WO2021083933A1

WO2021083933A1 - An aerosol-generating article comprising a container of reconstituted tobacco material for containing aerosol-generating material

Info

Publication number: WO2021083933A1
Application number: PCT/EP2020/080236
Authority: WO
Inventors: Johannes Dänner
Original assignee: Jt International Sa
Priority date: 2019-10-28
Filing date: 2020-10-28
Publication date: 2021-05-06

Abstract

The present invention relates to an aerosol-generating article (100) comprising a container formed of reconstituted tobacco material, wherein the reconstituted tobacco comprises up to 5 % dry weight of non-tobacco materials out of the total dry weight materials of the container. The invention further relates to a method for manufacturing the container of such aerosol-generating article (100). The method comprises the steps of a) preparing a suspension of tobacco material and a solvent to form a pulp of tobacco material, b) Separating the solvent from the pulp of tobacco material, for example by pressing, c) introducing the pulp of tobacco material in a mould and d) drying the pulp of tobacco material to form a container of reconstituted tobacco comprising up to 5 % dry weight of non-tobacco material out of the total dry weight materials of the container.

Description

An aerosol-generating article comprising a container of reconstituted tobacco material for containing aerosol-generating material

Technical field of the invention

The present invention relates to the field of tobacco, in particular to an aerosol-generating article comprising a container made of reconstituted tobacco material for containing aerosol generating material capable of generating an aerosol or vapour upon heating. Background of the invention

Various kinds of smoking articles which differ from each other are currently available in the market. Vaping systems such as e-cigarettes and heat- not-burn are for example one of the most popular smoking systems at present.

Where the traditional cigarettes result in already considerable littering due to the discarding of filter butts and packaging after consumption, these newly introduced smoking systems produce similar amounts of waste and even more so, given the implementation of electronic devices and their associated plastic packaging and construction, not to mention associated consumables such as cartridges, pods and cartomizers. It is estimated that in recent years millions of capsules or cartridges and cartomizers for smoking devices such as in shishas and e-smoking systems have been produced. Large percentage of these capsules have ended up in garbage landfills and have not been recycled.

It would therefore be advantageous to provide consumers with an alternative where consumables and vaping devices alike have a reduced impact to the environment while maintaining the quality and characteristics of the aerosol generating products consumed therewith.

Summary of the invention The inventors of the present invention have found at least part of the solutions to the above-discussed problems through a manufactured item e.g. aerosol-generating article having a container such that a charge of aerosol generating material can be filled up the cavity of the container; and a method of manufacturing such item as claimed herein. A first aspect of the invention is accordingly to provide an aerosol generating article comprising a disposable container for containing aerosol generating material, wherein the container is made of reconstituted tobacco material comprising up to 5 % dry weight of non-tobacco materials out of the total dry weight of reconstituted tobacco material of the container,. Preferably, the container is made almost exclusively of tobacco materials and preferably contains between 1% and 2% of non-tobacco materials, such as binders and/or surfactants.

A second aspect of the invention is accordingly to provide a method of manufacturing an aerosol-generating article provided in form of a container for containing aerosol-generating material, comprising the steps of a. Preparing a suspension of tobacco material and a solvent to form a pulp of tobacco material; b. Separating the solvent from the pulp of tobacco material, for example by pressing; c. Introducing the pulp of tobacco material in a mould and apply pressure to press form the pulp of tobacco material; d. Drying the pulp of tobacco material to form a container of reconstituted tobacco comprising up to 5 % dry weight of non-tobacco material out of the total dry weight materials of the container.

A third aspect of the invention is accordingly to provide an aerosol- generating article according to the invention and a charge of aerosol-generating material arranged in the cavity of the container.

