thing

Abstract

The present invention relates to an article (10). The article includes an aerosol-generating substrate (12) and a region (14) longitudinally disposed relative to the aerosol-generating substrate. The region includes a rod segment (16) formed from a plurality of elongated strips (17) of sheet material (18) extending longitudinally through the rod segment. The present invention also relates to a sheet material segment for the rod segment. The sheet material segment includes a web (44) of discrete lengths of sheet material (18) including a plurality of elongated strips (17) and a band (22) of sheet material extending transversely relative to the plurality of elongated strips. The plurality of elongated strips extend from the band of sheet material. The present invention also relates to an apparatus (40) for manufacturing a rod segment and a method for forming a rod segment.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an article for use in an aerosol generating device, and to an apparatus for producing said article and a method for producing said article. [Background technology]

[0002] It is known to provide articles for use in aerosol generating devices that can be heated to generate an aerosol that is drawn downstream by a user for inhalation, typically through a mouthpiece. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In an embodiment of the invention, an article is provided which comprises an aerosol-generating substrate and a region longitudinally disposed relative to the aerosol-generating substrate, the region comprising rod segments formed from a plurality of elongated strips of sheet material, the sheet material extending longitudinally through the rod segments.

[0004] In some embodiments, the elongated strips of sheet material may extend substantially parallel to one another.

[0005] In some embodiments, each of the plurality of elongated strips of sheet material may be substantially straight.

[0006] In some embodiments, each of the plurality of elongated strips may include a crimped section.

[0007] In some embodiments, the crimped section of one strip of the plurality of elongate strips may be longitudinally offset from the crimped section of an adjacent elongate strip.

[0008] In some embodiments, the rod segment may further include a band of sheet material with a plurality of elongated strips extending from the band.

[0009] In some embodiments, the band of sheet material may extend substantially transversely to the elongated strips of sheet material.

[0010] In some embodiments, the band of sheet material may extend substantially transversely across the rod segment.

[0011] In some embodiments, a first plurality of elongate strips may extend longitudinally through the rod segments downstream of the band of sheet material.

[0012] In some embodiments, a second plurality of elongate strips may extend longitudinally through the rod segments upstream of the band of sheet material.

[0013] In some embodiments, the band of sheet material may include regions of low density.

[0014] In some embodiments, the low density regions may include depressions formed by removing sheet material.

[0015] In some embodiments, the rod segments may include cavities formed by regions of lower density in the bands of sheet material.

[0016] In some embodiments, the rod segment may further comprise an aerosol modifier capsule.

[0017] In some embodiments, the aerosol modifier capsules may be located in low density areas of the band of sheet material.

[0018] In some embodiments, the capsules may be contained within cavities formed by low density areas of a band of sheet material.

[0019] In some embodiments, the rod segment may further comprise a tube, with the rod segment formed from multiple elongated strips of sheet material at least partially surrounding the tube.

[0020] In some embodiments, each of the plurality of elongated strips of sheet material may have a width substantially within the range of 0.25mm to 2mm.

[0021] In some embodiments, each of the multiple elongated strips of sheet material may have substantially the same width.

[0022] In some embodiments, the plurality of elongate strips of sheet material may include a first set of elongate strips having substantially the same first width and a second set of elongate strips having substantially the same second width.

[0023] In some embodiments, the rod segments may be formed from a first plurality of elongated strips of a first sheet material and a second plurality of elongated strips of a second sheet material.

[0024] In some embodiments, the substrate forming the first sheet material may be different from the substrate forming the second sheet material.

[0025] In some embodiments, the sheet material may be at least partially formed from at least one of paper, reconstituted tobacco material, tobacco sheet, band cast tobacco, extruded tobacco, tobacco paper, cannabis, hemp, cotton, polylactic acid, and / or dry gel sheet.

[0026] In some embodiments, the thickness of the sheet material may be in the range of about 30 to 300 μm.

[0027] In some embodiments, the density of the sheet material may be in the range of about 20 to 250 grams per square meter.

[0028] In some embodiments, the region located longitudinally relative to the aerosol-forming substrate may be a downstream region downstream of the aerosol-forming substrate.

[0029] In some embodiments, the region located longitudinally relative to the aerosol-forming substrate may be an upstream region upstream of the aerosol-forming substrate.

[0030] In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating substrate and the rod segments may be integrally formed from the same elongated strips of sheet material that extend longitudinally through the article such that the elongated strips form both the rod segments and the aerosol-generating substrate.

[0031] In some embodiments, the aerosol-forming substrate may comprise tobacco material.

[0032] In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating substrate may comprise an aerosol-forming material.

[0033] In some embodiments, the aerosol forming material may include one or more of glycerin, glycerol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, 1,3-butylene glycol, erythritol, meso-erythritol, ethyl vanillate, ethyl laurate, diethyl suberate, triethyl citrate, triacetin, diacetin mixtures, benzyl benzoate, benzyl phenylacetate, tributyrin, lauryl acetate, lauric acid, myristic acid, and propylene carbonate.

[0034] In another embodiment of the present invention, a segment of sheet material for a rod segment that is a part of an aerosol forming substrate portion of an aerosol generating device component is provided, the segment of sheet material comprising a segment of a web of discrete lengths of sheet material and a band of sheet material, the segment of sheet material comprising a plurality of elongated strips extending longitudinally, the band extending transversely to the plurality of elongated strips, the plurality of elongated strips extending from the band of sheet material.

[0035] In some embodiments, the band of sheet material may include regions of reduced density formed by removing sheet material from the band of sheet material.

[0036] In some embodiments, the low density areas may be formed by recesses cut into the thickness of the band of sheet material.

[0037] In some embodiments, a first set of a plurality of elongate strips may extend longitudinally downstream of the band of sheet material.

[0038] In some embodiments, a second set of a plurality of elongate strips may extend longitudinally upstream of the band of sheet material.

[0039] In some embodiments, the sheet material may be at least partially formed from at least one of paper, reconstituted tobacco material, tobacco sheet, band cast tobacco, extruded tobacco, tobacco paper, cannabis, hemp, cotton, polylactic acid, and / or dry gel sheet.

[0040] In some embodiments, the thickness of the sheet material may be in the range of about 30 to 300 μm.

[0041] In some embodiments, the density of the sheet material may be in the range of about 20 to 250 grams per square meter.

[0042] In another embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for manufacturing a rod segment of an article for an aerosol generating device component is provided, the apparatus including a first cutter configured to cut a sheet material longitudinally to produce a plurality of elongated strips, a collector configured to collect the plurality of elongated strips to form a rod, each of the strips extending substantially longitudinally, and a second cutter configured to cut the rod into segments to produce the rod segments.

[0043] In some embodiments, the apparatus of the present invention may further include a sheet material removal section configured to remove sheet material from the sheet material at predetermined intervals to form low density regions in the sheet material.

[0044] In some embodiments, the sheet material removal station may be located upstream of the first cutter.

[0045] In some embodiments, the sheet material removal station may remove the sheet material by cutting a recess in the sheet material.

[0046] In some embodiments, the sheet material removal station may remove the sheet material by pushing material away from the low density areas.

[0047] In some embodiments, the first cutter may include a first cutter array including cutting elements configured to cut longitudinal slits into the individual lengths of sheet material.

[0048] In some embodiments, the first cutter may be adjustable to either cut the sheet material to produce the plurality of elongated strips or not cut the sheet material.

[0049] In some embodiments, the cutting element may include an arcuate cutting edge extending around the periphery of a substantially circular cutting disk, and the cutting edge may include an arcuate gap configured to not cut through the sheet material and to form a band of sheet material.

[0050] In some embodiments, the first cutter may include multiple cutting elements in a first cutter row, and the arcuate gaps of each cutting element may be aligned and configured to rotate at the same rotational speed.

[0051] In some embodiments, the first cutter may further include a second cutter row, the first cutter row being located substantially on a first side of the sheet material transport path and the second cutter row being located substantially on an opposing second side of the sheet material transport path.

[0052] In some embodiments, the multiple cutting elements of the first and second cutter rows may be positioned such that cuts are formed in the web of sheet material by a shearing action between adjacent cutting elements of the first and second cutter rows.

[0053] In some embodiments, the width of the plurality of elongated strips may be determined by the width of the cutting elements in the cutting row.

[0054] In some embodiments, the bands of sheet material may correspond to areas of low density formed in the sheet material by the sheet material removal station.

[0055] In some embodiments the distance between cutting elements in the cutting row may be substantially within the range of 0.5mm to 4mm.

[0056] In some embodiments, the distance between each of the plurality of cutting elements may be substantially within the range of 0.05 mm to 1 mm.

[0057] In some embodiments, the distance between each adjacent cutting element may be the same.

[0058] In some embodiments, the first cutter may include a first plurality of cutting elements and a second plurality of cutting elements, each of the first cutting elements being spaced a first distance apart and each of the second cutting elements being spaced a second distance apart.

[0059] In some embodiments, the cutting elements may be arranged in pairs including a cutting element from a first cutting row and a cutting element from a second cutting row, where the cutting elements of a pair are spaced a short distance apart and adjacent pairs may be spaced a long distance apart relative to the short distance between the cutting elements of the pair.

[0060] In some embodiments, the first cutter may include multiple cutting elements and the first cutter may be adjustable to adjust the distance between the cutting elements to adjust the number and / or width of the strips cut from the sheet material.

[0061] In some embodiments, the first cutter may be configured to crimp the cut sheet material.

[0062] In some embodiments, the apparatus of the present invention may further include a crimping station.

[0063] In some embodiments, the apparatus of the present invention may be configured to crinkle a plurality of elongated strips of sheet material such that the wrinkles on adjacent elongated strips are longitudinally offset from one another.

[0064] In some embodiments, the apparatus of the present invention may be configured to feed the sheet material to a first cutter in a web feed direction, and the first cutter may be configured to cut the sheet material parallel to the sheet feed direction.

[0065] In some embodiments, the collector may be configured to collect the cut sheet material towards an axis located in a first plane, which may include the feed direction and may be orthogonal to a second plane defined by the cut sheet material before the cut sheet material is collected.

[0066] In some embodiments, the axis may be located in the center of the cut sheet material.

[0067] In some embodiments, the collector may be configured to collect the web of cut sheet material substantially laterally / circumferentially to form a rod.

[0068] In some embodiments, the collector may be configured to collect the sheet material to form a rod of cut sheet material that includes a central cavity in a low density region of the web of cut sheet material.

[0069] In some embodiments, the apparatus of the present invention may further include a tube feeder configured to feed a tube into the center of the collector.

[0070] In some embodiments, a collector may be configured to collect the cut sheet material around a tube to form a rod.

[0071] In some embodiments, the apparatus of the present invention may be configured to gather a first web of cut sheet material and a second web of cut sheet material.

[0072] In some embodiments, the apparatus of the present invention may further comprise an aerosol modifier inserter.

[0073] In some embodiments, the aerosol modifying agent inserter may be located downstream of the collector.

[0074] In some embodiments, the aerosol modifier inserter may be configured to insert aerosol modifier capsules into low density regions of the rod of sheet material.

[0075] In some embodiments, the aerosol modifier inserter may include a cavity preparer.

