A heat-not-burn cartridge

Abstract

The present invention provides a heat-not-burn cartridge, which is composed of a tobacco regenerate for heat-not-burn and a packaging shell. The packaging shell includes a cartridge cup and a cartridge cap. The cartridge cup includes a cartridge cup opening end face, a cartridge cup side wall face, and a cartridge cup bottom end face, and the cartridge cup is provided with an air flow inlet. The cartridge cap includes a cartridge cap top end face and a cartridge cap side wall face, and the cartridge cap top end face is provided with a flue gas outlet hole. The cartridge cap is embedded and fixed in the cartridge cup through snap-fit with the cartridge cup opening end face. By adopting this structure, the present invention avoids the adverse chemical reactions generated by heating and gluing, etc., and the adverse effects on the tobacco content, and also avoids the use of accessories such as gaskets, greatly reducing the production cost and effectively improving the processing efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of novel non-combustible heated tobacco, and particularly to a non-combustible heated tobacco cartridge. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous influx of novel tobacco products into the market, their production and processing technologies have been continuously innovated and developed, especially in the field of non-combustible heated tobacco. In the field of non-combustible heated tobacco, the tobacco cartridges and the smoking devices used in combination therewith have received particular attention in the industry. A so-called "tobacco cartridge" is a shell filled with regenerated tobacco. The cartridge shell will be adjusted accordingly according to the state of the regenerated tobacco. The function and purpose of the cartridge shell are to hold, store and protect the regenerated tobacco, and at the same time ensure that the cartridge can be ventilated when the user sucks, so as to ensure the inflow of air and the outflow of smoke.

[0003] Currently, the common non-combustible heated tobacco cartridges are thin sheet-type cartridges. Among them, the regenerated tobacco is tobacco sheet, and the tobacco sheet is rolled into a cylindrical shape. Since there are gaps between the tobacco sheets, only the side surface can be packaged. For example, in the thin sheet-type cartridge used in the Marlboro IQOS non-combustible heated cigarette, the cartridge shell is thin paper and only the side surface is packaged.

[0004] However, with the continuous research and development of tobacco regenerated materials, tobacco particles have become a new choice in the current industry. Due to their shape, these tobacco particles are prone to leakage from the packaging body. Therefore, in actual processing, the tobacco particles must be fully packaged, that is, encapsulated by the cartridge shell. So, the encapsulation device and method for encapsulating tobacco particles have become the key points and difficulties in the manufacture of cartridge-type tobacco products. In this regard, the patent with the application number 201811503459.8 provides a structure of a heat-not-burn cartridge, the content of which is tobacco particles. The cartridge shell is composed of a cartridge cup, a sealing film, and a sealing membrane, and heat sealing is achieved by using the thermoplasticity of the sealing film. The principle of heat sealing is as follows: when the sealing film is heated to above 200°C, the hot melt adhesive (thermoplastic adhesive, such as the most commonly used polyethylene) on the heat-sealing surface softens and becomes adhesive at high temperature. At this time, it contacts the opening edge of the cartridge cup containing tobacco particles, and the hot melt plastic solidifies during the rapid cooling process, thus fixing the sealing film at the open end of the cartridge cup. Since this patented technology adopts a heat-sealing film structure, it is prone to damage. In addition, due to the use of hot melt plastic, the solid hot melt plastic after heat sealing will soften and fail when exposed to high temperature again. Therefore, there is a temperature tolerance. If the temperature tolerance is low (for example, below 200°C), when the cartridge is heated for use (the heating temperature is usually 200 - 400°C), the hot melt plastic is prone to soften and fail, resulting in degumming, so that the cartridge can no longer achieve the encapsulation function. If the temperature tolerance is high (for example, above 200°C), although the heat-sealing effect can be maintained during heating use, since the hot melt plastic is usually a high molecular polymer, even food-grade hot melt plastic will inevitably produce adverse chemical changes under high-temperature heating.

[0005] In view of this, the inventor believes that it is necessary to further improve the heat-not-burn cartridge to further enhance its performance and usage effect. Summary of the Invention

[0006] To solve the above problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a heat-not-burn cartridge with a stable shell structure, which can reliably encapsulate tobacco regenerated materials. Moreover, since no heating is required during the encapsulation process, it will not affect the tobacco regenerated materials, is convenient for processing, can greatly reduce production costs, and effectively improve processing efficiency.

