NON-HEATING AEROSOL GENERATING ARTICLE AND AEROSOL GENERATING SYSTEM INCLUDING THE SAME

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0047865, filed on Apr. 9, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Embodiments relate to a non-heating aerosol generating article and an aerosol generating system including the same. More particularly, embodiments relate to a non-heating aerosol generating article capable of stabilizing a product quality by providing a uniform nicotine transfer amount even over time and an aerosol generating system including the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, the demand for alternative methods for overcoming the shortcomings of general cigarettes has increased. For example, there is an increasing demand for a system for generating aerosols by heating a cigarette or an aerosol generating material by using an aerosol generating device, rather than by burning cigarettes. Accordingly, research on heating-type aerosol generating devices has been actively conducted.

However, there is a problem in that aerosol generating materials generated in the art have a low nicotine transfer amount during low-temperature heating or non-heating. Accordingly, recently, research has been actively conducted to improve nicotine transfer even during low-temperature heating or non-heating by changing the physical properties of aerosol generating materials.

For example, to facilitate the nicotine transfer even during low-temperature heating or non-heating, aerosol generating materials are treated with a pH adjuster. However, in this case, nicotine may be continuously released from the corresponding article to the outside even while a user is not actually smoking, which causes a problem in which product quality is not stabilized.

SUMMARY

Embodiments provide an aerosol generating article capable of stabilizing product quality in terms of a nicotine transfer amount, even though an aerosol generating material is treated with a pH adjuster and an aerosol generating system including the same.

The problems to be solved by embodiments are not limited to the problems described above, and problems not mentioned may be clearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments belong from the description and the accompanying drawings.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments of the disclosure.

A non-heating aerosol generating article according to an embodiment includes a tobacco medium filling at least one of a cellulose acetate filter or a paper filter, the tobacco medium includes granules including tobacco powder, and a pH adjusting aqueous solution including a pH adjuster and moisture, and the tobacco medium includes 8 wt % to 9 wt % of moisture with respect to a dry weight of the tobacco medium.

An aerosol generating system according to an embodiment includes the above-described non-heating aerosol generating article, and an aerosol generating device including an accommodation space accommodating the aerosol generating article and a cartridge including an aerosol generating material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain embodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an aerosol generating system according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating an aerosol generating article according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 3A to 3C are schematic cross-sectional views of the aerosol generating article of FIG. 2B taken in a longitudinal direction;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a medium portion according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a medium portion according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Regarding the terms in the various embodiments, the general terms which are currently and widely used are selected in consideration of functions of structural elements in the various embodiments of the present disclosure. However, meanings of the terms can be changed according to intention, a judicial precedence, the appearance of a new technology, and the like. In addition, in certain cases, terms which can be arbitrarily selected by the applicant in particular cases. In such a case, the meaning of the terms will be described in detail at the corresponding portion in the description of the present disclosure. Therefore, the terms used in the various embodiments of the present disclosure should be defined based on the meanings of the terms and the descriptions provided herein.

In addition, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word “comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising” will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements. In addition, the terms “-er”, “-or”, and “module” described in the specification mean units for processing at least one function and operation and can be implemented by hardware components or software components and combinations thereof.

As used herein, hen an expression such as “at least any one” precedes arranged elements, it modifies all elements rather than each arranged element. For example, the expression “at least any one of a, b, and c” should be construed to include a, b, c, or a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b, and c.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown such that one of ordinary skill in the art may easily work the present disclosure. But, the present disclosure may be implemented in a form that can be implemented in various different forms, and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

As used herein, embodiments are arbitrary divisions for easily describing the disclosure, and the embodiments do not need to be exclusive to each other. For example, components disclosed in an embodiment may be applied and/or implemented in other embodiments, and may be changed and applied and/or implemented without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

In addition, the terms used herein are for describing embodiments and are not intended to limit the embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Some components in the drawings may be illustrated by exaggerating their sizes or ratios. In addition, components illustrated on one drawing may not be illustrated on another.

Throughout the specification, an “aerosol generating article” means an article used in smoking. In addition, “non-heating aerosol generating article” means a method in which ab aerosol generating article is not heated. As will be described below, a separate component (e.g., a cartridge 210 of FIG. 1) may be heated, and an aerosol generating article (e.g., an aerosol generating article 100 of FIG. 1) may not be heated. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto.

In addition, throughout the specification, a “longitudinal direction” of a component may be a direction in which the component extends in one direction axis of the component. Here, the one direction axis of the component may refer to a direction in which the component extends longer than the other direction axis crossing the one direction axis. A “longitudinal direction of an aerosol generating article” means a direction in which the length of the aerosol generating article extends or a direction in which combustion proceeds when the aerosol generating article is burned.

For example, the longitudinal direction of the aerosol generating article 100 in FIG. 1 may be a direction in which a front end portion 110, a medium portion 120, and a filter portion 130 extend. That is, the longitudinal direction of the aerosol generating article 100 may mean the height direction of the aerosol generating article 100 in a cylindrical shape.

