WO2020262766A1

WO2020262766A1 - Method and system for generating aerosol so as to enhance transition amount of nicotine contained in medium

Info

Publication number: WO2020262766A1
Application number: PCT/KR2019/015027
Authority: WO
Inventors: 장용준; 고경민; 서장원; 장철호; 정진철; 황중섭; 신가원; 신승호
Original assignee: 주식회사 케이티앤지
Priority date: 2019-06-24
Filing date: 2019-11-07
Publication date: 2020-12-30
Also published as: JP7260225B2; KR102330302B1; KR20210000205A; JP2021532731A

Abstract

An aerosol formation method according to one aspect comprises: a step in which a first heater heats a liquid composition containing aerosol forming agents, thereby generating an aerosol; a step in which a second heater heats a nicotine-containing medium; a step in which the aerosol generated by the first heater is introduced into the medium; a step in which the aerosol introduced into the medium absorbs the nicotine heated by the second heater; and a step in which the aerosol having absorbed nicotine is drawn from the medium.

Description

Method and system for generating aerosol so that the amount of nicotine contained in the medium is increased

A method and system for producing an aerosol comprising nicotine.

In recent years, the demand for non-combustible aerosol-generating articles and aerosol-generating devices that replace traditional cigarettes is increasing. Non-combustible aerosol generating device refers to a device that generates an aerosol from an aerosol-generating material contained in a cigarette by heating it to a predetermined temperature without burning the cigarette, or generates an aerosol by heating a liquid material to inhale the aerosol with air. .

On the other hand, in order to deliver a sufficient amount of nicotine to the user, it is necessary to increase the amount of nicotine contained in the cigarette.

To increase the nicotine content of the aerosol, a method and system for generating an aerosol is proposed.

The technical problem is not limited to the above, and other technical problems can be inferred from the following examples.

An aerosol generating method according to an aspect includes: generating an aerosol by heating a liquid composition including an aerosol former by a first heater; Heating a medium comprising nicotine by a second heater; Introducing the aerosol generated by the first heater into the medium; Absorbing the nicotine heated by the second heater by the aerosol introduced into the medium; And discharging the aerosol absorbing nicotine from the medium.

The aerosol-generating system separates the medium and the aerosol former and heats them with different heaters. Therefore, it is possible to heat the medium by considering only the boiling point of nicotine, without having to consider the boiling point of the aerosol former. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the generation of harmful substances by excessive heating of the medium.

In addition, by appropriately setting the weight ratio of glycerin and propylene glycol contained in the aerosol-forming agent, the amount of nicotine contained in the medium can be increased.

1 and 2 are diagrams showing examples of an aerosol generation system.

3 and 4 are views showing examples of cigarettes.

5 schematically shows a process of generating an aerosol in the aerosol generating system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

6 is a flow chart showing an example of a method for generating an aerosol.

7A to 7D are graphs showing components of an aerosol generated in an aerosol generating system according to a first experiment.

8A to 8D are graphs showing components of an aerosol generated in an aerosol generating system according to a second experiment.

In the above-described method, heating the medium includes heating the second heater to a lower temperature than the first heater.

In the above-described method, the aerosol-forming agent includes glycerin and propylene glycol having a weight ratio of about 70:30 to about 100:0.

The above-described method further includes the step of discharging the aerosol having absorbed nicotine discharged from the medium through the filter rod and discharged to the outside.

An aerosol generating system according to an aspect includes a battery; A container containing a liquid composition containing an aerosol former; A first heater receiving power from the battery and heating the liquid composition of the container to generate an aerosol; A medium containing nicotine and positioned on a path through which the aerosol generated by the first heater flows and passing the aerosol; A second heater receiving power from the battery and heating the medium; And a control unit controlling power supplied from the battery to the first heater and the second heater, wherein the medium is introduced into the medium to discharge the aerosol absorbing the nicotine heated by the second heater. do.

