Smoking article

Abstract

The application relates to the tobacco technical field and provides a smoking article, which comprises: a smoke generating section with a pipe wall and a pipe cavity; the pipe cavity is used for containing an aerosol forming substrate; an infrared radiation layer is formed on at least a part of the inner surface of the pipe wall; the infrared radiation layer is used for being heated by a smoking set to generate infrared rays and at least radiatively heating the aerosol forming substrate. The application is provided with the infrared radiation layer on the inner surface of the pipe wall, so that the infrared radiation layer is heated by the smoking set to generate infrared rays and at least radiatively heat the aerosol forming substrate; the infrared rays have a longer wavelength, can penetrate a substance, resonate with the molecules and atoms in the object and produce strong vibration and rotation, so that the temperature of the object is increased, the heating purpose is achieved, the overall temperature of the substance is increased, and the phenomenon that the existing smoking article is unevenly heated is avoided, and the smoking taste of a user is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of tobacco, in particular to a smoking article. BACKGROUND

[0002] Several aerosol-generating articles in which tobacco is heated rather than combusted have been proposed in the art. The aim of such 'heat-not-burn' smoking articles is to reduce the harmful smoke constituents of the known type that are produced by the combustion and thermal degradation of tobacco in conventional cigarettes.

[0003] In aerosol-generating articles in which an aerosol-forming substrate is heated, such as tobacco heated smoking articles, the temperature reached in the aerosol-forming substrate has a significant influence on the ability to produce an organoleptically acceptable aerosol. It is generally desirable to maintain the temperature of the aerosol-forming substrate within a certain range in order to optimise aerosol delivery to the user.

[0004] The existing smoking articles are heated in a generally circumferential or central manner. In the circumferential heating, the heater in the smoking set wraps around at least part of the smoking article, the temperature of the part of the smoking article close to the heater is higher, and the temperature of the central part of the smoking article is lower; in the central heating, the outer periphery of the heater in the smoking set is in direct contact with the tobacco in the smoking article, so the temperature of the central part of the smoking article is higher, and the temperature of the peripheral part of the smoking article is lower.

[0005] In summary, no matter whether it is the circumferential heating or the central heating, the smoking article has the phenomenon of uneven heating. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application provides a smoking article, which aims to solve the phenomenon of uneven heating existing in the existing smoking article.

[0007] The first aspect of the present application provides a smoking article for use with a smoking set for heating an aerosol-forming substrate to volatilise at least one component of the aerosol-forming substrate, the smoking article comprising:

[0008] a smoke-generating segment having a tube wall and a tube cavity; the tube cavity is used to accommodate the aerosol-forming substrate;

[0009] an infrared radiation layer formed on at least part of the inner surface of the tube wall; the infrared radiation layer is used to be heated by the smoking set to generate infrared rays and at least heat the aerosol-forming substrate in a radiative manner.

[0010] The second aspect of the present application provides a smoking set suitable for the smoking article of the first aspect, the smoking set comprising:

[0011] a housing having an opening, the smoking article can be at least partially inserted into or removed from the smoking set through the opening;

[0012] at least one heating device arranged within the housing; the at least one heating device being configured to heat, in use, the aerosol-forming substrate of the smoking article to volatilize at least one component of the aerosol-forming substrate.

[0013] The smoking article provided by the present application is heated by the infrared radiation layer arranged on the inner surface of the tube wall, so that the infrared radiation layer is heated by the smoking set to generate infrared rays and heat the aerosol-forming substrate at least in a radiative manner. The infrared rays have a longer wavelength, can penetrate the substance, and cause the molecules and atoms in the object to "resonate" and produce strong vibration and rotation, so that the temperature of the object is increased to achieve the purpose of heating, and the overall temperature of the substance is increased, avoiding the uneven heating phenomenon existing in the prior art smoking article, and improving the smoking taste of the user. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0014] One or more embodiments are illustrated by way of example in the figures that form a part of this patent document, these illustrative examples do not limit the embodiments and elements having the same reference numerals in different drawings represent like elements unless otherwise indicated, the figures in the drawings do not constitute a proportional limitation.

[0015] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a smoking article provided by the present application;

[0016] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a smoke generating section of a smoking article provided by the present application;

[0017] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a smoke generating section of a smoking article provided by the present application;

[0018] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a smoke generating section of a smoking article provided by the present application;

[0019] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a smoke generating section of a smoking article provided by the present application;

[0020] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a winding film plating equipment provided by the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] For the purposes of the present application, the present application is described in more detail below, with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It is to be noted that when an element is referred to as being "on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or one or more intervening elements can be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or one or more intervening elements can be present. The terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "inner", "outer" and similar terms are used only for the purpose of illustration.