[0076] In some embodiments, the cavity preparer may include a roller having radially extending protrusions that are configured to extend into the rod of sheet material when rotated into contact with the rod of sheet material to form openings in the rod of sheet material.

[0077] In some embodiments, the aerosol modifier inserter may include a capsule inserter configured to insert an aerosol modifier capsule into the rod of sheet material.

[0078] In some embodiments, the capsule inserter may be configured to insert the aerosol modifier capsules into cavities in the low density regions of the cut rods of sheet material.

[0079] In some embodiments, the capsule inserter may be configured to insert the aerosol modifying agent capsules between multiple long strips of cut sheet material.

[0080] In some embodiments, the apparatus of the present invention may further include a controller that synchronizes the movement of the first cutter, the aerosol modifying agent inserter, and the second cutter.

[0081] In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for forming a rod segment for a downstream portion of an aerosol-forming substrate portion of an aerosol generating device component, the method comprising cutting a sheet material longitudinally to create a plurality of elongated strips of the sheet material, collecting the plurality of elongated strips to form a rod of the sheet material, each of the elongated strips extending substantially longitudinally, and cutting the rod of the sheet material into segments to create rod segments for a mouthpiece of the aerosol generating device component.

[0082] In some embodiments, the method may further include cutting discrete lengths of longitudinally extending slits into the web of sheet material and forming transversely extending bands of sheet material for the plurality of elongated strips of sheet material without cutting the discrete lengths of sheet material.

[0083] In some embodiments, the method may further include forming a low density region in the web of sheet material by removing the sheet material from the web of sheet material.

[0084] In some embodiments, the method of the present invention may further comprise the step whereby a low density region is created in the band of sheet material by cutting a recess in the band of sheet material.

[0085] In some embodiments, the method may further include forming a low density region in the web of sheet material by pushing the sheet material away from a region of the web of sheet material.

[0086] In some embodiments, the method may further include inserting a tube into a collector and collecting the cut web of sheet material around the tube to form a rod of sheet material.

[0087] In some embodiments, the method of the present invention may further comprise the step of inserting the aerosol modifying agent capsules into a rod of cut sheet material. In some embodiments, the method of the present invention may further comprise the step of inserting aerosol modifier capsules into low density regions of bands of cut rods of sheet material.

[0088] In some embodiments, the method of the present invention may further comprise the step of forming an opening in the cut rod of sheet material for inserting an aerosol modifier capsule. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0089] In order that the invention may be more fully understood, embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic perspective view of an article. [Diagram 2] 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the article shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a rod segment of the article. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic side view of an apparatus for manufacturing rod segments for an article. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a sheet material removal station; [Figure 6] 11 is a schematic side view of another embodiment of a sheet material removal station; FIG. [Figure 7a] 1 is a schematic top view of a sheet material having a low density region; [Figure 7b] 1 is a schematic top view of a sheet material having a low density region; [Figure 7c] 1 is a schematic top view of a sheet material having a low density region; [Figure 7d] 1 is a schematic top view of a sheet material having a low density region; [Figure 7e] 1 is a schematic top view of a sheet material having a low density region; [Figure 7f] 1 is a schematic top view of a sheet material having a low density region; [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of a first cutter. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of the first cutter of FIG. 8. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a schematic front view of another embodiment of the first cutter. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a schematic front view of yet another embodiment of the first cutter. [Figure 12a] 1 is a schematic top view of a cut sheet material having low density regions; FIG. [Figure 12b] 1 is a schematic top view of a cut sheet material having low density regions; FIG. [Figure 12c] 1 is a schematic top view of a cut sheet material having low density regions; FIG. [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a collector. [Figure 14] 1 shows a cavity preparer. [Figure 15] 1 shows the capsule inserter rollers. [Figure 16] 5 illustrates the steps a sheet of material may undergo in the apparatus shown in FIG. 4 to form a rod segment for an article. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0090] As used herein, the term "delivery system" is intended to encompass a system that provides at least one substance to a user, including: Combustion-based aerosol delivery systems, such as cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars and pipes or tobacco for roll-your-own or homemade cigarettes (whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco substitutes or other smoking materials); Non-combustion aerosol delivery systems that release compounds from an aerosol-generating material without burning the aerosol-generating material, such as e-cigarettes, tobacco heating products, and hybrid systems that use a combination of aerosol-generating materials to generate an aerosol.

[0091] For purposes of this disclosure, a "combustion-based" aerosol delivery system is one in which the constituent aerosol-generating materials of the aerosol delivery system (or its components) are combusted or burned to facilitate delivery to a user.

[0092] In some embodiments, the delivery system is a combustion-based aerosol delivery system, such as a system selected from the group consisting of cigarettes, cigarillos, and cigars.

[0093] In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to components for use in combustion-based aerosol delivery systems, such as filters, filter rods, filter segments, tobacco rods, strings, aerosol modifier releasing members such as capsules, twine or beads or papers such as plug wrappers, tipping papers or cigarette papers.

[0094] For purposes of this disclosure, a "non-combustion based" aerosol delivery system is one that does not combust or burn the constituent aerosol-generating materials of the aerosol delivery system (or its components) to facilitate delivery of at least one substance to a user.

[0095] In some embodiments, the non-combustion based aerosol delivery system is an e-cigarette, also known as a vaping device or electronic nicotine delivery system (END), although it should be noted that the presence of nicotine in the aerosol-generating material is not a requirement.

[0096] In some embodiments, the non-combustion based aerosol delivery system is an aerosol-generating material heating system, also known as a non-combustion heating system, one example of such a system is a tobacco heating system.

[0097] In some embodiments, the non-combustion aerosol delivery system is a hybrid system that uses a combination of aerosol-generating materials to generate an aerosol, one or more of which may be heated. Each of the aerosol-generating materials may be, for example, in solid, liquid, or gel form, and may or may not contain nicotine. In some embodiments, the hybrid system includes a liquid or gel aerosol-generating material and a solid aerosol-generating material. The solid aerosol-generating material may include, for example, tobacco or a non-tobacco product.

[0098] Typically, a non-combustion aerosol delivery system may include a non-combustion aerosol delivery device and a consumable for use with the non-combustion aerosol delivery device.

[0099] In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to consumables, referred to as articles throughout this disclosure, that include an aerosol generating material and are configured for use in non-combustion based aerosol delivery devices.

[0100] In some embodiments, the non-combustion aerosol delivery system, e.g., the non-combustion aerosol delivery device, may include a power source and a controller. The power source may be, for example, a power source or a heat generating power source. In some embodiments, the heat generating power source includes a carbon substrate that is energized to deliver power in the form of heat to an aerosol generating material or a thermally conductive material proximate to the heat generating power source.

[0101] In some embodiments, the non-combustion based aerosol delivery system may include an area for housing a consumable, an aerosol generator, an aerosol-generation area, a housing, a mouthpiece, a filter, and / or an aerosol modifier.

[0102] In some embodiments, consumables for use in non-combustion based aerosol delivery systems may include an aerosol-generating material, an aerosol-generating material storage region, an aerosol-generating material transport component, an aerosol generator, an aerosol-generating region, a housing, a wrapper, a filter, a mouthpiece, and / or an aerosol modifier.

[0103] A consumable is an article that contains or consists of an aerosol-generating material that is intended to be consumed, in whole or in part, by a user during use. A consumable may include one or more other components, such as an aerosol-generating material storage area, an aerosol-generating material transport component, an aerosol-generating area, a housing, a wrapper, a mouthpiece, a filter, and / or an aerosol modifier. A consumable may also include an aerosol generator, such as a heater that radiates heat such that the aerosol-generating material generates an aerosol upon use. The heater may include, for example, a combustion-based material, a material heatable by electrical conduction, or a susceptor.

[0104] An aerosol-generating material is a material that can generate an aerosol when excited, for example, by heating, irradiation, or in some other way. The aerosol-generating material may be in the form of a solid, liquid, or gel, for example, which may or may not contain active substances and / or flavorants. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material may comprise an "amorphous solid," alternatively referred to as a "monolithic solid" (i.e., non-fibrous). In some embodiments, the amorphous solid may be a dry gel. An amorphous solid is a solid material that holds a fluid, such as a liquid, within it. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material comprises about 50 wt%, 60 wt%, or 70 wt% amorphous solid to about 90 wt%, 95 wt%, or 100 wt% amorphous solid.

[0105] The aerosol-generating material may include one or more active agents and / or flavorants, one or more aerosol-forming materials and, if desired, one or more other functional materials.

[0106] In some embodiments, the substance delivered may be an aerosol generating material or a material not intended to be aerosolized, either of which may optionally include one or more active ingredients, one or more flavorings, one or more aerosol forming materials, and / or one or more other functional materials.

[0107] An aerosol modifier is a substance that is typically located downstream of the aerosol-generation region and configured to modify the generated aerosol, for example by altering the taste, flavor, acidity, or another characteristic of the aerosol. The aerosol modifier may be provided in an aerosol modifier-releasing component that is operable to selectively release the aerosol modifier.

[0108] The aerosol modifier may be, for example, an additive or an adsorbent. The aerosol modifier may include, for example, one or more of a flavoring agent, a colorant, water, and a carbon adsorbent. The aerosol modifier may be, for example, a solid, liquid, or gel. The aerosol modifier may be a powder, string, or granule. The aerosol modifier may not include a filter material.

[0109] In some embodiments, the substance delivered comprises an active agent.

[0110] The active substances used in the present invention are physiologically active substances, which are substances intended to achieve or enhance a physiological response. The active substances may be selected from, for example, dietary supplements, nootropics, psychotropic drugs. The active substances may be naturally occurring or synthetically obtained. The active substances may be, for example, nicotine, caffeine, taurine, theine, B6 or B 12 or vitamins such as C, melatonin, cannabinoids, or components, derivatives or mixtures thereof. The active substance may include one or more components, derivatives or extracts of tobacco, cannabis or other plants.

[0111] In some embodiments, the active agent comprises nicotine. In some embodiments, the active agent comprises caffeine, melatonin, or vitamin B 12 Includes.

[0112] As described herein, the active substance may include one or more components, derivatives or extracts of cannabis, such as one or more cannabinoids or terpenes.

[0113] As described herein, the active agent may include or be derived from a plant or its components, derivatives or extracts. The term "plant" as used herein includes, but is not limited to, any material derived from a plant, such as extracts, leaves, bark, fiber, stems, roots, seeds, flowers, fruits, pollen, husks, pods, etc. Alternatively, the material may include active compounds naturally occurring in the plant or synthetically derived. The material may be in the form of a liquid, gas, solid, powder, dust, ground particles, granules, pellets, pieces, strips, sheets, etc. Examples of plants include tobacco, eucalyptus, cornstarch, hemp, cocoa, cannabis, fennel, lemongrass, peppermint, spearmint, rooibos, chamomile, flax, ginger, ginkgo, hazel, hibiscus, bay leaf, licorice, matcha, yerba mate, orange peel, papaya, rose, sage, tea such as green or black tea, thyme, cloves, cinnamon, coffee, aniseed, basil, bay leaf, cardamom, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, oregano, paprika, rosemary, saffron, Lavender, lemon peel, mint, juniper, elderflower, vanilla, wintergreen, sedge, curcuma, turmeric, sandalwood, cilantro, bergamot, orange blossom, myrtle, blackcurrant, valerian, pimento, mace, damiene, oregano, olive, lemon balm, lemon basil, chives, fennel, verbena, tarragon, geranium, mulberry, ginseng, theanine, theacrine, maca, ashwagandha, damiana, guarana, chlorophyll, baobab, or any combination thereof. The mint may be selected from the following mint species: mentha, moroccan mint, egyptian mint, peppermint, cologne mint, candy mint, curly mint, kentucky kernel mint, horse mint, pineapple mint, pennyroyal mint, english spearmint, and malva.

