RU2802990C2 - Cartridge-based heated evaporator - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: evaporators.

SUBSTANCE: evaporator cartridge (220) is described that is capable of effectively and efficiently heating a non-liquid feedstock that includes the volatilized material. The cartridge may include a heating element (250) including an electrically resistive material (358) and may be configured to vaporize the vaporizable material by delivering heat to the vaporizable material. The cartridge may include a cartridge contact (224) in electrical communication with the electrically resistive material. The cartridge contact may be configured to connect to an evaporator terminal adjacent to the cartridge connector to allow electrical energy to flow from the evaporator through the electrically resistive material. The electrical energy may cause the electrical resistive material and the volatilized material to heat up, resulting in the formation of an aerosol for inhalation by the user.

EFFECT: related systems, methods, and articles of manufacture are also described.

15 cl, 8 dwg

Description

Cross reference to related applications

[0001] This application claims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/712919, entitled "Cartridge-Based Heat Not Burn Vaporizer", filed July 31, 2018, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, pursuant to current legislation.

Field of technology to which the invention relates

[0002] The subject matter of the invention described herein relates to vaporization devices including a system for heating vaporized material so as to form a respirable aerosol.

State of the art

[0003] Vaporization devices, including electronic vaporizers or electronic vaporizers, provide the ability to deliver vapor containing one or more active ingredients to a user through inhalation of the vapor. Electronic vaporizer devices are gaining increasing popularity for use in medical prescriptions, drug delivery, and for the consumption of tobacco and other plant-based smokable materials such as marijuana, including solid (e.g., tear-off) materials, solid/liquid (e.g., liquid-coated suspensions) materials, wax extracts and pre-filled capsules (cartridges, wrapped containers, etc.) containing such materials. Electronic vaporizer devices, in particular, can be portable, self-contained, and easy to use.

[0004] In some embodiments, vaporizer cartridges configured to heat the material to be vaporized (e.g., plant material such as tobacco leaves and/or parts of tobacco leaves) require elevated temperatures for the internal regions of the tobacco to achieve the minimum required temperature for vaporization . As a result, combustion of vaporized material at these high peak temperatures can form toxic byproducts (such as chemical elements or chemical compounds).

The essence of the invention

[0005] Aspects of the current subject matter relate to a cartridge for a vaporization device. In some embodiments, the cartridge may include a chamber configured to contain a non-liquid vaporizable material. The cartridge may include a heating element. The heating element may include an electrically resistive material and may be configured to vaporize a vaporizable material by delivering heat to the vaporizable material, wherein at least a portion of the heating element may define a portion of the chamber and/or may be contained within the chamber.

[0006] The cartridge may include a cartridge contact in electrical communication with the electrically resistive material. The cartridge contact may be configured to be coupled to a vaporizer contact located adjacent the cartridge connecting member to allow electrical energy to pass from the vaporizer device through the electroresistive material. Electrical energy can cause heating of the electroresistive material and the evaporated material, resulting in the formation of an aerosol for inhalation by the user.

[0007] In some variations, one or more of the following elements may optionally be included in any feasible combination. The heating element may include a cartridge contact. The cartridge may include a sheet of thermally conductive electrical resistive material. The thermally conductive electroresistive material sheet may include at least one of a flexible material, a deformed material, and a rigid material. The sheet of thermally conductive electrical resistive material may include at least one perforation. The thermally conductive electrically resistive material sheet may include at least one extension extending in a direction from at least one of an upper surface of the thermally conductive electrically resistive material sheet and a lower surface of the thermally conductive electrically resistive material sheet.

[0008] The sheet of thermally conductive electroresistive material may include a first region having a first perforation density and a second region having a second perforation density that is greater than the first perforation density.

[0009] The heating element may include a non-conductive region. The heating element may include a flexible printed circuit including an electrically resistive material traced onto the flexible material, wherein the traced electrically resistive material may form a plurality of heaters in series. A plurality of series heaters can be arranged in parallel. The heating element may include flexible material with electrically resistive material extending along a length of the flexible material.

[0010] The cartridge may include a housing. The housing may include non-electrically conductive material and may contain at least a portion of the chamber. The vaporized material may include nicotine.

[0011] In some embodiments, the system for generating a respirable aerosol may include a cartridge. The cartridge may include a chamber configured to contain a non-liquid vaporizable material. The cartridge may include a heating element. The heating element may include an electrically resistive material and may be configured to vaporize a vaporizable material by delivering heat to the vaporizable material, wherein at least a portion of the heating element defines a portion of the chamber and/or may be contained within the chamber. The cartridge may include a cartridge contact in electrical communication with the electrically resistive material. The cartridge contact may be configured to be coupled to a vaporizer contact located adjacent the cartridge connecting member to allow electrical energy to pass from the vaporizer device through the electroresistive material. Electrical energy can cause heating of the electroresistive material and the evaporated material, resulting in the formation of an aerosol for inhalation by the user.

[0012] The system may include a device housing. The device body may include a cartridge slot for receiving a cartridge. The device body may include a vaporizer contact configured to mate with the cartridge contact when the cartridge is inserted into the cartridge slot to provide an electrically conductive path between a power source in the device body and a heating element of the cartridge.

[0013] In some embodiments, a method for generating a respirable aerosol may include connecting a cartridge contact for a vaporizer cartridge to a vaporizer contact for a vaporizer device body to provide an electrically conductive path between the vaporizer device body power supply and a vaporizer cartridge heating element. The electrically conductive path may allow the power source to cause heating of the electrically resistive material of the heating element and the vaporizable material contained in the cartridge chamber.

[0014] The method may include heating a heating element to vaporize the vaporizable material and form a respirable aerosol, wherein the heating element defines at least a portion of the chamber and/or is contained in the chamber of the vaporizer cartridge.

[0015] Details of one or more variations of the subject matter described herein are set forth in the accompanying drawings and in the description below. Other features and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the description and drawings and from the claims.

Brief description of drawings

[0016] The accompanying drawings, which are included in and form a part of this specification, show specific aspects of the subject matter disclosed herein and, together with the description, help to explain certain principles associated with the disclosed implementations. On the drawings:

[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an evaporator in accordance with implementations of the current subject matter;

[0018] FIG. 2A illustrates a perspective view of an embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge including an embodiment of a heating element having a flexible sheet with narrow conductive paths extending along it;

[0019] FIG. 2B illustrates an end view of the vaporizer cartridge of FIG. 2A showing flexible heating element sheets wrapped around a non-liquid vaporizable material;

[0020] FIG. 2C illustrates a top view of an embodiment of the heating element of FIG. 2A showing a plurality of narrow conductive paths forming six series heaters in parallel, each section of the series heater being in a horizontal orientation;

[0021] FIG. 2D illustrates a top view of an embodiment of the heating element of FIG. 2A showing a plurality of narrow conductive paths forming six series heaters in parallel, each section of the series heater being in a vertical orientation;

[0022] FIG. 3A illustrates a top perspective view of another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge including another embodiment of a heating element including perforated conductive material having differential resistance regions;

[0023] FIG. 3B illustrates a top view of the heating element of FIG. 3A including an electrically resistive region having a plurality of perforations;

[0024] FIG. 4A illustrates a top perspective view of another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge including another embodiment of a heating element in contact with a non-liquid vaporizable material.

