Smoking article

Abstract

A smoking article includes a hollow cylindrical member provided with a heat generating member at its distal end portion and a mouthend portion at its proximal end portion, and a flavor generating member provided adjacent to the heat generating member within the cylindrical member. The flavor generating member includes a plurality of granules each containing 65 to 93% by mass of a substantially non-porous inorganic filler material, 1 to 3% by mass of a binder and 6 to 32% by mass of a flavoring substance, on a dry mass basis.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A smoking article comprising a hollow cylindrical member provided with a heat generating member at its distal end portion and a mouthend portion at its proximal end portion, and a flavor generating member provided adjacent to the heat generating member within the cylindrical member, the flavor generating member comprising a plurality of granules each containing 65 to 93% by mass of a substantially non-porous inorganic filler material, 1 to 3% by mass of a binder and 6 to 32% by mass of a flavoring substance, on a dry mass basis.  
     
     
         2 . The smoking article according to  claim 1 , wherein the inorganic filler material has a BET specific surface area of 3 m 2 /g or less.  
     
     
         3 . The smoking article according to  claim 2 , wherein the inorganic filler material is calcium carbonate.  
     
     
         4 . The smoking article according to  claim 1 , wherein the granules are filled in a closest packing state, a ratio of a filled length of the granules in the cylindrical member in its axial direction to an inner diameter of the cylindrical member is in a range of 2 to 4, and a ratio of the inner diameter of the cylindrical member to a major diameter of the granules is 4 to 15.  
     
     
         5 . The smoking article according to  claim 1 , wherein the granules are in a form of pellets, tablets or spheres.  
     
     
         6 . The smoking article according to  claim 1 , wherein the heat generating member comprises methylhydroxyethylcellulose.  
     
     
         7 . The smoking article according to  claim 1 , wherein the binder exhibits a thermal conductivity of 1.0 W/m·K or less at room temperature.  
     
     
         8 . The smoking article according to  claim 1 , wherein the heat generating member is made of a carbonaceous material containing the substantially nonporous inorganic filler material in an amount of 15 to 65% by mass.  
     
     
         9 . The smoking article according to  claim 1 , wherein the inorganic filler material contained in the heat generating member is made of calcium carbonate having a BET specific surface area of 3 m 2 /g or less.  
     
     
         10 . The smoking article according to  claim 1 , wherein the mouthend portion is constituted by a filter having a filtration efficiency of 20% or less.  
     
     
         11 . The smoking article according to  claim 1 , wherein the mouthend portion is constituted by a hollow filter.