In addition, when a user inhales air by using the aerosol generating article, a part where air enters from the outside of the aerosol generating article to the inside may mean “upstream”, and a part where air exits from the inside of the aerosol generating article to the outside may mean “downstream.” The terms “upstream” and “downstream” may be used to indicate the relative position or direction between parts or segments constituting the aerosol generating article.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown such that one of ordinary skill in the art may easily work the present disclosure. The present disclosure may be implemented in a form that can be implemented in the aerosol generating devices of the various embodiments described above or may be implemented in various different forms, and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an aerosol generating system 300 according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the aerosol generating system 300 may include an aerosol generating article 100 and an aerosol generating device 200. In an embodiment, the aerosol generating device 200 may include an accommodation space accommodating the aerosol generating article 100. In addition, the aerosol generating device 200 may include a separate component (e.g., a cartridge 210) including an aerosol generating material.

According to an embodiment, the aerosol generating device 200 may include the cartridge 210 retaining the aerosol generating material and a component supporting the cartridge 210. The cartridge 210 may be detachably coupled to the aerosol generating device 200, but is not limited thereto.

The cartridge 210 may be integrally formed or assembled with the aerosol generating device 200, or may be fixed by a user so as not to be detached. The cartridge 210 may be mounted on the aerosol generating device 200 while accommodating the aerosol generating material therein. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and an aerosol generating material may be injected into the cartridge 210 while the cartridge 210 is coupled to the aerosol generating device 200.

The cartridge 210 may retain an aerosol generating material having any one of various states such as a liquid state, a solid state, a gaseous state, and a gel state. The aerosol generating material may include a liquid composition. For example, the liquid composition may be a liquid including a tobacco-including material having a volatile tobacco flavor component, or a liquid including a non-tobacco material.

According to an embodiment, the aerosol generating material that may be included in the separate component may include water, solvents, ethanol, plant extracts, spices, flavorings, or vitamin mixtures. The spices may include menthol, peppermint, spearmint oil, and various fruit-flavored ingredients, but are not limited thereto. The flavorings may include ingredients capable of providing various flavors or tastes to the user. Vitamin mixtures may be a mixture of at least one of vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, or vitamin E, but are not limited thereto. In addition, the aerosol generating material may include an aerosol forming substance, such as glycerin and propylene glycol.

On the other hand, the aerosol generating device 200 may have a configuration in which an aerosol generated by heating the separate component is transferred to the aerosol generating article 100 without directly heating the aerosol generating article 100.

For example, the cartridge 210 may operate by an electrical signal or a wireless signal transmitted from the aerosol generating device 200 to perform a function of converting the phase of the aerosol generating material inside the cartridge 210 into a gas phase and generating the aerosol. The aerosol may mean a gas in a state where vaporized particles generated from the aerosol generating material and air are mixed. The aerosol generated from the aerosol generating material inside the cartridge 210 may be transferred to the aerosol generating article 100.

In an embodiment, the aerosol generating article 100 may include a front end portion 110, a medium portion 120, and a filter portion 130. Specifically, the front end portion 110, the medium portion 120, and the filter portion 130 may be sequentially arranged in a longitudinal direction of the aerosol generating article 100. In addition to the components shown in FIG. 1, other general-purpose components may be further included in the aerosol generating article 100.

The aerosol generating article 100 may be manufactured in a cylindrical shape. In an embodiment, when the aerosol generating article 100 is manufactured in the cylindrical shape, the diameter of the aerosol generating article 100 may be about 5 mm to about 9 mm.

In an embodiment, the length of the aerosol generating article 100 may be about 20 mm to about 60 mm. For example, the length of the front end portion 110 may be about 5 mm to about 15 mm, the length of the medium portion 120 may be about 10 mm to about 30 mm, and the length of the filter portion 130 may be about 5 mm to about 15 mm.

However, the lengths or the diameters of the aerosol generating article 100 and the elements constituting the aerosol generating article 100 are not limited thereto, and may be changed in various ways according to design.

In an embodiment, the front end portion 110 may prevent a material to be included in the medium portion 120 from being separated to the outside, and may prevent an aerosol generated from the medium portion 120 from flowing into the aerosol generating device 200 during smoking.

In addition, the front end portion 110 may introduce outside air into the aerosol generating article 100. As an embodiment, in the case of an aerosol generating article used in an aerosol generating device that does not directly heat an aerosol generating article, the front end portion 110 may introduce an aerosol generated by heating a separate component (e.g., the cartridge 210 including a liquid material) into the aerosol generating article 100 as outside air.

The front end portion 110 may include one of an acetate filter including a cellulose acetate tow and a paper filter including paper. As an example, the front end portion 110 may be manufactured by applying a plasticizer (e.g., triacetin) to a cellulose acetate tow. The hardness of the front end portion 110 may be adjusted by adjusting the content of the plasticizer.

At this time, when the front end portion 110 includes the acetate filter including the cellulose acetate tow, the front end portion 110 may be manufactured to generate flavor.

For example, when the front end portion 110 includes the acetate filter, a flavoring liquid including a flavor material may be sprayed onto the acetate filter, and a separate fiber to which the flavoring liquid is applied may be included inside the acetate filter. For another example, when the front end portion 110 includes the acetate filter, the acetate filter may include a capsule including the flavor material.