[0007] To solve the above technical problems, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat-not-burn cartridge, which is composed of a regenerated tobacco for heat-not-burn and its encapsulation housing. The encapsulation housing includes a cartridge cup and a cartridge cap. Among them, the cartridge cup includes a cartridge cup opening end face, a cartridge cup side wall face, and a cartridge cup bottom end face, and the cartridge cup is provided with an air inlet; the cartridge cap includes a cartridge cap top end face and a cartridge cap side wall face, and the cartridge cap top end face is provided with a smoke outlet hole; the cartridge cap is embedded and fixed in the cartridge cup by a snap-fit with the cartridge cup opening end face.

[0009] According to the above technical solution, since the heat-not-burn cartridge of the present invention adopts the above structure, especially the cartridge cap is embedded and fixed in the cartridge cup by a snap-fit with the cartridge cup opening end face. Compared with the prior art, only through simple machining and mechanical force, the tight combination of the cartridge cap and the cartridge cup opening end face (i.e., the cartridge cup) can be achieved. The cartridge with this structure is firm and stable, the processing technology is safe and simple, and it can avoid the defects such as the adverse chemical reactions caused by heating and gluing in the prior art and the adverse effects on the tobacco content filled in the cartridge cup. Moreover, it can also avoid the use of accessories such as gaskets in the prior art, thus greatly reducing the production cost and effectively improving the processing efficiency.

[0010] Preferably, the total through-hole area of the smoke outlet holes on the cartridge cap top end face is not less than the total through-hole area of the air inlets of the cartridge cup. More preferably, the total through-hole area of the air inlets of the cartridge cup is not less than 2.8 mm 2 . In addition, preferably, the air inlets are arranged at the bottom end face of the cartridge cup and / or near the bottom end of the cartridge cup side wall face.

[0011] According to the above technical solution, since the total through-hole area of the smoke outlet holes on the cartridge cap top end face is not less than the total through-hole area of the air inlets of the cartridge cup, that is, the air inflow amount is not less than the smoke outflow amount. Therefore, the full utilization rate of gas can be ensured and the smoke conversion efficiency can be effectively improved. The inventor found through a large number of experimental studies that for this specific field of the cartridge, the total through-hole area of the air inlets of the cartridge cup is not less than 2.8 mm 2 to ensure smooth suction for the user without a sense of obstruction.

[0012] Preferably, the side wall surface of the cartridge cup has a taper K1, and the side wall surface of the cartridge cap has a taper K2, and 0 ≤ K2 < K1 ≤ 0.25. More preferably, 0 < K2 < K1 ≤ 0.25. Here, it should be noted that the so-called "taper K1 of the side wall surface of the cartridge cup" is the ratio of the difference in diameters between the top port and the bottom end surface of the cartridge cup to the height of the cartridge cup. That is, the taper of the side wall surface of the cartridge cup is K1. The diameter of the top end surface of the cartridge cup is D1, the diameter of the bottom port of the cartridge cup is d1, and the height of the cartridge cup is H1. Then the calculation formula for the taper K1 is: K1 = (D1 - d1) / H1; the so-called "the side wall surface of the cartridge cap has a taper K2" is the ratio of the difference in diameters between the top end surface and the bottom port of the cartridge cap to the height of the cartridge cap. That is, the taper of the side wall surface of the cartridge cap is K2. The diameter of the top end surface of the cartridge cap is D2, the diameter of the bottom port of the cartridge cap is d2, and the height of the cartridge cap is H2. Then the calculation formula for the taper K2 of the side wall surface of the cartridge cap is: K2 = (D2 - d2) / H2.

[0013] According to the above technical solution, since the side wall surfaces of the cartridge cup and the cartridge cap adopt a structural design with a certain taper, when the cartridge is loaded into the smoking device for use, it is beneficial to achieve progressive heating of the cartridge. This taper structure is conducive to the accumulation and transfer of heat inside the cartridge. In addition, this structure is also beneficial for determining the top-bottom direction of the cartridge during production and use, which facilitates sorting during production and taking and placing during use. Moreover, this structure is beneficial for improving the lasting stability of the cartridge packaging shell structure; when 0 = K2 < K1 ≤ 0.25, the side wall surface of the cartridge cap is a straight cylinder. In this case, the expansion trend of the cartridge cap is the largest, which can significantly improve the stable firmness of the cartridge packaging shell structure; when 0 < K2 < K1 ≤ 0.25, the diameter of the bottom port of the cartridge cap is smaller than the diameter of the top end surface of the cartridge cap, that is, the diameter of the bottom port of the cartridge cap is smaller than the inner diameter of the top opening of the cartridge cup. In this case, a part of the bottom end of the cartridge cap can easily enter the interior of the cartridge cup, which is beneficial for position alignment in mechanical production and ensuring the effective action of mechanical force.

