COMPOSITION FOR NON-HEATING-TYPE AEROSOL GENERATING SYSTEM INCLUDING COOLING AGENT AND HAVING IMPROVED AMOUNT OF MENTHOL TRANSFER

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2024-0048604 filed on Apr. 11, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

One or more embodiments relate to a composition for a non-heating-type aerosol generating system including a cooling agent and having improved amount of menthol transfer, and a cartridge and an aerosol generating system including the same.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, demands for alternative articles of general cigarettes have increased. For example, there is an increasing demand for a device (e.g., a cigarette-type electronic cigarette) that generates an aerosol by electrically heating a cigarette stick. Accordingly, research on an electrically heated aerosol generating device and a cigarette stick (or an aerosol generating article) applied thereto is being conducted.

Further, research on a non-heating-type aerosol generating device is also being conducted in addition to the electrically heated aerosol generating device. In this case, an aerosol generating article including pH-treated granules generating free nicotine is used.

Meanwhile, although there have been various attempts to increase the refreshing sensation of menthol in liquid-type electronic cigarettes of the related art, there is currently no separate research on a composition that includes a cooling agent that is suitable for a non-heating-type aerosol generating device and may exhibit a high amount of menthol transfer. Moreover, in a case of a non-heating-type aerosol generation system, unlike existing heating-type aerosol generation devices, the sensory characteristics of menthol should be implemented without the influence of temperature, and thus, there may be limitations on the amount of cooling agent to be added, and there is also a problem of having to consider solubility with a humectant, or the like.

SUMMARY

Embodiments are provided to solve the above-mentioned problems and other problems.

Embodiments provide a composition for an aerosol generating system with improved amount of menthol transfer, that may increase the amount of menthol transfer which is low in a non-heating-type electronic cigarette, thereby providing a user with refreshing sensation and satisfaction with smoking.

Also, embodiments provide a cartridge including the composition for an aerosol generating system, and an aerosol generating system including the same.

However, the technical goals are not limited to those described above, and other technical goals may be present.

According to an aspect, there is provided a composition for an aerosol generating system, the composition including a humectant including propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG), WS-3 (N-ethyl-5-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl) cyclohexanecarboxamide), and menthol.

According to another aspect, there is provided a cartridge for an aerosol generating system including a liquid composition, wherein the liquid composition includes a humectant including PG and VG, WS-3 (N-ethyl-5-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl) cyclohexanecarboxamide), and menthol.

According to still another aspect, there is provided an aerosol generating system including an aerosol generating article including a medium portion and at least one filter portion, and an aerosol generating device including a battery, a controller, and a vaporizer, wherein the medium portion includes one or more of reconstituted tobacco, cut tobacco leaves and tobacco granules, a liquid composition is sprayed onto surfaces of one or more of the reconstituted tobacco, cut tobacco leaves and tobacco granules, and the liquid composition includes a humectant including PG and VG, WS-3 (N-ethyl-5-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl) cyclohexanecarboxamide), and menthol.

Additional aspects of embodiments 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 disclosure.

According to embodiments, a composition for a non-heating-type aerosol generating system may solve a problem of a low amount of menthol transfer that occurs in non-heating-type electronic cigarettes to improve low menthol refreshing sensation, thereby providing smokers with satisfaction from smoking.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a structure of an aerosol generating article according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol generating system in which an aerosol generating article is coupled to an aerosol generating device according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, various alterations and modifications may be made to the embodiments and thus, the scope of the disclosure is not limited or restricted to the embodiments. The 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 embodiments only and is not to be limiting of the 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 the 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 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 embodiments, 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, in the description of the components, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b) or the like may be used herein when describing components of the present disclosure. 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 may be connected or attached directly to another component, and an intervening component may also be “connected,” “coupled,” or “attached” to the components.

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

In the following embodiments, a “humectant” may refer to a substance capable of facilitating the formation of visible smoke and/or an aerosol. The humectant may include, for example, glycerin (GLY), propylene glycol (PG), ethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, and oleyl alcohol, but is not limited thereto. In the art, a humectant may be used interchangeably with a term such as an aerosol former, a wetting agent, or the like.

In the following embodiments, an “aerosol forming material” may refer to a material that forms an aerosol. The aerosol may include a volatile compound. The aerosol forming material may be solid or liquid. For example, a solid aerosol forming material may include a solid material based on a tobacco raw material, such as cut tobacco leaves, tobacco granules, or reconstituted tobacco. The reconstituted tobacco may be divided into slurry-type reconstituted tobacco sheets and paper-like reconstituted tobacco sheets according to its manufacturing method. A liquid aerosol forming material may include a liquid composition based on nicotine, tobacco extracts, and/or various flavoring agents. However, the scope of the disclosure is not limited to these examples.

