Aerosol Generating Substrate and Aerosol Generating Product

This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2023/098860, filed on Jun. 7, 2023, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202310079543.6, filed on Jan. 20, 2023. The entire disclosure of both applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

This application relates to the technical field of aerosol generating products, and in particular, to an aerosol generating substrate and an aerosol generating product.

Aerosol generating products include aerosol generating products that form aerosols by burning and aerosol generating products that form aerosols by heat-not-burn. In a typical heat-not-burn cigarette product, it contains an aerosol generating substrate such as a tobacco raw material, a flavor raw material, and/or an atomizing agent that can volatilize to generate aerosols when heated. The aerosol generating substrate is heated by an external heat source to a sufficient degree to diffuse. The aerosol generating substrate does not burn. When loaded with a large dose of atomizing agent, the atomizing agent is released by high-temperature heating to form aerosols.

In the related art, when aerosol generating products are inhaled, the inhalation resistance is relatively high, and the difference in aerosol volume between puffs is significant.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides an aerosol generating substrate, comprising: a plurality of airway holes on an inside of the aerosol generating substrate, wherein each airway hole of the plurality of airway holes extends through at least one end of the aerosol generating substrate along a length direction, and wherein the plurality of airway holes are formed in the aerosol generating substrate in a non-uniform distribution.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides an aerosol generating substrate and an aerosol generating product that can reduce the inhalation resistance and improve the inhalation uniformity of each puff.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides an aerosol generating substrate. The inside of the aerosol generating substrate is provided with multiple airway holes. Each airway hole extends through at least one end of the aerosol generating substrate along the length direction. The airway holes are formed in the aerosol generating substrate in a non-uniform distribution manner.

In an embodiment, each airway hole extends through the two opposite ends of the aerosol generating substrate along the length direction; and on a plane perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the shape of the cross section of the aerosol generating substrate is a circular shape.

In an embodiment, the airway holes are distributed on multiple trajectory lines. The airway holes on a single trajectory line are linearly arranged along a first direction Z, the multiple trajectory lines are arranged along a second direction Z, and the first direction Zand the second direction Zare not in parallel.

In an embodiment, the airway holes on a single trajectory line are arranged along a circumferential direction surrounding the center of the aerosol generating substrate, and the multiple trajectory lines are non-uniformly arranged along the radial direction of the aerosol generating substrate.

In an embodiment, the airway holes on a single trajectory line are repeatedly arranged, and along the radial direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the apertures of the airway holes on the outermost single trajectory line away from the center of the aerosol generating substrate are larger than the apertures of the airway holes on an inner single trajectory line, or the apertures of the airway holes on the innermost single trajectory line close to the center of the aerosol generating substrate are larger than the apertures of the airway holes on an outer single trajectory line.

In an embodiment, the airway holes on a single trajectory line are repeatedly arranged, and the apertures of the airway holes on each trajectory line gradually increase or gradually decrease radially outward along the aerosol generating substrate.

In an embodiment, the airway holes on a single trajectory line are repeatedly arranged, and the wall thicknesses of partition walls between the airway holes on two adjacent trajectory lines gradually increase or gradually decrease radially outward along the aerosol generating substrate.

In an embodiment, the airway holes on a single trajectory line are linearly arranged along the first direction Z, the multiple trajectory lines are arranged in parallel along the second direction Z, and the first direction Zis perpendicular to the second direction Z.

In an embodiment, the aperture of the airway hole gradually increases or gradually decreases from a middle portion to the two opposite ends along the axial direction of the aerosol generating substrate; or, the aperture of the airway hole gradually increases from one end of the aerosol generating substrate to the other opposite end.

In an embodiment, the inside of the aerosol generating substrate is provided with a first region and a second region, and the airway holes are distributed in the first region.

In an embodiment, on a plane perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the shape of the cross section of the aerosol generating substrate is an elliptical shape, a runway shape, or a polygonal shape.

In an embodiment, the shape of the cross section of the airway hole is a circular shape, an elliptical shape, a runway shape, a sector shape, or a polygonal shape.

