KR20230104322A - Aerosol generating article and aerosol generating system - Google Patents

Abstract

An aerosol-generating article according to various embodiments includes a media segment; a filter segment disposed downstream of the medium segment; and a wrapper surrounding the medium segment and the filter segment, wherein the medium segment comprises: a medium substrate; and magnetic materials.

Description

Aerosol generating article and aerosol generating system {AEROSOL GENERATING ARTICLE AND AEROSOL GENERATING SYSTEM}

The following embodiments relate to aerosol-generating articles and aerosol-generating systems.

In recent years, demand for alternative products that overcome the disadvantages of traditional cigarettes is increasing. For example, there is an increasing demand for devices that generate aerosols by electrically heating a cigarette stick (e.g. cigarette-type electronic cigarettes). Accordingly, research on an electrically heated aerosol generating device and a cigarette stick (or aerosol generating article) applied thereto is being actively conducted. For example, Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0132823 discloses a non-combustion type flavor inhaler, a taste source unit, and an atomization unit.

An object according to an embodiment is to prevent unintended removal of a stick by a user when the stick is accommodated in an aerosol-generating device.

An object according to one embodiment is to prevent unintentional powering down of the device when the position of the stick is changed within the aerosol-generating device.

An aerosol-generating article according to various embodiments includes a media segment; a filter segment disposed downstream of the media segment; and a wrapper surrounding the medium segment and the filter segment, wherein the medium segment comprises: a medium substrate; and magnetic materials.

In one embodiment, the magnetic material may be applied to the wrapper.

In one embodiment, the magnetic material may be mixed with the medium substrate.

In one embodiment, the magnetic material may be a permanent magnet.

In one embodiment, the magnetic material may be a material that has an attractive force with an electromagnet included in the aerosol generating device.

An aerosol generating system according to various embodiments includes a battery that supplies power used for operating the aerosol generating device; a controller including at least one processor; a heater that heats the aerosol-generating article; and an aerosol-generating device comprising an elongate cavity in which an aerosol-generating article is received; and an aerosol-generating article comprising a medium-containing segment and a filter segment disposed downstream of the medium-containing segment, wherein the aerosol-generating device further comprises a first engagement member, wherein the medium-containing segment of the aerosol-generating article may include a second coupling member coupled with the first coupling member.

In one embodiment, the first coupling member may include a first material that exhibits magnetism, and the second coupling member may include a second material having an attractive force acting on the first material.

In one embodiment, the heating temperature of the heater may be lower than the Curie temperature of the first material and higher than or equal to the Curie temperature of the second material.

In one embodiment, the first material may include a permanent magnet.

In one embodiment, the second material may include an electromagnet.

In one embodiment, the electromagnet may be activated by detecting a change in inductance when the aerosol-generating article is accommodated in the elongated cavity.

In one embodiment, the electromagnet may be deactivated when a predetermined number of puffs is reached.

In one embodiment, the electromagnet may be activated when the power of the aerosol-generating system is turned on, and the electromagnet may be deactivated when the power of the aerosol-generating system is turned off.

An aerosol-generating article and an aerosol-generating system according to an embodiment may prevent a user from unintentionally removing the stick when the stick is accommodated in the aerosol-generating device.

An aerosol-generating article and aerosol-generating system according to an embodiment can prevent the device from being unintentionally turned off when the position of the stick is changed within the aerosol-generating device.

Effects of the aerosol-generating article and aerosol-generating system according to an embodiment are not limited to those mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the structure of an aerosol-generating article according to an embodiment.
2A is a diagram schematically showing the structure of an aerosol-generating article including a magnetic material according to an embodiment.
2B is a schematic diagram showing the structure of an aerosol-generating article including a magnetic material according to another embodiment.
2C is a schematic diagram of the structure of an aerosol-generating article comprising a magnetic material according to another embodiment.
3A is a diagram schematically showing the structure of an aerosol generating device according to an embodiment.
3B is a diagram schematically showing the structure of an aerosol generating device according to another embodiment.
4A is a schematic diagram of an aerosol-generating system in which an aerosol-generating article is coupled to an aerosol-generating device according to an embodiment.
4B is a schematic diagram of an aerosol-generating system in which an aerosol-generating article is coupled to an aerosol-generating device according to another embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, since various changes can be made to the embodiments, the scope of the patent application is not limited or limited by these embodiments. It should be understood that all changes, equivalents or substitutes to the embodiments are included within the scope of rights.

