CA3238435A1

CA3238435A1 - Refilling device with venting nozzle, and refilling apparatus

Info

Publication number: CA3238435A1
Application number: CA3238435A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Howard ROTHWELL
Original assignee: Nicoventures Holdings Ltd
Current assignee: Nicoventures Holdings Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-24
Filing date: 2022-11-21
Publication date: 2023-06-01
Also published as: EP4436879A2; KR20240090769A; WO2023094799A3; WO2023094799A2

Abstract

A refilling device for filling an article from a reservoir comprises an article interface for receiving an article of an aerosol provision system, the article having a storage area for fluid; and a venting nozzle configured to engage with an article received in the article interface for egress of air from the storage area during filling of the storage area with fluid, the venting nozzle comprising a channel for outward flow of air from the storage area, the channel having a cross-sectional area orthogonal to the direction of outward airflow which increases with distance from an air inlet of the channel over a tapered portion of the channel extending from the air inlet.

Description

REFILLING DEVICE WITH VENTING NOZZLE, AND REFILLING APPARATUS
Technical Field The present disclosure relates to a refilling device with a venting nozzle, and also to an apparatus for refilling a reservoir of an electronic aerosol provision system and more specifically to the design of an apparatus for refilling a reservoir of an electronic aerosol provision system.
Background Electronic aerosol provision systems, which are often configured as so-called electronic cigarettes, can have a unitary format with all elements of the system in a common housing, or a multi-component format in which elements are distributed between two or more housings which can be coupled together to form the system. A common example of the latter format is a two-component system comprising a device and an article. The device typically contains an electrical power source for the system, such as a battery, and control electronics for operating elements in order to generate aerosol. The article, also referred to by terms including cartridge, cartomiser, consumable and clearomiser, typically contains a storage volume or area for holding a supply of aerosolisable material from which the aerosol is generated, plus, or in some instances, an aerosol generator such as a heater operable to vaporise the aerosolisable material. A similar three-component system may include a separate mouthpiece that attaches to the article. In many designs, the article is designed to be disposable, in that it is intended to be detached from the device and thrown away when the aerosolisable material has been consumed. The user obtains a new article which has been prefilled with aerosolisable material by a manufacturer and attaches it to the device for use. The device, in contrast, is intended to be used with multiple consecutive articles, with a capability to recharge the battery to allow prolonged operation.
While disposable articles, which may be called consumables, are convenient for the user, they may be considered wasteful of natural resources and hence detrimental to the environment. An alternative design of article is therefore known which is configured to be refilled with aerosolisable material by the user. This reduces waste, and can reduce the cost of electronic cigarette usage for the user. The aerosolisable material may be provided in a bottle, for example, from which the user squeezes or drips a quantity of material into the article via a refilling orifice on the article. However, the act of refilling can be awkward and inconvenient, since the items are small and the volume of material involved is typically low.
Alignment of the juncture between bottle and article can be difficult, with inaccuracies leading to spillage of the material. This is not only wasteful, but may also be dangerous.
Aerosolisable material frequently contains liquid nicotine, which can be poisonous if it makes contact with the skin.

Therefore, refilling units or devices have been proposed, which are configured to receive a bottle or other reservoir of aerosolisable material plus a refillable cartridge, and to automate the transfer of the material from the former to the latter.
Alternative, improved or enhanced features and designs for such refilling devices are therefore of interest.
Summary According to a first aspect of some embodiments described herein, there is provided a refilling device for filling an article from a reservoir, comprising: an article interface for receiving an article of an aerosol provision system, the article having a storage area for fluid;
and a venting nozzle configured to engage with an article received in the article interface for egress of air from the storage area during filling of the storage area with fluid, the venting nozzle comprising a channel for outward flow of air from the storage area, the channel having a cross-sectional area orthogonal to the direction of outward airflow which increases with distance from an air inlet of the channel over a tapered portion of the channel extending from the air inlet.
According to a second aspect of certain embodiments there is provided an aerosol-generating material storage container for storing aerosol-generating material and configured to engage with a refilling device configured to refill an article with aerosol-generating material, the container including a storage area for storing the aerosol-generating material; a valve arrangement in communication with the storage area, the valve arrangement comprising: a spigot including a first opening and a second opening coupled together via a flow channel for the passage of aerosol-generating material; a valve housing arranged to receive the spigot such that the spigot is movable relative to the valve housing, wherein the spigot is movable between a first position in which the first opening is blocked by the valve housing and a second position in which the storage area is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container via the flow channel.
According to a third aspect of certain embodiments there is provided a refilling device for refilling an article for use with an aerosol provision device with aerosol-generating material, the refilling device including a transfer mechanism for causing aerosol-generating material from a refill reservoir to be transferred from the refill reservoir to an aerosol-generating material storage area of an article; a spigot actuation mechanism configured to actuate a spigot of a valve arrangement of an aerosol-generating material storage container for storing aerosol-generating material; and a nozzle arranged to allow the aerosol-generating material to be transferred by the nozzle to the article via the valve arrangement of the aerosol-generating material storage container, wherein the refilling device is configured to cause the spigot actuation mechanism to move relative to the refilling device such that the spigot actuation mechanism, when engaged with the valve arrangement of the aerosol-

2 generating material storage container, is configured to cause the valve arrangement to open or close as a result of the movement of the spigot actuation mechanism.
According to a fourth aspect of certain embodiments there is provided a method for refilling an article for use with an aerosol provision device with aerosol-generating material from a refill reservoir using a refilling device, one or both of the article and the refill reservoir comprising a storage area for storing the aerosol-generating material, and a valve arrangement in communication with the storage area, the valve arrangement comprising a spigot including a first opening and a second opening coupled together via a flow channel for the passage of aerosol-generating material and a valve housing arranged to receive the spigot such that the spigot is movable relative to the valve housing, the method including engaging a spigot actuation mechanism of the refilling device to the spigot of the valve arrangement; moving the spigot from a first position in which the first opening is blocked by the valve housing and a second position in which the first opening is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container via the flow channel; performing refilling of the article by transferring aerosol-generating material from the refill reservoir to the storage area of the article using a transfer mechanism of the refilling device, the aerosol-generating material being transferred through a nozzle of the refilling device and through the flow channel of the valve arrangement.
According to a fifth aspect of certain embodiments there is provided an aerosol-generating material storage container for storing aerosol-generating material and configured to engage with a refilling means configured to refill an article with aerosol-generating material, the container comprising: storage means for storing the aerosol-generating material; valve means in communication with the storage means, the valve means comprising: spigot means including a first opening and a second opening coupled together via a flow channel for the passage of aerosol-generating material; valve housing means arranged to receive the spigot means such that the spigot means is movable relative to the valve housing means, wherein the spigot means is movable between a first position in which the first opening is blocked by the valve housing means and a second position in which the storage means is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container via the flow channel.
According to a sixth aspect of certain embodiments there is provided refilling means for refilling an article for use with an aerosol provision device with aerosol-generating material, the refilling means comprising: transfer means for causing aerosol-generating material from a refill reservoir to be transferred from the refill reservoir to an aerosol-generating material storage means of an article; spigot actuation means configured to actuate spigot means of valve means of an aerosol-generating material storage container for storing aerosol-generating material; and nozzle means arranged to allow the aerosol-

3 generating material to be transferred by the nozzle means to the article via the valve means of the aerosol-generating material storage container, wherein the refilling means is configured to cause the spigot actuation means to move relative to the refilling means such that the spigot actuation means, when engaged with the valve means of the aerosol-generating material storage container, is configured to cause the valve means to open or close as a result of the movement of the spigot actuation means.
These and further aspects of the certain embodiments are set out in the appended independent and dependent claims. It will be appreciated that features of the dependent claims may be combined with each other and features of the independent claims in combinations other than those explicitly set out in the claims. Furthermore, the approach described herein is not restricted to specific embodiments such as set out below, but includes and contemplates any appropriate combinations of features presented herein. For example, a refilling device and/or a refilling apparatus may be provided in accordance with approaches described herein which includes any one or more of the various features described below as appropriate.
Brief description of the drawings Various embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail by way of example only with reference to the following drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows a simplified schematic cross-section through an example electronic aerosol provision system to which embodiments of the present disclosure are applicable;
Figure 2 shows a simplified schematic representation of a refilling device in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;
Figure 3 shows a simplified schematic cross-sectional representation of an example of an article of an aerosol provision system engaged for refilling in a refilling device with venting via a venting nozzle according to an example of the disclosure;
Figures 4 to 9 show schematic longitudinal cross-sectional views of venting nozzles according to various examples of the disclosure;
Figures 10 and 11 show a simplified schematic cross-sectional representation of example articles engaged for refilling in a refilling device with venting via a venting nozzle according to further examples of the disclosure;
Figure 12 shows a simplified, schematic cross-sectional view of a nozzle arrangement including a nozzle and an article having a valve arrangement comprising a spigot configured to be moved by the nozzle from a first, closed position to a second open position for refilling of the article according to an example of the disclosure;
Figure 13 schematically shows the valve arrangement of the article shown in Figure 12 in exploded form, and more particularly, showing the valve housing and the spigot in more detail;

4 Figures 14A and 14B schematically show respective views of valve arrangement of the article in an open position (Figure 14A) and a closed position (Figure 14B), where each of Figures 14A and 14B show the valve arrangement in a side-on view (lower part of the Figures) and a cross-sectional side-on view (upper part of the Figures) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;
Figures 15A to 150 schematically show three snapshots of relative motion of the engagement ring of the spigot and the recessed portion of the valve housing to explain the principle of a single input motion causing both a rotational and axial movement of the spigot.
Figure 15A shows the relative positions of the engagement ring and recessed portion when the spigot is in the closed position, Figure 15C shows the relative positions of the engagement ring and recessed portion when the spigot is in the open position, and Figure 15B shows the relative positions of the engagement ring and recessed portion when the spigot is half way between the closed position and the open position;
Figure 16 shows an example method for refilling the article of the present disclosure using a corresponding refilling device of the present disclosure;
Figures 17A and 17B schematically show respective views of valve arrangement of the refill reservoir in an open position (Figure 17A) and a closed position (Figure 17B), where each of Figures 17A and 17B show the valve arrangement in a side-on view (lower part of the Figures) and a cross-sectional side-on view (upper part of the Figures) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure; and Figure 18 schematically shows an alternative configuration of the valve arrangement in an open position whereby a separate nozzle for supplying aerosol-generating material to an article and a spigot actuation mechanism for actuating the spigot of the valve arrangement are provided in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.
Detailed description Aspects and features of certain examples and embodiments are discussed /
described herein. Some aspects and features of certain examples and embodiments may be implemented conventionally and these are not discussed / described in detail in the interests of brevity. It will thus be appreciated that aspects and features of apparatus and methods discussed herein which are not described in detail may be implemented in accordance with any conventional techniques for implementing such aspects and features.
As described above, the present disclosure relates to (but is not limited to) electronic aerosol or vapour provision systems, such as e-cigarettes. Throughout the following description the terms "e-cigarette" and "electronic cigarette" may sometimes be used;
however, it will be appreciated these terms may be used interchangeably with aerosol (vapour) provision system or device. The systems are intended to generate an inhalable aerosol by vaporisation of a substrate (aerosol-generating material) in the form of a liquid or

5 gel which may or may not contain nicotine. Additionally, hybrid systems may comprise a liquid or gel substrate plus a solid substrate which is also heated. The solid substrate may be for example tobacco or other non-tobacco products, which may or may not contain nicotine.
The terms "aerosol-generating material" and "aerosolisable material" as used herein (where these terms may be used interchangeably) are intended to refer to materials which can form an aerosol, either through the application of heat or some other means. The term "aerosol"
may be used interchangeably with "vapour".
As used herein, the terms "system" and "delivery system" are intended to encompass systems that deliver a substance to a user, and include non-combustible aerosol provision systems that release compounds from an aerosolisable material without combusting the aerosolisable material, such as electronic cigarettes, tobacco heating products, and hybrid systems to generate aerosol using a combination of aerosolisable materials, and articles comprising aerosolisable material and configured to be used within one of these non-combustible aerosol provision systems. According to the present disclosure, a "non-combustible" aerosol provision system is one where a constituent aerosol generating material of the aerosol provision system (or component thereof) is not combusted or burned in order to facilitate delivery to a user. In some embodiments, the delivery system is a non-combustible aerosol provision system, such as a powered non-combustible aerosol provision system. In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system is an electronic cigarette, also known as a vaping device or electronic nicotine delivery (END) system, although it is noted that the presence of nicotine in the aerosol generating material is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system is an aerosol-generating material heating system, also known as a heat-not-burn system.
An example of such a system is a tobacco heating system. In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision system is a hybrid system to generate aerosol using a combination of aerosolisable materials, one or a plurality of which may be heated. Each of the aerosolisable materials may be, for example, in the form of a solid, liquid or gel and may or may not contain nicotine. In some embodiments, the hybrid system comprises a liquid or gel aerosol generating material and a solid aerosol generating material. The solid aerosol generating material may comprise, for example, tobacco or a non-tobacco product.
Typically, the non-combustible aerosol provision system may comprise a non-combustible aerosol provision device and an article (consumable) for use with the non-combustible aerosol provision device. In some embodiments, the disclosure relates to consumables comprising aerosol-generating material and configured to be used with non-combustible aerosol provision devices. These consumables are sometimes referred to as articles throughout the disclosure. However, it is envisaged that articles which themselves comprise a means for powering an aerosol generator or aerosol generating component may

6 themselves form the non-combustible aerosol provision system. In some embodiments, the non-combustible aerosol provision device may comprise a power source and a controller.
The power source may, for example, be an electric power source. In some embodiments, the article for use with the non-combustible aerosol provision device may comprise an aerosol generating material, an aerosol generating component (aerosol generator), an aerosol generating area, a mouthpiece, and/or an area for receiving and holding aerosol generating material.
In some systems the aerosol generating component or aerosol generator comprises a heater capable of interacting with the aerosolisable material so as to release one or more volatiles from the aerosolisable material to form an aerosol. However, the disclosure is not limited in this regard, and applies also to systems that use other approaches to form aerosol, such as a vibrating mesh.
In some embodiments, articles for use with the non-combustible aerosol provision device may comprise aerosolisable material or an area for receiving aerosolisable material.
In some embodiments, the article for use with the non-combustible aerosol provision device may comprise a mouthpiece. The area for receiving aerosol-generating material may be a storage area for storing aerosol-generating material. In the present disclosure, articles have a storage area for fluid, such as a storage area for receiving and storing aerosolisable material. For example, the storage area may be a reservoir which may store a liquid aerosol-generating material. In some embodiments, the storage area for receiving aerosolisable material may be separate from, or combined with, an aerosol generating area (which is an area at which the aerosol is generated). In some embodiments, the article for use with the non-combustible aerosol provision device may comprise a filter and/or an aerosol-modifying agent through which generated aerosol is passed before being delivered to the user.
As used herein, the term "component" may be used to refer to a part, section, unit, module, assembly or similar of an electronic cigarette or similar device that incorporates several smaller parts or elements, possibly within an exterior housing or wall. An aerosol provision system such as an electronic cigarette may be formed or built from one or more such components, such as an article and a device, and the components may be removably or separably connectable to one another, or may be permanently joined together during manufacture to define the whole system. The present disclosure is applicable to (but not limited to) systems comprising two components separably connectable to one another and configured, for example, as an article in the form of an aerosolisable material carrying component holding liquid or another aerosolisable material (alternatively referred to as a cartridge, cartomiser, pod or consumable), and a device having a battery or other power source for providing electrical power to operate an aerosol generating component or aerosol

7 generator for creating vapour/aerosol from the aerosolisable material. A
component may include more or fewer parts than those included in the examples.
The present disclosure relates to aerosol provision systems and components thereof that utilise aerosolisable material in the form of a liquid or a gel (fluid) which is held in a storage area such as a reservoir, tank, container or other receptacle comprised in the system, or absorbed onto a carrier substrate. An arrangement for delivering the aerosolisable material from the reservoir or aerosolisable material storage area for the purpose of providing it to an aerosol generator for vapour / aerosol generation is included.
The terms "liquid", "gel", "solid" "fluid", "source liquid", "source gel", "source fluid" and the like may be used interchangeably with terms such as "aerosol-generating material", "aerosolisable material", "aerosolisable substrate material" and "substrate material" to refer to material that has a form capable of being stored and delivered in accordance with examples of the present disclosure.
As used herein, "aerosol-generating material" is a material that is capable of generating aerosol, for example when heated, irradiated or energized in any other way.
Aerosol-generating material may, for example, be in the form of a solid, liquid or gel which may or may not contain an active substance and/or flavourants. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material may comprise an "amorphous solid", which may alternatively be referred to as a "monolithic solid" (i.e. non-fibrous). In some embodiments, the amorphous solid may be a dried gel. The amorphous solid is a solid material that may retain some fluid, such as liquid, within it. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material may for example comprise from about 50wt%, 60wt% or 70wt% of amorphous solid, to about 90wt%, 95wt% or 100wt% of amorphous solid. In some embodiments, the aerosol-generating material may comprise one or more active constituents, one or more flavours, one or more aerosol-former materials, and/or one or more other functional materials. The active substance as used herein may be a physiologically active material, which is a material intended to achieve or enhance a physiological response. The active substance may for example be selected from nutraceuticals, nootropics, psychoactives. The active substance may be naturally occurring or synthetically obtained. The active substance may comprise for example nicotine, caffeine, taurine, theine, vitamins such as B6 or B12 or C, melatonin, cannabinoids, or constituents, derivatives, or combinations thereof. The active substance may comprise one or more constituents, derivatives or extracts of tobacco, cannabis or another botanical. As used herein, the terms "flavour" and "flavourant" refer to materials which, where local regulations permit, may be used to create a desired taste, aroma or other somatosensorial sensation in a product for adult consumers. They may include naturally occurring flavour materials, botanicals, extracts of botanicals, synthetically obtained materials, or combinations thereof. The aerosol-former material may comprise one or more

