EP4400448A1

EP4400448A1 - Packing material accommodating aerosol-delivering article

Info

Publication number: EP4400448A1
Application number: EP23848367.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ki-Jin AHN; Sanghoon Lee; Kyeong Rok JUNG; Young Jin Choi
Original assignee: KT&G Corp
Current assignee: KT&G Corp
Priority date: 2022-12-01
Filing date: 2023-10-19
Publication date: 2024-07-17
Also published as: JP2024547229A; KR20240081905A; KR102745880B1; WO2024117540A1; US20250136353A1; EP4400448A4; CN118434639A

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a packaging for accommodating an aerosol delivering article. The packaging includes a base paper; a first coating layer on a top of the base paper; and a second coating layer on a bottom of the base paper, the second coating layer includes a water resistant agent, and the aerosol delivering article includes tobacco granules having a pH of 8 or greater.

Description

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a packaging for accommodating an aerosol delivering article.

Background Art

To deliver unique flavor of aerosol generating materials and solve issues such as deterioration of flavored liquid or occurrence of off-flavor, research is being conducted to increase an amount of a volatile material, such as nicotine, to be transferred from aerosol generating materials at a lower temperature by adjusting pH or employing roasted aerosol generating materials.
However, since such aerosol generating materials easily transfer volatile materials even at a low temperature, volatile materials are easily transferred to a packaging during logistics distribution, and consumption of aerosol delivering articles, and the taste of tobacco continues to deteriorate over time. In particular, this has become more problematic in a smoking article employing a highly volatile material such as free nicotine.
In conventional technologies, the taste of tobacco is preserved using an oriented polypropylene (OPP) film and an inner liner laminated with aluminum in a packaging. However, the use of an aluminum laminated packaging is being gradually restricted in terms of environmental preservation. In addition, if only a polymer is manufactured in the form of a sheet, it is difficult to form a shape because the polymer in the form of a sheet is too soft or too hard when molded in the form of a packaging, and high costs may be incurred.
Thus, there is a demand for the development of a packaging that may prevent a volatile material from being transferred to the packaging and prevent volatilization of the volatile material from an aerosol delivering article.

Disclosure of the Invention

Technical Goals

To solve the above problems, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a packaging for accommodating an aerosol delivering article, where a volatile material such as nicotine may be stored in a smoking article for a relatively long period of time without transitioning into the packaging, by treating the packaging with a water resistant agent.
However, goals obtainable from the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned goal, and other unmentioned goals can be clearly understood from the following description by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains.

Technical Solutions

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a packaging for accommodating an aerosol delivering article,

wherein the packaging includes a base paper;
a first coating layer on a top of the base paper; and
a second coating layer on a bottom of the base paper,
wherein the second coating layer includes a water resistant agent, and
wherein the aerosol delivering article may include tobacco granules having a pH of 8 or greater.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of manufacturing the packaging, the method including step S 1 of coating a top of a base paper with a first coating layer; and
step S2 of coating a bottom of the base paper with a second coating layer.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a smoking article package including an aerosol delivering article and a packaging for accommodating the aerosol delivering article,

wherein the aerosol delivering article includes tobacco granules having a pH of 8 or greater, and
wherein the packaging includes a base paper;
a first coating layer on a top of the base paper; and
a second coating layer on a bottom of the base paper,
wherein the second coating layer includes a water resistant agent.

