Aerosol Generating Substrate and Aerosol Generating Article

This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2023/136213, filed on Dec. 4, 2023, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202310095317.7, 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 smoking articles, and in particular, to an aerosol generating substrate and an aerosol generating article that produce aerosol by heating manner.

Smoking articles include those that generate aerosol by ignition and those that generate the aerosol by heat not burn. A typical heat not burn smoking article includes an aerosol generating substrate, such as a tobacco material, a flavoring material, and/or an aerosol former, that can be volatilized during heating to produce the aerosol. The aerosol generating substrate is heated using an external heat source to a degree sufficient for volatilization without combustion. By loading a high dosage of aerosol former, the aerosol former is released through high-temperature heating during use, forming aerosol.

In the prior art, when puffing the smoking article, the resistance to draw (RTD) of the aerosol generating substrate is high, and there is significant variation in the amount of smoke produced from puff to puff.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides an aerosol generating substrate, comprising: at least one airway channel internally formed, the at least one airway channel penetrating through at least one end of the aerosol generating substrate along a length direction, wherein, in a cross section perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, a cross-sectional shape of the at least one airway channel is substantially a regular polygon.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides an aerosol generating substrate and an aerosol generating article that can reduce RTD and enhance the consistency of puffing during inhalation.

An embodiment of this application provides an aerosol generating substrate. The aerosol generating substrate is internally formed with at least one airway channel, where the airway channel penetrates through at least one end of the aerosol generating substrate along a length direction, and in the cross section perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the cross-sectional shape of the airway channel is substantially a regular polygon.

In some embodiments, multiple airway channels are provided, the airway channels penetrate through two opposite ends of the aerosol generating substrate along the length direction, and the airway channels are of same shape and dimension.

In some embodiments, an airway groove is formed along the circumferential surface of the aerosol generating substrate, and the airway groove penetrates through the two opposite ends of the aerosol generating substrate along the length direction.

In some embodiments, in the plane perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, the cross-sectional shape of the airway groove is identical to the local shape of the regular polygon.

In some embodiments, multiple airway channels are provided, and the multiple airway channels are distributed on multiple trajectory lines, where the airway channels on a single trajectory line are linearly arranged along the first direction, the multiple trajectory lines are arranged along the second direction, and the first direction is not parallel to the second direction.

In some embodiments, the airway channels on a single trajectory line are equidistantly arranged.

In some embodiments, the airway channels on a single trajectory line are arranged along the circumferential direction around the center of the aerosol generating substrate, and the multiple rows of airway channels are arranged in concentric circles along the radial direction.

In some embodiments, the airway channels on a single trajectory line are linearly arranged along the first direction, the multiple trajectory lines are arranged in parallel along the second direction, and the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction.

In some embodiments, the distance between two adjacent airway channels on a single trajectory line is equal to the distance between two adjacent trajectory lines.

In some embodiments, the airway channels are distributed in a matrix, or the distribution pattern of the airway channels is: a matrix distribution with omitted apex points.

In some embodiments, the regular polygon is a square or a regular hexagon.

In some embodiments, the regular polygon is the regular hexagon, the airway channels on two adjacent trajectory lines are staggered, and the airway channels are arranged in a honeycomb pattern.

In some embodiments, the number of the airway channels does not exceed 730.

In some embodiments, the hydraulic diameter of the airway channels ranges from 0.1 mm to 3 mm.

In some embodiments, the aerosol generating substrate is a particle aggregate, micropores are formed between particles of the particle aggregate, the multiple micropores communicate with each other and form micro airways that communicate with the airway channels, and the hydraulic diameter of the micropores ranges from 10 nm to 30 μm.

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

In some embodiments, the number of the sides of the regular polygon does not exceed 10. An embodiment of this application provides an aerosol generating article, including: the aerosol generating substrate according to any of embodiments of this application;

According to the aerosol generating substrate in this embodiment of this application, the airway channel in the regular polygon shape has a regular shape and facilitates the control of the wall thickness of the substrate wall between the wall of the airway channel and the circumferential outer surface of the aerosol generating substrate. When multiple airway channels are provided, the wall thickness of the substrate wall between two adjacent airway channels is easy to control, thereby easily achieving effects of consistent and stable heat transfer during the heating of the aerosol generating substrate and maintain consistency of puff-by-puff smoking.

The embodiments of this application are further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. The following embodiments are used to illustrate this application, but should not be used to limit the scope of this application.

In the description of the embodiments of this application, the terms “first”, “second”, and “third” are only used for descriptive purposes, and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

An embodiment of this application provides an aerosol generating substrate, which is used for generating aerosol during heating for a user to inhale.

An embodiment of this application further provides an aerosol generating article. With reference to,, and, the aerosol generating article includes a functional segment, an outer wrapping layer, and the aerosol generating substrateaccording to any embodiment of this application.

The aerosol generating article is used in cooperation with an aerosol generating device with a heating element. Specifically, the heating element heats the aerosol generating substrateto volatilize corresponding components, so as to generate the aerosol.

The aerosol generating article generates the aerosol through the aerosol generating substrate, and the functional segmentdoes not generate the aerosol.

The aerosol generating article according to this embodiment of this application may be suitable for inhalation by heating and combustion, or for inhalation by heat not burn. In this embodiment of this application, the description is made by using the example of the aerosol generating articlesuitable for inhalation by heat not burn.