8

9 constituents capable of forming an aerosol. In some embodiments, the aerosol-former material may comprise one or more of glycerol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, 1,3-butylene glycol, erythritol, meso-Erythritol, ethyl vanillate, ethyl laurate, a diethyl suberate, triethyl citrate, triacetin, a diacetin mixture, benzyl benzoate, benzyl phenyl acetate, tributyrin, lauryl acetate, lauric acid, myristic acid, and propylene carbonate. The one or more other functional materials may comprise one or more of pH regulators, colouring agents, preservatives, binders, fillers, stabilizers, and/or antioxidants.
Figure 1 is a highly schematic diagram (not to scale) of a generic example electronic aerosol/vapour provision system such as an e-cigarette 10, presented for the purpose of showing the relationship between the various parts of a typical system and explaining the general principles of operation. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to a system configured in this way, and features may be modified in accordance with the various alternatives and definitions described above and/or apparent to the skilled person. The e-cigarette 10 has a generally elongate shape in this example, extending along a longitudinal axis indicated by a dashed line, and comprises two main components, namely an aerosol provision device, or simply device, 20 (control or power component, section or unit), and an article or consumable 30 (cartridge assembly or section, sometimes referred to as a cartomiser, clearomiser or pod) carrying aerosol-generating material and operable or operating to generate vapour/aerosol. In the following description, the aerosol provision system 10 is configured to generate aerosol from a liquid aerosol-generating material (source liquid), and the foregoing disclosure will explain the principles of the present disclosure using this example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to aerosolising a liquid aerosol-generating material, and features may be modified in accordance with the various alternatives and definitions described above and/or apparent to the skilled person in order to aerosolise different aerosol-generating materials, e.g., solid aerosol-generating materials or gel aerosol-generating materials as described above.
The article 30 includes a storage area such as a reservoir 3 for containing a source liquid or other aerosol-generating material comprising a formulation such as liquid or gel from which an aerosol is to be generated, for example containing nicotine. As an example, the source liquid may comprise around 1% to 3% nicotine and 50% glycerol, with the remainder comprising roughly equal measures of water and propylene glycol, and possibly also comprising other components, such as flavourings. Nicotine-free source liquid may also be used, such as to deliver flavouring. In some embodiments, a solid substrate (not illustrated), such as a portion of tobacco or other flavour imparting element through which vapour generated from the liquid is passed, may also be included. The reservoir 3 may have the form of a storage tank, being a container or receptacle in which source liquid can be stored such that the liquid is free to move and flow within the confines of the tank. In other examples, the storage area may comprise absorbent material (either inside a tank or similar, or positioned within the outer housing of the article) that holds the aerosol generating material. For a consumable article, the reservoir 3 may be sealed after filling during manufacture so as to be disposable after the source liquid is consumed.
However, the present disclosure is relevant to refillable articles that have an inlet port, orifice or other opening (not shown in Figure 1) through which new source liquid can be added to enable reuse of the article 30. The article 30 also comprises an aerosol generator 5, comprising in this example an aerosol generating component, which may have the form of an electrically powered heating element or heater 4 and an aerosol-generating material transfer component 6 (designed to transfer aerosol-generating material from the aerosol-generating material storage area to the aerosol generator). The heater 4 is located externally of the reservoir 3 and is operable to generate the aerosol by vaporisation of the source liquid by heating. The aerosol-generating material transfer component 6 is a transfer or delivery arrangement configured to deliver aerosol-generating material from the reservoir 3 to the heater 4. In some examples, it may have the form of a wick or other porous element. A wick 6 may have one or more parts located inside the reservoir 3, or otherwise be in fluid communication with liquid in the reservoir 3, so as to be able to absorb source liquid and transfer it by wicking or capillary action to other parts of the wick 6 that are adjacent or in contact with the heater 4.
The wick may be formed of any suitable material which can cause wicking of the liquid, such as glass fibres or cotton fibres. This wicked liquid is thereby heated and vaporised, and replacement liquid drawn, via continuous capillary action, from the reservoir 3 for transfer to the heater 4 by the wick 6. The wick may be thought of as a conduit between the reservoir 3 and the heater 4 that delivers or transfers liquid from the reservoir to the heater. In some designs and implementations, the heater 4 and the aerosol-generating material transfer component 6 are unitary or monolithic, and formed from a same material that is able to be used for both liquid transfer and heating, such as a material which is both porous and conductive. In still other cases, the aerosol-generating material transfer component may operate other than by capillary action, such as by comprising an arrangement of one or more valves by which liquid may exit the reservoir 3 and be passed onto the heater 4.
A heater and wick (or similar) combination, referred to herein as an aerosol generator 5, may sometimes be termed an atomiser or atomiser assembly, and the reservoir with its source liquid plus the atomiser may be collectively referred to as an aerosol source. Various designs are possible, in which the parts may be differently arranged compared with the highly schematic representation of Figure 1. For example, and as mentioned above, the wick 6 may be an entirely separate element from the heater 4, or the heater 4 may be configured to be porous and able to perform at least part of the wicking function directly (a metallic mesh, for example).
In the present example, the system is an electronic system, and the heater 4 may comprise one or more electrical heating elements that operate by ohmic/resistive (Joule) heating, although inductive heating may also be used, in which case the heater comprises a susceptor in an induction heating arrangement. The article 30 may comprise electrical contacts (not shown) at an interface of the article 30 which electrically engage to electrical contacts (not shown) at an interface of the aerosol provision device 20.
Electrical energy can therefore be transferred to the heater 4 via the electrical contacts from the aerosol provision device 20 to cause heating of the heater 4. In other examples, the heater 4 may be inductively heated, in which case the heater comprises a susceptor in an induction heating arrangement which may comprise a suitable drive coil through which an alternating electrical current is passed. A heater of this type could be configured in line with the examples and embodiments described in more detail below.
In general, therefore, an atomiser or aerosol generator, in the present context, can be considered as one or more elements that implement the functionality of an aerosol or vapour-generating element able to generate vapour by heating source liquid (or other aerosol-generating material) delivered to it, and a liquid transport or delivery element able to deliver or transport liquid from a reservoir or similar liquid store to the vapour-generating element by a wicking action / capillary force or otherwise. An aerosol generator is typically housed in an article 30 of an aerosol generating system, as in Figure 1, but in some examples, at least the heater part may be housed in the device 20. Embodiments of the disclosure are applicable to all and any such configurations which are consistent with the examples and description herein.
Returning to Figure 1, the article 30 also includes a mouthpiece or mouthpiece portion 35 having an opening or air outlet through which a user may inhale the aerosol generated by the heater 4.
The aerosol provision device 20 includes a power source such as cell or battery 7 (referred to hereinafter as a battery, and which may or may not be re-chargeable) to provide electrical power for electrical components of the aerosol provision system (e-cigarette) 10, in particular to operate the heater 4. Additionally, there is control circuitry or a controller 8 such as a printed circuit board and/or other electronics or circuitry for generally controlling the aerosol provision system (e-cigarette) 10. The control circuitry or controller 8 may include a processor programmed with software, which may be modifiable by a user of the system. The control electronics/circuitry/controller 8, in one aspect, operates the heater 4 using power from the battery 7 when vapour is required. At this time, the user inhales on the system 10 via the mouthpiece 35, and air A enters through one or more air inlets 9 in the wall of the device 20 (air inlets may alternatively or additionally be located in the article 30). When the heater 4 is operated, it vaporises source liquid delivered from the reservoir 3 by the aerosol-generating material transfer component 6 to generate the aerosol by entrainment of the vapour into the air flowing through the system, and this is then inhaled by the user through the opening in the mouthpiece 35. The aerosol is carried from the aerosol generator 5 to the mouthpiece 35 along one or more air channels (not shown) that connect the air inlets 9 to the aerosol generator 5 to the air outlet when a user inhales on the mouthpiece 35.
More generally, the control circuitry or controller 8 is suitably configured /

programmed to control the operation of the aerosol provision system 10 to provide conventional operating functions of the aerosol provision system in line with established techniques for controlling such devices, as well as any specific functionality described as part of the foregoing disclosure and/or in accordance with embodiments and examples of the disclosure as described further herein. The control circuitry or controller 8 may be considered to logically comprise various sub-units / circuitry elements associated with different aspects of the aerosol provision system's operation in accordance with the principles described herein and other conventional operating aspects of aerosol provision systems, such as display driving circuitry for systems that may include a user display (such as an screen or indicator) and user input detections via one or more user actuable controls 12. It will be appreciated that the functionality of the control circuit or controller 8 can be provided in various different ways, for example using one or more suitably programmed programmable computers and/or one or more suitably configured application-specific integrated circuits / circuitry / chips / chipsets configured to provide the desired functionality.
The device 20 and the article 30 are separate connectable parts detachable from one another by separation in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis, as indicated by the double-headed arrows in Figure 1. The components 20, 30 are joined together when the system 10 is in use by cooperating engagement elements 21, 31 (for example, a screw or bayonet fitting) which provide mechanical and in some cases electrical connectivity between the device 20 and the article 30. Electrical connectivity is required if the heater 4 operates by ohmic heating, so that current can be passed through the heater 4 when it is connected to the battery 5. In systems that use inductive heating, electrical connectivity can be omitted if no parts requiring electrical power are located in the article 30. An inductive work coil can be housed in the device 20 and supplied with power from the battery 5, and the article 30 and the device 20 shaped so that when they are connected, there is an appropriate exposure of the heater 4 to flux generated by the coil for the purpose of generating current flow in the material of the heater. The Figure 1 design is merely an example arrangement, and the various parts and features may be differently distributed between the device 20 and the article 30, and other components and elements may be included. The two sections may connect together end-to-end in a longitudinal configuration as in Figure 1, or in a different configuration such as a parallel, side-by-side arrangement. The system may or may not be generally cylindrical and/or have a generally longitudinal shape. Either or both sections or components may be intended to be disposed of and replaced when exhausted, or be intended for multiple uses enabled by actions such as refilling the reservoir and recharging the battery. In other examples, the system 10 may be unitary, in that the parts of the device 20 and the article 30 are comprised in a single housing and cannot be separated.
Embodiments and examples of the present disclosure are applicable to any of these configurations and other configurations of which the skilled person will be aware.
The present disclosure relates to the refilling of a storage area for aerosol generating material in an aerosol provision system, whereby a user is enabled to conveniently provide a system with fresh aerosol generating material when a previous stored quantity has been used up. The aerosol generating material may be a liquid, or possibly a gel, and may generally be referred to as a fluid, where in the present context this term is not intended to encompass gases, in particular air. It is proposed that the replenishment of the aerosol generating material be done automatically, by provision of apparatus which is termed herein a refilling device, refilling unit, refilling station, or simply dock. The refilling device is configured to receive an aerosol provision system, or more conveniently, the article from an aerosol provision system having a storage area which is empty or only partly full, plus a larger reservoir holding aerosol generating material. A fluid communication flow path is established between the larger reservoir and the storage area, and a controller in the refilling device controls a transfer mechanism or arrangement operable to move aerosol generating material along the flow path from the larger reservoir in the refilling device to the storage area. The transfer mechanism can be activated in response to user input of a refill request to the refilling device, or activation may be automatic in response to a particular state or condition of the refilling device detected by the controller. For example, if both an article and a larger reservoir are correctly positioned inside or otherwise couple to the refilling unit, refilling may be carried out. Once the storage area is replenished with a desired quantity of aerosol generating material (the storage area is filled or a user specified quantity of material has been transferred to the article, for example), the transfer mechanism is deactivated, and transfer ceases. Alternatively, the transfer mechanism may be configured to automatically dispense a fixed quantity of aerosol generating material in response to activation by the controller, such as fixed quantity matching the capacity of the storage area.
The transfer of the aerosol generating material by the refilling device may be termed a refilling action or a filling action.
Figure 2 shows a highly schematic representation of an example refilling device. The refilling device is shown in a simplified form only, to illustrate various elements and their relationship to one another. More particular features of one or more of the elements with which the present disclosure is concerned will be described in more detail below.
The refilling device 50 will be referred to hereinafter for convenience as a "dock". This term is applicable since a reservoir and an article are received or "docked"
in the refilling device during use. The dock 50 comprises an outer housing 52. The dock 50 is expected to be useful for refilling of articles in the home or workplace (rather than being a portable device or a commercial device, although these options are not excluded). Therefore, the outer housing, made for example from metal, plastics or glass, may be designed to have an pleasing outward appearance such as to make it suitable for permanent and convenient access, such as on a shelf, desk, table or counter. It may be any size suitable for accommodating the various elements described herein, such as having dimensions between about 10 cm and 20 cm, although smaller or larger sizes may be preferred.
Inside the housing 50 are defined two cavities or ports 54, 56. A first port 54 is shaped and dimensioned to receive and interface with a refill reservoir 40. The first or refill reservoir port 54 is configured to enable an interface between the refill reservoir 40 and the dock 50, so might alternatively be termed a refill reservoir interface. Primarily, the refill reservoir interface is for moving aerosol generating material out of the refill reservoir 40, but as described below, in some cases the interface may enable additional functions, such as electrical contacts and sensing capabilities for communication between the refill reservoir 40 and the dock 50 and determining characteristics and features of the refill reservoir 40.
The refill reservoir 40 comprises a wall or housing 41 that defines a storage space for holding aerosol generating material 42. The volume of the storage space is large enough to accommodate many or several times the storage area / reservoir 3 of an article 30 intended to be refilled in the dock 50. A user can therefore purchase a filled reservoir 40 of their preferred aerosol generating material (flavour, strength, brand, etc.), and use it to refill an article 30 multiple times. A user could acquire several reservoirs 40 of different aerosol generating materials, so as to have a convenient choice available when refilling an article.
The refill reservoir 40 includes an outlet orifice or opening 44 by which the aerosol generating material 42 can pass out of the refill reservoir 40. In the current context, the aerosol generating material 42 has a liquid form or a gel form, so may be considered as aerosol generating fluid. The term "fluid" may be used herein for convenience to refer to either a liquid or a gel material; where the term "liquid" is used herein, it should be similarly understood as referring to a liquid or a gel material, unless the context makes it clear that only liquid is intended.
A second port 56, which may be defined inside the housing, is shaped and dimensioned to receive and interface with the article 30. The second or article port 56 is configured to enable an interface between the article 30 and the dock 50, so might alternatively be termed an article interface. Primarily, the article interface is for receiving aerosol generating material into the article 30, but in some cases the interface may enable additional functions, such as electrical contacts and sensing capabilities for communication between the article 30 and the dock 50 and determining characteristics and features of the article 30.
The article 30 itself comprises a wall or housing 31 that has within it (but possibly not occupying all the space within the wall 31) a storage area 3 for holding aerosol generating material. The volume of the storage area 3 is many or several times smaller than the volume of the refill reservoir 40, so that the article 30 can be refilled multiple times from a single refill reservoir 40. The article also includes an inlet orifice or opening 32 by which aerosol generating material can enter the storage area 3. Various other elements may be included with the article 30, as discussed above with regard to Figure 1. For convenience, the article 30 may be referred to hereinafter as a pod 30.
The housing also accommodates a fluid conduit 58, being a passage or flow path by which the reservoir 40 and the storage area 3 of the article 30 are placed in fluid communication, so that aerosol generating material can move from the refill reservoir 40 to the article 30 when both the refill reservoir 40 and the article 30 are correctly positioned in the dock 50. Placement of the refill reservoir 40 and the article 30 into the dock 30 locates and engages them such that the fluid conduit 58 is connected between the outlet orifice 44 of the reservoir 40 and the inlet orifice 32 of the article 30. Note that in some examples, all or part of the fluid conduit 58 may be formed by parts of the refill reservoir 40 and the article 30, so that the fluid conduit is created and defined only when the refill reservoir 40 and/or the article 30 are placed in the dock 30. In other cases, the fluid conduit 58 may be a flow path defined within the housing 52 of the dock 50, to each end of which the respective orifices are engaged.
Access to the reservoir port 54 and the article port 56 can be by any convenient means. Apertures may be provided in the housing 52 of the dock 50, through which the refill reservoir 40 and the article 30 can be placed or pushed. The refill reservoir 40 and/or the article 30 may be completely contained within the respective apertures or may partially be contained such that a portion of the refill reservoir 40 and/or the article 30 protrude from the respective ports 54, 56. In some instances, doors or the like may be included to cover the apertures to prevent dust or other contaminants from entering the apertures.
VVhen the refill;
reservoir 40 and/or the article 30 are completely contained in the ports 54, 56, the doors of the like might be required to be placed in a closed state to allow refilling to take place. Doors, hatches and other hinged coverings, or sliding access elements such as drawers or trays, might include shaped tracks, slots or recesses to receive and hold the reservoir 40 or the article 30, which bring the reservoir 40 or the article 30 into proper alignment inside the housing when the door etc. is closed. Alternatively, the housing of the dock 50 may be shaped so as to include recessed portions into which the article 30 or refill reservoir 40 may be inserted. These and other alternatives will be apparent to the skilled person, and do not affect the scope of the present disclosure.
The dock 50 also includes an aerosol generating material ("liquid" or "fluid") transfer mechanism, arrangement, apparatus or means 53, operable to move or cause the movement of fluid out of the refill reservoir 40, along the conduit 58 and into the article 30.
Various options are contemplated for the transfer mechanism 53. By way of an example, the transfer mechanism 53 may comprise a fluid pump, such as a peristaltic pump.
The peristaltic pump may be arranged to rotate and compress parts of the conduit 58 to force source liquid along the length of the conduit towards the inlet orifice 32 of the article 30 in accordance with the conventional techniques for operating a peristaltic pump.
A controller 55 is also included in the dock 50, which is operable to control components of the dock 50, in particular to generate and send control signals to operate the transfer mechanism 53. As noted, this may be in response to a user input, such as actuation of a button or switch (not shown) on the housing 52, or automatically in response to both the refill reservoir 40 and the article 30 being detected as present inside their respective ports 54, 56. The controller 55 may therefore be communication with contacts and/or sensors (not shown) at the ports 54, 56 in order to obtain data from the ports and/or the refill reservoir 40 and article 30 that can be used in the generation of control signals for operating the transfer mechanism 53. The controller 55 may comprise a microcontroller, a microprocessor, or any configuration of circuitry, hardware, firmware or software as preferred;
various options will be apparent to the skilled person.
Finally, the dock 50 includes a power source 57 to provide electrical power for the controller 53, and any other electrical components that may be included in the dock, such as sensors, user inputs such as switches, buttons or touch panels, and, if present, display elements such as light emitting diodes and/or display screens to convey information about the dock's operation and status to the user. Also, the transfer mechanism may be electrically powered. Since the dock may be for permanent location in a house or office, the power source 57 may comprise a socket for connection of an electrical mains cable to the dock 50, so that the dock 50 may be "plugged in" to mains electricity. Any suitable electrical converter to convert mains electricity to a suitable operational supply of electricity to the dock 50 may be provided, either on the mains cable or within the dock 50. Alternatively, the power source 57 may comprise one or more batteries, which might be replaceable or rechargeable, and in the latter case the dock 50 may also comprise a socket connection for a charging cable adapted to recharge the battery or batteries while housed in the dock.