In an embodiment, an airway groove is formed in the outer sidewall of the aerosol generating substrate, and the airway groove extends through at least one end of the aerosol generating substrate along the length direction.

In an embodiment, on the plane perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the shape of the cross section of the airway groove is the same as the local shape of the airway hole.

In an embodiment, on the plane perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the shape of the cross section of the airway groove is an arc shape, a rectangular shape, or a trapezoidal shape.

In an embodiment, the functional section further includes a cooling section, and the cooling section is located between the filtering section and the aerosol generating substrate.

An embodiment of this application further provides an aerosol generating product, which includes: the aerosol generating substrate described above;

The embodiments of this application provide the aerosol generating substrate and the aerosol generating product. The inside of the aerosol generating substrate is provided with multiple airway holes. Each airway hole extends through at least one end of the aerosol generating substrate along the length direction. The airway holes are formed in the aerosol generating substrate in a non-uniform distribution manner. When heating and atomizing the aerosol generating substrate, aerosols are released by heating the aerosol generating substrate. The aerosols flow out through gaps or micropores in the partition walls between the airway holes, are collected in the airway holes, and are conveyed to an inhalation end under the action of negative inhalation pressure. That is to say, by providing the multiple airway holes, the surface area of the aerosol generating substrate can be increased (the sidewall of the airway hole is equivalent to a part of the surface of the aerosol generating substrate), so that the heat of the aerosol generating substrate can enter the inside of the aerosol generating substrate from the outer surface of the aerosol generating substrate. Compared with the structure that the heat is directly transferred inside the aerosol generating substrate in the related technologies, the heating efficiency can be improved. In addition, in combination with different heating methods, the airway holes are formed in the aerosol generating substrate in a non-uniform distribution manner. That is to say, according to different heating methods, the mass per unit volume of the aerosol generating substrate in different regions can be adjusted by adjusting the aperture of the airway hole, the wall thickness of the partition wall between adjacent airway holes, and the like, thus achieving uniform heating of the aerosol generating substrate, maintaining the consistency of aerosol release, i.e., the consistency of the aerosols inhaled at the first few puffs and the last few puffs, and improving the user experience during inhaling. That is to say, the aerosol generating substrate provided in the embodiment of this application can improve the user experience.

It should be noted that without causing any conflict, the embodiments of this application and the technical features in the embodiments may be combined with each other, and the detailed description in the specific embodiments should be understood as an explanation of the purpose of this application and should not be regarded as an undue limitation on this application.

An embodiment of this application provides an aerosol generating product. Referring toto. The aerosol generating productincludes a functional section, an outer wrapping layer, and an aerosol generating substrate. The functional sectionis arranged at one end of the aerosol generating substratealong the length direction. The functional sectionat least includes a filtering section for filtering aerosols. The filtering section may also be referred to as a filter.

The outer wrapping layeris configured to wrap the peripheral sides of the functional sectionand the aerosol generating substrate.

The aerosol generating productis used in conjunction with an electronic atomization device with a heating component. Specifically, the heating component heats and atomizes the aerosol generating substrateto produce aerosols, and the user inhales the filtered aerosols through the filtering section of the functional section.

It should be noted that the aerosol generating productgenerates aerosols by virtue of the aerosol generating substrate, while the functional sectiondoes not generate aerosols.

It should be noted that the aerosol generating product in the embodiment of this application is applicable to inhalation by means of heating and burning, and is also applicable to inhalation by means of heating-not-burning. In the embodiment of this application, description is made by taking the aerosol generating productbeing applicable to inhalation by means of heating-not-burning as an example.

There are various heating methods for the heating component. Exemplarily, the heating methods include central heating, circumferential heating, bottom air heating, and the like. The central heating method refers to baking and heating the aerosol generating productfrom the inside to the outside through the heating component inserted into the aerosol generating product. The circumferential heating method refers to baking and heating the aerosol generating productfrom the outside to the inside through the heating component arranged on the periphery of the aerosol generating product. The bottom heating method refers to first heating the air by using the heating component, and then baking and heating the aerosol generating productfrom the bottom to the top through the hot air. These heating methods may specifically include resistance heating, electromagnetic heating, infrared heating, microwave heating, laser heating, and the like, which will not specifically limited here.