Terms used in the examples are used only for the purpose of explanation and should not be construed as limiting. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as "include" or "have" are intended to designate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features It should be understood that the presence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof is not precluded.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the embodiment belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning in the context of the related art, and unless explicitly defined in the present application, they should not be interpreted in an ideal or excessively formal meaning. don't

In addition, in the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same components regardless of reference numerals, and overlapping descriptions thereof will be omitted. In describing the embodiment, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known technology may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the embodiment, the detailed description will be omitted.

In addition, in describing the components of the embodiment, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used. These terms are only used to distinguish the component from other components, and the nature, order, or order of the corresponding component is not limited by the term. When an element is described as being “connected,” “coupled to,” or “connected” to another element, that element may be directly connected or connected to the other element, but there may be another element between the elements. It should be understood that may be "connected", "coupled" or "connected".

Components included in one embodiment and components including common functions will be described using the same names in other embodiments. Unless stated to the contrary, descriptions described in one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments, and detailed descriptions will be omitted to the extent of overlap.

In the following embodiments, “moisturizing agent” may refer to a substance capable of facilitating the formation of visible smoke and/or aerosol. Examples of humectants include, but are not limited to, glycerin (GLY), propylene glycol (PG), ethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, and oleyl alcohol. In the art, a moisturizer may be used interchangeably with terms such as an aerosol former and a humectant.

In the following embodiments, "aerosol-forming substrate" may mean a material capable of forming an aerosol. Aerosols may contain volatile compounds. Aerosol-forming substrates may be solid or liquid. For example, the solid aerosol-forming substrate may include a solid material based on tobacco raw materials such as leaf tobacco, cut filler, and reconstituted tobacco, and the liquid aerosol-forming substrate may contain nicotine, tobacco extract, and/or various flavoring agents. It may contain a liquid composition material based on it. However, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to these examples.

In the following embodiments, an “aerosol-generating article” may refer to an article containing a medium, through which an aerosol passes and the medium is transferred. A representative example of an aerosol-generating article would be a cigarette, but the scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In the following embodiments, an “aerosol generating device” may refer to an aerosol generating device using an aerosol forming substrate to generate an aerosol that can be directly inhaled into the user's lungs through the user's mouth.

In the following embodiments, "upstream" or "upstream direction" means a direction away from the user's (smoker's) mouth, and "downstream" or "downstream" means a direction closer to the user's mouth can mean The terms upstream and downstream may be used to describe the relative positioning of elements that make up an aerosol-generating article. For example, in the aerosol-generating article 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 , medium segment 11 is located upstream or upstream of filter segment 12 , and filter segment 12 is downstream or downstream of medium segment 11 . located in the downstream direction.

In the following embodiments, “puff” refers to a user's inhalation, and inhalation refers to a situation in which the user's mouth or nose is pulled into the user's oral cavity, nasal cavity, or lungs.

In the following embodiments, "Curie temperature" means a critical temperature at which a magnetic material loses its inherent magnetism at a specific temperature. For example, it means the temperature at which the alignment structure of the magnetic dipole moment present in a material changes and loses its inherent magnetism.

In the following embodiments, "inductance" refers to a physical quantity representing a ratio between a rate of change of current over time and the magnitude of an induced electromotive force generated thereby. The unit of inductance is the Henry (H).

Hereinafter, various embodiments according to the accompanying drawings will be described.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the structure of an aerosol-generating article 1 according to an embodiment.

In one embodiment, the aerosol-generating article 1 may include a media segment 11 , a filter segment 12 and a wrapper 13 .

In one embodiment, the medium segment 11 may contain a medium therein. The medium according to an embodiment may include a solid material based on tobacco raw materials such as leaf tobacco, cut filler, and reconstituted tobacco, and a liquid composition based on nicotine, tobacco extract, and/or various flavoring agents, but is not necessarily limited thereto. it is not going to be

In one embodiment, filter segment 12 may be disposed downstream of media segment 11 . The inside of the filter segment 12 according to an embodiment may include a filter member. The filter member may be, for example, a filter material such as paper, cellulose acetate fiber, etc., but is not necessarily limited thereto. The filter segment 12 according to an embodiment may filter harmful substances included in mainstream smoke passing through the filter segment 12 .