Effects

When a packaging of the present disclosure is used in an aerosol delivering article containing a highly volatile material such as nicotine, transfer of a volatile material to the packaging may be prevented, and the aerosol delivering article may preserve the volatile material as much as possible, and thus, it is possible to provide a uniform tobacco taste to a smoker and increase smoking satisfaction.
It should be understood that the effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described effects, but are construed as including all effects that can be inferred from the configurations and features described in the following description or claims of the present disclosure.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a packaging including a second coating layer including polyethylene according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a packaging including a second coating layer including a polylactic acid according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a packaging including a second coating layer including a latex according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a packaging including a second coating layer including an acrylic polymer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a packaging including a base paper and a first coating layer, as a comparative example.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, various alterations and modifications may be made to the embodiments. Here, the embodiments are not meant to be limited by the descriptions of the present disclosure. The embodiments should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and replacements within the idea and the technical scope of the disclosure.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. The singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises/comprising" and/or "includes/including" when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly-used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
When describing the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, like reference numerals refer to like components and a repeated description related thereto will be omitted. In the description of embodiments, detailed description of well-known related structures or functions will be omitted when it is deemed that such description will cause ambiguous interpretation of the present disclosure.
In addition, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b), and the like may be used to describe components of the embodiments. These terms are used only for the purpose of discriminating one component from another component, and the nature, the sequences, or the orders of the components are not limited by the terms.
A component, which has the same common function as a component included in any one embodiment, will be described by using the same name in other embodiments. Unless otherwise mentioned, the descriptions on the embodiments may be applicable to the following embodiments and thus, duplicated descriptions will be omitted for conciseness.
In the present specification, when one part "includes" one component, this indicates that the part may further include another component instead of excluding another component.
Throughout the specification, an "aerosol delivering article" may refer to a material capable of generating an aerosol, such as a cigarette (tobacco), a cigar, and the like. The aerosol delivering article may include an aerosol generating material or an aerosol forming substrate. The aerosol generating material or the aerosol forming substrate may be a solid or gas. For example, a solid aerosol generating material may include a solid material based on tobacco raw materials such as a reconstituted tobacco sheet, cut tobacco leaves, reconstituted tobacco, and the like. A gas aerosol generating material may include a volatile material such as free nicotine.
In addition, throughout the specification, the term "upstream" or "upstream direction" may refer to a direction away from an oral region of a user puffing a smoking article, and the term "downstream" or "downstream direction" may refer to a direction approaching the oral region of the user puffing the smoking article.
Throughout the specification, a "smoking article package" may refer to the whole including an aerosol delivering article and a packaging. Here, the packaging may accommodate the aerosol delivering article.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a packaging for accommodating an aerosol delivering article may be provided. Here, the packaging may include a base paper, a first coating layer, and a second coating layer. The first coating layer may be disposed on a top of the base paper, and the second coating layer may be disposed on a bottom of the base paper. The aerosol delivering article may include tobacco granules having a pH of 8 or greater. When a structure of the packaging of the present disclosure is included, it may be possible to more easily perform molding in the form of a packaging and economical in comparison to when only a polymer is manufactured in the form of a sheet.
The second coating layer may include a water resistant agent. Since the water resistant agent is included in the packaging, a volatile material may be prevented from being absorbed into the packaging.
The water resistant agent may include a polymer. Desirably, the water resistant agent may include at least one selected from a group consisting of a polylactic acid, polyethylene, an acrylic polymer, and a latex, and more desirably a polylactic acid or polyethylene. The acrylic polymer may include, for example, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyacrylic acid (PAA), and the like. When a corresponding acrylic polymer is used in the form of a latex, a packaging may be more economically manufactured or an eco-friendly packaging may be manufactured. In addition, the water resistant agent may additionally include an organic material.
In the packaging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the second coating layer may have a coating amount of 5 grams per square meter (gsm) to 40 gsm, and desirably have a coating amount of 10 gsm to 35 gsm. Accordingly, the second coating layer may have a thickness of 20 µm to 35 µm, and desirably have a thickness of 25 µm to 30 µm. However, embodiments are not limited to the above-described ranges.
The packaging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may package an aerosol delivering article including free nicotine. The pH of the tobacco granules in the aerosol delivering article may be adjusted to be 8 or greater using a pH adjuster. For example, the pH of the tobacco granules may be in a range of 8 to 14, 8 to 12, 8 to 10, and 8.3 to 9.5. Due to the adjustment of the pH, at least 80% of nicotine included in the tobacco granules may be present as free nicotine. Accordingly, the packaging may be used to package an aerosol delivering article including highly volatile free nicotine.