The functional sectionmay be provided with only a filtering sectionas shown in, or may be provided with a filtering sectionand a cooling sectionas shown in. For the functional sectionprovided with the cooling section, the cooling sectionis provided between the filtering sectionand a vapor generating substrate structureto cool the aerosols before the filtering sectionfilters the aerosols.

The cooling section is used for cooling the aerosols before the filtering section filters the aerosols, so as to reduce the temperature of the aerosols and improve the situation that “the mouth feels hot” when the user inhales the aerosols.

In some embodiments, the functional sectionmay be further provided with a supporting section. The supporting section has certain structural strength and plays a role of axially limiting the aerosol generating substrate. Specifically, when the aerosol generating productis inserted into a heating chamber of an electronic atomization device, or when a heating element is inserted into the aerosol generating substrate, the supporting section provides a reaction force to the aerosol generating substrate, so as to prevent the aerosol generating substratefrom moving axially.

Another embodiment of this application provides an aerosol generating substrate. The aerosol generating substrateis used for the aerosol generating product described in the embodiment of this application. Referring toto, the inside of the aerosol generating substrateis provided with multiple airway holes. Each airway holeextends through at least one end of the aerosol generating substratealong the length direction, that is, the airway holeextends along the longitudinal direction of the aerosol generating substrate, and the airway holesare formed in the aerosol generating substratein a non-uniform distribution manner.

It should be noted that the airway holesbeing in “non-uniform distribution” refers to that the arrangement of the airway holesis non-uniform, including matrix or concentric distribution of the airway holes. The hole walls of the airway holesform the surface of the aerosol generating substrate. The airway holescan increase the surface area of the aerosol generating substrate, thus facilitating the heat transfer and improving the heating efficiency. In addition, the aerosols flow out through micropores, are collected into the airway holes, and are conveyed to an inhalation end under the action of negative inhalation pressure, thus reducing the inhalation resistance when the user inhales the aerosols and improving the user experience.

Exemplarily, the aerosol generating substrateis a granular combination, and is a recombinant tobacco substrate, such as a recombinant tobacco substrate containing components such as a vapor generating agent and tobacco. The aerosol generating substrateis of an integral structure, for example, it may be an integral structure formed through a process such as injection molding, compression molding or extrusion molding. Extrusion molding refers to a process method in which a mixture of raw materials is added to an extruder, and the material is heated and plasticized while being pushed forward by a screw through the action between an extruder barrel and the screw, and continuously passes through a machine head to produce products or semi-finished products with various cross sections. The aerosol substrate formed by extrusion molding is strip-shaped. Since the aerosol generating substrateis of an integral structure, when the aerosol generating substrateis heated for inhaling or heating is stopped, it is an integral substrate without the problem of disintegration and falling, thus solving the problems that the filamentary or granular aerosol generating substratefalls apart and is difficult to clean in the prior art.

In addition, micropores are formed between granules of the granular combination, and the micropores are communicated to form micro airways communicated with the airway holes. The airway holesextend through the two ends of the substrate, playing a role of uniformly introducing air and collectively conveying the aerosols. The recombinant tobacco substrate containing components such as a vapor generating agent and tobacco releases aerosols when heated. The aerosols are collected into the airway holesthrough gaps or micropores between wall materials and conveyed to the inhalation end under the action of negative inhalation pressure.

It should be noted that the airway holesmay be non-uniformly distributed in the aerosol generating substratein various ways, for example, the airway holes may be non-uniformly arranged along the radial direction of the aerosol generating substrate, or non-uniformly arranged along the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate.