REFILLING DEVICE WITH VENTING NOZZLE
A refilling device with a venting nozzle is described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 mentioned above and Figures 3 to 11 mentioned below.
Further details relating to the fluid conduit will now be described. As noted above, the fluid conduit may be wholly or partly formed by parts of the refill reservoir 40 (hereafter also simply "reservoir" 40) and the article 30. In particular, an example arrangement for the fluid conduit 58 is a fluid nozzle or hollow needle providing a fluid flow channel by which fluid aerosol generating material dispensed from the reservoir 40 is delivered into the storage area 3 of the article 30. The fluid nozzle may be provided as an element of the dock, such that the outlet orifice of the reservoir is coupled to a first end of the fluid nozzle when the reservoir is installed in the dock. Alternatively, the fluid nozzle may be embodied as an integral part of the reservoir, to provide the outlet orifice. This associates the fluid nozzle only with the particular reservoir and its contents, thereby avoiding any cross-contamination that may arise from using reservoirs of different aerosol-generating materials with the same fluid nozzle. Intermediate arrangements are also possible, with part of the fluid nozzle being integral with the reservoir, and configured to engage with part of the fluid nozzle provided as an element of the dock 50. In all configurations, the fluid nozzle is engaged into the inlet orifice 32 of the article 30 in order to enable fluid transfer from the reservoir into the article.
The engagement may be achieved by relative movement of the article 30 and the reservoir 40 towards one another, for example, when both have been installed in the dock 50.
In order to prevent leakage of fluid from an article when the article is in use, the inlet orifice 32 of an article 30 is configured to be sealed when the article is not being refilled, but able to receive the fluid nozzle of the fluid conduit 58 when refilling is required. Any form of suitable valve or membrane can be used which can close the inlet orifice in a leak-proof, fluid-tight manner when not in use, open to receive a fluid outlet end of the fluid nozzle for refilling, and close again when the fluid nozzle is withdrawn after filling.
Typically, the inlet orifice, which may comprise a septa valve, for example, will fit tightly or fairly tightly around the outer surface of the engaged fluid nozzle. As fluid is delivered into the storage area 3 of the article 30, pressure inside the storage area 3 will increase as the fluid displaces air already in the storage area 3. This pressure increase is undesirable since it may cause leaks or impede the ingress of the further fluid into the storage area 3.
Accordingly, a venting arrangement is provided to allow the escape of the displace air from the storage area 3, to allow pressure to remain substantially constant inside the storage area 3 and enable smooth refilling via uninterrupted inflow of fluid.
Figure 3 shows a simplified schematic cross-sectional side view on an example article engaged for refilling in a refilling device (not shown). The article 30 has a storage area 3 as previously described, for holding fluid 33 delivered by the refiling device. The article also has an inlet orifice 32 also as previously described, which is in fluid communication with the storage area 3, such as leading directly into the storage area 3 as in the depicted example. A fluid nozzle 34 has a fluid outlet end 34a that penetrates the inlet orifice 32, and hence protrudes into the storage area 3. The fluid nozzle 34 leads from the reservoir of the refilling device (also not shown), being all or part of the fluid conduit (indicated by the dashed lines), such that fluid F can flow from the reservoir along a fluid flow channel defined in the fluid nozzle 34, out of the fluid outlet end 34a of the fluid nozzle 34 and into the storage area 3.
To enable venting of air out of the storage area 3 during refilling, the article 30 is additionally provided with a venting orifice 63, which, in common with the inlet orifice 32 is configured to be sealed when the article 30 is not being sealed, in order to prevent or inhibit leakage. Any form of suitable valve or membrane can be used to close the venting orifice 63 in a leak-proof, fluid-tight manner when not in use. For example, the venting orifice 63 may be covered by or comprise a septa valve or a self-healing membrane.
When the article 30 is received in the refilling dock for refilling, and is engaged with the fluid nozzle 34, engagement is also made with a venting nozzle or hollow needle 60. The venting nozzle 60 is an element of the refilling dock, and is positioned for alignment with the venting office 63 of an article in the article interface of the refilling dock. The venting nozzle 60 has an air inlet end 60a which penetrates the venting orifice 63 so as to be in air flow communication with the interior of the storage area 3 of the article 30 (such as by extending directly into the storage area 3 as depicted), and an air outlet end 60b located away from the article 30. A channel 61 is defined through the venting nozzle 60 from the air inlet end 60a to the air outlet end 60b. The air outlet end 60b may be located at any convenient position internally or externally of the refilling dock, so that the venting nozzle 60, when engaged with the article 30 provides, via the channel 61, a pathway for the outward flow of air A from the interior of the storage area 3, into the venting nozzle 60 by the air inlet end 60a, along the channel 61, and out through the air outlet end 60b into the surrounding environment. Hence, as the amount of fluid 33 in the storage area 3 increases during filling, air which is displaced by the fluid can enter the venting nozzle and be directed out of the storage area 3, thereby avoiding an increase of pressure inside the storage area 3.
The article 30, and the fluid nozzle 34 and venting nozzle 60, can be brought into engagement when the article 30 is placed into the refilling dock by movement of the article 30 towards the nozzles 34, 60, of by movement of the nozzles 34, 60 towards the article 30, or by both movements, as indicated by the arrows E in Figure 3. The mechanism(s) for achieving the movement may be any convenient arrangement, and are outside the scope of the present disclosure. The relative movement acts to force the fluid outlet end 34a of the fluid nozzle 34 against the inlet orifice 32 and then to penetrate the inlet orifice 32 and enter the storage area 3, and similarly to force the air inlet end 60a of the venting nozzle 60 against the venting orifice 63 and then to penetrate the venting orifice 63 and enter the storage area 3. Where movement of the nozzles 34, 60 is utilised for engagement, the nozzles 34, 60 may be moved separately, or together. For example, they may be held in a same nozzle element, such as a mounting block in or on which both nozzles are mounted or otherwise held (or integrally formed), and which itself is comprised in the refilling device.
Hence, the nozzle element engages with the article 30 to engage the two nozzles 34, 60 with their respective orifices 32, 63 in the article 30. Similarly, a common nozzle element may secure both nozzles 34, 60 in a fixed position, for engagement by movement of the article 30 towards the nozzle element.
Referring further to Figure 3, it will be seen that in this example, the venting orifice 63 is located on the article 3 to as to be in a surface or wall 31 of the article 3 which is uppermost when the article 3 is received in the article interface, and the venting nozzle 60 has a linear geometry (the channel 611s straight) and is oriented vertically above the article 30. In other words, the longitudinal axis of the channel 61 is vertical.
Hence, relative vertical movement E engages the venting nozzle 60 and the article 30. This configuration places the air inlet end 60a of the venting nozzle 60 above the surface 33a of fluid 33 in the storage area 3 when the storage area 3 is not full.
During filling the surface 33a of the fluid 33 rises and approaches the air inlet end 60a of the venting nozzle 60, and may reach or pass the air inlet end 60a.
During filling also, the fluid may splash as it flows out from the fluid outlet end 34a of the fluid nozzle. Also, the refilling dock may be moved, knocked or jolted during refilling or while the article 30 is in the article interface, causing disruption of the fluid surface 33a. Accordingly, there are various ways by which fluid may come into contact with the air inlet end of the venting nozzle 60.
The venting nozzle is narrow, in order to be compatible with the relatively small size of storage areas in articles for aerosol provision systems. The channel 61 of the nozzle 60 is therefore also narrow. Accordingly, the channel 61 may become clogged or blocked with fluid that comes into contact with the air inlet end, surface tension holding the fluid inside the channel 61. This can impede or block the egress of air out of the storage area, so that venting is reduced or removed. The vertical orientation of the venting nozzle 61 can help to address this, by enabling gravity to act on any fluid in the channel 61 in a direction that will carry the fluid downwards and out through the air flow inlet 60a.
Also, the narrowness of the channel 61 may provide a capillary force that pulls any fluid present at the air inlet end 60a into the channel 61, and fluid present in the channel 61 further up the channel. Hence, fluid may undesirably track along the channel 61. This will block or impede air flow along the channel, diminishing or preventing the outward flow of air and venting, and allowing pressure to increase inside the storage area 3.
Also, if the fluid is able to travel the full length of the channel 61 it will eventually exit the venting nozzle 60 through the air outlet end 60b and be leaked, either inside the refilling dock or outside, depending on the arrangement of the venting nozzle 60.
Clearly any and all of these events is undesirable. Accordingly, it is proposed to address this issue by configuring the channel 61 of the venting nozzle 60 to have a taper which increases with distance from the air inlet end 60a of the venting nozzle 60. In other words, the bore of the venting nozzle 60, as defined by the channel 61, gets larger along the length of the outward air flow direction.
Other benefits can be provided by a venting nozzle with a tapered bore. The taper allows the air outlet end of the venting nozzle to be wider (have a larger cross section) which gives a reduced pressure drop across the nozzle and consequently aids in reducing pressurisation within the storage area during filling. The tapered bore can be conveniently reflected in the outer shape of the venting nozzle, allowing the air inlet end to be narrow with a tapering outer profile. This can enhance the sealing effect of the valve or membrane in the venting orifice around the inserted venting nozzle, since the valve/membrane can press more tightly around the outside of the venting nozzle. Also, a narrower air inlet end requires a smaller opening for the venting nozzle to pass through the venting orifice, so the longevity of the valve or membrane is enhanced. These factors are particularly relevant where a septa seal is used.
Note that in the following Figures showing various example venting nozzles, the taper may be exaggerated for clarity, and the nozzles are not necessarily shown to scale.
Figure 4 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view (so, a side view) of a first example of a tapered venting nozzle. The venting nozzle 60 is formed from a tubular side wall 62 which surrounds a hollow space forming a through channel 61 for outward air flow along the nozzle.. As previously described, the venting nozzle 60 has an air inlet end 60a at a first end of the channel 61, shown as the lower end in this vertically oriented depiction, and an air outlet end 60b at an opposite, second end of the channel 61, shown as the upper end. The channel 61 therefore extends from the air inlet end 60a to the air outlet end 60b, and vented air flows outwardly along the channel 61 from air inlet to air outlet in the direction A.
The channel 61 is straight, and has a cross-sectional area, which can be defined in a plane orthogonal to the direction of air flow and hence orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the channel 61. At or towards the air inlet end 60a, in a plane i, the channel has a circular cross-sectional area Ai, as shown on Figure 4. At or towards the air outlet end 60b, in a plane ii, the channel 61 has a circular cross-sectional area Aii, which is larger than the area Ai at the inlet end. Hence, the cross-sectional area of the channel 61 increases with distance from the air inlet end.

The increased cross-sectional area provides a larger bore inside the venting nozzle.
This reduces capillary forces, thereby reducing the ability of the venting nozzle 60 to pull any stray liquid that may enter the channel 61 along the channel 61. The larger bore towards the outlet end 60b of the channel 61 causes the capillary force to reduce with distance along venting nozzle 60, thereby further decreasing the chance that liquid will be able to track all along the venting nozzle 60 to escape from the air outlet end 60b. The tapered configuration is beneficial for providing this reduced capillary power compared to a non-tapered but wider nozzle, because the air inlet end 60a can be maintained at a small width, for improved compatibility with the limited area available for the venting orifice on an article which necessarily has a relatively small size itself, and to facilitate penetration of the air inlet end 60a through the venting orifice when the article and the venting nozzle are engaged together.
In the example of Figure 4, the side wall 62 is straight, and slopes outwardly along the full length of the venting nozzle 60. The outward slope provides the increasing internal cross-section, and since the slope extends over the length of the venting nozzle, the whole of the venting nozzle is tapered. The straight side wall 62 provides a linear increase in cross-sectional area. Also, the slope is continuous, providing a continuous, unbroken increase in the cross-sectional area. This gives a smooth interior surface for the channel 61 (the venting nozzle is smooth-bored), without corners, bumps or discontinuities to which unwanted liquid may cling. We can define a tapered portion T, starting at the air inlet end 60a, and over which the taper extends, in other words, over which the cross-sectional area of the channel 61 increases. In this example, the tapered portion T extends, from a narrow end to a wide end, over the complete or entire length of the venting nozzle 60 (defined as the distance between the air inlet end 60a and the air outlet end 60b). This configuration may be appropriate for a relatively shallow taper (where the rate of increase of the cross-sectional area is low), and/or if the overall length of the venting nozzle 60 is not great. These factors mean that the area and hence width of the venting nozzle 60 does not become too large at the air outlet end, which may be inconvenient for accommodating the nozzle in some designs of refilling device.
Figure 5 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a second example of a tapered venting nozzle. In this example, the tapered portion T extends over part of the length of the venting nozzle 61 only. As before, the tapered portion T starts at the air inlet end 60a, where in the plane i the channel 61 has a cross-sectional area Ai. The tapered portion T extends along the venting nozzle 60 to an intermediate point before the air outlet end 60b. In the plane ii at this intermediate point, the end of the tapered portion T, the channel has a cross-sectional area Aii which is larger than the area Ai at the ait inlet end 60a.
The side wall 62 is again straight and outwardly sloping over the tapered portion T, giving a linear increase of cross-sectional area. Following the tapered portion T, so, beyond the end of the tapered portion T, the side wall 62 continuous straight but ceases to slope outwardly.
Hence, the cross-sectional area of the channel 61 is not further increased, but remains constant, and the cross-sectional area in the plane iii at the air outlet end 60b is also Aii, equal to the area at the wide end of the tapered portion T. This configuration, in which the tapered portion is confined towards the air inlet end 60a of the venting nozzle 60, may be useful in limiting the largest width of the venting nozzle 60 (at the wide end of the tapered portion T) if a deep taper (large rate of increase of cross-sectional area with length) and/or a long venting nozzle 60 is required, either of which can allow the cross-sectional area to increase to an inappropriately or inconveniently large value if the taper is extended along the full length of the venting nozzle 60.
Accordingly, the size of the tapered portion T relative to the total length of the venting nozzle 60, which equals the total length of the channel 61, can be selected according to the required length and width/area requirements for the venting nozzle, for example for compatibility with particular designs and configurations of both the article and the refilling device.
Figure 6 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a third example of a tapered venting nozzle. In this example, the side wall 62 of the venting nozzle 60 slopes outwards as before in order to provide the increasing cross-sectional area that defines the tapered channel 61. However, the side wall 62 is not straight, but rather is curved, sloping outward at an increasing rate with distance from the air inlet end 60a. Hence, the cross-sectional area of the channel 61 increases nonlinearly over the tapered portion T (which in this example extends over the whole of venting nozzle length), and in particular increases at an increasing rate with distance from the air inlet end 60a. This longitudinal curvature of the side wall 62 can be employed to achieve further tailoring of the venting nozzle shape. For example, the gradual increase in area/width at and near the air inlet end 60a allows a narrower nozzle to facilitate piercing or penetration of the venting orifice while still allowing a large area/width further up to discourage the travel of fluid towards the air outlet end 60b.
Figure 7 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a fourth example of a tapered venting nozzle. In common with the Figure 6 example, the outwardly sloping side wall 62 of the venting nozzle 60 over the tapered portion T is curved. In this example, however, the side wall 62 slopes outwardly at a decreasing rate, and on reaching a zero outward slope at the end of the tapered portion, continues without further slope straight to the air outlet end 60b. Hence, the cross-sectional area of the channel 61 increases nonlinearly and at a decreasing rate with distance from the air inlet end 60a. In this way, a relatively rapid increase in bore area can be achieved close to the air inlet end 60a to minimise the intake and tracking of fluid into and up the channel 60, but without the area continuing to increase over the length of the tapered portion T to an inconveniently large size. The non-tapered portion between the tapered portion T and the air outlet end 60b can be included to continue the channel 61 and make the venting nozzle 60 as long as might be required, or omitted if an appropriate length is achieved when or before the outward slope of the side wall 62 decreases to zero.
In the examples of Figures 4 and 5, the channel 61 had a circular cross-section. This is not essential however, and other cross-sectional shapes can be used. Shapes with corners, discontinuities and irregularities may not be preferred because fluid may cling to the inside surface of the channel more readily, but such shapes are not excluded.
However, curved and smooth shapes provide a smoother surface for the channel interior which may impede liquid from tracking along the venting nozzle. For example, the cross-sectional shape may be oval. Moreover, the cross-sectional shape need not be constant along the length of the venting nozzle.
Figure 8 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a fifth example of a tapered venting nozzle. Similarly to the Figure 4 example, the side wall 62 is outwardly sloping and straight, giving a cross-sectional area that increases linearly, with the tapered portion T
extending over the full length of the venting nozzle 60. In this example, however, the cross-sectional area Ai in the plane i at the air inlet end 60a is circular, while the cross sectional area Aii in the plane ii at the air outlet end 60b, larger than the area Ai as before, has an oval shape. The side wall 62 may be formed so that the transition between the two shapes is smooth, to avoid irregularities in the inside surface of the channel 61.
Conversely, the venting nozzle 60 may start with an oval shape at the air inlet end 60a and change to a circular shape at the air outlet end 60b. Other shapes may also be used. The use of different shapes at either end, or alternatively for a intermediate portion, may facilitate cooperation and integration of the venting nozzle with the article and the refilling dock.
Also shown in Figure 8 is the length LT of the tapered portion T, being the same as the length LC of the channel 61 and the venting nozzle 60.
Figure 9 shows a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a sixth example of a tapered venting nozzle. Similarly to the Figure 5 example, the side wall 62 is initially outwardly sloping and straight, giving a cross-sectional area that increases linearly over a tapered portion T that extends only part of the length of the venting nozzle 60. In this example, however, the cross-sectional area Ai in the plane i at the air inlet end 60a and the cross sectional area Aii in the plane ii at the air outlet end 60b, larger than the area Ai as before, both have an oval shape. Hence, the cross-sectional shape of the channel 61 is constant with length, and changes only in size. Other shapes may also be used in a similar way. Also shown in Figure 9 is the length LT of the tapered portion T, being less than the length LC of the channel 61 and the venting nozzle 60.