[0014] More preferably, the cartridge cap realizes the snap-fit with the opening end surface of the cartridge cup through a pressure expansion processing method. The main materials of the cartridge cup body and the cover body are the same, and the expansion coefficients are consistent. After pressing the cover, the structure is stable and not easy to separate.

[0015] According to the above technical solution, since the side wall surface of the cartridge cup has a certain taper K1 (i.e., the cartridge cup is a conical structure), and the taper K2 of the side wall surface of the cartridge cap is greater than or equal to 0 (i.e., the side wall of the cartridge cap is a straight cylindrical structure or a conical structure), and the taper K1 of the side wall surface of the cartridge cup is greater than the taper K2 of the side wall surface of the cartridge cap, therefore, this specific structure is beneficial to realize the encapsulation and combined fixation of the cartridge cap and the cartridge cup provided by the present invention. Specifically, since the taper of the cartridge cap is smaller than that of the cartridge cup, when the cartridge cap is pressed into the cartridge cup using mechanical pressure, under the action of the mechanical pressure and the side wall surface of the cartridge cup, the cartridge cap will be forced to deform inward, and then an outward expansion trend will be generated, thereby being able to tightly combine with the side wall surface of the cartridge cup, so that the cartridge cap can be reliably clamped and fixed in the cartridge cup to form a firm, stable and sealed structure of the cartridge encapsulation housing.

[0016] Preferably, an anti-blocking device with a porous structure is provided at the bottom of the cartridge cup. More preferably, the air permeability of the anti-blocking device is not less than 2000 CU. The anti-blocking device can adopt a fiber structure, a mesh structure, a sand core structure, a porous structure formed by die-casting of solid particles, etc.

[0017] According to the above technical solution, an anti-blocking device is provided in the cartridge cup, which can play an anti-blocking role and prevent the tobacco content from leaking and blocking the through hole during production, transportation and use, so as to ensure the gas passing amount and conversion efficiency; and it can also improve the filtering effect. Since when the gas is generated in the cartridge, it will carry some fine powders of the tobacco content or impurities, and the particle size of these fine powders is often smaller than the aperture of the through hole but larger than the air gap diameter of the anti-blocking device, therefore, the anti-blocking device can filter them in the cartridge.

[0018] Preferably, an airtight sealing layer is pasted on the outer surface of the bottom end face of the cartridge cup and the outer surface of the top end face of the cartridge cap. The sealing layer can adopt plastics, aluminum foil, paper or similar materials.

[0019] According to the above technical solution, by providing an airtight sealing layer on the outer surface of the cartridge, it can protect the tobacco content, prevent its components from volatilizing, prevent the tobacco content from being contaminated by the outside and deteriorating or being damaged; protect the through hole structure of the cartridge to prevent the through hole from being blocked; protect the cartridge encapsulation housing from being damaged or deformed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Next, the best embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings, so as to better understand the above-mentioned objects, advantages and other objects and advantages of the present invention. Among them:

[0021] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram showing the manufacturing and assembly process of the cartridge of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2aIt is a structural schematic diagram, which shows the overall structure of the cartridge of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2b is Figure 2a a partial enlarged view of the open end face of the cartridge cup in

[0024] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram, which shows another improved structure of the cartridge cup of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 4 It is a structural schematic diagram, which shows another improved structure of the cartridge cup of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 5 It is a structural schematic diagram, which shows another improved structure of the cartridge cup of the present invention.

[0027] Wherein:

[0028] 1 - Cartridge cup, 2 - Cartridge cover, 3 - Anti-blocking device, 4 - Sealing layer

[0029] 101 - Open end face of the cartridge cup, 102 - Side wall face of the cartridge cup, 103 - Bottom end face of the cartridge cup

[0030] 104 - Air inlet

[0031] 201 - Top end face of the cartridge cover, 202 - Side wall face of the cartridge cover, 203 - Smoke flow outlet

[0032] 5 - Tobacco regenerate Specific embodiments

[0033] Next, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] Figure 1 It is an assembly schematic diagram of the cartridge, which shows the assembly and processing process of the cartridge of the present invention. As Figure 1 shown, the cartridge cover 2 is fitted with the open end face of the cartridge cup by means of pressure expansion processing.

[0035] <Example 1>

[0036] Figure 2a It is a structural schematic diagram, which shows the cartridge structure related to the present invention. As Figure 2a shown, the cartridge is composed of a tobacco regenerate 5 for heat-not-burn and its encapsulation housing. The encapsulation housing includes a cartridge cup 1 and a cartridge cover 2.

