Aerosol-generating material

Abstract

An aerosol-generating material includes a plurality of strands and/ or strips of a tobacco material and a plurality of strips of amorphous solid material. The plurality of strands and/or strips of tobacco material and the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material each have a length of at least about 5 mm. There is also described an article including the aerosol-generating material, a pack of articles, a consumable for use in an aerosol provision system, a non-combustible aerosol provision system and various methods of producing an aerosol-generating material.

1 . An aerosol-generating material comprising a plurality of strands and/or strips of a tobacco material and a plurality of strips of amorphous solid material, wherein the plurality of strands and/or strips of tobacco material and the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material each have a length of at least about 5 mm. 
     
     
         2 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material have an area density between about 55 and about 135 grams per square meter . 
     
     
         3 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1 , wherein the tobacco material comprises aerosol-former in an amount less than 10 wt% of the tobacco material. 
     
     
         4 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1 , wherein the area density of the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material is between 70% and 110% of the area density of the tobacco material. 
     
     
         5 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1  , wherein the tobacco material comprises a reconstituted tobacco material. 
     
     
         6 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1  , wherein the tobacco material comprises a paper reconstituted tobacco material. 
     
     
         7 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 5 , wherein the reconstituted tobacco material has an area density between 80 grams per square meter and 120 grams per square meter. 
     
     
         8 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1  , wherein the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material have a non-uniform distribution of lengths. 
     
     
         9 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 8 , wherein the distribution of lengths of the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material is a multi-modal distribution. 
     
     
         10 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 8  , wherein the plurality of strands and/or strips of tobacco material have a multi-modal distribution of lengths. 
     
     
         11 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 10  , wherein the distribution of lengths of the plurality of strands and/or strips of tobacco material and the distribution of lengths of the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material have the same number of modes. 
     
     
         12 . An aerosol generating material according to  claim 11 , wherein the number of modes of the distribution of the lengths of the plurality of strips of amorphous solid is selected to match the number of modes of the distribution of lengths of the strands and/or strips of amorphous solid material. 
     
     
         13 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1  , wherein at least one of the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material has a length greater than about 10 mm. 
     
     
         14 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1  , wherein between 50% and 90% of the plurality of strips of amorphous solid have a length of between 35 mm and 45 mm. 
     
     
         15 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 14 , wherein between 60% and 85% of the plurality of strips of amorphous solid have a length of between 35 mm and 45 mm. 
     
     
         16 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 14 , wherein at least 50% of the remaining plurality of strips of amorphous solid have a length of between 10 mm and 30 mm. 
     
     
         17 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material has a length between about 10 mm and about 60 mm. 
     
     
         18 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material has a length between about 10 mm and about 60 mm. 
     
     
         19 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1 , wherein the strips of amorphous solid material have an average cut width of between 0.75 mm and 2 mm. 
     
     
         20 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1 , wherein the strips of amorphous solid material have an average cut width of between 0.8 mm and 1.75 mm. 
     
     
         21 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1 , wherein the strips of amorphous solid material have an average cut width of between 1 mm and 1.5 mm. 
     
     
         22 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1 , wherein the aerosol-generating material comprises an aerosol-former, optionally glycerol and/or optionally in an amount between 10 wt% and 20 wt% of the aerosol-generating material including said amorphous solid material. 
     
     
         23 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1 , wherein the tobacco material comprises water in an amount between 5 wt% and 10 wt%. 
     
     
         24 . An aerosol-generating material according to  claim 22 , wherein the standard deviation between at least ten 10 gram samples in the aerosol-former content of the aerosol-generating material is less than 30% of the mean aerosol-former content in the aerosol-generating material. 
     
     
         25 . An article comprising an aerosol-generating material, the aerosol-generating material comprising a plurality of strands and/or strips of a tobacco material and a plurality of strips of amorphous solid material, wherein the plurality of strands and/or strips of tobacco material and the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material each have a length of at least about 5 mm. 
     
     
         26 . An article according to  claim 25 , wherein the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material comprise a flavorant, optionally menthol, and wherein the delivery of the flavorant from an article, in use, varies by less than 50% between the article and another article of the same batch. 
     
     
         27 . An article according to  claim 25 , wherein the aerosol-generating material comprises aerosol-former, optionally glycerol, in an amount from 10 wt% to 15 wt%. 
     
     
         28 . A pack comprising a plurality of articles, each article comprising an aerosol-generating material, the aerosol-generating material comprising a plurality of strands and/or strips of a tobacco material and a plurality of strips of amorphous solid material, wherein the plurality of strands and/or strips of tobacco material and the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material each have a length of at least about 5 mm, wherein the number of the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material varies by less than 40% between the articles in the pack, or less than 30% between the articles in the pack, or less than 20% between the articles in the pack. 
     
