Granted Patent B2

US 12,514,281 · App. 16/302,693 · Granted Jan 6, 2026

Inventors: Will England (London, GB); Tom Woodman (London, GB); Jeremy Phillips (London, GB); Pablo Javier Ballesteros Gomez (London, GB)

Assignee: NICOVENTURES TRADING LIMITED

A24D1/027A24D1/20A24F1/12A24F40/20A24F2700/03

Abstract

Claims (24)

1 . A system comprising:

a heating apparatus arranged to heat smokable material to volatilize at least one component of the smokable material, the heating apparatus comprising:

a housing having a first opening at a first end through which a smoking article comprising the smokable material can be inserted into the heating apparatus, and

at least one heater arrangement arranged within the housing for heating the smokable material of the smoking article when in use; and

a smoking article for insertion into the heating apparatus, the smoking article comprising:

a body of the smokable material, and

an assembly joined to the body of smokable material by annular tipping paper located around the circumference of the filter assembly to surround the filter assembly and which extends partially along the length of the body of smokable material,

wherein the assembly comprises:

a cooling segment which is an annular tube made of paper, said annular tube having first and second opposite end faces, said annular tube defining a chamber for the flow of the at least one volatilized component of the smokable material and for cooling the at least one volatilized component of the smokable material,

a filter segment adjacent to the cooling segment for filtering the at least one volatilized component of the smokable material, the filter segment comprising filtration material, and

a mouth end segment adjacent to the filter segment for being received in a mouth of a user,

wherein the annular tube of the cooling segment is located between the body of the smokable material and the filter segment such that the first end face of the annular tube of the cooling segment is in abutting relationship with the smokeable material, and wherein the filter segment is located between the annular tube of the cooling segment and the mouth end segment and so that the second end face of the annular tube of the cooling segment is in abutting relationship with the filtration material of the filter segment which separates the annular tube of the cooling segment from the mouth end segment, wherein the annular tube of the cooling segment comprises a ventilation region comprising one or more rows of holes formed through the annular tube, each of the one or more rows of holes being arranged circumferentially around the annular tube to enable air to pass into the chamber within the annular tube of the cooling segment to mix with the at least one volatilized component of the smokable material, wherein the at least one heater arrangement is in the form of a hollow cylindrical tube having a hollow interior heating chamber into which the smoking article is inserted for heating during use, and

wherein the smoking article is arranged so that when the smoking article is fully inserted into the first opening in the housing of the heating apparatus for heating the smokable material, the body of the smokable material is entirely received within the heater arrangement, a first section of the annular tube of the cooling segment is within the housing of the heating apparatus between the heater arrangement and the first opening and a second section of the annular tube of the cooling segment extends from the first opening out of the housing of the heating apparatus, wherein the first section of the cooling segment that is within the housing of the heating apparatus between the heater arrangement and the first opening comprises the majority of the cooling segment.

2 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the ventilation region comprises a plurality of the rows of holes, said rows of holes being axially spaced apart from one another along the ventilation region.

3 . The system according to claim 2 , wherein at least one pair of adjacent rows of holes are axially spaced apart from one another along the ventilation region by a distance of between 0.25 mm and 0.75 mm.

4 . The system according to claim 3 , wherein the at least one pair of adjacent rows of holes are axially spaced apart from one another along the ventilation region by a distance of 0.5 mm.

5 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the ventilation region is at least 11 mm from a proximal end of the mouth end segment.

6 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the holes has a diameter of between 100 μm to 500 μm.

7 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein a total length of the smoking article is between 71 mm and 95 mm.

8 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the heating apparatus comprises a collar that extends around and projects from the opening into the interior of the housing, wherein the collar comprises a plurality of ridges configured to engage with the smoking article when inserted into the heating apparatus to assist in securing it within the heating apparatus, the ridges being arranged circumferentially around the periphery of the first opening and which project into the opening such that the open span of the opening at the locations of the ridges is less than the open span of the opening at the locations without the ridges.

9 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein an air gap is provided between the hollow interior heating chamber and the smoking article when the smoking article is inserted in the apparatus over at least part of the length of the hollow interior heating chamber, and wherein the air gap is around all of the circumference of the smoking article over at least part of the annular tube of the cooling segment.

10 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the heating apparatus comprises control circuitry configured to control the heater arrangement located within the housing; and a battery located within the housing and electrically coupled to the heater arrangement to supply electrical power to the heater arrangement to heat the smokable material under the control of the control circuitry.

11 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the heater arrangement is surrounded along at least part of its length by a thermal insulator.

12 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises a collar projecting into the interior of the housing from the opening.

Assignments (2)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (338)