E-cigarette personal vaporizer

• US 10,624,394 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2018
• Issued: 04/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AYR Ltd.
• Original Assignee: AYR Ltd.
• Inventors: Memari, Kaveh, Bennett, Adrian, Murison, Ian, Marsh, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Yaary, Eric
• Application Number:
  US16/177,708
• Publication Number:
  US 20190069603A1
• Time in Patent Office: 537 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 15/015 with means for refilling of liquid inhalable precursors
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/10 Devices using liquid inhalable precursors
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/40 Constructional details, e.g. connection of cartridges and battery parts
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/48 Fluid transfer means, e.g. pumps
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/485 Valves; Apertures
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/50 Control or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/60 Devices with integrated user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/90 Arrangements or methods specially adapted for charging batteries thereof
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 40/95 structurally associated with cases
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2209/045 for filling, e.g. for filling reservoirs
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 3/04 Methods of, or means for, filling the material into the containers or receptacles
• CPC Class Codes: B65B 37/06 by pistons or pumps
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 25/005 Side walls formed with an aperture or a movable portion arranged to allow removal or insertion of contents B65D5/16, B65D7/40 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01F 23/00 Indicating or measuring liquid level or level of fluent solid material, e.g. indicating in terms of volume or indicating by means of an alarm
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 2023/0025 on containers
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0042 characterised by the mechanical construction
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0044 specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries H02J7/0045 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0063 with circuits adapted for supplying loads from the battery
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/35 : with light sensitive cells
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 999/00 : dummy group
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 999/99 : dummy group

Abstract

An e-cigarette PV that includes an air pressure valve or device so that excess air can escape from an e-liquid reservoir in the PV when that reservoir is being filled under pressure with e-liquid from a parent reservoir. The valve or device is a barrier made of an air-porous material, such as a sintered polymer or metal, coated with or otherwise including a barrier or layer of an air-porous substance that is not porous to e-liquid, such as an oleophobic material or a hydrophobic or super-hydrophobic material. The oleophobic material is one of: sintered phosphor bronze, sintered stainless steel and sintered PU plastic.

Claims

1. A vaping system that provides a vaporizable liquid to an atomizer in the system;

in which the system includes;

a liquid reservoir;

a user-replaceable liquid cartridge fluidly connected to the liquid reservoir, the cartridge not itself being user-refillable;

a pump that is controlled to automatically start and stop pumping liquid from the user-replaceable liquid cartridge to the liquid reservoir;

an air pressure valve or device, configured to permit air but not vaporizable liquid to escape from the liquid reservoir during automatic re-filling of the liquid reservoir with liquid by the pump.

2. The vaping system of claim 1 in which the air pressure valve or device equalises the air pressure in the liquid reservoir to ambient air pressure.

3. The vaping system of claim 1 in which the air pressure valve or device alters the air pressure in the liquid reservoir to bring it closer to ambient air pressure (‘

normalising’

) in order to prevent leakage when filling the liquid reservoir with liquid and to ensure correct operation whilst the system is consuming or vaporizing liquid.

4. The vaping system of claim 1 in which the air pressure valve or device allows air to flow into the liquid reservoir as liquid is consumed or vaporised.

5. The vaping system of claim 1 in which the air pressure valve or device allows air to flow into the liquid reservoir as ambient pressure rises.

6. The vaping system of claim 1 in which, if the ambient air pressure changes rapidly, then the air pressure valve or device operates to ensure that the air pressure in the liquid reservoir rapidly equalises to ambient air pressure.

7. The vaping system of claim 1 in which if the system is in an aircraft and ambient air pressure in the aircraft falls to significantly lower than sea-level atmospheric pressure, then the air pressure valve or device is configured to operate to ensure that the air pressure in the liquid reservoir rapidly equalises to ambient air pressure in the aircraft cabin.

8. The vaping system of claim 1 in which the air pressure valve or device has moving parts.

9. The vaping system of claim 1 in which the air pressure valve or device has no moving parts, but is a barrier or layer made of an air-porous material.

10. The vaping system of claim 9 in which the air pressure valve or device is a barrier made of an air-porous material, coated with or otherwise including a barrier or layer of an air-porous substance that is not porous to the liquid.

11. The vaping system of claim 9 in which the barrier or layer of the air-porous substance that is not porous to liquid is an oleophobic material or a hydrophobic or super-hydrophobic material.

12. The vaping system of claim 11 in which the oleophobic material is one of:

sintered phosphor bronze, sintered stainless steel and sintered PU plastic.

13. The vaping system of claim 9 in which the air-porous material is a sintered polymer or metal.

14. The vaping system of claim 1 that includes in which the pump is an internal electric or electronic pump that pumps the vaporizable liquid.

15. The vaping system of claim 14 in which the pump is a peristaltic or rotary pump.

16. The vaping system of claim 1 including a vaping device that is configured to dock or engage with a liquid re-filling device, and that re-filling device includes the pump that pumps the vaporizable liquid into the reservoir.

17. The vaping system of claim 16 in which the pump is a peristaltic or rotary pump.

18. The vaping system of claim 1 in which the reservoir is a child liquid reservoir that is repeatedly filled with vaporizable liquid from a parent liquid reservoir which is the user-replaceable liquid cartridge.

19. The vaping system of claim 18 in which the parent liquid reservoir is a liquid cartridge that is user insertable into, and removable from, the vaping system.

20. The vaping system of claim 18 in which the parent liquid reservoir is a liquid cartridge that is user removable from a liquid re-filling device that a vaping device docks or engages with.

21. The vaping system of claim 20 in which the liquid re-filling device is a re-fill and re-charge case.

22. The vaping system of claim 20 in which the liquid re-filling device is a desktop dock.

23. The vaping system of claim 1 in which the system includes the vaporizable liquid which includes nicotine.

24. The vaping system of claim 1 in which the system includes the vaporizable liquid which is a non-nicotine vaporizable liquid.

25. The vaping system of claim 1 in which the liquid reservoir provides liquid to the atomizer.