Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/40—Constructional details, e.g. connection of cartridges and battery parts
  • A24F40/44—Wicks
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/40—Constructional details, e.g. connection of cartridges and battery parts
  • A24F40/48—Fluid transfer means, e.g. pumps
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/40—Constructional details, e.g. connection of cartridges and battery parts
  • A24F40/42—Cartridges or containers for inhalable precursors
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/40—Constructional details, e.g. connection of cartridges and battery parts
  • A24F40/48—Fluid transfer means, e.g. pumps
  • A24F40/485—Valves; Apertures
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A24—TOBACCO; CIGARS; CIGARETTES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES; SMOKERS' REQUISITES
  • A24F—SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES
  • A24F40/00—Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor
  • A24F40/10—Devices using liquid inhalable precursors

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a cartomi zer for an aerosol generating device , in particular an electronic cigarette or vapori zer, with a liquid flow control system, in particular cartomi zer fins .
• Aerosol generating devices such as electronic cigarettes or "e-cigarettes” as they are also known, have gained in popularity over the past ten years as an alternative to traditional smoking articles , like cigarettes , cigars , and cigarillos . Developments in the design and configuration of such aerosol generating devices or vapori zer devices are on- going to improve their performance and their reliability, as well as their ease of production and their production costs .
• Conventional aerosol generating devices usually include a heater powered by an electrical power source and a liquid reservoir containing flavoured liquid (vapori zable material ) that can be volati zed using the heater and trans ferred to a user of the aerosol generating device in an airflow, which is preferably guided through a mouthpiece of the device .
• a heater powered by an electrical power source
• a liquid reservoir containing flavoured liquid (vapori zable material ) that can be volati zed using the heater and trans ferred to a user of the aerosol generating device in an airflow, which is preferably guided through a mouthpiece of the device .
• the heating element is often provided within the capsule , thereby forming a so called “cartomizer” .
• the heating element (heater ) is provided with the cartomi zer, it is each time the cartomi zer ( capsule ) is replaced, hence , there is no reduction in performance over time .
• a liquid transport element in particular a wick
• a coil that is wound around the wick
• leakage is minimi zed from the cartomi zer, in order to avoid that leaked vapori zable material or liquid af fects either the device or consumer . This can be approached in two directions , namely by preventing leakage around or from the liquid transport element to occur and secondly retaining leakage within the cartomi zer .
• US 2019/ 0223508 Al is related to a liquid storage tank of an electronic vapor provision device having one or more boundary walls defining an interior volume of the tank for accommodating source liquid to be vapori zed in the electronic vapor provision device and one or more baf fles , each baf fle protruding from an inner surface of the boundary wall into the interior volume to impede a flow of source liquid between portions of the interior volume between which the baf fle is located . Even though this arrangement hinders the flow of liquid in the reservoir, the stored liquid is directly fed to the wick, hence , only slows down the flow inside the reservoir but the baf fles do not contribute to the prevention of leakage .
• a cartomi zer for an aerosol generating device in particular an electronic cigarette or vapori zer, capable of controlling liquid flow from at least one reservoir accommodating vapori zable material or liquid to a liquid transport element of the cartomi zer, thereby reducing or eliminating leakage of vapori zable material or liquid from the liquid transport element , even under changing situations like di f fering usage and storage angles .
• a cartomi zer for an aerosol generating device , in particular an electronic cigarette or vapori zer, capable of controlling liquid flow from at least one reservoir accommodating vapori zable material or liquid to a liquid transport element of the cartomi zer, thereby reducing or eliminating leakage of vapori zable material or liquid from the liquid transport element , even under changing situations like di f fering usage and storage angles .
• Hence capable of ensuring that leaked vapori zable material or liquid does not af fect either the device or consumer .
• a cartomi zer for an aerosol generating device in particular an electronic cigarette or vapori zer, the cartomi zer including : a container for holding at least one reservoir configured to contain a vapori zable material or a liquid, a vapori zing chamber fluidly connected to a mouth end by a vapor passage , a liquid transport element , in particular a porous capillary member, extending from inside the at least one reservoir to inside the vapori zing chamber in order to convey the vapori zable material from the reservoir to the inside of the vapori zing chamber and an air inlet arranged to supply the vapori zing chamber with ( ambient ) air in use , wherein the liquid transport element is at least partially separated from at least one part of the
• a cartomi zer for an aerosol generating device capable of reducing the likelihood that vapori zable material or liquid, leaking from the liquid transport element or a heater of the cartomi zer reaches the outside of the cartomi zer . Thereby, ensuring that leaked vapori zable material or liquid is prevented from af fecting the device or a user of the device .