In the following embodiments, the term “aerosol generating article” is an article accommodating an aerosol forming material, that is, a medium, and may refer to an article through which an aerosol passes and nicotine contained in the medium is transferred. A representative example of the aerosol generating article may be a cigarette. However, the scope of the disclosure is not limited thereto.

In the following embodiments, the term “aerosol generating device” may refer to a device that generates an aerosol using an aerosol forming material to generate an aerosol that may be inhaled through the mouth of a user directly to the lungs of the user.

In the following embodiments, the term “upstream” or “upstream direction” may refer to a direction away from the mouth of a user (smoker), and the term “downstream” or “downstream direction” may refer to a direction approaching the mouth of the user. The terms “upstream” and “downstream” may be used to describe relative positions of components of an aerosol generating article.

In the following embodiments, the term “puff” refers to inhalation by a user, and the inhalation refers to a situation in which a user draws in an aerosol into his or her oral cavity, nasal cavity, or lungs through the mouth or nose.

• • according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a composition for an aerosol generating system, the composition including a humectant including PG and vegetable glycerin (VG), WS-3 (N-ethyl-5-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl) cyclohexanecarboxamide), and menthol is provided.

WS-3 has good cooling sensation persistence, and thus it is a cooling agent that may enhance refreshing sensation of menthol. In particular, in the presence of a humectant containing PG and VG, when a cooling agent such as WS-3 is added, the amount of menthol transfer may be increased more than when only menthol is added. These results are specifically shown in the examples to be described below.

Meanwhile, in this case, a weight ratio of the humectant containing the PG and VG may be 8:2 to 2:8, desirably 6:4 to 4:6, and more desirably 5:5.

When the weight ratio of PG and VG of the humectant containing the PG and VG is beyond the above range, the solubility of the WS-3 in the humectant may decrease.

In particular, the WS-3 has low solubility in a humectant containing PG and VG, and therefore, for example, when the weight ratio of PG and VG is 5:5, the content of WS-3 may be included up to 1.5 wt % based on a total weight of the composition.

Therefore, it may be seen that there is a limit to the amount added for use in non-heating or low-temperature heating aerosol generation (non-heating-type electronic cigarettes). Thus, in order to show a more effective amount of menthol transfer, it is desirable to use menthol together with the humectant and the WS-3.

As shown in examples below, the amount of menthol transfer is significantly higher in a case of including the humectant containing PG and VG, the WS-3, and menthol, than in a case of including only the humectant and the WS-3 or the humectant and menthol.

In this case, the content of menthol that may be included in the composition may be 10 to 15 wt %, desirably 11 to 14 wt %, and more desirably 12 to 13 wt %. When the content of menthol is equal to or greater than the lower limit, a higher amount of menthol transfer may be achieved compared to a case where the content of menthol is less than the lower limit. However, when the content of menthol exceeds the upper limit, there may be a concern about menthol precipitation.

Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the liquid composition may additionally include WS-23 (N,2,3-trimethyl-2-isopropyl butanamide) together with the humectant including PG and VG, the WS-3, and menthol. The WS-23 is also a cooling agent capable of inducing a cooling sensation like the WS-3, and the inventors of the present disclosure have found that the amount of menthol transfer may be significantly increased without heating the liquid composition by combining the WS-3, the WS-23, and menthol.

In particular, the content of WS-23 that may be included at this time may be more than 0 and less than 5 wt %, and desirably 1 wt % to 3 wt % based on the total weight of the composition for reasons such as solubility.

Through this, the composition according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may most effectively solve low menthol refreshing sensation of a non-heating-type aerosol generating system.

In particular, the addition of the WS-23 and menthol may be considered as a desirable solution for resolving the low refreshing sensation, because it may complement the case of only including the WS-3, which has low solubility and thus has a limited amount of content to be added.

Meanwhile, FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a structure of an aerosol generating article according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, an aerosol generating article 12 may include a medium portion 122, a filter portion including a first filter portion 121 and a second filter portion 123, and a wrapper 125.

A composition according to an embodiment of the present disclosure contains a humectant containing PG and VG in a predetermined ratio, and thus is mainly in a liquid form. Accordingly, the liquid composition may be included in the medium portion or the filter portion when manufacturing an aerosol generating article, and when the liquid composition is included in the medium portion, the composition may be sprayed onto surfaces of one or more of the reconstituted tobacco, cut tobacco leaves and tobacco granules positioned in the medium portion.