[0114] In some embodiments, the active agent may comprise or be derived from a plant or one or more of its components, derivatives, or extracts, and the plant is tobacco.

[0115] In some embodiments, the active agent may comprise or be derived from one or more of a plant or its components, derivatives or extracts, the plant being selected from eucalyptus, tallow tree, cocoa and hemp.

[0116] In some embodiments, the composition may comprise or be derived from one or more of a plant or a component, derivative or extract thereof, the plant being selected from rooibos and fennel.

[0117] In some embodiments, the substance comprises a flavorant.

[0118] As used herein, the terms "flavorant" and "flavoring agent" are permitted by local regulations and are used to produce a taste, odor or other somatosensory stimulus desired by an adult consumer.They may be naturally occurring flavoring materials, plants, plant extracts, synthetically derived materials, or combinations thereof (e.g., tobacco, cannabis, licorice, hydrangea, eugenol, magnolia leaf, chamomile, fenugreek, clove, maple, matcha, menthol, Japanese peppermint, aniseed, cinnamon, turmeric, Indian spices, Asian spices, herbs, wintergreen, cherry, berry, red berry, cranberry, peach, apple, orange, mango, clementine, lemon, lime, tropical fruit, raspberry ... Roots, papaya, rhubarb, grapes, durian, dragon fruit, cucumber, blueberry, mulberry, citrus, Drambuie, bourbon, scotch, whiskey, gin, tequila, rum, spearmint, peppermint, lavender, aloe, cardamom, celery, cascarilla, nutmeg, sandalwood, bergamot, geranium, khat, naswar, betel quid, shisha, pine, honey extract, rose oil, vanilla, lemon oil, orange oil, orange blossom, cherry blossom, cassia, caraway, cognac, jasmine, ylang ylang, Sage, fennel, wasabi, pimento, ginger, coriander, coffee, hemp, peppermint oil from any species of the genus Mentha, eucalyptus, burdock, cocoa, lemongrass, rooibos, flax, ginkgo, hazel, hibiscus, bay, yerba mate, orange peel, rose, tea such as green or black tea, thyme, juniper, elderflower, basil, bay leaf, cumin, oregano, paprika, rosemary, saffron, lemon peel, mint, scutellaria, curcuma, cilantro, myrtle, black currant, valerian, pimento, melon. sucrose, damien, origanum, olive, lemon balm, lemon basil, chives, fennel, verbena, tarragon, limonene, thymol, camphene), flavor enhancers, bitter receptor site blockers, sensory receptor site activators or stimulants, sugars and / or sugar substitutes (e.g., sucralose, acesulfame potassium, aspartame, saccharin, cyclamate, lactose, sucrose, glucose, fructose, sorbitol, mannitol, etc.) and other additives such as charcoal, chlorophyll, minerals, botanicals or breath fresheners.They may be mimetics, synthetic or natural ingredients or blends thereof. They may be in any suitable form, for example a liquid such as an oil, a solid such as a powder or a gas.

[0119] In some embodiments, the flavorant comprises menthol, spearmint, and / or peppermint. In some embodiments, the flavorant comprises cucumber, blueberry, citrus, and / or red berry flavor components. In some embodiments, the flavorant comprises eugenol. In some embodiments, the flavorant comprises flavor components extracted from tobacco. In some embodiments, the flavorant comprises flavor components extracted from cannabis.

[0120] In some embodiments, the flavorings may include sensory elicitors, which are chemically induced and recognized in addition to or instead of the aroma or taste nerves, usually by stimulation of the fifth cranial nerve (trigeminal nerve), and which may include agents that produce a heating, cooling, tingling, or numbing sensation. A suitable heating agent is, but is not limited to, vanillyl ethyl ether, and a suitable cooling agent is, but is not limited to, eucalyptol, WS-3.

[0121] 1, there is shown a delivery system component 1. The delivery system component 1 may be, for example, a non-combustion based aerosol delivery component for use with a combustion based delivery system or a non-combustion based aerosol delivery device. The non-combustion based aerosol delivery component may be a consumable item for use with a non-combustion based aerosol delivery device, hereinafter referred to as item 10.

[0122] Referring to FIG. 2, a cross-section of the article is shown. The article 10 includes an aerosol-forming substrate 12. The article 10 further includes a region 14 located longitudinally relative to the aerosol-forming substrate 12. The region 14 includes a rod segment 16 formed from a plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 extending longitudinally of the rod segment 16. That is, the plurality of strips 17 of sheet material 18 extend substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis A of the article 10. Thus, the plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 may extend substantially parallel to one another. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 may be substantially straight.

[0123] In the illustrated embodiment, the region 14 located longitudinally relative to the aerosol-forming substrate 12 is a downstream region 14 downstream of the aerosol-forming substrate 12. In such an embodiment, during use, the aerosol-forming substrate 12 is inserted into a chamber of an aerosol-generating device (not shown) so as to be heated, and the rod segment 16 may at least partially protrude from the aerosol-generating device.

[0124] In another embodiment, the region 14 located longitudinally relative to the aerosol-forming substrate 12 may be an upstream region located upstream of the aerosol-forming substrate 12 .

[0125] The aerosol-forming substrate 12 may include a tobacco material, such as, but not limited to, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco sheet, band cast tobacco, extruded tobacco, and tobacco paper. Alternatively, the aerosol-generating substrate 12 may include an aerosol-forming material, such as, but not limited to, glycerin, glycerol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, 1,3-butylene glycol, erythritol, meso-erythritol, ethyl vanillate, ethyl laurate, diethyl suberate, triethyl citrate, triacetin, diacetin mixture, benzyl benzoate, benzyl phenylacetate, tributyrin, lauryl acetate, lauric acid, myristic acid, and propylene carbonate.

[0126] In some embodiments, such as the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, each of the plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 may include a crimped section 19. For clarity, only the outermost elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 are shown, and the plurality of elongated strips 17 are shown circumferentially to clearly show the relationship between adjacent strips. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the plurality of elongated strips 17 may be gathered in other ways. The crimped section 19 prevents the plurality of elongated strips 17 from moving relative to one another, reducing the pressure drop across the rod segment 16.

[0127] 3, it can be seen that the crimped section 19 of one of the plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 is longitudinally offset from the crimped section 19 of an adjacent elongated strip 17 of sheet material 18. That is, the crimped section 19 of one of the plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 is disposed a different longitudinal distance from the mouth end 20 of the rod segment 16 than the crimped section 19 of an adjacent elongated strip 17 of sheet material 18.

[0128] The crimped sections 19 are offset longitudinally to prevent the crimped sections from causing bulging of the rod segment 16 that may occur with rods in which the crimped sections are aligned. The crimped sections 19 in this embodiment are offset to form a sagittal or zigzag pattern. In other embodiments, the crimped sections 19 may form diagonal lines, parallel lines, or a randomly offset pattern.

[0129] 2 and 3, the rod segment 16 may further include a band 22 of sheet material 18. A plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 may extend from the band 22 of sheet material 18. The plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 and the band 22 of sheet material 18 may be integrally formed or cut from the same sheet material 18.

[0130] In this embodiment, the bands 22 of sheet material 18 extend transversely relative to the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18, i.e., perpendicular to the longitudinal axis A of the rod segment 16 as shown in FIG. 1. That is, the bands 22 of sheet material 18 are shown extending substantially circumferentially around the rod segment 16. However, the sheet material 18 may be collected such that it is randomly folded and less likely to be arranged in a circular or spiral configuration within the rod 16. In alternative embodiments, the bands 22 of sheet material 18 may extend at an acute angle relative to the longitudinal axis A of the rod segment 16 such that the bands 22 of sheet material 18 extend in a spiral configuration around the rod segment 16.

[0131] A first plurality 23 of elongate strips 17 of sheet material 18 extend longitudinally through rod segment 16 downstream of band 22 of sheet material 18. A second plurality 24 of elongate strips 17 of sheet material 18 extend longitudinally through rod segment 16 upstream of band 22 of sheet material 18.

[0132] The band 22 of sheet material 18 may be located in the middle of the rod segment 16 such that the elongated strips 17 of the first plurality 23 of sheet material 18 have substantially the same longitudinal length as the elongated strips 17 of the second plurality 24 of sheet material 18. In other embodiments, the band 22 of sheet material 18 may be located other than in the middle of the rod segment 16.

[0133] The band 22 of sheet material 18 may include a low density region 26, shown in dashed lines in Figures 2 and 3. The low density region 26 may include a recess 27 formed in the band 22 of sheet material 18. The recess 27 extends from a radially inner circumferential surface 28 of the band 22 of sheet material 18 toward an outer circumferential surface 29 of the band 22 of sheet material 18. In some embodiments, the recess 27 may extend through the thickness of the band 22 of sheet material 18.

[0134] Of course, the low density region 26 of the band 22 of sheet material 18 may include a plurality of recesses 27. In some embodiments, the recesses 27 may be evenly spaced along the band 22. In the embodiment shown, the recesses 27 are generally oval in shape. However, in other embodiments, the recesses 27 may take any other shape, such as, but not limited to, circles, rectangles, squares, and triangles.

[0135] The recess 27 in the low density region 26 of the band 22 of sheet material 18 may be formed by removing the sheet material 18. In some embodiments, removing the sheet material may be performed by cutting the sheet material 18 from the band 22 to form the recess 27. In other embodiments, removing the sheet material 18 from the band 22 may be performed by pushing the sheet material 18 away to form the recess 27. The movement of the sheet material 18 may be performed by pushing the sheet material 18 away from a point on the band 22 to form the recess 27 and the low density region. In such embodiments, the sheet material 18 pushed away from the recess 27 may be configured to form a reinforced region 30 around the recess in the low density region 26 of the band 22 of the sheet material 18.

[0136] The sheet material 18 may be, for example, but is not limited to, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco sheet, band cast tobacco, extruded tobacco, tobacco paper, paper, laminated paper such as aluminum foil or two different types of paper glued together, hemp, hemp, cotton, polylactic acid (also referred to as polylactide or PLA) or other specialized biodegradable sheet materials or starch-based materials, dry gel sheets containing menthol, glycerol or other flavorings, plastic sheets such as cellophane, Natureflex, cellulose acetate and HDPE, or a combination of one or more materials. The paper may be bleached, unbleached, coated or untreated and may be impregnated with specialty fibers such as lyocell fibers or specialty additives such as carbon paper. The sheet material 18 may be 100% nonwoven material such as lyocell, airlaid, cotton, rayon or biocomponent fibers.

[0137] The sheet material 18 may optionally include additives such as, but not limited to, TEC, triacetin, PEG, or TEGDA. The additive materials may be included in amounts of 5% to 15%. The sheet material 18 may include an aerosol forming material such as, but not limited to, glycerol or PG. Glycerol may be included in the range of 0.5 mg to 1 mg per 10 mm segment of the sheet material 18.

