Patent Application
20150164147
This disclosure relates to the field of vaporizers, also referred to as electronic cigarettes, and more particularly a cartomizer for a vaporizer, also referred to as a cartridge.
Electronic cigarettes have recently emerged as a new product for providing nicotine through a smokeless inhalation process. There are many embodiments of the electronic cigarette. Most implementations consist of a power supply (typically a battery) and an atomizing device. In reusable electronic cigarettes the two items are separated into a battery and a cartomizer, to allow the disposal and replacement of the nicotine containing fluid cartomizer while preserving the more costly battery and associated circuitry (microcontroller, switch, indicating LED, etc.) In disposable electronic cigarettes the two items are combined to integrate the functions into one unit that is disposed of after either the battery energy or the nicotine containing liquid is exhausted.
The liquid that is used to produce vapor in electronic cigarettes is a generally a solution of one or more of propylene glycol (PG) and/or vegetable glycerin (VG) and/or polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG400) mixed with concentrated flavors, and optionally, a variable percentage of a liquid nicotine concentrate. The solution is often sold in a bottle or in disposable cartridges or cartomizers. Many different flavors of such liquid are sold, including flavors that resemble the taste of regular tobacco, menthol, vanilla, coffee, cola and various fruits. Various nicotine concentrations are also available, and nicotine-free solutions are also common.
Embodiments of a cartomizer for use with an electronic cigarette may include an elongate outer shell having first and second ends; a first opening provided proximate to the first end of the outer shell, and a second opening provided proximate to the second end of the outer, and an airflow establishable between the first and second openings; a tank provided within the outer shell, the tank dimensioned to hold a vaporizable fluid; a heating element provided within the outer shell and adjacent to the tank, the heating element in the path of the airflow, the heating element operable to heat the vaporizable fluid to a vaporization temperature; and a heat shield provided proximate to the heating element. An electronic cigarette may include a battery portion which may include a battery housed within the battery, and embodiments of a cartomizer as described herein.
The following detailed description and the appended drawings describe and illustrate exemplary embodiments of the invention solely for the purpose of enabling one of ordinary skill in the relevant art to make and use the invention. As such, the detailed description and illustration of these embodiments are purely exemplary in nature and are in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention, or its protection, in any manner. It should also be understood that the drawings are not to scale and in certain instances details have been omitted, which are not necessary for an understanding of the present invention, such as conventional details of fabrication and assembly.
Embodiments of a cartomizer for use with an electronic cigarette may include an elongate outer shell having first and second ends; a first opening provided proximate to the first end of the outer shell, and a second opening provided proximate to the second end of the outer, and an airflow establishable between the first and second openings; a tank provided within the outer shell, the tank dimensioned to hold a vaporizable fluid; a heating element provided within the outer shell and adjacent to the tank, the heating element in the path of the airflow, the heating element operable to heat the vaporizable fluid to a vaporization temperature; and a heat shield provided proximate to the heating element.
In further embodiments of a cartomizer, the heat shield is provided between the heating element and the outer shell. The heat shield may be formed as a ring. The heat shield may be substantially composed of a metal. The heating element may be composed of wicking and a conductive coil may be wrapped around the wicking. Embodiments of the cartomizer may further include a semi-permeable membrane provided between the tank and the heating element, and wherein the liquid is transferred from the tank to the heating element through the semi-permeable membrane.
An electronic cigarette may include a battery portion which may include a battery housed within the battery, and embodiments of a cartomizer as described herein.
With reference now to the Figures, an embodiment of a cartomizer 100 for use with a vaporizer or an electronic cigarette is provided in accordance with the disclosure. The electronic cigarette may composed of a battery portion 10, which may house circuitry and a battery, as well as embodiments of cartomizer 100 as provided within the disclosure. Cartomizer 100 may include an outer wall 110, the dimensions of which defining an outer diameter or an outer circumference of cartomizer 100. Outer wall 110 is illustrated as cylindrical, however the disclosure further contemplates additional shapes or dimensions of outer wall 110. In some embodiments, outer wall 110 may be correspondingly dimensioned with the outer dimensions of the battery portion 10 to be joined or used with cartomizer 100. Outer wall 110 may be formed from plastic, glass or other any other suitable material known or to be discovered.