As an embodiment, the flavor material may include menthol, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the flavor material may include vegetable spices, such as cinnamon, sage, herb, chamomile, winter hay, sweet tea, lavender, bergamot, lemon, orange, jasmine, ginger, vanilla, spearmint, peppermint, acacia, coffee, celery, sandalwood, cocoa, etc. As another example, the flavor material may include animal spices such as musk, ambergris, civet, castroreum, etc.

As another example, the flavor material may be an alcohol-based compound such as geraniol, linalol, anethole, eugenol, etc. The flavor material may include an aldehyde-based compound, such as vanillin, benzaldehyde, anisaldehyde, etc. The flavor material may also include an ester-based compound, such as isoamyl acetate, linalyl acetate, isoamyl propionate, linalyl butyrate, etc.

In addition, when necessary, the front end portion 110 may include at least one channel. The cross-sectional shape of the channel may be manufactured in various ways. For example, the front end portion 110 may have a tube shape.

In an embodiment, the medium portion 120 may include a tobacco medium including a granular tobacco material. In an embodiment, the tobacco material may include various types of tobacco powder.

According to an embodiment, the tobacco medium may include granules including tobacco powder, and a pH adjusting aqueous solution including a pH adjuster and moisture. The tobacco medium may include 8 wt % to 9 wt % of moisture with respect to the dry weight.

For example, the tobacco powder may be a tobacco leaf fragment, a tobacco stem and/or tobacco fine powder generated during tobacco treatment. The tobacco powder may include a pulverized tobacco leaf, a pulverized reconstituted tobacco, etc. For example, the tobacco powder may include at least one type of tobacco powder from among a xanthoma-type tobacco, burley tobacco, fire-cured tobacco, sun-cured tobacco, or air-cured tobacco.

According to an embodiment, the pH of the granules may be adjusted to an alkali side by applying the pH adjusting aqueous solution to the granules. Specifically, the pH of the tobacco material included in the granules may be adjusted to the alkali side. By adjusting the pH of the tobacco material to the alkali side, the aerosol generating article 100 may transfer a sufficient amount of nicotine at a low temperature even when not directly heated by a separate heating element.

In general, when the pH of the tobacco medium is adjusted to the alkali side, the storage properties of nicotine included in the tobacco medium may deteriorate. Specifically, when the pH is adjusted to the alkali side, nicotine in the tobacco medium may be converted into free nicotine during storage, and thus the amount of nicotine retained by the tobacco medium in the aerosol generating article 100 may decrease over time.

However, according to the embodiment, the tobacco medium includes 8 wt % to 9 wt % of moisture with respect to the dry weight, which provides a uniform nicotine transfer amount over time, thereby stabilizing product quality.

In addition, the pH adjusting aqueous solution may include 9 wt % to 11 wt % of the pH adjuster and 17 wt % to 23 wt % of moisture with respect the total weight of the granules described above. Alternatively, the pH adjusting aqueous solution may include about 10 wt % of the pH adjuster and about 20 wt % of moisture.

That is, the pH adjusting aqueous solution including 9 wt % to 11 wt % of the pH adjuster and 17 wt % to 23 wt % of moisture with respect the total granules of 100 wt % may be sprayed.

According to the embodiment, the tobacco medium may be manufactured by spraying the pH adjusting aqueous solution onto the granules including the tobacco powder and then drying the granules. In this case, the tobacco medium may be coated with the pH adjusting aqueous solution sprayed onto the granules, but is not limited thereto. Specifically, the tobacco medium may be manufactured by including spraying the pH adjusting aqueous solution including 9 wt % to 11 wt % of the pH adjuster and 17 wt % to 23 wt % of moisture with respect to the granule weight onto the granules including the tobacco powder.

The pH adjusting aqueous solution sprayed onto the granules may have a composition in the above range such that the tobacco medium may have a pH value in an appropriate range. For example, the tobacco medium manufactured by spraying the pH adjusting aqueous solution onto the above-described granules may have a pH value of about 7 to about 11. As another example, the pH value of the tobacco medium may be about 8.5 to about 9.5. As another example, the pH value of the tobacco medium may be 8.7 to 8.9.

The tobacco medium may have the pH value in the above-described range, thereby achieving a relatively high nicotine transfer amount even at a low temperature. As an example, a free nicotine conversion rate is high only when the pH value is 8.7 to 8.9, and smoking satisfaction may be provided to the user even under non-heating conditions. For example, when the pH value is in the range of 8.7 to 8.9, the free nicotine conversion rate may be 90% or more.

When the pH value of the tobacco medium is less than the above-described range, that is, when the pH is not adjusted to the alkali side, the rate at which nicotine is released at a low temperature may be low, and the nicotine transfer amount may be small. For this reason, the smoking satisfaction of the user may be deteriorated.

When the pH value of the tobacco medium exceeds the above-described range, nicotine may be continuously released from the tobacco medium while the aerosol generating article 100 is stored in an unused state, and thus the actual nicotine transfer amount may decrease when the aerosol generating article 100 is subsequently used. In addition, when the pH value of the tobacco medium is too high, an off-flavor is generated from the aerosol generating article 100, which may deteriorate the user's taste of smoking.

In an embodiment, the pH adjuster may include at least one of potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃), or a mixture thereof, but is not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, in an embodiment, the tobacco medium may not include a binder controlling the overall particle diameter and porosity of the tobacco medium.