[0138] The thickness of the sheet material may be in the range of about 30-300 μm. Preferably, the paper sheet has a thickness in the range of 30-200 μm, and the sheet formed from the various tobaccos mentioned above preferably has a thickness in the range of 50-300 μm. The density of the sheet material may be in the range of about 20-250 gsm (grams per square meter). Preferably, the sheet tobacco in various forms has a density in the range of 50-250 GSM, while the dry gel sheet preferably has a density in the range of 50-200 GSM, and the paper sheet preferably has a density in the range of 20-200 GSM, more preferably 20-100 GSM. Cellophane and Natureflex may have characteristics closer to paper sheets, and PLA and HDPE may have characteristics closer to dry gel sheets. In the case of a laminate, it will be appreciated that each layer may have a thickness and density within the ranges mentioned above, but the overall thickness of the laminate may be outside the ranges described for the single layer materials.

[0139] In some embodiments, more than one type of sheet material 18 may be used to form the rod segment 16. In one exemplary embodiment, the rod segment 16 may include a first type of sheet material 18, e.g., reconstituted tobacco, and a second type of sheet material 18, e.g., a dry gel sheet including menthol. The two types of sheet materials 18 may be arranged such that the second type of sheet material 18 is located inside the first type of sheet material 18. That is, the first and second types of sheet materials 18 may be arranged coaxially, with the second type of sheet material 18 forming a core portion and the first type of sheet material 18 extending circumferentially around the core portion to form a sheath portion. Alternatively, the first and second types of sheet materials 18 may be formed such that the first type of sheet material 18 fills one semicircle of the rod segment 16 and the second type of sheet material 18 fills the other semicircle of the rod segment 16.

[0140] In some embodiments, the rod segment 16 may include a cavity 31. The cavity 31 is within the low density region 26 of the band 22 of sheet material 18. The cavity 31 may be defined by a recess 27 in the low density region. Alternatively, the cavity 31 may be defined by the inner circumferential surface 28 of the band 22 of sheet material 18.

[0141] In some embodiments, the rod segment 16 may further include an aerosol modifier 33. In this embodiment, the aerosol modifier comprises a capsule 33. The aerosol modifier capsule 33 may be disposed in a low density region 26 of the band 22 of sheet material 18. In some embodiments, the aerosol modifier capsule 33 may be disposed within a cavity 31 in a central portion of the rod segment 16. In other embodiments, the aerosol modifier capsule 33 may be disposed within a recess 27 formed in the band 22 of sheet material 18.

[0142] In other examples, the aerosol modifier may be provided in other forms, such as a material that is injected into the body of the cut sheet material 18, or may be provided on a thread, for example a thread carrying a flavorant or other aerosol modifier, which may be disposed within the body of the cut sheet material 18.

[0143] The aerosol modifier capsule 33 may include a breakable capsule, for example a capsule having a solid, frangible shell surrounding a liquid payload. A single capsule 33 may be used. The capsule 33 may be entirely surrounded by the band 22 of sheet material 18. In some embodiments, the capsule 33 may be disposed between multiple elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18. In other examples, multiple breakable capsules 33 may be disposed within low density regions 26 of the band 22 of sheet material 18. Alternatively or additionally, one or more breakable capsules 33 may be disposed between multiple elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18. In some embodiments where multiple capsules are used, the individual capsules may be identical to one another or may differ in size and / or capsule payload.

[0144] In some embodiments where the capsule 33 is located in an upstream region upstream of the aerosol-forming substrate 12, the capsule 33 and the upstream region may be inserted into a cavity of an aerosol generating device (not shown). Thus, the capsule 33 may be configured to release its contents when heat is applied to the capsule 33, i.e., the capsule may pyrolyze to release its contents.

[0145] The capsule 33 may include a core-shell structure. In other words, the capsule 33 may include a shell that encapsulates a liquid agent, such as a flavorant or other auxiliary agent, which may be any one of the flavorants or aerosol modifiers described herein. The shell of the capsule 33 may be broken by the user to release the flavorant or other auxiliary agent into the rod segment 16.

[0146] In this embodiment, capsule 33 is spherical and has a diameter in the range of 0.4 mm to 10 mm. Other shapes and sizes are possible in other embodiments. The total weight of capsule 33 may be in the range of about 10 mg to 50 mg.

[0147] The breakable core-shell structure of capsule 33 may include an encapsulating or barrier material that forms a shell around a core containing the aerosol modifier. This shell structure prevents migration of the aerosol modifier during storage of article 10 and allows for controlled release of the aerosol modifier during use.

[0148] In some instances, the encapsulating material is fragile. Thus, the capsule 33 may be crushed, broken or broken by the user to release the encapsulated aerosol modifier. Typically, the capsule 33 is broken just before heating is initiated, but the user may choose when to release the aerosol modifier. The term "breakable capsule" refers to a capsule 33 whose shell can be broken by pressure to release the core, more specifically, the shell can be burst by pressure applied by the user's finger when the user wishes to release the core of the capsule 33.

[0149] In some cases, the encapsulating material is heat resistant, i.e., in some cases, the encapsulating material does not rupture, melt or fail at temperatures reached in the capsule field during operation of the aerosol delivery device. In particular, the capsule located within the mouthpiece may be exposed to temperatures ranging from, for example, 30°C to 100°C, with the barrier material continuing to retain the liquid core up to at least about 50°C to 120°C.

[0150] In other cases, the capsules release the core composition upon heating, for example by melting the encapsulating material or by swelling of the capsule leading to rupture of the encapsulating material.

[0151] The total weight of capsule 33 may be within the range of about 1 mg to about 100 mg, preferably about 5 mg to about 60 mg, about 8 mg to about 50 mg, about 10 mg to about 20 mg, or about 12 mg to about 18 mg.

[0152] The total weight of the core formulation may be in the range of about 2 mg to about 90 mg, preferably about 3 mg to about 70 mg, about 5 mg to about 25 mg, about 8 mg to about 20 mg, or about 10 mg to about 15 mg.

[0153] The capsule 33 may include a core and a shell as described above. The capsule may exhibit a crushing strength of about 4.5N to about 40N, more preferably about 5N to about 30N or about 28N (eg, about 9.8N to about 24.5N).

[0154] The capsule 33 may be substantially spherical and may have a diameter of at least about 0.4 mm, 0.6 mm, 0.8 mm, 1.0 mm, 2.0 mm, 2.5 mm, 2.8 mm, or 3.0 mm. The capsule diameter may be less than about 10.0 mm, less than 8.0 mm, less than 7.0 mm, less than 6.0 mm, less than 5.5 mm, less than 5.0 mm, less than 4.5 mm, less than 4.0 mm, less than 3.5 mm, or less than 3.2 mm. In some cases, the capsule diameter may be in the range of about 0.4 mm to about 10.0 mm, about 0.8 mm to about 6.0 mm, about 2.5 mm to about 5.5 mm, or about 2.8 mm to about 3.2 mm. In some cases, the capsule diameter may be about 3.0 mm. These sizes are particularly suitable for incorporating the capsule 33 into the articles described herein.

[0155] The maximum cross-sectional area of ​​the capsule 33 is in some embodiments less than 28%, more preferably less than 27%, and even more preferably less than 25% of the cross-sectional area of ​​the portion of the rod segment in which the capsule 33 is provided. For example, for a spherical capsule 33 having a diameter of 3.0 mm, the maximum cross-sectional area of ​​the capsule is less than 7.07 mm 2 It is.

[0156] As can be seen from FIG. 3, the rod segment 16 may further include a tube section 35. The tube section 35 may be coaxially disposed with the remainder of the rod segment 16. The tube section 35 thus extends longitudinally through the rod segment 16. The tube section 35 is hollow and thus includes an opening 36 extending therethrough. In this embodiment, the tubular section 35 is generally cylindrical. However, it will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the tube section 35 may be a prism of any shape, such as, but not limited to, a triangular, rectangular or hexagonal prism. The tube section 35 may have a wall thickness in the range of about 0.5 mm to 1 mm, and the opening 36 may have a diameter in the range of about 1 mm to 3 mm.

[0157] In some embodiments of rod 16 including tube section 35, aerosol modifier 33 may be located between outer surface 37 of tube section 35 and band 22 of sheet material 18. That is, aerosol modifier 33 may be located in recess 27 of low density region 26 between sheet material 18 and tube section 35.

[0158] Referring now to Figure 4, there is shown a schematic side view of an apparatus 40 for producing rod segments 16 for the article 10 described above with reference to Figures 1-3. The article 10 may be part of an aerosol generating device component for use with an aerosol generating device. The apparatus 40 includes a first cutter 41, a collector 42 and a second cutter 43. The first cutter 41 is configured to longitudinally cut a web 44 of sheet material 18 to produce a plurality of elongated strips 17. The collector 42 is configured to collect the plurality of elongated strips 17 to form rods 45, each of the strips 17 extending substantially longitudinally. The second cutter 43 is configured to cut the rod 45 into segments to produce rod segments 16 as described above.

[0159] As shown in FIG. 4, the apparatus 40 may further include a spindle 47 on which the web 44 of sheet material 18 is wound to form a bobbin 48. The bobbin 48 of sheet material 18 is configured to rotate to feed the web 44 of sheet material 18 from the bobbin 48 through the apparatus 40 along a web feed direction W. In some examples, the apparatus 40 may be configured to drive the bobbin 48 to rotate. In other examples, the bobbin 48 may rotate freely, or the bobbin 48 may be rotated by the web 44 of sheet material 18 being pulled from the bobbin 48 by a component downstream of the apparatus 40, such as a roller or drive belt (not shown).

[0160] The web 44 of sheet material 18 may be, for example, but not limited to, reconstituted tobacco, tobacco sheet, band cast tobacco, extruded tobacco, tobacco paper, paper, laminated paper such as aluminum foil or two different types of paper glued together, hemp, hemp, cotton, polylactic acid (also referred to as polylactide or PLA) or other specialized biodegradable sheet materials or starch-based materials, dry gel sheets containing menthol, glycerol or other flavorings, plastic sheets such as cellophane, Natureflex, cellulose acetate and HDPE, or a combination of one or more materials. The paper may be bleached, unbleached, coated or untreated and may be impregnated with specialty fibers such as lyocell fibers or specialty additives such as carbon paper. The sheet material 18 may be 100% nonwoven material such as lyocell, airlaid, cotton, rayon or biocomponent fibers.

[0161] The web 44 of sheet material 18 may optionally include an additive such as, but not limited to, TEC, triacetin, PEG, or TEGDA. The additive may be present in an amount of 5% to 15%. The web 44 of sheet material 18 may also include an aerosol forming material such as, but not limited to, glycerol or PG. Glycerol may be present in the range of 0.5 mg to 1 mg per 10 mm segment of the web 44 of sheet material 18.

