Heated aerosol generating article with thermal spreading wrap

Abstract

There is provided a heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) for use with an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device (3010) comprising a heating element (3100). The aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) comprises an aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) radially encircled by a sheet of thermally-conductive material (1222, 2222). The aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) is in the form of a cylindrical rod comprising a sheet of aerosol forming material circumscribed by a wrapper, the wrapper being the sheet of thermally-conductive material (1222, 2222) which acts as a thermally-conducting flame barrier for spreading heat and mitigating against the risk of a user igniting the aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) by applying a flame to the aerosol-generating article. The sheet of aerosol-forming material is folded substantially transversely to the cylindrical axis of the rod to provide a gathered sheet of aerosol-forming material.

Description

(19) *EP004767843A2* (11) EP 4 767 843 A2 (12) EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION (43) Date of publication: 01.07.2026 Bulletin 2026 / 27 (21) Application number: 26174260.5 (22) Date of filing: 04.12.2014 (51) International Patent Classification (IPC): A24D 1 / 20 (2020.01) (52) Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC): A24C 5 / 01; A24D 1 / 20; A24F 40 / 00 (84) Designated Contracting States: AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR (30) Priority: 05.12.2013 EP 13195877 (62) Document number(s) of the earlier application(s) in accordance with Art. 76 EPC: 20207581.8 / 3 797 604 19186160.8 / 3 574 774 14806330.8 / 3 076 804 (71) Applicant: Philip Morris Products S.A. 2000 Neuchâtel (CH) (72) Inventor: The designation of the inventor has not yet been filed (74) Representative: Reddie & Grose LLP The White Chapel Building 10 Whitechapel High Street London E1 8QS (GB) Remarks: This application was filed on 23‑04‑2026 as a divisional application to the application mentioned under INID code 62. (54) HEATED AEROSOL GENERATING ARTICLE WITH THERMAL SPREADING WRAP (57) There is provided a heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) for use with an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device (3010) comprising a heating element (3100). The aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) comprises an aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) radially encircled by a sheet of thermally-conduc- tivematerial (1222,2222).Theaerosol-formingsubstrate (1020, 2020) is in the form of a cylindrical rod comprising a sheet of aerosol forming material circumscribed by a wrapper, the wrapper being the sheet of thermally-con- ductive material (1222, 2222) which acts as a thermally- conducting flame barrier for spreading heat and mitigat- ing against the risk of a user igniting the aerosol-forming substrate (1020,2020)byapplyinga flame to theaerosol- generating article. The sheet of aerosol-forming material is folded substantially transversely to the cylindrical axis of the rod to provide a gathered sheet of aerosol-forming material. EP 4 76 7 84 3 A 2 Processed by Luminess, 75001 PARIS (FR) 2 1 EP 4 767 843 A2 2 Description

[0001] The present specification relates to heated aerosol-generating articles for use with an aerosol-gen- erating device comprising a heating element, the articles having a lowered propensity for ignition, for example when brought into contact with a flame. The specification also relates to rods having a lowered propensity for ignition.

[0002] Aerosol-generatingarticles inwhichanaerosol- forming substrate, such as a tobacco containing sub- strate, is heated rather than combusted are known in the art. The aim of such heated aerosol-generating arti- cles is to reduce known harmful smoke constituents produced by the combustion and pyrolytic degradation of tobacco in conventional cigarettes. A conventional cigarette is lit when a user applies a flame to one end of the cigarette and draws air through the other end. The localised heat provided by the flame and the oxygen in the air drawn through the cigarette cause the end of the cigarette to ignite, and the resulting combustion gener- ates an inhalable smoke. By contrast in heated aerosol- generating articles, an inhalable aerosol is typically gen- erated by the transfer of heat from a heat source to a physically separate aerosol-forming substrate or materi- al, whichmaybe locatedwithin, aroundor downstreamof the heat source. During consumption, volatile com- pounds are released from the aerosol-forming substrate by heat transfer from the heat source and entrained in air drawn through the aerosol-generating article. As the released compounds cool, they condense to form an aerosol that is inhaled by the consumer.

[0003] Heated aerosol-generating articles comprising tobacco for generation of an aerosol by heating rather than burning are known in the art. For example, WO2013 / 102614 discloses an aerosol-generating sys- tem comprising a heated aerosol-generating article and an aerosol-generating device having a heater for heating theheatedaerosol-generatingarticle toproduceanaero- sol.

[0004] Tobacco used as part of an aerosol-forming substrate in heated aerosol-generating articles is de- signed to produce an aerosol when heated rather than when burned. Thus, such tobacco typically contains high levels of aerosol formers, such as glycerine or propylene glycol. If a user were to light a heated aerosol-generating article and smoke it as if it were a conventional cigarette that userwouldnot receive the intendeduser experience. It would be desirable to produce a heated aerosol-gen- erating article that has a lowered propensity for flame ignition. Such a heated aerosol-generating article would be preferably difficult to light during attempts to light the article with a lighter, such as a flame, in the manner of traditional cigarettes.