For example, when the tobacco medium is manufactured through manufacturing granules including tobacco powder, and spraying a pH adjusting aqueous solution onto the granules and then drying the granules, the particle diameter and porosity of the granules may be adjusted through the series of operations. That is, even when the binder is omitted in manufacturing the tobacco medium in granular shape, the particle diameter, porosity, etc. of the granules may be adjusted, which may reduce materials required for manufacturing the tobacco medium according to the embodiment, thereby reducing manufacturing costs.

In an embodiment, the medium portion 120 may include at least one of the acetate filter including the cellulose acetate tow and the paper filter including paper.

For example, when the medium portion 120 includes at least one of the acetate filter or the paper filter, the above-described tobacco medium may fill the inside of the filter. That is, an inner space of the filter may be filled with the tobacco medium. At this time, the tobacco medium may be filled with about 2 mg/mm to about 8 mg/mm inside the filter. As another example, the tobacco medium may be filled with about 4 mg/mm to about 6 mg/mm inside the filter.

When the pH of the tobacco medium included in the medium portion 120 is adjusted to the alkali side through the pH adjuster, the amount of nicotine released from the tobacco medium at a low temperature may increase. Accordingly, when the medium portion 120 is manufactured by filling the tobacco medium having the adjusted pH with respect to at least one of the acetate filter or the paper filter, the acetate filter or the paper filter may be maintained while absorbing the nicotine released from the tobacco medium, thereby preventing the released nicotine from being released to the outside of the aerosol generating article 100. This will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 5.

In an embodiment, the filter portion 130 may be disposed at a position facing the front end portion 110 with respect to the medium portion 120. The filter portion 130 may filter at least one of materials included in a mainstream smoke including the aerosol generated from the medium portion 120.

In an embodiment, the filter portion 130 may be implemented in various shapes. For example, the filter portion 130 may be a cylinder type rod or a tube type rod including a hollow therein. Alternatively, the filter portion 130 may be a recess type rod.

In an embodiment, the filter portion 130 may include one of the acetate filter including the cellulose acetate tow and a paper tube filter including paper. At this time, when the filter portion 130 includes the acetate filter including the cellulose acetate tow, the filter portion 130 may be manufactured to generate flavor.

For example, when filter portion 130 includes the acetate filter, a flavoring liquid including a flavor material may be sprayed onto the acetate filter, and a separate fiber to which the flavoring liquid is applied may be included inside the acetate filter.

As another example, when the filter portion 130 includes the acetate filter, the acetate filter may include a capsule including the flavor material.

The flavor material that may be included in the filter portion 130 may be the same or similar to the flavor material that may be included in the front end portion 110 described above.

In an embodiment, one of the front end portion 110 and the filter 130 may include a flavor material.

For example, when the front end portion 110 includes the capsule including the flavor material or the fiber to which the flavoring liquid including the flavor material is applied, the filter portion 130 may not include a flavor material. That is, when the flavor material is included in the front end portion 110, the filter portion 130 may include the recess type rod including the cellulose acetate tow or the paper tube including paper.

For another example, when the filter portion 130 includes the capsule including the flavor material or the fiber to which the flavoring liquid including the flavor material is applied, the front end portion 110 may not include a flavor material. That is, when the flavor material is included in the filter portion 130, the front end portion 110 may include the acetate filter including the cellulose acetate tow or the paper tube including paper.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating the aerosol generating article 100 according to some embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the aerosol generating article 100 sequentially includes the front end portion 110, the medium portion 120, and the filter portion 130. In the embodiment of FIG. 2A, the length of the aerosol generating article 100 may be about 20 mm to about 60 mm. For example, the length of the front end portion 110 may be about 5 mm to about 15 mm, the length of the medium portion 120 may be about 10 mm to about 30 mm, and the length of the filter portion 130 may be about 5 mm to about 15 mm.

In addition, according to an embodiment, the aerosol generating article 100 may be packaged by at least one wrapper 150.

As an example, the aerosol generating article 100 may be packaged by one wrapper 150. As another example, the aerosol generating article 100 may be overlappingly packaged by two or more wrappers 150. For example, the front end portion 110 may be packaged by a first wrapper 151, the medium portion 120 may be packaged by a second wrapper 152, and the filter portion 130 may be packaged by a third wrapper 153. In addition, the entire aerosol generating article 100 may be repackaged by a single final wrapper 155.

The first wrapper 151, the second wrapper 152, and the third wrapper 153 may be manufactured using general filter wrapping papers. For example, the first wrapper 151, the second wrapper 152, and the third wrapper 153 may be porous wrapping papers or non-porous wrapping papers. In addition, the first wrapper 151, the second wrapper 152, and the third wrapper 153 may be manufactured using papers having oil resistance and/or aluminum laminated packaging materials.

In addition, the third wrapper 153 may be manufactured using a hard wrapping paper having oil resistance. For example, when the filter portion 130 includes a capsule 131, the third wrapper 153 may be manufactured using the hard wrapping paper having oil resistance.

According to an embodiment, the filter portion 130 may include at least one capsule 131. Here, the capsule 131 may perform a function of generating flavor or a function of generating an aerosol. For example, the capsule 131 may have a structure in which a liquid including a spice is wrapped with a film. The capsule 131 may have a spherical or cylindrical shape, but is not limited thereto.