• vapori zable material or liquid needs to be delivered to a heater ( or a wick) in a consistent manner under various situations including pressure/ temperature fluctuations , low fluid levels of the vapori zable material within the cartomi zer and di f fering usage and storage angles .
• the cartomi zer of the present invention is provided with a chamber, in particular at least one capillary chamber or at least one baf fle chamber, that is separated from the reservoir storing the vapori zable material or liquid, a flow barrier between the wick and the main fluid reservoir is reali zed, controlling the flow of vapori zable material or liquid to the liquid transport element .
• the cartomi zer may further include a first sealing forming a first holder, in particular a bottom holder, of the liquid transport element , wherein an upper surface of the first sealing preferably forms a downstream compartmenting wall o f the chamber, in particular of the lowermost arranged chamber, in case the cartomi zer is provided with several chambers .
• the cartomi zer may include at least n compartmenting walls forming at least n- 1 chambers , each upstream compartmenting wall ( s ) comprising at least one ( liquid) restriction passage , wherein n is comprised between 2 and 10 .
• the n compartmenting walls and the n- 1 chambers may be aligned side by side in an axial direction of the cartomi zer .
• the "axial direction of the cartomi zer” defines in the present application in general a longitudinal direction of the cartomi zer .
• the "axial direction of the cartomi zer” also refers to a direction in which the air flows in general through the cartomi zer , namely from the air inlet of the cartomi zer to the mouth end of the cartomi zer, which is configured to come into contact with the lips of a user during use of the aerosol generating device .
• the at least one compartmenting wall or at least some of the n compartmenting walls may have at least two , preferably more than two , restriction passages that are preferably symmetrically distributed at the circumference of the compartmenting wall .
• the liquid transport element may be rod-shaped and longitudinally separated by at least one compartmenting wall , which is preferably a second sealing .
• the term " separated" defines here in the context of the present invention that the compartmenting wall separates the area surrounding the liquid transport element into two independent spaces .
• compartmenting wall may form in this way two successive chambers , in particular capillary chambers .
• the liquid transport element in particular the porous capillary member (wick) , may extend in at least two di f ferent successive chambers , in particular into the two successive chambers formed by the compartmenting wall which corresponds to the second sealing .
• the distance between the compartmenting walls forms or defines a thickness of the chamber ( s ) , in particular of the capillary chambers , of no more than 2 mm, preferably no more than 1 mm .
• a distance between the compartmenting walls arranged next to each other is not greater than 2 mm, preferably not greater than 1 mm .
• the distance between adj acent compartmenting walls in other words the thickness of the chambers , in particularly of the capillary chambers , to lie within the above ranges , a capillary acting on the liquid temporarily stored in the capillary chamber can be ensured and adj usted precisely, making it possible to control the flow of liquid with high precision .
• retained liquid within the chambers will prevent drying out of the wick even in extreme situations like low fluid levels or extreme cartomi zer angles .
• air bubbles will be allowed as the capillary action will flow fluid around the bubble .
• the quantity of liquid in each chamber is very small but remains constant irrespective of the gravity or orientation of the cartomi zer, a constant flow of vapori zable material or liquid can be ensured .
• the restriction passage in particular a width of the restriction passage , is no more than 1 . 5 mm, preferably no more than 1 mm, and/or a maximum opening surface area of the restriction passage may be no more than 1 . 8 mm 2 , preferably no more than 0 . 8 mm 2 .
• the at least one restriction passage may be configured to be closed by a check valve such as a one-way valve .
• the at least one restriction passage may have a tapered profile with the smallest cross-section being at the vapori zing chamber side of the compartmenting wall .
• compartmenting walls may be formed as fins provided about a central holder .
• the central holder in particular the compartmenting walls or the fins , may abut against an outer body or shell of the container, thereby sealing the capillary chambers against the container limiting the possible flow path of the vapori zable material or liquid to the restriction passage ( s ) .
• the number of elements is also reduced and the assembling of the device simpli fied .
• the central holder may be arranged for holding at least partially the liquid transport element .
• the central holder may form a third sealing, in particular a sealing around at least a portion of the liquid transport element .