[0005] The invention is defined in the appended claims.

[0006] A heated aerosol-generating article may be provided comprising an aerosol-forming substrate ra- dially encircled by a sheet of thermally-conductive ma- terial. The heated aerosol-generating article is for use with an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device comprising a heating element. If a heat source, such as a flame or other cigarette lighter, is applied to the aerosol- forming substrate, the thermally-conductivematerial that encircles the aerosol-forming substrate conducts a por- tion of the heat away from the point of contact with the heat source. Thus, more thermal energy needs to be supplied in order to raise the temperature of the aerosol- forming substrate to its ignition point. This reduces the propensity for ignition of the aerosol-forming substrate. Thus, the thermally-conductive material may act as a thermally-conducting flame barrier for spreading heat and mitigating against the risk of a user igniting the aerosol-forming substrate by applying a flame, or other ignition source, to the aerosol-generating article. The heated aerosol-generating article is not an aerosol-gen- erating article comprising a combustible heat source.

[0007] Preferably, the aerosol-generating article is a smoking article that generates an aerosol that is directly inhalable into a user’s lungs through the user’s mouth. More, preferably, the aerosol-generating article is a smoking article that generates a nicotine-containing aerosol that is directly inhalable into a user’s lungs through the user’s mouth.

[0008] As used herein, the term ’aerosol-generating device’ is used to describe a device that interacts with an aerosol-forming substrate of an aerosol-generating arti- cle to generate an aerosol. Preferably, the aerosol-gen- erating device is a smoking device that interacts with an aerosol-forming substrate of an aerosol-generating arti- cle to generate an aerosol that is directly inhalable into a user’s lungs thorough the user’s mouth. The aerosol- generating device may be a holder for a smoking article.

[0009] For the avoidance of doubt, the term ’heating element’ is used to mean one or more heating elements.

[0010] The thermally-conductive material is preferably anon-flammablematerial. The thermally-conductivema- terial is preferably ametal foil, suchasaluminium foil. The thermally-conductive material may comprise ametal foil, such as aluminium foil. For example, the thermally-con- ductivematerialmay beaco-laminated sheet comprising aluminium foil and a second material such as paper or homogenised tobacco. Aluminium foil is a highly efficient thermal conductor either on its own or as a layer in a co- laminated sheet.

[0011] The heated aerosol-generating article may comprise a plurality of elements, including the aerosol- formingsubstrate, assembledwithinawrapper, suchasa cigarette paper, to form a rod. The sheet of thermally- conductive material may be located within the cigarette paper. That is, the sheet of thermally-conductivematerial may be arranged to radially encircle the aerosol-forming substrate, and the radially-encircled aerosol-forming substrate is assembled within the wrapper. Alternatively, the sheet of thermally-conductive material may be ra- dially external to thewrapper.That is, theaerosol-forming 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 3 3 EP 4 767 843 A2 4 substrate may be assembled within the wrapper, and then the sheet of thermally-conductivematerial encircles both the aerosol-forming substrate and at least a portion of the wrapper.

[0012] Theheatedaerosol-generatingarticlemaybe in the form of a rod having a mouth end and a distal end upstream from the mouth end, in which a portion of the thermally-conductivematerial covers thedistal end of the rod.

[0013] Theheatedaerosol-generatingarticlemaybe in the form of a rod having a mouth end and a distal end upstream from themouth end, in which a spacer element is located within the rod upstream of the aerosol-forming substrate.

[0014] Theheatedaerosol-generatingarticlemaybe in the form of a rod having a mouth end and a distal end upstream from the mouth end, in which the aerosol- forming substrate is located at the distal end of the rod.

[0015] In preferred embodiments of a heated aerosol- forming article, the aerosol-forming substrate may com- prise a gathered sheet of aerosol-forming material cir- cumscribed by awrapper. Thewrappermay be the sheet of thermally-conductive material. The gathered sheet of aerosol-formingmaterial may be a sheet of tobacco such as a sheet of homogenised tobacco.

[0016] The aerosol-forming substrate may be formed as a rod of cut filler, and the rod of cut filler may be encircled by a sheet of thermally-conductive material.

[0017] The heated aerosol-generating article is prefer- ably for use with an aerosol-generating device that com- prises an insertable heating element for insertion into a distal end of the heated aerosol-generating article. The heating element may be brought into contact with the aerosol-forming substrate within the aerosol-generating article, while the thermally-conductive material provides some mitigation against ignition of the aerosol-forming substrate using an external ignition source such as a flame.