In the above-described system, the controller controls power supplied to the first heater and the second heater so that the heating temperature of the second heater is lower than the heating temperature of the first heater.

In the above-described system, the aerosol former comprises glycerin and propylene glycol having a weight ratio of about 70:30 to about 100:0.

The above-described system further includes a cigarette including a filter rod through which the medium and an aerosol absorbing nicotine discharged from the medium pass.

The terms used in the embodiments have selected general terms that are currently widely used as possible while considering functions in the present invention, but this may vary depending on the intention or precedent of a technician working in the field, the emergence of new technologies, and the like. In addition, in certain cases, there are terms arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning of the terms will be described in detail in the description of the corresponding invention. Therefore, the terms used in the present invention should be defined based on the meaning of the term and the overall contents of the present invention, not a simple name of the term.

When a part of the specification is said to "include" a certain component, it means that other components may be further included rather than excluding other components unless otherwise stated. In addition, terms such as "... unit" and "... module" described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented as hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those of ordinary skill in the art may easily implement the present invention. However, the present invention may be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 and 2 are diagrams showing examples of an aerosol generation system.

1 and 2, the aerosol generating system 100 may include an aerosol generating device 1 and a cigarette 2. The cigarette 2 may be inserted into the interior space of the aerosol generating device 1.

It can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art related to the present embodiment that the aerosol generating apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may further include other general-purpose components in addition to the illustrated components. have.

In FIG. 1, the battery 11, the control unit 12, the vaporizer 14, and the second heater 13 are shown as being arranged in a line. Further, in FIG. 2, the vaporizer 14 and the second heater 13 are shown as being arranged in parallel. However, the internal structure of the aerosol generating device 1 is not limited to those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In other words, depending on the design of the aerosol generating device 1, the arrangement of the battery 11, the control unit 12, the second heater 13, and the vaporizer 14 may be changed.

When the cigarette 2 is inserted into the aerosol generating device 1, the aerosol generating device 1 operates the second heater 13 and the vaporizer 14 to generate an aerosol. The aerosol generated by the second heater 13 and the vaporizer 14 passes through the cigarette 2 and is delivered to the user.

The battery 11 supplies power used to operate the aerosol generating device 1. For example, the battery 11 may supply power so that the second heater 13 or the vaporizer 14 may be heated, and may supply power necessary for the control unit 12 to operate. In addition, the battery 11 may supply power required to operate a display, a sensor, a motor, and the like installed in the aerosol generating device 1.

The controller 12 overall controls the operation of the aerosol generating device 1. Specifically, the controller 12 controls the operation of the battery 11, the second heater 13, and the vaporizer 14 as well as other components included in the aerosol generating device 1. In addition, the control unit 12 may check the state of each of the components of the aerosol generating device 1 to determine whether the aerosol generating device 1 is in an operable state.

The control unit 12 includes at least one processor. The processor may be implemented as an array of a plurality of logic gates, or may be implemented as a combination of a general-purpose microprocessor and a memory in which a program executable in the microprocessor is stored. In addition, it can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present embodiment pertains that it may be implemented with other types of hardware.

The second heater 13 may be heated by power supplied from the battery 11. For example, when the cigarette is inserted into the aerosol generating device 1, the second heater 13 may be located outside the cigarette. Accordingly, the heated second heater 13 may increase the temperature of the aerosol-generating material in the cigarette.

The second heater 13 may be an electric resistive heater. For example, the second heater 13 may include an electrically conductive track, and the second heater 13 may be heated as an electric current flows through the electrically conductive track. However, the second heater 13 is not limited to the above-described example, and may be applicable without limitation as long as it can be heated to a desired temperature. Here, the desired temperature may be preset in the aerosol generating device 1 or may be set to a desired temperature by the user.

Meanwhile, as another example, the second heater 13 may be an induction heating type heater. Specifically, the second heater 13 may include an electrically conductive coil for heating the cigarette in an induction heating method, and the cigarette may include a susceptor that can be heated by an induction heating type heater.