[0162] The thickness of the sheet material may be in the range of about 30-300 μm. Preferably, the paper sheet has a thickness in the range of 30-200 μm, and the sheet formed from the various tobaccos mentioned above preferably has a thickness in the range of 50-300 μm. The density of the sheet material may be in the range of about 20-250 GSM (grams per square meter). Preferably, the sheet tobacco in various forms has a density in the range of 50-250 GSM, the dry gel sheet preferably has a density in the range of 50-200 GSM, and the paper sheet preferably has a density in the range of 20-200 GSM, more preferably 20-100 GSM. Cellophane and Natureflex may have characteristics closer to paper sheets, and PLA and HDPE may have characteristics closer to dry gel sheets. In the case of a laminate, it will be appreciated that each layer may have a thickness and density within the ranges mentioned above, but the overall thickness of the laminate may be outside the ranges described for the single layer materials.

[0163] In some embodiments where the web 44 of sheet material 18 is made from, for example, reconstituted tobacco, the aerosol-forming substrate 12 and the rod segments 16 may be integrally formed from the same elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 that extend longitudinally through the article 10. That is, both the aerosol-forming substrate 12 and the rod segments 16 may be formed from the same elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18.

[0164] 4, 5 and 6, the apparatus 40 may include a sheet material removal station 51 configured to remove sheet material from the web 44 of sheet material 18 as the web 44 of sheet material 18 passes through the sheet material removal station 51. The sheet material removal station 51 is configured to form low density regions 26 in the web 44 of sheet material 18. In this embodiment, the sheet material removal station 51 is located upstream of the first cutter 41. However, it will be appreciated that in alternative embodiments the sheet material removal station 51 may be located downstream of the first cutter 41.

[0165] Sheet material removal station 51 includes a drum 52 that is configured to rotate about an axis that extends perpendicular to the web feed direction W and parallel to the width of web 44 of sheet material 18. Drum 52 may be configured to rotate about its axis B such that where drum 52 contacts web 44 of sheet material 18, drum 52 moves in the same direction as web 44 of sheet material 18. In this embodiment, drum 52 is configured to rotate in a counterclockwise direction R.

[0166] The sheet material removal station 51 also includes a sheet material removal element 53 that is configured to remove sheet material 18 from the web 44 of sheet material 18. The sheet material removal element 53 protrudes from a circumferential surface 54 of the drum 52. The sheet material removal station 51 is positioned such that the sheet material removal element 53 protrudes into the web 44 of sheet material 18 as the drum 52 rotates about its axis to remove sheet material 18 from the web 44 of sheet material 18.

[0167] In some embodiments, the sheet material removal station 51 forms the low density areas 26 in the web of sheet material 18 by cutting recesses 27 into the web of sheet material 18. In other embodiments, the sheet material removal station 51 forms the low density areas 26 by pushing the sheet material 18 away from its original position in the web of sheet material 18.

[0168] In some embodiments in which the low density regions 26 are formed by cutting sheet material 18 from the web 44 of sheet material 18, the sheet material removal element 53 includes a cutting element 55 as shown in FIG. 5. The cutting element 55 includes a cutting edge 56 configured to cut the sheet material 18 from the web 44 of sheet material 18 to form a recess 27 in the web 44 of sheet material 18. The removal of the sheet material 18 from the web 44 forms the recess 27 and reduces the density of the web 44 in the area of ​​the recess 26 forming the low density region 26 in the web 44 of sheet material 18.

[0169] The cutting element 55 may be angled or curved with respect to an axis perpendicular to a tangent at the point where the cutting element 55 extends from the circumferential surface 54 of the drum 52. In another embodiment, the cutting element 55 may include angled or curved sections (not shown) instead of angled the entire cutting element 55.

[0170] In some embodiments, cutting element 55 may be configured to cut a hole (not shown) through the thickness of web 44 of sheet material 18. Sheet material removal station 51 may include anvil roller 57, shown in Figure 4, and particularly in Figures 5 and 6. Anvil roller 57 may be configured to face drum 52 supporting sheet material removal element 53 to provide a surface against which sheet material removal element 53 can operate to remove material from sheet material 18.

[0171] In some embodiments where low density regions 26 are formed by displacing sheet material 18 from its original position on web 44 of sheet material, sheet material removal element 53 may include protrusions 59 as shown in FIG. 6. Protrusions 59 may be shaped to displace sheet material 18 from its original position on web 44 by pushing or pulling the material from its original position. In this embodiment, protrusions 59 are shown as being approximately hemispherical. However, in alternative embodiments, protrusions 59 may be any other shape.

[0172] The sheet material removal element 53 may include a plurality of cutting elements 55. The plurality of cutting elements 55 of the sheet material removal element 53 are generally spaced apart along the longitudinal axis of the drum 52. In the illustrated embodiment, the plurality of cutting elements 55 are aligned parallel to the axis B of the drum 52. Thus, the sheet material removal station 51 may cut recesses 27 into the web 44 of sheet material 18 across the width of the sheet material 18, i.e., the dimension of the web 44 of sheet material 18 perpendicular to the feed direction W of the web. However, it will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the plurality of cutting elements 55 of the sheet material removal element 53 may be spaced apart longitudinally and circumferentially to form, for example and without limitation, a "zig-zag" pattern.

[0173] 5 and 6, the sheet material removal station 51 may include a plurality of sheet material removal elements 53. Preferably, the plurality of sheet material removal elements 53 are equally spaced around the circumferential surface 54 of the drum 52. Thus, the sheet material removal station 51 can cut equally spaced recesses 27 in the web 44 of sheet material 18 and form equally spaced low density regions 26 in the web 44 of sheet material 18.

[0174] 7a-f, alternative embodiments of a web 44 of sheet material 18 having recesses 27 formed therein to form low density regions 26 are shown. FIG. 7a shows a single, generally elliptical recess 27 in a web 44 of sheet material 18 forming low density regions 26 spaced a predetermined distance from adjacent low density regions 26. FIG. 7b shows a single rectangular recess 27 in a web 44 of sheet material 18 forming low density regions 26 spaced a predetermined distance from adjacent low density regions 26. FIG. 7c shows two square recesses 27 in a web 44 of sheet material 18 forming low density regions 26 spaced a predetermined distance from adjacent low density regions 26. FIG. 7d shows two sets of triangular recesses 27 in a web 44 of sheet material 18 forming low density regions 26 spaced a predetermined distance from adjacent low density regions 26. Figure 7e shows four circular recesses 27 with reinforced areas 30 in a web 44 of sheet material 18 forming low density areas 26 spaced a predetermined distance from adjacent low density areas 26. Figure 7f shows six square recesses 27 in a web 44 of sheet material 18 forming low density areas 26 spaced a predetermined distance from adjacent low density areas 26.

[0175] 8, there is shown a schematic view of the front of the first cutter 41. The first cutter 41 is positioned to longitudinally cut the web 44 into a plurality of elongated strips 17 of the sheet material 18. The first cutter 41 includes a first row of cutters 61. The first cutter 41 may also include a second row of cutters 62, which is shown in FIG. 8 and described below.

[0176] The first cutter row 61 includes cutting elements 63 configured to cut longitudinal slits in the web 44 of sheet material 18. The cutting elements 63 are configured to cut longitudinal slits of discrete length in the web 44 of sheet material 18. In this embodiment, the first cutter row 61 includes a plurality of cutting elements 63 in the first cutter row 61. The cutting elements 63 are mounted on a shaft 64 that rotates each of the cutting elements 63 at the same angular velocity. The shaft 64 extends in a plane extending transversely to and parallel to the web feed direction W across the width of the web 44 of sheet material 18.

[0177] The first cutter 41 is adjustable to either cut the web of sheet material 18 or not cut the web of sheet material 18 as it passes through the first cutter 41. That is, the cutting elements 63 of the first cutter row 61 are configured so that they cut only a predetermined length of the web of sheet material 18. Referring generally to FIG. 9 , each cutting element 63 includes a generally circular cutting disk 65. The cutting disk 65 includes a cutting edge 66 that extends around an outer edge of the generally circular cutting disk 65. Thus, the cutting edge 66 is arcuate. The cutting element 63 includes a notched section 67. Thus, the arcuate cutting edge 66 includes a gap 68. The gap 68 of the arcuate cutting edge 66 is configured to not cut the web of sheet material 18 as it passes through the first cutter row 61.

[0178] In this embodiment, the cutout section 67 is shown as having a sector of the cutting disc 65 removed, however, it will be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, the cutout section 67 may be a different shape, such as, but not limited to, an arcuate, triangular, or semicircular shape.

[0179] The gaps 68 of the cutting elements 63 are adapted to leave a section of the web 44 of sheet material 18 uncut to form a band 22 transverse to the longitudinal direction of the slit and the feed direction W of the web 44 of sheet material 18 across the width of the web 44 of sheet material 18. In some embodiments, the gaps 68 of each of the cutting elements 63 of the first cutter row 61 are aligned so that they rotate in unison and occupy the same angular position at the same time. Thus, the cutting elements 63 of the first cutter row 61 rotate at the same rotational speed. Preferably, the tangential speed of the cutting edges 66 of the cutting elements 63 is the same as the feed speed of the web. This results in the formation of a band 22 of uncut sheet material extending transverse to the feed direction W of the web.

[0180] The rotation of the first cutter row 61 is synchronized with the rotation of the drum 52 of the sheet material removal station 51. Additionally, the distance between the first cutter 41 and the sheet material removal station 51 is predetermined such that the gap 68 of the cut edge 66 faces the web 44 of sheet material 18 as the low density region 26 of the web 44 of sheet material 18 passes through the first cutter 41.

[0181] In another embodiment, in which the multiple cutting elements 55 of the sheet material removal element 53 are offset circumferentially on the drum 52 of the sheet material removal station 51 such that the low density regions 26 of the web 44 of sheet material 18 form a zigzag pattern or bands 22 extending at an angle relative to the feed direction W of the web, the gaps 68 of the cutting elements 63 of the first cutter row 61 are offset at an angle such that each gap 68 of each cutting element 63 faces toward the web 44 of sheet material 18 when the low density regions 26 pass through the first cutter row 61 of the first cutter 41.

[0182] 12, it can be seen that as a result of the gaps 68 in the cutting elements 63 of the first cutter 41, longitudinal slits are not cut into the web of sheet material 18 44 at the low density regions 26 formed by the sheet material removal station 51 to form bands 22 of sheet material 18. Thus, the bands 22 of sheet material 18 form interruptions in the elongated strips 17 which help to maintain the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 parallel to one another. Furthermore, if one of the elongated strips of sheet material 18 is cut or torn, the entire strip 17 is not removed from the production process.

[0183] That is, when a strip 17 breaks, without the band 22 of sheet material 18, that long strip 17 of sheet material 18 would normally not be pulled through the remainder of the apparatus 40. However, in the present invention, if a strip 17 breaks between adjacent bands 22 of sheet material 18, the remaining long strips 17 between the same two bands 22 of sheet material 18 are still whole and intact and can pull the downstream bands 22 of sheet material 18 through the apparatus 40. Although the broken strip 17 is no longer pulled through the apparatus 40, the corresponding long strip 17 downstream of the downstream band 22 can be pulled through the apparatus 40 by the downstream band 22. Thus, the broken long strip 17 of sheet material 18 does not result in a complete loss of the strip 17 from the cut web 44 of sheet material 18.

