Aerosol Generating Substrate and Aerosol Generating Article

This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2023/107032, filed on Jul. 12, 2023, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202310095263.4, 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 articles, and in particular, to an aerosol generating substrate and an aerosol generating article.

An aerosol generating article includes an aerosol generating article that forms an aerosol in a manner of being ignited and an aerosol generating article that forms an aerosol in a manner of being heated rather than being burned. In a typical aerosol generating article that is heated rather than burned, the aerosol generating article includes an aerosol generating substrate, such as a tobacco raw material, an aroma raw material, and/or an aerosol former that can be evaporated when heated to generate an aerosol. The aerosol generating article is heated by using an external heat source, so that the aerosol generating substrate is heated just enough to release the aerosol. The aerosol generating substrate is not burned. A large quantity of aerosol former s are loaded, so that the aerosol former s are released by high-temperature heating during using, to form vapor.

In the related art, the aerosol generating substrate is prone to problems such as difficulty in inhaling and inconsistent heating in a heating process.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides an aerosol generating substrate, comprising: a plurality of air holes of at least two cross-sectional shapes, air holes of the plurality of air holes being formed inside the aerosol generating substrate and passing through at least one end of the aerosol generating substrate along a length direction.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides an aerosol generating substrate and an aerosol generating article, to improve heating uniformity.

In an embodiment, the present invention provides an aerosol generating substrate, where the aerosol generating substrate includes air holes of at least two cross-sectional shapes, the air holes are formed inside the aerosol generating substrate, and the air holes pass through at least one end of the aerosol generating substrate along a length direction.

In some embodiments, the air holes pass through two opposite ends of the aerosol generating substrate along the length direction; and the aerosol generating substrate is divided into a middle part and an edge part, the edge part surrounds the middle part, a first group including the plurality of air holes is arranged in the middle part, a second group including the plurality of air holes is arranged in the edge part, cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the first group are the same, and a cross-sectional shape of at least one air hole in the second group is different from the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the first group.

In some embodiments, the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the first group are circles, and the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the second group are a part of the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the first group.

In some embodiments, the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the first group are regular hexagons, and the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the second group are a part of the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the first group. In some embodiments, the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the first group are rhombuses, and the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the second group are a part of the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the first group.

In some embodiments, the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the first group are regular quadrangles, and the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the second group are a part of the cross-sectional shapes of the air holes in the first group.

In some embodiments, all the air holes in the first group are classified into a plurality of air hole units, the plurality of air holes of the air hole units are arranged along a first direction, and the plurality of the air hole units are arranged along a second direction, where the first direction intersects with the second direction.

In some embodiments, the plurality of air holes of the air hole units are linearly arranged along the first direction, and the plurality of air hole units are linearly arranged along the second direction.

In some embodiments, the plurality of air holes of the air hole units are circumferentially arranged along the first direction, and the plurality of air hole units are sleeved one by one along the second direction.

In some embodiments, a cross-sectional shape of at least one air hole is a first shape, and a cross-sectional shape of at least one air hole is a second shape.

In some embodiments, a part of the first shape is the same as the second shape.

In some embodiments, a quantity of air holes of the first shapes is more than one, a quantity of air holes of the second shapes is more than one, and each air hole of the second shape is surrounded by at least two air holes of the first shapes.

In some embodiments, a quantity of air holes of the first shapes is more than one and a quantity of air holes of the second shapes is more than one; all the air holes of the first shapes are grouped into a plurality of first row groups, a plurality of air holes in each first row group are linearly arranged along a first direction, and the plurality of first row groups are linearly arranged along a second direction; all the air holes of the second shapes are grouped into a plurality of second row groups, a plurality of air holes in each second row group are linearly arranged along the first direction, and the plurality of second row groups are linearly arranged along the second direction; and the air holes of the first shapes and the air holes of the second shapes are alternately arranged in sequence in the first direction, and the air holes of the first shapes and the air holes of the second shapes are alternately arranged in sequence in the second direction.

In some embodiments, an air hole whose cross-sectional shape is a third shape is provided on a center line of the aerosol generating substrate.

