Philip Morris

There is provided a heated aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) for use with an electrically-operated aerosol-generating device (3010) comprising a heating element (3100). The aerosol-generating article (1000, 2000) comprises an aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) radially encircled by a sheet of thermally-conductive material (1222, 2222). The aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) is in the form of a cylindrical rod comprising a sheet of aerosol forming material circumscribed by a wrapper, the wrapper being the sheet of thermally-conductive material (1222, 2222) which acts as a thermally-conducting flame barrier for spreading heat and mitigating against the risk of a user igniting the aerosol-forming substrate (1020, 2020) by applying a flame to the aerosol-generating article. The sheet of aerosol-forming material is folded substantially transversely to the cylindrical axis of the rod to provide a gathered sheet of aerosol-forming material.

A method comprising maintaining a database (54) of user accounts and aerosol-generating devices (102) associated with the user accounts. Each aerosol-generating device (102) is only associable with a single user account. The method further comprises receiving an unlock request from a present aerosol-generating device (102) to unlock an unlockable feature of the present aerosol-generating device. The unlock request comprises unique user-identification information identifying a present user account to be associated with the present aerosol-generating device. The method further comprises determining whether the present aerosol-generating device is already associated with any user accounts in the database (54), transmitting an unlock grant to the present aerosol-generating device to unlock the unlockable feature in response to determination that the present aerosol-generating device is not already associated with any user accounts in the database, and updating the database to associate the present user account with the present aerosol-generating device in response to determination that the present aerosol-generating device is not already associated with any user accounts in the database.

A method of assembling smoking articles or aerosol generating articles, comprises: providing a N-length first rod (NA), wherein N is even and is equal or greater than four; cutting the N-length first rod (NA) into a first rod (A) of single length, (N-2)/2 first rods (2A) of double length and a further first rod (A) of single length arranged sequentially and aligned along a common axis (X-X); spacing the first rod (A) of single length, the (N-2)/2 first rods (2A) of double length and the further first rod (A) of single length from each other while maintaining said first rod (A) of single length, (N-2)/2 first rods (2A) of double length and further first rod (A) of single length aligned along the common axis (X-X); inserting N/2 double length second rods (2B) between the first rod (A) of single length, the (N-2)/2 first rods (2A) of double length and the further first rod (A) of single length so as to form a loose assembly; applying N/2 double length tipping papers (2C) around the double length second rods (2B) and at least partially around the first rod (A) of single length, at least partially around the first rods (2A) of double length and at least partially around the further first rod (A) of single length so as to form a N-length smoking article or N-length aerosol generating article; cutting each first rod (2A) of double length in two and cutting each double length second rod (2B) with the respective double length tipping paper (2C) in two so as to form N smoking articles or N aerosol generating articles.

The invention relates to an aerosol-generating article. The aerosol-generating article comprises an upstream element. The aerosol-generating article comprises an aerosol-forming substrate in an aerosol-forming substrate portion. The aerosol-forming substrate portion is located downstream of the upstream element. The aerosol-generating article comprises a substrate wrapper at least partly circumscribing the aerosol-forming substrate portion. The substrate wrapper does not extend beyond ends of the aerosol-forming substrate portion in a longitudinal direction of the aerosol-generating article. The substrate wrapper has a thickness of 50 micrometers or more. The invention further relates to an aerosol-generating system.

An aerosol-generating article (10) for producing an inhalable aerosol when heated comprises: a rod of aerosol-generating substrate (12); and a hollow tubular segment (16) downstream of and in longitudinal alignment with the rod (12). The hollow tube segment (16) defines a cavity extending all the way from an upstream end of the hollow tubular segment (16) to a downstream end of the hollow tubular segment (16). The article (10) comprises a ventilation zone (26) at a location along the hollow tubular segment. The hollow tubular segment has a length of less than about 25 millimetres. A ratio between a weight of the hollow tubular segment and a volume of the cavity defined by the hollow tubular segment is less than 1 milligram/cubic millimetres. The rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate comprises at least an aerosol former, the rod (12) having an aerosol former content of at least about 10 percent on a dry weight basis.

