Patent Description:
In recent years, there has been a growing demand for alternative methods that overcome the disadvantages of general cigarettes. For example, demand for a method of generating an aerosol by heating an aerosol generating material in a cigarette, rather than a method of generating an aerosol by burning the cigarette has increased. Patent documents <CIT> and <CIT> disclose such electrically heated smoking articles.

In general, a slurry reconstructed tobacco sheet, which is a main raw material of a tobacco medium, is difficult to manufacture due to weak tensile force and has poor physical properties because it contains a large amount of humectant in the tobacco medium. In addition, a tobacco medium including a liquid, such as glycerin, is sensitive to humidity of the surrounding environment due to hydrophilicity thereof, making it difficult to control a manufacturing process environment. There is a limit to the amount of liquid that may be included in the tobacco medium.

In addition to the cigarette including the tobacco medium, it is also proposed to store a liquid in a separate cartomizer to additionally generate an aerosol so that a user inhales the aerosol derived from the liquid through the cigarette when inhaling the cigarette, but there is difficulty (an expiration date, deterioration, etc.) in managing the liquid phase included in the cartomizer, and condensate may occur in an air flow path in which the aerosol generated in the cartomizer moves, resulting in contamination.

Accordingly, there is a need to provide an aerosol medium in a disposable electrically heated smoking article and obtain an aerosol therefrom.

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a disposable, electrically heated smoking article including an aerosol medium capable of generating an aerosol by a heating method rather than a combustion method and obtaining an aerosol therefrom.

In an aspect, an electrically heated smoking article includes: a filter rod; an aerosol medium rod stacked at a lower end of the filter rod and including an aerosol medium generating an aerosol by heating and a moisture absorbent accommodating or absorbing the aerosol medium; and a wrapping portion surrounding and wrapping the filter rod and the aerosol medium rod to maintain a stack structure, wherein the aerosol medium, including glycerin and a thickener, is maintained in a semi-solid or solid state in a first temperature range including room temperature and is in a liquefied state in a second temperature range higher than the first temperature range, wherein glycerin vaporizes in a third temperature range higher than the second temperature range to generate an aerosol, and the thickener does not vaporize in the third temperature range but remains in the moisture absorbent.

The thickener may include at least one material selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, sugar alcohols, and oligosaccharides.

The monosaccharides may be plant extracts including at least one substance selected from the group consisting of glucose, fructose, and galactose.

The disaccharides may include gradients extracted from sugar.

The sugar alcohol may include one or more substances selected from the group consisting of isomalt, maltitol, xylitol, and sorbitol.

The monosaccharides may be sugars higher than disaccharides, and include maltodextrin.

The aerosol medium may additionally include one or more selected from the group consisting of propylene glycol, nicotine, flavoring agents, caffeine, nutritional tonics, water, ethanol, sugar alcohols, and cannabinoids, as an aerosol raw material.

The aerosol medium may further include a flavoring component, and the flavor component includes one or more substances selected from the group consisting of menthol, fruit flavor, herbal flavor, clove or a clove extract.

The electrically heated smoking article may further include a cooling tube rod having a hollow in a vertical direction between the filter rod and the aerosol medium rod.

The electrically heated smoking article may further include a tobacco body rod at the top or bottom of the aerosol medium rod.

The electrically heated smoking article may further include a nicotine rod at the top or bottom of the aerosol medium rod.

The embodiment includes an aerosol medium capable of generating an aerosol by a heating method rather than a combustion method and a saccharide (monosaccharide, disaccharide, sugar alcohol, oligosaccharide, etc.) component as a thickener so as to maintain a semi-solid or solid state at room temperature, flavoring may also be provided, and when the aerosol medium vaporizes and aerosolizes, the thickener does not vaporize but remains in a hydroscopic body, so that the user inhales only the aerosol derived from the aerosol medium.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be disclosed with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be appreciated that various embodiments of the present disclosure and the terms used therein are not intended to limit the technological features set forth herein to particular embodiments and include various changes, equivalents, or replacements for a corresponding embodiment.

