Aerosol-generating article with integral heating element

An aerosol-generating article, comprising:

• a tobacco plug;
• a mouthpiece disposed downstream of the tobacco plug;
• and
• a resistive heating element disposed within the tobacco plug and comprising an upstream portion protruding from an upstream end of the tobacco plug, the upstream portion of the resistive heating element comprising at least two heater electrical contacts configured to receive a supply of electrical energy from at least two device electrical contacts when the aerosol-generating article comprising the resistive heating element is inserted into an aerosol-generating device.

An electrically heated aerosol-generating system, comprising:

• an aerosol-generating article comprising:
• a tobacco plug,
• a mouthpiece disposed downstream of the tobacco plug, and
• a resistive heating element disposed within the tobacco plug and comprising an upstream portion protruding from an upstream end of the tobacco plug, the upstream portion of the resistive heating element comprising at least two heater electrical contacts;
• and
• an aerosol-generating device comprising:
• a tubular housing comprising a cavity configured to receive at least an upstream portion of the aerosol-generating article,
• a supply of electrical energy within the tubular housing, and
• at least two device electrical contacts connected to the supply of electrical energy,
• wherein the at least two device electrical contacts are disposed at an upstream end of the cavity and are configured to contact the at least two heater electrical contacts when the aerosol-generating article is inserted into the cavity to transfer electrical energy from the supply of electrical energy to the resistive heating element, and
• wherein the at least two heater electrical contacts are configured to receive a supply of electrical energy from at least two device electrical contacts when the aerosol-generating article comprising the resistive heating element is inserted into the aerosol-generating device.

A method of manufacturing an aerosol-generating article, comprising:

• providing a tobacco plug and a mouthpiece;
• wrapping a wrapper around at least a portion of the tobacco plug and the mouthpiece to secure the mouthpiece to a downstream end of the tobacco plug;
• providing a resistive heating element comprising an electrically resistive heating track on an elongate electrically insulating substrate, and at least two heater electrical contacts configured to receive a supply of electrical energy and being connected to the electrically resistive heating track;
• and
• inserting at least a portion of the elongate electrically insulating substrate into the tobacco plug at an upstream end of the tobacco plug, the upstream portion of the resistive heating element protruding from the upstream end of the tobacco plug,
• wherein the upstream portion of the resistive heating element comprises the at least two heater electrical contacts configured to receive the supply of electrical energy.

The A method of manufacturing a tobacco plug, comprising:

• positioning a resistive heating element on a forming belt, the resistive heating element comprising at least two heater electrical contacts configured to receive a supply of electrical energy;
• depositing a tobacco shiny onto the forming belt;
• drying the tobacco slurry to form a dried tobacco sheet comprising the resistive heating element;
• and
• forming the dried tobacco sheet comprising the resistive heating element into a tobacco plug, the resistive heating element positioned within the tobacco plug and comprising an upstream portion protruding from an upstream end of the tobacco plug, wherein the upstream portion of the resistive heating element comprises the least two heater electrical contacts configured to receive the supply of electrical energy.