[0018] The aerosol-forming substrate may be in the form of a rod comprising aerosol-forming material. A rod maybe provided comprising a gathered sheet of aerosol- formingmaterial circumscribedbyawrapper, inwhich the wrapper is a sheet of thermally-conductive material. Such a rod may be assembled within a cigarette paper, or other suitable material, as an aerosol-forming sub- strate of an aerosol-generating article.

[0019] Thewrapper circumscribing the gathered sheet of aerosol-forming material may be a metal foil, or may comprise a metal foil. For example, the wrapper may be aluminium foil or a co-laminated sheet comprising a layer of aluminium foil.

[0020] Preferably the sheet of aerosol-forming materi- al comprises tobacco, for example tobacco that may be classed as homogenised, reconstituted or cast leaf to- bacco.

[0021] The gathered sheet of material preferably ex- tends along substantially the entire rod length of the rod and across substantially the entire transverse cross-sec- tional area of the rod.

[0022] A rod as described above may be particularly beneficial as a component of a heated aerosol-generat- ing article. The thermally-conductive wrapper has an increased thermal conductivity compared to traditional paper wrappers, which makes it more difficult to ignite. Thus, a user who applies a flame to such a rod when forming part of a heated aerosol-generating article may experience difficulty in igniting the aerosol-forming ma- terial. Theusermay thereforebediscouraged fromsmok- ing the aerosol-generating article in an unintended way.

[0023] Preferably, rods according to the specification are of substantially uniform cross-section.

[0024] Rods according to the specification may be produced having different dimensions depending upon their intended use.

[0025] Forexample, rodsaccording to thespecification may have a diameter of between about 5 mm and about 10 mm depending upon their intended use.

[0026] Forexample, rodsaccording to thespecification may have a rod length of between about 5mmand about 150 mm depending upon their intended use.

[0027] In preferred embodiments, rods according to the specification for use as aerosol-forming substrates in heatedaerosol-generatingarticlesmayhavea rod length of between about 5 mm and about 20 mm or about 30 mm.

[0028] Rods according to the specification of a desired unit rod length may be produced by forming a rod of multiple unit rod length and then cutting or otherwise dividing the rod of multiple unit rod length into multiple rods of the desired unit rod length.

[0029] For example, rods having a rod length of about 15 mm for use as aerosol-forming substrates in heated aerosol-generating articles may be produced by forming a rod having a rod length of about 150 mm and then severing the elongate rod into ten rods having a rod length of about 15 mm.

[0030] Asusedherein, the term ’rod’ isused todenotea generally cylindrical element of substantially circular, oval or elliptical cross-section.

[0031] As used herein, the term ’sheet’ denotes a laminar element having a width and length substantially greater than the thickness thereof. Thewidth of a sheet is greater than 10mm, preferably greater than 20mmor 30 mm.

[0032] As used herein, the term "co-laminated sheet" denotes a single sheet formed from two ormore layers of material in intimate contact with one another.

[0033] As used herein, the term "aerosol-forming ma- terial" denotes a material that is capable of releasing volatile compounds upon heating to generate an aerosol. An aerosol-forming substrate may comprise or consist of an aerosol-forming material.

[0034] As used herein, the term ’rod length’ denotes the dimension in the direction of the cylindrical axis of rods as described herein.

[0035] Asusedherein, the term ’homogenised tobacco 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 4 5 EP 4 767 843 A2 6 material’ denotes a material formed by agglomerating particulate tobacco.

[0036] Asusedherein, the term ’gathered’ denotes that the sheet of tobacco material is convoluted, folded, or otherwise compressed or constricted substantially trans- versely to the cylindrical axis of the rod.

[0037] As used herein, the terms ’upstream’ and ’downstream’ are used to describe the relative positions of components, or portions of components, of aerosol- generating articles comprising rods as described herein in relation to the direction of air drawn through the aero- sol-generating articles during use thereof.

[0038] The gathered sheet of aerosol-formingmaterial may be a textured sheet of material. Use of a textured sheet of material may advantageously facilitate gather- ing of the sheet to form a rod as described herein.

[0039] As used herein, the term ’textured sheet’ de- notes a sheet that has been crimped, embossed, de- bossed, perforated or otherwise deformed. Textured sheets of material may comprise a plurality of spaced- apart indentations, protrusions, perforations or a combi- nation thereof.

[0040] As used herein, the term ’crimped sheet’ is intended to be synonymous with the term ’creped sheet’ and denotes a sheet having a plurality of substantially parallel ridges or corrugations.

[0041] A number of aerosol-generating articles in which an aerosol-forming substrate is heated rather than combusted have been proposed in the art. Typically in heated aerosol-generating articles, an aerosol is gener- ated by the transfer of heat from a heat source, for example a chemical, electrical or combustible heat source, to a physically separate aerosol-forming sub- strate, which may be located within, around or down- stream of the heat source.