[0025] FIG. 4B illustrates a top view of the heating element of the vaporizer cartridge of FIG. 4A;

[0026] FIG. 4C illustrates a side view of the heating element of FIG. 4B with a sheet of non-liquid vaporizable material connected to the upper and lower sides of the heating element;

[0027] FIG. 4D illustrates a top view of another embodiment of the heating element of FIG. 4B including a slit extending along the length of the heating element and intersecting the end of the heating element;

[0028] FIG. 4E illustrates a perspective view of the heating element of FIG. 4D showing a heating element folded along at least a slot;

[0029] FIG. 4F illustrates a perspective view of another embodiment of the heating element of FIG. 4B including at least one extension extending from the top side and/or bottom side of the heating element sheet;

[0030] FIG. 4G illustrates a top view of the heating element of FIG. 4F;

[0031] FIG. 4H illustrates an embodiment of the evaporator cartridge housing for protecting the heating element of FIG. 4F and non-liquid evaporable material inside;

[0032] FIG. 5A illustrates a top perspective view of another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge including another embodiment of a heating element including an induction coil and a ferrous metal material;

[0033] FIG. 5B illustrates an end view of the vaporizer cartridge of FIG. 5A showing a ferrous metal material embedded in a non-liquid vaporized material;

[0034] FIG. 6 illustrates a side cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge including another embodiment of a heating element having an electrically resistive foam structure;

[0035] FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge including another embodiment of a heating element having electrically conductive plates separated by an insulating material and an at least partially electrically conductive mixture;

[0036] FIG. 8A illustrates a perspective view of another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge; And

[0037] FIG. 8B illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of the vaporizer cartridge of FIG. 8A.

[0038] Where appropriate, like reference numbers designate like structures, features, or elements.

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0039] Implementations of the current subject matter include devices related to vaporizing one or more materials for inhalation by a user. For example, various embodiments of vaporizer cartridges, such as disposable recyclable cartridges, having a variety of heating element embodiments are described herein. Such vaporizer cartridges may be configured for use with non-liquid vaporizable material, such as tear-off tobacco. Various embodiments of the heating elements described herein can improve the efficiency and quality of heating the vaporized material, for example, heating the vaporized material within an optimal heating range. This optimal heating range includes a temperature that is hot enough to vaporize the vaporized material into an inhalable aerosol, while heating below a temperature that forms harmful or potentially harmful by-products.

[0040] In some embodiments, heating elements described herein can achieve an optimal heating range at a rate that allows the user to have a pleasant user experience (e.g., not having to wait a long time for the heating element to reach a temperature in the optimal heating range, etc. .d.). In some embodiments, vaporizer cartridges including such heating elements can be manufactured cost-effectively, thereby making them economically viable as disposable, recyclable cartridges. The following describes in more detail various vaporizer cartridges and heating elements that include one or more of the above features.

[0041] As noted above, the vaporizable material used with the vaporizer may optionally be provided in a cartridge (e.g., in a portion of the vaporizer that contains the vaporizable material or precursor, which includes the vaporizable material in a reservoir or other container, and which may be replenished when empty or discarded in favor of a new cartridge containing additional evaporable material of an identical or different type). The vaporizer may be a cartridge vaporizer, a cartridge-less vaporizer, or a universal vaporizer that can be used with or without a cartridge. For example, a universal vaporizer may include a heating chamber (e.g., an oven) configured to receive a precursor containing material to be vaporized directly in the heating chamber, and also receive a vaporizer cartridge 120 or other replaceable device having a reservoir, volume, etc. etc. to at least partially accommodate an applicable amount of the starting material containing or including the material to be vaporized.

[0042] In various implementations, the vaporizer may be configured for use with solid vaporizable material, which may include plant material, which releases some of the plant material as vaporizable material (e.g., such that some of the plant material remains as waste after the vaporized material is released for inhalation by the user), or may optionally be a solid form of the vaporized material itself (eg, "wax"), so that all of the solid material may eventually be vaporized for inhalation.

[0043] Referring to the block diagram of FIG. 1, the vaporizer 100 typically includes a power source 112 (such as a battery, which may be a rechargeable battery), and a controller 104 (such as a processor, circuitry, etc. capable of executing logic) for controlling the delivery of heat to the heating element. to cause the vaporized material to be converted from a condensed form (eg, a solid, a liquid, a solution, a slurry, a portion of at least partially unprocessed plant material, etc.) into a gas phase. The controller 104 may be part of one or more printed circuit boards (PCBs) in accordance with certain implementations of the current subject matter. In the current subject matter, which generally relates to devices for generating a respirable aerosol by heating a precursor without burning it, the condensed form is typically a plant-based material, at least a portion of which is a vaporizable material capable of being converted to vapor when heating plant-based material.

[0044] After the vaporized material is converted to the gas phase, and depending on the type of vaporizer, the physical and chemical properties of the vaporized material, and/or other factors, at least a portion of the vaporized material in the gas phase may condense to form particles of at least in partial local equilibrium with the gas phase as part of the aerosol, which may form part or all of the inhalable dose provided by the vaporizer 100 for a given puff or puff on the vaporizer. It should be understood that the interaction between the gas and condensed phases in an aerosol generated by an evaporator can be complex and dynamic due to factors such as ambient temperature, relative humidity, chemical environment, flow conditions in air flow paths (as in an evaporator, and in the airways of a person or other animal), mixing of evaporated material in the gas phase or in the aerosol phase with other air flows, etc. may influence one or more physical parameters of the aerosol. In some vaporizers, and in particular for vaporizers for delivering more volatile vaporized materials, the inhaled dose may exist predominantly in the gas phase (ie, particle formation in the condensed phase may be very limited).

[0045] As noted above, vaporizers in accordance with implementations of the current subject matter may also or alternatively be configured to create an inhalable dose of vaporized material in the gas phase and/or aerosol phase through heating a non-liquid precursor containing or including the vaporized material , such as, for example, vaporizable solid phase material or plant material (eg, tobacco leaves and/or parts of tobacco leaves) containing vaporizable material. In such evaporators, the heating element may be part of, or otherwise included in or in thermal contact with, the walls of a furnace or other heating chamber housing a non-liquid feed that contains or includes the material to be vaporized. Alternatively, a heating element or elements may be used to heat air passing through or past the non-liquid source material to cause convection heating of the non-liquid vaporized material. In yet other examples, the heating element or elements may be positioned in actual contact with the plant material such that direct heating by thermal conduction of the precursor material arises from the mass of the precursor material (eg, as opposed to only by conduction inward from the walls of the oven). Such non-liquid vaporizable materials may be used with cartridge or non-cartridge vaporizers.

