Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Description
Title of Invention: SMOKING ARTICLE AND AEROSOL-
GENERATING SYSTEM
Technical Field
[1] The following example embodiments relate to a smoking
article and an aerosol-
generating system.
Background Art
1-21 In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for
alternative methods that
overcome the disadvantages of conventional cigarettes. For example, there is
an in-
creasing demand for a method of generating an aerosol by heating an aerosol-
generating material in a cigarette rather than a method of generating the
aerosol by
burning a cigarette. For example, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2004-
0077711
discloses a smoking article with cigarette beads.
Disclosure of Invention
Technical Problem
[3] One or more example embodiments provide a smoking article
and an aerosol-
generating system with improved stay stability and dispersibility of medium
granules.
141 One or more example embodiments provide a smoking article
and an aerosol-
generating system for providing a uniform cigarette taste to consumers.
Solution to Problem
[5] According to an aspect, there is provided a smoking article including a
medium
receiver filled with a plurality of medium granules. The plurality of medium
granules
may have an atypical shape.
[6] The smoking article may further include a humectant receiver located on
one side of
the medium receiver and configured to generate an aerosol and a filter located
on the
other side of the medium receiver.
[71 The medium receiver may be configured by folding a flat
sheet, to which the
plurality of medium granules is applied, a plurality of times.
[81 A humectant may be applied to one surface of the flat sheet.
[9] The plurality of medium granules may have a roundness of 30%
or more and 90% or
less.
1_101 The roundness may be 60% or more and 90% or less.
[11] The plurality of medium granules may be manufactured by a fluidized
bed
granulation process.
[12] The fluidized bed granulation process may be a process in which a
spraying direction
of a liquid binder and a flow direction of fluidized air face each other.
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[13] The medium receiver may be formed by a method comprising applying a
humectant
to one surface of a flat sheet, disposing the plurality of medium granules on
the one
surface of the flat sheet, to which the humectant is applied, folding the one
surface of
the flat sheet to face each other, additionally folding the flat sheet a
plurality of times,
and wrapping, with a wrapper, the flat sheet folded a plurality of times.
[14] The plurality of medium granules not applied to the one surface of the
flat sheet may
be reused in a process of manufacturing the smoking article.
[15] The filter may include a first filter having a cavity therein and a
second filter fully
filled with a filtration material.
[16] According to another aspect, there is provided an aerosol-generating
system, which
may include a smoking article, an aerosol-generating device, wherein the
smoking
article may include a medium receiver filled with a plurality of medium
granules, a
humectant receiver located on one side of the medium receiver and configured
to
generate an aerosol, and a filter located on the other side of the medium
receiver, and
the aerosol-generating device may include an elongate cavity configured to ac-
commodate the smoking article, a heater configured to heat at least a portion
of the
medium receiver and the humectant receiver in the smoking article, and a
controller
electrically connecting to the heater, wherein the plurality of medium
granules may
have a roundness of 90% or less.
[17] The plurality of medium granules may have a roundness of 60% or more.
[18] The plurality of medium granules may be manufactured by a process in
which a
spraying direction of a liquid binder and a flow direction of fluidized air
face each
other.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
[19] A smoking article and an aerosol-generating system according to an
example em-
bodiment may improve stay stability and dispersibility of medium granules.
[20] A smoking article and an aerosol-generating system according to an
example em-
bodiment may provide one example embodiment providing a uniform tobacco taste
to
consumers.
[21] The effects of a smoking article and an aerosol-generating system,
according to an
example embodiment, are not limited to the foregoing effects and other
unmentioned
effects may be clearly understood from the above description by those having
ordinary
skill in the technical field to which the present disclosure pertains.
Brief Description of Drawings
[22] FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a smoking article.
[23] FIGS. 2a and 2b are diagrams schematically illustrating a state in
which a plurality of
medium granules are applied on a flat sheet according to an example
embodiment.
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[24] FIGS. 3a and 3b are diagrams schematically illustrating dispersibility
of a plurality of
medium granules when a flat sheet, on which a plurality of medium granules are
disposed, is folded.
[25] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the roundness of medium granules,
according to an
example embodiment.
[26] FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol-generating
device according
to an example embodiment.
[27] FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol-generating
system when a
smoking article and an aerosol-generating device are combined according to an
example embodiment.
[28] FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a fluidized bed
granulation process of a
top-spraying method among fluidized bed granulation processes.
[29] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating granules manufactured by various
fluidized bed
granulation processes.
Mode for the Invention
[30] Hereinafter, example embodiments will be described in detail with
reference to the
accompanying drawings. However, various alterations and modifications may be
made
to the example embodiments. Here, the example embodiments are not construed as
limited to the disclosure. The example embodiments should be understood to
include
all changes, equivalents, and replacements within the idea and the technical
scope of
the disclosure.