A final wrapper 155 may be manufactured using a sterilized paper MFW. Here, the sterilized paper MFW refers to a paper specially manufactured to improve tensile strength, water resistance, and smoothness compared to general paper.

A certain material may be internally added to the final wrapper 155. Here, an example of the certain material may correspond to silicon, but is not limited thereto. For example, silicon exhibits characteristics such as heat resistance with little change due to the temperature, oxidation resistance, resistances to various chemicals, water repellency, electrical insulation, etc. However, any material other than silicon may be applied to (or coated on) the final wrapper 155 without limitation as long as the material has the above-described characteristics.

The final wrapper 155 may prevent contamination of the aerosol generating device 200 by materials generated by the aerosol generating article 100. As an example, liquid materials may be generated in the aerosol generating article 100 by a puff of a user. For example, liquid materials (e.g., moisture, etc.) may be generated by cooling the aerosol generated in the aerosol generating article 100 by external air. The final wrapper 155 packs the aerosol generating article 100, and thus the liquid materials generated in the aerosol generating article 100 may be prevented from leaking to the outside of the aerosol generating article 100.

Meanwhile, although not shown, at least one hole through which external air is introduced or internal gas is discharged may be formed in the wrapper 150.

In FIG. 2A, the filter portion 130 is illustrated as a single segment, but is not limited thereto. In other words, the filter portion 130 may include a plurality of segments. For example, the filter portion 130 may include a segment that functions as a cooling function. In addition, when necessary, the filter portion 130 may further include at least one segment performing another function.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the aerosol generating article 100 sequentially includes the front end portion 110, the medium portion 120, a second filter portion 140, and the filter portion 130. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and this will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3C.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2B, the length of the aerosol generating article 100 may be about 20 mm to about 60 mm. For example, the length of each segment of the front end portion 110, the medium portion 120, the second filter portion 140, and the filter portion 130 may be about 5 mm to about 15 mm.

In FIG. 2B, the front end portion 110, the medium portion 120, and the filter portion 130 respectively correspond to the front end portion 110, the medium portion 120, and the filter portion 130 described above with respect to FIG. 2A. Therefore, the detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

The second filter portion 140 may be in the form of a paper tube or a tube including a cellulose acetate material. The second filter portion 140 may be manufactured to generate flavor. For example, a flavoring liquid may be sprayed onto the paper tube or the tube constituting the second filter portion 140, or a separate fiber to which the flavoring liquid is applied may be inserted into the second filter portion 140.

The second filter portion 140 may be packaged by a fourth wrapper 154. Alternatively, a separate wrapper surrounding the second filter portion 140 may not be provided. In this case, the second filter portion 140 may be surrounded only by the final wrapper 155 together with the front end portion 110, the medium portion 120, and the filter portion 130.

FIGS. 3A to 3C are schematic cross-sectional views of the aerosol generating article 100 of FIG. 2B taken in a longitudinal direction.

Referring to FIG. 3A, the aerosol generating article 100 may sequentially include the front end portion 110, the medium portion 120, the second filter portion 140, and the filter portion 130. Here, the medium portion 120 may include a tobacco medium 121, and the second filter portion 140 may include a flavor element 141 including a flavoring liquid. In addition, the filter portion 130 may include a capsule 131.

According to an embodiment, an aerosol generated by heating the cartridge (210 in FIG. 1) including an aerosol generating material may be introduced through the front end portion 110, and then sequentially transferred through the medium portion 120, the second filter portion 140, and the filter portion 130.

That is, the aerosol introduced through the front end portion 110 may be mixed with components such as nicotine released from the tobacco medium 121 of the medium portion 120, and then sequentially proceed to the second filter portion 140 and the filter portion 130. At this time, the flavor element 141 included in the second filter portion 140 may be mixed together and delivered to a user.

As an example, the tobacco medium 121 in the medium portion 120 may fill a cellulose acetate filter 122. Alternatively, the tobacco medium 121 may be manufactured by filling a paper filter, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the aerosol generating article 100 may sequentially include the front end portion 110, the second filter portion 140, the medium portion 120, and the filter portion 130.

According to an embodiment, the aerosol generated by heating the cartridge (210 in FIG. 1) including the aerosol generating material may be introduced through the front end portion 110 and then sequentially transferred through the second filter portion 140, the medium portion 120, and the filter portion 130.

That is, the aerosol introduced through the front end portion 110 may be mixed with the flavor element 141 included in the second filter portion 140 and transmitted to the medium portion 120, mixed with components such as nicotine released from the tobacco medium 121 of the medium portion 120, and then delivered to the user through the second filter portion 140.

Referring to FIG. 3C, the aerosol generating article 100 may sequentially include the front end portion 110, a first medium portion 120a, a second medium portion 120b, and the filter portion 130.

According to an embodiment, the aerosol generated by heating the cartridge (210 in FIG. 1) including the aerosol generating material may be introduced through the front end portion 110 and then sequentially performed through the first medium portion 120a, the second medium portion 120b, and the filter portion 130.

According to FIG. 3C, the medium portion 120 may include the first medium portion 120a and the second medium portion 120b configured as separate segments. Each of the first medium portion 120a and the second medium portion 120b may include the tobacco medium 121. As an example, each of the first medium portion 120a and the second medium portion 120b may be manufactured as the tobacco medium 121 fills the cellulose acetate filter 122.