In some embodiments, a quantity of air holes of the first shapes is four, a quantity of air holes of the second shapes is four, the four air holes of the first shapes are separately symmetrically arranged on two mutually perpendicular straight lines passing through the air hole of the third shape, and one air hole of the second shape is provided between two neighboring air holes of the first shapes.

In some embodiments, a hydraulic diameter of each of the air holes ranges from 0.05 mm and 6 mm; and/or a cross-sectional area of each of the air holes ranges from 0.0019 mmto 30 mm.

In some embodiments, a cross-sectional shape of the aerosol generating substrate is the circle.

In some embodiments, the aerosol generating substrate has a plurality of micropores, and the plurality of micropores are in communication with the air holes.

In some embodiments, the aerosol generating substrate includes a groove provided on a peripheral surface of the aerosol generating substrate, and the groove runs through at least one end of the aerosol generating substrate along the length direction.

Another aspect of this application provides an aerosol generating article, including: the aerosol generating substrate of any one of above;

In some embodiments, the functional segment further includes a cooling segment, and the cooling segment is located between the filter segment and the aerosol generating substrate.

The aerosol generating substrate provided in the embodiments of this application is used for being heated to generate an aerosol. Because the aerosol generating substrate is required to be portable for being held by hand by a user, the size of the aerosol generating substrate is limited. With the air holes of at least two cross-sectional shapes, a cross-sectional area and a cross-sectional shape of each air hole can be flexibly designed when the size of the aerosol generating substrate is limited. This not only facilitates adjustment of flow resistance of the aerosol, that is, adjustment of resistance to inhalation when the user inhales, but also facilitates adjustment of substrate mass distribution at different positions of the aerosol generating substrate, thereby improving a heating rate and heating uniformity, and reducing scorching caused by insufficient or excessive heating. In this way, the aerosol can be released as evenly as possible.

It should be noted that, embodiments of this application and technical features in embodiments may be mutually combined in a case that no conflict occurs. Detailed descriptions in a specific implementation should be understood as an explanation of an objective of this application and should not be regarded as an improper limitation on this application.

Referring toand, the embodiments of this application provide an aerosol generating substrate. The aerosol generating substrateis used for being heated to generate an aerosol.

For example, the aerosol generating substratemay be suitable for generating the aerosol in a manner of being heated and burned. The aerosol generating substratemay also be suitable for generating the aerosol in a manner of being heated without being burned. In other words, the aerosol generating substrateis heated below an ignition temperature to generate the aerosol. In other words, the aerosol generating substrateis not burned in a process of generating the aerosol. The embodiments of this application are described by using being heated without being burned as an example.

Still referring toand, the aerosol generating substratehas air holesof at least two cross-sectional shapes, the air holesare provided inside the aerosol generating substrate, and the air holespass through at least one end of the aerosol generating substratealong a length direction. The air holesare used for collection and flow of the aerosol. In other words, there are two or more types of cross-sectional shapes. In this way, cross-sectional shapes of at least two air holesare different.

It should be noted that, cross sections of the air holesare planes perpendicular to flow directions of the air holes, and the cross sections of the air holesare overflow cross sections of the air holes. The cross sections may be planes perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate. The cross-sectional shape of the air holerefers to a shape presented by a cross section of a single air hole.

Referring toand, the aerosol generating substrateprovided in the embodiments of this application is used in an aerosol generating article. The aerosol generating article includes an aerosol generating substrate, a functional segment, and an outer wrapping layerin any embodiment of this application. The functional segmentis disposed at one end of the aerosol generating substratealong a length direction, where the functional segmentincludes a filter segmentconfigured to filter out an aerosol. The outer wrapping layeris wrapped on an outer periphery of the functional segmentand an outer periphery of the aerosol generating substrate.

The filter segmentis configured to filter out an aerosol generated by the aerosol generating substrate.

The aerosol generating article is used for a user to inhale the aerosol generated by the aerosol generating substrate. For example, the user can inhale the filtered aerosol by holding the filter segmentin the mouth. The aerosol generated by the aerosol generating substrateis transported to the filter segmentthrough the air holesunder an action of a negative pressure caused by inhaling.