1-311 The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing
particular example em-
bodiments only and is not to be limiting of the example 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.
[32] 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 examples 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 in-
terpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined
herein.
[33] When describing the examples with reference to the accompanying
drawings, like
reference numerals refer to like components and a repeated description related
thereto
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will be omitted. In the description of the example embodiments, a 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.
[34] Also, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), (b) or the
like may be used herein when
describing components of example embodiments. These terms are used only for
the
purpose of discriminating one component from another component, and the
nature, the
sequences, or the orders of the components are not limited by the terms. When
one
component is described as being "connected", "coupled", or "attached" to
another
component, it should be understood that one component can be connected or
attached
directly to another component, and an intervening component can also be
"connected",
"coupled", or "attached" to the components.
1351 A component, which has the same common function as a
component included in any
one example embodiment, will be described by using the same name in other
example
embodiments. Unless disclosed to the contrary, the configuration disclosed in
any one
example embodiment may be applied to other example embodiments, and the
specific
description of the repeated configuration will be omitted.
[36] As used herein, the term "granule dispersibility" refers to
a degree of how evenly
medium granules or tobacco granules are dispersed in a flat sheet.
1371 In a process of manufacturing a medium receiver, fine powder
generated by some of
broken medium granules may contaminate the appearance of a filter containing
granules. As used herein, the term "granule filter workability" refers to a
degree of how
cleanly the filter may be manufactured without such contamination.
[38] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a smoking article according to an
example em-
bodiment.
[39] Referring to FIG. 1, a smoking article 100, according to an example
embodiment,
may include a medium receiver 110, a humectant receiver 120 on one side of the
medium receiver 110 to generate an aerosol, and a filter 130 on the other side
of the
medium receiver 110. The segments of the smoking article 100, that is, the
medium
receiver 110, the humectant receiver 120, and the filter unit 130, may each be
wrapped
with a segment wrapper 140, and the segments wrapped by the segment wrapper
140
may be wrapped with a total wrapper 150 to form one smoking article.
[40] The medium receiver 110 may be filled with a plurality of medium
granules 114, and
the plurality of medium granules 114 may have an atypical shape. When the
plurality
of medium granules 114 is in a general spherical shape, fine powders are less
likely to
be generated in the process of manufacturing the medium receiver 110, and ac-
cordingly, the granular filter workability may be excellent. However, when the
plurality of medium granules 114 is in a perfectly spherical shape, the
dispersibility of
the granules decreases in the process of manufacturing the medium receiver
110,
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which may deteriorate the taste of the smoking article. Accordingly, it is
desirable that
the medium granules 114 are basically in a spherical shape but also in a shape
atypical
enough to maintain the granule dispersibility.
[41] The filter 130 may include a first filter 132 having a cavity therein
and a second filter
134 with the internal fully filled with a filtration material. The filtration
material may
include a cellulose-based material (e.g., acetate, paper, etc.).
[42] As described above, when a filter containing a granular medium is
manufactured, the
shape of the granules may affect the workability on manufacturing the medium
receiver in the smoking article. Accordingly, there is a need to define an
appropriate
shape of the medium granules during manufacturing a smoking article or an
aerosol-
generating system.
1431 FIGS. 2a and 2b are diagrams schematically illustrating when
medium granules are
applied on a flat sheet, according to an example embodiment. FIG. 2a is a
diagram il-
lustrating a state of bad granule dispersibility when a flat sheet 112, to
which spherical
granules 114 arc applied, is folded, and FIG. 2b is a diagram illustrating a
state of
good granule dispersibility when the flat sheet 112, to which atypical
granules 114 are
applied, is folded
[44] Referring to FIG. 2a, the spherical granules 114' have low
stability of staying on the
flat sheet 112 so that the spherical granules 114' may flow in all directions
even with a
small shock. Accordingly, the granule dispersibility may deteriorate when the
flat sheet
with the spherical granules 114' disposed thereon is being unfolded, and in
the process
of manufacturing a medium receiver 110 including the spherical granules 114'
by
folding the flat sheet 112. On the other hand, referring to FIG. 2b, the
atypical granules
114 do not flow easily due to relatively high stability of staying on the flat
sheet 112.