In one embodiment, the wrapper 13 may wrap each segment or the entire segment. The wrapper 13 may include first wrappers 131 to 134 wrapping each segment and a second wrapper 135 wrapping all the segments.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of an aerosol-generating article 2 (eg, aerosol-generating article 1 of FIG. 1 ) comprising magnetic material 212 will be described in detail.

2A to 2C are diagrams schematically showing the structure of an aerosol-generating article 2 including a magnetic material 212 according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 2A , an aerosol-generating article 2 according to an embodiment may include a medium segment 21 and a filter segment 22.

The medium segment 21 according to an embodiment may include a medium substrate 211 and a magnetic material 212a. The medium substrate 211 according to an embodiment may include a solid material based on tobacco raw materials such as leaf tobacco, cut filler, and reconstituted tobacco, and a liquid composition based on nicotine, tobacco extract, and/or various flavoring agents. , but is not necessarily limited thereto.

The magnetic material 212a according to an embodiment may include permanent magnets and electromagnets having direct magnetism, as well as ferrous metals having an attractive force acting on the permanent magnets and electromagnets.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B , the magnetic material 212a according to an embodiment may be applied to the outside of a wrapper (eg, the wrapper 13 of FIG. 1 ). The magnetic material 212b according to another embodiment may be applied to the inside of a wrapper (eg, the wrapper 13 of FIG. 1 ). The magnetic material 212a according to an embodiment may wind at least a portion of the outside of the first wrapper (eg, the first wrapper 131 of FIG. 1 ) surrounding the medium segment 21 . The magnetic material 212b according to another embodiment may wind at least a portion of the inside of the first wrapper (eg, the first wrapper 131 of FIG. 1 ) surrounding the medium segment 21 .

Referring to FIG. 2C , a magnetic material 212c according to another embodiment may be mixed with a medium substrate 211 and filled in a medium segment. The magnetic material 212c according to another embodiment may be formed of a plurality of particles. In one embodiment, the medium substrate 211 may be cut filler, sheet tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, or granular tobacco, preferably granular tobacco (see FIG. 2c). When the medium substrate 211 is granular tobacco, the magnetic material 212c made of a plurality of particles and the granular medium substrate 211 may be mixed and filled in the medium segment 21 . In addition, the magnetic material 212c according to another embodiment may be applied and/or coated on the surface of the medium substrate 211, or may be filled inside the medium substrate 211, preferably a granular medium.

Hereinafter, the aerosol-generating device 3 in which the above-described aerosol-generating article 2 is accommodated will be described in detail.

3A and 3B are diagrams schematically showing the structure of an aerosol generating device 3 according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B , the aerosol generating device 3 may include a battery 31, a controller 32, a heater 33, an elongated cavity 34 and a first coupling member 35. there is.

The battery 31 according to an embodiment may supply power in a process of generating an aerosol. The battery 31 according to an embodiment may be disposed upstream of the elongated cavity 34 of the aerosol generating device 3 .

The controller 32 according to an embodiment is electrically connected to the heater 33 to set a temperature for heating the aerosol-generating article (eg, the aerosol-generating article 2 of FIGS. 2A, 2B, and/or 2C). You can control it. The controller 32 according to an embodiment may include at least one processor.

Referring to FIG. 3A , the heater 33 according to an embodiment is disposed inside the elongated cavity 34, such that an aerosol-generating article accommodated in the elongated cavity 34 (eg, FIGS. 2A, 2B and/or Alternatively, the aerosol-generating article 2 of FIG. 2C may be heated. The heater 33 according to an embodiment may be a blade type, a cylindrical shape, a cylindrical shape, or a needle type, but is not necessarily limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 3B , a heater 33 according to an exemplary embodiment is arranged around the outer surface of the elongated cavity 34, such that an aerosol-generating article (eg, FIGS. 2A and 2B ) accommodated in the elongated cavity 34 and/or heating the aerosol-generating article 2 of FIG. 2C . The heater 33 according to an embodiment may be disposed surrounding at least a portion of an outer surface of the elongated cavity 34 .

Continuing to refer to FIG. 3B , the aerosol generating device 3 according to an embodiment may further include a vaporizer 38. The vaporizer 38 according to an embodiment may generate an aerosol by heating the liquid composition, and the generated aerosol may pass through the aerosol-generating article 2 and be delivered to the user. In other words, the aerosol generated by the vaporizer 38 can move along the air flow path of the aerosol generating device 3, and the air flow path allows the aerosol generated by the vaporizer 38 to pass through the cigarette and deliver to the user. It can be configured to be.

