JP6975840B2 - Manufacturing method of heating unit and heating unit for HNB tobacco articles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a heating unit for non-combustion heating (HNB) tobacco articles comprising a tobacco flakes and an electrical resistance heating component for heating the flakes in a non-combustible form. This resistance heating component is either integrated into the tobacco flakes in a flat manner, coupled with the tobacco flakes, or both, thereby forming at least one tobacco / heating body coupling component. The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a heating unit for HNB tobacco articles.

HNB (non-combustion heating) articles that heat tobacco or tobacco component material and thereby release aromatics and the resulting smoke in a non-combustible form have already been proposed for some time (eg, for example). See Patent Document 1). There, for example, a medium that generates an aromatic substance, including tobacco, is arranged in a cylindrical shape around a rod-shaped heating component. The heating component is a resistance wire coil arranged in an insulated pipe.

An alternative structural shape of the HNB tobacco article is disclosed in Patent Document 2. There, smokeable materials, such as tobacco mixtures, are placed in one room. A heating body, for example, a ceramic heating body, an infrared heating body or a resistance type heating body, is arranged in a cylindrical shape around the chamber.

In the above-mentioned two arrangements, the tobacco material in contact with the heating body is heated directly, but the material further away from the heating body is heated only indirectly with a delay. The resulting non-uniform temperature distribution is disadvantageous in terms of optimal release of active and aromatic substances and reduction of release of harmful substances.

European Patent No. 0430559 International Patent Publication No. 2013/131564

An object of the present invention is to provide a heating unit that enables uniform heating of a tobacco component material and a method for manufacturing the heating unit.

The present invention solves this problem by the characteristics of the independent claims. This heating component is integrated into the tobacco flakes, connected to the tobacco flakes, or both, thereby providing a close connection between the heating components and the tobacco flakes. The resulting flat tobacco / heating body connecting component provides direct, uniform and undelayed heat conduction from the heating component to the tobacco flakes due to the wide surface direct contact between the heating components and the tobacco flakes. It also enables optimal release of active and aromatic substances, reducing the release of harmful substances.

The present invention eliminates the need for the heating unit to be cleaned or replaced, thereby improving the cleanliness and manageability of the HNB tobacco article.

The advantageously defined resistance monitoring mode of this heated component allows for better control and control of the maximum temperature of the product and thus the health aspect (prevention of harmful substances due to overheating).

Advantageously, the resistance heating component is at least a partially conductive woven or mesh structure. The woven fabric consisting of warp and weft serves as a supporting material in the tobacco / heated body connecting part, and gives the part mechanical stability and strength. It is particularly advantageous for this fabric to serve as a supporting material in the production of tobacco flakes. Thereby, the production of tobacco flakes can be significantly facilitated.

Alternatively, the heated component can be added to the tobacco flakes as a laminate and coupled to the flakes, so that the tobacco flakes and the heated component form a sandwich connecting component. In this case, the heated component in one variant can be applied onto the tobacco flakes, in particular by printing or spraying, or as conductive flakes, in the form of a uniform or homogeneous coating. The conductive coating can then be transferred to its final (heated) structure in the second treatment step by the removal method. This can be done, for example, using laser engraving. Thereby, it is possible to realize a very fine and complicated heating structure at the same time as making the heating component very thin, which further optimizes the heat distribution.

In one embodiment, a direct contact form between the tobacco flakes and the fabric can be realized.

Alternatively, the fabric can be coated with an insulating material in the intermediate process to obtain a chemically non-reactive insulator between the tobacco flakes and the fabric. This is especially relevant when the material obtained for the heated part can cause unwanted chemical reactions to the tobacco flakes. In order to produce this, a spraying method of applying an insulating substance to a woven material or a method of immersing a net structure in a bath of an insulating material and then drying it can be applied. Then, in the second step, the tobacco component material can be applied onto the net structure thus insulated by a dipping or injecting method, and then a drying step can be carried out. Immersion is also advantageous when considering preliminarily giving the net structure a final shape, for example, a cylindrical shape, and then stabilizing it by a dipping method. Deformation before immersion also has the advantage that insulating materials that can become brittle after curing can also be used for coating.

