SMOKING ARTICLE AND AEROSOL-GENERATING SYSTEM

Abstract

A smoking article according to an example embodiment include a medium receiver filled with a plurality of medium granules, a humectant receiver located on one side of the medium receiver and configured to generate an aerosol, and a filter located on the other side of the medium receiver. The plurality of medium granules are 0.25 mm or more in diameter.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following example embodiments relate to a smoking article and an aerosol-generating system.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for alternative methods to overcome disadvantages of conventional cigarettes. For example, there is an increasing demand for a method of generating an aerosol by heating an aerosol-generating material in a cigarette rather than a method of generating the aerosol by burning a cigarette. For example, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2019-0094176 discloses a smoking article filter having amorphous magnesium carbonate.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Technical Goals

One or more example embodiments provide a smoking article and an aerosol-generating system having medium granules in an optimal size.

One or more example embodiments provide a smoking article and an aerosol-generating system for providing a uniform cigarette taste to consumers.

One or more example embodiments provide a smoking article and an aerosol-generating system having an increasing amount of nicotine transfer.

One or more example embodiments provide a smoking article and an aerosol-generating system that may facilitate the manufacturing of a paper filter including medium granules.

Technical Solutions

According to an aspect, there is provided a smoking article including a medium receiver filled with a plurality of medium granules; a humectant receiver located on one side of the medium receiver and configured to generate an aerosol; and a filter located on the other side of the medium receiver.

The plurality of medium granules may be 0.25 mm or more in diameter.

The plurality of medium granules may include tobacco granules.

The medium granules may be 0.60 mm or less in diameter.

The medium granules may be 0.425 mm or more in diameter.

The medium receiver may be configured by folding a flat sheet, to which the plurality of medium granules are applied, multiple times.

A humectant may be applied to one surface of the flat sheet.

The medium receiver may be formed by a method comprising applying a humectant to one surface of a flat sheet, disposing the plurality of medium granules on the one surface of the flat sheet, to which the humectant is applied, folding the one surface of the flat sheet to face each other, additionally folding the flat sheet a plurality of times, and wrapping, with a wrapper, the flat sheet folded a number of times.

The filter may include a first filter having a cavity therein and a second filter fully filled with a filtration material.

The plurality of medium granules may be manufactured by a fluidized bed granulation process in which a spraying direction of a liquid binder and a flow direction of fluidized air face each other. According to another aspect, there is provided an aerosol-generating system including a smoking article; and an aerosol-generating device. The smoking article may include a granule receiver filled with a plurality of tobacco granules, a humectant receiver located on one side of the granule receiver and configured to generate an aerosol, and a filter located on the other side of the granule receiver, and the aerosol-generating device may include an elongate cavity configured to accommodate the smoking article, a heater configured to heat at least a portion of the granule receiver and the humectant receiver in the smoking article, and a controller electrically connecting to the heater. The plurality of tobacco granules may be 0.25 mm or more in diameter.

The tobacco granules may be 0.425 mm or more and 0.60 mm or less in diameter.

The plurality of tobacco granules may be manufactured by a process in which a spraying direction of a liquid binder and a flow direction of fluidized air face each other.

Advantageous Effects

A smoking article and an aerosol-generating system, according to an example embodiment, may have medium granules in an optimal size.

A smoking article and an aerosol-generating system, according to an example embodiment, may provide a uniform tobacco taste to consumers.

A smoking article and an aerosol-generating system, according to an example embodiment, may increase an amount of nicotine transfer.

A smoking article and an aerosol-generating system, according to an example embodiment, may facilitate the manufacturing of a paper filter including medium granules.

The effects of a smoking article and an aerosol-generating system, according to an example embodiment, are not limited to the foregoing effects and other unmentioned effects may be clearly understood from the above description by those having ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a smoking article according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the dispersibility of granules, according to the size of the granules.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which medium granules are applied to a flat sheet, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol-generating device, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol-generating system in a state in which a smoking article and an aerosol-generating device are combined, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating a fluidized bed granulation process of a top-spraying method among fluidized bed granulation processes.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, example embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, various alterations and modifications may be made to the example embodiments. Here, the example embodiments are not construed as limited to the disclosure. The example 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 example embodiments only and is not to be limiting of the example embodiments. 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 example 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 example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals refer to like components and a repeated description related thereto will be omitted. In the description of the example embodiments, a 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, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b) or the like may be used herein when describing components of example embodiments. These terms are used only for the purpose of discriminating one component from another component, and the nature, the sequences, or the orders of the components are not limited by the terms. When one component is described as being “connected”, “coupled”, or “attached” to another component, it should be understood that one component can be connected or attached directly to another component, and an intervening component can also be “connected”, “coupled”, or “attached” to the components.