• compartmenting walls , the central holder, the first sealing and/or the second sealing may be made of an elastomeric or silicone material .
• the first sealing and the central holder, in particular the third sealing may form at least partially the vapori zing chamber .
• the container, shell or outside casing of the cartomi zer may be formed of a rigid material , in particular a rigid thermoplastic material , glass or metal .
• Fig . 1 shows a sectional view of a conventional aerosol generating device having a housing consisting of a control body and a tank;
• Fig . 2 shows a schematic sectional view of the interior of a cartomi zer for an aerosol generating device according to a first embodiment of the present invention
• Fig . 3 shows a schematic sectional view of a detail of the device shown in Fig . 2 ;
• Fig . 4 shows a schematic sectional view of a detail of the device shown in Fig . 2 when inserted into an aerosol generating device ;
• Fig . 5 shows a schematic spatial view of the interior of a cartomi zer for an aerosol generating device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
• Fig . 6 shows a schematic spatial view of a whole aerosol generating device including the cartomi zer according to the present invention without the outside casing .
• Aerosol generating devices use electrical energy to heat a material (preferably without combusting the material to any signi ficant degree and/or without signi ficant chemical alteration of the material ) to form an inhalable substance or vapor ; and components of such device have the form of articles that most preferably are suf ficiently compact to be considered hand-held devices .
• use of components of preferred aerosol generating devices does not result in the production of smoke in the sense that aerosol results principally from by-products of combustion or pyrolysis of tobacco , but rather, use of those devices preferably results in the production of vapors resulting from volatili zation or vapori zation of certain components incorporated therein .
• components of aerosol generating devices may be characteri zed as electronic cigarettes , and those electronic cigarettes preferably incorporate aerosolisable liquid (e . g . propylene glycol , polyhydric alcohol ) , tobacco and/or tobacco materials derived at least partially from tobacco , and hence deliver tobacco derived components in aerosol or vapor form to a user .
• aerosolisable liquid e . g . propylene glycol , polyhydric alcohol
• aerosol generating devices within the meaning of the present invention may transport the volatili zed particles in an airflow through the aerosol generating device , in particular through the cartomi zer, to a user of the device , the user of the device being able to activate or deactivate the generation of aerosol and to control the duration, velocity and volume of the airflow by means of puf fing or inhaling action .
• Figure 1 illustrates a known aerosol generating or delivery device 200 including a control body 202 and a tank 204 .
• the control body 202 can be formed of a control body shell 206 that can include a control component 208 ( e . g .
• the tank 204 can be formed of a tank shell 216 enclosing a reservoir 218 that is in fluid communication with a liquid transport element 220 adapted to wick or otherwise transport an aerosol precursor composition stored in the reservoir housing to a heater 222 ( sometimes referred to as a heating element ) .
• a valve may be positioned between the reservoir and heater and configured to control an amount of aerosol precursor composition passed or delivered from the reservoir to the heater .
• the known device is provided with a mouthpiece 224 having an opening defined therein and which may be coupled to the tank shell 216 to allow for egress of formed aerosol from the tank 204 .
• the shown device 200 in particular the control body 202 and the tank 204 , include a coupler 230 having a cavity 232 therein .
• a base 228 of the tank is adapted to engage the coupler and includes a proj ection 234 to fit within the cavity .
• Aerosol generating devices of the present invention generally include a number of components provided within an outer body or shell , which may be referred to as an outside casing or housing .
• the overall design of the outside casing can vary, and the format or configuration of the outside casing that can define the overall si ze and shape of the aerosol generating device can vary .
• an elongated body resembling the shape of a cigarette or cigar can be formed from a single , unitary housing, or the elongated housing can be formed of two or more separable bodies .
• an aerosol generating device can include an elongated shell or body ( outside casing) that can be substantially tubular in shape and, as such, resemble the shape of conventional cigarettes or cigars .
• all of the components of the aerosol generating device are contained within a single housing .
• an aerosol delivery device can comprise two or more housings that are j oined and are separable .
• Aerosol generating devices of the present invention can be formed of an outside casing or shell that is not substantially tubular in shape but may be formed to substantially greater transversal dimensions .
• the outside casing or shell can be configured to include a mouthpiece and/or may be configured to receive a separate shell ( e . g . a cartridge , a tank) that can include consumable elements , such as a liquid aerosol former, and can include a vapori zer .
• Figure 2 shows a schematic sectional view of the interior of a cartomi zer 1 for an aerosol generating device 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention .
• the cartomi zer 1 is generally a container 10 or cartridge that can be at least partially inserted into a receiving cavity of an aerosol generating device and that provides the functionalities of generating an aerosol or vapor from a vapori zable material or liquid stored therein .
• a cartomi zer can be a pre-manufactured and pre- filled cartridge that comprises at least one reservoir 11 for containing the vapori zable material or liquid from which the aerosol or vapor can be generated .
• the cartomi zer 1 may further comprise a heater which is arranged to heat at least a fraction of the vapori zable material or liquid so as to vapori ze an amount of it for, in turn, generating the aerosol or vapor .
• the heater may comprise any one of and/or a combination of a wire , a resistive element , a coil , and a susceptor being heatable by induction .
• the cartomi zer 1 further comprises an air conduct and/or a mouthpiece (mouth end) 13 so as to allow a user to inhale the generated aerosol , preferably as a mixture with air from the environment .
• the heater is formed by a wire that is wound around a liquid transport element 15 , in particular a capillary-type wick such as a bundle of cotton filaments , and located within a vapori zing chamber 12 .
• the vapori zing chamber 12 i s fluidly connected to the mouth end 13 , in particular an opening provided in the mouth end 13 , via a vapor passage 14 .
• vapor generated by the heater can be provided via the vapor passage 14 and the opening in the mouth end 13 to a user .
• the cartomi zer 1 is only provided with one reservoir 11 which surrounds the vapor passage 14 , the heater and the liquid transport element 15 .
• Both ends of the wick 15 reach into the reservoir 11 , in particular into the vapori zable material stored inside the reservoir 11 , on opposing sides and thereby convey, wick or otherwise transport the vapori zable material from the reservoir 11 to the heater which is positioned inside the vapori zing chamber 12 .
• the cartomi zer 1 is provided with an air inlet 16 which is arranged on the bottom, in particular in a bottom holder 17 , of the container 10 .
• the air inlet 16 is configured to supply the vapori zing chamber 12 with ambient air, which is sucked into the vapori zing chamber 12 during use of the aerosol generating device 100 .
• Figure 2 also shows that the cartomi zer 1 is provided with a first sealing 21 forming a first holder, in particular a bottom holder, which is provided below the reservoir 11 and the wick 15 to hold or fix the liquid transport element 15 within the vapori zing chamber 12 .
• An upper surface of the first sealing 21 forms a compartmenting wall 18 , in particular a downstream compartmenting wall , which is arranged to form together with a further compartmenting wall 17 , in particular an upstream compartmenting wall , a capillary chamber 30 .
• the upstream compartmenting wall 17 forms part of a central holder 23 which is partially arranged around the vapor passage 14 and holds at least partially the liquid transport element 15 .
• the central holder 23 forms a third sealing that is provided around the liquid transport element 15 and forms together with the first sealing 21 at least partially the vapori zing chamber 12 .
• the central holder 23 includes three compartmenting walls 17 , 19 and 20 which are formed as fins that abut against an outer body of the container 10 , in particular an inside surface of the outer body .
• the compartmenting walls or fins are made of an elastomeric or silicone material , they are able to circumferentially seal a contact surface between the compartmenting walls or fins and the inside surfaces of the outer body .
• the three compartmenting walls 17 , 19 and 20 together with the upper surface 18 ( downstream compartmenting wall ) of the first sealing 21 form three capillary chambers 30 , 31 and 32 .
• the liquid transport element 15 becomes separated from the reservoir 11 , thereby, avoiding that the maj ority of vapori zable material or liquid stored in the reservoir 11 comes in direct contact with the liquid transport element 15 .
• the vapori zable material or liquid stored in the reservoir 11 needs to flow from the reservoir 11 through a liquid restriction passage 24 , which is provided in the compartmenting wall 20 , into the uppermost capillary chamber 32 and from there via the second uppermost capillary chamber 31 into the lowermost capillary chamber 30 , into which the two ends of the liquid transport element 15 extend .
• the compartmenting walls 19 and 17 are provided with at least one liquid restriction passage 24 .
• the upper compartmenting wall of a capillary chamber is called upstream compartmenting wall and the lower compartmenting wall of a capillary chamber is called downstream compartmenting wall .
• Figure 3 shows a schematic sectional view of a detail of the cartomi zer shown in Fig . 2 .