The present invention is not limited to textile heating parts. For example, it is also possible to integrate or connect a plurality of resistance heating conductors into or coupled with tobacco flakes, in particular parallel to each other.

In one embodiment of the invention, the heating component has a conductive weft as a resistance heating conductor. This advantageously makes it possible to realize heated parts as woven fabrics in a simple manner.

The heating conductor can be generally made of metal and can be made of, for example, a heating wire or other conductive material. Resistant heating conductors in the form of metal coatings or woven or thread coatings are also possible. Further, carbon fiber based materials can be considered.

Advantageously, the heating component has a conductive warp as a power supply conductor for supplying current to the resistance heating component, which allows current supply to the heating component by simple means. .. This power supply conductor can advantageously be placed along the edge of each fabric, advantageously surrounding the edge in a U-shape, thereby between the power supply conductor and the resistance heating conductor. A reliable contact form can be obtained.

This heated component advantageously has a non-conductive warp and / or non-conductive weft as a support yarn. Support yarns made from suitable strong materials provide sufficient mechanical stability and strength of heated parts or fabrics.

Within the scope of the invention, the fabric can be completely metal, metal coated, or both. In this case, it is a (fully) conductive fabric.

In a favorable embodiment, at least one of the power supply conductors is divided into two or more independently driveable segments. In that way, for example, in turn, the corresponding compartment of tobacco flakes can be consumed. In this way, compound cigarette products can also be provided when one compartment of tobacco flakes is adapted to the consumption of one cigarette.

This at least one tobacco / heating body connecting component can advantageously be placed in the heating unit in a rolled or curled form. In this way, it is possible to realize the optimum utilization form of the structural space existing in the HNB tobacco article. In the embodiment of the present invention, for the same purpose, in particular, a plurality of cigarette / heating body connecting parts can be concentrically arranged in the heating unit. In this case, the electrical contacts of the connecting component can be advantageously located at different, eg, opposed peripheral positions within the heating unit. It can contribute to the homogenization of the agent component in the air flow.

Advantageously, this at least one tobacco / heating body connecting component is held within the heating unit using a radial spacer, which represents a particularly simple structural shape.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on advantageous embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Schematic vertical section of HNB smoking product Perspective view of heating unit for HNB smoking products Schematic cross-sectional view of the heating unit Schematic vertical section or side view of the heating unit Schematic cross-section of the HNB smoking product within the area of the heating unit Side view of the machine for incorporating tobacco / heating body connecting parts into at least one packaging sheet

The HNB tobacco article 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 has, for example, a rod-shaped, advantageously insulating housing 11, in which an electrical energy source 12, a heating unit 13, and an electronic control unit 14 are included. Is placed. The electrical energy source or voltage source 12 can be, for example, a battery or a rechargeable battery. The housing 11 has a mouthpiece 15, and the consumer can suck the mouthpiece in order to generate an air flow. The housing 11 further has one or more intake openings 16, and when the consumer generates a negative pressure in the housing 11 by suction of the suction port 15, the housing 11 is surrounded by the openings. Air can flow into the inside of the housing 11. In this way, the air flow 17 according to the control mode is generated in the housing 11.

The heating unit 13 is arranged in the axial heating section 19 in the housing 11. The heating unit 13 can be a replaceable disposable part or part of such a disposable part. The main body of the HNB tobacco article 10 can be said to be reusable. Therefore, the HNB tobacco article 10 can be composed of a reusable main body portion and a disposable heating unit 13.

The air flow 17 flows through the heating compartment 19 to capture the agonists and / or aromatics released from the tobacco flakes 20 using the heating component 18, and thus through the heating unit 13 or heating. It flows along the vicinity of the unit 13.

An advantageous embodiment of the heating unit 13 according to the present invention is illustrated in FIG. This heating unit has a tobacco flakes 20 and a heating component 18. The heating component 18 is a flat woven fabric oriented in the vertical direction, preferably composed of non-conductive warp threads 21 and weft threads 22 arranged crossing the warp threads 21. The weft 22 has a conductive weft that forms the resistance type heating conductor 24. The weft 22 can further have a non-conductive support thread 25. In the embodiment according to FIGS. 2 and 4, the conductive weft 22 as the resistance type heating conductor 24 and the non-conductive weft 22 as the support yarn are alternately arranged. Other conductive and non-conductive weft threads 22 can be arranged. It is also possible to form all the wefts 22 as resistance type heating conductors 24. It is not excluded that some or all warp threads 21 are made of metal or coated with metal.