Regarding dimensions, the width of the channel and indeed the outside width of the venting nozzle will typically be small, in order to engage with a small size of venting orifice on a small article. For example, the cross-sectional area of the channel at the air inlet end may have a maximum width in the range of about 1.5 mm to 3 mm (bearing in mind that the channel may have a non-circular cross-section and may therefore have more than one width size, including a maximum width). However, the width may be smaller than this, such as between 0.5 and 1.5 mm, or larger than 3 mm. A specific example is a venting nozzle with a circular bore having an internal diameter at the air inlet end of about 0.8 mm.
The taper, as noted, may be shallow or deep, depending on the length of the tapered portion and the width or area to which it is desired to increase the cross-section of the channel. For example, the cross-sectional area at the far end of the tapered portion remote from the air inlet end, in other words, the cross-sectional area to which the channel increases over the tapered portion, may have a maximum width in the range of about 1.8 mm to 4 mm. A narrower maximum channel bore may be used instead, however, such as in the range of 1.5 mm to 2.5 mm or 1 mm to 2 mm, or a wider maximum such as in the range of 2.5 mm to 5 mm. The venting nozzle may alternatively be described as a hollow needle, with the channel bore dimension being defined in terms of needle gauge, where a higher value of needle gauge corresponds to a narrower channel diameter. For example the maximum channel diameter may be in the range of 12 gauge to 32 gauge.
Alternatively, a generally narrow but still tapering channel bore may be preferred, for example if space for the venting nozzle is limited but the effect of the taper is still desired.
For example, the maximum width of the cross-sectional area of the tapered portion may not exceed 2 mm, or not exceed 3 mm.
As noted, the taper may be shallow or steep, defined by the rate at which the side wall of the venting nozzle sloped outward and at which the cross-sectional area increases.
For example, the cross-sectional area may increase over the length of the tapered portion by 100% or less, or by more than 100%. For a particularly shallow taper, the cross-sectional area may increase over the length of the tapered portion by 50% or less.
The length of the venting nozzle, and hence of the channel, may be selected as appropriate for fitting with the internal design of the refilling device, and the location at which it is desired for the vented air to be discharged into the environment. For example, the channel may have a length in the range of 6 mm to 40 mm, although shorter or longer nozzles are not excluded. As described, the tapered portion may be the same length as the venting nozzle or may be shorter. Accordingly, the tapered portion may also have a length in the range of 6 mm to 40 mm, or may fall within a range of shorter values, such as between 3 mm and 38 mm. For a tapered portion shorter than the nozzle, as in the examples of Figures 5 ands 9, the length LT of the tapered portion may be in range of 50%
to 95% of the length LC of the channel. Proportionally shorter tapered portions may also be used.
As discussed earlier, a vertically oriented venting nozzle offers the aid of gravity in inhibiting fluid from tracking along the venting nozzle. However, the venting nozzle may be oriented differently, so long as the air inlet end is located towards to the top of the storage area of an article received in the article interface so that the storage area can be completely or near completely filled with fluid before the fluid level reaches the air inlet end. The tapered shaped will still provide a reduced capillary force to inhibit fluid movement along the venting nozzle channel.
Figure 10 shows a simplified schematic representation of an example tapered venting nozzle 60 engaged with an article 30, and oriented within the refilling device (not shown) so that the straight channel 61 is arranged with its longitudinal axis horizontal.
Similarly, in this example this fluid nozzle 34 is also arranged horizontally, with the venting orifice 63 and the inlet orifice 32 of the article 30 on a same wall 31 of the article 30 so that the two nozzles 34, 60 can be side by side and parallel. This facilitates engagement of the article 30 with the nozzles 34, 60, since relative movement E can be effected along a single direction.
Figure 11 shows a simplified schematic representation of a tapered venting nozzle 60 engaged with an article 30 according to another example arrangement. In this example, the venting nozzle 60 is arranged vertically for both gravity and reduced capillary action, while the fluid nozzle 34 is arranged horizontally. Relative movement E along two directions will be required to achieve engagement of the article 30 with the nozzles 34, 60 Note that for any relative arrangement of the two nozzles, the article may be received in the article interface so as to be positioned in the refilling device for filling with a generally vertical orientation of its longitudinal axis (such as in Figures 3 and 11) or a generally horizontal orientation (such as in Figure 10).
Although the refilling of aerosol generating material storage areas of aerosol provision system and articles for aerosol provision systems have been cited as a particular use of nozzles as disclosed herein, including use in refilling devices, the concept is not so limited. Nozzles in accordance with the disclosure can be used in any circumstance where liquid is to be transferred into a substantially closed or airtight space so that air needs to be vented in order to avoid or reduce pressure increases.
REFILLING APPARATUS
A refilling apparatus is described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 mentioned above and Figures 12 to 18 mentioned below.
As noted above, the fluid conduit 58 is arranged so as to be in fluid communication with the reservoir 40 and the article 30 to allow source liquid to be transferred to the storage area of the article 30. The article 30 is suitably configured to be able to be refilled by the dock 50, e.g., via inlet orifice 32. However, the article 30 is arranged so as to, on the one hand, provide a relatively easy engagement between the fluid conduit 58 (or other component(s) linked to the fluid conduit 58) so as to facilitate refilling of the article 30, and on the other hand, is arranged so as to prevent or reduce source liquid exiting the article 30 (for example, when the (full) article 30 is transitioned between the dock 50 and the aerosol provision device after the dock 50 has refilled the article 30 with source liquid). Accordingly, further details regarding the article 30 and the fluid conduit 58 and dock 50 are described herein.
In accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, refilling of the article 30 is achieved via a nozzle configured to engage with and actuate a spigot located within the opening 32 of the article 30. The spigot forms a part of a valve arrangement of the article 30 and further includes a part of the housing of the article 30 which is configured to receive the spigot. The spigot is configured to move between a first position in which an outlet opening of the spigot is blocked by the housing of the article 30 / valve arrangement, and a second position in which the outlet opening of the spigot is in fluid communication with the reservoir 3 of the article 30. When the nozzle is coupled to the spigot and the spigot is in the second position, aerosol-generating material from the refill reservoir 40 is transferred from the refill reservoir 40 via the fluid conduit 58 through a hollow passage in the spigot and into the reservoir 3 to cause the reservoir 3 to be refilled with aerosol-generating material. The above valve arrangement is able to be reliably moved between the first position and the second position to provide a relatively easy and simple automated refilling process when used together with a suitable dock 50 having the required actuation mechanism. The valve arrangement is able to be used multiple times to enable multiple refilling operations of the article 30 by virtue of the fact that relatively little (if any) damage or wearing is caused by actuating the valve arrangement.
Figure 12 is a highly schematic representation of certain components of Figure shown in more detail. Certain other aspects of Figure 2 have been omitted for clarity from Figure 12. Figure 12 broadly shows article 30 of Figure 2 in addition to nozzle arrangement 160 (not shown in Figure 2).
As seen in Figure 12, the article 30 includes article housing 31, valve housing which comprises a collar 33 of the housing 31 of the article 30 and provides an opening 32 into the reservoir 3, and a spigot 170 located within the collar 33 / opening 32 and arranged to substantially fill the opening 32. The nozzle arrangement 160 comprises a nozzle 161 coupled to a nozzle head 162 (which in turn is coupled to the fluid conduit 58) via a coupling element 163, and a motor 164 coupled to the nozzle 61.

The article 30 comprises a valve arrangement which is formed of both the spigot 170 and the collar 33 of the housing 31 of the article 30. In the described implementation, the spigot 170 and collar 33 have a substantially cylindrical shape. The collar 33 may be thought of as a cylindrical, hollow tubular structure formed in, and protruding from, the edges of article housing 31. The central hollow section of the collar 33 forms the opening 32 through which access to the reservoir 3 is facilitated. The spigot 170 has at least a section which is correspondingly cylindrically shaped and dimensioned such that the outer surface of the section of the spigot fits snugly against the central hollow section of the collar 33 but that also permits movement of the spigot 170 within the collar 33. The spigot 170 is permitted to move, when suitably actuated by the nozzle 161 of nozzle arrangement 160, within the collar 33 between a first position in which an outlet opening within the spigot 170 is blocked or substantially blocked by the collar 33 and a second position in which the outlet opening within the spigot 170 is not blocked by the collar 33 and subsequently in fluid communication with the reservoir 3 of the article 30. In addition, it should be appreciated that in the open position, the storage area / reservoir 3 of the article 30 is in fluid communication with the external environment outside of the article 30 (i.e., outside of the housing 31 defining the article).
The spigot 170 and collar 33 may be formed of any suitable materials, for example a plastics material or a metal material. The collar 33 may be formed from the same material as the article housing 31. In some implementations, the collar 33 may be formed separately from the article housing 31 and subsequently joined to the article housing 31 through a suitable attachment technique, such as adhesive or ultrasonic welding, although other suitable techniques may be used depending on the material of the collar 33 and article housing 31. In other implementations, the collar 33 may be integrally formed with the article housing 31, e.g., via a suitable moulding technique. The spigot 170 may be formed of a material which may have low abrasion in respect of the material used to form the collar 33, so as to reduce wear of the collar 33 / spigot 170 when the spigot 170 is moved within the collar 33.
The valve arrangement of Figure 12 will now be described in more detail with reference to Figures 13, 14A and 14B. Figure 13 schematically shows the components of the valve arrangement in exploded form. Figure 13 shows the collar 33 and spigot 170 in a side-on cross-sectional view, in addition to a top down view of the proximal end 171 of the spigot 170. Figures 14A and 14B respectively and schematically show the valve arrangement in an open position (in which the outlet opening of the spigot 170 is in fluid communication with the reservoir 3 of the article 30) and a closed position (in which the outlet opening of the spigot 170 is substantially blocked by the collar 33). Figures 14A and 14B also respectively show a side-on view of the spigot 170 and collar 33 (lower part of Figures 14A and 14B) and a side-on cross-sectional view of the spigot 170 and collar 33 (upper part of Figures 14A and 14B).
As can be seen in Figures 13, 14A and 14B, the collar 33 is formed of a substantially cylindrical tube having a central hollow passage. The collar 33 is open at both ends and is sized to receive the spigot 170 (or at least a part thereof) as described above. As seen in Figure 14B, the collar 33 has an approximately 4 mm sized external diameter and a 2 mm sized internal diameter (thus having a wall thickness of around 1 mm). The collar 33 is approximately 5 to 6 mm in length. It should be appreciated that the collar 33 may have different sizes / dimensions in other implementations and the values given above are given so as to provide a concrete example of the present disclosure. The collar 33 is shown, in some views, as being coupled to or forming part of the housing 31, as discussed above.
When the collar 33 is to be coupled to the housing 31, the housing 31 comprises an opening sized to match the outer diameter of the collar 33 (that is, 4 mm in the current example). The central passage of the hollow cylinder, perhaps best seen in Figures 14A and 14B, forms the opening 32 discussed above.
The collar 33 further comprises first openings 331 and second openings 332.
More specifically, the collar comprises two first openings 331 arranged either side of the central passage of the collar 33, and two second openings 332 also arranged either side of the central passage of the collar 33. As will be discussed in more detail below, the first openings 331 are provided to allow aerosol-generating material (e.g., source liquid) to pass from the spigot 170 to the reservoir 3, while the second openings 332 are provided to allow air or other fluids from exiting the reservoir 3 when refilling occurs. The first openings 331 may therefore be referred to as outlet openings of the valve housing / collar 33 or aerosol-generating material outlet openings of the valve housing / collar 33, while the second openings 332 may be referred to as inlet openings of the valve housing /
collar 33 or as air inlet openings of the valve housing / collar 33. It should be appreciated that while two first openings 331 and two second openings 332 are shown, in other implementations a fewer or greater number of first openings 331 and second openings 332 may be provided, and the number of first openings 331 need not be the same as the number of second openings 332.
In some implementations, only a single first opening 331 and a single second opening 332 may be provided in the collar 33.
With reference to Figure 13 in particular, the spigot 170 includes a proximal end 171 and a distal end 172. The proximal end 171 is referred to as the proximal end 171 by virtue of the fact that this end engages with the corresponding nozzle 161 of the nozzle arrangement 160. The proximal end 171 comprises a corresponding nozzle engagement feature, which in this example is a recessed portion 171a in the proximal end 171 of the spigot 170 which is correspondingly shaped to the end of the nozzle 161 of the nozzle arrangement 160. In Figure 4, the recessed portion 171a has a shape corresponding to a combination of a cross and an approximate square shape. As will be discussed below, the spigot 170 is designed to rotate in the cylindrical collar 33 about the longitudinal axis of the collar 33 by actuating the nozzle 161, and therefore the nozzle engagement feature of the spigot 170 has a plurality of surfaces which are substantially normal to the direction of rotation. However, shapes other than that shown in Figure 13 may be suitable for performing the same function, which will be readily apparent to the skilled person. The nozzle 161 has a correspondingly shaped engagement feature for engaging with the recessed portion 171a.
Moreover, in other implementations, the nozzle engagement feature may be any suitable feature which is able to engage with the nozzle 161 and facilitate the desired movement of the spigot 170. For example, the engagement feature of the spigot 170 may be a protrusion (rather than a recess) and the nozzle 161 may include a correspondingly shaped recess for receiving the protrusion. In other implementations, the engagement between the spigot and nozzle may be via the nozzle engaging with the outer surface/edge of the spigot 170 using a screw-thread or a gripped arrangement, for example.
As described, the spigot 170 includes a generally cylindrically shaped section, shown generally by the reference sign 173, designed to fit within the cylindrical passage of the collar 33. In the example shown in Figures 13 to 14B, the spigot has a diameter of around 2 mm to correspondingly fit within the cylindrical opening of the collar 33.
However, as above, it should be appreciated that this value provides a concrete example of the diameter of the cylindrical section 173 of the spigot 170, and the spigot 170 may have different diameters in different applications. Above the cylindrical section 173 (i.e., closer to the proximal end 171) is provided flange 174 and an engagement ring 175. The flange 174 and engagement ring 175 have a greater diameter than the cylindrical section 173 and therefore are sized such that they do not pass through the cylindrical passage of the collar 33. For example, the flange 174 may have a diameter of around 3 to 3.5 mm in the described example, although this is provided as an example only and may be different in other implementations. In other words, when the distal end 172 of the spigot 170 is passed through the cylindrical passage of the collar 33, at least the flange 174 remains visible and forms a part of the outer surface of the assembled article 30. In the closed position of the spigot 170, the flange 174 abuts the surface of the collar 33 / housing 31 of the article 30. Although not shown, the flange 174 may include a resilient sealing member which is provided between the flange 174 and the housing 31 / collar 33, which may be slightly compressed against the housing 31 / collar 33 by the flange 174 when the spigot 170 is in the closed position. This may provide an additional seal to prevent contaminants (e.g., dust) from entering the collar 33 / reservoir 3.
To keep the spigot 170 in place within the collar 33 once installed, an element with a diameter larger than the diameter of the cylindrical section 173 (e.g., greater than 2 mm) can be attached at the distal end 172 of the spigot 170. In the present implementation, the spigot 170 includes a recess 172a for receiving an 0-ring or similar resilient, elastic material (generally referred to as biasing element 180), where the 0-ring 180 sits in the recess 172a and extends with a diameter greater than the diameter of the cylindrical section 173 of the spigot 170. In other implementations, a more rigid element, such as a plastic or metal disk (e.g., a washer), or clip or pin, for example, may be attached or otherwise engaged with the end of the spigot 170 to prevent the spigot 170 being withdrawn from the collar 33. In the example shown in Figures 13 to 14B, the spigot has a total length of around 7 mm (see Figure 14B), but it should be appreciated that the spigot 170 may have different lengths in lo different implementations.
The spigot 170 further comprises an aerosol-generating material flow channel (seen best in Figures 1A and 14B). The aerosol-generating material flow channel 176 extends along the central longitudinal axis of the spigot 170 from an inlet opening 176a at the proximal end 171 of the spigot 170 to, in the described implementation, two outlet openings 176b positioned close to the distal end 172 of the spigot 170. The inlet opening 176a can be seen in Figure 13 and is positioned at the centre of the recessed portion 171a.
When the nozzle 161 engages with the recessed portion 171a, an opening in the nozzle 161 aligns with the inlet opening 176a of the spigot 170. Thus, more generally, the engagement feature (e.g., recessed portion 171a) may provide an additional function of helping to align the opening in the nozzle 161 with the inlet opening 176a of the spigot 170.
As discussed above, aerosol-generating material (e.g., source liquid) can be provided to the article 30 via the nozzle 161, and in particular, source liquid can be passed from the opening of the nozzle 161 into the inlet opening 176a of the spigot 170. The source liquid passes along the flow channel 176 towards the outlet opening(s) 176b. The flow channel 176 is sized so as to enable the aerosol-generating material, e.g., source liquid, to flow along the flow channel 176 when driven by the transfer mechanism 53 of the dock 50. In the present example, the flow channel 176 is designed to facilitate the transfer of source liquid and has a diameter of around 1 mm, although this value is an example only and other diameters /
dimensions for the flow channel 176 are possible in other implementations. The flow channel 176 is shown in Figures 14A and 14B as extending along the central longitudinal axis of the spigot 170 but it should be appreciated that in some implementations, the flow channel 176 may extend parallel to, but off-centre from, the longitudinal axis of the spigot 170. In general terms, the spigot 170 includes a flow channel 176 which is formed within the spigot 170 ¨
that is, the flow channel 176 is a hollow flow channel running within the spigot 170 and enclosed by the spigot 170 in the radial direction of the flow channel. Additionally, while it has been shown and described above that the cross-sectional shape of the flow channel 176 is broadly circular, the flow channel may take any cross-sectional shape accordingly.

