WO2020200773A1 - Ensemble de chauffage - Google Patents

Ensemble de chauffage Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2020200773A1
WO2020200773A1 PCT/EP2020/057321 EP2020057321W WO2020200773A1 WO 2020200773 A1 WO2020200773 A1 WO 2020200773A1 EP 2020057321 W EP2020057321 W EP 2020057321W WO 2020200773 A1 WO2020200773 A1 WO 2020200773A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
substrate
heater
nicotine
heater assembly
assembly according
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2020/057321
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
David Lawson
Original Assignee
Ventus Medical Limited
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from GBGB1904762.0A external-priority patent/GB201904762D0/en
Priority claimed from GBGB1911096.4A external-priority patent/GB201911096D0/en
Application filed by Ventus Medical Limited filed Critical Ventus Medical Limited
Publication of WO2020200773A1 publication Critical patent/WO2020200773A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B3/00—Ohmic-resistance heating
    • H05B3/02—Details
    • H05B3/04—Waterproof or air-tight seals for heaters
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B3/00—Ohmic-resistance heating
    • H05B3/20—Heating elements having extended surface area substantially in a two-dimensional plane, e.g. plate-heater
    • H05B3/22—Heating elements having extended surface area substantially in a two-dimensional plane, e.g. plate-heater non-flexible
    • H05B3/26—Heating elements having extended surface area substantially in a two-dimensional plane, e.g. plate-heater non-flexible heating conductor mounted on insulating base
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B3/00—Ohmic-resistance heating
    • H05B3/20—Heating elements having extended surface area substantially in a two-dimensional plane, e.g. plate-heater
    • H05B3/22—Heating elements having extended surface area substantially in a two-dimensional plane, e.g. plate-heater non-flexible
    • H05B3/28—Heating elements having extended surface area substantially in a two-dimensional plane, e.g. plate-heater non-flexible heating conductor embedded in insulating material
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B3/00—Ohmic-resistance heating
    • H05B3/40—Heating elements having the shape of rods or tubes
    • H05B3/42—Heating elements having the shape of rods or tubes non-flexible
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B2203/00—Aspects relating to Ohmic resistive heating covered by group H05B3/00
    • H05B2203/002—Heaters using a particular layout for the resistive material or resistive elements
    • H05B2203/003—Heaters using a particular layout for the resistive material or resistive elements using serpentine layout
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B2203/00—Aspects relating to Ohmic resistive heating covered by group H05B3/00
    • H05B2203/002—Heaters using a particular layout for the resistive material or resistive elements
    • H05B2203/007—Heaters using a particular layout for the resistive material or resistive elements using multiple electrically connected resistive elements or resistive zones
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B2203/00—Aspects relating to Ohmic resistive heating covered by group H05B3/00
    • H05B2203/011—Heaters using laterally extending conductive material as connecting means
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B2203/00—Aspects relating to Ohmic resistive heating covered by group H05B3/00
    • H05B2203/013—Heaters using resistive films or coatings
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B2203/00—Aspects relating to Ohmic resistive heating covered by group H05B3/00
    • H05B2203/021—Heaters specially adapted for heating liquids
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • H05B—ELECTRIC HEATING; ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT SOURCES, IN GENERAL
    • H05B2203/00—Aspects relating to Ohmic resistive heating covered by group H05B3/00
    • H05B2203/022—Heaters specially adapted for heating gaseous material

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a heater assembly, and specifically one most ideally adapted for vaporising, aerosolising, gasefying or otherwise promoting an amount of a volatile liquid, or some formulation predominantly consisting of such a liquid, into the atmosphere immediately surrounding the heater assembly. More specifically, the present invention may find application in any electrically powered and/or electronically controlled aerosol-generating inhalation device, whereby some formulation, being essentially comprised of a volatile liquid and further including some chemically, therapeutically, pharmaceutically active substance, is firstly aerosolised and subsequently or simultaneously inhaled by a user of the device such that said user receives a prescribed or desired dose of the active substance in broadly identical manner to that in which a smoker of conventional tobacco receives an amount of nicotine.
  • the present invention seeks to provide an entirely novel and somewhat revolutionary heater assembly ideally adapted for use in articles such as electronic cigarettes (commonly now known as “eCigs”, “vaping” devices, or more generally Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems or “ENDS”) within which a formulation containing nicotine at a prescribed or desired concentration is aerosolised immediately prior to being inhaled by a user of the device.
  • articles such as electronic cigarettes (commonly now known as “eCigs”, “vaping” devices, or more generally Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems or “ENDS”) within which a formulation containing nicotine at a prescribed or desired concentration is aerosolised immediately prior to being inhaled by a user of the device.
  • any use herein of the terms "aerosolize”, “aerosol” or similar cognate expressions is to be interpreted as encompassing any physical process whereby any one or more of: a volatile liquid, some formulation predominantly consisting of such a volatile liquid, any constituent component thereof or diluent substance therein, and possibly any complex derivatives thereof, are forcibly promoted, usually by the application of heat, into the surrounding atmosphere, in any phase, i.e. as a gas, a liquid, or a solid, or any phase intermediate thereof.
  • vaping shall be considered to apply to both to the practise of inhaling aerosols including some pharmaceutically active substance for the purpose of drug delivery, and devices adapted for this purpose, and “vaping", and this application more generally, shall not be considered as being limited solely to the delivery of nicotine, despite the following description being largely focused on devices primarily adapted for the delivery of that particular substance.
  • vaping as a pursuit has experienced explosive growth over the last few years, and there are already now available a vast array of vaping devices available.
  • the globally widespread adoption of vaping devices does of course fundamentally relate to the desire of most smokers of conventional tobacco products (CTPs) to stop smoking, or at least reduce or eliminate their dependency on nicotine and most vaping devices are sold and used as smoking cessation aids. Notwithstanding this primary purpose, it should be mentioned that such devices are often used as lifestyle accessories and also by previously non smoking individuals. In any event, it is largely beyond doubt that the use of vaping devices is significantly less harmful than the smoking of CTPs.
  • vaping devices As to the efficacy of vaping devices as regards the delivery of nicotine into the bloodstream of users, it is believed that such devices and the formulations used therein are not quite as effective as the smoking of combustible CTPs, but recent prior art and certain scientific studies have addressed this problem, in particular by modifying either the formulations or the inhaled aerosols such that they contain at least one pharmaceutically salt of nicotine, as opposed to only nicotine. See, for example,
  • the device generates an aerosol of desired composition by virtue of the fact that each compartment contains an amount of a carrier material which is impregnated, for one of the compartments, with nicotine, or an aqueous or non-aqueous solution thereof, and for the alternate compartment, with a carboxylic acid, such as lactic acid, or an aqueous or non-aqueous solution thereof, and when sufficient heat is applied to the carrier material, and thus to the substances impregnated therein, they are aerosolised into the surrounding atmosphere.
  • the carrier materials act as reservoirs for the fluids impregnated therein, and the amount of fluid the carrier material can retain is stated as being in the range of 1 -40mg, or 2-60mg, depending which particular liquid they are impregnated with.
  • a user will typically be causing an airflow through the device while it is activated by mouth-applied suction pressure, so the aerosols created as described are entrained in the respective airflows occurring at that time within and through the compartments of the cartridge.
