Aerosol-generating article having a ventilated cavity

Abstract

An aerosol-generating article for producing an inhalable aerosol upon heating is provided, the article including: a rod of aerosol-generating substrate; a mouthpiece segment including a plug of filtration material and being downstream of the rod and in longitudinal alignment with the rod; a hollow tubular segment between and in longitudinal alignment with the rod and the mouthpiece segment, the hollow tubular segment defining a cavity extending to an upstream end of the mouthpiece segment; and a ventilation zone along the hollow tubular segment and including one or more rows of perforations formed through a peripheral wall of the hollow tubular segment at less than about 18 millimetres from an upstream end of the hollow tubular segment, the rod including at least an aerosol former, and the aerosol-generating article having a ventilation level of at least about 10 percent.

1 .- 14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . An aerosol-generating article for producing an inhalable aerosol upon heating, the aerosol-generating article comprising:
 a rod of aerosol-generating substrate;   a mouthpiece segment comprising a plug of filtration material, the mouthpiece segment being disposed downstream of the rod and in longitudinal alignment with the rod;   a hollow tubular segment at a location between the rod and the mouthpiece segment, the hollow tubular segment being in longitudinal alignment with the rod and the mouthpiece segment, wherein the hollow tubular segment defines a cavity extending to an upstream end of the mouthpiece segment; and   a ventilation zone at a location along the hollow tubular segment, the ventilation zone comprising one or more rows of perforations formed through a peripheral wall of the hollow tubular segment at less than about 18 millimetres from an upstream end of the hollow tubular segment,   wherein the ventilation zone is at less than 45 millimetres from an upstream end of the aerosol-generating article;   wherein a thickness of the peripheral wall of the hollow tubular segment is less than about 1.5 millimetres,   wherein the rod of aerosol-generating substrate comprises at least an aerosol former, the rod of aerosol-generating substrate having an aerosol former content of at least about 10 percent on a dry weight basis, and   wherein the aerosol-generating article has a ventilation level of at least about 10 percent.   
     
     
         16 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 15 , wherein the hollow tubular segment comprises a wrapper circumscribing the rod and the mouthpiece segment. 
     
     
         17 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 15 ,
 wherein the hollow tubular segment comprises a tube formed from a polymeric material or a cellulosic material, and   wherein the heated aerosol-generating article further comprises a wrapper circumscribing the rod, the tube, and the mouthpiece segment.   
     
     
         18 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 15 , wherein the ventilation zone is at a location along the hollow tubular segment at least 2 millimetres from the upstream end of the mouthpiece segment. 
     
     
         19 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 18 , wherein the ventilation zone is at a location along the hollow tubular segment less than 25 millimetres from a downstream end of the mouthpiece segment. 
     
     
         20 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 15 , wherein the aerosol-generating article has a ventilation level of less than about 60 percent. 
     
     
         21 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 15 , wherein the rod has a length of less than about 15 millimetres. 
     
     
         22 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 15 , wherein the hollow tubular segment has a length of between about 10 millimetres and about 30 millimetres. 
     
     
         23 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 15 , wherein an overall length of the aerosol-generating article is from about 40 millimetres to about 70 millimetres. 
     
     
         24 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 15 , wherein a thickness of the hollow tubular segment is at least about 100 micrometres. 
     
     
         25 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 15 , wherein an internal equivalent diameter of the hollow tubular segment at the location of the ventilation zone is at least about 4 millimetres. 
     
     
         26 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 15 , wherein an RTD of the aerosol-generating article is between about 30 millimetres H 2 O and about 90 millimetres H 2 O. 
     
     
         27 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 15 , wherein the ventilation zone comprises a single row of holes formed through the peripheral wall of the hollow tubular segment. 
     
     
         28 . A pack comprising at least ten aerosol-generating articles according to  claim 15 , wherein a difference between an RTD of the aerosol-generating article having the highest RTD among the at least ten aerosol-generating articles and an RTD of the aerosol-generating article having the lowest RTD among the at least ten aerosol-generating articles is less than 10 mm H 2 O.