As seen in Figure 14A, the flow channel 176 splits into two branches, extending in opposite directions and forming a "T" shape. Each of the two branches of the flow channel 176 extend to respective outlet openings 176b formed in the outer surface of the spigot 176.
The number of outlet openings 176b of the flow channel 176 typically corresponds to the number of first openings 331 in the collar 33. For instance, in the described implementation, each of the two outlet openings 176b can be simultaneously fluidly connected to each of the two first openings 331 in the collar 33. However, it is not necessary that the number of openings 331 in the collar 33 matches the number of outlet openings 176b in the spigot 170, and there may be a fewer or greater number of outlet openings 176b to first openings 331.
In addition to the flow channel 176, the spigot 170 is provided with a groove, track, or cut-out 177a in a part of the outer surface of the spigot 170, which forms a part of an air channel 177. In Figure 4, a groove 177a is shown in a part of the outer surface of the spigot 170, with the groove running partway along the length of the cylindrical section 173 of the spigot 170 and over engagement ring 175. In this regard, the groove 177a extends from the proximal end 171 of the spigot 170 in the direction of the distal end 172 of the spigot 170, but does not extend the full length of the spigot 170. As seen in Figure 13, the groove 177a stops prior to the outlet opening 176b in the spigot 170.
When the spigot 170 is assembled with the collar 33, an air channel 177 is provided.
More particularly, as shown in Figure 14A, an air channel 177 may exist from the second openings 332 in the collar 33, along to the groove 177a formed in the spigot 170, and up to the engagement ring 175. Broadly speaking, the groove 177a creates a gap between a section of the spigot 170 and the collar 33 and when this gap is fluidly connected to a second opening 332 and is open to the environment at the engagement ring 175 /
proximal end 171 of the spigot 170, then air is able to flow from the second opening 332 (which, coincidentally, is provided in fluid communication with the reservoir 3) through the gap and out to the environment external to the valve arrangement of the article 30. In this regard, when the transfer mechanism 53 is operated to transfer aerosol-generating material to the reservoir 3 of the article 30, additional material (having a certain volume) is provided to the reservoir 3 which, typically, may have a predefined volume. In the event that air, for example, is unable to escape from the reservoir 3 (or is unable to escape at a rate that is equal to or greater than the rate of mass transfer of the aerosol-generating material into the reservoir 3), then the amount of overall material within the reservoir 3 subsequently increases during refilling. This subsequently increases the pressure in the reservoir 3 which may cause unwanted effects, such as but not limited to, leakage of aerosol-generating material between various joins/components of the article 30 that otherwise aerosol-generating material would be unable to pass through, increased stress on any sealing components within the article 30, and/or increased stress on components of the nozzle arrangement 160 or transfer mechanism 53. Thus, providing the valve arrangement of the article 30 with a mechanism to allow air to exit the reservoir 3 during refilling of the reservoir 3 with aerosol-generating material, can be advantageous.
Finally, the spigot 170 includes the engagement ring 175 referenced earlier.
The engagement ring 175 in the present example is a ring-shaped element that extends around the upper part of the spigot 170 and provides a surface or edge to the spigot 170 that comprises a row of saw-shaped teeth extending around the circumference of the spigot 170 (and as mentioned previously, at a diameter greater than the cylindrical section 173). The engagement ring 175 may be separately formed from the spigot 170 and attached, or may be integrally formed with the spigot 170. The saw-shaped teeth are provided such that the teeth are orientated in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the spigot 170. In other words, the saw-tooth shaped teeth point in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the spigot 170. This arrangement is shown best in Figure 13. The collar 33 comprises a corresponding recessed portion 333 at the upper side of the collar 33 (that is, the side of the collar 33 orientated away from the reservoir 3). The recessed portion 333 is sized so as to receive the engagement ring 175 when the spigot 170 is placed within the collar 33. The recessed portion 333 also comprises a complementary saw-tooth shaped profile, that can engage with the saw-tooth shaped profile of the engagement ring 175. Accordingly, the saw-tooth shaped teeth of the recessed portion 333 are orientated in the opposite direction along the longitudinal axis of the collar 33 / spigot 170.
Operation of the valve arrangement is now explained, primarily with reference to Figures 14A and 14B.
Figure 14B shows the valve arrangement in a closed configuration. In this configuration, the spigot 170 is said to be in a first position or closed position in which the outlet openings 176b of the spigot 170 are not fluidly coupled to the first openings 331 in the collar 33. As the first openings 331 are fluidly coupled to the reservoir 3 of the article 30, it follows that, in the closed position, the outlet openings 176b are also not fluidly coupled to the reservoir 3. Therefore, aerosol-generating material (source liquid) which is passed along the flow channel 176 is blocked from entering the reservoir 3. In fact, as seen in Figure 14B, the opening 176b is blocked by the inner surface of the collar 33, and this prevents any source liquid (as well as any other material, such as dust or dirt) from passing into the reservoir 3 via the inlet opening 176a. Equally, in this configuration, source liquid is prevented from exiting the reservoir 3 in the event that source liquid starts to flow along the first openings 331 (e.g., should the article 30 be inverted).
In addition, when the spigot 170 is in the first position or closed position, the groove 177a is not fluidly coupled to the second openings 332. Instead, as seen in Figure 14B, the second openings 332 are blocked by the outer surface of the cylindrical section 173 of the spigot 170. Because the cylindrical section 173 of the spigot 170 is snug against the inside of the collar 33, any air entering the second openings 332 is substantially prevented from flowing between the outer surface of the cylindrical section 173 of the spigot 170 and the inner surface of the collar 33. Equally, in this configuration, source liquid is prevented from exiting the reservoir 3 in the event that source liquid starts to flow along the second openings 332 (e.g., should the article 30 be inverted). Furthermore, when the spigot is in the closed position, the saw-tooth shape teeth of the engagement ring 175 and the recessed portion 333 are fully engaged with one another, effectively forming a seal between the spigot 170 and the collar 33. Such a seal can help reduce the chance of contaminants such as dust or dirt from passing between the spigot 170 and the collar 33, or along the groove 177a, and into the reservoir 3.
Thus, when the spigot 170 is in the first or closed position, the valve arrangement of the article 30 is substantially closed and aerosol-generating material (source liquid) is prevented or restricted from exiting the article 30 via the valve arrangement.
The valve arrangement may be biased to the closed position using a suitable biasing element 180. In the embodiment shown in Figures 14A and 14B, the spigot 170 is biased closed using 0-ring 180. With reference to Figure 14B, the 0-ring 180 is positioned in the recess 172a at the distal end 172 of the spigot 170 (where the 0-ring 180 is installed after the spigot 170 has been inserted in the collar 33). The 0-ring 180 has a thickness in the longitudinal direction of the spigot 170 such that the upper surface of the 0-ring 180 abuts the lower surface of the collar 33 (as seen in Figure 14B). In particular implementations, the 0-ring 180 may be sized such that it is under a slight compression when installed in recess 172a (that is, the 0-ring may be compressed against the lower surface of the collar 33), which may ensure the spigot 170 is biased to the closed position as well as helping to ensure the 0-ring is retained in the recess 172a. Accordingly, under the application of no additional force, the 0-ring 180 is in its most relaxed state when the spigot 170 is biased to the closed position. The closed position of the valve arrangement / spigot 170 is therefore the natural position of the valve arrangement / spigot 170 and is likely the position that the valve arrangement / spigot 170 will be in for the majority of the valve arrangement's expected lifetime. The article 30 accordingly is biased such that aerosol-generating material will not be able to exit the article 30 via the valve arrangement in the closed position and therefore the article 30 can be handled by a user safe in the knowledge that aerosol-generating material is prevented or substantially prevented from leaking out of the valve arrangement (for example, when the user attaches a refilled article 30 to the aerosol provision device 20 or even during normal use of the aerosol provision device 20).
In order to enable refilling of the article 30, the valve arrangement / spigot 170 is moved to the second position or open position. Figure 14A shows the valve arrangement /