Therefore, the granule dispersibility may be well maintained in the process of
manu-
facturing the medium receiver 110 including the atypical granules 114 by
folding the
flat sheet 112 with the atypical granules 114 disposed thereon. The stability
of the
plurality of medium granules 114 on the flat sheet 112 may be improved by
applying a
binder material having an adhesive component flat sheet 112, but the binder
material
inhaled together with a heated aerosol during smoking may deteriorate the
taste of the
smoking article. A humectant, not binder material, is applied to surface of
the flat sheet
112 before disposing the plurality of medium granules 114 on the flat sheet
112 so that
humectant may temporarily improve adhesion between the flat sheet 112 and the
plurality of medium granules 114. The humectant is a substance for generating
an
aerosol in the smoking article and not adversely affect of the smoking
article. That is,
after a humectant is applied to surface of the flat sheet 112 and the medium
granules
114 are disposed on the one surface of the flat sheet 112, to which the
humectant is
applied, the medium receiver 110 of the smoking article 100 may be formed by
folding
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one surface of the flat sheet 112 to face other and additionally folding the
flat sheet a
plurality of times, and then wrapping the flat sheet 112 folded a plurality of
times with
a wrapper 140.
[45] FIGS. 3a and 3b are diagrams schematically illustrating dispersibility
of a plurality of
medium granules when a flat sheet, to which the plurality of medium granules
are
disposed, is folded, according to an example embodiment.
[46] Referring to FIGS. 3a and 3b, when spherical medium granules 114' are
disposed on
a flat sheet 112, which then is folded a plurality of times, the granule
dispersibility in a
medium receiver 110 may be maintained in a had state (see FIG. 3a) and when
atypical
medium granules 114 are disposed on the flat sheet 112, which then is folded a
plurality of times, the granule dispersibility in the medium receiver 110 may
be
maintained in a good state (see FIG. 3b).
[47] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of roundness of medium
granules,
according to an example embodiment.
[48] A roundness may be a numerical value indicating the degree of how
round spherical
materials, such as particles, beads, and granules, are. Herein, the roundness
may be
calculated based on a Maximum Inscribed Circle (MIC) method. Referring to FIG.
4,
in the maximum inscribed circle method, a ratio of Rmax to Rmin represented in
percentage is defined as a roundness, in which a radius of a maximum
circumscribed
circle Cc refers to Rmax and a radius of a maximum inscribed circle Ci refers
to Rmin.
The ratio may be calculated when a circle with the largest radius is drawn
among the
circles circumscribed to a measured contour, that is, the maximum
circumscribed circle
Cc, at the center of a circle with the largest radius when an inscribed circle
is drawn in
the measured contour, such as a granule, that is, the maximum inscribed circle
Ci.
[49] As the roundness of the plurality of the medium granules 114
increases, the granular
filter workability improves, but the granule dispersibility may be poor.
Conversely, as
the roundness of the medium granules 114 decreases, the granule dispersibility
improves but the granular filter workability may be poor. Accordingly, when
the
medium granules 114 constituting the medium receiver 110 have roundness in an
ap-
propriate range, both the granular dispersibility and the granular filter
workability may
be improved, thus having greater taste of the smoking article.
[50] The relevant schematic experimental results are shown in Table 1
below.
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[51] [Table 1]
Granule roundness Granule Granular filter
Tobacco taste
(%) dispersibility workability
(smoking taste)
evaluation
Less than 30 Good Very bad
Bad
30 60 Good Poor
Good
60 ¨ 90 Good Good Very
good
90¨ 100 Bad Good
Bad
[52] Referring to Table 1, when the roundness of the granules exceeds 90%,
the dis-
persibility of the granules is generally poor, but when the roundness of the
granules is
90% or less, it may be identified that the plurality of medium granules are
relatively
evenly dispersed when the medium receiver is configured by disposing granules
on a
flat sheet and then folding the flat sheet a plurality of times.
[53] In addition, when the roundness of the granules is less than 30%, the
shape of the
granules becomes so atypical that fine powders, which are generated due to
some of
ruptured granules during manufacturing the granules or the medium receiver,
may con-
taminate filters and the like. When the granules have the roundness of 30% or
more,
the rate of fine powders to be generated due to the ruptured granules
significantly
drops, compared to the granules having the lower roundness. When the granules
have a
roundness of 60% or more, the hardness of the granules is high enough to
significantly
decrease the contamination of filters of smoking articles due to the ruptured
granules.
That is, when the medium granules included in the smoking article have a
roundness of
60% or more and 90% or less, both the dispersibility and the filter
workability of the
granules may be very good.
[54] The taste of cigarettes, that is, smoking taste, may be affected by
both the granular
dispersibility, which refers to how evenly the granules are dispersed, and the
granular
filter workability, which refers to whether a filter for the granules is
manufactured
without being contaminated by the fine powders of the medium granules. As seen
from
Table 1, the smoking taste is very good when the roundness of the granules is
30% or
more and 90% or less, and more desirably 60% or more and 90% or less.