[0184] 8, the first cutter 41 includes a second cutter row 62. The second cutter row 62 is substantially similar to the first cutter row 61 described above, and therefore will not be described in detail here. The second cutter row 62 includes at least one cutting element 73 that is configured to cut a longitudinally extending slit of a discrete length into the web 44 of sheet material 18. The cutting elements 73 of the second cutter row are mounted on a shaft 74 that rotates each of the cutting elements 73 at the same angular velocity.

[0185] The cutting elements 73 of the second cutter row are configured to cut only a predetermined length of the web 44 of sheet material 18. The cutting elements 73 may include a generally circular cutting disk 75 and may have an arcuate cutting edge 76 and a notched section 77 that provides a gap 78 in the cutting edge 76.

[0186] The gaps 78 between the cutting elements 73 are such that a section of the web 44 of sheet material 18 remains uncut to form a band 22 extending across the width of the web 44 of sheet material 18. The gaps 78 between each of the cutting elements 73 in the second cutter row 62 are aligned so that they rotate in unison and occupy the same angular position simultaneously. In another embodiment, the gaps 78 between each of the cutting elements 73 in the second cutter row 62 may be angularly offset.

[0187] In either case, the cut out sections 77 and gaps 78 of the second cutter row 62 may be configured to face the cut out sections 67 and gaps 68 of the first cutter row 61 when the cut out sections 67, 77 and gaps 68, 78 face the web 44 of sheet material 18. Thus, bands 22 of sheet material 18 including low density regions 26 can be formed in the web 44 of sheet material 18 by the first cutter 41.

[0188] 8, the first cutter row 61 is located on a first side 81 of the transport path of the web of sheet material 44 and the second cutter row 62 is located on a second side 82 of the transport path of the web of sheet material 44. The first and second cutter rows 61, 62 may be arranged vertically.

[0189] The plurality of cutting elements 63 in the first cutter row 61 are equally spaced apart along the axis 64. The plurality of cutting elements 73 in the second cutter row 62 are equally spaced apart along the axis 74. Furthermore, the cutting elements 63, 73 in the first and second cutter rows 61, 62 are positioned such that a shearing action between adjacent cutting elements 63 in the first and second cutter rows 61, 62 forms a slit in the web 44 of sheet material 18.

[0190] That is, the cutting elements 63, 73 of the first and second cutter rows 61, 62 may be positioned along their corresponding axes 64, 74 such that the cutting elements 63, 73 from the first and second cutter rows 61, 62 are staggered across the width of the web 44 of sheet material 18. In other words, the cutting elements 73 of the second cutter row are located between adjacent cutting elements 63 of the first cutter row 61 and the cutting elements 63 of the first cutter row 61 are located between adjacent cutting elements 73 of the second cutter row 62.

[0191] In this embodiment, the multiple cutting elements 63, 73 of the first and second cutter rows 61, 62 are equally spaced from each other. That is, adjacent cutting elements 63 of the first cutter row 61 are equally spaced, and adjacent cutting elements 73 of the second cutter row 62 are equally spaced. Furthermore, the cutting elements 63 of the first cutter row 61 are equally spaced from the cutting elements 73 of the second cutter row 62. That is, the distance between adjacent cutting elements may be the same.

[0192] The cutting elements 63, 73 of the same cutter row 61, 62 may be spaced from each other a distance D substantially in the range of 1 mm to 4 mm. The cutting elements 63 of the first cutter row 61 may be spaced from the cutting elements 73 of the second cutter row 62 a distance d substantially in the range of 0.05 mm to 1 mm.

[0193] As described above, the plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 are formed by the shear cutting action. The width of the plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 is determined by the width of the cutting elements 63, 73 of the cutter rows 61, 62. That is, the cutting edges of the cutting elements 63, 73 of the cutter rows 61, 62 are positioned adjacent to one another to effect the shear cut. Thus, each cutting element 63, 73 has two cutting edges, one on each edge adjacent to the adjacent cutting element 63, 73 of the opposing row 61, 62.

[0194] A single cutting element 63, 73 therefore cuts the web of sheet material twice by making two shear cuts at the cutting edges of two separate cutting elements 63, 73 in opposing rows 61, 62. The distance between the cutting edges of a single cutting element 63, 73 therefore determines the cut width of the strip 17.

[0195] Referring now to Figure 10, there is shown a schematic front view of another embodiment of a first cutter 84. The embodiment of the first cutter 84 shown in Figure 10 is substantially similar to the first cutter 41 shown in Figure 8, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted here. Furthermore, similar features and parts use the same terminology and reference numbers.

[0196] The first cutter 84 shown in Figure 10 differs from the first cutter 41 shown in Figure 8 in that the distances between adjacent cutting elements 63, 73 are not all the same. In contrast, the first cutter 41 includes a first set of cutting elements 85 and a second set of cutting elements 86. The first set of cutting elements 85 are spaced apart a first distance d1. The second set of cutting elements 86 are spaced apart a second distance d2. The first distance d1 between adjacent cutting elements 63, 73 of the first set of cutting elements 85 is different from the second distance d2 between adjacent cutting elements 63, 73 of the second set of cutting elements 86. This is achieved by using disks 65, 75 of different widths.

[0197] That is, the plurality of cutting elements 63, 73 are disposed along the axis 64, 74 with different distances between elements across the width of the web 44 of sheet material 18 due to the different widths of the cutting elements 85, 86 of the sets. As shown in FIG. 10, the first set of cutting elements 85 may include a plurality of cutting elements 63 from the first cutting row 61 and a plurality of cutting elements 73 from the second cutting row 62. The second set of cutting elements 86 may also include a plurality of cutting elements 63 from the first cutting row 61 and a plurality of cutting elements 73 from the second cutting row 62. The first set of cutting elements 85 may have a first width and the second set of cutting elements 86 may have a second width that is different from the first width. However, it will be appreciated that in some embodiments, there may only be one cutter row.

[0198] The different sets of cutting elements 85, 86 allow the web of sheet material 18 to be cut into multiple elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 having different widths. This may be useful in forming the cut web of sheet material 18 44 into rods 45 or in inserting the aerosol modifying agent 33 into the rods 45. Of course, there may be more than two sets of cutting elements, and if there are more than two sets of cutting elements, two of the cutting elements in the sets may be spaced the same distance apart.

[0199] The web 44 of sheet material 18 can be cut to different widths such that the web 44 has elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 of different widths across its width. Alternatively or additionally, the web 44 of sheet material 18 can be fed to different sides of the first cutter 41, i.e., through either the first set of cutting elements 85 or the second set of cutting elements 86.

[0200] Referring now to Figure 11, there is shown a schematic front view of another embodiment of a first cutter 88. The embodiment of the first cutter 88 shown in Figure 11 is substantially similar to the first cutter 41 shown in Figure 8, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted here. Furthermore, similar features and parts use the same terminology and reference numbers.

[0201] The first cutter 88 shown in FIG. 11 differs from the first cutter 41 shown in FIG. 8 in that the distance between adjacent cutting elements 63, 73 of the first and second cutter rows 61, 62 is different. In this embodiment, the cutting elements 63, 73 are arranged in several pairs 89. Each pair 89 includes a cutting element 63 from the first cutter row 61 and a cutting element 73 from the second cutter row 62. The cutting elements 63, 73 of a pair are positioned such that they are closer than their adjacent cutting elements 63, 73 are adjacent. Thus, the cutting elements 63, 73 of one pair 89 are spaced a relatively short distance d3 apart when compared to the space between the cutting elements 63, 73 of the pair, and adjacent pairs 89 are spaced a relatively long distance d4 apart from each other.

[0202] Additionally, the first cutter 41 may be adjustable to adjust the distance between the cutting elements 63, 73 to adjust the number and / or width of the elongated strips cut from the web 44 of sheet material 18. In some embodiments, the first cutter 41 may be adjustable by repositioning the individual cutting elements 63, 73 along their axes 64, 74 and / or adding and / or removing cutting elements 63, 73 from the axes 64, 74.

[0203] 12a-c, schematic top views of cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 having low density regions 26 are shown for each of the above embodiments. Fig. 12a shows a cut web 44 of sheet material 18 in which a plurality of elongated strips 17a of sheet material 18 are all the same width. Fig. 12b shows a cut web 44 of sheet material 18 in which there are two pairs of elongated strips 17b, 17c of sheet material 18 having two different widths. Fig. 12c shows a cut web 44 of sheet material 18 in which there are pairs of strips 17d, 17e of different widths.

[0204] In some embodiments, the first cutter 41 may be configured to crimp the web 44 of sheet material 18. In either case, the apparatus 40 may be configured to crimp the web 44 of sheet material 18 such that each of the multiple elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 has a crimped section 19.

[0205] In some embodiments, a crimping station (not shown) is upstream of the first cutter 41 and the sheet material removal station 51 such that the crimping station crimps the web 44 of sheet material 18. In other embodiments, the crimping station is upstream of the first cutter 41 but downstream of the sheet material removal station 51 such that the crimping station crimps the web 44 of sheet material 18 having low density regions 26. In yet another embodiment, the crimping station is downstream of the first cutter 41 such that the crimping station crimps a plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18.

[0206] Referring again to FIG. 4, a schematic side view of the collector 42 is shown. The collector 42 is configured to collect the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 to form a rod 45. In this embodiment, the collector 42 is a funnel 91. The funnel 91 includes a funnel portion 92 and a stem portion 93. The funnel portion 92 and the stem portion 93 are circular in cross section and are coaxial. The funnel 91 is symmetrical about its axis. The funnel portion 92 narrows from a relatively wide mouth 94 to a relatively narrow stem portion 93. The cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 move from the funnel portion 92 through the funnel 91 to the stem portion 93. As the cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 move through the funnel 91, the narrowing diameter of the funnel portion 92 collects the elongated strips 17 of sheet material and the bands 22 of sheet material 18 to form a rod 45.

[0207] The funnel 91 is aligned with and centrally located over the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18. The funnel 91 thus collects each of the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 and the bands 22 of sheet material 18 substantially laterally to form rods 45. Specifically, the funnel 91 collects each of the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 toward an axis that is centrally located over the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18. The funnel 91 thus aligned with the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 causes the sheet material 18 to be collected uniformly and centrally in the funnel 91.

[0208] The funnel 91 is aligned and centrally located with the web 44 of sheet material 18. Specifically, the axis along which the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 are collected by the funnel 91 is in a first plane that includes the feed direction W of the web and is perpendicular to a second plane defined by the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 before they are collected. This alignment helps ensure uniform tension across the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 as they are collected by the funnel 91.

[0209] The funnel 91 exerts a substantially lateral force on the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 as they pass through the funnel 91, the lateral force being directed substantially toward the center of the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18. The elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 do not spiral as they are collected, but rather remain substantially straight or parallel to one another as they pass through the funnel 91.

[0210] In some embodiments, the collector 42 may be formed by a tray (not shown) that is narrower at one end than the other, and thus the collector 42 may have a rectangular or triangular shape rather than the cone / funnel shaped collector 42 described above.

[0211] In this embodiment, the collector 42 is configured to collect the cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 substantially laterally to form rods 45. In some embodiments, the collector 42 may collect the cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 such that the webs 44 of sheet material 18 extend circumferentially around the rods 45. That is, the collector 42 may be configured to collect the cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 to form rods 45 that include a central cavity 31. The cavity 31 is best defined in the low density region 26 of the cut webs 44 of sheet material 18.