In the present disclosure, an expression, such as "having," "may have," "comprising," or "may comprise" indicates existence of a corresponding characteristic (e.g., a numerical value, a function, an operation, or an element like a part) and does not exclude existence of additional characteristic.

As used herein, each of such phrases as "A or B," "at least one of A or/and B," "at least one or more of A or/and B," and so forth may include all possible combinations of the items enumerated together in a corresponding one of the phrases. For example, "A or B," "at least one of A and B," or "one or more of A or B" may indicate the entire of (<NUM>) including at least one A, (<NUM>) including at least one B, or (<NUM>) including both at least one A and at least one B.

Expressions, such as "first," "second," "primarily," or "secondary," used herein may represent various elements regardless of order and/or importance and do not limit corresponding elements. For example, a first user device and a second user device may represent different user devices regardless of order or importance. For example, a first element may be named as a second element without departing from the right scope of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, and similarly, a second element may be named as a first element.

When it is described that an element (such as a first element) is "operatively or communicatively coupled with/to" or "connected" to another element (such as a second element), the element may be directly connected to the other element or may be connected to the other element through another element (e.g., a third element). However, when it is described that an element (such as a first element) is "directly connected" or "directly coupled" to another element (such as a second element), it means that there is no intermediate element (such as a third element) between the element and the other element.

An expression "configured to (or set)" used in the present disclosure may be replaced with, for example, "suitable for," "having the capacity to," "designed to," "adapted to," "made to," or "capable of" according to a situation. A term "configured to (or set)" does not always mean only "specifically designed to" by hardware. Alternatively, in some situation, an expression "apparatus configured to" may mean that the apparatus "can" operate together with another apparatus or component.

Terms defined in the present disclosure are used for only describing a specific embodiment and may not have an intention to limit the scope of other embodiments. The singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. All of the terms used herein including technical or scientific terms have the same meanings as those generally understood by an ordinary skilled person in the related art. The terms defined in a generally used dictionary should be interpreted as having meanings that are the same as or similar with the contextual meanings of the relevant technology and should not be interpreted as having ideal or exaggerated meanings unless they are clearly defined in the various embodiments. In some case, terms defined in the present disclosure cannot be analyzed to exclude the present embodiments.

<FIG> is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electrically heated smoking article according to an embodiment.

The electrically heated smoking article according to the embodiment is integrated with three rods stacked and wrapped by wrapping paper. The rods includes a filter rod <NUM>, which is a mouth filter, on an upper side, a cooling tube rod <NUM> stacked at a lower end of the filter rod <NUM>, and an aerosol medium rod (or aerosol-forming medium rod) <NUM> stacked at a lower end of the cooling tube rod <NUM> and including or accommodating an aerosol medium (or aerosol-forming medium) generating an aerosol by heating, and wrapping portions <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> surrounding and wrapping outer surfaces of the filter rod <NUM>, the cooling tube rod <NUM>, and the aerosol medium rod <NUM> to maintain a stack structure among the filter rod <NUM>, the cooling tube rod <NUM>, and the aerosol medium rod <NUM>. Since the electrically heated smoking article having such a shape and structure according to the embodiment has a size that meets the standard of a general cigarette or an electrically heated smoking article (referring to a cigarette-shaped electronic cigarette) that is currently being used, the electrically heated smoking article is not different from the general cigarettes or the electrically heated smoking article from the perspective of users.

The filter rod <NUM> is a filter that serves as a mouthpiece, and serves to allow an aerosol to pass therethrough and blocks a liquid inflow. The filter rod <NUM> may be formed of pulp and may have a cylindrical or tube shape. The filter rod <NUM> may be formed of a material, such as cellulose acetate, paper, PP, or PLA. Meanwhile, the filter rod <NUM> may include a flavoring ingredient to improve user's satisfaction. Flavoring ingredients may include, for example, licorice, sucrose, fructose syrup, iso-sweeteners, cocoa, lavender, cinnamon, cardamom, celery, fenugreek, cascarilla, sandalwood, bergamot, geranium, honey essence, rose oil, vanilla, lemon oil, orange oil, mint oil, caraway, cognac, jasmine, chamomile, menthol, ylang-ylang, salvia, spearmint, ginger, coriander, coffee, and the like.