The non-conductive warp thread 21, the non-conductive weft thread 22, and the thread when conductively coated are made of a suitable strong and heat resistant material, particularly plastic. A suitable material is, for example, aramid having a heat resistance up to about 370 ° C.

The heating component 18, more precisely, a power supply conductor 23 for supplying an electric current to the resistance heating conductor 24 is arranged along the two vertical edges of the heating component 18 for that purpose. In addition, the heating conductor is energized and connected to the power supply conductor 23, eg, soldered or welded, or otherwise advantageously pinched or crimped. As shown in FIG. 3, the power supply conductor 23 advantageously surrounds the end of the resistance heating conductor 24 in a U-shape. This provides a particularly reliable form of contact between the power supply conductor 23 and the resistance heating conductor 24. The power supply conductor 23 has an electric contact 30 for contacting the heating voltage source or the energy source 12, respectively. The contact portion of the heating conductor 24 or the woven fabric 31 is, for example, by a wire, a connecting pin or a contact surface that comes into contact with the heating unit 13 realized as a disposable portion by sandwiching or crimping when the heating unit 13 is inserted into the HNB tobacco article 10. Can be created.

The resistance of the heating conductor 24 and the resistance of the power supply conductor 23 are preferably selected so that a large amount of heat is generated in the heating conductor 24 and the amount of heat loss in the power supply conductor 23 is as small as possible. Therefore, the resistance of the heating conductor 24 is at least twice as large as the resistance of the power supply conductor 23, preferably at least five times as large, and more preferably at least ten times as large.

At least one of the power supply conductors 23 can be divided into two independently driveable segments 27, 28 separated from each other. In that way, for example, in turn, the corresponding compartments of the tobacco flakes 20 (in this case, two) can be consumed. In this way, it is also possible to provide a compound cigarette product when one section of the tobacco flakes 20 is adapted to the consumption of one cigarette.

The warp 21 and the weft 22 are advantageously woven together, as is best seen in FIG. Other arrangements of the warp 21 and the weft 22 relative to each other are also possible.

As can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 4, the tobacco flakes 20 advantageously surround the heating component 18. The heating component 18 is integrated into the tobacco flakes 20 in a flat manner, thereby providing a close connection between the heating components 18 and the tobacco flakes 20. The flat connecting part 26 thus obtained is referred to herein as a tobacco / heating body connecting part 26. From these flat connecting parts 26 and the close contact between the heating part 18 and the tobacco flakes 20, direct, uniform and delay-free heat conduction from the heating parts 18 to the tobacco flakes 20 is obtained. The woven fabric consisting of the warp 21 and the weft 22 serves as a supporting material within the connecting part 26, advantageously imparting mechanical stability and strength to the connecting part.

When the woven fabric consisting of the warp 21 and the weft 22 already serves as a supporting material in the production of the tobacco flakes 20, it is particularly easy to produce the connecting part 26 having the desired properties. However, instead of that, first a woven fabric composed of warp threads 21 and weft threads 22 is manufactured, and then the heating component 18 of the tobacco flakes 20 is added as a laminate, and as a result, the tobacco flakes 20 and the heating components 18 are sandwiched. It is also possible to form two overlapping laminates of the formula connecting component 26.

The advantageous structure of the HNB tobacco article 10 is illustrated in FIG. In this embodiment, two connecting parts 26A and 26B rolled into a cylinder are used. These connecting parts 26A and 26B are advantageously held concentrically within the cylindrical insulating part 32 by using, for example, four radial spacers 29. The number of spacers 29 can be greater than or less than four. The spacers 29 are advantageously located at the same angular spacing, here at 90 °. The insulating component 32 can be formed by the housing 11 of the HNB tobacco article 10. Alternatively, the insulating component 32 can be a separate part from the housing 11 of the HNB tobacco article 10, especially if the heating unit 13 is a replaceable disposable part.