[0046] The heating element may be or include one or more of a conductive heater, a radiant heater, and a convective heater. One type of heating element is a resistive heating element, which may be configured or at least include a material (e.g., a metal or alloy, such as a nickel-chromium alloy or a non-metallic resistor) configured to dissipate electrical energy in the form of heat when Electric current passes through one or more resistive segments of the heating element. In some implementations of the current subject matter, the atomizer may include a heating element that includes a resistive coil or other heating element wrapped around, positioned within, integrated into a three-dimensional form, pressed into thermal contact with, or otherwise positioned to deliver heat to the mass of the source substance (eg, a plant-based substance such as tobacco) that contains the vaporized material. Throughout this disclosure, "parent material" generally means a portion of a plant-based material (or other condensed form of plant material or other material that can release volatile material without combustion) that contains volatile materials that are converted to vapor and /or inhalation aerosol. Other configurations of heating elements and/or atomizer assembly are also possible, as explained in more detail below.

[0047] The heating element may be activated (for example, a controller, which is optionally part of the vaporizer housing, as explained below, may cause current to flow from the power supply to circuitry including a resistive heating element, which is optionally part of the vaporizer cartridge, as explained below), in association with the user drawing (e.g., inhaling, inhaling, etc.) on the vaporizer mouthpiece to cause air to flow from the air inlet, along an air flow path that passes by the heating element and the associated mass of precursor material, optionally through one or more condensation regions or chambers, into an air outlet in the mouthpiece. Incoming air passing along the air flow path passes over, through, etc. a heating element and a starting material in which the evaporated material in the gas phase is entrained into the air. As noted above, entrained vaporized material in the gas phase can condense as it passes through the remainder of the airflow path such that an inhalable dose of vaporized material in aerosol form can be delivered from an air outlet (eg, in a mouthpiece for inhalation by the user ).

[0048] Activation of the heating element may be caused by automatic puff detection based on one or more signals generated by one or more sensors 113, such as, for example, a pressure sensor or sensors positioned to determine pressure along the air flow path relative to ambient pressure. environment (or optionally measure changes in absolute pressure), one or more evaporator motion sensors, one or more evaporator flow sensors, capacitive evaporator lip sensor; in response to detecting user interaction with one or more input devices 116 (eg, buttons or other tactile control devices of the vaporizer 100), receiving signals from a computing device in communication with the vaporizer; and/or through other approaches to determine that a delay is occurring or is imminent.

[0049] As mentioned in the previous paragraph, a vaporizer in accordance with implementations of the current subject matter may be configured to communicate (eg, wirelessly or via a wired connection) with a computing device (or optionally two or more devices) in communication with evaporator. To this end, controller 104 may include communications hardware 105. The controller 104 may also include a storage device 108. The computing device may be a component of an evaporator system that also includes the evaporator 100, and may include proprietary communications hardware that can establish a wireless communication channel with the evaporator communications hardware 105 100. For example, a computing device used as part of an evaporative system may include a general purpose computing device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet computer, personal computer, some other portable device such as a smart watch, etc.) that executes software to generate a user interface to enable a user of the device to interact with the vaporizer. In other implementations of the current subject matter, such a device used as part of an evaporative system may be a dedicated piece of hardware, such as a remote control or other wireless or wired device having one or more physical or software (e.g., on-screen configurable or other display device and selectable through user interaction with a touch screen or some other input device such as a mouse, pointer, trackball, cursor buttons, etc.) interface controls. The vaporizer may also include one or more indicators or output devices 117 for providing information to the user. For example, output 117 may include one or more light-emitting diodes (LEDs) configured to provide feedback to the user based on the status and/or operating mode of the vaporizer 100.

[0050] The computing device that is part of the evaporative system defined above may be used for any of one or more functions such as dosage control (e.g., dose monitoring, dose adjustment, dose limiting, user tracking, etc.) , managing session management (e.g. monitoring session status, setting up sessions, limiting sessions, tracking users, etc.), managing nicotine delivery (e.g. switching between nicotine and non-nicotine vaporizers, adjusting the amount of nicotine delivered, etc. .), obtaining location information (e.g. other users' locations, retail/commercial establishment locations, vaping locations, relative or absolute location of the vaporizer itself, etc.), vaporizer personalization (e.g. naming the vaporizer, locking/password protecting the vaporizer , adjusting one or more parental controls, associating the vaporizer with a user group, registering the vaporizer with the manufacturer or warranty organization, etc., engaging in entertainment (e.g., gaming, communicating via social media, interacting with one or more groups, etc.) with other users, etc. The terms "session", "session", "evaporator session", or "steam consumption session" are used generically to mean the period dedicated to the use of the evaporator. The period may include a period of time, a number of doses, an amount of material vaporized, and the like.

[0051] In an example in which a computing device provides signals associated with activating a resistive heating element, or in other examples of coupling the computing device to an evaporator to implement various control or other functions, the computing device executes one or more sets of computer instructions to provide user interface and processing of basic data. In one example, detection by a computing device of user interaction with one or more user interface elements may cause the computing device to signal to vaporizer 100 the need to activate the heating element, also to full operating temperature, to create an inhalable dose of vapor/aerosol. Other functions of the vaporizer may be controlled through user interaction with a user interface on a computing device communicating with the vaporizer.

[0052] The temperature of the resistive heating element of an evaporator may depend on a number of factors, including the amount of electrical energy delivered to the resistive heating element and/or the duty cycle in which the electrical energy is delivered, heat transfer by conduction to other parts of the electronic evaporator, and/ or to the environment, latent heat loss due to evaporation of vaporized material from the atomizer as a whole, and convective heat loss due to air flow (e.g., air moving across the heating element or atomizer as a whole when a user inhales on an e-vaporizer). As noted above, in order to reliably activate the heating element or heat the heating element to a desired temperature, the vaporizer may, in some implementations of the current subject matter, use signals from a pressure sensor to determine when the user inhales. The pressure sensor may be located in an airflow path and/or may be coupled (e.g., via a passage or other path) to an airflow path connecting an air inlet that enters the device and an outlet through which a user inhales the resulting vapor and/or an aerosol such that the pressure sensor is subject to changes in pressure simultaneously with air passing through the evaporator device from the air inlet to the air outlet. In some implementations of the current subject matter, the heating element may be activated in association with a user's puff, for example, through automatic puff detection, such as through a pressure sensor detecting a change in pressure in the air flow path.