[0037] The cartridge cup 1 is provided with an open end face 101 of the cartridge cup, a side wall face 102 of the cartridge cup, and a bottom end face 103 of the cartridge cup. The bottom end face 103 of the cartridge cup is provided with an air inlet 104 for allowing air to flow in, and the total through-hole area of the air inlet 104 is 4.2 mm2 The cigarette cartridge cup 1 can be stamped from metal aluminum, with a height of 16 mm, a thickness of 0.24 mm, and a diameter of the bottom end surface 103 of the cigarette cartridge cup of 8.0 mm.

[0038] like Figure 2b As shown, the opening end surface 101 of the cigarette cartridge cup is provided with an external flange, and the outer extension width of the flange is 1 mm. The side wall surface 102 of the cigarette cartridge cup has a certain taper, for example, its taper is 0.12.

[0039] The cigarette cartridge cover 2 is provided with a cigarette cartridge cover top surface 201 and a cigarette cartridge cover side wall surface 202. The cigarette cartridge cover top surface 201 adopts a porous structure, that is, a plurality of smoke outflow holes 203 are provided, and the total through hole area is 4.8mm 2 The side wall surface 202 of the cigarette cartridge cover has a certain taper. In this embodiment, the taper is 0.08.

[0040] like Figure 2a As shown, an anti-clogging device 3 is provided on the inner bottom side of the cigarette cartridge cup 1. The anti-clogging device 3 can be a fiber sheet made of pure cotton fiber with a thickness of 0.02 mm, and its air permeability is preferably 6000-8000 CU.

[0041] In addition, a sealing layer 4 is provided on the outer surface of the bottom end surface 103 of the cartridge cup and the outer surface of the top end surface 201 of the cartridge cover. The sealing layer 4 can be made of aluminum foil, which can be glued to the outer surface of the bottom end surface 103 of the cartridge cup and the top end surface 201 of the cartridge cover. When in use, the smoker can remove the sealing layer 7 and use the cartridge.

[0042] In this embodiment, the tobacco regenerated material 5 is tobacco particles, and the cross-section of the tobacco cartridge is circular so as to be assembled with a tube wall heat transfer type smoking device.

[0043] The production process of the cigarette cartridge of this embodiment is as follows: first, the cigarette cartridge cup 1 and the cigarette cartridge cover 2 are molded from aluminum. After that, a sealing layer 4 made of aluminum foil is pasted on the outer surface of the bottom end surface 103 of the cigarette cartridge cup. Subsequently, the anti-blocking device 3 is placed in the cigarette cartridge cup 1 to ensure that the anti-blocking device 3 completely covers the air inlet 104 of the bottom end surface 103 of the cigarette cartridge cup, and the tobacco regeneration product 5 made of tobacco particles is filled into the cigarette cartridge cup 1. Then, a sealing layer 4 made of aluminum foil is pasted on the outer surface of the top end surface 201 of the cigarette cartridge cover. Finally, the cigarette cartridge cover 2 is aligned with the cigarette cartridge cup 1 and the cigarette cartridge cover 2 is pressed downward to fix it in the cigarette cartridge cup 1, thereby making a cigarette cartridge.

[0044] When using the cigarette cartridge of this embodiment, the user can first remove the sealing layer 4 at both ends of the cigarette cartridge, then place the cigarette cartridge in the wall heat transfer type smoking device, close the heating chamber and start the heating smoking device to smoke. After smoking, the heating chamber of the smoking device can be opened to take out the remaining cigarette cartridge that has been heated and released.

[0045] Figure 3 Shows another improved structure of the cartridge cup 1 of the present invention. The cartridge cup 1 is made of ceramic by firing, with a height of 30 mm and a thickness of 0.19 mm; the diameter of the bottom end face of the cartridge cup is 10.0 mm, and the outer extension width of the outer flange of the open end face of the cartridge cup is 2 mm; the side wall surface of the cartridge cup has a certain taper, and this taper can be 0.07 for example. An air inlet 104 is provided on the bottom end face of the cartridge cup, and the total through-hole area thereof is 6.0 mm 2 . A clogging prevention device 3 with a mesh structure is arranged in the cartridge cup 1, which is made by sintering quartz particles at high temperature on a fine iron wire mesh, with a thickness of 3 mm and an air permeability of 2500 - 3500 CU.