[0022] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in the present application have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. The terminology used in the description of the present application herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present application. As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. The term "and / or" as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, a smoking article 10 according to an embodiment of the present application includes an aerosol-forming substrate for use with a heating appliance to volatilize at least one component of the aerosol-forming substrate. Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1, a smoking article 10 according to an embodiment of the present application includes an aerosol-forming substrate for use with a heating appliance to volatilize at least one component of the aerosol-forming substrate.

[0024] The smoking article 10 includes a smoke-generating segment 11 and a filter segment 12.

[0025] The smoke-generating segment 11 is internally filled with an aerosol-forming substrate. The smoke-generating segment 11 is heated by a heating appliance to volatilize at least one component of the aerosol-forming substrate to form an aerosol.

[0026] The aerosol-forming substrate is a substrate capable of releasing volatile compounds that form an aerosol. The volatile compounds are released by heating the aerosol-forming substrate. The aerosol-forming substrate can be solid or liquid or include both solid and liquid components. The aerosol-forming substrate can be adsorbed, coated, impregnated or otherwise loaded onto a carrier or support. The aerosol-forming substrate can conveniently be part of an aerosol-generating article or a smoking article.

[0027] The aerosol-forming substrate can comprise nicotine. The aerosol-forming substrate can comprise tobacco, for example can comprise a tobacco-containing material containing volatile tobacco flavour compounds which are released from the aerosol-forming substrate when heated. A preferred aerosol-forming substrate can comprise homogenised tobacco material, for example Virginia tobacco. The aerosol-forming substrate can comprise at least one aerosol-former, which can be any suitable known compound or mixture of compounds which, in use, favour the stable formation of an aerosol and are substantially resistant to thermal degradation at the operating temperature of the aerosol-generating system. Suitable aerosol-formers are well known in the art and include, but are not limited to: polyhydric alcohols, for example triethylene glycol, 1,3-butanediol and glycerol; esters of polyhydric alcohols, for example glycerol mono-, di- or triacetate; and fatty acid esters of mono-, di- or poly-carboxylic acids, for example dimethyl dodecanedioate and dimethyl tetradecanedioate. A preferred aerosol-former is a polyhydric alcohol or mixture thereof, for example triethylene glycol, 1,3-butanediol and most preferably glycerol.

[0028] A filter segment 12 for filtering the at least one component of the aerosol-forming substrate that volatilises and is received in the mouth of a user.

[0029] In an example, the filter segment 12 can comprise a filter segment for filtering the at least one component of the aerosol-forming substrate that volatilises and a mouthpiece end segment for being received in the mouth of a user.

[0030] It is noted that the smoking article 10 is not limited to the above structure. In an example, a cooling segment can be further provided between the smoke-generating segment 11 and the filter segment 12, the cooling segment can be configured to provide a temperature difference between the at least one component of the aerosol-forming substrate that volatilises entering one end of the cooling segment and the at least one component of the aerosol-forming substrate that volatilises exiting another end of the cooling segment. In turn, the user can not feel a burning mouth when smoking the aerosol, improving the smoking experience of the user.

[0031] Reference is made to Figure 2 As shown, the smoke-generating segment 11 has a tube wall 111 and a tube cavity 112; the tube cavity 112 is for containing the aerosol-forming substrate (shown as the grey substance in the figure).

[0032] An infrared radiation layer 113 is formed on at least part of the inner surface of the tube wall 111; the infrared radiation layer 113 is for being heated to a temperature by the smoking implement to generate infrared radiation and at least radiatively heat the aerosol-forming substrate.

[0033] In this example, the infrared radiation layer 113 is a continuous film layer formed on the inner surface of the tube wall 111 and covering the aerosol matrix within the tube cavity 112. After absorbing the heat transferred by the smoking device, the infrared radiation layer 113 heats up and generates infrared radiation of a certain wavelength.