The cooling tube rod <NUM> may include a hollow <NUM> extending in a vertical direction formed therein to provide a passage for aerosol movement. The cooling tube rod <NUM> may include polylactic acid (PLA) to lower a temperature of the aerosol to prevent the user from getting burned when inhaling the aerosol. That is, an open lower end of the hollow <NUM> faces the aerosol medium rod <NUM> and an open upper end of the hollow <NUM> faces the filter rod <NUM>. The cooling tube rod <NUM> may be formed of cellulose acetate, and the cooling tube rod <NUM> serving as a cooling structure may be formed of pure PLA or a combination of PLA and other degradable polymers.

The aerosol medium rod <NUM> may be manufactured so that an aerosol medium including glycerin in a liquid state is accommodated or absorbed in a moisture absorbent 30a, and thereafter, the aerosol medium including glycerin is maintained in a semi-solid or solid state at room temperature.

The aerosol medium may include aerosol raw materials other than glycerin. The aerosol medium may include, as additional aerosol raw materials, one or more substances selected from the group consisting of propylene glycol, nicotine, flavoring agent, caffeine, nutritional tonic, water, ethanol, sugar alcohol, and cannabinoids.

The aerosol medium accommodated or absorbed by the moisture absorbent 30a exists in a semi-solid or solid state in a first temperature range including room temperature, is liquefied in a temperature range (a second temperature range) of <NUM> to <NUM> including <NUM>, and is then vaporized into an aerosol within a temperature range (a third temperature range) of about <NUM> to <NUM> through additional heating.

The aerosol medium rod <NUM> liquefies the aerosol medium including glycerin in the second temperature range higher than room temperature, allows the aerosol medium in a liquid state having fluidity to be absorbed into the moisture absorbent 30a, and then cools the aerosol medium to room temperature to phase-change the aerosol medium to a solid state or a semi-solid state. Therefore, after the phase change, the aerosol medium remains in a gel, solid, or semi-solid state in the first temperature range, so that the aerosol medium does not flow out and remains within the aerosol medium rod during subsequent manufacturing processes or during distribution of smoking articles (referring to electronic cigarettes in the form of cigarettes).

The amount of glycerin included in the aerosol medium rod <NUM> may be an amount suitable for puffing the number of puffs similar to that of a conventional cigarette with the smoking article of the embodiment. Thus, after a predetermined amount of aerosol derived from glycerin is generated, no more aerosol is generated or a satisfactory amount of aerosol is not generated and the smoking article may be used once and then discarded by the user. A known aerosol generating device used to heat a smoking article recognizes a user's puffing action and when a preset number of puffs is reached, the known aerosol generating device informs the user thereof and/or cuts off application of power to a heater to prevent further puffing. Therefore, since it is necessary to continuously provide a sufficient amount of aerosol during a predetermined number of puffing operations to users with high puffing strength, the amount of glycerin included in the aerosol medium rod <NUM> is preferably an amount that meets the user's needs.

As described above, the aerosol medium in the aerosol medium rod <NUM> manufactured in a solid or semi-solid state vaporizes and aerosolizes in a temperature range of about <NUM> to <NUM> (the third temperature range) higher than the second temperature range, and an aerosol medium in a liquefied state which has not been aerosolized and inhaled after heating may be cooled to room temperature and then solidified again in the moisture absorbent 30a.

In order to maintain the aerosol medium in a semi-solid or solid state in the first temperature range as described above, the aerosol medium includes a thickener. The thickener is not vaporized in the temperature range of about <NUM> to about <NUM>, in which the aerosol medium including glycerin vaporizes and aerosolizes, but remains in the moisture absorbent 30a as it is. That is, when glycerin, a main aerosol medium, vaporizes into an aerosol, the thickener does not vaporize and remains in the moisture absorbent 30a.

