Aerosol generating article with light hollow segment

Abstract

An aerosol-generating article for producing an inhalable aerosol upon heating is provided, the article including: a rod of aerosol-generating substrate; a hollow tubular segment at a location downstream of the rod, being in longitudinal alignment with the rod, and defining a cavity extending from an upstream end to a downstream end of the hollow tubular segment; a mouthpiece segment downstream of the hollow tubular segment and including a plug of filtration material and a mouth end recess downstream of the plug; and a ventilation zone along the hollow tubular segment less than 20 millimetres from a downstream end of the article and including one or more rows of perforations formed through a peripheral wall of the hollow tubular segment, and the rod including at least an aerosol former and having an aerosol former content of at least about 12 percent on a dry weight basis.

1 .- 15 . (canceled) 
     
     
         16 . An aerosol-generating article for producing an inhalable aerosol upon heating, the aerosol-generating article comprising:
 a rod of aerosol-generating substrate;   a hollow tubular segment at a location downstream of the rod, the hollow tubular segment being in longitudinal alignment with the rod, wherein the hollow tubular segment defines a cavity extending from an upstream end of the hollow tubular segment to a downstream end of the hollow tubular segment;   a mouthpiece segment at a location downstream of the hollow tubular segment, the mouthpiece segment comprising a plug of filtration material and a mouth end recess downstream of the plug of filtration material; and   a ventilation zone at a location along the hollow tubular segment less than 20 millimetres from a downstream end of the aerosol-generating article, the ventilation zone comprising one or more rows of perforations formed through a peripheral wall of the hollow tubular segment,   wherein the hollow tubular segment has a length of about 25 millimetres,   wherein 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, and   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 12 percent on a dry weight basis.   
     
     
         17 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein the hollow tubular segment comprises a wrapper circumscribing the rod. 
     
     
         18 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 ,
 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 and the tube.   
     
     
         19 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein 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 0.2 milligrams/cubic millimetres. 
     
     
         20 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein an internal equivalent diameter of the hollow tubular segment is at least about 5 millimetres at the location of the ventilation zone. 
     
     
         21 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein an internal equivalent diameter of the hollow tubular segment is less than about 9 millimetres at the location of the ventilation zone. 
     
     
         22 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein the mouthpiece segment further comprises a mouth end hollow tube that defines the mouth end recess, the mouth end hollow tube being disposed in longitudinal alignment with, and immediately downstream of, the plug of filtration material, the recess being open to an outer environment at a downstream end of the mouthpiece segment and of the aerosol-generating article. 
     
     
         23 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein a thickness of a peripheral wall of the hollow tubular segment is less than about 1.5 millimetres. 
     
     
         24 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein an RTD of the aerosol-generating article is between about 30 millimetres H 2 O and about 90 millimetres H 2 O. 
     
     
         25 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein 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 0.5 milligram/cubic millimetres. 
     
     
         26 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein the aerosol-generating article has a ventilation level of at least about 20 percent. 
     
     
         27 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein a distance between the ventilation zone and an upstream end of the hollow tubular segment is at least about 6 millimetres. 
     
     
         28 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein a ratio between a distance between the ventilation zone and an upstream end of the hollow tubular segment and an equivalent internal diameter of the hollow tubular segment at the location of the ventilation zone is less than 4. 
     
     
         29 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein an external diameter of the rod of aerosol-generating substrate is of between about 6 millimetres and about 8 millimetres. 
     
     
         30 . The aerosol-generating article according to  claim 16 , wherein the ventilation zone further comprises two rows of perforations formed through the peripheral wall of the hollow tubular segment, the rows of perforations being longitudinally spaced apart from one another along the hollow tubular segment.