In the packaging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first coating layer may include a first layer, and a second layer disposed on the first layer.
The first layer may include calcium carbonate. The calcium carbonate may have a shape of an irregular sphere with a diameter of less than 2 µm (60% or greater). In addition, the first layer may additionally include an organic material, and clay. A top surface of the base paper may be coated with the first layer, to remove an uneven concave-convex portion of a surface of the base paper.
The second layer may include the water resistant agent. Desirably, the water resistant agent may include a latex. In addition, the second layer may additionally include an organic material, clay, and calcium carbonate. The calcium carbonate may have a shape of an irregular sphere with a diameter of less than 2 µm (90% or greater). A top of the first layer may be coated with the second layer, to provide a water resistance to a surface of the packaging to facilitate printing.
For example, the organic material may include a binder, and the clay may be in a plate-like form. However, embodiments are not limited thereto.
In the packaging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the base paper may have a basis weight of 200 grams per square meter (g/m²) to 260 g/m², and a thickness of 300 µm to 400 µm. However, embodiments are not limited to the above ranges.
In the packaging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the packaging may be, for example, at least one selected from a group consisting of a package wrapper, an inner frame, and an inner liner. However, embodiments are not limited thereto.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of manufacturing the packaging may be provided. Here, the packaging may include step S1 of coating a top of a base paper with a first coating layer; and step S2 of coating a bottom of the base paper with a second coating layer.
In step S 1, the first coating layer may be formed. A typical coating method may be used for a first layer and a second layer that form the first coating layer. For example, the first layer and the second layer may be coated by a blade scheme. The second layer may also be coated by a rod scheme. However, embodiments are not limited thereto.
In step S2, the second coating layer may be formed. For example, the second coating layer may be coated by a blade scheme or an extrusion coating (T-die) scheme. However, embodiments are not limited thereto.
In the method of manufacturing the packaging according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a second coating solution may be applied to the bottom of the base paper and dried during manufacturing of the packaging. Here, a drying temperature may be in a range of 60°C to 90°C, and desirably be in a range of 70°C to 80°C. By drying the packaging at the temperature described above, flexibility of the polymer may be preserved without denaturing the polymer. When the drying temperature is less than 60°C, processing may be impossible due to a failure to reach a glass transition temperature of the polymer. When the drying temperature exceeds 90°C, a polymer itself may break when the polymer is applied to the packaging, or a cutting blade may break when the packaging material is embossed.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a smoking article package including an aerosol delivering article and a packaging for accommodating the aerosol delivering article may be provided. Here, the aerosol delivering article may include tobacco granules having a pH of 8 or greater that are treated with base, the packaging may include a base paper; a first coating layer on a top of the base paper; and a second coating layer on a bottom of the base paper, and the second coating layer may include a water resistant agent.
The aerosol delivering article may include a volatile material-containing rod that contains a volatile material, and a filter rod disposed downstream of the volatile material-containing rod. The volatile material-containing rod may be replaced and used. Each rod may include a single segment, or a plurality of segments.
For example, the volatile material-containing rod may include a first filter segment, a second filter segment, and a cavity segment. The first filter segment may be disposed most upstream of the volatile material-containing rod, the second filter segment may be disposed further downstream than the first filter segment, and the cavity segment may be disposed between the first filter segment and the second filter segment.
Materials of the first filter segment and the second filter segment are not limited, but may desirably include an acetate tow.
The cavity segment may include tobacco granules having a pH of 8 or greater. For example, the pH of the tobacco granules may be in a range of 8 to 14, 8 to 12, 8 to 10, and 8.3 to 9.5. Here, the pH of the tobacco granules may be adjusted by applying a pH adjuster to volatile material granules, and the pH adjuster may include a basic salt.
Free nicotine has a feature of providing stronger irritation to a throat than nicotine salts. When the pH of the tobacco granules is adjusted to be 8 or greater, at least 80% of nicotine included in the tobacco granules may be present as free nicotine. In other words, the cavity segment may be filled with free nicotine. The free nicotine may be a nonionic (free-based) material from which hydrogen ions are removed, and may have the most basic structure of nicotine. A boiling point of nicotine is 247°C, whereas free nicotine burns at a temperature lower than the boiling point, and vapor thereof burns at 35°C. Since a vapor pressure of the free nicotine is greater than that of a nicotine salt, the free nicotine may be delivered at a low temperature. When the aerosol delivering article contains free nicotine, use of the aerosol delivering article at a relatively low temperature may be possible, and thus, problems caused by burning or heating a volatile material to a high temperature may be reduced.
The filter rod may include a cooling segment, and a mouthpiece segment.
After the aerosol delivering article is removed from the smoking article package, the aerosol delivering article may be accommodated and used in an aerosol generating device.
The aerosol generating device may be a heating type device or a non-heating type device, and desirably be the non-heating type device. For example, a non-heating type aerosol generating device may include a receiving portion configured to receive an aerosol delivering article, an atomization portion configured to generate an aerosol, and a power source portion configured to transfer power necessary to heat the atomization portion. When the atomization portion is heated, the aerosol generated in the atomization portion may pass through the aerosol delivering article so that a volatile material may be delivered.
Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in more detail through examples, however, the present disclosure is not limited to the examples.