[0042] As used herein, the term ’aerosol-forming sub- strate’ denotes a substrate consisting of or comprising an aerosol-forming material that is capable of releasing volatile compounds upon heating to generate an aerosol.

[0043] Rodsasdescribed herein areparticularly suited for use as aerosol-forming substrates of heated aerosol- generatingarticles.Aerosol-formingsubstrates inheated aerosol-generating articles are typically significantly shorter in rod length than rods of combustible smokable material in conventional lit-end smoking articles.

[0044] In one embodiment, rods as described herein may be used as aerosol-forming substrates in heated aerosol-generating articles comprising a combustible heat source and an aerosol-generating substrate down- stream of the combustible heat source.

[0045] For example, rods as described herein may be used as aerosol-generating substrates in heated aero- sol-generating articles of the type disclosed in WO- A‑2009 / 022232, which comprise a combustible car- bon-based heat source, an aerosol-generating substrate downstream of the combustible heat source, and a heat- conducting element around and in contact with a rear portionof the combustible carbon-basedheat sourceand an adjacent front portion of the aerosol-generating sub- strate. However, it will be appreciated that rods as de- scribed herein may also be used as aerosol-generating substrates in heated aerosol-generating articles com- prising combustible heat sources having other construc- tions.

[0046] In another embodiment, rods as described herein may be used as aerosol-generating substrates in heated aerosol-generating articles for use in electri- cally-operated aerosol-generating systems in which the aerosol-generating substrate of the heated aerosol-gen- erating article is heated by an electrical heat source. Aerosol-generating articles as described herein are also preferably for usewith electrically-operated aerosol-gen- erating systems in which the aerosol-generating sub- strate of the heated aerosol-generating article is heated by an electrical heat source. Such heated aerosol-gen- erating articles are frequently constructed having an aerosol-forming substrate at a distal end. Thus, a user may inadvertently attempt to light the article in a tradi- tional manner. The reduced ignition propensity of heated aerosol-generating articles in which the aerosol-forming substrate is encircled by a sheet of thermally-conductive material may advantageously dissuade a user from at- tempting to ignite the article.

[0047] As an example, rods as described herein may be used as aerosol-generating substrates in heated aerosol-generating articles of the type disclosed in EP- A‑0 822 670.

[0048] A system may be provided comprising an elec- trically-operated aerosol-generating apparatus and an aerosol-generating article for use with the apparatus. The aerosol-generating article is any heated aerosol- generating article as described herein.

[0049] Preferred embodiments of aerosol-generating articles comprise gathered sheets of homogenised to- bacco material as the aerosol-forming substrate. In cer- tain embodiments, sheets of homogenised tobacco ma- terial may have a tobacco content of at least about 40% byweight onadryweight basisor of at least about 50%by weight on a dry weight basis. In other embodiments, sheets of homogenised tobacco material may have a tobacco content of about 70% or more by weight on a dry weight basis. The use of sheets of homogenised tobacco material having high tobacco content advanta- geously generates aerosols with enhanced tobacco fla- vour.

[0050] Sheets of homogenised tobacco material may comprise one or more intrinsic binders, that is tobacco endogenous binders, one or more extrinsic binders, that is tobacco exogenous binders, or a combination thereof to help agglomerate the particulate tobacco. Alterna- tively, or in addition, sheets of homogenised tobacco material may comprise other additives including, but not limited to, tobacco and non-tobacco fibres, aerosol- formers, humectants, plasticisers, flavourants, fillers, aqueous and non-aqueous solvents and combinations thereof. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 5 7 EP 4 767 843 A2 8

[0051] Suitable extrinsic binders for inclusion in sheets of homogenised tobacco material are known in the art and include, but are not limited to: gums such as, for example, guar gum, xanthan gum, arabic gumand locust bean gum; cellulosic binders such as, for example, hy- droxypropyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydro- xyethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and ethyl cellulose; polysaccharides such as, for example, starches, organic acids, such as alginic acid, conjugate base salts of or- ganic acids, such as sodium-alginate, agar and pectins; and combinations thereof.

[0052] Homogenised tobacco material may comprise between about 1% and about 5% non-tobacco fibres by weight on a dry weight basis.

[0053] Suitable aerosol-formers and humectants for inclusion in sheets of homogenised tobacco material are known in the art and include, but are not limited to: polyhydric alcohols, such as triethylene glycol, 1,3-buta- nediol and glycerine; esters of polyhydric alcohols, such as glycerolmono‑, di‑ or triacetate; and aliphatic esters of mono‑, di‑ or polycarboxylic acids, such as dimethyl dodecanedioate and dimethyl tetradecanedioate.

