Philip Morris International (PM) USPTO patentsUtility application

A smoking article (10) comprising: an aerosol-generating substrate (12) and a mouthpiece (14) secured to a downstream end of the aerosol-generating substrate, the mouthpiece comprising: a first hollow tubular segment (24) of elastically deformable material; and a second hollow tubular segment (30) adjacent to and upstream of the first hollow tubular segment, the second hollow tubular segment (30) defining a chamber (32) for receiving an insert unit (50).

An aerosol-generating device is provided, including a housing having a chamber configured to receive at least a portion of an aerosol-forming article; a first coil disposed at least partially around, or adjacent to, the chamber; and a second coil disposed at least partially around, or adjacent to, the chamber, with an inductance of the first coil being between 1.1 and 2 times greater than an inductance of the second coil.

The method for providing an aerosol-generating device for use with a shape-transformable aerosol-forming substrate comprises providing an aerosol-generating device comprising a device housing comprising a moulding cavity.

An aerosol-generating device is provided, including a housing having a chamber configured to receive at least a portion of an aerosol-forming article; a first coil disposed at least partially around, or adjacent to, the chamber; and a second coil disposed at least partially around, or adjacent to, the chamber, the first coil being part of a first resonant circuit having a first resonant frequency and the second coil forming part of a second resonant circuit having a second resonant frequency.

An aerosol-generating system is provided, including: a cartridge assembly including a cartridge having an upstream end and a downstream end, and a ventilation air inlet positioned downstream of the cartridge; and an aerosol-generating device including a housing defining a device cavity configured to receive an upstream end of the cartridge assembly, an electric heater configured to heat the cartridge when the cartridge assembly is received within the device cavity, a power supply, and a controller configured to control a supply of electrical power from the power supply to the electric heater, the system being configured so that, when the upstream end of the cartridge assembly is received within the device cavity, the ventilation air inlet is positioned within the device cavity and a portion of an internal surface of the device cavity overlying the ventilation air inlet is spaced apart from the cartridge assembly.

A container for consumer goods is formed from a laminar blank (100, 300) having a blank thickness (T1) and comprises a three dimensional element (104, 304) having a thickness (T2) from about 50 micrometres to about 500 micrometres.

An electrically operable aerosol-generating system is provided, including: a charging device including a primary power source; and an elongated aerosol-generating device including a secondary power source and having a proximal end, a distal end, and a body extending between the proximal end and the distal end, the charging device having a docking arrangement configured to engage with the elongated aerosol-generating device, the docking arrangement including a docking space defined between a first end, and an opposing second end spaced from and fixed relative to the first end, the docking space accommodating a longitudinal dimension of the elongated aerosol-generating device, in which electrical contacts are disposed on at least one of the proximal end or the distal end of the elongated aerosol-generating device and are configured to engage with corresponding electrical contacts disposed on at least one of the first end and the second end of the docking arrangement.

The method for manufacturing inductively heatable tobacco rods comprises the steps of providing a continuous profile of a susceptor, guiding an aerosol-forming tobacco substrate along a tobacco substrate converging device, positioning the continuous profile of susceptor in the aerosol-forming tobacco substrate and converging the aerosol-forming tobacco substrate to a final rod shape.

The present invention provides devices (10) for holding one or more vapor sources in a media inhaler.

An aerosol-generating article is provided, including an aerosol-forming substrate; and a hollow tubular support element including fibrous filtration material and being disposed immediately downstream of the aerosol-forming substrate, the hollow tubular support element defining an opening configured to allow aerosol to flow from the aerosol-forming substrate towards a mouth end of the aerosol-generating article, and at least a portion of the fibrous filtration material of the hollow tubular support element inwardly projects into the opening and defines at least one internal projection.

A shisha device includes a vessel, an aerosol-generating element in fluid communication with the vessel, and a chamber between the vessel and the aerosol-generating element.

There is described herein a mutant, non-naturally occurring or transgenic plant or part thereof having reduced expression of the gene encoding Terminal Flower 1 (TFL1) or reduced activity of the protein encoded by TFL1, said TFL1 comprising, consisting or consisting essentially of (i) a polynucleotide sequence comprising, consisting or consisting essentially of a sequence having at least 72% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:7 or SEQ ID NO:8 or SEQ ID NO:10 or SEQ ID NO:11 or SEQ ID NO:19 or SEQ ID NO:20; or (ii) a polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide set forth in (i); or (iii) a polypeptide having at least 72% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:9 or SEQ ID NO:12 or SEQ ID NO:21; wherein the expression or activity of the polynucleotide or the polypeptide set forth in (i), (ii) or (iii) is reduced as compared to a control plant in which the expression or activity of the polynucleotide or the polypeptide set forth in (i), (ii) or (iii) has not been reduced.

There is described herein a system for determining the interaction between a test atmosphere and a simulated respiratory tract, said system comprising: (a) a first pump comprising: (i) a chamber configured for containing a first volume of gas comprising a test atmosphere; (ii) a first port adapted for receiving and outputting gas and comprising a valve for regulating the flow of gas through the first port, said valve being moveable between open and closed positions, wherein in the open position said valve is openable towards a test atmosphere or surrounding air; (iii) a second port adapted for outputting and receiving gas and comprising a valve for regulating the flow of gas through the second port, said valve being moveable between open and closed positions; (iv) a piston plate in the chamber, said piston plate comprising one or more apertures for the uptake or inflow of gas into the chamber wherein one or more, or each, of the apertures include a valve that is movable between open and closed positions and is capable of regulating the uptake or inflow of gas; (b) a second pump comprising: (i) a chamber configured for containing a second volume of gas, wherein the first and second volumes of gas are different; (ii) a port adapted for receiving and outputting gas; and (iii) a motor for controlling the operation of the second pump; (c) a connecting structure operable to transmit the gas from the first pump into the second pump; and (d) one or more openings in the first pump or the second pump or the walls of the connecting structure or a combination of two or more thereof, said openings being capable of receiving a module for containing a cell culture medium or for monitoring conditions in the chamber or for gas sampling or for gas characterisation.

An aerosol-generating article is provided, including an aerosol-forming substrate; a combustible heat source; and at least one layer of ceramic paper circumscribing at least a portion of a length of the combustible heat source.

A shisha device article includes a vessel and an aerosol-generating element.

A nicotine powder consumable article includes an elongated consumable body extending between a proximal end and a distal end.

A container containing a powder system including a first plurality of particles having a particle size of about 10 micrometers or less, and a second plurality of particles having a particle size of about 20 micrometers or greater, and a single aperture extending through the container.

An inhaler article includes a tubular housing defining a holder body extending along a longitudinal axis from a mouthpiece end to a consumable receiving end.