating device. The controllermay check the status of each component of the aerosol-generating deviceto determine whether the aerosol-generating deviceis in an operable state.

The controllermay analyze results detected by the sensorand control processes to be performed thereafter. For example, the controllermay control the power supplied to the heaterso that the operation of the heateris started or ended, based on the results detected by the sensor. For example, the controllermay control the amount of power supplied to the heaterand the time for which the power is supplied so that the heatermay be heated to a certain temperature or maintain an appropriate temperature, based on the results detected by the sensor.

The sensormay include at least one of a temperature sensor, a puff sensor, an insertion detection sensor, a color sensor, a cartridge detection sensor, and a cap detection sensor. For example, the sensormay sense at least one of the temperature of the heater, the temperature of the power supply, and the temperature inside and outside the body. For example, the sensormay sense the user's puff. For example, the sensormay sense whether the stickis inserted into the insertion space. For example, the sensormay sense the color of a portion of a wrapper that wraps the outside of the stick. For example, the sensormay sense whether the cartridgeis mounted. For example, the sensormay sense whether the cap is mounted.

In an embodiment, the aerosol-generating articlemay include a front plug, a medium portion, and a filter portion. Hereinafter, components of the aerosol-generating articlewill be described in detail with reference to.