Heater assembly for an aerosol-generating system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10588358-B2
Application number	US-201916416739-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 20, 2019
Priority date	Jun 20, 2016
Publication date	Mar 17, 2020
Grant date	Mar 17, 2020

Abstract

A heater assembly for an aerosol-generating system includes a perforated glass substrate and a heater element. The heater element is encapsulated in the glass substrate. The heater element includes a thin metal foil. The heater element is isolated from an adjacent aerosol-forming substrate. The perforations have a width ranging from about 1 micron to about 500 microns.

First claim

We claim:

1. A heater assembly for an aerosol-generating system comprising:
a perforated glass substrate including perforations; and
a heater element, the heater element encapsulated in the glass substrate, and the heater element including a thin metallic film.

2. The heater assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the perforations have a width ranging from about 1 micron to about 500 microns.

3. The heater assembly according to claim 2 , wherein the width ranges from about 5 microns to about 250 microns.

4. The heater assembly according to claim 3 , wherein the width ranges from about 10 microns to about 150 microns.

5. The heater assembly according to claim 1 , wherein a distance between adjacent ones of the perforations of the glass substrate ranges from about 1 micron to about 1000 microns.

6. The heater assembly according to claim 5 , wherein the distance between adjacent ones of the perforations of the glass substrate ranges from about 5 microns to about 750 microns.

7. The heater assembly according to claim 6 , wherein the distance between adjacent ones of the perforations of the glass substrate ranges from about 10 microns to about 500 microns.

8. The heater assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the heater element, the perforations of the glass substrate, or both the heater element and the perforations of the glass substrate include a mesh, an array, or both a mesh and an array.

9. The heater assembly according to claim 8 , wherein an area of at least one of the mesh and the array is less than about 25 square millimetres.

10. The heater assembly according to claim 9 , wherein the area is about 15 square millimetres.

11. The heater assembly according to claim 9 , wherein about 25 percent of the surface area to about 56 percent of the surface area of at least one of the mesh and the array is fluid-permeable.

12. The heater assembly according to claim 1 , wherein a length of the heater assembly is about 3 millimetres and a width of the heater assembly is about 5 millimetres.

13. The heater assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the heater element is incorporated into the glass substrate, such that the heater element is isolated from an adjacent aerosol-forming substrate.

14. The heater assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the heater element is provided within at least one of the perforations.

15. An aerosol-generating system comprising:
a main body;
a battery in the main body,

electric circuitry in the main body; and
a mouthpiece in the main body;
a liquid storage portion attachable to the main body; and
a heater assembly in the main body, the heater assembly including,
a perforated glass substrate including perforations; and
a heater element, the heater element encapsulated in the glass substrate, and the heater element including a thin metallic film.

16. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 15 , wherein the heater element is adjacent to the liquid storage portion when the liquid storage portion is attached to the main body.

17. The aerosol-generating system according to claim 15 , wherein the heater element is in the mouthpiece.

Assignees

• Altria Client Services Llc

Inventors

• Duc Fabien
• Tabasso Alain

Classifications

• A61M11/042

  electrical · CPC title

• A61M2205/8206

  battery-operated · CPC title

• H05B3/265

  the insulating base being an inorganic material, e.g. ceramic (H05B3/262 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61M15/06 Primary

  Inhaling appliances shaped like cigars, cigarettes or pipes · CPC title

• H05B3/84 Primary

  Heating arrangements specially adapted for transparent or reflecting areas, e.g. for demisting or de-icing windows, mirrors or vehicle windshields · CPC title