IP Library Granted Patent US 12,342,853
Granted Patent B2
US 12,342,853 · App. 17/849,990 · Granted Jul 1, 2025

Smoking substitute consumable

Inventors: Kate Ferrie (Liverpool, GB); Ross Shenton (Liverpool, GB); Jill Jones (Liverpool, GB)
Assignee: Imperial Tobacco Limited
A24D1/20A24D1/04A24D3/04A24D3/17A24F40/20A24F40/46
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,342,853
App. No.
17/849,990
Granted
Jul 1, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

An aerosol-forming article is disclosed having an improved filter at its axial downstream end, for instance a mouthpiece end. The improved filter comprises a filter segment having a plurality of bores extending there through, wherein a cooling segment is arranged upstream of the filter segment, the cooling segment comprising portion having a central bore that forms a central region extending around a central axis of the aerosol-forming article and a center of each bore of the plurality of bores is arranged radially outside of the central region.

Claims (17)

1. An aerosol-forming article comprising an aerosol-forming substrate and a filter segment, the filter segment having a plurality of bores extending there through, wherein a cooling segment is arranged upstream of the filter segment, the cooling segment comprising a portion having a central bore that forms a central region extending around a central axis of the aerosol-forming article and a centre of each bore of the plurality of bores is arranged radially outside of the central region, wherein the filter segment is the greatest restriction to airflow between the aerosol-forming substrate and a mouthpiece end of the aerosol-forming article.

2. The aerosol-forming article of claim 1 , wherein each bore of the plurality of bores are open to the exterior at the mouthpiece end of the aerosol-forming article.

3. The aerosol-forming article of claim 2 , wherein the filter segment comprises a body and the plurality of bores extend from one distal face of the body to an opposed distal face of the body.

4. The aerosol-forming article of claim 3 , wherein the distal face arranged at a downstream end of the filter segment coincides with the mouthpiece end of the aerosol-forming article.

5. The aerosol-forming article of claim 1 , wherein the filter segment has an elongate form having a central axis and each bore of the plurality of bores extends parallel to the central axis.

6. The aerosol-forming article of claim 1 , wherein each bore of the plurality of bores has a circular cross-section that is constant along the length of the filter segment.

7. The aerosol-forming article of claim 1 , wherein the diameter of the central bore of the portion of the cooling segment has a diameter between 40% and 45% of a diameter of an external surface of said portion.

8. The aerosol-forming article of claim 1 , wherein the centres of each bore of the plurality of bores of the filter segment are arranged equally spaced about a notional circle.

9. The aerosol-forming article of claim 1 , wherein said portion is a first portion and the cooling segment includes a second portion having a larger airflow passage than an airflow passage created by the central bore of the first portion.

10. The aerosol-forming article of claim 9 , wherein the second portion comprises a spacer element having a central bore with a diameter greater than 95% of the diameter of an external surface of said portion comprising the spacer element.

11. The aerosol-forming article of claim 1 , wherein a total cross-sectional area of the plurality of bores is less than 20% of the cross-sectional area of the filter segment, or wherein a total cross-sectional area of the plurality of bores is less than 15% of the cross-sectional area of the filter segment or less than 10% of the cross-sectional area of the filter segment or around 6% of the cross-sectional area of the filter segment.

12. A system comprising an aerosol-forming article according to claim 1 and a device comprising a heating element.

13. The system according to claim 12 wherein the device comprises a main body for housing the heating element and the heating element comprises an elongated heating element.

14. A method of using the system according to claim 12 , the method comprising:

inserting the article into the device; and

heating the article using the heating element.

15. A method according to claim 14 comprising inserting the article into a cavity within a main body of the device and penetrating the article with the heating element upon insertion of the article.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 22, 2023
From: NERUDIA LTD
To: IMPERIAL TOBACCO LIMITED
Reel/Frame 064671/0788 →
Priority Claims (4)
EP 19220258 · Dec 31, 2019 · regional
EP 19220266 · Dec 31, 2019 · regional
EP 19220272 · Dec 31, 2019 · regional
EP 19220273 · Dec 31, 2019 · regional
Continuity (2)
Continuation PCTEP2020087205 · Dec 18, 2020
Related Publication 20220322735A1 · Oct 13, 2022
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