The thickener includes at least one material selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, sugar alcohols, and oligosaccharides. A method of using gelatin extracted from fish or meat or vegetable gelatin is used as a thickener that gelates glycerin, or a method of mixing such gelatin thickener and water with glycerin and cooling while stirring has been considered. However, since a vaporization point of glycerin in the gel-like aerosol medium obtained thusly is approximately <NUM> to <NUM> under atmospheric pressure and a vaporization point of water is approximately <NUM> under atmospheric pressure, the gelatin or water thickener may vaporize together with glycerin to aerosolize in the temperature range (the third temperature range) of about <NUM> to <NUM> in which the aerosol including glycerin vaporizes to aerosolize. Therefore, the inventors consider other thickeners, and in embodiments, the thickeners include at least one material selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, sugar alcohols, and oligosaccharides.

In an embodiment, the monosaccharide is a plant extract and includes at least one substance selected from the group consisting of glucose, fructose and galactose. A vaporization point of glucose is <NUM> ± <NUM> under atmospheric pressure, a vaporization point of fructose is <NUM> ± <NUM> under atmospheric pressure, and a vaporization point of galactose is <NUM> ± <NUM> under atmospheric pressure, and thus, the monosaccharide does not vaporize in the temperature range of about <NUM> to <NUM> (the third temperature range), in which the aerosol medium including glycerin vaporizes to aerosolize, but remains in the moisture absorbent as it is.

In another embodiment, the disaccharide includes components derived from sugar or the like. Since a vaporization point of sugar is <NUM> ± <NUM> under atmospheric pressure, the disaccharide does not vaporize in the temperature range of about <NUM> to <NUM> (the third temperature range), in which the aerosol medium including glycerin vaporizes to aerosolize, but remains in the moisture absorbent as it is.

In another embodiment, the sugar alcohol includes one or more substances selected from the group consisting of isomalt, maltitol, xylitol and sorbitol. Since a vaporization point of isomalt is <NUM> and a vaporization point of maltitol is <NUM> ± <NUM> under atmospheric pressure, the sugar alcohol does not vaporize in the temperature range of about <NUM> to <NUM> (the third temperature range), in which the aerosol medium including glycerin vaporizes to aerosolize, but remains in the moisture absorbent as it is.

In another embodiment, the oligosaccharides is a disaccharide or higher saccharide, including maltodextrin. Since a vaporization point of maltodextrin is <NUM>, the oligosaccharides does not vaporize in the temperature range of about <NUM> to <NUM> (the third temperature range), in which the aerosol medium including glycerin vaporizes to aerosolize, but remains in the moisture absorbent as it is.

The inventors conducted thermal decomposition analysis at <NUM> for aerosol medium, using a Pyrolyzer + Agilent Technologies 7890B, 5977B MSD system (GC/MS) as an analytical instrument, and the thermal decomposition condition was a multi-shot pyrolyzer (EGA/PY-3030D): <NUM>, a column was Frontier Laboratories, UA5, a carrier gas was helium <NUM>/min, and a molecular weight range was scan mode (<NUM> to <NUM>/z). The obtained analysis result was transferred to <FIG>, and it was confirmed that only glycerin was vaporized from the aerosol medium and that the thickener was not vaporized.

Additionally, the aerosol medium may include flavoring components. In the present embodiment, the flavoring component includes one or more substances selected from the group consisting of menthol, fruit flavor, herbal flavor, cloves or clove extracts.

As described above, the aerosol medium may include at least an aerosol raw material, such as glycerin, and at least one material selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, sugar alcohols, and oligosaccharides as a thickener, and may further include a flavoring component.

The moisture absorbent 30a may be formed by crumpling, folding, or rolling pulp or fabric including pulp to have a cylinder or column shape or by working pulp or fabric including pulp to have a cylinder or column shape, may be formed by crumpling or rolling cotton woven fabric or non-woven fabric to have a cylinder shape or by working cotton woven fabric or non-woven fabric to have a cylinder shape, or may be formed by crumpling or rolling a woven fabric or non-woven fabric of bamboo fiber to have a cylinder shape or by working the woven fabric or non-woven fabric of bamboo fiber to have a cylinder shape. As another embodiment, the moisture absorbent 30a is formed of porous ceramic, and the aerosol medium is absorbed into pores therein. In the present embodiment, a size of the pores of the moisture absorbent 30a formed of porous ceramics is in the range of <NUM> to <NUM>, and a porosity is in the range of <NUM> % to <NUM> %.