A component, which has the same common function as a component included in any one example embodiment, will be described by using the same name in other example embodiments. Unless disclosed to the contrary, the configuration disclosed in any one example embodiment may be applied to other example embodiments, and the specific description of the repeated configuration will be omitted.

As used herein, the term “granule dispersibility” refers to a degree of how evenly medium granules or tobacco granules are dispersed in a flat sheet.

In a process of manufacturing a medium receiver, fine powder generated by some of broken medium granules may contaminate the appearance of a filter containing granules. As used herein, the term “granule filter workability” refers to a degree of how cleanly the filter may be manufactured without such contamination.

FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a smoking article.

Referring to FIG. 1, a smoking article 100, according to an example embodiment, may include a medium receiver 110, a humectant receiver 120 on one side of the medium receiver 110 and configured to generate an aerosol, and a filter 130 on the other side of the medium receiver 110. The segments of the smoking article 100, that is, the medium receiver 110, the humectant receiver 120, and the filter 130, may each be wrapped with a segment wrapper 140, and the segments wrapped by the segment wrapper 140 may be wrapped with a total wrapper 150 to form one smoking article.

The medium receiver 110 may be filled with a plurality of medium granules 114, and the plurality of medium granules 114 may be 0.25 mm or more in diameter. When the size of the plurality of medium granules 114 is extremely small, irregularity of the granules may increase, compared to large-sized granules, and fine powder generated by the process of manufacturing the medium receiver 110 may deteriorate the granule filter workability. Accordingly, the plurality of medium granules 114 are desirably 0.25 mm or more in diameter. On the other hand, the smaller the diameter of the granules 114, that is, the smaller the size of the granules 114, the greater the dispersibility of the granules when the medium granules 114 are applied to a flat sheet. The plurality of medium granules 114 may desirably be tobacco granules. The amount of nicotine in a single inhalation of the smoking article 100 may increase since the smaller the size of the plurality of tobacco granules, the greater the total surface area of the tobacco granules included in the medium receiving unit 110. On the other hand, the greater the diameter of the plurality of medium granules 114 or the plurality of tobacco granules, the better the granular filter workability. Accordingly, the medium granules 114 or the tobacco granules have a small diameter, but desirably have a diameter sufficient to maintain an excellent granular filter workability.

That is, when manufacturing the smoking article 100 including a granular medium, the size of granules affects the dispersibility of the granules contained in the medium receiver 110 of the smoking article 100, the amount of nicotine transfer of the smoking article 100, and the manufacturing workability of the medium receiver 110. Accordingly, there is a need to define an appropriate size of the medium granules 114 when the smoking article 100 and the aerosol-generating system including the granular mediums are manufactured.

In one example embodiment, the size of the plurality of medium granules 114 may be determined based on a standard sieve comparison. The standard sieve comparison refers to the size of particles or granules selected by using a standard sieve, and the types of standard include Korea Standard (KS), Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN), Tyler, and the like. The standard used in this experiment is based on the ASTM standard sieve comparison in the United States. The US-ASTM standard sieve comparison is shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1
Sieve No. Opening (mm)
10        2.00
12        1.70
14        1.40
16        1.18
18        1.00
20        0.850
25        0.710
30        0.600
35        0.500
40        0.425
50        0.355
60        0.250
70        0.212
80        0.180
100       0.150
120       0.125

Referring to Table 1, the experimental results based on the ASTM standard sieve comparison are shown in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2
	ASTM			Granular	Tobacco taste
Diameter of	standard sieve	Granule	Nicotine	filter	(smoking taste)
granules (mm)	specification	dispersibility	transfer	workability	evaluation
0.25~0.425	40~60	Good	Good	Bad	Good
0.425~0.60	30~40	Good	Good	Good	Very good
0.60~0.85	20~30	Bad	Poor	Good	Bad
0.85~1.18	16~20	Bad	Poor	Good	Bad

Referring to Table 2, when granules exceed 0.60 mm in diameter, the dispersibility of the granules is generally poor, but when the granules are 0.60 mm or less in diameter, the plurality of medium granules 114 are relatively evenly dispersed when the medium receiver 110 is configured by disposing granules on a flat sheet and then folding the flat sheet a plurality of times. In addition, when the granules are 0.60 mm or less in diameter, the granules are small enough so that the amount of transfer of the nicotine contained in tabasco granules is desirably sufficient.