  • these respective airflows unite and are mixed together, and the aerosolised nicotine and acid within each airflow react with one another, ideally in stoichiometric manner, such that the resulting combined airflow contains a desired amount of a nicotine salt immediately prior to being inhaled by the user.
  • the carrier material In the context of the present invention, the most important aspect of the above discussed prior art, and more standard conventional prior art devices further discussed below, is the carrier material, and the manner in which it is heated. In the applications discussed above, it is of course necessary that the carrier material is porous to at least some degree, because of the requirement that it be impregnated with one or more liquids or liquid solutions. Ideally, it is stated that the porosity of the carrier materials is between about 15% and about 55%.
  • the carrier materials are described as comprising one or more of: glass, cellulose, ceramic, stainless steel, aluminium, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), poly(cyclohexanedimethylene terephthalate) (PCT), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), and BAREX ⁇ ® >.
  • the carrier materials are described as being non-woven sheets of PET/PBT of suitable size and shape (e.g.
  • the carrier materials described are essentially lightweight absorbent fabrics capable of holding and retaining much more than their own weight of fluid, and in this regard are essentially no different to the more conventional cotton or polymer fibrous wicks used in more conventional so-called wick- and-coil vaping devices. Indeed the only differences between the device discussed above and the now ubiquitous wick-and-coil vaping devices are:
  • the heater blade is not in direct contact with the carrier material, as it is generally in most conventional wick-and-coil devices, but is separated therefrom by the compartment walls which inevitably present a thermal barrier to heat flow from the heater blade disposed therebetween.
  • the heater is essentially a completely separate and discrete component, and therefore its fitting within or to the cartridge or the device is entirely separate and relatively time consuming manufacturing step.
  • the resistive wire(s) or track(s) which constitute the heater can be quite delicate and easily damaged, and it is of course essential for proper functioning that a reliable electrical connection is maintained between the heater and the device battery, and therefore the heater is generally always a permanent and quite protected component of any vaping device, and one which is often manually installed during manufacture.
  • the conventional wicks, or the carrier material in the above described device are essentially fibrous in nature and therefore highly susceptible to variation in terms of their physical properties, and somewhat difficult to manipulate, at least by automated machinery, as they are effectively quite soft and pliable structures, and the fibres of which they are constituted can very easily be worked loose.
  • This is particularly true for conventional wick-and-coil vaping devices because wicks used therein are most commonly cylindrical or annular in cross-section, and constituted entirely of many hundreds or thousands of individual elongate fibres of a sorbent material which are compressed together.
  • the materials used for creating wicks will either be naturally occurring or created from naturally occurring materials (e.g.
  • wick-and-coil devices are essentially quite rudimentary devices, and as such provide very little operative consistency between one activation, i.e. when aerosolisation is occurring, and the next.
  • a liquid formulation consisting very simply of only nicotine (usually at a concentration of between about 5 mg/ml and 50mg/ml) and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier such as polyethylene glycol (PEG), vegetable glycerol (VG), or Propylene Glycol (PG) will be added to a reservoir of the device prior to activation.
  • PEG polyethylene glycol
  • VG vegetable glycerol
  • PG Propylene Glycol
  • the heater element rises quickly to a temperature which may be anywehere between 150 deg.C and 270 deg. C (nicotine boils at 247 deg.C), and once the heater reaches a temperature approaching or above the boiling point of the carrier liquid, then at least some aersolisation can begin to occur.
  • a temperature which may be anywehere between 150 deg.C and 270 deg. C (nicotine boils at 247 deg.C)
  • aerosolisation is an exceedingly complex physio-chemical process, and the quality of aerosolisation as well as the concentrations of constituents in any aerosol produced depends various factors, including the extent to which the wick is soaked with formulation, the heater temperature, and whether the heater is in complete contact with the wick or whether portions of the heater have become separated and to what extent.
  • the concentration of nicotine present in any aerosol produced can vary significantly between successive aerosolisations, at least for conventional wick-and-coil vaping devices.
  • the dosing consistency is slightly improved, but the heater used is still essentially a simple resistive wire heater prone to hot spots, and the nature of the device is such that the heater must necessarily be entirely separate from the carrier material it is adapted to heat - this is a very inefficient arrangement, and results the device having much shorter active life between battery charges because the heater is required to operate at significantly higher temperatures to ensure rapid aerosolisation, i.e. within 1 -2s of user activation occurring.
  • a heater assembly comprising a substantially solid, rigid substrate having a body defined by a plurality of exterior surfaces at least one of which is substantially planar, and at least one electrically resistive heater component comprising at least one resistive element portion and at least a pair of contact portions in electrical communication therewith, said heater component being physically secured to or within one or more of the substrate exterior surfaces such that the resistive element portion thereof is substantially disposed on said substantially planar exterior surface of said substrate with at least some part of one surface of said resistive element portion being substantially coplanar with said substantially planar exterior surface, said substrate being formed by sintering a granular or fibrous precursor material in which the average radial dimension of granules or fibres is less than 250pm, and which, after sintering, has a porosity of at least 0.4, and having an absorbency such that the substrate is capable of absorbing a volumetric amount of liquid at least 30% of the volume of the substrate itself,
  • the substrate is pre-dosed, in that the substrate is substantially saturated with an amount of a formulation containing at least one active composition, being one or more of nicotine, a nicotine salt, nicotine base, or a pharmaceutically active nicotine derivative composition, said active composition being dissolved or mixed with a pharmaceutically acceptable liquid carrier material, the concentration of the active composition in said formulation and one or more of: the dimensions, the porosity, and the absorbency of the substrate being selected so that one substrate is capable of absorbing and retaining, and thus being a self-contained reservoir for, a volumetric amount of formulation containing an amount of active composition which substantially corresponds to the daily nicotine dose of an individual smoker of a conventional tobacco product (CTP) on a multi-use basis.
  • a formulation containing at least one active composition being one or more of nicotine, a nicotine salt, nicotine base, or a pharmaceutically active nicotine derivative composition
  • said active composition being dissolved or mixed with a pharmaceutically acceptable liquid carrier material
  • sintering and cognate expressions used herein is to be understood as meaning a process involving at least one of heat and pressure whereby a material, without becoming liquefied, is melded, fused or caused to undergo some other physical or structural change which results in the solidification of an initially granular, particulate or fibrous mass.
  • an amount of an initially loose precursor material becomes essentially bound together by and within itself in a manner which gives rise to significantly enhanced porosity as compared to that initially solid mass of the precursor material, which in most cases would have negligible porosity.
  • Applicants herefor have advantageously discovered that using a sintered material for the su bstrate of the heater assembly allows an essentially solid component to function with at least equal if not actually improved wicking characteristics as compared to conventional fibrous wicks, while offering the further advantage that such solid components can not only be manipulated far more readily and in automated manner than a collection of fibres, whether only loosely held together in clumps or even when woven together as a soft fabric.
  • the act of sintering causes a change in the manner in which the precursor material is bonded together at the atomic level, whereas in fibrous masses and woven and non-woven fabrics, there is no such change and therefore any component formed purely therefrom will always possess some degree of inherent softness, rendering it practically impossible to reliably, precisely and uniformly apply anything, whether in liquid or solid form, to the exterior surfaces thereof.
  • sintered products and components are solid, and therefore the exterior surfaces thereof can be printed, coated, embossed, and indeed be subjected to a wide variety of surface treatments, including, most particularly, the surface application, mounting and bonding of secondary components, such as resistive heating elements.