<FIG> conceptually shows a partially exploded perspective view and a cross-sectional view of an electrically heated smoking article according to another embodiment. The electrically heated smoking article of the present embodiment further includes a tobacco body rod <NUM> including cut tobacco leaves as another aerosol medium at a lower end of the aerosol medium rod <NUM>. That is, the tobacco body rod <NUM> as another aerosol medium may be provided at the top or bottom of the aerosol medium rod <NUM> in this manner. In this case, the user may puff by mixing the aerosol derived from the aerosol medium rod <NUM> and the aerosol derived from the tobacco body rod <NUM>. Depending on a relative position of the tobacco body rod <NUM> and the aerosol medium rod <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>, when the tobacco body rod <NUM> is located below (when located upstream), the aerosol derived from the tobacco body rod <NUM> may be mixed with the aerosol derived from the aerosol medium rod <NUM>, while passing through the aerosol medium rod <NUM> so that the user may puff a corresponding mixture, and when the aerosol medium rod <NUM> is located below (when located upstream), the aerosol derived from the aerosol medium rod <NUM> is mixed with the aerosol derived from the tobacco body rod <NUM>, while passing through the tobacco body rod <NUM> so that the user may puff a corresponding mixture. The tobacco body rod <NUM> may include a solid material based on a tobacco raw material, such as a reconstituted tobacco sheet, cut tobacco leaves, and reconstituted tobacco. In an embodiment, the tobacco body rod <NUM> may be filled with a corrugated reconstituted tobacco sheet. The reconstituted tobacco sheet may be wrinkled by being rolled, folded, compressed, or shrunken substantially transverse to a cylinder axis. The degree of porosity may be determined by controlling an interval between the valleys of the corrugated sheet.

In another embodiment the tobacco body rod <NUM> may be filled with cut tobacco leaves. Here, the cut tobacco leaves may be produced by shredding a tobacco sheet (or reconstituted tobacco sheet). In addition, the tobacco body rod <NUM> may be formed by combining a plurality of tobacco strands in the same direction (parallel) or randomly. Specifically, the tobacco body rod <NUM> is formed by combining a plurality of tobacco strands, and a plurality of longitudinal channels through which an aerosol may pass may be formed. At this time, depending on the size and arrangement of the tobacco strands, the longitudinal channels may be uniform or non-uniform.

The tobacco body rod <NUM> may further include at least one of ethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, and oleyl alcohol. In addition, the tobacco body rod <NUM> may further include glycerin and propylene glycol.

In addition, the tobacco rod <NUM> may include other additives, such as flavoring agents and/or organic acids. For example, flavoring agents may include licorice, sucrose, fructose syrup, isosweet, cocoa, lavender, cinnamon, cardamom, celery, fenugreek, cascarilla, sandalwood, bergamot, geranium, honey essence, rose oil, vanilla, lemon oil, orange oil, mint oil, caraway, cognac, jasmine, chamomile, menthol, ylang, salvia, spearmint, ginger, coriander, coffee, and the like. Meanwhile, the tobacco body rod <NUM> may also include a portion of glycerin or propylene glycol.

<FIG> conceptually shows a partially exploded perspective view and a cross-sectional view of an electrically heated smoking article according to another embodiment.

The electrically heated smoking article of the present embodiment further includes a nicotine rod <NUM> as another aerosol medium at a lower end of the aerosol medium rod <NUM>. That is, the nicotine rod <NUM> as another aerosol medium may be provided at the upper or lower end of the aerosol medium rod <NUM> in this manner.

The nicotine rod <NUM> may include tobacco extract. The tobacco extract may be naturally generated pure nicotine or synthetic nicotine. For example, the tobacco extract may include freebase nicotine or nicotine salt, but is not limited thereto.

The nicotine rod <NUM> may include two or more nicotine salts. A nicotine salt may be formed by adding an appropriate acid, including an organic acid or an inorganic acid, to nicotine. The acid for forming the nicotine salt may be appropriately selected in consideration of an absorption rate of nicotine in a blood, a temperature at which the electrically heated smoking article is heated, flavor or savor, solubility, and the like.

