Aerosol-cooling element and arrangements for use with apparatus for heating a smokable material
View Patent ↗Aerosol-cooling elements for use with an apparatus for heating smokable material are disclosed. In one example, the element is a monolithic rod having first and second ends and has plural through holes extending between the first and second ends. Other arrangements are described.
1. An aerosol-cooling element for use with an apparatus for heating smokable material, the element being a monolithic rod having first and second ends and comprising plural through holes extending between the first and second ends, wherein the porosity of the element is in the range 60% to 75%.
2. An element according to claim 1 , wherein the through holes extend substantially parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the rod.
3. An element according to claim 1 , wherein the through holes are arranged generally radially of the element when viewed in lateral cross-section.
4. An element according to claim 1 , wherein the majority of the through holes have a hexagonal or generally hexagonal cross-sectional shape.
5. An element according to claim 1 , wherein the element is substantially incompressible.
6. An element according to claim 1 , wherein the element is formed of a ceramic material.
7. An element according to claim 1 , wherein the element is formed of a polymer.
8. An element according to claim 7 , wherein the element is formed of a thermoplastic polymer.
9. An element according to claim 1 , wherein the element is formed of an extrudable plastics material.
10. An element according to claim 1 , wherein the porosity of the element is around 69% to 70%.
11. A cooling assembly for use with an apparatus for heating smokable material, the cooling assembly comprising:
an aerosol-cooling element according to claim 1 for cooling volatilized smokable material; and
a tube at one end of the aerosol-cooling element.
12. A cooling assembly according to claim 11 , wherein said tube is a hollow tube for providing a filtering function to filter volatilized smokable material.
13. A cooling assembly according to claim 11 , comprising a second tube at the other end of the aerosol-cooling element.
14. A smoking article for use with an apparatus for heating smokable material, the smoking article comprising:
smokable material; and
an aerosol-cooling element according to claim 1 for cooling volatilized smokable material produced when the smokable material is heated.
15. A smoking article according to claim 14 , comprising a spacer between the smokable material and the aerosol-cooling element.
16. A smoking article according to claim 15 , wherein the spacer is a hollow spacer tube.
17. A smoking article according to claim 14 , comprising a hollow mouth end tube at an end of the aerosol-cooling element.
18. A smoking article according to claim 17 , wherein the mouth end tube is arranged to provide a filtering function to filter volatilized smokable material produced when the smokable material is heated.