The inventor of the present invention have found out that reconstituted tobacco comprising up to 5 % dry weight of non-tobacco materials of the total dry weight materials is suitable to form a disposable container component exhibiting sufficient mechanical and consistency for packaging a charge of aerosol generating material to be heated directly or indirectly to a temperature of 250°C to 350°C through the container to generate an inhalable aerosol. In addition, the very low content of non-tobacco materials such as surfactants, binders or the like, for instance up to 5% dry weight maximum, ensures that the reconstituted tobacco material forming the container does not substantially participate in the aerosol generation upon heating of its content at the corresponding heating temperatures but maintains a sufficient structural stability and integrity to avoid partitioning and dusting in a heater arrangement of an aerosol generating device. This discovery is surprising as it has not been reported that reconstituted tobacco material has enough material resistance such as to be used as a packaging material (i.e. the container) for making environmentally friendly, biodegradable and disposable items.

According to one embodiment, the container is made of a single shaped part component or an assembly of a plurality of component parts or panels. Single shaped part component is advantageously for low production cost and better usability (e.g. to better contain the aerosol-generating material within the container). An assembly of plurality of component parts is advantageously for customizing the container according to different needs e.g. the portion directly contacting with the heating element of the vaping device may be made of less heat absorbing materials. To this end, it is disclosed that the aerosol-generating article of the present is preferably provided in form of a container.

According to another embodiment, the container comprises only biodegradable materials and/or preferably inorganic materials, wherein the biodegradable materials are preferably only reconstituted tobacco and/or those organic filler materials for use as binders.

In one embodiment, the container comprises up to 1 % by weight of humectants or surfactants of the total dry weight of the reconstituted tobacco material for forming the container. The humectant or surfactant may be for instance propylene glycol and glycerine.

In one preferred embodiment, the container forms a cavity for containing the aerosol-generating material. The container proposed herein is made of a material which comprises reconstituted tobacco materials and/or with other biodegradable material preferably generated from tobacco plants while suitable to be served as a container.

In yet another embodiment, the reconstituted tobacco is selected from the list consisting of tobacco dust, stalk, stem and root. Tobacco stalk and/or root is especially suitable to make the container of the present invention as those tobacco parts have less tobacco content compared to other parts, and the fact that tobacco stalks and roots are sturdier due to the consistency of the material, hence are suitable to maintain a determined shape of the container.

Filling materials such as aerosol-generating tobacco-containing material or e-liquid material can be kept within the cavity of the container within an extended period of time without significantly losing the amount or characteristic of the materials.

In a further embodiment, the aerosol-generating material comprises any of an electronic cigarette liquid composition or an aerosol-generating substrate comprising tobacco material. According to a further embodiment, a protective layer of substantially impervious material is provided to a surface of the aerosol-generating article, preferably as a layer. Such impervious material can be for instance film biopolymer, which may act as liquid impervious material. In one further embodiment, the non-tobacco materials in the reconstituted tobacco material forming the container of the aerosol-generating article of the invention comprises a binder and/or cellulose or a cellulose based compound.

The binder content is of course less than 5% by dry weight of the total dry weight materials, preferably less than 3%.

According to one embodiment, the aerosol-generating article further comprises a lid for closing the cavity of the container, wherein said lid preferably being made of the same material as the container.

In one preferred method, it further comprises a step of finishing the moulded container by removing excess material or applying a coating or anti molding composition to at least a surface of said component.

In a further embodiment, the moulded container forms a cavity and the method further comprises any of the following steps: a. Providing an aerosol-generating material in the cavity the container; b. Providing a lid for closing, sealing and/or overwrapping of the cavity of the container.

It is further disclosed herein that the charge of aerosol-generating material comprises any of shisha tobacco material, tobacco cut-filler, ground tobacco material, tobacco-containing granules or pellets. In a further embodiment, the charge of aerosol-generating material comprises at least one flavourant and/or a vaporisable carrier. In a preferred embodiment, the moulded container comprising a cavity and the method further comprises any of the following steps (a) Providing an aerosol-generating material in the cavity the container; (b) Providing a lid for closing, sealing and/or overwrapping of the cavity of the container. In one preferred embodiment, the method of the present invention further comprises the steps of: a. Providing a container formed of reconstituted tobacco according to the method of the present invention, b. Filling a charge of aerosol-generating material into the cavity of the container; c. Closing the cavity of the container with a lid of same material as the container, d. Sealing the lid to the container to form said aerosol-generating article, comprising the charge of aerosol-generating material in a sealed container, and e. Storing the aerosol-generating article thus obtained.