[0053] Typically, the pressure sensor (as well as any other sensors 113) may be located or coupled (e.g., electrically or electronically coupled, either physically or via a wireless connection) to/from a controller 104 (e.g., a printed circuit board assembly or other type of circuit board). To make measurements accurately and maintain the durability of the evaporator, it may be advantageous to provide an elastic seal 121 to separate the air flow path from other parts of the evaporator. The seal 121, which may be a gasket, may be configured to at least partially surround the pressure sensor such that the connections of the pressure sensor to the internal circuitry of the evaporator are separated from the portion of the pressure sensor exposed to air flow. In the example of a cartridge-based vaporizer, seal 121 may also separate portions of one or more electrical connections between vaporizer housing 110 and vaporizer cartridge 120. Such seal arrangements 121 in the evaporator 100 may be useful in mitigating potentially damaging effects on evaporator components resulting from interactions with environmental factors such as water in the vapor or liquid phases, other fluids such as the material being evaporated, etc. ., and/or reduce air loss from the designed path for air flow in the evaporator. Unwanted air, liquid or other fluid passing by and/or contacting the evaporator circuitry may cause various undesirable effects such as changes in pressure readings, and/or may result in the accumulation of unwanted material such as moisture, evaporated material, etc. d. in parts of the evaporator where it may result in a poor pressure signal, failure of the pressure sensor or other components and/or reduced evaporator life. Leaks in the seal 121 may also result in the user inhaling air that passes over parts of the vaporizer device containing or consisting of materials that may not be desirable to inhale.

[0054] A general class of vaporizers that have recently gained popularity includes a vaporizer housing 110, which includes a controller 104, a power source 112 (e.g., a battery), one or more sensors 113, charging contacts, a seal 121, and a socket 118 for a cartridge, configured to receive the vaporizer cartridge 120 for connection to the vaporizer body 110 through one or more of a plurality of fastening structures. In some examples, the vaporizer cartridge 120 includes a mouthpiece for delivering an inhaled dose to a user. The vaporizer body 110 may include an atomizer having a heating element 150, or alternatively, the heating element 150 may be part of a vaporizer cartridge 120.

[0055] As noted above, the current subject matter of the invention relates to cartridge-based configurations for vaporizers that form an inhalable dose of vaporized material through heating the precursor material. For example, the vaporizer cartridge 120 may include a mass of precursor material that is processed and formed to be in direct contact with portions of one or more resistive heating elements, and such vaporizer cartridge 120 may be configured to be mechanically and electrically coupled to the vaporizer housing 110. which includes a processor, a power supply 112, and electrical contacts for connection to corresponding cartridge contacts 124 for completing a circuit with one or more resistive heating elements.

[0056] In vaporizers in which the power source 112 is part of the vaporizer housing 110 and the heating element 150 is located in a vaporizer cartridge 120 configured to be coupled to the vaporizer housing 110, the vaporizer 100 may include electrical connecting elements (e.g., means to complete a circuit) to complete a circuit that includes a controller 104 (e.g., a circuit board, microcontroller, etc.), a power supply 112, and a heating element 150. These elements may include at least two contacts per one or more external surfaces of the vaporizer cartridge 120 (referred to herein as “cartridge contacts 124)” and at least two contacts located on the vaporizer body 110, optionally in the cartridge socket 118 (referred to herein as “socket contacts 125” ) of the vaporizer 100 such that the cartridge contacts 124 and the socket contacts 125 make electrical connections when the vaporizer cartridge 120 is inserted and connected to/from the cartridge socket 118 . Other configurations in which the vaporizer cartridge 120 is coupled to the vaporizer body 110 without insertion into the cartridge slot 118 are also within the scope of the current subject matter. It should be understood that references herein to “socket contacts” may, broadly speaking, mean contacts on the vaporizer body 110 that are not contained within the cartridge socket 118 but are nonetheless configured to make electrical connections to the cartridge contacts 124 for the vaporizer cartridge 120, when the vaporizer cartridge 120 and the vaporizer body 110 are connected. The circuitry completed by these electrical connections may be capable of delivering electrical current to the resistive heating element 150 and may further be used for additional functions, such as measuring the resistance of the resistive heating element 150 for use in determining and/or controlling the temperature of the resistive heating element 150 at based on the thermal resistivity coefficient of the resistive heating element 150, to identify the cartridge based on one or more electrical characteristics of the resistive heating element 150 or other circuitry of the evaporator cartridge 120, etc.

[0057] In some examples of the current subject matter, at least two cartridge contacts 124 and at least two socket contacts 125 may be configured to be electrically connected in any of at least two orientations. In other words, one or more circuits required for operation of the vaporizer may be completed by inserting the vaporizer cartridge 120 into the cartridge slot 118 in a first rotational orientation (about the axis along which the cartridge end of the vaporizer cartridge 120 is inserted into the housing cartridge slot 118 110 evaporator) such that a first cartridge contact of at least two cartridge contacts 124 is electrically coupled to a first socket contact of at least two socket contacts 125, and a second cartridge contact of at least two contacts 124 cartridge is electrically connected to a second socket contact of at least two socket contacts 125. In addition, one or more circuits required for operation of the vaporizer may be completed by inserting the vaporizer cartridge 120 into the cartridge slot 118 in a second rotation orientation such that the first cartridge contact of at least two cartridge contacts 124 is electrically coupled to the second a socket contact of at least two socket contacts 125, and a second cartridge contact of at least two cartridge contacts 124 is electrically coupled to a first socket contact of at least two socket contacts 125. This feature of reversibly inserting the vaporizer cartridge 120 into the cartridge slot 118 of the vaporizer housing 110 is described below in more detail.

[0058] In one example of a fastening structure for connecting the vaporizer cartridge 120 to the vaporizer housing 110, the vaporizer housing 110 includes a retainer (eg, recess, protrusion, etc.) projecting inwardly from an inner surface of the cartridge seat 118. One or more outer surfaces of the vaporizer cartridge 120 may include corresponding grooves (not shown in FIG. 1) that tightly engage and/or otherwise engage such latches when the end of the vaporizer cartridge 120 is inserted into the cartridge slot 118 of the vaporizer housing 110. When the vaporizer cartridge 120 and the vaporizer body 110 are connected (for example, by inserting the end of the vaporizer cartridge 120 into the cartridge slot 118 of the vaporizer housing 110), a retainer in the vaporizer housing 110 may seat and/or otherwise be retained in the grooves of the vaporizer cartridge 120 so as to retain evaporator cartridge 120 in place during assembly. Such a retainer/groove assembly may provide sufficient support to hold the vaporizer cartridge 120 in place to ensure good contact between the at least two cartridge contacts 124 and the at least two socket contacts 125 while allowing release vaporizer cartridge 120 from the vaporizer body 110 when the user pulls the vaporizer cartridge 120 toward you with reasonable force to disengage the vaporizer cartridge 120 from the cartridge slot 118 . It should be understood that other configurations for connecting the vaporizer cartridge 120 and the vaporizer body 110 are within the scope of the current subject matter, for example, as described in more detail below.