  • the pore size which can be an important factor as regards the ease with which fluid can flow within, and be retained by the substrate, can be altered selectively, for example by adjusting the sintering process parameters, for example temperature or pressure, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. Indeed, it is known that for certain materials, the pore size within the sintered article may be dependent on, and capable of being adjusted by, firing the sintered article at different temperatures after sintering.
  • the present invention effectively provides a disposable, multi-use, daily cartridge which is specifically designed for particular types of smoker, and which is further specifically designed to be largely exhausted at the end of a single day's use in a conventional vaping device. More specifically, after the pre dosed substrate is inserted in a conventional vaping device, for example at the beginning of a day, a conventional smoker will then use that device and the pre-dosed substrate within it to produce a nicotine- or nicotine-salt-bearing aerosol for inhalation, multiple times during that day.
  • the design of the substrate and the relative concentration of active composition within the initial volume of formulation which the substrate retains takes into account the number of times that the said particular type of smoker would, according to his habit, be likely to use his vaping device. For example, a relatively light smoker who smokes 5 relatively mild cigarettes over the course of a single day may undertake a total of 30 inhalations (and corresponding hand-to-mouth gestures) in a single day. This number is a fundamental design parameter, as is the approximated amount of nicotine which would be delivered to that smoker as a result of his/her consuming that number of cigarettes of that strength, in terms of nicotine content.
  • the present invention can thus provide a custom-tailored smoking cessation aid, as the substrate of the present invention, when used in an appropriate vaping device, would deliver multiple discrete aerosols laden with appropriate amounts of said active composition to said smoker. Furthermore, by provide a custom-designed pre-dosed substrate in this way, not only would the substrate would be largely exhausted at the end of said one day, under habitual use conditions, but the smoker's nicotine requirement, as a result of his dependency thereon, would be substantially if not entirely sated.
  • the pore size within the sintered substrate is in the region of 25-170pm, and most preferably between 30-100 pm.
  • the heating component is directly printed, for example by screen printing, lithography, or a gravure printing technique, on the substantially planar exterior surface of the substrate, said printing including the use of an electrical ly conducting printing ink.
  • the heating component is an entirely separate article, for example a conducting foil in having a predetermined pattern in which are defined resistive heating element and (separate and distinct) contact portions, and which is bonded to the exterior substantially planar surface of the substrate, by any one or more of: adhesive, pressure, heat, light (e.g. by laser), ultrasound.
  • an adhesive is used, critically the adhesive must (a) be capable of withstanding the operating temperature range of the heating element when in use (e.g.
  • the adhesive layer which bonds heater component to substrate is of a pattern which is substantially identical to the shape and configuration of the heater component so that other areas of the exterior substantially planar surface of the substrate remain essentially uncovered, free of both adhesive the heater component.
  • the heater component may be formed in place on the at least one exterior substantially planar surface of the substrate, for example by firstly applying one or more uniform layers of one or more substances, at least one of which is electrically conducting, for example by printing, coating, dipping, or a more precise chemical deposition technique, and then subsequently performing a selective removal technique, such as etching, ablation, whether by laser or chemically, photolithography and photoengraving, such that what remains on the relevant substrate surface is a desired pattern of an electrically conducting substance.
  • a selective removal technique such as etching, ablation, whether by laser or chemically, photolithography and photoengraving
  • an initially separate heater component for example consisting of a flat or flattened electrically conducting element having contact portions at either end thereof is disposed on top of the initially granular or fibrous precursor material prior to sintering, which thus results in said heater component being partially embedded within one substantially planar surface of the sintered porous substrate.
  • one or more further heater components may be embedded in different, possibly opposing, surfaces of the resulting sintered substrate, if desired.
  • the sintering of the initially granular or fibrous precursor material is conducted with the said one or more heater components already in place within the sintering mould or other receptacle within which the sintering is carried out.
  • the sintering mould or receptacle defines an essentially cuboid, trapezoidal or parallelepiped-shaped interior such that the resulting sintered substrate is correspondingly shaped, and the disposition of the one or more heater components within the resulting sintered substrate is such that a substantially flat resistive element portion of the heater component, constituting by far the majority of the heater component as a whole, is partially embedded within one of a pair of the largest substantially flat surfaces of the sintered substrate, whereas end or contact portions of the heater component, usually being integrally formed with the resistive element portion therof and provided at each opposing terminal end thereof, are disposed on and preferably also partially embedded within either one substantially planar smaller surface of the substrate body so that the contacts portions are disposed separate from but adjacent one another on and partially within that surface, or alternately, with each one of the two contact portions being disposed on and preferably also partially embedded within different, preferably oppositely disposed, smaller, substantially planar surfaces of the substrate body so that the two contact portions each lie on opposite sides of the substrate
  • This particular arrangement is particularly advantageous because, when the substrate functions as a pre-dosed cartridge to be inserted within a suitably configured aperture, slot, opening or other appropriate recess within a vaping device adapted to receive such a cartridge, it is generally much simple r, both from a design perspective and an efficacy perspective, not only to create corresponding electrical contacts within the vaping device which come into contact with the corresponding contact portions provided on the sides of the substrate body, but also to provide aerosolization chambers within the vaping device which lie above and/or below the largest surfaces of the substrate body, and those over which the resistive element portions of the heater component are substantially disposed.
  • the largest surfaces of an essentially cuboid substrate be those from and through which the majority of the aerosols being formed beneath and on the said surfaces permeate, because the volume of aerosol produced is directly dependent on the surface area from which that aerosol emanates.
  • the heater component contact portions on one or more of the smaller side surfaces of the substrate, not only can a reliable electrical connection be ensured, but also, such electrical connection, and indeed the contacts themselves, need not, and most preferably do not, interfere with the aerosolization, which occurs most preferably only on or more of the largest surfaces of the substrate.
  • the terminal contact portions provided at the ends of the resistive element portion are either formed of a conductive material (as opposed to a resistive one), or are alternatively significantly, e.g. by one or two orders of magnitude, more conductive than the resistive element portion of the heater component.
  • the precursor material is a polymer and selected from the group comprising: polyethylene (PE), polyamide (PA), polyphenylene sulphide (PPS), any liquid crystal polymers (LCP), polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), poly(cyclohexanedimethylene terephthalate) (PCT), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), or a ceramic (including glasses or glass-like ceramics), in one of fibrous, granular, particulate, or powdered, form.
  • PE polyethylene
  • PA polyamide
  • PPS polyphenylene sulphide
  • LCP liquid crystal polymers
  • PEG polyethylene terephthalate
  • PCT poly(cyclohexanedimethylene terephthalate)
  • PBT polybutylene terephthalate
  • PTFE polytetrafluoroethylene
  • ePTFE expanded poly
  • the precursor material preferably includes an amount of a thermal conductivity enhancing substance, in particulate form, most preferably in nanoparticulate form (particle size ⁇ 100nm).
  • the precursor material may contain an amount, preferably evenly mixed throughout said precursor material, of a thermally conducting metal or alloy thereof, for example Aluminium, Titanium, Copper, Silver, Manganese, Zinc, Cobalt, Molybdenum, Iron/Steel, Bronze, Brass, Nickel, or any oxide of such metals, for example AI2O3 and/or TiC>2.
  • the thermal conductivity enhancing substance is at most one half, and further preferably at most one third, and most preferably at most one fifth of the electrical conductivity of Silver (6.30x10 7 S/m at 293K) such that the presence of the thermal conductivity enhancing material does not, to any material extent, cause the substrate material to become electrically conductive.
