KR102330284B1 - Apparatus and method for filter molding - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for manufacturing a filter segment of an aerosol-generating article and a method for manufacturing a segment supply a material to a mold in which a rod body is disposed, and heat the rod to form a hollow in the material moving along the mold.

Description

Filter molding apparatus and filter molding method {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR FILTER MOLDING}

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for making a filter segment of an article that generates an aerosol and a method for making the segment.

Combustion cigarettes or non-combustion (heating) cigarettes include filters for filtering certain components contained in the aerosol or for cooling the aerosol. Recently, by changing the components constituting the filter or by changing the structure of the filter, research for improving the performance of the filter is in progress.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2016-0144057

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a device and a method of making a segment for making a segment in an aerosol-generating article that cools the aerosol and filters certain components contained in the aerosol.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present embodiment is not limited to the technical problems as described above, and other technical problems may be inferred from the following embodiments.

As a means for solving the above technical problem, a filter molding apparatus for molding a hollow filter according to an aspect includes: a mold in which a rod for forming a hollow portion of the hollow filter is disposed; a preprocessor for supplying a material to the mold; And it may include a heater for heating the rod so as to deform a portion in contact with the rod of the material moving inside the mold.

The rod body may be heated to a temperature selected in response to the moving speed of the material moving inside the mold in a temperature range of 100°C to 180°C.

In addition, the heating range may be limited to the central portion occupying 50% to 96% of the total length of the rod body so that both ends of the rod body are not heated.

According to some embodiments, the filter forming apparatus includes a transfer pipe that surrounds the material discharged from the mold and guides the movement of the material, and a heating part of a heat transfer material disposed in the transfer tube to heat and harden the material It may further include a curing machine.

In addition, the filter molding apparatus may further include a cooler for cooling the material discharged from the curing machine with compressed air.

The filter molding device may further include a control device for controlling the speed at which the material moves inside the mold.

As a means for solving the above-described technical problem, the filter molding method for molding a hollow filter according to another aspect comprises: supplying a material to a mold having a rod body disposed therein; and forming a hollow portion in the material by heating the rod body to deform a portion of the material moving inside the mold in contact with the rod body.

According to some embodiments, the supplying of the filter forming method may further include stretching the material.

According to another embodiment, the filter forming method comprises: moving the material along a transport pipe that surrounds the material discharged from the mold and guides the movement of the material; The method may further include heating and curing the material moving along the transfer tube by supplying steam to a heating unit of the heat transfer material disposed in the transfer tube.

In addition, the filter forming method may further include the step of cooling the material cured by the step of curing the material with compressed air.

The filter forming method may further include adjusting the speed at which the material moves inside the mold.

1 is a view for explaining an apparatus for molding a hollow filter according to some embodiments.
2 is a side view of a mold of an apparatus for molding a hollow filter according to some embodiments.
3 is a front view of a mold of an apparatus for molding a hollow filter according to some embodiments.
4 is a view illustrating a curing machine of an apparatus for molding a hollow filter according to some embodiments.
5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of forming a hollow filter according to some embodiments.
6 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a method of forming a hollow filter according to some embodiments.
7 is a view illustrating a hollow filter according to some embodiments.
8 is a diagram illustrating an aerosol-generating article comprising a hollow filter in accordance with some embodiments.

The terms used in the present embodiments have been selected as currently widely used general terms as possible while considering the functions in the present embodiments, which may vary depending on the intention or precedent of a person skilled in the art, the emergence of new technology, etc. have. In addition, in a specific case, there is a term arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning will be described in detail in the relevant part. Therefore, the terms used in the present embodiments should be defined based on the meaning of the term and the contents throughout the present embodiments, rather than the simple name of the term.

