Patent Application
20240271051
The present disclosure relates to a method of molding a combustible heat source for a smoking article, a combustible heat source manufactured by the method, and a smoking article including the same.
A number of smoking articles which are heated rather than combusted have recently been proposed. Unlike conventional smoking articles, these non-combustion type smoking articles are used by sucking an aerosol generated by heating a smoking article medium without burning the smoking article medium. As one of these types of heating-type smoking articles, there is a smoking article product to which a carbon heat source is applied.
A smoking article to which the carbon heat source is applied generates an aerosol by heat transfer from the carbon heat source to a smoking article medium located downstream of the carbon heat source.
The smoking article product, to which the carbon heat source is applied, is used for smoking similarly to a traditional smoking article, unlike general heating-type electronic smoking articles using a dedicated device, so that consumers' smoking convenience and satisfaction may be expected to be improved.
(Patent Document 1) Korean Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2020-0030364
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a method of molding a combustible heat source having excellent combustion persistency, the combustible heat source, and a smoking article including the heat source.
The present disclosure provides a method of molding a combustible heat source, the method including:
In an implementation example of the present disclosure, the heat source may have a diameter of 7 to 8 millimeters (mm) and a length of 10 to 12 nanometers (nm).
In another implementation example of the present disclosure, the compression strength PO in step S3 may be 0.5 to 10 megapascals (MPa).
In still another implementation example of the present disclosure, the PO may be 1.5 to 3.0 MPa.
In still another implementation example of the present disclosure, the Pw may be 0.5 to 1.5 MPa.
In still another implementation example of the present disclosure, the oil may be treated in an amount of 0.8 to 2 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of a solid content of the combustible heat source composition.
In still another implementation example of the present disclosure, the heat source may be ignited within 30 seconds, and combustion may continue for 140 seconds or longer.
In addition, the present disclosure provides a combustible heat source molded by the method described above.
Furthermore, the present disclosure provides a smoking article including the combustible heat source described above.
Since a conventional combustible heat source was manufactured by a compression molding method, it had a limitation in that an excessive increase of an internal density of a combustible body affects combustion persistency. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides an optimal molding method of performing compression molding in a mixed form in which oil/moisture is applied, and the heat source molded by the method of the present disclosure has excellent roughness of a surface and thus has excellent combustion persistency, compared to the conventional heat source.
Demand for heating-type electronic smoking articles is increasing. Most heating-type electronic smoking articles have a device in the structure of “device+dedicated stick”. As a new type of smoking article, a product having a smoking form similar to those of general smoking articles is being developed by applying a carbon-based heat source to the tip of the smoking article. Accordingly, the present disclosure has attempted to develop a combustible heat source that may have a smoking form (ignition, smoking start point) similar to those of the general smoking articles.
Existing combustible heat sources are mainly manufactured by compression molding. The combustible heat source may be manufactured using only powder by a powder molding metallurgy method, but an internal density of a combustion body may be excessively increase, which may affect combustion persistency, and therefore, it is desirable to perform compression molding in a mixed form in which oil/moisture is applied. Accordingly, the present disclosure proposes a method of molding a combustible heat source according to oil/moisture and a mixing pressure.
The present disclosure provides a method of molding a combustible heat source, the method including:
In addition, the present disclosure may provide a combustible heat source molded by the method described above, and a smoking article including the heat source.
Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in more detail.
Step S1 of the present disclosure is a step of preparing a combustible heat source composition. The combustible heat source composition may include a carbon powder, an organic binder, and an ignition accelerator. In addition, the heat source composition may further include moisture (water). As the heat source composition includes the moisture, it may function as a binder at the time of compression. The water may be included in an amount of 1% to 1.2% with respect to a solid content.
Step S2 of the present disclosure is a step of treating glycerin or propylene glycol as oil, in order to optimize an internal density of the combustible heat source. Desirably, propylene glycol having more excellent combustion persistency may be used. The oil may increase ignitability at the time of heating so that the combustion may be performed smoothly.
Step S3 of the present disclosure is a step of compressing the composition and finally molding it in the form of a heat source.
In the present disclosure, it was confirmed that, when oil is treated, a surface roughness of the heat source is greatly improved when a stronger pressing pressure is applied, compared to when the moisture is treated.
