阅读说明：本技术 用于hnb烟草制品的加热单元和用于制造加热单元的方法 (Heating unit for HNB tobacco products and method for manufacturing a heating unit ) 是由 J.迪克 于 2018-08-02 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种用于HNB烟草制品(10)的加热单元(13),包括含有烟草的材料(26)和电阻加热元件(18),该加热元件用于在不燃烧的情况下加热所述含有烟草的材料(26)。所述电阻加热元件(18)由传导的悬浮物制成。(A heating unit (13) for HNB tobacco products (10) comprising a tobacco-containing material (26) and a resistive heating element (18) for heating the tobacco-containing material (26) without combustion. The resistive heating element (18) is made of a conductive suspension.)

1. A heating unit (13) for HNB tobacco articles (10), comprising:

-a tobacco-containing material (26); and

-an electrical resistance heating element (18) for heating the tobacco-containing material (26) without combustion, characterized in that the electrical resistance heating element (18) is made of a conductive suspension.

2. The heating unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the resistive heating element (18) is made of conductive paste.

3. The heating unit of any of the preceding claims, wherein the conductive suspension comprises graphite.

4. The heating unit according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the conductive suspension is applied to a carrier material (20).

5. Heating element according to claim 4, characterized in that the carrier material (20) is at least partially ceramic or comprises a ceramic layer.

6. Heating unit according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the conductive layer forming the heating element is embedded in a multi-layer carrier material (20).

7. The heating unit according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the tobacco product (10) comprises a layer system having the sequence of layers: ceramic, a conductive layer (18), ceramic, a tobacco containing material (26).

8. The heating unit according to any of claims 4 to 7, wherein the carrier material (20) forms a three-dimensional carrier structure, such as a tube structure, which is at least partially filled with the conductive material (18).

9. The heating unit according to any of claims 4 to 8, wherein the heating unit (13) is tubular and is at least partially filled with a conductive substance.

10. The heating unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the conductive suspension is applied to the tobacco-containing material (26).

11. The heating unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the conductive suspension is printed onto the carrier material (20) or the tobacco-containing material (26), in particular according to screen printing.

12. Heating unit according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the heating element (18) has a plurality of sections (21) which can be individually electrically actuated.

13. HNB tobacco product (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a heating unit (13) according to any one of the preceding claims.

14. A method for manufacturing a heating unit (13) for HNB tobacco products (10), said heating unit comprising a tobacco-containing material (26) and an electrical resistance heating element (18) for heating the tobacco-containing material (26) without combustion, characterised in that the electrical resistance heating element (18) is applied to a carrier material (20) or the tobacco-containing material (26) in the form of a conductive suspension.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a heating unit for HNB tobacco products comprising a tobacco-containing material and an electrical resistance heating element for heating the tobacco-containing material without combustion. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a heating unit for HNB tobacco products.

Background

HNB (heat not burn) -products have been proposed for a long time, see for example EP 0430559B 1, in which tobacco or tobacco-containing material is heated and thereby aroma substances are released without burning and without thereby producing smoke. In this case, the aroma-generating medium, which comprises tobacco, for example, is arranged cylindrically around the rod-shaped heating element. The heating element is a resistance wire coil disposed in an insulating tube.

An alternative construction of HNB tobacco material is disclosed in WO 2013/131764 a 1. Here, a smokable material, such as a tobacco mixture, is disposed in the chamber. A heater, for example a ceramic heater, an infrared heater or an electrical resistance heater, is arranged cylindrically around the chamber.

In both of the foregoing arrangements, the tobacco material contacting the heater is heated directly, however, the material remote from the heater is heated only indirectly and with a delay. The resulting uneven temperature distribution is not conducive to optimal release of the active substance and the fragrance substance, and is not conducive to reduced release of the harmful substance.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the invention is to provide a heating unit and a method for producing a heating unit which enable uniform heating of tobacco-containing material.

The invention achieves this object with the features of the independent claims. The production of the resistance heating element from the conductive suspension makes it possible to arrange the heating element as desired at any point in time of production in direct contact with the tobacco-containing material, while the suspension is still able to spread or flow. Due to the direct, large-area contact between the heating element and the tobacco-containing material, a uniform and direct, delay-free heating of the tobacco-containing material can be achieved, which in turn allows an optimal release of the active substance and the aromatic substance with a reduced release of harmful substances.

The resistive heating elements are preferably made of conductive paste. In this smear-resistant, non-flowable embodiment, the suspension can be handled more easily. However, the invention also covers liquid or flowable suspensions for the manufacture of heating elements.

In a preferred embodiment, the conductive suspension contains graphite. Instead of graphite, other conductive metal-based or other basic materials may also be used.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the conductive suspension is applied to a carrier material. The carrier material may advantageously be partly ceramic or contain a ceramic layer. Other suitable load bearing materials are possible. In the combination of graphite with ceramic as support material, the production technology used to produce the carbon layer resistance can advantageously be used.