[0212] 13, a perspective view of collector 42 is shown. As cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 move further through funnel portion 92 of collector 42, webs 44 of sheet material 18 move generally circumferentially around inner surface 95 of funnel 92 to form rods 45. Bands 22 of sheet material 18 help provide additional stiffness to cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 to help accommodate the movement of webs 44 as they form rods 45.

[0213] The collector 42 is configured to bend the cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 to form rods 45 of sheet material 18. The collector 42 may be in a variety of shapes to achieve different configurations of bending of the webs 44 of sheet material 18. That is, while the collector 42 shown in FIG. 13 is cone-shaped, the collector 42 may be in other configurations such as, for example and without limitation, a tray (not shown). The tray may have a flat lower surface and a narrow end through which the cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 pass to form the rods 45.

[0214] In some embodiments, the inner surface of the collector 42 may have a contour that helps the cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 form a desired pattern, such as, but not limited to, random bends, zigzag bends, wavy bends, etc. In some embodiments, the collector 42 may include a guide (not shown) in front of the inner surface 95 of the collector 42 and / or the opening to the collector 42 to help the cut webs 44 of sheet material 18 form a desired configuration and / or pattern. An advantage of using a guide is that the gaps between the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 facilitate insertion of the capsules 33, as described in more detail below.

[0215] In some embodiments, the apparatus 40 further includes a tube feed 96, shown generally in dashed lines in Figure 4. The tube feed 96 is configured to feed a tube 97, shown in dashed lines in Figure 13, to the center of the collector 42. In such embodiments, the collector 42 is configured to collect the cut web 44 of sheet material 18 around the tube 97 to form a rod 45. Preferably, the tube 97 is hollow and extends longitudinally down the center of the rod 45.

[0216] Additionally, in some embodiments, the apparatus 40 is configured to combine a first cut web 44 of sheet material 18 and a second cut web of sheet material (not shown). For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the first cut web 44 of sheet material 18 is fed into the lower half 98 of the collector 42 and the second cut web of sheet material is fed into the upper half 99 of the collector 42. The rod 45 may be formed by two cut webs, each forming one half of the roller 45, or the two cut webs may be interwoven. If the two sheet materials are interwoven, the two types of sheet material may be combined prior to the cutting and / or crimping operations performed by the first cutter 41 and / or the crimping station. In some embodiments, the aerosol modifying agent 33 may be added to the cut web or webs of sheet material before the one or more cut webs of sheet material enter the collector.

[0217] In some embodiments, the two types of sheet material 18 may be arranged such that the second type of sheet material 18 is located inside the first type of sheet material 18. That is, the first and second types of sheet material 18 may be arranged coaxially, with the second type of sheet material 18 forming a core portion and the first type of sheet material 18 extending circumferentially around the core portion to form a sheath portion. Alternatively, the first and second types of sheet material 18 may be formed such that the first type of sheet material 18 fills one semicircle of the rod segment 16 and the second type of sheet material 18 fills the other semicircle of the rod segment 16.

[0218] 4, the apparatus 40 further includes an aerosol modifier inserter 100. The aerosol modifier inserter 100 is located downstream of the collector 42. The aerosol modifier inserter 100 is configured to insert an aerosol modifier capsule 33 into the low density region 26 of the rod 45 of sheet material 18.

[0219] The aerosol modifying agent inserter 100 includes a cavity preparer 101. The cavity preparer 101 includes a roller 102 configured to rotate about a central axis E. The roller 102 includes a protrusion 103 extending from a circumferential surface 104 of the roller 102. The protrusion 103 extends radially from the circumferential surface 104 of the roller 102. The protrusion 103 is configured to extend into the rod of sheet material 18 upon rotation and contact with the rod of sheet material 18 to form an opening 105 in the rod of sheet material 18, shown by the wavy line in FIG.

[0220] The cavity preparer 101 may include a plurality of protrusions 103, preferably evenly spaced around the circumferential surface 104 of the roller 102. The cavity preparer 101 may be synchronized with the first cutter 41 such that the protrusions 103 are always forming openings 105 in the low density region 26 of the rod 45 of sheet material 18.

[0221] 4 and 15, the aerosol modifier inserter 100 may further include a capsule inserter 107 configured to insert an aerosol modifier capsule 33 into a cavity 31 in the low density region 26 of the band 22 of the rod 45 of sheet material 18. The capsule inserter 107 may be synchronized with the first cutter 41 such that the capsule 33 is always inserted into the low density region 26 of the band 22 of the rod 45 of sheet material 18.

[0222] In other embodiments, the capsule inserter 107 may also or alternatively insert the capsules 33 between multiple elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 .

[0223] 15, the capsule inserter 107 includes a drum 108 configured to rotate about a central axis F. The capsule inserter 107 may further include at least one pocket 109 configured to hold the capsule 33 until it is placed in the opening 105 formed by the cavity preparer 101. The pocket 109 may hold the capsule 33 in the pocket 109 via suction means (not shown).

[0224] The apparatus 40 may further include a controller (not shown) configured to synchronize the operation of the first cutter 41, the aerosol modifying agent inserter 100, and the second cutter 43.

[0225] 4, the apparatus 40 may further include a wrapper 111 configured to wrap the rod 45 of sheet material 18 in a wrapper (not shown). The wrapper 111 may wrap a continuous sheet of wrapping material around the circumference of the continuous rod 45 of sheet material 18 and may apply an adhesive to the wrapping material to seal it in place around the rod 45 of sheet material 18.

[0226] 16, there is shown an example of the steps that a web 44 of sheet material 18 may undergo in the apparatus 40 shown in FIG. 4 to form rod segments 16 for article 10. The method of forming rod segments 16 for a mouthpiece for an aerosol generating device component 1 includes a step (Step I) of longitudinally cutting the web 44 of sheet material 18 to produce a plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18. This step is performed by a first cutter 41.

[0227] The method of the present invention further comprises the steps of collecting a plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 to form a rod 45 of sheet material 18, each of the elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18 extending substantially longitudinally (step II), and cutting the rod 45 of sheet material 18 into segments to produce rod segments 16 for the mouthpiece of the aerosol generating device part 1 (step III). Step B is performed in a collector 42 and step C is performed with a second cutter 43.

[0228] The method of the present invention may further include cutting discrete lengths of longitudinally extending slits in web 44 of sheet material 18. Thus, the method of the present invention may also include not cutting discrete lengths of web 44 of sheet material 18 to form bands 22 of sheet material 18 across web 44. This is accomplished with first cutter 41 in step I.

[0229] The method of the present invention may further include the step of forming low density regions 26 in web of sheet material 44 by removing sheet material 18 from web of sheet material 18 (step IV). In this embodiment, step IV is performed before step I; that is, low density regions 26 are formed in web of sheet material 18 before web 44 is slit into a plurality of elongated strips 17 of sheet material 18. In another embodiment, step IV is performed after step I and before step II.

[0230] The low density regions 26 are formed in the web of sheet material 18 by cutting recesses 27 into the web of sheet material 18. The low density regions 26 are formed in the web of sheet material 18 at locations that will become bands 22 of sheet material 18. In some embodiments, the low density regions 26 are formed in the web of sheet material 18 by pressing areas of the web of sheet material 18 away from the sheet material. In some methods, this forms reinforced regions 30 around the edges of the low density regions 26.

[0231] The method may further include inserting a tube into a collector 42 and collecting the cut webs of sheet material 44 around the tube to form rods 45 of sheet material 18. This step may be referred to as step II.

[0232] The method of the present invention may further include the step of inserting an aerosol modifying agent 33 into the rod 45 of sheet material 18 (step V). The aerosol modifying agent capsules 33 may be inserted into the low density regions 26 of the bands 22 of the rod 45 of sheet material 18. In this embodiment, inserting the aerosol modifying agent into the rod 45 of sheet material 18 occurs after step II of collecting the web 44 of sheet material 18. However, in other embodiments, step V may occur after step II.

[0233] The method of the present invention may further include the step of forming an opening 105 in the rod 45 of sheet material 18 for an aerosol modifying agent to be inserted (Step VI). This step is performed before the capsules 33 are inserted, i.e., before Step VI is performed before Step V.

[0234] The various embodiments described herein are provided merely to aid in understanding and teaching of the claimed features. These embodiments are merely representative examples and are not exhaustive or exclusive. It should be understood that the advantages, embodiments, examples, functions, features, structures, and / or other aspects of the present disclosure should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure to the claims as set forth herein or to the equivalents of the claims, and that other embodiments may be utilized or modified without departing from the scope and / or spirit of the present disclosure. Various embodiments may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of the disclosed elements, components, features, parts, steps, means, or other combinations. The present disclosure also includes other inventions that are not currently claimed but may be claimed in the future.

Claims

1. an aerosol-generating substrate; and a region longitudinally disposed relative to the aerosol-generating substrate, the region including a rod segment formed from a plurality of elongated strips of sheet material extending longitudinally through the rod segment; The rod segment further includes a band of sheet material having a plurality of elongate strips extending therefrom; The article, wherein the band of sheet material extends substantially transversely to the plurality of elongated strips of sheet material.

2. 2. The article of claim 1, wherein a plurality of elongated strips of sheet material extend substantially parallel to one another.

3. 3. The article of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of elongated strips of sheet material is substantially straight.

4. 4. The article of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein each of the plurality of elongate strips includes a crimped section.

5. 5. The article of claim 4, wherein the crimped section of one of the plurality of elongate strips is longitudinally offset from the crimped section of an adjacent elongate strip.

6. 2. The article of claim 1, wherein the band of sheet material extends substantially transversely of the rod segment.

7. 2. The article of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of elongate strips extend longitudinally of the rod segments downstream of the band of sheet material.

8. 8. An article as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a second plurality of elongate strips extend longitudinally of the rod segments upstream of the band of sheet material.

9. 9. An article according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the band of sheet material includes a low density region.

10. 10. The article of claim 9, wherein the low density areas comprise depressions formed by removing sheet material.

11. 11. The article of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the rod segment includes a cavity defined by a low density region of the band of sheet material.

12. 12. The article of any one of claims 1-11, wherein the rod segment further comprises an aerosol modifier capsule.

13. 13. An article according to claim 12 when dependent on any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the aerosol modifier capsules are located in low density areas of the band of sheet material.

14. 14. An article according to claim 12 or 13 when dependent on claim 11, wherein the capsule is contained within a cavity formed by a low density area of ​​the band of sheet material.

15. 15. The article of any one of claims 1-14, wherein the rod segment further comprises a tube, the rod segment formed from a plurality of elongated strips of sheet material at least partially surrounding the tube.

16. Each of the plurality of elongated strips of sheet material is substantially in the range of 0.25 mm to 2 mm.

16. The article of any one of claims 1 to 15, having a width within a range.

17. 17. The article of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of elongated strips of sheet material has substantially the same width.

18. 17. The article of claim 16, wherein the plurality of elongated strips of sheet material includes a first set of elongated strips having substantially the same first width and a second set of elongated strips having substantially the same second width.

19. 19. The article of any one of claims 1-18, wherein the rod segment is formed from a first plurality of elongated strips of a first sheet material and a second plurality of elongated strips of a second sheet material.

20. 20. The article of claim 19, wherein the substrate forming the first sheet material is different from the substrate forming the second sheet material.