Throughout the specification, when it is said that a part is connected to another part, it includes not only a case in which it is directly connected, but also a case in which it is electrically connected with another element interposed therebetween. In addition, when it is said that a part includes a certain component, this means that other components may be further included, rather than excluding other components, unless otherwise stated. In addition, the terms of the components described in the present embodiments mean a unit processing at least one function or operation, which may be implemented as hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those of ordinary skill in the art can easily implement them. However, the present invention may be embodied in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

In the present embodiments, “aerosol-generating material” refers to a material capable of generating an aerosol, and may also refer to an aerosol-forming substrate. Aerosols may contain volatile compounds. The aerosol generating material may be a solid or a liquid. The aerosol generating material may be included in an article that generates an aerosol. An article that generates an aerosol may mean, but is not limited to, a cigarette.

For example, the solid aerosol-generating material may include a solid material based on tobacco raw materials such as leaf tobacco, cut filler, reconstituted tobacco, etc., and the liquid aerosol-generating material is based on nicotine, tobacco extract and various flavoring agents. It may contain a liquid substance. Of course, it is not limited to the above example.

In the present embodiments, the “aerosol-generating device” may be a device that generates an aerosol using an aerosol-generating material to generate an aerosol that can be directly inhaled into the user's lungs through the user's mouth. For example, the aerosol-generating device may be a holder that the user can hold in the hand.

In the present embodiments, the term “puff” refers to an operation of inhaling an aerosol-generating material (eg, a cigarette) once by using an aerosol-generating device.

In the present embodiments, "smoking" means consuming one cigarette using an aerosol generating device. Thus, one smoking may mean completing by performing several puff movements.

Hereinafter, the present embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a view for explaining an apparatus for molding a hollow filter according to some embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an apparatus for molding a hollow filter according to an embodiment may include a preprocessor 105 , a mold 120 , a curing machine 130 , and a cooler 140 . However, it is not necessary to include all components, and in some cases, a hollow filter may be formed by combining some components. In addition, in the filter forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, only the configurations related to this embodiment are shown. Accordingly, it can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art related to the present embodiment that other general-purpose components other than those shown in FIG. 1 may be further included in the filter forming apparatus.

For example, the filter forming apparatus may further include a control unit (not shown). The control unit may control the overall operation of the filter forming apparatus. For example, the controller may control operations of the preprocessor 105 , the mold 120 , the curing machine 130 , and the cooler 140 . The controller may include at least one processor. The processor may be implemented as an array of a plurality of logic gates, or may be implemented as a combination of a general-purpose microprocessor and a memory in which a program executable in the microprocessor is stored. In addition, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that the present embodiment may be implemented in other types of hardware.

The preprocessor 105 may include a material supply unit 100 , a roller 103 , and a stretching machine 110 . The preprocessor 105 may supply a material used for manufacturing the hollow filter to the mold 120 . The material may be subjected to a pretreatment process necessary to be manufactured into a hollow filter through the preprocessor 105 . For example, the roller 103 may move the material prepared through the material supply unit 100 to the stretching machine 110, and the stretching machine 110 may supply the material to the mold 120 after stretching the material. have.

The stretching machine 110 may include, for example, two pairs of rolls in which two rolls facing up and down are a pair. If the forward direction with respect to the direction in which the material moves is referred to as the front, the front roll and the rear roll may have different rotational speeds. The material passes between each of the two pairs of rolls and can be tensioned by the difference in the rotational speed of the two pairs of rolls. In this case, it may be preferable that the rotation speed of the front roll is higher than the rotation speed of the rear roll. Twisting may be formed in the fibers of the material while the material passes through the two pairs of rolls, and the two pairs of rolls may control the air permeability of the manufactured filter by controlling the degree of twisting of the fibers.

In the mold 120, the material may include a hollow therein. For example, while passing through a rod-shaped tube disposed in the mold 120 , a hollow column shape penetrating the material moving along the mold 120 may be formed inside the material. Also, for example, when the diameter of the outer frame of the mold 120 decreases, the material may be compressed while moving inside the mold 120 .

The material discharged from the mold 120 may be supplied to the curing machine 130 . The curing machine 130 may heat and harden the material. For example, if the inner diameter of the curing machine 130 is larger than the inner diameter of the mold 120, the material compressed in the process of moving along the inside of the mold 120 is discharged from the mold 120 and the curing machine ( 120) can be expanded as it is supplied. In addition, the expanded material may be heated and cured by receiving heat from the curing machine 130 .

