Aerosol Generating Substrate and Aerosol Generating Product

This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2023/099887, filed on Jun. 13, 2023, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202310098083.1, filed on Jan. 20, 2023; Chinese Patent Application No. 202320190383.8, filed on Jan. 20, 2023; and Chinese Patent Application No. 202310555607.5, filed on May 17, 2023. The entire disclosure of the foregoing 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 that form aerosols through heating.

Aerosol generating products include aerosol generating products that form aerosols by ignition and aerosol generating products that form aerosols by heat-not-burn. A typical heat-not-burn aerosol generating product includes an aerosol generating substrate such as a tobacco raw material, a fragrant raw material, and/or an atomizing agent which can volatilize upon heating to generate aerosols. An external heat source is used for heating the aerosol generating substrate until the aerosol generating substrate releases aerosols, without burning of the aerosol generating substrate. Through loading atomizing agent, during use, the atomizing agent is released by high-temperature heating to form aerosols.

In the related art, when an aerosol generating product is 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 channel that extends through at least one end of the aerosol generating substrate along a length direction; and a plurality of micropores, the plurality of micropores being in communication with the channel.

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

An embodiment of this application provides an aerosol generating substrate. The aerosol generating substrate is provided with a channel, and the channel extends through at least one end of the aerosol generating substrate along the length direction. The aerosol generating substrate is provided with micropores, and the micropores are in communication with the channel.

In some embodiments, the channel includes an airway hole, and the airway hole is disposed inside the aerosol generating substrate and extends through two opposite ends of the aerosol generating substrate along the length direction.

In some embodiments, the airway hole has a cross-sectional area of 0.0019 mmto 30 mm; or the airway hole has a hydraulic diameter of 0.05 mm to 6 mm.

In some embodiments, the airway hole has a cross-sectional area of 0.007 mmto 7.1 mm; or the airway hole has a hydraulic diameter of 0.1 mm to 3 mm.

In some embodiments, in a plane perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the cross section of the airway hole is in at least one of the following shapes: a circular shape, an elliptical shape, a race track shape, a polygonal shape, and a sector shape.

In some embodiments, a plurality of airway holes are provided, and in the plane perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the airway holes are distributed symmetrically by taking the center of the aerosol generating substrate as an original point, and/or the airway holes are distributed in mirror symmetry about the central axial plane of the aerosol generating substrate.

In some embodiments, a plurality of airway holes are provided, and in the plane perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the cross sections of the airway holes have the same shape and size.

In some embodiments, the channel includes an airway groove, and the airway groove is disposed at the circumferential surface of the aerosol generating substrate.

In some embodiments, the channel includes an airway hole, and the airway hole is disposed inside the aerosol generating substrate. In 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 some embodiments, the micropores have a cross-sectional area of 0.7 nmto 710 μm; or the micropores have a hydraulic diameter of 10 nm to 30 μm.

In some embodiments, the micropores have a cross-sectional area of 1963 nmto 20 μm; or the micropores have a hydraulic diameter of 50 nm to 5 μm.

In some embodiments, in the plane perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the maximum size of the contour of the aerosol generating substrate is 4 mm to 10 mm.

In some embodiments, in the plane perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the maximum size of the contour of the aerosol generating substrate is 6 mm to 8.6 mm.

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the channel extends linearly, and/or at least a portion of the channel extends curvilinearly.

In some embodiments, the aerosol generating substrate is a particle aggregate, and the micropores are formed between particles of the particle aggregate.

In some embodiments, the aerosol generating substrate is of an integrated structure; and/or the cross-sectional area of the channel is at least 20 times the cross-sectional area of the micropores.

An embodiment of this application provides an aerosol generating product, which includes:

In the aerosol generating substrate of the embodiments of this application, the channel can increase the surface area of the aerosol generating substrate, thereby facilitating heat transfer and improving the heating efficiency. When heated, a substrate of the aerosol generating substrate releases aerosols, and the aerosols converge into the channel through the micropores and are delivered to an inhalation end under the action of a negative inhalation pressure. The channel can reduce the inhalation resistance when a user inhales and improve the user experience. It should be noted that the inhalation resistance is positively correlated with the flow resistance of the aerosols. A lower flow resistance of the aerosols within the aerosol generating substrate results in a lower inhalation resistance experienced by the user; and a higher flow resistance of the aerosols within the aerosol generating substrate results in a higher inhalation resistance experienced by the user.

The following further describes implementations of this application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. The following embodiments are used for describing this application rather than limiting the scope of this application.

In the descriptions of the embodiments of this application, the terms “first”, “second”, and “third” are merely for the purpose of description and shall not be construed as any indication or implication of relative importance.

An embodiment of this application provides an aerosol generating substratefor generating aerosols when heated, for user inhalation. In the embodiment of this application, the aerosol generating substrateis substantially cylindrical.

An embodiment of this application further provides an aerosol generating product, which, with reference to,,, and, includes a functional section, an outer wrapping layer, and the aerosol generating substrateaccording to any embodiment of this application.

The aerosol generating product is used for cooperating with an aerosol generating device provided with a heating component for use. Specifically, the heating component heats and atomizes the aerosol generating substrateto generate aerosols.

It should be noted that the aerosol generating product generates the aerosols depending on the aerosol generating substrate, and the functional sectiondoes not generate aerosols.

It should be noted that the aerosol generating product of 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.

The functional sectionis disposed at one end of the aerosol generating substratealong the length direction. The functional sectionat least includes a filtering sectionfor filtering aerosols. The filtering sectionmay also be referred to as a filter.