For example, acids for the formation of nicotine salts may include a single acid selected from the group consisting of benzoic acid, lactic acid, salicylic acid, lauric acid, sorbic acid, levulinic acid, pyruvic acid, formic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, valeric acid, caproic acid, caprylic acid, capric acid, citric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, linolenic acid, phenylacetic acid, tartaric acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid, gluconic acid, saccharic acid, malonic acid, or malic acid, or a mixture of two or more selected from the above group, but is not limited thereto.

Additionally, the nicotine rod <NUM> may include an additional aerosol medium. The aerosol medium may be heated to serve as an aerosol forming agent providing a rich vapor production. For example, the aerosol medium may be, but is not limited to, glycerin and propylene glycol or a mixture of components thereof.

In addition, the nicotine rod <NUM> may include, for example, any one of water, solvent, ethanol, plant extract, fragrance and flavoring agent, or a mixture thereof. Fragrance may include menthol, peppermint, spearmint oil, various fruit flavor components, etc., but is not limited thereto. Flavoring agents may include ingredients that may provide a variety of flavors or savors to the user.

Like the aerosol medium rod <NUM>, the nicotine rod <NUM> may include a moisture absorbent. Like the moisture absorbent of the aerosol medium rod <NUM>, the moisture absorbent may be formed by crumpling, folding, or rolling pulp or fabric including pulp to have a cylinder or column shape or by working pulp or fabric including pulp to have a cylinder or column shape, may be formed by crumpling or rolling cotton woven fabric or non-woven fabric to have a cylinder shape or by working cotton woven fabric or non-woven fabric to have a cylinder shape, or may be formed by crumpling or rolling a woven fabric or non-woven fabric of bamboo fiber to have a cylinder shape or by working the woven fabric or non-woven fabric of bamboo fiber to have a cylinder shape. As another embodiment, the moisture absorbent 30a is formed of porous ceramic, and the aerosol medium is absorbed into pores therein. In the present embodiment, a size of the pores of the moisture absorbent formed of porous ceramics is in the range of <NUM> to <NUM>, and a porosity is in the range of <NUM> % to <NUM> %.

The wrapping portion includes a first wrapping portion <NUM> surrounding the aerosol medium rod <NUM> and preventing liquid leakage of the aerosol medium when heated by a heating device, a second wrapping portion <NUM> surrounding the cooling tube rod <NUM> and the aerosol medium rod <NUM> wrapped by the first wrapping portion <NUM> and maintaining a stack structure of the cooling tube rod <NUM> and the aerosol medium rod <NUM>, and a third wrapping portion <NUM> surrounding the filter rod <NUM> and the cooling tube rod <NUM> and the aerosol medium rod <NUM> wrapped by the second wrapping portion <NUM> and maintaining a stack structure of the filter rod <NUM>, the cooling tube rod <NUM>, and the aerosol medium rod <NUM>.

The tobacco body rod <NUM> and the nicotine rod <NUM> may also be wrapped around a separate wrapping portion, and may be surrounded and wrapped by the third wrapping portion <NUM> to maintain a stack structure of the filter rod <NUM>, the cooling tube rod <NUM>, the aerosol medium rod <NUM>, and the tobacco body/nicotine rod <NUM> and <NUM>.

The first wrapping portion <NUM> is formed of paper or membrane material coated with a waterproof coating to prevent leakage of the aerosol-forming substrate. For example, the first wrapping portion <NUM> may be provided as a laminate formed by attaching aluminum foil to paper, and is wrapped in a cylinder shape so that the aluminum foil contacts the moisture absorbent 30a. Accordingly, the aluminum foil may eliminate or minimize a possibility that the aerosol medium in a liquid state included in the moisture absorbent 30a flows out through the side of the aerosol medium rod <NUM>. The second and third wrapping portions <NUM> and <NUM> may be formed of plain paper or porous paper.

The smoking article according to an embodiment may be inserted into a heating space in a heating device to which a resistive heating method, such as a film heater, is applied and heated, or may be inserted into a heating space in a heating device to which an induction heating method is applied in another embodiment.