In addition, when the liquid composition is included in the filter portion, the composition may be sprayed onto a filter tow using a transfer jet nozzle system (TJNS) method or the like, similar to a method of adding a flavoring solution to the filter.

In an embodiment, the aerosol generating article 12 may be wrapped with at least one wrapper 125. The wrapper may have at least one hole through which external air is introduced or internal gas flows out. The wrapper 125 may include a material with high thermal conductivity.

For example, the first filter portion 121 may be wrapped with a first wrapper 1251, the medium portion 122 may be wrapped with a second wrapper 1252, and the second filter portion 123 may be wrapped with a third wrapper 1253. In addition, the aerosol generating article 12 may be entirely wrapped again with a fourth wrapper 1255.

In an embodiment, the first wrapper 1251, the second wrapper 1252, and the third wrapper 1253 may be formed with porous wrapping paper. For example, the porosity of each of the first wrapper 1251, the second wrapper 1252, and the third wrapper 1253 may be about 35000 CU, but is not limited thereto. In addition, a thickness of each of the first wrapper 1251, the second wrapper 1252, and the third wrapper 1253 may be in a range of 70 μm to 80 μm. In addition, a basis weight of each of the first wrapper 1251, the second wrapper 1252, and the third wrapper 1253 may be in a range of 20 g/m² to 25 g/m².

For example, the second wrapper 1252 may include an aluminum component. For example, the second wrapper 1252 may be a combination of general filter wrapping paper and a metal foil such as an aluminum foil. Further, the second wrapper 1252 may be formed of sterile paper (e.g., MFW).

In an embodiment, the third wrapper 1253 may be formed with polylactic acid (PLA) laminated paper. The PLA laminated paper may refer to three-ply paper including a paper layer, a PLA layer, and a paper layer. For example, a thickness of the third wrapper 1253 may be in a range of 100 μm to 120 μm. In addition, a basis weight of the third wrapper 1253 may be in a range of 80 g/m² to 100 g/m².

In an embodiment, the fourth wrapper 1254 may be formed of sterile paper (e.g., MFW). For example, a basis weight of the fourth wrapper 1254 may be in a range of 57 g/m² to 63 g/m². Also, a thickness of the fourth wrapper 1254 may be in a range of 64 μm to 70 μm.

In an embodiment, the first filter portion 121 may include a cellulose acetate (CA) filter. In addition, the first filter portion 121 may include a paper filter and a porous molding. For example, a length of the first filter portion 121 may be about 4 to 15 mm, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the first filter portion 121 may be colored and flavored.

In an embodiment, the medium portion 122 may include a cavity, and the cavity may be filled with a medium. For example, a medium material filled in the medium portion 122 may include one or more of reconstituted tobacco, cut tobacco leaves and tobacco granules. Also, a desirable length of the medium portion 122 may be adopted from a range of 6 mm to 18 mm, but is not limited thereto.

Also, the medium portion 122 may include an aerosol generating material such as GLY or the like. The medium portion 122 may further include other additives such as a flavoring agent, a wetting agent, and/or organic acid.

In an embodiment, the medium in the medium portion 122 may include one or more of pH-treated reconstituted tobacco, cut tobacco leaves and tobacco granules. For example, one or more of the reconstituted tobacco, cut tobacco leaves and tobacco granules may be pH-treated by a pH adjuster to have basicity (e.g., pH of 7.0 to 9.5), and may include, for example, at least one of potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃), sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃), and calcium oxide (CaO). However, the material included in the pH adjuster is not limited to the above examples, and a material that generates less negative odor during smoking may be used. A pH adjuster may increase the pH of the medium material included in the medium portion 122. Compared to a medium material not treated with a pH adjuster, a medium material comprising one or more of basic pH-treated reconstituted tobacco, cut tobacco leaves and tobacco granules may increase the amount of nicotine released therefrom when heated. That is, a medium material pH-treated with a basic pH adjuster may achieve a sufficient nicotine yield by a basic treatment even when the medium portion 122 is heated at a low temperature of 0° C. to 150° C. or not heated.

In an embodiment, a first filter portion and/or a second filter portion may be manufactured from a CA filter portion and may additionally include a plasticizer such as triacetin (TA) or triethyl citrate (TEC). Through this, free nicotine of the medium portion may be adsorbed to at least one of the first filter portion and the second filter portion.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol generating system in which an aerosol generating article is coupled to an aerosol generating device according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2, an aerosol generating system 1 according to an embodiment may include the aerosol generating device 11 and the aerosol generating article 12.