For example, the second heater 13 may include a tubular first heater, a plate-shaped first heater, a needle-shaped first heater, or a rod-shaped first heater, and according to the shape of the first heater, a cigarette ( 2) Can heat the inside or outside.

In addition, a plurality of second heaters 13 may be disposed in the aerosol generating device 1. In this case, the plurality of second heaters 13 may be disposed to be inserted into the cigarette 2 or may be disposed outside the cigarette 2. In addition, some of the plurality of second heaters 13 may be disposed so as to be inserted into the cigarette 2, and the rest may be disposed outside the cigarette 2. In addition, the shape of the second heater 13 is not limited to the shapes shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and may be manufactured in various shapes.

The vaporizer 14 may heat the liquid composition to generate an aerosol, and the generated aerosol may pass through the cigarette 2 and be delivered to the user. In other words, the aerosol generated by the vaporizer 14 can move along the airflow passage of the aerosol generating device 1, and the aerosol generated by the vaporizer 14 passes through the cigarette and is delivered to the user. It can be configured to be.

For example, the vaporizer 14 may include a liquid storage unit, a liquid delivery means, and a first heater, but is not limited thereto. For example, the liquid reservoir, the liquid delivery means, and the first heater may be included in the aerosol generating device 1 as independent modules.

The liquid storage unit may store the liquid composition. For example, the liquid composition may be a liquid including a tobacco-containing material including a volatile tobacco flavor component, or may be a liquid including a non-tobacco material. The liquid storage unit may be manufactured to be detachable/attached from the vaporizer 14 or may be manufactured integrally with the vaporizer 14.

For example, the liquid composition may include water, solvent, ethanol, plant extract, flavor, flavor, or vitamin mixture. The fragrance may include menthol, peppermint, spearmint oil, and various fruit flavoring ingredients, but is not limited thereto. Flavoring agents may include ingredients that can provide a variety of flavors or flavors to the user. The vitamin mixture may be a mixture of at least one of vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, and vitamin E, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the liquid composition may include an aerosol former such as glycerin and/or propylene glycol.

For example, the ratio of the weight of glycerin contained in the liquid composition and the weight of propylene glycol may be about 50:50 to about 100:0. In this case, the ratio of 100:0 means that the liquid composition contains only glycerin and does not contain propylene glycol.

The liquid delivery means may deliver the liquid composition of the liquid storage unit to the first heater. For example, the liquid delivery means may be a wick such as cotton fiber, ceramic fiber, glass fiber, or porous ceramic, but is not limited thereto.

The first heater is an element for heating the liquid composition delivered by the liquid delivery means. For example, the first heater may be a metal heating wire, a metal heating plate, a ceramic heater, or the like, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the first heater may be composed of a conductive filament such as nichrome wire, and may be disposed in a structure wound around a liquid delivery means. The first heater may be heated by supplying electric current, and may heat the liquid composition by transferring heat to the liquid composition in contact with the first heater. As a result, an aerosol can be produced.

For example, the vaporizer 14 may be referred to as a cartomizer or an atomizer, but is not limited thereto.

Meanwhile, the aerosol generating device 1 may further include general-purpose components in addition to the battery 11, the control unit 12, the second heater 13, and the vaporizer 14. For example, the aerosol generating apparatus 1 may include a display capable of outputting visual information and/or a motor for outputting tactile information. In addition, the aerosol generating device 1 may include at least one sensor (puff detection sensor, temperature detection sensor, cigarette insertion detection sensor, etc.). In addition, the aerosol generating device 1 may be manufactured in a structure in which external air or internal gas can flow out even when the cigarette 2 is inserted.

Although not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the aerosol generating device 1 may constitute a system together with a separate cradle. For example, the cradle can be used to charge the battery 11 of the aerosol generating device 1. Alternatively, the second heater 13 may be heated in a state in which the cradle and the aerosol generating device 1 are coupled.

