Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Description
Title of Invention: AEROSOL-GENERATING DEVICE AND
MEDIUM RECEIVING ROD
Technical Field
[1] One or more embodiments relate to an aerosol-generating
device and a medium
receiving rod.
Background Art
121 Recently, the demand for alternative items that overcome the
disadvantages of tra-
ditional cigarettes has increased. For example, there is an increasing demand
for
devices (e.g., cigarette-type electronic cigarettes) that generate aerosol by
electrically
heating cigarette sticks. Accordingly, research on electrically heated aerosol-
generating
devices and cigarette sticks (or aerosol-generating items) applied thereto is
being
actively conducted. For example, KR Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0132823
discloses a non-combustible type of a flavor aspirator, a flavor and aroma
taste unit,
and an atomization unit.
Disclosure of Invention
Technical Problem
131 An aspect provides an aerosol-generating device and a medium
receiving rod to
transition nicotine through indirect heating of a medium by the aerosol.
141 An aspect provides an aerosol-generating device and a medium
receiving rod (e.g.,
cigarette) that improve hygiene by configuring an indirect heated type (non-
heated
type) electronic cigarette using a disposable stick and provide a uniform
flavor during
nicotine transition.
Solution to Problem
[51 According to an aspect, there is provided an aerosol-
generating device including a
receiver for receiving a medium receiving rod in a replaceable manner, an
atomizer
that generates aerosol, and a power supply for transmitting power required to
heat the
atomizer, and aerosol generated in the atomizer of the aerosol-generating
device passes
through the medium receiving rod received in the receiver such that a medium
is
transferred from medium pulp included in a filter segment of the medium
receiving rod
by heat of the aerosol.
[6] According to another aspect, there is provided a medium
receiving rod including a
first filter segment disposed at the upstream end of the medium receiving rod,
a second
filter segment disposed downstream of the first filter segment and including
the
medium pulp, and a filter rod disposed downstream of the second filter segment
and
comprising a cooling segment and a mouthpiece segment.
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[71 The medium receiving rod may include an alkaline pH
adjuster.
[81 The medium receiving rod may include a tobacco pulp and may
be manufactured by
a compression granulation process.
[91 The medium receiving rod may be a disposable cigarette.
[10] The atomizer may include a liquid storage tank for storing a liquid
composition
material that generates the aerosol when heated, a heater for heating the
liquid com-
position material, and a liquid transfer means for transferring the liquid
composition
material from the liquid storage tank to the heater.
[11] The second filter segment including the medium pulp may be formed by
applying a
binder to one surface of the filter member, placing a plurality of particles
of the
medium pulp on the one surface of the filter member applied with the binder,
folding
the filter member multiple times, and wrapping the folded filter member with a
wrapper.
[12] The medium receiving rod used with the aerosol-generating device
according to an
example embodiment may include a first filter segment disposed at the upstream
end
of the medium receiving rod, and a second filter segment disposed downstream
of the
first filter segment and including medium pulp, a filter member, and a pH
adjuster.
[13] The pH adjuster may include an alkaline salt.
1141 The medium receiving rod may further include a filter rod
disposed downstream of
the second filter segment, and including a cooling segment and a mouthpiece
segment.
[15] The first filter segment and the second filter segment may include an
acetate
material.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
[16] An aerosol-generating device and a medium receiving rod, according to
an example
embodiment, may transfer nicotine through indirect heating of the medium by
the
aerosol.
[17] The aerosol-generating device and the medium receiving rod according
to an
example embodiment may improve hygiene by configuring an indirect heated type
(a
non-heated type) electronic cigarette using a disposable stick and provide a
uniform
flavor during nicotine transition.
[18] The effects of the aerosol-generating device and the medium receiving
rod according
to an example embodiment are not limited to those described above, and other
effects
not mentioned may be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the
following
description.
Brief Description of Drawings
[19] FIG. la is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol-generating
device
according to an example embodiment;
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[20] FIG. lb is a diagram schematically illustrating an aerosol-generating
device
according to another example embodiment;
[21] FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a structure of a medium
receiving rod
according to an example embodiment;
[22] FIG. 3a is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which a
plurality of medium
pulp particles are disposed on a filter member of a second filter segment
according to
an example embodiment;
[23] FIG. 3b is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a
plurality of medium
pulp particles are disposed inside a filter member of a second filter segment
according
to an example embodiment;
[24] FIG. 4a is a diagram schematically illustrating a structure of a
medium receiving rod
according to an example embodiment; and
[25] FIG. 4b is a diagram schematically illustrating a structure of a
medium receiving rod
according to another example embodiment.
Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention
[26] 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 to be
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.