[0054] For example, sheets of homogenised tobacco material may have an aerosol former content of between about 5%andabout 30%byweight onadryweight basis. Heated aerosol-generating articles may preferably in- clude homogenised tobacco having an aerosol former content of greater than 5% to about 30%. The aerosol former may preferably be glycerine.

[0055] Sheets of homogenised tobacco material for use in forming heated aerosol-generating articles or rods as described herein are preferably formed by a casting process of the type generally comprising casting a slurry comprising particulate tobacco and one or more binders onto a conveyor belt or other support surface, drying the cast slurry to form a sheet of homogenised tobacco material and removing the sheet of homogenised tobac- co material from the support surface.

[0056] For example, in certain embodiments sheets of homogenised tobacco material may be formed from slurry comprising particulate tobacco, guar gum, cellu- lose fibres and glycerine by a casting process.

[0057] Sheets of homogenised tobacco material may be textured using suitable knownmachinery for texturing filter tow, paper and other materials.

[0058] For example, sheets of homogenised tobacco material may be crimped using a crimping unit of the type described in CH-A‑691156, which comprises a pair of rotatable crimping rollers. However, it will be appreciated that sheets of homogenised tobacco material may be textured using other suitable machinery and processes that deform or perforate the sheets of homogenised tobacco material.

[0059] Preferably, sheets of tobaccomaterial for use in rods as described herein have awidth of at least about 25 mm. In certain embodiments sheets ofmaterialmayhave a width of between about 25 mm and about 300 mm. Preferably, the sheets of material have a thickness of at least about 50 µm to about 300 µm.

[0060] In certain embodiments, individual sheets of material may have a thickness of between 10 µm and about 250 µm. In certain embodiments, sheets of homo- genised tobacco material may have a grammage 100 g / m2 and about 300 g / m2.

[0061] A method may be provided of forming a rod as described herein. The rod may be used as an aerosol- forming substrate in a heated aerosol-generating article. The method may comprise the steps of: providing a continuous sheet comprising an aerosol-forming materi- al; gathering the sheet transversely relative to the long- itudinal axes thereof; circumscribing the gathered sheet with awrapper to forma continuous rod, and severing the continuous rod into a plurality of discrete rods. The aero- sol-forming material may be any aerosol-forming materi- al described above, and is preferably homogenised to- bacco. In certain embodiments the wrapper is any ther- mally conductive material described above, and is pre- ferably an aluminium foil.

[0062] The method may further comprise texturing the continuous sheet. For example, the method may com- prise crimping, embossing, perforating or otherwise tex- turing the continuous sheet prior to gathering.

[0063] Specific embodimentswill be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompa- nying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a schematic cross-section of appa- ratus for forming a rod according to a specific embo- diment; Figures 2 illustrates an embodiment of an aerosol- generating article as described herein; Figure 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of an aerosol-generating article as described herein; Figure 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of an aerosol-generating article as described herein; Figure 5 illustrates an aerosol-generating system comprising an electrically-operated aerosol-gener- ating device and an aerosol-generating article as illustrated in Figure 2; and Figure 6 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of the electrically-operated aerosol-generating device illustrated in Figure 5.

[0064] The apparatus shown in Figure 1 generally comprises: supply means for providing a continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco; crimping means for crimping the continuous sheet; rod forming means for gathering the continuous crimped sheet and circumscrib- ing the gathered material with a thermally-conductive aluminium foil wrapper to form a continuous rod; and cutting means for severing the continuous rod into a plurality of discrete rods. The apparatus also comprises transport means for transporting the continuous sheet of material downstream through the apparatus from the supply means to the rod forming means via the crimping means. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 6 9 EP 4 767 843 A2 10

[0065] As shown in Figure 1, the supply means for providing a continuous sheet comprises a continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco 2 mounted on a bobbin 4. The crimping means comprises a pair of rotatable crimping rollers 6. In use, the continuous sheet of homo- genised tobacco 2 is drawn from the first bobbin 4 and transported downstream to the pair of crimping rollers 6 by the transport mechanism via a series of guide and tensioning rollers. As the continuous sheet of homoge- nised tobacco 2 is fed between the pair of crimping rollers 6, the crimping rollers engage and crimp the sheet 2 to form a continuous crimped sheet of homogenised tobac- co 8 having a plurality of spaced-apart ridges or corruga- tions substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sheet through the apparatus.

[0066] The continuous crimped sheet of homogenised tobacco material 8 is transported downstream from the pair of crimping rollers 6 towards the rod forming means and fed through a converging funnel or horn 10. The converging funnel 10 gathers the continuous sheet of homogenised tobacco 8 transversely relative to its long- itudinal axes. The sheet of material 8 assumes a sub- stantially cylindrical configuration as it passes through the converging funnel 10.

