Aerosol Generating Article and Aerosol Generating System

The following embodiments relate to an aerosol generating article and an aerosol generating system.

Recently, the demand for alternative articles to overcome the disadvantages of traditional cigarettes has increased. For example, there is an increasing demand for a device (e.g., a cigarette-type electronic cigarette) that generates an aerosol by electrically heating a cigarette stick. Accordingly, research on an electrically heated aerosol generating device and a cigarette stick (or an aerosol generating article) applied thereto is being actively conducted. For example, KR Patent Application Publication No. 10-2017-0132823 discloses a non-combustion-type flavor inhaler, a flavor inhalation component source unit, and an atomizing unit.

An embodiment is to provide an aerosol generating article that may implement a desired amount of nicotine transfer through indirect heating despite a relatively low level of pH treatment and an aerosol generating system including the same.

An embodiment is to provide an aerosol generating system that may generate an aerosol using an aerosol generating device not equipped with a separate vaporizer.

An embodiment is to provide an aerosol generating article that may minimize instability caused by free nicotine according to pH adjustment and an aerosol generating system including the same.

According to various embodiments, an aerosol generating article includes an atomization segment; and a medium segment configured to be pH-treated and disposed downstream of the atomization segment, wherein, when the atomization segment is heated, heat from the heated atomization segment may be transferred indirectly to the medium segment.

The aerosol generating article may further include a filter segment disposed downstream of the medium segment, the filter segment with nicotine adsorbed.

The nicotine adsorbed into the filter segment may be transferred from the medium segment.

The medium segment may be pH-treated such that the pH thereof may be in the range of 7.0 to 9.5.

The aerosol generating article may further include a thermally conductive wrapper configured to wrap the atomization segment, and the thermally conductive wrapper may further wrap the medium segment.

A medium used to fill the medium segment may include at least one component of reconstituted tobacco sheets and tobacco granules.

A moisturizing agent used to fill the atomization segment may include at least one component of glycerin and propylene glycol.

According to various embodiments, an aerosol generating system includes an aerosol generating article including an atomization segment, a medium segment disposed downstream of the atomization segment, and a filter segment disposed downstream of the medium segment, and an aerosol generating device including a controller including at least one processor; a heater configured to heat the aerosol generating article; and an elongated cavity configured to receive the aerosol generating article, wherein nicotine may be adsorbed into the filter segment.

The medium segment may be pH-treated, and the nicotine adsorbed into the filter segment may be transferred from the medium segment.

The medium segment may be pH-treated, and when the heater heats the atomization segment, heat from the heated atomization segment may be transferred indirectly to the medium segment.

The aerosol generating article may further include a thermally conductive wrapper configured to wrap at least one of the atomization segment and the medium segment, the thermally conductive wrapper including an aluminum component.

An aerosol generating article and aerosol generating system according to an embodiment may cause efficient and uniform nicotine transfer.

An aerosol generating article and aerosol generating system according to an embodiment may provide a uniform intensity of smoking taste.

An aerosol generating article and aerosol generating system according to an embodiment may reduce the appearance of off-flavors and off-odors.

The effects of the aerosol generating system according to an embodiment are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other unmentioned effects can be clearly understood from the following description by one of ordinary skill in the art.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, various alterations and modifications may be made to the embodiments and thus, the scope of the disclosure is not limited or restricted to the embodiments. The embodiments should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and replacements within the idea and the technical scope of the disclosure.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. The singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises/comprising” and/or “includes/including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly-used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

When describing the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals refer to like constituent elements and a repeated description related thereto will be omitted. In the description of embodiments, detailed description of well-known related structures or functions will be omitted when it is deemed that such description will cause ambiguous interpretation of the present disclosure.

Also, in the description of the components, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b) or the like may be used herein when describing components of the present disclosure. These terms are used only for the purpose of discriminating one constituent element from another constituent element, and the nature, the sequences, or the orders of the constituent elements are not limited by the terms. When one constituent element is described as being “connected”, “coupled”, or “attached” to another constituent element, it should be understood that one constituent element can be connected or attached directly to another constituent element, and an intervening constituent element can also be “connected”, “coupled”, or “attached” to the constituent elements.

The same name may be used to describe an element included in the embodiments described above and an element having a common function. Unless otherwise mentioned, the descriptions of the examples may be applicable to the following examples and thus, duplicated descriptions will be omitted for conciseness.

In the following embodiments, the “moisturizing agent” may refer to a substance capable of facilitating the formation of visible smoke and/or an aerosol. The moisturizing agent may include, for example, glycerin (GLY), propylene glycol (PG), ethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, and oleyl alcohol, but is not limited thereto. In the art, a moisturizing agent may be used interchangeably with a term such as an aerosol former, a humectant, or the like.

In the following embodiments, an “aerosol forming material” may refer to a material that forms an aerosol. The aerosol may include a volatile compound. The aerosol forming material may be solid or liquid. For example, a solid aerosol forming material may include solid materials based on tobacco raw materials such as reconstituted tobacco sheets, cut tobacco leaves, and reconstituted tobacco, and a liquid aerosol forming material may include a liquid composition based on nicotine, a tobacco extract, and/or various fragrances. However, the scope of the disclosure is not limited to these examples.

In the following embodiments, the term “aerosol generating article” may refer to an article that accommodates a medium, in which an aerosol passes through the article and the medium is transferred. A representative example of the aerosol generating article may be a cigarette. However, the scope of the disclosure is not limited thereto.