[271 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.
[28] 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.
[29] When describing the examples with reference to the accompanying
drawings, like
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reference numerals refer to like constituent elements and a repeated
description related
thereto will be omitted. In the description of the example embodiments, a
detailed de-
scription 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.
[30] Also, in the description of the components, terms such as first,
second, A, B, (a), (b)
or the like may be used herein when describing components of the present
disclosure.
These terms are used only for the purpose of discriminating one constituent
element
from another constituent element, and the nature, the sequences, or the orders
of the
constituent elements are not limited by the terms. When one constituent
element is
described as being "connected", "coupled", or "attached" to another
constituent
element, it should be understood that one constituent element can be connected
or
attached directly to another constituent element, and an intervening
constituent element
can also be "connected", "coupled", or "attached" to the constituent elements.
[31] The constituent element, which has the same common function as the
constituent
element included in any one example embodiment, will be described by using the
same
name in other example embodiments. Unless disclosed to the contrary, the con-
figuration disclosed in any one example embodiment may be applied to other
example
embodiments, and the specific description of the repeated configuration will
be
omitted.
[32] In the following example embodiments, a "moisturizer" may mean a
material that
may facilitate the formation of visible smoke and/or aerosol. Examples of the
moisturizer may include glycerin (GLY), propylene glycol (PG), ethylene
glycol,
dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene
glycol, and
oleyl alcohol, but are not limited thereto. In the art, the moisturizer may be
used inter-
changeably in terms such as an aerosol-forming agent, a wetting agent, and the
like.
[33] In the following example embodiments, the "aerosol-forming substrate"
may mean a
material that may form aerosol. The aerosol may include a volatile compound.
The
aerosol-forming substrate may be solid or liquid.
[34] For example, a solid aerosol-forming substrate may include a solid
material based on
raw tobacco materials such as reconstituted tobacco leaves, cut tobacco, and
recon-
structed tobacco, and the like, and a liquid aerosol-forming substrate may
include a
liquid composition material based on nicotine, tobacco extract, and/or various
flavoring agents. However, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited
to these
examples.
[35] In the following example embodiments, the "aerosol-generating device"
may mean a
device that generates aerosol using the aerosol-forming substrate to generate
aerosol
that may be directly inhaled into lungs of a user through a mouth of a user.
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[361
In the following example embodiments, the "medium receiving rod" may mean
an
item that receives a medium. Here, the term "medium" refers to a tobacco
material that
generates nicotine when heated. A representative example of the medium
receiving rod
may be a cigarette, but the scope of the present disclosure is not limited
thereto.
[37] In the following example embodiments, the "upstream" or "upstream
direction" may
mean a direction away from the oral region of a user (a smoker), and the
"downstream"
or "downstream direction" may mean a direction close to the oral region of a
user. The
terms upstream and downstream may be used to describe the relative positions
of the
elements including the medium receiving rod. For example, in a medium
receiving rod
100 illustrated in FIG. 2, a pulp rod 120 is positioned in the upstream or
upstream
direction of a filter rod 140, and the filter rod 140 is positioned at the
downstream or
downstream direction of the pulp rod 120.
[38] In the following example embodiments, the "puff" may mean inhalation
of a user,
and inhalation may mean an action which causes smoke to be pulled into oral
cavity of
a user, nasal cavity, or lungs through a mouth or nose of a user.
[39] Hereinafter, various example embodiments according to the accompanying
drawings
will be described.
[40] FIGS. la and lb are diagrams schematically illustrating an aerosol-
generating device
according to some example embodiments. FIG. la illustrates that a cartridge
222 and a
heater 224 are arranged in a line, and FIG. lb illustrates that the cartridge
222 and the
heater 224 are arranged in parallel.
[41] Referring to FIGS. la and lb, an aerosol-generating device 200
according to the
example embodiment may include a housing, a receiver 210 (e.g., a cavity) for
receiving the medium receiving rod 100 (e.g., a cigarette), an atomizer 220
for
generating the aerosol, and a power supply 230. In this case, the atomizer 220
may
include a cartridge 222 containing an aerosol generating material and a heater
224 for
heating the aerosol generating material. Although only relevant components are
il-
lustrated in the example of FIGS. la and lb, it may be apparent to those
skilled in the
art that other general-purpose components may be further included in addition
to the
components illustrated in FIGS. la and lb. For example, the aerosol-generating
device
200 may further include an input module for receiving a command from a user,
and an
output module for outputting information such as a state of the device,
smoking in-
formation, and the like. Hereinafter, each component of the aerosol-generating
device
200 will be described.
[42] The housing may form an exterior of the aerosol-generating device 200.