[0046] Figure 4 Shows another improved structure of the cartridge cup 1 of the present invention. The cartridge cup 1 is a double-layer structure, that is, an outer wall is formed by high-temperature firing of ceramic, and an inner wall iron film is obtained after sintering and cooling in a high-temperature environment. This structure ensures uniform concentration of heat inside the cartridge cup, reduces heat loss, and is beneficial to heating. The overall height of the cartridge cup 1 is 10.0 mm and the thickness is 0.35 mm. The diameter of the bottom end face of the cartridge cup is 12 mm, and the outer extension width of the outer flange of the open end face of the cartridge cup is 3 mm. The side wall surface of the cartridge cup has a certain taper, and this taper can be 0.25 for example. In Embodiment 3, air inlets 104 are provided at the bottom end face of the cartridge cup 1 and the lower end of the side wall surface of the cartridge cup, and the total through-hole area thereof is 2.8 mm 2 . A clogging prevention device 3 is arranged in the cartridge cup 1, and the clogging prevention device 3 is made by high-pressure molding of quartz particles mixed with silicon crystal ultra-fine powder, with a thickness of 1.0 mm and an air permeability of 4000 - 6000 CU.

[0047] Figure 5 Shows another improved structure of the cartridge cup 1 of the present invention. The cartridge cup 1 is made by stamping aluminum material, with a height of 9 mm and a thickness of 0.22 mm. The diameter of the bottom end face of the cartridge cup is 3.5 mm, and the outer extension width of the outer flange of the open end face of the cartridge cup is 0.5 mm. The taper of the side wall surface of the cartridge cup is 0.18. The air inlet 104 is arranged at the bottom end of the side wall surface of the cartridge cup, and the total through-hole area is 4.0 mm 2 . A clogging prevention device 3 is arranged in the cartridge cup 1, which is made by sintering or die-casting of copper particle material, with a thickness of 2.0 mm and an air permeability of 3000 - 5500 CU.

[0048] The above content is only the best embodiment of the present invention. It should be emphasized that without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention, all various variations and improvements made by those of ordinary skill in the art to the present invention should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A heat-not-burn cartridge, which is composed of a regenerated tobacco for heat-not-burn (5) and its encapsulation housing. The encapsulation housing includes a cartridge cup (1) and a cartridge cap (2), and is characterized in that: The cartridge cup (1) includes a cartridge cup opening end face (101), a cartridge cup side wall face (102), and a cartridge cup bottom end face (103), and the cartridge cup (1) is provided with an air inlet (104); The cartridge cap (2) includes a cartridge cap top face (201) and a cartridge cap side wall face (202), and the cartridge cap top face (201) is provided with a smoke outlet hole (203); The cartridge cup side wall face has a taper K1, and the cartridge cap side wall face has a taper K2, and 0 ≤ K2 < K1 ≤ 0.

25. The cartridge cap (2) is embedded and fixed in the cartridge cup (1) through the snap-fit of the cartridge cap side wall face (202) and the cartridge cup opening end face (101).

2. The heat-not-burn cartridge according to claim 1, wherein: The total through-hole area of the smoke outlet holes (203) on the cartridge cap top face (201) is not less than the total through-hole area of the air inlet (104) of the cartridge cup (1).

3. The heat-not-burn cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The total through-hole area of the air inlet (104) of the cartridge cup (1) is not less than 2.8 mm 2 .

4. The heat-not-burn cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The air inlet (104) is arranged at the bottom end face (103) of the cartridge cup and / or near the bottom end of the cartridge cup side wall face (102).

5. The heat-not-burn cartridge according to claim 1, wherein: The cartridge cup side wall face (102) has a taper K1, and the taper K1 of the cartridge cup side wall face is the ratio of the diameter difference between the top port and the bottom end face of the cartridge cup to the height of the cartridge cup; the cartridge cap side wall face (202) has a taper K2, and the taper K2 of the cartridge cap side wall face is the ratio of the diameter difference between the top face and the bottom port of the cartridge cap to the height of the cartridge cap, and 0 < K2 < K1 ≤ 0.

25.

6. The heat-not-burn cartridge according to claim 1 or 5, characterized in that: The cartridge cap (2) forms a snap-fit with the cartridge cup opening end face (101) through a pressure expansion processing method.

7. The heat-not-burn cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: A clogging prevention device (3) with a porous structure is arranged at the bottom of the cartridge cup (1).

8. The heat-not-burn cartridge according to claim 7, wherein: The air permeability of the clogging prevention device (3) is not less than 2000 CU.

9. The heat-not-burn cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: An airtight sealing layer (4) is pasted on the outer surface of the cartridge cup bottom end face (103) and the outer surface of the cartridge cap top face (201), and the sealing layer (4) is made of plastic, aluminum foil or paper.

10. The heat-not-burn cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The wall surface of the cartridge cup (1) is a multi-layer composite structure, and the multi-layer composite structure is formed by high-temperature firing of ceramics to form an outer wall, and a metal film is attached to the inside thereof.

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