[0059] In addition to the above explanation regarding the reversibility of the electrical connections between the vaporizer cartridge 120 and the vaporizer body 110 such that at least two orientations of rotation of the vaporizer cartridge 120 in the housing of the vaporizer cartridge 120 are possible, in some vaporizer devices the shape of the cartridge 120 evaporator, or at least the shape of the end of the evaporator cartridge 120, which is configured to be inserted into the cartridge socket 118, may have rotational symmetry of at least the order of two. In other words, the vaporizer cartridge 120, or at least the insertion end of the vaporizer cartridge 120, may be symmetrical when rotating 180° about the axis along which the vaporizer cartridge 120 is inserted into the cartridge receptacle 118. In such a configuration, the evaporator device circuitry can maintain an identical operating mode no matter what symmetrical orientation of the evaporator cartridge 120 occurs.

[0060] In some examples, the vaporizer cartridge 120, or at least the end of the vaporizer cartridge 120 configured to be inserted into the receptacle of the vaporizer cartridge 120, may have a non-circular cross-section transverse to the axis along which the vaporizer cartridge 120 is inserted into the receptacle 118 for the cartridge. For example, a non-circular cross-section may be approximately rectangular, approximately elliptical (eg, approximately oval in shape), non-rectangular but with two sets of parallel or approximately parallel opposite sides (eg, having a parallelogram shape), or other shapes having rotational symmetry, according to at least about two. In this context, "approximately shaped" indicates that the basic similarity to the described shape is obvious, but that the sides of the shape in question need not be perfectly linear, and the vertices need not be absolutely sharp. Rounding both or one of the edges or vertices of a cross-sectional shape is contemplated in the description of any non-circular cross-section referred to herein.

[0061] The at least two cartridge contacts 124 and the at least two socket contacts 125 may take different shapes. For example, one or both sets of contacts may include conductive pins, post leads, contact posts, receiving holes for pins or contact posts, and the like. Some types of contacts may include springs or other pressing elements that provide better physical and electrical contact between the contacts on the vaporizer cartridge 120 and the vaporizer body 110 . The electrical contacts may not necessarily be gold plated and/or may include other materials.

[0062] Described herein are various embodiments of a vaporizer cartridge 120 that are configured to contain and vaporize one or more non-liquid feedstocks, such as tear-off tobacco. In addition, such embodiments of vaporizer cartridges may be disposable such that they cannot be refilled once the vaporizable material is consumed. Such disposable vaporizer cartridges may therefore require inexpensive material and manufacturing to be economically feasible. In addition, while it may be desirable to form and manufacture disposable vaporizer cartridges for vaporizing non-liquid starting materials, it is also desirable to vaporize the vaporizable material effectively and efficiently. For example, a user inhaling on a vaporizer device typically prefers to inhale the aerosol created by the vaporizer device shortly after coming into contact with the vaporizer device (eg, placing lips on the mouthpiece, pressing an activation button, etc.). In this regard, embodiments of vaporizer cartridges disclosed herein can advantageously achieve efficient vaporization of vaporizable material from a source material to achieve a desired user experience. In addition, embodiments of the vaporizer cartridge 120 disclosed herein may advantageously provide sufficient thermal energy to the precursor to cause the vaporizable material to be released, for example, to create an aerosol form of the vaporizable material for inhalation, while limiting heating to a sufficient extent to at least reduce the creation of at least one harmful by-product that is undesirable for inhalation by the user. To achieve the above, various embodiments of heating elements are disclosed and described in more detail below.

[0063] For example, this document describes various embodiments of heating elements that are configured to heat within a desired temperature range, for example, at or below approximately 250 degrees Celsius. This temperature range allows the precursor material, such as processed tobacco, to be advantageously vaporized and allows the nicotine and volatile flavor compounds to be aerosolized and delivered to the user inhaling the associated vaporizer device. Such a temperature, within the temperature range, may also prevent the creation of at least one harmful or potentially harmful by-product. In this regard, at least one benefit of the heating assemblies described herein includes increased aerosol quality for inhalation by the user.

[0064] In addition, various embodiments of the heating elements described herein can be efficiently heated to a temperature within a desired temperature range. This may allow the associated vaporizer device to achieve a desired user experience for a user inhaling on the vaporizer device. Such efficient heating time may result in efficient consumption of energy, eg battery energy, from the evaporation device. In addition, various embodiments of the heating elements described herein can achieve such benefits without the need to increase the size of the evaporation device. In some embodiments, the heating element may enable a more compact vaporization device than the vaporization device that is currently available. In addition, embodiments of the heating element may be shaped and manufactured at a cost that may allow the vaporizer cartridge to be disposable and economically viable.

[0065] Embodiments of heating elements described below may include at least one thermally conductive material such as carbon, carbon foam, metal, metal foil, aluminum foam, or biodegradable polymer. The thermally conductive material may enable the energy provided by the evaporative device to be transferred to the thermally conductive element (for example, through contacts of the cartridge and the evaporative device) to thereby cause an increase in temperature along at least a portion of the thermally conductive element, for example, to evaporate the evaporative material from the original substance. The evaporator housing 110 may include a controller 104 that can control the amount of energy provided to the thermally conductive material, thereby assisting the heating element 150 in achieving a temperature that is within a desired temperature range.

[0066] In some embodiments, the vaporizer cartridge may include a housing 162 configured to contain at least a portion of vaporizable material 102 and/or heating element 150.

[0067] FIG. 2A-2B illustrate an embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge 220 including an embodiment of a heating element 250 including a flexible sheet with narrow electrically conductive paths 252 running along it. These narrow electrically conductive paths 252 form resistive heaters that can be placed in series or in parallel. The narrow electrically conductive routes 252 may be made of an electrically conductive material, for example, any of the electrically conductive materials described herein. Heating element 250 may include at least one cartridge contact 224 that is in electrical communication with narrow electrically conductive paths. The cartridge contacts 224 may be positioned such that when the vaporizer cartridge 220 is coupled to the vaporizer body, the cartridge contacts 224 may mate with the socket contacts 125 (shown in FIG. 1) of the vaporizer body. This may allow energy to be transferred from the evaporator body to the narrow electrical paths 224 (via contact between the cartridge contacts 224 and the socket contacts 125), thereby allowing the narrow electrical paths 252 to reach a temperature within a desired temperature range.

[0068] In some embodiments, the flexible sheet may be wrapped around a non-liquid precursor 202, such as a plurality of tobacco sheets, as shown in FIG. 2B. In such a configuration, the heating element 250 may both define a chamber configured to contain the starting material 202 and be contained within the chamber. This may increase contact between precursor material 202 and heating element 150, thereby allowing heating element 150 to effectively heat and vaporize vaporizable material from precursor material 202. Additionally, the thermal gradient for precursor material 202 may be minimal (e.g., less than or equal to the width tobacco leaf) in this configuration. This may allow the heating element 150 to be heated to a temperature within a desired temperature range while simultaneously vaporizing an acceptable proportion (ideally, but not necessarily all or substantially all) of the vaporizable material contained in the feed material 202 in the chamber.