On the other hand, when the granules are less than 0.425 mm in diameter, the granules are so small that fine powder, which is generated by some of the granules ruptured while granules or the medium receiver 110 is being manufactured, may contaminate filters, etc. When granules are 0.425 mm or more in diameter, a rate of generating the fine powder due to the ruptured granules may significantly decrease, compared to the granules in a small diameter. That is, when the medium granules 114 included in the smoking article 100 is 0.425 mm or more and 0.6 mm or less in diameter, both the granular dispersibility and the granular filter workability may be good.

The taste of cigarettes, that is, smoking taste enjoyed by consumers, may be affected by both the granular dispersibility, which refers to how evenly the granules are dispersed, and the granular filter workability, which refers to whether a filter for the granules is manufactured without being contaminated by the fine powder of the medium granules. Referring to Table 1, it may be identified that the best taste of cigarettes is when the granules are desirably 0.25 mm or more and 0.6 mm or less in diameter, and more desirably 0.425 mm or more and 0.6 mm or less in diameter. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the dispersibility of granules according to the size of the granules.

Referring to FIG. 2, as a result of the foregoing embodiment, whether medium granules are evenly dispersed in a medium receiver 110 may be identified according to a range of the size of a plurality of medium granules 114. It may be identified that the plurality of medium granules 114 are evenly dispersed between flat sheets 112 folded multiple times in a range of 0.425 mm or more and 0.60 mm or less in diameter where the size of the granules is relatively small. On the other hand, in a range of 0.60 mm or more and 0.85 mm or less in diameter, where the size of the granules is relatively large, it may be identified that the medium granules 114 are not evenly dispersed between the flat sheets 112 folded multiple times but are mainly dispersed to one side.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which medium granules are applied to a flat sheet, according to an example embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 3, a medium receiver 110 of a smoking article 100 may be configured by folding a flat sheet 112, to which medium granules 114 are applied, multiple times. The plurality of medium granules 114 may be fixed in a medium receiver 110 while being sandwiched between the flat sheet 112 folded multiple times. The stability of the plurality of medium granules 114 on the flat sheet 112 may be improved by applying a binder material having an adhesive component to the flat sheet 112, but the binder material inhaled together with a heated aerosol during smoking may deteriorate the taste of a smoking article. A humectant, not the binder material, is applied to one surface of the flat sheet 112 before disposing the plurality of medium granules 114 on the flat sheet 112 so that the humectant may temporarily improve adhesion between the flat sheet 112 and the plurality of medium granules 114. The humectant is a substance for generating an aerosol in the smoking article 100 and does not adversely affect the taste of the smoking article. That is, after a humectant is applied to one surface of the flat sheet 112 and the medium granules 114 are disposed on one surface of the flat sheet 112, to which the humectant is applied, the medium receiver 110 of the smoking article 100 may be formed by folding one surface of the flat sheet 112 to face each other and additionally folding it multiple times, and then wrapping the flat sheet 112 folded multiple times with a wrapper 140.

In addition, a filter 130 may include a first filter 132 having a cavity therein and a second filter 134 fully filled with a filtration material. The filtration material may include a cellulose-based material (e.g., acetate, paper, etc.).

FIGS. 4 and 5 relate to examples in which a smoking article including a plurality of medium granules in the foregoing desirable diameter range is used.

FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol-generating device according to an example embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, an aerosol-generating device 200 includes an elongate cavity 210 for receiving a smoking article 100, a heater 220, and a controller 230. The controller 230 may electrically connect to the heater 220 to control a temperature for heating the smoking article 100. The aerosol generating device 200 may further include a battery 240 configured to supply power in a process of generating an aerosol.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol-generating system in a state in which a smoking article and an aerosol-generating device are combined, according to an example embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 5, an aerosol-generating system 10 may include a smoking article 100 and an aerosol-generating device 200. The smoking article 100 may be snugly integrated in the elongate cavity 210 of the aerosol-generating device 200. With the smoking article 100 coupling to the aerosol-generating device 200, the heater 220 may heat at least a portion of a medium receiver 110 and a humectant receiver 120 in the smoking article 100. The medium receiver 110 of the smoking article 100 may be filled with a plurality of medium granules 114, and the plurality of medium granules 114 may be 0.25 mm or more in diameter. When the size of the plurality of medium granules 114 is extremely small, irregularity of granules may increase and accordingly, fine powder generated by the process of manufacturing the medium receiver 110 may reduce the granule filter workability, and accordingly, the medium granules 114 are desirably 0.25 mm or more in diameter.

The plurality of medium granules 114, desirably tobacco granules, in the medium receiver 110 of the smoking article 100 of the aerosol-generating system 10 is desirably 0.60 mm or less in diameter. This is because, when tobacco granules exceed 0.60 mm in diameter, the stability of the tobacco granules on the flat sheet 112 decreases, resulting in a poor granule dispersibility.