A method of supplying heat to the curing machine 130 is not limited to any one of electrical and chemical methods.

The material discharged by heat curing in the curing machine 130 may be supplied to the cooler 140 . At this time, the cooler 140 may apply compressed air to the material.

Some of the fibers constituting the material may be cured in a broken state, and others may be broken into small pieces during curing. Short fibers broken into small pieces may form fine dust on the outside or inside of the filter. The cooler 140 may cool the material by applying compressed air, and may remove fine dust adhered to the material. Accordingly, when the filter is packaged with a packaging material, a decrease in adhesive strength due to external fine dust can be prevented, and the quality of the product can be improved as fine dust is prevented from remaining in the ventilation passage inside the filter.

The material discharged from the cooler 140 may be manufactured as a hollow filter 150 having a hollow therein.

2 is a side view of a mold of an apparatus for molding a hollow filter according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the rod body 200 may be disposed inside the mold 120 . The material that has undergone the pre-treatment process may be discharged from the pre-processor 105 and supplied to the mold 120 . A portion of the mold 120 forming the outer shape of the rod body 200 and the material 250 disposed inside the mold 120 may be provided in a shape in which the diameter decreases along the moving direction of the material 250. have. Accordingly, the material 250 injected through the injection hole of the mold 120 may be compressed while moving along the inside of the mold 120 .

According to some embodiments, the inclinations of the mold 120 and the rod body 200 may be provided to be parallel to each other in a section in which the diameters of the mold 120 and the rod body 200 are reduced. Accordingly, the material 250 may smoothly move through the mold 120 .

In addition, the mold 120 and the rod body 200 may be provided in a cylindrical shape having one end and the other end having the same diameter. However, this is only an example, and is not limited thereto.

For example, when the diameter of the rod body 200 is small, a larger amount of the material 200 may be injected into the mold 120 . When the diameter reduction ratio of the mold 120 and the rod body 200 increases, the compressibility of the material 250 moving along the mold 120 may increase. For example, when the inclination in the section where the diameters of the mold 120 and the rod body 200 decreases, the compressibility of the material 250 moving along the mold 120 may increase. As described above, as the design of the shape of the mold 120 and the rod body 200 is changed, the injection amount and the degree of compression of the material 250 moving along the mold 120 may be determined.

For example, the material 250 that is compressed while moving along the mold 120 and is agglomerated at a high compression ratio may be discharged through the outlet of the mold 120 .

3 is a front view of a mold of an apparatus for molding a hollow filter according to some embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the mold 120 according to some embodiments may have a semicircular empty space in which the material moves, and the semicircular rod 200 may be disposed inside the semicircular space. have.

As two hollow filters manufactured in a semicircular shape are combined, one hollow filter may be configured.

The material 250 may be supplied to the inner space between the mold 120 and the rod body 200, and the material 250 discharged by moving along the mold 120 may be discharged in a columnar shape having the shape of a horse's hoof. have.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the rod body 200 disposed inside the mold 120 may be heated through a heater 300 . For example, the heater 300 may be electrically connected to the rod 200 to heat the rod 200 . As another example, a steam supply pipe may be mounted on the rod body 200 to supply high-temperature steam to the rod body 200 to heat the rod body 200 . The heater 300 capable of heating the rod body 200 is not limited to a heating means using any one of an electrical method and a chemical method.

While the material 250 moves along the mold 120 , the rod 200 may be heated by the heater 300 and maintained at a high temperature. The rod body 200 may form a hollow inside the material 250 . For example, the rod body 200 may use a high temperature of the rod body 200 to partially melt or partially deform the material 250 to form a hollow inside the material 250 .

The heater 300 heats the temperature of the rod body 200 to a temperature range of 100°C to 180°C. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. The heater 300 may select a temperature to heat the rod body 200 in response to the moving speed of the material moving along the mold 120 within a temperature range of 100° C. to 180° C.