Referring to FIG. 2, the aerosol generating device 11 according to an embodiment may include a battery 111, a controller 112, a vaporizer 113, and an elongated cavity 114.

For the aerosol generating device 11 shown in FIG. 2, it may be understood by those skilled in the art related to this embodiment that other general components may be further included in the aerosol generating device 11 in addition to the components shown in FIG. 2. In addition, the aerosol generating device 11 may be in the form of a stick or a holder.

In an embodiment, the aerosol generating device may be a device that generates an aerosol using a cartridge containing an aerosol generating material of the present disclosure. In addition, the cartridge may include the liquid composition according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The aerosol generating device including the vaporizer 113 may include a cartridge containing the aerosol generating material and the liquid composition, and a main body supporting the cartridge. Here, the liquid composition may be a liquid composition including the humectant including PG and VG, the WS-3, menthol, and the like described above in detail. The cartridge may be detachably coupled to the main body. However, embodiments are not limited thereto. The cartridge may be integrally formed or assembled with the main body, and may be secured to the main body so as not to be detached by a user. The cartridge may be mounted on the main body while the aerosol generating material and the liquid composition are accommodated therein. However, embodiments are not limited thereto. The aerosol generating material and the liquid composition may be injected into the cartridge while the cartridge is coupled to the main body.

The cartridge may hold the aerosol generating material and the composition having any one of various states, such as a liquid state, a solid state, a gaseous state, and a gel state, and according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it is desirable to include the aerosol generating material and the composition in the liquid state. The aerosol generating material may be, for example, a liquid including a tobacco-containing material that includes a volatile tobacco flavor component, or may be a liquid including a non-tobacco material.

The cartridge may be operated by an electrical signal or a wireless signal transmitted from the main body to perform the function of generating an aerosol by transforming a phase of the aerosol generating material inside the cartridge to a gaseous phase. The aerosol may refer to a gas in which vaporized particles generated from the aerosol generating material are mixed with air.

Meanwhile, the battery 111 may supply power to be used to operate the aerosol generating device 11. For example, the battery 111 may supply a current to the vaporizer 113 so that the vaporizer 113 may heat a liquid composition or the like. In addition, the battery 111 may supply power required to operate a display, a sensor, a motor, or the like installed in the aerosol generating device 11.

In an embodiment, the battery 111 may be a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄) battery, but is not limited to the above example. For example, the battery 111 may correspond to a lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO₂) battery, a lithium titanate battery, a lithium ion battery, and the like.

For example, the battery 111 may have a cylindrical shape with a diameter of 10 mm and a length of 37 mm, but is not limited thereto. For example, the capacity of the battery 111 may have a range of 120 mAh to 250 mAh, but is not limited thereto. Further, the battery 111 may be a rechargeable battery or a disposable battery. For example, when the battery 111 is chargeable, a charge rate (C-rate) of the battery 111 may be 10 C, and a discharge rate (C-rate) thereof may be 10 C to 20 C, but the charge rate and the discharge rate are not limited thereto. In addition, for static use, the battery 111 may be manufactured so that 80% or more of the total capacity may be secured even when charging/discharging is performed 2000 times.

In an embodiment, the controller 112 may control the overall operation of the aerosol generating device 11. Specifically, the controller 112 may control respective operations of other components included in the aerosol generating device 11, in addition to the battery 111 and the vaporizer 113. In addition, the controller 112 may verify a state of each of the components of the aerosol generating device 11 to determine whether the aerosol generating device 11 is in an operable state.

In an embodiment, the controller 112 may include at least one processor. The processor may be implemented as an array of a plurality of logic gates, or may be implemented as a combination of a general-purpose microprocessor and a memory in which a program executable by the microprocessor is stored. In addition, it is to be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains that the processor may be implemented in other types of hardware.

In an embodiment, the vaporizer 113 may generate an aerosol by heating the liquid composition and emit the generated aerosol toward the aerosol generating article 12 inserted into the elongated cavity 114 such that the generated aerosol may pass through the inserted aerosol generating article 12. Therefore, a tobacco flavor may be added to the aerosol that has passed through the aerosol generating article 12, and a user may suck one end of the aerosol generating article 12 through the mouth to inhale the aerosol with the tobacco flavor added. According to an embodiment, the vaporizer 113 may be referred to as a cartomizer or an atomizer. According to an embodiment, the vaporizer 113 may be coupled to the aerosol generating device 11 in a replaceable manner.