The aerosol generating substrateprovided in the embodiments of this application is used for being heated to generate an aerosol. Because the aerosol generating substrateis required to be portable for being held by hand by a user, the size of the aerosol generating substrateis limited. With the air holesof at least two cross-sectional shapes, a cross-sectional area and a cross-sectional shape of each air holecan be flexibly designed when the size of the aerosol generating substrateis limited. This not only facilitates adjustment of flow resistance of the aerosol, that is, adjustment of resistance to inhalation when the user inhales, but also facilitates adjustment of substrate mass distribution at different positions of the aerosol generating substrate, thereby improving a heating rate and heating uniformity, and reducing scorching caused by insufficient or excessive heating. In this way, the aerosol can be released as evenly as possible.

The aerosol generating article is used for being used together with an aerosol generating device having a heating assembly. Specifically, the heating assembly is configured to heat and atomize the aerosol generating substrateto generate an aerosol.

There are a plurality of heating manners of the heating assembly. For example, the heating manners include central heating, circumferential heating, and/or bottom heating. The manner of central heating means that the heating assembly is inserted into the inside of the aerosol generating article to perform baking and heating on the aerosol generating article from the inside to the outside. The manner of circumferential heating means that the heating assembly is disposed on an outer periphery of the aerosol generating article, to perform baking and heating on the aerosol generating article from the outside to the inside. The manner of bottom heating means that the heating assembly is located below the aerosol generating article, the air is first heated by using the heating assembly, and then the hot air flows from bottom to top to perform baking and heating on the aerosol generating article.

The heating manners of the heating assembly include, but are not limited to, resistance heating, electromagnetic heating, infrared heating, microwave heating, laser heating, or the like.

In some embodiments, referring to, only the filter segmentmay be disposed on the functional segment.

In some other embodiments, referring to, the functional segmentfurther includes a cooling segment. The cooling segmentis located between the filter segmentand the aerosol generating substrate. The cooling segmentis configured to cool the aerosol before the filter segmentfilters the aerosol. The cooling segmentcan improve a phenomenon of “mouth burning” when the user inhales the aerosol.

The outer wrapping layerincludes but is not limited to one or a combination of materials such as fiber paper, metal foil, metal foil composite fiber paper, polyethylene composite fiber paper, polyethylene (PE), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), and the like.

A cooling material used in the cooling segmentincludes, but is not limited to, one or a combination of materials such as polyethylene (PE), polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), polypropylene (PP), acetate fiber, propylene fiber, and the like.

A filter material used in the filter segmentincludes, but is not limited to, one or a combination of materials such as polyethylene (PE), polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), polypropylene (PP), acetate fiber, acrylic fiber, and the like.

The material of the cooling segmentand the material of the filter segmentmay be the same or different.

In some embodiments, the aerosol generating substratemay be basically in a columnar structure. In other words, the aerosol generating substrateis basically in a shape of a long strip, rather than a sheet. A size of the aerosol generating substratein the length direction is greater than a maximum distance between two points of a cross section of the aerosol generating substrate.

For example, on a cross section perpendicular to the length direction of the aerosol generating substrate, a cross-sectional shape of the aerosol generating substrateincludes, but is not limited to, a circle, an ellipse, a racetrack, a polygon, or the like.

The cross-sectional shape of the aerosol generating substrateis the foregoing regular shape, so that article consistency is good, and article quality is conveniently monitored.

Referring toto, the cross-sectional shape of the aerosol generating substrateis the circle. In this way, there is basically no sharp corner at an edge of the aerosol generating substrate, which can reduce a case of corner collapse caused by stress concentration. The embodiments of this application are described by using an example in which the cross-sectional shape of the aerosol generating substrateis the circle, that is, the aerosol generating substrateis a cylinder. A size of the aerosol generating substratein the length direction is greater than a maximum distance, for example, a diameter, between two points of a cross section of the aerosol generating substrate.

Specific components of the aerosol generating substrateare not limited herein. For example, in an embodiment, the aerosol generating substratemay include a plant component, an auxiliary agent component, an aerosol generating agent component, an adhesive component, and the like. In an embodiment, the plant component is one or a combination of powder formed after a tobacco leave raw material, a tobacco leave fragment, a tobacco stem, tobacco dust, an aromatic plant, and the like are crushed. The plant component is used for generating an aerosol with alkaloids when heated.