[55] FIGS. 5 and 6 relate to examples in which a smoking article including
a plurality of
medium granules having the above desirable roundness range is used.
[56] FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol-generating
device according
to an example embodiment.
[57] Referring to FIG. 5, an aerosol-generating device 200 includes an
elongate cavity
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210 for accommodating a smoking article 100, a heater 220 and a controller
230. The
controller 230 may electrically connect to the heater 220 to control a
temperature for
heating the smoking article 100. The aerosol generating device 200 may further
include a battery 240 configured to supply power in a process of generating an
aerosol.
[58] FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol-generating
system in a state
in which a smoking article and an aerosol-generating device are combined,
according
to an example embodiment.
[59] Referring to FIG. 6, an aerosol-generating system 10 may include a
smoking article
100 and an aerosol-generating device 200. The smoking article 100 may be
snugly in-
tegrated in the elongate cavity 210 of the aerosol-generating device 200. With
the
smoking article 100 coupling to the aerosol-generating device 200, the heater
220 may
heat at least a portion of a medium receiver 110 and a humectant receiver 120
in the
smoking article 100. The roundness of plurality of medium granules 114 in the
medium receiver 110 of the smoking article 100 of the aerosol-generating
system 10 is
desirably 90% or less. This is because, when the roundness of the plurality of
medium
granules 114 exceeds 90%, the stability of the medium granules 114 to the flat
sheet
112 decreases, resulting in poor granule dispersibility.
[60] In addition, the roundness of the plurality of medium granules 114 in
the medium
receiver 110 included in the smoking article 100 of the aerosol-generating
system 10 is
desirably 60% or more. When the plurality of medium granules 114 have a
roundness
of less than 60%, the hardness of the medium granules 114 may decrease, thus
breaking the medium granules 114 even with a slight shock and generating fine
powders, so that the generated find powders may contaminate the medium
receiver 110
and the filter 130. In addition, in the process where the medium receiver 110
is formed
by applying the plurality of medium granules 114 to one side of the flat sheet
112 and
then folding the flat sheet 112, the medium granules 114, which are not
attached to the
flat sheet 112 but are dropped off the flat sheet 112, may be re-used in a
subsequent
process. Since the minimum hardness of the granules 114 has to be ensured in
order for
the plurality of medium granules 114 dropped off to be reused, the plurality
of medium
granules 114 have a desirable roundness of 60% or more.
[61] FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate a process for manufacturing a plurality of
medium granules
having the foregoing desirable roundness range and a shape of granules
produced by
the process.
[621 FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a fluidized
bed granulation process of a
top-spraying method among fluidized bed granulation processes.
[63] When powders are mixed with hot air heated in a sealed
container 500, the powders
flow inside the container and experience a process of mixing, granulation and
drying to
form granules. The fluidized bed granulation process refers to such a process
of
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generating the granules. The fluid bed granulation process may include a top-
spraying
method, a bottom-spraying method, a powder feeding method, and a rotor-
spraying
method. Among them, the top-spraying process is the fluidized bed granulation
in
which a spraying direction of a liquid binder 510 serving as an adhesive to
adhere
powders 530 to one another and a flow direction of fluidized air 520 face each
other.
The top-spraying process may have relatively lower roundness of granules
generated
through this process, compared to the bottom-spaying method where a spraying
direction of the liquid binder 510 is the same as a flow direction of the
fluidized air
520 and the rotor-spraying method where a spraying direction of the liquid
binder 510
is perpendicular to a flow direction of the fluidized air 520. This is
illustrated in detail
in FIG. 8.
1641 FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the actual shape of
granules produced by various
fluidized bed granulation processes.
[65] FIG. 8 illustrates the shapes of granules manufactured by the
fluidized bed
granulation processes of the rotor-spraying method, the powder feeding method,
and
the top-spraying method, sequentially.
[66] Referring to FIG. 8, compared to the granules produced by the
fluidized bed
granulation processes of the rotor-spraying method and the powder feeding
method,
the shape of the granules manufactured by the top-spraying method is more
irregular
and atypical. That is, it may be easy to form granules having a relatively low
roundness
when using the fluidized bed granulation process of the top-spraying method.
This is
because a spraying direction of the liquid binder 510 and a flow direction of
the
fluidizing air 520 are arranged to face each other so that the flow is formed
in a reverse
direction, allowing particles to grow in an irregular shape.
[67] While this disclosure includes specific examples, it will be apparent
to one of
ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made
in these
examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and their
equivalents. The examples described herein are to be considered in a
descriptive sense
only, and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects
in each
example are to be considered as being applicable to similar features or
aspects in other
examples. 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.
[68] Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the
following claims.
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