In the following embodiments, the term “aerosol generating device” may refer to a device that generates an aerosol using an aerosol forming material to generate an aerosol that may be inhaled through the mouth of a user directly to the lungs of the user.

In the following embodiments, the terms “upstream” or “upstream direction” may refer to a direction away from a mouth of a user (smoker), and the terms “downstream” or “downstream direction” may refer to a direction toward the mouth of the user. The terms “upstream” and “downstream” may be used to describe relative positions of components of the aerosol generating article.

In the following embodiments, the term “puff” refers to inhalation by a user, and inhalation refers to a situation in which a user draws in an aerosol into his or her oral cavity, nasal cavity, or lungs through the mouth or nose.

is a block diagram of an aerosol generating article according to an embodiment,is a diagram schematically illustrating the structure of an aerosol generating device,is a view schematically illustrating the structure of the aerosol generating article according to an embodiment, andis a view schematically illustrating an aerosol generating system in which the aerosol generating article is coupled to the aerosol generating device according to an embodiment.

Referring to, an aerosol generating deviceaccording to an embodiment includes a battery, a controller, a heater, and an elongated cavity.

Components related to the present embodiment are shown in the aerosol generating deviceshown in. Therefore, it is to be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains that the aerosol generating devicemay further include other general-purpose components in addition to the components shown in.

illustrates a linear alignment of the battery, the controller, and the heater. However, the internal structure of the aerosol generating deviceis not limited to what is shown in. That is, the alignment of the battery, the controller, and the heatermay be changed depending on the design of the aerosol generating device.

When an aerosol generating articleis inserted into the aerosol generating device, the aerosol generating devicemay operate the heaterto generate an aerosol. The aerosol generated by the heatermay pass through the aerosol generating articleinto a user.

Even when the aerosol generating articleis not inserted in the aerosol generating device, the aerosol generating devicemay heat the heater, as needed.

The batterymay supply power to be used to operate the aerosol generating device. For example, the batterymay supply power to heat the heater, and may supply power required to operate the controller. In addition, the batterymay supply power required to operate a display, a sensor, a motor, or the like installed in the aerosol generating device.

The controllermay control the overall operation of the aerosol generating device. Specifically, the controllermay control respective operations of other components included in the aerosol generating device, in addition to the batteryand the heater. In addition, the controllermay verify a state of each of the components of the aerosol generating deviceto determine whether the aerosol generating deviceis in an operable state.

The controllerincludes at least one processor. The processor may be implemented as an array of a plurality of logic gates, or may be implemented as a combination of a general-purpose microprocessor and a memory in which a program executable by the microprocessor is stored. In addition, it is to be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains that the processor may be implemented in other types of hardware.

The heatermay be heated by the power supplied by the battery. For example, when the aerosol generating articleis inserted in the aerosol generating device, the heatermay be disposed outside the aerosol generating article. The heated heatermay thus raise the temperature of an aerosol generating material in the aerosol generating article.

The heatermay be an electrically resistive heater. In this example, the heatermay include an electrically conductive track, and the heatermay be heated as a current flows through the electrically conductive track. However, the heateris not limited to the foregoing example, and any example of heating the heaterup to a desired temperature may be applicable without limitation. Here, the desired temperature may be preset in the aerosol generating deviceor may be set by the user.

Meanwhile, as another example, the heatermay be an induction heater. Specifically, the heatermay include an electrically conductive coil for heating the aerosol generating articlein an induction heating manner, and the aerosol generating articlemay include a susceptor to be heated by the induction heater.

For example, the heatermay include a tubular heat transfer element, a plate-shaped heat transfer element, a needle-shaped heat transfer element, or a rod-shaped heat transfer element, and may heat the inside or outside of the aerosol generating articleaccording to the shape of a heat transfer element.

In addition, the heatermay be provided as a plurality of heaters in the aerosol generating device. In this case, the plurality of heatersmay be disposed to be inserted into the aerosol generating articleor may be disposed outside the aerosol generating article. In addition, some of the plurality of heatersmay be disposed to be inserted into the aerosol generating article, and the rest may be disposed outside the aerosol generating article. However, the shape of the heateris not limited to what is shown in, and the heatermay be provided in various shapes.

In an embodiment, the aerosol generating articlemay be received in the elongated cavity. In an embodiment, the heatermay be disposed to surround the outer surface of the elongated cavity, thereby heating the aerosol generating article received in the elongated cavity. The heateraccording to an embodiment may be disposed to surround at least a portion of the outer surface of the elongated cavity.

Meanwhile, the aerosol generating devicemay further include general-purpose components in addition to the battery, the controller, the heater, and the elongated cavity. For example, the aerosol generating devicemay further include a sensing unit, an output unit, a user input unit, a memory, and a communication unit.

The sensing unitmay sense a state of the aerosol generating deviceor a state of an environment around the aerosol generating device, and transmit sensed information to the controller. Based on the sensed information, the controllermay control the aerosol generating deviceto perform various functions, such as controlling the operation of the heater, restricting smoking, determining whether the aerosol generating article(e.g., a cigarette, a cartridge, etc.) is inserted, displaying a notification, and the like.

The sensing unitmay include at least one of a temperature sensor, an insertion detection sensor, or a puff sensor, but is not limited thereto.