By “about” or “approximately” in relation to a given numerical value, it is meant to include numerical values within 10% of the specified value. All values given in the present disclosure are to be understood to be complemented by the word “about”, unless it is clear to the contrary from the context.

The indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality, thus should be treated broadly.

Unless defined otherwise, technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. As used herein, the term “compound” referred to substance e.g. biological substance that is composed of one or more materials. In other words, it refers to one or more ingredients which made up a composition.

The term “component” as used herein referred to element which is made up of one or several parts e.g. mechanical parts. In other words, the component can be a part that combines with other parts to be functioned or to form something bigger, or to render a specific function when work together with other components.

As used herein, the term “container” referred to a hollow object, in form of such as a box or a housing which can be used for housing one or more elements therein, especially for carrying or storing. The material forming the container may be similar or different to the material of the element which is contained within the container.

Throughout the forthcoming description of the invention, the term "tobacco" refers to any part of a tobacco plant or mixtures of tobacco plants arising from the same or different species as well as being genetically modified (GMO). The tobacco plant belongs to the family Solanaceae and the genus Nicotiana. Examples of parts are leaves, stems, roots etc., which may be obtained by any method such as being fresh, frozen, deep-frozen, freeze dried or cured.

A tobacco-containing material can be any compound, mixture, particle matter, and/or solution that contains and/or carries a constituent of tobacco, either artificially included or naturally contained in tobacco, e.g. tobacco, tobacco particles, tobacco flavour, tobacco extract and/or nicotine. In contrast, an example for an artificially added non-tobacco-specific flavour would be menthol.

The tobacco-containing material may also comprise one or more additives selected from the group consisting of natural, natural identical, synthetic and semisynthetic additives such as menthol, bergamot, orange, mandarin, acai berry, eucalyptus and coffee, citrus or other fruit flavour, liquorice, etc. The reconstituted tobacco material/product may have tobacco fibre material as a core and the nicotine adsorbed onto the tobacco fibre material or absorbed into the tobacco fibre material, such as by spraying the nicotine onto the tobacco fibre material. If nicotine is sprayed, it is essential to make sure that the total nicotine content in the reconstituted tobacco product is less than 5 %, preferably less than 3 %.

As used herein, the term "aerosol-generating article" refers to an aerosol-generating article for producing an aerosol comprising an aerosol generating material that is intended to be heated rather than combusted in order to release volatile compounds that can form an aerosol.

As used herein, the term "aerosol-generating material" refers to a material capable of releasing upon heating volatile compounds, which can form an aerosol. The aerosol generated from aerosol-generating material of aerosol generating articles described herein may be visible or invisible and may include vapours (for example, fine particles of substances, which are in a gaseous state, that are ordinarily liquid or solid at room temperature) as well as gases and liquid droplets of condensed vapours.

As used herein, wt.-% is to be understood as weight percent, based on the total weight of the material or element, unless explicitly otherwise specified. In the present disclosure, all amounts are given in wt.-%, unless clearly stated otherwise or obvious from context. In the present disclosure, furthermore all amounts given in wt.-% add up to 100 wt.-%. The weight percent are thereby calculated by dividing the mass of each component by the total mass of the material, unless indicated otherwise or clear from context.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows a schematic representative of a manufactured item i.e. a container for an aerosol-generating article according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 shows a schematic representative of a manufactured item i.e. a container for an aerosol-generating article to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 shows a schematic representative of a manufactured item i.e. a container for an aerosol-generating article according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 shows a schematic representative of a manufactured item i.e. a container for an aerosol-generating article according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of the invention

Figure 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a manufactured item 100 such as an aerosol-generating article in a cylindrical pod format, comprising at least one disposable container made of reconstituted tobacco material. As can be seen in the Figure 1 , the manufactured item 100 can be in of elliptical or circular cross-section.

A wide variety types of the manufactured items useful for carrying out the present invention can be considered. For instance, the aerosol-generating article 100 can be manufactured in form of a cube as shown in Figure 2, or has an irregular shape (Figure 3) or has a pod shape (Figure 4).