[0069] FIG. 2C and 2D illustrate embodiments of narrow electrical conductive paths 252 of heating element 150. For example, as shown in FIG. 2C and 2D, narrow electrical paths 252 may include a plurality of heaters in series in parallel, for example, six heaters in series arranged in parallel. Additionally, as shown in FIG. 2C, each series heater may be stacked in a horizontal orientation and/or a vertical orientation as shown in FIG. 2D. For example, a horizontal orientation may provide a series resistance of approximately 2.18 ohms at 25°C and 4.09 ohms at 250°C and a heater impedance of approximately 0.363 ohms at 25°C and 0.682 ohms at 250°C. In a vertical orientation, for example, a series resistance of approximately 2.14 ohms at 25°C and 4.02 ohms at 250°C and a heater impedance of approximately 0.357 ohms at 25°C and 0.670 ohms at 250°C. Other configurations of narrow electrical conductive paths are within the scope of this disclosure. Fig. 2C illustrates the heating element 150 of FIG. 2A with narrow electrically conductive paths 252 forming six series heaters in parallel, with each section of the series heater in a horizontal orientation.

[0070] FIG. 3A-3B illustrate another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge 320 including another embodiment of a heating element 350 (shown in FIG. 3B) that allows the vaporizer cartridge 320 to include at least some of the benefits described herein, including This includes cost-effective manufacturing, short heating times, evaporation temperatures within the required temperature range, etc.

[0071] As shown in FIG. 3B, heating element 350 includes an electrically resistive region 354 made of an electrically conductive material, such as an electrically conductive foil material, processed to increase its electrical resistance in a desired portion of the electrically conductive foil (e.g., by perforating, varying the thickness or other size of the conductive cross-section etc.). In some embodiments, the first portion of the electrically resistive region 354 may include a liner 356 in the form of a non-conductive material (eg, paper material), and the second portion of the electrically resistive region 354 may include an electrically resistive material 358 without the liner 356 in the form of a non-conductive material. In addition, and as noted above, the second portion may include a plurality of perforations 360, which may create electrical resistance along the otherwise more electrically conductive material of the second portion. The perforations 360 may have any number of a variety of shapes and sizes and be arranged in one or more of a variety of configurations. In addition, the electrically resistive second portion may be an electrically conductive material that includes more than one region having different perforation densities 360 or other physical modifications, thereby creating different electrically resistive regions. Such different areas of electrical resistance may influence the temperature achieved when the electrically resistive portion is forced to heat (eg, allow electrical current to pass through). As shown in FIG. 3A and 3B, a portion of the heating element 350 may include only a non-electrically conductive material, such as a portion of the heating element 350 that may provide contact with a user and thereby benefit from the fact that no heating occurs. Other configurations are also within the scope of this disclosure, such as heating elements having one or more regions including electrically conductive material without perforations, for example, to form a cartridge contact that can interface with an evaporator contact to allow current to be transferred from an evaporator device into the heating element for heating the heating element.

[0072] As shown in FIG. 3A, heating element 350 may be wrapped around a precursor 302, such as a non-liquid precursor (eg, one or more sheets of tobacco). In such a configuration, the heating element 350 may both define a chamber configured to contain the starting material 302 and be contained within the cartridge chamber. This may increase contact between precursor material 302 and heating element 350, thereby allowing heating element 350 to effectively heat and vaporize vaporizable material from precursor material 302. Additionally, the thermal gradient for precursor material 302 may be reduced (e.g., less than or equal to the width of tobacco leaf) in this configuration. This may allow heating element 350 to heat to a temperature within a desired temperature range while simultaneously vaporizing an acceptable proportion (ideally, but not necessarily all or substantially all) of the vaporizable material contained in the feed material in the chamber.

[0073] FIG. 4A-4E illustrate another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge 420 including another embodiment of a heating element 450 (e.g., shown in FIG. 4B) that allows the vaporizer cartridge 420 to include at least some of the benefits described herein , including cost-effective manufacturing, short heating time, evaporation temperatures within the required temperature range, etc.

[0074] As shown in FIG. 4A, the vaporizer cartridge 420 may include a housing 462 having an opening 464 for receiving a heating element 450 and a precursor 402. The housing 462 may include a non-electrically conductive material, and the heating element 450 may include a sheet 448 made of a thermally conductive material. As shown in FIG. 4B, sheet 448 may include a plurality of perforations 460 that may affect resistance along sheet 448. In addition, sheet may include at least one side extension forming cartridge contacts 424 that may mate and extend through the through hole 428 along housing 462. Such lateral extension forming cartridge contacts 424 may be positioned to mate with a socket contact along a corresponding evaporator body, thereby allowing current to flow from the evaporator body into the heating element 450, in turn allowing the heating element 450 to heat up. to a temperature within the required temperature range.

[0075] As shown in FIG. 4C, heating element 450 may include at least one planar surface in which precursor 402 can be mated directly opposite, thereby allowing efficient heat transfer between heating element 450 and precursor 402 (e.g., one or more sheets of tobacco ). Additionally, the thermal gradient for precursor 402 may be minimal (eg, less than or equal to the width of a tobacco leaf) in such a configuration. This may allow the heating element 450 to reach a temperature within a desired temperature range while simultaneously vaporizing all or substantially all of the vaporizable material contained in the feed material 402 in the chamber. Other variations and/or features of the heating element 450 may be included, such as folding the heating element 450 in half with cartridge contacts 424 extending from the distal end (as shown in FIG. 4E), and/or including an etched electrically conductive sheet 406 that is effectively long and thin to result in sufficient electrical resistance to achieve rapid and efficient heating of heating element 450 to within the desired heating range (as shown, for example, in FIG. 4D).

[0076] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4F and 4G, one or more extensions 468 may extend from the top and/or bottom surface of the thermal conductive sheet 448. Such extensions 468 may be formed by forming the perforations 460 (eg, through stamping of the conductive sheet). Extensions 468 may provide additional surface area that may be more integrated with precursor material 402, for example, compared to a flat heating element that does not include such extensions. As shown in FIG. 4H, some embodiments of housing 462 may include a clamshell configuration such that a heating element 450 (e.g., any of the heating element embodiments shown in FIGS. 4A to 4G) may be captured in housing 462 along with at least two tobacco sheets located on opposite sides of the heating element 450. This allows for a compact configuration with efficient assembly.

