DESC:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to an aerosol generating articles and in particular, relates to an efficient wrapper and improvements relating to filter region in the aerosol generating articles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Electronically heated and not burnt nicotine and non-nicotine-based aerosol generating products are known in the prior art. In this kind of products, there is an aerosol generating substrate which is attached to the aerosol generating article and an aerosol generating device. In this kind of devices, the aerosol generating device heats the aerosol generating substrate to release aerosol.

Unlike combustion in a conventional cigarette, heat-not-burn products heat aerosol generating substance to a specific temperature (around 350 0C) to release aerosol. As per the prior arts available, besides the actives such as nicotine, the aerosol might also consist of other added chemicals such as glycerine, propylene glycol, triacetin etc. In the heat-not-burn products, the substrate does not burn. The hot aerosol while passing through the remaining segments of the aerosol generating article, cools down to the temperature as per consumer need.

When consumers puff the aerosol generating article, the aerosol gets generated in tobacco section and travels through the rest of the portion of the aerosol generating article. Consumer discards the aerosol generating article along with the aerosol generating substrate once the consumption is over.

The currently available devices either require to remove the parts of the device to release the aerosol generating substrate from the contact of the heater or pull the aerosol generating article to release the aerosol generating substrate from the contact of the heater.

Both of the above-mentioned mechanisms in commercially available devices suffers consumers’ dissatisfaction, as the first one requires the device to be opened each time the consumption is over which concern the damaging of the device and in the second mechanism there are higher probability of dislodging the aerosol generating substrate from the aerosol generating article. This kind of situation would result in extra effort to remove residual tobacco from the device. This extra cleaning requirements during usage would lead to higher dissonance among the consumers.

It has been noticed that during the usage, the aerosol generating substrate binds with the surface of the heater and also the volume of the aerosol generating substrate decreases over the consumption which makes the physical holding of the wrapping paper over the aerosol generating substrate lose and the lose wrapping of the paper and strong bonding of substrate with the heater prevents extraction of the substrate along with the aerosol generating article and the substrate remain in the cavity of the device.

The inventors of the present invention thus felt that there is a need for finding a way to build a strong bonding between the wrapping paper and the aerosol generating substrate to eliminate the discomforting experience.

Also, the consumers known for using this product for long have been experiencing hotness on their lips while puffing. It leads to higher discomfort during usage and sometimes leads to rejecting that aerosol generating article.

It has been noticed that the hotness on lips is due to error in the formation of the aerosol generating article, higher moisture content in the product or any damage during inserting the aerosol generating article in the device. These can allow hot aerosol to escape and heat the wrapping paper resulting hotness experience on lips. The present inventors have surprisingly developed an efficient wrapper and a method of wrapping thereof which fulfils the aforesaid requirements and ameliorates the shortcomings of the prior art.

Thus, there is an inherent need to manufacture a wrapper, that too a functionalized wrapper, suitable for electrically heated smoking articles.

Reference is made to WO 01/58289 A1, which discloses a filter cigarette having a filter (1) that is surrounded by a filter wrapping paper (2) which is enclosed by a coating (3) of the tip. The inside of the filter wrapping paper (2) is coated with a metal, especially aluminium. The coating is only applied to a part of the filter wrapping paper (2) in such a way that air can penetrate through said paper and into the filter (1).

Reference is further made to WO2004014161 A1, which discloses a filter-tip cigarette with a tobacco rod (1) wrapped in a cigarette paper and a filter (6) wrapped along its length in tipping paper (4) or other wrapper being other than plugwrap, and a strip of material (5) fully covering the tipping paper of the filter and the cigarette paper of the wrapped tobacco rod in the region of the abutment between tobacco rod and filter bonds together the filter and tobacco rod. In addition, the invention relates to a process for the manufacture of such a filter, which may also be employed for the manufacture of ‘double unit cigarettes’.

However, the above prior art documents do not talk about multiple overwraps on the filter in an aerosol generating article and for use in an electrically heated aerosol generating system.

Accordingly, to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art, there exists a need for a functionalized wrapper, which is to be used in electrically heated smoking articles / aerosol generating device with a purpose of preventing lip hotness, prevent lighting up the smoking article when it is accidentally lit, and also easy removal of aerosol generating article from the device once it is fully consumed

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.

An object of the present invention to provide an efficient / functionalized wrapper which holds the aerosol-generating substrate in place during its use.

Another object of the present invention to provide an efficient/functionalized wrapper due to which the aerosol-generating substrate can be easily removed from the aerosol-generating device after use.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide increased bonding between aerosol generating substrate and wrapping paper by application of adhesives.