According to the invention, the container of the aerosol-generating article 100 is formed comprising of reconstituted tobacco material and is capable of receiving a filling of aerosol-generating material for generation of an aerosol upon heating of the aerosol-generating article in an aerosol-generating device in normal use.

As opposed to standard reconstituted tobacco materials, which are produced to be burnt and/or at least heated as aerosol-generating material for aerosol generation upon heating, the reconstituted tobacco material forming the container of the aerosol-generating article of the invention is made essentially of tobacco material with maximum up to 5% dry weight of non-tobacco materials such as surfactants, humectants and/or other binders or fillers, out of the total dry weight of materials forming the container. Within the current invention, the reconstituted tobacco material of the container is preferably, in practice preferably up to 1% dry weight of the total dry weight materials, free from aerosol former constituents such as humectants (glycerine, propylene glycol for example) and flavorants. A clear distinction between these differences is henceforth clarified. Disclosed herein also is that the aerosol-generating article 100 according to the present invention may be manufactured to have a thickness of less than 8 mm, preferably less than 5 mm or less than 3 mm.

The container can be made of a single shaped part of reconstituted tobacco material. For instance, a part or a portion of the component of the consumable product (e.g. smoking article) can be made of reconstituted tobacco material. Alternatively, an assembly of a plurality of parts or panels comprising reconstituted tobacco materials parts or panels can also be realised. It is furthermore disclosed that the manufactured item is preferably be made of at least one layer of reconstituted tobacco materials of the above recited thickness. Of course, plurality of layers may also be used to adjust physical behaviour of the manufactured item, in particular the mechanical strength of the manufactured item.

In one particular preferred embodiment, the aerosol-generating article 100 according to the present invention is a shaped container, comprising a cavity for a filling material, wherein the material of the shaped container is reconstituted tobacco. The container in this example can be a capsule where filling materials comprising tobacco and/or aerosol-generating materials can be housed within the cavity. The container may further be provided with a lid which is also made of a reconstituted tobacco materials. The lid may be closed using a binder or glue which is common in the art. The container is made of reconstitute tobacco material, for example only with biodegradable materials and inorganic materials for up to 5% dry weight, preferably up to 1% dry weight of the total dry weight materials forming the container, so that it can be served as an environmentally friendly capsule system for tobacco products such as heat-not-burn devices or water pipe smoking devices. Suitable tobacco parts which can be used to constitute for the 99 % dry weight reconstituted tobacco of the container are selected from tobacco stalk and/or tobacco roots, as these parts have higher content of cellulose.

The aerosol-generating article 100 in form of a capsule can be manufactured for example through a paper cup making technology and machinery such as moulded pulp. For instance, a suspension of slurry containing the tobacco materials (up to 95 % by dry weight of the total dry weight materials), inorganic filler materials and a solution comprising humectants (e.g. up to 1 % by weight) and/or binders can be first prepared. The slurry can then be pressed or squeezed to remove excessive liquid in order to obtain the pulp. Alternatively, the pulp can be placed in a mould and excessive liquid is then removed by applying pressure thereto. The moulded component of tobacco-containing material can then be extracted and dried. The container may or may not be filled up with filling materials before a lid closes the opening of the cavity of the container. The moulded components may be air-dried or cured e.g. in oven before the cavity is being filled up by the filling materials.

The container made of reconstituted tobacco materials may only contain biodegradable material i.e. no plastic or metal materials. This has been found out to be an effective alternative to the existing solutions where capsules are made of metal of plastic materials.

Moreover, capsules made of reconstituted tobacco material are the most preferred as it not only perfectly blends with the tobacco-containing aerosol generating substrates which may be contained within the product, it is also cost effective to be produced as well as get rid of waste problem. For instance, other biodegradable materials such as paper, natural fibre, cotton or the like may be degradable over time, nonetheless a long period of time and space are required until those materials are completely degraded whereas for capsule made of only reconstituted tobacco material, the capsule can be degraded almost instantly.

The aerosol-generating articles proposed herein are particularly suitable to be served as capsules for shishas or consumables for e-cigarettes such as aerosol-generating tobacco-containing products.