Accordingly, in step S2, a compression strength is defined as Po, and a compression strength when moisture is treated is defined as PW. That is, Po, which is a compression strength in step S3 of the present disclosure, may have a value 1.5 to 2 times greater than Pw, which is the compression strength when moisture is treated. For example, if a pressure when moisture is treated is 1.2 megapascals (MPa), a pressure when oil is treated may be 2.0 MPa.
In another implementation example of the present disclosure, the Po may be 0.5 to 10 MPa, and Pw may be 0.5 to 1.5 MPa. Desirably, in order to manufacture a heat source having a diameter of 7 to 8 millimeters (mm) and a length of 10 to 12 nanometers (nm), Po may be 1.5 to 3.0 MPa.
The heat source may be ignited within 30 seconds, and the combustion may continue for 140 seconds or longer. In the present disclosure, the size of the heat source may include a diameter of 7 to 8 mm and a length of 10 to 12 nm, and the present disclosure proposes a desirable method of molding a heat source having the diameter and length described above. A heat source having a size within the above range has a size suitable for use as a smoking article applied with a combustible heat source.
In still another implementation example of the present disclosure, the oil may be treated in an amount of 0.8 to 2 parts by weight with respect to 100 parts by weight of a solid content of the combustible heat source composition. More desirably, when the oil is treated in an amount of 1 to 1.5 parts by weight, excellent surface roughness and moldability are obtained.
Therefore, the present disclosure may provide a combustible heat source manufactured by the method described above.
The combustible heat source to be used in a smoking article according to the present disclosure may have a carbon content of at least about 50%. For example, in the smoking article according to the present disclosure, the combustible heat source may include a combustible carbon-based heat source of at least about 60 dry weight %, at least about 70 dry weight %, or at least about 80 dry weight % of the combustible heat source.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, at least one binder may be combined with the heat source. Desirably, the at least one binder is an organic binder. Well-known suitable organic binders include, but are not limited to, gums (e.g., guar gum), modified cellulose and cellulose derivatives (e.g., methyl cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose) flour, starch, sugar, vegetable oil, and a combination thereof.
Additionally, the combustible heat source to be used in the smoking article according to the present disclosure may include at least one additive, in order to improve properties of the combustible heat source. Suitable additives include additives that promote consolidation of the combustible heat source (e.g., sintering aids), additives that promote the ignition of the combustible heat source (e.g., oxidizing agents, such as perchlorate, chlorate, nitrate, peroxide, permanganate, zirconium, and a combination thereof), additives that promote the combustion of the combustible heat source (e.g., potassium and potassium salts, such as potassium citrate), and additives that promote the decomposition of one or more gases manufactured by the combustion of the combustible heat source (e.g., catalysts such as, CuO, Fe2O3, and Al2O3), but are not limited thereto.
In addition, the combustible heat source may further include an ignition aid. As used herein, the term “ignition aid” is used to indicate a substance that releases one or both energy or oxygen during the ignition of the combustible heat source, a speed of release of one or both energy and oxygen by the substance is not limited by ambient oxygen diffusion. That is, the speed of release of one or both energy and oxygen by the substance during the ignition of the combustible heat source is substantially independent of a speed at which ambient oxygen may reach the substance. As used herein, the term “ignition aid” is also used to indicate an elemental metal that releases energy during the ignition of the combustible heat source, and a temperature of the ignition of the elemental metal is lower than about 500° C. and a temperature of the combustion of the elemental metal is at least about 5 KJ/g. The ignition aid may be an alkali metal salt (an alkali metal citrate salt, alkali metal acetate salt, alkali metal succinate salt, etc.), an alkali metal halide salt (an alkali metal chloride salt, etc.), an alkali metal carbonate salt, or an alkali metal phosphate salt of carboxylic acids, which are believed to modify carbon combustion.
Examples of suitable oxidizing agents include, but are not limited to, nitrate such as, for example, potassium nitrate, calcium nitrate, strontium nitrate, sodium nitrate, barium nitrate, lithium nitrate, aluminum nitrate, and iron nitrate; nitrite; other organic and inorganic nitro compounds; chlorate such as, for example, sodium chlorate and potassium chlorate; perchlorate such as, for example, sodium perchlorate; chlorite; bromate such as, for example, sodium bromate and potassium bromate; perbromate; bromite; borate such as, for example, sodium borate and potassium borate; ferrate such as, for example, barium ferrate; ferrite; manganate such as, for example, potassium manganate; permanganate such as, for example, potassium permanganate; organic peroxide such as, for example, benzoyl peroxide and acetone peroxide; inorganic peroxide such as, for example, hydrogen peroxide, strontium peroxide, magnesium peroxide, calcium peroxide, barium peroxide, zinc peroxide, and lithium peroxide; superoxide such as, for example, potassium superoxide and sodium superoxide; iodate; periodate; iodite; sulfate; sulfite; other sulfoxides; phosphate; phospinate; phosphite; and phosphanite.