spigot 170 in the open position. In the open position, the outlet openings 176b of the spigot 170 are arranged to fluidly couple to the first openings 331 in the collar 33.
This in turn ensures the outlet openings 176b of the spigot 170 are coupled to the reservoir 3 of the article 30 by virtue of the fact the first openings 331 are fluidly coupled to the reservoir 3 of the article 30. More generally, it can be seen that the reservoir 3 is now also fluidly coupled to the external environment outside of the article 30 by virtue of the flow channel 176 and inlet opening 176a. Any aerosol-generating material (source liquid) which is passed to the inlet opening 176a of the flow channel 176 is able to flow along the flow channel 176, through the outlet openings 176b of the spigot 170, through the first openings 331 of the collar 33 and finally to the reservoir 3 of the article 30. Figure 14A depicts the path of the aerosol-generating material travelling from inlet opening 176a to exiting the first openings 331 using the red arrows.
In addition, when the spigot 170 is in the second position or open position, the groove 177a is now fluidly coupled to the second openings 332, and thus to the reservoir 3 by virtue of the fact that second openings 332 are fluidly coupled to the reservoir 3.
In addition, when the spigot 170 is in the open position, the engagement ring 175 and the recessed portion 333 are moved such that the respective saw-tooth shaped teeth are no longer completely engaged (that is, there exists a gap between the respective teeth of the engagement ring 175 and the recessed portion 333). This gap effectively fluidly connects to the groove 177a.
Accordingly, the gap between the teeth of the recessed portion 333 and engagement ring 175 act as the outlet of the air channel 177. Accordingly, when the valve arrangement /
spigot 170 is in the open position, air is permitted to flow from the reservoir 3 through the second openings 332, along groove 177a, and out through the gap between the teeth of the recessed portion 333 and engagement ring 175 to the environment external to the valve arrangement / article 30. In this way, air is able to vented from the reservoir 3 during a refilling process. Figure 5A depicts the path of the air travelling from second openings 332 to exiting valve arrangement using the blue arrows.
As can be seen in Figure 14A, the first openings 331 (through which aerosol-generating material enters the reservoir 3) are positioned at a different location in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the collar 33 or spigot 170 as compared to the second openings 332 which allow air to exit the reservoir 3. More specifically, the first openings 331 are positioned below the second openings 332, in Figure 5A. In this regard, aerosol-generating material entering the reservoir 3 flows away from the first openings 331. The article 30 is broadly configured so that the valve arrangement is orientated at the top of the article 30 during refilling and the aerosol-generating material therefore flow downwards under the influence of gravity to the side of the article opposite the side comprising the valve arrangement. Such a configuration may be referred to as a "top-filled article"
where the article is filled via the top surface of the article, relative to the direction of gravity. In such top-filled configurations, providing the first openings 331 further along the collar 33 than the second openings 332 means it becomes difficult for aerosol-generating material exiting the first openings 331 to subsequently enter the second openings 332 and escape to the external environment along air channel 177 (as any aerosol-generating material effectively has to flow against gravity to be able to enter the second openings 332).
However, it should be appreciated that the present disclosure is not limited to "top-filled articles" and so called "bottom-filled articles" may be employed in which the article 30 is oriented in the article port 56 such that, in the direction in which gravity acts, the surface of the housing of the article 30 including the valve arrangement is positioned after the opposing surface of the housing of the article 30. In this configuration, the valve arrangement may be configured such that the second openings 332 are positioned further along the longitudinal axis of the collar 33 /
spigot 70 that the first openings 331.
In order to move from the first position to the second position, the spigot 170 is both rotated (about the longitudinal axis of the spigot 170 / collar 33, which coincidentally are aligned when the spigot 170 is installed in the collar 33) and moved in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the spigot 170 / collar 33. More particularly, in the present example of Figures 14A and 14B, when the spigot 170 is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the spigot 170 (e.g., by the nozzle arrangement 160, described later), the engagement ring 175 rotates relative to the collar 33. This relative rotation movement between the engagement ring 175 and the collar 33 causes sliding of the saw-tooth shaped profiles of the engagement ring 175 and the collar 33 relative to one another. As the saw-tooth shaped profiles of the engagement ring 175 and the collar 33 rotate relative to one another, the spigot 170 is forced to move in the axial direction, thus separating the engagement ring 175 from the recessed portion 333, effectively causing the spigot 170 to rise from the collar 33.
Figures 15A to 15C highly schematically illustrate different states of the engagement ring 175 with respect to the recessed portion 333 when the engagement ring 175 is moved in a direction M which corresponds to the direction of rotation of the spigot 170. Figures 15A to 15C omit many details of the article 30 and the spigot 170, and are intended solely to explain the principles of the engagement ring 175 and recessed portion 333. Figures 15Aa to 15C
also show the profiles of the recessed portion 333 and engagement ring 175 in a linear manner, although it should be understood the same principles apply to the profiles when positioned around about axis.
Figure 15A schematically shows the engagement ring 175 and recessed portion when the spigot 170 is in a closed position. As can be seen the respective teeth of the saw-toothed shaped profiles of the engagement ring 175 and recessed portion 333 engage such that there is little to no gap between the teeth (although this gap is exaggerated in Figure 15A for illustrative reasons). When a force causing movement in the direction M is applied to the engagement ring 175 / spigot 170, the engagement ring 175 begins to slide relative to the recessed portion 333. Figure 15B shows the engagement ring 175 relative to the recessed portion 333 after some movement of the engagement ring 175 relative to the recessed portion 333, while Figure 15C shows the engagement ring 175 relative to the recessed portion 333 after further movement of the engagement ring 175 relative to the recessed portion 333 as compared to Figure 15B. As the engagement ring 175 slides relative to the recessed portion 333 in the direction M, the engagement ring 175 (and thus spigot 170) is moved in a direction perpendicular to the movement M by virtue of the angle of the respective teeth relative to the direction M. As seen in Figures 15B and 15C, this causes the engagement ring 175 and recessed portion 333 to separate and subsequently cause the spigot 170 to move upwards from the collar 33.
Figure 15C represents the engagement ring 175 and recessed portion 333 when the spigot 170 is in the open position. Hence, rotating the spigot 170 by the appropriate amount causes the spigot 170 to move to the open position. As seen in Figure 15C, the amount the engagement ring 175 is required to move before the spigot 170 is in the open position may not be quite enough to cause the points of the respective teeth to align ¨
rather, as shown in Figure 15C, there may be some overlap Ov of the profiles. Moving the engagement ring 175 so that the points of the respective saw-tooth profiles are touching can make the arrangement more unstable or difficult to maintain in the open position (as slight movement in the direction M can cause the spigot 170 to rapidly move back to the closed position).
Providing the overlap Ov allows the open position to be stably maintained and may also accommodate for tolerances in the actual rotational movement applied to the spigot 170.
As discussed, not only is the spigot 170 rotated relative to the collar 33, but the spigot 170 is moved in the axial direction of the rotation (that is along the longitudinal axis of the spigot 170). VVith reference to Figure 14A, as the spigot 70 is lifted from the collar 33, the 0-ring 180 is subsequently compressed against the surface of the collar 33 that abuts the 0-ring 180. Assuming the spigot 170 is able to be held in the open position, then the 0-ring 180 is compressed and naturally wants to relax back to the uncompressed state corresponding to the closed position of the spigot 170 / valve arrangement.
Therefore, when the spigot 170 is no longer held in the open position, the compressed 0-ring 180 causes the engagement ring 175 to move back to the state shown in Figure 15A. In some implementations, the spigot 170 may simply be released from the open position (that is, any mechanism that is preventing further movement is released / removed so that the spigot 170 is free to move in a direction opposite to the direction M shown in Figures 15A to 15C.
Alternatively, an additional movement in the direction M may deliberately be applied to the spigot 170 (e.g., once refilling is complete) such that the engagement ring 175 is moved to suddenly snap into the position shown in Figure 15A.
Hence, by applying a rotational force to the spigot 170, the spigot 170 can be moved from the closed position to the open position. Additionally, due to the arrangement of the engagement ring 175 with the recessed portion 333, a rotational force applied to the spigot 170 can cause not only the spigot 170 to rotate about the longitudinal axis of the spigot 170 but also to move in the axial direction of the spigot 170. This dual motion can be beneficial.
In one regard, the required motion to align the outlet openings 176b and groove 177a of the spigot with the openings 331 and openings 332 is greater than, for example, moving the spigot 170 in either the rotation or axial directions. This provides a relatively longer and more tortuous path for any aerosol-generating material (source liquid) to travel should there be some minor leakage or imperfections in the sizes / tolerances of the components of the valve arrangement when in the closed position. That is, although the valve arrangement is designed so as not to allow aerosol generating material to exit the reservoir 3 through the vale arrangement, in instances where a small amount of aerosol-generating material does leak at parts of the valve arrangement, it becomes more difficult for the aerosol-generating material to leave the valve arrangement. In addition, providing the axial movement of the spigot 170 provides a relatively simple mechanism for biasing the spigot to the closed position. Further, the valve arrangement is also visibly different when in the open position or the closed position (in the open position the spigot protrudes from the surface of the collar 33 / article 30). This may be particularly helpful to allow a user to visual recognise when the valve arrangement is in the open position, for example, when after refilling and the article 30 is ready for removal from the dock 50 the valve arrangement does not close properly. The user can take the necessary action after identifying the valve arrangement is not closed properly, e.g., pressing/rotating the spigot 170 or finding a replacement article 30.
Hence, it has been described that the article 30 comprises a valve arrangement having a rotatable spigot 170 configured to rotate from a closed position in which the outlet openings 176b are blocked by the collar 33 and an open position in which the outlet openings 176 are in fluid communication with the reservoir 3 of the article 30.
Referring back to Figure 12, the dock 50, and more specifically the nozzle arrangement 160 for engaging with the valve arrangement of the article 30 described above is now explained in more detail.
Figure 12 shows the nozzle arrangement 160 comprising a nozzle 161. The nozzle 161 is coupled to a nozzle head 162. The nozzle head 162 acts as a base / body for the nozzle arrangement 160 to which other components, such as the nozzle 161, are attached.
As can be seen in Figure 12, the nozzle head 162 includes a coupling element 163 which is designed to fluidly coupled together the nozzle 161 with the fluid conduit 58 (which is fluidly connected to the refill reservoir 40). The nozzle 161 includes an aerosol-generating material flow channel 161a, provided along the central axis of the nozzle 161. The coupling element 163, in one respect, is configured to fluidly connect the fluid conduit 58 with the aerosol-generating material flow channel 161a, such that aerosol-generating material passed along the fluid conduit 58 from the refill reservoir 40 by operation of the transfer mechanism 53 is able to flow along the aerosol-generating material flow channel 161a and out of the end of the nozzle 161.
As described above, the spigot 170 of the valve arrangement of the article 30 is configured to be rotated from the closed position to the open position.
Accordingly, in the described implementations, the nozzle 161 is configured to couple to the nozzle head 162 such that the nozzle 161 is able to rotate about its longitudinal axis. In Figure 12, this is shown by the arrow labelled B. The nozzle 161 is coupled to the nozzle head 162 in any suitable way that enables the nozzle 161 to rotate about its longitudinal axis. In some implementations, the coupling element 163 may include a bearing, the outer surface / side of which is held fixed relative to the nozzle head 162 and the inner surface of which supports the nozzle 161. In other implementations, the coupling element 163 may be permitted to be coupled to the nozzle head 162 in such a way that the coupling element 163, or a part thereof, rotates relative to the nozzle head 162. The nozzle arrangement 160 further comprises a motor 164, such as a stepper motor, or other mechanism for driving the rotation of the nozzle 161. The motor 164 is coupled to suitable gearing or other drive mechanism which is correspondingly coupled to the nozzle 161, or element that is subsequently coupled to the nozzle 161, for driving the rotation of the nozzle 161. In some implementations, the nozzle 161 may comprise a gear extending radially around the proximal end of the nozzle 161. The gear may mesh with a gear located in the nozzle head 162 driven by the motor.
However, it should be appreciated that any suitable mechanism for driving the rotation of the nozzle 161 may be employed in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure. In Figure 12, the motor 164 is shown as being in the nozzle head 162, but in other implementations the motor 164 may be provided separately to the nozzle head 162 and subsequently coupled to the nozzle 161 accordingly.
The coupling element 163 may be any suitable coupling element providing fluid connection between the fluid conduit 58 and the nozzle 161 and/or facilitating rotational movement of the nozzle 161. The coupling element 163 may be or comprise a clamp or the like, where the fluid conduit 58 and/or nozzle 161 comprise flanges that are clamped into position by the coupling element 163. The coupling element 163 may instead comprise a screw-thread where the respective ends of the nozzle 161 and fluid conduit 58 comprise corresponding threads that allow the nozzle 161 and fluid conduit 58 to be screwed into the nozzle head 162. Any suitable connection mechanism may be employed in accordance with the implementation at hand. The coupling element 163 may also comprise suitable sealing elements (not shown) such as 0-rings to provide, e.g., a fluid tight seal when either or both of the fluid conduit 58 and nozzle 161 are coupled to the nozzle head 162.
While it is shown that the coupling element 163 is position inside the nozzle head 162, in other implementations, respective coupling elements 163 may be provided for each of the fluid conduit 58 and nozzle 161, e.g., on the surface of the nozzle head 162, whereby the nozzle head 162 comprises an internal pathway coupling the respective coupling elements 163.
Although not shown, the nozzle head 162 is coupled to a suitable movement mechanism, which is able to translate the nozzle head 162 (and hence nozzle 161) towards and away from the article 30 located in the article port 56 of the dock 50 under suitable control by the controller 55. This movement is generally shown by arrow A in Figure 12.
When the article 30 is not engaged with the article port 56, the nozzle head 162 may be located in a first position in which the nozzle 161 is kept away from the article port 56 (for example, the nozzle head 162 may be retracted in the dock 50). When the article 30 is located in the article port 56 and when the controller 55 determines it is appropriate to refill the article 30 (e.g., either automatically based on the presence of the article 30 in the article port 56 or based on receiving a suitable instruction from the user of the dock 50 to begin refilling), the controller 55 causes the nozzle head 162 to move towards the article 30 in the article port 56 via the movement mechanism. More specifically, the nozzle head 162 is moved towards the article 30 such that the nozzle 161 engages with the recessed portion 171a of the proximal end 171 of the spigot 170. The nozzle 161 has a distal end which is correspondingly shaped to fit within the recessed portion 171a. The movement mechanism may continue to move the nozzle head 162 toward the article 30 until the nozzle 161 is appropriately located within the recessed portion 171a of the spigot 170 of the article 30.
When the nozzle head 162 is positioned as above, this is referred to as a second position of the nozzle head 162. The movement mechanism may be controlled to substantially stop movement of the nozzle head 162 when the nozzle head 162 is located in the second position.
The nozzle head 162 may be configured to apply a certain force to the proximal end 171 of the spigot 170, so as to maintain constant engagement with the proximal end 171 /
recessed portion 171a of the spigot 170. This may be for two reasons: firstly, to help ensure the flow channel 161a of the nozzle 161 fluidly engages with the inlet opening 176a of the spigot 170 so that aerosol-generating material may be reliably transferred to the inlet opening 176a of the spigot when the transfer mechanism 53 is activated; and secondly, to help ensure engagement between the nozzle and spigot is maintained for driving the rotation of the spigot 170.

When the nozzle head 162 has been moved such that the nozzle 161 is engaged with the recessed portion 171a of the article 30, the controller 55 of the dock 50 is configured to rotate the nozzle 161 by a suitable amount to move the spigot 170 from the closed position to the open position. During this movement, as discussed above, the spigot 170 rises from the rest of the valve arrangement / article 30. At this time, the nozzle head 162 may be configured to move in the direction away from the article 30 to accommodate the rise of the spigot 170. For example, the nozzle head 162 may comprise a sensor to sense the force applied to the spigot 170 by the nozzle 161. The nozzle head 162 may be configured to apply a constant amount of force in the axial direction (that is, the direction indicated by arrow A). When the spigot 170 starts rising as a result of the rotational motion, the force applied by the nozzle 161 to the spigot 170 increases and thus the nozzle head 162 may be configured to move away from the article 30 so as to maintain a constant force applied to the spigot 170. In alternative implementations, the nozzle 161 may be configured to retreat into the nozzle head 162 as the spigot 170 starts to rise. It should be appreciated that any suitable mechanism for accommodating the rise of the spigot 170 may be implemented in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.
Although it has been described above that the nozzle head 162 is configured to move towards the article 30, in other implementations, additionally, or alternatively, the article port 56 may be configured with a suitable movement mechanism to cause the article port 56 (and article 30 when installed in the article port 56) to move towards the nozzle arrangement 60 and nozzle 161. The same principles apply as described above in these alternative implementations. In more general terms, the dock 50 is configured to cause relative movement of the nozzle arrangement and/or article between the first position and the second position.
Additionally, while it has been described above that the nozzle 161 rotates relative to the nozzle head 162, in other implementations, the rotation of the nozzle 161 may be effected by rotating the entire nozzle head 162 about the axis of the nozzle 161. In these implementations, the nozzle 161 may be effectively statically mounted with respect to the nozzle head 162. Additionally or alternatively, the article port 56 may be configured to rotate the article 30 relative to the nozzle 161 or nozzle head 162 in other implementations.
The operation of the dock 50 for refilling the article 30 will now be explained with reference to Figure 16. Figure 16 shows an example method for aiding to explain the principles of operation of the dock 50 to cause refilling of an article 30.
The method starts at step Si where the article 30 is engaged with the article port 56.
As described above, this may include the article 30 being coupled to the article port 56 or may include the device 20 including the article 30 both being coupled to the article port 56.