There is provided an aerosol-generating article (10) extending from a mouth end to a distal end upstream from the mouth end, the aerosol-generating article comprising a rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate and a downstream section (14) at a location downstream of the rod of aerosol-generating substrate and an upstream section (16) at a location upstream of the rob of aerosol-generating substrate. The downstream section comprises a mouthpiece element (42) positioned downstream of the rod and in longitudinal alignment with the rod , the mouthpiece element extending all the way to the mouth end of the aerosol-generating article . The upstream section comprises an upstream element extending all the way to the distal end of the article. A diameter (D_ME) of the aerosol-generating article at the mouth end is greater than a diameter (D_DE) of the aerosol-generating article at the distal end, a ratio (D_ME/D_DE) between the diameter of the aerosol-generating article at the mouth end and the diameter of the aerosol-generating article at the distal end being at least about 1.005.

An aerosol-generating article (10, 110, 210) comprising an aerosol-generating rod (12, 112, 212) for producing an inhalable aerosol upon heating, the aerosol-generating rod (12, 112, 212) comprising: a first aerosol-generating segment (24, 124, 224) comprising a first aerosol-generating substrate; and a second aerosol-generating segment (26, 126, 226) located upstream of the first aerosol-generating segment (24, 124, 224) and comprising a second aerosol-generating substrate, wherein the total combined length of the first aerosol-generating segment (24, 124, 224) and the second aerosol-generating segment (26, 126, 226) is at least 20 millimetres, wherein a ratio of the total combined length of the first aerosol-generating segment (24, 124, 224) and the second aerosol-generating segment (26, 126, 226) to the overall length of the aerosol-generating article (10, 110, 210) is less than or equal to 0.6, and wherein the aerosol-generating article has a ventilation level of at least 40 percent.

There is provided an aerosol-generating article (10). The aerosol-generating article (10) comprises an aerosol-forming section (17b). The aerosol-forming section (17b) comprises a rod of aerosol-generating substrate (12). The aerosol-forming section (17b) comprises an intermediate section (17a) located downstream of the rod of aerosol-generating substrate (12). The intermediate section (17a) comprises one or more hollow tubular elements (14, 15). The aerosol-generating article (10) comprises a mouthpiece element (18). The mouthpiece element (18) is located downstream of the aerosol-forming section (17b). The aerosol-generating article (10) comprises at least two wrappers (16, 19). The at least two wrappers (16, 19) comprise a first wrapper (16) circumscribing only the aerosol-forming section (17b). The first wrapper (16) has a bulk of less than or equal to 1.42 cubic centimetres per gram. The at least two wrappers (16, 19) comprise a second wrapper (19) circumscribing at least part of the mouthpiece element (18). Each of the first wrapper (16) and the second wrapper (19) form at least part of an outer surface of the aerosol-generating article (10). The first wrapper (16) is in direct physical contact with the intermediate section (17a).

There is provided an aerosol-generating article (10) comprising: a rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate; and a downstream section (14) at a location downstream of the rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate. The downstream section (14) comprises: a support element (22) located immediately downstream of the rod (12), the support element (22) being in longitudinal alignment with the rod (12) and comprising a first hollow tubular segment (26); and an aerosol cooling element (24) located immediately downstream of the support element (22), the aerosol-cooling element (24) being in longitudinal alignment with the support element (22) and the rod (12) and comprising a second hollow tubular segment (34). The aerosol-generating article (10) further comprises a ventilation zone (60) at a location along the second hollow tubular segment (34), and an upstream section (16) at a location upstream of the rod (12). The upstream section (16) comprises an upstream element (46) positioned immediately upstream of the rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate and having a resistance to draw (RTD) of less than about 50 millimetres H<2>O.

An aerosol-generating article (10) for producing an inhalable aerosol when heated comprises: a rod of aerosol-generating substrate (12); a mouthpiece segment (18) comprising a plug of filtration material and arranged downstream of, and longitudinally aligned with, the rod (12); and a hollow tubular segment (16) between the rod (12) and the mouthpiece segment (18). The hollow tube segment (16) is longitudinally aligned with the rod (12) and the mouthpiece segment (18), and defines a cavity extending all the way to an upstream end of the mouthpiece segment (18). The article (10) further comprises a ventilation zone (26) at a location along the hollow tubular segment (16), the ventilation zone (26) comprising one or more rows of perforations formed through a peripheral wall of the hollow tubular segment (16) at less than about 18 millimetres from an upstream end of the hollow tubular segment (16). An equivalent internal diameter of the hollow tubular segment (16) at the location of the ventilation zone (26) is at least about 4 millimetres. A thickness of a peripheral wall of the hollow tubular segment (16) is less than about 1.5 millimetres. The rod (12) of aerosol-generating substrate comprises at least an aerosol former, the rod (12) having an aerosol former content of at least about 10 percent on a dry weight basis. The aerosol-generating article has a ventilation level of at least about 10 percent.