[0067] Uponexiting the converging funnel 10, thegath- ered sheet of homogenised tobacco is wrapped in a continuous sheet of aluminium foil 12. The continuous sheet of aluminium foil is fed from a bobbin 14 and enveloped around the gathered continuous crimped sheet of homogenised tobacco material by an endless belt conveyor or garniture. As shown in Figure 1, the rod forming means comprises an adhesive application means 16 that applies adhesive to one of the longitudinal edges of the continuous sheet of aluminium foil, so that when the opposed longitudinal edges of the continuous sheet of aluminium foil are brought into contact they adhere to one other to form a continuous rod.

[0068] The rod forming means further comprises a dryingmeans18downstreamof the adhesive application means 16, which in use dries the adhesive applied to the seam of the continuous rod as the continuous rod is transported downstream from the rod forming means to the cutting means.

[0069] The cutting means comprises a rotary cutter 20 that severs the continuous rod into a plurality of discrete rods of unit rod length or multiple unit rod length.

[0070] Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of a heated aerosol-generating article 1000 comprising a rod as de- scribed herein. The article 1000 comprises four ele- ments; an aerosol-forming substrate 1020, a hollow cel- lulose acetate tube 1030, a spacer element 1040, and a mouthpiece filter 1050. These four elements are ar- ranged sequentially and in coaxial alignment and are assembled by a cigarette paper 1060 to form the aero- sol-generating article 1000. The article 1000 has a mouth-end 1012, which a user inserts into his or her mouth during use, and a distal end 1013 located at the opposite end of the article to the mouth end 1012. The embodiment of anaerosol-generatingarticle illustrated in Figure2 isparticularly suitable for usewithanelectrically- operated aerosol-generating device comprising a heater for heating the aerosol-forming substrate.

[0071] When assembled, the article 1000 is about 45 millimetres in length and has an outer diameter of about 7.2 millimetres and an inner diameter of about 6.9 milli- metres.

[0072] The aerosol-forming substrate 1020 comprises a rod formed from a crimped and gathered sheet of homogenised tobacco wrapped in aluminium foil 1222 to form a plug. A user may inadvertently attempt to ignite the aerosol-forming substrate 1020 by applying a flame to the distal end 1013 and simultaneously drawing air through the mouthpiece. Should this occur, the alumi- nium foil component of aerosol-forming substrate will swiftly spread the applied heat along the radial extremi- ties of the aerosol-forming substrate, thereby making it more difficult to increase the homogenised tobacco com- ponent to its ignition temperature. This lowered propen- sity for ignition may be sufficient for the user to desist in the attempts to ignite the article.

[0073] An aerosol-generating article 1000 as illu- strated in Figure 2 is designed to engage with an aero- sol-generating device in order to be consumed. Such an aerosol-generating device includes means for heating the aerosol-forming substrate 1020 to a sufficient tem- perature to form an aerosol. Typically, the aerosol-gen- erating device may comprise a heating element that surrounds the aerosol-generating article 1000 adjacent to the aerosol-forming substrate 1020, or a heating ele- ment that is inserted into the aerosol-forming substrate 1020.

[0074] Once engaged with an aerosol-generating de- vice, a user draws on themouth-end 1012 of the smoking article 1000 and the aerosol-forming substrate 1020 is heated to a temperature of about 375 degreesCelsius. At this temperature, volatile compounds are evolved from the sheet of cast-leaf tobacco of the aerosol-forming substrate 1020. These compounds condense to form an aerosol. The aerosol is drawn through the filter 1050 and into the user’s mouth.

[0075] Figure 3 illustrates an alternative configuration of an aerosol-generating article. The article 2000 com- prises four elements; an aerosol-forming substrate 2020, a hollow cellulose acetate tube 2030, a spacer element 2040, and amouthpiece filter 2050. These four elements are arranged sequentially and in coaxial alignment and are assembled by a cigarette paper 2060 to form the aerosol-generating article 2000. The article 2000 has a mouth-end 2012, which a user inserts into his or her mouth during use, and a distal end 2013 located at the opposite end of the article to the mouth end 2012. The aerosol-forming substrate 2020 comprises a rod formed from a crimped and gathered sheet of homogenised tobacco wrapped in filter paper to form a plug. A sheet of aluminium foil 2222 encircles the aerosol-forming sub- strate externally to the cigarette paper 2060. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 7 11 EP 4 767 843 A2 12

[0076] Figure 4 illustrates a further alternative config- uration of an aerosol-generating article 5000. The aero- sol-generating article 5000 comprises four elements ar- ranged in coaxial alignment: an aerosol-forming sub- strate 5020, a support element 5030, an aerosol-cooling element 5040, and a mouthpiece 5050. These four ele- ments are arranged sequentially and are circumscribed by an outer wrapper 5060 to form the aerosol-generating article 5000. The aerosol-cooling element 5040 acts as a spacer element as described in relation to Figure 2 as well as an aerosol-cooling element. The aerosol-forming substrate 5020 comprises a rod formed from a crimped and gathered sheet of homogenised tobacco wrapped in aluminium foil 5222 to form a plug. The aerosol-generat- ing 5000 has a proximal ormouth end 5070, which a user inserts into his or her mouth during use, and a distal end 5080 located at the opposite end of the aerosol-generat- ing article 5000 to the mouth end 5070.

