Aerosol-generating device including reversibly connected heater and release medium

• US 10,342,260 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2015
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Philip Morris Products SA (Philip Morris Limited)
• Original Assignee: Philip Morris Products SA (Philip Morris Limited)
• Inventors: Thorens, Michel, Zinovik, Ihar Nikolaevich
• Primary Examiner(s): Riyami, Abdullah A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thang H
• Application Number:
  US15/535,467
• Publication Number:
  US 20170367409A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,302 Days
• Field of Search: 131329, 131328
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/10 Devices using liquid inhalable precursors
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/44 Wicks
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/46 Shape or structure of electric heating means
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/60 Devices with integrated user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 11/044 with electrodes immersed in the liquid
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/0068 Indicating or counting the number of dispensed doses or of remaining doses
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 15/06 Inhaling appliances shaped like cigars, cigarettes or pipes

Abstract

An aerosol-generating device is provided, including a reservoir configured to hold a liquid; a release medium; and a heater, wherein the reservoir and the release medium are configured to transport liquid from the reservoir to the release medium, wherein the release medium and the heater are disposed in physical contact with each other, wherein the aerosol-generating device further includes a means for reversibly releasing the physical contact between the release medium and the heater to form a gap between the heater and the release medium, and wherein the aerosol-generating device is configured to activate the heater when the gap is formed between the heater and the release medium. A method for forming an aerosol by the aerosol-generating device is also provided.

Claims

1. An aerosol-generating device, comprising:

a reservoir configured to hold a liquid;

a release medium; and

a heater,

wherein the reservoir and the release medium are configured to transport liquid from the reservoir to the release medium,

wherein the release medium and the heater are reversibly connected with each other among a first position in which the release medium is in physical contact with the heater and a second position in which a gap separates the release medium and the heater,

wherein the aerosol-generating device further comprises a means for reversibly connecting the release medium and the heater among the first position and the second position, and

wherein the aerosol-generating device is configured to activate the heater in the second position when the gap separates the heater and the release medium.

2. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 1, wherein the means for reversibly connecting the release medium and the heater is activated and deactivated automatically during use of the aerosol-generating device.

3. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 1, wherein the means for reversibly connecting the release medium and the heater is switched on and off by a releasing means.

4. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 3, wherein the releasing means is a button.

5. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 2, wherein the heater is also the means for reversibly connecting the release medium and the heater, and is a mesh heater disk comprising at least two different materials, which upon heating lead to different deformations that result in an interruption of the physical contact in the first position and to the formation of the gap that separates the mesh heater disk and the release medium in the second position.

6. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 2,

wherein the heater is also the means for reversibly connecting the release medium and the heater, and is a mesh heater disk with a ring surrounding the mesh heater disk,

wherein the mesh heater disk and the surrounding ring are made from different materials, and

wherein the surrounding ring is deformable upon heating, which deformation results in an interruption of the physical contact in the first position and to the formation of the gap that separates the mesh heater disk and the release medium in the second position.

7. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 3, wherein the release medium is a capillary wick and the heater is a coil of wire that at least partially surrounds the capillary wick.

8. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 7, wherein the capillary wick is stretched such that a length thereof is increased and a diameter thereof is decreased.

9. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 8, wherein the means for reversibly connecting the release medium and the heater is a button, which, when pressed, contacts with and stretches the capillary wick.

10. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 8, wherein the means for reversibly connecting the release medium and the heater is a button, which is connected to the capillary wick and, when pressed, stretches the capillary wick by a pulling along an axis perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the capillary wick.

11. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 7, wherein the capillary wick is twisted such that a diameter thereof is decreased.

12. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 11, wherein the means for reversibly connecting the release medium and the heater is a button that is connected to the capillary wick and, when pressed, leads to a rotation along a longitudinal axis of the capillary wick, which rotation leads to twisting of the capillary wick.

13. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 4,

wherein the heater is a mesh heater disk with a deformable ring surrounding the mesh heater disk and the means for reversibly connecting the release medium and the heater is the button, and

wherein upon pressing the button the deformable ring is deformed, which in turn leads to an interruption of the physical contact in the first position and to the formation of the gap that separates the mesh heater disk and the release medium in the second position.

14. The aerosol-generating device according to claim 2,

wherein the means for reversibly connecting the release medium and the heater is a magnet and the heater is a magnetically activated mesh heater disk, and

wherein upon switching on the magnet, a magnetic field is applied that causes deformation of the magnetically activated mesh heater disk, which in turn leads to an interruption of the physical contact in the first position and to the formation of the gap that separates the magnetically activated mesh heater disk and the release medium in the second position.

15. An aerosol-generating system, comprising:

an aerosol-generating device, comprising a reservoir configured to hold a liquid, a release medium, and a heater,

wherein the reservoir and the release medium are configured to transport liquid from the reservoir to the release medium,

wherein the release medium and the heater are reversibly connected with each other among a first position in which the release medium is in physical contact with the heater and a second position in which a gap separates the release medium and the heater,

wherein the aerosol-generating device further comprises a means for reversibly connecting the release medium and the heater among the first position and the second position, and

wherein the aerosol-generating device is configured to activate the heater in the second position when the gap separates the heater and the release medium;

an energy source that is connected to the heater and either to the releasing means or to an air flow sensor; and

at least one air inlet and at least one air outlet defining an air flow route from the at least one air inlet via the heater to the at least one air outlet so as to convey an aerosol formed at the heater to the at least one air outlet.

16. A method for heating liquid in an aerosol-generating device comprising a reservoir containing a liquid, a release medium, and a heater, the reservoir being configured to deliver the liquid from the reservoir to the release medium, the method comprising:

arranging the release medium and the heater in a first position in which the release medium is in physical contact with the heater, such that the liquid is transported from the release medium to the heater;

moving the release medium or the heater, or moving both the release medium and the heater, to a second position in which a gap separates the heater and the release medium;

heating the heater while the heater and the release medium are in the second position; and

after the heating, returning the release medium and the heater to the first position.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising turning off the heater when the release medium and the heater are in the first position.