The first coupling member 35 according to an embodiment may be disposed surrounding the elongated cavity 34 of the aerosol generating device 3 (see FIG. 3A ). The first coupling member 35 according to another embodiment may be disposed adjacent to the heater 33 of the aerosol generating device 3 (see FIG. 3B).

In FIGS. 3A and 3B, only components related to the present embodiment are shown, and other general-purpose components other than the components shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B are further illustrated by those skilled in the art can be included. For example, the aerosol generating device 3 may further include an input module for receiving commands from the user and an output module (not shown) for outputting information such as device status and smoking information.

Hereinafter, the aerosol generating system S in which the aerosol generating article 2 is coupled to the aerosol generating device 3 will be described in detail.

4A and 4B are diagrams schematically illustrating an aerosol generating system S in which an aerosol generating article 2 is coupled to an aerosol generating device 3 according to various embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 4A , the aerosol-generating article 2 according to an embodiment includes an elongated cavity (eg, the elongated cavity 34 of FIGS. 3A and/or 3B) of the aerosol-generating device 3 according to an embodiment. )) can be accommodated. At this time, the aerosol generating device 3 according to an embodiment may include a battery 31, a controller 32, and a heater 33, and may further include a first coupling member 37. In addition, the aerosol-generating article 2 according to an embodiment may include a medium segment 21 and a filter segment 22, and may further include a second coupling member 27. The first coupling member 37 and the second coupling member 27 according to an embodiment may be coupled to each other.

In one embodiment, the first coupling member 37 may include a first material that exhibits magnetic properties. The first material according to an embodiment may include permanent magnets and electromagnets having direct magnetism, as well as ferrous metals having attractive forces acting on the permanent magnets and electromagnets.

In one embodiment, the second coupling member 27 may include a second material having an attractive force acting on the first material. The second material may include permanent magnets and electromagnets having direct magnetism, as well as ferrous metals having an attractive force acting on the permanent magnets and electromagnets.

The first coupling member 37 according to an embodiment may be disposed adjacent to the heater 33 of the aerosol generating device 3. According to an embodiment, the second coupling member 27 (eg, FIG. ) may be outside and/or inside the wrapper (eg, wrapper 13 of FIG. 1 ) of the medium segment 21 of the aerosol-generating article 2 . It may be applied to, or a part of the outside and/or inside of a wrapper (eg, the wrapper 13 of FIG. 1) may be wound. Accordingly, when the heater 33 according to an embodiment heats the medium substrate (eg, the medium substrate 211 of FIGS. 2A to 2C) of the aerosol-generating article 2, the heat generated by the heater 33 As a result, the first coupling member 37 and the second coupling member 27 (eg, the magnetic materials 211a to 211c of FIGS. 2A to 2C) may also be heated. At this time, the heating temperature of the heater 33 is lower than the Curie temperature of the first material constituting the first coupling member 37 according to an embodiment, and constitutes the second coupling member 27 according to an embodiment may be higher than or equal to the Curie temperature of the second material.

When the heating temperature of the heater 33 according to an embodiment falls within the above range, the second material constituting the second coupling member 27 maintains magnetism before and during the transfer of the user's aerosol to the aerosol generating device ( Although the aerosol-generating article 2 can be tightly coupled to the elongated cavity 34 of 3) by magnetic force, the heating temperature of the heater 33 exceeds the Curie temperature of the first material at the time when the user sufficiently transfers the aerosol. When passed over, the second coupling member 27 included in the aerosol-generating article 2 loses its magnetism and can be conveniently removed from the aerosol-generating device 3 .

In one embodiment, the control unit 32 of the aerosol generating device 3, the heating temperature of the heater 33 is lower than the Curie temperature of the first material constituting the first coupling member 37, according to one embodiment It can be adjusted to be higher than or equal to the Curie temperature of the second material constituting the second coupling member 27 . The controller 32 according to an embodiment configures the second coupling member 27 included in the aerosol-generating article 2 accommodated in the elongated cavity 34 by recognizing the type of aerosol-generating article 2 accommodated in the elongated cavity 34. It may be heated to a temperature higher than or equal to the Curie temperature of the second material.