  • the concentration, by volume, of any thermal conductivity enhancing substance added to and mixed with the precursor material is in the range 5-15% by total volume, more preferably 7-10%, and further preferably less than 8%.
  • the sintered substrate has a thermal conductivity of at least 0.6 W/mK at 293K. More preferably, the sintered substrate thermal conductivity is at least 1 W/mK, and yet further preferably the thermal conductivity of the sintered substrate is in the range 1 - 10W/mK.
  • the porosity of the substrate is in the range 0.45-0.8, more preferably in the range 0.6-0.8, and most preferably in the range 0.65-0.75.
  • the precursor material is essentially dielectric or otherwise substantially completely electrically insulating and thus non-conducting.
  • the electrical conductivity of the precursor material is at least one, and preferably 2 orders of magnitude less than the conductivity of the resistive heater element portion of the heater component.
  • substrate components having such increased porosity levels can advantageously have very significant wicking characteristics, and in particular, the simple dipping of substrates according to the invention in standard nicotine-containing formulations can result in rapid substantially complete saturation of the substrate component. Furthermore, when the heater assembly is active and the heater element directly (and, importantly, predominantly thermally conductively) heats the saturated substrate, one or both of the following can occur:
  • the rate of loss of formulation from the exterior planar surface of the substrate as a result of aerosolisation can be offset, at least to some extent by the rate of internal flow within the body of the substrate as a result of its porosity and wicking characteristics, and
  • the formulation can quickly (i.e. well before any subsequent aerosolisation, e.g. ⁇ 1 -2s) flow internally within the substrate from regions of the substrate which are relatively saturated with formulation to regions which are relatively depleted, in particular such regions as are most proximate, i.e. above or below, the heater element(s) which have become depleted as a result of the aerosolisation caused thereby.
  • the internal flow rate of formulation within the substrate is fundamentally dependent on, among other factors (including gravity), both its porosity and wicking characteristics (which can, individually or in combination, and in some preferred embodiments, outweigh gravitational effects), and the constituent composition of the formulation, in particular the viscosity thereof.
  • Applicants for the present invention have realised that modern formulations are relatively viscous fluids, and meniscal and other surface tension effects of such fluids lend themselves very well to being contained within a sintered porous body having the characteristics as already mentioned, and further described below.
  • a sintered substrate can become saturated with, for example, a typical VG, PG, PEG + nicotine/nicotine salt formulation, and that formulation can flow within such a substrate, the formlation is nevertheless prevented from escaping from the substrate by virtue of its own viscosity, and other meniscal and surface tension effects - thus, the sintered substrate can function as its own reservoir.
  • the internal flow rate of formulation within the substrate this can be readily calculated, or at least quite accurately estimated.
  • the rate of loss of formulation as a result of aerosolisation (and possibly also evaporation, although this will always be significantly smaller) is also relatively straightforward to calculate, estimate, or experimentally measure. Therefore, as the skilled person will readily understand, it is possible to design a substrate of suitable dimensions (e.g.
  • the substrate is of cuboid shape, preferably 5-25mm wide, 0.4-3.5 mm thick, and 5-50mm long) having sufficient porosity, suitable for a particular nicotine- or nicotine-salt-containing formulation, such that, during aerosolisation wherein formulation extant in the substrate in regions thereof immediately proximate, adjacent or at least in the vicinity of the heater element is promoted into the surrounding atmosphere, formulation extant in other more distant regions of the substrate can flow or "wick" into those regions rendered somewhat drier by aerosolisation, and either at a specific desired speed, or at least sufficiently quickly.
  • the distribution of the formulation within the substrate can be regarded as being in a state of equilibrium, and after (and indeed during) any single aerosolization, whereby an amount of formulation formerly present in the substrate is lost to the surrounding atmosphere and the volumetric quantity of formulation remaining within the substrate is correspondingly reduced, the porosity and wicking characteristics of substrate are such that the distribution of formulation within the substrate largely if not completely equalises throughout the substrate, and furthermore sufficiently quickly, i.e. within 1 -2s and before any subsequent aerosolization is likely to commence.
  • the volumetric amount of formulation remaining in the substrate decreases with every aerosolization, and therefore (because the substrate effectively also functions the reservoir), not only is the formulation progressively depleted from the substrate, but also, and notably quite advantageously, the volume of aerosol produced by successive aerosolisations progressively reduces, as of course does the amount of any pharmaceutical or medically active composition present in the formulation).
  • the present invention provides a restricted multi-use, disposable, self-contained component which simultaneously functions as a heater, a wick and a reservoir, and which automatically reduces the amount of any pharmaceutically or medically active composition present in the formulation between successive aerosolisations.
  • the heater element(s) with specific thermal transfer characteristics such that the rate of aerosolisation caused thereby was at least appropriately controlled, or most preferably matched to the rate of equalisation of the distribution of the formulation within and throughout the substrate, as this would preclude the creation of substantially or completely dry regions within the substrate immediately adjacent or in the vicinity of the heater elements during or immediately after any single aerosolization has occurred.
  • the sintered solid substrate is one of: rigid, semi-rigid, and flexible. Most preferably, the sintered solid substrate is substantially rigid.
  • a doping composition applied to one or more surfaces of the substrate said doping composition possessing at least one physical or chemical characteristic which is incompatible with a corresponding physical or chemical characteristic of said formulation, such that doping composition and formulation are inherently phobic.
  • the doping composition may be hydrophobic, and the formulation may be aqueous or hydrophilic.
  • one of the doping composition and the formulation may be polar, and the other non -polar.
  • the doping composition is one which penetrates the particular surface to which it is applied such that said one or more surfaces become impregnated therewith, preferably to a depth of ⁇ 1 mm, more preferably 0.5mm or less, most preferably 0.1 -0.5mm, and yet further preferably between 25pm and 100pm.
  • the doping composition is applied to the one or more surfaces of the substrate either uniformly over the entirety of any surface, non-uniformly in that the composition is applied only to particular areas of any surface and not to others, or the amount of hydrophobic composition applied to the said one or more surfaces varies over the surface.
  • the hydrophobic composition is applied to any one or more surfaces of the substrate in patterned fashion.
  • any formulation, whether aqueous or otherwise, with which the substrate is impregnated or soaked can escape from only relatively few of the substrate exterior surfaces, preferably only one surface and further preferably only a portion thereof, that being the exterior substantially planar surface to and over which the heating element is bondingly mounted, and on and from which aerosolisation will thus occur, and
  • contact portions and the resistive element portion of the heater are provided on different surfaces of the substrate, it may be desirable to dope the one or more smaller surfaces of the sintered substrate on which the contact portions of the heater component are disposed, while of course retaining the largest one or more surfaces of the substrate on which the resistive element of the heater component is/are disposed substantially or comparatively undoped.
  • a doped substrate is significantly more efficient, and possesses much improved directionality as regards aerosolization and the subsequent flow of formulation within and through the substrate, and on the other, it particular preferred embodiments when reservoir regions and flow pathways are defined internally of the substrate, it can be possible to restrict the flow rate of formulation within the substrate while aerosolisation is occurring, should this be desirable.