In an embodiment, the aerosol generating device 11 may include a heater. The aerosol generating article 12 according to an embodiment may transfer nicotine in a non-heating condition. In addition, in a low-temperature heating mode through the heater, an amount of nicotine transfer may increase by promoting the nicotine transfer. The low-temperature heating mode by the heater may implement a higher level of intensity of smoking taste compared to a non-heating mode, and the amount of nicotine transfer may be easily adjusted through the non-heating mode and the low-temperature heating mode.

The heater may be heated by power supplied from the battery 111. For example, when the aerosol generating article 12 is inserted into the aerosol generating device 11, the heater may be disposed outside the aerosol generating article 12. The heated heater may thus raise the temperature of an aerosol generating material in the aerosol generating article 12.

For example, the heater may be an electrical resistive heater. For example, the heater may include an electrically conductive track, and the heater may be heated as a current flows through the electrically conductive track. However, the heater is not limited to the above-described example, and any example of heating the heater up to a desired temperature may be applicable without limitation. Here, the desired temperature may be preset in the aerosol generating device 11 or may be set by the user.

Meanwhile, for another example, the heater may be an inductive heater. Specifically, the heater may include an electrically conductive coil for heating the aerosol generating article 12 in an induction heating manner, and the aerosol generating article 12 may include a susceptor to be heated by the induction heater.

For example, the heater may include a tubular heat transfer element, a plate-shaped heat transfer element, a needle-shaped heat transfer element, or a rod-shaped heat transfer element, and may heat the inside or outside of the aerosol generating article 12 according to the shape of a heat transfer element.

In addition, the heater may be provided as a plurality of heaters in the aerosol generating device 11. In this case, the plurality of heaters may be disposed to be inserted into the aerosol generating article 12 or may be disposed outside the aerosol generating article 12. In addition, some of the plurality of heaters may be disposed to be inserted into the aerosol generating article 12, and the rest may be disposed outside the aerosol generating article 12.

In an embodiment, the elongated cavity 114 may accommodate the aerosol generating article 12. In an embodiment, the heater may be disposed to surround an outer surface of the elongated cavity 114, thereby heating the aerosol generating article accommodated in the elongated cavity 114. The heater according to an embodiment may be disposed to surround at least a portion of the outer surface of the elongated cavity 114.

Meanwhile, the aerosol generating device 11 may further include general-purpose components in addition to the battery 111, the controller 112, the vaporizer 113, and the elongated cavity 114. For example, the aerosol generating device 11 may include a sensing unit, an output unit, a user input unit, a memory, and a communication unit.

According to an embodiment, the aerosol generating device 11 may include the vaporizer 113 and the elongated cavity 114 arranged in series or in parallel.

Referring to FIG. 2, through an airflow path in the aerosol generating device 11, the aerosol generated by the vaporizer 113 may flow into the elongated cavity 114 and pass through the aerosol generating article 12. Therefore, a tobacco flavor or nicotine may be added to the aerosol that has passed through the aerosol generating article 12, and the user may suck one end of the aerosol generating article 12 through the mouth to inhale the aerosol with the tobacco flavor or nicotine added.

The vaporizer 113 according to an embodiment may include a liquid storage, a liquid transfer means, a heating element, and an airflow path. The components of the vaporizer 113 may be formed of a material of polycarbonate, but are not limited thereto.

In an embodiment, the controller 112 may control the temperature of the heating element by controlling the current supplied to the heating element. Accordingly, the controller 112 may control the amount of aerosol generated from the liquid composition by controlling the current supplied to the heating element. In addition, the controller 112 may control the current to be supplied to the heating element for a predetermined time when a puff of the user is sensed. For example, the controller 112 may control the current to be supplied to the heating element for 1 to 5 seconds from when a puff of the user is sensed.

In an embodiment, the controller 112 may control the amount of aerosol emitted from the vaporizer 113 by controlling the opening and closing state of the airflow path. Specifically, the controller 112 may increase the amount of aerosol emitted from the vaporizer 113 by increasing the size of an opening in the airflow path, and reduce the amount of aerosol emitted from the vaporizer 113 by reducing the size of the opening in the airflow path. For example, the controller 112 may control the opening in the airflow path by using a dial method.

In an embodiment, when the amount of the liquid composition in the liquid storage is less than a preset amount, the controller 112 may notify the user of information that the liquid composition is insufficient through a vibration motor or a display.