[0077] Figure 5 illustrates a portion of an electrically- operated aerosol-generating system 3000 that utilises a heating blade 3100 to heat an aerosol-generating sub- strate 1020 of an aerosol-generating article 1000, 2000, 5000. The heating blade is mounted within an aerosol article receiving chamber of an electrically-operated aerosol-generatingdevice 3010.Theaerosol-generating device defines a plurality of air holes 3050 for allowing air to flow to the aerosol-generating article 1000. Air flow is indicated by arrows on Figure 5. The aerosol-generating device comprises a power supply and electronics, which are illustrated in Figure 6. The aerosol-generating article 1000 of Figure 5 is as described above in relation to Figure 2.

[0078] In Figure 6, the components of the aerosol- generating device 3010 are shown in a simplified man- ner. Particularly, the components of the aerosol-generat- ing device 3010 are not drawn to scale in Figure 6. Components that are not relevant for the understanding of the embodiment have been omitted to simplify Figure 6.

[0079] As shown in Figure 6, the aerosol-generating device 3010 comprises a housing 6130. The heating element 6120 is mounted within an aerosol-generating article receiving chamber within the housing 6130. The aerosol-generating article 1000 (shown by dashed lines in Figure 6) is inserted into the aerosol-generating article receiving chamber within the housing 6130 of the aero- sol-generating device 3010 such that the heating ele- ment 6120 is directly inserted into the aerosol-forming substrate 1020 of the aerosol-generating article 1000.

[0080] Within the housing 6130 there is an electrical energy supply 6140, for example a rechargeable lithium ion battery. A controller 6150 is connected to the heating element 6120, the electrical energy supply 6140, and a user interface 6160, for example a button or display. The controller 6150 controls thepower supplied to theheating element 6120 in order to regulate its temperature.

[0081] The exemplary embodiments described above are not limiting. In view of the above-discussed exemp- lary embodiments, other embodiments consistent with the above exemplary embodiment will now be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Claims 1. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) for usewith an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device (3010) comprising a heating element (3100), the aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) compris- ing an aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) ra- dially encircled by a sheet of thermally-conductive material (1222, 2222), wherein the aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) is in the form of a cylindrical rod comprising a sheet of aerosol forming material circumscribed by a wrapper, the wrapper being the sheet of thermally-conductivematerial which acts as a thermally-conducting flame barrier for spreading heat and mitigating against the risk of a user igniting the aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) by ap- plying a flame to the aerosol-generating article, wherein the sheet of aerosol-forming material is folded substantially transversely to the cylindrical axis of the rod to provide a gathered sheet of aero- sol-forming material. 2. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000) accord- ing to claim 1 comprising a plurality of elements, including the aerosol-forming substrate (1020), as- sembled within a cigarette paper (1060) to form a rod, the sheet of thermally-conductivematerial being located within the cigarette paper (1060). 3. A heated aerosol-generating article (2000) accord- ing to claim 1 comprising a plurality of elements, including the aerosol-forming substrate (2020), as- sembled within a cigarette paper (2060) to form a rod, the sheet of thermally-conductive material (2222) being located radially external to the cigarette paper (2060). 4. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim in the form of a rodhavingamouthend (1012, 2012) andadistal end (1013, 2013) upstream from themouth end, in which a portion of the thermally-conductivematerial (1222, 2222) covers the distal end of the rod. 5. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim in the form of a rodhavingamouthend (1012, 2012) andadistal end (1013, 2013) upstream from themouth end, in which a spacer element is located within the rod upstream of the aerosol-forming substrate. 6. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any of claims 1 to 3 in the form of a 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 8 13 EP 4 767 843 A2 14 rodhavingamouthend (1012, 2012) andadistal end (1013, 2013) upstream from themouth end, in which the aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) is lo- cated at the distal end of the rod. 7. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim in which the sheet of thermally-conductive material (1222, 2222) is or comprises metal foil. 8. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to claim 7 in which the sheet of ther- mally-conductive material (1222, 2222) is a sheet of material formed by co-lamination of metal foil with paper, or a sheetmaterial formed by co-lamination of metal foil with reconstituted tobacco. 9. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to claim 7 or 8 in which the metal foil is aluminium foil. 10. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim, wherein the sheet of aerosol-forming material is crimped to provide a plurality of substantially parallel ridges. 11. A heated aerosol generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim, for use with an aerosol-generating device (3010) comprising an in- sertable heating element (3100) for insertion into a distal end (1013, 2013) of the heated aerosol-gen- erating article. 12. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim in which the sheet of aerosol-forming material comprises tobacco. 13. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim in which the sheet of aerosol-formingmaterial compriseshomogenised tobacco material. 14. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to claim 13, wherein the sheet of aero- sol-formingmaterial hasanaerosol former content of between 5% and 30% by weight on a dry weight basis. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 9 EP 4 767 843 A2 10 EP 4 767 843 A2 11 EP 4 767 843 A2 12 EP 4 767 843 A2 13 EP 4 767 843 A2 REFERENCES CITED IN THE DESCRIPTION This list of references cited by the applicant is for the reader’s convenience only. It does not form part of the European patent document. Even though great care has been taken in compiling the references, errors or omissions cannot be excluded and the EPO disclaims all liability in this regard. Patent documents cited in the description • WO 2013102614 A