  • the doping composition is applied over the exterior planar surface of the substrate in regions outwith those regions occupied by the one or more element portions of the heater component, such that during aerosolisation of formulation extant within the substrate, the aerosol produced thereby is constrained to emerge from the exterior planar surface of the substrate only in the regions thereof occupied by said element portion of the heater component.
  • the doping composition may be applied precisely in regions which directly coincide with the heater element portions so that the aerosol produced when the heater elements are active is constrained to emerge only from regions of the substrate lying on to one or other side of the individual heater element portions of the heater.
  • any formulation extant within the substrate can then either percolate upwards or downwards within the body of the substrate, in some embodiments at a suitable, appropriate or desired rate, so as to mitigate against the situation where all the formulation within the substrate immediately below (or above) the heater element has been depleted and that region of the substrate is therefore is effectively dry and no formulation exists in that region which can be aerosolised.
  • the exterior substantially planar surface of the substrate to which the heater element is bonded
  • the inherent wicking of the substrate would of course be advantageously assisted by gravity.
  • the substrate is essentially cuboid in shape, and its dimensions are selected so that it is capable of absorbing and retaining a predetermined amount of a nicotine containing formulation, most preferably an amount thereof in the range of 15mg to 100mg, further preferably in the range 20mg-80mg, and further preferably in the range 25mg-45mg.
  • the nicotine-containing formulation comprises propylene glycol (PG) and one of: nicotine, nicotine base, and a pharmaceutically acceptable nicotine salt such that the concentration of nicotine and/or nicotine salt, in weight-by-weight % terms, is between 10-60%, further preferably 15-55%, and most preferably 40-50%.
  • the dimensions of the substrate are about 5mm wide, about 1.5mm thick, and about 15mm long, and one of the pair of largest surfaces (a rectangle of about 5mm by 15mm) is that to, over or within which the heater component, or at least the resistive element portion thereof, is bondingly applied or otherwise secured.
  • the total volume of the substrate would be 1 12.5mm 3
  • one cigarette may typically contain approximately 8-20mg of nicotine depending on their strength, but only approximately 5-10% of the total nicotine present actually enters the bloodstream of a cigarette smoker through inhalation. The remaining amount is either lost to the atmosphere as the cigarette burns, decomposes or is pyrolised within the burning end of the cigarette, or is simply exhaled after any inhalation. Therefore, a total amount of nicotine per cigarette smoked may only be of the order of 0.5mg, and totalling to 10mg for a 20-a-day smoker.
  • the present invention is quite radically different from the conventional wick-and-coil vaping devices, which incorporate substantial reservoirs capable of easily containing 2-5mL of formulation, approximately equivalent to 2-5g, and which include relatively much higher rated heater elements capable of aerosolising comparatively much larger quantities of formulation when activated.
  • this is often in the region of 6-18mg/mL (in weight-by-weight % terms, only 0.6-1.8%), so only a relatively very small amount, e.g. apprx. 20-50mg, of nicotine is present, with the vast majority of the formulation being constituted of the aerosolisable liquid, PG.
  • the substrate of the present invention is relatively much smaller and can only absorb, depending on physical dimensions, only of the order of 30-50pL of formulation (apprx. 30-50mg), in which will be provided a relatively much greater concentration of nicotine, e.g. 15-25mg.
  • the amount of PG which is aerosolised is significantly less, so much so in fact that there is practically no evidence, in terms of plumes of smoke generated, that any aerosolisation has occurred.
  • the nicotine concentration within each aerosol so generated is still sufficient to provide an equivalent effect to a single inhalation of smoke generated from a single puff on a conventional cigarette, e.g. 0.04- 0.05mg nicotine per inhalation, or 0.4-0.5mg per dose, where this "dose" is equivalent to the 8-10 aerosol inhalations commonly undertaken if the vaping device is used instead of smoking of that single cigarette.
  • the substrate of the present invention is capable of being, and is most preferably, overloaded with an excess of formulation, preferably in one of the ranges: 2-10%, 5-20%, 8-30%, 10-40%, 15-50%, 20-60% as compared to what would theoretically be required by a smoker who conventionally consumed 20 cigarettes a day, and thus had a minimum requirement over that period for an amount of at least 10mg of nicotine, delivered in 20 doses of 0.5mg.
  • the substrate of the present invention is designed to absorb e.g., a 20-60% excess of the amount of nicotine-containing formulation that is required, and therefore, particularly if the substrate is required to be discarded after having delivered 20 doses, there is very little likelihood that the substrate will ever be depleted of formulation to such an extent that it ever remotely approaches a state where it is completely "dry".
  • the heater assembly of the present invention is pre-dosed, for example by being submerged in and thus soaked with a nicotine-containing formulation, with an amount of formulation which would provide an amount of nicotine, were all the formulation aerosolised and inhaled, 20-60% in excess of that which would be theoretically consumed by a 20-a-day smoker of medium strength cigarettes (e.g. 8-12mg nicotine per cigarette).
  • medium strength cigarettes e.g. 8-12mg nicotine per cigarette.
  • the substrate may be dimensioned differently, and the concentration of formulation correspondingly modified, to accommodate the needs of heavier or lighter users of cigarettes or other conventional tobacco products.
  • the substrate dimensions and the relative concentration of nicotine in the formulation with which the appropriately sized substrate is initially substantially saturated and thus contains are carefully selected so that the total amount of nicotine initially present in the substrate is slightly in excess of that required by any type of smoker, of any type of tobacco product, over the course of one single day or 24 hour period.
  • a dedicated "one-day", multi-use component for a smoker who habitually smokes, for example, only 10 mild (i.e. containing only a relatively low amount of nicotine) cigarettes per day, and one for a different type of smoker, for example one who only smokes two relatively higher strength cigars in the evening.
  • wick-and-coil devices it is very important that vaping devices never run dry, i.e. the device should not be activated when either their reservoirs are empty, or the amount of formulation therein is so minimal that the wick is not completely soaked.
  • the wicks may contain dry spots which, being fibrous in nature, can decompose very rapidly and possibly even begin to combust if heated directly by the resistive coil heating element, leading to an immediately recognisable and exceedingly unpleasant taste in the aerosol created, if subsequently inhaled.
  • the present invention overcomes this well known, so-called "dry burn" situation.
  • the substrate of the present invention is over-used such that there is little or no formulation remaining within the substrate, then, very simply, there is nothing which can be aerosolised, and nothing is produced.
  • the relatively much lower rating of the heater element employed typically only rising to temperatures of 120-160 deg. C, as opposed to the 200 deg. C or more to which heater coils in conventional wick-and-coil devices are heated
  • the substrate is a solid material which is much less prone to combustion or even any heat-based decomposition of any kind, and therefore significantly more temperature resistant than conventional fibrous wicks, are contributing factors to this improvement.
  • any vaping device in which the heater assembly of the present invention is to be used would ideally include appropriate control electronics which could indicate to the user when the heater assembly was nearing depletion, or had been used to deliver 20 doses or so (or more or less, depending on the "rating" of the cartridge and whether the smoker makes heavy or light use thereof), so that it could be replaced afresh.
  • the heater component is applied entirely to and over one exterior substantially planar surface of the substrate, and in other preferred embodiments, the heater component is applied to the substrate such that the resistive element portion thereof is applied over and bonded to the said exterior substantially planar surface, and one or more or all of the contact portions thereof are applied over and bonded to one or more substantially planar edges surfaces disposed substantially perpendicularly to the said exterior substantially planar first surface.