Once at least the article 30 is engaged with the article port 56, at step S2, the controller 55 receives instructions to refill the article 30. As described above, these instructions may be received by the controller 55 either as a result of a user input, e.g., obtained via a user input mechanism such as a button on the dock 50 or via a remote device communicate coupled to the dock 50 (e.g., a smartphone), or automatically as a result of the dock 50 determining that the article 30 is appropriately coupled to the article port 56.
Optionally, and although not shown, there may be an additional step before, after or during step S2, which may include the controller 55 determining whether refilling is required, e.g., if the article 30 is already considered to have a sufficient amount of aerosol-generating material therein, then the controller 55 may determine that refilling is not required. The controller 55 may make this determination based on measuring or otherwise being informed of the amount of aerosol-generating material in the article 30. If refilling is not required, then the controller 55 may cause a suitable indication to be provided to the user.
In response to receiving the instructions at step S2, the controller 55 of the dock 50 is configured to cause relative movement of the nozzle arrangement toward the article 30 at step S3. As described above, the mechanism for causing relative movement is not particularly limited, but in all cases provides relative movement of the nozzle 161 towards the spigot 170 from a first position of the nozzle head 162 in which nozzle 161 is not engaged with the recessed portion 171a of the spigot 170 to a second position in which the nozzle 161 is engaged with the spigot 170 of the article 30 located in the article port 56.
Once the nozzle 161 is located in the second position, the controller 55 is configured to cause rotation of the spigot 170 from the first, closed position to the second open position at step S4. The controller 55 may know in advance or be able to determine how to appropriately control the motor 164 for rotating the nozzle 161 to subsequently rotate the spigot 170. For instance, the dock 50 may be calibrated in advance such that the controller 55 is programmed to supply a voltage for a fixed duration to the motor 164 to rotate the spigot 170 to the open position. During this step, as described above, the spigot 170 rises relative to the rest of the article 30 and the nozzle head 162 / nozzle 161 /
article port 56 may be configured to accommodate the rise in the spigot 170 by moving appropriately.
At step S5, the controller 55 is configured to cause the spigot 170 to be maintained in the second, open position. This step may be inherent depending on the mechanism used to rotate the spigot 170, or it may be a step that requires active control (e.g., ensuring the nozzle 161 maintains a certain level of force applied to the spigot 170 to prevent the (now compressed) 0-ring 180 from causing the spigot 170 to return to the closed position).
Once the spigot 170 is maintained in the second, open position at step S5, the controller 55 is configured to cause the transfer mechanism 53 to start transfer of the aerosol generating material, e.g., source liquid, from the refill reservoir 40 to the reservoir 3 of the article 30 at step S6. More specifically, once the transfer mechanism 53 is operated, source liquid is transferred (e.g., pumped) from the refill reservoir 40 along the conduit 58 via the transfer (e.g., pumping) action of the transfer mechanism 53. The source liquid travels along the conduit 58, to the connecting element 163 of the nozzle arrangement 160, through flow channel 161a of the nozzle 161 and out of the opening of the nozzle 161 into the inlet opening 176a of the spigot 170. The aerosol-generating material / source liquid then flows through flow channel 176, outlet openings 176b, first openings 331 and finally to the reservoir 3 of the article 30.
At step S7, the controller 55 is configured to determine when refilling has completed and subsequently cause the transfer mechanism 53 to stop transferring aerosol-generating material to the reservoir 3 of the article 30. As discussed previously, this may include measuring a parameter of the article 30 which is indicative of the amount of aerosol-generating material, for example, a capacitance or the like using a suitable sensor, or by determining that a predetermined amount of aerosol-generating material has been transferred to the reservoir 3 of the article 30, e.g., by measuring the flow of aerosol-generating material to the reservoir 3.
Once refilling has been stopped at step S7, in some implementations, the controller 55 causes the nozzle 161 to be moved away from the article 30 and out of engagement with the spigot 170 at step S8. This is performed by relatively moving the nozzle arrangement 160 and the article 30 away from one another (along the direction A of Figure 3). Again, this may be performed by moving the nozzle arrangement while keeping the article static, by moving the article while keeping the nozzle arrangement static, or by moving both the nozzle arrangement and article. Step S8 may be performed after or simultaneously with step S7, although this may depend on the properties of the material being transferred by the dock 50.
For instance, there may be a delay between steps S7 and S8 to allow for any residual aerosol-generating material held in the nozzle 161 when the transfer mechanism 53 has stopped to pass into the reservoir 3, if this is found to occur for certain aerosol-generating materials.
As the nozzle 161 is moved away from the spigot 170 of the article 30 at step S8, the compressed 0-ring 180 is able to begin returning to its natural state, and subsequently cause the rotation of the spigot 170 back to the closed position. Hence, when the nozzle 161 is moved away from the article, the valve arrangement reverts back to its closed position and the article is now ready to be removed from the article port 56.
At either of steps S7 and S8, the controller 55 may be configured to cause an indication to be provided to a user signifying that refilling is complete and / or that the nozzle arrangement 160 and article 30 have been successfully decoupled (that is, are returned from the second position to the first position). The indication may be provided through a suitable mechanism on the dock 50 (such as an LED or other suitable indicator) or through a remote device communicatively coupled to the dock 50 (such as a smartphone). Once the indicator has been provided to the user, the user may decide to remove the article 30 from the article port 56 and is then free to use the article 30 with the device 20 for the purposes of generating aerosol for inhalation.
It should be appreciated that at step S8, in some implementations, rather than simply moving the nozzle 161 away from the article 30, the nozzle 161 may be rotated further to cause the spigot 170 to actively move to the first position prior to moving the nozzle 161 away from the article 30, as described above.
Although the above has broadly described a valve arrangement comprising a spigot 170 which is able to move both in a rotational manner around a longitudinal axis of the spigot 170 and in a linear manner along the longitudinal axis of the spigot 170, it should be understood that in other implementations, only one of rotational and longitudinal movement may be required to move the spigot from a closed position to an open position.
For example, the valve housing and spigot may be configured such that the open position is achieved by pushing or pulling the spigot in the axial direction of the spigot.
Alternatively, the valve housing and spigot may be configured such that the open position is achieved by rotating the spigot about the longitudinal axis of the spigot.
It has been described above that the valve arrangement is configured to allow air to exit or escape the reservoir 3 of the article 30 when the nozzle 161 is operated to transfer aerosol-generating material (e.g., source liquid) to the reservoir 3 of the article 30. However, this may not be required for every implementation of the article 30. For example, in some cases, air may be able to escape from the reservoir 3 through joins in the housing or between the collar 33 and the spigot 170 or the collar 33 and the housing.
Thus, if air is otherwise able to escape from the reservoir 3 or is able to escape at a rate that is equal to or greater than the rate of mass transfer of the aerosol-generating material into the reservoir 3, then the openings 332 (and correspondingly the groove 177a and air channel 177) may not be required.
Although the channel 177 has been referred to herein as an air channel 177, suitable for transporting air from the reservoir 3 to outside the valve arrangement, the air channel 177 may also be configured for transporting other gasses or fluids which may need to be evacuated from the reservoir 3 during a refilling operation.
Although it has been described above that the refilling device / dock 50 is provided to transfer source liquid from a refill reservoir 40 to an article 30, as discussed, other implementations may use other aerosol-generating materials (such as solids, e.g., tobacco).
The principles of the present disclosure apply equally to other types of aerosol-generating material, and suitable refill reservoirs 40 and articles 30 for storing /
holding the aerosol-generating materials, and a suitable transfer mechanism 53, may accordingly be employed by the skilled person for such implementations.
Moreover, the above has focused on implementations in which the article 30 comprises the valve arrangement which is formed of both the spigot 170 and the collar 33 of the housing 31 of the article 30. However, the principles of the present disclosure are not limited to articles 30 but may also be applied to other aerosol-generating material storage containers, and in particular to refill reservoirs 40.
Figures 17A and 17B schematically show a valve arrangement provided in respect of the refill reservoir 40. Figures 17A and 17B will be understood from Figures 14A and 14B
respectively, and, much like with Figures 14A and 14B, parts of the refill reservoir 40 are omitted for clarity.
Figures 147A and 17B show a valve arrangement which is formed of both the spigot 170 and the collar 44 of the housing 41 of the refill reservoir 40. The housing 41 defines a storage space (or storage area) for holding aerosol-generating material 42.
The spigot 170 and collar 44 is substantially the same as spigot 170 and collar 33 of Figures 14A and 14B, and thus a detailed discussion will be omitted here for conciseness. Only differences with respect to Figures 17A and 17B will be described herein.
The collar 44 comprises first openings 441 and second openings 442. More specifically, the collar comprises two first openings 441 arranged either side of the central passage of the collar 44, and two second openings 442 also arranged either side of the central passage of the collar 44. As will be discussed in more detail below, the first openings 441 are provided to allow aerosol-generating material (e.g., source liquid) to pass from storage area of the refill reservoir (not shown) to the spigot 170, while the second openings 442 are provided to allow air or other fluids to enter the storage area of the refill reservoir 40 when the refill reservoir 40 is used to refill the article 30. The first openings 441 may therefore be referred to as inlet openings of the valve housing / collar 44 or aerosol-generating material inlet openings of the valve housing / collar 44, while the second openings 442 may be referred to as outlet openings of the valve housing /
collar 44 or as air outlet openings of the valve housing / collar 44. As with the collar 33 of the article 30, the collar 44 provides a substantially hollow tubular portion defining an opening 46 of the housing 41 of refill reservoir 40, and is sized to receive the spigot 170 in the hollow tubular portion / opening 46 of the housing 41 of the refill reservoir 40.
The structure of the valve arrangement of the refill reservoir 40 (as shown in Figure 17A and 17B) is substantially the same as the structure of the valve arrangement of the article 30 (shown in Figures 13, 14A, and 14B). However, a difference here is that the refill reservoir 40 is to be used to refill the article 30 and thus aerosol-generating material is to exit the storage area of the refill reservoir 40 to be able to pass to the storage area (reservoir 3) of the article 30. Accordingly, in use, the respective materials (aerosol-generating material or air / gas) are configured to flow in the opposite directions when used with the valve arrangement of the refill reservoir 40 as compared to the valve arrangement of the article 30.
That is, in one respect, when the spigot 170 is in the open position (as in Figure 17A) the aerosol-generating material stored in the storage area of the refill reservoir 40 enters the spigot 170 through the inlet openings 441 of the collar 44, and exits the spigot via the opening 176a of the spigot (after passing through the aerosol-generating material flow channel). This is shown by the red arrows in Figure 17A. The opening 176a of the spigot 170 may therefore be referred to as the aerosol-generating material outlet opening 176a of the spigot, while the opening 176b may be referred to as the aerosol-generating material inlet opening 176b (in contrast to the naming of the openings in Figures 13, 14A and 14B).
Additionally, in another respect, when the spigot 170 is in the open position (as in Figure 17A), air (or other gasses / fluids) are able to enter the storage area of the refill reservoir 40 by entering through the recessed portion 443 (which may be substantially similar to recessed portion 333), passing along air channel 177 / groove 177a, and through the collar 44 via outlet openings 442.
The refilling device / dock 50 may comprise a nozzle arrangement (such as nozzle arrangement 160) which is configured to engage with the spigot 170 (for example, with the recessed portion 171a). The transfer mechanism 53 may be arranged to cause the aerosol-generating material to exit the refill reservoir 40 (e.g., via the openings 441 and 176a). For example, the transfer mechanism 53 may apply a suction or pumping action which causes the aerosol-generating material in the storage area of the refill reservoir 40 to be sucked up into the flow passage 176 of the spigot 170. In this regard, the openings 441 may be coupled to respective hollow tubes that extend from the or each opening 441 towards the bottom of the refill reservoir 40 to provide a passage which the aerosol-generating material may pass along under application of a suitable suction force. Other ways of transferring the aerosol-generating material may be utilised, however. When aerosol-generating material is transferred from the storage area of the refill reservoir 40, the pressure in the refill reservoir may decrease (due to the extraction of material), and thus air (or other gasses) from outside the refill reservoir may enter the storage area of the refill reservoir 40 via the recessed portion 443, air channel 177 and outlet openings 442, thus causing the pressure within the storage area of the refill reservoir to become more equalised.
Thus, broadly, the refill reservoir 40 comprises a storage area for storing the aerosol-generating material and a valve arrangement in communication with the storage area, the valve arrangement comprising a spigot 170 including an inlet opening 176b and an outlet opening 176a coupled together via a flow channel 176 for the passage of aerosol-generating material and a valve housing 44 arranged to receive the spigot 170 such that the spigot is movable relative to the valve housing 44. VVhen refilling, using a refilling device, an article 30 for use with an aerosol provision device with aerosol-generating material from the refill reservoir 40, the following steps may be performed: Firstly, a nozzle of the refilling device fluidly coupled to the article 30 is engaged with the spigot 170 of the valve arrangement of the refill reservoir 40. Secondly, the nozzle of refilling device causes the spigot 170 to move from a first position in which the inlet opening 176b is blocked by the valve housing 44 and a second position in which the inlet opening 176b is in fluid communication with the storage area of the refill reservoir. Thirdly, refilling of the article 30 is performed by transferring aerosol-generating material from the storage area of the refill reservoir 40 to the article 30 using the transfer mechanism 53, wherein the aerosol-generating material is transferred from the outlet opening 176a of the spigot 170 to the nozzle engaged with the spigot 170.
Thus, more generally, the principles of the present disclosure apply to aerosol-generating material storage containers (such as the article 30 and/or refill reservoir 40) comprising a valve arrangement which may take the form of a spigot and a collar. The valve arrangement may be utilised to allow aerosol-generating material to exit or enter a storage area to which the valve arrangement is able to fluidly couple to (e.g., to allow aerosol-generating material to enter the storage area of the article 30 or to allow aerosol-generating material to exit the storage area of the refill reservoir 40).
Additionally, it should be understood that the refilling device / dock 50 may be configured to accommodate at least one, or both, of the article 30 and refill reservoir 40 comprising a valve arrangement including a movable spigot 170. In this regard, the refilling device / dock 50 may comprise a first nozzle for engaging with the valve arrangement of the article 30 and / or a second nozzle for engaging with the valve arrangement of refill reservoir 40. The first nozzle may be fluidly connected to the second nozzle, e.g., via suitable tubing, such that aerosol-generating material may enter the second nozzle to be transferred to, and exit from, the first nozzle via the transfer mechanism 53. It should be appreciated that if the valve arrangement comprising the movable spigot is not used for either of the article 30 or refill reservoir 40, an alternative coupling mechanism for fluidly coupling the refill reservoir to the article 30 may be implemented.
Furthermore, it should also be appreciated that while the above has described, generally, that the valve arrangement of the article 30 permits aerosol-generating material to enter the storage area of the article 30, and that the valve arrangement of the refill reservoir permits aerosol-generating material to leave the refill reservoir 40, the flow of aerosol-generating material may be reversed for either the article 30 and/or the refill reservoir 40.
That is, aerosol-generating material may be extracted / removed from the article 30 (e.g., in the event the article 30 is overfilled) or aerosol-generating material may be inserted into the refill reservoir 40 (e.g., in the event the refill reservoir is to be refilled). It should be understood the valve arrangements described above are suitable for accommodating flow of aerosol-generating material and/or air / gasses in either direction (as seen in respect of Figures 14A and 17A).
In addition, the above disclosure has focused on embodiments in which the spigot 170 is configured to engage with the nozzle 161 for both transferring aerosol-generating material to/from the article 30 or refill reservoir 40 and actuating the spigot 170 to cause the spigot to move between the first and second positions. That is to say, the nozzle 161 /
nozzle arrangement 160 has the dual function of actuating the spigot and supplying aerosol-generating material to / from the aerosol-generating material storage container. However, in other embodiments, each of these functions may be provided by separate mechanisms.
Figure 18 is a schematic representation of an article 930 including a valve arrangement comprising a spigot 970 provided in a collar 933 of the housing 931 of the article 930 such that it plugs an opening 932 of the article 930.
The article 930 is similar to article 30 described above; however, the article comprises an aerosol-generating material passage 934 formed in the housing 931 and communicating with an inlet opening 9331 of the collar 933 and an air passage 935 formed in the housing 931 and communicating with an outlet opening 9332 of the collar 933.
The aerosol-generating material passage 934 is configured in such a way as to engage with a nozzle 961 of a refilling device 50. For example, the housing 931 of the article 930 may comprise a suitable engagement mechanism (not shown) for allowing the nozzle 961 to fluidly couple with the aerosol-generating material passage 934. The nozzle 961 is fluidly coupled to the aerosol-generating material passage 934 to allow aerosol-generating material to pass from the refill reservoir 40 into the passage 934 and to the inlet opening 9331 of the collar 930 (and ultimately to the storage area of the article 930).
The air passage 935 is optionally provided in the collar 933 to allow air or other fluids to exit the reservoir of the article 930 when refilling of the article 930 occurs, in a similar manner to as described above with respect to article 30.
Both the aerosol-generating material passage 934 and the air passage 935 are provided as passages formed in the housing 931 that communicate with the respective openings of the collar 933. As will be described below, the openings of the collar 933 communicate with respective openings of the spigot 970 to allow either aerosol-generating material to enter/exit the storage area of the article 930 and/or air to exit/enter the storage area of the article 930.
Turning now to the spigot, the spigot 970 is similar to the spigot 70 described previously. Like spigot 70, spigot 970 comprises a proximal end 971, a distal end 972, an aerosol-generating material flow channel 976 and an air passage 977.

The proximal end 971 comprises a corresponding engagement feature, which like above, may comprise a recessed portion 971a in the proximal end 971 of the spigot 970.
However, unlike the engagement feature 171a of spigot 170, the engagement feature 971a is configured to engage with a spigot actuation mechanism 990 of the refill device 50. The spigot actuation mechanism 990 may comprise e.g., a rotatable and/or longitudinally moveable member that is able to engage with the engagement feature 971a to actuate the spigot 970 between a first position and a second position, much like the nozzle 161 of the nozzle arrangement 160. The recessed portion 971a may take any of the shapes described above in respect of the recessed portion 171a, and equally the spigot actuation mechanism 990 may take any of the shapes described above with respect to the nozzle 161.
However, unlike the spigot 170, the engagement mechanism 971a does not comprise or is in the vicinity of an opening (such as opening 176a). More specifically, the surface of the spigot that comprises the engagement feature 971a does not include an opening in the spigot 970 which is coupled to the aerosol-generating material flow channel 976. Rather, as can be seen from Figure 18, the aerosol-generating material flow passage 976 is coupled to an opening 976b which is in communication with the opening 9331 of the collar 933 (when the spigot 970 is in the open position). The opening 976b is provided in / on a side surface of the spigot 970, much like the opening 76h of spigot 170. The opening 976b acts as an inlet opening when in communication with the opening 9331 of the collar to allow aerosol-generating material to pass from the aerosol-generating material passage 934 to the aerosol-generating material flow channel 976 of the spigot 970. As can be seen in Figure 18, the distal end 972 of the spigot 970 comprises an opening 976a which acts as an aerosol-generating material outlet opening to allow aerosol-generating material in the aerosol ¨
generating material flow channel 976 to exit the flow channel 976 and pass into the storage area of the article 930.
Hence, what is described is similar to the above scenario with the spigot 170 but some of the main differences are that, firstly, the inlet opening 976b of the spigot 970, which allows aerosol-generating material to be passed to the flow channel 976, is arranged such that it can be opened and closed by virtue of its relative positioning with respect to the opening 9331 of the collar 933 of the valve arrangement based on the position of the spigot 970, and secondly, the inlet opening 976b is positioned at a different location than the engagement feature 971a for engaging with the mechanism that actuates the spigot between the open and closed positions, Le., the spigot actuation mechanism 990.
When the spigot 970 is in the closed position, the spigot 970 is positioned relative to the collar 933 such that the inlet opening 976h does not align with the inlet opening 9331 of the collar 933 (in other words, the collar 933 blocks the inlet opening 976b).
This is the opposite scenario to spigot 170, whereby it is the outlet opening 176b that is blocked by the collar 33 in the closed position. In the arrangement of Figure 18, the outlet opening 976a is always in fluid communication with the reservoir of the article 970; however, it should be appreciated that in other embodiments the outlet opening 976a may be arranged such that it can be blocked by the collar 933 (e.g., by adopting a similar construction as shown in Figure 14A or 14B, with the flow channel 976 being arranged in a T-shape and engaging with further openings on the collar 933).
In much the same way as spigot 170, when the spigot 970 is in the open position, aerosol generating material enters the flow channel 976 via the opening 976b from the aerosol-generating material passage 934 and opening 9331 of the article 930, passes along the flow channel 976 and out of the outlet 976a provided at the distal end 972 of the spigot 970 and into the reservoir of the article 970. This is shown by the red arrows in Figure 18.
Figure 18 also shows the spigot 970 includes a recess 971a for receiving an 0-ring or similar resilient, elastic material (generally referred to as biasing element 180), where the 0-ring 180 sits in the recess 971a and extends with a diameter greater than the diameter of the spigot 970. The biasing element 180 in this example is provided at the proximate end 971 of the spigot 970 (as opposed to the distal end as shown in Figures 14A
and 14B), but essentially acts in the same way to bias the spigot to the closed position (that is, when the spigot 970 is rotated and pushed downwards, the biasing element 180 compresses such that when that force is removed, i.e., by removing the spigot actuation mechanism 990, the spigot 970 is forced to the closed position. However, in other implementations, the biasing element 180 may be located at the distal end 972 of the spigot 970 e.g., in a similar configuration to Figures 14A and 14B whereby further openings are provided to allow air (or other fluids) to enter the channel 977 through the collar 933.
The valve arrangement also comprises an optional pathway 977 for allowing air to escape the storage area of the article 970, e.g., during refilling. The spigot 970 is provided with a groove, track, or cut-out 977a in a part of the outer surface of the spigot 970, which forms a part of an air channel 977, much like groove 77a of Figures 13, 14A, and 14B. The air channel 977 extends from the openings 9332 provided between the spigot 970 and the collar 933 (in much the same way as shown in Figures 13, 14A, and 14B with engagement ring 175 in the collar 33), along the groove 977a formed in the spigot 970, and up to the outlet opening 9332. Air is then able to pass through the outlet opening 9332 in the collar 933, along the air passage 935 of the article 930 and to the external environment of the article 930. This is shown by the blue arrows in Figure 18.
In this regard, it should be appreciated that the Figure 18 shows the spigot 970 in the open position, and when the spigot 970 is provided in the closed position, the spigot 970 sealing engages with the collar 933 at the distal end 972 to close off openings 9333, and/or the groove 977a may be moved out of alignment with the outlet opening 9332, thereby closing off the channel 977 and preventing air (or other fluids) from escaping / entering the storage area of the article 930.
As with the arrangement in Figure 14A and 14B, when an air flow channel 977 is provided, the air channel 977 is arranged such that at least one end of the air channel 977 is able to be closed when the spigot is in the closed position to prevent air (or other fluids) from entering / exiting the reservoir of the article.
Thus, the example of Figure 18 shows an alternative arrangement of the valve arrangement for an article in which separate mechanism are provided to actuate the spigot 970 of the valve arrangement and supply aerosol-generating material to the article 930. In the event that separate mechanism are provided, the refilling device 50 is provided with suitable separate mechanism to engage with the article 930. As described above, this includes a nozzle 961 (which may be engaged to a suitable nozzle arrangement, similar to nozzle arrangement 160) and a spigot actuation mechanism 990. Each of these mechanisms may be controlled individually (that is to say, each may be engaged with the respective portions of the article 930 individually and operated to supply material and/or actuate the spigot individually). However, like above, the spigot 970 should be moved to the open position before aerosol generating material is supplied to the article 930.
The above construction of the valve arrangement of Figure 18 is given by way of example only, and other constructions abiding to the principles described above are contemplated.
The arrangement of Figure 18 has been described with respect to an article 930.
However, the valve arrangement may be applied to a refill reservoir 40 (in a similar way as described in Figure 17A and 17B) with the direction of flow of the aerosol-generating material and air (or other fluid) being reversed. Hence, more generally, the valve arrangement of Figure 18 is applicable to an aerosol-generating material storage container.
In accordance with the principles of the present disclosure, the spigot is movable between a first position in which one of the openings of the aerosol-generating material flow channel is blocked by the valve housing / collar and a second position in which the storage area is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container via the flow channel. More generally, in the case of an article 30, 930, either: when the spigot is in the closed position, the outlet opening 176b of the aerosol-generating material flow channel 176 is blocked by the valve housing, and when the spigot is in the open position the outlet opening 176b is in fluid communication with the storage area;
or when the spigot is in the closed position at least the inlet opening 976b of the aerosol-generating material flow channel 976 is blocked by the valve housing, and when the spigot is in the open position the inlet opening 976b is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container, wherein in either case the aerosol-generating material storage container is configured such that aerosol-generating material is able to pass through the inlet opening and to the storage area via the outlet opening when the spigot is in the second position. In the case of a refill reservoir 40, either when the spigot is in the closed position at least the inlet opening 176b is blocked by the valve housing, and when the spigot is in the open position the inlet opening 176b is in fluid communication with the storage area; or when the spigot is in the closed position at least the outlet opening 976b is blocked by the valve housing, and when the spigot is in the open position the outlet opening 976b is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container, wherein in either case the aerosol-generating material storage container is configured such that aerosol-generating material is able to pass through the outlet opening from the storage area via the inlet opening when the spigot is in the open position.
Hence, it has been described an aerosol-generating material storage container for storing aerosol-generating material and configured to engage with a refilling device configured to refill an article with aerosol-generating material, the container comprising: a storage area for storing the aerosol-generating material; a valve arrangement in communication with the storage area, the valve arrangement comprising: a spigot including a first opening and a second opening coupled together via a flow channel for the passage of aerosol-generating material; a valve housing arranged to receive the spigot such that the spigot is movable relative to the valve housing, wherein the spigot is movable between a first position in which the first opening is blocked by the valve housing and a second position in which the storage area is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container via the flow channel. Also described is a refilling device and a method.
The various embodiments described herein are presented only to assist in understanding and teaching the claimed features. These embodiments are provided as a representative sample of embodiments only, and are not exhaustive and/or exclusive. It is to be understood that advantages, embodiments, examples, functions, features, structures, and/or other aspects described herein are not to be considered limitations on the scope of the invention as defined by the claims or limitations on equivalents to the claims, and that other embodiments may be utilised and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the claimed invention. Various embodiments of the invention may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of, appropriate combinations of the disclosed elements, components, features, parts, steps, means, etc., other than those specifically described herein. In addition, this disclosure may include other inventions not presently claimed, but which may be claimed in future.