[0003] • WO 2009022232 A

[0045] • EP 0822670 A

[0047] 摘要 本公开提供了一种加热气溶胶生成制品（1000，2000 ），所述加 热气溶胶生成制品与包括加热元件（3100）的电动气溶胶生成装置 （3010）一起使用。所述气溶胶生成制品（1000，2000）包括由导热 材料片材（1222，2222）径向环绕的气溶胶形成基质（1020，2020）。 所述气溶胶形成基质（1020，2020）是圆柱状杆的形式，所述圆柱状 杆包括由包装包围的气溶胶形成材料片材，所述包装是导热材料片材 （1222，2222），用作导热火焰屏障，用于扩散热量并且减轻使用者 通过向所述气溶胶生成制品施加火焰而点燃所述气溶胶形成基质 （1020，2020）的风险。所述气溶胶形成材料片材基本上横向于所述 杆的圆柱轴线折叠，以提供聚集的气溶胶形成材料片材。

Claims

1. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) for use with an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device (3010) comprising a heating element (3100), the aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) comprising an aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) radially encircled by a sheet of thermally-conductive material (1222, 2222), wherein the aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) is in the form of a cylindrical rod comprising a sheet of aerosol forming material circumscribed by a wrapper, the wrapper being the sheet of thermally-conductive material which acts as a thermally-conducting flame barrier for spreading heat and mitigating against the risk of a user igniting the aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) by applying a flame to the aerosol-generating article, wherein the sheet of aerosol-forming material is folded substantially transversely to the cylindrical axis of the rod to provide a gathered sheet of aerosol-forming material.

2. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000) according to claim 1 comprising a plurality of elements, including the aerosol-forming substrate (1020), assembled within a cigarette paper (1060) to form a rod, the sheet of thermally-conductive material being located within the cigarette paper (1060).

3. A heated aerosol-generating article (2000) according to claim 1 comprising a plurality of elements, including the aerosol-forming substrate (2020), assembled within a cigarette paper (2060) to form a rod, the sheet of thermally-conductive material (2222) being located radially external to the cigarette paper (2060).

4. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim in the form of a rod having a mouth end (1012, 2012) and a distal end (1013, 2013) upstream from the mouth end, in which a portion of the thermally-conductive material (1222, 2222) covers the distal end of the rod.

5. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim in the form of a rod having a mouth end (1012, 2012) and a distal end (1013, 2013) upstream from the mouth end, in which a spacer element is located within the rod upstream of the aerosol-forming substrate.

6. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any of claims 1 to 3 in the form of a rod having a mouth end (1012, 2012) and a distal end (1013, 2013) upstream from the mouth end, in which the aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) is located at the distal end of the rod.

7. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim in which the sheet of thermally-conductive material (1222, 2222) is or comprises metal foil.

8. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to claim 7 in which the sheet of thermally-conductive material (1222, 2222) is a sheet of material formed by co-lamination of metal foil with paper, or a sheet material formed by co-lamination of metal foil with reconstituted tobacco.

9. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to claim 7 or 8 in which the metal foil is aluminium foil.

10. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim, wherein the sheet of aerosol-forming material is crimped to provide a plurality of substantially parallel ridges.

11. A heated aerosol generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim, for use with an aerosol-generating device (3010) comprising an insertable heating element (3100) for insertion into a distal end (1013, 2013) of the heated aerosol-generating article.

12. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim in which the sheet of aerosol-forming material comprises tobacco.

13. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to any preceding claim in which the sheet of aerosol-forming material comprises homogenised tobacco material.

14. A heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) according to claim 13, wherein the sheet of aerosol-forming material has an aerosol former content of between 5% and 30% by weight on a dry weight basis.

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