  • the contact portions are provided on an edge surface, and only the resistive heating element portion of the heater component is applied to, and thus acts on the larger first surface.
  • the heater assembly comprises two heater components, and the substrate is essentially cuboid in shape such that there are defined therein relatively larger upper and lower exterior substantially planar surfaces to and over which a respective one of the heater components, or the resistive element heating portions thereof can be bondingly applied.
  • the respective contact portions of the respective heater components would ideally be bondingly applied to and over either: one the same edge surface, or oppositely disposed side or edge surfaces, of the substrate.
  • the or each resistive heating element portion of the heater component consists of a single track, conductor, or wire which meanders back-and-forth substantially uniformly over and within a discrete area within which adjacent elements thereof are substantially evenly spaced, such that the overall heating effected provided thereby is substantially uniform within that particular area.
  • heater assembly comprising a substantially rigid substrate having a body defined by a plurality of exterior surfaces at least one of which is substantially planar,
  • the substrate is formed by sintering a granular or fibrous dielectric or otherwise electrically insulating precursor material in which the average radial dimension of granules or fibres is less than 250pm, and within which there is disposed, prior to sintering, a heating component comprising at least one resistive element portion disposed entirely within said precursor material remote from any exterior surfaces thereof, and at least a pair of contact portions in electrical communication with said resistive element portion and which are disposed exactly at one or a pair of sides of the precursor material prior to sintering such that, after sintering, the heater component is essentially embedded within an essentially solid, rigid substrate body except for said pair of contact portions, and further characterised in that the porosity of the substrate is at least 0.4.
  • This second aspect of the invention is particularly advantageous because embedding a suitable heater component within the precursor material prior to sintering eliminates the requirement for later application of a heater component.
  • the heater component is essentially flat (i.e. the depth of the electrically resistive element portions at least are very much less than their width, typically 1 -2 orders of magnitude less)
  • heat generated can be conducted very efficiently to the surrounding sintered substrate material, and effectively twice as efficiently as the heater component of the first aspect of the invention, which of course is only capable of directly applying heat to the substrate in one direction, i.e. directly to and through the surface to which it is bondingly applied.
  • a disposable heating assembly as previously described and which has been pre-dosed with an amount of an aerosolisable formulation containing an amount of a therapeutically or pharmaceutically effective medicament at a prescribed concentration and which is adapted for use in a aerosolising device, and which is, preferably, provided within an initially sea led package, wrapper, or container, and within which the atmosphere has either been substantially withdrawn by means of vacuum pressure, or has been substantially displaced with a non-toxic inert gas or one which has preservative qualities as regards the formulation, for example a Noble gas or Nitrogen.
  • any one or more or and all the preferred features of the first aspect may apply equally and be considered as dependent to, subsequent aspects of the invention. It is merely in the interests of brevity that they are not repeated here.
  • Figure 1 shows an exploded perspective view of a mouthpiece and cartomizer (a conflation of the words cartridge and atomizer) assembly, of prior art construction
  • Figure 2 shows a plan view of a heater assembly according to a first aspect of the present invention, including a sintered substrate having a heating component printed, embedded within, bonded or otherwise applied to an upper planar surface thereof,
  • FIG 3 shows a schematic perspective view of the heater assembly of Figure 2, including representative dimensions, and in which the heater component is schematically illustrated,
  • Figure 3A shows a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a heater assembly according to the present invention
  • FIGS 4, 5 show a perspective views of heater assemblies according to further alternative embodiments of the present invention, wherein the heater component is substantially entirely embedded within the substrate, and
  • Figure 6 shows a side elevation of a yet further modified embodiment of the present invention wherein a heater assembly comprising a substrate and a heater component further comprises a reservoir component.
  • FIG. 1 there is shown an exploded perspective view of a prior art mouthpiece and cartomizer assembly 2, in particular a cartomizer forming part of a prior art vaping device sold under the trade name "SMOK®” and manufactured by Shenzhen IVPS Technology Co. Ltd.
  • Cartomizer 2 consists of a cylindrical cartridge 4 within which a cylindrical wick and coil arrangement 4A, 4B, 4C is centrally disposed.
  • coil 4B is wound internally of the annular wick 4A so that its coils contact the interior cylindrical surface thereof, and one free contact end 4B-1 of the coil is maintained in electrical contact with an end plug 4C behind which the wick-and-coil arrangement is disposed within cartridge 4 when assembled.
  • the end of the coil remote from electrically conducting plug 4C passes over the top of the wick (not as shown in the figure but when assembled) and passes down the exterior cylindrical surface of the wick, ultimately terminating at free contact end 4B-2.
  • Contact ends 4B-1 and 4B-2 are electrically isolated from one another by means of a flexible rubber insulating ferrule (not shown), and the assembled arrangement is such that the electrically conducting plug 4C is of one polarity, and the cartridge itself is of opposite polarity, and no part of the coil comes into contact with any other part so there is no likelihood of any short circuit arising.
  • the wick-and-coil assembly is inserted within the cartridge 4 in a hollow cylindrical interior defined internally thereof and which is open at first and second ends 6, 8.
  • the cylindrical cartridge 4 is provided with a plurality of axial slots, two of which are referenced at 10, 12 and it is by means of such slots that exterior surfaces of the absorbent wick are exposed to an aerosolisable liquid nicotine- (or some other pharmaceutically or therapeutically effective medicament) containing formulation (not shown) which the cartomizer is adapted to receive prior to use.
  • Screw threaded portions 14, 16 are provided at either end of the cartridge which facilitate secure connections to, on the one hand, an air flow regulator component 20 and on the other hand a mouthpiece and liquid charging assembly 22.
  • Air flow regulator 20 and mouthpiece assembly are provided with corresponding threaded portions 22, 24 respectively, and a plurality of rubber or other suitable material O-ring seals are provided (not shown) as required to ensure that the connection between screw-threaded connection between these parts is essentially sealed and fluid- impregnable.
  • the cartomizer assembly further includes a clear plastics material cylindrical outer sleeve 30 which, during assembly, is clamped between air flow regulator 20 and mouthpiece assembly 22, and again, appropriately sized and positioned O-ring seals (not shown) are provided to ensure that reliable fluid impregnable seals are created between both annular ends 32, 34 of the sleeve and the air flow regulator 20 and the mouthpiece assembly 22 respectively.
  • two separate chambers are defined within the cartomizer 2, the first consisting essentially of the cylindrical hollow interior of the cylindrical cartridge 4, and the second being the generally annular cavity defined between said cartridge and the interior surface of the cylindrical sleeve 30 and it is into this annular cavity that the nicotine-containing liquid is deposited prior to use through the mouthpiece and charging assembly 30 through an appropriate charging slot (not shown) provided in assembly 22.
  • the outer annular cavity functions as a reservoir which perpetually feeds the wick 4A disposed in the interior chamber as long as there is fluid in the reservoir and which thus submerges at least some of one end of the wick, when the arrangement is assembled and is vertically orientated, as it would most commonly be when not being used (in the figure, the various components are shown horizontally, purely for illustration purposes).
  • the wick4A is typically fabricated using fibres of a highly absorbent material such as cotton or some organic or inorganic synthetic equivalent material which are compacted, and/or spun, wound, or otherwise clumped together.
  • a plurality of slots 10, 12 are provided so that portions of the wick layer are exposed thereby, and liquid contained within the annular cavity surrounding the wick and coil arrangement is in direct contact with said exposed wick layer portions which thus absorb and become soaked with the said liquid beneath the level of said liquid.
