Capsule formation

1. A method of forming a smoking article containing a capsule having a liquid core, comprising:

(a) making the capsule by:

(i) encapsulating a body of core material in a solid state with a coating material; and

(ii) converting the core material from a solid state to a liquid state to form a capsule having a liquid core encapsulated by a solid coating; and

(b) inserting the capsule into a smoking article.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein encapsulating the core material comprises coating the core material in a solid state with the coating material in a liquid state.

3. A method according to claim 1 , wherein encapsulating the core material comprises forming a solid coating of uniform thickness around the core material.

4. A method according to claim 1 , comprising solidifying the coating material around the core material before converting the core material from a solid state to a liquid state.

5. A method according to claim 4 , wherein solidifying the coating material around the core material comprises reacting sodium alginates with calcium ions.

6. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the solid state of the core material is a frozen state.

7. A method according to claim 1 , wherein converting the core material from a solid state to a liquid state comprises melting the core material.

8. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the solid coating material has a higher melting point than the core material.

9. A method according to claim 1 comprising applying the coating material to the solid core material in a drum-coating process.

10. A method according to claim 9 , wherein coating the core material comprises:

placing the core material inside a rotation unit;

rotating the rotation unit with the core material inside; and

applying the coating material to the core material during rotation of the rotation unit.

11. A method according to claim 1 , comprising forming the body of core material as a spherical body of core material before encapsulating it in coating material.

12. A method according to claim 11 , wherein forming the solid body of core material comprises:

forming a liquid body of core material;

causing the liquid body of core material to follow a spiral path in a fluid configured to cause the liquid body of core material to a change to a solid state; and

collecting the solid body of core material from the fluid.

13. A method according to claim 12 , wherein the fluid is a cooling fluid configured to cool the liquid body of coating material and thereby cause it to change into a solid state.

14. A method of forming a capsule for insertion into a cigarette, comprising:

encapsulating a body of core material in a solid state with a coating material by coating the core material in a solid state with the coating material in a liquid state and forming a solid coating of substantially uniform thickness around the core material;

applying the coating material to the solid core material in a drum-coating process by:

placing the core material inside a rotation unit;

rotating the rotation unit with the core material inside; and

applying the coating material to the core material during rotation of the rotation unit;

converting the core material from a solid state to a liquid state to form a capsule having a liquid core encapsulated by a solid coating;

wherein the solid coating material has a higher melting point than the core material; further

wherein forming of the core material includes forming the body of core material as a substantially spherical body of core material before encapsulating it in coating material, the solid body of core material including:

forming a liquid body of core material;

causing the liquid body of core material to follow a spiral path in a fluid configured to cause the liquid body of core material to change to a solid state; and

collecting the solid body of core material from the fluid,

the fluid being a cooling fluid configured to cool the liquid body of core material and thereby cause it to change into a solid state.