Another objective of the present invention to manufacture the functionalized wrapper, wherein, said wrapper delay ignition of the substrate or prevents the lighting up when the wrapped substrate comes in contact with fire or burning articles.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an aerosol generating device with improved filter arrangement which reduces the lip hotness of the mouth end segment.

Another object of the present invention is to wrap or combine segment with at least two layers of paper.

A further object of the present invention is to provide multiple overwraps in an aerosol generating article for use in an electrically heated aerosol generating system, with the purpose of preventing lip hotness by using at least two papers with the sum of GSM of the papers combined is greater than 50.

According to an aspect of the present invention a functionalized wrapper is provided for an aerosol-generating substrate. The functionalized wrapper has a tendency to delay the burning of the wrapped aerosol generating substrate in the aerosol generating article and most preferably does not burn the aerosol generating substrate.

Yet another aspect of present invention relates to an aerosol generating article comprising plurality of segments, wherein at least one of the segments comprising a gathered sheet of aerosol generating substrate, wherein the aerosol generating substrate is wrapped with a functionalized wrapper, wherein said wrapper is bonded onto the plurality of locations on the said gathered sheet of aerosol generating material, wherein said wrapper is a fire-retardant wrapper.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is disclosed an aerosol generating article comprising an aerosol generating substrate encompassed by a wrapper, said article having either a tubular segment alone or a combination of tubular segment and a filter segment. The said wrapping material is made of cellulose fiber.

In one embodiment, the tubular segment is made of cellulose acetate having internal diameter is <2.0 mm.

In another embodiment, the tubular segment is made of paper having internal diameter is < 2.0 mm. The said tubular filter is also made of soft wood fiber-based paper materials.

Further, in another embodiment, the filter segment is made of materials such as cellulose acetate and paper, alone or in different combination of cellulose and paper fibers.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided an aerosol-generating article comprising the wrapper enveloping the aerosol-generating substrate of the present invention. In the process of combining the aerosol generating segment and the tubular segment, a combining paper is used which covers the aerosol generating article and tubular segment partially or completely.

In another process, the combined segment is attached with the filter segment with plurality layer of paper. The plurality layer of paper, having at least 80 GSM acts as thermal barrier and also prevent any leakage of the hot aerosol from between the segments. The present invention also discloses the formulation for making functionalized wrapping paper wherein the coating on the wrapping paper delay the ignition of the aerosol generating substrate or does not allow to ignite the aerosol generating substrate.

The present invention discloses the water-based fire-retardant paper coating formulation comprising higher temperature stable hydrated salt such as Aluminum hydroxide and the like, a water-soluble binding agent such as CMC and the like and a rheology modifier such as ethyl cellulose and the like.

Another aspect of present invention is a method for preparing an aerosol-generating article comprising:
i. applying a plurality of adhesive sections on the wrapping paper;
ii. adding an aerosol-generating substrate to said wrapper wherein the plurality of adhesive sections is in between the wrapping material and gathered sheet of aerosol generating substrate;
iii. enveloping the wrapper around the aerosol-generating substrate,

Yet another aspect of present invention is a process of coating a paper for wrapping an aerosol generating substrate to be used in an aerosol generating article with a paper coating formulation; comprising
i. dispensing said wrapping paper from a bobbin and passing through a system which coats the paper with desired thickness of the wet coating formulation
ii. passing the paper through a drying section and optionally through a calendaring rollers; and
iii. entering, by the dry paper, into an aerosol generating article making section.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figures 1A to 1C show the construction of aerosol generating articles, according to one implementation of the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates the arrangement of filter material for use in an aerosol generating device.

Figure 3 shows the glue line on the wrapping paper which would hold the aerosol generating substrate and the wrapping paper.

Figure 4 shows the efficiency of additional glue lines on cigarette wrapper after use whereby Fig. 4(1) illustrates aerosol generating article made with glue line and Fig. 4(2) illustrates aerosol generating article made without glue line.

Figure 5 shows a method of manufacturing functionalized wrapping paper online

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.

Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

By the term “substantially” it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.

Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.

It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

The present invention relates to wrapping the segments of the aerosol generating article with at least two layers of paper, with sum of GSM higher than 50. This reduces the heat transfer to the outer surface and hence reduces the lip hotness of the mouth end segment.

In one implementation, the aerosol generating article, comprising an aerosol generating substrate, a tubular segment and a mouth end filter segment wherein the mouth end filter and the tubular segment are combined with at least two layers of wrapping paper wherein the said paper prevents hotness in the mouth of the users.

Figure 1A illustrates the different segments of the aerosol generating article with the aerosol generating substrate (1) and the combination of the tubular segment (2) and the mouth end filter segment (3) with more than one layer of the wrapping paper.