In addition,
the housing may form the receiver 210 for receiving the medium receiving rod
100. It
may be desirable that the housing is implemented with a material that may
protect
internal components.
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[43] Next, the receiver 210 may be a space that may receive the medium
receiving rod
100. The receiver 210 may include a coupling structure in order to firmly hold
the
medium receiving rod without falling out when the medium receiving rod 100 is
received in the receiver 210. The coupling structure may be implemented by in-
terference fit. Also, the coupling structure may be implemented using a
magnetic
material, a coupling structure using an electromagnetic material, or the like.
In
addition, the medium receiving rod 100 received in the receiver 210 may be in
the
form of a stick or cigarette that is replaceable as will be described later.
[44] Next, the atomizer 220 may further include a liquid storage tank, a
liquid transfer
means (e.g., a wick), and a heater. However, the present disclosure is not
limited
thereto, and the atomizer 220 may further include other components. In
addition, the
cartridge 222 may be manufactured to be detachable from the heater 224 or may
be
manufactured integrally with the heater 224.
[45] The liquid storage tank may store liquid composition materials. The
liquid com-
position materials may be a liquid including tobacco-containing materials or
nicotine-
containing materials, or non-tobacco materials. For example, the liquid
composition
materials may include water, solvent, ethanol, plant extract (e.g., tobacco
extract),
fragrance, an aerosol-forming agent, a flavoring agent, or a vitamin mixture.
The
fragrance may include menthol, peppermint, spearmint oil, and various fruit
flavoring
components and the like, but is not limited thereto. The flavoring agent may
include
components that may provide various flavors to a 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. The liquid composition materials may further include a
moisturizer.
The moisturizer may be glycerin (VG), polypropylene glycol (PG), sorbitol, or
a
mixture thereof, but is not limited thereto.
[46] The liquid transfer means may transfer the liquid composition material
stored in the
liquid storage tank to the heater 224. For example, the liquid transfer means
may be a
wick element such as cotton fiber, ceramic fiber, glass fiber, and porous
ceramic, but is
not limited thereto.
[47] Next, the heater 224 may heat the liquid composition material stored
in the cartridge
222 such that the aerosol is generated from the liquid composition material.
For
example, the heater 224 may form aerosol by heating the liquid composition
material
transferred by the liquid transfer means. The formed aerosol may pass through
the
medium receiving rod 100 and be delivered to a user. That is, the aerosol
formed by
heating of the heater 224 may move along the airflow path of the medium
receiving
rod 100, and the airflow path may be configured such that aerosol formed by
the liquid
composition material stored in the cartridge may pass through the medium
receiving
rod 100 and be delivered to a user. For example, the heater 224 may be made of
a coil,
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ceramic, a metal mesh, a conductive filament, and the like, but is not limited
thereto.
Also, the heating temperature of the heater 224 may be 270 degrees ( C) or
less,
desirably 240 C or less, and more desirably 200 C or less. As will be
described later,
when a medium pulp P includes a pH adjuster, the minimum temperature at which
nicotine may be transferred is lowered, and thus the heating temperature of
the heater
224 may be lowered, and accordingly, an aerosol-generating system having
better
electrical efficiency may be configured.
[48] For reference, in the art, the cartridge 222 and the heater 224 may be
collectively
referred to as various terms such as a cartomizer, an atomizer, a vaporizer,
and the like.
[49] Next, the power supply 230 may supply power used to operate the
aerosol-generating
device 200. For example, the power supply 230 may supply power so that the
heater
224 may heat the medium receiving rod 100. In addition, the power supply 230
may
supply power required for operating electrical components such as a display
(not
shown), a sensor (not shown), and a motor (not shown) installed in the aerosol-
generating device 200.
[50] Hereinafter, the medium receiving rod 100 according to some example
embodiments
will be described with reference to FIG. 2.
[51] FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a structure of the
medium receiving rod
100 according to some example embodiments.
[52] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the medium receiving rod 100 may include the
pulp rod 120
and the filter rod 140. In addition, the medium receiving rod 100 may include
the
medium in the form of pulp, reconstituted tobacco, general cut tobacco leaves,
or the
like. For example, the medium receiving rod 100 may include a pulp-type
medium.
When the medium is received in the medium receiving rod 100 in the form of
pulp
particles, the amount of nicotine transferred to the oral region of a user per
puff may be
uniform compared to the case where the medium is provided in the form of
general cut
tobacco leaves or the like. In addition, if the medium in the form of the pulp-
type
medium (e.g., the pulp particles P) is disposed in the filter of the medium
receiving rod
100, the dispersibility of the medium may be improved, and thus a uniform
taste of
smoking may be provided to consumers. In addition, the medium receiving rod
100
may further include a wrapper for wrapping the rod. Although only relevant
components are illustrated in the example of FIG. 2, it may be apparent to
those skilled
in the art that other general-purpose components may be further included in
addition to
the components illustrated in FIG. 2. Hereinafter, each component of the
medium
receiving rod 100 will be described.