[0034] The infrared radiating layer 113 can be made of materials with high infrared emissivity, such as oxides, carbon materials, carbides, and nitrides. Specifically, as shown below:

[0035] Metal oxides and multi-component alloy oxides, including: ferric oxide, aluminum oxide, chromium oxide, indium oxide, lanthanum oxide, cobalt oxide, nickel oxide, antimony oxide, antimony pentoxide, titanium dioxide, zirconium dioxide, manganese dioxide, cerium dioxide, copper oxide, zinc oxide, magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, molybdenum oxide, etc.; or combinations of two or more of the above metal oxides; or ceramic materials with spinel, perovskite, olivine, etc.

[0036] Carbon materials have emissivity close to that of blackbodies and exhibit high infrared emissivity. Carbon materials include: graphite, carbon fibers, carbon nanotubes, graphene, diamond-like carbon films, etc.

[0037] Carbides, including silicon carbide, have high emissivity over a wide infrared wavelength range (2.3 μm-25 μm), making them good near-full-band infrared radiation materials. Other materials include tungsten carbide, iron carbide, vanadium carbide, titanium carbide, zirconium carbide, manganese carbide, chromium carbide, and niobium carbide, all of which have high infrared emissivity (MeC phase does not have a strictly calculated chemical composition and chemical formula).

[0038] Nitrides include: metal nitrides and non-metal nitrides. Metal nitrides include: titanium nitride, titanium carbonitride, aluminum nitride, magnesium nitride, tantalum nitride, vanadium nitride, etc.; non-metal nitrides include: boron nitride, phosphorus pentanitride, silicon nitride (Si3N4), etc.

[0039] Other inorganic non-metallic materials include: silicon dioxide, silicates (including phosphosilicates, borosilicates, etc.), titanates, aluminates, phosphates, borides, chalcogenides, etc.

[0040] In this example, the thickness of the infrared radiation layer 113 is 100nm-3000nm.

[0041] The following combination Figure 6 The preparation process of forming the infrared radiation layer 113 on the inner surface of the tube wall 111 using a roll-to-roll coating equipment is described below:

[0042] like Figure 6As shown, the winding coating equipment includes a vacuum cavity 21, a film roll 22, a cigarette base film 23, an ion source 24, a gas path 25, a flow valve 26, a gas path 27, a flow valve 28, a gas inlet pipe 29, a target material 30, a coating drum 31, a target material 32, an air exhaust hole 33, a tension wheel 34, and a film winding roll 35.

[0043] The winding coating is a technology of realizing continuous coating on a flexible substrate in a vacuum environment by using different methods. The winding coating technology has the following characteristics:

[0044] 1. The deposition speed is fast, the substrate temperature rises low, and it is suitable for flexible substrates and low melting point substrates;

[0045] 2. The ion source 24 is used to bombard the substrate, and the prepared thin film has good adhesion to the substrate;

[0046] 3. The prepared thin film has high purity, good density, and good film uniformity;

[0047] 4. The preparation process has good repeatability, and uniform thin film thickness can be obtained on a large area substrate, and the film thickness can be accurately controlled by adjusting the rotation speed of the film roll 22 and the film winding roll 35 and the coating process (target power, process atmosphere, etc.);

[0048] 5. Different metals, alloys, oxides, and nitrides can be mixed and sputtered on the substrate at the same time.

[0049] An infrared radiation coating 113 is deposited on the cigarette base film, and after deposition, the cigarette with the infrared radiation coating 113 is prepared through cutting, tobacco filling, and bonding processes. The infrared radiation layer 113 is titanium dioxide. Specifically, a titanium target is used, a double-pole pulse direct current magnetron sputtering power supply is used as the target power supply, argon gas and appropriate oxygen gas are introduced as the reaction gas, and a titanium dioxide film is deposited. The preparation process is as follows:

[0050] First, the coiled cigarette base film is installed on the film roll 22; and one end of the film roll 22 is wound around the coating drum 31 and the tension wheel 34 to the film winding roll 35;

[0051] Close all cavity doors and evacuate to 5x10-4Pa;

[0052] Introduce argon and oxygen to 0.1Pa; wherein the ratio of argon to oxygen is maintained between 8:2 and 9:1;

[0053] The winding speed of the film winding roll 35 is set to 4m / min;

[0054] Turn on the (intermediate frequency) ion source power supply, and set the power of the power supply to 800W; the ion source can perform plasma cleaning on the surface of the cigarette film to produce a fresh surface, which can improve the adhesion of the film layer to the substrate;

[0055] Turn on the bipolar pulse DC magnetron sputtering power supply connected with the titanium target, set the power of the power supply to 3000W, and sputter the titanium target by plasma to generate titanium dioxide by reacting with oxygen and depositing on the cigarette paper substrate;

[0056] Through the above process, the titanium dioxide deposition film has a thickness of about 400nm, and the film thickness uniformity is greater than 90%; through the hemispherical method infrared radiation test, the infrared emissivity is high (about 80-95%), which is much higher than the infrared emissivity of cigarette paper (about 50-70%).