In this connection, the aerosol-generating articles in form of a container may have a mean diameter of at least 0.5 cm, preferably between 0.7 and 1.2 cm. The height of the container is preferably less than 5 cm, preferably less than 4 cm, or more preferably between 0.5 cm and 1.5 cm. The aerosol-generating article according to the present invention can be used as a consumable in electrically heated aerosol-generating device, in particular heat-not-burn type devices, or water pipe systems e.g. shishas.

As described above, the aerosol-generating articles according to the present invention may be any suitable shape or form, but in particular when it is in form of a container, the shape of the container is configured to substantially match the shape of the cavity (e.g. of an aerosol-generating device) to optimize the heat transfer between the heating element and the tobacco material.

Example 1

The aerosol-generating article according to one embodiment comprises the following compositions: 47.5 g reconstituted tobacco; 2.5 g hydroxypropylcellulose, with up to 1 % by weight of humectant over the total dry weight of the reconstituted tobacco material. The container having no aerosol generating material filled therein does not release aerosol upon being heated to a temperature up to approximately 400 °C as reported by test subjects.

Claims

1. An aerosol-generating article (100) comprising a container for containing aerosol-generating material, wherein the container is made of reconstituted tobacco material comprising up to 5 % dry weight of non-tobacco materials out of the total dry weight materials for forming the container.

2. The aerosol-generating article (100) according to claim 1 , wherein said container is made of a single shaped part component or an assembly of a plurality of component parts or panels.

3. The aerosol-generating article (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the container comprises only biodegradable materials.

4. The aerosol-generating article (100) according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the container comprises up to 1 % by weight of humectants of the total dry weight of the reconstituted tobacco material forming the container.

5. The aerosol-generating article (100) according to any preceding claim, wherein the container forms a cavity, said cavity being filled with a charge of aerosol-generating material.

6. The aerosol-generating article (100) according to any preceding claims, wherein the reconstituted tobacco is selected from the list consisting of tobacco dust, stalk, stem and root.

7. The aerosol-generating article (100) according to any preceding claim, wherein the aerosol-generating material comprises tobacco material.

8. The aerosol-generating article (100) according to any preceding claim, wherein a protective layer of substantially impervious material is provided to a surface of the aerosol-generating article.

9. The aerosol-generating article (100) according to any preceding claim, wherein the non-tobacco materials in the reconstituted tobacco material forming the container of the aerosol-generating article further comprises a binder and/or cellulose or a cellulose- based compound.

10. The aerosol-generating article (100) according to any preceding claims, further comprising a lid for closing the cavity of the container, said lid preferably being made of the same material as the container.

11. A method of manufacturing a container for containing aerosol generating material, comprising the steps of a. Preparing a suspension of tobacco material and a solvent to form a pulp of tobacco material; b. Separating the solvent from the pulp of tobacco material; c. Introducing the pulp of tobacco material into a mould and apply pressure thereto to press form the pulp of tobacco material; d. Drying the moulded pulp of tobacco material to form a container of reconstituted tobacco comprising up to 5 % dry weight of non-tobacco material out of the total dry weight materials of the container.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising a step of finishing the moulded container by removing excess material or applying a coating or anti-molding composition to at least a surface of said component.

13. The method of any of claims 11 or 12, further comprising a step of assembling a plurality of moulded components together to form said container, comprising a plurality of components made of reconstituted tobacco material.

14. The method of any of claims 11 or 12, wherein the moulded container comprising a cavity and the method further comprises any of the following steps: a. Providing an aerosol-generating material in the cavity the container; b. Providing a lid for closing, sealing and/or overwrapping of the cavity of the container.

15. The method of any one of the claims 11-13, comprising the steps of: a. Providing a container formed of reconstituted tobacco according to any one of the claims 1 -10; b. Filling a charge of aerosol-generating material into the cavity of the container; c. Closing the cavity of the container with a lid of same material as the container, d. Sealing the lid to the container to form said aerosol generating article, comprising the charge of aerosol-generating material in a sealed container, and e. Storing the aerosol-generating article thus obtained.