[53] The pulp rod 120 includes medium pulp P or a segment including the
medium pulp P
and may supply tobacco components such as nicotine or components that provides
a
taste of smoking as it is heated. The pulp rod 120 may be directly heated by a
heater or
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indirectly heated by a flow of a high-temperature aerosol. In addition, as
illustrated in
FIG. 2, the pulp rod 120 may include a filter segment, and desirably include a
first
filter segment 122 and a second filter segment 124.
[54] The first filter segment 122 may be disposed at the upstream end of
the medium
receiving rod 100. The first filter segment 122 may perform a function of
preventing
the medium pulp P from falling off and may allow a segment including the
medium
pulp P to be disposed at the appropriate position in the aerosol-generating
device 200
when the medium receiving rod 100 is inserted into the aerosol-generating
device 200.
In addition, the first filter segment 122 may prevent the liquefied aerosol
from flowing
into the aerosol-generating device 200. Examples of the first filter segment
122 may
include a paper filter or an acetate filter. It may be desirable that the
filter material is
arranged in a longitudinal direction in order to secure a smooth airflow path,
but is not
limited thereto.
[55] The second filter segment 124 may be disposed downstream of the first
filter
segment 122. The second filter segment 124 may include a medium in the form of
pulp
particles, reconstructed tobacco, general cut tobacco, and the like. For
example, the
medium may be in the form of a pulp-type medium. The medium pulp P may be
tobacco pulp or nicotine pulp, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the
second filter
segment 124 may further perform a filtering function and a cooling function or
the like
with respect to the aerosol. Examples of the second filter segment 124 may
include a
paper filter or an acetate filter. It may be desirable that the filter
material is arranged in
a longitudinal direction in order to secure a smooth airflow path, but is not
limited
thereto.
[56] FIG. 3a is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which a
plurality of medium
pulp particles P are disposed on a filter member F of a second filter segment
124
according to some example embodiments. FIG. 3b is a cross-sectional view
illustrating
a state in which a plurality of medium pulp particles P are disposed inside a
filter
member F of a second filter segment 124 according to some example embodiments.
The medium receiving rod 100 in which the filter segment 124 and a plurality
of
medium pulp particles P of FIGS. 3a and 3b are disposed together has fewer
segments
than a structure in which the medium pulp particles are disposed in a cavity
structure,
and thus it is easy to dispose the medium pulp particles in the rod, thereby
simplifying
a manufacturing process.
[571 According to FIGS. 3a and 3b, the filter member F included
in the second filter
segment 124 may be a filter sheet which is crimped. The filter sheet may be
disposed
in the second filter segment 124 in such a manner that a plurality of medium
pulp
particles P are irregularly scattered on the filter sheet and then the filter
sheet is folded
multiple times.
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[581 More specifically, referring to FIG. 3a, a medium may be
disposed on the filter sheet
to form the second filter segment 124, and the medium may desirably be a
plurality of
medium pulp particles P. As the roundness of the pulp particles is lower
(i.e., the shape
of the pulp particles is irregular), the plurality of medium pulp particles P
may be
evenly distributed on the filter sheet since the plurality of medium pulp
particles P are
seated well on the filter sheet. In this case, however, the possibility of
contamination of
the exterior of the filter segment or the like may be increased due to the
fine powder
generated by the breakage of a portion of the medium pulp particles P during
the man-
ufacturing process. Accordingly, the roundness of the pulp particles P may be
desirably
30% or more and 90% or less, and more desirably 60% or more and 90% or less.
Addi-
tionally, referring to FIG. 3b, the second filter segment 124 may be formed by
a
process of folding the filter sheet on which the medium pulp P is disposed
multiple
times in a longitudinal direction and wrapping the filter sheet with a wrapper
(not
shown). When the medium receiving rod 100 is filled with the medium in this
way, the
uniformity of a taste of smoking may be improved since the medium is evenly
dis-
tributed without being biased or lopsided in the cross-section of the medium
receiving
rod 100.
[591 At this time, a binder may be applied to one surface of the
filter sheet to improve the
adhesion between the medium pulp P and the filter sheet. That is, the second
filter
segment 124 may be formed by applying a binder applied to one surface of the
filter
sheet, scattering a plurality of medium pulp particles P on one surface of the
filter
member F, folding the filter member multiple times such that a plurality of
medium
pulp particles P are disposed in the space between the folded parts of the
filter
members F, and wrapping the filter member F with a wrapper (not shown).