In another implementation, the aerosol generating article, comprising an aerosol generating substrate and a tubular segment wherein the tubular segment is combined with the aerosol generating substrate with at least one layer of wrapping paper. Figure 1B illustrates different segments of the aerosol generating article and the combination of the aerosol generating substrate (1) and the hollow tubular segment (2).

In another implementation, the aerosol generating article, comprising an aerosol generating substrate, a crimped tubular segment made of higher temperature plastic films such as cellulose acetate and cellophane and a mouth end filter segment where in the crimped tubular segment and the mouth end segment are combined with more than one layer of wrapping paper to prevent hotness in the mouth of the users. Figure 1C illustrate different segments of the aerosol generating article with the aerosol generating substrate (1) and the combination of the crimped segment (2) with the mouth end segment (3) with more than one layer of wrapping paper.

In one implementation, reference is made to figure 2, wherein the arrangement of filter material for use in an aerosol generating device is illustrated. As shown in the figure 2, the filter region (1), at the mouth end segment, is covered with at least with 2 papers, selected from a plug wrap (2) and a tipping paper (3). The papers (2, 3) prevent the transfer of hotness from the filter to the mouth region of the user.

In one implementation, wrapping the filter material with at least two layers of paper including filter plug wrap (2) and a tipping paper (3) and choosing the sum of GSM of the plug wrap and tipping paper greater than 50 to prevent lip hotness.

In another implementation, as illustrated in Figure 3, one or more than one glue line or adhesive application on wrapper for bonding of aerosol generating substrate with wrapper has been applied on the wrapping paper encompassing the aerosol generating substrate (21). These glue lines bond the aerosol generating substrate with the wrapping paper pre and post the consumption of the aerosol generating substrate with the rest of the aerosol generating article hence ensures release of the aerosol generating substrate along with aerosol generating article once the consumption is over.

Figure 4 illustrates the efficiency of the glue lines. Under Figure 4, Figure 4(1) shows the article 1 which is made with the glue lines whereas article 2 of Figure 4(2) does not have the glue line. While article of Figure 4(2) shows a clear dislodging the substrate from the aerosol generating article, article 1 shows that the substrate remaining along with the aerosol generating article during extraction.

Although an aerosol generating article with improved arrangement has been described in language specific to structural features, it is to be understood that the embodiments disclosed in the above section are not necessarily limited to the specific methods or devices described herein. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as examples of implementations of the aerosol generating article with improved arrangement of segments.

In a non-limiting embodiment, there is provided an aerosol-generating article comprising: an aerosol-generating substrate (21), encompassed by a functionalized wrapper (22): wherein the said wrapper paper comprises an adhesive lining (23) for sealing overlapping ends of the said wrapper with width of 1mm to 3mm; and one or more adhesive linings (24) or adhesive layer application for sealing the wrapper surface to the said aerosol-generating substrate.

In another non-limiting embodiment, there is provided a method for preparing an aerosol-generating article comprising the steps of:
i. applying adhesive linings along the longitudinal sections of a wrapper;
ii. adding an aerosol-generating substrate to the said wrapper wherein the adhesive linings are parallel to the aerosol-generating substrate;
iii. enveloping the wrapper around the aerosol-generating substrate; wherein one of the said adhesive linings is disposed between the overlapping longitudinal edges of the said wrapper and one or more of the adhesive linings are disposed between the said wrapper and the aerosol-generating substrate to form an aerosol-generating article.

The wrapper of the present invention with additional adhesive application for bonding the tobacco substrate to the wrapper have the following non-limiting advantages:
• Ease of extraction of the tobacco substrate from the device after use.
• Prevents the tobacco rod from coming out during its usage in an aerosol generating article. The wrapper ensembles the filter region and avoid the lip hotness
• The wrapper holds tight to the filter region and helps to easy dissonance from the device after the consumption.

The present invention is a novel process of wrapping tobacco material with different segments of the aerosol generating articles. The present invention prevents dissociation between tobacco and wrapping paper during usage at elevated temperatures. Thus, the current invention differs from the prior art due to the intended purpose of use, differences in material properties, use at elevated temperatures and manufacturing process.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the present invention discloses the process of making coating paper for manufacturing aerosol generating articles.

Accordingly, in the present invention, the coating process can be done online along with the aerosol generating article manufacturing article or off-line where the coated paper can be manufactured separately and will be used.

Figure 5 schematically illustrates the process of coating wherein the wrapping paper (2) getting dispenses from the bobbin (1) and passes through a coating solution bath (3) where the coating roller (4) coats the paper with required amount of coating solution. The paper passes through the drying section (5) and calendaring rollers (6). In the case of on-line coating, the dried paper will enter the aerosol generating article making section (7). In the case of off-line coating, the coated paper will be winding again as bobbin and will be used.

However, the same process can be applied off-line. Here, the term online means the attachment of the coating module along with a cigarette making machine wherein the coated paper would directly fed-in the cigarette making machine.