However, this is only an embodiment and is not limited thereto. The first medium portion 120a may be manufactured as the tobacco medium 121 fills an acetate filter, and the second medium portion 120b may be manufactured as the tobacco medium 121 fills the paper filter. As another example, the first medium portion 120a may be manufactured as the tobacco medium 121 fills the paper filter, and the second medium portion 120b may be manufactured as the tobacco medium 121 fills the acetate filter. As another example, each of the first medium portion 120a and the second medium portion 120b may be manufactured as the tobacco medium 121 fills the paper filter.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the medium portion 120 according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, the medium portion 120 of an aerosol generating article (e.g., the aerosol generating article 100 of FIG. 1) may include the cellulose acetate filter 122 and the tobacco medium 121 filling the cellulose acetate filter 122. For example, the cellulose acetate filter 122 may be formed of a plurality of cellulose acetate tows 122a, and the tobacco medium 121 may fill between the plurality of cellulose acetate tows 122a.

In an embodiment, the medium portion 120 of about 2 mg/mm to about 8 mg/mm may fill the cellulose acetate filter 122. As another example, the medium portion 120 of about 4 mg/mm to about 6 mg/mm may fill the cellulose acetate filter 122.

For example, when the medium 120 includes only one segment including the tobacco medium 121, like the medium portion 120 in FIG. 3A or 3B, and the length of the segment including the tobacco medium 121 is about 5 mm to about 15 mm, the medium portion 120 may be filled with the tobacco medium 121 of about 20 mg to about 90 mg.

For another example, when the medium portion 120 includes two segments including the tobacco medium 121 like the medium 120 in FIG. 3C, and the length of the two segments is about 10 mm to about 30 mm, the medium portion 120 may be filled with the tobacco medium 121 of about 40 mg to 180 mg. In addition, when the medium portion 120 includes one segment including the tobacco medium 121, like the medium portion 120 in FIG. 2A, and the length of one segment is about 10 mm to 30 mm, the medium portion 120 may be filled with the tobacco medium 121 of about 40 mg to 180 mg.

In an embodiment, the cellulose acetate filter 122 may include the plurality of cellulose acetate tow 122a having a mono denier of 9.0, a total denier of 25,000, and a cross-section in a Y shape, but is not limited thereto.

In an embodiment, the tobacco medium 121 may be coated by spraying a pH aqueous solution onto granules, and the particle diameter of the tobacco medium 121 may be about 0.1 mm to about 1.2 mm. In another embodiment, the particle diameter of the tobacco medium 121 may be about 0.3 mm to about 0.6 mm. When the particle diameter of the tobacco medium 121 is included in the range of about 0.1 mm to about 1.2 mm, or about 0.3 mm to about 0.6 mm, manufacturing ease with respect to the medium portion 120 may increase.

That is, with respect to manufacturing the medium portion 120, when the plurality of cellulose acetate tows 122a are coupled to each other, the cellulose acetate filter 122 is manufactured, and simultaneously the tobacco medium 121 fills the cellulose acetate filter 122, the particle diameter of the tobacco medium 121 needs to be included in the range of about 0.1 mm to about 1.2 mm, or about 0.3 mm to about 0.6 mm so that the medium portion 120 may stably fill the cellulose acetate filter 122.

In an embodiment, as a pH of the tobacco medium 121 is adjusted to the alkali side through a pH adjuster as described above, the tobacco medium 121 may release nicotine even at a relatively low temperature at which the aerosol generating article 100 is not directly heated. For example, as the aerosol generated by heating the cartridge (210 in FIG. 1) including the aerosol generating material is transferred to the aerosol generating article 100, nicotine may be released from the tobacco medium 121 of the medium portion 120.

At this time, as nicotine released from the tobacco medium 121 is absorbed by the cellulose acetate filter 122 (or release of nicotine from the tobacco medium 121 is suppressed by the cellulose acetate filter 122), nicotine storage of the aerosol generating article (e.g., the aerosol generating article 100 of FIG. 1) may be improved.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the medium portion 120 according to another embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 5, the medium portion 120 of an aerosol generating article (e.g., the aerosol generating article 100 of FIG. 1) may include a paper filter 123 and the tobacco medium 121 filling the paper filter 123. For example, the paper filter 123 may be manufactured so that a paper has a rolled form, and the tobacco medium 121 may fill between the rolled paper and layers of the paper.

In an embodiment, the tobacco medium 121 of about 2 mg/mm to about 8 mg/mm may fill the paper filter 123 of the medium portion 120. As another example, the tobacco medium 121 of about 4 mg/mm to about 6 mg/mm may fill the paper filter 123 of the medium portion 120.

In an embodiment, the paper filter 123 may be manufactured in the rolled form of paper having a smooth surface. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and in another embodiment, the paper filter 123 may be manufactured so that a paper having a roughness of a surface greater than or equal to a specific value or a crimped paper has the rolled form.

In an embodiment, the paper filter 123 may be manufactured so that a paper having a horizontal length of about 5 mm to about 15 mm and a vertical length of about 100 mm to about 150 mm has the rolled form. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto, and the size of the paper may be changed in various ways according to the design of a manufacturer.