Design of Packaging

A package wrapper including a base paper, a first coating layer, and a second coating layer was manufactured. The following specific design details are provided.

Example 1

A package wrapper was manufactured as shown in FIG. 1. A second coating layer includes polyethylene, and has a second coating amount of 35 gsm and a thickness of 28 µm. The second coating layer was coated using an extrusion coating (T-die) scheme.

Example 2

A package wrapper was manufactured as shown in FIG. 2. Manufacturing was performed in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the second coating layer included a polylactic acid instead of polyethylene.

Example 3

A package wrapper was manufactured as shown in FIG. 3. Manufacturing was performed in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the second coating layer included calcium carbonate, clay, a binder, and a latex, instead of including polyethylene, had a second coating amount of 10 to 12 gsm, and was coated by a blade scheme. Here, the latex is in an amount of 1 to 5% based on a total weight of a base paper.

Example 4

A package wrapper was manufactured as shown in FIG. 4. Manufacturing was performed in the same manner as in Example 1, except that the second coating layer included an acrylic polymer, instead of polyethylene, additionally included a clay to achieve viscosity, and was coated by a blade scheme. Here, the acrylic polymer includes a latex of 95% based on a total weight of a base paper.

Comparative Example

A package wrapper without a second coating layer was manufactured as shown in FIG. 5. A packaging including a base paper, and a first coating layer was manufactured.

2. Measurement of Transfer Amount of Nicotine

Aerosol delivering articles of Examples 1 to 4 and the comparative example were stored, and transfer amounts of nicotine in the aerosol delivering articles to be transferred to a filter rod (upstream portion), a package wrapper, and an inner frame were measured. The aerosol delivering articles were stored for 3, 5, 7, and 9 days. The results thereof are shown in Table 1 below.

[Table 1]

Classificati on	Transfer amount (mg/stick) of nicotine
Classificati on	Filter rod (Upstream portion)				Package wrapper				Inner frame
Storage period (days)	3	5	7	9	3	5	7	9	3	5	7	9
Comparativ e Example	0.3 8	0.4 2	0.5 2	0.5 1	0.2 8	0.3 3	0.3 8	0.4 0	0.3 7	0.4 0	0.5 0	0.5 0
Example 1	0.5 0	0.5 8	0.5 9	0.6 0	0.0 4	0.0 5	0.0 6	0.0 7	0.0 4	0.0 5	0.0 5	0.0 6
Example 2	0.4 8	0.5 7	0.5 9	0.5 9	0.0 5	0.0 7	0.0 9	0.0 9	0.0 5	0.0 6	0.0 8	0.0 8
Example 3	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2
	2	3	5	6	6	9	0	1	5	8	0	0
Example 4	0.4 5	0.5 0	0.5 4	0.5 5	0.1 0	0.1 1	0.1 3	0.1 4	0.1 0	0.1 2	0.1 3	0.1 4