In an embodiment, the controller 112 may control a temperature at which the heater heats the aerosol generating article 12. For example, the controller 112 may control the temperature at which the heater heats the medium portion.

In an embodiment, the controller 112 may control the heater between a non-heating mode and a low-temperature heating mode. In the non-heating mode, the heater may not heat the aerosol generating article 12. At this time, the medium portion may not be heated. In the low-temperature heating mode, the heater may heat the aerosol generating article 12 at a low temperature of 0° C. or more and 150° C. or less. At this time, the medium portion may be heated at a low temperature of 0° C. or more and 150° C. or less.

As the aerosol generating article 12 switches between the non-heating mode and the low-temperature heating mode, the intensity of smoking taste may be adjusted. In the non-heating mode, an amount of nicotine transferred from the medium portion may be relatively small, and thus, the intensity of smoking taste may be relatively low. In the low-temperature heating mode, compared to the non-heating mode, the intensity of smoking taste may be relatively high as the amount of nicotine transferred from the medium portion is relatively high. Therefore, in the low-temperature heating mode, a sufficient intensity of smoking taste may be secured even when the medium portion is not treated to have a high pH.

EXAMPLES

1. Experimental Example 1: Evaluation of Amount of Menthol Transfer by Liquid Composition

Menthol A certain amount Added Aerosol generation As shown in Table 1 below, a liquid composition for a non-heating-type aerosol generating system having different composition was formed, an aerosol was captured, and the amount of menthol transfer was measured through gas chromatography (GC) analysis. The results thereof are shown in Table 1.

	TABLE 1
			Amount of
	Composition		menthol
	(No.)	Composition	transfer (mg)
	Example 1	Humectant (PG:VG = 5:5)	1.29
	Example 2	Humectant + (WS-3 1.5 wt %)	1.69
	Example 3	Humectant + (menthol 15 wt %)	0.73
	Example 4	Humectant + WS-3 + menthol	3.06

As shown in Table 1 above, it is found that, compared to Example 1 (control group) including only the humectant, the amount of menthol transfer is slightly increased in the composition of Example 2, in which the WS-3 is added, however, the amount of menthol transfer is decreased in the composition of Example 3 in which menthol is added. In this way, the addition of menthol alone may negatively affect the generation of atomization due to compositional imbalance such as precipitation.

Meanwhile, the composition of Example 4, in which all of the humectant, the WS-3, and menthol are added, shows a much higher amount of menthol transfer, compared to the composition of Example 2 in which the humectant and the WS-3 are added or Example 3 in which the humectant and menthol are added. Thus, it is found that, when WS-3 and menthol are added simultaneously, a synergistic effect is achieved in improving the amount of menthol transfer.

2. Experimental Example 2: Evaluation of Amount of Menthol Transfer According to Amount of Additional Cooling Agent Added

As shown in Table 2 below, a liquid composition for a non-heating-type aerosol generating system having different composition was formed by additionally adding WS-23 as a cooling agent, and the amount of menthol transfer was measured by the same method as in Experimental Example 1. The results thereof are shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2
Composition		Amount of menthol
(No.)	Composition	transfer (mg)
Example 5	WS-3 1.0 wt % + menthol	1.70
	10 wt %
Example 6	WS-3 1.0 wt % + menthol	3.89
	10 wt % + WS-23 1.0 wt %
Example 7	WS-3 1.0 wt % + menthol	4.08
	10 wt % + WS 2.0 wt %
Example 8	WS-3 1.0 wt % + menthol	4.18
	10 wt % + WS 3.0 wt %

As shown in Table 2 above, in the compositions of Examples 6 to 8 including the additional cooling agent of WS-23, the amount of menthol transfer was even more increased, and as the amount of WS-23 added is increased, the amount of menthol transfer was increased further, compared to Example 5 including WS-3 and menthol.

This implies that the limitation of increasing the amount of menthol transfer due to WS-3 with low solubility may be overcome through the addition of WS-23 and a more effective menthol cooling sensation may be provided by including all of menthol, WS-3, and WS-23.

The descriptions of the above-described embodiments are merely examples, and it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and equivalents may be made thereto. Therefore, the scope of the disclosure should be defined by the appended claims, and all differences within the scope equivalent to those described in the claims will be construed as being included in the scope of protection defined by the claims.

The features and aspects of any embodiment(s) described above may be combined with features and aspects of any other embodiment(s) without resulting in apparent technical conflicts.