Claims

1. A refilling device for filling an article from a reservoir, comprising:
an article interface for receiving an article of an aerosol provision system, the article having a storage area for fluid; and a venting nozzle configured to engage with an article received in the article interface for egress of air from the storage area during filling of the storage area with fluid, the venting nozzle comprising a channel for outward flow of air from the storage area, the channel having a cross-sectional area orthogonal to the direction of outward airflow which increases with distance from an air inlet of the channel over a tapered portion of the channel extending from the air inlet.

2. A refilling device according to claim 1, wherein the venting nozzle is positioned within the refilling device such that the channel is substantially vertical when the venting nozzle is engaged with the article.

3. A refilling device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the tapered portion extends over an entire length of the channel, from the air inlet to an air outlet.

4. A refilling device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the tapered portion is followed by a straight portion of the channel in which the cross-sectional area is constant.

5. A refilling device according to any preceding claim, wherein the cross-sectional area of the channel increases over the tapered portion continuously with distance from the air inlet.

6. A refilling device according to claim 5, wherein the cross-sectional area of the channel increases over the tapered portion substantially linearly with distance from the air inlet.

7. A refilling device according to claim 5, wherein the cross-sectional area of the channel increases over the tapered portion nonlinearly with distance from the air inlet.

8. A
refilling device according to any preceding claim, wherein the cross-sectional area of the channel is circular or oval.

9. A refilling device according to any preceding claim, wherein the cross-sectional area at the air inlet of the channel has a maximum width in the range of 0.5 mm to 3 mm.

10. A refilling device according to any preceding claim, wherein the cross-sectional area increases over the tapered portion to a maximum width in the range of 1.8 mm to 4 mm.

11. A refilling device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a maximum width of the cross-sectional area does not exceed 2 mm over the tapered portion.

12. A
refilling device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the cross-sectional area increases over the tapered portion by 100% or less.

13. A refilling device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the cross-sectional area increases over the tapered portion by 50% or less.

14. A refilling device according to any preceding claim, wherein the tapered portion has a length in the range of 3 mm to 38 mm.

15. A refilling device according to any preceding claim, wherein the channel has a length in the range of 6 mm to 40 mm.

16. A refilling device according to any one of claims 1 to 15, configured to cause relative movement between the venting nozzle and the article interface in order to engage the venting nozzle with an article received in the article interface.

17. A refilling device according to claim 16, configured such that the relative movement includes movement of the article towards the venting nozzle.

18. A refilling device according to claim 16 or claim 17, configured such that the relative movement includes movement of the venting nozzle towards the article.

19. A refilling device according to any preceding claim, further comprising a nozzle element configured to engage with the article received in the article interface, the nozzle element comprising the venting nozzle and a fluid flow channel for delivering fluid into the storage area.

20. A aerosol-generating material storage container for storing aerosol-generating material and configured to engage with a refilling device configured to refill an article with aerosol-generating material, the container comprising:
a storage area for storing the aerosol-generating material;
a valve arrangement in communication with the storage area, the valve arrangement comprising:
a spigot including a first opening and a second opening coupled together via a flow channel for the passage of aerosol-generating material;
a valve housing arranged to receive the spigot such that the spigot is movable relative to the valve housing, wherein the spigot is movable between a first position in which the first opening is blocked by the valve housing and a second position in which the storage area is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container via the flow channel.

21. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to claim 20, wherein the spigot is biased to the first position.

22. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to claim 21, wherein the spigot is biased to the first position by a compressible seal element which is arranged such that when the spigot is moved to the second position, the compressible seal element is compressed by the spigot against the valve housing.

23. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of claims 20-22, wherein the flow channel is located internally of the spigot.

24. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the spigot comprises a cylindrical portion and the valve housing comprises a cylindrical collar which receives the cylindrical portion of the spigot.

25. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the spigot is configured to be rotatably movable about a longitudinal axis of the spigot relative to the valve housing such that the spigot is rotated from the first position to the second position.

26. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to claim 25, wherein the valve housing comprises an opening in fluid communication with the storage area, and wherein upon rotation of the spigot to the second position, the opening of the valve housing is arranged to align with the first opening of the spigot.

27. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of claims 20-26, wherein the spigot is further configured to move in the axial direction when the spigot is moved from the first position to the second position.

28. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of claims 20-27, wherein the spigot and the valve housing are configured to allow the spigot to simultaneously rotate about the axis of rotation and move axially along the axis of rotation relative to the valve housing.

29. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to claim 28, wherein at least one of the spigot and valve housing comprise a surface having a saw-tooth shaped profile.

30. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the valve housing comprises at least one air passage opening in fluid communication with the storage area and wherein, when the spigot is in the second position, the valve housing and / or spigot are arranged to permit air to escape from or enter the storage area via the air passage opening.

31. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to claim 30, wherein the spigot is configured to partially form an air flow channel with the valve housing and wherein, in the second position, the air flow channel is in fluid communication with the air passage opening of the valve housing.

32. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of claims 30 to 31, wherein the valve housing comprises an opening in fluid communication with the storage area and configured to fluidly couple to the first opening of the spigot when the spigot is in the second position, wherein the air passage opening of the valve housing is positioned at a different position along a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the spigot as compared to the first opening.

33. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of claims 30 to 31, wherein the air passage opening of the valve housing is positioned at a different position along a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the spigot as compared to the second opening.

34. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the spigot comprises a flange configured to abut the outer surface of the valve housing when the spigot is in the first position, wherein when the spigot is in the first position, the flange seals against the valve housing.

35. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of claims 20 to 34, wherein the spigot includes a surface including an engagement mechanism configured to engage with a respective spigot actuation mechanism of a refilling device for actuating the spigot between the first position and second position.

36. The aerosol-generating material storage container of claim 35, wherein the first and/or second opening are provided on a surface of the spigot other than the surface including the engagement mechanism.

37. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of the claims 35 to 36, wherein the second opening is provided on the surface of the spigot including the engagement mechanism, and wherein the spigot actuation mechanism of the refilling device includes a nozzle of the refilling device.

38. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of claims 35 to 37, wherein the engagement mechanism includes recess configured to receive a part of the spigot actuation mechanism.

39. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to claim 38, wherein the recess is shaped so as to facilitate rotational movement of the spigot by the spigot actuation mechanism.

40. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the aerosol-generating material storage container is an article for use with an aerosol provision device to generate aerosol from the aerosol-generating material for user inhalation.

41. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to claim 40, wherein either:

the first opening of the spigot is an outlet opening and the second opening of the spigot is an inlet opening, and wherein when the spigot is in the first position at least the outlet opening is blocked by the valve housing, and when the spigot is in the second position the outlet opening is in fluid communication with the storage area; or the first opening of the spigot is an inlet opening and the second opening of the spigot is an outlet opening, and wherein when the spigot is in the first position at least the inlet opening is blocked by the valve housing, and when the spigot is in the second position the inlet opening is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container, and wherein the aerosol-generating material storage container is configured such that aerosol-generating material is able to pass through the inlet opening and to the storage area via the outlet opening when the spigot is in the second position.

42. The aerosol-generating material storage container of claim 40 or 41, when dependent on any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the at least one air passage opening is an air inlet opening, and wherein when the spigot is in the second position, the valve housing and / or spigot are arranged to permit air to escape from the storage area via the air inlet opening during refilling of the aerosol-generating material storage container.

43. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the aerosol-generating material storage container is a refill reservoir for use with a refilling device configured to refill an article with aerosol-generating material from the refill reservoir for use with an aerosol provision device to generate aerosol from the aerosol-generating material for user inhalation.

44. The aerosol-generating material storage container according to claim 43, wherein either:
the first opening of the spigot is an inlet opening and the second opening of the spigot is an outlet opening wherein when the spigot is in the first position at least the inlet opening is blocked by the valve housing, and when the spigot is in the second position the inlet opening is in fluid communication with the storage area; or the first opening of the spigot is an outlet opening and the second opening of the spigot is an inlet opening, and wherein when the spigot is in the first position at least the outlet opening is blocked by the valve housing, and when the spigot is in the second position the outlet opening is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container, wherein the aerosol-generating material storage container is configured such that aerosol-generating material is able to pass through the outlet opening from the storage area via the inlet opening when the spigot is in the second position.

45. The aerosol-generating material storage container of claim 44, when dependent on any one of claims 30 to 33, wherein the at least one air passage opening is an air outlet opening, and wherein when the spigot is in the second position, the valve housing and / or spigot are arranged to permit air to enter the storage area via the air inlet opening during emptying of the aerosol-generating material storage container.

46. A refilling device for refilling an article for use with an aerosol provision device with aerosol-generating material, the refilling device comprising:
a transfer mechanism for causing aerosol-generating material from a refill reservoir to be transferred from the refill reservoir to an aerosol-generating material storage area of an article;
a spigot actuation mechanism configured to actuate a spigot of a valve arrangement of an aerosol-generating material storage container for storing aerosol-generating material;
and a nozzle arranged to allow the aerosol-generating material to be transferred by the nozzle to the article via the valve arrangement of the aerosol-generating material storage container, wherein the refilling device is configured to cause the spigot actuation mechanism to move relative to the refilling device such that the spigot actuation mechanism, when engaged with the valve arrangement of the aerosol-generating material storage container, is configured to cause the valve arrangement to open or close as a result of the movement of the spigot actuation mechanism.

47. The refilling device according to claim 46, wherein the refilling device is configured to cause the spigot actuation mechanism to rotate relative to the refilling device such that the spigot actuation mechanism, when engaged with the valve arrangement of the aerosol-generating material storage container, is configured to cause at least a component of the valve arrangement to rotate open or closed as a result of the rotational movement of the spigot actuation mechanism.

48. The refilling device according to claims 46 or 47, wherein spigot actuation mechanism is configured to move in a direction towards or away from the aerosol-generating material storage container.

49. The refilling device according to claim 48, wherein the refilling device is configured to move the spigot actuation mechanism towards the aerosol-generating material storage container and then perform a further movement to cause the valve arrangement to move from a closed position to an open position.

50. The refilling device according to claim 49, wherein the further movement is at least one of a rotational movement and an axial movement.

51. The refilling device according to claims 48 or 50, wherein the further movement required to cause the valve arrangement to move from a closed position to an open position is calculated in advance, and when the spigot actuation mechanism engages with the valve arrangement the refilling device is configured to perform the further calculated movement.

52. The refilling device according to any of claims 46 to 51, wherein the spigot actuation mechanism includes an engagement mechanism for engaging with a corresponding nozzle engagement mechanism of the valve arrangement of the aerosol-generating material storage container.

53. The refilling device according to any of claims 46 to 52, wherein the refilling device is configured to cause the transfer mechanism to begin transferring the aerosol-generating material to the storage area of the article when the valve arrangement is open.

54. The refilling device according to any of claims 46 to 53, wherein the refilling device comprising a nozzle arrangement including the nozzle for suppling aerosol-generating material to or removing aerosol-generating material from the aerosol-generating material storage container.

55. The refilling device according to claim 54, wherein the nozzle arrangement includes the spigot actuation mechanism.

56. The refilling device according to claim 55, wherein the spigot actuation mechanism includes the nozzle, the nozzle having an engagement mechanism for engaging with a corresponding engagement mechanism provided on the surface of the spigot of the valve arrangement, and wherein the engagement mechanism of the valve arrangement includes an opening capable of being in fluid communication with a storage area of the aerosol-generating material storage container, and wherein aerosol-generating material is able to enter or exit the aerosol-generating material storage container via the opening of the nozzle and the opening of the valve arrangement.

57. A refilling system for refilling an article for use with an aerosol provision device with aerosol-generating material, the refilling system comprising:
the refilling device of any of claims 46 to 56; and an aerosol-generating material storage container according to any of claims 20 to 45.

58. A method for refilling an article for use with an aerosol provision device with aerosol-generating material from a refill reservoir using a refilling device, one or both of the article and the refill reservoir comprising a storage area for storing the aerosol-generating material, and a valve arrangement in communication with the storage area, the valve arrangement comprising a spigot including a first opening and a second opening coupled together via a flow channel for the passage of aerosol-generating material and a valve housing arranged to receive the spigot such that the spigot is movable relative to the valve housing, the method comprising:
engaging a spigot actuation mechanism of the refilling device to the spigot of the valve arrangement;
moving the spigot from a first position in which the first opening is blocked by the valve housing and a second position in which the first opening is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container via the flow channel;
performing refilling of the article by transferring aerosol-generating material from the refill reservoir to the storage area of the article using a transfer mechanism of the refilling device, the aerosol-generating material being transferred through a nozzle of the refilling device and through the flow channel of the valve arrangement.

59. A aerosol-generating material storage container for storing aerosol-generating material and configured to engage with a refilling means configured to refill an article with aerosol-generating material, the container comprising:
storage means for storing the aerosol-generating material;
valve means in communication with the storage means, the valve means comprising:
spigot means including a first opening and a second opening coupled together via a flow channel for the passage of aerosol-generating material;
valve housing means arranged to receive the spigot means such that the spigot means is movable relative to the valve housing means, wherein the spigot means is movable between a first position in which the first opening is blocked by the valve housing means and a second position in which the storage means is in fluid communication with the environment external to the aerosol-generating material storage container via the flow channel.

60. Refilling means for refilling an article for use with an aerosol provision device with aerosol-generating material, the refilling means comprising:
transfer means for causing aerosol-generating material from a refill reservoir to be transferred from the refill reservoir to an aerosol-generating material storage means of an article;
spigot actuation means configured to actuate spigot means of valve means of an aerosol-generating material storage container for storing aerosol-generating material; and nozzle means arranged to allow the aerosol-generating material to be transferred by the nozzle means to the article via the valve means of the aerosol-generating material storage container, wherein the refilling means is configured to cause the spigot actuation means to move relative to the refilling means such that the spigot actuation means, when engaged with the valve means of the aerosol-generating material storage container, is configured to cause the valve means to open or close as a result of the movement of the spigot actuation means.