The cigarette 2 may be similar to a general combustion type cigarette. For example, the cigarette 2 may be divided into a first part including an aerosol-generating material and a second part including a filter. Alternatively, an aerosol-generating material may also be included in the second portion of the cigarette 2. For example, an aerosol-generating material made in the form of granules or capsules may be inserted into the second part.

The entire first part may be inserted into the aerosol generating device 1, and the second part may be exposed to the outside. Alternatively, only a part of the first part may be inserted into the interior of the aerosol generating device 1, or the entire first part and a part of the second part may be inserted. The user may inhale the aerosol while opening the second part by mouth. In this case, the aerosol is generated by passing outside air through the first portion, and the generated aerosol is delivered to the user's mouth through the second portion.

As an example, external air may be introduced through at least one air passage formed in the aerosol generating device 1. For example, the opening and closing of the air passage formed in the aerosol generating device 1 and/or the size of the air passage may be adjusted by the user. Accordingly, the amount of atomization and the feeling of smoking can be adjusted by the user. As another example, external air may be introduced into the cigarette 2 through at least one hole formed on the surface of the cigarette 2.

Hereinafter, examples of the cigarette 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

3 and 4 are views showing examples of cigarettes.

Referring to FIG. 3, the cigarette 2 includes a medium 21 and a filter rod 22. The first portion 21 described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a medium 21 and the second portion 22 includes a filter rod 22.

3, the filter rod 22 is shown as a single segment, but is not limited thereto. In other words, the filter rod 22 may be composed of a plurality of segments. For example, filter rod 22 may include a segment for cooling the aerosol and a segment for filtering certain components contained within the aerosol. Further, if necessary, the filter rod 22 may further include at least one segment performing other functions.

The cigarette 2 may be wrapped by at least one wrapper 24. As an example, the cigarette 2 may be wrapped by one wrapper 24. As another example, the cigarette 2 may be overlapped by two or more wrappers 24.

The medium 21 contains nicotine.

The medium 21 can be manufactured in various ways. For example, the medium 21 may be made of a sheet or may be made of a strand. In addition, the medium 21 may be made of cuticles from which a tobacco sheet is chopped. Further, the medium 21 may be surrounded by a heat conducting material. For example, the heat conducting material may be a metal foil such as aluminum foil, but is not limited thereto. For example, the heat conducting material surrounding the medium 21 may evenly disperse heat transferred to the medium 21 to improve thermal conductivity applied to the medium, thereby improving tobacco taste. In addition, the heat conducting material surrounding the medium 21 may function as a susceptor heated by an induction heating type heater. In this case, although not shown in the drawings, the medium 21 may further include an additional susceptor in addition to the heat conducting material surrounding the outside.

The filter rod 22 may be a cellulose acetate filter. On the other hand, the shape of the filter rod 22 is not limited. For example, the filter rod 22 may be a cylindrical rod, or a tube type rod including a hollow inside. Further, the filter rod 22 may be a recess type rod. If the filter rod 22 is composed of a plurality of segments, at least one of the plurality of segments may be manufactured in a different shape.

In addition, at least one capsule 23 may be included in the filter rod 22. Here, the capsule 23 may perform a function of generating flavor or may perform a function of generating an aerosol. For example, the capsule 23 may have a structure in which a liquid containing perfume is wrapped with a film. The capsule 23 may have a spherical or cylindrical shape, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 4, the cigarette 3 may further include a shear plug 33. The shear plug 33 may be positioned on one side of the medium 31 opposite to the filter rod 32. The shear plug 33 may prevent the medium 31 from escaping to the outside, and prevent the aerosol liquefied from the medium 31 from flowing into the aerosol generating device (1 in FIGS. 1 and 2) during smoking. I can.

The cigarette 3 may be wrapped by at least one wrapper 35.