The user inhales the filtered aerosols through the filtering sectionof the functional section.

The outer wrapping layerwraps 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 several of materials such as fiber paper, metal foil, metal foil-laminated fiber paper, polyethylene-laminated fiber paper, PE, and PBAT.

In some embodiments, the functional sectiononly includes the filtering section. In some other embodiments, in addition to the filtering section, the functional section further includes a supporting section and/or cooling section(see). The supporting section and/or cooling sectionare/is disposed 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 several of PE (polyethylene), PLA (polylactic acid, also referred to as polylactide), PBAT (butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate), PP (polypropylene), acetate fiber, and propylene fiber materials. The material of the filtering sectionincludes, but is not limited to, one or a combination of several of PE (polyethylene), PLA (polylactic acid, also referred to as polylactide), PBAT (butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate), PP (polypropylene), acetate fiber, and propylene fiber materials. The materials of the cooling sectionand the filtering sectionmay 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 product is inserted into a heating chamber of an aerosol generating device, or when a heating element is inserted into the aerosol generating substrate, the supporting section provides a counterforce to the aerosol generating substrateto prevent axial movement of the aerosol generating substrate.

There are various heating methods for the heating component of the aerosol generating device. Exemplarily, the heating methods include, but are not limited to, central heating and circumferential heating. The central heating method refers to a process in which the heating component is inserted into the aerosol generating product to bake and heat the aerosol generating product from inside to outside. The circumferential heating method refers to a process in which the heating component is disposed at the periphery of the aerosol generating product to bake and heat the aerosol generating product from outside to inside. These heating methods may specifically include resistance heating, electromagnetic heating, infrared heating, microwave heating, laser heating, and the like, which are not specifically limited herein.

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

In one embodiment, the plant component includes one or a combination of several of powder formed by crushing tobacco raw materials, tobacco fragments, tobacco stems, tobacco powder, aromatic plants, and the like. The plant component is the key source of the fragrance of the product. An endogenous substance such as nicotine in the plant component enters the human bloodstream through atomization and stimulates the pituitary gland to generate dopamine, thereby allowing the user to achieve a sense of physiological satisfaction.

In one embodiment, the auxiliary component may be one or a combination of several of an inorganic filler, a lubricant, and an emulsifier. The inorganic filler includes one or a combination of several of heavy calcium carbonate, light calcium carbonate, zeolite, attapulgite, talc powder, and diatomite. The inorganic filler can provide framework support for the plant component. In addition, the inorganic filler also has micropores, which can increase the porosity of the wall material after the plant component is formed, thereby increasing the aerosol release rate.

The lubricant includes one or a combination of several of candelilla wax, Brazilian palm wax, shell-lac, sunflower wax, rice bran, beeswax, stearic acid, and palmitic acid. The lubricant can increase the fluidity of the particles, reduce the friction force between the particles, and realize uniform overall distribution density of the particles, as well as reduce the pressure required for mold forming and reduce the wear of the mold.

The emulsifier includes one or a combination of several of polyglycerol fatty acid ester, Tween-80, and polyvinyl alcohol. The emulsifier (also referred to as a surfactant) can reduce the interfacial tension of water-soluble and water-insoluble components in a mixed system, and form a firm film on the surface of droplets or form double electron layers on the surface of the droplets by virtue of the electric charge given by the emulsifier, preventing the droplets from aggregating with each other and thus maintaining a uniform emulsion. The emulsification and homogenization of two immiscible components can improve the consistency of product quality.

The function of the vapor generating agent component is to generate a large amount of vapor when heated, thereby increasing the vapor amount of the vapor generating product. In one embodiment, the vapor generating agent may, for example, include: one or a combination of several of monohydric alcohol (such as menthol); polyhydric alcohol (such as propylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 1,3-butanediol, and glycerol); ester of polyhydric alcohol (such as glyceryl monoacetate, glyceryl diacetate, or glyceryl triacetate); monocarboxylic acid; and polycarboxylic acid (such as lauric acid and myristic acid), or aliphatic esters of polycarboxylic acid (such as dimethyl dodecanedioate, dimethyl tetradecanedioate, erythritol, 1,3-butanediol, tetraethylene glycol, triethyl citrate, propylene carbonate, ethyl laurate, Triactin, meso-erythritol, glyceryl diacetate mixture, diethyl suberate, triethyl citrate, benzyl benzoate, benzyl phenylacetate, ethyl vanillate, tributyrin, and lauryl acetate).

In one embodiment, the binder component is a natural plant extract and non-ionized modified viscous polysaccharide, including one or a combination of several of tamarind polysaccharide, pullulan, seaweed polysaccharide, locust bean gum, guar gum, and xyloglucan. The binder is in close contact with an interface of a component material of the product through wetting, generating intermolecular attraction, and thus playing a role in bonding the powder, liquid, and the like of the component material. In addition, the binder is naturally extracted and non-ionized, preventing the release of harmful substances such as methanol, formaldehyde, and acrolein produced by colloid modification, thereby improving the safety of the product.

The aerosol generating substrateis provided with at least one channel, and the channel extends through at least one end of the aerosol generating substratealong the length direction, that is, the channel extends along the longitudinal direction of the aerosol generating substrate.

In some embodiments, referring to, the channels extend through the same end of the aerosol generating substratealong the length direction, and the other end is a closed end.

In some other embodiments, referring to, some of the channels extend through one end of the aerosol generating substratealong the length direction, and the other channels extend through the other end of the aerosol generating substratealong the length direction.