While advantageously improving the ignition and combustion performance of the combustible heat source, undesirable decomposition and reaction products may be generated when the smoking article is used by including ignition and combustion additives. For example, the decomposition of nitrate included in the combustible heat source to aid the ignition allows a nitrogen oxide to be formed. As the combustible heat source is included in the smoking article according to the present disclosure, advantageously, during the use thereof, the decomposition and reaction products are substantially prevented or suppressed from entering into air sucked through the smoking article according to the present disclosure.
A combustible carbonaceous heat sources to be used in the smoking article according to the present disclosure may be manufactured as described in the prior art well-known to those skilled in the art.
The combustible carbonaceous heat source to be used in the smoking article according to the present disclosure may be formed by desirably mixing at least one carbon-containing material with at least one binder and other additives, if included, and pre-forming this mixture into a desired shape. The mixture of the at least one carbon-containing material, the at least one binder, and the optional other additives may be pre-formed into a desired shape using any suitable known ceramic forming methods, such as, for example, slip casting, extrusion molding, injection molding, or mold compression. In a certain desirable implementation example, the mixture is pre-formed into a desired shape by pressurization, extrusion, or a combination thereof.
Desirably, the mixture of the at least one carbon-containing material, the at least one binder, and the other additives may be pre-formed into an elongate rod. However, it is understood that the mixture of the at least one carbon-containing material, the at least one binder, and the other additives may be pre-formed into other desired shapes.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the combustible heat source may desirably have a porosity between about 20% and about 80%, and more desirably between about 20% and 60%. More desirably, the combustible heat source may have a porosity between about 50% and about 70%, when the porosity is measured, for example, by mercury porosimetry or helium pycnometry. The required porosity may be easily achieved while the method of manufacturing the heat source is performed using the conventional methods and technologies.
Advantageously, the combustible heat source to be used in the smoking article according to the present disclosure has an apparent density between about 0.6 g/cm3 and about 1 g/cm3.
The combustible heat source has a mass desirably between about 300 mg and about 500 mg and more desirably between about 400 mg and about 450 mg.
The combustible heat source has a length desirably between about 7 mm and about 17 mm, more desirably between about 7 mm and about 15 mm, and most desirably between about 7 mm and about 13 mm.
The combustible heat source has a diameter desirably between about 5 mm and about 9 mm and more desirably between about 7 mm and about 8 mm.
The combustible heat source desirably has a substantially uniform diameter. However, the combustible heat source may alternatively be tapered so that the diameter of a rear portion of the combustible heat source is greater than the diameter of a front portion thereof. In such implementation examples, the rear portion of the combustible heat source has a transverse cross-sectional area of at least about 60% of a transverse cross-sectional area of the smoking article.
It is particularly desirable that the combustible heat source is substantially cylindrical. The combustible heat source may be, for example, a circular cross-sectional cylindrical or tapered cylindrical form or a substantially elliptical cross-sectional cylindrical or tapered cylindrical form.
Accordingly, the combustible heat source may be used in the smoking article applied with the combustible heat source.
The “smoking article” may refer to any product that may be smoked or any product that may provide a smoking experience, regardless of whether the product is based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco, or tobacco substitutes. For example, the smoking article may refer to an article that may be smoked to generate an aerosol, such as a cigarette, a cigar, a cigarillo, and the like.
The smoking article may include a combustible heat source composed of the composition, a medium portion, a thermally conductive wrapper, cigarette paper, a cooling portion, a filter portion, etc., and the combustible heat source; the medium portion; the cooling portion; and the filter portion may be aligned in order based on the longitudinal direction, but the order can be freely changed except for the case where the combustible heat source is located upstream. In addition to this, additional configurations may be further included or one or more of the above-described configurations may be omitted. The smoking article may have a diameter of, for example, 4 mm to 10 mm, and a circumference of 14 mm to 29 mm. In addition, the smoking article may have a length of 45 mm to 100 mm.