[0077] FIG. 5A-5B illustrate another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge 520 including another embodiment of a heating element 550 having an induction coil and a ferrous material 570. For example, the induction coil may wrap around a precursor material, eg directly around a sheet of precursor material. In addition, the ferrous material 570 may be mixed with the starting material and may be heated by the interaction of the ferrous material with electric and/or magnetic fields created by the current passing through the inductive coil. The ferrous metal material inter-mixed with the precursor material may allow heat to be more evenly distributed along and/or within the precursor material, thereby reducing the thermal gradient along the precursor material. This may enable the precursor material to be heated by the interaction of fields generated by the induction coil to a temperature within a desired temperature range and thereby effectively vaporize the vaporizable material from the precursor material.

[0078] FIG. 6 illustrates a side cross-sectional view of another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge 620 including another embodiment of a heating element 650 having a thermally conductive (but electrically resistive) foam structure 672. For example, the precursor material may be contained within a conductive foam structure 672 (e.g., within pores of a thermally conductive open cell foam structures). Current may flow through the thermally conductive foam structure 672 to thereby uniformly heat the starting material by resistively heating the thermally conductive foam structure 672, for example, at a temperature within a desired temperature range. In some embodiments, the thermally conductive foam structure 672 may be made from lattice carbon foam, aluminum foam, etc. Other foam structures are within the scope of this disclosure.

[0079] FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge 720 including another embodiment of a heating element 750 having conductive plates 774 separated by a non-conductive insulating material 776. The conductive plates 774 and the insulating material 776 may define a chamber configured to contain a precursor material 702. The heating element 750 may further include an at least partially electrically conductive mixture 778, which may be incorporated into the precursor material 702, thereby creating a bulk resistor from the precursor material 702. The conductive plates 774 may function to conduct electricity and act as cartridge contacts that mate with contacts of the vaporizer body socket to which the vaporizer cartridge 720 is connected.

[0080] Any of the heating elements described herein may include a contact (e.g., a cartridge contact) or may be in electrical communication with a contact to enable electrical energy to be transferred from and to the vaporizer housing to which the vaporizer cartridge is coupled. therefore ensure an increase in the temperature of the heating element.

[0081] To vaporize vaporizable material from a starting material without the need to heat above a desired temperature range, a countercurrent heat exchanger may be implemented in a vaporizer cartridge or vaporization device. For example, a vaporizer cartridge including a counterflow heat exchanger is described in more detail below.

[0082] FIG. 8A-8B illustrate another embodiment of a vaporizer cartridge 820 including another embodiment of a heating element 850. As shown in FIG. 8A, a thermally conductive material may surround the outer circumference of the outer precursor passage 880. The outer precursor passage 880 may include a toroidal profile in which the inner through hole defines the inner precursor passage 882. As shown in FIG. 8B, the internal feed passage 882 may be open at the distal end 884, and the outer feed passage 880 may include an opening at the distal end 884. The inner and outer feed passages may be at least partially filled with feed. . The air flow path 886 may extend between the opening for the outer feed passage 880, along at least a portion of the feed passage, through the proximal end 888 of the inner feed passage 882, along the inner feed passage 882, and the distal opening. feed passage, as shown in FIG. 8B. This may allow air flow (eg, as a result of inhalation by a user on a vaporizer device) to flow along the outer precursor passage 880, thereby becoming heated by the thermally conductive material surrounding the outer circumference of the precursor passage. In this regard, when the hot air flow then flows along the internal feed passage 882, the hot air flow may increase the temperature of the feed disposed along the inner feed passage 882. This may assist in increasing the rate at which the precursor contained in the internal precursor passage is heated to a desired temperature (eg, within a desired temperature range) and reducing the temperature gradient throughout the precursor.

[0083] At least some benefits of this concept may include reducing peak temperatures along the source material that exceed the desired temperature range. In this regard, it may result in at least a reduction in undesirable by-products created when the vaporized material is evaporated from the feedstock. Additionally, since there is no direct contact between the source material and the vaporization device, minimal maintenance (eg, cleaning, etc.) of the vaporization device may be required.

[0084] Although the heating element and airflow passage are described herein as being included in a vaporizer cartridge, any one or more parts of the heating element and airflow passage described herein may be included in a vaporizer device thereby configured with the ability to be reused and wear-resistant.

Terminology

[0085] When a feature or element is referred to herein as being "in" another feature or element, it may be directly contained in the other feature or element, or intermediate features and/or elements may also be present. In contrast, when a feature or element is referred to as being "directly contained" in another feature or element, no intermediate features or elements are present. It should also be understood that when a feature or element is referred to as being "connected" to or "attached" to another feature or element, it may be directly connected to or attached to another feature or element, or there may be intermediate signs or elements. In contrast, when a feature or element is referred to as being “directly connected” to another feature or element or “directly attached” to another feature or element, no intermediate features or elements are present.

[0086] Although described or shown with respect to one embodiment, the features and elements described or shown in this manner may apply to other embodiments. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that references to a structure or element that is "adjacent" to another element may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent element.

[0087] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and implementations only and is not intended to be limiting. For example, as used herein, singular forms are intended to include plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising" when used in this detailed description indicate the presence of the set forth features, steps, operations, elements or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more associated listed elements and may be abbreviated as “/”.

[0088] In the above descriptions and in the claims, phrases such as “at least one of” or “one or more of” may appear followed by a conjunctive list of elements or features. The term "and/or" may also appear in a list of two or more elements or features. Unless otherwise implicitly or explicitly inconsistent with the context in which it is used, such phrase is not intended to mean any of the enumerated elements or features alone or any of the enumerated elements or features in combination with any of the other enumerated elements or features. For example, the phrases "at least one of A and B"; "one or more of A and B"; and "A and/or B" are intended to mean "A only, B only, or A and B together." A similar interpretation also applies to lists containing three or more elements. For example, the phrases "at least one of A, B and C"; "one or more of A, B and C"; and "A, B and/or C" are intended to mean "A only, B only, C only, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A and B and C together." The use of the term "based on" above and in the claims is intended to mean "at least in part based on" so that an unstated feature or element is also acceptable.

[0089] Spatially relative terms such as “front”, “back”, “under”, “below”, “bottom”, “above”, “top” and the like may be used herein for ease of description to describe the relationship of one element or feature to another element(s) or feature(s), as illustrated in the drawings. It should be understood that spatially relative terms are intended to cover various orientations of the device being used or operated, in addition to the orientation illustrated in the drawings. For example, if the device in the drawings is inverted, elements described as "under" or "below" other elements or features would then be oriented "above" the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term "under" can cover both above and below orientations. The device may be oriented in other ways (rotated 90 degrees or in other orientations), and the spatially relative descriptors used herein are interpreted accordingly. Likewise, the terms “up”, “down”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, etc. are used herein for explanatory purposes only unless expressly stated otherwise.

[0090] Although the terms “first” and “second” may be used herein to describe various features/elements (including steps), these features/elements should not be limited by these terms unless the context indicates otherwise. These terms can be used to distinguish one characteristic/element from another characteristic/element. Thus, the first feature/element explained below may be referred to as the second feature/element, and likewise, the second feature/element explained below may be referred to as the first feature/element, without departing from the ideas provided herein.

