Flavor generating article and method for making same

An apparatus for manufacturing a removable tobacco flavor unit for use in a smoking article for delivering to a smoker a tobacco flavor substance, the article having a plurality of permanent electrical heating means disposed in a permanent cavity, the apparatus comprising:

• means for providing a carrier web having regions of tobacco flavor material;
• adhesive applying means for applying adhesive regions to the surface of the carrier web so as to form spaced regions of adhesive in between spaced regions of tobacco flavor material;
• filter attaching means for attaching filters to the adhesive regions on the surface of the carrier web;
• wrapping means for wrapping the carrier web around the filters to form a continuous rod of alternating regions of filters and tobacco flavor material;
• and
• severing means for severing the continuous rod in the filter regions to form individual removable tobacco flavor units;
• wherein the severing means is for severing each filter substantially in half;
• said apparatus further comprising means for forming a curved insertion end on back-flow filters.

An apparatus for manufacturing a removable tobacco flavor unit for use in a smoking article for delivering to a smoker a tobacco flavor substance, the article having a plurality of permanent electrical heating means disposed in a permanent cavity, the apparatus comprising:

• means for providing a carrier web having regions of tobacco flavor material;
• adhesive applying means for applying adhesive regions to the surface of the carrier web so as to form spaced regions of adhesive in between spaced regions of tobacco flavor material;
• filter attaching means for attaching filters to the adhesive regions on the surface of the carrier web;
• wrapping means for wrapping the carrier web around the filters to form a continuous rod of alternating regions filters and tobacco flavor material;
• and
• severing means for severing the continuous rod in the filter regions to form individual removable tobacco flavor units;
• wherein the severing means is for severing each filter substantially in half;
• said apparatus further comprising a barrier tube attachment means for attaching a substantially cylindrical aerosol barrier tube to each free-flow filter, the barrier tube having a diameter greater than the diameter of the continuous rod and having a length substantially the same as the severed individual tobacco flavor units.

A method of manufacturing a tobacco flavor unit of an electrical smoking article, said method comprising the steps of:

• continuously drawing a carrier web bearing tobacco flavor material;
• applying adhesive to said continuously drawn carrier web at locations along said continuous web;
• repetitively placing onto said drawn web in mutually alternating relation a back-flow resistive element and a free-flow element, said placing step including the step of spacing said back-flow resistive element and said free-flow element along said continuous web such that portions of said tobacco flavor material is interposed between adjacent pairs of said back-flow resistive elements and said free-flow elements;
• wrapping the carrier web about the repetitively placed back-flow resistive elements and the free-flow elements to form a continuous rod such that a cavity is enclosed by said carrier web between adjacent pairs of said back-flow resistive elements and said free-flow elements;
• and
• repetitively severing said continuous rod at at least one of said back-flow resistive elements and said free-flow resistive elements.