The electrical contacts 30 of the connecting parts 26A, 26B are advantageously located at different peripheral positions of the HNB tobacco article 10, for example, diagonally opposed peripheral positions in FIG. It homogenizes the active substance component in the air flow 17. However, for example, in consideration of making the connection lead wire between the contact 30 and the heating power supply 12 as short as possible, it is excluded that the electric contacts 30 of the connecting parts 26A and 26B are arranged at the same peripheral position of the HNB tobacco article 10. do not.

In another embodiment, only one connecting part 26 or more than two connecting parts 26 can be used. In one embodiment, for example, one cigarette / heating body connecting component 26 wound together in a spiral shape can be used.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of a machine 40 in the tobacco processing industry for incorporating a tobacco / heating body connecting component 26 into a packaging sheet, in particular a paper sheet. The connecting part 26, which integrates the tobacco flakes 20 and the heating part 18, appears here in the form of an endless sheet drawn from the reel 43. The material flow 41 below the machine 40 attaches the paper laminate 42 to the connecting component 26. In this case, the couch roller 44 presses the connecting part 26 against the favorably moistened paper 42. The material flow 45 above the machine 40 attaches the upper paper laminate 46 to the connecting component 26. In this case, the couch roller 47 presses the favorably moistened paper 46 against the connecting part 26. Further, the connecting sheet 48 consisting of the connecting component 26 and the paper 42, 46 is placed on the normal drying component and transferred to the stamped section.

Claims (14)

Tobacco flakes (20) and
An electric resistance type heating component (18) for heating the tobacco flakes in a non-combustion form, and
A heating unit (13) for the HNB tobacco article (10), comprising:
The resistive heating element (18) is, whether it is integrated into the tobacco lamina (20), or is connected with the tobacco lamina, or a both, thereby forming a tobacco-heating body connecting piece (26) death,
Said tobacco-heating body connecting piece (26) is, in what is disposed in the heating unit (13) in a rounded shape or curled form,
A plurality of tobacco / heating body connecting parts (26A, 26B) are concentrically arranged in the heating unit (13), and the electric contacts (30) of the plurality of tobacco / heating body connecting parts (26A, 26B) are concentrically arranged. ) Are arranged at different peripheral positions in the heating unit (13). The heating unit according to claim 1, wherein the resistance type heating component (18) is at least partially a conductive woven fabric (31) or a net structure. The heating unit according to claim 2, wherein the woven fabric (31) is used as a supporting material during the production of the tobacco flakes (20). The heating unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the heating component (18) has a conductive weft as a resistance type heating conductor (24). Any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the heating component (18) has a conductive warp as a power supply conductor (23) for supplying an electric current to the resistance type heating component (18). The heating unit described in one. The heating unit according to claim 5, wherein at least one power supply conductor (23) is arranged along the edge of the woven fabric (31). The heating unit according to claim 6, wherein the at least one power supply conductor (23) surrounds the edge of the woven fabric (31) in a U shape. Any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein at least one of the power supply conductors (23) is divided into two or more independently driveable segments (27, 28). The heating unit described in one. Any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the heating component (18) has a non-conductive warp yarn (21) and / or a non-conductive weft yarn (22) as a support yarn. The heating unit described in. The heating component (18) is added to the tobacco flakes (20) as a laminate, and as a result, the tobacco flakes (20) and the heating component (18) form a sandwich type connecting component (26). The heating unit according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the heating unit is characterized. Claims 1 to 10 are characterized in that the electric contacts (30) of the plurality of cigarette / heating body connecting parts (26A, 26B) are arranged at opposite peripheral edges in the heating unit (13). The heating unit according to any one of. The first to eleventh aspects of the present invention, wherein the plurality of cigarette / heating body connecting parts (26A, 26B) are held in the heating unit (13) by using a radial spacer (29). The heating unit according to any one. An HNB cigarette article (10) having a housing (11) and a heating unit (13) according to any one of claims 1 to 12 arranged in the housing (11). In the method for manufacturing a heating unit (13) for an HNB tobacco article according to any one of claims 1 to 12.
A method characterized in that the resistance heating component (18) is used as a support material during the production of the tobacco flakes (20), is added to the tobacco flakes (20) as a laminate, or both. ..

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