The medium portion may include, for example, at least one of cut tobacco, cut reconstituted tobacco leaves, smoking article leaves, expanded smoking article, and nicotine extract. The medium portion may contain a nicotine component. In addition to the medium portion, an aerosol generating material may be further contained. The aerosol generating material may include polyhydric alcohols, esters of polyhydric alcohols such as glycerol mono-, di- or triacetate, and aliphatic esters of mono-, di- or esters of polycarboxylic acids such as dimethyl dodecanedioate and dimethyl tetradecanedioate. More specifically, the aerosol generating material may include, for example, at least one of glycerin, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, and oleyl alcohol. For example, the medium portion may include cut reconstituted tobacco leaves immersed in glycerin. However, this is an example and the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to above description.
The medium portion may have a length between about 5 mm and about 20 mm, and more desirably between about 8 mm and about 12 mm. The medium portion is surrounded by paper or other wrapper and may be in the form of a plug or portion containing a material capable of releasing volatile compounds in response to heating. As described above, when the medium portion is in the form of a plug or portion, the entire plug or portion including any wrapper is considered to be the medium portion.
The cooling portion may contain a cooling material. The cooling portion includes a tubular hollow body with an open end, and may cool airflow passing through the heat source and the medium portion. The cooling portion may be made of a polymer material or a biodegradable polymer material and may have a cooling function. For example, the cooling portion may be paper, cardboard, plastic, and may be, for example, cellulose acetate, ceramic, and a combination thereof. Additionally, the cooling portion may include a corrugated sheet of material selected from the group consisting of metal foil, polymeric material, and substantially non-porous paper or cardboard. In certain implementation examples, an aerosol cooling element may also include a corrugated sheet of material selected from the group consisting of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polylactic acid (PLA), cellulose acetate (CA), and aluminum foil. The cooling portion may have a length between about 5 mm and about 30 mm, more desirably between about 8 mm and about 25 mm, but the length may be freely adjusted in consideration of the temperature of heat generated from a heatable heat source.
The filter portion contains a filter material, and the shape of the filter portion is not limited. For example, the filter portion may be a cylinder-type rod or a tube-type rod including a hollow therein. Alternatively, the filter portion may be a recess-type rod. If the filter portion is composed of a plurality of segments, at least one of the plurality of segments may be manufactured in a different shape. For example, the filter portion may include a filter tow in a fibrous form, a filamentous form, or both. The fibrous form and the filamentous form may each include at least one of a polymer, paper, cellulose acetate, activated carbon, and carbon, but is not limited thereto. The filter portion, for example, may have a length of 5 to 20 mm.
In addition to this, the filter portion may further include a tipping paper in contact with the mouth, which surrounds the filter material. The tipping paper may have one or more perforations formed therein.
The filter portion may be manufactured to generate flavor. In an example, a flavoring liquid may be sprayed onto the filter material or separate fibers coated with the flavoring liquid may be inserted into the filter portion.
The cooling portion and the filter portion may contain an aerosol modifier. For example, one or more of the cooling portion, filter portion, and tipping paper of the smoking article according to the present disclosure may contain one or more aerosol modifiers. Suitable aerosol modifiers may not be limited thereto, but may include a flavoring agent and a chemesthetic agent. The flavoring agent is used to describe any substance that, when used, imparts taste, aroma, or both thereof to aerosols generated by a tobacco material and an aerosol generating material of the smoking article.
In addition, the cigarette paper is composed of cellulose fibers obtained from wood, flax, or other materials, and may be wrapped around a medium portion, wrapped around the entire smoking article including the medium portion, or wrapped around a portion except for the filter portion. A base paper of the cigarette paper may have a thickness of about 30 μm to about 100 μm, and the base paper may have a basis weight of about 15 g/m2 to about 80 g/m2.
The smoking article according to the present disclosure may also include downstream one or more aerosol modifiers that are both a flavoring agent and a chemesthetic agent. For example, one or more of the cooling portion and filter portion of the smoking article according to the present disclosure may contain menthol or another flavoring agent that provides a cooling object sensory effect.