In other words, with respect to manufacturing the medium portion 120, when the paper filter 123 is manufactured so that the paper is in the rolled form, and simultaneously the tobacco medium 121 fills the paper filter 123, the diameter of the tobacco medium 121 needs to be included in the range of about 0.1 mm to about 1.2 mm, or about 0.3 mm to about 0.6 mm so that the paper filter 123 may stably fill the paper filter 123.

In an embodiment, as a pH of the tobacco medium 121 is adjusted to the alkali side through a pH adjuster as described above, the tobacco medium 121 may release nicotine even at a relatively low temperature at which the aerosol generating article 100 is not directly heated. For example, as the aerosol generated by heating the cartridge (210 in FIG. 1) including the aerosol generating material is transferred to the aerosol generating article 100, nicotine may be released from the tobacco medium 121 of the medium portion 120.

At this time, as nicotine released from the tobacco medium 121 is absorbed by the paper filter 123 (or release of nicotine from the tobacco medium 121 is suppressed by the paper filter 123), nicotine storage of the aerosol generating article (e.g., the aerosol generating article 100 of FIG. 1) may be improved.

Meanwhile, the tobacco medium 121 may be formed by spraying a pH adjusting aqueous solution onto granules including tobacco powder and then drying the granules. As an embodiment, the tobacco medium 121 may be formed through a) supplying granules including tobacco powder to a chamber, b) spraying a pH adjusting aqueous solution by providing movement to the plurality of granules supplied to the chamber, and c) hot air drying the granules sprayed with the pH adjusting aqueous solution in the chamber.

In an embodiment, the granules including tobacco powder may include at least one of a solvent or a binder in addition to the tobacco powder. For example, the granules including tobacco powder may include a solvent including water and ethanol and a binder. For another example, the granules including tobacco powder may not include a binder but may include only a solvent.

At this time, the granules including tobacco powder may be materials manufactured through a certain manufacturing process. For example, the granules including tobacco powder may be materials manufactured through an extrusion manufacturing process and/or a fluidized bed manufacturing process.

When manufacturing the tobacco medium 121 according to the embodiment, in operation a) of supplying granules including tobacco powder to the chamber, at least one manufacturing process (e.g., an extrusion operation, a shaping operation, etc.) may be omitted as the ‘granules including tobacco powder’ is supplied as finished granules already manufactured, and thus there is an economic effect in terms of manufacturing costs. In addition, the tobacco medium 121 may be set and manufactured to have a certain diameter in the operation of supplying the finished granules, the diameters of particles constituting the tobacco medium 121 may be substantially constant.

According to an embodiment, when the granules are supplied to the chamber, operation b) of spraying the pH adjusting aqueous solution by providing movement to the plurality of granules supplied to the chamber may be performed.

In an embodiment, the movement provided to the plurality of granules supplied to the chamber may be at least one of a rotational movement or a fluidized bed movement. For example, a device for manufacturing a tobacco medium may include a rotating shaft providing the rotational movement and a plurality of paddles connected to the rotating shaft. For another example, the device for manufacturing a tobacco medium may include a fluidized bed reactor providing the fluidized bed movement.

In an embodiment, the pH adjusting aqueous solution may include a pH adjuster and moisture. For example, the pH adjuster may include at least one of potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃), or a mixture thereof. However, the pH adjuster is not limited thereto, and the pH adjuster may include a material capable of adjusting the pH of the plurality of granules supplied to the chamber to the alkali side.

In an embodiment, the pH adjusting aqueous solution may include about 9 wt % to about 11 wt % of a pH adjuster and about 17 wt % to about 23 wt % of moisture with respect to the total weight of the plurality of granules supplied to the chamber. The pH adjusting aqueous solution may include about 10 wt % of a pH adjuster and about 20 wt % of moisture with respect to the total weight of the plurality of granules.

According to an embodiment, after operation b), the tobacco medium 121 may be manufactured through operation c) of drying the granules sprayed with the pH adjusting aqueous solution in the chamber.

In an embodiment, drying may be performed through hot air drying. Hot air drying may be performed at a temperature of about 40° C. to about 50° C. For example, hot air drying of a temperature of about 40° C. to about 50° C. may be provided to the granules sprayed with the pH solution. At this time, when a facility (chamber) provides the rotational movement to the granules, hot air drying may take about 3 hours to about 4 hours. Alternatively, when the facility provides the fluidized bed movement to the granules, hot air drying may take about 10 minutes to about 15 minutes.

At this time, when the facility provides the fluidized bed movement to the granules, the time required for hot air drying is relatively short, and thus it is efficient in terms of process and cost. Alternatively, when the facility provides the rotational movement to the granules, even when the time required for hot air drying is long, the yield of granules with a target moisture content increases, and thus it is efficient in terms of manufacturing.

A manufacturing device operating in different facilities for each process operation as in the related art requires movement of raw materials between facilities, which may make it difficult to proceed with continuous processes. In addition, because the time required for each process operation is different, continuous raw material input and production may be difficult.

The device for manufacturing the tobacco medium 121 according to the embodiment may hot air dry the granules sprayed with the pH adjusting aqueous solution in the same chamber after spraying the pH adjusting aqueous solution onto the granules in the chamber. That is, as the operation of spraying the pH adjusting aqueous solution and the hot air drying operation are provided in the same facility, continuous processing is possible, and thus productivity of the tobacco medium 121 may be increased.