[0057] Please refer to Figure 3 As shown in FIG. 1, in an example, the smoking article 10 further comprises an infrared reflective layer 114; the infrared reflective layer 114 is arranged between the infrared radiation layer 113 and the inner surface of the tube wall 111.

[0058] For the central heating mode, when the infrared radiation layer 113 absorbs the heat transmitted by the smoking set, the generated infrared rays can be transmitted through the tube wall 111 to the outside of the smoking article 10. The infrared reflective layer 114 can prevent the infrared rays generated by the infrared radiation layer 113 from being transmitted through the tube wall 111 to the outside of the smoking article 10, thereby improving the heat utilization rate.

[0059] In this example, the infrared reflective layer 114 comprises at least one of a metal, a metal oxide, and a nitride. Specifically, it can be made of one or more of gold, silver, nickel, aluminum, gold alloy, silver alloy, nickel alloy, aluminum alloy, oxide of gold, oxide of silver, oxide of nickel, and oxide of aluminum, titanium oxide, zinc oxide, and cerium dioxide.

[0060] The following still combines Figure 6 the winding film coating equipment of FIG. 1, the preparation process of the infrared radiation layer 113 and the infrared reflective layer 114 is described as follows:

[0061] In the preparation process, double targets are used to complete the film coating at one time. The infrared reflective layer 114 is first deposited on the cigarette paper substrate, and then the infrared radiation layer 113 is deposited. In the process of cigarette production, the film coating surface faces the tobacco. Therefore, compared with the infrared radiation layer 113, the infrared reflective layer 114 is away from the direction of the tobacco. On the one hand, it can prevent the heat inside the tobacco from being radiated outward through infrared rays, and on the other hand, the infrared radiation layer 113 has better directionality of radiating infrared rays, i.e., it radiates infrared rays to the inside of the tobacco. The preparation process is as follows:

[0062] First, the wound cigarette paper substrate is installed on the film winding roll 22; and one end of the film winding roll 22 is wound onto the film winding roll 35 along the film coating drum 31 and the tension wheel 34;

[0063] Close all chamber doors and evacuate to 5x10-4Pa;

[0064] The argon is introduced, and the argon flow is adjusted to maintain the pressure in the vacuum chamber at 0.1 Pa;

[0065] The winding speed of the film roll 35 is set to 4 m / min;

[0066] The (medium frequency) ion source power supply is turned on, and the power of the power supply is set to 800 W; the ion source can perform plasma cleaning on the surface of the cigarette paper film to generate a fresh surface, thereby improving the adhesion between the film layer and the substrate.

[0067] The direct current power supply connected to the aluminum target is turned on, and the sputtering power of the power supply is set to 2500 W; the aluminum target is sputtered by argon plasma to deposit on the cigarette paper substrate to form an infrared reflective layer 114.

[0068] The radio frequency magnetron sputtering power supply connected to the silicon carbide target is turned on, and the power of the power supply is set to 3000 W; the silicon carbide target is sputtered by argon plasma to deposit on the cigarette paper substrate to form a high-infrared-radiation-rate silicon carbide film, i.e., an infrared radiation layer 113.

[0069] Through the above process, the thickness of the aluminum film is about 300-500 nm, and the thickness of the silicon carbide film is about 300-550 nm, and the uniformity of the film thickness is greater than 90%; the infrared reflectivity is greater than 95%, and the infrared radiation rate is greater than 92%.

[0070] The cigarette paper made by using the above process is used to make a cigarette, and the temperature of the tobacco near the cigarette paper is tested; compared with the cigarette made by using the cigarette paper without plating, the time for the temperature to rise to 200 degrees is shortened by 5 seconds (from 20 seconds to 15 seconds) when using the center heating method; compared with the cigarette made by using the cigarette paper without plating, the time for the temperature to rise to 200 degrees is shortened by 5 seconds (from 25 seconds to 20 seconds) when using the infrared circumferential heating method.