• the liquid transport element 15 in particular the wick, has a shape of a rod and is encapsulated by a compartmenting wall 22 that forms a second sealing and separates the lowermost capillary chamber 30 into two capillary chambers 30A and 30B .
• the liquid transport element 15 or porous capillary member extends into two separate capillary chambers 30A, 30B which are arranged side by side .
• the capillary chambers 30A, 30B, 31 and 32 have a rather small thickness , which increases the capillary ef fect of the chambers .
• the si ze of the restriction passages 24 is chosen rather small , particularly smaller than 1 . 5 mm .
• Figure 4 shows a schematic sectional view of a detail of the cartomi zer 1 shown in Fig . 2 when inserted into an aerosol generating device 100 .
• the aerosol generating device 100 i s provided with electrical contacts 105 such as "pogo pins" that are configured to contact electrical connectors 18 of the cartomi zer 1 in order to provide the heater of the cartomi zer 1 with electrical power .
• the electrical connectors 18 also contact magnets 104 which are provided within an inner frame 102 of the aerosol generating device 100 .
• the cartomi zer 1 is further provided with lead wires 40 that electrically connect the wire with the electrical connectors 18 .
• FIG. 5 shows a schematic spatial view of the interior of a cartomi zer 1 for an aerosol generating device 100 according to a second embodiment of the present invention .
• the cartomi zer 1 according to the second embodiment corresponds in its general structure to the cartomi zer of the first embodiment .
• the cartomi zer 1 also includes a container 10 , a vapori zing chamber 12 , a liquid transport element 15 , in particular a wick, and an air inlet 16 .
• the capillary chambers 30 , 31 , 32 the cartomi zer 1 of the second embodiment is only provided with one chamber 33 , in particular a baf fle chamber .
• the third sealing or central holder 23 provides only one compartmenting wall 17 that forms the baf fle chamber 33 between the compartmenting wall 17 and the first sealing 21 , thereby separating the wick 15 from the reservoir 11 .
• the compartmenting wall 17 or the central holder 23 is provided preferably with at least two restriction passages 24 that are symmetrically distributed at the circumference of the compartmenting wall 17 .
• at least two restriction passages 24 are visible .
• the restriction passages 24 are formed by a straight through- hole , however, the restriction passages 24 can also have a tapered form or profile with the smallest cross-section being formed at the vapori zing chamber side or downstream side of the compartmenting wall 17 .
• the restriction passages 24 can be provided with a check valve (not shown) such as a one-way valve , only allowing a flow from the reservoir 11 into the baf fle chamber 33 .
• the baf fle chamber 33 By providing the above described baf fle chamber 33 , it can be avoided that the wick 15 protrudes directly into the (main) reservoir 11 . Hence , instead of a direct feeding of the wick 15 the baf fle chamber 33 is feed from the (main) reservoir 11 such that fluid flow between the two chambers is controlled, in particular by the si ze and number of the restriction passages 24 , to prevent either signi ficant fluid flow ( e . g . i f the cartomi zer 1 is inverted) . Moreover, the baf fle chamber 33 retains liquid around the wick in almost any orientation as long as it is allowed at some point to be laced in a vertical orientation thus ensuring liquid is available to the wick up until the point of complete exhaustion .
• FIG. 6 shows a schematic spatial view of a whole aerosol generating device 100 including the cartomi zer according to the present invention, where only the outside casing of the aerosol generating device is not shown for illustrating purposes .
• the shown aerosol generating device 100 includes a mouthpiece which is part of the cartomi zer 1 for guiding the generated vapor to a user, the cartomi zer 1 , a battery 101 , a sealing arrangement 103 and an inner frame 102 for holding the battery 101 inside the device 100 .
• the aerosol generating device 100 has an elongated shape , in which a receiving cavity for the cartomi zer 1 , a power supply device , in particular the battery 101 , and a main electronic circuit board are arranged in this order from a first , proximal end (mouth end) to a second, distal end . Consequently, the power supply device , in particular battery 101 , is located at approximately the center of the device 100 , so that it is particularly well balanced .

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Citations (4)

• 2021
  • 2021-09-01 US US18/024,411 patent/US20230263223A1/en active Pending
  • 2021-09-01 CA CA3188851A patent/CA3188851A1/en active Pending
  • 2021-09-01 WO PCT/EP2021/074123 patent/WO2022049119A1/en unknown
  • 2021-09-01 EP EP21772761.9A patent/EP4208055A1/de active Pending

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