When the granules sprayed with the pH adjusting aqueous solution are dried according to the above-described method, the final tobacco medium 121 may be manufactured.

In an embodiment, a pH value of the tobacco medium 121 after drying may be 8 to 9. The pH value of the tobacco medium 121 after drying may be 8.7 to 8.9. When the pH value of the hot air dried tobacco medium 121 is 8.7 to 8.9, a conversion rate to free nicotine is high, and thus smoking satisfaction may be provided to the user even under non-heating conditions. For example, when the pH value is 8.7 to 8.9, the conversion rate to free nicotine may be about 90% or more.

In an embodiment, the tobacco medium 121 may include moisture 8 wt % to 9 wt % with respect to the dry weight of the tobacco medium 121. At this time, the hot air-dried tobacco medium 121 include moisture 8 wt % to 9 wt % with respect to the dry weight, thereby stabilizing a product quality by providing a uniform nicotine transfer amount even over time.

Hereinafter, this will be described in more detail with reference to embodiments and experimental examples. These embodiments are exemplary only, and it will be apparent to one of ordinary in the art that the disclosure is not interpreted as being limited by the embodiments.

Embodiments

A change in the nicotine transfer amount over time was measured by manufacturing a tobacco medium according to the embodiments.

1. Experimental Example 1: Acceleration Test

As shown in Table 1 below, an aerosol generating article including a tobacco medium of each of Comparative Example 1 and Embodiment 1 in a medium portion was manufactured, and a time lapse prediction experiment was conducted using the aerosol generating article. For quick confirmation, long-term storage was predicted by analyzing the nicotine transfer amount through an acceleration test in an oven of 40° C. Immediately after manufacturing, the nicotine transfer amount after 3 days and after 5 days was measured, and the amount of nicotine transferred per 14 puffs was measured in unit of mg.

Comparative Example 1 was experimented with the tobacco medium including 15 wt % of moisture with respect to the total weight of the tobacco medium, and Embodiment 1 was experimented by drying Comparative Example 1 so that the tobacco medium includes 8 wt % of moisture.

	TABLE 1
			Nicotine	Nicotine	Nicotine
			transfer	transfer	transfer
			amount	amount	amount
			immediately	after 3	after 5
	Moisture	Nicotine	after man-	days	days
	content	content	ufacturing	(mg/14	(mg/14
	(wt %)	(wt %)	(mg/14 puff)	puff)	puff)

Compar-	15	2.68	0.71	0.43	0.36
ative
Example 1
Embodi-	8	2.29	0.63	0.55	0.56
ment 1

As in Comparative Example 1, it may be seen that when the tobacco medium includes 15 wt % of moisture, the nicotine transfer amount decreases over time. However, in Embodiment 1, it may be seen that the product quality is stabilized.

2. Experimental Example 2: Time-Lapse Prediction Test

In order to confirm specific results according to the moisture content of the tobacco medium, additional experiments were conducted by varying the moisture content of the tobacco medium as shown in Table 2 below. As a total of 12 weeks elapsed in a room at a temperature of about 22° C. and a humidity of about 60%, the amount of nicotine transferred per 14 puffs was measured in unit of mg. The measurement was performed using a gas chromatography (GC) quantitative analysis method.

	TABLE 2
	Moisture	Nicotine transfer (mg/14 puff)

	content	0	1	2	3	4	8	12
	(wt %)	week	week	weeks	weeks	weeks	weeks	weeks

Comparative	6	0.34	0.38	0.36	0.36	0.39	—	—
Example 2
Embodiment 2	9	0.46	0.48	0.42	0.42	0.44	0.42	0.44
Comparative	10	0.55	0.54	0.47	0.45	0.45	0.41	0.38
Example 3
Comparative	12	0.54	0.48	0.43	0.45	0.45	0.40	0.39
Example 4

As in Comparative Example 2, it may be seen that when the tobacco medium includes 6 wt % of moisture, the nicotine transfer amount is less than 0.4 mg immediately after manufacturing, and that the nicotine transfer amount is very small after 8 weeks or more.

On the other hand, it may be seen that when the tobacco medium includes 10 wt % of moisture as in Comparative Example 3 and when the tobacco medium includes 12 wt % of moisture as in Comparative Example 4, the nicotine transfer amount continued to decrease over time.

On the other hand, in Embodiment 2, it may be seen that the nicotine transfer amount is maintained at 0.4 mg or more without a significant deviation even after the period elapses. In particular, it may be seen that the nicotine transfer amount is further stabilized after the second week. Through this, it was seen that the product quality is stabilized when the tobacco medium includes 8 wt % to 9 wt % of moisture.

The descriptions of the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative, and one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true scope of protection of the disclosure should be determined by the appended claims, and all differences in the scope equivalent to the description in the claims should be construed as being included in the scope of protection determined by the claims.

According to the non-heating aerosol generating article and the aerosol generating system including the same, even when the aerosol generating material is treated with a pH adjuster, product quality may be stabilized by providing a uniform nicotine transfer amount over time.

Effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above effects, and effects that are not mentioned could be clearly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art from the present specification and the attached drawings.