The airway holesare non-uniformly distributed in the aerosol generating substrate. For example, the mass per unit volume of the aerosol generating substratemay gradually decrease as it gets away from a heat source, that is, the closer to the heat source, the larger the mass per unit volume of the aerosol generating substrate(the higher the density of the vapor generating substrate), and the farther away from the heat source, the smaller the mass per unit volume of the aerosol generating substrate(the lower the density of the vapor generating substrate), thus prolonging the heating time of the aerosol generating substrateaway from the heat source, improving the uniformity of aerosols released from the aerosol generating substrate, increasing the inhaling duration or the number of puffs, and improving the user experience.

Providing the airway holesinside the aerosol generating substratecan increase the surface area of the aerosol generating substrate, improve the heating efficiency, and improve the user experience during inhaling.

The inside of the aerosol generating substrate provided in the embodiment of this application is provided with multiple airway holes. Each airway holeextends through at least one end of the aerosol generating substratealong the length direction. The airway holesare formed in the aerosol generating substratein a non-uniform distribution manner. When heating and atomizing the aerosol generating substrate, aerosols are released by heating the aerosol generating substrate. The aerosols flow out through gaps or micropores in the partition walls between the airway holes, are collected in the airway holes, and are conveyed to the inhalation end under the action of negative inhalation pressure. That is to say, by providing the multiple airway holes, the surface area of the aerosol generating substratecan be increased (the sidewall of the airway holeis equivalent to a part of the surface of the aerosol generating substrate), so that the heat of the aerosol generating substratecan enter the inside of the aerosol generating substratefrom the surface of the aerosol generating substrate. Compared with the structure that the heat is directly transferred inside the aerosol generating substratein the related technologies, the heating efficiency can be improved. In addition, in combination with different heating methods, the airway holesare non-uniformly distributed in the aerosol generating substrate. That is to say, according to different heating methods, the mass per unit volume of the aerosol generating substratein different regions can be adjusted by adjusting the aperture of the airway hole, the wall thickness of the partition wall between adjacent airway holes, and the like, thus achieving uniform heating of the aerosol generating substrate, maintaining the consistency of aerosol release, i.e., the consistency of the aerosols inhaled at the first few puffs and the last few puffs, and improving the user experience during inhaling. That is to say, the aerosol generating substrateprovided in the embodiment of this application can improve the user experience.

The outer wrapping layeris configured to wrap the circumferential outsides of the functional sectionand the aerosol generating substrate.

The material of the outer wrapping layeris not limited, for example, includes, but is not limited to, one or a combination of more of materials such as fiber paper, metal foil, metal foil composite fiber paper, polyethylene composite fiber paper, PE, and PBAT. In some embodiments, referring to, the functional sectiononly includes the filtering section. In some other embodiments, referring to, in addition to the filtering section, the functional section further includes the supporting section and/or the cooling section. The supporting section and/or the cooling sectionare arranged between the aerosol generating substrateand the filtering section.

The cooling sectionis used for cooling the aerosols before the filtering sectionfilters the aerosols, so as to reduce the temperature of the aerosols and improve the situation that “the mouth feels hot” when the user inhales the aerosols.

The material of the cooling sectionincludes, but is not limited to, one or a combination of more of PE (polyethylene), PLA (polylactic acid, also known as polylactide), PBAT (butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate), PP (polypropylene), acetate fiber, and propylene fiber materials. The material of the filtering section includes, but is not limited to, one or a combination of more of PE (polyethylene), PLA (polylactic acid, also known as polylactide), PBAT (butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate), PP (polypropylene), acetate fiber, and propylene fiber materials.

The materials of the cooling sectionand the filtering section may be the same or different.

The supporting section has certain structural strength and plays a role of axially limiting the aerosol generating substrate.

Specifically, when the aerosol generating productis inserted into a heating chamberof an aerosol generating device, or when a heating element is inserted into the aerosol generating substrate, the supporting section provides a reaction force to the aerosol generating substrate, so as to prevent the aerosol generating substratefrom moving axially.

The specific components of the aerosol generating substrateare not limited here. Exemplarily, in an embodiment, the aerosol generating substratemay include a plant component, an auxiliary component, a vapor generating agent component, a binder component, and the like.