In addition, the smoking article including the combustible heat source may include a thermally conductive wrapper surrounding the combustible heat source and the medium portion. The thermally conductive wrapper may be completely wrapped around the heat source and the medium portion, partially wrapped around a portion of the heat source and a portion of the medium portion, or entirely wrapped around a portion of the heat source and the medium portion. The thermally conductive wrapper transfers heat generated from a combustible heat source to the tobacco material. The wrapper may be a metal foil wrapper such as an aluminum foil wrapper, a steel wrapper, an iron foil wrapper, and a copper foil wrapper; and a metal alloy foil wrapper, and the material thereof is not limited to the above materials, as long as it is a material capable of efficiently transferring heat.
A metal barrier may be formed between the heatable heat source and the medium portion. Here, the metal barrier may prevent direct contact of a combustible heat source portion with the medium portion, and may prevent some out of components generated in the combustible heat source portion from moving to the medium portion.
A thickness of the barrier may be appropriately adjusted to obtain good smoking performance. In a specific implementation example, the barrier may have a thickness between about 10 microns and about 500 microns. The barrier may include one or more metallic materials that are substantially thermally stable and non-combustible at the temperatures obtained by the combustible heat source upon ignition and combustion. Suitable materials are known in the art and are not limited thereto, but they include aluminum, copper, stainless steel, and combinations thereof.
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 construed as limited to the 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 to be limiting of the embodiments. 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 example 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.
According to the compositions shown in Table 1 below, a combustible heat source composition including charcoal and an excipient was prepared. The heat source was manufactured in the form of a cylinder with a diameter of 7 mm and a height of about 11 mm. Materials for manufacturing a heat source were prepared according to mixing ratios and then mixed using an atmospheric pressure mixer (ARE-310 from THINKY). When mixing, the materials were mixed at 1500 RPM for 1 minute each time each material was added.
The mixed powder was mixed at 1500 RPM for 5 minutes by adding appropriate amounts of moisture or oil in parts by weight shown in Table 1. The mixed sample was divided into about 0.6 g and compressed through a press to mold the sample in a cylinder shape. At this time, a pressure for the compression was set as the condition shown in Table 1. Particularly, in a case of Examples 2, 3, 5, and 6 in which oil was added, the compression was performed at a higher pressure than that in a case in which water was added.
The compressed sample was dried at 80° C. for 30 minutes in a drying oven.
The external appearances of the manufactured heat source were confirmed and shown in
In addition, results evaluated according to the following criteria were shown in Table 2.
As can be seen from the results of Table 2, when the 1% to 1.5% of oil was included as in Examples 1 to 4, good surface roughness and moldability were confirmed. In contrast, in Comparative Examples 1 and 2 in which 1% and 1.2% of moisture is included, respectively, it was confirmed that the moldability was slightly poor due to cracked, broken, and crumbly surface during the molding, and in Comparative Examples 3 and 4 in which 0.5% of oil is included, it was confirmed that the molding was completed but the surface was cracked and broken. In Comparative Examples 5 and 6 in which 2% of oil is included, no breaking part was observed on the surface, but the molding was not performed smoothly due to weak hardness and the materials adhering to the wall of the container. In addition, a result of being smaller compared to other heat sources in size was also confirmed.
As shown in
In Comparative Examples 7 and 8 in which a pressure of 2.0 MPa was applied, surface cracks were confirmed. Accordingly, it is found that, when oil is added, the surface roughness is greatly improved by increasing the pressure, compared to a case where moisture is added.
The manufactured heat source was ignited and then burned to show observation results in Table 3 below.
As can be seen from the results of Table 3. when an appropriate pressure was applied and 1% to 1.5% of oil was included as in Examples 1 to 4, good ignitability and combustibility were confirmed. In contrast, in a heat source including moisture, the ignitability was reduced and cracking occurred, and in Comparative Examples 3 and 4 in which 0.5% of oil was included, the ignition was not possible or started slowly, and the surface was cracked and broken. In addition, in Comparative Examples 5 and 6 in which 2% of oil was included, the ignition was smoothly performed, but the combustion was not stably performed due to its small size.
Furthermore, in Comparative Examples 7 and 8 in which a pressure was applied as small as 1.2 MPa, the ignition was rapidly performed, but a result of surface cracking and smoke generation was obtained.
While the example 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 example 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.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2021-0186224 | Dec 2021 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/KR2022/018967 | 11/28/2022 | WO |