Cartomizer 100 may be used connected to a battery portion of an electronic cigarette. Embodiments of a battery portion are disclosed, for instance, in U.S. Application Ser. No. 61/903,344, the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference. In some embodiments, cartomizer 100 may be inserted into an end cavity or recess of the battery portion 10 of an electronic cigarette. Cartomizer 100 may be substantially elongate and have a defined first end 110A and a second end 1109. At least two holes or openings 112A/112B may be provided so as to permit an air flow 114 through cartomizer 100. One or more first openings 112A may be provided proximate to first end 110A, while one or more second openings 112B may be provided proximate to second end 110B. An airflow 114 may be thereby established through cartomizer 100 to permit a user of the electronic cigarette to inhale the produced vapor through one of the openings 112A/112B. In one embodiment, a battery portion 10 of an electronic cigarette is connected at or proximate to first end 110A of cartomizer 100, while a mouthpiece may be provided at or proximate to second end 110B.
A vaporizable liquid 200 may be stored within a liquid tank 116 in at least a portion of cartomizer 100. Liquid 200 may be any known or to be developed liquid which may be used in electronic cigarettes. In order to vaporize liquid 200, a heating element 120 is provided for elevating the temperature of liquid 200 to its vaporization temperature. Heating element 120 may be an electrically conductive coil, such as a wiring substantially comprised of metal, from which a current may be supplied to through wires or circuitry 122. A current may be passed through circuitry 122 by and through a battery housed in a battery portion of an electronic cigarette when the battery portion is connected to cartomizer 100. A membrane 126 may be provided in order to transfer liquid 200 from the tank 116 to a wicking 128. Membrane 126 may be semi-permeable in order to control or limit the transport of liquid 200 as it is soaked into membrane 126 and transferred to wicking 128. The semi-permeable nature of membrane 126 may thereby prevent leakage from tank 116 to other portions of cartomizer 100. Wicking 128 may be made from fiberglass and operable to transport liquid 200 to heating element 120. In one embodiment, wicking may be a non-coated glass fiber which may prevent a burning taste which often comes from a coating thereby avoiding the introduction of any potentially harmful substance into the vapor. Heating element 120 may then heat liquid 200 soaked into wick 128 to a vaporized temperature, and the vapor may be inhaled by a user through air stream 114.
Certain portions of cartomizer 100 and outer wall 110 near heating element 120 may be exposed to a higher temperature by nature of their proximity to heating element 120. In some embodiments, heating element 120 may well exceed the transition temperature of the outer wall 110, thereby risking that the outer wall may melt or deform due to the high temperatures generated by heating element 120. In embodiments where outer wall 110 is composed of a transparent or semi-transparent plastic, the transition temperature may result in the plastic changing from a clear amorphous solid into an opaque solid through a crystallization process. A heat shield 130 may be provided on portions of cartomizer 100 proximate to heating element 120 in order to protect components of cartomizer 100 from the elevated temperatures of heating element 120. Heat shield 130 may take the form of a ring provided between heating element 120 and outer wall 110. Heat shield 130 may also, or alternatively, be provided proximate to a portion where the vaporized liquid 200 enters airflow path 114, for instance between the tank 116 and wall 110. In addition to a ring, heat shield 130 may take the form of a variety of shapes or dimensions, either interspersed or contiguous. Heat Shield 130 may be manufactured of insulating material and in one embodiment heat shield 130 may be substantially composed of metal. Accordingly, heat shield 130 operates to protect areas of cartomizer 100 exposed to elevated temperatures, and permits components in the protected areas of cartomizer 100, such as outer wall 110, to be manufactured from materials which might otherwise melt or deform due to their exposure to high temperatures. Embodiments of the heat shield may be provided alternatively, or additionally, proximate to liquid tank 116, which in some embodiments is made of plastic and, regardless of the material tank 116 is made from, may benefit from insulation from high temperatures generated by heating element 120. For instance, when a plastic outer shell 110, or other plastic component, is heated to a glass transition temperature, the plastic changes from a substantially clear amorphous solid and begins to crystallize into an opaque solid.
The descriptions set forth above are meant to be illustrative and not limiting, and persons of skill in the art will recognize that various common and known deviations from the above described structures are considered to be within the scope of the disclosed concepts described herein.
The embodiments illustratively disclosed herein suitably may be practiced in the absence of any element which is not specifically disclosed herein. The invention illustratively disclosed herein suitably may also be practiced in the absence of any element which is not specifically disclosed herein and that does not materially affect the basic and novel characteristics of the claimed invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/916,650, filed Dec. 16, 2014, the content of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61916650 | Dec 2013 | US |