The moving speed of the material moving along the mold 120 may be determined according to the production speed of the device for molding the hollow filter. For example, the production rate of the device may be based on 500 RPM. 1 RPM is the speed passing 1 rod per minute, and 1 rod corresponds to the range of 60 mm to 140 mm. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The heater 300 limits the heating range of the rod body 200 to the central portion occupying 50% to 96% of the total length of the rod body so that both ends are not heated. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

For example, the length of the rod body 200 may be from a minimum of 100 mm to a maximum of 500 mm, and in this case, the heating range of the rod body 200 is limited to the central part except for at least 10 mm of both ends, from a minimum of 80 mm to a maximum of 480 mm. can

In this case, the material 250 may be polylactide. Since polylactide may be vulnerable to heat, it may be preferable that the rod body 200 be heated to a temperature at which polylactide is not completely melted.

In addition, the method for the heater 300 to apply heat to the rod body 200 is not limited to the above-described method, and various methods may be possible depending on the shape of the mold 120 and the rod body 200 .

For example, the heater 300 may be a single phase of 220 V. Accordingly, the method for the heater 300 to apply heat to the rod body 200 may be a method of a cartridge heater heated by connecting a single phase of 220 V.

A temperature sensor may be mounted inside the rod body 200 . The temperature sensor measures the heating temperature of the rod body 200 . When there is a difference between the internal temperature of the rod body 200 measured by the temperature sensor and the external temperature at which the actual rod body 200 is heated, the temperature sensor outputs the external temperature of the rod body 200 as a result of measuring the temperature of the rod body 200 It is possible to measure the temperature of the rod body 200 by compensating the starting point of the temperature as much as possible.

4 is a view illustrating a curing machine of an apparatus for molding a hollow filter according to some embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the curing machine 130 may include a transfer pipe 400 , a rod body 200 , a steam supply pipe 420 , a heating unit 410 , and a heating cavity 426 . The material 250 discharged from the mold may be supplied to the curing machine 130 . The curing machine 130 may include a transfer pipe 400 that surrounds the material 250 and guides the movement of the material, and a rod 200 that forms a hollow inside the material 250 .

For example, a heating unit 410 including a heat transfer material may be disposed in the conveying pipe 400 , and the heating unit 410 is heated to a high temperature to deform the material 250 moving along the conveying pipe 400 . and, accordingly, the external shape of the material 250 may be formed.

The curing machine 130 may include a steam supply pipe 420 for applying heat to the heating unit 410 . However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and methods for applying heat to the heating unit 410 may be various.

For example, the steam supply pipe 420 has a steam supply passage 422 and a steam discharge passage 424 therein, and the steam supply passage 422 and the steam discharge passage 424 are the heating cavity inside the transfer tube 400 . (426) can be connected. The heating cavity 426 may be in contact with the heating unit 410 including a heat transfer material.

When high-temperature steam is supplied through the steam supply passage 422 of the steam supply pipe 420 , the steam enters the heating cavity 426 along the steam supply passage 422 , and the steam is discharged along the steam discharge passage 424 . cycle can be repeated. In a process in which the circulation of steam is repeated, high-temperature steam may remain in the heating cavity 426 , and in this process, the heating unit 410 in contact with the heating cavity 426 may be heated to a high temperature.

Since the heating unit 410 includes a heat transfer material, it may be rapidly heated by the high temperature of the heating cavity 426 . The heat transfer material includes a material having a high heat transfer coefficient, and may be a metal such as copper.

In this case, the material 250 may be polylactide. Since polylactide may be vulnerable to heat, it may be desirable for the heating unit 410 to provide a curing temperature up to a temperature at which polylactide is not completely melted.

For example, although not shown in the drawings, the curing machine 130 and the mold 120 may be connected. In this case, as the inner diameter at the inlet of the curing machine 130 is larger than the inner diameter at the outlet of the mold 120 , the material 250 compressed in the mold 120 is discharged and then injected into the curing machine 130 . It can be expanded, heated, and hardened by restoring force.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of molding a hollow filter according to an embodiment. Referring to FIG. 5 , the method of forming a hollow filter consists of steps processed in time series in the filter forming apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 . Therefore, it can be seen that even if omitted below, the contents described above with respect to the filter forming apparatus of FIGS. 1 to 4 are also applied to the method of forming the hollow filter of FIG. 5 .