     
         29 . A pack comprising a plurality of articles, each article according to  claim 25 , wherein the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material comprise a flavorant, optionally menthol, and wherein the delivery of the flavorant from each of the plurality of articles, in use, varies by less than 50% between the articles in the pack. 
     
     
         30 . A pack comprising a plurality of articles, each article according to  claim 25 , wherein the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material comprise a flavorant, optionally menthol, and wherein the total content of said flavorant in each of the plurality of articles, in use, has a standard deviation of less than 30% of the mean content of said flavorant in said articles, and wherein at least 20% of the mean flavorant is provided in said strips of amorphous solid material. 
     
     
         31 . A pack comprising a plurality of articles, each article according to  claim 25 , wherein the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material comprise a flavorant, optionally menthol, and the total amount of flavorant is between 5 mg per article and 30 mg per article. 
     
     
         32 . A pack comprising a plurality of articles, each article according to  claim 25 , wherein the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material comprise a flavorant, optionally menthol, and the standard deviation in the total amount of flavorant between the articles in the pack is less than 30% of the mean total amount of flavorant by wt%, and wherein the amorphous solid comprises at least 50% of the mean total amount of flavorant in each article. 
     
     
         33 . A pack comprising a plurality of articles, each article according to  claim 25 , wherein the article is provided with ventilation, and wherein the standard deviation in the ventilation level between articles in the pack is less than 15%. 
     
     
         34 . A pack comprising a plurality of articles, each article according to  claim 25 , wherein the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material comprise an aerosol-former, optionally glycerol, and wherein the total content of said aerosol-former in each of the plurality of articles, in use, has a standard deviation of less than 30% of the mean content of said aerosol-former in said articles, and wherein at least 20% of the mean aerosol-former is provided in said strips of amorphous solid material. 
     
     
         35 . A consumable for use in an aerosol provision system, wherein the consumable comprises an article according to  claim 25 . 
     
     
         36 . A consumable according to  claim 35 , wherein the aerosol-generating material is provided in the form of a rod having a first end and a second end, and wherein the portion of the rod between the first end of the rod and a longitudinal position half-way between the first and second ends comprises from 20% to 80% of the amorphous solid material in the rod. 
     
     
         37 . A non-combustible aerosol provision system comprising a non-combustible aerosol provision device and a consumable according to  claim 35 , wherein the device is arranged to heat the aerosol generating material of the consumable. 
     
     
         38 . A method for producing an aerosol-generating material according to  claim 1 , comprising cutting a sheet of amorphous solid material to form a plurality of strips of amorphous solid material having a cut length of at least about 5 mm. 
     
     
         39 . A method for producing an aerosol-generating material, comprising feeding a single thickness sheet of an amorphous solid material into a cutting apparatus to form a plurality of strips of amorphous solid material. 
     
     
         40 . A method according to  claim 38 , comprising cutting the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material across the width of the strips, optionally wherein the strips of amorphous solid material are cut width-wise and lengthwise in one step. 
     
     
         41 . A method for producing an aerosol-generating material, the method comprising:
 cutting a first portion of amorphous solid material to form a first component comprising a plurality of strips of amorphous solid material having a first length; and   cutting a second portion of amorphous solid material to form a second component comprising a plurality of strips of amorphous solid material having a second length different to the first length.   
     
     
         42 . A method according to  claim 41 , wherein the first component and the second component are mixed to form a plurality of strips of amorphous solid material having a non-uniform distribution of lengths. 
     
     
         43 . A method according to  claim 38 , further comprising a mixing step, wherein the strips of amorphous solid material are mixed with a tobacco material. 
     
     
         44 . A method for producing an aerosol-generating material, comprising cutting a sheet of amorphous solid material to form a plurality of strips of the amorphous solid material, and mixing the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material with a tobacco material, wherein the cutting step and the mixing step are performed within 12 hours of each other. 
     
     
         45 . A method according to  claim 44 , wherein the plurality of strips of amorphous solid material are transported between the cutting step and the mixing step. 
     
     
         46 . A method according to  claim 38 , wherein the amorphous solid material is cut to form strips in a shredder, optionally wherein the shredder is a cross-cut type shredder. 
     
     
         47 . A method according to  claim 46 , wherein the shredder is configured to produce a plurality of strips of material having a range of lengths. 
     
     
         48 . An aerosol-generating material obtainable by the method of  claim 38 , wherein the amorphous solid comprises an aerosol former, optionally glycerol, and the standard deviation of the aerosol-former content of ‘N’ 10 gram samples of the aerosol-generating material is less than 30%, of the mean, where ‘N’ is 10 or greater. 
     
     
         49 . An aerosol-generating material obtainable by the method of  claim 38 , wherein the amorphous solid comprises a flavorant, optionally menthol, and the standard deviation of the flavorant content of ‘N’ 10 gram samples of the aerosol-generating material is less than 30%, of the mean, where ‘N’ is 10 or greater.