  • the wicking nature of the absorbent material wick encourages the flow of liquid within the wick from the soaked regions to other regions not ordinarily submerged in liquid, and while the distribution of liquid throughout the wick is far from uniform, in general the wicking effect is sufficient to ensure that the majority of the wick is at least moist if not entirely soaked with the aerosolizable nicotine-containing liquid formulation.
  • the coil of the wick and coil assembly must of course be electrically connected to the battery, and such electrical connection is most commonly achieved by means of a simple two-pole screw thread connection indicated generally at 38 provided on a distal closed end of the air flow regulator.
  • the screw thread connection may comprise firstly an exterior screw thread by means of which an electrical connection is achieved to one pole of the battery, and secondly an interior spigot or pin by which electrical connection is achieved to the second pole of the battery.
  • the cartomizer assembly includes a mouthpiece component 26 consisting of a short hollow plastic tube or plug which is sealingly inserted into, or which forms an integral part of the mouthpiece assembly 22.
  • the mouthpiece component is nothing more than a simple hollow tube which merely functions as an extension of the cartomizer assembly and which is in communication with the interior aerosolisation chamber through a suitable aperture (not shown) provided in the mouthpiece assembly, and also as a means around which a user can purse his lips easily and quickly prior to and during an inhalation.
  • the air flow regulator 20 includes an adjustable regulator indicated generally at 23 by means of which the circumferential dimension of slot 23A can be enlarged or reduced, in the latter case to a zero, in which case ambient atmosphere is largely precluded from entering the cartomizer assembly with the result that the resistance to suction applied at the mouthpiece as hereinafter described will be very high.
  • air flow regulator 20 can be adjusted to according to user preference.
  • cartomizer assembly is time consuming, largely manual, and thus costly, and furthermore the vast majority of modern cartomizers are not disposable, and simply provide a reservoir for a relatively large quantity (maybe 3- 4 or more days worth, depending on frequency of use) of nicotine containing formulation, which is repeatedly aerosolised when the vaping device, and thus the coil, is activated.
  • nicotine containing formulation which is repeatedly aerosolised when the vaping device, and thus the coil, is activated.
  • the present invention adopts a very different, indeed somewhat revolutionary, approach and seeks to provide a different type of vaping device wherein an essentially disposable substrate component is pre-dosed with a relatively much smaller amount of a nicotine- containing formulation, for example being equivalent to that which a smoker of a conventional tobacco product, in particular a cigarette, might be expected to consume during a single day, if that smoker consumed some largely constant number, e.g. 5, 10, 15, 20 etc., of the generally the same, or same strength cigarettes on each and every such day.
  • the present invention in some embodiments, provides a sintered plastics material substrate having a porosity which renders them at least if not more absorbent than conventional cotton wicks, and having significant porosity and wicking characteristics at least comparable to, if not actually significantly better than such conventional wicks.
  • the present invention seeks to provide a solid, rigid generally cuboid shaped substrate to one or more surfaces of which can be automatically bonded, deposited, printed or otherwise applied an appropriately rated heater component in automated fashion and which can thus directly thermally conductively apply heat to the substrate and whatever formulation said substrate may have previously been impregnated with.
  • the invention provides a substrate of suitable dimensions and physical characteristics (e.g.
  • the substrate can be "pre dosed" during manufacture so that the substrate can function not only as a heater, but simultaneously as a reservoir for any conventional or modern nicotine containing formulations, with both the dimensions of the substrate and the nature of the formulation, particularly as regards its concentration of nicotine, being carefully selected so as to correspond to the daily requirement for nicotine of smokers of conventional tobacco products.
  • FIG. 2 there is shown a plan view of a substrate according to the present invention and indicated generally at 40 and having been printed, for example as described in Applicant's own International application, PCT/EP2019/050533, with a single continuous pattern of an electrically conductive material and indicated generally at 42 and which is usefully separated into two distinct portions 44, 46 lying on either side of a notional dividing line shown in dotted at 45.
  • Portions 44, 46 together constitute the entirety of the heating component which is applied to the substrate in accordance with the present invention, and in the illustrated arrangement represent approximately two thirds and one third of the total substrate surface area respectively.
  • the first portion 44 comprises three separate contact portions 44A, 44B, 44C, whereas the second portion 46 comprises two separate areas 46A, 46B, being heating element portions, of the each consisting of a plurality of adjacent substantially linear parallel parts, some of which are referenced at 46C.
  • areas 46A, 46B each comprise 10 individual linear parallel parts 46C which are each connected to respective adjacent linear parallel parts at their distal ends so that said adjacent parallel linear parts together form an essentially meandering serpentine pattern of individual conductors in each of areas 46A, 46B, whereas area 44 comprises only three single very much larger conductors which form electrical contacts and by means of which an electrical current can be easily applied (and importantly without any great lateral precision) to the printed conductive pattern as a whole.
  • the single substrate 40 of Figure 4 is shown as having only three contact portions 44A-C and 2 intervening and interconnected patterned areas 46A, 46B, alternative arrangements are possible, in particular wherein 5 contact portions and 4 similarly intervening and interconnected patterned areas are printed, preferably arranged either adjacently in a single row, or yet more preferably, arranged in 2 rows, each row containing a pair of adjacent patterned areas.
  • the dimensions of the substrate can be selected as required, depending on requisite operating parameters, as well as (a) the amount of formulation which the substrate is required to be absorb and be pre-dosed with, (b) the concentration of nicotine in that formulation, and (c) the daily nicotine requirement of the type of smoker that the pre-dosed substrate is designed for.
  • the porosity and absorbency of the substrate may require to be altered so that the substrate can absorb a sufficient volume of fluid, and the concentration of nicotine within that formulation can also be selected so that the substrate still remains suitable for a particular type of smoker, e.g. a heavy or light user, of cigarettes, pipe tobacco, cigars etc.
  • the foregoing description relates to a sintered highly porous substrate which is to which a heating component is applied by printing an electrically conductive ink
  • the present invention is to be considered as extending to other types of heating components and other methods of application thereof, the only requirement being that the heating component, or at one surface of the generally resistive heating element(s) thereof, is disposed in substantially co-planar relationship with the larger exterior essentially planar surfaces of the substrate.
  • the substrate is essentially cuboid in shape, with substantially planar upper and lower surfaces 50A, 50B, which are relatively much larger than the parallel pairs of edge surfaces 51 A, 51 B and 52A, 52B respectively, and the heater element portions 46A, 46B (at least) of the heater component as a whole are applied to surface 50A.
  • an identical heater component may be similarly bonded to the lower surface 50B, so that the substrate is effectively sandwiched between two heater components.
  • an initially separate heater component be placed atop the initially granular or fibrous precursor material within the sintering mould prior to sintering such that when the sintering process is carried out, the heater component becomes physically bound to and partially within the sintered substrate as the precursor material physically changes state as a result of the sintering.
  • an initially separate heater component may be bondingly applied, for example with a suitable adhesive, directly to and over one of the largest surfaces of a previously sintered substrate, such bonding application of the heater component to the substrate thus being carried out entirely separately from and subsequent to the sintering.
  • the result is always that at least one surface of at least the resistive element portion of the heater component is disposed in substantially co-planar relationship with the surface of one of the largest planar surfaces of the substrate.