In an advantageous variant of the invention, the conductive layer forming the heating element is embedded in a multilayer carrier material, for example between ceramic layers. In one embodiment, a layer system can be produced, the layer sequence of which is: ceramic, conductive layer, ceramic, tobacco material. Complex geometric structures can thus also be considered depending on the manufacturing process. For example, the carrier material may form a three-dimensional carrier structure, such as a tube structure, which is at least partially filled with a conductive material. This geometry can provide a significantly larger surface than conventional heaters.

In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the conductive suspension is applied to a carrier material.

The conductive suspension is applied to the carrier material or directly to the tobacco material, which can be carried out particularly advantageously by a printing method, in particular by screen printing. In this case, two variations can be considered. For one, the resistive heating elements may be printed as (heating) stencils onto the carrier material (stencil printing). Alternatively, a uniform or homogeneous layer can be applied to the carrier material, in particular by printing or spraying, which layer can then be brought into its final (heated) structure in a second step by means of an ablation process. This can be done, for example, by means of laser engraving. Very fine and complex heating structures can thereby be realized, and at the same time the heating element is very thin, which in turn leads to an optimum heat distribution.

The heating element preferably has a plurality of segments which can be electrically actuated in each case, for example, in order to generate different temperatures. Alternatively, the sections can also be heated, for example, one after the other, for example, in order to ensure continuity during consumption. A multi-cigarette product can be realized in this way if a section corresponds, for example, to the smoking life of a cigarette.

The tobacco-containing material may be, for example, a tobacco blend, but may also contain other ingredients, for example, based on cellulose. Also included are foil tobacco and/or assembled tobacco material (so-called Recon material).

The invention also provides a method for manufacturing HNB tobacco products, characterised in that the electrical resistance heating element is made from a conductive suspension.

Drawings

The invention is described below with the aid of preferred embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here:

figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a HNB smoke product;

figure 2 shows an embodiment according to the invention of a heating unit for HNB smoke products;

figure 3 shows another embodiment according to the present invention of a heating unit for HNB smoke products;

fig. 4 shows a layer system for a heating unit according to the invention;

fig. 5 shows a tube-layer structure for a heating unit according to the invention;

fig. 6 shows another layer system for a heating unit according to the invention;

fig. 7 shows an alternative layer system for a heating unit according to the invention; and

fig. 8 shows another tube-layer structure for a heating unit according to the invention.

Detailed Description

The extractor 10 shown in fig. 1 comprises a rod-shaped housing 11, for example, in which an electrical energy source 12, a heating unit 13 and an electronic control 14 are arranged. The electrical energy source 12 may be, for example, a battery or a rechargeable accumulator. The housing 11 includes a mouthpiece 15 over which a consumer can draw to create an air flow. The housing 11 also has one or more air inlets 16 through which ambient air can flow into the interior of the housing 11 when a consumer creates a negative pressure in the housing 11 by drawing on the mouthpiece 15. In this way, a controlled air flow 17 is created in the housing 11.

The heating unit 13 is arranged in the housing 11 in an axial heating section 19. The heating unit 13 may be a replaceable cartridge or a part of such a cartridge. The base of the extractor 10 can be reusable. In this embodiment, the aspirator 10 is comprised of a reusable base and a disposable cartridge.

The air flow 17 flows through the heating section 19 and in this case through the heating unit 13 or directly along the heating unit 13 in order to absorb the active substance and/or aromatic substance released by means of the heating element 18 from the tobacco-containing material 26. This will be described in detail below.

Fig. 2 shows an advantageous embodiment of the heating unit 13 according to the invention. The heating unit 13 has a heating element 18, which in the present exemplary embodiment is applied to a suitable non-conductive carrier material 20. The carrier material 20 may be, for example, ceramic or comprise a ceramic layer or a ceramic coating. For the carrier material 20, a variety of other suitable materials are contemplated, such as plastic films, e.g., polyimide. The carrier material 20 carries the heating element 18 and may be flexible or rigid. In the working area of the extractor 10, i.e. in the area of the controlled heating section, the support material 20 should not react thermally.

In the manufacture of the heating unit 13, the heating element 18 is in suspension, i.e. present as a solid-liquid-mixture, wherein the conductive particles are in a liquid. The suspension is preferably an ointment, i.e. the proportion of conductive particles in the suspension is so high that the suspension can no longer flow but is resistant to smearing. The conductive particles may advantageously be graphite. For suspensions, metal particles and a variety of other suitable conductive particles are also contemplated. In the case of graphite, the heating element 18 is thus initially present as graphite paste.