In step S500, the filter forming apparatus may supply a material to the mold in which the rod body is disposed.

The material supplied to the mold may be a material that has undergone a pretreatment process. For example, the material supplied to the mold may be a stretched material.

The shape of the mold and the rod body may be provided in various forms. For example, it may be provided in a shape in which the diameter decreases along the moving direction of the material, and the material injected into the mold having such a shape may be compressed while moving along the inside of the mold. In this case, for example, in a section where the diameters of the mold and the rod are reduced, the inclinations of the mold and the rod may be provided to be parallel to each other.

As another example, the shape of the mold and the rod body may have a cylindrical shape in which one end and the other end have the same diameter. As another example, if the diameter of the rod body is reduced, a larger amount of material can be injected into the mold at the same time, and when the diameter reduction ratio of the mold and the rod body increases, the compressibility of the material moving along the mold may increase.

As the shapes of the mold and the rod are changed, the injection amount and the degree of compression of the material moving along the mold may be determined.

In step S510, the filter forming apparatus may form a hollow part in the material by heating the rod and deforming the portion in contact with the material moving along the mold in contact with the rod.

The rod body may be heated in various ways, for example, a heater may be electrically connected to the rod body to heat the rod body, and as another example, the rod body may be heated as the steam supply pipe supplies high-temperature steam to the rod body. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of molding a hollow filter according to another embodiment.

In step S600, the filter forming apparatus may supply a material to the mold in which the rod body is disposed.

In step S610, the filter forming apparatus may form a hollow part in the material moving the mold by heating the rod. For example, the filter forming apparatus may form a hollow part in the material by heating the rod and deforming a portion in which the material moving along the mold is in contact with the rod.

In step S620, the filter forming apparatus may be heated by supplying steam to the transfer tube to harden the material moving the transfer tube. For example, the filter forming apparatus may harden the material by heating it by supplying steam to a transfer pipe that surrounds the material discharged from the mold and guides the movement of the material.

For example, a heating unit including a heat transfer material may be disposed on the transfer pipe. The steam supply pipe can be heated by supplying high-temperature steam to the heating part, and the heated part can form the external shape of the material by deforming the material moving along the transfer pipe.

The heat transfer material includes a material having a high heat transfer coefficient, and may be a metal such as copper.

In step S630, the filter forming apparatus may cool the material by applying compressed air. For example, the filter forming apparatus may cool the cured material with compressed air.

The fibers constituting the material may be hardened in a broken state during the curing process by heating or may be broken during the curing process. In this process, fine dust may be generated inside or outside. As fine dust is generated in the process of packaging the filter with a packaging material, adhesive strength may be lowered or dust may remain in the airflow passage inside the filter.

In contrast, the filter molding apparatus applies compressed air to the cured material to cool the material, and removes fine dust adhered to the material, thereby reducing the adhesive strength or remaining dust in the ventilation passage inside the filter.

Meanwhile, the filter forming method of FIGS. 5 and 6 may be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium in which one or more programs including instructions for executing the method are recorded. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and floppy disks. magneto-optical media, such as, and hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine language codes such as those generated by a compiler, but also high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like.

7 is a view showing a hollow filter according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the hollow filter 150 may include a hollow 700 therein. When the user inhales the smoking member including the hollow filter 150 , a vortex phenomenon in which air is strongly rotated in the hollow part of the filter may occur. Accordingly, the content of the aerosol generated from the smoking member can be maintained, and the user can feel the rich flavor.

In addition, as the filter is formed at a high density and a hollow part is provided therein, a unique tactile sensation may be provided when the user inhales the smoking member including the hollow filter 150 .

And it may be easy to maintain a target suction resistance by adjusting the blowing speed during the manufacture of the hollow filter.

8 is a diagram illustrating an aerosol-generating article comprising a hollow filter in accordance with some embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 8 , the smoking member 800 may include an aerosol generating material 810 , an intermediate structure 820 , a cooling structure 830 , a filter segment 840 , and a packaging material 850 .