In addition, at least one capsule 34 may be included in the filter rod 32. Here, the capsule 34 may perform a function of generating flavor or may perform a function of generating an aerosol. For example, the capsule 34 may have a structure in which a liquid containing perfume is wrapped with a film. The capsule 34 may have a spherical or cylindrical shape, but is not limited thereto.

A method of generating an aerosol by the aerosol generating system described above will be described.

5 schematically shows a process of generating an aerosol in the aerosol generating system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. 6 is a flow chart showing an example of a method for generating an aerosol.

5 and 6, in step S1, the first heater 141 generates an aerosol by heating a liquid composition including an aerosol-forming agent. The liquid storage unit 142 of the vaporizer 14 may contain a liquid composition including an aerosol former. The first heater 141 of the vaporizer 14 may generate an aerosol by heating the liquid composition delivered by the liquid delivery means.

In step S2, the second heater 13 may heat the

media

21 and 31 containing nicotine. The

media

21 and 31 may be media included in the cigarettes (2 of FIG. 3 and 3 of FIG. 4) shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The boiling point of nicotine is about 247℃, which is lower than that of glycerin, which is about 290℃. Accordingly, the control unit controls the power supplied to the first heater 141 and the second heater 13 so that the second heater 13 for heating nicotine heats to a lower temperature than the first heater 141 for heating glycerin. Can be controlled. For example, the controller may control the first heater 141 to heat to about 290°C and the second heater 13 to heat to about 247°C.

In step S3, the aerosol generated by the first heater 141 may be introduced into the

media

21 and 31. The aerosol generated by the first heater 141 may move along the airflow path and may flow into the

media

21 and 31.

In step S4, the aerosol introduced into the

media

21 and 31 may absorb the nicotine heated by the second heater 13. An aerosol including glycerin and propylene glycol is introduced into the

media

21 and 31, and the aerosol may move together with the nicotine heated by the second heater 13 while passing through the

media

21 and 31.

In step S5, the aerosol absorbing nicotine may be discharged from the

media

21 and 31. The discharged aerosol may pass through a filter rod (22 in FIG. 3, 32 in FIG. 4) and be provided to the user.

The first experiment and the second experiment were performed to measure the components of the aerosol generated by using the aerosol generation system and the aerosol generation method described above.

In the aerosol generating system used in the first experiment, the medium of the cigarette contains 2.1% by weight of nicotine and 25% by weight of glycerin, and the weight ratio of glycerin and propylene glycol in the liquid composition is 70:30. Further, the initial temperature at which the second heater heats the medium is 230°C, and the end temperature is 140°C. In addition, the conditions for the puff are a flow rate of 55 ml/2 sec (inhaling 55 ml of aerosol for 2 seconds), a puff interval of 20 sec, and a puff number of 14 times.

The first experiment was performed on three types of aerosol generating systems. In Experiments 1-1 and 1-2, an aerosol generation system for a comparative experimental group was used, and in Experiment 1-3, an aerosol generation system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 was used. In detail, in Experiment 1-1, an aerosol generation system including only a liquid composition without a medium, Experiment 1-2, an aerosol generation system including only a medium without a liquid composition, and Experiment 1-3, an aerosol generation system including both a medium and a liquid composition The system was used.

7A shows the glycerin content of the aerosol generated in the aerosol generating system according to the first experiment. 7B shows the propylene glycol content of the aerosol generated in the aerosol generating system by the first experiment. 7C shows the glycerin and propylene glycol contents of the aerosol generated in the aerosol generating system by the first experiment. 7D shows the nicotine content of the aerosol generated in the aerosol generating system by the first experiment.

7A to 7D, since only the result value of Experiment 1-2 in FIGS. 7A to 7C is 0 and only the result value of Experiment 1-1 in FIG. 7D is 0, it can be confirmed that the first experiment was normally performed. .

Referring to FIG. 7D, it can be seen that the result values of Experiment 1-3 are higher than that of Experiments 1-1 and 1-2 for all puffs. Accordingly, it can be seen that when an aerosol is generated by an aerosol generating system including both a medium and a liquid composition, the amount of nicotine transferred can be increased and an aerosol having a high nicotine content can be generated.