[0071] Please refer to Figure 4 As shown in FIG. 1, in an example, the smoking article 10 further comprises an infrared reflective flame-retardant layer 115; the infrared reflective flame-retardant layer 115 is arranged between the infrared radiation layer 113 and the inner surface of the tube wall 111.

[0072] In this example, the infrared reflective flame-retardant layer 115 can be made of aluminum foil or tin foil. The aluminum foil or tin foil is smoothed, and then the infrared radiation layer 113 is deposited on the smoothed aluminum foil or tin foil. The smooth aluminum foil or tin foil has a certain reflection effect on the infrared rays generated by the infrared radiation layer 113, and also has a certain flame-retardant effect.

[0073] The preparation process of the infrared radiation layer 113 can refer to the foregoing content, which will not be repeated here.

[0074] In an example, the infrared radiation layer 113 can be a discontinuous film layer. Specifically, the infrared radiation layer 113 can be a patterned infrared radiation layer.

[0075] It should be understood that Figure 5 The infrared radiation layer 113 is a grid-shaped infrared radiation layer, which includes a plurality of infrared radiation blocks 1131 and a plurality of mesh holes 1132, the mesh hole 1132 is formed by the partial periphery of several infrared radiation blocks 1131, and the mesh hole 1132 is a film layer without infrared radiation function.

[0076] In Figure 5 In an example, the infrared radiation block 1131 is a regular hexagon, and the mesh hole 1132 is a square formed by four edges of four regular hexagonal infrared radiation blocks 1131. The area of the mesh hole 1132 is 30%-80% of the infrared radiation layer 113.

[0077] For the infrared circumferential heating mode (the smoking set generates infrared and at least heats the aerosol-forming substrate in a radiation mode), the infrared radiation block 1131 has a certain absorption to the infrared generated by the smoking set, which will reduce the proportion of the infrared in the corresponding wave band penetrating the pipe wall 111 (at the same time, the pipe wall 111 will absorb infrared and then radiate to the direction of the aerosol-forming substrate in the form of infrared). In order to avoid this problem, the mesh hole 1132 is provided, and the mesh hole 1132 will not block the infrared generated by the smoking set, and the infrared can penetrate to the inside of the smoking article 10. Relatively, the heating efficiency of the smoking set on the smoking article 10 can be improved.

[0078] It should be noted that the shapes of the infrared radiation block 1131 and the mesh hole 1132 are not limited to Figure 5 In other examples, the shape of the infrared radiation block 1131 can be at least one of a polygon, a circle, or an irregular pattern; and the shape of the mesh hole 1132 can be at least one of a polygon, a circle, or an irregular pattern.

[0079] It should be noted that the preferred embodiments of the present application are given in the specification and drawings of the present application, but the present application can be implemented in many different forms, and is not limited to the embodiments described in the specification. These embodiments are not additional limitations on the content of the present application, and the purpose of providing these embodiments is to make the disclosure of the present application more thorough and comprehensive. Furthermore, the above technical features continue to be combined with each other, forming various embodiments not listed above, which are considered to be within the scope of the present application. Furthermore, for those skilled in the art, the above description can be improved or changed, and all these improvements and changes shall be within the scope of protection of the appended claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A smoking article comprising an aerosol-forming matrix, used with a smoking device for heating to cause at least one component of the aerosol-forming matrix to volatilize, the smoking device employing infrared circumferential heating; characterized in that, The smoking products include: The flue gas generating section has a pipe wall and a pipe cavity; the pipe cavity is used to contain the aerosol forming matrix. An infrared radiation layer is formed on at least a portion of the inner surface of the tube wall; the infrared radiation layer is used to be heated by the smoking device to generate infrared radiation and to heat the aerosol matrix at least radiatively. The infrared radiation layer is a grid-shaped infrared radiation layer, which includes multiple infrared radiation blocks and multiple mesh holes. The area of ​​the mesh holes is 30%-80% of the infrared radiation layer. The mesh holes do not block the infrared rays generated by the smoking device, so that the infrared rays can penetrate into the interior of the smoking product.

2. The smoking product according to claim 1, characterized in that, The thickness of the infrared radiation layer is 100nm-3000nm.

3. The smoking product according to claim 1, characterized in that, The infrared radiation layer includes at least one of oxides, carbon materials, carbides, and nitrides.

4. The smoking article according to claim 1, characterized in that, The infrared radiation layer is formed on at least a portion of the inner surface of the tube wall by a roll-to-roll coating method.

Images