Aerosol-generating devices incorporating an intertwined wick and heating element

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10512283-B2
Application number	US-201515126907-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 10, 2015
Priority date	Mar 19, 2014
Publication date	Dec 24, 2019
Grant date	Dec 24, 2019

Abstract

An aerosol-generating system is provided, including a heater including at least one heating element; and a capillary body, wherein the capillary body is wound around the heating element, and the heating element and capillary body are intertwined with one another. The aerosol-generating system is advantageous in that the manufacturing process can be a fast and robust. The heater can be formed with high precision and consistency. Further, the heater and wick assembly are mechanically robust, allowing manual or automatic handling without affecting its dimensions. This allows for a consistent quality of production.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An aerosol-generating system, comprising:
a heating element having a longitudinal axis and a plurality of turns; and
a capillary body comprising at least one strand extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the heating element,
wherein the at least one strand of the capillary body is wound around the heating element,
wherein the heating element and the capillary body are intertwined with one another, and
wherein the plurality of turns of the heating element and the at least one strand of the capillary body together define a central airflow passage extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the heating element.

2. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 1 , wherein the heating element is helical.

3. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 1 , wherein the capillary body is helical.

4. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 1 , further comprising a liquid storage portion containing a liquid aerosol-forming substrate, wherein the capillary body is in contact with the liquid aerosol-forming substrate.

5. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 4 , wherein the capillary body has two ends, and wherein the two ends of the capillary body are in contact with the liquid aerosol-forming substrate.

6. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 4 , wherein the liquid aerosol-forming substrate contains nicotine.

7. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 1 , wherein the system is an electrically heated smoking system.

8. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one strand comprises one or more first fibres having a longitudinally extending core section and a plurality of transverse sections extending transversely from the core section.

9. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 8 , wherein the capillary body further comprises one or more second fibres comprising a longitudinally extending core section but no transverse sections.

10. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 1 , wherein the heating element comprises a plurality of wires.

11. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 1 , wherein the central airflow passage is transverse to a direction of airflow through the aerosol-generating system.

12. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 1 , wherein the central airflow passage is parallel to a direction of airflow through the aerosol-generating system.

13. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 1 , further comprising a battery and control circuitry, the battery being configured to resistively heat the heating element through the control circuitry.

14. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one strand comprises a bundle of capillaries.

15. A method of manufacturing an aerosol-generating system, comprising:
providing a capillary body comprising at least one strand and a heating element; and
winding the at least one strand of the capillary body around the heating element by winding the at least one strand of the capillary body and the heating element together to intertwine the capillary body and the heating element such that the heating element has a longitudinal axis and a plurality of turns, the at least one strand of the capillary body extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the heating element, and the plurality of turns of the heating element and the at least one strand of the capillary body together define a central airflow passage extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the heating element.

Assignees

• Philip Morris Products Sa

Inventors

• Buehler Frederic
• Batista Rui

Classifications

• A61L9/14

  using sprayed or atomised substances {including air-liquid contact processes} · CPC title

• A61L9/037

  comprising a wick · CPC title

• A24B15/167 Primary

  in liquid or vaporisable form, e.g. liquid compositions for electronic cigarettes · CPC title

• A61L9/00

  Disinfection, sterilisation or deodorisation of air (body deodorants A61Q15/00; purifying air by respirators A62B, A62D9/00; separating dispersed particles from gases or vapours B01D45/00 - B01D51/00, B03C3/00; chemical or biological purification of waste gases B01D53/34; production of ozone C01B13/10; air-conditioning systems incorporating sterilisation F24F3/16, F24F8/20) · CPC title

• A24F47/008 Primary

  Human Necessities · mapped topic