In the aerosol generating system used in the second experiment, the medium of the cigarette contained 2.6% by weight of nicotine and 15% by weight of glycerin. Further, the initial temperature at which the second heater heats the medium is 230°C, and the end temperature is 140°C. Further, the puff-related conditions are a flow rate of 55 ml/2 sec (inhaling 55 ml of aerosol for 2 seconds), a puff interval of 20 sec, and a puff number of 14 times.

The second experiment was conducted on an aerosol-generating system comprising four types of liquid compositions. The aerosol generation system of Experiment 2-1 has a weight ratio of glycerin and propylene glycol of 70:30, the aerosol generation system of Experiment 2-2 has a weight ratio of glycerin and propylene glycol of 80:20, and the aerosol generation system of Experiment 2-3 The weight ratio of silver glycerin and propylene glycol is 90:10, and the weight ratio of glycerin and propylene glycol is 100:0 in the aerosol generation system of Experiment 2-4.

8A shows the glycerin content of the aerosol generated in the aerosol generating system according to the second experiment. 8B shows the propylene glycol content of the aerosol generated in the aerosol generating system according to the second experiment. 8C shows the glycerin and propylene glycol contents of the aerosol generated in the aerosol generating system by the second experiment. 8D shows the nicotine content of the aerosol generated in the aerosol generating system by the second experiment.

Referring to FIG. 8B, since only the result value of experiment 2-4 is 0, it can be confirmed that the second experiment was normally performed.

Referring to FIG. 8D, it can be seen that the nicotine content of the aerosol varies according to the weight ratio of glycerin and propylene glycol. In addition, it can be seen that the result value of Experiment 2-3 is the highest for all puffs except for the 8th puff. That is, it can be seen that when the ratio of glycerin and propylene glycol is 90:10, the amount of nicotine transfer can be maximized, and an aerosol with maximal nicotine content can be generated.

Those of ordinary skill in the technical field related to the present embodiment will appreciate that it may be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential characteristics of the above-described description. Therefore, the disclosed methods should be considered from an explanatory point of view rather than a limiting point of view. The scope of the present invention is shown in the claims rather than the above description, and all differences within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being included in the present invention.

Claims

Generating an aerosol by heating, by a first heater, a liquid composition including an aerosol former;

Heating a medium comprising nicotine by a second heater;

Introducing the aerosol generated by the first heater into the medium;

Absorbing the nicotine heated by the second heater by the aerosol introduced into the medium; And

A method for generating an aerosol comprising the step of discharging the aerosol absorbing nicotine from the medium.
The method of claim 1,

The step of heating the medium,

And heating the second heater to a lower temperature than the first heater.
The method of claim 1,

The aerosol former comprises glycerin and propylene glycol having a weight ratio of about 70:30 to about 100:0.
The method of claim 1,

Further comprising the step of discharging the aerosol having absorbed nicotine discharged from the medium through a filter rod and discharged to the outside.
battery;

A container containing a liquid composition containing an aerosol former;

A first heater receiving power from the battery and heating the liquid composition of the container to generate an aerosol;

A medium containing nicotine and positioned on a path through which the aerosol generated by the first heater flows and passing the aerosol;

A second heater receiving power from the battery and heating the medium; And

And a control unit for controlling power supplied from the battery to the first heater and the second heater,

The medium is introduced into the medium to discharge an aerosol that absorbs the nicotine heated by the second heater.
The method of claim 5,

The control unit controls electric power supplied to the first heater and the second heater so that the heating temperature of the second heater is lower than the heating temperature of the first heater.
The method of claim 5,

The aerosol forming agent comprises glycerin and propylene glycol having a weight ratio of about 70:30 to about 100:0.
The method of claim 5,

Further comprising a cigarette comprising a filter rod through which the medium and an aerosol absorbing nicotine discharged from the medium passes.