The aerosol generating material 810 may include, for example, at least one of glycerin, propylene glycol, ethylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, and oleyl alcohol.

The aerosol-generating material 810 may have the form of an elongated rod, the length of which may vary, and in an alternative embodiment may be about 5 to 60 millimeters, for example 12 millimeters. Further, the diameter of the aerosol generating material 810 may be between 5 and 10 millimeters, for example, about 7.2 millimeters.

As an optional embodiment, the aerosol generating material 810 may contain flavoring agents, wetting agents and/or other additive substances such as acetate compounds. For example, flavoring agents 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, cinnamon, caraway, cognac, jasmine, chamomile, menthol, cinnamon, ylang-ylang, sage, spearmint, ginger, coriander or coffee and the like. In addition, the wetting agent may include glycerin or propylene glycol, and the like.

As an optional embodiment, the aerosol-generating material 810 is manufactured in the form of a slurry by mixing a solvent and various additives after pulverizing the tobacco raw material, and then drying to form a sheet, and then processing the sheet to reconstitute it having pieces such as rods Tobacco material may be included.

For example, the aerosol-generating material 810 comprises a plurality of strands of tobacco material, one strand between 1 and 16 millimeters in length, between 0.8 and 1.2 millimeters (eg, 0.9 millimeters) wide and between 0.17 and 0.17 millimeters in thickness. 0.23 millimeters (eg, 0.2 millimeters).

Since the aerosol-generating material 810 includes a plurality of strands of different lengths processed into a wide tobacco sheet, the density of the tobacco material filled in the aerosol-generating material 810 may be increased. Accordingly, the aerosol generated from the aerosol-generating material 810 may be increased, and the manufacturing characteristics of the aerosol-generating material 810 may be improved.

The filter segment 840 is disposed in a direction facing the aerosol-generating material 810 and is a region through which the aerosol material generated from the aerosol-generating material 810 passes immediately before being inhaled by the user.

The filter segment 840 may be formed of various materials, and may include, for example, cellulose acetate.

As an alternative embodiment, the filter segment 840 may be made of a recessed filter comprising a hollow.

As an alternative embodiment, the length of the filter segment 840 may be between about 5 millimeters and 15 millimeters.

As another optional embodiment, the filter segment 840 may include at least one capsule (not shown). The capsule (not shown) provided in the filter segment 840 may have a structure in which the liquid containing the fragrance is wrapped with a film, for example, may have a spherical or cylindrical shape.

In addition, the material forming the film of the capsule (not shown) provided in the filter segment 840 may be starch and/or a gelling agent. For example, gellan gum or gelatin may be used as the gelling agent. In addition, a gelling aid may be further used as a material for forming the film of the capsule (not shown). Here, as the gelling aid, for example, calcium chloride can be used. In addition, a plasticizer may be further used as a material for forming the film of the capsule (not shown). Here, as the plasticizer, glycerin and/or sorbitol may be used. In addition, a colorant may be further used as a material for forming the film of the capsule (not shown).

For example, menthol, essential oil of a plant, etc. may be used as a fragrance|flavor contained in the liquid content of a capsule. In addition, as a solvent for the fragrance contained in the internal solution, for example, medium-chain fatty acid triglyceride (MCT) may be used. In addition, the internal solution may contain other additives such as a colorant, an emulsifier, and a thickener.

The intermediate structure 820 may be disposed between the filter segment 840 and the aerosol generating material 810 , and may be disposed adjacent to the aerosol generating material 810 , for example.

The intermediate structure 820 may be formed of various materials, for example, may include cellulose acetate.

As an optional embodiment, the intermediate structure 820 may be in the form of a tube including a hollow therein.

The length of the intermediate structure 820 may be between about 7 millimeters and 15 millimeters, for example, about 10 millimeters. In addition, the length of the intermediate structure 820 may be set in various ways, and the entire length of the aerosol generating material 810 may be controlled according to the length of the intermediate structure 820 .