21. 21. The article of any one of claims 1 to 20, wherein the sheet material is at least partially formed from at least one of paper, reconstituted tobacco material, tobacco sheet, band cast tobacco, extruded tobacco, tobacco paper, cannabis, hemp, cotton, polylactic acid, and / or dry gel sheet.

22. The article of any one of claims 1 to 21, wherein the sheet material has a thickness in the range of about 30 to 300 µm.

23. 23. The article of any one of claims 1 to 22, wherein the density of the sheet material is in the range of about 20 to 250 grams per square meter.

24. 24. An article according to any one of claims 1 to 23, wherein the region located longitudinally relative to the aerosol-generating substrate is a downstream region downstream of the aerosol-generating substrate.

25. 24. An article according to any one of claims 1 to 23, wherein the region located longitudinally relative to the aerosol-generating substrate is an upstream region upstream of the aerosol-generating substrate.

26. 26. The article of claim 1, wherein the aerosol-generating substrate and the rod segments are integrally formed from the same elongated strips of sheet material extending longitudinally through the article such that the elongated strips form both the rod segments and the aerosol-generating substrate.

27. 27. The article of any one of claims 1 to 26, wherein the aerosol-generating substrate comprises tobacco material.

28. 28. The article of any one of claims 1 to 27, wherein the aerosol-generating substrate comprises an aerosol-forming material.

29. 30. The article of claim 28, wherein the aerosol forming material comprises one or more of glycerin, glycerol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, 1,3-butylene glycol, erythritol, mesoerythritol, ethyl vanillate, ethyl laurate, diethyl suberate, triethyl citrate, triacetin, diacetin mixtures, benzyl benzoate, benzyl phenylacetate, tributyrin, lauryl acetate, lauric acid, myristic acid, and propylene carbonate.

30. A segment made of a sheet material for a rod segment of an aerosol-forming substrate portion of an aerosol generating device part, the segment made of the sheet material comprising: a segment comprising a web of discrete lengths of sheet material; and a band made of a sheet material, The sheet material segment includes a plurality of elongated strips extending in a longitudinal direction; The band extends transversely to a plurality of elongated strips, the plurality of elongated strips extending from the band of sheet material.

31. 31. The sheet material segment of claim 30, wherein the band of sheet material includes a region of reduced density formed by removing sheet material from the band of sheet material.

32. 32. The sheet material segment of claim 31, wherein the low density areas are formed by recesses cut into the thickness of the band of sheet material.

33. 33. A sheet material segment as claimed in any one of claims 30 to 32, wherein the first set of elongated strips extend longitudinally downstream of the band of sheet material.

34. 34. A sheet material segment as claimed in any one of claims 30 to 33, wherein a second set of a plurality of elongate strips extend longitudinally upstream of the band of sheet material.

35. 35. A sheet material segment according to any one of claims 30 to 34, characterized in that the sheet material is at least partially formed from at least one of paper, reconstituted tobacco material, tobacco sheet, band cast tobacco, extruded tobacco, tobacco paper, cannabis, hemp, cotton, polylactic acid and / or dry gel sheet.

36. A sheet material segment according to any one of claims 30 to 35, characterized in that the thickness of the sheet material is in the range of about 30 to 300 µm.

37. 37. The sheet material segment of any one of claims 30 to 36, wherein the density of the sheet material is in the range of about 20 to 250 grams per square meter.

38. 1. An apparatus for manufacturing rod segments of articles for aerosol generating device components, the apparatus comprising: a first cutter configured to longitudinally cut the sheet material into a plurality of elongated strips; a collector configured to collect the plurality of elongate strips, each of the strips forming a substantially longitudinally extending rod; a second cutter configured to cut the rod into segments to produce rod segments; the first cutter includes a first cutter row including a plurality of cutting elements configured to cut longitudinal slits into the individual lengths of sheet material; each cutting element includes an arcuate cutting edge extending around an outer periphery of the substantially circular cutting disk, each cutting edge including an arcuate gap, the arcuate gaps of each cutting element being aligned and configured to rotate at the same rotational speed; the arcuate gaps do not cut through the sheet material and are configured to form bands of sheet material extending substantially transversely to the plurality of elongated strips of sheet material; Device.

39. 40. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein a first cutter is adjustable to either cut the sheet material to produce said plurality of elongated strips or not cut the sheet material.

40. 40. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the first cutter further comprises a second cutter row, the second cutter row including at least one cutting element, the first cutter row being located substantially on a first side of the sheet material transport path and the second cutter row being located substantially on an opposing second side of the sheet material transport path.

41. 41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the plurality of cutting elements of the first and second cutter rows are positioned such that a cut is formed in the web of sheet material by a shearing action between adjacent cutting elements of the first and second cutter rows.

42. 42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein a width of the plurality of elongated strips is determined by a width of cutting elements of the first and second cutter rows.

43. 43. An apparatus according to any one of claims 38 to 42, further comprising a sheet material removal station configured to remove sheet material from the sheet material at predetermined intervals to form areas of low density in the sheet material.

44. 44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the sheet material removal station is located upstream of the first cutter.

45. 45. Apparatus according to claim 43 or 44, wherein the sheet material removal station removes the sheet material by cutting a recess in the sheet material.

46. 45. Apparatus according to claim 43 or 44, wherein the sheet material removal station removes the sheet material by pushing material away from the low density areas.

47. 47. Apparatus according to any one of claims 43 to 46, wherein the band of sheet material corresponds to an area of ​​low density formed in the sheet material by the sheet material removal station.

48. 43. Apparatus according to claim 41 or 42, characterized in that the distance between the cutting elements of at least one of the first or second cutter rows is substantially within the range of 0.5mm to 4mm.

49. 49. The apparatus of claim 41, 42 or 48, wherein a distance between at least one of the cutting elements of the first cutter row and at least one of the cutting elements of the second cutter row is substantially within the range of 0.05 mm to 1 mm.

50. 50. An apparatus according to any one of claims 41 to 49, wherein the distance between each adjacent cutting element is the same.

51. 50. The apparatus of claim 49, wherein the first cutter may include a first plurality of cutting elements and a second plurality of cutting elements, each of the first cutting elements being spaced a first distance apart and each of the second cutting elements being spaced a second distance apart.

52. 50. The apparatus of claim 48 or 49, wherein the cutting elements are arranged in pairs including a cutting element from a first cutter row and a cutting element from a second cutter row, the cutting elements of a pair being spaced a short distance apart and adjacent pairs being spaced a long distance apart relative to the short distance between the cutting elements of the pair.

53. 53. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 38 to 52, wherein the first cutter may include a plurality of cutting elements, the first cutter being adjustable to adjust the distance between the cutting elements to adjust the number and / or width of the elongated strips cut from the sheet material.

54. 54. Apparatus according to any one of claims 38 to 53, wherein the first cutter is configured to crimp the cut sheet material.

55. 54. The apparatus of any one of claims 38 to 53, further comprising a crimping station.

56. 56. Apparatus according to claim 54 or 55, configured to crimp a plurality of elongated strips of sheet material so that the wrinkles of adjacent elongated strips are longitudinally offset from one another.

57. 57. Apparatus according to any one of claims 38 to 56, configured to feed sheet material to a first cutter in a web feed direction, the first cutter configured to cut the sheet material parallel to the sheet feed direction.

58. 58. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein the collector is configured to collect the cut sheet material towards an axis located in a first plane, the first plane including the feed direction and perpendicular to a second plane defined by the cut sheet material before the cut sheet material is collected.

59. 60. The apparatus of claim 58, wherein the axis is located at the center of the cut sheet material.

60. 60. Apparatus according to any one of claims 38 to 59, wherein the collector is configured to collect the web of cut sheet material substantially laterally / circumferentially to form a rod.

61. 61. An apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 58 to 60, wherein the collector is configured to collect the sheet material to form a rod of cut sheet material including a central cavity in a low density region of the web of cut sheet material.

62. 61. The apparatus of any one of claims 38 to 60, further comprising a tube feeder configured to feed a tube into the center of the collector.

63. 63. The apparatus of claim 62, wherein the collector is configured to collect the cut sheet material around a tube to form a rod.

64. 64. Apparatus according to any one of claims 38 to 63 configured to bring together a first web of cut sheet material and a second web of cut sheet material.

65. 65. The apparatus of any one of claims 38 to 64, further comprising an aerosol modifier inserter.

66. 66. The apparatus of claim 65, wherein the aerosol modifying agent inserter is located downstream of the collector.

67. 67. Apparatus according to claim 65 or 66, characterized in that the aerosol modifier inserter is configured to insert an aerosol modifier capsule into a low density region of the rod of sheet material.

68. 68. The apparatus of any one of claims 65 to 67, wherein the aerosol modifying agent inserter comprises a cavity preparer.

69. 69. The apparatus of claim 68, wherein the cavity preparer includes a roller having radially extending protrusions configured to extend into the rod of sheet material when rotated into contact with the rod of sheet material to create openings in the rod of sheet material.

70. 70. The apparatus of any one of claims 65 to 69, wherein the aerosol modifier inserter comprises a capsule inserter configured to insert an aerosol modifier capsule into the rod of sheet material.

71. 71. The apparatus of claim 70, wherein the capsule inserter is configured to insert the aerosol modifier capsule into a cavity in the low density region of the cut rod of sheet material.

72. 72. Apparatus according to claim 70 or 71, characterized in that the capsule inserter is configured to insert the aerosol modifying agent capsules between a plurality of elongated strips of cut sheet material.

73. 73. The apparatus of any one of claims 65 to 72, further comprising a controller for synchronizing the movement of the first cutter, the aerosol modifying agent inserter, and the second cutter.

74. 1. A method of forming a rod segment for a downstream portion of an aerosol-forming substrate portion of an aerosol-generating device component, the method comprising: cutting the sheet material longitudinally to create a plurality of elongated strips of sheet material, the cutting of the sheet material including cutting discrete lengths of longitudinally extending slits in the web of sheet material to form bands of sheet material extending transversely to the plurality of elongated strips of sheet material without cutting discrete lengths of sheet material; collecting the plurality of elongated strips to form a rod of sheet material, each elongated strip extending substantially longitudinally; and cutting the rod of sheet material into segments to create rod segments for the mouthpiece of an aerosol generating device component.

75. 75. The method of claim 74, further comprising forming a low density area in the web of sheet material by removing sheet material from the web of sheet material.

76. 76. The method of claim 75, wherein the low density areas are created in the band of sheet material by cutting recesses in the band of sheet material.

77. 77. A method according to claim 75 or 76, wherein the low density areas are formed in the web of sheet material by displacing the sheet material away from areas of the web of sheet material.

78. Inserting a tube into a collector; 78. The method of any one of claims 75 to 77, further comprising the step of: collecting the cut web of sheet material around the tube to form a rod of sheet material.

79. 79. The method of any one of claims 75 to 78, further comprising the step of inserting an aerosol modifying agent capsule into a rod of cut sheet material.

80. 80. The method of claim 79, wherein the aerosol modifier capsules are inserted into low density regions of bands of cut rods of sheet material.

81. 81. The method of claim 79 or 80, further comprising the step of forming an opening in the cut rod of sheet material for inserting an aerosol modifier capsule.

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