In one embodiment, the controller 32 of the aerosol generating device 3 may further include an inductance change detection sensor (not shown). The first coupling member 37 included in the aerosol generating device 3 according to an embodiment may be an electromagnet. When the first coupling member 37 corresponds to an electromagnet and the aerosol-generating article 2 comprising the magnetic material 212 is accommodated in the elongated cavity 34 of the aerosol-generating device 3, the electromagnetic induction phenomenon may cause a change in inductance. The inductance change detection sensor according to an exemplary embodiment may recognize that the aerosol-generating article 2 is inserted into the elongated cavity 34 and operate the aerosol-generating device 3 by detecting such a change in inductance. The operation of the aerosol generating device 3 according to an embodiment is, for example, the driving of the processor included in the control unit 32, the heating of the heater 33, the first coupling member 37, preferably the electromagnet. activation may be included.

In one embodiment, the controller 32 of the aerosol generating device 3 may further include a puff counter (not shown). A puff counter according to an embodiment may include a system or processor that counts the number of times a user puffs while smoking once. When the number of puffs pre-input in the puff counter according to an embodiment is reached, the first coupling member 37 included in the aerosol generating device 3 according to an embodiment, preferably the electromagnet, may be deactivated.

In one embodiment, the controller 32 of the aerosol generating device 3 may further include an on & off sensor (not shown). The on/off sensor according to an embodiment may detect turning on and off of the power of the aerosol generating system (S). When the on/off sensor according to an embodiment detects that the power of the aerosol generating system S is turned on, the first coupling member 37 included in the aerosol generating device 3, preferably the electromagnet, may be activated. . When the on-off sensor according to an embodiment detects that the power of the aerosol generating system S is turned off, the first coupling member 37 included in the aerosol generating device 3, preferably the electromagnet, can be deactivated. .

As described above, although the embodiments have been described with limited drawings, those skilled in the art can apply various technical modifications and variations based on the above. For example, the described techniques may be performed in an order different from the method described, and/or components of the described system, structure, device, circuit, etc. may be combined or combined in a different form than the method described, or other components may be used. Or even if it is replaced or substituted by equivalents, appropriate results can be achieved.

Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents of the claims are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (13)

In the aerosol-generating article,
medium segment;
a filter segment disposed downstream of the medium segment; and
Including a wrapper surrounding the medium segment and the filter segment,
The media segment comprises a media substrate; and a magnetic material,
Aerosol-generating articles.
According to claim 1,
the magnetic material is applied to the wrapper;
Aerosol-generating articles.
According to claim 1,
The magnetic material is mixed with the medium substrate,
Aerosol-generating articles.
According to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The magnetic material is a permanent magnet,
Aerosol-generating articles.
According to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The magnetic material is a material that has an attractive force with a magnet included in the aerosol generating device,
Aerosol-generating articles.
In the aerosol generating system,
a battery that supplies power used to operate the aerosol generating device; a controller including at least one processor; a heater for heating the aerosol-generating article; and an aerosol-generating device comprising an elongate cavity in which an aerosol-generating article is received; and
an aerosol-generating article comprising a media receiving segment and a filter segment disposed downstream of the media receiving segment;
including,
wherein the aerosol-generating device further comprises a first coupling member and the medium receiving segment of the aerosol-generating article comprises a second coupling member coupled with the first coupling member.
Aerosol Generating System.
According to claim 6,
The first coupling member includes a first material that is magnetic,
The second coupling member includes a second material having an attractive force acting on the first material.
Aerosol Generating System.
According to claim 7,
The heating temperature of the heater is lower than the Curie temperature of the first material and higher than or equal to the Curie temperature of the second material,
Aerosol Generating System.
According to claim 7,
wherein the first material comprises a permanent magnet;
Aerosol Generating System.
According to claim 7,
The second material comprises an electromagnet,
Aerosol Generating System.
According to claim 10,
wherein the electromagnet is activated by detecting a change in inductance when the aerosol-generating article is accommodated in the elongated cavity;
Aerosol Generating System.
According to claim 10 or 11,
When the set number of puffs is reached, the electromagnet is deactivated.
Aerosol Generating System.
According to claim 10,
wherein the electromagnet is activated when the power of the aerosol-generating system is turned on, and the electromagnet is deactivated when the power of the aerosol-generating system is turned off;
Aerosol Generating System.

Images