In addition, the plurality of medium granules 114, desirably the tobacco granules, in the medium receiver 110 of the smoking article 100 of the aerosol-generating system 10 is desirably 0.25 mm or more in diameter, and more desirably 0.425 mm or more in diameter. When the medium granules 114 have an extremely small diameter, the hardness of the medium granules 114 may decrease, thus breaking the medium granules 114 even with a slight shock and generating fine powder so that the generated fine powder may contaminate the medium receiver 110 and the filter 130. In addition, in the process where the medium receiver 110 is formed by applying the plurality of medium granules 114 to one side of the flat sheet 112 and then folding the flat sheet 112, the medium granules 114, which are not attached to the flat sheet 112 but are dropped off the flat sheet 112, may be re-used in a subsequent process. Since the minimum hardness of the granules 114 has to be ensured in order for the plurality of medium granules 114 dropped off to be reused, the medium granules 114 are desirably 0.25 mm or more, and more desirably 0.425 mm or more in diameter.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating a fluidized bed granulation process of a top-spraying method in the fluidized bed granulation process, according to an example embodiment, and relates to a process of manufacturing a plurality of medium granules in the desirable size range described herein and to the size of the granules manufactured by the process.

When powder is mixed with hot air heated in a sealed container 500, the powder circulates inside the container 500 and goes through a process of mixing, granulation and drying to form granules. The fluidized bed granulation process refers to the process of forming the granules. The fluid bed granulation process may include a top-spraying method, a bottom-spraying method, a powder feeding method, and a rotor-spraying method. Among them, the top-spraying process is fluidized bed granulation in which a spraying direction of a liquid binder 510 serving as an adhesive to adhere powders 530 to one another and a flow direction of fluidized air 520 face each other. The top-spraying process may easily and quickly adhere fine particles or granules, thus more easily manufacturing the granules in a range of the desirable size, compared to the bottom-spaying method where a spraying direction of the liquid binder 510 is the same as a flow direction of the fluidized air 520 and the rotor-spraying method where a spraying direction of the liquid binder 510 is perpendicular to a flow direction of the fluidized air 520.

While this disclosure includes specific examples, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made in these examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents. The examples described herein are to be considered in a descriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects in each example are to be considered as being applicable to similar features or aspects in other examples. Suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order, and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner, and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents.

Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A smoking article comprising:

a medium receiver filled with a plurality of medium granules;

a humectant receiver located on one side of the medium receiver and configured to generate an aerosol; and

a filter located on another side of the medium receiver,

wherein the plurality of medium granules are 0.25 mm or more in diameter.

2. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the plurality of medium granules comprise tobacco granules.

3. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the medium granules are 0.60 mm or less in diameter.

4. The smoking article of claim 3, wherein the medium granules are 0.425 mm or more in diameter.

5. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the medium receiver is configured by folding a flat sheet, to which the plurality of medium granules are applied, multiple times.

6. The smoking article of claim 5, wherein a humectant is applied to one surface of the flat sheet.

7. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the medium receiver is formed by a method comprising applying a humectant to one surface of a flat sheet, disposing the plurality of medium granules on the one surface of the flat sheet, to which the humectant is applied, folding the one surface of the flat sheet to face each other, additionally folding the flat sheet multiple times, and wrapping, with a wrapper, the flat sheet folded multiple times.

8. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the filter comprises:

a first filter having a cavity therein; and

a second filter fully filled with a filtration material.

9. The smoking article of claim 1, wherein the plurality of medium granules are manufactured by a fluidized bed granulation process in which a spraying direction of a liquid binder and a flow direction of fluidized air face each other.

10. An aerosol-generating system comprising:

a smoking article; and

an aerosol-generating device,

wherein the smoking article comprises: a granule receiver filled with a plurality of tobacco granules; a humectant receiver located on one side of the granule receiver and configured to generate an aerosol; and a filter located on another side of the granule receiver,

wherein the aerosol-generating device comprises: an elongate cavity configured to accommodate the smoking article; a heater configured to heat at least a portion of the granule receiver and the humectant receiver in the smoking article; and a controller electrically connecting to the heater, and wherein the plurality of tobacco granules are 0.25 mm or more in diameter.

11. The aerosol-generating system of claim 10, wherein the tobacco granules are 0.425 mm or more and 0.60 mm or less in diameter.

12. The aerosol-generating system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of tobacco granules are manufactured by a process in which a spraying direction of a liquid binder and a flow direction of fluidized air face each other.