[601 In addition, the second filter segment 124 may include a pH
adjuster. The pH
adjuster may desirably be an alkaline salt, and may be, for example, potassium
carbonate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, calcium oxide, and the like, but is not
limited
thereto. In addition, the pH adjuster, which generates the least negative
scent during
puffing, may be selected and used. When the pH adjuster is included in the
second
filter segment 124, the pH of the tobacco pulp particles P included in the
second filter
segment 124 increases, and accordingly, even when the medium is heated with a
relatively low temperature, nicotine may be sufficiently transferred from the
tobacco
pulp particles. Accordingly, as a result, nicotine may be transferred by a
small amount
of heat delivered to the tobacco pulp by the hot aerosol which is generated
from the
cartridge 222 and flows along the airflow path to the medium receiving rod
100,
without directly heating the second filter segment 124. The pH adjuster may be
included in the pulp itself by being mixed together during a manufacturing
process of
the medium pulp P or may be disposed separately from the medium pulp P.
Besides,
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the pH adjuster may temporarily improve the adhesion of the medium pulp P to
the
filter sheet when applied to the filter sheet instead of binder materials.
[61] The medium pulp P. particularly the tobacco pulp, may be manufactured
by a com-
pression granulation process. The compression granulation process corresponds
to a
wet process, and the nicotine transition rate of the produced tobacco pulp
particles is
relatively higher than that of the fluidized bed granulation process.
Accordingly, when
the temperature at which the medium pulp P is heated is relatively low, it may
be more
advantageous in terms of the nicotine transition to include the tobacco pulp P
manu-
factured by the compression granulation process than to include the tobacco
pulp P
manufactured by the fluidized bed granulation process.
[62] The filter rod 140 may be positioned downstream of the pulp rod 120
and may
perform a filtering function with respect to the aerosol. For this, the filter
rod 140 may
include filter materials such as paper, cellulose acetate fiber, and the like.
The filter rod
140 may further include a wrapper for wrapping filter materials.
[63] The filter rod 140 may include a cooling segment 142 and a mouthpiece
segment
144. The cooling segment 142 may perform a cooling function with respect to
the
aerosol, and the mouthpiece segment 144 may perform a filtering function with
respect
to the aerosol.
[64] In addition, the filter rod 140 may be manufactured to generate
flavors. For example,
a flavoring liquid may be sprayed onto the filter rod 140, or fibers to which
the
flavoring liquid is applied may be inserted into the filter rod 140. Referring
to FIG. 2,
the mouthpiece segment 144 may include a flavoring agent capsule C. In some
cases,
the filter rod 140 may further include at least one segment that performs
another
function.
[65] The medium receiving rod 100 described above may be a disposable
cigarette that is
received in the aerosol-generating device 200 and discarded after being used
once.
When the medium receiving rod 100 is configured for one-time use, the
uniformity and
durability of a taste of smoking may be higher than that of a multiple-use
cartridge
type that is designed for about 50 to 100 puffs. In addition, when the medium
receiving
rod 100 is configured for one-time use, hygiene may be improved compared to
when
the medium receiving rod 100 is configured for multiple use.
[66] FIGS. 4a and 4b illustrate an aerosol-generating system 10 according
to some
example embodiments and illustrate a state in which the medium receiving rod
100 is
received in the aerosol-generating device 200 as an example. FIG. 4a
illustrates the
aerosol-generating system 10 in which the cartridge 222 and the heater 224 are
disposed in a line, and FIG. 4b illustrates the aerosol-generating system 10
in which
the cartridge 222 and the heater 224 are disposed in parallel.
[67] As illustrated in FIGS. 4a and 4b, the aerosol-generating system 10
according to the
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present disclosure may generate the aerosol when the liquid composition
material
inside the cartridge 222 is heated by the heater 224 of the aerosol-generating
device
200. Also, nicotine may be generated as the generated aerosol passes through
the
medium receiving rod 100 and the medium pulp particles P. thereby indirectly
heating
the tobacco pulp particles. As described above, the minimum transferable
temperature
of nicotine is lowered by the pH adjuster included in the second filter
segment 124, and
thus nicotine may be transferred even when the tobacco pulp particles are
heated at a
relatively low temperature compared to a case where nicotine is transferred by
burning
tobacco leaves. The generated nicotine may be delivered to a user along the
airflow
path (see arrow directions of FIGS. 4a and 4b) with aerosol.
[68] 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.
[69] Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the
following claims.
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