[0091] When used herein in the detailed description and claims, including when used in examples, and unless otherwise expressly indicated, all numbers may be read as if preceded by the word "about" or "approximately" even if the term is not shown explicitly. The phrase "about" or "approximately" may be used when describing an absolute value and/or position to indicate that the value and/or position described is within a reasonable expected range of values and/or positions. For example, a numeric value may have a value that is +/-0.1% of a set value (or range of values), +/-1% of a set value (or range of values), +/-2% of a set value (or value range), +/-5% of the set value (or range of values), +/-10% of the set value (or range of values), etc. Any numerical values given herein should also be understood to include about or approximately that value unless the context otherwise indicates. For example, if the value "10" is disclosed, then "about 10" is also disclosed. Any range of numerical values set forth herein is intended to be inclusive of all subranges included therein. It should also be understood that when a value that is “less than or equal to” a value is disclosed, so are “greater than or equal to a value” and possible ranges between the values are disclosed, as those skilled in the art would appreciate. For example, if the value "X" is disclosed, "less than or equal to X" is also disclosed, as is "greater than or equal to X" (eg, where X is a numeric value). It should also be understood that in this application, data is provided in a number of different formats, and that this data represents end points and starting points and ranges for any combination of data points. For example, if a particular data point "10" and a particular data point "15" are disclosed, it should be understood that greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, less than or equal to, and equal to 10 and 15 are considered disclosed, as are between 10 and 15. It should also be understand that each unit between two specific units is also disclosed. For example, if 10 and 15 are revealed, then 11, 12, 13 and 14 are also revealed.

[0092] Although various illustrative embodiments are described above, any of a number of changes may be made to the various embodiments without departing from the teachings herein. For example, the order in which the various described method steps are performed may often vary in alternative embodiments, and in other alternative embodiments, one or more method steps may be skipped altogether. Optional features of various embodiments of the device and system may be included in some embodiments and not in others. Accordingly, the foregoing description is provided primarily for exemplary purposes and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the claims.

[0093] One or more aspects or features of the subject matter described herein may be implemented in a digital electronic circuit, an integrated circuit, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), computer hardware, firmware , software and/or combinations of the above. These various aspects or features may include implementation in one or more computer programs that may be executed and/or interpreted on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special purpose or general purpose, coupled with the ability to receive data and instructions and transmit data and instructions from/to a data storage system, at least one input device and at least one output device. A programmable system or computing system may include clients and servers. The client and server are generally remote from each other and typically communicate through a communications network. The relationship between the client and the server is carried out on the basis of computer programs running on the corresponding computers and having a client-server relationship with each other.

[0094] These computer programs, which may also be referred to as "programs", "software", "applications", "applications", "components" or "code", include machine instructions for a programmable processor and may be implemented in high-level procedural language, object-oriented programming language, functional programming language, logic programming language and/or assembly/machine language. As used herein, the term "machine-readable medium" means any computer program product, hardware and/or device, such as, for example, magnetic disks, optical disks, memory and programmable logic devices (PLDs) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor including a computer-readable medium that receives the machine instructions as a computer-readable signal. The term "machine-readable signal" means any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor. A computer-readable medium may non-volatilely store such machine instructions, for example, similar to a non-volatile semiconductor memory or magnetic hard disk, or any equivalent storage medium. A computer-readable medium may alternatively or additionally store such machine instructions in a volatile manner, for example, similar to a processor cache or other random access memory associated with one or more physical processor cores.

[0095] The examples and illustrations included herein show, by way of illustration and not limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter of the invention may be practiced. As mentioned above, other embodiments may be used and learned from such that structural and logical substitutions and changes can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein separately or collectively by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without the intention of intentionally limiting the scope of this application to any one invention or inventive concept if more than one is actually disclosed. Thus, while specific embodiments are illustrated and described herein, any arrangement calculated to achieve an identical purpose can be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of the various embodiments. Combinations of the above-described embodiments and other embodiments not specifically described herein should become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the foregoing description.

Claims (29)

1. A cartridge for an evaporation device, configured to contain a non-liquid evaporable material, the cartridge comprising: internal passage for the starting material; a first opening at the first end of the cartridge in fluid communication with the internal passage for the starting material; an outer precursor passage, wherein at least a portion of the non-liquid vaporizable material is disposed in the outer precursor passage; and a second opening at the first end of the cartridge in fluid communication with the external precursor passage, the inner passage and the outer precursor passage defining an air flow path that passes between the first opening and the second opening. 2. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein the outer precursor passage surrounds a portion of the inner precursor passage. 3. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the inner precursor passage is separated from the outer precursor passage by an inner precursor passage wall defining the inner precursor passage. 4. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein the air flow passes through the first opening into the internal precursor passage and exits through the second opening out of the outer precursor passage. 5. The cartridge of claim 1, wherein the air flow passes through the second opening into the outer precursor passage and exits through the first opening out of the inner precursor passage. 6. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the other portion of the non-liquid vaporizable material is located in the internal passage for the source material. 7. The cartridge of claim 6, further comprising a thermally conductive material surrounding at least a portion of the outer precursor passage. 8. A cartridge for a vaporizer device configured to contain a non-liquid vaporizable material, the cartridge comprising: a first air flow passage formed by a wall of the first passage; a first opening at a first end of the cartridge in fluid communication with the first air flow passage; a second airflow passage defined by the wall of the second passage and in fluid communication with the first airflow passage, the second airflow passage being separated from the first airflow passage by the wall of the first passage, at least a portion of the non-liquid vaporizable material located in the second air flow passage; and a second opening at the first end of the cartridge in fluid communication with the second air flow passage. 9. The cartridge of claim 8, wherein the first airflow passage and the second airflow passage define an airflow passage that extends between the first opening and the second opening. 10. The cartridge of claim 8, wherein the second airflow passage surrounds a portion of the first airflow passage. 11. The cartridge of claim 8, wherein the air flow passes through the first opening into the first air flow passage and exits through the second opening from the second air flow passage. 12. The cartridge of claim 8, wherein the air flow passes through the second opening into the second air flow passage and exits through the first opening from the first air flow passage. 13. The cartridge of claim 8, wherein the other portion of the non-liquid vaporizable material is located in the first air flow passage. 14. The cartridge according to claim 13, in which the wall of the first passage is made of heat-conducting material. 15. An evaporator containing: heating chamber; And a cartridge configured to be placed inside the heating chamber, the cartridge comprising: an outer precursor passage, wherein at least a portion of the non-liquid vaporizable material is disposed in the outer precursor passage; a first opening at a distal end of the cartridge in fluid communication with an external precursor passage; internal passage for the starting material; and a second opening at a distal end of the cartridge in fluid communication with the internal precursor passage, the outer precursor passage and the inner precursor passage defining an air flow path that passes between the first opening and the second opening.

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