The term off-line refers to the process where the coating can be done separately and the coated bobbins can be used for making cigarette.

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, the aqueous based coating formulation for the functionalized wrapper of the present invention comprising inorganic materials such as hydrated salts (ex- aluminum hydroxide), oxides (ex- alumina) or clays (ex- bentonite. Further the said formulation includes, inorganic material such as hydrated salts, oxides in an amount of 8-16% and clays in an amount of 0.5-3%, a binding material such as cellulose and its derivatives selected from carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose, guar gum and its derivatives such as carboxymethyl guar gum and the like in an amount of 3-5%, Rheology modifiers such as pregelatinized starch and its derivatives selected from physical and chemically modified starch and the like in an amount of 1-3% and the rest being water.

By considering the specification and implementing the technical solutions disclosed herein, other embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure, which are in accordance with the general principles of the present disclosure and include common general knowledge or conventional technical means in the art that are not disclosed herein. The specification and embodiments should be regarded as illustrative only, and the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure is limited by the following claims.
,CLAIMS:
1. An aerosol generating article comprising plurality of segments, wherein said atleast one of the segments comprising a gathered sheet of aerosol generating substrate, characterized in that the aerosol generating substrate is wrapped with a wrapper, wherein said wrapper is bonded onto the plurality of locations on the said gathered sheet of aerosol generating material.

2. The aerosol generating article as claimed in claim 1 wherein said wrapper is a functionalized wrapper.

3. The aerosol generating article, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said wrapper is a functionalized wrapper, combined with plurality of segments having GSM in the range of 50 and 150 and thickness in the range of 30 microns and 120 microns.

4. The aerosol generating article as claimed in claim 1, comprising plurality of segments, wherein said one of the segments comprising the aerosol generating substrate, said atleast one of the segments further comprising a cooling segment, wherein the cooling segment is in the form of a hollow tubular segment and the wall thickness of the tubular segment is <2 mm and wherein said atleast one of the segments is a filter segment.

5. The aerosol generating article as claimed in claim 4, wherein the tubular segment is made of cellulose acetate or soft wood-based paper like material or high temperature stable crimped polymers including cellulose acetate, cellophane and the like.

6. The aerosol generating article as claimed in claim 1, wherein said plurality of segments of said article is wrapped along the length with at least two layers of paper.

7. The aerosol generating article as claimed in preceding claims, wherein said at least two layers of paper includes filter plug wrap and a tipping paper and the GSM of the plug wrap and tipping paper is greater than 50 to prevent lip hotness.

8. An aerosol generating article comprising the plurality of segments, wrapped with the functionalized wrapper wherein said wrapping paper delays and/or prevents the ignition of the substrate when contacted with fire and the like.

9. The aerosol generating article as claimed in claims 1-8, wherein said wrapper is coated with a coating material.

10. The aerosol generating article as claimed in claim 9, wherein said coating material formulation is an aqueous formulation which includes inorganic material such as hydrated salts, oxides in an amount of 8-16% and clays in an amount of 0.5-3%, a binding material such as cellulose and its derivatives selected from carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose, guar gum and its derivatives such as carboxymethyl guar gum and the like in an amount of 3-5%, Rheology modifiers such as pregelatinized starch and its derivatives selected from physical and chemically modified starch and the like in an amount of 1-3% and the rest being water.

11. The aerosol generating article as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the functionalized wrapper has a dry coating thickness of >4 microns.

12. The aerosol generating article as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein said functionalized wrapper comprises an adhesive lining for sealing overlapping ends of the said wrapper; and one or more adhesive linings or adhesive layer application for sealing the wrapper surface to the said aerosol-generating substrate.

13. A method for preparing an aerosol-generating article comprising:
i. applying a plurality of adhesive lining along the longitudinal sections of a functionalized wrapper;
ii. adding an aerosol-generating substrate to said wrapper wherein the plurality of adhesive linings is parallel to the aerosol-generating substrate;
iii. enveloping the wrapper around the aerosol-generating substrate; wherein one of said plurality of adhesive linings is disposed between the overlapping longitudinal edges of the said wrapper and one or more of the plurality of adhesive linings are disposed between the said wrapper and the aerosol-generating substrate to form an aerosol-generating article.

14. A process of coating a paper for wrapping an aerosol generating substrate to be used in an aerosol generating article with a paper coating formulation; comprising
i. dispensing said wrapping paper from a bobbin (1) and passing through a coating formulation bath (3) where a pair of coating rollers (4) coat the paper with a coating formulation;
ii. passing through, by the coated paper, a drying section (5) and calendaring rollers (6) for drying; and
iii. entering, by the dry paper, into an aerosol generating article making section (7).