The functional segmentis arranged at one end of the aerosol generating substratealong a length direction. The functional segmentat least includes a filter segmentfor filtering the aerosol. The filter segmentmay also be referred to as a filter.

The user puffs the filtered aerosol through the filter segmentof the functional segment.

The outer wrapping layerwraps the circumferential outer portion of the functional segmentand 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 fiber paper, metal foil, metal foil composite fiber paper, polyethylene composite fiber paper, PE, PBAT, etc.

In some embodiments, referring to, the functional segmentonly includes the filter segment. In some other embodiments, referring to, in addition to the filter segment, a supporting segment and/or a cooling segmentare/is further included. The supporting segment and/or the cooling segmentare/is arranged between the aerosol generating substrateand the filter segment.

The cooling segmentis used for cooling the aerosol before the filter segmentfilters the aerosol, to reduce the temperature of the aerosol and improve the phenomenon of “burning mouth” when the user inhales the aerosol.

The material of the cooling segmentincludes but is not limited to one or a combination of more of polyethylene (PE), polylactic acid (PLA, also referred to as polylactide), butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT), polypropylene (PP), cellulose acetate fiber, and an acrylic fiber material. The material of the filter segmentincludes but is not limited to one or a combination of more of polyethylene (PE), polylactic acid (PLA, also referred to as polylactide), butyleneadipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT), polypropylene (PP), cellulose acetate fiber, and an acrylic fiber material. The materials of the cooling segmentand the filter segmentmay be the same or different.

The supporting segment has a certain structural strength and axially limits the aerosol generating substrate. Specifically, when the aerosol generating article is inserted into a heating chamber of the aerosol generating device, or when the heating element is inserted into the aerosol generating substrate, the supporting segment provides a reactive force against the aerosol generating substrateto prevent the aerosol generating substratefrom moving along the axial direction.

There are many heating methods for the heating element of the above aerosol generating device. Exemplarily, the heating methods include central heating and peripheral heating. The central heating method refers to the heating element being inserted into the aerosol generating article to roast and heat the aerosol generating article from inside out. The peripheral heating method refers to the heating element being arranged on the periphery of the aerosol generating article to roast and heat the aerosol generating article from outside in. These heating methods may specifically include resistance heating, electromagnetic heating, infrared heating, microwave heating, laser heating, etc., which are not specifically limited herein.

Specific components of the aerosol generating substrateare not limited herein. Exemplarily, in an embodiment, the aerosol generating substratemay include plant components, adjuvant components, aerosol former components, binder components, etc.

In an embodiment, the plant components are one or a combination of more of powders formed after crushing tobacco leaf materials, tobacco leaf fragments, tobacco stems, tobacco powder, aromatic plants, etc. The plant components are used for generating aerosol containing alkaloid during heating.

In an embodiment, the adjuvant components may be one or a combination of more of an inorganic filler, a lubricant, and an emulsifier. The inorganic filler includes one or a combination of more of heavy calcium carbonate, light calcium carbonate, zeolite, attapulgite, talcum powder, and diatomaceous earth. The inorganic filler may provide a skeletal support function for the plant components, and also has micropores, which can increase a wall material porosity after the plant components are formed, thereby improving an aerosol release rate.

The lubricant includes one or a combination of more of candelilla wax, carnauba wax, shellac, sunflower wax, rice bran, beeswax, stearic acid, and palmitic acid.

The lubricant can increase the fluidity of particles, reduce friction between the particles, achieve a consistent overall density of particle distribution, and also reduce the pressure required for mold forming and abrasion of a mold.

The emulsifier includes one or a combination of more of polyglycerol fatty acid ester, Tween-80, and polyvinyl alcohol.

The emulsifier can, to a certain extent, slow down the loss of aroma substances during storage, increase the stability of the aroma substances, and improve the sensory quality of a product.

In an embodiment, the aerosol former components can serve as generating a large amount of vapor during heating, thereby enhancing a smoke volume of a smoking article. A aerosol former may include, for example, one or a combination of more of monohydric alcohol (e.g., menthol); polyols (e.g., propylene glycol, triethylene glycol, 1,3-butanediol, and glycerol); ester of polyols (e.g., monoacetin, diacetin, or triacetin); monocarboxylic acid; and polycarboxylic acid (e.g., lauric acid and myristic acid) or aliphatic ester of polycarboxylic acid (e.g., dimethyl dodecanedioate, dimethyl tetradecanedioate, erythritol, 1,3-butanediol, tetraethylene glycol, triethyl citrate, propylene carbonate, ethyl laurate, triactin, meso-erythritol, diacetin mixture, diethyl suberate, triethyl citrate, benzyl benzoate, benzyl phenylacetate, ethyl vanillate, tributyrin, and lauryl acetate).

In an embodiment, the binder components are natural plant-extracted, non-ionized modified sticky polysaccharide, including one or a combination of more of tamarind polysaccharide, pullulan, seaweed polysaccharide, locust bean gum, guar gum, and xyloglucan.

A binder is used for bonding the particles together, preventing the particles from loosening, also improves the water resistance of the aerosol generating substrate, is harmless to the human body, and has certain health benefits.