  • the contact portions of the heater component are also disposed on and over one of the largest planar surfaces 50A of the substrate, and that said contact portions cover an area which is greater than that covered by the heater element portions 46A, 46B.
  • the heater element portions may cover a much larger area of the substrate surface in or on which they are disposed.
  • those portion(s) of the substrate in or on which one or more heater element portions 46A, 46B are provided may be substantial in that it may be more than 50% of the substrate surface area, with the remaining area being that within, on or over which the two or more contact portions 44A, 44B, 44C are disposed.
  • this percentage may lie anywhere between 50-100%, and in the lattermost case, where only heater element portions 46A, 46B are provided on, in or over the said substrate surface, the two or more contact portions 44A, 44B, 44C would be provided on one or more of the adjacent, perpendicularly disposed edge surfaces of the substrate, as further explained below with reference to Figure 3A.
  • substrate 55 is essentially cuboid in shape, with substantially planar upper and lower surfaces 56A, 56B, which are relatively much larger than the parallel pairs of edge surfaces 57A, 57B and 58A, 58B respectively.
  • the heater component consists of a single meandering heater element portion 59A arranged over substantially the entire length and width of the substrate surface 56A and covering anywhere between 30-80% of the total area thereof, with each remote end thereof terminating in a contact portion 59B which, in the illustrated arrangement, are each disposed on opposite edge surfaces 57A, 57B respectively, though of course said contact portions may both be disposed on one and the same edge surface, on any pair of edge surfaces, or even in some preferred embodiments, one the opposing large surface 56B of the substrate.
  • the heater component is initially a completely separate and discrete article, and either embedded into and over the relevant surfaces by being present in the sintering mould when sintering occurs, and thus naturally and automatically physically bonded to the sintered substrate, or bondingly applied, for example using a suitable adhesive, to the substrate after sintering thereof has occurred.
  • an identical heater component may be similarly applied to, within, and/or over the lower surface 56B, so that the substrate is effectively sandwiched between two heater components.
  • the contact portions for each such heater component would be arranged discretely and electrically separate from one another in any one or more of the edge surfaces 57A, 57B, 58A, 58B.
  • One particular advantage of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3A is that electrical connection of the heater assembly can be achieved directly and only by appropriate interaction with one or more of the edge surfaces of the substrate, for example when a pre-dosed substrate is inserted into a vaping device ready for use, and thus without any interference with the relatively much larger upper and or lower surfaces of the substrate from and through which aerosolization of formulation extant within the substrate will predominantly occur when the heater elements become hot.
  • This arrangement is preferable because in this case, aerosolization can occur on and over substantially the entire surface of the substrate on which those heater element portions are provided, and is not restricted or otherwise hindered by the contact portions which may have a comparatively significant surface area.
  • FIG 4 shows a substrate 60, formed by sintering an initially particulate, granular, powdered or fibrous pre-cursor material, and within which a heating component indicated generally at 62 is substantially completely embedded.
  • the heater component may be an initially separate article, for example in the form of a thin conducting foil or film, or even simply a conducting wire, ideally flattened so as to be substantially planar in configuration, and comprising distinct separate contact portions and resistive heating element portions 64, 66 respectively which electrically connected together.
  • an appropriately shaped and sized sintering die (not shown) would first be half-filled with pre cursor material, and then the heating component would be disposed on top of the precursor material so that free ends 64A of the contact portions 64 were disposed adjacent and contiguous with the die walls, before the remaining vacant die half subsisting above the heater component was filled up with precursor material, whereupon the sintering process could be carried out. Fabrication in this manner would of course ensure that the contact portion free ends 64A would be disposed within one of the various side walls as illustrated in the Figure, and a reliable and effective electrical connection could be achieved therewith, as required.
  • the heater element portions 46A, 46B, 66 are significantly less in area than the contact portions. This of course need not be the case, and in some embodiments, the size of the contact portions, in particular their length dimension, may be very much smaller than the corresponding dimensions of the heater element portions, for example one or more orders of magnitude less. In some particularly preferred embodiments, one or both of the length and width of the heater element portions may be similar, but slightly (e.g.
  • the heater element portion (including interstitial areas between individual elements thereof) occupies more than 30-35%, preferably more than 50%, and most preferably between 60-80% of the relevant cross-sectional area of the substrate, and the contact portions electrically connected thereto are very much smaller by comparison.
  • the present invention provides a heater assembly comprising both a substrate and heater component as described above.

Abstract

L'invention concerne un ensemble de chauffage, idéalement pour une cigarette électronique ou un autre dispositif de vaporisation. L'ensemble de chauffage comprend un substrat sensiblement rigide ayant un corps défini par une pluralité de surfaces extérieures dont au moins une est sensiblement plane et au moins un composant de chauffage électriquement résistif comprenant au moins une partie d'élément résistif et au moins une paire de parties de contact en communication électrique avec celle-ci. Dans un mode de réalisation, le composant chauffant est appliqué de manière fixe, par exemple en étant imprimé ou directement collé à la surface extérieure sensiblement plane. Dans un autre mode de réalisation, le composant chauffant est essentiellement intégré en partie ou entièrement à l'intérieur d'un substrat de telle sorte que les parties d'élément chauffant résistantes de celui-ci agissent sur un côté ou à l'intérieur du corps du substrat. Le substrat est un corps fritté, formé par frittage d'un matériau précurseur particulaire, granulaire ou fibreux dans lequel la dimension radiale moyenne des particules, des granulés ou des fibres est inférieure à 250 pm et qui, après frittage, produit un corps de substrat rigide sensiblement solide ayant une porosité d'au moins 0,4. Selon l'invention, le substrat est prédosé de telle sorte qu'il est sensiblement saturé avec une quantité d'une formulation, étant un matériau de support liquide pharmaceutiquement acceptable et contenant au moins une composition active, étant un ou plusieurs éléments parmi une nicotine, un sel de nicotine, une base de nicotine ou une composition de dérivé de nicotine pharmaceutiquement actif. La concentration de la composition active dans la formulation et une ou plusieurs entre les dimensions, la porosité et la capacité d'absorption du substrat sont sélectionnées de telle sorte qu'un seul substrat peut absorber et retenir une quantité volumétrique de formulation, étant ainsi un réservoir autonome pour cette quantité volumétrique de formulation, contenant une quantité de composition active qui correspond sensiblement à la dose quotidienne de nicotine d'un fumeur individuel d'un produit de tabac classique (CTP) sur une base multi-usage.
PCT/EP2020/057321 2019-04-04 2020-03-17 Ensemble de chauffage WO2020200773A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB1904762.0A GB201904762D0 (en) 2019-04-04 2019-04-04 A heater assembly
GB1904762.0 2019-04-04
GBGB1911096.4A GB201911096D0 (en) 2019-08-02 2019-08-02 A heater assembly
GB1911096.4 2019-08-02

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WO2020200773A1 true WO2020200773A1 (fr) 2020-10-08

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WO2022193690A1 (fr) * 2021-03-19 2022-09-22 比亚迪精密制造有限公司 Atomiseur et son ensemble de chauffage
WO2023077588A1 (fr) * 2021-11-02 2023-05-11 深圳尊一品科技有限公司 Atomiseur électronique

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WO2023077588A1 (fr) * 2021-11-02 2023-05-11 深圳尊一品科技有限公司 Atomiseur électronique

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