The transfer amounts of nicotine to be transferred to the package wrapper and the inner frame were reduced in the order of the comparative example > Example 3 > Example 4 > Example 2 > Example 1. In other words, in comparison to the comparative example, nicotine was less transferred to the package wrapper and the inner frame in Examples 1 to 4. Specifically, the results show that the packaging less absorbed nicotine in the order of Examples 1, 2, 4, and 3.
During the storage period of 3 to 9 days, a ratio of the transfer amounts of nicotine to be transferred to the package wrapper and the inner frame in Examples 1 to 4 was in a range of 14 to 60%, in comparison to the transfer amounts of nicotine to be transferred to the package wrapper and the inner frame in the comparative example, which shows that the transfer amounts of nicotine were reduced by 40 to 86%.
In addition, in comparison to the comparative example, the amounts of nicotine transferred to the filter rod were observed to increase in Examples 1 to 4. Thus, it can be found that when pieces of package wrapper of Examples 1 to 4 are used, the aerosol delivering article better preserves nicotine.
From the above results, it can be expected that by using a packaging, on which a coating layer including a water resistant agent of the present disclosure described in the claims is formed, in an aerosol delivering article including tobacco granules having a pH of 8 or greater, the aerosol delivering article may better preserve a volatile material, and a uniform tobacco taste may be provided to a smoker.
While the embodiments are described with reference to drawings, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that various alterations and modifications in form and details may be made in these embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their equivalents. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents.
Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims are also within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

A packaging for accommodating an aerosol delivering article, the packaging comprising:
a base paper;

a first coating layer on a top of the base paper; and

a second coating layer on a bottom of the base paper,

wherein the second coating layer comprises a water resistant agent, and

wherein the aerosol delivering article comprises tobacco granules having a pH of 8 or greater.
The packaging of claim 1, wherein at least 80% of nicotine included in the tobacco granules is present as free nicotine.
The packaging of claim 1, wherein the water resistant agent comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of a polylactic acid, polyethylene, an acrylic polymer, and a latex.
The packaging of claim 1, wherein the second coating layer has a thickness of 20 micrometers (µm) to 35 µm.
The packaging of claim 1, wherein the first coating layer comprises a first layer and a second layer disposed on the first layer, the first layer comprises calcium carbonate, and the second layer comprises a water resistant agent.
The packaging of claim 1, wherein the base paper has a basis weight of 200 grams per square meter (g/m²) to 260 g/m².
The packaging of claim 1, wherein the base paper has a thickness of 300 µm to 400 µm.
The packaging of claim 1, wherein the packaging comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of a package wrapper, an inner frame, and an inner liner.
A method of manufacturing the packaging of claim 1, the method comprising:
step S 1 of coating a top of a base paper with a first coating layer; and

step S2 of coating a bottom of the base paper with a second coating layer.
The method of claim 9, wherein, in the step S2, a second coating solution is applied onto the bottom of the base paper and dried at a temperature of 60°C to 90°C.
A smoking article package comprising an aerosol delivering article and a
packaging for accommodating the aerosol delivering article,

wherein the aerosol delivering article comprises tobacco granules having a pH of 8 or greater, and

wherein the packaging comprises:
a base paper;

a first coating layer on a top of the base paper; and

a second coating layer on a bottom of the base paper,

wherein the second coating layer comprises a water resistant agent.
The smoking article package of claim 11, wherein
the aerosol delivering article comprises a volatile material-containing rod, and a filter rod,

wherein the volatile material-containing rod comprises:
a first filter segment disposed most upstream of the volatile material-containing rod;

a second filter segment disposed further downstream than the first filter segment; and

a cavity segment disposed between the first filter segment and the second filter segment,

wherein the cavity segment comprises tobacco granules having a pH of 8 or greater.
The smoking article package of claim 12, wherein at least 80% of nicotine included in the tobacco granules is present as free nicotine.