The heating device refers to a grippable and portable aerosol generating device having a heating space (cavity) into which a smoking article may be inserted and heated, and heating an aerosol medium, such as glycerin, of the smoking article inserted into the heating space or an aerosol-forming substrate, such as a tobacco body and/or nicotine by a heater to form an aerosol. As described above, the heater may be provided in a resistive heating method or an induction heating method as described above, and may be heated to a temperature of, for example, <NUM> to <NUM> to heat the aerosol-forming substrate provided in the electrically heated smoking article inserted into the heating space (cavity) of the heating device to generate an aerosol. According to an embodiment, a target temperature may be preferably in the range of <NUM> to <NUM>, and may be more preferably in the range of <NUM> to <NUM> (for example, <NUM> may be determined as a target). In some cases, the target temperature may be in the range of <NUM> to <NUM> (for example, <NUM> may be set as the target temperature), which may vary depending on whether a subject for generating an aerosol is glycerin, a tobacco body, a tobacco body to which a liquid composition, such as glycerin, is absorbed, or a nicotine liquid. In any case, since the aerosol generated in the electrically heated smoking article is intaken into the user's mouth through the cooling tube rod <NUM> and the filter rod <NUM> when the user puffs, the target temperature of a heating element needs to be determined in advance in consideration of the fact that an excessively high temperature of the generated aerosol may cause discomfort to the user or risk of burns cause excessive formation of an aerosol, making it difficult to puff several times, although cooling of the aerosol during a puffing process is taken into account. Also, for the above reason, an upper limit of the target temperature of the heating element is limited as mentioned above.

According to an embodiment, a temperature at which the generated aerosol passes through the cooling tube rod <NUM> and the filter rod <NUM> may be measured as a mouth end temperature, and in order not to discomfort the user, the temperature of the aerosol needs to be below <NUM>, preferably, <NUM> or lower. A preferred aerosol mouth end temperature ranges from <NUM> to <NUM>, and a more preferred aerosol mouth end temperature ranges from <NUM> to <NUM>.

In a smoking article according to an embodiment, the aerosol medium rod <NUM>, the tobacco body rod <NUM> or the nicotine rod <NUM> are provided in a length direction of the smoking article (in some cases, the aerosol medium rod <NUM> may be located upstream or downstream), and as described above, since the target temperature of the aerosol medium rod <NUM>, the target temperature of the tobacco rod <NUM>, and the target temperature of the nicotine rod <NUM> are different from each other, It is preferable that an independent heater capable of heating the aerosol medium rod <NUM> and the tobacco body rod <NUM> or the nicotine rod <NUM> in response to each target temperature is provided in the heating space of the heating device.

In an embodiment, in the case of a smoking article formed in the order of filter rod - cooling tube rod - aerosol medium rod - tobacco body rod, since the target temperature (e.g., <NUM>) of the aerosol medium rod is different from the target temperature (e.g., <NUM>) of the tobacco body rod, it may be preferred that a heater (e.g., a resistive heating heater) for heating the aerosol medium rod and a heater (e.g., a resistive heating heater) for heating the tobacco body rod may be spaced apart from each other and heat the aerosol medium rod and the tobacco body rod in different temperature ranges to effectively generate aerosols derived from the respective rods.

Claim 1:
An electrically heated smoking article comprising:
a filter rod (<NUM>);
an aerosol medium rod (<NUM>) stacked at a lower end of the filter rod and including an aerosol medium generating an aerosol by heating and a moisture absorbent (30a) accommodating or absorbing the aerosol medium; and
a wrapping portion (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) surrounding and wrapping the filter rod and the aerosol medium rod to maintain a stack structure,
wherein the aerosol medium, including glycerin and a thickener, is maintained in a semi-solid or solid state in a first temperature range including room temperature and is in a liquefied state in a second temperature range higher than the first temperature range,
wherein glycerin vaporizes in a third temperature range higher than the second temperature range to generate an aerosol, and the thickener does not vaporize in the third temperature range but remains in the moisture absorbent.