The cooling structure 830 may be disposed between the aerosol generating material 810 and the filter segment 840 , and specifically may be disposed between the intermediate structure 820 and the filter segment 840 . In an alternative embodiment, the cooling structure 830 may abut the intermediate structure 820 and the filter segment 840 .

The cooling structure 830 may cool the aerosol generated from the aerosol generating material 810 . This allows the user to inhale an aerosol with an appropriate and safe temperature that is not too high.

For example, when the smoking member 800 is inserted into the aerosol-generating device and used by a user, a heater provided in the aerosol-generating device may cool the aerosol generated by heating the aerosol-generating material 810 .

The length of the cooling structure 830 can be between about 10 millimeters and 20 millimeters, for example, it can be 14 millimeters.

The cooling structure 830 may be formed of various materials, and may contain, for example, poly lactic acid (PLA).

The cooling structure 830 may be manufactured in various ways. As an alternative embodiment, the cooling structure 830 may be manufactured using fibers containing polylactic acid (eg, a hollow tube), in this case, the cooling structure 830 . The risk of deformation or loss of function by this external impact may be reduced. In addition, by changing a method of combining fibers, the cooling structure 830 having various shapes may be manufactured.

In addition, by fabricating the cooling structure 830 using the fibers, the surface area in contact with the aerosol may be increased. Accordingly, the aerosol cooling effect of the cooling structure 830 may be further improved.

The packaging material 850 may be formed to surround the aforementioned aerosol generating material 810 , the intermediate structure 820 , the cooling structure 830 , and the filter segment 840 .

The hollow filter that may be manufactured by the method shown in FIG. 5 or 6 may be applied to the intermediate structure 820 or the cooling structure 830 of FIG. 8 .

The method for manufacturing the hollow filter shown in FIG. 5 or 6 may have the advantage of not requiring a process of plasticizing the material for manufacturing the filter, and manufacturing the hollow filter using the polylactide material There may be advantages to further simplifying the process.

Those of ordinary skill in the art related to the present embodiment will understand that it can be implemented in a modified form within a range that does not deviate from the essential characteristics of the above description. Therefore, the disclosed methods are to be considered in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The scope of the present invention is indicated in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope equivalent thereto should be construed as being included in the present invention.

Claims (12)

In the filter molding apparatus for molding a hollow filter,
a mold in which a rod body for forming a hollow part of the hollow filter is disposed;
a preprocessor for supplying a material to the mold; and
Filter forming apparatus comprising a; heater for heating the rod body so that the material is melted in contact with the rod body so that a hollow is formed in the material moving inside the mold. The method of claim 1,
The rod body is heated to a temperature selected in response to the moving speed of the material moving inside the mold in a temperature range of 100 ℃ to 180 ℃ filter molding apparatus. The method of claim 1,
Filter molding device in which the heating range is limited to the central portion occupying 50% to 96% of the total length of the rod body so that both ends of the rod body are not heated. The method of claim 1,
The pre-processor is a filter molding device for supplying the material to the mold by stretching the material. The method of claim 1,
Filter molding apparatus further comprising: a curing machine comprising a transfer pipe surrounding the material discharged from the mold and guiding the movement of the material; 6. The method of claim 5,
The curing machine further comprises a steam supply pipe for heating the heating unit by supplying steam to the heating unit. 6. The method of claim 5,
Filter molding apparatus further comprising a cooler for cooling the material discharged from the curing machine with compressed air. The method of claim 1,
Filter molding apparatus further comprising a control device for controlling the speed at which the material moves inside the mold. The method of claim 1,
The material is a filter forming apparatus comprising polylactide. supplying a material to a mold having a rod body disposed therein; and
Filter molding method comprising a; heating the rod to form a hollow in the material to deform a portion of the material that moves inside the mold in contact with the rod. 11. The method of claim 10,
moving the material along a transfer pipe that surrounds the material discharged from the mold and guides the movement of the material; and
The filter forming method further comprising a; supplying steam to a heating part of the heat transfer material disposed in the transfer pipe to heat and harden the material moving along the transfer pipe. A computer-readable recording medium in which one or more programs including instructions for executing the method of any one of claims 10 to 11 are recorded.

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