During the production of the heating unit 13, the suspension or paste is applied to the carrier material 20 in a form corresponding to the later heating element 18. The application of the suspension or paste to the carrier material 20 can advantageously be carried out by printing, in particular screen printing, or by any other suitable method. The heating element 18 is then produced by drying the suspension or paste by means of air or in a dryer.

The tobacco-containing material 26 is then applied to the carrier material 20 with the heating elements 18. The tobacco-containing material 26 may be, inter alia, a tobacco blend. The tobacco containing material 26 is in direct contact with the heating element 18 and can be uniformly heated by the heating element.

If the electronic control unit 14 detects a consumer puff in a suitable manner, it controls the heating element 18 in the heating unit 13 in order to heat the tobacco-containing material 26 to a suitable temperature. In this way, the tobacco aroma is released without burning and without harmful fumes and is entrained in the air stream 17. In this embodiment it is a so-called HNB (non-burning on heating) cigarette product 10.

The arrangement of the conductive layers on the carrier material 20, which form the heating element 18, can be designed geometrically variably. Advantageously, the heating element 18 is constituted by a plurality of (here six) heating conductors 22 arranged parallel to each other. An electrical connection 24 is provided at the connection end 23 of the heating conductor arrangement 18. At the opposite ends of the heating conductor arrangement 18, the heating conductors 22 are connected to one another, for example conductively, so that in this way a heating conductor loop 21 is formed from every second heating conductor 22. By applying a heating voltage to every two connections 24, the heating coil 21 extending between the connections 24 can be heated individually.

The heating coil 21 thus advantageously forms a plurality of sections 21 of the heating element 18, which can be electrically actuated in each case, for example, in order to generate different temperatures. Alternatively, the sections 21 can also be heated, for example, one after the other, for example, in order to ensure continuity of the burn-out. If a section 21 corresponds, for example, to the smoke life of a cigarette, a plurality of cigarette products can be realized in this way.

The tobacco-containing material 26 is arranged on the heating element 18 in a largely planar and uniformly distributed manner, so that a maximum overlap between the tobacco-containing material 26 and the planar heating element 18 occurs, as a result of which the heating power of the heating element can be applied directly and uniformly to the entire tobacco-containing material 26. If the tobacco-containing material 26 is fibres, these are advantageously arranged transversely to the extent of the heating conductor 22, as shown in fig. 2.

In the embodiment according to fig. 3, the tobacco-containing material 26 simultaneously forms the carrier material 20. This is advantageous if the tobacco-containing material 26 has sufficient strength to exert a load-bearing function in the heating unit 13. The tobacco-containing material 26 can, for example, have a cellulose-containing base substance, such as paper, to which, for example, powdered, shredded or ground tobacco is added.

The heating element 18 is also present here as a conductive suspension or paste and is applied directly to the tobacco-containing material 26, for example printed by screen printing. In this embodiment, the application of the tobacco-containing material 26 to the carrier material 20 with the heating element 18 can be omitted. A maximum overlap between the tobacco-containing material 26 and the heating element 18 is likewise ensured, the tobacco material not falling off the carrier material 20.

A variant of the embodiment according to fig. 2 is shown in fig. 4. The heating unit 13 is a layer system with two carrier layers 20A, 20B, which are made of ceramic, for example, and between which a conductive layer 18, for example graphite, is introduced. A tobacco-containing material 26 is applied to the ceramic layer 20A.

An alternative layer system for the heating unit 13 is shown in fig. 6. A two-layer system is shown here, each of which is composed of a carrier material 20, a heating element 18 and a tobacco-containing material 26, wherein the tobacco-containing material 26 can be arranged internally, as shown, relative to the heating unit 13, alternatively externally.

Another multi-layer system for the heating unit 13 is shown in fig. 7. First, the outer surfaces are provided with insulating layers 27, which can be, for example, part of the housing 11 or of the cartridge housing. Between these insulating layers 27, for example, two layer systems are provided, the layer sequence of which is respectively a tobacco-containing material 26, a carrier material 20, a heating element 18, a carrier material 20, a tobacco-containing material 26. Between these layer systems and between each layer system and the insulating layer 27, air channels 28 for the air flow 17 are provided.

Layer structures such as those shown in fig. 4, 6 or 7 may be used to achieve more complex geometry evaporator structures.

For example, FIG. 5 shows a tube structure with tobacco-containing material 26 as a coating on a tubular carrier 20 that is partially or completely filled with conductive material 18.

An alternative tube structure is shown in fig. 8 with a cylindrical layer structure, from the outside inwards: an insulating layer 27, an air channel 28, a tobacco containing material 26, a carrier material 20, a heating element 18, a carrier material 20, a tobacco containing material 26, an air channel 28. An insulated wick 29 may be provided inside the heating element 13.